The proposed NGO is hiring a Coordinator to work in Haryana. The work involves co-ordinating with media, various governmental agencies, social organizations and people. Good writing and drafting skills in both Hindi and English are a must as one aspect of this position involves extensive correspondence, and publishing a news-letter. Computer skills are mandatory for the e-communication as well as maintaining and supervising the web-site of the NGO. The position of coordinator is important in the sense that he or she will be the architect of this NGO.The work involves considerable touring.

Satisfactory re-numeration will be paid to the right candidate.

The NGO aims to focus on social and political rights, a demand for better accountability and democracy (working with government, opposition parties and where necessary taking recourse to PILs, Satyagrahas and help shape public opinion). Thus it will be a non-partisan organization which will work as a pressure group. The ultimate aim is to create an effective “Shadow Cabinet”.

If you have a flavor for socio-political work and think that you will enjoy doing it, kindly send the following documents as an attachment to Pedia333@yahoo.com

1. CV (do include your interests, passions and community work)

2. A letter of interest stating about yourself, your interests and

how you see yourself in this scenario (maximum one and a half page)

3. A passport -size photograph will be appreciated.

Dr Munish Raizada

Akbar Khan Rana (Journalist)

(Document created April 24, 07)

I had posted the previous message- about the proposed N G O (please read “Appeal”, dated April 14,07 on this blog) – on various web-portals and have received encouraging replies and communications. This is the follow-up on the ongoing thought-process.

I have tried to outline the proposed NGO in my blog as well as my various communications. Its area of action will be limited to Haryana ( so as to solidify the momentum), though we remain nationalistic in our outlook!

As can be understood, our work would mainly be socio-political, but the aim is not to become rabble-rousers! Through the mechanisms of democracy- which I believe we have inherited in a solid way, thanks to the vision of the founders of our Constitution- we aim to challenge the anomalous practices which have crept up in our system. Thus in the initial years at least, our practices shall mainly be institutional: to study, research, draft and recommend and then follow-up (the last step being very crucial). These may be empowered from time to time with the means of democracy, like satyagraha, PILs and public awareness. However, the emphasis will be to link common people to this organization as well, so that it truly grows as a people’s network.

In the long run, if we are able to emerge as a strong “Shadow Cabinet”: Our mission will be fulfilled! Governments may go or come ( somwhow India has become home to the phenomenon called “Revolving Door Democracy”), this kind of “Shadow Cabinet” will remain firmly seated in its saddles!

Please do suggest about the preliminaries: where in Haryana to begin, how many people to begin, what could be the name, when to begin and any other idea!

We, a few common friends have been thinking for some time to constitute an NGO to do socio-political activism in India. It will not be a political party, but we will essentially do political -or more appropriately, socio-political work. It will be a non-partisan or even a bi-partisan movement and we will act as a pressure group to bring about better democracy and governance. The ultimate purpose is to form a “Shadow Cabinet” so that we act as a very effective opposition party to the government. And we have the weapons like Satyagraha and PILs (Public Interest Litigations) to fight the menances of political subversions, corruption and maneuvers! It will not be a fight against indivduals, but against the wrongs of the system.

The experiment will be started at a state level, for example to begin in Haryana and will be extended further.

We appeal to socially-committed individuals to join this movement! We need individuals who feel that the politics in India has come to the lowest ebb and want to bring about a change- gradullay but surely- so that this degeneration could be arrested. We often say that politics has become full of goons, and politicians donot care about the country: We will challenge this and bring about changes- slowly but surely. This is a humble begining but the grit and determination is strong. We have nothing to lose, we stand to gain! Why: Because our democracy and polity has degenerated to the worst!

Letus begin! This is a clarion call to unite to empower our democracy! Also, if you know someone else who will be equally suitable for this cause: please refer him or her to us.

Contacts:

India: Mr Akbar Khan: Safidon, Haryana.
Phone: 01686- 231100
0981-319-5234

USA: Dr Munish Raizada, NY.
Phone: 516-570-6857;
Email ID: pedia333@yahoo.com

कुछ समय से हम मित्र-गण सोच रहें हैं कि एक एनजीओ बनाया जाये जो सामाजिक तथा राजनीतिक काम करे। यह राजनितिक दल या पार्टी नही होगी, लेकिन अपना काम वास्तव मे सामजिक व राजनैतिक ही होगा। यह एक नॉन-पर्तिसन समुह होगा, जो कि दबाव -समुह का काम करेगा, ताकि बेहतर जनतंत्र एअवंम सरकारी वयवस्था लोगों को मिले। अंतत अपना प्रयास एक “छाया सरकार” ( षडो मिनिस्ट्री) बनाना है। हमारे पास सत्याग्रह तथा कोर्ट के माध्यम से हस्त्क्छेप जैसे हथियार हैं। हमारी विरोध व्यक्ति के विरूद्व ना होकर गलत सिस्टम के प्रति होगा।

प्रारम्भ में यह कार्य एक राज्य -उदहारण के लिए, हरियाणा – से शुरू होगा तथा इसका आगे विस्तार किया जाएगा।

जागृत व्यक्तियों से अनुरोध हैं कि इस आंदोलन के साथ जुडें। हम सब लोग अक्सर कहते हैं कि राजनीति गंदी हो चुकी है तथा सरकार तथा राजनेता हमारे सिस्टम को करप्शन व तोड़-मोड़ कर बर्बाद करने पर जुटे हैं। आइये एक सुरुआत करें: धीरे परंतु ससक्त। हम कामयाब जरुर होंगे: क्योंकि हमारे पास खोने को कुछ भी तो नहीं है (भला इससे नीचे पॉलिटिक्स हमारी किस स्तर तक जाएगी!!) , इसलिये हम कुछ पाएंगे ही सही !

यदि आप किसी ओर को भी जानते हैं जो इस पर्यास के लिए उपयुक्त हैं , कृपया उन्हें हमारा पता दीजिए या हमें उनका रेफ़रन्स दीजिए।

सम्पर्क:

भारत: श्री अकबर खान , सफीदों, Hariyana ।
फ़ोन: 01686- 231100
0989-600-2225

अमेरीका: डाक्टर मुनीश रायजादा ।
फ़ोन: 516 -570-6857.
ईमेल: pedia333@yahoo.com

The biggest challenge which India faces today is corruption in the public life. The beaurocrats and politicians are hand- in- glove; transparency and accountability have taken a back seat as far as the governance is concerned. Similarly, because of the lack of electoral reforms, politicians are making a mockery of the democracy.

What a common man (the voter) do: He or she uses the power of ballot to change the government every five years. That is the most he or she can do! One government is replaced by another. One political party is replaced by another, but the loot system and the indulgence in the corruption continue. The power game of politicians continues and the issues of developments, welfare remian the low priorities. These phenomena of Revolving Door Democracy have repeatedly been seen in many States and even at the Center!

In a democracy how do we get the relief?

A non-partisan group of people -in the form of NGO- is the best bet. There is a need to form a “pressure group“ whose only ideology is to test the government on the scale of performance! Thus such a pressure group is essentailly working as a strong opposition party: appreciate the government what is right and take the government to task were it faults. An extension of this is a “Shadow Government” where the NGOs has on its panel experts working as various ministers , like Education Minister, Finance Minister, etc and they analyse the working of the concerned departments of the government and are thus keeping the government on alert.

Thus such a movement of people is essentially participating in the functioning of the democracy and is trying to “empower” people by scrutinizing the working of the government. But these NGOs will have to evolve a strong policy and ideology and adhere to them (i,e be non-partisan) otherwise as they ‘try to participate in the governance’, they will be swayed away in the currents of controversies and allegations!

Can we begin such an experiment at a district level, to be extended to the whole State? If successful, this can be further extended.

Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for Noble Peace Prize 5 times, says the official web-site of Noble Prize Committee (link). The very fact that the Committee uses the phrase “Mahatma Gandhi, the Missing Laureate” says it all! This is the biggest ommission and commission on part of the Noble Committe atleast in the 20th century. It says:

“A frequent criticism from non-Indians was also that Gandhi was too much of an Indian nationalist. In his report, Professor Worm-Müller expressed his own doubts as to whether Gandhi’s ideals were meant to be universal or primarily Indian: “One might say that it is significant that his well-known struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians only, and not of the blacks whose living conditions were even worse.”

Whereas, read about Winston Churchill. The Wikipedia says:
“He denigrated the father of the Indian independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi, as “a half-naked fakir” who “ought to be laid, bound hand and foot, at the gates of Delhi and then trampled on by an enormous elephant with the new viceroy seated on its back”. This was in 1940s when Winston Churchill -as Prime Minister of Britain- did everything possible to scuttle the steps towards Indian independence. During those times, he is also claimed to have said that democracy was totally unsuited to Indians. He was an established anti- India personality.

For the records, Sir winston Churchill received Noble Prize in literature in 1953. He was a Statesman, Prime Minister of Britain, writer, speaker and truly a multi-faceted personality.

The latest results of assembly (Vidhan Sabha) elections in Punjab, Uttaranchal and Manipur have not been of help to Congress. It has been voted out of power in Punjab and Uttaranchal. For BJP, it has been a gain as it has come back to power now.

I know about Punjab. Five years back, people voted against Badal government (SAD + BJP) to bring in Congress because they wanted a change as Sardar Prakash Singh Badal had not delivered upto their expectations. Captain Amrinder Singh of Congress got 5 years and now he is also out. People can just vote against the ruling government in a hope that the new regimen will bring some change, but things donot change. It is not that now people have all love for Badal , actually people had no other option! Punjab is a propserous state, but corruption in the government departments is like a pest: it ssems that it will never be exterminated and in the process politicians continue to loot the State. Personally speaking as a voter, I prefer SAD + BJP combine over Congress, but as far as corruption and concern for development are concerned, all these parties are the same (letus hope, BJP with a better representation in this government will monitor the progress of the Badal performance in a better way)!

Mr Badal has a filial love for his kith and kin (**see below, how many relatives of Badal were given tickets this time)! The states have become personal fiefdoms for politicians: they are like princely states or empires for them where they raise enormous wealth in their 5- years term (knowing well that they may not be elected next time): Om Prakash Chautala (more notoriously), Bhajan Lal have done this in Haryana, Badal has done so in Punjab, Laloo- Rabri did so in Bihar, the media is abuzz that the current chief minister of UP, Mulayam Singh Yadav has amassed property worth more than 100 crores; Mayawati has built an empire in UP and Sonia Gandhi is doing the same at the Center. Similarly the name of JayLalita comes to our mind.

Solution: people have to be the watch-dogs. We have to rise above party-politcs and form non-partisan platforms/ organizations to watch the performance of the governments. Persoanl likings for one politicl party or the other is not bad, but we have to assess the performance of the goverment in a dispassionate manner.

**Almost all close relations of Parkash Singh Badal won from various segments. His nephew Manpreet Singh Badal won from Gidderbaha and his son-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon from Patti. His other relative Birkram Singh won from Majitha and Janmeja Singh Sekhon from Ferozepore. Jagbir Singh Brar won from Jalandhar cantonment (source: The Tribune, Feb 28, 2007))

The news item (click on the title of this write-up to see that) is indeed heartening: Law Ministry is pushing for poll reforms. The world’s largest democracy – as India is – needs more teeth so as to be optimally effective. The vital player of the democracy – the voter- is left high and dry because the politicians of today have exploited the situation and either you vote or not, they are going to rule over you! What we need today most are:

1.Criminals should not be able to gain entry into electoral politics. Thus the move to debar charge-sheeted persons to contest is a welcome move.
2.The prrovision for ‘negative voting’ so that a ‘bad’ person could be precluded from getting elected.
3.Vote to ‘recall’.
4.Anti-defection law should be made much more stringent.
5.Post-poll alliances should be governed by certain rules. Similarly there could be many more reforms to sharpen our electoral system.
Wheras electoral reforms are the need of the hour, here is a write-up by noted commentator Khushwant Singh. He has aptly described the ground realities- taking Punjab as an example – as far as our democracy is concerned. And his summation of the facts is real and this is what is happening actually. As it reads:

All in the name of elections
by KHUSHWANT SINGH

IN a few days three states will go to the polls. Of the three, the outcome of one which may indicate what the people think about the performance of the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh Government in the Centre will be Punjab.

It is a border state which reacts sharply to changes in India-Pakistan equations. It has seen three wars fought in its territory. It has India’s third largest religious minority, the Sikhs, in majority. The outcome will indicate whether or not the Central Government policies are, or are not, even-handed in its treatment of other minorities, the Muslims and Christians.

Punjab remains the most go-ahead and the richest agricultural state of the Union. The results will indicate whether or not its farmers are, or are not, satisfied with what the state government is doing for them. Other issues like the future of Chandigarh and distribution of river waters will be shelved for the time being. The demand for Khalistan is dead. So is militant activity perpetrated in its name. Relations with Pakistan have never been better. The Sikhs have never had it so good as they have today. Credit for these achievements go to the Congress.
The main contenders for power are the same: on the one side the Congress is led by Captain Amarinder Singh, erstwhile Maharaja of Patiala, on the other the Akali-BJP combine is led by Parkash Singh Badal, head of Punjab’s wealthiest family owning vast tracts of farm lands and real estate.

Amarinder Singh has the state’s resources behind him. Badal controls the mini empire of Sikh temples managed by the SGPC and thousands of schools, colleges and hospitals run by it.
From what one can gauge from full-page advertisements in Punjab papers launched by both adversaries, money will be no problem for either party: it will flow like the waters of the Sutlej and the Beas. So will desi sharaab. Punjab retains its position as the number one state in the consumption of liquor and drugs.

So far only the names of candidates have been announced. They follow the old feudal pattern: sons, sons-in-law, nephews and other relations come first, next come caste affiliations: Jats, Khatris, Mazhabis (Dalit) for reserved seats. In larger cities like Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar, they are from the rich creamy layer. Elections need money; they have it.
Starry-eyed youngsters who dream of modernising India by ridding it of its pseudo-religious clap-trap do not appear in the lists of aspirants. For them no matter who wins or loses, it will be as the French put it: plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (the more it changes, the more it remains the same thing).

The latest (February 19,2007) bomb blasts on the Samjhauta Express- which runs between India and Pakistan- are another addition to the series of terrorism-related attacks which India has been facing since decades. This train was headed towards Pakistan and the blasts killed atleast 66 people , majority of them being Pak nationals.

This incidence is kind of unusual in that Pakistani nationals have been the victims on Indian soil and the incidence comes on the heels of Pak Foreign Minister Kasoori’s visit to india.
Click the BBC link to read more about this.

Whereas both nations’ media have tried to diffuse the situation by maintaining that this savage act of terrosrism is intended to derail the peace process and is in no one’s interest, there have been blame games also on both sides: Pak blaming Hindu organizations for this attack, while Indian side blaming Jehadi outfits for this! More will be out in days to come as the events unfold.
No one is the winner, of course. But India is a big loser! In this train, there were approximately 783 passengers and almost 75 % of them were Pak nationals. The rationale behind continuation of bus and train links is beyond my comprehension. Neither India is dependent on Pakistan for economic development,nor India needs Pakistan for any other urgent issues. When two neighbors donot go along, what is the best way out: chill out! Why are we dealing with Pakistan and for what! We cannot change geography, but we can try to maintain peace by not inter-acting with each other because there is great lack of mutual trust on both sides. India is the biggest victim of terrorism and particularly Pak-sponsored terrorism as our Indian media and government agencies make us believe. Then why are we dealing with this state which has no democracy and is a ‘rogue’ state in all likelihood! What are we reaping? I state that public or common people on both sides have mutual respect and good-will for one another,but that does not solve the issues related to security and governance.

The latest mechanisms (being worked out by both countries) to jointly fight terrorism may
win us cheers from Western media,but look ludicrous when we realize the ground realities. The cross-border terrorism by Pakistan and its often changing contours on Kashmir are enough evidences that these talk will lead us no where!

If we chill out in our relation with Pakistan, deal firmly to secure our borders ( as China did with us in last 4 decades): there will be more peace and less animosity in long term! Whereas on international screen, Pakistan’s involvement in propelling jehadi terrorism is increasingly becoming established, our misplaced zeal to bring more harmony with our relations with Pakistan will be a diplomatic defeat in years to come.

Stop playing cricket with Pakistan, donot deal with this state until democracy is established ( the typical USA ‘mantra’ while measuring countries on their foreign policy scale!), deal with your borders firmly (give Kashmir in the free hands of military and let it wipe out terrorism)! As far as people -to -people contact is concerned, there are enough messangers now on neutral grounds to build up the goodwill- if we have any in our hearts! Neutral grounds? Yes, donot Pakis and Indians meet daily on Devon street like Chicago where business goes as usual! And we have many such avenues in the world now that NRI and NRP (Non-Resident Pakistani: I am not sure whether such a phrase exists!) communities are growing! Letus see what they can generate for the two nations!