Can Arvind Kejriwal make 2014 the year of the unthinkable?

Will 2014 produce conventional or radical change? Conventional change would mean a BJP-led government, but is far from guaranteed, just as conventional hopes were smashed in 2013. Chidambaram and the Cabinet Committee on Investment were supposed to return India to a high growth path, slash inflation and interest rates, and facilitate the UPA's re-election. That game plan collapsed.

GDP growth slowed to 4.5%, just half the 9.3% of 2010-11. Far from becoming the next superpower, India was brought to its knees as the rupee plunged from Rs55 toRs68 to the dollar, before settling at Rs62. The much-hyped Brics formation gave way to a new one called the Fragile Five (Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and South Africa). Inflation kept soaring. This cooked the Congress' political goose in the state polls in December. The BJP did well, but more sensational was the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party, with Arvind Kejriwal becoming CM of Delhi. This had big ripple effects: Parliament quickly passed the Lokpal Bill, ending decades of torpor on this issue. The unthinkable happened in 2013.

What is the most unthinkable possibility of 2014? The AAP winning 70-80 seats in the general election, leading to a Third Front government headed by Kejriwal, and moves to sweep out the old corrupt politics. If this happens, the Sensex will collapse and India Inc will fear witch hunts. Today, this scenario looks impossible, almost insane. The AAP may be just a Delhi phenomenon, not replicable nationally. Anna Hazare drew huge crowds in Delhi but flopped in Mumbai. However, the anti-establishment mood today is strong, and AAP has generated such euphoria among youngsters and the middle class that India may be at an inflexion point. Unthinkable change may, in the long run, be good for India. But it will dismay India Inc, which hopes fervently that Narendra Modi will sweep the elections and head a stable, market-friendly government, bringing back the best of the old Vajpayee days. Conventional analysis suggests the BJP will head the next government. But will 2014 be conventional?

ARE WOMEN SAFE IN INDIA?? its not about DELHI or MUMBAI

The condition of women in India has always been a matter of grave concern. Since the past several centuries, the women of India were never given equal status and opportunities as compared to that of their male counterparts. The patriarchal nature of Indian society, which even though gives respect to women as they are our mothers and sisters, has greatly hampered both the independence as well as the safety of women.

One of the main reasons of violence against women is the mentality which deems women inferior of men and merely limits their importance to the maintenance of the household, the upbringing of children and pleasing their husbands and serving other members of the family.

Even in today's times of modernization of society, many working women are still subjected to immense pressure to shoulder the dual responsibility of a housewife and a working woman simultaneously with little or no help from their husbands.

It is the same mentality which, some generations ago, used to think of women as mere objects of attaining sexual pleasure and a servant of the husband, who was considered "parameshwar" which literally translates to "supreme God".

Times have changed but the mentality still prevails in the mindsets of several narrow minded Indians.

The recent incident in which a 22 yrs old journalist in Mumbai was gangraped by 5 men & in Dec 2012 a 23 year old paramedical student was gang-raped by 6 men inside a moving bus near a posh Delhi locality and thrown off the bus naked after herself and her male friend were beaten and assaulted with an iron rod has undoubtedly shocked the nation to its core.

This was reflected in the massive protests that followed the incident, demanding justice for the victim, who unfortunately succumbed to the damage caused by her body by the assault (a major part of her intestines had to be removed due to the spread of gangrenous infection) in a hospital in Singapore.

Although it was a most heinous case of cruelty, it is ironical to note that such incidents are not actually rare in our country. There are several such cases happening everyday where females (from infants to old ladies, from upper middle class women in metro cities to dalit women in villages….the list can be endless) are subjected to horrendous sexual torture by lustful men who are, in most cases, known to the victims. One cannot generalize the victims or those guilty of sexual crimes in India; they come from all strata of society and from every part of India and belong to all the age groups.

Making stringent laws is necessary to ensure that the guilty in such cases get the punishment that they deserve and don't walk freely due to the weak provisions or loopholes of the existing laws. But asserting that stringent laws will be able to curb male sexual overdrive in India cannot be justified.

Unlike the cases of sexual molestation registered in police stations, there is a large portion of women in India who are subjected to rape and other forms of sexual assault on a daily basis and still their cases go unnoticed.

These women are the unfortunate wives who have to indulge in sexual intercourse with their husbands even if they don't want to (non-consensual sex is nothing but rape). They don't actually have a say in front of their husbands when it comes to sex, they have to comply with the needs and demands of their husbands.

Another category of such women who are bound to indulge in sexual activities against their wishes are the hundreds of thousands of sex workers in India who are visited by numerous men everyday and even tortured by many of their clients. They are compelled to do as their clients say as they have no other means of feeding themselves and their children other than selling their bodies to the sex-hungry men of India.

If we take account of all these women and then collectively see the scenario of sexual crimes against women, it can be easily seen that stringent laws alone cannot do much. What really needs to be done is the moral overhauling of the minds of the masses by means of education and awareness.

Strong and stringent laws are definitely necessary as the existing laws have proved to be inefficient in ensuring swift justice and appropriate punishment to the guilty. But the actual need of the hour is a revolutionary change in the mindsets and conscience of Indian men so that they stop seeing women as objects of sexual pleasure.

Bharat Bandh - POLITICAL DRAMA....

 

Govt.playing smart game by rising prices petroleum products just to divert all attention from scams happening in the country.Many a times it seems to coalition game played by ruling & opposition parties together,so that the common man can never think of any movements.

What we are getting by supporting this bandh called by bunch of fool people,we are proving ourselves as biggest fools.People are getting affected in many ways by such protest happening.Country had come to standstill by such actions.Bandh or strike will not only paralyse the normal life but also cripple the supply of goods, which in turn would further push up their prices and exacerbate the economic condition of the people.

These political one-day drama is set to protest petrol price rise but how effective is this strike? This political one-day drama will end in the evening and nothing will happen.

There has been some clever protests around the world that shook the management/government badly and it changed the scenario around:

1.Single shoe manufacturing in China

In China, the labourers were fighting for their benefit income and decided to go for a strike. But, their protests went unheard and they could not make its maximum use. But, again on the other day, they decided to join the work but protest by manufacturing only single shoe per pair. This movement shook the management with loss of millions of dollars and labourers won the fight.

2. Farmers protest by growing

Well, the work of a farmer is to grow and they protested by growing!  Farmers in USA protested by planting various farm products on the field and did’nt harvest any plant. These incurred a loss of thousands of crores of dollars to the company. The vegetables/fruits got rotten on the field itself incurring huge losses.

3. By Non-violence

How can we forget the biggest ever protest done that freed India from the clutches of Britishers. Mahatma Gandhi’s unique non-violence protests over the years led to freedom of the country. These protests were so silent that Britishers had no weapon to use and they moved out of India.

Dr.Manmohan Singh listen to us or else you will hear us in 2014(or may be before that)

 

RIGHT TO REJECT/RECALL in DEMOCRACY necessary for Electoral Reforms

UPEW analyzed affidavits of 317 candidates out of 1,029 candidates who are contesting the third phase of UP assembly elections. Out of these 317 candidates, 121 candidates (38%) declared criminal cases against them.They are facing serious criminal charges like murder, attempt to murder, theft and extortion.

This statistics is just a part of India,overall numbers will be nightmare to CEC.

Don't you think these figures are dangerous for democracy?

 All political parties have made narrow-minded, extremely bigoted ... statements against each other as if they were in the race to prove who was more conservative and backward and who would be the first to destroy this nation by such ideologies.

No wonder people showed fatigue and displayed lack of enthusiasm in the type of democratic exercise now repeatedly held to elect the begging candidates so that on being elected they can sit in power and loot us, and amass wealth and power for their dynasties.

“Their slogan seems to be, ‘Cast your vote in favour of one whom you want should amass wealth!’

“Are our aspirations being fulfilled, even minimum security of life and basic services like food, water, shelter being met by the system created?

We need electoral reforms empowering people with the right to reject a candidate or recall an elected representative to save the country from being led by corrupt leaders.

Few Suggestions in Electoral reforms :

• Voting should be made compulsory for all eligible voters in India

• Simultaneous Election of Union & State Legislatures

• Fixed tenure of elected legislative bodies with no-confidence motion followed by a confidence motion

• Decrease number of registered parties

• Increase the amount of security deposit

• Not allowing candidates to contest from more than one constituency in an election

• Use of common electoral rolls in the union and state elections

• Making false declarations in election affidavits an offence

• Allowing negative/neutral voting

• Ban on publication of exit/opinion polls results till voting is over for all phases  

    

Is Monetary Compensation any answer to a RAPE?

Hitting out at the Mayawati government for rising incidents of rape and murder in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav declared that he would ensure government jobs to every rape victim if his party won the assembly polls.Once the Samajwadi Party government is in place in Uttar Pradesh, not only will we ensure that rapists and murderers do not go scot-free, but we will also ensure due respect to rape victims.

As we know Mumbai is financial capital of the country, Kolkata cultural capital, Delhi has earned dubious distinction of being RAPE capital of the country. The city is notorious for being one of the world’s most unsafe cities for women. 1 of every 4 rapes in India is committed in Delhi.

Figures revealed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of home ministry are startling. In 2010, 489 rape cases were reported in Delhi against 459 in 2009. The number of rape case reported in Mumbai and Bhopal were 189 and 117. Abduction and molestation of women is also on the increase in Delhi. 1379 out of total 3544 cases of abduction took place in the capital. New figures given by Delhi Police reveal that a woman is raped every 18 hours or molested every 14 hours in the capital. A staggering 56 percent accused in rape cases were below the age of 25. 

“ Rape is one of the most violent form of crime against women, which not only impacts her bodily but in the long run impairs her capacity to develop meaningful personal and social relationships, and affects her life and livelihood"

But why do women get raped? Rape has happened and it happens in all cultures, in all societies world over. It’s a tricky question. The society’s gender based inequality approach of course encourages crime against women. The perception will differ. A psychoanalyst may find reason for criminal tendencies in the upbringing of the rapist or in the lack of his education. A religious person may accuse women for provocation. Recently a Russian Priest claims women wearing miniskirts should not be surprised if they get raped.

“If she is wearing a miniskirt, it is provocation. If she is drunk at the same time then she is even more provocative and if she herself is actively seeking contact with people and the surprised when that contact ends in rape, she is wrong”.

Left to their judgement. But why Delhi is so vulnerable? Delhi girls don’t wear miniskirts on the streets, they aren’t drunk either, and then why are they targeted. Modesty of women in Delhi is always on stake. Everyone from little girls, six months old children to grandmothers become victims. Age is no barrier for crime against women. Is Delhi male so sex starved? It is difficult to decode DNA of a rapist.  

According to some statistics only one in 69 rape cases in India are even reported, only 20 percent of these cases result in conviction of the rape accused. Very dismal situation as far as law to protect women in India for safety of women is concerned.

Does Mr.Mulayam understand the pain of rape victims,it seems he is trying promote crime by offering govt. jobs. Only compensation which will heal the wound is death sentence to the accused & not the job. 

Revamp of police force and more teeth to law to fight against this heinous crime against women is immediate need of the hour.