Saturday, December 13, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Students & Politics
The Lingdoh committee has advised that elections should be held in all universities & colleges of the country to enable students to elect their representatives in their institutions.
‘The issue of student politics has been debated too often, Whether elections to the student councils should be held or not & if yes, then under what circumstances’ is a question which has seen opinions of almost all political parties differ from time to time. Increasing criminalization is no more a preserve of the General politics but has creeped into the amateur student politics as well. The Supreme Court had directed the center to form a committee to study the issue of student politics & submit a report. A committee was formed by the Human Resources Ministry of Arjun Singh, under the leadership of Ex-Election Commissioner J. M. Lingdoh. The subjects placed before it for study were Criminalization of student politics, financial transparency in student elections, limits of expenditure & eligibility for contesting elections. The committee was also to advise on measures to create an environment conducive to academics in educational institutions, foster discipline & suggest ways to save them from divisions on grounds differing political ideologies.
Hardly anybody could have doubted the objectives placed before the Lingdoh committee but this turned out to be an attempt to ban student politics in the guise of curbing its nefarious elements. The recent ban on elections to the student council in JNU have laid bare the macabre intentions of the government, which was to ban the student politics altogether. It is a classic case of the medicine being worse than the disease.
If the Lingdoh committee’s objective was to rid the student politics from the vagaries of criminal – political – moneybag combine & drive out all the undesirable elements giving it a clean image, then seems to be no point in banning elections in JNU. The reason are not far to seek, JNU being an institutions where the student politics has mostly been devoid criminalization & financial muscle. It is one of the possibly very few institutes in the country where elections are genuinely contested on ideology. This clearly shows that the ulterior motive of the government through the Lingdoh committee was not to improve student politics but destroy it altogether.
The situation has become so bad that elections are not being held in all but 8 of the 24 central universities in the country. If this is the state of affairs in the central universities, one shudders to think of the reality in the stat universities & autonomous institutions. Most of the states too have chosen to do away student politics on similar grounds, although all political parties have student wings of their own. Reports indicate that he few universities where elections are presently being held are also planning to do away with them citing the report of the Lingdoh committee & the JNU example amongst umpteen others. All this while the Lingdoh committee has itself suggested that elections must be held in all the universities & colleges of the country to enable students to pave way for democratic representation in their institutions. This recommendation had also been accepted by the Supreme Court.
How did the situation move from bad to worse? In February 2000, a task force established by the World Bank had resolved developing member nations to take steps to curb the activism of student politics. It does not take much intelligence to figure that our government is merely implementing yet another recommendation of the World Bank, despite it being contrary to national social development. Our honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a member of this task force.
‘The issue of student politics has been debated too often, Whether elections to the student councils should be held or not & if yes, then under what circumstances’ is a question which has seen opinions of almost all political parties differ from time to time. Increasing criminalization is no more a preserve of the General politics but has creeped into the amateur student politics as well. The Supreme Court had directed the center to form a committee to study the issue of student politics & submit a report. A committee was formed by the Human Resources Ministry of Arjun Singh, under the leadership of Ex-Election Commissioner J. M. Lingdoh. The subjects placed before it for study were Criminalization of student politics, financial transparency in student elections, limits of expenditure & eligibility for contesting elections. The committee was also to advise on measures to create an environment conducive to academics in educational institutions, foster discipline & suggest ways to save them from divisions on grounds differing political ideologies.
Hardly anybody could have doubted the objectives placed before the Lingdoh committee but this turned out to be an attempt to ban student politics in the guise of curbing its nefarious elements. The recent ban on elections to the student council in JNU have laid bare the macabre intentions of the government, which was to ban the student politics altogether. It is a classic case of the medicine being worse than the disease.
If the Lingdoh committee’s objective was to rid the student politics from the vagaries of criminal – political – moneybag combine & drive out all the undesirable elements giving it a clean image, then seems to be no point in banning elections in JNU. The reason are not far to seek, JNU being an institutions where the student politics has mostly been devoid criminalization & financial muscle. It is one of the possibly very few institutes in the country where elections are genuinely contested on ideology. This clearly shows that the ulterior motive of the government through the Lingdoh committee was not to improve student politics but destroy it altogether.
The situation has become so bad that elections are not being held in all but 8 of the 24 central universities in the country. If this is the state of affairs in the central universities, one shudders to think of the reality in the stat universities & autonomous institutions. Most of the states too have chosen to do away student politics on similar grounds, although all political parties have student wings of their own. Reports indicate that he few universities where elections are presently being held are also planning to do away with them citing the report of the Lingdoh committee & the JNU example amongst umpteen others. All this while the Lingdoh committee has itself suggested that elections must be held in all the universities & colleges of the country to enable students to pave way for democratic representation in their institutions. This recommendation had also been accepted by the Supreme Court.
How did the situation move from bad to worse? In February 2000, a task force established by the World Bank had resolved developing member nations to take steps to curb the activism of student politics. It does not take much intelligence to figure that our government is merely implementing yet another recommendation of the World Bank, despite it being contrary to national social development. Our honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a member of this task force.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ideology can be sold very easily
Saw a breaking news on the TV that Sonal Shah, the only Indian to have been inducted by Obama in his team has formally disassociated herself from VHP & launched an angry attack on it calling it a fundamentalist organization.
She is a hypocrite & an opportunist. When it was beneficial for her to join VHP, she joined it, now she wants to be politically correct & disassociate from it to suit her new opportunity.
She is also ignorant of the fact that the Gujarat riots were not incited by VHP but by Muslim fundamentalists, who had grossly miscalculated the reprisal capability of Hindus & thus had to suffer more than the Hindus.
If she disliked the VHP so much, why did she work for it for so long & support it all her adult life? Will she also disassociate herself officially from her family which is an ardent supporter of VHP. Will she disown her own father who has actively worked for the VHP all his life?
Her statement & action is pure opportunism. I was happy that an Indian has made it to Obama's team, but now I am ashamed that such an Indian has made it there.
Just goes to show, how inferior ideology is to money power & fame. It can be sold at the drop of a hat
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Parasitic Government - OF the Elite, FOR the elite, by the common man
In the last few days, terrorism, intelligence failures, sacking of ministers & political revolts have been the only headlines in the media. Nobody thought about the normal, daily routine of the common man or problems affecting them.
This is because our politicians & media have a defined pattern of behavior. They all want to run with the mob, the elite mob. This being the only crap dished out by media, it also becomes the forced habit of masses. Nobody likes to step out of the way & take stock of genuine issues affecting the nation since long.
That is why the issue of Diesel-Petrol prices, one of the most important issues facing the common man has been lost in the run up to terror – Pakistan – resignations political drama. The government has taken steps to reduce petrol & diesel prices by Rs. 5 & Rs. 2 respectively, but far from it being a voluntary decision, it was one forced by continued campaigns of numerous people & bodies. One undisputed truth about the common man’s life in India is 'without asking he won’t get anything except death & misery' which is available in plenty, irrespective of his wishes.
Ex Petroleum minister Ram Naik of BJP had been clamoring for this price reduction ever since international crude prices dropped. This price reduction had to wait a few months, despite contrary economic trends, as it was an issue affecting the commons & the common man has never been important for those in power, political or economic.
Even this reduction is merely symbolic as the extremely low crude prices display scope of far bigger reduction. Domestic cooking gas price must be reduced by at least a Rs. 100 per cylinder apart from another reduction of Rs. 5 & Rs. 2 from the price of petrol & diesel respectively.
The demand for further price reductions is not unjustified. While the prices of petrol & diesel (commodities necessary for the existence of the common man) have been reduced by 9% & 6% respectively, the government which thrives on the votes of the poor & middle class has reduced the prices of Aviation Turbine fuel by a whopping 45%, so that the rich & famous can fly cheaper. This drastic difference in levels of price reduction clearly demonstrates that commoners indeed occupy the last place in the list of priorities of this government. The rich & the powerful, who finance the politicians, off course top the list.
ATF Vs Petrol-Diesel
The Central government has kept the price of petrol at Rs. 50 per liter; however aviation fuel, which is used by the rich (who can very well afford to pay for it) has been priced at Rs. 40.49, far cheaper than that of petrol after the steep 45% reduction in price.
Those familiar with elementary Chemistry know that ATF is a far more refined product than Petrol & is obtained at the very end of the distillation process of raw crude. In petroleum industry, the price of the products is determined by the stage at which they are obtained in the distillation process. Thus diesel, which is the first one to be formed, is cheapest, followed by more refined Petrol. Since Aviation Turbine fuels comes at the fag end of the cycle, its prices are the highest due to more processing being needed. However in India it is priced 20% cheaper than petrol.
We pride on ourselves being a socialist economy with the capitalist think tanks always crying hoarse about the poor being subsidized at the cost of the rich, which is not always true. Here is a glaring example; ATF which ought to be 20% costlier than petrol is priced 20% cheaper implying a direct subsidy of 40% for the rich on something they can very well afford.
Further the Congress government has simply refused to reduce the price of Kerosene & cooking gas, both being commodities which affect he daily existence of the poor & middle class by even a single percent point. Its philosophy giving greater importance to the travel needs of the rich than the need of the poor to feed themselves.
In reality governments ought to think about the vast masses of the country, those very masses whom they go with begging bowls during elections and to whom they owe their very existence. Above events clearly display the lack of empathy for the commoners, who provide succor to the government.
What is this if not a fine example of parasitic attitude of political pests?
This is because our politicians & media have a defined pattern of behavior. They all want to run with the mob, the elite mob. This being the only crap dished out by media, it also becomes the forced habit of masses. Nobody likes to step out of the way & take stock of genuine issues affecting the nation since long.
That is why the issue of Diesel-Petrol prices, one of the most important issues facing the common man has been lost in the run up to terror – Pakistan – resignations political drama. The government has taken steps to reduce petrol & diesel prices by Rs. 5 & Rs. 2 respectively, but far from it being a voluntary decision, it was one forced by continued campaigns of numerous people & bodies. One undisputed truth about the common man’s life in India is 'without asking he won’t get anything except death & misery' which is available in plenty, irrespective of his wishes.
Ex Petroleum minister Ram Naik of BJP had been clamoring for this price reduction ever since international crude prices dropped. This price reduction had to wait a few months, despite contrary economic trends, as it was an issue affecting the commons & the common man has never been important for those in power, political or economic.
Even this reduction is merely symbolic as the extremely low crude prices display scope of far bigger reduction. Domestic cooking gas price must be reduced by at least a Rs. 100 per cylinder apart from another reduction of Rs. 5 & Rs. 2 from the price of petrol & diesel respectively.
The demand for further price reductions is not unjustified. While the prices of petrol & diesel (commodities necessary for the existence of the common man) have been reduced by 9% & 6% respectively, the government which thrives on the votes of the poor & middle class has reduced the prices of Aviation Turbine fuel by a whopping 45%, so that the rich & famous can fly cheaper. This drastic difference in levels of price reduction clearly demonstrates that commoners indeed occupy the last place in the list of priorities of this government. The rich & the powerful, who finance the politicians, off course top the list.
ATF Vs Petrol-Diesel
The Central government has kept the price of petrol at Rs. 50 per liter; however aviation fuel, which is used by the rich (who can very well afford to pay for it) has been priced at Rs. 40.49, far cheaper than that of petrol after the steep 45% reduction in price.
Those familiar with elementary Chemistry know that ATF is a far more refined product than Petrol & is obtained at the very end of the distillation process of raw crude. In petroleum industry, the price of the products is determined by the stage at which they are obtained in the distillation process. Thus diesel, which is the first one to be formed, is cheapest, followed by more refined Petrol. Since Aviation Turbine fuels comes at the fag end of the cycle, its prices are the highest due to more processing being needed. However in India it is priced 20% cheaper than petrol.
We pride on ourselves being a socialist economy with the capitalist think tanks always crying hoarse about the poor being subsidized at the cost of the rich, which is not always true. Here is a glaring example; ATF which ought to be 20% costlier than petrol is priced 20% cheaper implying a direct subsidy of 40% for the rich on something they can very well afford.
Further the Congress government has simply refused to reduce the price of Kerosene & cooking gas, both being commodities which affect he daily existence of the poor & middle class by even a single percent point. Its philosophy giving greater importance to the travel needs of the rich than the need of the poor to feed themselves.
In reality governments ought to think about the vast masses of the country, those very masses whom they go with begging bowls during elections and to whom they owe their very existence. Above events clearly display the lack of empathy for the commoners, who provide succor to the government.
What is this if not a fine example of parasitic attitude of political pests?
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