Saturday, November 13, 2010

RSS IS ON THE DEFENSIVE


Rahul Gandhi equated RSS with the SIMI, a banned Muslim organization. If the remark was serious then why one is banned and the other is not Sonia Gandhi had described Narendra Modi, the CM of Gujrat as ‘Lashon ka vyapari’ (merchant of corpses) then why he is not booked under whatever criminal act applicable to him? Should charges be made off the cuff?

Very early in the independent India, the RSS was banned for alleged involvement in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi. Arrests of thousands of swayamsewaks were made, cases were framed, court proceedings continued and the organization was found not-guilty. The ban was lifted. Should the Congress people continue to rake unsubstantiated charges?.

During Emergency Period, the RSS was banned once again by the Congress Government of the time. Their offices were searched, weapons and restricted maps recovered were published in the News Papers, their Offices and Banks accounts were sealed, and cases were filed. What happened to charges and and the cases. Why the ban was lifted?.

Many are talking of banning RSS for the third time. It may be justified also if the RSS is the Hindu counter part of the Muslim SIMI. But the elderly and experienced people in the Congress are saying a ban will not work. May be they have the experience of the past. Do they know that the RSS is not guilty but accusations are desirable?

And now there is the other side of the coin. The former Sarsanghchalak K. S. Sudarshan, like a defiant boy, made certain asperging remarks against Sonia Gandhi. His accusations are not substantiated. He talks of circumstantial evidences. For example if Sonia Ji’s daughter went to the jail to meet Nalini, responsible for the murder of Rajeev Gandhi and wished her release, it cannot be construed as sympathy for the murderer of our Prime Minister and her father.

It is good that the RSS clarified that the views are not of the organization and the affiliated political wing dissociated itself from them. Some journalists call K.S. Sudarshan, a lunatic, mad, out of his mind and so on. But he made the remarks in full senses and full knowledge. He can be taken to the court of law to substantiate his allegations and present his so called circumstantial evidences..

Instead of doing that, the Youth Congress is destroying the National Property, burning effigies and accusing the RSS for the utterances of an individual. Is there a difference between the Youth Congress and the Bajrang Dal?

It seems the RSS is on the defensive if it is accused of an unlawful act and also if any of its members makes accusation against others.

WHY HAVE TENDERS IN ENGLISH FOR VILLAGE WORK


On Nov. 10, 2010, I came across a small dispute between the contractor and the newly elected village Pradhan. The dispute was if the khadanja-bricks removed by the contractor from a pre-existing panchayat road belong to the contractor or to the Panchayat. The contractor was showing the tender document written in fluent English to the semi-literate village Pradhan to support his contention.

It is a case of construction of a road from Gadela to Lalpur in village panchayat of Kunaura of BKT block in district Lucknow. The work assigned was earth work, laying of soling bricks, spreading of granules and making a pukka road. It is noteworthy that the road from Gadela to Shahpur is already pukka and from near Shahpur to Lalpur the earth work was already done decades ago and soling of bricks completed then. Be as it may.

The Pradhan incidently was sitting with me and passed the tender document on to me for perusal. I read it twice and kept on asking the contractor as to where it was written about the pre-existing earth-work and bricks in the tender. He kept on saying you read the whole document and will see. Apparently he did not know English or may be he did not want to be specific. I told them that there was no mention about the ownership of the existing road material.

I do not insinuate motives but surely such tenders for village work, the quality of which will have to be certified by the village pradhan, should be in a language that he understands. I could understand if the work pertained to some scientific-technological projects and the language being technical could not be translated by the persons of the Rural Engeering Department. But, since the work pertains to villages and is non-technical, there is no justification of issuing the tenders in a foreign language. The rest I leave to investigative journalists to probe.

(Published in the HT on 13 November, 2010)

WHY HAVE TENDERS IN ENGLISH FOR VILLAGE WORK


On Nov. 10, 2010, I came across a small dispute between the contractor and the newly elected village Pradhan. The dispute was if the khadanja-bricks removed by the contractor from a pre-existing panchayat road belong to the contractor or to the Panchayat. The contractor was showing the tender document written in fluent English to the semi-literate village Pradhan to support his contention.

It is a case of construction of a road from Gadela to Lalpur in village panchayat of Kunaura of BKT block in district Lucknow. The work assigned was earth work, laying of soling bricks, spreading of granules and making a pukka road. It is noteworthy that the road from Gadela to Shahpur is already pukka and from near Shahpur to Lalpur the earth work was already done decades ago and soling of bricks completed then. Be as it may.

The Pradhan incidently was sitting with me and passed the tender document on to me for perusal. I read it twice and kept on asking the contractor as to where it was written about the pre-existing earth-work and bricks in the tender. He kept on saying you read the whole document and will see. Apparently he did not know English or may be he did not want to be specific. I told them that there was no mention about the ownership of the existing road material.

I do not insinuate motives but surely such tenders for village work, the quality of which will have to be certified by the village pradhan, should be in a language that he understands. I could understand if the work pertained to some scientific-technological projects and the language being technical could not be translated by the persons of the Rural Engeering Department. But, since the work pertains to villages and is non-technical, there is no justification of issuing the tenders in a foreign language. The rest I leave to investigative journalists to probe.

(Published in the HT on 13 November, 2010)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

FALING HINDU MARRIAGES IN ADVANCING INDIA


There is no denying that India is advancing fast materially and Indian couples have all the essentials needed for a comfortable living. Yet, Hindu marriages in particular are breaking down more frequently than ever before. It shows a marriage needs something more that material comforts to make it stable.

Earlier, a Hindu marriage was thought to be a bond for seven lives when science was a little less advanced. But now there are no seven lives, your life is here and now. Hindus are adopting an attitude similar to other religions that a marriage is a contract not an institution any more. And a contract can be signed and broken with the convenience of one or both the parties. Here it is broken even if not signed !!

The contract of a Hindu marriage is broken not because of breach of agreement as there were no conditions laid down like in several other religions. We enter into an institution and think it is a contract. The Hindu Marriage Act has given the women their rightful due but did not redefine a Hindu marriage as a contractual agreement. It is still based on the assumption of pious relationship, eternal bond and social sanction.

I know several marriages that broke down simply because of clash of ego of one or the other partner. The only difference that Hindu Marriage Act has brought about is that men cannot utter Talaq Talaq Talaq and get rid of their spouses. But once they know that the bond is actually an unwritten agreement that can be broken, they break it at the drop of a stone.

It is time we should either redefine a Hindu Marriage as a contractual agreement based on a written and signed document or else continue with the marriage of faith of eternal emotional bond. We cannot have benefits of both. Indeed, we are landing into evils of both models.