Anna Hazare and Corruption: Afew different aspects

Is Anna Hazare’s tirade against corruption justified? I think yes. He has helped ignite all the repressed ire of the middle class workers in India, and as is given his movement’s backbone lies in the strength of unity amongst these middle-class people, who are frustrated, disgusted, and plain fed-up of the prevailing system of bribery. It might, and then again might not, sound strange: in India, the system of bribery is an accepted part of any government office; it is as if you are expected to pay up to them for any job, which may just be his regular duty.

Anna Hazare says stop this! This is enough! You cannot go on giving out bribes to everyone, for this system will just go on and on, and it would act like a whirlpool of illegality and stupidity, and at last would not justify having any system at all.
I respect his views, but my brother pointed out a complex problem: why do people ask for bribes?

I do not think that all big, fat people sitting behind a desk in India are greedy, or that an epidemic of avarice has gone on spreading faster that malaria. I agree, most of the people taking bribes are slobs, who just want more comforts out of their life, and some are plain weirdoes. But a slight majority of them are small level officials, or perhaps rank lower down in hierarchy. Why? They don’t get paid enough.

A traffic constable stands on the street for about 5-hours, continuously, on roads on two separate shifts, including night, for India suffers sufficiently from a shortage of people (yeah, seriously) in the traffic police in some places. And for all this hard work, they hardly get Rs. 5000 a month. That is like $100. What if he tries to earn a few more thousand for himself, and in the process try to extract some bribes? According to my brother, he would gladly give some money to the constables, and perhaps even some to the peons, who are, if you don’t know, unskilled workers doing odd jobs in an office. And, mind you, they work harder than sloths like me. My brother says, giving some rewards, perhaps even voluntarily, is good.

But the sad reality is, even though their numbers are more, and they only take Rs. 100 or Rs, 20 from you, the amount of money they take shirks away shamefully in front of the sums that the infamous baboos take from you. Sadly, there are high ranking officials in India, including the ministers who actually take bribes whose amount stretches well into the millions of dollars.

My father is a minor government official, and though we aren’t affluent, what I am proud of is that I can walk with my head held high and proud, abreast with my father. He doesn’t take bribes, and I know that: he has been in troubles with his seniors in his office when he has reportedly and reputedly denied taking bribes from contractors, thus not favouring any of them. He tells me the actual reason behind all of this.

People want more: and this reason inadvertently asks them to indulge in anything and everything in order to earn more money. As long as this want exists, corruption will be there. We will corrupt our ways to earn more. That is but human tendency, and only people who have not surrendered to this desire, can truly be called elevated people.

In the end, everyone is now frustrated, mostly with the stinking government, and everyone, including the ones who take bribe out survival value, want this tradition to be gone. People in general have come to understand, that one way or the other, this system only benefits the powerful; the less powerful constable cannot now bear the shame or extracting that measly little more to gift his three kids some early presents. No, bribes are now frustrating.

If only, oh! If only, the people could understand that more is not the answer on the materialistic side, it is only on the spiritual side that they should ask more! If the government assures some standard living conditions for these poor constables, of whom, in Mumbai, over half live in the slums littered around this gigantic city. But, now, it is the time of the people.

People it seems have now taken the summary of Lincoln by word, and their uniting force is Anna Hazare. How true it is to the spirit of democracy, is a question that would be answered later. For now, only action is important.

To Bomb or not to Bomb: is bombing of

Yes. If you are to consider the consensus of a mostly NATO led Security Council of the UN. A few days ago it considered that the situation in Libya was getting out of hand and Gaddhafi's forces were pushing the frontiers of the Rebel forces backwards. It seems, most people in the international community wanted to see a third “Jasmine Revolution” unfold in the deserts of Libya, but were hugely disappointed when it didn't unfold completely.
When Libya started its offensive movement that so damnably killed many militia of the Rebel forces in the Port city of Ras Lanuf, it became imperative for the international community to do something, and the move to enforce a “No-fly zone” was a welcome one for people who like peaceful protests. Being from the country of Mahatma Gandhi, I am welcome to dissent, because it brings forward viewpoints which remain largely unavailable to people who shun protests, like Gaddhafi.
One must be aware what a “No-fly zone” is: it is an area demarcated through geographical boundaries where flying, of any kind, isn't allowed. It does not, in any case means an area where you are free to bomb. If the mandate was to completely annhilate the standing aircraft machinery of the Libyan Armed Forces, then the bombings should have been restricted to this purpose only. But, the bombings have revoked the belief of the people in the world at large that these were only intended for enforcing the “no-fly zone” or a ceasefire in the brief civil war. However targets in the city have also been bombed, the justification being that these were military strongholds. Sadly, these justification were presented to the world many times before, along with one or the other invented excuses to get deliberation in countries which don't conform to the foreign policy of the NATO countries.
These excuses have been many, including the famous hoax of WMDs in Iraq, which subsequently resulted into the Iraq war, which made former President of the United States of America G.W.Bush a favourite with shoe throwers. In fact, that particular incident sparked something of a revolution in protests. Invading Iraq on the pretext of human rights abuse and possession of WMDs only triggered massive opportunity for the Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-toiba and other condemnable terrorist groups to recruit young,dissident, frustrated and brain-washed men, and possibly even women.
The West, and from that I mean the NATO, must beware of their own immediate actions in the aftermath of a step-down of Muammar Gaddhafi, who, after all, is a moderate Muslim. If the Mediterranean Sea is empty of these scandalous groups, it is largely due to the vigilance and efficiency of the nations that border it. However, if extremist groups gather power and support in the wake of popular uprisings, it going to be hard for the world to face the next 20 years without a major conflict spreading out and engulfing it in flames. I would rather have 100 Muammar Gaddhafi’s on Earth, than a single Osama bin Laden.
Everyone clearly remembers what happened in Afghanistan, and the international community must ensure that a similar situation does not develop in Northern Africa.

Burn the Koran?! Oh my god!

What? Did I hear correctly on the news? They just said that a group of ill-minded paranoid American Folks are burning the Holy book of Koran. Why? Cause they want to give it as a tribute to those who died on the sad day of 11th September.

It was bad I agree, but this is worse. America, was never like this. America showed the world democracy, and fought for righteous ideals. This was not what was expected of american people, who openly embraced Gandhi and his ideals in Martin Luther King Jr.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/International-Burn-A-Koran-Day/134718123226530?ref=ts

Not only does such an occurrence haunt me, but is absolutely ill-timed and absolutely politically incorrect.

We have never been brought up to like this sort of dehumanizing acts. They say they are condemning the Islamic religion. They say that Islam is not a religion of peace.
No religion is! In fact, I must go on to say that Religion has often than not stirred wars amongst Human beings.

But this is madness. People don't understand the Socio-Political unrest this action could create. And another thing, how could humans be so vile that they burn another's Holy Book. People have started to do this monstrous thing already, because some stupid Pastor (I call stupid people stupid) called on this "great drive to salvation".

I dislike this. This is not according to Gandhian Principles. How different does it make you from Osama bin Laden? He is an infidel, so to counter him, must you be the same?

We should be burning (rather not, the global warming is high this year) Osama bin Laden and reading the Koran into his face adn telling him where he has wrongly interpreted it.

Hail Islam! The religion of Peace!