Bharat Ratna -The dynasty has self awarded it

Like most prestigious awards in the world, our own 'crown jewel' of awards - the Bharat Ratna is mired with insider trading vested interests.  If you run through the list of 41 Bharat Ratna awardees in the past 60 years, you will see that the majority of politician recipients are congressmen or congress allies.  Glaring among them are the dynastic rulers - Nehru, Indira and Rajiv.  Considering that these are awards given by the President of India on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the dynasty has self awarded it shamelessly.  Some tall national leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Dr Ambedkar were awarded posthumously after four and three decades of their death respectively, just in order to be politically correct, but the dynastic rulers of Nehru family enjoyed it all during their life.

Sooner or later, our lame duck Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singhji and their larger than life benefactor Madam Sonia Gandhi ji will be awarded this coveted title.  And Rahul is undoubtedly standing in queue and is readying his make-up for the ceremony.  If Congress comes back to power, you will watch my words coming true.  But the nation is surely in another mood this time.

I often think that like the Nobel Peace Prize disgracing itself by not being conferred on Mahatma Gandhi, Bharat Ratna is also being disgraced by the petty politics surrounding it.  There is also this wide disparity in the calibre of people who received Bharat Ratna.  Rajiv Gandhi is no comparison to Sardar Patel, for example.  Indira Gandhi disgraced the constitution by her dictatorial actions while Ambedkar brought it to life, upholding the democratic principles.  Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who epitomized self-less politics of patriotism like Lal Bahadur Shastri was not considered for the award because he did not belong to Congress party in the end.  Not naming, I can see some congress sycophants in the list of Bharat Ratna awardees.  It has been an award that has lost its grace, dignity and high standards of recognition.  On hindsight, it is good that the Bharat Ratna was not awarded to Mahatma Gandhi as we Indians would not like to see him in the same league of his namesakes.

The table below speak volumes about how dynastic rulers of Nehru family enjoyed Bharat Ratan, all during their life.

No            Name                    Died             Awarded in        Time gap in getting Award

1. Jawahar Lal Nehru             1964               1955                      9 yrs before his death

2. Indira Gandhi                      1984               1971                     13 yrs before her death

3. Rajiv Gandhi                        1991               1991                      Same year of his death

4. Sardar Vallabbhai Patel   1950               1991                     41 yrs after his death

5. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar     1956               1990                     34 yrs after his death

V K Saxena

President

National Council for Civil Liberties

Ahmedabad

Zero to Nero: King Singh's silent fiddle

Till I realized that Manmohan Singh is the 13th Prime Minister of India, I had not believed that 13 is a number of misfortune.

If you ever thought that to serve for 10 years as the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world, one would require enormous political acumen, dynamism, courage of commitment and shrewd skills of governance, you have now seen a man of irritating silence belie your beliefs.  He did not speak a word that you would quote, did not do a thing that you would appreciate and did not change a thing that you would remember.  It is often said that India contributed the digit 'zero' to the world of science and civilization.  Now, here is a man who contributed 'zero' to the national life.  He occupied an unforgettable time space in the history of this country but is not leaving behind anything unforgettable.  Oh... perhaps that is his unforgettable contribution - the zero.

You have been lucky - we are an extraordinarily patient and forgiving people, Mr. Manmohan Singh.  You sat fat over the burgeoning commodity prices in the country - chalo, maaf kar diya.  You brought us down from being a growing global economic giant to a fumbling trade dwarf - chalo, maaf kar diya.  You made corruption the most popular occupation of the country - chalo maaf kar diya.  You broke the largest democratic anti-corruption movement by just your stoic silence and inaction - chalo maaf kar diya.  And you stole 10 years of my children's life by driving our national lives into insignificance - chalo maaf kar diya.

But what this nation cannot forgive is your becoming a Nero from being Zero and fiddling with silence when our borders are burning the pyres of our soldiers.  The enemy enters our national space and shoots down our sons who guard the country - and you don't speak a word!  The enemy has roasted the valleys of our frontier states, routinely trespassed into our soils, beheaded and thrown the bodies of our men for the vultures to eat and made a mockery of a nation of over a billion people.  Do you still want play the fiddle of silence and your facial melancholy?  

Any other nation would have waged a war by now on the enemy to protect itself.  Any other Head of State would have spoken like the true son of the soil to unify his country and focus his politics towards defending the motherland.  It is a pity that in a country where a train accident would demand of the rail minister to resign and a crime in the city would demand of the chief of law and order to step down, an attack on the nation and killing of its soldiers routinely and repeatedly would not demand of its Prime Minister to even speak a word of courage.

Mr. Prime Minister, fiddle as you may when your home is on fire.  You will soon be overcome and forgotten. 

VK Saxena

President,

National Council For Civil Liberties,

Ahmedabad

Stand aside Alps, my Himalayas could be better

The Himalayas are a beautiful mountain range.  The glacier lined passes of Kashmir and Himachal, steep valleys and pilgrimages of Garhwal, rolling hills of Kumaon and the verdant peaks of Arunachal that gradually slope into the North East are uniquely endowed with a timeless charm.  It takes years to have a good glimpse of the Himalayas.  With the mountain roads that are winding and bridges that are far in between, it often takes days to get across a few hundred kilometres.  The peaks are to be seen from a distance as they are too remote to reach and require special gear and training to trek.  People still walk for days to reach pilgrimages of Kedarnath, Yamunotri and the rest as the mule tracks in the mountain have remained just the way they were in the time of our fore-bearers.  With all these, while the word 'Himalayas' brings to the mind a sense of beauty, serenity, spirituality and peace, it also reminds of how remote, unreachable, treacherous and cumbersome the route to the mountain is.  For many people, it is a journey of life and often a brush with death.  And when bad weather strikes the mountains, all hell breaks loose like it did last month in Uttrakhand.  And for those who live in the villages that dot the mountain-scape, electricity, water and communication are a far cry.   

I toured Switzerland last month and could not resist from comparing it to the Himalayas.  Alps is not as high as Himalayas and Switzerland is just a fraction of the size of India.  Although Switzerland lacks the talent and human capacity of the big and bright India, Alps is a tamed mountain of human will to reach and let others reach.  Every peak in Alps is at the hand reach of anyone as the cable car lines and train network  are drawn up to wherever one wants to go.  The roads, bridges, air traffic and rail roads reach nearly every valley and peak, offering a multitude of means for the traveller to pick and choose his way to the top of Alps.  Far flung villages in the mountain have power, water and internet and the villages are much more convenient and attractive than cities to visit and live in.

Rail network for beautiful JUNGFRAUJOCH Mountain, top of Europe, was planned in the year 1893, blasting work in the tunnel started in the year 1898 and the First station was opened in 1899 and after commissioning several new stations, Jungfraujoch railway station at an altitude of 11,333 feet was commissioned in the year 1912. Not only this at a height of more than 11,000 feet, various world class  facilities such as luggage lockers,  Panorama 360 degree Cinema experience, a terrace connecting two hills, snow games, ice palace, restaurants and shops are also created to take care of every demand of the tourists. A rail museum highlights how the construction was done some 100 years back. Not only this, they have also created a Whether Research Centre there to keep a constant watch on the Glacier and to record any atmospheric changes in the region. Similar kind of facilities are created in other mountains such as Titlis and Rigi also.

 I also noticed that by stone pitching, banks of all rivers and lakes were properly sealed to prevent any kind of erosion which keeps the water absolutely clean.

It takes commitment, perseverance and imagination to turn earth into heaven.  If a small nation like Switzerland with a limited access to talented human resource could do it, a large nation, like India, with an unlimited source of human imagination and skills can very well surpass it.  

All we need is a dream, a plan, a resolve and a leader to change the landscape.  

V.K.Saxena

President

National Council For Civil Liberties

Who wants a Shabana certificate!

So, Shabana Azmi does not want to pass Mr Narendra Modi as a Prime Ministerial candidate. 

She gave her usual eccentric and forensic point of view that he has blood on his hand.  She even quoted an absurd reasoning that since he is still denied US visa, he cannot be a Prime Minister for India.  With that, she has joined the select band of US agents in India, whose loyalties belong partially in Osama-land and then in Obama-land.  

Shabana Azmi and  her husband Javed Akhtar appear to think of the country as some kind of talent contest on prime time television, where they often sit as judges and pass remarks.  They have their own strange sense of judgement and they take their seats in the gallery far too seriously.  And being true to their allegiance to Pakistan and Yankeestan, they always hide behind the name Godhra, even after the Supreme Court of India has cleared the matter. Javed Akhtar is a Trustee of the infamous 'Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and Sabrang Trust run by Teesta Setalwad.   CJP and Sabrang Trust goes with a begging bowl to foreign countries  and  collects donations by showing its own country in poor light.   They bleed India from outside its soils and eat away its integrity from inside in a combined 'leach and termite' effect.  Denying India the benefit of development by worming through its poor intestine is their pastime.  So, they search for blood even where there is none.  For the eyes that are bloodshot, every hand appears to have been dipped in the red.

It is strange that this famous pair does not raise its voice when Akbaruddin Owaisi wages war against the country through his inflammatory speeches, when M.F. Hussain paints an Indian goddess in nude to humiliate millions of Indians or when the Pakistani troops in J&K hack the head of an Indian soldier and throw away his body for the vultures to eat.  

And what is Shabana's formula for a person to be a Prime Minister?  Perhaps, he should have a US visa, should ensure that she gets another nomination to Rajya Sabha and should not come from Gujarat.  She neither cares for development of this country nor for people's voice.  It is for her to judge, after all - since her family has this experience of judging on prime time television.

Javed spins stories and Shaban acts.  For them, the nation is a theater. But it is different that people hardly take their views seriously.

V.K.Saxena

President

National Council for Civil Liberties

Ahmedabad.

Rahul Vs Modi : Comparing the in comparables, the fateful choice of a pitiable nation

The nation has to make its choice of choosing a leader that leads its people on the path of prosperity.  It is a time to establish that we as a nation make the right choice by upholding our highly cherished democratic norms.  It is a time to prove to the world and etch in history that we are not a monarchy in disguise, we are not a land of feudal lords and we are not a nation that hangs by the branches of a banyan tree planted by the grandfather just for the reason that it bears his name.  We need to progress in a competitive world, protect ourselves from our enemies, refocus the power of youth, build bridges for a prosperous tomorrow and erase incompetence, complacency, corruption and internal conflicts.  We live in a testing time.  As such, we need to seriously weigh our choices.

At a time like this and while making the right choice, we need to capitalize on experience, efficiency and effectiveness of a leader that has proven his worth in the society.  The choice that we make for the nation is the choice that we make on the future of our children.  While people are frustrated with the indecisive rule of Congress that is fraught with senility and sycophancy and are getting excited about the prospects of  Narendra Modi leading our nation, Congress is positioning  Rahul Gandhi as a future Prime Minister.  

What a choice of leader the Congress puts forward!  

Rahul is a Gandhi by name.  It is a great name that is unconnected to the great one but was acquired by an insignificant quirk of fate after his grandmother married a man by that name and then passed on these precious six alphabets carefully through the generations.  This Gandhi who lent his family name to Rahul did nothing worthy of that name that we so fondly cherish, but very unknowingly, he created a mammoth brand capital to the family and to a political party that has nothing else to pride about but the name.  Well, what's in a name?  In this case, much of everything that is not in the person who bears it.  The name bears a powerful recognition which may perhaps mesmerize and confuse the younger generation of India.  It has that power which keeps a tight leash on the largest political party that no longer has an idealism or vision to lead the country and even give promotion to those facing serious corruption charges . It has the allure of making an ordinary Indo-Italian man into a crown prince and heir-apparent of extraordinary fortune.  It has that amazing historical value that easily turned an Italian woman on Indian soil into a 'Regent' and the Indian National Congress into a 'Regency'.  It is a name that when misplaced on a fortunate lad - shamed the democratic norms and legitimized a 'monarchy' with a sugar coat of democracy.

Modi is not a Gandhi by name.  Except that he comes from the soil, which bore Gandhi, he too is unconnected to the great one in lineage.  He does not have the fortune of the insignificant quirk of fate that endowed the head of the Prince of Congress with the halo of power.  He had no illusions of rising to power through thumb-sucking childhood on a political landscape where regents would wait on his steps.  He has worked his way up by serving the people for decades, delivering goods that matter in the everyday lives and binding the individual fates of the 6 crore  people of Gujarat to a smiling destiny of a better tomorrow.  He did not rise in power as a namesake or for the namesake.  He bore a vision of delivering power to the peoples' arms, so that they could earn their meal, quench their thirst, raise their children, live in honour and build a society of health, happiness and hope.  What's in his name?  Nothing that brings power or some beneficial confusion that the name 'Gandhi' brings.  But what's in his deeds is what matters.

Under Modi, peace has reigned in Gujarat with a record of no communal riots in a decade of his rule while the other parts of country have faced recurrent riots.  AP, UP, Bihar and Maharastra  have seen repeated events of communal disharmony.    Modi does not pursue an appeasement  policy  as he targets  development for all.  UK's most influential  Muslim MP, Lord Adam Patel, who is the founder of Council of Indian Muslims , a UK-based organisation that was formed to campaign against Gujarat riots, met Modi on 24th Jan 2013 to show solidarity. Adam, who played a pivotal role in organizing protests during Modi's visit to London in 2003, has now reconciled to the fact that Modi is a friend of all communities alike and has invited him to London

.  

In the recently concluded Election of Gujarat, 11% Muslim voted in favour of BJP which is a significant change in the thinking and proves against a common belief that Muslims do not favour him.  Time magazine has held high the message of Brand Gujarat and it now looks like the model that should cover the entire republic of India.  Against such tall accomplishments of development and communal harmony, what is being compared is a person of no vision, experience, accomplishment, public acceptance or even relevance to our society.

If Rahul Gandhi is the choice before us against the prospect of Narendra Modi, it plainly is a choice between inexperience and experience.  It is a choice between someone who has never held an office against one who has led a state for over a decade and established a model of exemplary development.  It will be a choice between upholding monarchy against voicing for democracy.  

And if Rahul is the choice, it is a fateful choice of a pitiable nation. 

V K SAXENA
PRESIDENT
National Council for Civil Liberties,
Ahmedabad.