Thursday, March 20, 2008

Whose country is it anyway?

I was born in India. Although not as make-believe as Karan Johar expression of patriotism, I indeed love my country. Even though democracy prevails in my country there is nothing that reflect my views and visions.
The issue is that with the substantial fruits that political office yields in India, all involved are ready to stoop at any level, overlooking logic and humanity to hold on to the chair of profit. So even as I have a right to vote, I don’t have any one echoing my thoughts, to vote for.

Is there anyone who thinks the following?

• Taslima Nasreen should be allowed to stay in India. As a writer she should not be harassed to appease any community. In fact, all artists like M.F. Hussain, Salman Rushdie should neither be witch hunted because of their religion and extra-ordinary intolerance existing in other religion nor any creative artist be allowed to kick-up controversies to sell their work. The person who created controversy by asking “Aaja nach le” title song to remove a paragraph that says “mocha bhi khud ko sunar bole”(for being derogatory for backward classes) should be given life imprisonment for having a sadistic and narrow minded approach and wasting resources of a nation on such misinterpretation.

• Raj Thackray should be removed from the face of earth, without media coverage and fan fare like any traitor is vanished. Any one like Shiv Sena or MNS trying to highlight regionalism should be handled without intervention of media.

• Cricket is a sport. It’s heartening to look the way commerce has spun around it, by noticing the IPL actions. But other sports need help. I wonder what is happening of the commonwealth games India plan to host in 2010. I believe it should be taken seriously as a matter of national pride and keep it clear of corruption and controversy.

• As US face economic recession, and has pulled down the economy and stock market across the world. Shouldn’t it at least now focus on its home affairs, instead of telling China how it should deal with Tibet.

• The education system has three most coveted career paths viz. IITs. IIMs and IAS. Its disheartening to see the controversy surrounding them. The merit list have been quashed for IAS by yet again on giving reservation candidates a rough deal.

• Media is the new necessary evil for our country. But someone should lay rules of what story they are making. Aaj tak making a one hour news program on film actors with no chest hair is acceptable then the media quoting people who create divide in name of religion and region. They actually stood in front of Raj Thackray’s house to take his pictures as if he was some celebrity.

• Can somebody please take notice that the world is actually cracking a joke when they say India would be the next superpower. No country can be unsafe for their women and be a superpower. And India will lose any and all tourism if tourist women are continued to be attacked at the rate they have been in the recent past. And the attack on these foreign women is only because of the general disrespect Indian men have for the women kind. For any riots and display of religious intolerance women like nuns are often attacked. Instead of seeking 33% reservation for women, may be we can try making India safe for them and they will not need any such artificial assistance to bloom.