An open letter to Mr. Arvind Kejriwal

Dear Arvind,

It was really surprising, if not shocking, to see you shouting angry slurs at the BJP and Mr. Modi on national TV and Twitter. I really thought that you learned your lesson from your horrible outburst against Mr. Prashant Bhushan and Mr. Yogendra Yadav, which was revealed immediately after your party's spectacular victory in the Delhi assembly elections. We all can disagree with others or even can have serious differences of opinion on various matters or criticize each other very strongly without being abusive towards each other. I was under the impression that maybe finally after that mistake you learned to control your anger, at least in public. But it seems that lesson is long forgotten and you are back with your "angry young man" avatar that has very little regard for choice of words while expressing his anger. I agree that you have complete freedom to say whatever you want, after all, the right of freedom of expression comes with the right to offend, but I never imagined that you would take it to the extent that it would sound like abuse. Frankly speaking, my love affair with AAP ended long back, immediately after you decided to resign after 45 days of your brief tenure as Delhi CM. I should accept that I was attracted to your political party because of the presence of a wide variety of people from different backgrounds who don't necessarily subscribe to a single ideology. It was an interesting mix and generated some hope in people like me that maybe people with different sets of ideas can also come together and create something unique that can challenge traditional norms of Indian politics. I must also accept that you guys managed to do that, but that phenomenon was very short-lived. I still agree that your party is somewhat different than all other political parties in India, but that difference is very minute and the gap is narrowing day by day. It still is somewhat different, and I hope it remains like that.

Now, coming back to this particular incident, I agree that Mr. Modi or the central NDA government misused power in their hand. I also agree that CBI was in the past and still today is used as a tool to settle political scores or strike political deals, but didn't you already know all this? Didn't you voluntarily sign up for this job and willingly enter the murky arena of Indian politics after knowing all these facts about predatory and dirty tactics used by central governments to intimidate their opposition? Or somehow you believed that these things won't happen with you and your government? Assuming that even if Mr. Modi or the BJP showed their cowardliness and vengeance, why you didn't show your bravery and sensible nature by facing that inquiry or raid like any common citizen of India? Why do you think that your office is so special that CBI needs to get your permission to raid it? DO they do this if they want to raid any common person's home or office? If according to you, Mr. Modi is a coward or a psychopath then who are you? A brave CM who is crying foul just for a single raid conducted on his office? Or is it the case that as a CM of Delhi, you expect to be treated differently than any other citizen of India? I still remember that you and your party as well as most leaders of other political parties saying on multiple occasions that you all are servants of the common people of India. Especially, you and your party claim to be against the VIP culture. But it seems this rhetoric is only true until you guys win the election and get the power, once you are in government then you all become those VIPs, expect some special treatment, and start behaving like a privileged entity who is above the law. I think you know this, but in case you forgot let me remind you that many common people in India go through these ordeals of search, raids, and arrests every day and there is no one to help them. Many of them go through this as a consequence of their criminal acts but believe me, many are put through this for no fault of theirs, but they all go through this, and hope that the system will do justice to them. They believe in the same system of which you are also a part now, even though the system fails them most of the time. They don't ask for any special treatment. What do you have to say now about the VIP culture and everyone should be treated in the same way? I know, that now you or your supporters will argue that then why any other CM's office was not raided or why some other scam was not investigated. I agree that there are often selective investigations and political vendettas in many cases, but I am sure you expected this. People are raising questions about these things and these things should be questioned, but not the way you are doing now. Also, if there are some allegations against one of the officers in your office, then why not investigate him? Why put conditions that first investigate X and Y, and then come to me or my staff? What happened to the claim that we will not tolerate any corruption or shelter any corrupt officer? Was it just a chunavi jumla, a gimmick to win the election, just like your esteemed opponents do in every election? If it was, then at least let people know about it, so they stop thinking that you and your party are any different than others.

If you expected that nothing of this sort would happen to you or that your political opponents wouldn't play any dirty games with you or they would deal with you using kid gloves or that politics would change overnight, then I must say that I am amazed by your naiveness. Similar things have happened in the past and I am sure they will happen in the future also, but it is you who promised to bring the change of culture, but it seems that now you are trying really hard to fit right into that same culture which you opposed as an activist. Your choice of words was not only wrong, but I am sure it was disheartening for many of your supporters to hear these things coming from you. It puts you in the same line of people who called you a traitor, Pakistani agent, bhagoda, naxal, and whatnot. I am sure you must be enjoying their company as you really tried very hard to be part of that group. Those people also used abusive language and displayed a very low level of personal vendetta and what you did is no different. I would not have bothered to write this mail a few months back, but recently I thought your government was back on track as you guys were really doing some good work, initiating discussions about relevant topics like pollution and air quality of Indian cities, but then this happened. It is like going 5 steps forward and 10 steps backward.

I don't want to make my letter too long and too preachy. I am also not here to tell you what to do and what not to do, I am sure you know this better than me. I just raised a few questions and I hope you bother to think about them and introspect a little. Let me end by citing a very relevant example for you, I am sure you know the name of Sachin Tendulkar. This man is considered a great cricketer not just for the number of records he broke or runs he scored but also for his temperament, consistency, sincerity, and on-field behavior. There are equally great players as far as statistics or records are concerned from his era or eras before and after him, many of them are very aggressive not only while playing cricket but also while dealing with other players on the field, and some of them are even known to be extremely abusive during their on-field behavior. Sachin is different from all those because he never engaged in on-field verbal spats, it is not that he was not abused or people never tried to intimidate him or he was not targeted, opponents from all teams tried all sorts of tactics but Sachin answered all that not with his mouth, but with his bat by scoring runs. His performance answered those insults thrown at him, no doubt that he needed to produce very high-quality performance consistently to deal with on-ground sledding, and this is one of the reasons he is considered a great cricketer. I hope this example inspires you to do something different from now onward. Because it is of no use just to claim that you are different, you also need to show that by your behavior.

All the very best and take care.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Public trial of media, is not a solution Mr. Kejriwal

In one of his recent interviews Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Mr. Arvind Kejriwal who doesn't seem to be very happy with the negative media coverage his party and some of its top leaders are receiving nowadays advocated about conducting a public trial of media. One can interpret this statement in various ways, his supporters will obviously justify this statement and point out to some channels that are clearly hostile towards this party whereas opponents of AAP will question this statement and even call it a hypocritic stance because it is coming from a party which is largely perceived as a creation of media. There is no doubt that the media gave disproportional coverage to AAP and its leaders, especially to Mr. Kejriwal in the beginning. Maybe this was because of the novelty aspect associated with the approach of AAP towards Indian politics and the issues they raised. At that time, most of the media was perceived as AAP's friend, and other political parties were complaining about unfair attention to AAP. Because of some recent happenings in AAP and even after their emphatic win in the Delhi assembly elections, they are getting a lot of negative press and now many people are saying that it is not much different than all other political parties. This has resulted in a very hostile attitude towards media from many AAP leaders. It is now no secret that after becoming CM of Delhi Mr. Kejriwal doesn't like public scrutiny or any criticism about himself or his party from any quarters of his own party or from media. It seems he doesn't like the taste of his own medicine.

So, what is wrong with advocating a public trial of media (or for that matter public trial of anyone)? We all know that mob mentality or public trials are dangerous as they are not based on facts and evidence but are based on perceptions. These perceptions can be right or wrong and it is easy to manipulate perceptions. That is why we have courts and judiciary so that there can be an unbiased and fair justice system. Even though this system many times fails to live up to its expectations, most of us will agree that we can not depend on public sentiments to deliver judgments in criminal or other cases. If a public trial becomes a norm, then people with a large fan following will never be convicted as there will be always a huge section of the public who will support their idol no matter what they do. Does Mr. Kejriwal want to go back to this stone age justice system? Is he trying to incite people to take the law into their own hands and deliver judgment based on their own opinions and perceptions rather than going to the courts to get justice? I fail to understand what he even means by a public trial of media and how he wants to conduct it? There is no doubt that media has its own issues and problems. There are many questions about transparency, conflict of interest, and accountability that various media houses need to answer, but definitely public trial is not the solution to resolve any of these issues. Let's also be clear that he was not talking about public debate and discussion, these things go on all the time on news channels, the public trial that he is recommending is something altogether different.

It is also clearly evident that politicians are more media friendly when they are in opposition but the time they get in power they start seeing media as a hostile opponent and nuisance. The same questions that they love to ask when in opposition, they try to avoid once they come into power. This was not expected from Mr. Kejriwal and his party as they claimed to be different and also claimed that they were in politics to change the way it functions but it seems that the politics changed them. I hope he was not serious when he talked about the public trial of media, the role of media is very important in any democracy. Questions about the media's accountability and transparency should be raised, the media can not run away from these questions. I hope Mr. Kejriwal will raise some relevant questions rather than being in a hurry to deliver a verdict against the media.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

How Arvind dared to do this?

Delhi's chief minister for the last two months (49 days to be specific) Mr. Arvind Kejriwal finally resigned. He has promised that if he cannot pass the Jan Lokpal bill in the Delhi assembly, he will resign. This is the bill for which a few of them back then started the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement and later formed the party (AAP) and fought the election in Delhi. This was the first promise in their manifesto, the basic foundation on which their party was formed, and the reason they fought elections. Now some people and two major parties of India (BJP and Congress) are calling AK a traitor and a coward who ran away from responsibility. One of them (BJP) called him opportunistic and power-hungry when he accepted the unconditional support offered by the Congress to form the government and now they are blaming him for creating crises in Delhi by resigning from the CM post. It is not uncommon for these parties to criticize no matter what their opponent does, so it's not a surprise that this tamasha (drama) has been going on in India for the last many years and still people enjoy this sitting in their living rooms.

I think AK should be arrested and tried in court for crimes he committed during the last few months. It will at least prevent something like this from happening again in the near future. How did he dare to challenge such a robust establishment? How did he dare to challenge the norms and rules set by the central government? How did he dare to protest in Delhi when he was chief minister of that state? Do chief ministers even behave like this? How did he dare to challenge the power of the central govt., Delhi police and Lt. Governor of Delhi at the same time? How did he dare to name the most powerful businessman of India and a cabinet minister both in one FIR? These are the few serious mistakes he made during the last few months. Wasn't he scared? Wasn't he worried about his CM post? What was he even thinking when he challenged this mighty political establishment that has been running this country for the last 65 years or so? How he dare to think that a common person like him could form a political party and challenge the grand old political parties who all know how to govern India as politics and governance flow in their blood. They all know how to win the elections and govern this great country and this maniac thought he could govern better than them? Anarchist, what else one can call him?

Didn't he know that many people are not yet ready for complete freedom (Swaraj)? People are against power decentralization, they want some messiah or dynast to rule them, not some common person, because all these people coming from the establishment know how to rule, how to govern, what a novice who didn't have any political background know about governance, right? People want some charismatic hero whom they can worship, adore, and believe blindly without questioning anything. What is a common man like him doing in politics? Clearly, he was a complete misfit in our corrupt system and therefore he needed to go, it was just a matter of time. Here, I am not talking about AK as a person but AK as an idea. As a person he is not that important, he may have all the drawbacks or strengths that we all have, but this idea of a noncorrupt novice leading any government needs to be crushed so that there can not be another AK. If common people realize that any one of them can become a leader then it will be dangerous for the current establishment. One AK is so difficult to deal with then imagine if everyone becomes like him. No, this should not happen at any cost, if this happens it will be like a death sentence for the current system, that's why AK's actions should be treated like blasphemy or treason. Actually, I am a little surprised to see that he dared to stand by his promise (to resign if Lokpal is not passed). Very few political leaders in India show the courage to renounce power like this, his government was short-lived but it tried its best as long as it existed. I am sure everyone from our grand political establishment has only one question in their mind, how Arvind dared to resign from CM's post like this? 

Thanks for reading and please share your opinion about this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Why I decided to support AAP?

Last month results of the assembly elections in five states in India were declared, and most results were as expected except for the result of India's national capital New Delhi, A rookie party AAP came second. Surprisingly, it won 28 seats, only 8 short of getting an absolute majority in a 70-member assembly. Their phenomenal success surprised many, including me. I expected some impact from AAP, but unexpectedly they created a huge impact, so huge that now there is a government by AAP managing the administration of Delhi. During that election I did one thing that I never do during any election, I openly supported AAP. I endorsed this party openly and even campaigned for them via phone calls to Delhi voters. This was the first time I campaigned for any political party directly. I voted many times during various elections (state, national, municipal) in India, I voted for different parties in different elections. I am not a supporter or member of any single political party, my choice was based on the situation and need of that time. During local elections, I voted for the Shivsena candidate even though I didn't agree with many of their policies or their ideology. I voted for them just because their local candidate was really helpful and supportive of our entire neighborhood. Likewise, I chose different parties in different elections (state or national). I was impressed by the honesty and youthfulness of Rajiv when he entered politics, VP Singh's anti-corruption drive attracted me, Manmohan Singh's economic policies after 1991 created a lot of change and hope, and Vajpayee's honesty and sincerity impressed me, but I also didn't like or disagreed with many things related to the governments headed by each of these leaders. I had really high hopes for Manmohan Singh as PM of India, not every time I was right or my expectations were fulfilled but I was never (and still I am not) a fan of any one political leader or party. I support a good candidate or policy, it doesn't matter from which party they come. There are some basic principles on which I will never compromise but apart from them, governance is the key issue that I consider while voting. So, why did I decide to support AAP this time? What made me to change my stand of not supporting any party openly, why I didn't keep my political inclination a private affair this time?

During every election campaign, all parties promise so many things that they never even try to fulfill. They try to field winnable candidates, and they even field candidates with very questionable backgrounds just because they have the power and capacity to fight and win elections. Every major political (state or national) party does these things there are very no exceptions to this. From the beginning, AAP was different than all of them. First, they declared their all funding sources and amounts, and everything was available online for anyone to check. To date, no other political party in India has done this. It seems they have too much to hide, AAP was the first to do it. AAP was also the first party to disqualify their candidate from their party when they found some corruption charges against that candidate. They did this even after the deadline of withdrawing nominations expired. This was again a unique step. With actions like these, they showed their uniqueness and transparency from the beginning. All these things were enough for me to believe in their sincerity. I don't agree with some of their populist policies, and I am even not sure if they will live up to all expectations, but at least they are trying sincerely and that's the main reason I support them. I am also not expecting any overnight change, it will be a very long and difficult battle with many ups and downs. In the past many parties that came out of some movement and claimed to work to deliver social justice surrendered to the current political system and became an integral part of it once they got power. They didn't even try to change the system but became part of the system. Now they all are busy navigating their way to the top using the same old techniques and methods. AAP didn't do this, at least not yet, and this is what made me support them.

This was the first time I felt that any political party in India was not playing politics of caste and religion during the election., This was the first time that some party talked about overall system reforms not just an empty promise of good governance. As Amir Khan said in one of his interviews this was for the first time when some party promised not to offer a good rule but to act as people's representative and execute what people want. This was the first time that any party did a referendum to ask people whether they should form a government with the outside support of the party against which they fought the election. This party seems to care what people like me think, they seem to listen to our demands. They didn't go and settle in VIP culture after getting elected. They look very accessible and approachable. For the first time people seem to have the power to challenge the government, ask questions, demand action and pull it down if they don't like their work. For the first time, any CM has to change his official residence because many people disapprove of his choice. Many see this incident as a weakness and lack of leadership for me it was walking the talk (their promise that people are in charge). For the first time, ministers declined the security cover (however personally I feel this is unnecessary). For the first time, ministers won't travel in cars with red beacons. Some politicians practiced many of these things individually but for the first time, any political party included these things in their rule book and followed it. For me these things are enough to show that currently this party is different than many others out there and as long as they remain different, and don't deviate from their path I will support them. The day they deviate from their path, engage in the same old tactics, or become corrupt I will be the first to criticize and oppose them because my support is not blind and unconditional. I am not a devotee but just a supporter who is with them to build a great and prosperous nation.

I am waiting for the day when all other parties will become totally transparent in their activities and funding, field clean candidates, try to fulfill their election promises, and if the presence of AAP forces them to do this then I think this will be the greatest contribution by AAP to Indian politics. If this happens then uniqueness of AAP will diminish and every other party will become like AAP, and there will be competition to provide honest and noncorrupt governance to people and that will be a true democracy. I am waiting for that day. I hope AAP stays on its path till then if it deviates or changes its direction drastically it will lose the support of me and many people like me, this might happen as nothing is guaranteed but as always I am optimistic.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. http://www.aamaadmiparty.org/

2. A cowardly act- The Hindu
3. Assembly Elections 2013-TOI
4. दिल्ली: बदले-बदले से 'सरकार' नज़र आते हैं

AAP should not remain just a political party but should become a phenomena

The recent success of AAP (Aam Aadami Party) in the Delhi elections has created a lot of buzz all over India. Many political parties poked fun when AAP was created almost one year back and even dismissed their presence. They termed it as a temporary phenomenon, a bubble that will eventually disappear without creating any significant impact. But destiny had something else in its mind. The spectacular performance by the AAP in the Delhi elections left everyone shocked and surprised. They won 28 out of 70 seats, no one expected this to happen. They not only fought the election but fought really hard. During the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement, the current political brigade challenged a few common people not to just protest on the street and create a nuisance but to enter the political system and try to clean it if they are not happy with the current system. They never imagined that some people would really take this challenge seriously and take a plunge into the muddy water of politics. They tried everything from sting operations to government investigation about their funding, but nothing worked against AAP. So far they came out of all troubles successfully and managed to maintain their clean image.

I am not excited about AAP only as a new political entity, there are so many political parties in India, local as well as national, they all were launched with a lot of good intentions and some of them became very successful. However, they all became part of the same system and played the game with the same set of rules which included the use of money power, corruption, and many other illegal ways about which most people are aware. Skepticism about AAP was quite understandable because people saw many new parties emerging and becoming part of the same system many times before. Leaders like Laloo Yadav, Mulayam Singh, and Mayavati, came from very humble backgrounds and entered politics with a lot of good intentions but today they are big players in the same system, playing by the same rules. They couldn't change the system but the system changed them completely. But so far AAP seems to be different. They have a totally different approach and transparency is the most important aspect of their approach which impressed me a lot. Whatever they do including the collection of money to run the party is in the public domain. No other political party has done this before. Everyone thought that no one could survive in Indian politics with honesty and complete transparency but so far AAP has done it. This is what scared other parties, they are scared to disclose their sources of funding, and they are worried about losing the election if they don't field popular or winnable candidates. They all used to field such candidates and never used to care even if some of these candidates have criminal backgrounds, but now they may not be able to do it anymore. At least they were forced to field honest candidates with clean images during the Delhi elections just because of the presence of AAP. This is what makes me excited about AAP. Not only they are playing the game honestly but they are also forcing their opponents to follow the same path. This is what I want to happen, reformation of all parties and the entire system. One candidate or leader with good intentions is not a big deal. They are there in every party but when every party and candidate is forced to stay clean and work honestly then only desired reform will happen. First, there has to be some external pressure (which AAP has created) and then slowly it may become a norm and then we may not even need to mention specifically AAP's name because all parties will be like them. This sounds like a crazy dream today but I am optimistic.

AAP has still a long way to go. They just started and hit a home run in their first attempt, but that doesn't mean they will remain like this or will have the same success in every election they contest, but it seems they are not worried about that and I like this attitude. They seem to be more interested in overall political reform rather than short-term gains. That's why I think it's not just another political party but a phenomenon that made common people believe that they also can enter politics and win, they also can dream of challenging this corrupt system if they want and this is what excites me and makes me optimistic. Many say that nothing can be done with our current political and bureaucratic machinery, it's damaged beyond any repair, but AAP's success and approach are a ray of hope. They showed us not everything is lost and it's we who can repair it and change it, it's our responsibility to fight for the change we want. So now the ball is in our court, we need to make sure that AAP just doesn't remain another political party but becomes a phenomenon, an experiment that can be repeated everywhere and at every level. If not, then we will be stuck with the current rotten system for many more years to come and I don't think any of us want this to happen. I am happy for AAP's success, more than that I am happy for myself, I am happy for the common people of India who desperately needed some ray of hope and now they have it.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka and sting operation against AAP

Two breaking news headlines grabbed my attention yesterday, one was a sting operation against the newly formed political party AAP by some website called Media Sarkar, and the other was sexual misconduct or rape charges against Tehlka's editor in chief Mr. Tarun Tejpal. In both cases, the integrity and actions of the entire organization or party were questioned because of the misconduct of a few individuals. No doubt the questions raised in both the cases are serious and they need to be addressed but that should not be the reason to target the entire organization and try to bring it down. 

No doubt that Tarun was an integral part of Tehelka (I understand that he resigned from his position so he is no more with Tehelka) but Tarun is not Tehelka and Tehelka is not Tarun. People should learn to differentiate the organization from the individual, the magazine has done a lot of good work in the past and all that work is the result of many creative and courageous journalists. Whatever Tarun did is wrong, it's his own responsibility and he should face the law and whatever punishment comes his way. It is also true that in a way this whole issue was handled by Shoma Choudhary, managing editor of Tehelka raised eyebrows, people expected somewhat better and strict action from them rather than something that looked like an attempt to downplay the incident. I hope they don't intend to intimidate the victim otherwise it will be sad to see the entire organization going down because of the actions of a few people. Sexual harassment in the workplace is a very serious issue. The Indian government as well as private organizations need to do a lot of work in this area so that these types of crimes are promptly reported and investigated to punish the culprits, no matter who they are. The victims of these crimes need all the support and encouragement they need. Tarun Tejpal's case looks pretty black and white as per media reports, it seems he accepted his mistake, and now law enforcement agencies need to take proper action and deliver justice. Many times such crimes go unreported for several reasons, there has to be a proper system and mechanism to detect and monitor such crimes.

Another news was about a sting operation against AAP, a newly formed party that is creating big waves in Delhi assembly elections. Both Congress and BJP (the two biggest national political parties in India, with huge backing and money power) are facing tough competition from AAP. actually, no one (including me) expected AAP to get so much popularity and to create such an impact in their first election. Sting operations are an integral part of investigative journalism, this technique is used to expose crimes that are difficult to prove otherwise. By definition, a sting operation is a deceptive operation used to catch a person committing a crime. This method has been used successfully to expose many bribery scandals, and corrupt practices in politics and bureaucracy. At the same time edited versions of video footage of these operations, by using the technique of selective editing or cut-paste technique, can be used to project a certain image of a person or party (positive or negative). Therefore, any inquiry panel investigating allegations based on these types of operations likes to see raw (or unedited) footage of any such sting operations, this is very common practice. AAP is demanding the same and I think they are within their rights with this demand. They also promised strict action against anyone who is found guilty after examination by their own panel or any independent constitutional agency (like the election commission). The timing of this sting operation is also questionable and looks very motivated to malign the image of AAP just before the election. I think their response was fairly positive and they are willing to accept that there might be something that needs immediate attention. This party entered the political arena not only with the intention to win but with an intention to change the rules of the game, to make it more transparent and fair for everyone. Today in India politics is considered a dirty game. Politicians are assumed to be corrupt and greedy by common people, maybe if more good people enter this profession they can change its image and this is what I want AAP to do. They should force other parties to field good, honest candidates with clean records, at least make them not give tickets to people with a serious criminal record, or people who are facing serious cases against them in court. If they can do this, this itself will be a huge improvement according to me.

Time will tell what will be the result of both investigations, but in both cases, the entire organization should not be blamed for the misconduct of a few people involved with that organization. I still don't think that it's correct to label all leaders from the BJP or Congress as corrupt because many of them are corrupt. There are many sincere and honest people in all these parties but as these parties are huge the percentage of corrupt people is also more, I am against gross generalization. But at the same time, I am not happy in general with the double standards used by these parties and also with their very complacent attitude towards corruption. They are directly or indirectly responsible for institutionalizing corruption. I hope this situation will change in the near future and people of India will get a more accountable and clean government which they desperately need. I hope parties like AAP act as a catalyst to initiate this reaction of cleaning the system on a larger scale. The question is not only about AAP or the dreams of Arvind Kejriwal, the question is about the expectations and hopes of millions of Indians who are waiting for the day when they get a clean and accountable government. Their hopes deserve a chance, and their dreams deserve consideration.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Mission Lokpal by Media Sarkar
2. Tehelka's Tarun Tejpal: Sex scandal batters India's top investigative title
3. http://www.tehelka.com/statement/
4. Tehelka case: Tarun Tejpal had totally different version, says Shoma Chaudhury
5. Why Sting Operation on AAP came just before Assembly Elections?

Is AAP anti-national?

Recently Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy (Dr. SS) called the Aam Aadami Party (AAP) an anti-national party. Dr. SS is very well known for making controversial statements as well as sensational accusations, he has been doing this for a long time, but most of the time media used to ignore his statements. Nowadays he is again a popular figure in Indian politics because of the role played by him in the 2G spectrum scam case which resulted in the arrest of Mr. A. Raja (minister of communications and IT, 2007-2009) and a few others. The case created a lot of controversies and media hype, and because of all this nowadays his statements are getting a lot of media coverage and attention. This man always amazes me with his statements and articles. He is such a talented and intelligent person, with a good intention and some good ideas to make India a better country, but because of his sectarian views and personal hatred for some people (like Gandhis), he sometimes makes such horrendous statements that one is forced to wonder about his mental state. I think his recent statement related to AAP came because of somewhat different views of some AAP leaders on the Kashmir issue and the recent meeting of Mr. Arawind Kejriwal (AK) with controversial cleric Tauqueer Raza Khan, who allegedly issued a fatwa against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

Dr. SS didn't like that one of the members of AAP Mr. Prashant Bhushan said that a plebiscite could be one of the solutions which can help to reduce the alienation of people of Kashmir. AAP had distanced itself from Mr. Bhushan's views calling it his personal opinion and not the party's stand. However, in India, it's very rare to see a politician who can have totally opposite or different views on any sensitive topic than their party's view. Actually, I like this aspect of AAP where a person is not forced to accept the party's stand if they do not agree with it. People should not be penalized for expressing what they believe, this should be allowed and welcomed in a true democracy. People with different opinions can also team up and work together for the betterment of society and the country. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. 

AAP has tried to maintain complete transparency in their financial dealings as well as candidate selection for election. No other party including Dr. SS's own party operates in such a transparent way. Many antisocial elements, people who are facing serious criminal charges get tickets to contest elections from these national parties in the name of political compulsion. They offer excuses like if we don't give the ticket someone else will give it to them, at least AAP is not playing this dirty game and should be applauded for that. As far as Mr. AK's meeting with Tauqueer Raza Khan is concerned, if AK did it only to gather Muslim votes then he and AAP will pay the price for it, but if he did this just to reach every section of society then there is nothing wrong in it. After all, Tauqueer Raza Khan is an Indian citizen, he and whatever community he represents is part of our country, and treating any person as untouchable is not a solution. This is the same BJP who is trying hard to make their prime ministerial candidate Mr. Narendra Modi acceptable to the whole of India (especially to Muslims). They claim he should not be branded as a communal just because of one riot that happened during his tenure in Gujarat, but Dr. SS is not willing to apply the same criteria when it comes to leaders of other communities, how hypocritical? And if Dr. SS is doing all this just to create some controversy and media attention then this is really pathetic and not expected from him. Maybe recent media exposure and popularity have created some sort of pressure or desire in him to remain in the constant limelight. If this is the case, then it's a sad end of an intellectual who had much more potential and capability than just to make some controversial and sensational statements.

I hope people like Dr. SS concentrate on the future of their own party and work towards building a strong India. If people like him are going to judge parties based on the personal opinions of some of their members then I hope they apply the same criteria to their own party also and they accept if someone calls them a party of criminals or rapists or porn watchers. If not, then they should just stop using such double standards, and if they want they can offer some constructive criticism. AAP with all its problems and drawbacks is at least trying to do something different, something which never happened in Indian politics before. I can understand the discomfort of all national parties, I see that they don't appreciate this and like the rise and popularity of AAP. Such wild accusations are not expected at least from a person like Dr. SS. Such accusations may ultimately help AAP and expose the double standards of other political parties. We all know that even AAP is not perfect but at least please don't stoop to such a low level to malign them, it looks pathetic.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

controversial cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan, who had issued a fatwa against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-accuses-aap-of-attracting-antinational-elements-to-the-party/432473-80-258.html?utm_source=ref_article

controversial cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan, who had issued a fatwa against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-accuses-aap-of-attracting-antinational-elements-to-the-party/432473-80-258.html?utm_source=ref_article

controversial cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan, who had issued a fatwa against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-accuses-aap-of-attracting-antinational-elements-to-the-party/432473-80-258.html?utm_source=ref_article

controversial cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan, who had issued a fatwa against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-accuses-aap-of-attracting-antinational-elements-to-the-party/432473-80-258.html?utm_source=ref_article

Links:

1. AAP is anti-national, Subramanian Swamy says
2. BJP accuses AAP of attracting anti-national elements to the party
3. Prashant Bhushan says Kashmir should not become another Afghanistan
4. Prashant Bhushan beaten up for his Kashmir comments

Narendra Modi is only a temporary solution

On 9th April we had a nice group discussion with Prof. Anand Kumar, a member of the National Executive of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at one of my friend's apartments in New Haven. It was a nice informal gathering over dinner with the local Indian community. The discussion was about topics related to India and Indian politics. Prof. Kumar nicely explained the purpose of APP and the reason behind their party contesting the elections. He also discussed major political and social issues that are ignored in of current political setup and the way Indian politics works nowadays. He also advised how NRIs who are not physically present in India but share deep bonds and care about their country can contribute to this cause of reforming the system. 

He very correctly pointed out some of the problems that India and its people are facing today, like corruption at every level, jobless economic growth, lack of proper and affordable education opportunities, no proper plan for the future energy needs of people, no water management, etc. The discussion on all these and many other related issues went on for a very long time. It's not easy to list all the points here and there is no single solution for all these issues but it was a really nice experience. It was nice to see people belonging to different political ideologies coming together and having a nice dialogue where they were willing to look beyond their own party lines or beliefs. Seldom do we see this happening in India. Even though this doesn't guarantee any solution to problems, it's a sign that people are willing to work towards finding some solution.

Apart from many other points that were discussed and debated during this discussion issue of the phenomenal success of Mr. Narendra Modi as Gujarat's chief minister and his possible selection as BJP's prime ministerial candidate was also discussed. Mr. Modi already has a huge fan following in India and abroad. Especially among youth, he is very popular and many believe that if he can deliver in Gujarat there should not be any problem for him to replicate the same model at the Center to transform the whole of India. No doubt some of his achievements as CM of Gujarat look spectacular and if they are true, he deserves full credit and praise for that but India is not Gujarat. India is much more diverse and complicated than that. Gujarat is a unique state where its people are culturally more inclined towards entrepreneurship than getting salaried jobs. Also, in his state, Mr. Modi had an absolute majority in the assembly which helped him to run his government as per his own wish and style but in the center, the possibility of any single party getting an absolute majority is very rare so I don't know how people expect Mr. Modi to function in same way if he doesn't get an absolute majority. This is just one of the problems which he has to face in the center along with many others.  

If the whole system is broken and the entire institution needs a major rehaul then bringing someone who can drive the same system to do some good work is only a temporary situation because whatever good effect or results the rotten system might generate will be because of the presence of that particular personality but not because the system itself has become any better. Also, the rotten system may spoil that new person and make him/her part of the system. There is no guarantee that one person can overhaul the entire corrupt regime, chances are high that the system will change that one person. Also, India has a history of looking for charismatic leaders rather than well-functioning institutions. Governments led by charismatic leaders heavily depend on that leader and don't guarantee the results. When the system itself is the problem then bringing an expert technician who is only going to fix some part of it to make it functional is only a temporary situation. Having an indispensable leader is very dangerous for any country or institute, because then in the absence of that leader, the whole institute will collapse or start malfunctioning. This mainly happens because the system itself is not perfect but somehow someone manages to run it well, this doesn't mean everyone can do this. India needs a system that runs with much fewer problems on its own no matter who is operating it.

So according to me, unless the citizens of India revive their own attitude where not only do they understand their rights but also their responsibilities, it will be difficult to bring any desired change. Bringing Modi or any other charismatic leader who doesn't promise to change the system but tries to run the present system as efficiently as possible is only a temporary solution. We tested this trick before by selecting Rajiv Gandhi, V. P. Singh, or even A. B. Vajpayee but nothing worked to solve this problem. This rotten system didn't allow them to do anything substantial but they were forced to compromise and fight for their own political survival. So the problem is not only the people who run this system but the whole system itself. There are many areas of concern, the way money is collected by parties, the way election tickets are distributed, the way elections are fought, the way parties design their election manifesto, and the way they play vote bank politics (based on caste, religion or any other issue which divides people). All this needs to change and I think that's where AAP needs to play a major role. They need to change the way this game is played currently. They need to change the rules of the game and force everyone to play fairly and once all teams are forced to bring all good and talented players into the game then automatically system will start improving and will show the desired results. Prof. Anand Kumar very nicely elaborated on some of these points and I hope his party is really serious about the things that he mentioned. They sound a bit socialist in their approach but the good part is he was willing to discuss and hear any alternative views, was fine with the criticisms directed towards them, and even told people to challenge their policies and point out any shortcomings which is a good sign. I think the next few years will be interesting in Indian politics and the presence of AAP will have some influence in the coming years. It's hard to predict how slow or fast that change will be but I hope there will be some positive change. I am optimistic and willing to contribute in whatever way I can and I invite all of you to be part of this change, together we can.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)

Links:

1. http://usa.aamaadmiparty.org/?p=1723