A Soldier's Life

I recently watched the movie 'We Were Soldiers' which inspired me to write this article.

Right from the ancient period, foreign invaders and rulers were attracted towards the riches of the Indian civilization and constantly tried to invade Indian soil. This resulted into insecure borders and in order to counter these attackers, the rules of various provinces in India took hefty measures by deploying huge army with large number of soldiers. More over, there were feuds amongst the local rulers as well from time to time, and thus to cope with rivals, they needed to be prepared for a prospective war any time. Hundreds of wars were fought since then which resulted in the deaths of millions of soldiers who fought for the pride and honor of their country and its rulers. Talking of today, wars happen now as well, but fewer in frequency. But the causality in terms of lives and money is immense when compared to the past.

Skipping all that which is buried under the layers of time, today I just want to discuss about the present scenario of wars and soldiers who are involved in them. And by soldiers, I not only mean Indian soldiers deployed on the Kashmir border, but to all those soldiers who are fighting for their country around the globe. Now, just for a moment, imagine a war scene. Two soldiers from rival armies are fighting with each other. One even don't know the name of that person with whom one is fighting. In fact, there is a big possibility that one don't even know the exact reason why one is trying to kill the other one. Just because somebody sitting in the administration pointed him towards a certain section and stated that they are the enemies, and ordered them to shoot the person from that section. That administrator might have some political or financial benefits out of the war, but he tries to pretend to be concerned about the security and integrity of the country. So, thousands of soldiers of his army and the rival's were butchered to fulfill the whims and fancies of the administrator. Again, consider this, those two guys are not on the war front (they still don't know each other). They meet in some club or social gathering. Possibility is that, they might end up being friends of each other, sharing a drink or two. Human tendency facilitates them to interact with each other.

These were the two aspects which I wanted to highlight. But, on a more realistic note, what about these soldiers after the war is over? Many of them die and thousands are left disabled, making them useless for any physical activity. What about their family? Who will take care of them now? Governments announce some nominal pension for their families, which is in no way sufficient for their survival. The whole point is, wars are not the only alternative to settle a disagreement. In order to prevent the massacre, one should think of other alternatives. Political interests should not come in the way of the right of the citizens to live in a peaceful environment. And the soldiers are not the only ones who die. The innocent citizens from both sides also face the fallacy and their scars from the war never fade. Therefore, I appeal to all the governments, rulers, administrators who are currently into wars or facing a war-like situation or fueling them in any way, to think over the humanitarian aspect of living and stop the barbaric act of destroying the human civilization.

Why UPA Should NOT Return To Power

Results of General Elections in 2004 were a shock to most of the political analysts, who predicted a thumping win of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government. But it was the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) who won the Elections and formed the Coalition Government under Dr. Man Mohan Singh (MMS). I, on my personal behalf, was doubtful whether this coalition will last five years of their tenure smoothly, because of the vested interests of various different poles of Indian Politics with different ideologies came together (e.g. Communists supported UPA from outside). But they proved me wrong by completing their tenure, although in the later half Communists withdrew their support over Nuclear Deal with the US, leaving MMS in a state of dilemma. Whatever be the case, if we observe the overall performance of the UPA Government, they will get a negative review all the way long. Perhaps MMS was the weakest PM India has ever seen. He failed on every front. Below are the various reasons why I think UPA should not return to power.

1. TERRORISM: This is perhaps the biggest issue in their tale of failures. UPA scrapped the Prevention Of Terrorism Act (POTA) formed by NDA as soon as they gained charge. This resulted into increase in terrorist activities throughout the country with exponential rate. Deaths due to terrorist attacks were at all time high and Mumbai terror attack of 26/11 was termed as the worst attack ever in the history. New targets in the form of small cities were formed by terrorists and every now and then there was chaos. The police and Intelligence agencies were feeling helpless in front of these cruel 'Death Traders'.

2. PRICE HIKE: The prices of every commodity increased to its maximum level ever during these past five years. Rate of Inflation rose to new heights breaking the backs of common man. Government was unable to control it. The basic food items like grains, fruits, spices etc. were out of the reach of the public. Interest Rates for Home Loans etc. increased drastically and the middle class felt the heat of it.

3. VOLATILE MARKET: Unscrupulous speculation and predictions by the Finance Minister (FM) led to more volatile share markets. First, it rose to its new heights which attracted scores of new investors. But due to loose policies it came down crashing causing millions of investors to loose their hard earned money. Many suicide cases all over the country were observed due to loss in shares. Many people lost their jobs because of resource shredding followed by companies to match their losses. FM was unable to stabilize markets and every measure he took to improve conditions backfired.

4. CASTE BASED RESERVATION: I strongly believe that if this stunt of 'vote politics' did not happen, I would not have been ended up rotting in JIIT. Reservations in Higher Education Entrance Exams and Jobs on the basis of caste led to many violent protests all over the country, but our HRD minister did not change his decision. Perhaps he was eyeing the long term political benefits. This decision increased the hatred among the different sections of society which is divided on the basis of caste. I believe this Jinn of Reservation which was released can prove to be the last nail in the coffin of UPA.

5. DUMMY PM: The funniest part of the tale is the formation of MMS as PM. After their win in the Elections in 2004, speculations were made that the next PM will be Mrs. Sonia Gandhi (SG), although protests in other political arena over her foreign origin was vibrant. She shocked the world by stepping aside stating 'her inner voice' and appointed MMS to take charge. No one had thought of her long term plan to place MMS as a dummy PM and gaining the title of 'Raajmata' alongside. In reality, the Government acted from 10, Janpath (Residence of SG) and MMS proved to be a 'Rubber Stamp' PM. The best example of his Political Impotency was the 'Cash For Vote' scam where in their desperation to save the government after Communists left, they allegedly purchased the MPs from other parties to vote in their favor when No-Confidence Motion was forced. They ended up somehow saving their government, but it was pathetic.

After all these reasons which I just stated, I don't think there is any need to explain any more. I believe every reader, or every citizen who is eligible to vote is directly or indirectly linked to any or all of these reasons. So, when you go to vote, keep these reasons in mind and choose the worthier candidate.

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BJP’s one-vote defeat in 1999 was narrowest in history

The Vajpayee government lost the day on April 17, 1999, only to dramatically return to power a few months later. But that is another story.

The tense morning began with BSP promising then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee that its MPs would support the government. It was around 10.45 am. A short while later, MPs began to file into the House and assuming their seats.

The tension and the buzz were palpable. There was an electric undercurrent as government managers anxiously trawled the aisles, eyes darting from one side to another. The House was soon called to order and the debate began to wind up. It was time for BSP leader Mayawati to speak. She rose and without much ado said that she would be opposing the government. A babble broke out at BSP MPs Arif Khan and Akbar Ahmed applauded and the numbers began to go against the government.

The final honours were done by Saifuddin Soz who defied his party, the National Conference, to vote against the government and Orissa chief minister Giridhar Gamang also pressing the no button. Despite having been CM for a couple of months, Gamang was yet to resign from the Lok Sabha and used his dubious privilege to vote against the Vajpayee government. Gamang has been somewhat shy to take credit for his act but Soz has shown no such inhibition. Soz thereafter saw himself as a cause celebre in having brought down a “communal” government.

There were other significant aspects to the dramatic vote. The government’s chief trouble shooter Pramod Mahajan had tired hard to chase down every vote on offer, but the nature of the highly polarised House made it difficult to scrape the numbers. PWP’s Ramsheth Thakur defied all the persuasion by government managers. It was down to the wire on the morning and Mahajan lost a couple of crucial turns of the dice.

The mood in the Prime Minister’s Office in Parliament in the aftermath of the defeat was predictably glum. A close aide of then home minister L K Advani came in to ask for a couple of telephone numbers. Some BJP supporters tried to collar Mahajan and accuse him of letting down the party. To others, the ill-omened government, always at the mercy of the mercurial AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha had met a predictable end. When the one vote difference did show up on the Lok Sabha’s screens that afternoon, the House was briefly stunned into silence before the Opposition’s whoops of delight broke out.

In the PM’s seat, Vajpayee took one look at the results and raised his hand to his forehead in a mock salute. There was no denying the digital numbers flashing overhead. But his effort to stay stoic gave away when late Vijayaraje Scindhia, mother of Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, broke down in the PM’s office in the Parliament building. Even as Vajpayee comforted her, he had trouble staying calm himself.