I am part of a group where there are constant debates on the resurgence of Hindutva / sanatana dharma. I wrote this as a mail to one of the guys who was regularly posting anti minority mails.

Point One

Islam - In Arabic, Islam means 'submission'. In Islam there is no separation between religion and government—what in Christianity would be called the separation of church and state. So is Hinduism. This implies why the Islamic population justifies political / military battle….to build an Islamic state. Thus you can have the Islamic republic of Pakistan or other such states and not a Hindu republic of India or a Christian republic of Spain, which are equally religious countries. Politics and religion (are suppose to be) different here.

Christianity - Over centuries we have known rulers and subjects resorting to violence, which are now lessons we learn in history (Inquisition, Crusades, War of religion, Anti-Semitism etc). Thus Christians have also advocated violence to justify spreading their religion

Fortunately for us in India or Hindustan, over the many years, we have hardly fought wars on religion, be it Ashok fighting the Kalingas or if you look at any other battles. Even when the Muslim invaders were in India, many Indian kings had a pretty secular armed force. We have never had a concept of “jihad bis saif” or referred to qital fi sabilillah, means Jihad by the sword.

The point I am making is the acceptance of violence as a means to an end is not part of our solution for generations.

That is probably the reason that Gandhiji was able to defeat the Subash Chandra Bose or Bhagat Singh fractions in the Independence movement. And also like that viral that is going around, India has never invaded another country in the last 5000 odd years…or something to that effect

Second point

If you look at the geo-politics of the Indian sub-continent of the last 50 – 75 years, India has not been a “dudh ke dhula” in the matter of inciting mischief with its neighbors.

1. Kashmir - If you were to look at the origin and the status of the Kashmir issue, the problem has originated in India and in spite of JN Nehru's promise, the Kashmir plebiscite has not happened. I think it was to happen in 1953 as per their commitment. The acquisition of Kashmir by India, we all know, was not by a fair method.

2. Interference is Bangladesh was nothing but with ulterior motives of dividing Pakistan. This is when Bhutto said that he will fight India even if it means he has to eat grass

The point here is that we have hurt (the state of) Pakistan more than they have hurt us as a state/nation...in real terms. Since they cannot fight us in a battle, the “cut 1000 small wounds” statement is famous

Third point

Appeasement of minorities or even vote bank politics is not unique to India. We know of how Obama campaigned to ensure black votes while his opponent John McCain used Bobby Jindal to get Indian votes. On the reverse, we have seen the rise of majority vote bank politics in countries like Austria (the Freedom Party won 17.5% votes in the last election campaigning solely on anti immigration) and New Zealand (where the Green Party is gaining importance). This has been the policy of the Congress for many years now, only because they have realized that the majority does not vote as a block, unlike the minority

Fourth point

Probably since Maulana Azad, Muslims in India have not got a true leader who have been progressive. Unfortunately, the Muslim leadership has stuck to dealing with the lowest common denominator of that society, much like the rest of the politicians & worked on safe bets to win elections in their selected constituencies. This has left most Muslims in deprived underdeveloped

Putting all this in perspective, I think it makes sense to do the following

· See how minority appeasement can be stopped. By that I mean all sorts of minorities, including SC/ST kind of stuff. I love the Gujarat model of world class development, no corruption (read less corruption) and (hopefully) a peaceful society, where the minority knows its place in the society.

· Communicate to the minorities their rightful place in the society. I have lived in Saudi, UAE and UK. I have also had an opportunity to see how minorities are treated in other developed and mature countries in Europe or Americas. What I have seen is that the minority is respected, however told in no uncertain terms that they are not the decision makers and that they need to abide by the rules set by the majority.

· Forget the past. So India should stick by the Simla Agreement and Pakistan should forget the Plebiscite. This I believe has positives and negatives for both countries

· India should play a bigger role in SAARC and should strength, and have the courage and gumption to call a spade a spade. India should also counter the Chinese threat in the Indian Ocean thru close co-operation with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the 2 most vulnerable countries from an Indian geo-political scenario

It does not make sense to

• (a) spread hatred thru viral campaigns, because like what Gandhi said, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
• (b) blame the present generation of the minority as they are a byproduct of their past. It makes more sense to get theminto the larger society and develop a bigger sense of camaraderie.

Recession can mean more options!!

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Harbhajan deserves the Padma award over Vijayendra!

I am extremely passionate about sports. Nothing (almost nothing ;-)) excites me as much as a sport does. For those of you who believe in the Zodiac, I am a Gemini, and I think my "other" personality gets accentuated when I play / talk / debate / discuss a sport and not otherwise

 

The Padma awards announcement started the Harbhanjan Vs Vijayendra debate. On television shows I saw the socialist genes in most of the participants support the underdog. Cricket was easy to whip and Harbhajan was even easier. There was no credible debate..no one had the courage to say a cricketer deserved it as much as much as a Udit Narayan or a Penaz Masani (both of whom incidentally won the Padma Shri this year)

 

Here is the official description for the Padma awards – “Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri are given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants. The recommendations for Padma Awards are received from the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, Central Ministries/Departments, Institutions of Excellence, etc. which are considered by an Awards Committee. On the basis of the recommendations of the Awards Committee, and after approval of the Home Minister, Prime Minister and President, the Padma Awards are announced on the eve of the Republic Day.    

 

As in most controversies, there is so much subjectivity in this description that there is bound to be a debate. Expecting the government to make the selection process much more transparent is to ask for stuff that is not practical.

 

I want to plunge into this debate and defend Harbhajan. I believe that he deserves the award more than a Vijayendra or Sushil Kumar and should get the award over them if there were a restriction on the number of awards that were to be given out! Some reasons

 

·        Vijayendra and Sushil Kumar’s international success is restricted to 1 or 2 high level performances. Is this a flash in the pan? If you claim to be a world class sportsman you need to demonstrate sustained success in the global arena, which Harbhajan has. Being nicknamed the “turbanator” by the best cricketing side in the world and being part of the Indian team for the last 7-10 years means that he is a world champion.

·        A handful of countries play cricket while over 200 participate in boxing is the other argument. So what…India is still the twenty20 WORLD Champions and among the top test and one day sides in the world. Many countries have similar peculiarities and the faster the other sportsman learn to accept this, the better. Sumo wrestlers in Japan, Ice Hockey players in Canada or Baseballers in the US are some examples. Popular players of these sports in these countries make more money and are bigger icons than other more popular global sports

 

The sad but unfortunate part of all this is that for other sports persons to aspire for stardom will mean that they will have to do much more than what a cricketer does to get attention. Sustained success in sports other than cricket will ensure stardom and rewards commensurate with its popularity and this is the unwritten law. 

 

Do not write me off as a die-hard cricket buff. All I am saying is that Vijayendra’s of India will have to accept this as a reality. After all most of these folks play their sport out of sheer passion for the game and not for anything else, right? Having said that…

 

• Let us except the fact that we will never have many Vijayendras and Sushil kumars. They are rare and we need to protect them really well. They deserve their place in the sun and I hope the paparazzi, media and the ad world pamper them well. Honestly speaking, I feel that they have no other hope but to get their stardom thru these stray incidents
• Considering the mess that our sporting institutes are in, we can never expect a systematic process to produce more Olympic medalist. All those that will come up will be rare geniuses who would have beaten a rotten system. In a country of over a billion people to find a few 100 geniuses is our only hope for more Olympic success.
• We are fooling ourselves to think that some day we will be able to be amongst the top medal tally in an Olympics. This will never happen. I am willing to bet my last rupee on this. We will only have a few sparks of geniuses that will surprise us. 
• Most sports in the world are moving away from dependence on grace and talent to power and strength. In that scenario an average Indian or even an above average Indian is still smaller, weaker and slower than most other human races…be it Anglo Saxon, African or African American. 

Net net, let us focus on our strengths to produce world champions. 

• Cricket is easy as there are millions who aspire to play for the country and we will always get players who come up because of sheer talent from a larger pool of players
• In other sports, we need to focus on games that suit our physique and aptitude to produce world champions. 

Yuki Bhambri...wish you luck and please prove me wrong 

Enough is enough. Nah! we need more

Nine injured in Assam bomb blast 6 Dec 2008, 2141 hrs IST, PTI

DIPHU: Nine persons, including two children, were injured in a powerful bomb blast by KLNLF militants in a market in Assam's Karbi Anglong district where another bomb was recovered. 

Police sources said the bomb exploded in the forest gate of the fish market under Kheroni police station at around 5.40 Pm when about 2000 people gathered there. 

----

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Nine_injured_in_Assam_bomb_blast/rssarticleshow/3802644.cms

check out for more details

Here is an article that I saw in TOI today just now!

Oops...however

this is not South Bombay

there were no cameras there

there is no economic interests there

there are no big business houses there

“In a big county like India, incidents likes these keep happening,”...statement made with due apologies to RR Patil

  

The effort in tax collection

Have you every wondered at the effort it takes for the Government to collect taxes from us. I am sure there is huge machinery that goes behind planning, implementing, tracking and collecting taxes. Then there also is another machinery that tracks, investigates and punishes defaulters.

 

I got a very funny poem on taxes from my colleague Rahul. Reading it got me thinking of the above. I will reproduce some parts of it below:

 

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

 

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!

 

…..

…..

 

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

 

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to my doom....'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.

 

And now the funny part! The poem ended with a list of taxes that the Govt of India collects. I tried to research as much as I could to see if they really exist and did find most of them to be real taxes..tho funny. Do correct me if any of them do not really exist

 

Accounts Receivable Tax
Airline  surcharge tax
Airline Fuel Tax
Airport Maintenance Tax
Building Permit Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Death Tax
Dog License Tax
Driving Permit Tax
Excise Taxes
Income Tax
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Petrol Tax   
Gross Receipts Tax
Health Tax
Hunting License Tax
Hydro Tax
Inheritance Tax
Interest Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Mortgage Tax
Personal Income Tax
Property Tax
Poverty Tax
Prescription Drug Tax
Property Tax
Provincial Income Tax
Real Estate Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Retail Sales Tax
Service Charge Tax
School Tax  
Telephone Tax
Telephone, Provincial  and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Water Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

 

If each of the above tax collection departments were to be asked to run like SBU, I wonder how many would be profitable businesses. My point is...maybe some of these taxes are not really worth collecting, considering the amount of manpower that goes collecting it? 

I Hope!

I wrote a blog on stuff that I am extremely passionate about….sports, but will keep posting it for another day. Today is dedicated to revolutions …and the goose pimples that I got when I saw TV last night J.

 

Wow, what a groundswell I see in Mumbai! Is it because I am here in this city today and can feel its pulse or is it just another media hype. The former, I hope! 

 

I was swapping channels and saw Murli Deora saying that he was ashamed to be a politician. I saw Prakash Karat refusing to speak to the media and Preity Zinta saying that she was part of the protest rally not as a celebrity but as an ordinary citizen. Is this the best time to be an “Ordinary Citizen”? I hope!

 

Amidst all this can we find a Boris Yeltsin to stand up on that tank and inspire us or a Martin Luther  King to dream for us or a JP to dedicate a Sarvodaya to us? I hope!

 

The Quit India movement had to be sustained for 5 years before India got independent; it took the French revolution 10 years to succeed. Will the “Mumbai uprising” have the strength to sustain itself to its logical conclusion or we will all go back to our life-in-the-fast-lane focus of paying our bills, drop our kids to the school bus, make those sales presentations, beating this recession etc etc ? The former, I hope!

 

Who in me will win, Che Guevara or Cho Ramaswamy? The former, I hope!

 

Ps: I mean no disrespect to Cho Ramaswamy and love his sense of humor and power of articulation.

Do we really care?

Do you really want to feel sad for all the innocent lives lost in Mumbai over the last few days of terror? Are you really that hurt? Did you participate in some event that had some symbolic candle lighting / speech / one minute silence etc kind of stuff.

 

Well…you may have to do this everyday if only all such deaths get such slick national television coverage. Let me explain why…

 

Did you know - On 27^th Nov, 86 people were killed in Tamil Nadu in the aftermath of Cyclone Nisha. Remember the MET department has warned all “to be affected” towns and their governments. The Govt could have evacuated them. Well…these guys were not at Taj or Oberoi having a fancy dinner, so you do not have to feel sad for them!

 

BTW…Govt of Tamil Nadu has announced 100 crores as relief money! Wow, does that mean India will have some more millionaires, cause most of the relief will not trickle down

 

Did you know - On 28^th Nov over 400 people died in the town of Jos in Nigeria over religious riots. Hmm…but they are not Indian, right?

 

All this leaves me thinking on how strangely we can connect Karma to Thomas Malthus to “Creative destruction”. Some quick “cut-pastes” from Wikipedia. Let me know if you think this makes sense

 

Karma – Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others.

 

Thomas Malthus and a small quote on his theory of population - The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world." 

 

Constructive Destruction - Werner Sombart's Krieg und Kapitalismus (War and Capitalism) (1913, p. 207), where he wrote: "again out of destruction a new spirit of creativity arises".

 

Net net…its your Karma if you die, cause these kinds of tragedies are inevitable in today’s age, however every such destruction will lead to newer spirits of creativity!

 

Too radical?