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Democracy - As Gandhi Thought

There was a suggestion by some that Gandhi was also "Anarchist" and he favored "anarchy" though sometimes. This motivated me to read Gandhi's view on democracy and anarchy or mobocracy.  In Young India on 28-July-1920, Gandhi wrote and I quote, " Personally I do not mind Governmental fury as I find mob fury. The later is a sign of national distemper and therefore more difficult to deal with than the former which is confined to a small corporation. It is easier to oust a Government that has rendered itself unfit to govern than it is to cure unknown people in a mob of their madness." On 08-September-1920 he wrote, "Nothing is so easy as to train mobs, for the simple reason that they have no mind, no premeditation." On 27-May-1939 he wrote in Harizan, "A born democrat is a born disciplinarian. Democracy comes naturally to him who is habituated normally to yield willing obedience to all laws, human or divine.... Let those who ar

Secularism ............... India Style

Noted historian John Keay in his book 'India: A History' writes about operation Bluestar and its larger impact on Secular fabric of India. He blames the Congress party squarely for the damage. The Congress party flirted with radical Sikh elements with an intention to harm the Akalies in politics of Punjab. After casual flirting they ignored the radicals and the rest is history. But the process did an irreversible damage to the secular fabric of India. Keay notes following for the period after peace in Punjab and 1984 riots: "But the damage to the India's proud boast of non-discriminating against any of its citizens on the grounds of religion remained. The nation's secularism had been compromised. In an atmosphere of heightened communal tension, any incident of religious conversion became headline news. Muslims closed ranks and increasingly looked to their coreligionists in Gulf for reassurance, Sikhs and Christians likewise cultivated their overseas connectio

The Doctors, The Economy and The Food Security

When a natural calamity was damaging the life and property in Uttarakhand, the CM was camping in New Delhi to take maximum financial aid he can draw from his party's Central Government. This is just an example for the mindset of the politicians across the party line; they take every adversity on people as an opportunity for themselves. The bureaucrats are no different and neither are the people at large. Most of us love to use abuse and misuse public property at very first available opportunity. We are a country where every demand, if not meted favorably is followed by a series of shut down, strike, fast unto death etc. In the name of Gandhi all these activities are supported by the people and pampered by the politicians, willingly or unwillingly. We have to think for larger transparency in our system, local public participation in the policy making and better ways to put forth our dissents without harming productivity. The economic activities should not stall due to wrong poli

Why TV debates are so noisy and useless most of the times?

It is disheartening to watch noisy panel discussions in TV studios every night. These debates seem highly motivated when observed in non partisan manner. The motivation may be from one of the following: News channel trying to multiply its TRP by creating lot of drama Anchor having vested interest in topic under discussion, it may be personal, it may be part of larger organizational bias. Channel going soft on the Government and its allies and hitting hard the others There is a possibility that the above points may not be true, but if there is no motivation then why lot of noise from anchor. We can understand noise from panelist, but why other way round. It is like speaker in the Parliament making noise and interrupting opposition leaders. This whole business of TV debate has come to a situation where it creates lot of noise but no substance. Populism has taken over right perspective, be it in governance or in media.  In case of Nitin Gadkari and Purti group we have seen lo