Mayawati - Rampant misuse of the Social Justice Cause

Mayawati has been no stranger to the person following the course of Indian politics over the last decade or so. To the uninitiated, Mayawati is the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The BSP was established in 1984 by Kanshi Ram and Mayawati was then his protegee.

The core motto of the BSP is supposedly uplifting the backward classes in India. The BSP hit a home run with the “dalits” (backward community / downtrodden), who for centuries had been a victim of the ancient caste system in India. Mayawati, who was named as Kanshi Ram’s successor in 2001, has since then blatantly misused this social justice cause for her own benefit. 

In 2002-2003 she was charged with corruption in the “Taj Heritage Corridor Scam”. The Taj Heritage Corridor had nothing to do with preserving the heritage of the Taj Mahal. Though the reasons cited were to maintain the greens on the banks of the “Yamuna” river, which flows by right next to Taj Mahal, the project was a guise to commercialize the area surrounding the monument.  There were even plans for creation of an amusement park. Since then, the Rs 175 crores (around $42 mil) allotted to the project by the government has vanished mysteriously. The CVC (Central Vigilance Committee) in August 2005 submitted a report to the Supreme Court informing them there was enough evidence to prosecute Mayawati in this case. Surprisingly the CBI and the Attorney General have been of the opinion that the case against Mayawati should be closed. Since then, Mayawati has gone ahead to become the Chief Minister of UP (in 2007) and the taxpayer’s money is still missing.

As the CM of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati’s conduct has again been questionable. Her property expansion in Lucknow has gone virtually unnoticed except certain vigilant NGOs who have been filing cases to prevent her from acquiring land using her blatant display of political muscle. Mayawati has a Type-VI bungalow in her name in Lucknow’s Mall Avenue. She was out to allegedly grab four bungalows in the neighborhood to expand her existing 33,000 square feet ex-chief minister’s bungalow into 250,000 sq feet of a virtually private estate. In late 2007, four bungalows surrounding her house were demolished citing security reasons. From the year 2004 to 2007, her disclosed assets have grown around 400% from Rs 11 crores ($2.75 mil) to Rs 52 crores ($13 mil). I am scared to even imagine what her undisclosed assets would be.

In India, corruption by politicians is not something new to us and in a sad sorry way we have grown used to it. The saddest part of the story is however that all this wealth has been accumulated using “social justice” as the cause. Mayawati has always made promises to the dalit community that the reason her party exists is to ensure the backward community does not get discriminated against and receive benefits so they can join mainstream India as equals.

As of now, there is nothing done by her to prove that this is not yet another gimmick to win votes. No improvement of living conditions has been brought to the Dalits in UP. While the Dalits continues to be ignored, Mayawati went ahead with a Rs 300 crore ($75mil) project to develop a park in the name of the dalit activist of the yesteryears Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

All in the name of Social Justice

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Reservation - The Four dimensions of Reality

What is reality? This is a much debated philosophical and psychological topic. We accept it as a fact that reality is really just a perception and that reality is all in our heads. But reality in India, to be rather scientific, occupies whole new dimensions unknown to man, and maybe even to God. Take, for example, our reservation policies.



First dimension of reality in India: We hear from our political leaders that reservations will correct all the ills of our social history. That the caste system, which has denied a good life to so many for so long, needs to be abolished. The downtrodden turn their faces up to these great people, who give them hope that they will get to lead a better life because they have the unprecedented opportunity of getting into university, of getting respectable jobs that take out of the thankless and grueling cleaning and serving that is currently their only means of obtaining a livelihood. They are told that they will now have an equal place in society, next to the great Brahmins and the rich industrialists. And they believe it.

Second dimension of reality : Despite the fact that most people see reservations for what it is, political bribing, these politicians continue getting elected. While most of the people who are actually backward, the ones who need the reservations, hardly even get the chance to get educated enough to sit for an exam or apply for a job, the children of babus, politicians, and rich shopkeepers who go to expensive private schools are the beneficiaries. So, poor Brahmins continue to starve. Rich folks continue to be the primary beneficiaries. Meanwhile, everyone seems to ignore the fact that the government is doing nothing to establish good-quality schools and universities. Consequently, the majority of Indians, regardless of caste, cannot get a decent education.

Third dimension of reality: There is caste segregation wherever there are reservations. At the IITs and IIMs, the students who got through reservations are looked down upon. A doctor who is known to belong to a SC/ST/OBC is immediately viewed with suspicion. The first thing that comes to mind when we see an incompetent person is “must’ve gotten through because of reservations, saala.” So there’s now a growing social stigma around those who get a college seat or job through reservations. The only result is that the caste system is growing stronger, not weaker.

Fourth dimension of reality: We have people actually wanting to become a backward class. Most recently, we saw the Gujjars destroy 50 crores worth of public property to force their way into being listed as a backward class. Being of “a higher class” is seen as a disadvantage. So have Brahmins become the new Dalits, and Dalits become the new Brahmins? This could be considered as a kind of poetic justice, so maybe the reservations have resulted in justice, albeit in a twisted, mind-boggling way.

This is the summary. We have politicians promising to grant everyone equality and abolish the caste system through reservation policies. We have the not-background classes growing more class-conscious, not less, due to reservation policies. We have people who lobby and become violent so that they are regarded as a backward class. Finally, we have everyone completely ignoring the fact there are very few good-quality schools and colleges in India, limiting the number of people who can actually get a decent education in the first place, reservations or no.

Einstein figured out the space-time dimension. We need another such genius to figure out these brand-new dimensions created by our reservation policies. I, for one, have given up. But I continue to hope. Maybe one day, we will all be a backward class. And then India will have equality.

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Communist Ideology above Nationality - Part 1

The CPIM (Communist Party of India – Marxist) has been threatening to back out of its support to the UPA government if the government decides to go ahead with the Nuclear Deal. The CPIM has been against the nuclear deal ever since it was announced. Let’s get into some details of this deal to have a better understanding of why the left parties are completely against it.

So what is this Nuclear deal?
In August 2007, India and the United States reached an agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation as mentioned in the joint statement released by President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on July 18, 2005.

According to this deal,
• India agrees to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear group, to access India’s civilian nuclear program (read nuclear reactors that produce energy)
• India agrees to continue its current delay on nuclear weapons testing.
• India commits to strengthening the security of its nuclear arsenals.
• India works toward negotiating a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) with the United States banning the production of fissile material for weapons purposes.
• U.S. companies will be allowed to build nuclear reactors in India and provide nuclear fuel for its civilian energy program

What are the benefits?

The deal has been cited as an unprecedented one for India. It which marks a notable warming of U.S.-India relations, would lift the U.S. imposed delay on nuclear trade with India, provide U.S. assistance to India’s civilian nuclear energy program, and expand U.S.-Indian cooperation in energy and satellite technology.
India, on signing this deal would become eligible to by dual-use nuclear technology from the US. This would include material and equipment that can be used to enrich uranium & plutonium as well as import fuel for the nuclear reactors. Other than bringing in better technology that would allow India to create cheap electricity and power from its nuclear reactors, this would open other doors in the Indo-US relationships.

What are the caveats?

The CPIM has been harping on about how this would make India a slave of the US and how we would not be able to continue our nuclear program, thus putting India into a vulnerable position in the event of a nuclear threat from Pakistan or China. Global experts however say that the nuclear deal is considered overtly beneficial for India. They say that the deal lacks safeguards to prevent India from continuing to produce a fresh stock of nuclear weapons and in essence enable India to produce more nuclear firepower by now “legalizing” the inflow of uranium into India.

It is primarily the US which has been criticized for going ahead with this deal. Other than the CPIM, the whole world understands how this deal will benefit India. It is claimed that the US in an attempt to keep China under check, is forming a strategic relationship with India. There have been rumors that this alignment with the US, will actually lead to a situation of tension between India-Pakistan and India-China. The Musharraf lead Pakistan government has been the US government’s baby for a while, yet Washington offered no such deal to Islamabad. This might cause Pakistan to get jittery. China on the other hand may feel threatened of a “US ally” so close to their territory. However, the days of the cold war are over. Indo-China relations on the economic front are prospering and China can be assured by the fact that historically India has not been the aggressive kind and would ensure that the economic relations between the country are not being hampered in any manner.

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Reservation for IIT faculty – When will enough be enough?

If one ever thought enough was enough, the Indian Government would immediately make them think otherwise. After it’s glorious success in pushing the OBC quota through into the IITs and other educational institutes, the Government is on another mission: To introduce quota for selection of teachers in IIT. And this has not come as a suggestion, or a request to the IITs to look into the feasibility of the matter. It has come as a directive to be implemented with “immediate effect”

This is a clear cut case of temporary fix being applied to solve a perceived problem. The problem was created when students belonging to reserved categories were given admission not on merit, but on grounds of what caste they belonged to. While justification for this has been debated to the ground, it did give way to a whole new set of problems.

According to many students, a certain set of discrimination begins at the high school level itself. When fellow IIT aspirants get to know you belong to the reserved category, feelings of resentment amongst them are natural. This leads to the alienation of the reserved category student, even before he has joined IIT.

Once inside IIT, the reserved students then struggle to live up to the high academic expectations that the engineering courses in IIT demand. Studying amongst fellow students who are there on merit, the reserved category students more often than not fail to catch up with the subjects being taught. The more they lag in their studies, the more the feeling of helplessness. What is strange that the merit category students would probably not have batted an eyelid to see one of their own lag behind, after all not everyone who is on merit is equally brilliant. The moment students get to know the student who’s lagging behind is from the reserved category, they give a knowing “i-told-you-so” kind of a look. The pressure to perform on the reserved category student to is hence much more than usual. More often than not this leads to feelings of inferiority amongst them.

The problem is magnified when the teachers join in the race to discriminate. There have been cases of caste discrimination reported in the IITs, especially the case where a certain professor was accused of making derogatory statements against an SC candidate. The professor allegedly said to a student of the reserved category:

Owing to all of this, communities start forming within the IITs. The reserved category students hang out with other students from the reserved category and rarely are they seen mixing socially with other students. Amongst the non-reserved category students, the feeling of resentment never really goes away even until as late as the final year. The reserved category students are often referred to as “shaddus”, a derogatory term derived from the word “scheduled”. Reserved category students who fail to bond with others often go into depression and even contemplate suicide.

The Government’s step to introduce reservation amongst teachers may be seen as an attempt to bridge this divide. What better for a dalit student than having a dalit teacher? The government in it’s short sightedness hopes that the introduction of Dalit teachers will ensure students are not discriminated against, at least by the teachers. What the Government does not realize, is that these feelings of resentment and discrimination have been caused by the reservation politics in the first place. In an attempt to apply a patch on their shoddy craftsmanship, the government will go on to ensure that their skewed view of social justice prevails. Even at the cost of completely ruining one of the greatest technology education institutes the world has ever seen.

As far as caste politics in India is concerned, enough is never enough.

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Probability of Death

Here’s a question I found myself asking today. How is a Mumbaiker more likely to die? By falling off a local train or from cell phone radiation?

These questions stemmed from two very interesting news items in today’s newspaper. The first was that a 29-year-old woman had fallen off a Mumbai local train and died. Now, it is amazing to me that there aren’t riots on the street whenever this happens. Millions of Mumbaikers ride these trains every day, and it could be any one of them next. Sadly though, this has become more or less common incident. Another one bites the dust. According to the Times of India, on average, 8 people die every day on the Mumbai tracks. Eight. Everyday. That makes 20,700 deaths over the last 5 years alone.

I would have thought that every time such an incident occurred, politicians would come out screaming to stop these meaningless deaths. Is it such a very hard proposition? If Mumbai can spare 200 crore for a statue, it should be able to spare a few crores on extra trains (yes, I heard about the large order they placed and the delays. Sigh Excuses, excuses). Surely Raj Thackeray can use some of his passion for Mumbai to make sure people aren’t falling off its trains and dying every day. Or maybe the city could implement laws that would allow only a certain number of people in a compartment at a time (or they could try putting doors on the train…just a suggestion). The delays alone that such a law would create would provide a great impetus for the people to demand a more effective solution.

The other interesting bit of news was that the central government has decided to implement laws to make sure, through a system of self-certification for cell phone companies, that the radiation from cell phones doesn’t kill us. The last time I checked, people weren’t dying every day from using cell phones. In fact, scientists aren’t even sure that they ever will. No doubt cell phones give off radiation, and it bears looking into just how harmful it is. But we Indians, who have grown up in smog-choked, garbage-ridden, diesel fumes-spewing cities, can endure a little radiation I’m sure.

My point here is that with all these pressing problems that daily threaten the well-being and even the lives of so many Indians, where and how does the government find time to deal with the dubious threat of cell phone radiation? This might be a stupid question, but doesn’t the government feel a bit silly?

One conclusion I can draw is that money has a stronger lure than self-respect. The only way I can figure this out is that government officials love enacting laws that have the potential to put money in their pockets. Perhaps they don’t get that large a cut from ordering trains. Though, I do find this kinda hard to believe because while most of the officials are highly ineffective in government, they’re incredibly resourceful, efficient, and creative when it comes to extortion. But there’s probably a lot more cash flow to be gained from cell phone companies that are minting money.

Or perhaps this law was just borne out our government’s love of bureaucracy. It is happily getting ready to set up a myriad of regulations and whatnot to make sure that the cell phone companies “self-certify” themselves appropriately. The most laughable part of the report was the statement from an official: “Exposure beyond a certain level can be a health hazard so we are going to use the precautionary principle.” I would say falling off a train is a pretty big health hazard. I would even say that the precautionary principle would be very wisely used if applied toward preventing people from dying needlessly.

Countries like Europe, Australia, and the US can afford to spend time and resources on deep research on cell phone radiation and how a healthy sex life can prolong life. But India has so much to do. And, for what its worth, though I would love to be protected from the hazards of my cell phone, past experience with the government does not inspire the greatest confidence in me that its law will keep me safe. Phony certifications are a way of life rather than crime in India. Self-certification is a joke.

Finally, we can choose not to use a cell phone often or to use a headpiece. But choice doesn’t play much of a part when you lose your hold and fall off a jam-packed local train.

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Needed : People for Ethical Treatment of Humans

In the recent Arushi case, where a 14 year old was brutally murdered in Noida, UP the compounder of the accused (person by the name of Krishna) was made to go through narcoanalysis tests and brain mapping tests. Krishna is a supposed witness and it is said he could hold vital information that the CBI considers important. Narcoanalysis or the ‘truth serum’ test is a process by which a person is injected with barbiturates in order to induce a state of hypnosis and release repressed feelings, thoughts or memories. The narco test is considered harmless, but has been criticized due to the fact that it is fraught with acute life-threatening consequences in a certain percentage of people and there is a certain percentage of risk involved.

Krishna, the compounder

Also the narco test is considered somewhat unconstitutional, though that is still a grey area.  

Article 20(3) of the Indian Constitution states that “no person accused of an offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”

The article however does not mention whether the test can be used to compel a person to be a witness against a third party. There is no constitutional protection to a person who might be forced to take the test against his will to aid an investigation. I am sure Krishna would not have agreed to the test, so was it ethical to make him to go through the test, given the risk no matter now miniscule?

The pressure on the CBI is huge to find out the truth about how a dead person died (Arushi, please forgive me), even if it means taking away the civil rights of a person who is alive and kicking.

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Sad state of News Channels in India

Breaking news has assumed a new meaning for Indian news channels. Gone are the days when a breaking news came once in six months. The time of the kargil wars has passed. The times of cats, dogs and bollywood stars has begun.

Our “forwarded mail watcher correspondent”, Pawan reports:

This “breaking news” ponders on the eating habits of Rahul (I assume Gandhi) and how these habits will help make a better India. What if he was eating pork or beef now? I wonder what kind of response that would have invoked.

This “breaking news” is probably to bring to notice the new civil rights movement started for cats by cats. Cats have played second fiddle to dogs for a long time now and it seems they want to show some assertiveness that they are not to be taken lightly.

This “breaking news” takes us through details on how and when Amitabh caught influenza (the common cold) and what repurcussions it will have for the times to come. Will Bollywood ever be the same again?

Breaking News # 4

This “breaking news” takes the viewers through the long Odysseus’ like journey of the commisioner’s dog and how it finally made it’s way back home. I am sure this one made housewives weep.

Sad, really sad is all I can say…….Not only is this kind of news “sold”, it’s also “bought”

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US Consulate criticized for insulting Mumbai

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Consumer Rights in India

Mohammed Afzal has shown the way for consumers to be aware of their rights. A letter written by him to the Chief Justice of the Mumbai High Court has been converted to a PIL (Public Interest Litigation). What was Afzal’s problem? Packaged food and water sold at multiplexes are higher than the MRP at which they’re supposed to be sold at. As all of us must have faced, a bottle of water at any multiplex is close to Rs 25 - 30, even though the printed MRP on it is much less. The story is the same for the cold drinks as well.

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A Statuesque Conundrum

We Indians set a lot of store by statues. We create them with such loving care and inaugurate them with much fanfare. Yet, after the celebrations are over, for the most part, they’re just objects to navigate around while driving on the road or to pee behind in the park. Have we ever thought about exactly why we fight and die for statues and what exactly would the statued leaders say if they had been alive to see them?

Of any Indian, Gandhi is the most deserving of having millions of statues ennobling him in every nook and corner of the country. Yet, if someone had told Gandhi that a Rs. 100 crore statue would be built in his honor, would he have given a pleased grin and said “Awww, shucks”? Or would he have said “What??? Are you crazy? There are impoverished millions starving every day, unable to buy a full bowl of rice for their young children, and you want to build a friggin’ statue?” He probably would have expressed this more eloquently, but I think I have captured the gist of his reaction. So, by the very act of building a statue of Gandhi, are we not going against everything he taught and fought for? Are we not dishonoring his memory by completely ignoring or disregarding the personal value that Gandhi prized most—modesty?

It is important to build statues to commemorate important leaders. They can be used to represent and illustrate the attributes that the leaders embodied or the ideals that they fought for. But for these representations to remain a rallying point and exemplify such qualities, we must be careful not to overdo ourselves, and thus, dilute their power. Numerous statues gracing the middle of our roads really don’t accomplish much apart from adorning our roundabouts. Instead, a single magnificent museum for Gandhi, where children and adults alike can visit to learn about Gandhi and his leadership, the struggles he endured and how he united the country, a place that passes on his wisdom to future generations and thus keeps alive for time immemorial, would be so much more useful. It could organize workshops on the non-violent movement, conduct research on current affairs from the perspective of satyagraha (which incidentally, is done in the US by Gandhi’s grandson, not in India), educate the future leaders of India. And, for those who cannot survive without their statues, place a nice big one on the front lawn.

Shivaji was a great ruler who fought for the freedom of his empire. He refused to allow his subjects to be dominated by external political forces that would not care for the welfare of his people. He was religiously tolerant and known for his fair treatment toward women. He was a sharp leader who employed intelligent tactics. He always showed respect toward and protected the places and worship of all religions, and by extension, the people themselves. Unfortunately, the very people who worship him blindly appear to have no clue what they worship him for. Otherwise, the Mumbai riots may never have happened in a state in which he is regarded with such awe and respect. In fact, according to Wikipedia, he himself did not spend any resources for self-aggrandizement—“His legacy was heroism, selflessness, freedom, independence, brotherhood and unwavering courage.” Therefore, again, it would appear that building a great big statue without following the values that he held dear would go against his own personal wishes.

In short, there are so many ways to commemorate our great leaders and keep the memories of them and their battles alive, as they should be. But mere statues are so inadequate for this purpose. There are many people in this world who love building or having others build statues of themselves. A very prominent figure of this kind is Saddam Hussein. His 40-foot statue towering in the center of Baghdad was a testament to his own vanity. The greatest leaders of the world (of which Hussein is NOT one), the ones who were the most respected, left legacies that must be kept alive. Building an infinite number of statues cannot do this. In fact, it appears as though those most worthy of our veneration would have shunned these idle displays that serve to aggrandize them rather than accomplish anything useful. Imagine if time travel had been invented and Gandhi took a little trip to the present for a stroll through the park. He probably would’ve blinked in confusion at his likenesses in stone and muttered to himself, “Don’t they remember anything about me?”

I leave you with this conundrum. Statues are built to honor great leaders. Yet, those leaders worthy of noble and glorious statues would be the most outraged at having them built. Thus, by continuing to build them, aren’t we in fact dishonoring their memories?

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