Vande Mataram

Recently there have been many articles which debate the "order" by HRD Minister Mr. Arjun Singh, to make the Vande Mataram compulsory in Government Schools. This order, was challenged by the Imam of Jama Masjid, in Delhi, sparking off a furore between political parties. Arjun Singh was then "forced" to say that singing Vande Mataram was not compulsory. The BJP didn't like it, and the case went from pathetic, to a bloody farce (as Amit reports here).

At first, I was also siding with the BJP. Vande Mataram is the National Song of India. If you don't wanna sing it, get the hell out of the country. Well atleast that is what I thought, before sense dawned upon me. Let us analyse this. AFAIK, India is a "free" country. The constitution, guarantees freedom of thought and expression to one and all, regardless of their religion, race, creed etc. My interpretation is based on Article 19 of the Constitution of India (see here). Now, in that case, each citizen is fully within their rights to sing or not to sing a song. Indeed it is anti-national on the part of the BJP to force Vande Mataram to be sung. If someone wishes to sing it, it should come straight from the heart, not from a piece of paper giving a fatwa or a GO.

Although I do not agree that the terms "soceity" and "nation" are meaningless as Amit implies, he does raise a valid, and winning arguement when he says that these two terms are used to justify the worst assaults on personal freedom.

TRS.....a laughing stock of politicians?

Well, for the time being Telangana is off the map in the CMP (Common Minimum Program) of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance). Over the past few days, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has decided to pull out of the UPA. This culminates in a 2 year 5 month journey filled with pot holes as The Hindu describes in this article.

Personally, I do not believe in a separate state. My reasons for this is the fact if Telangana were to be a separate state, it could trigger more vocal calls (than already is now) for a separate state of Vidarbha in Maharashtra. This would then lead to a call for some other separate state, and quite soon, we could have an India which would have undone Sardar Patel's legacy of a united India. That being said, I have recently been talking to a few people who strongly say that a separate Telangana is good for AP as well.

The TRS, IMO seems to have played the politics suitable to a spoilt brat. Far too long they have gotten away with ridiculous and often insulting statements, such as a quote from KCR (K Chandrashekhar Rao) "I will drag Sonia to the streets". Regardless of what your opinions on Smt Gandhi may be, it is highly offensive for anyone to refer to her like that. Furthermore, the TRS was also building castles in the air, with their statements on Telangana being just a mere few months away. The Congress, also, seemed to have realised that the TRS would only be a liability for them, and had distanced itself from the TRS over the few months.

Either way, TRS has done nothing for the T region, and as far as I can see, it just is a laughing stock of Indian Politics, making a mockery of a quite a serious issue. But then again, this is not new right???

Ustad Bismillah Khan passes away

Hi all,

Ustad Bismillah Khan has passed away. India has lost another of her Bharat Ratnas...UBK Amar RAHE!!!


Here is the article :-(

Regards,

Independence Day photos

Hi all,

I have posted up photos from the Independence Day function on 15th August, at the University of South Australia, on the link here. If the link doesn't work, please go to:

http://community.webshots.com/album/553219033lAuuNr

The photos up are just a selection of the photos taken. I will be posting up the whole bunch on the rapidshare server, and paste the link onto here.

Cheers!!!

Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore's famous poem, instilling a sense of action into us all

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

btw: I have just downloaded the ATR (Action Taken Report) into the Justice Pathak enquiry. I'll try posting on that, once (and if) I understand it!!!

cheers!!!

59 years ago on this day

59 years ago to this day, Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru's voice echoed throughout a nation, as he spoke of redeeming a substantial tryst with destiny. On the 15th of August 1947, some 90 years after India's First Freedom Fighter, Mangal Pandey was hanged, India, gained freedom and independence from British Colonialism. This day not only marked the culmination of the efforts of great Indian leaders like Mangal Pandey, Rani of Jhansi, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Mahatma Gandhi, but also the dawn of a new weapon in the fight against injustice, which proved to be more powerful than any other weapon previously used. The notion of non-violence, the idea that the enemy will lose its bearings, if mass civil disobediance was carried out without resulting in any violence, was untried and met with a lot of skecpticism. We were fortunate to have with us in those times, iconic leaders, who kept this spirit alive, and ultimately on the 15th of August, 1947, our dream, nay our vision, came true. However, in a bitter-sweet day, our leaders, had no other choice, but to accept the tragedy of Partition, the horrors of which we still continue to witness today.

My friends, today, we begin the 60th year of Independence, and India, is coming to take its rightful place in the world, as a nation having the world's largest democrarcy, as a nation home to a sixth of the world's population, we are seen as a major powerbroker, in our region of South Asia. We are also global leaders, and emerging leaders in the fields of IT, Biotechnology, Business Process Outsourcing, among others.

Today, we are in a unique passage of time. Our generation is probably more endowed in all fields than our previous generations. We know have the choices to make, rather than to blindly accept decisions thrust on us. Therefore, while we rejoice at these opportunities, we have, we also have a tremedous resposibility resting on each of our shoulders. We may not believe it, but the fact remains that the road for India, will be mapped by us. That is to say, we will decide the future our country takes. This burden, or rather, opportunity, is not to be taken lightly. If we shirk, or in any other way, under achieve, we will have to face questions from our future generations, and history will relegate our time as being one where we, although having the best of resources, talent and potential, were not performing to our full capability. To illustrate this, let us consider the following: 2 years before the Independence of India, Japan was obliterated by the USA in WWII. Today, its name is synonymous with the growth of cutting edge technologies. Japan may have had a 2 year headstart, but is this the real reason for this rocket powered growth? I am no economist, and will not go into the different economic paths that both countries may have taken.

What I have seen, is that we as Indians, including myself, have been indifferent to the way the country is run. For many of us, India is having problems because of a group of people we call as "they" or "them". However, none of us, are interested in working at the grassroots level to solve many problems which have their roots in the socio-economic structure of the Republic. There is an arguement, and a right one at too, that the Government of the day must be able to tackle this. However, I do not believe that we should leave everything in the hands of the Government. While the Government should look after both the well of and the not so well off, I also do believe that we as responsible, educated, and (mostly) urban citizens, there is a duty for us to help in this regard. As the first Prime Minister of India had said in the first Independence Day address, "Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?"

Thankfully, in the past few years, I have seen that, there is a definite change with respect to how the youth of India, want the country to be run. We now have youngsters as MLAs and MPs, who inject fresh blood into democracy. This must contine on. This will continue on. Let us now make a pledge to proactively, participate in the governance of our nation. Jai Hind!! Jai Hind!! Jai Hind!!

Here is the President's Address to the Nation on the eve of Independence day
Here is the Prime Minister's address to the nation on the ramparts of the Red Fort, August 15 2006

Below is a photograph of the Tricolour in the celebrations occuring at Mawson Lakes campus.

Aye Mere Pyaare Watan

Many of you have heard the song "Aye Mere Pyaare Watan". Here is part of the lyrics, that makes me really emotional. IMO this would make many NRI's emotional too :-) !!

Unfortunately, due to my limited knowledge of hindi (as well as everything), I have given a translation which makes sense to me, though as I suspect, it may not make sense to anyone else. Therefore, those who wish to laugh at my inability to translate hindi may do so, with ease, and if you also can, please send your translation!!!

chhodakar teree jameen ko door aa pahuche hain hum
We have left your land and come very far

phir bhee hain yahee hain tamannaa tere jarro kee kasam
But yet we still have this wish, and I take an oath on you

hum jahaan paidaa huye, us jagah hee nikale ye dam
The place we have grown up, is the place where I want to take my final breath

tujhe pe dil qurbaan
I have sacrificed my heart to you

aye mere pyaare watan, aye mere bichhede chaman, tujhe pe dil qurbaan
Oh my beloved country, oh my lost pearl, I sacrifice my heart to you

Taken from here

RT(N)I- Right To (No) Information??

As you may all know, the GoI has proposed an amendment into the RTI Act. This amendement, proposes to do the following, link:

Government is firm in excluding four areas; defence, personnel, security and
intelligence, as regards file noting while amending the Right to Information
Act, 2005.

There has been considerable coverage from the press in India, namely the ToI. Their articles are linked here, here and here.

Atleast one of these four areas of the GoI has been embroiled in one scandal or another in the recent years (Kargil Coffin Scam/Tehelka comes to mind). Therefore, is it right to exempt these firstly from the RTI and secondly from the "file notifications"?? I think not. More details of the file noting is given here

Contrary to popular perception, file notings are not mere scribbles by officers
on the margins of any document. They are written on a separate green sheet on
the left side of files, giving an officer's considered comments on the issue.

While the right side of a file contains the proposal, the left side has an
officer's views on it. After putting his views, the officer passes the file to
his superior who, in turn, puts his views expressing approval or disapproval on
this page.

Furthermore, the link also gives an example of the RTI "file notings" being used

When 150 jhuggis were demolished in Mayur Vihar in September 2005, DDA said no
land was available to resettle them. However, file notings revealed that 700
plots of land had actually been developed by DDA in Kondli for resettling them.
It's just that some officer, or set of officers, was holding back these plots,
perhaps for more lucrative purposes

While it may be understandable, albeit dissappointing, that defense agencies would be outside the purview of the file notification, one wonders why the ministry of personnel, should be exempt. There may be a sinister reason in this, if this link is to be believed.

The editorial article here carries one reason why people should be worried on this change.