Kai Gandhi Aur; کئی گاندھی اور ;Urdu Short Story; اردو افسانہ

Kai Gandhi Aur; کئی گاندھی اور 

Urdu Short Story; اردو افسانہ  

Tale of Two bills-FDI in Retail and Jana Lokpal: (English)

Tale of Two bills-FDI in Retail and Jana Lokpal

(English)

Nobody would have been more happy to see that FDI in Retail was passed by both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha than Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley of BJP for they represent a political party that has time and again proved to be backing the upper class especially the capitalist and trading class. Their job was done by their proxy partner ,INC. You may ask then why did they oppose it? Opposition was for the sake of opposition to show the people that they look after their interests and want poor farmers and lower middle class protected against the invasion of Multinational Companies besides exposing the parties like SP and BSP who talk endlessly about poor and the downtrodden but in fact side with the rich and the capitalists directly or indirectly. The eye is on 2014 elections.
Why did Mayawati change the tag between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha voting? Was it CBI? No, Mayawati has been under the sword of Tantalus for so many years now as is Mulayam Singh and other small regional party heads like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Karunanidhi, except perhaps Mamta Banerjee who unfortunately has diligently painted herself as unreliable a partner who gives more trouble while in your camp than in the opposite camp. The real fact is that neither Mulayam singh nor Mayawati wants Lok Sabha elections immediately. One would have believed that Mulayam wanted early elections after he came to power but he was also conscious of the fact that in such an event greatest benefit would be reaped by BJP  which would bag the anti-incumbency vote given that Congress had sufficiently blackened its image due to the scams and the exposures.  The only remedy therefore was that Congress should be given time to correct itself and rebuild its reputation for the remaining one and a half years so that it is able to garner enough vote percentage and with the support of parties like SP, BSP and RJD  come back to power in next elections. On the other hand, Mayawati is waiting and watching. She wants time to lapse and let people of UP know the real worth of SP. She believes by 2014 SP will have been sufficiently exposed for their non-performance and non-fulfilling of their promises which may help BSP to get majority of seats in Lok Sabha elections and also changes fortunes at local level. Other smaller parties too hope for similar results and do not want to sink along with the Congress immediately.
What is important to note is the way Congress managed to get the bill on FDI in retail passed smoothly in both the houses this time while earlier the Lokpal bill found hurdles at every stage more so from its own allies and remains hanging ever since. This in fact shows that the Gandhi-Nehru's Congress party had no intention to get the Lokpal bill passed nor were Ambedkar's Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Narayan-Lohia's Samajwadi Party interested in seeing the bill through. Reason is obvious and needs hardly be discussed here in detail. They do not want the avenues of their parallel income to be curtailed. Sharad Pawar,Lalu Prasad, Paswan,Sharad Yadav, Nitish,and  Thakre all are birds of the same feather who do not want their avenues of earning to be choked. BJP too did not show any keenness to support Anna Hazare on this issue and work out draft of the bill that would have been acceptable to him and the party. Again the reason is obvious. There are number of Gadkaris and Yeddurappas in waiting in the top and middle levels of the party who too are opposed to the Lokpal. It is the same party that once prided itself for clean image and anti-corruption crusade. The remaining parties are the Communists who have unequivocally supported the Lokpal bill but they have by now been so much marginalized that they hardly matter and their voice in the well of both the houses hardly resonates.Fortunately no scams have been dug out against them despite having ruled West Bengal and Kerala for so long.
So one can well imagine the truth behind the failure of Lokpal bill ( as also Women's Reservation bill) and see for oneself as to why they did not get through the houses of Parliament. One can also imagine the dramatics of the people's representatives in both the houses who do what suits them and not what suits the people. I am reminded of a couplet of Ghalib;
Bazeecha-e- Atifal hai duniya mere aage;
Hota hai shab-o-roz tamasha mere aage.
The problem with this vast country is who will make our countrymen understand this since more than forty percent of voters are illiterate and another twenty percent are mal-educated. The frustration of these people is writ large on their helpless faces. Only some supernatural authority can save them.

Has Anna Hazare Lost the Battle?: (English); Anna's Fight Against Corruption;

Has Anna Hazare Lost The Battle?: (English)

Anna's Fight Against Corruption

I was in anguish when I saw the face of Anna Hazare on TV during his fast in Mumbai. He was adamant to carry out his fast despite running high temperature and he tried his best to keep his promise to the nation.. This frail old man of 74 has personally nothing to gain out of this struggle but wants to see Rama Rajya established in Bharat. I have purposely used the words 'Rama Rajya' and 'Bharat' because they are drawn from our ancient culture and not imported. However, let me make it clear that I have not been advised by any party or social group to use these words. Nor has Anna Hazare been advised by any party or social group to undertake a crusade against corruption. Had it been so, the Shiv Sena supremo would not have expressed his dislike for him.
Mumbaiites failed this selfless soul for reasons best known to them. Reasons can be many. One, Mumbai people are time conscious and do not have time to spend for political rallies since time has a cost for them and they attend the rallies of Politicians only because they are paid for the same. Two, proper logistics was not planned by IAC to ensure proper attendance coupled with State Government sabotaging it by creating transportation hurdles. Three, people found no reason why Anna should undertake fast when the bill was being tabled in the Lok Sabha. Whatever reason may have weighed heavily on the minds of the people, fact remains we failed this sincere crusader against corruption. I refrain to call Anna a Mahatma or a Second Gandhi because such tags raise the expectations of the people from the mortal human beings.
During the past several months the Government used many a method to bring down the image of Anna and his team. Initially they questioned their integrity and their past record. I do not know how much truth is there in such allegations but question arises as to why did the Government not take action against them at proper time and preferred to undertake a smear campaign now. Fortunately,this adverse publicity did not find favour with the public. I would like to add here that no body in this world is perfect and there is a possibility of some mistake having been committed by any one of them. What has to be seen is whether the act committed was with an intention to amass wealth and become rich or was it a mere act of oversight? I would advise all the members of IAC to declare their assets and let any one conduct scrutiny as they please.
When the Government failed to smear the good name of  IAC activists, it resorted to communalising the whole issue through their hounds who day in and day out publicized that the movement had the backing of RSS. For the sake of discussion, let us presume that the movement has a backing of RSS, what then? Is fighting against corruption an anti-Muslim act or anti-Christian act? Does rooting out corruption adversely affect the rights of Scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes and Other backward Classes? Muslims are known to have least representation in Government jobs. Would anti-corruption measures not reduce nepotism, communalism and money power in recruitment and ensure that all deserving Muslims get their due? Would machinations of high-caste babus not be exposed if Lokpal bill was in place? Would we not get a society which believed in equality of opportunity? If RSS backs a movement which benefits all the citizens of the country should we oppose it just because a Hindu body supports it. I feel we should welcome any step taken by anybody if it is for the welfare of the entire society and not for a few. In fact it is today I wish that Muslims and Dalits had sincere and selfless leaders like Maulana Abulkalam Azad and Baba Saheb Ambedkar who would have shown them the right path.
An objection was raised whether a nominated body could take to task the Prime Minister or the elected representatives of the people who indulge in corruption? The answer is make the Lokpal also an elected body. Let the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elect the members of Lokpal. Even by selecting the members of Lokpal through PM, Vice President, Speaker,Chief Justce and an eminent Jurist , he becomes indirectly elected as majority of the selectors are elected representatives of the people. The only thing an independent Lokpal ensures is that it will focus on eradicating corruption from the country and would expedite such cases.
And then the big questions that Prime Minister will be belittled if he comes under the purview of Lokpal. May I ask a counter question as to why should a Prime Minister do an act which calls attention of a Lokpal?  If he is upright , every citizen of India including the Lokpal will bow before him and he will write his name in golden letters in the history of India.
Last but not the least , I feel that there is still time for the Parliamentarians to rise above party politics and petty personal gains and give to the people of India a Lokpal which is truly an independent body so that the generations to come will remember them the way they remember B R Ambedkar and the constitution makers.

                                             *********