Author Archives: Munish Raizada

About Munish Raizada

Dr Munish Raizada is a Board-certified Neonatologist practicing in Chicago. Is a socio-political activist.

Has not the BJP Government gone one step too far?

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The theory of separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary is one of the backbones of our constitution. And yet, you can easily point out to multiple cases where the two organs of the constitution have overlapped and encroached into each other’s territory. The latest unfortunate incident to join this list is Gopal Subramanian’s self withdrawal of his Supreme Court judgeship candidature.

What is intriguing about this case is the media attention that it has managed to garner considering that the process of selection and recommendation of names for the post of Supreme Court judge is kept classified. One of the reasons of this selection cycle coming into the attention was that out of the four names recommended to the Centre by the Supreme Court collegium, two were senior advocates. While the other three names to be recommended to the Centre, Arun Mishra, Rohinton  Nariman and Adarsh Kumar Goel, were given the final nod, the candidature of Gopal Subramanian was halted on the basis of a negative report given by the CBI and IB.

While the newly appointed Government has maintained that the basis of this negative report is the fact that his ‘name’ was discussed in the Radia leak tapes, it remains an open secret that Subramanian has been an eye sore to the BJP ever since he appeared as the amicus in the Sohrabuddin, Tulsiram Prajapati and Kauser Bi case involving the senior BJP leader, Amit Shah. One of the most startling facts that weaken the Government’s argument is that Subramanian’s name was mentioned in the taped conversations as an ‘upright’ officer who wouldn’t bend. In a recent interview to a private news channel, Subramanian said “Some higher ups in the government did indicate to me, that some people had a problem with my role as the amicus curie in the Sohrabuddin case.”

Another factor that makes this case interesting is the timing of these events. The Supreme Court is on a six week annual summer holiday which started in the second week of May. It is learnt that the Chief Justice was not on duty when the file having the proposed names was sent back by the Government. These co-incidents are enough to raise anyone’s eye-brow.

Subramanian has been a part of several key cases in the past as the Solicitor General in the UPA Government, including the 2G case where he played a critical role in the prosecution of A Raja. He was one of the Solicitor Generals of India to resign citing the growing interference of the government during the UPA regime. People close to him have always maintained that he boasts of an uncompromising work ethic and impeccable integrity. He was also quoted saying “Though I bear no personal animus against Mr Shah, I’ve never said anything personal against him; I am not at all apologetic about my role as the Amicus Curie in that case. If I am paying the price for the manner in which I pursued the case, I don’t not regret it all, and I am willing to pay the price 150 times.”

After the unprecedented public support gained by the BJP in these general elections, the party would do well to rise above the ghosts of the past and lead the country in a manner that the

common man expects.

Iraq and ISIS Crisis

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The turmoil in the Middle-East doesn’t seem to have an end in the close sight. What started as a minor intrusion into the territory of Iraq has turned into one of the biggest crisis in the world at present. According to the latest official reports from the Iraq Government, most parts of the country’s biggest Oil Refinery, Baiji, have been overtaken by the ISIS militants. In addition to that, most parts of the country’s second largest city, Mosul, are under ISIS control. Accepting helplessness, the Iraqi Government in the beginning itself formally requested the US to launch airstrikes against the ISIS insurgents. From Indian point of view, the abduction of 40 Indian migrant workers from the affected areas has put the Indian Government into the spot with the families of the victims demanding a swift response.

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – also called ‘Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant’- is a self-proclaimed independent state covering areas of Iraq and Syria. It has also been given the name ‘Al-Qaeda 2.0’ due to the initial support it had from the feared terrorist outfit. Formed in 2013, it aims at putting in place a Caliphate in the areas of Iraq having Sunni majority. It must be noted that Al-Qaeda snapped its relations with ISIS within one year of its formation. ISIS is known for its brutality which far surpasses the exploits of Al-Qaeda. Their leader, Abu Dua or Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi, was detained by the US Army from 2005 to 2009.

There have been a number of violent videos released by the militants in the past 2 weeks including a video showing execution of 1700 Iraqi soldiers. Although the Iraqi Government denies the massacre on such a large scale, it is not ruling out the death of its soldiers in significant numbers. Citing the criticality of the situation, Iran has offered Iraq ‘Everything it needs to fight ISIS’. At that point, the US officials also hinted at working together with Iran to save Iraq from getting completely overrun by the militants. However, the American response to the issue has not been very consistent. President Obama in a press conference on June 19 categorically stated that USA would not send combat troops, but will provide expert assistance. The US Secretary of State, John Kerry is currently on a visit to the Middle East, including Iraq. He has admitted that the Iraq failed to see the rising tides of ISIS militancy and the country was taken by surprise as ISIS opened its frontal attack. Kerry also said that the areas captured by ISIS are likely to stay with the latter, admitting the capability of the militant organization. However, the adjacent Kurdish area sources claim that they had forewarned the US and British authorities about the increasing military strengthening of the ISIS.

Meanwhile, amid the rising pressure on the Indian Government to take some action for its citizens’ safety in Iraq, the Prime Minister Nardendra Modi has directed the External Affairs Ministry to put up its best efforts to rescue the 40 Indian workers kidnapped by the ISIS militants. The biggest problem in front of the Indian Government is that they don’t have any second party to negotiate for the safety for their citizens. Mosul, from where the Indian workers were kidnapped, is out of bounds of the Iraqi Government. The Prime Minister has sent a former envoy, Suresh Reddy, to the Oil rich town of Mosul to expedite the process of bringing back the Indians. The issue has been further complicated due to the fact that no specific group among the ISIS has taken the responsibility of the Indian workers’ kidnapping.

With ISIS crisis likely to linger on, the International community must put a hand forward to help Iraq before the issue causes further blood-shed.

Heinous rape and murder in katra, Uttar Pradesh

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May 28-29,2014: The horrific rape and murder of 2 teenage sisters in Katra, Uttar Pradesh has brought shame to all of us. The gruesome hanging of the victims to the tree was the most barbaric act the culprits committed. It simply exhibits their insanity and insensitivity. However, I was appalled by the agonizing delay that happened in police reaching the crime scene and cordoning the area so that the whole world could have been  spared of the insensitive way the hanging bodies were displayed by the media. It has been reported by the media that the girls belong to Dalit families.
Violence (including sexual) against women has its roots in societal attitudes. However, lax law and order situation also adds to the problem. The society can not absolve itself of the guilt that we all share when such cases happen. Similarly, the ignorance and misplaced notions of the political class with regard to violence against females just halts the process of more stringent laws to tackle the problem. I am reminded of a recent highly irresponsible statement by none other than Mulayam Singh Yadav whose land witnessed this unfortunate incidence. Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav had said on an occasion:” Boys will be boys. They make mistakes.”

Let us hope the police and justice system will act in a swifter manner to bring some healing  to the aggrieved families.

 

Aam Aadmi Party:The shaker and Mover?

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The results of Delhi Legislative Assembly elections held on December 4, 2013 are out. A total of 1.19 crore voters casted their ballots to decide the future of 810 candidates, 224 out of them being independent candidates. Congress party and BJP + SAD combine contested all the 70 seats, whereas the new entrant Aaam Aadmi Party, and BSP contested 69 seats each. The results were declared on December 8, with BJP alliance getting 32 seats, Aam Aadmi Party 28, Congress 8 and others claiming 2. The Sheila Dixit-led Congress party was rooted out, with its seats going down from 43 to 8. In terms of vote share, BJP received 34 % votes, AAP 30 % and Congress 25 %. By the time of submission of the article, the verdict is still not out as to who is going to form the government. BJP has emerged the single largest party, but is woefully farther from the magic number of 36 to be able to form the government.

AAP with a tally of 28 legislators has already declared that it would sit in the opposition and would neither seek support nor extend to any other party. With the entry of Aam Aadmi Party, the contest had become triangular. The media had predicted that the outcome would be a hung assembly, with BJP emerging as the single largest party. Whereas the prediction turned out to be largely true, what many experts did not realize the anger of the voters against the ruling party, decimating it to mere single digit number (8).

Whatever be the outcome of the results in terms of government formation, Delhi assembly elections are a watershed in the history of Indian politics. The emergence of Aam Aadmi Party has demonstrated a few defining characteristics in Indian politics.

Aam Aadmi Party has amply proved that elections can be fought with white money donated by public. It also has exemplified that if there is a will, money influence can be decreased in politics. The political pundits and cynics would never have thought that a newbie would be able to generate required money purely through public donations in a transparent manner. The party fought the whole elections with 20 Crores in coffers which included election expenses and organizational expenses.

AAP also set a new paradigm in Indian politics by deciding to implement what we call the phenomenon of primaries or caucuses as practiced in several parts of the world. The candidature of the aspirants for the assembly elections were decided at the primary level (constituency level), rather than the high ups in the party as is the tradition of several major parties in India.

AAP also stirred the Indian politics by rejecting the caste and community equation in fielding the candidates. In Delhi elections, caste and religion were not the primary basis of selecting a candidate and the election results have shown that it went well with the electorate.

These elections have demonstrated another interesting phenomenon of what we call “Citizen Politics”. Aam Aaadmi deciding to take a plunge in politics, aam aadmi deciding to contest elections and successfully winning several seats gave a jolt to the usual stereotypes that politics was a domain of the wealthy and the privileged few. Also, the methods adopted by AAP like door to door campaigning, engaging people in nukkad meetings, music walks, metro train campaigns not only gave them time to connect to the electorate, they also proved to be very economical models of election campaigning. In fact, topi (cap) and jhadoo (broom) were good eye catchers for the public.

The spirit of volunteerism in politics is another fascinating aspect that AAP was able to successfully demonstrate and sustain. The overwhelming response of people coming from out of Delhi and India to volunteer their time and skills took many by surprise. Whereas other parties have established a culture of paid workers, AAP was able to mobilize public participation for the political action.

With the emergence of what Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party terms as “Clean Politics”, the other political parties would be forced to adopt the agenda! AAP has come in clear support of measures like political parties coming under RTI scanner, a stronger Lokpal Bill, electoral reforms like Right to Reject and Right to Recall. Thus, other political parties have been forced to re-look at their stands. And as we know, sometimes the political parties take up the agenda of the challenger to keep the latter at bay. It remains to be seen how much AAP would be able to shake up the existing political establishment, but undoubtedly the era of new politics demanding more accountability and transparency has arrived!

Voter Assistance Booth is a welcome Step!

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In Delhi Assembly elections held on December 4, 2013, Election Commission (EC) introduced a new election practice this time:

1. Election Commission itself deployed its staff and distributed “Authenticated Photo Voters SLIP” to households (2-3 days before polling day). Photo Voter Slip is a small piece of paper that has voter’s name, photo, voter ID card number, booth number (where she is supposed to go and vote) and serial number.

2. A voter is supposed to take along with her Voter ID card and “Authenticated Photo Voter Slip” when she goes to vote. In case, she does not have a Photo voter slip or forgets to carry it, she can obtain one at Voter Assistance Booth (VAB), specially created this time by election commission outside the polling booth where BLO (Booth Level Officer) deployed by EC would assist the voter and issue a new Photo voter slip.

I welcome these 2 new measures initiated by Election Commission. This means:

– The practices by political parties of distributing their own Voter Slips becomes less meaningful now. I do not mind if the parties keep doing it. let them do it, but EC has already served the purpose!

– More importantly, the practice of setting up a Voter Assistance Booth (VAB) is a great welcome. Taking this forward, in my opinion, Election Commission should now discourage (or even ban) the political parties to set up booth tables by political parties outside the Booth. EC has already served the purpose of helping voters find their information through VAB. The tables set up by parties often become a ploy for enticing voters (though discreetly), show off of egos and emotions.

If this measure is taken, then political parties would have to appoint Booth Agents only (those who sit inside the polling Booth acting as an observer for the party).

Along with this, I shall add (though I intend to discuss it in details in another post):

1. Allow the voter to vote at any booth in the constituency. For example: A voter can go and vote at any of the 156 booths of Greater Kailash Assembly area. Current practice is that a voter is allowed to vote at a designated polling booth (say number 10).

2. Polling (voting) should be allowed for a few days (say, a week) rather than just for a day. For example: Polling Day is Nov 7. The voters should have a choice to vote from Nov 1 to 6 at a few designated polling stations, and then on Polling Day (Nov 7), the whole apparatus should be on display (as it happens under current schema).

 

 

 

Strenghthening Loktantra via “Voty” festival

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This election season has witnessed a high voter turnout. Assembly elections are being conducted in the states of Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Delhi in the month of November and December, 2013.  Voting is over in all the states except Delhi where voting will take place tomorrow,i.e., December 4.

One characteristic that has been common to all the states this season has been the pattern of high voting percentage. People of Bastar area of Chattisgarh- under the grip of Maoists- set the ball rolling in this direction. For just 18 assembly seats, Election Commission reserved one full day to facilitate voting under tight security and the voters of Bastar region did not disappoint! They came out in full swing to exercise their voting right, contributing to 67 percentage of the total voting. Rest of the Chattisgarh and then Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan followed the suit and witnessed above 70 % voting.

While many factors can be accounted for enhanced voting, credit must also be given to Election Commission for playing role in creating awareness programs. One of the programs called SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation) was commissioned in all the states during recent times.

Delhi will be going for polls tomorrow (December 4, 2013). I have been camping in Delhi for last 5 months. It is sickening to hear the rants of some political parties making false promises and boasting their past achievements. But as soon as the election campaigning ended yesterday evening (48 hours from the scheduled end of polling), it was refreshing to see voter awareness ads taking over! (after all, FM radios and TV channels and news papers have space now!). Today while I was traveling via Metro train, it was a pleasure to hear via public announcement system at Metro stations, the appeal by Election Commission to people to exercise their voting right! A catchy advt by ADR at one metro station was quite interesting: Accept no money, no liquor, and do cast your vote!

After all, election season is a like a festival for voters and why not spare some time to create more awareness among voters about the importance of voting power! A vote fetches you no money (under ideal conditions), but it is a weapon that you can use to send an elected representative into exile!

 

Salute to Volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party!

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The election campaigning for Delhi Assembly elections ended a few hours back today (Dec 2,2013). As per model code of conduct, the campaigning came to a halt at 5 PM today,ie, 48 hours before the end of polling.

I salute to hundreds of thousands of  volunteers who have  put in their time for varying length for the Aam Aadmi Party since inception. In last 1 year, Delhi has been witness to these self-effacing, committed party members or non-members from the city and all across India and abroad. Males and females, young and old, students and professionals, highly educated to ones with lesser academic certifications: Indians of all hue and color have marched to Delhi to give time to the party on their own with just one Mission: To help bring clean politics to Delhi (and hence, country).  I have worked at the Volunteer Engagement Cell of the party for a considerable time and therefore am witness to a wide spectrum of talent offering its services just because they sensed that yes, this is an opportunity to bring a  change in the political culture of India!

It is unprecedented in Indian political movement that an entire gamut of skills is filled in largely by volunteer force only. What initially started with India Against Corruption (IAC) volunteers joining the party (AAP), soon people of different ideologies and political affiliations started joining the work-force. Be it working on the ground or social media enthusiasts propagating the cause or phone calling to email responses to IT operations-  all is being handled by volunteers. The movement in last one year has shown some remarkable characteristics of a true peoples’ movement. One peculiar feature that I would like to highlight is the self-initiative-  Volunteers felt the need to do something and they initiated it. That is why, AAP is witness to so many blogs, Facebook groups, Twitter trends, WhatsApp groups, Google groups and websites created by patriots to strengthen the movement. And characteristically, volunteers across the globe did it. It was not merely restricted to a few regions. Enthusiastic volunteers have on their own organized Google hangouts, conferences and seminars to delve upon this emerging movement whose sole agenda is to change the way politics is done in India.

The journey is not over yet. But with the campaigning ending today, it is an occasion to remember the one year journey that volunteers of AAP have made it unforgettable with their love, affinity, hard work and zeal for the nation. Who says politics is something to be despised? Ask these freedom fighters who  jumped in with the motto: We have come NOT to do politics, but to CHANGE it!

 

 

Culture of Politics needs to change in India

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Having returned to Chicago  after spending 6 weeks in Delhi, yesterday I called a young friend of mine who lives in Delhi. I was narrating my experiences of volunteering for Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi that I did in last several weeks. Even though he works and stays in Delhi, he asked me when are the elections in Delhi. I explained that the Delhi assembly elections are due in next 90 days, hardly 3 months away.

This young man is professionally educated, a socially spirited guy, wants to make a career in non-profit sector and in general well-informed. But he also represents the one catch that is typical of Indian youth: total indifference to political action! I was surprised that he does not know that Delhi- the Capital of India- is facing state assembly elections in next 3 months and that the current Chief Minister Sheila Dixit has already started doling out freebies at the expense of state exchequer to cling to power. He does not know that last 15 years have witnessed the governance of Congress Party in Delhi and the living conditions in Delhi have gone from bad to worse. A few years back, he decided to come to Delhi from a small town because he rightly felt that Delhi would provide better opportunities, but clearly never tried to see why Delhi as a city was so sick. Is not the poor governance responsible for the poor health of Delhi?

This dichotomy is a bit perplexing!

The youth today knows and understands the poor infra structure that the country has: poor roads, poor public utility services (educational institutes, hospitals, and so on).

The youth today knows and understands that there is a massive corruption and un-accountability in the government.

The youth today knows and understands that the politicians are not up to par. They are in general corrupt, incompetent and self-centered.

The youth today knows and understands that despite India having a massive pool of talent and wealth, as a country we are poor and not developing at the expected pace.

The youth today knows and understands that many other parts of world provide better quality of life to their citizens.

Yet, the callousness of the youth to politics is appalling. Their hesitation to be politically conscious is a matter of concern. The youth of today knows the ills, knows the diagnosis, yet is unwilling to align for a political engagement to seek solutions.

He/she thinks that the first job is to make a professional career for himself or herself and somehow the ills of country will be taken care by some other guys! (s)he fulfills his societal role by volunteering for an NGO or at religious places, but somehow wishes that some other well-intentioned guys will go to politics and give the citizens a better life. The Indian youth is very find of saying: “I hate politics”!

The youth understands and demands a better India, but shys away from the arena of political engagement and civic engagement. I always feel that unless we align with political action, the  less brilliant minds will continue to occupy the political arena and we shall continue to get sub-standard quality of life in India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My speech at Chicago convention of AAP

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Aam Aadmi Party -USA held its first national convention in Chicago on May 18,2013. Here are excerpts of my speech.

My Fellow Countrymen!

I shall start with my personal experience as to how I got involved with Aam Aadmi Party and that in fact may be representative of aspirations of many of people present here.

Next, I shall read the resolution that we propose to pass today at this gathering.

And then I shall introduce our dedicated team of workers and volunteers.

Last week, distributing flyers for this event at Devon (Indian market), one gentle man asked me how much money Arvind Kejriwal  has in Swiss banks. Since I was not ready for this question, I  asked, excuse me! He emphatically repeated the question with a disdain on his face. I said: “zilch”. He walked away without taking the flier from me.

This week, I was sitting in the physician  lounge of the hospital where I work and discussing this upcoming event with one of my colleagues. He said: “All are crooks. All are corrupt. Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta.” Now let me tell you, this physician friend of mine is a well –informed guy about India and Indian politics. He speaks 4 languages effortlessly.

This skepticism and cynicism  that ‘nothing can change’ is a lethal proposition. As someone has rightly said: “The biggest problem in this world is- The Intelligent People Are Full Of Doubts, While The Stupid Ones Are Full Of Confidence!!!”

Do we think the same way about our kids or say our family members.  As we know very well, our kids have varying abilities, skills and aptitudes. All do not have even same IQ. But we work with them steadily over years to help them find their meaningful place in life. Why we do so? Because we are INVESTED in them. Same applies to our nation also.

I am sure everyone of us has contributed back to the country in one way or the another and still continues to do so. In my observation, one of the most easy and important way for NRI is do some charity work back home. This shows that our heart lies in right place! Somehow we do not relate to this fact that why we are here in USA? We come to a country like USA and start following the things that are in place right from Day 1. We stop at a red light even at the midnight when there is not even a single vehicle on the inter-section. Chicago – the famous Windy city- has more inclement and harsher weather than majority of Indian cities. This country has full share of natural calamities happening all around the year in form of heavy snow falls, tornadoes, forest fires, etc. Yet we come and like to live here, even paying up to 40 % taxes on our hard earned income. All because there seems to be System in place. And about India, we are fond of saying: “Koi system nahi hai! Koi system nahi hai!”

Have you seen Japanese coming and settling here? Or French or Germans for that matter? Japan has probably equal population density as of India. So do not blame that India is just too crowded!

Thus one malaise that I see is the apathy to politics. However, remember this saying by Pericles:  “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you. ”

And then, as another philosopher said:

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

 Now, Aam Aadmi party has given us that hope! It has taken out the insecurity of ‘sab crooks hai’  and has given us an opportunity to PARTICIPATE in politics. Jai ho!!