Singur and CPM

Within the economic (and hence national) tragedy of Singur the irony is not lost I believe to everyone.
The very people who have always worked to kill industrialization are now facing the same tactics being used against them, and are literally at their wits end.
I am sure Buddhadeb would be having recurring dreams of all the agitations he has participated and led in his lifetime to force industries to close down. I am sure he will now probably have some pangs of regret and apology for it.

Makes me smile and a gleam of satisfaction penetrates my heart with this. It great to see the villain finally get a taste of his own medicine and now accept that what he did is wrong.

Another retail shopping experience

Big Apple retail store at Naraina on 15th August 2008.

Looked for and found packets of frozen peas, albeit small ones of 200g. Picked up one and turned around when the attendant stopped me.

A: "Sir you cannot take that !"
Me: "Why?"
A: "Thats not for sale!"
Me: "Why not. Its in stock. Its within the validity period. So why not?"
A: "Sir, thats free with a bigger packet of frozen peas".
Me: (WoW! Jackpot) "Ok so where do I get the bigger packet then"
A: "Sir thats out of stock"
Me: "What! Anyway I will be happy to take this then"
A: "But sir I told you thats not for sale."
Me: "Look I need a packet of frozen peas. You do not have a bigger one (which you have surprisingly run short of while still holding stock of the freebies). I am happy to pay for the one available so whats the problem?"
A: "Sir or computer will not accept the entry"
Me: (An AHA moment). "So you mean even if you have a packet you will not let me take it. How wierd can it get!"
A: Smiles.
Me: Shrugs and walks off.

Is Shivraj Patil the worst Home Minister

- Increase in Maoist activities
- Increase in terrorism
- Blatant apathy with regard to approaching extension of ban on SIMI
- Amarnath land row (one wonders whether Ram Setu would also lead to something similar)

What more can one ask for. Event after events after events keep happening and he just sits there, meekly. He should have put in his papers long back owning moral responsibility for the law & order mess. Need to remove the security cover enjoyed by all such folks to get them to work in the direction of internal security.

I would also like to bring to the forefront the following article related to Amarnath land row, referred to me by Aditya.

Put in your views regarding India's worst home minister ever.

Amarnath agitation in J & K

What is happening in J & K today fortunately did not happen in 1989 otherwise Kashmir might have gone out of India's control much more than what it is today.
Is it due to the pent up anger of people of Jammu regarding whatever has been happening there for so long? 100 acres of land available for providing facilities for pilgrims is if you see not a big deal and probably an extension of spirit of bonhomie between the communities of Kashmir which has been making the pilgrimage possible for so many years.
One radical voice opposing the land transfer and Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress ran for cover. No surprise that they are unable to fight terrorism.
On the other hand there is the RamSetu controversy where there are numerous facts defying government's claims of this being a worthy project but still the government is refusing to accept and is getting confused over affidavits and versions of Ramayana and history.
Wonder why the government did not show this kind of a conviction in the Amarnath land row.
On the other hand, wonder why the government did not show the "flexibility" in Ransetu project.

Obvious answers???

From SC - "Even God cannot save this country"

Saw this on Rediff today. Well now the SC has thrown up its arms in disgust when we all are aware that in fact it is the Indian judicial system which makes ordinary citizens want to take the easy way out of breaking the law or ignoring lawlessness and moving on with their lives.
The Nikita Mehta case has again proved this well known fact. A couple, who have approached the Courts for permission to abort their child due to doubts about the child being able to lead a normal healthy life have been sent back by the courts saying that the law does not permit it as it would amount to mercy killing. I wonder if the judges just want to go by the book then why not replace the whole lot of them with computers. The reason I say this is because in pronouncing judgments such as the one cited above, no human intervention and intelligence is shown, hence this job can be very effectively, and possibly even more efficiently be done by a computing machine.
लकीर के फकीर बनके बैठने का क्या फायदा। इससे अच्छा काम तो कंप्यूटर ज़रूर कर लेंगे.

So net net ... the SC is exasperated today ... what about the whole country being exasperated by the whole judicial system for so long?

Came back to it within 30 minutes to edit is as just right now on TV flashed a news that the ban on SIMI has been revoked by the court. How many such instances of mindless verdicts which will hurt the country are going to happen in my lifetime?