From the Land of Bureaucrat-Politicians and Politician-Bureaucrats

I was reading through people’s queries on Jago website and the most common questions were related to its policies: Can it be done, how would you do it, etc. I have written about it many times (see here or here) but a new insight made me write this.

The question of implementation of promises and proposals is a crucial one for every concerned citizen but asking right questions at the right time is equally important. (I’ve got stuck in questions after the Where’s the Question article)

What has happened is the faulty functioning of our politicians for past many decades have changed our definition of a politician, we now see him as a bureaucrat-politician, one who does transfers and posting right from bottom to the top, who personally ‘delves’ in the matters of day to day administration and is remotely concerned with policies and agenda. After every election we see a series of transfers, cancellation of transfers, re-transfers, continue for many days.

Given such kind of functioning our bureaucrats have also turned the traditional definition of a bureaucrat upside down, they don’t hesitate to meddle in politics, many are directly involved in electioneering for their political bosses, they have turned into Politician-Bureaucrat. Any Politician-Bureaucrat is a darling for our politicians, who chase him till he does not join anyone of them.

This has made us ask administrative questions from politicians and political questions from bureaucrats. Ask a party why did you not do this work instead of asking how you failed to do it, Say I will vote for you once, you have to make sure all that you've said is done in 5 years otherwise I'll kick you out.

I tried to make a list of how a system should function , so that we can understand the difference between a politician and a bureaucrat.

1. The Political Party & The Politicians: a group of citizens who come together based on their belief in similar ideas and solutions. It contests elections, if comes to power makes the policy decisions (based on its manifesto and ideology), selects the leaders (not the whole bureaucratic team) for its implementation and supervises the work.

2. The People: decide what the direction of the nation should be through the elections. They are the real owners of the agenda of the political party they have voted in and they make sure that it’s implemented by the party by the fear of getting voted out in next elections.

3. The Government & The Bureaucracy: It is the tool, the instrument, the machinery that does the work assigned to it by the elected leadership, it does the all work, what it should do is decided by the political party in power, who is elected (decided) by the people based on the proposals and promises of the party.

The Conclusion is: (To Reiterate) The Bureaucracy does all the work, The Work is decided by the government which is a part of Political Party that gets voted in by the people. The People decide which Party gets their votes by the party’s agenda and manifesto.

Then the natural question is why people criticize the policies and proposals of a political party even when they can simply ignore it by not voting for it. The best explanation for it to me is that people feel somewhat connected to the party and its proposals, they try to test the resolve of the people behind it, they want to see are these people plain opportunists or persons of altogether different mettle.

Parliament Attack 2001, Mumbai Attack 2008 and Me !

For the past many days I have been thinking about the 2001 Parliament Attack, today I thought of sharing my views with you.

Starting from the start, Even in 2001, my view was that the brave policemen should not have done their duties, let a dozen of MPs die so that politicians get a sense of reality, I knew or rather we all knew their relatives will suffer, and it happened and is going on. Is it that people shout unnecessarily against government or the government doesn’t do anything for them, Afzal Guru’s example can be used for showing government’s outlook in the matter.

Coming to 2008, the Mumbai Attack never came as a surprise, we all knew it is going to happen, we imagined BLASTS but they used guns this time as they used in 2001. I asked myself, why common people rather than high profile politicians then it came to my mind, in the Parliament Attack the terrorists were five in number and were able to kill seven, mostly policemen or lower staff. This was a failure on large scale for them, first because of the extent of damage and people’s response (I see myself here for I am always ready to spare a dozen of politicians’ life, they deserve it.)

This time they attacked people and not high profile politicians because they knew the people are not bothered by politicians’ death, even more why kill a person who is helping in one’s mission, don’t we all know what our politicians are doing. I can cite personal examples other than that of my social circle and what I have read and saw, for it but I think it isn’t required. (I don't want to rant that the terrorists are cowards, lets fix a day and place and have a war like older days, etc. When time comes it will all be seen.)

But the question is what do they gain from these attacks, they can’t subvert us by these tactics rather they bring us together and closer, they instill motivation in us to eliminate them, what makes them believe that we are cowards, we will never step on the line of fire for our nation, what’s missing in us that makes them believe this.

Is it not our indifference to people like Bal and Raj Thackray,

Is it not our indifference to our surroundings,

Is it not our support of Narendra Modi brand of leadership,

Is it not our support of Lalu Prasad Yadav brand of leadership,

Is it now our ignorance of our fellow citizens’ problems,

Is it not our indifference to Riots,

Is it not our indifference to people dying of hunger and diseases,

Is it not our disregard of fellow citizens when we fail to speak for them,

Is it not the number of NGOs in this country that do what the government has to do,

Is it not the our silence on killings of people like Satyendra Dubey,

Is it not our outlook of life where our pleasures matter even if they cost others pain,

Is it not our belief that nothing can be changed in this country,

Is it not our disrespect to people like Gandhi, Netaji Bose, Swami Vivekanand whose vision and ideas we have burnt in their funeral pyres,

Is it not our lack of will to cleanse our system,

Is it not our apathy to the victims of various crimes,

Is it. . . .

Sorry, the list seem endless.

The second aspect of this is if the politicians can plan and organize riots systematically, why can’t they explode a couple of bombs or pay for a couple of young boys to attack us.

I am genuinely skeptic about this, I wanted to write this point in detail later but, take for example the US War on Terror, Saddam Hussein was captured with ease but the Osama Bin Laden is still not captured. Can’t it be America’s ploy of having a permanent base in Pakistan and Afganistan to guard against Communist states Russia and China. Couldn’t they have paid Al Qaida for the Twin Tower Attack, like they paid them to fight USSR. You may call me paranoid but what can I do if such thoughts come to my mind.

What I can promise to do is to change myself, try my best out to reform the system, I would write about it here, in my blog.

(Swami Vivekanand once said Life's a battle, Let me die fighting, but a non-entity like me have small issues to deal with. My problem is the weight of the guilt that comes from my inaction and indifference , I can't carry it to my deathbed.)

The Cabinet is Balanced ! (Shivraj Singh, MP's Chief Minister)

[PHOTO: Everything is balanced and under control.]


“The cabinet is balanced. It has been formed keeping in mind the regional balance and caste equations. Efforts have been made to give representation to all the regions and castes in the state,”
- Madhya Pradesh's Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. [READ FULL STORY HERE]

See I have no problems with how these politicians balance their seats and power, I have a problem with the way it has been made essential part of our polity where even a single politician may hold the government at ransom claiming to be of a particular region or caste. And they claim to work for eliminating casteism and regionalism from our polity. This will never be done, never by these people, what they will do till their deaths is to hollow and divide this country so that we are again captured by some foreign powers. Remember not a large army was needed to subvert India in the past be it the Plunderers or the Traders. It is not impossible that one day Pakistan will be ruling India.

Have people voted you for caste and regional issues Mr. Chauhan, where's the development card you were playing before elections. I have said in my article on MP's election results that your real test will be held in 2013, not in 2008. Till then balance your 'kursis', 'gaddis' and 'satta'. By the way, for your kind information, your predecessor Mr. Digvijay Singh, whom you call Mr. Bantadhaar, also tried this kind of social engineering and see where he has been exiled to, hope you learn from his mistakes too.

For all my friends I want to say see for yourself how the tone, language and vocabulary of politicians change after elections.

"This is the victory of the BJP and its government's policies specially the welfare measures taken by the ruling party for the people of the state. It is a victory of 6.5 crore people of the state," jubilant Chouhan accompanied by the party's national general secretary and state incharge Anant Kumar told reporters at his official residence." [READ FULL ARTICLE HERE]

JAAGO INDIA JAAGO !

United For Terror:

[N.B.: The person who has written this text seems to be mentally deranged, kindly read with caution!]

OK the Mumbai attacks have at least brought unity in our country’s political parties both seem to be United FOR Terror, each issuing a new message to terrorists and Pakistan with each passing day. Here is a small compilation of these statements in form of open one-sided contract:

1. The UPA led by Congress:

1. Terrorists may attack at will, we will ensure that all our administrative and intelligence machinery will sleep, to allow them safe passage.

2. Pakistan’s foreign ministry need not worry, we will ourselves create rift between the Hindu and Muslim communities, so that our citizens may not ask hard questions from you.

3. We promise that the changes in our administrative system will be cursory, the depths where the real rot is will be left untouched.

4. We are a secular party but behind the doors we believe in the concept of ‘Transmigration of Souls’ (mentioned in Gita) and we have applied it in real life. Our Real Life Gods, our leaders ensure that whoever loses his seat is fixed at a new place (seat) as soon as possible. The Transmigration is based on loyalty to ‘The Family’.

2. The NDA led by BJP:

1. Attacks would not be tolerated especially if they are on politicians, but we promise to fulfill all the demands in cases of kidnapping and abduction.

2. Pakistan’s foreign ministry must be prepared for some random acts like we will fight while having summits, shout ‘Hot Pursuits’ and ‘Aar Paar Ki Ladaayi’ but sit over our arses, so that the confusion persist for long and we can take any stand depending on the situation.

3. We promise far reaching changes, we will make stringent laws but won’t change the system so that we can use them for our benefit, we will further polarize and crystallize prejudices against Muslims in Hindus. We will ensure the adrenaline rush so that half of people die of heart attack and the rest fighting in riots.

4. As you know our party is based on Hindu ideology, our leaders ride ‘Rathas’ (Chariots), we firmly believe in the concept of Transmigration of Souls and Seats. The Transmigration is based on person’s utility, power and money, either the profiles are changed from high to low, in some rare cases the person is kicked out from the party.

3. Hearing that we were doing a story on Terrorism (which is selling like hot cakes nowadays), many other important politicians contacted us, here is a compilation of what they have to say:

1. We promise to disrespect the country.

2. We promise to disrespect its martyrs and true leaders.

3. We promise to disrespect its people as and when possible, in as many ways possible.

4. We promise to create hullabaloo during election days and first few days of any crisis, rest of the days we will do what we are best at doing. (details of this work have to be filled by the reader!)

So friends this is a small compilation of our political parties’ stand on our war on terror where we are not united against terror but UNITED FOR TERROR, take it in writing the next attack is very near.

JAI HIND!

[P.S.: KINDLY TAKE THE ARTICLE IN THE WAY IT IS INTENDED, FOREIGN FRIENDS BEWARE!]

[Influenced by successive statements of politicians: Vilasrao Deshmukh, R.R. Patil, V.S. Achutyanandan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, A.R. Antulay, Jaswant Singh, Digvijay Singh, and others.]

REMEMBERING MR. BANTADHAAR:

I just laughed at the Congress Party and bowed before the foresight of our previous Chief Minister Mr. Digvijay Singh, who was christened Mr. Bantadhaar by the BJP.

After the 2003 elections he took a vow of not participating in active (*state) politics in Madhya Pradesh. What sharp intelligence he has, that he knew how much damage he has done and how much time will be required to nullify it, and the state congress leaders were unnecessarily running from pillar to post in these elections, ignoring their own leader’s view on the matter.

(* The original vow was ‘sanyaas’ from politics for 10 years, then it became active politics, finally it became active state politics, if I remember correctly!)

SALMAAN’S PAKISTAN & ANAND’S HINDUSTAN

ANGRY OVER PAKISTAN’S U-TURN ON THE TERROR ISSUE READ THIS.

People got more angry with Pakistan’s U-turn on the terror issue, the attitude is reflected everywhere be it newspapers, TV, weblogs or face to face interaction. Many of us feel that Pakistan needs to be taught a lesson and the best way to do it is to go on a WAR with Pakistan. As I have said earlier, I don’t support the view of a war with Pakistan; I want to say it again in the light of new evidences and findings that have emerged.

We can now take a strong stand diplomatically on Pakistan and its policy of dealing with terrorism. However seeing the reactions of both Pakistan’s President and Prime Minister we can say that Pakistan is very reluctant to act on terrorist groups and their leaders.

Let us try to understand the situation once again. Pakistan’s reluctance not only signifies that they are supporters of terrorism but it also shows us the power of the terror outfits and the influence they have over their government. In such case think of the level of planning they might have done in case India attacks them, we are vulnerable from North (via Nepal), East (via Bangladesh) and West (via Maharashtra and Gujarat). Think of all the terrorists and the materials (read RDX, AK-47s, IEDs, etc.) that might have already been smuggled into the country through these routes. Just imagine we send our troops there and a war starts inside all our major cities.

I want to talk about the influence of the terrorist groups over the Pakistani government in detail because we can understand the phenomenon easily by looking into our own system. If you noticed it, the Patna High Court yesterday reduced the statement of the ’bahubali-neta’ gangster/member of mafia Anand Mohan from death penalty to life sentence. He murdered an upright District Magistrate in broad daylight along with some of his followers. We all know the condition of our jails especially that of Bihar (watch Prakash Jha’s Apaharan) and they way they operate. With this life sentence at hand, he would sit in the safe havens of jail and carry out his illegal/mafia activities. And following the Bihar Model of Power Sharing, his wife will contest an assembly/ Lok Sabha election, come to our legislature, make (or break) the laws and we would all sit and watch.

Isn’t our system more oriented to save the criminals, think of all the Syed Sahabuddins, Pappu Yadavs, Arun Gavalis, Mukhtar Ansaris, Anand Mohans, whose place is at the gallows but are sitting in our Vidhan Sabhas and Sansad Bhawan, deciding the future of our country, its people like you and me. If our great country with democratic ethos, independent judiciary and well functioning elected government can’t punish such elements can we blame a defunct state like Pakistan to act strongly on terrorist groups? They are the power centers be it India be it Pakistan, and government fears (and thus respects) them and tries with all its strength to protect them.

I too want a WAR with Pakistan but only when we have set our house in right order through comprehensive reforms, any hasty step could have serious repercussions for our future leave apart the humiliation in front of the whole world.

A dialog of Rajkumar comes to my mind ‘Jaani, Jinke khud ke ghar seeshe ke hon vo doosron ke gharon par patthar nahi fenka karte. . .’

PATIL’S CONFUSION:

Well I am talking of Chhota Patil i.e. R.R. Patil. Because of his height he sometimes starts believing that he is Shahrukh Khan. Well not your fault totally Mr. Patil. But you must remember that leisure activities are strict no-no in workplace. You forgot that you are not sitting in front of Kajol but media that eventually erected the set of your Tyaagpatra.

Well you can now practice your lines in leisure. Why don’t you contact Mr. Deshmukh, he can fix a role for you in Ramu’s film.

RAM AND RAVAN IN MAHARASHTRA:

The other day I met a bongali friend, intellectuals as they are, he was very angry with Mr. Deshmukh’s shameless behavior. In anger his speech was distorted somewhat and Day-sh-mu-kh was sounding like Dau-sh-mu-kh.

I retorted that Mr. Deshmukh is factually correct, they both were playing roles in a secret Ram-Lila, in which he was Das-mukh or Das-aanan or Ravan and Ram(u) came following him. Ram(u) had to destroy Vilas-yukt Das-mukh, which he did too, although symbolically by taking his post of CM.

TRIVIA:

WHERE DID MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI GO AFTER HIS RECENT COMMENT ON LIPSTICK-POWDER TIE-COAT PROTEST?

ANSWER: HE GOT TWO HIGH LEVEL ASSIGNMENTS AS A RESULT OF HIS COMMENT. FIRST, HE BECAME THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMISSION CONSTITUTED TO PROPOSE DRESS CODE FOR PROTESTORS. THE COMMISSION WILL ALSO LOOK INTO THE IDEAL PLACE FROM WHERE A PERSON SHOULD START A PROTEST LIVING ROOM, BED ROOM, DINING ROOM, TOILET OR TERRACE.

IT WAS A CHANCE DISCOVERY THAT HIS TALENT OF SPOTTING LIPSTICKS AND POWDER ALONGSIDE COMPLETE IGNORANCE OF WHAT THOSE LIPS AND FACES WERE SAYING CAME TO WORLD’S NOTICE. FOR THIS HE GOT AN INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENT AND HE RUSHED TO SOUTH AFRICA WHERE HE WOULD BE A JUDGE OF MISS WORLD 2008 CONTEST.

GREAT GOING MR. NAQVI, KEEP IT UP.

Achuthyanandan Speak:

The statement of Kerala’s CM was not telecast fully.

Here is the edited part: . . . being home of a martyr a number of people visited the home. A lame dog got interested as he might get some food. Uncle shooed him out, but he started barking. People thought it is a rabid dog and has gone mad, so they hit him in the back with a steel-tipped lathi. He quickly ran away. If it would have not run away people were prepared to go for the final kill.