Indian Regionalism has come in three varieties - Regionalism properly so called, Parochialism (provincialism) and Secessionism as was being observed in Kashmir uptil last elections.
There are 8 main reasons to a unified India, 8 factors that keep this crew somewhat together. Four are the bequest of the British,
(i) The Game of Cricket (ii) The Railways (iii) The Civil Service and (iv) the English Language.
Four others are of "Indigenous" origin.
The first is the Hindi film, providing a shared worship of heroes and a shared Vocabulary in which to speak of them. Second are the Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which gives us a shared moral (and sometimes immoral) Universe. Third is the territorial boundedness by the Himalayas and the Oceans. Fourth and the most significant of all is, the integrative idea of India embodied in the Constitution.
Scientist and polymath J.B.S. Haldane in one of the finest tributes to "Gandhi-Tagore-Nehru-Ambedkar-Idea of India" had applied for Indian Citizenship in 1956. He once called India "the closest approximation to the Free World" and to this a scientist from New York protested "India has its fair share of scoundrels and a tremendous amount of poor unthinking and disgustingly subservient individuals who are not attractive"
To which Haldane responded - "Perhaps one is freer to be a scoundrel in India than elsewhere... They do indulge in riots and refuse to abide by the Law but I don’t think their activities are very efficient, but that is not the question at issue.." in effort to advocate the Idea of Free India.
Now we need to stop and think..!!!!
Do we really deserve this advocacy ????
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Regionalism Syndrome and Development
Link to the Post : http://jitendragahlot.blogspot.com/2008/12/arrival-of-developmental-politics-and.html
Since 1989 all the election results have been falling in one of two categories: a response to communal/religious appeals or to caste based considerations. As we observed development as the key issue in recent election results but there is some agreement to the fact that economic development issues don’t guarantee winning elections like what happened to Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh and Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh. The issues the media highlighted in these elections were Education in MP and IT sector in Andhra, and these are not the ones that concern the common man, particularly as these are more of urban based issues. In other words, the feel of economic reforms was not visible once one moved beyond the major cities.
The last four elections have one thing in common, all the winning parties have come back with absolute majorities. Something that has not happened since 1998 both at the national and the state level except for two party states like Tamil Nadu.The results bring in a new factor in analysing assembly results, the "Role Of Regionalism". Post 1991, Regional Inequality has tended to increase largely because of different capabilities of each state. While legislators are elected in the states, most economic reforms have been the work of the Central Government, as a consequence, the party dominant in the Centre keep losing ground in the States.
Major Economic reforms are viewed as the work of the Centre and it is convenient for every State to blame the Centre for all economic ills. The controversy regarding the SEZs in Goa is part of the same problem. In the same way the local resentment against the planned development of the North East as the ‘Power House’ of the country.
As a consequence of this Regionalism voters tend to resent any party or leader foisted on them by the Centre. If the party wants to survive, it will have to develop regional leaders perceived to be close to the grassroots in their respective states. As the case with Congress.
After 1991 to bring economic reforms was on every political agenda. The more economically developed states started to increasingly assert their independence vis-a-vis the Centre, that is what actually is the case with Mumbai in connection with Raj Thakrey and party. They are encashing or we can say are baking their breads on this so called indepedence. What is even more important, is that in view of such protests and mild response from the Government in rather low tone, there will be growing demands for a more federal structure than at present and the resolution of this dilemma will, determine political survival of national parties.
This is one face of the story.... The other face is ...
One of the key alignment to be achieved for developing states, is to enter into agreements with other states at a similar level of development in the same area. The benefits of market access and the diversification of production will add to trade integration. Be it with developed or developing states reducing permanent as well as seasonal migration.
For many states that are at an early stage of industrial development, a programme involving states with similar economic structures and technological capabilities may be considered a more viable option. While accentuating the level of tech capability of these states put together.In other words, the regional market sets less exclusive benchmarks than national, so that even production at the infant industry stage can be successfully broadened, generating more employment at the home place. Cooperation is advantageous and attract funds.
The increase in trade ties suggests regional cooperation between developing states. It can prove to be an important means to accelerate industrialization and hence downsizing migration at the same time.Regional cooperation in the monetary and financial area can provide important tools for the stabilization of intraregional ties, and reduce their potential to serve as a source of instability. Similarly, cooperation on major investment projects can reduce common bottlenecks in public infrastructure like energy and water supply evenually raising the country as single unit.
The difference in poverty across the entire nation has exponentially increased over the years and stands huge at 30% on date. This has made people from one region to go to the other for better living and jobs. The problem associated with it, as it looks like, has nothing to do with so called "STEALING of jobs from the local people" as Hooligans of Mumbai claims, but it has to do with the cultural clash.
For example, many times how North Indians after coming to cities like Bangalore, Mumbai etc. fail to respect the local culture and language and treat them in a shabby manner. Solution: mingle into local culture wherever migrants go and respect the local culture as much as they do their own while in home states or cities, equally applicable to all those who are treating outsiders as a parasite and bashing them in public to denounce their sacred culture in front of the Nation.
I think this might offer some interesting new perspective in the debate on Regionalism..
Since 1989 all the election results have been falling in one of two categories: a response to communal/religious appeals or to caste based considerations. As we observed development as the key issue in recent election results but there is some agreement to the fact that economic development issues don’t guarantee winning elections like what happened to Digvijay Singh in Madhya Pradesh and Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh. The issues the media highlighted in these elections were Education in MP and IT sector in Andhra, and these are not the ones that concern the common man, particularly as these are more of urban based issues. In other words, the feel of economic reforms was not visible once one moved beyond the major cities.
The last four elections have one thing in common, all the winning parties have come back with absolute majorities. Something that has not happened since 1998 both at the national and the state level except for two party states like Tamil Nadu.The results bring in a new factor in analysing assembly results, the "Role Of Regionalism". Post 1991, Regional Inequality has tended to increase largely because of different capabilities of each state. While legislators are elected in the states, most economic reforms have been the work of the Central Government, as a consequence, the party dominant in the Centre keep losing ground in the States.
Major Economic reforms are viewed as the work of the Centre and it is convenient for every State to blame the Centre for all economic ills. The controversy regarding the SEZs in Goa is part of the same problem. In the same way the local resentment against the planned development of the North East as the ‘Power House’ of the country.
As a consequence of this Regionalism voters tend to resent any party or leader foisted on them by the Centre. If the party wants to survive, it will have to develop regional leaders perceived to be close to the grassroots in their respective states. As the case with Congress.
After 1991 to bring economic reforms was on every political agenda. The more economically developed states started to increasingly assert their independence vis-a-vis the Centre, that is what actually is the case with Mumbai in connection with Raj Thakrey and party. They are encashing or we can say are baking their breads on this so called indepedence. What is even more important, is that in view of such protests and mild response from the Government in rather low tone, there will be growing demands for a more federal structure than at present and the resolution of this dilemma will, determine political survival of national parties.
This is one face of the story.... The other face is ...
One of the key alignment to be achieved for developing states, is to enter into agreements with other states at a similar level of development in the same area. The benefits of market access and the diversification of production will add to trade integration. Be it with developed or developing states reducing permanent as well as seasonal migration.
For many states that are at an early stage of industrial development, a programme involving states with similar economic structures and technological capabilities may be considered a more viable option. While accentuating the level of tech capability of these states put together.In other words, the regional market sets less exclusive benchmarks than national, so that even production at the infant industry stage can be successfully broadened, generating more employment at the home place. Cooperation is advantageous and attract funds.
The increase in trade ties suggests regional cooperation between developing states. It can prove to be an important means to accelerate industrialization and hence downsizing migration at the same time.Regional cooperation in the monetary and financial area can provide important tools for the stabilization of intraregional ties, and reduce their potential to serve as a source of instability. Similarly, cooperation on major investment projects can reduce common bottlenecks in public infrastructure like energy and water supply evenually raising the country as single unit.
The difference in poverty across the entire nation has exponentially increased over the years and stands huge at 30% on date. This has made people from one region to go to the other for better living and jobs. The problem associated with it, as it looks like, has nothing to do with so called "STEALING of jobs from the local people" as Hooligans of Mumbai claims, but it has to do with the cultural clash.
For example, many times how North Indians after coming to cities like Bangalore, Mumbai etc. fail to respect the local culture and language and treat them in a shabby manner. Solution: mingle into local culture wherever migrants go and respect the local culture as much as they do their own while in home states or cities, equally applicable to all those who are treating outsiders as a parasite and bashing them in public to denounce their sacred culture in front of the Nation.
I think this might offer some interesting new perspective in the debate on Regionalism..
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Cleopatra : A Beauty or Myth
A beauty or beguiler ? A brilliant leader or a ruthless destroyer, a greedy power monger or a courageous leader, a ravishing lady or destroyer of Great men, a richly costumed beauty or a melodramatic actress, a Goddess, a Queen, a Pharaoh..
Which of these portrayals is true?
Her name is synonymous with beauty and intrigue. Although her ambitions were never realized. She has achieved immortality through her personal story of love and tragedy.. Read more...
Which of these portrayals is true?
Her name is synonymous with beauty and intrigue. Although her ambitions were never realized. She has achieved immortality through her personal story of love and tragedy.. Read more...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Centuries of Corruption
Link to the post: http://jitendragahlot.blogspot.com/2008/12/corruption-is-in-our-blood.html
The whole scenario we are following is in the blood , no doubts, somewhere we are always there to nurture it. In recent atttacks in Mumbai on 11/26, (according to The Telegraph, UK) the time right before 18 hours when last terrorist was shot Southern Army Commander visited the scene with his wife and they were inside Taj when operations were going on...this is one part of the story, the other is, we feel repulsed when a Chief Minister takes his son and his friends for a round of disaster tourism after the NSG operations are over. The much reprobated politician got the boot for his insensitivity and callousness. What do we suppose to perceive from that ?
Should the General be treated differently from the politicians who took his family for the same disaster tourism and he is soon going to be the second seniormost General in the Army , that is Vice Chief, in a couple of weeks or so ? I leave this to your discretion and to the people who might be reading this comment. We should know for ourselves how biased is the corruption within us is ? I leave it for your conscience tour.
Secondly, when you have talked about the corruption from past centuries you have hit the perfect nerve of the system.
Here I am adding an excerpt :
"Because we love to hate ourselves while walking in the shoes of the colonial masters. We treat our own people with the same contempt and distrust as the British and previous rulers did. Our laws governing publication of a book and a newspaper, policing are same or directly derived from the nineteenth-century British laws which were created for a subjugated people to be strangulated for wanting to be free. They treated Indian Army men inferior to the firangs and gave them discriminatory salaries, using them as tools to strengthen colonial rule, yet the Indian Army celebrates with honour their predecessor British officers, Raising Days and Victory Days. That’s our sense of a national legacy of heroes and war-victories. It’s nothing but a manifestation of self-negation overpowering self-realisation."
And we feel pride while doing all this, do we still need to tell anyone else out there that we are still carrying their legacy in our own Independent Country. I dont think we need to, its evident as rightly remarked, is in the blood or to add upto this, it is in the genes.
Now the thing that is left is How did we learn to do this so efficiently and magnanimously?
The answer is, that the Customs are Accepted or habitual practices and Etiquettes are Rules governing socially acceptable behaviour and that form a miniscule part of the organisational traditions but the substantial part of our lives.
And this is the Thumb Rule for Our Society !!
Nothing else can drive us better...!!
About changing the world and all the souls who wails for the SAMPOORNA KRANTI including me and as JP is quoted in your blog, he was one our kinds or to be precise we are one of his kinds when we talk about Revolution, it is a nice romantic dream to bawl about, but we need to ascertain real workable options that have to succeed against insuperable odds. Where do we start?
We need to define the philosophy to redeem the situation..
So we are here to answer this vexed question standing for all these centuries. All valuable contributions from all the commentators should might pave the way to at least few of our questions.. so lets start this wonderfully exciting and explorative journey..
May our Corrupt souls do stand together for this 'sacred and positive corruption' of ongoing system and practices...
Amen...
The whole scenario we are following is in the blood , no doubts, somewhere we are always there to nurture it. In recent atttacks in Mumbai on 11/26, (according to The Telegraph, UK) the time right before 18 hours when last terrorist was shot Southern Army Commander visited the scene with his wife and they were inside Taj when operations were going on...this is one part of the story, the other is, we feel repulsed when a Chief Minister takes his son and his friends for a round of disaster tourism after the NSG operations are over. The much reprobated politician got the boot for his insensitivity and callousness. What do we suppose to perceive from that ?
Should the General be treated differently from the politicians who took his family for the same disaster tourism and he is soon going to be the second seniormost General in the Army , that is Vice Chief, in a couple of weeks or so ? I leave this to your discretion and to the people who might be reading this comment. We should know for ourselves how biased is the corruption within us is ? I leave it for your conscience tour.
Secondly, when you have talked about the corruption from past centuries you have hit the perfect nerve of the system.
Here I am adding an excerpt :
"Because we love to hate ourselves while walking in the shoes of the colonial masters. We treat our own people with the same contempt and distrust as the British and previous rulers did. Our laws governing publication of a book and a newspaper, policing are same or directly derived from the nineteenth-century British laws which were created for a subjugated people to be strangulated for wanting to be free. They treated Indian Army men inferior to the firangs and gave them discriminatory salaries, using them as tools to strengthen colonial rule, yet the Indian Army celebrates with honour their predecessor British officers, Raising Days and Victory Days. That’s our sense of a national legacy of heroes and war-victories. It’s nothing but a manifestation of self-negation overpowering self-realisation."
And we feel pride while doing all this, do we still need to tell anyone else out there that we are still carrying their legacy in our own Independent Country. I dont think we need to, its evident as rightly remarked, is in the blood or to add upto this, it is in the genes.
Now the thing that is left is How did we learn to do this so efficiently and magnanimously?
The answer is, that the Customs are Accepted or habitual practices and Etiquettes are Rules governing socially acceptable behaviour and that form a miniscule part of the organisational traditions but the substantial part of our lives.
And this is the Thumb Rule for Our Society !!
Nothing else can drive us better...!!
About changing the world and all the souls who wails for the SAMPOORNA KRANTI including me and as JP is quoted in your blog, he was one our kinds or to be precise we are one of his kinds when we talk about Revolution, it is a nice romantic dream to bawl about, but we need to ascertain real workable options that have to succeed against insuperable odds. Where do we start?
We need to define the philosophy to redeem the situation..
So we are here to answer this vexed question standing for all these centuries. All valuable contributions from all the commentators should might pave the way to at least few of our questions.. so lets start this wonderfully exciting and explorative journey..
May our Corrupt souls do stand together for this 'sacred and positive corruption' of ongoing system and practices...
Amen...
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