Anna Hazare the Pied Piper of India
Syed Ali Mujtaba
Anti graft campaigner Anna Hazare ended his 288 hours of fast on Sunday August 28, 2011 and by doing so he gave the nation a sigh of collective relief. The 74-year-old social activist began his fast on August 16 and continued for 12 days uninterrupted.
It was a rare show of unanimity and purpose that saw unprecedented mobilization of the people across the nation. It resulted in special session of the Parliament to hold discussion on the Lokpal bill, stretching over nine hours in the Lok Sabha and eight hours in the Rajya Sabha.
Going beyond party lines at the Parliament passed a resolution agreeing to his three core demands of Anna Hazare for Citizens' charter, Lower bureaucracy under Lokpal through appropriate mechanism and establishment of Lokayukta in states. Parliament also passed a resolution to forward the proceedings of the House to the Standing Committee for its perusal while formulating its recommendations for a Lokpal Bill.
There are few very seminal points that have emerged out of the twelve days agitation led by Anna Hazare. The overwhelming response of Anna Hazare’s call to end corruption has set a precedent of sorts for mass mobilization in the country. In near memory there are three events that stand out for mass agitation.
One was the mobilization of the masses against rising prices, unemployment that led to the proclamation of national emergency in 1975. Then the agitation against it that was led by Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan, and Achrya Kirplani, the veteran freedom movement leaders, that led to the ending of the dark days in India. The anti emergency stir caught the imagination of the nation and people from wide spectrum of society came on the streets and rested only when the proclamation was withdrawn.
The second mass mobilization was seen in India during 1998, primarily from the youth of upper caste who were opposed to the implementation of the Mandal Commission report that gave 27 per cent reservation to the other backward caste categories of the Hindu society. This agitation was primarily confined to north India, where upper caste youth came out in large numbers and some even immolated themselves for the annulment of the law. Its was mass hysteria with the underpinning of suicidal impulses on the lines French sociologist David Émile Durkheim proponed in his study, ‘Suicide: A Study In Sociology, published in 1895.
The last was the Sangh Parivar’s mass mobilization centering on Ram Janamboohmi. A wounded civilization came out in large numbers to destroy the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. As the angry agitators pulled down the three domes of the Muslim’s place of worship, in that carnival of rebellion, it seems the three domes, on the Parliament, on the Supreme Court and on the Rashtriapathi Bhavan, crumbled. In hindsight, the mobilization of the masses was more for destruction than actually for construction, as the intended purpose thereafter could not mobilize the masses.
Contrary to all of them, Anna’ Hazre’s agitation was unique in many sense. It demonstrated to the world that even in this age, there are pied pipers who can bring the people on the streets. The charismatic figure of Anna Hazare, caught the imagination of the nation many equate him with Mahatma Gandhi and his method of agitation.
Some may point out that the mass mobilization was due to spread of the social media, others may say it was the handiwork of the television channels, that went gone gung-ho telecasting this reality show, some may also credit the organizational acumen of team Anna, the fact is there was unprecedented mobilization of the masses never seen, since the independent movement of the country.
The other feature of the movement was the discipline shown by the agitators and volunteers’ having a total control of the situation is something remarkable. Skeptics had cast doubts over the agitation and some even predicted it may end up in Chauri Chaura way, and like Mahatma Gandhi, Anna Hazare too calling off his fast in a dejected mood. However, every thing went of the scripted way of the reality show and this something laudable.
However, it’s not that every thing was picture perfect in Anna Hazre’s agitation. There were many flaws in it as well. The twelve days agitation of Anna Hazare has able to dictate the content of the Lok Pal bill. The government was forced to bow down to the pressure that was applied on it through the strength drawn from the street, even though it took eleven days to do so. This is unprecedented.
It has set a new precedent for future political discourse in the country and the future governments have to be prepared to handle such dictate from the so called people’s parliament.
Imagine a situation when the farmers of the country march to New Delhi, to press their demands or the Hindutva forces muster such strength and pressurize the Parliament to build the Ram temple or in wake of terror attack, the people’s Parliament ask the government to go to war with Pakistan. Let’s leave it for propriety as imagination stops to build future scenarios.
Certainly, Anna Hazare should have avoided the ill advised call to his followers to gherao the Prime Minister, MPs and MLAs. He and some of his spokespersons called people’s representatives as dacoits and thieves and that amount to spreading hatred. Apologies on this count in the closing speech were dished out, but the damage done certainly lowered the dignity of the movement.
Another matter of extreme concern was the source of funds for sustaining the movement for twelve days. Even earlier to that, the members of team Anna were flying at different locations in the country and there were huge shows being organized. All that needed money, where did it come from? Many people visiting Ram Lila grounds are reported to have been fed with snacks and food. All these would not have come without money? It is quite possible that such money may have come from the followers of Anna Hazare but the country need to know the people who have funded them.
In the closing speech, it was said that the money spent during the agitation were from public donations and from admirers of Anna Hazare. To some this sounded more like a politician’s comment then the words of a social activist. It leaves an element of deep suspicion among the civil society about the movement it represents.
In such issues, transparency is a very important. In a rare show of solidarity countrymen belonging to a cross section of the society have given unstinted support to Anna Hazare’s protest against corruption. Team Anna should clearly make public the names of the people who have funded the twelve day agitation. Keeping the curtains over the faces, would go against the noble cause that the movement represents.
Even before the agitation has begun allegations of impropriety came forth regarding all the NGOs to which category Anna Hazare and his team belong, that they are not corruption free. A few of them have been accused of swindling large amount of money and misusing the NGO portfolio for ulterior purposes. The fact of the matter is; Anna Hazare has missed to comment on this disturbing fact for whatever reasons.
Anna Hazare’s practice of giving a free hand to his hand picked people has raised eyebrows. There are certainly many more knowledgeable people in the country with great credentials that Anna should spot and utilize them for the larger good of the nation. Keeping the tainted faces in the crusade against corruption takes away the sheen out of the movement.
Finally, the claim that the battle against corruption has been half won seems bit exaggerated. The fact is that the battle against corruption has only just begun. The movement still has a long way to go. What is required is to fine tune it to a substantial extent to provide dignity to the campaign.
The bitter truth is that during the twelve days of fast, team Anna have not been able to elevate the quality of the campaign to the lofty level necessary to sustain such movement. It’s imperative to plug the loopholes in future.
In the end, let’s hope and pray that human greed is over powered in our country and corruption is banished from this land. If and when it happens, Anna Hazare will be hailed as the pied piper of India.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Friday, September 2, 2011
How to Make Lokpal Bill Effective – The Debate Continues
How to Make Lokpal Bill Effective – The Debate Continues
Syed Ali Mujtaba
How to make Lokpal Bill effective was the theme of a debate competition for college students organized by a NGO ‘Nandini Voice for the Deprived’ on August, 13, 2011, in Chennai. The objective of the competition was to provide an opportunity to the college students to give their views on the subject.
Number of college students from several Chennai city colleges including Indian Institute of Technology Madras, School of Excellence in Law, JBAS College for Women, Loyola Institute of Business Administration participated in the debate competition.
This author, Mr. P. K. N. Panicker, President, Chemical Industries Association and educationist and Mr. N. L. Rajah, senior advocate were the judges in the first panel. Prof. S. Radhakrishnan, Professor of Economics, Mr. S. M. Arasu, Founder, Anti Corruption Movement, Mr. Kris Dev, social activist were the judges in the second panel. Trustee, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Mr. N. S.Venkataraman moderated the debate.
Quite a few students argued that Lokpal Bill may not be necessary, since enough laws and regulations are in the country to root out corruption. The problem, they felt, was that those in power including politicians and bureaucrats circumvent the existing rules and regulations to indulge in corruption and prevent punishment for the corrupt persons.
Students wondered that Lokpal Bill if enacted into law, may also end up with the same fate as the several of the existing anti corruption regulations and institutions
At best, Lokpal may function like Central Vigilance Commission, so instead of enacting a new law, the Central Vigilance Commission can be strengthened in variety of ways, which would produce quick results and avoid protracted arguments and delay.
Some students felt that Lokpal is only likely to function as an advisory body, with no powers to punish the corrupt. Therefore, the Lokpal’s report has to be substantiated in the court of law and judiciary would ultimately decide the case. Therefore, there may not be really any change in the ground realities. So the students argued that Lokpal may function like Central Vigilance Commission, referring its conclusions to the court.
Most students said that the Lokpal Bill should cover all sections of the country irrespective of age and position including judiciary and defense. The present move of the government to restrict it to certain sections of bureaucracy alone will mean nothing.
Some students insisted that Prime Minister should be included in the Lokpal Bill. They dismissed the argument that the inclusion of Prime Minister will lead to vested interests, paving way for false charges against the Prime Minister to destabilize the government. The students said that instead of excluding the Prime Minister, Lokpal Bill can have certain built in safeguards to ensure that vague and false charges against the Prime minister would not be entertained.
There are multiple vigilance organizations today like CBI, CVC and others which sometimes work at cross purposes. Such organizations should be brought under Lokpal to ensure coordinated approach and transparency. This aspect should be examined by the government for its administrative feasibility.
Students suggested the selection process for Lokpal Chairman and members should be broad based. The nomination should be invited from public for Lokpal Committee members, just like nominations being invited for Nobel prize award and selection must be very strict and should not be left into the hands of politicians and judges.
While the students greatly applauded the initiatives of Anna Hazare and his team members, they pointed out that Anna Hazare is only aiming at forming some regulations at the government level by seeking to introduce one more law. Anna Hazare has not looked into the option of strengthening the existing anti corruption institutions by closing the loopholes in them which would produce quicker results.
There was an unanimity that the ultimate solution for the problem is to change in the mind set of the people. Many people in India are involved in corrupt practices and corruption is not restricted to politicians and bureaucrats alone. Some people in India think that the act of small corruption is not immoral and this mind set needs to be changed.
The students disagreed to the concept of second freedom struggle launched by Anna Hazare. They pointed out that the essential difference between the movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the movement initiated by Anna Hazare is, while Mahatma Gandhi led the freedom movement against the British, but simultaneously fought against several social evils such as caste system, untocuhability, liquor habit and strove to reform the individual Indians and their mind set, Anna Hazare movement lack the broad based approach.
The students felt that even now, it is not late and Anna Hazare should look back into his activities during the last one year and redirect the movement in appropriate direction, without giving an impression that mere change of laws will make India corruption free.
The debate had some very valuable inputs from the judges who commented on the issue of corruption and the aspects on the Lokpal bill. Their broad theme was in India; traditionally success is measured by the money accumulated by the individuals irrespective of the means adopted. This has resulted in a situation where corruption remains has permeated at all levels and in all sorts of activities. The public campaign against corruption should continue just like the anti liquor campaign and anti tobacco campaign.
The battle against the corruption must be fought in the minds and hearts of people and NGOs have a big role to play in this. The country should learn to hate the corrupt people which will happen only by millions of Indians not being corrupt in private and public life, was the ultimate conclusion of the debate
The debate competition would further take place at Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai in September. The participating students would be awarded prizes during a meeting on October 1, 2011 the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi. The views expressed by the students would be forwarded to the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman for their consideration on the formulation of Lokpal bill.
---------------
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a senior journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Syed Ali Mujtaba
How to make Lokpal Bill effective was the theme of a debate competition for college students organized by a NGO ‘Nandini Voice for the Deprived’ on August, 13, 2011, in Chennai. The objective of the competition was to provide an opportunity to the college students to give their views on the subject.
Number of college students from several Chennai city colleges including Indian Institute of Technology Madras, School of Excellence in Law, JBAS College for Women, Loyola Institute of Business Administration participated in the debate competition.
This author, Mr. P. K. N. Panicker, President, Chemical Industries Association and educationist and Mr. N. L. Rajah, senior advocate were the judges in the first panel. Prof. S. Radhakrishnan, Professor of Economics, Mr. S. M. Arasu, Founder, Anti Corruption Movement, Mr. Kris Dev, social activist were the judges in the second panel. Trustee, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, Mr. N. S.Venkataraman moderated the debate.
Quite a few students argued that Lokpal Bill may not be necessary, since enough laws and regulations are in the country to root out corruption. The problem, they felt, was that those in power including politicians and bureaucrats circumvent the existing rules and regulations to indulge in corruption and prevent punishment for the corrupt persons.
Students wondered that Lokpal Bill if enacted into law, may also end up with the same fate as the several of the existing anti corruption regulations and institutions
At best, Lokpal may function like Central Vigilance Commission, so instead of enacting a new law, the Central Vigilance Commission can be strengthened in variety of ways, which would produce quick results and avoid protracted arguments and delay.
Some students felt that Lokpal is only likely to function as an advisory body, with no powers to punish the corrupt. Therefore, the Lokpal’s report has to be substantiated in the court of law and judiciary would ultimately decide the case. Therefore, there may not be really any change in the ground realities. So the students argued that Lokpal may function like Central Vigilance Commission, referring its conclusions to the court.
Most students said that the Lokpal Bill should cover all sections of the country irrespective of age and position including judiciary and defense. The present move of the government to restrict it to certain sections of bureaucracy alone will mean nothing.
Some students insisted that Prime Minister should be included in the Lokpal Bill. They dismissed the argument that the inclusion of Prime Minister will lead to vested interests, paving way for false charges against the Prime Minister to destabilize the government. The students said that instead of excluding the Prime Minister, Lokpal Bill can have certain built in safeguards to ensure that vague and false charges against the Prime minister would not be entertained.
There are multiple vigilance organizations today like CBI, CVC and others which sometimes work at cross purposes. Such organizations should be brought under Lokpal to ensure coordinated approach and transparency. This aspect should be examined by the government for its administrative feasibility.
Students suggested the selection process for Lokpal Chairman and members should be broad based. The nomination should be invited from public for Lokpal Committee members, just like nominations being invited for Nobel prize award and selection must be very strict and should not be left into the hands of politicians and judges.
While the students greatly applauded the initiatives of Anna Hazare and his team members, they pointed out that Anna Hazare is only aiming at forming some regulations at the government level by seeking to introduce one more law. Anna Hazare has not looked into the option of strengthening the existing anti corruption institutions by closing the loopholes in them which would produce quicker results.
There was an unanimity that the ultimate solution for the problem is to change in the mind set of the people. Many people in India are involved in corrupt practices and corruption is not restricted to politicians and bureaucrats alone. Some people in India think that the act of small corruption is not immoral and this mind set needs to be changed.
The students disagreed to the concept of second freedom struggle launched by Anna Hazare. They pointed out that the essential difference between the movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the movement initiated by Anna Hazare is, while Mahatma Gandhi led the freedom movement against the British, but simultaneously fought against several social evils such as caste system, untocuhability, liquor habit and strove to reform the individual Indians and their mind set, Anna Hazare movement lack the broad based approach.
The students felt that even now, it is not late and Anna Hazare should look back into his activities during the last one year and redirect the movement in appropriate direction, without giving an impression that mere change of laws will make India corruption free.
The debate had some very valuable inputs from the judges who commented on the issue of corruption and the aspects on the Lokpal bill. Their broad theme was in India; traditionally success is measured by the money accumulated by the individuals irrespective of the means adopted. This has resulted in a situation where corruption remains has permeated at all levels and in all sorts of activities. The public campaign against corruption should continue just like the anti liquor campaign and anti tobacco campaign.
The battle against the corruption must be fought in the minds and hearts of people and NGOs have a big role to play in this. The country should learn to hate the corrupt people which will happen only by millions of Indians not being corrupt in private and public life, was the ultimate conclusion of the debate
The debate competition would further take place at Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai in September. The participating students would be awarded prizes during a meeting on October 1, 2011 the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi. The views expressed by the students would be forwarded to the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman for their consideration on the formulation of Lokpal bill.
---------------
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a senior journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Hon Judge don’t preach, ugly can’t be beautiful
Hon Judge don’t preach, ugly can’t be beautiful
Syed Ali Mujtaba
The statement made by former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas, praising Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its style of functioning as an organization is debatable. Notwithstanding the right of freedom of speech, the comments made by the learned judge are disturbing.
It’s more so, because K T Thomas belongs to a Christian community that has suffered at the hands of the RSS and yet he has engaged himself in an image building exercise of an organization that’s essentially is fascist in character.
There are few salient features of K T Thomas's statement. The former judge do not like that the RSS be held responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He is of the view that the RSS is not an anti minority organization. He thinks the RSS is a well disciplined organization worthy of admiration. He goes on to praise the RSS for opposing the national emergency and gives it credit for fighting for the restoration of the fundamental rights.
One may like to discuss these comments one by one as each of them sounds contentious. However, before doing so, let’s have the details of his statement.
The former judge wants the ''smear campaign'' against RSS being responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi to end. “Just because the assassin was once an RSS worker does not hold RSS responsible of the crime,” he says.
The smear campaign that the RSS was responsible for Gandhi’s assassination is unjustified, he has reportedly said and added that the organization was ''completely exonerated'' by the court.
K T Thomas defended the RSS acts of omission and commission by posing a question, "Can the entire Sikh community be responsible for Indira Gandhi’s assassination?”
He also took exception to the propaganda that RSS is an anti-minority organization, saying such vilification campaign is "baseless."
The learned judge then goes on to say; "I am a Christian. I was born as a Christian and practice that religion. I am a church going Christian. But I have also learnt many things about RSS."
The former apex court judge says, he became an admirer of the RSS in 1979 when he was posted as district judge of Kozhikode. This is because RSS is a disciplined organization that believes in the philosophy of simple living and high thinking.
He goes on to eulogise the RSS, saying; during the national Emergency of 1975, RSS was the only non-political organization that fought against its proclamation. "We owe very much to RSS for sacrificing many lives for regaining our fundamental rights," he reportedly said
Initially, when I saw this PTI report, I thought of ignoring it with the logic let hundred flowers bloom, but then, when the same copy started circulating on the internet, I felt this should not become a gospel of truth.
The statement made by K T Thomas, becomes noteworthy because the person is not only a former Supreme Court judge, an upholder of the constitution, but also belongs to a minority Christian community. Now, lets dissect each of his statement one by one.
First of all, the Judge wants us to forget that assassin of Mahatma Gandhi was not an act of the RSS but of a lunatic who was its former member. He does not like to accept the fact that the lunatic man was indoctrinated by the radical ideology of the RSS that drove him to commit that heinous crime.
Court's may exonerate the individual or an organization for want of facts, but can anyone force to make up their mind based on the courts judgement. So, no amount logic can convince the people of this country that RSS was not behind the assassination of the Mahatma Gandhi.
His second observation, that RSS is not anti-minority is also untenable. Since last 64 years, the anti minority conduct of the RSS is very well documented. Time and again it’s being held responsible for breeching peace in the country. This organization takes up well orchestrated campaign against the minority community and polarizes the society on communal lines. Very often, the minority community is pushed to the wall and is forced to react and that takes the form of communal riots.
The lessons learnt from the communal riots are the story of provocation from the RSS cadre and the reaction from minority community. Since the act of the former is well planned, the reaction comes unguarded, making the minority community vulnerable. They fall into a well laid out trap and become victims of the circumstances, loosing their lives property and honour in the process.
K T Thomas, takes pride in being a practising Christian and an admirer of the RSS. He goes on to issue a good character certificate of the organization whose record of anti Christian community is numerous. The gruesome murder of Graham Stain at the hands of RSS sympathizer is still etched in our memory.
Its common knowledge, that believer of the Christian faith in Orissa and Karnataka had suffered immensely in recent times at the hands of the RSS cadre that held them responsible for conversion. Can the entire Christian community be responsible for the act of few Christians?
His comment on RSS opposing the national emergency of 1975 and fighting for the restoration of fundamental rights is also far fetched. Any one who has lived during the period of emergency can vouch that a cross section of the society has opposed that high handed declaration tooth and nail. Giving credit to RSS for opposing emergency, is tantamount to making heroes of a tribe of murders.
K T Thomas says that RSS is a well disciplined organisation worthy of admiration. I find a parallel to it in the admirers of the Nazis, that’s also, had been hailed as a well disciplined organisation. However, does that exonerate it from the charges of the “Holocaust” against the Jews?
The sole purpose of the RSS is to divide the country on communal lines. Its modus oprendi is to mobilize the gullible masses of the Hindu faith by instilling in them the fear of threat from the minority community.
I feel pity about the ex judge who relishes an organization, that bellies the essence of the Indian constitution. RSS is well known for its advocacy of the supremacy of the Hindu faith and the subservience of other faiths to it. Isn’t it a diabolic thinking?
I feel no amount of sweet talking can build the image of the RSS. There are certain fundamental issues that go against it. It does not tolerate religious pluralism, secularism, socialism and democratic values that’s being cherished by every Indian.
So no amount of the advocacy of the RSS by whomsoever can make it a perfect organisation. There is an uncanny feeling that Mr. K T Thomas has chose to make the comments for some gainful reasons. There are more to his statement then what the eyes can read.
An appeal to the voices peace and harmony to stand up against such purposeful statement and advice to Hon. Judge, better not preach the ugly can’t be made beautiful.
--
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Syed Ali Mujtaba
The statement made by former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas, praising Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its style of functioning as an organization is debatable. Notwithstanding the right of freedom of speech, the comments made by the learned judge are disturbing.
It’s more so, because K T Thomas belongs to a Christian community that has suffered at the hands of the RSS and yet he has engaged himself in an image building exercise of an organization that’s essentially is fascist in character.
There are few salient features of K T Thomas's statement. The former judge do not like that the RSS be held responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He is of the view that the RSS is not an anti minority organization. He thinks the RSS is a well disciplined organization worthy of admiration. He goes on to praise the RSS for opposing the national emergency and gives it credit for fighting for the restoration of the fundamental rights.
One may like to discuss these comments one by one as each of them sounds contentious. However, before doing so, let’s have the details of his statement.
The former judge wants the ''smear campaign'' against RSS being responsible for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi to end. “Just because the assassin was once an RSS worker does not hold RSS responsible of the crime,” he says.
The smear campaign that the RSS was responsible for Gandhi’s assassination is unjustified, he has reportedly said and added that the organization was ''completely exonerated'' by the court.
K T Thomas defended the RSS acts of omission and commission by posing a question, "Can the entire Sikh community be responsible for Indira Gandhi’s assassination?”
He also took exception to the propaganda that RSS is an anti-minority organization, saying such vilification campaign is "baseless."
The learned judge then goes on to say; "I am a Christian. I was born as a Christian and practice that religion. I am a church going Christian. But I have also learnt many things about RSS."
The former apex court judge says, he became an admirer of the RSS in 1979 when he was posted as district judge of Kozhikode. This is because RSS is a disciplined organization that believes in the philosophy of simple living and high thinking.
He goes on to eulogise the RSS, saying; during the national Emergency of 1975, RSS was the only non-political organization that fought against its proclamation. "We owe very much to RSS for sacrificing many lives for regaining our fundamental rights," he reportedly said
Initially, when I saw this PTI report, I thought of ignoring it with the logic let hundred flowers bloom, but then, when the same copy started circulating on the internet, I felt this should not become a gospel of truth.
The statement made by K T Thomas, becomes noteworthy because the person is not only a former Supreme Court judge, an upholder of the constitution, but also belongs to a minority Christian community. Now, lets dissect each of his statement one by one.
First of all, the Judge wants us to forget that assassin of Mahatma Gandhi was not an act of the RSS but of a lunatic who was its former member. He does not like to accept the fact that the lunatic man was indoctrinated by the radical ideology of the RSS that drove him to commit that heinous crime.
Court's may exonerate the individual or an organization for want of facts, but can anyone force to make up their mind based on the courts judgement. So, no amount logic can convince the people of this country that RSS was not behind the assassination of the Mahatma Gandhi.
His second observation, that RSS is not anti-minority is also untenable. Since last 64 years, the anti minority conduct of the RSS is very well documented. Time and again it’s being held responsible for breeching peace in the country. This organization takes up well orchestrated campaign against the minority community and polarizes the society on communal lines. Very often, the minority community is pushed to the wall and is forced to react and that takes the form of communal riots.
The lessons learnt from the communal riots are the story of provocation from the RSS cadre and the reaction from minority community. Since the act of the former is well planned, the reaction comes unguarded, making the minority community vulnerable. They fall into a well laid out trap and become victims of the circumstances, loosing their lives property and honour in the process.
K T Thomas, takes pride in being a practising Christian and an admirer of the RSS. He goes on to issue a good character certificate of the organization whose record of anti Christian community is numerous. The gruesome murder of Graham Stain at the hands of RSS sympathizer is still etched in our memory.
Its common knowledge, that believer of the Christian faith in Orissa and Karnataka had suffered immensely in recent times at the hands of the RSS cadre that held them responsible for conversion. Can the entire Christian community be responsible for the act of few Christians?
His comment on RSS opposing the national emergency of 1975 and fighting for the restoration of fundamental rights is also far fetched. Any one who has lived during the period of emergency can vouch that a cross section of the society has opposed that high handed declaration tooth and nail. Giving credit to RSS for opposing emergency, is tantamount to making heroes of a tribe of murders.
K T Thomas says that RSS is a well disciplined organisation worthy of admiration. I find a parallel to it in the admirers of the Nazis, that’s also, had been hailed as a well disciplined organisation. However, does that exonerate it from the charges of the “Holocaust” against the Jews?
The sole purpose of the RSS is to divide the country on communal lines. Its modus oprendi is to mobilize the gullible masses of the Hindu faith by instilling in them the fear of threat from the minority community.
I feel pity about the ex judge who relishes an organization, that bellies the essence of the Indian constitution. RSS is well known for its advocacy of the supremacy of the Hindu faith and the subservience of other faiths to it. Isn’t it a diabolic thinking?
I feel no amount of sweet talking can build the image of the RSS. There are certain fundamental issues that go against it. It does not tolerate religious pluralism, secularism, socialism and democratic values that’s being cherished by every Indian.
So no amount of the advocacy of the RSS by whomsoever can make it a perfect organisation. There is an uncanny feeling that Mr. K T Thomas has chose to make the comments for some gainful reasons. There are more to his statement then what the eyes can read.
An appeal to the voices peace and harmony to stand up against such purposeful statement and advice to Hon. Judge, better not preach the ugly can’t be made beautiful.
--
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Planet, People and Profit Key to Environmental Campaign
Planet, People and Profit Key to Environmental Campaign
Syed Ali Mujtaba
“Planet, People and Profit are the three Ps that are central to the issues related to the protection of the environment. The profit or consumerism is the villain of the planet that’s getting spoiled by the people indulging into mindless consumerism,” said Mr.Jayaprasad, National Secretary, Service Civil International (SCI) India, at the youth workshop on Climate Change in Chennai, India.
Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO) with the support of Service Civil International (SCI) Italy and KMGNE Germany organized the day long workshop on August 6, 2011.
“Youth volunteering can be a medium for intertwining northern and southern campaigns on issues related to climate change because youth want to change the world,” said A.J.Hariharan , Secretary, Founder of ICWO.
Another speaker, Devanayyan, Director of Tholaizhmai Human rights organization passionately appealed for environmental friendly practices among the youth asking them to make it a part of their daily lives.
“Its necessary that youth need to focus on the environmental issue, because over a period of last 5 years, nearly 125 lakes has disappeared in Chennai and the space is occupied by concrete structures,” he said.
Students from Madras Christian College, Madras School of Social Work, Hindu College, Mohammed Sathak College, volunteers from Service Civil International SCI and international youth from Italy, Germany, Australia and USA participated in the workshop.
The workshop focused on the waste management, issues and made certain recommendations like massive balloons should be banned, use of fire crackers to be reduced, introduction of mobile toilets, to encourage people to volunteer to clean up toilets, cleaning up the streets. segregated dustbin should be kept in the streets, creating awareness on usage of waste bins, having the recycling bins with color coded baskets, usage of paper cups, use of cotton bags should be practiced, noise and smoke free festivals, fine those who throw the waste on the streets or spit on the roads, unnecessary use of horn on roads, ban on cremation of dead bodies on the river bed, encouragement of electrical cremation, less usage of electricity, use of cycles as mode of transportation, tree plantation to be encouraged, importance of self awareness in reducing the impact of climate change.
Some participants expressed their desire to pass on the message of how to tackle the issue of climate change discussed at the workshop to their family, friends and schoolmates. Some volunteered for starting an environment club or recycling project in schools and colleges. A pledge taken to make this world sustainable for the future generation
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average (e.g., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a specific region or may occur across the whole earth.
The issue of Climate Change is a key element of the contemporary interconnections between North and South of the world. It involves the entire planet. The most affected countries are those of the Southern hemisphere, while in the North the majority of Co2 is produced as well as other gases responsible for global warming. It is therefore essential to deal with this issue in a holistic way and to train the youth in order to implement innovative strategies and campaigns against the causes of Climate Change.
The momentum of environmental campaign was further buttressed by organizing a cycle rally at the Marina Beach Chennai on August, 8 2011. The title of the rally was “Grounding Our Future” to stop global warming.
A large number of participants from social work department Stella Maris College, Mohammed Sathak College, Hindu College, Presidency College, C.N.P.T. Poly-Technical College and Volunteers from USA, Australia participated in the cycle rally.
Global warming is caused by green house gases, which trap in the sun’s infrared rays in the earth’s atmosphere, which in turn heat up the earth’s atmosphere.
These green house effect warming is called as global warming. The effects of green house effect are visible more prominently in the recent years, with number of natural calamities on the rise in the whole world. The global warming has happened in the past few years and is evident from the rise in mean temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.
The fight against global warming cannot be in isolation and it needs collaboration of different stakeholders, corporate houses, NGOs, CBOs, along with general public.
Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and each of us can help in this endeavor. In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere. Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, “sequestering” carbon naturally. Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we’re storing.
Some of these technologies have drawbacks, and different communities will make different decisions about how to power their lives, but the good news is that there are a variety of options to put us on a path toward a stable climate.
This is the first time a workshop on climate change and a cycle rally on environmental issues focusing youth was organized in Chennai. The main objective of the workshop is to enhance the youth capacity to promote volunteering as a tool to endorse sustainable life styles. The idea has to be developed further and enriched by the exchange of ideas of the people living in other areas of the world how they are dealing with such global issues.
---
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Syed Ali Mujtaba
“Planet, People and Profit are the three Ps that are central to the issues related to the protection of the environment. The profit or consumerism is the villain of the planet that’s getting spoiled by the people indulging into mindless consumerism,” said Mr.Jayaprasad, National Secretary, Service Civil International (SCI) India, at the youth workshop on Climate Change in Chennai, India.
Indian Community Welfare Organization (ICWO) with the support of Service Civil International (SCI) Italy and KMGNE Germany organized the day long workshop on August 6, 2011.
“Youth volunteering can be a medium for intertwining northern and southern campaigns on issues related to climate change because youth want to change the world,” said A.J.Hariharan , Secretary, Founder of ICWO.
Another speaker, Devanayyan, Director of Tholaizhmai Human rights organization passionately appealed for environmental friendly practices among the youth asking them to make it a part of their daily lives.
“Its necessary that youth need to focus on the environmental issue, because over a period of last 5 years, nearly 125 lakes has disappeared in Chennai and the space is occupied by concrete structures,” he said.
Students from Madras Christian College, Madras School of Social Work, Hindu College, Mohammed Sathak College, volunteers from Service Civil International SCI and international youth from Italy, Germany, Australia and USA participated in the workshop.
The workshop focused on the waste management, issues and made certain recommendations like massive balloons should be banned, use of fire crackers to be reduced, introduction of mobile toilets, to encourage people to volunteer to clean up toilets, cleaning up the streets. segregated dustbin should be kept in the streets, creating awareness on usage of waste bins, having the recycling bins with color coded baskets, usage of paper cups, use of cotton bags should be practiced, noise and smoke free festivals, fine those who throw the waste on the streets or spit on the roads, unnecessary use of horn on roads, ban on cremation of dead bodies on the river bed, encouragement of electrical cremation, less usage of electricity, use of cycles as mode of transportation, tree plantation to be encouraged, importance of self awareness in reducing the impact of climate change.
Some participants expressed their desire to pass on the message of how to tackle the issue of climate change discussed at the workshop to their family, friends and schoolmates. Some volunteered for starting an environment club or recycling project in schools and colleges. A pledge taken to make this world sustainable for the future generation
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average (e.g., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change may be limited to a specific region or may occur across the whole earth.
The issue of Climate Change is a key element of the contemporary interconnections between North and South of the world. It involves the entire planet. The most affected countries are those of the Southern hemisphere, while in the North the majority of Co2 is produced as well as other gases responsible for global warming. It is therefore essential to deal with this issue in a holistic way and to train the youth in order to implement innovative strategies and campaigns against the causes of Climate Change.
The momentum of environmental campaign was further buttressed by organizing a cycle rally at the Marina Beach Chennai on August, 8 2011. The title of the rally was “Grounding Our Future” to stop global warming.
A large number of participants from social work department Stella Maris College, Mohammed Sathak College, Hindu College, Presidency College, C.N.P.T. Poly-Technical College and Volunteers from USA, Australia participated in the cycle rally.
Global warming is caused by green house gases, which trap in the sun’s infrared rays in the earth’s atmosphere, which in turn heat up the earth’s atmosphere.
These green house effect warming is called as global warming. The effects of green house effect are visible more prominently in the recent years, with number of natural calamities on the rise in the whole world. The global warming has happened in the past few years and is evident from the rise in mean temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.
The fight against global warming cannot be in isolation and it needs collaboration of different stakeholders, corporate houses, NGOs, CBOs, along with general public.
Many people and governments are already working hard to cut greenhouse gases, and each of us can help in this endeavor. In addition to reducing the gases we emit to the atmosphere, we can also increase the amount of gases we take out of the atmosphere. Plants and trees absorb CO2 as they grow, “sequestering” carbon naturally. Increasing forestlands and making changes to the way we farm could increase the amount of carbon we’re storing.
Some of these technologies have drawbacks, and different communities will make different decisions about how to power their lives, but the good news is that there are a variety of options to put us on a path toward a stable climate.
This is the first time a workshop on climate change and a cycle rally on environmental issues focusing youth was organized in Chennai. The main objective of the workshop is to enhance the youth capacity to promote volunteering as a tool to endorse sustainable life styles. The idea has to be developed further and enriched by the exchange of ideas of the people living in other areas of the world how they are dealing with such global issues.
---
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Changing Face of Bihar
Changing Face of Bihar A talk by Syed Ali Mujtaba
Report on ORF interaction in Chennai dated 25 January 2011
Bihar is one of the most under-developed States in India. Be it the political anarchy or recurrent floods in one part and droughts in the other, Bihar has always remained in news for wrong reasons. Taking heed of the recent positive developments in the State, the Chennai Chapter of Observer Research Foundation organised an Interaction on the 'Changing face of Bihar', on January 22, 2011.
Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba, Director, School of Mass Communication, Vels University, Chennai, presented a detailed profile of Bihar, explaining the political history and the ground realities in the State. A native of Bihar, he enumerated the wave of change that has been sweeping across the State in recent times, inter-mingling facts and figures with anecdotes and personal experiences. He listed construction of roads across the State as among the top achievements of the present Government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and said that in a State where no roads had existed for decades, it also helped the ruling coalition NDA (National Democratic Alliance) to win re-election the previous year.
Dr. Mujtaba elaborated the changes in different fields with relevant examples. The administrative sector witnessed tremendous changes, ranging from the better functioning of Government offices to the introduction of new technologies. New laws have been passed, making it mandatory for Government employees to declare their assets. He noted that surprise-checks and raids have brought down the incidence of corruption to some extent. Reports about kidnapping for gain and murder too have reduced considerably. At the local-governance level, both the panchayatiraj system and municipal corporations have been revived and are active. He also pointed to the vast improvement in tax-collections of the civic bodies.
Dr. Mujtaba was of the opinion that the life of the people in Bihar has improved in different ways. According to him, the increased connectivity attained by construction of roads and popularisation of mobile phones have revolutionised life in Bihar. The primary education, especially for girls, is given a lot of importance than ever before. The strict implementation of Centrally-funded schemes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, providing noon-meal, uniforms and books have all contributed to an increase in the enrolment of students. A number of new Government hospitals have been built and the existing ones are being modernised at a fast pace, said Dr.Mujtaba. He also appreciated the State Government for taking initiatives to construct public toilets in rural areas, to improve the health and sanitation of the people.
Dr. Mujtaba attributed the reasons for the backward status of Bihar to several factors, like landlocked geographic location, historic neglect of the peripheral regions, political instability and the complex socio-cultural matrix of the State. For him, the downfall of Bihar from one of the best governed States in the 1950's to one among the least developed States of today revealed the extent of poor governance in the interim. None of the regimes after the first Chief Minister Srikrishna Sinha, who was in power for close to 15 years, could continue development activities initiated at the time. The average term of a Chief Minister was less than a year, until the Rashtriya Janata Dal came to power in 1990. Despite promising change, the party became known for poor governance, he said.
Pointing out the complex social matrix of Bihar and the consequent caste politics as a major reason for the political instability, Dr. Mujtaba said while there was a constant tussle between the forward and backward castes, Muslims numbering around 17 per cent after the creation of Jharkhand, remained king-makers. Though the recent Assembly polls witnessed developmental agenda replacing caste and related equations, he said that the power structure had changed only in the ballot paper but not at the societal level. There only the rich and influential mattered, with caste playing a dominant role, based on individual regions.
Dr. Mujtaba admitted that Bihar faced enormous challenges and it would definitely be a tall task to resolve them. The strong resistance from the influential land-owners came in the way of much-needed land reforms. Naxalism posed a grave threat to the security and stability of the State. Natural disasters like rampant floods and droughts that affect more than half the population demanded immediate remedial action of a permanent nature. According to him, the higher education sector needed a total revival. The police force also required thorough modernisation. Issues like curbing criminalisation of politics and employment-generation must also be given high priority. He expressed confidence in the present Government in its attempt to deliver the basic needs of people like road, water, power and jobs.
Charing the session, Mr. N. Sathiya Moorthy, Director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter, outlined the complexities of Bihar politics and drew attention to the dynamics of Centre-State relations in the case of Bihar. He remarked that the changing face of Bihar was a heartening fact and also reminded that Bihar has a long way to go in terms of development and modernisation.
During the interaction, participants discussed several significant issues. The need to train a second-line of political leaders in order to sustain the achieved level of development was also stressed. The relative legitimacy of successive elections in Bihar, the role of the Election Commission and the extent of caste politics in the 2009 Assembly polls were discussed. The need to emulate lessons from the Bihar model of development was also raised during the discussion.
(This report is prepared by Neethu S Thottammariyil, II MA, International Studies, Stella Maris College, Chennai)
http://www.observerindia.com/cms/sites/orfonline/modules/report/ReportDetail.html?cmaid=21046&mmacmaid=21047
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Media Professionals discouraged from teaching Media in India
Media Professionals discouraged from teaching Media in India
Syed Ali Mujtaba
There are some unpleasant developments talking place with regard to the appointments of teachers in the department of media studies. The University Grant Comission (UGC) has given some basic guidelines to the Universities to appointment faculty and this diktat is being implemented literally, without any logic or reasons attached.
The UGC guideline calls for basic degree in the relevant discipline, plus qualification of national education test, and a PhD to be eligibility for teaching position in a given discipline.
The UGC directive also obliquely mentions anyone who has proven excellence and ability in a given field of study can also be considered for teaching position in that field.
Now given the nature of Indian education system, where almost a rot has set up with very poor caliber teaching faculty, manning the departments, the first part of the UGC guideline is being rigorously being implemented and second part is over looked because the first one comes as a easy pretext to push out the professionals from getting into academic institutions.
This is gross injustice that is going on because any amount degrees and certificates can not be substituted for high degree of professional training in the relevant field of study.
As such there is definitely a requirement of high skilled professionals in the field of academia who can share knowledge with the young minds and mould them to become future professional, even they may not have relevant degree in that discipline.
A case has come to my light where a person who has 15 years of work experience in the media industry working with some top notch companies and also having six years of regular teaching experience in fairly recognized University, is being debarred from teaching position in the media discipline s because his basic degree in media studies.
This person has done masters in History, qualified NET in history and went on to do his M.Phil and PhD on a historical topic from South Asian Studies School of International relations. The time he was studying some 25 years ago, the media courses were unknown, and as such had little scope after study.
After finishing his studies this person chose career in journalism and spent about 15 yrs in that profession. He has won several awards and has shown high degree of excellence in the field of media studies. It’s because of his professional excellence; he was picked up by the University to teach that course.
In an ironical twist, after being six years in the teaching profession, now he is being debarred from teaching because he does not have basic degree in the media field.
This is ridiculous, because in the first place he was considered for teaching position on the strength of his expertise in media field and then one fine day he is Banglored, because he does not have basic degree. There is no weight given to his long work experience and his hard work over the years is simply discounted.
Now the predicament for this guy is he can not go and look for teaching position in history, a place where he was some 25 years ago and he drifted away because he could not find any opportunity there.
He cannot go to international relation because, its part of political science and he has his basic degree in history.
He can not go back to media industry even though he has 15 years of experience there because he has lost all contacts due to being engaged in teaching assignment for past six years. For him, it’s really a precarious situation, where to go.
I don't know why institutions are being fetish about the basic degree in the media field. We all know how degrees can be acquired in India and how research papers are written and published.
However, can they be substitute to professional experience and excellence in the field of study? Definitely not, and the person having good command over the discipline due to his professional experience is more suitable candidate for teaching then those having mere degree in that discipline.
This however is not happening in India and lines are being drawn to push out the media professionals to make way for sub standard teachers who hardly can make a sense of the complexities of the media world.
This is ludicrous because the UGC on one hand preaches to adopt multi- disciplinary approach to teaching and want inter disciplinary research to be encouraged. However when it comes to the framing rules it negates its own vision and mission.
A subject like media can not be handled in a narrow sense of term. It’s a multi disciplinary subject and requires people from all streams of education. Such people after having sufficient exposure in the field of media are well qualified to teach the subject.
It’s a sad commentary on the education system of the country that discounts professional experience and gives preference pieces of paper called relevant degrees.
I am sure there may be some window of opportunity for such high caliber persons teaching media The UGC guidelines may have some provision to accommodate such person and encourage them into teaching profession.
If that’s not the case, then I think it’s high time that the UGC may take into consideration proven media experience as basic qualification for teaching media courses.
I will be grateful if anyone who can throw some light on this issue and cite relevant rules of the UGC guideless that can help this person for teaching position in media studies.
---
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Syed Ali Mujtaba
There are some unpleasant developments talking place with regard to the appointments of teachers in the department of media studies. The University Grant Comission (UGC) has given some basic guidelines to the Universities to appointment faculty and this diktat is being implemented literally, without any logic or reasons attached.
The UGC guideline calls for basic degree in the relevant discipline, plus qualification of national education test, and a PhD to be eligibility for teaching position in a given discipline.
The UGC directive also obliquely mentions anyone who has proven excellence and ability in a given field of study can also be considered for teaching position in that field.
Now given the nature of Indian education system, where almost a rot has set up with very poor caliber teaching faculty, manning the departments, the first part of the UGC guideline is being rigorously being implemented and second part is over looked because the first one comes as a easy pretext to push out the professionals from getting into academic institutions.
This is gross injustice that is going on because any amount degrees and certificates can not be substituted for high degree of professional training in the relevant field of study.
As such there is definitely a requirement of high skilled professionals in the field of academia who can share knowledge with the young minds and mould them to become future professional, even they may not have relevant degree in that discipline.
A case has come to my light where a person who has 15 years of work experience in the media industry working with some top notch companies and also having six years of regular teaching experience in fairly recognized University, is being debarred from teaching position in the media discipline s because his basic degree in media studies.
This person has done masters in History, qualified NET in history and went on to do his M.Phil and PhD on a historical topic from South Asian Studies School of International relations. The time he was studying some 25 years ago, the media courses were unknown, and as such had little scope after study.
After finishing his studies this person chose career in journalism and spent about 15 yrs in that profession. He has won several awards and has shown high degree of excellence in the field of media studies. It’s because of his professional excellence; he was picked up by the University to teach that course.
In an ironical twist, after being six years in the teaching profession, now he is being debarred from teaching because he does not have basic degree in the media field.
This is ridiculous, because in the first place he was considered for teaching position on the strength of his expertise in media field and then one fine day he is Banglored, because he does not have basic degree. There is no weight given to his long work experience and his hard work over the years is simply discounted.
Now the predicament for this guy is he can not go and look for teaching position in history, a place where he was some 25 years ago and he drifted away because he could not find any opportunity there.
He cannot go to international relation because, its part of political science and he has his basic degree in history.
He can not go back to media industry even though he has 15 years of experience there because he has lost all contacts due to being engaged in teaching assignment for past six years. For him, it’s really a precarious situation, where to go.
I don't know why institutions are being fetish about the basic degree in the media field. We all know how degrees can be acquired in India and how research papers are written and published.
However, can they be substitute to professional experience and excellence in the field of study? Definitely not, and the person having good command over the discipline due to his professional experience is more suitable candidate for teaching then those having mere degree in that discipline.
This however is not happening in India and lines are being drawn to push out the media professionals to make way for sub standard teachers who hardly can make a sense of the complexities of the media world.
This is ludicrous because the UGC on one hand preaches to adopt multi- disciplinary approach to teaching and want inter disciplinary research to be encouraged. However when it comes to the framing rules it negates its own vision and mission.
A subject like media can not be handled in a narrow sense of term. It’s a multi disciplinary subject and requires people from all streams of education. Such people after having sufficient exposure in the field of media are well qualified to teach the subject.
It’s a sad commentary on the education system of the country that discounts professional experience and gives preference pieces of paper called relevant degrees.
I am sure there may be some window of opportunity for such high caliber persons teaching media The UGC guidelines may have some provision to accommodate such person and encourage them into teaching profession.
If that’s not the case, then I think it’s high time that the UGC may take into consideration proven media experience as basic qualification for teaching media courses.
I will be grateful if anyone who can throw some light on this issue and cite relevant rules of the UGC guideless that can help this person for teaching position in media studies.
---
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Friday, July 29, 2011
How to heal the wounds of Mumbai and Oslo killings
How to heal the wounds of Mumbai and Oslo killings
Syed Ali Mujtaba
We live in a strange world, devoid of love, hatred and insanity. There were e two incidents that happened in quick succession; one is the Mumbai blast and other Oslo killings, that gives the picture that we live in a strange world, a world that harps on make believe assumptions.
Its not even week when Mumbai was rocked by another series of bomb blasts, and then a lunatic open fires in Oslo killing scores of innocent people, both condemnable act in every term of words, but equally condemnable was the quick conclusion drawn of the suspects of both the incidents.
While the Mumbai attack was blamed on Indian Mujhadeen, Lasker -e -Toiba and Jaish- e- Mohammad, the usual Muslim suspects, the needle of suspicion for Oslo killings initially fell on the Islamist. However both the assumption went haywire.
There was not even a shred of evidence pertaining to the events linking it with the Islamists but the entire country was fed on the staple diet of the usual Muslim suspects. I was trying to look for balanced reportage but no TV channel had the audacity to report that the security forces can not correctly place the needle of suspicion on any exact group or groups and every one is innocent in the eyes of the law.
Contrary, each channel was going gung-ho hate mongering when it was moment of restraint. The vernacular television screens were louder in stoking the tempers against a particular community.
Now, when the heat and the dust of the blast has settled down, all the theories that were earlier circulated has come cropper, there is complete lull about all that has happened a while ago.
The Mumbai blasts have been a tragedy of innocent killings. Hate mongering the usual follow up of all channels was once again on display. Investigations have gone no further than catching the usual culprits, rounding them up and some calculated leaks from the investigators leading to no deductions.
Is it not all this sound strange? Anyway I leave this as food for thought and try to pick up the thread of the Oslo killings.
The moment this tragedy struck Norway, the first suspect was Al Qida. One report tried to make believe that it was Osama Bin Laden’s men who had gone on rampage to avenge the killing of its leader.
Another said that some Islamic radical dressed in mufti, created the mayhem. It was to protest Norway’s participation with NTO operations in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.
How simplest were the deductions, one wonders. Now, as the clouds have cleared and there is no Islamic angle to the killings and the truth is very different from all the assumptions being made, its time for introspection.
The Oslo killing is beyond expression. Innocent lives were lost. All those killed had no inkling what was that all about. A lunatic young man, with fascist ideas, full of hatred in his heart, imaginary or real which he himself is unable to explain went on rampage taking innocent lives.
This brings to the fundamental point, why the media is in a hurry to do the postmortem of such events. They seem to blame on what ever comes handy and are easy targets.
It’s a dangerous trend and not good for the consumption of civilized societies. In all humbleness there should be a protest to stop the muck that’s thrown around in the name responsible journalism.
Media may restraint from casting judgments and gradually figure out the actual reasons of the event gained through authentic sources and only then disseminate them to the public.
Another interesting observation that comes here is about Andres Behring Breilvik, the man who massacred many innocent souls and left over hundred severely wounded was classified as a lunatic. He was never branded as Christian terrorist even though he was a “devout Christian.”
This is because Christianity is associated with love and peace paradigm and no Christian may like their faith to be associated with terrorism.
So far Islam and terrorism has come to become synonymous and this opinion seems to rule the roost. Now terror is being connected to Christianity, then it’s hurting many devout Christians.
This happened in India a while ago, when the ugly face of Hindutva terror came to lime light. The Samjutha express blast, Mecca Masjid blast, Ajmer blast, Malegoan blast are all linked to Hindu terrorism. Now when this was getting established, then many devout Hindus are feeling hurt. They could not reconcile to the fact that Hinduism can be associated with terrorism.
What worries most is the manifesto of Breivik, which throws considerable light on the plans of the Hindutva radicalism. This has to be given a serious thought because this could possibly lead to a cane of worms and if not put in control may lead to certain disaster at a later stage,
The point I may like make is terrorism cannot be with a religion and to call a Christian terrorist or a Hindu terrorist hurts many devout Hindus and Christian, similarly, when its said that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims, it definitely hurts ordinary Muslim.
Here, I may also like to add another fact that is that some Islamic radicals have rejoiced at the pain caused due to the killings in Oslo, calling it a divine justice for the pains suffered in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. This again is a dangerous trend and has to be condemned in very harsh words. Such thinking can not be called as an act of civilization. It is sheer barbarism.
Another unfortunate trend these days apart from media there are other actors such as some politician, some judges who has a high standing in the society, do point fingers with no basis or logic. Their tone and tenure is full of hate and justification enough to be hauled up for inciting public, without any proof. Government on the other hand is unable to enforce its authority and book such people under the rule of law.
We watch all this with anguish and pain, and a particular community carries the burden of innumerable abuses and false allegations, along with the usual difficulties a common man faces in this turbulent world.
Both Mumbai and Oslo killings has brought huge pain and sufferings to the people who are victims of such terror. It’s a time where each of us should unite to fight such dastardly acts. This is done without any prejudices.
Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule, said one of India’s iconic saint, Lord Buddha. Equally important is quote of another saint of India Hazrat Nizamuddin who says do not give me scissor as I do not like to cut, give me needle, as I like to stitch.
India has known to practice plural values for centuries. Barring a few fissures even that due to political biases, India boasts of its traditions unknown to any nation and cultures in the World.
At this point of time, the pain and sufferings of the victims cannot be healed by blaming someone; it can only be overcome through the resolve of acting as a needle to stitch the wounds of hate.
With deepest grief in memory of those who have lost their lives in Mumbai and Oslo and sharing of pain of their families, lets pray for global peace.
---
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
Syed Ali Mujtaba
We live in a strange world, devoid of love, hatred and insanity. There were e two incidents that happened in quick succession; one is the Mumbai blast and other Oslo killings, that gives the picture that we live in a strange world, a world that harps on make believe assumptions.
Its not even week when Mumbai was rocked by another series of bomb blasts, and then a lunatic open fires in Oslo killing scores of innocent people, both condemnable act in every term of words, but equally condemnable was the quick conclusion drawn of the suspects of both the incidents.
While the Mumbai attack was blamed on Indian Mujhadeen, Lasker -e -Toiba and Jaish- e- Mohammad, the usual Muslim suspects, the needle of suspicion for Oslo killings initially fell on the Islamist. However both the assumption went haywire.There was not even a shred of evidence pertaining to the events linking it with the Islamists but the entire country was fed on the staple diet of the usual Muslim suspects. I was trying to look for balanced reportage but no TV channel had the audacity to report that the security forces can not correctly place the needle of suspicion on any exact group or groups and every one is innocent in the eyes of the law.
Contrary, each channel was going gung-ho hate mongering when it was moment of restraint. The vernacular television screens were louder in stoking the tempers against a particular community.
Now, when the heat and the dust of the blast has settled down, all the theories that were earlier circulated has come cropper, there is complete lull about all that has happened a while ago.
The Mumbai blasts have been a tragedy of innocent killings. Hate mongering the usual follow up of all channels was once again on display. Investigations have gone no further than catching the usual culprits, rounding them up and some calculated leaks from the investigators leading to no deductions.
Is it not all this sound strange? Anyway I leave this as food for thought and try to pick up the thread of the Oslo killings.
The moment this tragedy struck Norway, the first suspect was Al Qida. One report tried to make believe that it was Osama Bin Laden’s men who had gone on rampage to avenge the killing of its leader.
Another said that some Islamic radical dressed in mufti, created the mayhem. It was to protest Norway’s participation with NTO operations in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan.
How simplest were the deductions, one wonders. Now, as the clouds have cleared and there is no Islamic angle to the killings and the truth is very different from all the assumptions being made, its time for introspection.
The Oslo killing is beyond expression. Innocent lives were lost. All those killed had no inkling what was that all about. A lunatic young man, with fascist ideas, full of hatred in his heart, imaginary or real which he himself is unable to explain went on rampage taking innocent lives. This brings to the fundamental point, why the media is in a hurry to do the postmortem of such events. They seem to blame on what ever comes handy and are easy targets.
It’s a dangerous trend and not good for the consumption of civilized societies. In all humbleness there should be a protest to stop the muck that’s thrown around in the name responsible journalism.
Media may restraint from casting judgments and gradually figure out the actual reasons of the event gained through authentic sources and only then disseminate them to the public.
Another interesting observation that comes here is about Andres Behring Breilvik, the man who massacred many innocent souls and left over hundred severely wounded was classified as a lunatic. He was never branded as Christian terrorist even though he was a “devout Christian.”
This is because Christianity is associated with love and peace paradigm and no Christian may like their faith to be associated with terrorism.
So far Islam and terrorism has come to become synonymous and this opinion seems to rule the roost. Now terror is being connected to Christianity, then it’s hurting many devout Christians.
This happened in India a while ago, when the ugly face of Hindutva terror came to lime light. The Samjutha express blast, Mecca Masjid blast, Ajmer blast, Malegoan blast are all linked to Hindu terrorism. Now when this was getting established, then many devout Hindus are feeling hurt. They could not reconcile to the fact that Hinduism can be associated with terrorism.
What worries most is the manifesto of Breivik, which throws considerable light on the plans of the Hindutva radicalism. This has to be given a serious thought because this could possibly lead to a cane of worms and if not put in control may lead to certain disaster at a later stage,
The point I may like make is terrorism cannot be with a religion and to call a Christian terrorist or a Hindu terrorist hurts many devout Hindus and Christian, similarly, when its said that all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims, it definitely hurts ordinary Muslim.
Here, I may also like to add another fact that is that some Islamic radicals have rejoiced at the pain caused due to the killings in Oslo, calling it a divine justice for the pains suffered in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. This again is a dangerous trend and has to be condemned in very harsh words. Such thinking can not be called as an act of civilization. It is sheer barbarism.
Another unfortunate trend these days apart from media there are other actors such as some politician, some judges who has a high standing in the society, do point fingers with no basis or logic. Their tone and tenure is full of hate and justification enough to be hauled up for inciting public, without any proof. Government on the other hand is unable to enforce its authority and book such people under the rule of law.
We watch all this with anguish and pain, and a particular community carries the burden of innumerable abuses and false allegations, along with the usual difficulties a common man faces in this turbulent world.
Both Mumbai and Oslo killings has brought huge pain and sufferings to the people who are victims of such terror. It’s a time where each of us should unite to fight such dastardly acts. This is done without any prejudices. Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule, said one of India’s iconic saint, Lord Buddha. Equally important is quote of another saint of India Hazrat Nizamuddin who says do not give me scissor as I do not like to cut, give me needle, as I like to stitch.
India has known to practice plural values for centuries. Barring a few fissures even that due to political biases, India boasts of its traditions unknown to any nation and cultures in the World.
At this point of time, the pain and sufferings of the victims cannot be healed by blaming someone; it can only be overcome through the resolve of acting as a needle to stitch the wounds of hate.
With deepest grief in memory of those who have lost their lives in Mumbai and Oslo and sharing of pain of their families, lets pray for global peace.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com
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