MERE TOKENISMS?????

The ruling party at the centre namely the Indian National Congress certainly takes the cake if not the entire bakery when it comes to tokenisms pertaining to the fairer sex, what makes it all the more interesting or coincidental is the fact that these tokenisms find a place in the annual budget and see the light of the day on Women's Day........


The Union finance minister Shri P.Chidambaram announced two supposedly women friendly initiatives or announcements in his budget speech a little over three hours ago and touted these as a measure of the esteemed status that the hapless womenfolk of this country enjoy in both his ans well as his legions of party men and women's eyes....

What are these tokenisms or measures?????one: the launching of a public sector bank that will be meant exclusively for women; the bank will become operational by October 2013 and will be manned by women alone, the finance minister even went to the extent of extending an invitation to all his fellow parliamentarians and inviting them to grace the opening of this women only bank........

Second: the union finance minister also announced the setting up of a new fund called the "Nirbhaya" fund; this proposed fund shall be exclusively meant for the initiation of safety and security related measures and is being touted as an earth shattering initiative that denotes the respect and esteem that women enjoy in the eyes of the ruling dispensation.........

The very same finance minister and his equally illustrious (?) counterpart, the union finance minister however woefully failed to make any noise whatsoever on the more relevant and necessary issues of police reforms, filling up of the vacant posts in the police forces both in the nation's capital as well as the numerous states and union territories, setting up of fast track courts exclusively meant to handle crimes against women and the recruitment of an adequate number of judges to man the same and so and so forth........

One really wonders whether these mere tokenisms will have any bearing whatsoever on the increasing tendency of committing the worst kind of crimes imaginable against the supposedly weaker sex and whether the same will play any role in ushering in a feeling of safety and security amongst their ranks...........

A concerted and conjoined effort involving all sections of the society, police, judiciary as well as political dispensation is the only way forward and such efforts are the need of the hour not mere tokenisms, platitudes, homilies and holier than thou pronouncements.........

Sadly, these tokenisms and futile gestures have over a period of time come to symbolise our ruling dispensation and democracy as we have come to know it, one has little or no choice other than accepting these tokenisms and empty rhetoric with a pinch of salt and getting on with the more serious issue of making this country a far more friendlier, safer and far more secure place for 50% of it's population...........

JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT...........

For all the folks clamouring for justice out there, here is the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 as it stands........


The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 defines a "juvenile" as a person who has not completed his 18th year. As per the provisions of this Act, any offence committed by a juvenile cannot be prosecuted under the normal criminal laws applicable to adults.......

As per section 16 of the Act, neither the death penalty nor imprisonment for any term can be awarded to a juvenile. This means a juvenile can never be sentenced with imprisonment even for a day........

Proceedings against a juvenile for an offence committed by him are conducted by a Juvenile Justice Board that consists or comprises of three members; including a metropolitan magistrate and two social workers.......

And as per the provisions of Section 15 of the Act, irrespective of the gravity of the crime/offence committed by the juvenile, the maximum punishment can only send him to a special home (rehabilitation centre) for a maximum period of three years. The juvenile is also allowed to go scot free the very day he turns 18 according to the existing provisions of the very same act..........

Time for a much desired change or otherwise, let each one of us draw our own conclusions.........

JUSTICE DENIED???????

It is official now, the sixth and most brutal assailant who sexually assaulted the 23 year old Nirbhaya/Damini or whatever else you prefer to call her twice; and goaded the others into committing acts of sheer barbarism will go scot free as the government of the day does not intend to amend the juvenile justice act and lower the age of majority or maturity to 16 from the present 18.........


Responding to a query posed by a Rajya Sabha member on this burning issue earlier today the concerned minister said, "the government does not advocate amendments in the juvenile justice act as it stands and will not consider lowering the age of majority or maturity to 16 from the present 18 even in the rarest of rare cases"........

"Crimes committed by juveniles amount to approximately 2% or a little more than 2% of all the crimes committed in the country and therefore the government sees no need to amend the juvenile justice act as it stands, the concerned minister added"........

The pronouncements of the concerned minister has certainly raised the hackles of the women's and civil rights groups and made them see red and raised questions about the relevance and adequacy of the said act in a rapidly evolving society, the most brutal offender was given the benefit of doubt and declared a juvenile on the basis of a school certificate whose very veracity and legitimacy has been repeatedly questioned these groups point out.........

According to the NCRB, there has been a startling 171% jump or spurt in crimes committed by juveniles since the beginning of the new millennium, a whopping 25,125 crimes were committed by juveniles in 2011, out of which 1,149 involved the victim being raped, and an overwhelming majority of all such crimes were committed by those in the age group of 16-18, these groups point out.........

While yours truly has never been an advocate of making an example out of one of many sexual predators and offenders, one strongly feels that an exception should certainly be made in this case and the offender should be incarcerated in the capital's Tihar jail for a minimum period of ten years ranging up to the rest of his natural life keeping in view the barbaric nature and cold bloodedness of the crime committed......

Well, one can continue crying oneself hoarse but things are going to remain the way they are on the ground unless the new political dispensation that assumes the reins of power post the 2014 general elections does a rethink or volte face on this controversial issue and makes suitable amendments to this act.......

Time to confront the government of the day with cold figures, statistics and projections of future crimes likely to be committed by juveniles put out by experts in the field and to take to the streets once again clamouring for justice, methinks, what do you think?????????

DRIVEN TO SUICIDE............

In a shocking and heart rending incident a rape victim attempted to commit suicide by swallowing pesticides in a crowded court room; the victim was rushed to the Sola government hospital and her condition is stated to be critical.........


The 27 year old rape victim had filed a petition in the high court challenging the decision of the sessions court to grant bail to the prime accused thereby letting him out of jail........

Shocked and hurt by the decision of the presiding judge to postpone the case until mid March in view of her lawyer's absence in the court owing to the illness of his grand mother, the rape victim took recourse to this extreme step........

She was dismayed by the callousness and indifference of the local police to her plight and not because of her case being postponed to mid March, sources in the know have reliably informed news agencies..........

This rape victim was being continually threatened that a fate akin to that of the 23 year old Delhi rape victim would befall her if she did not withdraw her case against the accused and had thus lodged a complaint with the local police according to the very same sources.........

However, the apathy and indifference of the local police to her sorry plight and their repeated failures to act against the main accused must have driven her to despair and forced her hand into initiating this extreme measure, a family member said.........

A WELCOME CHANGE..........

The Hyderabad for Change' community initiative/facebook page has been unfailingly and unstintingly highlighting women and other corruption related issues for the last three months and more, change however is the only constant and the very same initiative believes in changing with the times........


Cricket is once again the flavour of the season and we have an India-Australia test match in our very own backyard after an inordinately long time, so let's let our hair down for the next week/ten days or so; let's immerse ourselves in the irresistible flavour of cricket and eat, live and breathe cricket while this intoxication lasts.......

Should the Indian team stick to the same tried and tested winning combination or then should Pragyan Ojha find a place in the eleven instead of Harbhajan Singh or Ravindra Jadeja, will a two pronged pace attack serve it's purpose on the spinner friendly Indian tracks or then should India go in with four spinners and one medium pacer........

Shikhar Dhawan in place of Murali Vijay or then the Nawab of Najafagrh Virender Sehwag, Dhoni could take a calculated gamble and rope in the perennial bench warmer Ajinkya Rahane as an opener and get him to partner Dhawan at the very top, should Kohli be elevated to the number three spot in the batting order and should Dhoni occupy the number five slot........

Pujara at number six as a result of the reshuffle in the batting order or then Jadeja at number six followed by the bowlers while Pujara warms the benches for a change, what are you waiting for Hyderabadis' put on your selectorial hats and get those grey cells and fingers going........

Get on to the Hyderabad for Change' facebook page and get the debate and discussion going, let's show the rest of the nation that Hyderabad is second to none when it comes to matters cricketing, selection committee be forewarned, many a Hyderabadi is itching to take your place so keep performing out of your skins if you want to hang on to those plum selectorial posts..........

AFTERMATH OF TERROR............

The terrorised and increasingly traumatised citizens of the twin cities have been clamouring for a behemoth budget for the beleaguered police force, strengthening of the intelligence gathering mechanisms, and last but not the least, purchasing and timely installation of surveillance gadgets and mechanisms in the aftermath of the heinous twin bomb blasts that took the city by utter surprise and horror on the evening of February 21, 2013.........


One really wonders whether the adoption and implementation of the above mentioned measures will be enough to usher in a feeling of safety, security, succour and comfort in the hearts and minds of the citizens of the twin cities, or then does one need to do a whole lot more to curb this dastardly terror menace.......

Whatever happened to good old fashioned responsibility and accountability; one is yet to see any top ranking Andhra Pradesh police official accepting the responsibility for the failure to take due cognisance of actionable intelligence provided by both the Delhi Police as well as union home ministry officials on more than one occasion, why aren't the citizens crying themselves hoarse demanding the immediate removal of both the DGP as well as city police commissioner instead of raising a hue and cry for these gadgets that will only provide one with a false and misleading sense of security and comfort..........

The assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi will certainly go down as a blot on independent India's history as well as one of the blackest days ever; but the anti Sikh riots that unfolded in the aftermath of this fateful assassination were even more of a black mark against humanity as a whole........

I remember patrolling the streets of south Delhi's Kalkaji "G" block for ten nights between six pm and six am in order to ensure that the Sikh families who resided in our neighbourhood were safe, secure and free from worry, I can proudly say that we did not let a single anti Sikh marauder enter our immediate neighbourhood and cause harm to a single hair on a proud Sikh's head........

How is it that this feeling of oneness, togetherness and solidarity with our neighbours and fellow residents has all but evaporated over the last 28/29 years, most if not all of us do not even know the names of our immediate neighbours and what they look like, we only prefer to build bonds with people from the same state, sharing a common language or culture or then people of the same religious dispensation, why is brotherhood, bonhomie and the spirit of universal brotherhood becoming a calamity in these increasingly consumerist and self serving times.........

All of us without exception need to take a long and hard look at ourselves in our mirrors before pointing fingers at the police and political establishment, did we reach out and provide aid and succour to our suffering fellow brethren or then simply satiated our guilty consciences by lighting candles and silently protesting against these twin bomb blasts as has become both our wont and fashion.........

Isn't it our responsibility to loosen our purse strings and raise funds for the medical care and rehabilitation of our fellow Hyderabadis who have suffered calamitous injuries that might leave them handicapped for the rest of their natural lives, conveniently foisting the entire onus of the very same on the shoulders of the government and authorities is the coward's way out and most if not all of us have conveniently adopted the same as it suits our narrow and selfish ends.........

A concerted people/public-police partnership is the only way forward and I know that is easier said than done considering the mutual misgivings and misunderstandings on either side of the divide, but we need to set aside these recriminations and rancour and come together as a cohesive unit in a spirit of sharing and bonhomie if we want to effectively combat this growing menace of terrorism and bomb blasts........

37 out of 40 terrorist activities or attempts were nipped in the bud or thwarted before they could assume threatening proportions because of the alertness, alacrity and spirit of co-operation with the authorities displayed by the common American citizens, and this is why America has not fallen prey to a single terrorist attack since 9/11.........

We can bloody well do the same if the Americans can do it, all we need to do is to start thinking beyond ourselves, cultivate a universal and humanistic outlook and avoid the tendency to conveniently pass the buck instead of ensuring that the very same stops with us..............

KAI PO CHE..........

Director extraordinaire Abhishek Kapoor delivers yet another knock out punch with his sensitive, stark, real and poignant displays of male bonding and friendships; Rock On did take one's breath away, but Kai Po Che not only takes your breath away, but also makes you laugh, cry, marvel and despair at the frailties and inherent contradictions of the human spirit and mind........


Kai Po Che is essentially the story of three friends Govind (Raj Kumar), Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Omi (Amit Sadh); set against the backdrop of the devastating 2001 Gujarat earthquake and 2002 post Godhra incident riots, it narrates with panache, the trials, tribulations, triumphs and despair in the tumultous lives of these afore mentioned three male protagonists........

Loosely based on Chetan Bhagat's best selling novel "the 3 mistakes of my life", the film is a sure shot winner on account of the moving and realistic portrayal of the dreams and aspirations of these three friends who reside in a small town in Gujarat's hinterland, how they go about fulfilling their dreams and despair when they see these very same dreams being irrevocably shattered by an act of god, the greed and lust for mammon on part of a seemingly well off Seth and last but not the least a communal flare up that threatens to tear their friendship as well as very beings asunder........

The sensitively handled yet naive romantic track between Raj Kumar (Govind) and Amrita Puri (Vidya) who also happens to be Ishaan's younger sister, the innocence and naivete of their relationship does not only come across as a breath of fresh air but also reaffirms one's belief about selfless and true love being the most sublime of all human emotions and feelings.........

Cricket, male bonding, devastation caused by the earth quake and the grotesque images of humans being reduced to blood thirsty animals in view of the ill fated coach of the Sabarmati Express being set alight by a group of misguided religious fundamentalists not only provide this film with an unique and distinctive background but also raise certain uncomfortable, far reaching yet extremely relevant questions about our motives, standing and values as members of the human race........

This triumphant yet resoundingly realistic portrayal of friendship and male bonding in a small Gujarat town heads towards a totally unexpected climax, a climax that brings tears to your eyes, leaves you pondering over what might have been and querying why we human beings who are supposed to be the repositories of intelligence and wisdom start behaving like a bunch of blood thirsty goons when it comes to matters of faith and religion..........

Despite the disturbing background of death, despair, politics and human destruction, Kai Po Che is extremely likeable; it tends to grow on you like your favourite Enid Blyton tale and leaves you with a smile on your face between copious tears for the simple reason that it's bette noire is the triumph of the indomitable human spirit above all else.......

Running Time: 126 minutes...........RATING: 4.5/5........

Do miss this one at your own peril as you will definitely not get to see many better in 2013..........

TIME FOR ACTION..........

Well the malaise continues without a speed breaker in sight, women and children are being raped and murdered with disdain and a sense of growing indifference and all we are doing is twiddling our thumbs........


The inhuman rape and murder of the three little sisters in neighbouring Maharashtra's Bhandara district and the attempt to rape Hyderabad's brave heart are clear indicators of the fact that the government is going to do precious little to ameliorate the long standing sufferings of hapless women and girl children in this regard and the time is nigh for taking matters into our hand........

Informed sources belonging to various political parties and dispensations have creditably informed English news channels and leading English dailies that the political parties are in no mood whatsoever to pass the ordinance promulgated by the government some time back on this very issue in it's present form as the same is open to rampant misuse and draconian in their esteemed opinion.......

What this means in other words is that both houses of parliament may either end up passing a watered down or grossly weakened version of the crimes against women's bill or then the same may be referred to a parliamentary standing committee and the same may be asked to make it's recommendations on this hot potato within a period of six months from it's date of constitution........

This means that the same bill may only come up for consideration in the winter session of parliament at the very earliest and with all the wide spread speculation about the government going in for general elections either during September or October, your guess is as good as mine on whether or not the winter session of parliament will indeed take place or otherwise.......

Candle light vigils and shouting slogans for justice at respective cities hot spots seem to have little or no effect on the government and the safety and security related issues of women conveniently remain on the back burner; a multi pronged strategy is the need of the hour and all concerned individuals and women's rights groups need to put their heads together immediately and formulate the same........

Let's file a series of RTI petitions to begin with and obtain clear cut facts and figures about the incidence of sexual crimes against women and the areas in which they are most wide spread and prevalent, the next step would be to constitute help and education groups that would educate and inform women about their rights in this regard and the constitutional guarantees and safeguards available to them.......

The dharnas and protest marches could and should be held before the offices of the Director General of Police, city Commissioner of police and chief secretary for maximum effect, let's not protest in disparate groups of 50 to a 100 as has become the prevalent norm but come together on a common platform and protest in groups of a thousand and more in order to show the people who matter that we really mean business this time around........

Rope in or take the help of leading legal minds and seek their expertise in drafting a people's charter that would highlight the immediate safety and security related concerns of the women on the street and provide the government with a blueprint of the direction that they need to take to not only address this burning issue but also show some progress on the ground........

Street theatre groups and other such amateur theatre groups could play an invaluable role in the education of women and dissemination of information on the issue of women's rights and duties, so let's seek their help and let them do their bit........

Make the maximum and most optimum use of facebook community pages like the Hyderabad for Change' page and such other pages belonging to various women's groups in Hyderabad to spread the message and create awareness about the same issue, people like Sashank Rajwadi, Krishna Kishore, Kumar Shastri, Khushboo Choudhary and Ms. Kumkum could play the leading role in calling for an immediate meeting and collecting discordant groups and voices on a common platform as my knowledge of local conditions and access to local people is all but non existent........

Let's all shed our customary lethargy and Hyderabad's legendary laid back attitude, the water is slowly but surely rising above all our heads so do let's strike out in an efficacious and time bound manner before we find ourselves completely submerged in the same.............

NEED FOR A DRASTIC CHANGE...........

The centre has made up it's mind and unambiguously laid down it's cards in this regard, "there will be no rethink for now at least on the issue of excluding the recommendations made by the Verma committee on the contentious issue of marital rape out of the proposed list of sexual offences."...........


We believe that the inclusion of the clauses pertaining to this rather combustible and controversial issue would only end up causing irrepairable damage of the institution of marriage in the Indian context, home secretary R.K. Singh told a parliamentary standing committee yesterday.........

The government is however minutely examining the clauses and recommendations made by the very same committee on sexual abuse within live-in relationships, especially in those cases wherein one partner accuses the other of having committed rape under the false pretext of marriage, he went on to inform the standing committee.........

Double standards, one might well be inclined to say considering the fact that global human rights watchdog Amnesty International had put out a highly disparaging report which concluded that 81% of all married Indian men rape their lawfully wedded wives every night quite some time back........

However, our government which is supposed to be the custodian of the rights of every Indian citizen and has a sworn duty to protect the very same at all costs has preferred to bury it's head in the sand and touted the age old argument about a marriage being sacrosanct in the Indian context and the same according a degree of legitimacy to the sexual relations established within the parameters of the same........

Does the government mean to say that husbands who beat up their wives and force themselves on them unfailingly all the time have a god given right to do so just because they have accorded a legal status by legally marrying them and thereby having obtained a licence to do what they please as the marriage certificate accords them the shelter of a steadfast institution........

A female colleague of mine hit the nail right on the head when she succinctly remarked, "chahte hue ya naa chate huey bhi patni dharm nibhana padt hain, nahin to ghar main kalesh machta hain aur pati aur saas ke taane sunne padte hain", this is the state of affairs in urban India, has the government bothered to carry out a detailed study on the occurrence of this crime within rural households and bothered to ascertain how hapless women continue to be sexually assaulted under the guise of being lawfully wedded........

Women can always take recourse to the domestic violence act and even seek a divorce from their tormentors quite a few people might well go on to say; but the fact of the matter is that, most police forces do not take domestic violence complaints seriously and let the assailant off with either a severe reprimand or warning as the case may be, most if not all police forces have heard of a restraining order and obtaining the same from the courts is indeed a long drawn out and cumbersome process........

As for divorce cases, the less said the better, the woman is always at the receiving end in a significant majority of all such cases and faces the ignominy of either being socially ostracised/boycotted or then looked upon as available and ready meat for the legions of sexual predators who are always on the lookout for their next victim.......

The very same Amnesty International had also arrived at the conclusion that 69% of all Indian marriages are little more than a facade, with one or both partners continuing with the loveless marriage either on account of their children or then to avoid the stigma attached to/with the tag of being a divorcee........

Every cloud does have a silver lining and things are slowly but surely changing within the Indian milieu and context at long last, divorce is no longer looked at as a crime in quiet a few social circles and domestic crimes against women are being reported with far greater frequency and the hackneyed police force has even begun taking due cognisance of the same, society has shown a remarkable penchant to embrace change and move on in tune with the existing trends, but the political establishment needs to take a long hard look at itself; a sixteenth century mindset within a twenty first century environment is after all as good as a black and white silent movie in an era of synchronised sound and what not............

THE SHAME CONTINUES...........

The shame continues unabated, in a shocking incident a 20 year old woman was forcibly pushed into an auto by three unidentified assailants at around 10 pm on Tuesday night at the busy Ameerpet cross roads in our very own Hyderabad........


Akhila More, a young woman employed in a private concern was waiting for a ride home along with a few fellow employees of the same concern when this horror occurred, an auto occupied by three men made and abrupt stop in front of them and the three men inside the same vehicle forced Akhila into the auto before her shocked friends could react in a suitable manner........

Her friends/colleagues however displayed enough presence of mind to immediately inform Akhila's family members about the mishap and the family members in turn first tried to establish contact with the abducted young woman, but then contacted a senior city police official known to them for help and succour as their daughter was not picking up her phone.......

Displaying alacrity and a sense of responsibility, the senior cop immediately alerted the police control room and his counterparts/ colleagues in the Hyderabad and Cyberabad commissionerates as a result of which a manhunt was launched for the young woman in no time at all........

The police forces immediately set about tracking her mobile device and narrowed down the area in which she was most probably in to the IT hub of Madhapur, in the meanwhile, the police forces in the area had already set up check posts and begun a minute search of every vehicle passing by the very same.........

Fearing that they would be discovered and have to pay heavily for their misdeeds, the three assailants pushed Akhila out of the moving auto in the immediate vicinity of the Image hospital in Madhapur, she was rushed to a nearby hospital by the locals and her family members later shifted her to the Image Hospital in Ameerpate for requisite and timely treatment of the severe head injuries sustained by her as a result of her being pushed out of a moving auto.........

Police sources revealed the fact that the three assailants might be known to the victim who is now recuperating in the very same hospital and that a manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits without any further delays..........

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A shocking incident of rape and murder in a village within the Bahndara district of Maharashtra state has certainly debunked RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's theory about rapes being the exclusive prerogative of India while the same did not occur in Bharat..........

Three fatherless girls aged 11, 8 and 6 years of age respectively who had gone missing on the evening of February 14 were found floating within a well in their village four days after they had gone missing........

These sisters had ventured out of their modest hut in an effort to satiate their hunger pangs but instead fell prey to the lust of their alleged rapists who not only brutally assaulted them but also got rid of them in the most cold blooded manner by pushing them into the said well.......

Initial medical investigations have confirmed the fact that the young girls were indeed raped before their deaths and the post mortem report is awaited in order to ascertain the exact cause of their death...........

Their mother who works as a domestic help is said to be distraught is being treated for shock and despair at the local government hospital; the local police did round up fifteen suspects and interrogate them, but is still far from identifying the culprits......

Empty liquor bottles that were found in the vicinity of the well have been sent to the lab for finger print testing and may provide definite clues to the identity of the killer rapists, police sources said........

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has expressed his deep sense of anguish and disgust and sent his condolences to the grieving mother; he has also directed the local police to initiate a detailed investigation into the shocking incident and nab the culprits within the shortest possible time...........

JAIPUR'S BRAVE HEART.............

Cometh the moment, cometh the woman, or then should I say teenager, well Jaipur can proudly say that it now boasts of it's very brave heart, so what if she is just all of 15 years old, since when has age become a determining factor while engaging in soul stirring deeds.......


Saturday, February 16, 2013, a young girl is returning home from her tuition or tutorial classes at around 6:30 pm on a crowded Jaipur street when lo and behold a sports utility vehicle (SUV) comes to an abrupt halt besides her, two men alight from the said vehicle and begin to make an attempt at pulling her into the confines of the very same..........

The young girl firstly fights back despite being hopelessly outnumbered and braves the slaps and kicks of the assailants without flinching, she shouts and screams for help, but the passers by turn a deaf ear and blind eye to her plaintive cries as is their wont, the plucky girl however displays the courage to pull out the knife that she had started carrying around with her after the tragic events that unfolded in the national capital not too long ago.........

Panic sets in amongst the ranks of the assailants and wannabe rapists the minute they see this present day reincarnate of Jhansi ki Rani, discretion is the better part of valour they decide and retreat like the cowards they are in their vehicle of choice.......

The police meanwhile has registered a case against unknown assailants and have exuded confidence about nabbing the culprits very soon as the brave heart has identified one of the assailants and also pointed out the fact that she had seen him on the same road earlier on more than one occasion.......

There lies a lesson in this somewhere for all the other women out there, keep your wits about you at all costs and do not panic in the face of such unprovoked attacks, always carry a weapon of your choice on your person as a safeguard/deterrent and be prepared to defend your own honour and safety as the passers by are more often than not even bigger cowards than the so called macho men who can only prove their mardangi by assaulting and sexually exploiting the fairer sex whenever the opportunity presents itself.........

TO ALL CONCERNED..........

TO ALL CONCERNED,


The poor response to Anna in the city and his clarion call for a total "societal and systemic transformation" should certainly make us all hang our heads in shame and force our hands into examining our motives, intentions and taking a good long and hard look at ourselves in the mirror.........

Less than five hundred people turned up to listen to Anna and General (retired) V.K. Singh and more than 75% of this paltry number was comprised by erstwhile or serving India Against Corruption volunteers, senior citizens or those notables who have since switched their allegiance to the Aam Aadmi party........

Shame Hyderabad and India Against Corruption shame; more than 1.5 lakh Patnaites line up the streets and turn up to hear Anna when he addresses a public rally in the city and what sort of response do we give him??????

The bitter infighting and clamour for self glorification and gratification is out in the open for all to see, strategic alliances were bartered and made behind the scenes to ensure that the people who made the same remained in the spotlight and garnered their fifteen seconds of ill gotten fame.........

Two senior and long standing IAC volunteers or members who almost came to blows during the ill fated press conference were seen sharing the stage in an atmosphere of congeniality and bonhomie, in fact, one person who had even gone to the extent of calling Sufi maulvi Jilani a "Pakistani" was seen sharing the very same stage as him in a complete volte face........

Strange indeed are the ways and deeds of people who are hell bent upon garnering the limelight and media attention at all costs, the organisation that made them what they are and prodded them up could take a walk as long as they enjoyed their moment in the spotlight........

One such notable who has since switched his loyalties to the Aam Aadmi party and whose name finds a mention on the list of Aam Aadmi party members was very much present on the stage and even read out the very same poem that he had read out when Ms. Kiran Bedia and Gopal Rai were here in June 2012.......

And all this despite ten mails or more being bandied about to the effect that Anna had expressly forbidden all those elements who had shifted allegiance to the Aam Aadmi party to stay away from his newly launched public initiative, O glory and fifteen seconds of name, what untold crimes and follies are committed in your name.......

The writing on the wall is up there for all and sundry to see, saner, dedicated and committed elements of the now almost defunct IAC movement need to come together, chart out a new course and provide this rapidly sinking movement with a new found sense of purpose and direction.........

This impression going around about IAC Hyderabad being nothing more than a group of self seekers who are only interested in organising events once a year or so and happily resting on their laurels(?) in between needs to be dispelled beyond all reasonable doubt...........

The older generation has certainly enjoyed it's innings and more than it's fifteen seconds of fame under the spotlight and it's time to hand over the reins to the younger generation forthwith; do stick around as advisers and well wishers but do not make an attempt to abrogate the movement in your name.....

Your misdeeds and ruinous clamour for name, fame and the media glare have reduced the IAC movement to nothing more than a laughing stock, so do make way voluntarily for a newer and more committed lot hell bent upon making a difference on the ground, media glare or no media glare, your self interest and self serving motives have almost sounded the death knell of this peoples' movement, so do make way before the very same is dead and buried..........

ANNA'S VISIT AND MESSAGE........

Hyderabad and Hyderabadis did it once again, they literally drove Shri Anna Hazare and General (retired) V.K. Singh to despair at their apathy, indifference and sheer callousness........


Not more than 400-500 people turned up to hear these two notables and others like Messrs Santosh Bhartiya, the editor of the Chauthi Duniyaa daily newspaper and Mohammad Jilani the muezzin of the sufi dargah at Ajmer Sharief.......

The sheer indifference of Hyderabad and it's citizens to this doyen of anti corruption crusaders did indeed take many by surprise and left them aghast as the earlier public meetings of the very same organisation in it's earlier India Against Corruption avatar had certainly drawn decent sized crowds and also attracted the youth in droves.......

What was even more disheartening was the fact that at least 75% of the gathering comprised of current or erstwhile IAC volunteers and senior citizens; there was also a moment of deep embarrassment and shame when four-five youths suddenly stood up and started shouting pro Telangana slogans in the middle of Anna's public address, however, sanity was soon restored as these pro Telangana elements were escorted away by the police and other saner elements........

Shri Anna Hazare was however undaunted by the pathetic public turnout and exuded supreme confidence about awakening a minimum of 6 out of 121 crore Indians by relentlessly and untiringly traversing the length and breadth of this country in his effort to usher in a "Sampurna Vyavastha Parivartan" or total societal and systemic channge as he preferred to term it.........

Shri Anna Hazare also made an earnest effort to flog a dead horse and only made a fleeting reference to the jan lokpal bill by saying that the same would only be successful in eroding the menace of corruption to a 50-55% extent, but, what of the remaining 50% he wondered........

His solution to the same was the much debated and discussed "right to reject" which has been on the radar of the Election Commission and other such political rights groups for the last decade and a half or so.......

Anna gave the example of an election within a constituency comprising of five candidates: the sixth and most important choice in the same should be the sixth column should be the option that gives the electorate the right to reject all the above candidates, he said, the election in the same constituency would be countermanded and indefinitely postponed if a majority of the electorate rejected all the candidates put up by various political parties........

this would automatically force tha hand of the political parties into putting or nominating candidates with a "clean and exemplary" record and also prevent the free flow and routing of huge funds through dubious means in election campaigns as the fear of being rejected outright would always be a red herring and force the candidates and parties to severely curtail the expenditure that they have been incurring on elections he averred.........

The gram sabhas were the most important tool or implement in ending or then severely restricting the menace of corruption in Anna's opinion: "everyone who attains or reaches the age of 18 automatically becomes a member of the gram sabha and they and only they should have the right to decide how the funds allocated to the village panchayat or zilla parishad for development related activities should be spent, Anna said".........

Adopting this measure post haste would severely curtail corruption at the panchayat and parishad level according to Anna as the residents of the village would be indirectly responsible for overseeing the expenditure incurred on developmental activities within their village and hence would not allow anybody to misuse these very same funds, he concluded.........

Drawing a parallel between the armed forces and the youth which is selflessly supporting the Anna movement, General V.K. Singh said: "the armed forces are the only profession in the world wherein a new entrant signs a bond to the effect that he or she will even lay down their lives in the service of the nation should the need for the same arise; and the youth supporting Anna should develop or inculcate this very same feeling within themselves as lives might have to be laid down during the course of taking this brewing revolution to it's logical conclusion", he opined.......

The evening drew to a close with a soulful rendition of a few patriotic songs by a bunch of enthusiastic school children, the eventful evening may have certainly been memorable for Anna's dedicated supporters, but the apathy of the common Hyderabadi to the newly launched jantantra morcha was surely a cause for concern............

AN ARDENT APPEAL.........

An ardent and heart felt appeal to all IAC volunteers and all other Anna supporters:


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The incessant wrangling, intercinine warfare, name calling and labelling, rumour mongering and washing of dirty linen in full public view has only served to erode whatever little goodwill that we had been able to build up in the hearts and minds of the common man and media with our sterling deeds and selfless service to the cause that all of us like to espouse.......

Occupying the limelight and enjoying your fifteen seconds of fame in full public view is only incidental to the cause and cannot be the bette noire for having jumped onto the bandwagon in the first place......

All of us love taking potshots at political parties and their workers and openly ridicule their seemingly mindless antics, but we certainly have left many a political party in the shade by outdoing them at their chosen game.........

Let better sense prevail and let all this unpleasantness and bad blood evaporate our mentor, leader and inspiration Shri Anna Hazare is shortly slated to arrive in the city so let's aside our petty ego's, penchant for self aggrandisement and craze for self promotion aside for the moment and rise above all these narrow sectarian considerations........

We would certainly be better off if we focus our concerted energies on making Anna's rally a grand success as these petty issues and personal animosities can also be settled after Anna has left the city...........

THE POLITICS OF RAPE..........

The politics of or then should I say over rape cases and victims is the latest development on the national or then should I say state political scenario, with two woman politicians from Karnataka taking pot shots at each other and their respective political parties notwithstanding the fact that the hapless victim continues to vacillate precariously between life and death.....


A woman between the ages of 19 and 25 is hanging on for dear life in Bengaluru's state run Victoria Hospital since February 4, 2013, the victim is an unconscious state and has been in the same state ever since she was rolled into the hospital......

Medical test have confirmed the fact that she was brutally gang raped by a group of unidentified men, bruised, battered and left to die at the Harohalli or Herohalli Railway station in Ramnagar Taluk where she was found in a serious state.......

Doctors treating her at the Victoria Hospital say that they have succeeded in getting rid off the blood clot in her brain which had caused temporary paralysis and also impeded the blood supply to her brain, however her failure to regain consciousness for almost two weeks now is indeed a worrisome factor and the doctors are indeed doing their best to revive the victim.........

Karnataka State Police sources have confirmed that they are indeed clueless about the identity of the victim, her name, where she belongs to, her family and other antecedents and can do precious little in the matter of apprehending her alleged rapists until she regains consciousness.......

Meanwhile, the political wrangling has already broken out over the victim and her alleged rapists; ex cabinet minister Shobha Karandajle, who also happens to be a staunch Yeddyurappa Loyalist has made a startling claim about the rapists being none other than four Bharatiya Janata Party workers and also said that the state police is not proceeding with the case for the very same reason.......

While noted advocate and prominent member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Pramila Neasrgi has strongly repudiated and refuted the above mentioned statement and rubbished the charges made by Ms. Karandajle; she has even gone to the extent of saying that "Ms. Karndajle herself might have played an integral role in this heinous crime, why is she raising a hue and cry and shedding crocodile tears now when she did precious little to arrest this disturbing trend during her ministerial stint".........

And so the political wrangling and blame game continues while the victim continues to hang on precariously between life and death............

PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES...........

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others is an age old adage, but our ruling elite, social and political activists are yet to realise the deeper implications, significance or meaning of this age old adage......


Taking differences of opinion personally and calling each other names is a sign of immaturity, juvenile tendencies and churlish behaviour, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, the same needs to be respected and one can continue being civil to each other despite not agreeing on a few points........

I was completely unaware of the fact that Krishna Kishore was also one of the administrators of the Hyderabad for Change' community page till around thirty minutes back and only got to know of it when Khushboo brought the same fact to my notice......

One does not know whether the posts that went under the Hyderabad for Change' acronym were posted by the same individual or some other as I have no means whatsoever of proving the same at my disposal........

But, what I can say with absolute certainty is that neither I nor Khushboo has posted any matter under the above mentioned acronym and will never do so as we have the courage to stand by every word written by us.......

All the posts that have gone on the Hyderabad for Change' page have never ever contained anything personal or derogatory till date and will never contain anything derogatory to person or persons as long as I am Posting the same......

However, as matters rest, Krishna Kishore is no longer one of the admins of the Hyderabad for Change' community page and I for once again strongly condemn and repudiate this juvenile attempt at calling people names and settling personal acrimonies in this deplorable manner.........

STOP MISUSING COMMUNITY FORUMS..........

Hyderabad for Change' is a facebook community page exclusively meant for debating, discussing and disseminating women related issues and certainly not meant for settling personal scores or scoring brownie points........


Well as is the norm, people only prefer to see what they want to see, the intention behind initiating a debate and discussion on forming a newer and improved version of the India against Corruption movement Hyderabad chapter came about due to the ugly and ignonimous events that have surrounded the venerable Shri Anna Hazare's arrival in our city......

As for anybody's past history or rancour, Khushboo Choudhary and yours truly (Sundeep Chopra), the administrators of this community page are neither interested in knowing or remotely interested in wanting to know anybody's previous history.......

Our upbringing and moral values do not allow us to hit anybody below the belt and brand anybody a terrorist and so and so forth, I for one would be the first one to admit that I do have my differences with Sashank and do not concur with his views on many an issue........

But, I also have the courage and decency to engage him on a one to one debate on issues that we do not concur on like we have done in the past; Khushboo and me strongly condemn this misguided attempt being made to settle personal scores and acrimonies through this community page and forum........

I would like to impress upon the coward who has been hiding behind acronyms like Hyderabad for Change' to confront either his real or perceived antagonists headlong and not misue community forums like the one he has been using for this personal intercinine warfare.......

This juvenile behaviour, sparring and taking pot shots at one another under the guise of a community page or forum is strongly refuted, condemned and reprehensible to say the very least.........

ON BACKSTABBERS AND TURNCOATS.........

Anti corruption movements, what depravity, corruption, debauchery, deprecation and one upmanship games are played in your fair name.......


It is official now, or then should I say that it was official ever since the infamous Prasad and his bunch of acolytes held a press conference at the Somajiguda Press Club to announce Anna's arrival in the city........

One wonders why the charade of summoning a meeting at 5 pm on Sunday February 10, 2013 at a lawyer's residence in Adarsh Nagar was carried out in the first place when an unholy nexus between self serving and unscrupulous elements of the IAC, Aam Aadmi Party and Lok Satta Party had already been established......

Was this meeting an attempt at assuaging Prasad's guilt feelings about mercilessly back stabbing and letting down true soldiers of Anna's movement as has become his wont, if so, he should have been candid about his craving to appropriate the Anna movement on the strength of money acquired through dubious and objectionable means and most if not all of us would have walked out with our heads held high then and there.......

If anything, these recent developments have only strengthened my resolve about realigning forces and conjuring up an untainted and committed formation that will remain free of corruption and graft no matter what and show the rest of the world how an anti corruption forum should be run.............

REINVENT YOURSELF..........

A strong and resilient person always rises once again from the dust and kicks back with renewed force whenever life kicks either him or her in the face; I would be the first one to admit that I was indeed dismayed, disillusioned, disheartened, dismayed and disgusted by the totally irrational, self centred and delusional behaviour of some of the notables who manned the Janatantra Morcha AP's co-ordination or steering committee......


But, I am equally clear about the fact that I will not let such impediments or setbacks come in the way of my avowed goal of leaving this earth a much better place in comparison to the one that I inherited and hence want to make a new beginning as soon as possible........

Kishore, Kumar Shastri, Khushboo Choudhary and other such dedicated, committed and determined volunteers belonging to the India against Corruption initiative, arise, awake and put behind you your disappointments and temporary set backs; the good lord always opens many more doors whenever he resolutely shuts one door in our face.......

Let us look at the brighter side of things and the brighter end of the rainbow instead of wallowing around in self pity, dejection and desolateness; let us arise once again like the proverbial phoenix and relaunch a revamped, refurbished and improved avatar of the India against Corruption initiative thereby showing the rest of the world how such initiatives should be run and nurtured in the long run......

Launch a fresh membership drive to begin with and get every new joinee to sign a bond to the effect that he will not align himself with any other such movement or initiative, every member shall have the right to identify himself with a political outfit of his choosing, but his/her political affiliations or beliefs should not come in the way of discharging their assigned roles within this new and revamped set up.........

Social networking sites, electronic mails, pamphlets, hand outs and street plays shall be our modes of communication, we will not go out of our way to garner the media's attention but will also not brush it off cursorily if it does come our way......

The common man will be the bulwark of this movement, he will not only be our treasurer, inspiration, guiding light, hope and aspiration, but making a qualitative change in the life of the common man shall be our sole aim and objective......

Let's think small to begin with and immediately get off the ground by collecting amounts of Rs. 100 and above from the man on the street and such other benefactors who are willing to help us, business houses, corporates and leading philanthropists could be the next source of funding once we establish ourselves.........

Messrs Kishore, Kumar Shastri, Khushboo Choudhary, Praneet and other such notables could be the face of the organisation, as for me, I prefer playing the role of the back room boy as I do not know anybody in the corridoors of power and can neither read, write, speak or understand the local language........

We can take further decisions as we go along, but first let's set aside our petty differences and misunderstandings, put on the back burner our disillusionments and disappointments, let's come together once again with a sense of renewed commitment and hope, let's show the rest of the world how it's done.........

YET ANOTHER FIASCO............

Gross exaggeration, unabashed self promotion, one upmanship, fifteen seconds of fame at all costs and last but not the least intercinine warfare amongst the various members who comprise the steering or co-ordination committees of all such social upliftment or transformation initiatives have fortunately or unfortunately become the calling cards and distinguishing features of all such initiatives and endeavours within Hyderabad.........


The "one billion rising" was one such noble initiative that bit the dust once again, not more than 1,500-800 people gathered to support this initiative at the pinnacle of this approximately four hour long programme that culminated with notable performances from some really angelic school kids and women, but, I for one failed to understand the relevance of school kids raising "Azaadi' related slogans as they are certainly not being subjugated by an increasingly subversive society as is in the case of many a hapless women............

If the intention of the organisers was to garner eyeballs and corner media attention, they fell flat on their faces in achieving both these objectives too as only two English dailies: The Hindu and the Deccan Chronicle gave the event a passing mention, while the Times of India honoured the event by pasting a solitary photograph on page 3 of the city edition.........

None of the 24 hour English news channels NDTV, Times Now, CNN IBN or Headlines Today deputed either a correspondent or a cameraman to cover the event, and the Telugu news channels who were there did their usual hackneyed job as expected of them.........

Spreading misinformation through blogs like the one that calls itself India Times or some such and posting grossly exaggerated reports of over 5,000 people turning up and making pathetic attempts to gloss over all the organisation related glitches and loopholes will only be doing the organisers of the same a huge disservice as a long look hard look in the mirror is the crying need of the hour........

I am the first to admit that Hyderabad is no Delhi or Mumbai where gatherings in excess of 20,000 and a lot more besides are the norm rather than the exception, but the fact that this was a global event being held in more than 200 countries world wide on the same day and the same being endorsed by such notables like Shabana Azmi, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Gul Panaag and a few more such others did certainly raise more than a few expectations about Hyderabad out doing itself........

Shame Hyderabad Shame, you not only have woefully let down your women folk once again, but also exposed your dark and sinister underbelly for all to see, motorcycle borne motorists were passing derisive and highly objectionable remarks and openly ridiculing and mocking the participants in full media glare without any signs of either remorse or shame........

And the India versus Bharat debate pertaining to subjugation of women and their treatment as nothing more than objects of sexual gratification continues unabated.......

COMPLETELY DISSOCIATE MYSELF..........

The janatantra morcha AP has certainly made a change and displayed some parivartan, unfortunately this change or parivartan has seen one of the stalwarts of the peoples' moment in Andhra Pradesh completely dissociating himself from all such activities with immediate effect, but the same has not even made a dent in the crocodile like hides of some self serving and bigoted individuals who masterfully wear do gooders masks......


These do gooders have woefully failed to either assign duties to the volunteers, finalise Anna's programme, pin down or schedule a venue for the proposed peoples' meeting now that the Wesley College grounds is out of bounds in the wake of the sad death of a bishop........

One enjoys dealing with like minded and philanthropic people who place others before themselves, but one can only detest and deplore a bunch of publicity seekers whose sole aim is to glorify themselves at any cost and take the creit for the hard work and selfless deeds of others.......

Such self seekers and self obsessed individuals are primarily responsible for destroying this social transformation movement almost single handedly, and I would fearlessly venture as far as saying that some of their deeds and actions would put many a politician to shame......

As an individual who has always set great store by honesty, integrity and noble intentions, I whole heartedly endorse every word uttered by Kishore and completely dissociate myself from the nefarious activities of this bunch of thugs with immediate effect............

GLUTTONS FOR PUNISHMENT..........

why oh why do people continue to play with the belief and sentiments of innocent and gullible people who come forward with the noblest of intentions about lending their voice and support to a seemingly greater cause and little else.....


One is then creditably informed by sources in the know that these very same NGO's and other such notables are nothing more than fronts of dubious corporates and in turn funded through equally dubious and questionable not to sat clandestine means.....

These organisations/fronts might be doing some good after all, but of what use is a good that is committed as an atonement, one is left bewildered about whether the means to an end are greater or an end achieved through questionable and disreputable means?????

Even more dangerous is the present day trend of a few people building up personality cults and unscrupulously using people and organisations that have come into existence for the greater good of the teeming millions as a stepping stone towards the political limelight and their fifteen seconds of fame or then should I say infame.........

We are all definitely far wiser in hindsight but we henceforth need to be far more careful and informed about the causes, organisations and above all people we support; disillusionment and deep seated disenchantment has become a routine matter for gluttons like me, hope and pray that the very same does not hold good for you too......

ANNA HAZARE SAYS.........

There is a wave of change in the entire country today. Whatever be the religion, caste, creed, or age of a person, whether he is rich or poor, a city dweller or a villager, everyone seems to be dreaming about change. If this enthusiasm keeps up, something that has not happened in sixty four years of India's history will happen in ten.


But at this point in time it is very important for us to understand our future course of action. This opportunity should not get lost in an insignificant target such as a mere change of government. It is therefore, very important to understand where we should now be headed.

Gandhiji used to say, "true democracy is not run by twenty people sitting in Delhi. The power centres now are in capital cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. I would like to distribute these power centres in seven lakh villages of India." We celebrated our first Republic Day on 26 January 1950 but conveniently forgot these words by Gandhiji.

And that is why such a yawning gulf or chasm exists between the haves and have nots, rich and poor, There is an ever growing rift between religions and castes. Corruption and the escalating cost of living is indeed making life immensely difficult for the common man. There are hungry and unemployed people in our midst even after sixty four years of independence.

If we want to change the economy of the country, we have to change that of the villages. The economy cannot be changed by sitting in Delhi and formulating schemes or by dispensing money through the same. This can only happen by empowering people. In our democracy today, the system is far stronger than the people.

It often seems that the system is far more valuable than the people it is meant for. We have to understand that people's role in a democracy is not merely voting once every five years. They have to participate in democracy and governance. Power centres have to move from Delhi and other state capitals to villages and communities........

ANNA HAZARE.......

RESPECT AND VENERATE WOMEN...........

A nation that does not learn to respect and venerate it's women is definitely heading on a path of doom and destruction or so opines modern day Gandhian Anna Hazare.......


Women are the building blocks of society, one educated women educates four more people in her wake according to the messiah from Ralegan Siddhi, women not only further the family, but also nurture, nourish and define the same, he goes on to say.........

People who torture, torment or traumatise the fairer sex should be socially ostracised, mercilessly punished and made an example for generations to come he thunders and asks others to learn the fine art of respecting women from the humble folk residing in his village........

The women in my village not only played an instrumental role in bringing about an agricultural revolution within the village and it's environs, but also succeeded in weaning away the menfolk from the menace of alcohol addiction he proudly proclaims........

Shakti, Durga, the mtoher Goddess, Lakshmi, Seeta and Parvati are some of the manifestations of women hood according to Anna and every social transformation begins with the participation of women he states; no social transformation has and will ever succeed without the active participation of women he further goes on to say.......

Any body who commits a crime against a woman is not only a criminal in the eyes of the law, but an even bigger offender in the eyes of the almighty, he concludes........

This is what the social and systemic reformer Shri Anna Hazare feels about the status of woman in our social set up and the atrocities being committed against the fairer sex; what do you feel about this issue, do you concur with Anna's views or then hold different views about the same.....

Please do condescend to grace the Janatantra Morcha AP facebook page and post your invaluable ideas and opinions on this burning issue and a lot more besides; honour Anna and his dedicated followers by turning up for the public rally which is slated to be held from 4 pm onwards at the Wesley College grounds, Secunderabad on Sunday Februrary 17, 2013, be educated and enlightened and educate and enlighten others in your wake.........

SHUDH AACHAR, SHUDH VICHAAR..........

SHUDH AACHAR: or exemplary conduct in both public as well as personal life, one's conduct should always be above all reproach and recrimination, be true to yourself and do not give anybody the opportunity to point a finger or then fingers at you, your conduct and way of conducting yourself should serve as an example to others.......




SHUDH VICHAAR: or pristine thoughts, thoughts that elevate your status as a human being, thoughts that energise, invigorate and inspire you and others around you, thoughts that give an added dimension to one's life, thoughts that lead others into following in your wake.......



SHUDH OR MADHUR VAANI: speech that sounds like music to the ears, language that does not hurt anybody's sentiments and feelings but instead raises one's status and creates a feeling of oneness and bonhomie, utterances that inspire, lead to introspection, and above all boost the self esteem of the one to whom these dialogues are addressed..........



These three principles or guiding lights have been the foundation stones of Shri Anna Hazare's exemplary and illustrious journey through life, these very same principles kept him grounded, added substance to an otherwise mundane existence and eased his way when it came to the issue of carrying others along with him.......



Shri Anna Hazare swears by these three bywords and goads others into following his example; what are the guiding principles of your remarkable life, do you feel that you are leading a meaningful life or just existing from one day to the other........



Do you agree with Shri Anna Hazare's principles or then have an entirely different take on how one should go about leading one's life, feel free to pen down your impressions on life and a lot more besides on the Janatantra Morcha AP facebook page......



Post your innermost thoughts and impressions, you never know one or more of these very same thoughts might just end up adding a few more dimensions and meaning to thousands of seemingly meaningless lives............

STRONG AND INSPIRED.........

Anna harbours the dream of seeing a resilient, honest, self sufficient, resurgent and developed India. An India where there is no divide whatsoever between the haves and the have nots, villages are as developed and prosperous as the "Bada Shehar" and last but not the least, an India where your personal shortcomings are the only inhibiting factors in your personal development........


An India where there will be drastic and revolutionary changes in the present health set up thereby making it accessible to one and all, a three year period of service at the village level shall be made compulsory for all government doctors and a scenario wherein the poorest of the poor residing in the remotest parts of the country shall enjoy state of the art health facilities.......

An India where the judicial system shall be free, fair and beyond all temptation, a country where the poorest of the poor shall be the real beneficiaries of an enlightened judicial system that will cater to one and all with scant regard for either their social standing or amount of money accumulated in their bank accounts.......

A country where speedy justice shall be the norm rather then the exception, an India where health insurance shall be mandatory for every citizen, education that will make honest citizens out of the worst of us and above all an educational system that will inculcate in us the need to take a strong and unambiguous stand against any and every manifestation of corruption.......

Pipe dream, utopia or blatant realism, do condescend to tell us what you feel about Shri Anna Hazare's vision for a strong and resurgent India by posting your honest comments on the Janatantra Morcha AP facebook page.......

Do feel free to post anything that you feel is relevant to this social and systemic transformation initiative, we derive our strength and inspiration from you all, so do strive towards keeping us strong and inspired............

ONE BILLION UPRISING.........

Thinking about buying your loved one/companion a bouquet of flowers, trinket, stuffed toy, gift voucher or any other such cliched gift????, well I can certainly suggest a much better way of showing her that you really care on February 14.......


Show your loved one how much she really matters to you by simply turning up for the "One Billion Uprising" that is slated to be held between 4 pm and 8 pm on Thursday February 14, 2013 between Jal Vihar and Peoples' Plaza on Hyderabad's Necklace Road........

Serenade your loved one, go down before her on a bended knee, woo her, walk with her hand in hand, walk behind her, besides her, in front of her or then in any other manner that catches your fancy.......

Do something worthwhile for a change on this Valentines Day and really show that someone special what she really means to you, the "One Billion Uprising" is not only a celebration of your love but also a means of reiterating your concern for her safety and security........

So do be condescending enough and let me know if you discover a better way of showing your love as I am always more than willing to be educated and enlightened....

LONG OVERDUE ELECTORAL REFORMS.........

Long pending and overdue electoral reforms are the next item on the Janatantra Morcha's agenda, criminals and their cohorts have overrun both parliament as well as the numerous state legislatures and willy nilly become a law unto themselves as they have not been held accountable for so long......


All duly elected candidates will have to declare their own as well as family member's assets through a sworn affidavit; and all undeclared or buried assets will be cursorily seized or attached, the same will go into a corpus fund that will be overseen by an honest and conscientious officer reporting to the janlokpal; the monies collected in this fund will be used for programmes that benefit the common man.......

Any charge sheeted or duly punished candidate will be debarred and banned from contesting elections during his/her lifetime; any political party that is found to be putting up tainted or tarnished candidates will be heftily fined in the case of the first offence, barred from contesting elections for a period of five years or more in the case of a second offence and it's registration and due recognition shall be cancelled for good by the election commission if they continue with their nocturnal behaviour......

The electorate shall have the express right to recall an elected candidate if 50% of the registered voters in any constituency express a no confidence motion in him/her and also enjoy the right to reject any or all of the candidates nominated by various political parties as candidates from a respective constituency if they fail to measure up to their reasonable expectations.......

Registered voters shall also enjoy the right of not voting for a candidate and registering a zero vote by duly signing a register expressly maintained for this very purpose in the presence of the returning officer; this zero vote shall be duly registered both as a mark of protest as well as a no confidence vote for the candidates put up by various political parties and formations........

All these electoral reforms and a lot more shall come your way if the Janlokpal bill envisaged by Shri Anna Hazare and his team members is passed in it's present form, so do take the time out to put down your invaluable suggestions regarding the same and a lot more besides on the Janatantra Morcha AP facebook page.......

Or better still air your unedited and live views in full public glare during the course of a public meeting slated to be held from 4 pm onwards at the Wesley College Grounds, Secunderabad on Sunday, February 17, 2013........

Shri Anna Hazare, General (retired) V.K. Singh and their legions of supporters will surely be there, will you also be part and parcel of history in the making???????

A MORE EFFECTIVE JAN LOKPAL.......

Shri Anna Hazare envisages a transparent system that will percolate down to every level of the bureaucracy and the public will have the right to know every minute detail pertaining to the workings of a highly secretive and prohibitive bureaucracy and the establishment of a highly responsive and alert Jan Lokpal at the centre as well as Jan Lokayukta at the state level as the panacea to the present highly corrupt and immoral system that derives perverse pleasure from making the very existence of the common man a misery........


Bureaucrats will also have to move all files to the next level within a time bound manner and have to render valid explanations for doing so if they fail to comply with laid down deadlines, hefty fines which will be deducted from the salaries payable to the erring bureaucrats and government officials will be the next punitive measure on the anvil and the funds thus collected will be held in a corpus fund that will be used for training and betterment programmes to make the interactions of the common man with the sarkari babus an extremely pleasurable and fruitful experience for the common man.......

Responsibility and accountability will become a concrete reality instead of just remaining pipe dreams and bywords as is the present practice and every government official will be held wholly and solely accountable for any adverse fallout resulting from his actions and punished for the same in a highly transparent and fair manner; all these and many more measures are envisaged as the panacea to corruption by Shri Anna Hazare and his crew of dedicated followers........

What are your views on these and other topics/issues that are proving to be the bane of your existence fellow Hyderabadis, do shed your reticence and chalta hai attitude for once, dig out your rusty pens or take recourse to any available computer to put down your invaluable thoughts regarding the same; log on to the Janatantra Morcha AP facebook page and leave your imprints thereon, your thoughts and impressions will be the foundation stone on which an improved and more effective janlokpal will be raised so do keep the same coming at a frenetic pace..........

REHABILITATIVE APPROACH..........

The raging debate about lowering the age of majority of juveniles form the present 18 to the proposed 16, with one side wanting to make an example of the juvenile perpetrator who inflicted the maximum amount of pain and torture on the 23 year old Delhi brave heart Nirbhaya, while the other side advising utmost restraint and cautions as statistics and studies have revealed that almost 85% of all juveniles can be rehabilitated and redeemed with a judicious mixture of self realisation and counselling..........


Proponents of the status quo want the age of majority to continue to remain the same (i.e. 18 years of age) and have not tired of repeating themselves ad nauseum as they tout figures and statistics to the effect that the ages of 16 and 17 are windows of opportunity for reforming the offenders and making them contributory and stellar members of society........

While the contrarian view is that these lost souls are beyond redemption and that their punishment should be solely based on the gruesomeness, gravity and heinousness of the offence committed; the perpetrator of the barbaric crime neither showed any mercy or clemency to his victim, they opine, so then why should any mercy be shown to this cold blooded and soulless offender they go on to say.......   Continuing on from the above:



There is no denying the fact that both these arguments are not without their respective merits, while one addresses the punitive and deterrent aspect of the law, the other addresses the reformative side of it and one cannot work in complete isolation from the other aspects of the law system........

A judicious mix of these two approaches would indeed be the best way forward; a special cell could or rather must be created within the national capitals' Tihar Jail and central jails in other state capitals wherein these offenders between the ages of 15 and 18 are exclusively housed or incarcerated........

These offenders shall only come in contact with others of their own age and their contact with elders shall be wholely and solely restricted to the jail staff and superintendent, their parents, law officers of the court and psychologists, psychiatrists and other child specialists who are making an effort to rehabilitate them and make them productive members of society.......

The cells which these offenders are housed in should have a welcoming and bracing feel to them rather than a cold or forbidding one; the inmates should be made to feel that they are being given an opportunity to redeem themselves rather than being ostracised and isolated..........

Psychologists, counsellors, life sustenance skill professionals and parents should be an integral part of this rehabilitative and restorative programme and only staff that either has the propensity to deal with the young persons incarcerated therein should be deployed in such barracks and other should be barred from entering the same.......

These children/ young people should be handed down terms of a minimum of three years and a maximum of ten years depending on the mitigating factors and severity of the crime committed, and only children of 15 years of age and above shall be lodged in these special facilities.........

Repeat and habitual offenders could however be made an example of and be tried as adults if the presiding judge so decrees........

Let these considerations and such others be the starting points of a comprehensive, far reaching and result oriented debate on the burning issue of crimes being committed by juveniles; a societal, judicial, educational and welfare oriented change or transformation is the crying need of the hour.........

Will experts from all these allied fields at long last put their heads together and conjure up a concrete and time bound plan of action or then will they continue to work at loggerheads as they are right now???? well your guess is as good as mine........

INNOVATIVE SAFETY MEASURES?????

"Der Aaye Darust Aaye" as many an old timer is prone to remarking; well, wonders will never cease and in a belated though wholly welcome move, the Hyderabad police has at long last woken up to the fact that it needs to make the city a far more, secure, safe and friendlier place for it's lakhs if not crores of female residents..........


The Hyderabad police will soon begin setting up post boxes or then other boxes resembling post boxes in prominent locations across Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills, Panjagutta and Ameerpet to begin with........

Female residents who have faced the ignominy of being eve teased or then ridiculed in any other manner can resort to using these boxes and simply drop in a complaint letter into one of these boxes, one hundred such boxes will be set up in prominent locations to begin with and the number will be exponentially increased based on the number and nature of complaints or grievances registered and received........

These boxes will be set up at strategic locations, in close proximity to educational institutions and bus stops and shelters to begin with and the keys to these boxes will be in the safe custody of Inspector level or higher officials in the afore mentioned areas, the same will be cleared on a daily basis and suitable action will be initiated according to the seriousness and severity of the complaints thus received.........

Other such safety and security related measures like establishing exclusive eve teasing zones within SR Nagar, Ameerpet, Mehdipatnam and Jubilee Hills police station limits, setting up women helplines within 13 police stations and significantly increasing the number of police patrols both on foot and police vehicles in the vicinity of colleges and bus stops are other measures that will soon see the light of the day.........

The police will be adopting a zero tolerance policy on eve teasing and passing insulting, sexist or derogatory remarks against women for the next six months to begin with and will keep in regular touch with both the victim as well as her family members in an effort to take due cognisance of any repeat offences........

Chain snatching incidents, feeling and groping women's body parts, anatomies and other such serious offences could also be significantly curbed in and around the Panjagutta area in particular with the adoption of increased surveillance and patrolling according to highly placed police sources.......

One only hopes that these measures do not prove to be yet another flash in the pan and are continued and persisted with over long periods of time unlike the highly publicised drives against motorists without helmets, those not using seat belts and errant auto drivers that soon bit the dust.........

END THIS SORDID SAGA.........

Indians all over the universe rejoice, one of the main plotters and planners of the dastardly terrorist attack on the 'temple' of our democracy Afzal Guru has met his just end at the end of a long rope within the precincts of the national capital's Tihar Jails' barracks number 3 thereby bringing to an end a sordid tale off machinations against our motherland........


Just to jog the memory of all my fellow Indians who might not remember whatever happened on that fateful day, our parliament was attacked by a motley group of five Pakistani terrorists on December 13,2001 when the winter session of parliament was on, they were ultimately gunned down after a fierce fight with our valiant security forces, but only after close to twenty security personnel sacrificed their lives to preserve the sanctity of our parliamentary democracy........

The said Afzal Guru was apprehended from Kashmir and was incarcerated in the Tihar Jail ever since, the charges of plotting, planning as well as providing logistical support to this dastardly attack were proved beyond all reasonable doubt and he was sent to the gallows as a result; he did try his utmost to get the death penalty remitted into a life sentence but exhausted all his remedial measures earlier this week with the presidential dismissing his mercy petition.......

One really wonders why the present ruling dispensation is suddenly showing signs of adopting a zero tolerance policy against all terrorists and their overlords after going soft on them for all these years, are they really bent upon sending out signals to the effect that all terrorist activity will be quelled with an iron hand or then was this long delayed hanging judiciously expedited keeping in mind the fact that the credibility of this government was at an all time low and that such sending out such strong and unambiguous signals would stand them in good stead in both the state as well as general elections that are not too far off........

Setting all scepticism aside for the moment, February 9, 2013 should certainly go down as a day of joy, merrymaking and celebration on the calendar of any and every patriotic Indian, henceforth, let's mark this day as a a national festival and the beginning of the end of terrorism, terrorists and their patrons from our midst........

Kudos are also due to President Pranab Mukherjee for displaying the courage, fortitude and clarity of thought to outrightly dismiss the mercy petitions of both Ajmal Aamir Kasab and Afzal Guru within the relatively short span of six and a quarter months, thereby giving rise to a spate of questions about why his predecessor in the Rashtrapati Bhavan; Pratibha Devisinh Patil kept sitting on these very same mercy petitions for almost the entire length of her tenure??????

One only hopes and prays that the government will now at least set aside all narrow political and sectarian considerations and also send former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as well as former Punjab chief minister's Beant Singh's assassin Balwant Singh Rajoana to the gallows forthwith........

Send out clear and no nonsense signals and not confusing and ambiguous signals about Indian government's adopting a blow hot blow cold attitude in the perennial war against terrorism if that indeed is your avowed aim and intention as we have fortunately or unfortunately earned this sobriquet of being soft on terrorism, so do let's review our policy if there is one in this regard post haste and let the rest of the world know that the Indian nation is no longer willing to be a sitting duck so all enemies of the Indian nation beware..........

OUR FILMS PROMOTE RAPE..........

The barbaric and inhuman assault of a 23 year old paramedic in the national capital has given rise to a volley of protests and comments on why we and our social set up tends to look down upon women as the weaker sex and treat them with utter disdain. Reasons varying from a patriarchal mindset to the traditional upbringing of women and so on and so forth have been propounded for this shameful tendency, but, a major contributory factor namely the Hindi film industry seems to have gotten away relatively scot free..........


The Hindi film industry has always conformed to stereotype and by and large portrayed it's heroines as simpering, inconsequential airheads who always prefer to do the heroes bidding after an initial period of defiance and reluctance; as if the 'typical' Hindi film heroine never has a mind of her own and always follows in the wake of her male counterpart.........

This tendency is in fact partly if not wholly responsible for giving rise to, fostering and nurturing thoroughly retrograde and masochistic male attitudes that have come to accept the fact that the female is will always continue to be the so called weaker species who will continue to be dominated by the supposedly 'superior' male without as much as a by your please.........

As is their wont most feminists seem to be missing the woods for the trees, a few of them show a remarkable propensity towards exclusively focussing their attention on the "commodification" of women in the Hindi film industry's "item numbers" or then sex-laden dances performed with gay abandon by such notables like Isha Koppikar, Mallika Shehrawat, Vidya Balan, Chitrangada Singh, and last but not the least, Kareena Kapoor to name just a few..........

While others highlight the immense popularity of rape scenes that were a staple in the films churned out by the hundreds in the eighties and nineties, so frequent and numerous were the rape scenes that on screen villains like Ranjeet and Shakti Kapoor came to be regarded as some sort of serial rapists and specialists in this vile act.......

Yet, the so called item numbers and assembly line rape scenes are not the main or real problem, as cabaret dancers, item girls and snarling villains are everything else but role models for the present and succeeding generations to come; the main cause for these arrogant and medieval mindsets is the grotesque manner in which film heroes have for the last half century or even more pestered, stalked, pursued heroines and literally forced on them their unwelcome and unwarranted attention.........

The actions of the heroes on screen only ended up sending out the signal that this was the right and only manner in which to woo a young woman and sweep of her feet; no meant yes and the initial reluctance and inhibitions on the part of the heroines were just yet another manifestation of female vanity that would always crumble in the face of male "vitality", "suaveness" and "charm"..........

One distinctly remembers a song from the nineties have lyrics to the effect that "pat ti hain ladkiyan, patane waala chahiye" or some such thing; this is just one example of a legion of songs that glorify harassment and stalking. I for one would in fact venture as far as saying that songs such as Khambe jaisi khadi hain, khud ko kya samajhti hain, ladki badi hain kamaal ki and many such other notables gave rise to the present day phenomenon euphemistically termed as "eve teasing".............

Superstar of the millennium Shri Amitabh Bachchan contributed to this reprehensible tendency in no small measure with a gem (?) like the utterly sexist and derogatory "Jumma Chumma De De" from the 1992/93 blockbuster "Hum". The song had Mr. Bachchan and his hundred or a hundred and fifty merry followere assiduously pursuing a busty Kimi Katkar for an elusive kiss; one distinctly remembers the heroine being thoroughly drenched with a hose pipe and eventually succumbing to the wiles of her male pursuer granting him his CHUMMA and smearing his lips with her deep hued lip stick; and we still continue to wonder why the typical Indian male continues with this age old mindset??????

What was the message that this and such other songs or scenes from recent blockbusters like Rockstar are trying to send out: that the female will always give in if you harass and pursue her for long enough; no matter how many times she says no, the ultimate answer will always be a yes if Hindi film makers who have unravelled the innermost secrets of the female psyche are to be believed..........

Alas, I for one do not see films in any other Indian language but am creditably informed by my friends and such other sources that such scenes are even more crude, vulgar and graphic in films in other languages and one enlightened soul even went to the extent of telling me that such harassment was a thing of the past and did not happen in big budget Hindi films any more, then pray what were the grotesque and even comic antics of Nasseruddin Shah in the "Dirty Picture" all about or Varun Dhawan's protestations of undiluted and undying love for Alia Bhatt in Karan Johar's "Student of the Year" while hanging on to the arms and tresses of ten score other girls as a manifestation of his macho charm and vitality..........

Let a person of the pedigree of a Farhan Akhtar who has grown up in and spent his entire life in the film industry have the final say on this contentious issue, " there are films in which romantic wooing has been replaced by a kind of harassment of the heroine. The heroes of these films could be considered as stalkers in a significant majority of civil societies.".........

More often than not, such heroes (if one can call them that) are role models and aspirational figures for their legions of followers, wouldn't most if not all his fans be coerced into believing that is normal behaviour which is indulged in by the hero and so widely acceptable, on the other hand the heroine in question is also a role model for her legions of fawning fans, so now add two and two together and you end up with the highly suggestive and reprehensible signals that such songs and visuals send out to many a gullible mind ever willing to accept the same as the gospel truth..........

Let's all pay heed to Farhan Akhtar's brave and insightful words because he knows both what he is saying and doing and hence needs to be taken with the utmost seriousness.............

SUPREME COURT MANDATED ACCOUNTABILITY........

In what must indeed sound as sweet music to the ears of Delhi's scores of women in particular and much vilified and harangued common man on the street in general, the Supreme Court just a short while back asked both the centre and the states to critically examine the number of police personnel deployed in the name of VIP security and free or redeploy a significant majority of these very same personnel towards the more significant and important cause of providing the women and the children out there with a sense of security and safety.........


Taking serious offence to the Delhi police's pronounced inability to learn lessons from either the horrific events that unfolded on the fateful night of December 16,2002 or the spate of rapes and sexual assaults that followed in the wake of this incident the Supreme court judges asked the Delhi Police authorities to name a single judge who had asked for a massive security deployment and openly wondered why precious resources were being squandered away in the name of such fruitless deployment when there was a crying need to secure the safety and security of the women and children on the street...........

Curtly asking all concerned authorities to file due relies before it on or before February 11, the Supreme Court clearly remarked that any authority that fails to file it's reply before it on the due date will be asked to explain it's failure to do so before it in person on February 16, 2013.........

I would only be fit to recall that this is not the first instance of the Supreme Court haranguing and lambasting the Delhi Police as well as Home Ministry officials in this regard, the Supreme Court had earlier asked the Delhi Police Commissioner pointed questions on why almost 55% of the existing Delhi police personnel were deployed on VIP security when there was an urgent need to ensure the safety and security of Delhi's women?????

On being informed that a sizeable number of these personnel were also deployed outside the official residences of both high court as well as supreme court judges, the Supreme Court had asked why these personnel were deployed without a single judge asking for the same and on receiving a reply to the effect that these personnel enabled the judges and other protectees to faithfully and conscientiously discharge their duties without fear or favour openly rebuked the officer furnishing this reply saying that, "a country whose judges need a massive security deployment to discharge their constitutionally mandated duties can look forward to everything else apart from a bright future"...........

The Supreme Courts caustic remarks and observations are being seen as a fall out of reports in sections of the press about the number of politicians being provided with NSG security cover having gone up exponentially in the last few days and weeks and also in the wake of yet another incident of a foreigner being raped by a party organiser late last night/ early this morning in a posh South Delhi colony.......

Pointed questions were also asked about both the Delhi police as well as the home ministries abject failure to initiate necessary action to fill up the existing vacancies as well as the ushering in the long overdue police reforms that have been debated and discussed time and again over the last decade and a half and more...........

One can only hope and pray that both the Delhi police as well as the other state police forces will at long last understand that their first responsibility lies towards the common man and not their privileged political bosses and start discharging their primary duty of ensuring the safety and security of the Aam Aadmi at long last...........