2. Cleanse Yourself First Before Claiming Insult From The Written Word
3. Reliance Jio's CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility
4. Celebrating Independence Day
5. On Human Fatalities As A Measure O Development
6. On Nirmala Sitharaman As Defence Minister
No Mention Of Roadblocks Being Set Up To Trap Gauri Lankesh's Killers
The sad killing of Gauri Lankesh at Bengaluru has all the signs of a contract killing with the modus operandi similar to the earlier killings of Dabholkar, Kalburgi etc. Following the media reports on the investigation into the killing, one is rather surprised why there is no mention of roadblocks being set up in and around Rajarajeshwari Nagar and all 2-wheeler riders searched as soon as the police became aware of the incident. The police were informed as is reported within 30 minutes of the incident and given the traffic congestion around the Rajarajeshwari Nagar area, there would have been some chance of apprehending the attacker or at least the 2-wheeler recovered, in the event that it had been abandoned upon seeing the roadblocks. From the papers it seems overemphasis is being placed on the CCTV coverage which has its own limitations because of low light levels. As part of SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) our police across the country are better advised to institute roadblocks around the incident area in circles of increasing radius immediately after they receive information so that there is some chance of catching the perpetrators of such terrorist incidents which will only be on the increase.
Cleanse Yourself First Before Claiming Insult From The Written Word
Sometime back there was a news item in the papers about one of Vishnu Surya Wagh's collection of poems being considered for an award by the Goa Konkani Academy. The latest position on this is not known. In any case it was stated that in the poems he has insulted the GSB (Gowd Saraswat Brahmin) community using derogatory language bordering on pornography. It was also stated that persons critical to any community should tone down their comments and language in the manner that is generally accepted. A women's activist organisation, Bailancho Ekvott, is reported to have filed a FIR about Wagh's book because of its pornographic content. There was also another news item in the papers wherein it was stated that the GHRC has been seized of a matter by the women's activist organisation, Bailancho Saad, about Hindu women being disrobed before cremation.
Both these issues are being taken up together since on a cultural or societal basis they are somewhat connected. Now Goa Konkani Academy is a literary institution and that one would believe it is fully competent to assess what is pornography and what is not as well as judge whether any book is deserving of its award. This is an internal matter and constitution of committees not being proper as raised in the report is again an internal matter. A broader comment is that world over pornography finds its place in literature so why not in Konkani? About the content of Wagh's poems being offensive to a particular community, it is a matter of subjective judgment. If the GSB's are deeply hurt by the book, then the appropriate action to be taken by them would be to get the book banned in which case it would automatically stop the further 'perceived' hurt and also not be eligible for an award by the Goa Konkani Academy. Now as far as the hurt caused to the GSB community, is it widespread or only to those persons mentioned in the news item? This will determine what action can be taken since sometimes some individuals tend to take a rigid and stubborn stand which is not what the community believes. This position then ends up being detrimental to the people at large and to the language as a whole. Looking at the matter in a broader context, we need to recognise that there is no single mechanism to be critical of other communities than what you belong to. People inclined to be critical will use the method and the language that they are comfortable with. This method and language also reflects the class and status of that community that is broaching the issue.
If we go back in history it is a fact that the GSB community came into the Konkan and lorded over the local people with religion and temples being the primary tool to show their superiority. Even as late as a few years ago we had eminent Konkani literary personalities leading movements for freeing entry of people of all classes into Goan temples. We have also read news items where Brahmin priests refuse to perform pujas in the houses of those considered to be lower class communities. Thus these feelings of segregation are entrenched into our psyches and for those able to express their resentment over these issues like Wagh, it comes out in their writing through anger and frustration. We cannot wish these matters away and need to recognise them as fact. Maybe there is a need to express our regret to these other communities in a large-hearted manner while at the same time making our religion as free and universal as possible. This will alleviate to some extent the ill-feelings.
In the same context one would have though that the report about disrobing Hindu women in Goa prior to cremation was a mischievous report. But considering it has gone up to the GHRC there must be a grain of truth in it. If it is happening then it is shameful and immediate steps should be taken to put an end to it. It is not a matter of religion but that of the status of women per se which demands that we respect women and more so when they are dead and do not insult them by exhibiting them disrobed in front of a public audience. Where we have lived most of our lives in Eastern and Northern India and in Dakshin Kannada where we come from, women when dead are taken for cremation wearing their best attire more so if they die while their husbands are alive. Even the age old practice of sati, since abolished, required the wife to dress in her finest and climb onto the funeral pyre of her dead husband. During the process of sati and thereafter the woman was elevated to the status of a goddess. That was the kind of respect given them. Thus in Goa if a woman after her death is insulted and shamed in front of prying eyes of the public at large then it is utterly shameful and a black mark on the community for having carried this practice into the 21st century.
To those who have commented about being insulted from Wagh's book which is of relatively recent origin while keeping silent about the practice of disrobing Hindu women at the time of cremation, we need to tell them that the latter is a bigger shame to the community than poems can cause. So it is time that the community cleansed itself of these historical and structural ills rather than express umbrage about lesser matters.
Reliance Jio's CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility
Reliance Jio has been crowing to themselves on the rise of its subscriber base & the massive bookings received for its Smartphone offered at Rs. 1,500 refundable deposit. In the process of doing this it has sent all its rivals in the mobile telecom business in various kinds of financial trouble. However Reliance Jio emerging from the large corporate group of Reliance Industries led by Mukesh Ambani is already showing signs of CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility instead of CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility true to the legacy of its parent. In its zeal to lay fiber optic cables it has, at least in Goa, made a mess of the road surface by making haphazard and zig-zag lines that run along the side of the road and at places leaving the trench that they have dug unfilled. The width of this trench is just about that of a 2-wheeler tyre and many accidents have happened and will continue to happen when particularly at night the tyre falls awkwardly into this trench. This slipshod work is completely irresponsible on the part of Reliance Jio which given the technological and financial clout it commands should have set standards for the cable laying among other things. Reliance Jio needs to re-visit the cable laying and correct the flaws since roads are continually in use and should not be left damaged. Not only that in Alto St Cruz where the road meets the University Road at Bambolim, Reliance Jio has appropriated a traffic circle right in the middle of the road and put up its mobile tower there. This has been objected by the locals since the circle should have been used for an overhead mast traffic light since it is a 4-road intersection there which is quite busy through the day and night. The Reliance Jio tower has been there for a year ignoring the protests since it could have been either moved to the side of the road where enough space is there or a masthead light affixed on top of the mobile tower which would have been a pro-active way to resolve the issue. But the problem with the Reliance group is that any of their actions are characterised by the arrogance of money. It is said that suppliers to the group are asked to forgo their contractual balance payments sometimes ranging up to 10% as donations to the group with the suppliers being asked why they cannot do this gesture to the Reliance group. This coming from a group that is headed by the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani! Thus it is time that the newest entrant, Reliance Jio, to the group show some CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility and not CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility.
Celebrating Independence Day
Every year we make such a big thing about Independence Day. There are two premises here on whether we should continue to institutionalise these celebrations. The first is that of age, for an event that happened in 1947, 70 years later we are still wanting to celebrate it? Is this proper? Since what we should be doing is it not to seriously introspect as to where we stand today and review our nation's achievements, failures, joys and disappointments. Continuing to celebrate the getting of independence re-instates the fact that we had been subjugated in our collective consciousness, a reminder of bondage which may not be a necessary thing for our youth and those born after 1947. Just after Venkiah Naidu became Vice President, it was reported in the media that he was the first VP born after 1947. Thus when out topmost leadership is beyond 1947 why do we need to carry this baggage of Independence Day.
The second is that these Independence Day celebrations are a deliberate tool used by our politicians to brainwash and sway our minds to this day. This is done only to serve their personal and political ends. This is more so to the vast majority of illiterate citizens who are easily swayed by the sight of the unfurling tricolour. The politician tries to associate himself in some way with the national flag flying high from the mast, though he himself would not have had anything to do with it. This fact is true for the entire Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is currently ensconced in government since none of them were involved in the fight for freedom from the British. This deficiency has been accentuated all the more by one can say the forced retirement of the senior leaders like LK Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi who by virtue of their age could have claimed some link to having secured our freedom. But to cover up this fact the BJP has been desperate to appropriate the heritage of our eminent past leaders like B R Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhai Patel for which there does not seem to be any reasonable logic.
Thus, the reason for celebrating Independence Day does not exist since it is much behind us, we have leaders now who were born after Independence and we have a party, BJP, in power today and most likely to win in the 2019 elections that has had no link to the freedom struggle. So let us put 15 August 1947 behind us for all time to come by just recognising it as a token day when the British left the shores of India so that we could steer our own destiny given the intractable problems like Pakistan that they have left us to fend with.
On Human Fatalities As A Measure O Development
There has been unusual rain over the last month in India particularly in the cities of Mumbai and Bengaluru which grabs media headlines though when large parts of Bihar and Assam have been facing recurring floods, it is ignored. And then there was the deluge that accompanied Hurricane Harvey that inundated Houston with 40ins. of rain. If you compare fatalities between Houston, Mumbai and Bengaluru in that order considering the intensity of rain that fell along with the lives lost in the rural areas of India, you will find that Houston with just 40 deaths is much lower than any of the Indian locations with some 300 in Bihar being the highest. Even in U.K. and Europe with calamities faced with unseasonal flooding and forest fires the human loss of life is at a minimum. The lesson in this is that development means to keep human fatalities at the minimum when faced with natural or man-made disasters and does not relate to only construction of roads and bridges. Infrastructure does not automatically guarantee saving human lives but what is required is a frame of mind to recognise that human lives are precious and need to be saved. In contrast we in India measure the scale of any disaster by the number of lives lost and the amount of media attention, visits of ministers and politicians, relief, compensation etc. is measured by this norm. Is it because human life is cheap in India?
On Nirmala Sitharaman As Defence Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman came as a rookie some 5 years ago in the role of a BJP spokesperson and initially was fumbling around for the proper words and proper arguments on many a TV panel discussion. But as time passed her combativeness and command on the language asserted itself and she became one of the preferred speakers for the party. Progressively she became a Minister for Commerce & Industry where one must say her performance was not so exceptional what with exports refusing to move on a growth path and industry remaining in the doldrums for one reason or another. Hence her elevation to Defence Minister is a surprise, more so because it is a male ministry. The fact that after Indira Gandhi she is the first woman Defence Minister only serves to garner brownie points for the government on a public relations platform. Since if memory serves one right Indira Gandhi was the Defence Minister when she was also the Prime Minister. That is a different cup of tea as anyone would admit. So Nirmala Sitharaman has her task cut out for her and it is very important for herself and this government that she performs well. Concluding one would wish her all the best in the onerous task of taking on a man's world and show that she is capable of dealing with the portfolio. An aside to the recent Cabinet re-shuffle is that it is apparent that the BJP continues to suffer a paucity of capable leaders to fit into ministerial slots. This may be a welcome situation for the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah since then they can have their own way on most things.
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