|| Satyameva Jayate ||

W’end Reading: Modi, Bajrang Dal and Syed Shah Geelani

Start your weekend by reading Sh Modi’s interview in The Indian Express…which re-emphasises why development ought to be priority #1 for any political party today.

Then read what drives young, articulate leaders like Prakash Sharma to bat for Bajrang Dal (Just in case, you are wondering, there are numerous points in his interview which I disagree with - Shantanu)

…and finally, here is why Lalit Koul believes Syed Ali Shah Geelani should be given a one-way ticket to Pakistan.

Bonus: Have a look at the new depth being plumbed by mainstream media while reporting on current affairs.

Excerpts from all these articles below.

Keep Reading…

November 14th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Conversions, Missionaries in India, Current Affairs, Hindu Dharma, Human Rights and Legal Issues, Identity, Indian Media, Jammu & Kashmir related, Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Post Independence History | no comments

Testing the limits of minority appeasement

From Minority rule in Andhra Pradesh by Dr T.H.Chowdary*, these extraordinary examples that probably test the limits of minority appeasement:

On the 18th of Oct a number of Christian organizations under the leadership of Archbishop Rev. Joji of Andhra Pradesh met the Chief Minister and thanked him for conceding their demand and creating a separate department for Christian welfare and a separate Christian Finance Corporation in the government of Andhra Pradesh…According to the census 2001, Christians constitute 1.44% of the people of Andhra Pradesh .

Some actions of the government of the Andhra Pradesh for minorities are the following:

Waiver of Rs. 500 cr of debt owed by minorities to the government Minority Finance Corporation (not sure if the same relief was extended across the board to all the farmers - Shantanu)

…Spending government money for performing the marriage of Muslim & Christian couples at the rate of 15000 per couple. The marriages themselves will be under the auspices of the government ‘s minority welfare departments [ The first such group marriages was conducted in the State on 22/10/2008. The Chief Minister told this crowd that congress has unbound love and care and regard for Moslems and in proof of it he mentioned his giving 4% reservation for Moslems in spit of obstructions (from the High Court and Supreme Court)]

Government of Andhra Pradesh pays 100% of the tuition fees for Muslims in professional colleges for engineering, medicine, MBA, MCA, B.Ed, dental etc. the Colleges had been ordered not to charge Muslims but get reimbursement from the government.

…5% reservation for Muslims in the non-minority colleges (Although the matter is being litigated in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and in the Supreme Court, by various devices for two consecutive years this reservation has been implemented).

…The grants to the AP Urdu Academy are being continuously increased since the last 4 years and for the current year it is about Rs. 14.0 cr. ! The Sanskrit Academy gets only a fraction of what is given to the Urdu Academy, just Rs. 5 lakhs…

I thought *secular* governments did not mix religion and politics…but there is increasing evidence that in present day India, “secularism” has merely been reduced to a term in the constitution - devoid of any meaning and substance. Perhaps it is time to reconsider it?  Alongside, one also needs a vigorous debate around the whole idea of majority vs. minority…I find it deeply divisive and archaic…Should we not all try and be “Bharatiyas”/”Indians” first?

P.S. If you thought Dr T.H.Chowdary is some rabid, “Hindu-tva” fanatic, think again…He was the founding Chairman and MD of VSNL, ex-Chairman of APEDC, member of PM’s National Task Force for Information Technology (NTFIT) and has been an IT Advisor to Govt of AP between ‘97 - ‘04. 

Related Posts:

The ridiculous extremes of pseudo-secularism 

Pseudo-secularism at its best?  

I want a “subsidy” to visit Bali 

November 13th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | An Indian Identity, Current Affairs, Identity, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement | 5 comments

Will we get such a leader?

From “The Leader We Deserve” by Michael Kinsley…Although the article is about Obama, McCain and the US, it could have easily been written for India.

Peace and prosperity. During the last decade of the 20th century, Americans enjoyed more of both than any other people in history. Not all Americans, but most. Certainly most voters….Now both peace and prosperity seem uncertain.

…Through the fog of partisanship, we can acknowledge that both candidates are good men. But good isn’t enough. This time we need greatness.

Greatness is a compliment generally conferred in retrospect. We have lucked out several times in our history when implausible characters showed unexpected greatness when it was needed: a country lawyer from Illinois, a spoiled patrician in a wheelchair, to name two obvious examples. Even more miraculous (though troublesome for democracy), both Lincoln and F.D.R. were elected by promising more or less the opposite of what they did in office. Lincoln said he’d preserve the institution of slavery. F.D.R. said he’d balance the federal budget.

…unfortunately, our current political system seems designed to weed out precisely the qualities that are most needed at the moment.

One attribute we don’t need, although commonly associated with greatness in a leader, is empathy.

…What we need instead from a leader is astringency. Astringency means telling people what they don’t want to hear and leading them where they don’t want to go. It’s not comforting people about their current situation and reassuring them it will get better. It’s telling them that the situation is likely to get worse and that only their efforts can determine how soon it will start getting better.

…A second desirable quality of leadership, especially now, is toxic even to mention for its allegedly élitist overtones: intelligence. Not necessarily anything as crude as raw IQ scores…Call it intellectual curiosity, perhaps, or a willingness to engage with complicated ideas. …on balance it would be a plus to have a President who is smart. Maybe even really, really smart.

 Related Posts:

Do we deserve the politicians we get? 

Building a Freedom Team for India 

Will an Obama-style campaign work in India? 

November 11th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Current Affairs, Miscellaneous, Politics and Governance, Politics and Governance in India | 6 comments

“Maharashtranomics” and Bihar

In Part I of this series a few weeks ago, I had promised to share some data on statewise GDP, taxes and population in India.

I am still working through the various numbers but below is snapshot data* for the five largest states in India (population-wise). Together these states make up almost half of Lok Sabha.

It reveals some interesting facts:

Maharashtra has more than 5-times the GDP of Bihar, mainly driven by its 5x per-capita GDP as compared to Bihar. In terms of number of seats in Lok Sabha though, it has 48 compared to 40 for Bihar.

Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have similar-sized GDPs (AP is about 14% more GDP than WB) and not much different per-capita GDP.; Both send 42 candidates to the Lok Sabha.

UP’s per capita GDP is twice that of Bihar but it is still only 55% of AP or WB. Compared to Maharashtra, its per capita GDP is barely 37%. It is of course, the state that sends the maximum number of MPs to LokSabha and these numbers make it obvious why Mayawati might actually make it all the way to 7, Race Course Rd (although it will by no means be easy).

More on this in the days to come.

Related Posts:

No longer funny…

Alaskonomics and Bihar - Part I

“Biharnomics” Examined 

* Source: Various, incl. Wikipedia and 12th Finance Commission Report

November 9th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India | 6 comments

W’end Reading: Nandan Nilekani, Narendra Modi & History

Start this weekend by finding out why Nandan Nilekani feels obliged to use his position and ideas ”to make a difference to a country on verge of transformation”.

Continue with Why India needs Narendra Modi….

and end with the “usefulness” of History, courtesy Varnam.

Brief excerpts from all the articles below.

Keep Reading…

November 8th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Corruption in India, Current Affairs, History, Politics and Governance in India | 3 comments

Changing India - Step I

Dear Friends, Thanks to all of you for an overwhelming response to my two posts: Who is B Shantanu? and Changing India - One Step at a Time.

I am more hopeful than ever before and absolutely convinced that we are heading towards a transformation of the political landscape in India…It will not  happen overnight…or even in weeks or months…But the fire of “hope” has been lit…and it is spreading slowly but steadily…

Many of you who emailed or called me after these posts asked what should they do, how can they help and what were my next steps. This post is an attempt to answer some of these questions…

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***  What can you do? How can you begin participating in this noble cause? ***

1. Read and read lots…Unless we are well-informed and aware, we will be hostage to media manipulation, poor arguments and suspect statistics. So please make sure that you set aside time every day to read about the issues that face us (and I dont mean newspaper headlines about murders and rapes) and how would you think about them if you were in power?  By way of reading list, I would recomend the monthly magazine “Pragati” and a collection of blogs on politics and economy (some names that jump to my mind include Offstumped, Acorn, Deeshaa, Indian Economy, Bharat-Rakshak etc; there are many others…this is just a sample list).

2. Discuss. Try and have regular informal discussions amongst your friends and acquaintances on these topics…they could even be at a social occassion…and need not be very structured…The important thing is to get people “thinking” about India’s problems - and how the roots for all these lie in poor leadership, ineffective governance and bad policies…and of course, please do join the various discussions on this blog. For those of you who would like to join in serious policy discussions, I would recommend the Freedom Team’s Google Groups where many policy-related issues are discussed in great depth (You of course don’t have to agree with everything that is expressed).

3. Get involved directly: Please think about joining one or more of the new political groups/parties that have recently been formed. There is more information on them here and here.  Pl. try and use some of the “tools” that we now have to ensure more accountability, such as RTI.  If you are in India, please consider these two excellent initiatives…If you have some more time, pl. consider helping ADR

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*** How can you help? ***

4. You can help in this by spreading the word…Some of you have already done that…Thank you, in particular to Varnam and Dr Surya…but this work is ongoing …and we cannot afford to be complacent.

5. and finally, If you can help organise meeting(s), seminar(s) and/or fund-raising dinners in your city for me, please let me know by emailing me at jaidharma AT gmail.com The “funds” raised thus will be chanelled towards organising the first-ever meeting of leaders from new political parties, hopefully sometime early in 2009 (pl. see point # 6 here). More on this particular point, later.

I have some more ideas which I will share in the coming days. In the meantime, If you need to talk to me with some specific suggestions or ideas, please email me at jaidharma AT gmail.com and we can set up a skype/ googletalk call…or of course speak on the phone.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!

Related Posts:

Fixing the “system” - getting down to the nuts and bolts 

Lets come together to build a *new* and proud India 

Politics & Corruption: Here�s how to fix the “system”

November 6th, 2008 Posted by B Shantanu | Corruption in India, Current Affairs, Personal, Politics and Governance in India | no comments