Deciphering Arundhati Roy

The list of causes that writer and activist Arundhati Roy supports goes like this, against Narmada dam project, support of a separate state of Kashmir, supports the Maoist struggle, supports not hanging of Afzal Guru(man convicted of attacking the parliament, anti India's nuclear weaponisation, blames Mumbai 26/11 attacks on Gujarat 2002 riots and ongoing struggle in Kashmir etc. Undoubtedly she has remarkable credentials as a writer and activist, but she looks like a rebellion without a cause to me.

She comes across as a hardcore socialist and idealist with noble intentions at heart for the poor. But she also has an outlook and opinion that take more prominence over the interests of the people she is fighting for. Many a times she looks like a self indulgent activist who is hell bent on imposing her thoughts on the poor in her fight against the state. Looking at her current diatribe against the government and in favour of Maoists just illustrates the point.

Roy holds the government responsible for the rise of Maoist movement in the backward states of India (which is true) and also supports the violence adopted by the Maoists as she terms it as their last resort. She accused the government of taking active interest in these areas because it has signed deals with corporate houses to vacate the land and wants to remove its local habitants from there.

Firstly, no one becomes terrorist for fun. If Maoist are justified like this for taking up arms, then so should be Islamic terrorist. Oppressed and poor are always easy targets for recruitment by terrorist groups but that cannot justify killing of innocent people. Every terrorist is fighting for a cause and has a tale of oppression behind him/her. If you justify one, you justify all. Secondly, government is undoubtedly to be blamed for the backwardness of these states. But isn't industrialization necessary for development of these areas? Its equally important to keep a check that naive locals are not cheated by the nexus of politicians and corporates, as has been the case in the past. Here is where activists like Roy can play a major role. Instead of fighting against every development activity that the state undertakes, why can't they use that energy in ensuring that every such development activity is inclusive of the growth of local people? Yes, India needs activists like Roy to take up the cause of oppressed but not someone whose ideologies overshadow the core purpose of upliftment.

Dynasty Politics......Congress has company

Congress versus BJP has always been a topic of hot debate between my grandfather and myself. He, being a strong BJP supporter, and me being a Congress supporter. Over the time I realised that it was not true. He was actually an anti Congress man and me an anti BJP woman. His stand aroused from his anger against the Congress during partition which made him leave his land in Pakistan (erstwhile Punjab in undivided India) and my stand was largely due to the unsecular stand of BJP. There were many points on which we fought, but one of his points often stopped me in my tracks. The accusation of Congress being a dynasty party. I had to agree with it because it was always shamelessly demonstrated by the party.

But nowadays I do have a counterpoint. BJP itself is turning to dynasty for finding leaders at state level and it is absolutely clueless at the centre to find a heir. If one looks at the recent elections in Maharashtra, every single party boosted of family connections. The Congress CM, Ashok Chavan is the son of a former CM, BJP is a family affair with the Munde family, Shiv Sena of course is a party split up between two brothers, NCP is a stronghold of the Pawars and Bhujbals. And ironically Rahul Gandhi, the poster boy of dynasty politics, is trying to usher in the era of democratic elections within the party(so says the media atleast).

Coming to Maharashtra elections, I feel Congress has not won due to good governance (that would be the understatement of the year) nor due to the MNS factor but because of lack of formidable opposition to the ruling party. Over the years I have realised, that most of the people don't vote for a particular party but against one. No wonder that most of the elections are won due to anti incumbency factor. One of the few bucking this trend in India is Narendra Modi. You may hate the man for a variety of factors but you cannot deny that he has been voted again and again in power because of his good governance in Gujarat. That is a vote in the favour of good governance not the one just rolled out in Maharstra.

Parvez Rasool - A victim of the new media obsession of our Police??

A hot debate has ensued in our country, on whether Parvez is a victim or not? Many like me agree that the police was just doing its job. They received an information which they had to check out. When the nation is under security threat, this doesn't look like a big deal. But this doesn't justify the police's dance in front of the camera terming Parvez as a terrorist. I havent seen any of the TV reports (thankfully am spared of the 24/7 inane news onslaught) but after reading about Karnataka Police's eagerness in branding Parvez as a terrorist, I feel that Police does owe an apology. Not for arresting Parvez for investigation but for trying to show off their media suaveness.

I remember the Aarushi murder case and each time the police/CBI arrested some one under suspicion, the whole media circus would start playing. It would start with police's declaration in front of the camera about branding the suspect as almost a convicted criminal, then media further pronouncing their verdict and showing stupid role plays to demonstrate how the suspect killed the victim. To date CBI has not found a shred of evidence to implicate any of the suspects, but the media has almost branded each of them as accused. I can only imagine the kind of ignominy the accused and their family have to go through due to the media circus. Whatever happened to the old fashioned way of letting the court giving the verdict? With the courts taking eons to decide on a case, the media trial seems to be the new way of serving justice (rather injustice) to most of the accused. Parvez is thus, a victim of the new media savvy brand of policemen and politicians our country has developed.

Next in step, I can imagine police following Shashi Tharoor footsteps and twitting away to glory each time they catch a suspect. ( @2P.M.4 men arrstd, think thy r terrorists......@4P.M.No thy r not......@5P.M. V found rdx traces, thy r....... @6P.M......m/c faulty, thy r not, request sent for new m/cs & new terrorists.......)

Its 3 Boos for Bollywood this Diwali

3 blockbuster Bollywood movies released during the Diwali week and it seems none will be able to make the mark. Blue, a supposedly underwater action film with Akshay Kumar in the lead, should be a mascot for teaching how to squander money in Bollywood. Rs 100 crore spent on a brainless, scriptless, waste of money called Blue. Main aur Mrs Khanna, vindicates my stand of Kareena being a PR actor and Salman Khan having lost it( if he ever had it). All the Best, made by the director of Golmaal and Golmaal Returns (supposedly funny movies) seems to have notched higher ratings than the other two. All I can say is all the best to those who will spend their fortune to watch the movie in theatres.

Its sad to watch Bollywood still being riddled with the age old formula of making movies and not taking scripts seriously. And the so called coming of the age movies like Wake up Sid are far from reality. I was bored during the first 50 mins of the movie itself, especially after watching Konkana Sen's character Aisha, land up a job immediately after arriving in Mumbai, renting up a sea facing flat in town without having a job. Aisha keeps claiming that she is from a small town and yet has no qualms in roaming around on the streets of Mumbai in the middle of night with a stranger. Apart from our Bollywood movies, I have never seen anyone in Mumbai painting their own flats. If you believe Bollywood movies, painter bhiayyas in Mumbai would be soon running to their towns in UP , Bihar. And all this in first 50 mins of a coming of age movies which is hailed by critics. I adore the masala movies of Bollywood because atleast they abashedly claim that they are masala movies and dont pretend to be some great piece of art.

It seems Kareena's character in Main aur Mrs Khanna, lands up at Melbourne airport alone, decides to stay back, gets a job and owns a plus home too in the city. For someone who is trying to get a foothold in Melbourne for past 6-7 months, it makes me cringe. Most of the B-movies are far from reality which is ok with me as long as they are entertaining. But the movies being churned out these days, are made on lavish budgets, praised to galore during their irritating promotions and stick out as sore thumb later. When will the B-producers understand that a few song and dance, toilet humor, bikini heroine, designer costumes are seasonings added to the main dish of a script and not the other way round.

J&K cricketer demands apology...For what??

Everyone must be aware of the recent news about Parvez Rasool, a under-22 cricketer from J&K, who was detained and later released ( due to lack of evidence) after detectors found traces of RDX in his kit bag. Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association is now demanding an apology. And I am sure he will be given one due to pressure from political circles. But I dont understand why should he be given an apology? It was a routine check, suspicious items were detected in his bag and so he was detained for questioning. Any other player or human being would have gone through the same process. That he is a Kashmiri Muslim, is a co-incidence in this event.

But his being a Kashmiri Muslim gives perfect ammunition in the hands of politicians and extremists who will now use this incident to showcase harrassment by Indian police to Kashmiri Muslims. Which is clearly not the case here. Should the police have let go the man even if they found RDX traces in his bag? Is this what they want? Hundreds of people are arrested by the police in Maoist hit states as suspected terrorism for interrogation. But not much noise is made about them. But each time, after every terrorist attack, when Muslims are detained for interrogation, the police is always blamed for being biased. Isn't the security of the country and establishing ourselves as a safe sporting venue a bigger subject of national importance than such petty secular politics.

This is why the American security system, though under criticism for discriminatory practices, is respected also to some extent. For them their country's security is of utmost importance. You maybe India's biggest superstar but if you are under suspicion, you will be checked thoroughly. Looking at our fragile security network, its high time we stop treating individuals ( and this includes countries top politicians) with hand in gloves. The Indian law is supposed to be impartial towards its citizens, so lets respect that.

Why Raj Thackeray is an intelligent man?

Raj Thackeray did manage to comb out a controversy during the elections. His party MNS, tried to close down the screening of Wake up Sid because it referred Mumbai as Bombay. I have a few more suggestions for them. How about Bombay House ( Tata's headquarters)? Ratan Tata must be missing being harassed by Mamata Banerjee so Raj can fill the space. And also the famous restaurant chain, Bombay Blues. How did that miss Raj's eagle's eye? I am sure there might be a dozen more options, that Raj can explore in his quest to create a ruckus to garner Marathi votes.

Now, I would think that its so clear that Raj is playing petty politics and who would adhere to his silly tactics. But I am so wrong. If that would be the case, he would not have managed to build a strong enough base for fighting elections. I have heard Maharastrians defending him as they think of him as championing their cause. Once I was driving in Mumbai and had a small skirmish with an autorickshaw which had an old Maharastrian man as his passenger. The man started cursing me in chaste Marathi saying that my days are over and Raj Thackeray is soon going to drive me out of the city. I was dumbstruck, also because the driver was a 'bhaiiya'. And this man looked like an educated, middle class, well to do citizen.

So even if we might argue that Raj is being stupid, he is intelligent enough to know his target audience and know that he is hitting the nail on head. Many argue that his ways of doing it may not be noble, but what he says makes perfect sense because Maharastrians do feel left behind in Mumbai's progress. Now I would not agree to this, but I do agree that people get the government they deserve. Whether it is Mayawati or Raj Thackeray, they are in that position because people support them. As long as we let them exploit our feelings, they will happily oblige.

What's wrong with China?

Everyday the Times of India headlines screams about some or the other non friendly news from the other side of the Chinese border. With one inauspicious news after another, I had almost started overlooking TOI's overzealous coverage of Chinese animosity. But this one really takes the cake. It opens your eyes to China's instigating measures towards India.

China has decided to issue “separate” visas to Indian passport holders from Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier too, it did the same thing for citizens of Arunachal Pradesh but this one clearly proves that China is hell bent on antagonizing India. The Ministry of External Affairs of India has threatened China that it will adopt a tit for tat policy for Tibetans if China didn't change it discriminating visa rules.

I feel its high time India goes ahead and does that. Firstly repeatedly Google does the 'mistake' of showing Arunachal Pradesh as a disputed territory or a Chinese territory. If AP is a disputed territory then how come Tibet is shown as a province of China? We need to assert ourselves in global arena if we want the world to take us seriously as an upcoming superpower. Otherwise we will be left issuing angry statements which no one cares about.