adarsh bhat’s blog

In my post about the recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai, I wrote that India’s measures to counter the threat of terrorism will pose a challenge to the civil rights of citizens of India. I would like to elaborate on that in this post.

The urban youth of India have been shocked by the audacity demonstrated by the terrorists in the Mumbai attacks. There is wide spread disapproval of the Indian government over its inability to prevent such attacks. These same people also believe that India should take the same path America did post 9/11. The basis of this argument is that America has seen no large foreign terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11 and this is because of the steps taken by the Bush administration; hence this is a method that works, and we should do the same. To these arguments, my response is that we have more information available about the US example that than little misleading factoid. We should do our best to learn from the mistakes that the US made, and not blindly make the same mistakes all over again.

The first casualties in the US efforts were not terrorists, but the freedom and the civil rights of ordinary citizens of America. In a surge of patriotism, not unlike what we feel today, the representatives of the people voted for the PATRIOT act in a hurry without any real debate. There have been similar controversial laws in India in the past to fight terrorism — TADA comes to mind immediately. The opposition has already made a demand for stricter laws in India, so there is the real danger of putting too much power in to the hands of the government, at the expense of the civil rights, and even human rights, of the ordinary citizen.

In the name of strengthening laws, empowering the police department, and reducing bureaucracy, they may make it easier to arrest and detain people on a whim while bypassing the usual procedures of the law. There may be gag orders on the press. They make make torture of arrested terror suspects under detention legal. They may award the death sentence with more ease. More likely than not, they may violate the privacy of the citizens. If it really got down to it, at least in practice if not on paper, there may be special background checks for Muslim candidates for jobs and college admissions.

Here is a recent example of such occurrences in India. Such incidents will happen more often, and may even become “legal”.

On the surface these may seem like acceptable trade-offs to some people. But we have to remember that real terrorists form a minuscule fraction of the population, but the laws are going to affect everyone. Before any such laws are passed, we need to take time and debate their pros and cons thoroughly. We cannot rush through them in a hurry, in a bid to imitate America, only later to realize what we have lost, and fight for our rights at the end, again like America.

It is often argued that things like privacy aren’t very important in India. There are no explicit provisions in the constitution for the right to privacy either. But India has ratified a number of international treaties and agreements, and is bound by international law to protect civil rights of her citizens. Also it is not correct to take away peoples’ rights just because they don’t know they are entitled to it.

Recently, when sexual minority groups in India demanded their rights in the courts, the government — thanks to ex-home minister Shivraj Patil — took the stand that they did not deserve to have those rights. Given that the government has demonstrated that it is keen on denying basic rights to people, it should come as no surprise if they actually try to do everything that I have described. We can’t let them go scissor-happy on our rights. And if they try, we must fight them with every ounce of strength left.

P.S. A few weeks back, I had written criticizing a blog that had some strong pro-hindutva (and anti-government) writings. It turns out that after the Mumbai attacks, that site has been taken down. If it is indeed true that the government has ordered this site to be taken down, as some websites have suggested, then this is clearly a violation of the freedom of speech. This is unconstitutional, and needs to be reversed.

EDIT (Dec 01 2008): It turns out that the site was down due to increased load and is now being hosted at a temporary new location. But I have to confess that it was a good story.

mumbai, politics, terrorism

A black man in the White house. Sounds almost poetic.

If you asked the people of America even a week ago if they thought Barack Obama would win the presidential election, you would get two kinds of response. There would be those that said America was not ready to have a black man as her president. Then there would be those who would scream “Yes We Can” at the top of their voices, simultaneously trying to suppress that little nagging doubt at the back of their heads that it may not actually happen.

And yet the impossible happened.

The city of Chicago erupted in to a celebration that hasn’t worn off after days. The sheer size of the crowd at Obama’s election night party at Grant Park was testament to this. Crowds of this size were last seen here, ironically enough, when the Pope visited Chicago in 1979. In this crowd there were blacks, whites, hispanics, asians, gay men and women… you name it. And they all hugged each other and they all wept tears of joy — Jesse Jackson and Oprah among them — that the impossible had happened. That night, the little nagging doubt died away.

The party was still on the next day at Barack Obama’s neighbourhood, Hyde park, where restaurants were offering free breakfast to everyone. At the Dominick’s grocery store at downtown Chicago the clerk behind the counter had found a new way of greeting customers: “Did you vote for Obama?” promptly followed by a warm wide grin.

It is not just people in America. People the world over are united in celebration that Barack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States. No one really knows why. They just know it.

A lot of people say this could have happened only in America. I believe there is a reason why. America is uniquely positioned as a democracy made of immigrants, where you can be Polish-American or African-American and still be considered patriotic. In any other nation where the native population is a majority, this would be a hard sell. Which is why, we may not see a Sikh prime minister in London soon; or for that matter an Italian woman prime minister in India.

Barack Obama’s victory is nothing less than extraordinary.

Update (19 Nov ‘08): The Times of India ran a piece today that talks about why we won’t have an Indian Obama soon.

politics

Have you seen this blog called Offstumped by one Yossarin? It claims to be a blog “for all things right of centre.”

When I came across this blog for the first time a few months ago, I was thrilled. Here was a blog that was written by an ordinary citizen. It talked about issues. It had a good audience: each post had at least 50 comments. How many Indian political blogs can we find which can boast of that?

But as I followed the posts on this blog, it became apparent to me that this person really means it when he calls himself conservative. Here are some recent blog post titles from this blog:

• Jamia Millia University should be prosecuted
• Shame on you Oscar Fernandes
• Indian Mujahideen & CounterCurrents – Potential nexus
• War on Terror – Spotlight on Chicago’s Indian Muslims
• War on Terror – America Walks while India Talks
• War on Terror – Time for Pre-emption

Big head lines may get more clicks. But really this blog is doing more harm than good.

Far from being merely “right of centre,” the content in this blog is really to the extreme right. There is a clear religious bias that becomes obvious to anyone who cares to read a post or two. There have been many posts made about terrorism, and the connection to Islam is ever present. However nothing has been said about the recent activities of the Bajrang Dal, except this:

With mischevious comparisons being drawn between the Bajrang Dal and SIMI and absurd demands for banning Bajrang Dal if the Congress and its minions think they can shift the public debate away from the War on Terror then they are in for a huge disappointment.

By now, the political affiliations of this blog must be plainly obvious. However in the ‘About’ section, they claim not to be affiliated with any party.

The author also assumes he is some sort of modern day investigative journalist. Of course he requires no evidence whatsoever and makes allegations as he pleases. For instance, he makes one of his stupid-ass baseless claims here, and in the very next post does a complete U-turn. Makes me laugh! But it also makes me very angry. You make a huge accusation on someone, and all your faithful comment writers agree. The next day you contradict yourself, but don’t find the need to apologize or add corrections to your previous post. This is hugely irresponsible and leaves the site with absolutely no credibility.

I would really like to see some liberal political blogs from India out there. Do you know of any?

politics

Let’s take a look at the political developments reported so far.

The Hogenakkal Problem

Karnataka has had a 100 year old dispute about water sharing with its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu. In a continuation of this legacy, tensions flared up between the two states again over the controversial Hogenakkal project. Karnataka is opposed to this project, but Tamil Nadu has sworn to go ahead with it. Peace has followed a small spell of riots in both states. As is always the case, the movie industry, being the one closest to policitcs, came out in support of their respective states in both states and staged protests. When the situation was starting to look bleak, TN chief minister M K Karunanidhi announced that the project would be stalled until a popularly chosen government would be setup again in Karnataka. Although this looks like a very graceful gesture on the outside, Karunanidhi has been accused – both by opposition leader in TN Jayalalitha and Deve Gowda – of conspiring to protect the interests of the union Congress government in Karnataka.

The water problem has been abused by politicians on all sides, and it seems to be in no one’s interest to solve the problem once and for all.

Campaigning to go Green

The Election Commission has urged all political parties to use as little plastic as possible in their election campaigns. It is yet to be seen if political rallies will not make a mess by leaving behind banners and posters. According to the law, it is allowed for banners and posters to be used during a rally or conference, but they must be removed within an hour of the end of the rally. More here

Cabinet Reshuffle at the Center

The big news of the day is of course, the cabinet reshuffle at the center. The primary fallout from this seems to be that the Manmohan Singh government has yielded quite a bit to the wishes of the upcoming Congress leader of the Nehruvian family, Rahul Gandhi. But this might have as well been engineered to be this way. Although Rahul Gandhi has no achievements to sing about, it cannot be denied that he continues to hold the charismatic image of a Nehru in the eyes of the masses. In an attempt to make a Julius Caesar out of him, his mother Sonia Gandhi is reported to have said that Rahul refused ministership during this reshuffle. The Congress party is running on all cylinders in their effort to reunite the party – which is much needed – under the new leader Rahul Gandhi. This is certain to have an impact on the state elections at Karnataka.

War-time Alliances

In Karnataka, as before, the big parties continue to be the Congress (INC), BJP, JD(S) and JD(U). Although it is believed that the BJP might arise as the single biggest party after the polls, the national leadership of the BJP wants to play it safe and tie up with the JD(U). The state unit of BJP, however, is highly opposed to this. In the days to come, we’ll see if the party actually decides to go ahead with this coalition, and what the seat sharing arrangement is going to be. In all likelihood, the prospect of another coalition government is going to be very unpopular with the general public, given the political volatility in the past two coalition-led governments in the state.

Former Chief Minister S Bangarappa has said that his Samajwadi party is open to alliances with other parties, except the INC, BJP, BSP and JD(U). Interestingly, the only big party omitted from that list is the JD(S). Stating that his party’s goal is to work for the upliftment of the oppressed classes, Bangarappa has expressed confidence that his party would win many seats in the constituencies where they fight. Going with popular sentiment, he has expressed his support for the pro-Kannada activists in the Hogenakkal issue.

BJP Tries to Discredit Rahul Gandhi

In an attempt to discredit Rahul Gandhi, BJP leader Arun Jaitley has said that the INC lost elections in all those states where Rahul Gandhi toured before the elections. He said that the same is going to be the case in Karnataka, and that his party would emerge as the single largest party, and the Congress would “disappear” as it did those other states. DH report here.

Arun Jaitley also accused the union government of not taking enough steps to address the shortage of food and rising food prices. But experts have opined that this is a world-wide phenomenon, and not under the control of the Union governement.

Shameful expose of JD(S)

Sa Ra Mahesh is the JD(S) aspirant in the K R Nagar constituency. In direct violation of the electoral code, he was caught distributing sarees to a large number of people at his residence. Media persons surprised him and caught this on video. And at this, his men (and women) assaulted the media persons. This goes on to further worsen the already poor image of the JD(S) in Karnataka.

Congress Campaign to kick-off from Davangere

In an attempt to reinforce its pro-farmer image, the INC will launch its campaign from Davangere on April 13 with a state-level convention of farmers, reports the Hindu. It is expected that about 200,000 farmers, agricultural workers and party workers will be present at this occasion.

Software Engineers from Bangalore have always preferred their urban progressive ex-Chief Minister S M Krishna. They have even put up a website in his support:www.smkrishnaleadus.com. But unfortunately, S M Krishna has a very pro-modern image, and he is unlikely to be put forward as the CM candidate if the INC wants to pursue its pro-farmer campaign.

Meanwhile, horse trading has already begun with MLAs deciding to switch allegiances before the elections. We’ll keep our eyes on the radar and see how things turn out to be as we inch towards election day 08.

karnataka elections 2008, politics

After months of President’s rule the political atmosphere in Karnataka is heating up again. The Election Commission of India has announced a timeline for the assembly elections.

From Karnataka Election Timeline:

Elections to the 224-member Karnataka assembly will be held in three phases on May 10, 16 and 22.
Counting of votes -May 25

So that’s roughly 35 days until election day. The common opinion about the 3 big parties is shared by almost all the pundits. JD(S) will be punished by the people for its tasteless brand of politics. The Congress party is trying to cozy up with people with their pro-farmer policies, but they cannot agree on a candidate for Chief Minister. The BJP is riding on a sympathy wave, having been wronged by the JD(S). But with elections, you never know how it’s going to turn out.

Over the next few posts, I’d like to follow the progress of the run-up to the elections. This special interest is due in part to Anjan, who chided me for not showing enough interest. Here’s a link to his blog where you can find coverage of some of the issues in this election season: http://risingcitizen.blogspot.com/.

People in Karnataka mostly vote for the party, and not for the person. I would like this to change. Toward that end, I’ll try to post something about the candidates themselves, at least in my own constituency viz. Uttarahalli Assembly Constituency – the southern part of Bangalore Urban.

Stay tuned! For smaller stories and links of interest, follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/adarshbhat.

karnataka elections 2008, politics, uttarahalli

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. What that means is that tomorrow, the American public will choose one Democratic representative and one Republican representative, who will then go on and battle it out for the position of the President of the United States of America — the most prestigious and powerful position in the entire world.

The first question on your mind is obviously this. Which candidate am I supporting? Fine. I will lay it out for you. If I had the opportunity to vote, I would vote for Hillary Clinton. More on that later.

The worst democrat is a better choice for me than the best republican. (Ron Paul is perhaps the exception to this rule.) For some reason, this is deeply rooted in my mind. It is not so that I reached this conclusion after giving it deep thought. Call me a liberal, but this was just the only way it could be for me. I cannot imagine myself siding with the republicans, given the enormous differences in ideology.

It is curious that America is almost equally divided between democrats and republicans. But I am yet to meet a person who calls himself a conservative republican. Every single person that I have asked in my office has confessed to being a democrat, or to being even further to the left than the democrats. (Left, here, refers to liberalism, not communism as it would mean in India.)

The answer to this, I was told, is the pervasive dichotomy between the city, representing urban liberal values, and the vast interior of the country that bases its value system on the Church.

It is true of most Americans, as it is of me. Democrats cannot seem to understand the republicans’ thinking at all. And the republicans cannot believe that the democrats think in the way they do. Why does this happen? If you are interested, you can find one answer here: Morality 2012

As an outsider, my view was that the United States always represented the ideals that I now attribute to the democrats. I always thought of the United States as a progressive, secular and liberal country. But things are slightly different in reality. There are just as many conservatives as there are liberals. There has not been a clear majority in recent presidential elections — it has consistently been a very close call.

But civilized values, it seems, tend to be fragile. Under the Bush administration’s propaganda and the perceived need for “national security”, a majority of Americans stood by Bush in his decision to attack Iraq. Conservative values held sway for the vast population of Americans, who went on to rapidly shed their civilised veneer and back the government for this reason or that. By the end of the first term, Bush has so much “political capital” that he not only won a second time, but continued his misled war in Iraq.

Today, Bush’s “approval ratings” are at about 40%. But that is still a large number of people who condone his actions. The rest, as Hillary Clinton puts it, “know now what they hadn’t known back then.”

Liberal feelings are taking grip of this nation again. And the democrats seem stronger than ever. But this is not to say that they would actually win. (Or that they would do anything if they won. But I digress.) The democrats have two strong contenders in Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. On the republican side, things are colder – they don’t seem to have very strong contenders. But the republicans would still vote for a republican and the democrats would still vote for a democrat. So it is going to be close, as always.

There is one line of thought that since the democrats are so charged up, more of them would come out and vote. This would presumable tilt the balance towards the democrats. There are also those who believe that Obama would make a better democratic candidate than Hillary because he can attract more republican votes.

Now to the question of why I support Hillary, and not Obama. I might add here that every single person that I respect seems to support Obama and not Hillary. Now, I don’t know the history of these two candidates. I judge them purely based on the various (endless) debates that are held between them. To me, Hillary seems more poised, to-the-point and succinct. Obama seems less eloquent and even childish in the way he responds in difficult situations. This I say, only having recognized that they both are great speakers and have the potential to inspire people by their oratory. The general opinion, however, seems to be that Clinton is a “politician but not a leader” or that she is overly aggressive and “ruthless”. I can’t say anything about that.

Although I feel that the campaigns waste a lot of money and do a lot of propaganda, and yes – organize a lot more debates than necessary, I still appreciate the fact that such debates are being held at all, and that people are engaging in discussions about things that matter to them. This is in sharp contrast to what happens in India, where the whole system is in danger because the people are so indifferent to what happens.

Out of these debates, there may not emerge a candidate that I concur with. A republican whom I despise might win. But this will be the voice of the people of America.

If at the end, Americans elect a bad leader, they would still have spoken their minds. Which is what this is all about. This is not about ending the war in Iraq, or getting the economy out of recession, or reducing the fiscal deficit, or making immigration reforms, or even universal health care. This is about the people of America making their choice (and unfortunately, choosing the fate of the rest of the world too).

But I sure do hope that it’s also about all those things.

politics

Shocking news!

• Bhutto killed in suicide attack
• Benazir Bhutto Assassinated – Times of India
• Suicide Attack on Rally May Have Killed Bhutto – NYTimes
• Benazir Bhutto ‘killed in blast’ – BBC

Can’t say I loved the woman, but no one deserves this.

Update: You can track the story as it develops here.

politics

As an unfortunate consequence of the so-called war against terror, the common man has had to give up more and more. The government is doing it’s part in keeping the FUD going.

• CNN Video – Mouse click could plunge city in to darkness
• The Guardian – Charred chilli dip causes terror alert
  

  If we can’t enjoy spicy dips then the terrorists have already won! They hate us for our spicy Thai cuisine!

politics, society, technology

Full transcript

Ron Paul is the only guy who makes any kind of sense among the Republicans.

Observations about this debate

1. Nobody except Ron Paul wants to stop spending money on the war or the military in general. They want to solve the budget deficit problem by limiting civilian expenditure. Guiliani believes cutting corporate taxes will help (Good thinking). Keyes wants to abolish income tax 100% (keep going).
2. Everyone should keep working so they won’t need retirement benefits.
3. They keep saying that saving money by limiting civilian expenditure will increase the funds available for Social Security and Medicare. That is supposed to be some solution. Somehow no body asks the Republicans all the hard questions that the Democrats get on Universal health care.
4. Health care is expensive in America because enough people haven’t bought it. Economies of scale will bring the price down. It’s the people’s fault that health care is so expensive.
5. Huckabee makes a good point about preventive medicine rather than reactive, but that would never make sense to the HMOs.
6. You can save the government money if people don’t ask for “womb-to-tomb” protection.
7. High paying manufacturing jobs need to be brought back to this country, so that the social security funds increase (yada yada). Presumably the low paying ones can stay in China.
8. The border fence can be finished in 6 months.
9. Companies outsource jobs because of too much corporate taxation.
10. The billions that Americans spend on foreign oil is used against them.
11. It’s global warming, not America warming. (I have to give it to this. Best line!)
12. The major export of the US is “our jobs”. (No, if you thought weapons you’re wrong)
13. “The most important emission we need to control is hot air” (LOL)
14. The problem with American education today is that we allowed the judges to drive God out of our schools.
15. “a war is not going on in Iraq; that’s a battle” (uh?)
16. The CIA report that states Iran stopped working on nuclear weapons in 2003, one that cites over one thousand sources, is “a piece of paper by a bureacrat.”

politics

Democracy, ha!
Free Speech, ha ha ha!

Of course, soon someone left the YouTube junkies loose.

politics, society