LALU CHAPTER NEARING CLOSURE

You may despise politics but cannot ignore it. Despite visible discrepancies, the politicians do not admit to have committed any mistake and continue to indulge in their nasty affairs. Today, the CBI court at Ranchi gave its verdict in the Fodder Scam, convicting 44 accused including Lalu Yadav. Will he admit that he had committed huge defalcation of public money ? His sons are accusing that the RJD supremo had fallen a victim to a conspiracy. Both these youngsters might not have started learning alphabets when this notorious scam surfaced some 17 years ago. Even the present Lalu bête noire Nitish at that time was his very close camp follower. They have declared and we also know that the defence lawyers are sure to move the High Court. In the wake of howling documentary proofs, even the higher courts may decide to uphold the decision.

  Different politicians have come out with statements on expected lines. When Nitish was approached by the mediamen, he refused to comment on a court decision. A local BJP leader, however hinted that in some remaining such cases, Nitish also is destined to face the music. Some distant fear appears writ large on his face today. Internally he must be feeling happy that Lalu has left the field open for him. Lalu’s discomfiture is likely to decimate his political ally, Lok Janshakti Party of RV Paswan. We feel, Nitish should not ignore the looming Modi wave.

Now the automatic question is, who after Lalu. Most probably, when the court announces the punishment, the jail term would be long enough to debar him from the Lok Sabha membership. The law has different angles. It says that in case of heinous crimes like rape and corruptin, even the one-day jail is sufficient to disqualify anybody from contesting any elections. The RJD leaders and cadres are aware of this bolt from the blue. They did not favour Lalu’s son or wife to don the mantle as that will smack of family rule. They approached senior leaders, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Prabhunath Singh. They turned down the offer as they know when the chief ministership was to be decided, Rabri Devi became the only choice. Now when the party is in soup, they are trying to woo these senior Rjput leaders. Ultimately, once again she has been given the charge. The most agonizing possibility appears to be the fragmentation of Lalu empire. Developments will be worth watching.

TV DEBATES

Today India has some twenty 24-hour news channels and all of them organise TV debates on regular basis on the latest developments. It is a very healthy trend as the voters at large get the stand of different political parties right from the mouth of the authorized spokesmen of the concerned parties, adding authenticity to their statement till it is rebutted by a still senior party representative.

I am almost a regular viewer of some major debates for their better intellectual level. I ignore debates on blind-faith, minor issues and those being intentional and parochial. However, I do not appreciate the time management of such programmes. When election comes, the EC makes allotment of time to the political parties based on their strength of representation in the legislatures. So does the Speaker of the Lok Sabha when some important debates including no-confidence motion are on the floor of the House. But in the TV debates, the most vocal and noisy panelists eat away the time of their decent counterparts. The spokesmen of RJD, JDU, SHIV Sena and NC having very limited representation, consume more time than the nationalist political parties.

The idea should be to send well educated, decent and convincing partymen on such channels. Unfortunately and perhaps intentionally they send members who are obstinate, loud, abusive and come without any serious homework. In Indian philosophy it is prescribed, “avidyo va savidyo va, sthoolkayah prshishyate” (meaning thereby that the Panditji may or may not be a scholar, but he must be heavily muscular to thrash the opponent if his own logic has let him down). I also remember a joke seen and heard in a Ramlila performance a couple of years ago. Ravan exhorts his demons to come out and attack Ram. The joker tells him, “Sir you go and fight and I, remaining  in Lanka will hurl such nasty abuses that out of shame Ram will run back ot Ayodhya”. Most of these spokesmen in TV debates just want to defeat the counterparts  by being shamelessly abusive.

These abuses and loss of temper are often perceptible when a panelist suddenly falls short of logic. If you ask the non-BJP participants to speak without any reference Modi and Gujarat riots 2002, they will be just reticent because they have no issue. The Congress, RJD, JDU, SP and some other parties are blatantly targeting Modi to appease the minority votes without ever thinking the danger of stirring the hornet’s nest and instigating polarization of majority votes. You ask the JDU spokesman as to how his party took 17 years to understand that the BJP was communal, he will talk about everything on the earth without touching the question. Immediately after being the Rail Minister, Lalu Yadav constituted an enquiry committee on Gujarat riots despite an enquiry was already going on under the SC orders. The result came quickly and automatically became infructuous. If the RJD spokesman is asked how is it that the Fodder Scam cases are still lingering for nearly twenty years, he will start beating about the bush. When Robert Vadra’s land scam in Haryana came up, the local Chief Minister constituted an enquiry which within a few days gave its report giving a clean chit to him. All these things get exposed before the public thanks to the TV channels. No party representative accepts that his party has committed any wrong. But the TV debates give an excellent opportunity to the viewers to smell the rat and make their own decisions.

  

STATE SATRAPS TO TAKE SIDES

In the run up to  the coming general election, the developments have reached a stage when the regional parties appear under compulsion to take sides with any one of the two national political parties. The states like UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are the strong bases of local parties and the national parties have to procure their help to form the govt at the Centre. For over twenty years, the country has been ruled by coalitions.

There is a very strange trend when we see how they decide their sides. Often the regional parties do not take any side on any ideological consideration. The local mutual mistrust is the real guiding force. To start with, we take the case of Tamil Nadu. Both the leading local parties viz AIDMK and DMK cannot go together under one umbrella. If DMK decides to take side with the Congress, the rival AIDMK will automatically hold the BJP apron. Now we come to Bihar where it is certain that Lalu and Nitish cannot move together. The UPA Govt has played a clever game of befriending both. On Sept 30, the CBI court may give relief to Lalu as already Mulayam was let off the hook in disproportionate income case. On the other hand, by changing the yardstick,the Raghuram Rajan committee has declared Bihar the penultimate underdeveloped state of the country paving way for releasing big sums for Bihar to appease Nitish. After shaking off BJP, it is the biggest achievement of Nitish that Bihar has achieved the mantle of being at the bottom of development in the country. In this backdrop it will be interesting to see if both the rivals join the UPA.

The UPA ambivalence is perceptible in UP as well. It is the magic stick of the CBI that the SP and the BSP, sworn enemy have been voting together for the UPA bills in the House. Mulayam was left and Mayavwati is waiting for the similar benevolence. Despite this, it is not possible that both will jump on the UPA bandwagon. The ruling TMC in West Bengal has the experience of being in both the NDA and UPA governments. However, till today Mamta Di has not left any pucca inclination about her support either way. Similarly, in Odisha, the ex-NDA partner BJD has  kept the cards close to its chest without  showing any preference for its favourite at the Centre. The picture is becoming clear in Andhra. By arranging bail for Jagan Reddy after being in jail for over a year, the Congress has managed understanding on likely pre or post-poll alliance with him and strengthen its position in Telangana. It has forced the TDP, on the verge of triple defeat, to probe the possibility of returning to its ex- ally BJP. In J&K also, if Omar Abdullah continues to be with the Congress, Mehbuba Mufti is most likely to look at the NDA.

This trend of selfish and power hungry alliance is disturbing in democracy. It is expected that the voters compel the political parties to base their stand on ideologies.     

OUR STATEMENTWALLAH POLITICAINS

                            

Every educated man  reads newspapers and sees TV debates. He must have come across politicians who wait for the media correspondents and immediately offer comments on any subject from Modi to atomic weapons and elections to scams. If the following tit-bits are seen, one can easily make an impression about such rootless individuals.

Nitish Kumar deserted NDA because he could not tolerate Narendra Modi who could be a potential stumblingblock on his way to premiership. When he was shown his praises for Modi in Gujarat Immediately after the 2002 riots, he just ignored it as a courtesy gesture. When pointed out about the hugely attended public meetings of Namo, JDU leaders called them theatres. Will they say what was their  well propagated public meeting in the Ramlila Ground in Delhi. A theatre? When Nitish was in the Janata Dal with Lalu as the Bihar chief minister, he had worked for the arrest of Advani. Today, the same Advani is being praised. Why Nitish went to  wish Advani in the National Integration Council meeting? He intended to cause friction by hinting that the BJP is all right and only Namo is the problem.

Who does not know the statement emperor Diggi Raja. He was chased away by the people from his home state of MP. Then he was given the charge of a still bigger state, UP and he gave a similar dismal result for the Congress there. Being a loyal of the Gandhi family, he was then dispatched to Andhra where he played the division card throwing the state into an inferno. About the Bhopal rally of BJP, to be addressed by Modi, he produced a bill of an Indore shop showing that 10,000 burqas had been purchased to allure Muslim ladies. Immediately the charge was enquired into and found false and forged. The shopkeeper is going to file a FIR against him. On Sept 25, 2013, a letter from Bhavesh Thakur in jail in connection with the Ajmer bomb blast, mentions that he had been pressurized by four persons including Sushil Kumar Shinde and Diggi Raja for implicating  two RSS leaders including Mohan Bhagvat. When asked to comment, he refused to have met such a person. This means that his statements are true and the others charges are false.

There was an unfortunate riot in Gujarat and the state is riot-free for last 11 years  which under Congress rule faced communal clashes every year. Still the same Akhilesh Yadav will call Modi anti-Muslim, in whose own state riots have been going on unabated, the latest being Muzaffarnagar. Shahi Imam called his minister Azam Khan the culprit for Muzaffarpur riots. He is on camera visible in a sting operation instigating the fkare up. Akhilesh has no guts to arrest Azam Khan as his this uncle is a secular leader.

Some months back, Manish Tiwari, a Congrsess spokesperson had abused Anna Hzare as one drowned in corruption from foot to head. He had to eat back this strange statement. Lalu told the press that presently Bihar is in the grip of famine because Nitish had eaten biscuits while the eclipse was on. Look out for one more fantastic statement from Lalu on Sept 30, when his scam decision will be awarded in a Ranchi court. Ram Vilas Paswan who has no Lok Sabha MP from his home state had last year run a Bihar Bachao campaign. Do not they look like one of our ‘dharmgurus’ very much in news today, who claimed to tell his friend (God) to send rains? People should take their tall talks with a pinch of salts.   

POST FUNERAL RITES

Since these days ‘pitripaksha’, the fortnight fixed for offering ‘pind’ to the deceased forefathers for peace to their wandering soul is going on, suddenly I was reminded of the way community feeding of Brahmnas is performed as the concluding part of the ‘shraddha karma’. The successor of the deceased is compelled to feed the largest possible number of Brahmnas for peace to the soul of the deceased. I often saw that such persons, if not financially viable, sell their land or jewelleries and consequently remain in utter poverty for the rest of life. I wanted to know which scriptures prescribes this harsh ritual.

 I remember to have seen in the Manusmroti something on this subject. Acharya Manu says that even a pauper can perform simple and acceptable ‘shraddha’. According to him, the individual should collect a basket of green grass, go out of the village, feed that to a cow and then tell the ‘pitris’ they should feel satisfied as he was not capable of doing anything more. Even this ordinary looking ‘shraddha’, syas Manu, will bring peace to the deceased ancestors.

In the huge Sanskrit mythological scriptures, the Bhagvat Puran occupies a top respectful place. Its prescriptions on rituals are observed without any doubt. The same Puran has laid down in ‘shloka’ 3, chapter 15 and ‘Skandh’ vii, “ One should feed two Brahmnas in rites connected with gods, three for ceremonies (shraddha’) intended for ‘pitris’ (ancestors) or may feed one only in each. Even though a person is very affluent, he should not invite a large number.”

Should not this liberal scriptural direction  be brought to the notice of every faithful Hindu to put at rest all associated evils?        

ELEPHANTINE LESSON

                                               

I have been writing blogs on toilets and often getting appreciations from the indulgent FB friends. Today I propose to talk about elephant poo. In Chiangmai, a famous tourist destination sea beach of Thailand, having a number of elephants, was having an agonising scene with huge droppings of this biggest animal. As a wayout, since 2003, the Thais there have started training the elephants to use toilets to keep the roads and vicinity clean.

We know that animal dropping is an organic material which is inflammable. In India since time immemorial, cow-dung cakes have been used as cooking fuel. Similarly, the elephant poo too is used. It is well known that animal waste is a good organic manure. But today, Nepal has taken a lead in showing the world that elephantine waste is having potentials for a still better use.

The Chitwan National Park of Nepal is fortunate to have a very good population of elaphants. The locals have researched and found that it is an excellent raw material for handcrafted paper and cardboards. This material is better than the traditional tree bark pulps.   Their research has revealed that an adult elephant eats nearly 250 kg of food daily. The animal digests half of that and the remaining half with adequate fibre coming out is an ideal pulp material. The research adds that out of every 10 kg of elephant dropping, one can make 8 kg of paper.

The recycling of this jumbo poo has several other benefits. First, more we use this type of paper, more we conserve forest property. If tree felling is restrained, it will lessen global warming and bring more rains. In addition to that, this massive unattended animal waste has been creating dirty atmosphere. When it is used for other creative purposes, our ecology will remain undisturbed. All the concerned sanitarians should take notice of this healthy experiment and encourage the society as well as the forestry authorities            to further expand this mission.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

IRAN-USA HANDSHAKE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

There is an old saying that in politics and international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes. Every government works for the benefit of its country and hence both war and friendship also get decided by this national interest. One who saw the hyped mutual distrust between China and USA in sixties, was surprised to see a sudden thaw n Sino-American mutual relations. Similarly, the US having Pakistan in its NATO combination was never soft to India for her pro-USSR leanings at a tme when the cold-war between these two super powers was at its peak. In the present uni-polar world, America is enjoying a very cordial relation with India and is calculatedly cold to Pakistan.

In West Asia, two great friends of USA were the kings of Saudi Arab and the Shah of Iran. In an unprecedented insurgency, the autocratic govt of the Shah was swept away and a religious cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini assumed power and since then USA-Iranian relationship has remained acutely sour. Particularly after the Iranian determination to go nuclear, it reached its zenith and USA adopted the policy of segregating Iran to break its economy and compel to eschew the destructive atomic misadventure. Till Ahmedinezad was the President, Iran was strongly opposed to compromising its nuclear stand.

Today, there is a welcome change. In the recently concluded elections, a moderate like Hassan Rouhani has assumed presidentship. As hinted in his election campaigns, he lost no time in moving ahead for befriending USA. He has boldly declared to the West that his country will not press its programmes of atomic weapons. It has sent a very soothing message to America and other continental countries. It is believed that while in New York, next week in connection with the UN General Assembly meeting, on its sidelines he will shake hands with Barack Obama. If Rouhani has courage to go a step ahead, the world will move many steps in that direction as peace is something which the world requires. Iran is our big oil supplier and an old friend and hence this trend is welcome here.    

WHO IS UP CHIEF MINISTER

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

During the stint of Rabri Devi in Bihar, people wondered to know who was the real Chief Minister of the state. For the last nine years, the same question has been looming at the Centre . People at large are at their wit’s end to know  who runs the show. The scenario, for the present has shifted to UP. There is no doubt about the Netaji, who by far is the super Chief Minster. Over and above him, there are three others in the party hierarchy who just care a fig for Akhilesh Singh in whose name SP wrote Chief Ministership. Suchch confusions have already taken place in Bihar, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and partly J&K, caused by family rule.

Saifuddin Soz, though very senior, was ignored by Farooq Abdullah while passing National Council mantle to his son Umar. Raghubansh Prasad Singh was very senior in the RJD but Lalu, caught in the fodder scam and some other cases vacated the throne of Bihar for Rabriji as their siblings were minor. Karunanidhi ignored his eldest son and made Stalin the DMK party head. The anointing of Akhilesh in UP was just another link in the chain. Obviously, the ignored party seniors, though silent before Netaji’s stature, feel jealous and consider themselves not at all inferior to the CM.  As a result, they are often seen working at cross purposes. Azam Khan did not accompany the CM going to meet the riot victims of Muzaffarnagar and he was not rebuked. He has been caught in a sting operation, instgating riots and the state govt has no courage to touch him. A brother of Mulayam commented that except Netaji, none other was indispensible and he was silenced.

Durga Nagpal was suspended instantly on a false charge by a SP sand mafia. Her husband, also an IAS officer was transferred to a distant place. The present state ADG, law and order has desired to be shifted to the centre and proceeded on leave. One important family member challenged the Centre to take back all civil servants and the work in UP would be handled by the state cadre officers. In last 15 months of the Akhilesh Govt, some thirty riots have taken place in the state claiming nearly 100 iives. Due to non-performing ministers and demoralized administration, nobody is serious and riots occur under their nose. When the Govt wakes up, they disown any responsibility under the plea that the BJP was the root cause and if the things go still worse, they suspend and transfer distt. Magistrates and Superintendents of Police. It is a dangerous trend as the as the so-called corrective measures are intended simply to favour the vote bank. When there is a riot resulting in casualties on both sides, why only the followers of a single party are being hounded. The Jat Mahapanchayat was attended by the people belonging to different political parties including the ruling SP. Then why only a particular party and community is being targeted. The administrative machinery appears to have collapsed and strangely enough the Centre is mute.

The message to the states is clear that without serving the people, if any political party in power becomes the empire of a particular family, such grievous mistakes are bound to occur. The electorate who have several times enthroned and dethroned govts, see everything. Rating them as gullible will amount to self-defeating.

ELUSIVE PEACE IN WEST ASIA

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

With hold on 49 countries in the world, the Islamist west Asia in particular is perhaps the most cohesive and financially  strongest entity in the world. However, despite the huge petro-dollars, they have not modernized to gain strength in other important fields. The strict religious codes and excess emphasis on Islamic tenet have left them far behind in the modern world. Israel with just about five million people and surrounded by nearly ten crore Muslims, has been always teaching them bitter lessons in several encounters. Israel does so because of its diligence and preference for modern education.

In the wake of the growing terrorism, born in Islamic countries, when it was being said that Islam is not fertile to democracy, the example of Egypt was visible. But after the end of Abdul Gemal Nasser’s era, the country has not been able to wriggle out of continued dictatorship. The last elected govt could not last even for a year and the country is once again engulfed in a destructive civil war. The most important Quranic lesson is fraternity and its practice by the faithful countries leaves much to be desired. Iraq attacks Iran, then Iraq captures Kuwait, Egypt, Syria and Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and some other countries are in the throes of unending civil war. The anti- Israeli Palestinian terrorism, started in 1948 is going on unabated. Terror activities have spread to India, China, Russia, Myanmar, USA, UK and other countries in the West.

Both the Saudi Arabia and Israel are friends of the US. Most of the arms and ammunitions in both these countries origin from the USA. However, that country never gives  more lethal weapons to Muslim friends of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, as a result of which in every skirmish Israel forced them to lick the dust. While Muslim countries totally depend on American supplies, Israe also makes indigenous preparatios. Should not the Islamic countries learn a lesson from Israel and India. The still better lession will be eschewing violence in the name of religion and rededicating to harmonious causes.  

TOILET WAR

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Today, politics is not a welcome word. In any social or religious discussion, one party warns the rival team to avoid bringing in politics. However, the peculiarity of the modern world is such that no aspect of human activities is untouched by politics. I am sure, you will be surprised to read that this so-called nasty word has intered into toilet as well.

Disturbed by the huge lack of clean toilets in mainly developing countries, several leading sanitarians felt concerned and decided to devise some remedial measures on international level. Led by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh and Jim Sack of Singapore, they founded the World Toilet Organisation (WTO) in 2001 in that island country. Since then the WTO has been organizing its annual summits in different countries to propagate the message of ‘toilet for all’. The WTO summit of 2007 was jointly hosted by the Sulabh and the Govt of India in New Delhi. A great concern was expressed over the 2.6 billion people in the world resorting to open defecation. Under the Millennium Development Goals of the UNDP, they decided to reduce this number by half by 2015.

While everything was going on quite smoothly, we suddenly heard in 2007 itself that a rival body, christened as the World Toilet Association (WTA) was constituted in Seoul, South Korea. With its headquarters in a specially toilet-shaped building, they charted out their separate agenda. When the invitation letters reached the delagates to attend the first WTA conference at Macao, the invitees were hesitant to respond positively as they were afraid of being bracketed with one particular body. Anyway, the meet was successfully completed. The delegates including those representing the UN decided to raise adequate funds to handle this gigantic task. It was said that an amount of $10 billion  would be required to reduce open defecation by half till 2015. This investment would net an estimated $84 billion in savings from improved public health. The world expects that without any unhealthy competition, they should work unitedly, as the objective happens to be the same.

MAKING OF NARENDRA MODI

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

By far there is a fast ascendant star on the firmament of Indian politics. His name is Narendra Modi. Born in a poor family, being the third among six siblings,  living in a single room together and working as a child labour in a tea shop are surprising for anyone to believe the height on which he stands today. It is very interesting to know about his successful travail. Why lakhs and lakhs of people thronged to the venue to see and hear his inspiring speech.

The reason for his rise is clean image against the trend of politicians’ race of becoming millionaire overnight. The Congress was the main political party and in the opposition were socialists like, Jaiprakash Narayan, Kripalani, RM Lohia, Ashok Mehta, Karpoori Thakur and several others. It is their joint effort that the dictatorial emergency rule was rooted out. But after that, the second line of these leaders started indulging in corruption and vote-bank politics. You talk about Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan so on and so forth and you will see the joke played with their ideology. They openly practice casteism and family rule. Lalu handed over power to his wife, Mulayam was succeeded by his son Akhilesh and Paswan’s  political party’s mantle was presented on the platter to his filmi hero son, Chirag.

In this dismal backdrop, there was a change, perceptible in Modi. He is a bachelor and has no family commitment. With a long stint with RSS, commitment to the nation came to him automatically. His honesty and the mission of performance made him a politician with difference. As such suddenly this RSS Pracharak was dispatched to Gujarat to set the state right from the poor performance of Keshubhai Patel. He did not look back. After a hat trick of victory, he put the state in the front line of development in India. Gujarat was never noticed for agriculture, obviously for lack of water. During his stewardship, the progress in bringing more land under cultivation, more irrigational facilities,  increased food grain production, milk production etc, the state is far ahead of national average. In the industrial field there is no match.

Kisans commit suicide in states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and both the states are looking at the centre for releif. On the other hand their counterparts in Gujarat are quite satisfied. Modi has been organizing global level Kisan Mahotsava for last several years which give them knowlwdge about the latest technologies in agricultural fields. The number of cows and buffaloes is not more in Gujarat but the state is the leading milk producer. Why Nitish Kumar and Akhilesh are not going for such innovations? Their main plank is to ignore Modi’s achievements by rating him as a communalist. When Gujarat riots took place in 2002, Nitish was a minister in the NDA Govt of AB Vajpayee. He became Bihar CM under NDA flag and after 17 years of alliance suddenly decided to desert BJP to grab minority votes. People have realized this double standard of these self-styled secularists.

These leaders are state satraps and have no face to attract crowd in other states. Narendra Modi’s meeting at Hyderabad was attended by 1.5 lakh people who had purchased 5-rupee entry ticket. More people listened to him at Bhuj on August 15, 2013 than the Red Fort address of Dr Manmohan Singh. His speech at Rewari in Congress rule Haryana on Sept 15, 2013 was heard by 2.5 lakh people. Despite stiff opposition from inside and outside, the BJP/PB elected him as its future prime ministerial candidate. The Congress made a quick about-turn on declaring its own Modi counterpart. Some free surveys have declared that there is a clear Modi wave all over the country. If the trend continued, Mulayam, Lalu, Nitish, RV Paswan and likes will be swept away in this tsunami. 

NIRBHAYA AND NAMO

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

There is hardly any relation between Nirbhaya, the horrible gang rape victim of 16/12 and Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat. However, Sept 13, 2013 brought them together for some momentous decisions, pertaining to the above individuals. While the first is related to crime/judiciary, the second is purely political.

Nirbhaya was gang raped by six persons on the late evening of Dec 16, 2012. Recalling the details of the heinous and bestial crime will be disturbing to any reader, though most of the  educated citizens are already aware. More than any harsh punishment, self realization of the sin and consequent self-disparagement are enough to clarify this rare of the rarest crime. Out of shame, the main culprit committed suicide inside the Tihar. One minor was convicted to jail for three years by the juvenile court, the maximum under the law. Remaining four were sentenced to death. Even though the fast trial court took nine months, the message that sure death awaits such culprits, is bound to to prove an effective deterrent. More such quick and stern decisions are required to put an immediate restraint on the present mushrooming of sexual crimes, which is a slur to womanhood and a blot on civilisational norms. 

Since the hat- trick of victory in Gujarat Assembly poll in early 2013, the shouts of  Narendra Modi as the future prime minister has been making rounds. The man, who has a remarkable track record of development under his stewardship and endowed with brilliant knack of oratory started leaving hints that for this huge political shark, the Sabarmati was too small and he deserves a place in an ocean. Insde the core of the party, however, there was perceptible hiatus. The veteran leaders like LK Advani, MM Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Anant Kumar were vocal in creating road blocks for Modi. On the other hand, rest of the party Parliamentary Board, authorized to take a final decision, including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and two others were strongly batting for NaMo. Out of them, Advani was more vociferous in castigating Modi. He wanted to wait till the impending assembly election to stop polarization of minority votes against the BJP.

Meanwhile the popularity graph of Modi started mounting fast, which badly disturbed his critics. More and more people started veering round him and so the party, to start with, made him head of its Election Campaign Committee. His emphatic addresses in public meetings in Punjab, Pune, Hyderabad and some speeches through video conferencing in the USA and Patna, almost mesmerized the people in the country and outside. The huge crowd at Hyderabad had purchased entry ticket for Rs 5/- each. This mass appeal had created the ambience which compelled the BJP/PB to project him as the prime ministerial candidate despite the boycott of the meeting by Advani. His absence definitely affected the  jubilation of the cadre who were celebrating the occasion by exploding fire-crackers and sharing sweets. By going against the majority decision, one can raise fingers against his respect for democratic norms. He stuck to his whim to humiliate the entire party. Though a seasoned politician and intellectual, he will realize the loss of his clout very soon. However, let him think over, everybody in the party respects him even today and loves to touch his feet.

There is a saying in English, ‘nobody can make you small without your consent’. It would be foolhardiness on my part to believe that he did not know it. I know, he loves seeing films. Then he also must have come across a Bollywood couplet,     ‘sab kuchh luta ke hosh men aaye to kya kiya’.

WEST ASIA DESTINED TO LOSE PETRO-DOLLARS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Till early  fifties, we had seen the Iranis selling scissors to the litigants in Indian courts. Except for the Haj pilgrimage, West Asia was not a destination for any other purposes for the non-Arabs from other parts of the world. Suddenly by then, exploration of petrol and natural gas started and the region overnight turned to be opulent. Within next twenty years, the oil producing countries of the area started dictating terms to the international politics. Even at that time, the USA and the erstwhile USSR were having rich oil reserves. But they wisely decided to conserve their own stock and purchase petrol from West Asia, which , as a matter of fact was being exploited and refined by the Western countries.

With this opulence, in several major countries, it was believed that the Almighty was over kind on the region and so they started spending this wealth on the furtherance of Islam. This trend gave birth to a generation which started coming heavy on non-believers. Communal harmony disappeared from their dictionary. They started financing Islamic groups of different countries who believed in terrorism and Jehad. If any country opposed, they would stop petrol supply. Particularly the developing countries were held at ransom. This sent a strong warning to the powerful developed countries, who silently decided to explore their own indigenous stock to teach a lesson to the oil rich Arabs.

America, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and several other countries of Latin America increased their own production as a result of which dependence on West Asia started diminishing. The USA has almost gone ahead of the richest petrol producing country, Saudi Arabia. Russia is already self-dependent. The US has adopted a new fracking technology in which hydrolic fracking gives more petrol and costs much less than the stuff of old suppliers. Moreover, more and more countries are going for solar, wind and other non-conventional sources of energy. If it gained momentum and the Gulf countries refused to de-escalate prices, the region will once again be pushed to the dark age of poverty.     

PEOPLE'S GULLIBILITY FODDER FOR BABALOG

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

The arrest of Asaram in a heinous rape case has opened the Pandorabox of the mushrooming industry of babalog. Today, there are nearly 5,000 so-called saints with sandal-paste and vermilion on forhead, heavy rudraksh garlands, saffron cloth and other such showpieces, who command the following of some over 5,000 to 50, 00, 000 gullible people. Most of them are semi -literate or wayward children of their parents. Of late, it has been observed that the youngmen who have lost the race for success, join either religious cults or some extremist or terrorist outfits because in both the lines they convert themselves into heroes and enjoy a better life-style.

The preconditions for being called a real saint are knowing the stories of Ram and Krishna, getting by rot a lot of Sanskrit shlokas, expertise in narrating these discourses in a persuasive manner, having a sweet vocal chord for singing bhajans, a stock of all sorts of jokes to make the audience laugh and a group of both vocal and instrumental artists for accompaniment. With a bit of success, which is assured in our country of people of blind faith, the intelligent ones buy slots on TV channels and overnight become known all over the country. Then they expand the business by publishing books and periodicals, making temples, constructing ‘dharmashalas’, collecting funds for the sufferers of natural calamities, grabbing lands, so on and so forth. Several of them have started opening schools to impart teaching in Sanskrit and without any certificate produce medicines for sure cure from all ailments including cancer. Like a film actor, they go for heavy make- up, put on catchy garments, have presentable close lady ‘sevadars’ and in public claim to be God themselves. Like politicians and businessmen, they depute their scions to to inherit this empire. If seen from close quarters, you will find that not only Asaram and Radhey Ma, almost all of them indulge in all mal-practices from which, they teach their followers to keep away. A high level enquiry should be held against such con babalog to effectively stop this sinful open loot in the name of religion.