The prisoner of conscience: The Iron Lady

                 

Agonies which she is enduring gloriously

             A shudder goes through all over my body when I try to walk in the shoes of ‘the iron lady’ of India, a woman who hasn’t taken a meal voluntarily since last 13 years, government had to force-feed her and charge her with attempt to commit suicide.  It forces us to wonder how a law could be so draconian that it can make her spent over 13 years of her crucial life in hunger strike.  How could giving few additional rights to Army make someone fast unto death, it could not, unless these same rights can make armed forces kill innocent civilians, rape someone and never get prosecuted and if some of that have occurred right in front of your eyes than it makes less hard to imagine why Irom Sharmila Chanu has been on fast since last 13 years to repeal the AFSPA.

       

                      It all started on November 2, 2000 when armed forces killed 10 innocent civilians, including 62 year old lady and 18 year old girl (a national bravery award winner), who were waiting for a bus in Malon, a town close to the capital city of Imphal. The matter was brought to court and the other party (Assam Rifles) claimed that insurgents had attempted to bomb the paramilitary convoy and the civilians died in cross firing. Lives were wasted but no one was brought to justice.  It’s hard to imagine the agonies she must have went through all these years, separated from her family and close ones and spending most of the time in the hospitals with a nasogastric intubation inserted through her nose.  No wonder why her supporters have given her the name ‘Iron-lady’. 

           I don’t know how righteous her cause is but the pain she has endured to bring peace to her hill-state is incredible. The government has its reasons to support the act and she has other reasons to fight against the act but one thing of which I am sure that she deserves far more attention and praise than what she is getting because her intentions are quite righteous.  Had it been other developed countries like some European countries, she would have gathered a huge support but our countries’ youths are more obsessed with Bollywood or Hollywood celebrities and most of who would never have done any heroic activities in their lives apart from giving donations here and there.

        Her news has travelled far and wide which brought attention of many international organizations yet she is facing apathy from her own country’s citizens.  My aim to write article about her was to bring attention of people to her cause because it deserved contemplation of general people. Her heroics need to be spread far and wide and most importantly the state finds its peace for which she is fighting for.  I would appeal to my friends and fellow citizens that come out from this hibernation of not standing for a cause or at least give her moral support so that peace could be brought not just for the hill state but for the country. Come out from obsession of reel heroes and follow real heroes who are suffering for us so that we could live in peace. They are  the ones who are fighting to make this world a better place not the actors who are getting paid in millions.

       

Kudos to the iron lady!!!!

Narendra Modi; As a victim and beneficiary

Sure my heart goes out to him for being victimized by calling him 'anti-secular and anti-muslim' but not my vote because I still think Kejriwal is better choice this time.

Lok Sabha elections are round the corner and the word which is making a lot of buzz is ‘NaMo’ referred to ‘Narendra Modi’. No one can deny he was the main reason of BJP in winning of the State assembly elections in some of the states except Delhi.  Delhi was riding that time in the ‘Kejriwal’ wave.

 A term ‘politics’ which was earlier associated with evil is now gaining popularity, especially among the youth.  Now the chances are rare that someone will interrupt you with the old saying “would you please stop talking about politics?” I am very curious and inquisitive when it comes to know what others have in their mind besides that I also try to know why it is so.

     In political matters you won’t find everyone very logical, they all seem to be driven by different factors. As for me, I think corruption is the root cause of all other problems and because of this every government department in inefficient, facilities have worsened etc., that is why all other concerns have taken a back seat and you may easily guess whom I would want to vote for this election. I went through many articles and talked with people whoever I met in buses or elsewhere.  Based on which the conclusion I came down were shocking and sound detrimental to the future of this country.    

    

      In present scenario I personally see ‘Narendra Modi’ as a victim and beneficiary both:

MODI AS A VICTIM

Most of the persons would see it or not, especially persons relating to non-BJP parties would find it very hard to believe but I really think that he must be feeling himself victimized by the ‘anti-muslim’ remark because he has never done any act and there are no concrete evidence against him which can prove him as that. Being a ‘Hindutva-vadi’ doesn’t mean he is ‘anti-muslim’. I don’t think he is the best person for the prime minister post but that doesn’t mean that I disrespect him. It’s just Arvind Kejriwal is better person for the post at the moment. I have many muslim friends and when I tried to strike a conversation with them regarding the ‘Narendra Modi’ I was very surprised by their reply. Their reply was way far from logic, they seemed to hate Modi and they were ready to vote anyone except Modi. I was very disappointed with this because they were not the backward or deprived one, they were the prosperous, well-educated and well-travelled persons. If they make their decision this way then what you expect from less educated and deprived section.

        Communal elements should never reach the parliament but a person who is religious should not be branded as communal, atleast not without proper evidence.  I read his blog where he has written that he was shaken to the core by communal riots. He really would have been suffered in pain and agony of accusations upon him which he did not perpetrate.

    I don’t understand why someone don’t brand ‘Farhan Azmi’ (Son of Abu Azmi and husband of Ayesha Takia) for going mum when asked about what he will do for non-Muslims in a news channel when he was making many statements what he will do to Muslims. On what terms he thinks that people of Mubai will vote for him. ‘How dumb of him’! J

MODI AS A BENEFICIARY

Looking at the current scenario, it can easily be concluded that many Muslims are uniting against Modi for the apparent reason which is not logical enough. If they brand Modi as non-secular that what is this activity of theirs is. This will hurt the democracy and the future of India and it surely is unfortunate to see India in this situation despite of the economic and other achievements it has achieved in last two decades. If the 17 %(approx) population unite against him like this then what do they expect their counterparts to do? This will also polarize some Hindu voters too.

  I also can’t deny the fact that many Hindu people too are voting for Modi just because he is a Hindutva-brigadier. I have seen who supported Kejriwal’s campaign earlier turning against him just because he can stop Modi from gaining majority. They only reason for turning them against Kejriwal and in this way they have forgotten all the good works done by him. He has become their enemy now. All issues have forgotten, this election has become battle of religion ‘unfortunately’.

MY TAKE ON MODI  (Excellent administrator)

No wonder he is the strongest candidate. There are some good reasons and some bad reasons too. One good reason is the development which the ‘Gujrat’ state has achieved during his tenure as chief minister and the bad reason is he is gaining momentum because of his proverbial Hindutva. As far as I am concerned I want Arvind Kejriwal to be the prime minister more than I want to see Modi as PM.

(The comment which are made are my personal opinion based on whatever I have observed so far and not intended to accuse any religion in particular)

   My Appeal to you : Must Vote and more importantly your decision should be based on issues not on religion or caste. Jai Hind! Jai Bharat!

How an ideal politician will look like

        This thought came to my mind, when I was waiting for my friend to come and pick me up from a bus stand to the exam center.  This bus stand was one of the most indispensable as it is situated in the heart of this capital city. Almost all the major routes pass from that stand; still the condition of that bus station was so pathetic. I was wondering as who is to blame. Should I blame myself for not doing something about it, general public who litter everywhere or the politician who are ruling the country and have munched up all the funds which were supposed to be allocated for infrastructure and welfare?

This is not the story of just one bus stand. This is the story of every nook and corner of this country except few VIP areas where politicians and rich businessmen reside.  In VIP areas of this country, you will find more security personnel and sweepers than the actual number of people residing there but they are rarely seen in the most densely populated areas where they are needed most. When a politician is chosen as an MLA or MP, his fortune rises from few thousands to millions in just a year or two years.  Don’t we know from where all this wealth is coming from? We all know still we are letting this to happen. Why are we so helpless and numb to this problem? Even if we thorough him out and elect a new one what is the guarantee that he is not going to be the same as previous one. The real question is what can we do? From where can we find our ideal politician?

“Ideal Politician”? that would have clicked in your mind and you would be wondering what would he look like? what would he be? He will be our saviour.  He will not hide behind the walls of posh colonies. He will be living among us where majority of the population lives. He is not going to tour the flood affected areas by his helicopter instead of that he will visit that area and talk to the affected by physically present there. He will not ride in his luxurious cars around the city causing traffic jams for the common people, instead of this he will visit those places like that bus stand and will notice the short-comings and will be determined to remove those. He is not going to look like a businessman dressed in suits or an obese man with his large tummy like a pregnant lady. He is going to look like as a common man who has been selected by common people to work for them.

An ideal politician would not be dressed like out of crowd dressing like each and every politician in our country dresses. I don’t know what they want to prove by dressing this way. Our present day politician’s lifestyle is not like the lifestyle of 90% of the population, instead of that they are living a lifestyle which only 10% population is capable of living. Then how come we expect those politicians to understand our problems. That day my problem was the pathetic situation of that bus stand, a person who has never been there is never going to understand that problem.

According to me the only politician who is closest to be called as an 'IDEAL' is Arvind Kejriwal, other are not even in this race. He is the one who is there for common man. This is evident from the protest against gang rape in Delhi or other protests related to electricity bills and corruption. He is the one who raised the problems not like the politician but like a common man. ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ is the name of his party and he totally justifies the name. Mind it, I am not a member of that party nor I am directly getting benefited from writing in support of him. But yes, I will be benefited as a citizen of a country improving and developing in real terms if he comes to power.

              One more thing which makes him ideal politician is his fearlessness. A person without any opposition or any of the political party’s support stood against the government. A government which never did anything against Ravi Balkrishna (Baba Ramdev’s aide) in fake passport case until he turned against government with Baba Ramdev. This government who can dig your past as long as 20 years back, it’s impossible for us to raise our voice against government. It is because the functioning of the government departments in India have forced us do some illegal things like bribing them to get a LPG connection or make our driving license.  At least one person from our family would have bribed or would have done something wrong which can come from the past and haunt us.

An officer in Income Tax department and a leading member of several NGOs would have a huge property but he doesn't have and I don’t think if he comes to power his wealth is going to increase that much as increases in the case of other MLAs.  These rare traits are found in him which makes him best choice as an Ideal Politician. He is the one who can lead this country for a better tomorrow.