The Telangana Turmoil

The case for a separate state for Telangana is a classic case of government politicizing a class discrimination of highest degrees. The movement is regarded as separatist but there is more to it than meets the eyes.

When electoral, democratic and legal methods get crushed by those in power, not many options are left for the oppressed. The oppressed in this case are the minority Telenagana people who have been, post-independence, voted out and ousted in the Andra majority regime in the state of AP.

Resorting to “undemocratic” means is the last resort of this movement. Government needs to come up with a better answer than setting up committee and delaying the call on this. There is a difference between fragmentation and restoration when deciding on state boundaries. Telangana just happens to gfall in the latter category 

Murder for 27/-

A man was shot on job on Friday night. The police and the intelligence seemed to have given up for there were no clues to track the perpetrators at the “adulterated” crime scene. The toll management has shrugged off giving compensation to the victim’s family so far and is trying to shrug off the incident by every possible mean now.

The lack of accountability of private bodies catering to a civic liability can produce disastrous results. All companies should come under a scanner to provide hospitable working condition for its workers. But they won’t till the time they keep getting away with it.

Eventually, the 280 toll booth operators got back to their cabins and continued their work. They would often be manhandled by commuters. There would be no security to make their work condition any safer. Nor would there be any insurance cover in case something goes wrong. But there would be a CCTV camera to keep a tab on toll attendants but not on the registration plate of the vehicles, sometime carrying criminals.

The Pretense of Generosity

Government is getting too comfortable at pulling the strings of the citizens at its own whims. The relaxation of orders to curb protests at Jantar Mantar and the India Gate highlights this fact. The withdrawal coming within 24 hours of banning protests at prominent public spots in the capital proves that it is just a power gimmick making people realizing their ‘place’.

The imposition of Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code was never justified in the first place. Certainly not for the peaceful protests and strikes that were expected after the sham that was made of the Lokpal Bill. The lifting of the sanctioned curb before the parliament session starts on August 1 is just a democratic mockery we are being fed.

It is in our hands to make the most of such relaxations. A little conviction of the reform should all one should need to bring down the government to justice. The window to the path of the revolution has just opened up.

Horn NOT OK Please

Stuck in a traffic jam? Getting bored of repetitive music on the FM? Frustrated with the vehicle in front for taking a few extra seconds to stir in motion? The solution is right at your fingertips, a button press away - HONK! Honk away your miseries. Honk for a better future…

A future full of physiological and psychological health issues like hypertension, high stress levels, sleep disturbances, hearing losses, stress and what not.  But thank goodness that the worst affected of all these effects are the children. Add to the ill-effects-list learning impairment and cognitive development delays and it’s a perfect recipe for a perfect future generation.

A little unfair that us adults who actually contribute the most to the noise pollution levels are digging graves for their own kids by cultivating such mannerism and lifestyle.

But why think of all of this? Honking is totally worth the hell we create for them.

Appeared in HT Edge on July 11, 2011

One less Uttar Pradesh

Misery and plight of seven females and their families has turned into an orgy of vile political drama. The accused are absconding from the law and the victimized girls are committing suicides. While this happens political battleground is turning into a powerhouse of allegations and constitutional mockery. Assurances are pouring in, amendments are being proposed, number are being justified by statistics and strict actions are being promised but the most objective step towards imparting justice is still not being taken…

Welcome to Uttar Pradesh, the rape capital of the country.

[This article has been published in The Viewspaper. Read the rest here]

In Deep Water

Two years in term and there is no respite for UPA government. Strings of accusations keep pouring in as new facts get unearthed every day.

Dayanidhi Maran’s involvement in 2G scam is one such skeleton UPA can’t wait to bury to prove a point of governance integrity. But compromising Maran would be a too little too late response for absolution from all that UPA has managed to get into.

Maran just happens to be a piece of jigsaw puzzle that will ultimately solve to be corruption at absolute government levels. Without involvement at the top it’s impossible to pull off a scam of such magnitude and cover it up for so long.

The only saving grace for this government can be through a thorough cleanup of all its deeds. Waiting for CBI to prosecute and take action is just getting too tiring for the entire country.

The Bad Apple

In the information age, forcing copyright policing in the crudest manner is both undesirable and unacceptable. Apple’s patent to disable video recording in places like concerts and live entertainment reeks of extreme level of intrusion in end user’s usage freedom.

Funny how those with power to dictate terms take measures to make extreme things possible, like publishing user’s private data publicly (Facebook). But trying to restrict the content one wants to keep and capture is deemed as an offense to be tackled desperately at every level possible.

This “feature” is bound to create so much discontent that overriding Apple’s restrictions via any necessary means will become commonplace. The people willing to go the “wrong way” might just increase. There have to be better and more concrete ways to avoid video capture at such events than installing a big brother on your phones.