శ్రి కౌముది ఫిబ్రవరి 2011

Telangana report is in, jury still out

Telangana should not be the first option, and a separate state must be created only if it is unavoidable, the Justice Srikrishna report has said. 

A united Andhra Pradesh — with a proviso for empowering the region, excluding Hyderabad, through a statutory Telangana Regional Council — may be the best way forward, says the two-volume, 700-page report, which the government made public today. 

The Indian Express had reported on January 5 that the Srikrishna panel had weighed in on the side of arguments in favour of a united Andhra. 

The report has offered four other options, including one that proposes a new Union Territory of greater Hyderabad with borders that are contiguous with all three regions of the state: Telangana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra. 

This proposal is yet to be tested with political parties. But pro-Telangana parties opposed to the ‘two states, one capital’ theory have until now rejected this argument on the ground that Hyderabad is about 200 km away from the nearest border district of coastal Andhra. 

...contd.

Plight of ‘kind Muslim man’ wrongly held for Mecca Masjid led Swami to confess: Police

Investigators claimed that a curious change of heart led Swami Aseemanand, 58, arrested for his involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast, to reveal details of the conspiracy behind five major blasts, including the February 2007 attack on the Samjhauta Express. 

Key to this, senior officials said, was Aseemanand’s interaction with a 21-year-old he met in Chanchalaguda Jail, Hyderabad, during his judicial custody in November-December last year. 

... contd.

శ్రి కౌముది జనవరి 2010

 

శ్రీ కౌముది డిసెంబర్ 2010

Want to win an MP’s seat? Caste, religion the key

Nov. 10: Caste and religion still reign supreme on the political scene in the country, a full 63 years after Independence. This proves beyond doubt that politics in India has systemic issues that need to be addressed, says Ajit Phadnis, a former alumnus of IIM-Bangalore. Mr Phadnis should know what he is saying, after completing his one year internship at the Lok Sabha recently when he had the opportunity to observe the functioning of this August institution from close quarters. 

As the modu operandi of political parties has a significant influence on the functioning of Parliament, the preponderence of caste and religion is threatening the very survival of India's democracy, he said in a research paper titled, ‘Democratic quotient of the Indian Parliament.’ 

Factors connected to caste and religion inevitably determine the direction in which a political party heads. Another important factor is the excessive influence of money power during elections, which means that the majority of MPs representing India, are those from the extremely affluent sections. This means that it is difficult for a person of average income to be elected to Parliament, said Mr Phadnis.

“The objective of this study was to secure the views of those in Parliament about the institution itself and the opinions of the majority of MPs on various issues. The most glaring of the concerns or weaknesses are the working of political parties which includes money and muscle power, curbing the views of party people and the increasing disruptions in Parliament sessions,” said Mr Phadnis while speaking to Deccan Chronicle.

Of the 100 MPs chosen for the study, as many as 75 per cent are current members of Parliament. Of them, 84 per cent were from the Lok Sabha and 16 per cent from the Rajya Sabha while the male-female ratio was 94 and 6 per cent respectively, explained the researcher.

He added, “A systemic problem with our democracy is that MPs feel that their work does not significantly influence their chances of getting re-elected. Caste, religion and money appear to be playing bigger roles. The disruptions in Parliament are only giving negative inspiration to our MLAs and corporators, who are taking it to new lows in the state legislatures and in the corporation and municipal councils. Almost a 2/3rd majority expressed the opinion that political parties do not permit them to express views which are divergent from the party stance leading them to believe that it is a few party leaders who are deciding the course of this country’s future”

Mr Phadnis in his report, that has now evoked the interest of political leaders in Karnataka too, suggests guidelines for the reform of political parties.

Deccan Chronicle, Thursday November 11, 2010

శ్రీ కౌముది: నవంబర్ 2010

... our national sin

We Indians cannot give up jealousy and rally together.
That is our national sin.

Letter to Swami Ramakrishnananda. Written in Bengali from Chicago in January 1894. Complete Works, 6.256.

Finding of Unity

The finding of unity in variety is really what we call knowledge.

From Swamiji's article in the February 1895 issue of the New York Medical Times. Complete Works, 9.285.

శ్రీ కౌముది సెప్టెంబర్ 2010

... a nation is not to be judged by its weaklings

There is good and bad everywhere--but a nation is not to be judged by its weaklings called the wicked, as they are only the weeds which lag behind, but by the good, the noble, and the pure who indicate the national life-current to be flowing clear and vigorous.

Letter to the Maharaja of Khetri. Written from America in 1894. Complete Works, 6.249.

Those who think themselves too high ...

What you call majority is mainly composed of fools and people of ordinary intellect. Those who have brains to think for themselves are few, everywhere. These few people with brains are the real leaders in everything and in every department of work. The majority are guided by them as with a string, and that is good, for everything goes right when they follow in the footsteps of these leaders. Those who think themselves too high to bend their heads to anyone are fools, and they bring on their own ruin by acting on their own judgment.

Conversation: Saturday, January 22, 1898. Recorded in Bengali by Surendra Nath Sen in his private diary. Complete Works, 5.333.

శ్రీ కౌముది ఆగస్ట్ 2010

... think we know something!

Knowledge is mere classification. When we find many things of the same kind, we call the sum of them by a certain name and are satisfied. We discover "facts," never "why." We take a circuit in a wider field of darkness and think we know something!

Retreat given at the Thousand Island Park, USA. June 25, 1895. Complete Works, 7.18

శ్రీ కౌముది జూలై 2010