Plastic Waste - Killing Our Oceans SDG14

Hindutva: Setting the Record Straight

There is, in my opinion, no other issue in the contemporary world that evokes such controversy as the concept of "Hindutva". It frequently gets confused with religion (Hinduism), which it is not, and it should not be seen as a militant or extremist movement, in the way that Islam tends to be.

While Hinduism is a religion—the oldest religion in the world—Hindutva is a way of life derived from Hinduism. One does not have to be a born Hindu to believe in Hindutva. Hinduism is thousands of years old, and it has guided and shaped the conduct of billions of people born in India through the ages. The West simply does not have the perception and breadth of knowledge to comprehend the plurality and diversity of thought that is the hallmark of Hindutva. One needs to broaden his horizons to grasp the tatva of Hindu philosophy.

At the same time, countless Indian sages have penned down numerous treatises on philosophy, religion, political and social sciences, and mathematics. This body of knowledge has had a profound impact on the lives of Indians and, undoubtedly, will continue to influence the Indian way of life of future generations. There is no other religion in the world that has given humanity so much to think about.

Hindutva does not tell me which God or Goddess I should believe in, nor does it force me against my will to go to a particular place of worship, or to pray x number of times every day. These are personal choices, and Hinduism does not interfere in these things. Hinduism believes in inclusion: it does not exclude entire groups of people based on their beliefs, and it definitely does not believe in genocide to eliminate alternative ways of life and thought. It only guides me to follow my dharma, which is based on my understanding of my duties and responsibilities.

So, what is my dharma? My dharma (as a teacher) is to impart knowledge, and advice my students to have an open mind, because the pursuit of knowledge is endless. In the same way, it is the dharma of a soldier to protect his country and its people from barbarian invaders whose only purpose is to loot, rape, and kill, and to either subjugate hitherto independent societies or to erase their culture and identity through mass murder and genocide. Does the name Adolf Hitler ring a bell? Has the world ever read in a history book about a Hindu ruler’s pleasure trip to a neighboring country to plunder, rape, and kill?

Hinduism does not believe in world domination, there is no record anywhere of an Indian king who wanted to spread his wings to gain money and territory.

“Dismantling Global Hindutva” has been an evil and destructive attempt to belittle and destroy an entire body of enlightened thought. It has been an exercise in futility because you cannot wish away something that represents thousands of years of evolutionary wisdom. Hindutva is a peaceful and mature way of life that is much older and resilient than the 1400 years of Islamic mayhem.

I sometimes wonder at the vulnerability of Western intellectuals and institutions who entertain and accept the twisted thoughts presented by Jihadi groups and their supporters about Hindu extremism. They forget the human and social toll their own societies have had to pay in recent history due to extremist activities of jihadi groups such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, or their clones. Between 2015 and 2020, in France alone, there were 72 Islamist terrorist attacks including the one in the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, resulting in 274 deaths and 973 injuries. How many of these were planned by Hindu extremists?

Because people’s memories are short, history repeats itself. I would like to conclude by saying, “Do due diligence, don’t forget, and be fair.”

Tolerance: Giving Credit Where Its Due

 In this world of increasing globalization and consequently the movement of people, it is often asked or debated which country is the most tolerant. This is especially so in countries which provide the largest source of migration.

In view of its history as a country of immigrants, the United States has often proclaimed itself as a diverse society. But is it also tolerant as it is diverse? If the white Republicans in Wyoming or Utah can't tolerate the white Democrats in California or Massachusetts, then it is not a very tolerant society.

By contrast, India is more diverse, multilingual, and tolerant than any other country I can think of. In my opinion, I am supported by none other than the most liberal and objective Saudi journalist Khalaf Al-Harbi. In his latest column in 'Saudi Gazette', he describes India as the most tolerant nation on the earth. He must be right because, being a Saudi national, he has seen and experienced parochialism, sectarianism, ban on other religions, and violence towards dissenters, as was clearly manifested by the murder of the famous Saudi journalist Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Turkey. The minorities usually have no rights in such societies. Like we study in political theory, the prime minister (of any country) serves at the pleasure of the monarch or the president, the minorities are merely allowed to exist at the pleasure of the intolerant 'state'.

Going back to the latest article by Al-Harbi, I must give him credit for being so honest and straightforward in a country which does not tolerate dissent. But in the end, truth will prevail. We Indians have been definitely tolerant because if we look back in history during the last millennium, we did tolerate the invaders from Mongolia, the central Asian countries, and Afghanistan. We tolerated the uncivilized barbarians who came in from the North to loot, plunder, kill, and burn, and who eventually established dynasties that ruled India for several centuries. We also welcomed the Portuguese, French, and the British and allowed them to set up trading posts which led to political subjugation and 'slavery' lasting more than two hundred years. But we tolerated.

Since we tolerated and forgave all these foreigners for their unforgivable sins and crimes against us, how could we have not given similar treatment to the present-day thugs and adventurers who perfected their skills to usurp power by 'democratic' means. We still tolerate the likes of Rahul, Mayawati, the Yadavs from the lawless states (until recently) of Bihar and U.P., Digvijay Singh, Chautala and sons, and countless more who continue to milk 'Mother India' through their third-generation proxies. They stall debates in parliament by creating a ruckus, or by staging walkouts. We continue to tolerate them.

The recent offer of the Indian government to take in most qualified Afghan refugees irrespective of their religion should be an eye-opener for all obstructionists who staged a lengthy agitation or sit-in protest in and around Shaheen Bagh to voice their discontent against the provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) bills. The protest was started on 15 December 2019 and lasted until 24 March 2020. But we tolerated them--for more than four months, despite massive disruption and badmouthing of the government. Why? I think tolerance has seeped into our genes. More likely, it has always been a part of our DNA.

Living With the Taliban Next Door: The Indian Dilemma

The rapid takeover of Kabul by the Taliban after two decades of political exile signifies a total failure of the American experiment in installing democracy and western-style institutions in a seventh century feudalistic and Islamic society. This experiment cost the American government over two trillion dollars, two thousand five hundred American and NATO lives, and loss of face and identity as the world’s greatest superpower.

The vacuum created by the departure of American forces from Afghanistan was quickly filled up by the advancing fighters of the Taliban leading to schadenfreude in Beijing, Islamabad and Moscow. There were even scenes of celebration and bursting of crackers all over Pakistan accompanying the end of the American moment in Afghanistan. No matter how we look at it, the present situation is a source of extreme jubilation and satisfaction for Pakistan as it signifies the defeat of American intervention in Afghanistan at the hands of Pakistan-aided Taliban.

Pakistan has reaped enormous benefits by agreeing to be a partner to America in its global war on terror after 9/11, and earlier throughout the eighties as a conduit to the Mujahedin and for training other militant groups on Pakistani soil to fight the Soviet occupation forces in Afghanistan. To milk the American cow, Pakistan adopted the strategy of "running with the hares and hunting with the hounds". When it started to become clear that Pakistan was actually sabotaging the American war on terror by withholding vital information about the Taliban and its leader Osama bin Laden, it began to play the victim card by claiming that so many numbers of Pakistanis had lost their lives due to the ongoing war on terror.

It has been estimated that Pakistan siphoned off at least twenty billion dollars over the years by pretending to be a partner to America in its global war on terror, while the terror groups were all being nurtured and trained on Pakistani soil.

The deception of America by Pakistan still continues by using new tricks and traps. The success of the Taliban in capturing Kabul and other large cities within a matter of nine days, is due largely to the help and material support provided by the Pakistani establishment to the Taliban.

The war in Afghanistan began in 2001 after the Taliban (which was in power in Kabul at that time) refused to hand over Osama bin Laden to the United States for planning the attack on the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon on September 11, costing at least three thousand lives. It was supposed to be a swift operation to eliminate Osama and his Al Qaeda, but morphed into a nation-building exercise against all odds, in a moment of irrational exuberance.

It is not easy to predict what the revived Taliban’s behavior will be in its second avatar, but we can draw some conclusions based on past actions and present pronouncements (whatever they may be worth). The first Taliban rule during 1996-2001 was brutal and full of Islamic rhetoric. Sharia was the pivot on which rested crime and punishment. Reprisals and punishments were swift and cruel, and unimaginable in today’s world. Thieves who were caught stealing would have their hands chopped off, women who were accused (not proven guilty as yet) of adultery faced the death penalty by stoning.

Although the Taliban spokesmen have been saying recently that they will declare amnesty for all, and that they seek no vengeance against anybody, including Afghans who worked for the American forces such as translators and those who worked for the Afghan army, it is doubtful if they will keep their word.

As regards the equality of women, the Taliban spokesmen have been saying that women in Afghanistan will have rights “within Islamic law”, girls can go to girls’ school, and women can do jobs such as teaching girls, etc. At the same time, their spokesmen have also clarified that women will have to wear the burqa which covers their face completely. They will also not be allowed to come out of their homes without a male member of the family, such as their father or brother. Gender equality, eh?

Old proverbs and ageless quotations have the habit and strength to survive through good times and bad. The American withdrawal has led to the validation of an old cliché which describes Afghanistan as the graveyard of empires. The Americans forgot this old saying even though the Soviet Union had already suffered a similar fate back in 1988 after being in Afghanistan for ten years. In a way, Americans took over where the Soviets had left, after a gap of thirteen years.

The new Taliban regime means different things for different countries in the region. For China, Afghanistan’s fall is proof of American hubris. But the Taliban’s return to power raises the risk of extremist threats on its own doorstep. The Uighur minority in the South-west of China, and only a few hundred kilometers north of Afghanistan, might be emboldened by the Taliban’s return to power.

For Pakistan, the return of Taliban is a matter of extreme pride. It has visions of becoming a regional power in South Asia and dreams of bringing Afghanistan under its own sphere of influence through the Afghani Taliban, and with the active support and connivance of its all-weather ally, China. But it forgets that the Pakistani Taliban could derive strength from their Afghani counterparts and pose a serious threat to the government in Islamabad. Which way the Taliban will move—Pakistani government or Pakistani Taliban—is anybody’s guess. Moreover, Pakistan would like to use the Taliban to create disturbance and instability in Kashmir.

The country which has the most to worry from the Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan is India. It now has three enemies forming an “Axis of Evil” from the West to North-East. There can be no convergence of interests and warmth between a radical Islamic Taliban and a nationalist BJP government in India. Despite the great PR offensive launched by the Taliban to seek acceptance from the community of nations in the last few days, there is no doubt among governments that this is just an eyewash, and that the Taliban would go back to its old ways of fomenting unrest and terror. A moderate Taliban is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms.

India has been able to invest in Afghanistan’s future partially because of the presence of U.S.-led troops and the relative stability it brought. With that stability now gone and Taliban back in power, India needs to urgently reposition its priorities. Indian assets in Afghanistan have been targeted by the Haqqani group, a major Taliban faction in the past and there is no assurance that it would not happen again.

In my opinion, the Taliban’s reliance on Pakistan is unlikely to change anytime in the near future. Nevertheless, the cost to India of remaining distant from the new dispensation in Kabul would likely be much higher than the cost of engaging with them. Being more involved in international negotiations, and even agreeing to talk to certain sections of the Taliban as part of a broader diplomatic initiative, are options that India can no longer afford to disregard.

In conclusion, we can be sure that the Taliban coming back into power will definitely energize and embolden the hundreds of Islamic terror groups from Indonesia to Kashmir, and Somalia to Nigeria, even if the new regime in Kabul does not get involved directly in international terrorist activities for the time being.

The Consequences of American Withdrawal from Afghanistan

 As the American and NATO forces begin to withdraw from Afghanistan, there is an air of impending apocalypse now.  The return of foreign powers will be accompanied by an almost immediate meltdown of the civilian Afghan regime and by the end of this year we could see a regime change in Kabul. The new Taliban regime would be more extremist, more repressive, and more fundamentalist than their earlier regimes two decades ago. The Afghan army, trained and equipped by America, is no match for the battle-hardened Taliban forces who do not operate under any moral, ethical, or Geneva-type conventions. The Afghan army will burn their uniforms and go hiding in the mountain passes, Tajikistan, or another neighboring country. The American government should seriously consider the fate of their Afghan “collaborators” who will be quickly exterminated by Taliban. It is the moral obligation of America to save as many of these people as it can.

The entry of American forces in Afghanistan twenty years ago was not an altruistic action. It was a strategic move, in furtherance of American national interests, to defend America, to hunt down Osama bin Laden and to destroy ISIS, and it incorporated the collateral benefits of being able to keep one eye on (nuclear) Iran and the other on deception-filled Pakistan. The presence of Americans in the region has produced only one long-term success—the killing of Osama bin Laden inside the territory of Pakistan, its treacherous buddy. The withdrawal of America will result in the rebirth of ISIS, the Taliban, and a host of other extremist and terrorist groups. They will be able to freely roam through both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and pose a serious threat to Kashmir, as well as to India as a whole. India would need all its resources, luck, and new relationships such as The Quad to fight these forces of evil.

 The vacuum created by the departure of American and allied forces will suck in China, a country that is always ready to swoop down and take advantage of any opportunity that comes its way. By the end of this year, we can expect to see the birth of a new Axis-of-Evil comprising of China, the failed state of Pakistan, and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. This is not a far-fetched scenario, we will definitely see this regressive development in the coming months. What can India do to safeguard its interests? “Buckle Up” and prepare for the worst. The Islamic forces that are now beginning to gather at our doorstep to the northwest comprise of the extremists, terrorists, and jihadi groups. And then we have China which will now be able to threaten us from two fronts.  India will need to use all its political and diplomatic prowess to divert the aggression of terrorist and Jihadi groups in Afghanistan towards China, that would before the yearend be ensconced in Afghanistan, for the persecution of its Uighur minority suffering a few hundred miles to the north.

Election Commission of India to manage American Elections

While the world waits with a bated breath for an official announcement anointing Joe Biden as the next president of the United States, the government-in-waiting is seriously considering to outsource the job of conducting the U.S. elections to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ECI, it was noted, has been extremely successful in conducting elections in the world's most populous democracy, India, with an electorate of close to a billion people. The last time the ECI conducted national elections in India was in 2019, which returned the ruling BJP and its allies to power with a huge mandate and majority. The elections were conducted very professionally and efficiently, and there were no complaints or lawsuits, challenging election results. And this, despite the participation of hundreds of criminals and rogues, who all consider themselves PM-material in their self-assessment.

On the other hand, the recent American elections have resulted in lawsuits challenging not only the results but also the validity of its democratic processes. This has already happened before in the 2000 presidential elections resulting in the Bush vs. Gore lawsuit.

In view of the above, the American government-in-waiting as mentioned earlier, is thinking of outsourcing the job of election management to the Election Commission of India. The basis for this is not only the perceived mismanagement of elections in America, but also a realization that in order to compete globally, certain things must be left to those who can do them best. The success of globalization during the last three decades is in no small means due to the implementation of division of labor by global companies. A good example of putting this principle into practice is visible in the fact that major corporations and governments worldwide outsource their IT-related jobs and services to Indian IT companies.

I think the next American government realizes that if it wants to convert the Trumpian slogan "Make America Great Again" into reality, it will have to forget about another Trumpian promise of bringing back jobs to America, and outsource the thousands of jobs being done by Americans to the Election Commission of India.

You are fired, Donald Trump!

 "I'm not losing, I 'm being cheated."

As they say, "Every dog has his day." And, the day of reckoning has finally come for the greatest CONMAN of this century. He is not only a loser, he's a very angry and sore loser. He won't mind taking his country through another civil war, if he could. I can't help comparing him to Senator John McCain whom he called a 'loser' because he allowed himself to be captured during the Vietnam War. Trump can't bear to see anybody being respected because he himself doesn't respect anyone.

We all have our heroes. Have you ever heard Trump talk about his hero or idol? He has none. He is the ultimate hero. He is the greatest.

Mr. President, you're now fired. You have been certified by the American public as a 'loser'. You labelled John McCain, a real American hero, as a "loser". Your words will now come back to haunt you during your retirement, after being a one-term president.

Long Live Appeasement

When England and France finally declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939, disrupting a policy of appeasement towards Hitler, appeasement did not end there. Instead, it keeps rearing its ugly head from time to time and shows to the world that it remains a potent tool in the hands of weak and un-leader-like politicians who are unable to take a firm and principled stand on any issue. History is replete with examples of such leaders or kings who gradually lost their countries in the hope that by giving in to the seemingly modest demands of the bully they would be able to avoid war. But, it is not in the nature of bullies to be appeased. When their first demand is met, the bullies are emboldened to make their next demand, and so it goes on and on. There is no end.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, is a classic example of a weak politician who took the baton of appeasement from Neville Chamberlain within a decade of him (Chamberlain) laying it down reluctantly. Nehru’s appeasement of the British government and of Jinnah in the early forties, led to India’s partition and a permanent headache in the form of ‘Special Status for Kashmir under Article 370’ for generations of Indians. The repercussions of Nehru’s appeasement policy have kept India bogged down in a relentless faceoff with Pakistan, and provided an opportunity to Pakistan to hone its skills in waging and spreading global terror, since it cannot win a direct and conventional war with India.

Today, on June 26, 2020, I am seeing another Western leader, “Sleepy” Joe, as Donald Trump calls him, pick up the baton of appeasement and declare his full support for Islamists and Pakis by attacking the abrogation of Article 370, the CAA and NRC. It is hugely shocking that despite Mr. Biden having been in politics for more than half a century, he does not understand that by making such a statement, not only is he interfering in the internal affairs of India, he is also supporting a failed and terrorist state of Pakistan, and siding with a country that helped bring about the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. He is supporting a country that has always milked the United States of tens of billions of dollars during the long period of America’s War on Terror, by playing the double game of “running with the hares, and hunting with the hounds”. And, when President Obama was in the ‘War Room’ of the White House directing and watching the United States’ mission to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan where he was being hidden by that treacherous country, did you fall asleep “Sleepy” Joe? Or have you been sleeping throughout the frustration-filled years of your one-way alliance with Pakistan? Have you slept through the seventy years of free India’s history during which your friend Pakistan has waged a proxy war on the world’s largest democracy, India, wherein its terrorists, jihadis, infiltrators, ISI, and the regular army have conducted non-stop warfare/shelling killing three or four people almost every day along or inside our border.

What is most shocking about this act of appeasement, is the fact that despite America being the land of immigrants where millions of people come to escape persecution and genocide, the president-in-waiting of this great nation sees fit to oppose India’s parliamentary passage of the CAA and NRC bills, the main purpose of which is to give citizenship and home to the persecuted (bordering on genocide) minorities in Pakistan and other Islamic countries.

Do Us a Favour, Mr. Kejriwal

I am writing to you, Mr. Kejriwal, because you have taken a number of bold initiatives to improve the living conditions of the common man during the last five years in Delhi. But we need to do much more since the previous governments have done precious little or nothing for our citizens.

Allow me to clarify, Sir. I have been living in Japan for over forty years, and I teach at Nihon University. During this period, I have had the opportunity to visit a government office for about 12-15 times to get a tax certification, new car registration, my signature or stamp certificate, and to register the acquisition of a new property.  Most of these things can be done at a local government 'ward office' (the interface between people and government) which may not be more than four or five kilometers away from anyone's residence. None of these tasks takes more than five minutes to do. When you leave the ward office after five minutes, you have the certificate or document in your pocket. Moreover, you can send your proxy to get this job done. You don't need to carry any document from your home to the ward office. Every document is there--in the government's vast data network. This is accessible from every ward office. Please note that the citizen is never asked to bring any previous receipt or document. It is the job of the government to check against its vast database that the statements made by the citizen are correct. As a citizen, I don't have to get my statements, documents and affidavits attested by a third person, because none of this nonsense is required to be carried. We in India make arrogant and pompous statements about our achievements; perhaps we should learn something from this little country, Japan. One thing we surely need to learn is to trust our own citizens, that, unless proven otherwise, he/she must be presumed to be telling the truth.

Now, back to Greater Kailash, New Delhi , where I spent my childhood and where I grew up and went to school. Why is it that whatever steps our governments take, whatever policies they make, nothing really seems to work.  Lots of new schemes are started with much fanfare, but the result is hardly visible. I can't even enjoy a walk to the market because there is no space on the sidewalk as cars are parked in all places. Everywhere in Greater Kailash, it looks like a huge junkyard of cars, leaving no space for people to walk. Similarly, the government's efforts in providing the two most essential things in life--clean air and water, leave much to be desired. Like fifty years ago, there is still only one hour of running water in the morning and one hour in the evening. If I do not get up at 6:00 in the morning and switch on the water motor to take water to the storage tank on the roof, that day becomes a dry day.

I applied to the DDA in March to get our house converted from leasehold to freehold. It has been six months and we are still nowhere. Finally, I got a letter from the DDA asking me to produce a 'No Dues' certificate from the co-op housing society. This certificate had already been submitted along with a host of other documents, some dating back to the early seventies. I mean, this is a joke. The DDA website proclaims that the process of application has been simplified and people can expect to get their work done really fast, and can even monitor the progress online. Well, I can actually monitor my file on the DDA website, except that there is no progress and the site shows the file has been sent to the Cooperative Societies Dept., where it is still languishing since March. The DDA took conversion charges of over six lakhs at the time of application. I have tried to follow up by going to the DDA many times, but these people are from another planet. We cannot communicate. They not only refuse to understand, they usually are outright rude or hostile to everyone, including me, a senior citizen.

Mr. Kejriwal, I know you started your political career on the promise of ridding the government of corruption and to provide a clean and citizen-friendly government. You have done a few things for the poor which I fully support. How about the middle-class people of Delhi who regularly face harassment from government bodies such as the DDA?

I know that a majority of flats/houses in Delhi are on a lease, and thereby cause considerable stress to owners. People want to convert their properties to freehold but the process and harassment by DDA/LDA is daunting and scares people away. As a person who does not shy away from taking such initiatives, I wish to suggest that as the CM of Delhi, you promulgate an ordinance stating the Delhi government is opening a window for three months wherein people who wish to get their properties converted to freehold can do so from 1 October to 31 December 2019 at a considerable discount. Property-owners can go to any PSU bank with their lease deed and a copy thereof, and pay conversion charges at the rate of Rs. 500 per square yard/meter for plots/houses, and a similarly worked out plan for leased flats. The PSU bank official can calculate the amount to be paid by looking at the lease deed which shows the actual area of plot/flat. The copy of the lease deed can be attached to the copy of the Freehold Payment Challan so generated and sent to the concerned government department by the bank. Life can be simple, like here in Japan, if you make it so.

The people of Delhi would be ever grateful to you for doing this, and will raise your stature to the level of a hero or a game-changer. If you announce this scheme in the next two weeks, you will surely be voted-in for a second time with a massive majority like the BJP government was in May of this year. Please keep it simple, Mr. Kejriwal.

The people in our democracy do not elect their representatives so that they can go and live in multi-acre palatial houses in Lutyens Delhi. They elect their representatives so that they can terminate the trappings of the imperial raj, democratize the babus and the bureaucracy, enhance the quality of life of everyone, and create conditions for a holistic development of society.

Thank you very much, Sir, for your kind attention to this issue.

Nichidai Bloggers students of Satish Tandon

Today is the last day of Spring semester at Nihon University. On Monday, July 29, I am going to fly back to New Delhi to be with my mother. I will spend four weeks in Delhi, however, it will be really hot. I will share with you some information about New Delhi on my return to Tokyo. Enjoy your vacation.

Brutal and inhuman killings continue in Kashmir

I find it extremely reprehensible that while the Pakistan army and Kashmiri separatists continue to kill or behead our brothers in Kashmir and other border areas on a daily basis, we not only don't feel the pain but continue to play cricket with them as if nothing has happened. Will I play cricket with my neighbor if he has just killed my brother. Why do our armed forces and the police have to put their lives on the line and bear the brunt of an unjust proxy war far away from home, family and friends while Bollywood stars are busy inviting and partying with Pakistani actors. At the same time, the whole nation itself seems to be enjoying the game of cricket far from the killing fields in Kashmir.

For seventy years now, Pakistan has been waging a proxy war against India. Almost every day 2 or 3 policemen, jawans, or civilians are killed by Pakis or Paki-sponspored terrorists and/or Kashmiri separatists. What are you doing Mr. Modi? Why did you invite Nawaz Sharif to your innauguration three years ago? Why did you drop in uninvited at Lahore on your way back from Kabul? Did you think that Pakistani mindset will change by making such gestures? Or, did you think that their unending hostility towards India will simply end. No Sir, Pakistan cannot be reformed and its stated policy of wresting Kashmir from India by fomenting trouble in the valley will never end. Pakistanis are like a dog whose tail you can put in a straight pipe for 10 years, but when you remove the pipe the tail will immediately go back to its curve. Even if you give them Kashmir on a platter, they will come back again and ask for Agra, Meerut, Moradabad, and so on. Don't kid yourself Mr. Modi, you should know better. Don't just show your teeth. Use them for what they are intended.

The BJP's inaction against Pakistan, contrary to the image of strength projected by the party, gave us Kargil during Mr. Vajpayee's tenure. Your inaction, Mr. Modi, is dragging us into a situation from which it would be almost impossible to extricate ourselves. Your overtures and gestures only make us look weak, and our inaction in response to daily nonstop provocations only emboldens the despicable Pakistani regime to further broaden the scope of their attacks. Pakistan is a failed state, and the hub of terrorism. India needs to learn from Israel--its policy of "if you kill one of us, we will kill one hundred" seems to work in the Middle East. Our nonviolence and restraint will only beget us greater violence, for these people do not understand the language of peace, in spite of Islam being the so-called "religion of peace".

India Goes to the Polls

The just-concluded national elections in India represent the hopes and aspirations of 1.2 billion, or one in six people living on our planet earth.

India is the world’s largest democracy, and the most complex. More than any other country, India represents a diversity of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and regional mix of people who exercise their democratic right to elect their government every few years.

Sometimes they get what they want, mostly they fail. Democracy gets hijacked by professional politicians, thugs, criminals and absentee landlords who spare no effort to ensure that people’s will is not reflected in the final outcome.

The new government has its work cut out for it—thanks to years of drift, extremely high level of corruption and lack of accountability. The issues of greatest concern which the new government will need to address immediately can be categorized in simple economic terms— on the supply side and on the demand side.

Governance deficit

The most important issue on the supply side is lack of governance. Governments are elected to provide governance. If they are unable to govern, as has been the case with the current UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government of Manmohan Singh, they have no moral right to remain in power.
All that he and his team have been keen on, so it appears, is to continue enjoying the perks of office without doing their job.

Troublingly, there has been very little governance in India even during the best of times, but the Manmohan Singh government has broken all records of non-governance (if there can be such a term) and drift. A new government, likely under the leadership of Narendra Modi, is expected to cap this governance deficit.

Corruption wherever you look

The second-most important issue before the new government will be corruption. It is widely believed that India is one of the most, if not the most, corrupt countries in the world. Left unchecked for too long by successive Indian governments, corruption has now seeped down to each and every level of society.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that corruption has become a part of our DNA. And yet, there were massive protests across India against corruption during 2011-12. These protests ultimately led to the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party (Common People’s Party), which swept to power in the local New Delhi elections four months ago, before it was forced to resign for lack of support on the floor of the assembly.

According to official statistics, the size of the Indian economy is approaching the $2 trillion level. According to an IMF report, World Economy Outlook, published in April 2013, the Indian GDP for the financial year 2012 was $1.8 trillion and was expected to be $1.9 trillion for the financial year ended 2013-2014.

The other economy

But there is another economy — the underground economy or black money, which is believed to be at least the size of the official economy, or even larger.

This is the money generated by corruption, money taken by politicians, money saved by not paying taxes, and money stolen from numerous government funds and projects like NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and the Food Security Bill, launched in 2013.

Most of this money is siphoned away to offshore bank accounts in Switzerland or Mauritius. Any new Indian government must institute adequate measures to tackle corruption and restore probity in public life.

It’s the infrastructure deficit, stupid

The infrastructure deficit is the third-most important problem that needs attention. India simply does not have the highways, the fast and efficient train network, ports and airports that any modern economy needs. As a result, it cannot handle the ever-increasing movement of goods and people from one part of the country to another.

In this area too, Mr. Modi’s commitment to create jobs and development projects will provide the vision and guidance to move in the right direction. And it will provide a benchmark, against which he must deliver — and will be evaluated against.

No discourse on contemporary India is complete without looking at the issue of gender. On the one hand, we have made great progress in achieving equality among the sexes. That is evident if one looks at the number of women who occupy important positions of status and power both in the public and private sectors.

On the other hand, crimes against women and girls continue to rise, largely due to government apathy and bureaucratic lethargy. The new government must act to ensure respect for women, and quick dispensation of justice for crimes against women.

What the Congress Party has wrought

The hopes and aspirations of the silent majority, over 800 million Indians whom development has bypassed, constitute the demand side of the Indian polity. Sixty years of governments headed by Congress — and hence its quasi monopoly on political power — has left this huge segment of the population earning less than 2 dollars a day.

For all the warm words spoken over the decades by the Gandhi clan, two-thirds of India’s population still waits for water, food, electricity, basic education and access to health/medical services.

This marginalized majority of the population and its conveniently overlooked needs are also part of democratic India. For too long, these people have only been the footnotes of Indian democracy, treated like vote-delivering herds of cattle . Come election time, and these vote banks are approached by professional politicians. The poor are the repositories of power.

Having got what they need, the politicians then do the disappearing act, and what remains visible until next election time is their arrogance. It’s a tragic dance ritual really: First, they cast their vote to elect the very representatives who then officially become their persecutors for the next five years.

Will it be different this time? One can only hope so. Decades of neglect and exploitation, dashed hopes and broken promises may finally bring about a rejection of the monopolizing, self-appropriating elites and dynastic families from the Indian political landscape.

U.S.-Japan: A Difficult Alliance

U.S.-Japan: A Difficult Alliance

A Maid and Her Mistress

The recent spat between India and the United States over the arrest and humiliation of India’s deputy counsel in New York, Dr. Devyani Khobragade, threatens to create a wedge between the two (normally friendly) democracies. The Indian foreign service official was arrested and handcuffed last week in New York on charges of forging her maid’s visa forms and underpaying her in contravention of American law.

Interestingly, the person being charged for exploitation of a domestic worker and her right to a minimum wage, is herself from the 'exploited' classes, the so-called dalit or untouchables of India. Fifty years ago, neither she nor her father would have been able to rise to the status and position that they have been able to attain if it were not for the minotity-friendly and affirmative action policies of the government of India.

While the charge against Ms. Khobragade of paying her Indian maid less than the minimum wages may be true, it still does not warrant the rough treatment meted out to her in full public view. As is quite common in India, It is possible that the diplomat had assumed responsibility to pay for her maid’s air ticket for travel to the United States, to send money to the maid’s parents every month, or to help the maid in any other way. I personally know several people who not only spent tens of thousands of rupees at the time of the wedding of their servant’s daughter, they actually made it possible. Minimum hourly wage is not everything in India - domestic workers can, and do, get compensated in so many other ways. Many people consider it their duty to provide their domestic servant with additional means so as to enable him to send his child to a good school. If the United States law enforcement authorities were not aware of this social context, then, yes, the Indian diplomat may have broken the law.

On the other hand, there are numerous incidents of American diplomats or servicemen flouting host country laws, rules and customs. Just 3 weeks ago, a huge quantity of cocaine worth 50 million dollars was discovered on a beach in Yokosuka, close to the American base.

A U.S. Department of State diplomat and her husband tricked an Ethiopian woman into accompanying them as their domestic servant to Japan in 2009 on a promise of 300 dollars monthly salary, where they held her virtually as a prisoner in their home and forced her to work for them for less than $1 per hour and where the husband repeatedly raped the woman with his diplomat wife’s consent. A Virginia federal judge awarded the victim $3.3 million in damages on a default judgment against the couple. The diplomat retired from the State Department with full pension and then fled the country.

A few years ago in Tokyo, the (US) embassy paid-for-dormitory for domestics (so they did not have to live with their diplomatic masters) was found full of women not connected with the embassy, some of whom were prostituting themselves on and out of U.S. government property. The public restroom just outside the dorm was a known quickie spot for night time taxi drivers looking for sex. Things were handled nice and quietly by State and the usually compliant Japanese government (MOFA), and the story stayed out of the news and out of the taxpayers’ attention.

Harold Countryman, along with his spouse Kimberly, was a U.S. diplomat assigned to Seoul, Korea. Before leaving the country, he and his wife hired a Cambodian woman to work for them in the U.S. Harold falsified the necessary U.S. visa application to get the Cambodian woman into the U.S., falsely claiming he would pay her minimum wage. Instead, once in the U.S., the Countrymans “Held her passport,” says Chuck Rosenberg, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Her wages came out to roughly a dollar an hour.” The woman was berated and sometimes assaulted. She was not allowed to leave the Countrymans’ house. Luckily, a neighbor noticed something wrong and called the cops, who luckily took it all seriously. This story has a semi-happy ending of sorts: The couple pleaded guilty to visa fraud, and are paying the Cambodian woman $50,000 in restitution. Harold Countryman, the diplomat, only received probation, however.

For a detailed account of the three cases cited above, and further analysis, please click here. Mr. Preet Bharara, the overzealous US Justice Department prosecutor, may not yet have joined his current employer when all this was happening.

And, what about other federal security and information-gathering agencies and their officials? Who in this world would not have been amused by the fact of NSA wiretapping Auntie Angela Merkel’s cellphone, presumably to eavesdrop on her conversations with Monsieur Sarkozy, causing jealousy to Uncle Sam. Your NSA is just “like the STASI”, she 'lovingly' complained to President Obama recently.

I used to think that the values, such as the right to freedom and equality, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, etc., enshrined in the U.S. Constitution are universal. I did not know that these values are for the protection of Americans only, and become tools for prosecution of non-Americans. I now recall the greatest American announcement since the venerable Monroe Doctrine, almost two hundred years later, “If you are not with us, you are against us.” Like Iran and some Arab countries who refuse to recognize the existence of Israel, America refuses to understand that there are other, older, countries and social systems that have been around for five thousand years, and where things may be done in a slightly different fashion.

While I do not wish to defend the concept of domestic labor in India, the fact remains that poverty in rural India forces millions of people (mostly teenagers) to migrate to towns and cities in search of jobs. When these people arrive, they are invariably raw - innocent, illiterate (can’t even write their own name), unskilled, starving and vulnerable - and since they have neither an address nor an identity, few people will open the doors to their hearts and homes for them. In these circumstances, the most they can aspire to is a domestic job, and that too if somebody is willing to place their trust in them. Howsoever hard or bad, a job means a roof over the head, free food, clothes and medicine, and a regular monthly salary (most of which is sent back home to take care of siblings). NGO’s and other social activists routinely criticize the prevalence of child labor, but they seem to overlook the fact that in the absence of education and job opportunities in rural India, if these persons did not have a domestic job, their siblings and parents would most likely starve.

There are no statistics available anywhere to make a statement one way or the other about how domestic helpers are treated by their employers. But from personal observation by visiting homes of family members and friends in India, I noticed that in most homes domestic servants looked reasonably happy and cheerful, and willing to engage in simple conversation. Only in 1 place did I find some tell-tale signs of ill-treatment of the servant. As the economy continues to grow and expand in India, I see strong evidence of the working of the principle of supply and demand as regards domestic labor in India. Every year i go back to my home in New Delhi for my holidays, and find a new face. When I ask what happened to the previous maid/servant, I learn that the maid left because she got a better offer from another place. Some of the helpers who once worked at my home have moved on and up the economic ladder and have become shop assistants or ordinary office employees.

There are all sorts of situations, and, as everywhere, there are good employers and there are bad employers. Generally speaking, a stint of a few years as domestic help does provide an opportunity to workers to polish themselves and their skills, and better articulate their hopes and aspirations.

One friend with whom I was discussing this situation said that India must reciprocate its friendly feelings to the United States. He suggested:

Indian immigration officials should welcome the fatherly Mr. George H.W. Bush (if he visits India in the near future) in the immigration area and frisk him. This is in response to the frisking conducted on the former president of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 80, at New York’s JFK airport when he visited United States in September 2011.

My favorite Ms. Condoleeza Rice, the former US Secretary of State, should also get special treatment in the immigration area when she visits India next time. She should be body- and cavity-searched. This is in return for the kindness shown to the former Foreign Affairs Minister of India, Mr. George Fernandez, who was strip-searched by officers of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service at Dulles Airport when he arrived for an official visit in early 2002, and again, in 2003, when he was passing through the U.S. on his way to Brazil.

We all love Richard Gere, the handsome guy who got ‘my’ “Pretty Woman”, but he must be seriously searched and re-searched when he visits India next time to see the Dalai Lama. Poor Richard… do you know what your fellow actor (the Bollywood king), Shah Rukh Khan, went through in April 2012, when he was stopped at New York airport for over two hours by immigration officials after arriving from India in a private plane to address students at Yale University?

‘India slams U.S. habit of detaining Shah Rukh Khan’ was the headline carried by The Hindu, in which it reported the complaint filed by the Government of India, stating that the apology offered by the American government for a previous detention of Shah Rukh Khan in 2009 was nothing but mechanical.

The actor himself made light of his detention, tweeting that “whenever I start feeling arrogant about myself, I visit USA. The immigration guys kick the star out of stardom.”

Not everybody is as magnanimous as Shah Rukh Khan. Many of my friends from Europe (original Europeans, not immigrants or Muslims) in the aftermath of 9/11 stopped going to the United States after experiencing similarly humiliating treatment at the hands of U.S. immigration officials.

In the light of incidents as described above continuing to occur, it is easy to understand the anger mounting in India against such behavior. And yet, there is no sign of an apology, not even an assurance. All we get is this: “American law enforcement did what they are supposed to do. No rules were broken. Charges against Khobragade will not be dropped.”

In bilateral relations, if one side continues to be adamant and consumed in its own greatness, there is precious little the other side can do. Still, a decision by India to quietly recall the diplomat followed by a new posting to another country, rather than transferring her to India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, might have been the path of least conflict. It would have also shown India’s maturity and statesmanship in international relations.

Going Backwards in Japan

When I came to Japan 35 years ago, this country seemed the most equitable and egalitarian place in the world. Unemployment was negligible and illiteracy was non-existent. Everybody was entitled to, and had, health insurance. The gap between the rich and poor was not so big — and most people believed they were happy with their lives.

The highest-paid person in a company, such as the president or chairman, received no more than 10-12 times the salary of the lowest paid employee. Most Japanese therefore felt satisfied with their lives. Not anymore.

Over the last two decades, Japanese employers have reshaped the employment landscape by making every third employee “non-regular.” (This trend is, arguably, a special “gift” from the United States, via consulting firms such as McKinsey and other cost-cutting HR specialists.) These “non-regular” employees include contract, part-time seasonal workers and day laborers.

This new category of workers does not receive any benefits such as medical, pension, paid leave and social security, to which “regular” employees in most sectors of the economy are entitled. Nor is there a guarantee of continuing employment.

A contingent workforce as a country’s backbone?

According to data released recently by the Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the number of Japanese working on non-regular or part-time basis reached 38.2% of the workforce. Expressed another way, the number of Japanese who do not have regular employment surpassed 20 million in 2012.

Furthermore, the average annual wages of non-regular workers is only 1.6 million yen (about $16,400 or €11,900), compared to 4.6 million yen ($47,000 or €34,200) earned by regular employees. In other words, the non-regular workers make only one-third of what the regular employees earn.

The difference of 3 million yen in average annual earnings translates across the economy to 60 trillion yen, the amount by which 20 million non-regular workers are being short-changed annually. Say goodbye to a system that was equitable and among the fairest in the world!

Say goodbye, also, to a society that has been cohesive, caring and at peace with itself. These 20 million people are seeing a Japan that is different from what their parents saw, and they feel cheated.

Demographic consequences

They are delaying getting into relationships, postponing getting married if at all, and not having children. According to figures from a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office, the population of Japan fell 0.22% compared to last year. This represents a decrease of 284,000 in its population so far this year. It has been estimated that the population of Japan will continue to shrink, and by 2060 it will be 80 million (down from about 126 million now).

It had been previously explained that the shift away from regular employment was mostly due to the individual attitudes of young people, raised in affluence during the boom years before the bursting of the economic bubble. These people were called “freeters” — and it wasn’t necessarily a derogatory term. Rather, being a “freeter” almost seemed fashionable or the ‘in’ thing to do during the mid-1990s.

Only later, as this trend exploded and started to affect employees of all ages, and across all categories, did it become clear that the shift towards non-regular workers was universal. It had been fueled by employers trying to reduce personnel costs — rather than the beginning of a new social trend.

Consumption problems

Mr. Abe’s “Three Arrows” are pointed at various things. However, the regular/non-regular (workers) divide is not among the targets. Paul Krugman once said, with good reason, that the problem which plagues the Japanese economy is the problem of consumption.

I don’t see how you can increase domestic consumption if you have yourself created a class of workers, 20 million strong, who earn two-thirds less than the regulars, who have no entitlements or benefits — and who live mostly hand to mouth.

The second half of the 20th century was remarkable in that most countries of the developed world were motivated, and able to create, societies that are caring and equitable. They were driven by a genuine concern for happiness and human welfare.

It is unfortunate that, during its two lost decades, Japan began to move in the opposite direction by diluting the meaning of a “Just Society.” And we must worry about one more thing – that, rather than being the outlier, it is showing other major nations the way “forward.”

Social developments in the United States are such that it increasingly exhibits traits of the Japanese disease with bifurcating society into a regular and a largely contingent workforce. Statistically, the two countries aren’t far apart any longer, especially considering that social benefits in the United States were never that generous to begin with.

And post-crisis Europe, in turn, is also exhibiting ever more elements of the Japanese-American disease.

Pakistan, our Neighbour

Since yesterday, the television news channels in India have been full of visuals of the return of five Indian soldiers from Kashmir, massacred by Pakistani troops. One can see throngs of people who went to receive them, and to accompany them on their final journey. There is a real anger among Indians that is directed at the Pakistanis for their unending, relentless and unprovoked killings of Indian soldiers, as well as at our own pro-Pak government for continuing to take this nonsense from a rogue, despicable, and terrorist country.

Pakistan is a failed state, and given its past conduct vis-à-vis India during the last sixty years, there is absolutely no reason for India to engage with Pakistan. In fact, it is most surprising that India should even wish for improved relations with Pakistan.

As everybody knows, Pakistan has been waging a proxy war against India ever since Independence. Its war against India is not based on any principle or a justifiable belief in something higher—such as democracy vs. dictatorship, liberal vs. reactionary, or free market vs. communist. In fact, Pakistan itself is the epitome of all that is evil and abhorrent. Instead of being thankful or grateful to India for having had the opportunity of being exposed to a higher culture and ancient civilization, it just wants to continue to belittle India, kill as many Indians as it can without any provocation, foment trouble between India and its minorities, and grab whatever land it can by its regular military incursions. At best, Pakistan’s conduct can only be described as disgusting.

It suits Pakistan perfectly well to wage a proxy war against India. Proxies are the acts of cowards, it enables them to breach borders surreptitiously, attack from behind, kill and kidnap, and escape under the cover of darkness. According to government figures, this has happened more that 180 times in the last three years.

Like a true coward, Pakistan denies any involvement in these crimes when protests are lodged by the Indian government. It is not possible to win against an enemy when it is waging a proxy war, and when the enemy state has given a free reign to its armed forces to bomb, kill or kidnap without being accountable to anybody. If the Indian government is serious about defending its territory and people it must give a free hand to its military to respond in whatever way it sees fit. We cannot defeat terrorism by ignoring terrorist acts. We cannot wish it away.

Antony should be tried for treason

Yet again, the Pakistani troops crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir today and butchered five Indian soldiers manning a border post, well within Indian territory.  This follows another incident on 8 January, when Pakistani troops attacked and beheaded one Indian soldier, and killed another. What is the Indian government doing about it?

Hours after this incident, the Defense Minister of India made a statement to the Parliament that “the ambush was carried out by approximately 20 heavily-armed terrorists along with persons dressed in Pakistan army uniform”, while an Army spokesman had earlier said, “soldiers from Pakistan Army” were involved.  We should ‘salute’ our Defense Minister for absolving the Pakis of this heinous crime by pointing a finger at the Pakistan-based terrorists. The Parliament was justifiably furious, and saw through the game being played by the government (of appeasing Pakistan), and at which it (the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty) has over a half century of experience.



Our Defense Minister’s utterances truly reflect the wishes of his master (or rather, mistress). Back in March he had also made a statement in Parliament regarding the facts surrounding the beheading of an Indian soldier by intruding Pak troops on 8 January, that "terrorists affiliated to LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad were involved in the attack".  At that time too, he did not name the Pakistan Army.

Mr. A.K. Antony is either a Paki agent in the Indian Government or he is a traitor. In either case, he deserves to be tried for treason and, if found guilty, appropriately punished.

Mr. Abe's Three Arrows Need Course Adjustment

Many Japanese appear to be excited about the spending spree on which the government seems ready to embark after the upper house elections in July. I clearly remember that similar actions by previous governments did not produce the desired results. To the contrary, those stimulus  packages just left the Japanese people deeper in debt, a debt which now stands at one thousand trillion yen. There is a real risk that when Mr. Abe fires his ‘Three Arrows’, the economy might be hurt rather than being strengthened. It is awfully strange that in an age of rockets and guided missiles, Mr. Abe is thinking of shooting arrows.

In regards to the stimulus package of over 10 trillion yen loaded in Mr. Abe’s 2nd Arrow, it is doubtful it will hit its target of generating 2 percent growth over the next 10 years. This approach was tried many times during the last two decades by previous governments but did not show much in terms of results. In the past, the stimulus had been used to tear up roads that were in perfect condition and re-surfaced again, creating widespread traffic jams and inconvenience for all. Moreover, this kind of expenditure does not benefit anybody except the construction industry, which is rumored to have strong links to the ruling LDP politicians. It is also not productive. If the government must resort to Keynesian economics, I suggest a different approach which will be not only productive but also address problems associated with the onset of a greying society, and raise the standards of Japanese housing to the level prevalent in the United States and OECD countries.

My first suggestion is that the government should embark on building new and better hospitals, old peoples’ homes, and care centers. One in four Japanese is over 65 years old, and the number of senior citizens is projected to increase to about 38 percent of the population by 2050. We must move now to build the infrastructure needed by the greying society in their twilight years. The building of this infrastructure would generate significant business and new employment opportunities, and would pay for itself over a period of time.

My second suggestion is that in place of tearing up roads which are still in good enough condition and re-surfacing them--which seems to me an exercise in futility--the government should embark on a target of building 1 million new apartments over a 10-year period, i.e., one hundred thousand new apartments to be built every year. The purpose of this is to provide ordinary Japanese an opportunity to experience and start a higher standard of living, out of the so-called ‘rabbit hutches’ of the past and into the modern, affluent lifestyle of citizens of a modern, post-industrial society. These apartments should be built all over Japan, especially in all major cities, in sizes of 50, 100, and 150 square meters for singles, couples, and families. They should be made available at the price of one thousand yen per square meter per month, in Class A cities like Tokyo and Osaka, and at lesser cost in smaller cities. Thus, a family can enjoy living in a spacious apartment of 150 square meters in Tokyo/Osaka for JPY150,000 per month. When people move to live in these bigger apartments, they will also buy new, or bigger, furniture, curtains, refrigerators, and wide screen television sets, thus raising consumption and giving a boost to the economy. This investment in public works will also pay for itself, by rental income received, over a period of 20-30 years.

The problem with Japan is that its economy is based on exports, and if its exports are no longer growing so also not is the economy. The last two decades have witnessed little  growth in exports and this is reflected in the stagnation of the Japanese economy. To convert Japan’s economy from one based on exports to an economy geared towards creating and fulfilling domestic demand, should be one of the main targets of Mr. Abe’s third arrow aimed at structural reform.

It is no secret that Japan needs to increase domestic consumption. But this is becoming increasingly difficult as Japanese consumers are wary of spending in view of the uncertain economic landscape. Moreover, the number of people with reasonably high disposable income has been declining with the sharp increase in the number of temporary or non-regular workers. According to government figures, there is now one temporary worker for every two who are employed full-time. These workers earn meagre salaries, are not entitled to medical or other benefits, have no job security, and mostly live hand-to-mouth. They simply do not have the wherewithal to increase their level of consumption. Many of these workers don’t even marry, or marry late, in view of their marginalized existence.

A few years ago when Mr. Aso was the prime minister, he had promised to create 1.6 million new jobs, mostly by converting part-time workers to full-time. This needs to be done on an urgent basis, due to both economic and ethical reasons. Having a happy, satisfied, and fully-employed workforce is the shortest way to economic recovery and increased consumption. Why do we forget that consumption began to decline in the nineties as part-time/temporary employment started to rise.

If somebody has been continuously employed in a certain position as a temp or part-time worker for at least 5 years, it can be argued that his organization has a continuing need for that job and that incumbent. It can also be argued that this person is being exploited by his organization because by classifying that job as temporary or part-time, the employer can get away without paying him adequate wages, social security, and other standard benefits. I can say with certainty that this situation persists in most sectors of the economy. In the field of education, most universities continue to hire teaching faculty on a part-time basis even though many of these adjunct teachers have been teaching for more than 10 years. The result of such practices is that an unskilled worker in another sector who is on full-time employment may be making more money than our educators. My point here is that we need to have an approach that is people-centered. Governments are elected by the people, and they exist for the people.  It is high time the government begins to safeguard the interests of people (who elected it) rather than furthering the interests of big business only.

In my opinion, the Japanese economy need not remain in its current deflationary state since a majority of the workforce continues to be disciplined, hardworking, and loyal to the employer. With right policies, with a shift in emphasis from industry to people and from increasing exports to improving infrastructure for its senior citizens, Japan can come out  of its two lost decades and dazzle the world yet again.

Face of India

Some people are so dumb they never learn. Our decision-makers in the Union Government are a good example of this. Time after time, the government has been caught on the wrong foot. Most Indians will remember how, earlier this year, our leaders tried to prevent the public from assembling and demonstrating—first time during the incident involving Baba Ramdev, and second time involving the protest march of Anna Hazare soon thereafter. Both times the government underestimated the extent of public support in favor of the two protests, and resultantly had to bite the bullet. But did they learn anything?

This time around, the public anger against the government had grown many times greater compared to earlier in the year, what with the unending rise in prices and the ever-increasing number of scams by government ministers. One can go on and on, but the fact is that we suffer from a “governance deficit”. It seems everybody, from police to politicians to judges, is busy making money. So, when demonstrators began to assemble in central Delhi nobody understood the gravity of the situation. Nobody from government came to talk, pacify, or placate the protestors. Instead, they were warned not to assemble.

Having seen the tremendous public anger and outrage on the streets, the same decision-makers are now paying their respects to the gang rape victim, whose body came back from Singapore yesterday. They are talking about doing something for the protection of women. But talk is cheap and is almost always intended to score political points and to save one’s skin. Similar assurances were given earlier this year, in similar circumstances, in connection with the passage of the Lokpal Bill. In India rules are enacted to allow exceptions, and promises are made to be broken.

Shame on India

A 23-year old medical student who was repeatedly raped and severely beaten by a gang of six men 2 weeks ago has finally succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore where she had been brought for treatment. This heinous crime was committed in a moving bus on New Delhi roads in broad daylight.

Criminal behavior is not a trait exclusive to a particular ethnic group, society, or country. We all have the animal in us which is kept in check either by good upbringing, self-control, or fear of punishment. As it is difficult to ensure that everyone is brought up to a certain minimum common standard of moral and ethical behavior, the fear and rule of law is required to ensure compliance with social norms and conduct. In India, we have plenty of laws to cover almost every situation, but no rule of law; we have the law maintenance authority i.e., the police whose members believe they are the law; and we have a supposedly independent judiciary but no delivery of justice for even 15 to 20 years after a case comes to court. Moreover, we have our politicians who are not accountable to us who elected them, not accountable to anyone else, and not even accountable to God because they are themselves God. They cannot do any wrong because they never do anything except lining their pockets, and grabbing every opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. They never quit, resign, or retire from office--and if they do, they make sure that their offspring inherit their position and power. They are the new Indian maharajas, only worse. Even when a scam is discovered and exposed by the media, the politicians involved are neither convicted nor sentenced. This is the strongest encouragement to the criminally-inclined person to go ahead with the planned illegal activity since the chance of being discovered, arrested, and convicted is slim. If our leaders can do anything and get away unscathed, why can't I?

It is not only the six rapists, the ineffective police and judiciary, nor the despicable Indian politicians who are to blame for this unspeakable crime against humanity. All of us Indians should peep inside ourselves and ask what we could have done, but did not do, to avoid this fate that has befallen upon us. If Pakistan is known around the world as a country that gives a free reign to terrorists, India is in danger of being identified as a country of rapists, scamsters, and corrupt politicians. This despite the fact that at an individual level many Indians have earned a solid reputation universally in the academia, entrepreneurship, information technology, and other areas.

The son of our newly-installed president, and a member of Indian parliament due to his father's position,  called the women demonstators "dented and painted" women who have nothing better to do. The police or the government, instead of listening to the demonstrators and ensuring them of immediate remedial action, tried to stop them from assembling and when that did not work, used lathi-charge (violence) to disperse them. Our prime minister, the puppet, remained silent as usual. The Italian puppeteer, a woman herself, seems too busy grooming her son to take the position of the puppet next year after democratic-looking elections. The remaining members of the government are all sycophants and hangars-on who owe their positions to, and hang from threads held by, the great puppeteer. Was she imposed on us by Italy? No, we ourselves gave this mantle to 'Our Fair Lady'. Did you expect anything better?

If you agree with my reasoning, please forward this to people who might wish to know the truth behind the sorry state of affairs in India.