As some of you have already pointed out, I have been focusing on public corruption in India a bit too much. A recent comment motivates me to explain my seeming obsession with the appointed prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his crimes.
Here’s what Rajarshi Roy very thoughtfully wrote:
Dear Atanu,
I have been reading your blog since past few years but commenting for the first time. Although I personally don’t endorse many of your viewpoints but I generally like your perspectives, insights and analysis, which are often fresh and radical, on many subjects. Now, why I don’t endorse certain views of yours is a debate for another day and the reasons may not be new to you.
However, I feel that the tone of your blogposts is increasingly getting personal with people when criticizing them. This is especially true for Dr. Manmohan Singh. He may be the most spineless PM we had till date who actively or passively let corruption brew but calling him “turbaned clerk” (from one of your old posts) or allowing comments like “MMS is a fucking dickhead” on your posts, is in my opinion taking things too far. Let us attack the policies, the behaviour but not the person. What we need is intelligent debates to shape ideas and not personal attacks.
To be honest, I expect better standards from people who claim (or attempt to claim) to have the blueprint of and roadmap to India of our dreams.
With Best Regards,
Rajarshi
Thank you, Rajarshi, for taking the trouble to provide feedback.
I appreciate all feedback, even though I neglect to acknowledge them all. Allow me to say thank you to all who write comments here and apologize for not writing back.
I single out this comment for a public response because I must explain my deep antipathy towards Dr Singh. But first I must set the record straight. I have never called him a “turbaned clerk.” I have called him many names that I think he richly deserves but not that.
He’s not a clerk. Clerks are mostly harmless. He’s a scheming, sly, mendacious, power-hungry politician. Scheming and sly in the way he deflects all blame from himself by claiming that he is compelled by circumstances for enabling the unimaginably jaw-dropping massive corruption going on under his watch. He’s power-hungry since he continues to cling to his position regardless of how much his actions damage the country’s interests.
Of late, there’s been quite a lot of public criticism of his character and his actions in the press. But clearly that is insufficient for him to take notice and mend his ways. What would it take? That citizens drag him out of his home and lynch him?
Perhaps we should but we don’t. And in our not doing what should properly be done to him, we are complicit in the crimes that he is clearly guilty of. Yes, he is guilty beyond doubt. As the prime minister, constitutionally he wields sufficient power to stop corruption any day he wishes. He should stand and deliver — and if unable to deliver, he should resign and let someone else who is willing to take responsibility take over.
You may object saying that he is not the real prime minister; that he’s the appointed prime minister and the real power rests with the woman whose tunes he dances to. I would agree. But does that not go to attest to the previous point that he is power-hungry and has traded in his integrity (assuming he had any) for the chance to be the puppet prime minister? In a party that values sycophancy over merit, a party in which how high one rises depends on how good one is at brown-nosing the members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, he has attained the highest rank. He is the top champion sycophant in a room full of consummate hardcore sycophants.
Why do I feel outraged? Let me answer by asking why you don’t feel outraged. People in positions of high power and influence as he occupies are ultimately responsible for the consequences of their actions. He has blocked the economic liberalization of the economy. Lest we forget, in 1991, it was PV Narasimha Rao who forced Manmohan Singh to do liberalize the economy. Manmohan Singh is a statist and liberalization of the economy goes against his very core. Yet, the man’s mendacity is revealed in how eagerly he grabs all the praise about being the architect of India’s economic liberalization.
If you don’t believe that it was PVNR and not MMS who is responsible for whatever little economic liberalization India had, just ask yourself why hasn’t India seen any more liberalization. Surely, seven years in the prime minister’s chair would have been enough time to show where he stands on liberalization. On the contrary, MMS has made every attempt to increase the state’s control of the economy, to shackle it back into the moribund state that it so desperately needs to escape.
I feel outrage, why don’t you? I feel outraged that India is a desperately poor country. Outraged that our children are malnourished, and our people abjectly poor. Outraged that people are committing suicide by the hundreds of thousands. (Farmers are people too. If there had been alternatives to doing subsistence farming, they would not have had to kill themselves.)
Every aspect of the dire straits that India is absolutely due to government policy. Every one of them — farmers killing themselves, children starving, school and colleges failing, massive public corruption, loss-making public enterprises, communal conflict, terrorist attacks, weak borders, military insecurity, you name it. Just ask and I will show step by step why government policy is at the root of India’s troubles.
The Congress government at the center has been at it for most of the time since 1947. What have they achieved other than the deepening of poverty? India is poorer than many sub-Saharan African countries. While other countries have raced ahead, India has fallen behind.
China, ravaged by decades of communism, an equally desperately poor country as India as late as 1978, has moved on. Today China has an economy four times larger than India. Its economic dominance over India gives it the military might to practically take whatever it wants from India. The Congress government has made India so weak that China can easily grab parts of India whenever it wishes to. One hates to admit it but that’s the bitter unarguable truth.
The Congress government — actually the Nehru-Gandhi family — has not only irreparably damaged India economically, it has also damaged it psychically. Indians are the laughing stock of the world. Scams amounting to billions of dollars are reported with sickening regularity. They say, “India aspires to super power status but look at what it really is — the world’s largest banana republic, the world’s largest kakistocracy.” (Kakistocracy means rule by the least competent and the most corrupt.)
Indians are psychically damaged because they are forced to hang their head in shame that India is so poor that it accepts handouts from its colonial masters even today after nearly 70 years of independence.
Rajarshi points out that I have allowed a comment which calls Manmohan Singh a “fucking dickhead.” Yes, I have allowed that comment as it is my policy that I don’t edit out comments unless they are gratuitously insulting or pointless. But I have to admit that that comment is inaccurate.
You call the creep who cuts you off on the freeway a fucking dickhead. The thoughtless roommate who leaves dirty dishes in the kitchen sink deserves to be called a fucking dickhead. Their actions are at worst minor irritants and the inconvenience they caused disappears in the background noise of mundane living. Nothing earth-shattering occurs.
Manmohan Singh is not a fucking dickhead.
Manmohan Singh is a major criminal in the sense that he is responsible for the miserable lives and deaths of millions of people because of his mis-governance. The starving children, the illiterate adults, the suicidal farmers — ultimately all of it is due to what he has done and is doing today.
The other day in New Delhi, I was talking with Arvind Kejriwal. Arvind is founder of “Indians Against Corruption.” A highly motivated hard working public-spirited person, Arvind was responsible for the “Right to Information Act” (RTI) and is now working on the “Jan Lokpal Bill” which seeks to pass laws that will severely punish corrupt public officials. While I admire him and his work, I disagreed with him on what has to be done. What, he asked, do I recommend?
[Edit on April 20, 2013: I have revised my opinion of Kejriwal. He has demonstrated that he’s merely after power. Worse, he is a socialist who does not understand how the economy functions. Although his influence is waning, he has done a great deal of harm to India and he will continue to harm India a lot more before he is fully done.]
I told him that we have to make it personal. We are not fighting against some anonymous shadowy enemy. We have to give our enemy a name and a face. It is not some vast bureaucracy that we have to confront, not some nameless bunch of corrupt politicians; we have to hold that one person responsible who is in charge. His name is Manmohan Singh and he has to pay for the all the crimes that he is an accomplice to.
Indians are not given to violent revolutions. I would like to see every corrupt politician dragged out and lynched but that’s not how it should be done. It is better to force them to quit through non-violent means, however satisfying to may be for the soul to see them suffer for their crimes.
I suggested to Arvind Kejriwal that we should get around 10,000 or so people to sit-in outside Manmohan Singh’s home and force him to quit. But what would that accomplish, he asked. What it would do is it will send a message to all that we are not going to tolerate him, and others like him, to continue to destroy the nation.
I am astonished that I am taken to task for not being nice to Manmohan Singh on my blog. Why should I be nice to him? I am outraged that the movers and shakers of the mainstream media don’t hold Manmohan Singh’s feet to the fire. It is pathetic the way they regularly let him get away with bullshit, as they did at that press conference last month. The least they could have done is to tell him to his face that he either take responsibility for the corruption and mis-governance or quit. But the press honchos did not do that. They are as spineless as the guy they were supposed to ask tough questions to. If they are unable to tell truth to power, shouldn’t we start telling it like it is?
You may ask, why do I take it personally. I take it personally because it breaks my heart to see the ubiquitous and awful poverty in India. The other day in India, I was waiting at the Nashik railway station to catch a train to Mumbai. A very feeble old man in thread-bare clothes was shuffling among the passengers waiting for the train, his thin bony hand extended, his face a portrait of tired distress, begging wordlessly for a few coins. He was getting shooed away by the people he approached.
I went up to him and gave him a five-rupee coin. He looked at the coin and then at me, his face revealing relief and immense gratitude. I nodded my head and hurried away, unable to bear the heartbreaking implications of that scene.
What have we come to? We have been diminished as a people. Our society is so impoverished that the old and infirm have to beg for a living. As a society, we are not just poor; we are impoverished — meaning reduced to poverty, deprived of richness, vitality and strength.
How did we get here? We are not evil people; we are not stupid people; periodic natural calamities have not reduced our work to rubble; foreign forces have not robbed us of our wealth; divine curse has not condemned us to hell. So why then all the misery?
I have sought an answer for many years. And here’s my answer. India’s government is the greatest evil force that is destroying India. Manmohan Singh epitomizes that evil since he heads that government. So I believe that unless we wake up and destroy those who seek our destruction, we would be responsible for our demise.
It’s all karma, neh?
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 
Yes of course MMS is evil. In fact I’m outraged too, feel free Atanu to call MMS anything you want.
Raj…..I’m not sure you understand the path India is heading towards. Increased centralization, borrowing, inflation, no respect for property rights. All this means seizing ordinary people’s land (ordinary people = people without power), Printing money debasing the rupee and reducing your and my purchasing power. Borrowing in the name of stupid programs making us all in debted and transferring that to accounts of politicians and bureaucrats. Spending on military…. India is the second or I think the largest spender on military – meaning handing out money (which we don’t have) to the Americans/UK/French/Russian defense companies and thier cronies.
All this is happening under the watch of MMS.
To top it all of the blood worship of the Gandhi’s.
Makes me puke.
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Although you provide a fix in the very next sentence, “every aspect of the dire straits that India is absolutely due to government policy” is too extreme a sentence, even within context. Or you perhaps mean the government policy of not continuing on Sanjeeb Gandhi’s prescient snip-the-tubes drive?
“How did we get here? We are not evil people; we are not stupid people” — Stupid, for sure. Once degenerative effects kick in, stupidity increases exponentially. In my last 11 years in India I have seen rational discourse shunned by college professors and plumbers alike.
“So why then all the misery?” Perhaps the misery is in you. My closer scrutiny of the urban middle class has been that they are quite happy with their lives. By all accounts, even the starving farmer gets happy when their second son is born (after three daughters on the way). Now they have two more hands to till their handkerchief-sized plot of land. Until the four hands start fighting about said land, that is.
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> And here’s my answer. India’s government is the greatest evil force that is destroying India. Manmohan Singh epitomizes that evil since he heads that government. So I believe that unless we wake up and destroy those who seek our destruction, we would be responsible for our demise.
Very well said. As Krishna tells Arjuna “uttishta bharatah yuddhaaya kritanischaya (arise, Bharat, with the resolve to fight)”.
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Removing MMS will bring The Woman’s progeny in his seat!
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Ungrateful Alive is quite accurate here . Lots of people in India don’t seem to feel the pain as long as long as it isn’t personal . You are right about MMS but do you really think there is any significantly better contender . There’s possibly a 50% chance that the next in line would be even worse than him regardless of the party . Similarly , we could get rid of The Family , only to see some other family take over control .
In general , we are very dishonest – starting from the most basic level . Right from cheating in exams , lying on resumes , exploiting hierarchies , complete disregard for any kind of rules , not feeling guilty about grossly underpaying domestic help and exploiting their helplessness – ( and I’ve seen this amongst the most “educated” lot ) . Many of those who feel bad about corruption probably feel bad that they didn’t get to dip their hands into the loot . Many people don’t like your blog for instance because it messes up the India shining party “with 9% growth rate” .
Until the national focus changes to education and working , instead of the current “get married and have a lot of kids as soon as possible” , nothing will change or get fixed . The problem isn’t a person , it is people .
That being said I do agree with your targeted plan of action (picking on a person ) because the impact of an attack on an anonymous enemy diffuses very quickly .
You are a highly qualified person so chances are that you have mostly interacted with Indians above a certain threshold of intelligence and awareness . Wait till you interact more with average junta . You will realize how alone you are in your misery .
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To me MMS looks like he is dead, comes alive only when his master ask him to mumble. or make mockery of BJP.I wonder..what flows in his blood..(i know incorrect english)
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Atanu,
While giving ‘daad’ on this post, I have to also agree with you that the sonofabitch Manmohan Singh is not a “fucking dickhead.”
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This video aptly sums up Indians and their leaders http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLkLJpBwvww
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Dear Sir
” The other day in India, I was waiting at the Nashik railway station to catch a train to Mumbai. A very feeble old man in thread-bare clothes was shuffling among the passengers waiting for the train, his thin bony hand extended, his face a portrait of tired distress, begging wordlessly for a few coins. He was getting shooed away by the people he approached.”
The above paragraph made me cry. Yes we must kick out MMS and Congress out of the country forever. And THAT WILL HAPPEN SOONER THAN LATER!
Ravi Krishnamoorty
Dubai
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Agree with AC : “Removing MMS will bring The Woman’s progeny in his seat!” and thanks for teaching a new word Kakistocracy
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Looks like we are going to be given the option of being ruled by —
Shri Shri A K Antony, a sing by another name !!
The Mallu mafia would step out of the woodwork and take a bow !!
Honestly , what option do we have ? Unless there is a totally new political party led by people like maybe you (though getting past the cargo cult electors would be a difficult feat)there is little hope for Bharat.
So Antony it is for us !!
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AC, Indian Girl, as compared to now, its better to have the Woman’s progeny in the seat because 1) they call the shots anyway and 2) they will have to handle much more scrutiny by being explicitly in the seat. They are right now washing their hands off everything and don’t have to take the heat directly.
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Like Mahatma Gandhi, I hope to bring peace and reconciliation to this forum by invoking the late Dr. Martin Luther King who said ‘do not judge a politician by the color of his skin but as no better than the contents of his intestines.’
Om Shanti Shanti.
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Comrade Rajarshi Roy is right. It is not acceptable to call MMS a “fucking dickhead”.
I always wondered why a lot of our swear words invoke reproductive organs. After all, these body parts are associated with pleasure and procreation, not anger and frustration. Why do people attach negative connotations to organs that give pleasure? If we must insult someone by comparing them to body parts, shouldn’t we at least choose the parts that do the job best? Take legs, for example. They can be very dirty at times. Yet no one says, (to give an example): “MMS is a WALKING FOOT!”
This thought remained a mystery to me till I listened to an excellent talk by the great neurologist Prof Ramachandran. He said that in the human brain, the nerves that trigger anger are situated right next to those that control sexual emotion. This, he said, possibly explains why our vocabulary mixes up these two feelings.
So all in all my concluding thought is: while it is OK for an ignorant person to call MMS a “fucking dickhead”, a better informed person should refrain from doing so.
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This grossly one sided attitude of Congress is lack of an alternate party that can portray itself with the same kind of clout Congress has managed to corner during all these years of politics. It’s a known fact that till date every next member from the so called Nehru-Gandhi family, which at present is more of late Nehru-present SONIA dynasty came to power purely on sympathy votes and nothing to do with any development. Thanks to Dr. Subramaniam Swamy along with other eminent lawyers filing a PIL against appointment of SONIA as PM in the year 2004, she has not become one. So she started choosing all these old hags like Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and those who broke away with Congress to form their own party to circulate their black money and if got a chance to misuse every bit of ministerial power vested on them (Sharad Pawar of NCP) and clandestinely started cornering political power by creating something called National Advisory Committee (NAC) for which she is the Chairman. NAC makes all major policy decisions that Congress brings to fore. Today’s NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) is all run by her Indian brothers and sisters. She tried to corner the Supreme Court as well during the reigns of CJI K G Balakrishnan (Indian KGB) and by trying to get in a pastor, P J Thomas as CVC (Central Vigilance Committee) which is responsible for appointment of CBI chief. As such CBI and the I-T department are puppets in the hands of Congress, just the way our spineless PM is. Wonder how long will it take for more “Vatican made policies” to infiltrate into India, when you have a dumb PM in Manmohan Singh being a mute spectator to all these power drama played by a ROMAN CATHOLIC in Sonia.
Swami Vivekananda famously said “ARISE, AWAKE AND SLEEP NOT TILL YOUR GOAL IS ACHIEVED”. But thanks to all the diversionary tactics played by our Congress using the media, the whole of India has gone to sleep, without a sinister plan being plotted by Europeans to corner India once again. Had these scams not come to light, Sonia would have managed to succeed in this mission, much to the delight of power hungry European powers.
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I agree. Without getting into any complex analysis, to me the line is drawn when serial cases of corruption and misgovernance keep coming up. The point isn’t MMS having a halo or not. Even if he is innocent, it is not his job to be clueless. Plain and simple, he has overstayed his appointment, undershot his brief and undermined the country he vowed to develop.
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Very well articulated; you completely and correctly clarify why you write the way you do or indeed the focus on MMS .
I only wonder – there used to be a time when this blog was not exclusively dedicated to ranting about the Congress party, but also focused on themes including economics, urban development, education policy in India and the ‘glories’ of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, among other things.
It’s your blog and you can choose to write only about whatever you think matters. If focussing on repeating to readers here that MMS is bad for our present and future is where you want your blog to be, that’s fine. I just miss the fact that this blog used to be a place for intelligent discussion in matters other than Congress-bashing as well.
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I mostly agree with your analysis and have the same outrage. But however, if MMS resigns, it could be fate worse than death for the country if Rahul Gandhi the Crown/Clown prince takes over. Maybe, MMS knows this and is keeping quiet until election time. Most of us who are living in the US still associate ourselves with the old country. In the same way, the woman behind MMS and UPA cannot be much different. Why did we as a country allow that to happen? It is a major security threat as has been proved by many recent events I am sure the entire West is laughing at us for this more than the grinding poverty. Just as Ratzy planned, many crosses are getting planted. It is a free country, anybody can worship anybody, but after and before conversion, they are taught such hatred for the surrounding soceity that it again poses a major security problem. The entire North East is an example.
Apart from fighting corruption and bringing down corrupt politicians, we must also not such powerful positions to foreign born and brought up and their children.
Again, I end with the statement that every Indian born and brought up in India must understand the contents of the book and its implications
Other books to read and understand how the grinding poverty started:
Madhushree Mukherjee’s Churchill’s Secret War
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/churchills-secret-war-by-madhusree-mukerjee-2068698.html"
El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World by Mike Davis
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90% indians are dumbfucks. no wonder we are ruled by likes of sonia-raul-mms.
i think indian media is terrible. it’s the worst. it’s beyond criminal. the cnn-ibn had all the tapes in 2008 cash-scam.
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-man-behind-the-cash-for-votes-sting-op-speaks/20110317.htm
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Guys……I think we desperately need to shift our discussion from whether our rulers or the ruling party are good or bad to the essential question ………should we be ruled at all.
For me the offense is a minor one (if at all if it’s an offence) to call MMS names. We all should be allowed to express our disgust at other people and their ideas especially if they claim to know better (remember MSS is supposed to be an economist). The most serious problem on had is not limited to MMS but is the all powerful state i.e. government of India its bureaucrats and politicians whose crimes are going unpunished, their looting is continuing, their abuses are never ending.
The state by assuming lot of powers and doing things which it is not supposed to, is doing all the damage.
Only the state can get away by grabbing land from poor and paying them almost nothing in the name of SEZ, Industrial Parks, Tourism Projects etc,
Only the state can spray endosulfan and kill hundreds and permanently harming the future generations (please google this and read what our own govt. of India has done to our people)
Only the state with its central bank can print money causing inflation and increase poverty
Only state by prescribing curriculum can create “parrot schools” that is making us dumb
Only the state via ministry of education, licensing schools, colleges can create serious shortages of schools and increase costs of education and thereby making it less affordable to the poor
Only the state by being a monopoly service provider and nationalizing industries can kill free enterprise and cause shortages in electricity, transportation etc.,
Only state not respecting property rights can cause deforestation by grabbing tribal’s forests and handing it over to anyone willing to cut trees and make a quick buck
Only the state with its licensing power can grant special privileges to a few and create “big business”
I request all of you to reflect on the role of the state and understand that it is a parasite and that needs a constant watch and should seriously be limited both in its size and scope.
We all need to organize ourselves but please think is India organized rightly? Is governments supposed to be service provider? Can they plan all things for us? Can they regulate and save the day?
I have a problem when people say that we Indians are quiet and hence happy. I don’t think we Indians are happy at all and just coz we are not coming out and rioting does not mean that we are pleased with the status quo. I think we are all here reading and debating coz we are not happy some like me are outraged some are not so much.
I’m upset with poverty, I’m upset that we Indians do not live in dignity and there is so much power that is concentrated, freedom is severely restricted.
After independence, all we have done is replace the birts with our own people and inherited that horrible bureaucracy built to rule and loot us. And we have written more regulations and rules and yes we have spent lot more money since the last 60 years. And what do we have to show for all of this….. more poverty, unemployment, lack freedom, environmental decay.
As long as we believe in a centralized all powerful state with more and more regulations which can rule over us, we are destined to live like this and decay. If we think we are born free and have the right to be free (which also means respecting others freedom) then we have a very bright future.
We need to decentralize India so the each city & town can rule itself and power is diffused and locals are in charge of their future, we need to respect property rights so that no rich and powerful person can come just grab what is yours, we need to introduce competition in money so that there is no inflation and wealth transfer, we need to reform our courts so that we can deliver justice faster and on time.
We all think that things are supposed to be this way, no it’s not supposed to be this way. We have alternatives; we Indians have a tradition of free thinking we just need to embrace the idea of liberty. I want to leave you all to ponder on this quote by Richard Cobden “Peace will come to earth when the people have more to do with each other and governments less”
PS: If one has an open mind there is adequate reading material online (both Indian & Intl) and I’m sure you all will not only learn but thoroughly enjoy them.
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Atanu,
You’re right about making it personal, but I’d wager you’re wrong about the person in question. MMS is the mask used by the current govt to hide and (when caught) justify all their grievous acts of blatant theft from the nation. The problem with the excessive focus on MMS is the fact that he can be taken off, thrown away and replaced with another mask whenever the Family considers convenient.
Assume that this does work out and all the pressure forces MMS to quit. Then what? The Family will reveal its next mask and sell him as the knight (or Prince) in shining armour. Meet the new king, same as the old king.
It needs to be personal, but not about MMS who is at worst a transient phase. The problem stems from one family that has been deified in India, whose members are practically worshipped.
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MMS should have forced liberalization of the economy at least after the voters gave him a second term.
A recent Economist article noted license raj still alive
Article notes that it still takes 200 days for a construction permit and 7 years to close a business.
This on top of the fact that 92% of workforce is in the informal economy, shows that how little in terms of reforms have actually been done.
To make matters worse, NREGA type boondoggle, which is a pretty much money transfer program. The payment to NREGA’s “projects” is done on the backs of 7% tax paying people and deficit. It is really mind boggling!!
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BTW, just attacking “corruption” and corrupt people and not changing anything that has led to corruption would be stupid. In many cases corruption results because government looms large with excessive regulation and excessive power concentration.
In that sense corruption is a symptom of the disease of mis-governance and overbearing government. Need to cure the disease not the symptom.
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RC,
I agree that corruption is a symptom. I have written about that. See Manufactured Shortages and Corruption (June 2006), and Education and Corruption (June 2009.) The more important post in this context is Power, Shortage and Corruption (September 2007.)
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Atanu,
I think you are wrong in blaming just MMS, the real power is Sonia.
I would say Sonia-MMS govt is the creepiest, despicable govt we have had since independence. Now this ???? claims
“He[MMS] added: “I have not authorised anyone to purchase any votes. I am not aware of any purchase of votes.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/i-didnt-ask-anyone-to-buy-mps-i-am-not-at-all-involved-pm/764344/
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MMS is for sure a dick headed guy. Till date whatever happened right under his nose and he acts like a sissy saying he is not aware of anything. 2G scam – no clue, Cash of vote – he is not aware, ISRO scam – not responsible..why the hell is he stuck to the chair. I guess sumitra is correct, if MMS quits..its the super star of politics Rahul G taking over and that will be the final nail in the coffin..mera bharat mahan..hum sabh bayeman
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In Konkani (goa) we have an idiom to describe something that is immovable, incapable of acting on it’s own and helpless. Translated in English it is “lump of cow dung”. Manmohan Singh is precisely that.
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Agree to rajashree and also to the explination.Dont you think this system of elction and we all indian public are responsible,for this.
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“All your base are belong to us” (a.k.a. your ass is mine)
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Ooops! I did not close the tags properly. Anyway, all I want to mention is that while MMS must be held accountable, there is even greater security risk with a foreign born and brought up as the real head with a crown prince in the wings.
And another thing, the books mentioned below are a must for Indians who care about India.
Breaking India:Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines
Madhusree Mukehrji’s Churchill’s Secret War is also a must read.
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Have to agree with PrashB, people get what they deserve. They voted this cunning Congress to guide them and they got a tongue-less person as the PM. As long as the majority of the 1billion do not realize that and do the right thing every one of us will have to suffer through. A part of the minority are trying their best to inform the rest, groups like Indians Against Corruption, Lok satta. But we have a very long way to go, all I can do is hope and involve now
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Dear Atanu,
I was under the impression until six months back that you are targeting MMS much more than he deserves. But what has come out in the recent period is so shocking and I completely agree with your view points.
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I agree with Atanu, and most others who commented above.
The need of the hour is not only to implement Economic reforms but also to introduce political reforms thereby changing the entire democratic system.
It will be through Electoral reforms like introducing “I am not voting for any one in this ballot box” or “I reject all the candidates” in each ballot; “right to recall” by the voters; introducing “proportional representation” system, abolishing the “common list” and demarcating the powers of Centre & States clearly—or at least minimizing the items in the common list; granting suitable powers as envisaged by the constitution to the Local Governments etc.
Loksatta has marched in the right direction but the support it is receiving is meager. Indians against Corruption is also doing a good thing.
As for changing MMS and fearing that RG or some other crony taking his position, I do not feel that any more harm can be done by them. Instead, it will help the voters to make up their minds quickly.
Remember what has happened after Morarji had to quit! The ugly & corrupt politicians like Chandra Sekhar, Charan Singh, V P Singh et al tumbled down so quickly, and the Congress was given absolute majority!
The stability of the Government and its power to enact good laws only can help the country.
Let us all strive to that end.
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Do panktiya pesh karta hun
Arz kiya hai
Gulshan ko ujad ne ki khatir ek hi ullu kafi hai,
yaha to har dal pe ullu betha hai, anjame gulistan kya hoga!!
Enjoy the 10% larger than usual moon.
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true 4 sure.. i usually go through International journals,(especially guardian.co.uk, bbc news etc etc) many a times my head hangs down in shame when they make up stories like “India is tolerating corruption”, “Indian corruption backlash builds after ‘year of the treasure hunters” etc etc.. i just can’t imagine how hopeless this is actually affecting India’s image at global context.. if so continues, i bet on 1 unfaithful day none of the foreign investors wil invest in Indian companies.. sack this shit head PM n his supreme b**** Sonia for who**** the nation..
am really sorry 4 the slang..
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Now I think Manmohan Singh even has blood on his hands. Sadhik Batcha who was founding hanging in his room, whose death is now being portrayed as sucide was probably the same man whom Arun Shourie called the whistleblower. (Haven’t found any concrete evedence except Pritish Nandi writing about).
PM knew the whistle-blower, CBI knew the whistle-blower and now he is dead. He is dead because Manmohan Singh deliberately shut his eyes in order to maintain the hymen of his so called honesty.
This man loses his sleep over some terrorist getting killed but is heartless enough to get a good nights sleep with blood on his own hands, blood of a man who helped nail Raja.
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RG and some other crony are not one and the same. THat is why it is important to read the references mentioned in my comment. Tackling corruption is a multi-pronged process. One of the prongs is to be informed about international history and geopolitics. To change the system, we Indians must also decolonize our mind.
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Comment: Our PM – zero to hero to Nero :- http://ibnlive.in.com/news/comment-our-pm–zero-to-hero-to-nero/146376-3.html
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Atanu,
Landed on your blog through a sequence of random clicks! I really appreciate your efforts to work towards a corruption free, non-poor india while most of the people (like me even at an age half of yours) have lost hope , I must confess that for me coming back to India seems like a dreaded nightmare after last years record breaking scams. Yes, We do not need awesome resumed people as PM, we need someone who can take action. Its a shame that Manmohan singh was given scholarships only to be a puppet at later stages of his life!
Keep going! India needs people like you.
Best,
Kuldeep Meel
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Dear Atanu,
No harm in calling a “fucking dick head” a dick head. Our Prime Minister deserves the ridicule.
Not that I was a fan of his, I always saw him a cheating guy, who not once spoke the truth. I am aware of this so called liberator of Indian Economy, what he was and what he is.
I respect your posts, which gives me confidence that I AM NOT ALONE.
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Hello Atanu,
I agree that flawed government policies are the root cause of most of our problems be it appalling poverty, terrorism, loot of public money, weak borders, terrorism etc. I also second many things you said about economic liberalization and Congress being a party of sycophants. And as pointed out by some commentators, all these are compunded by apathy & indifference of Indian Middle Class (as rightly & repeatedly pointed out by Shantanu on his blog).
However, don’t you think all PMs after Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri are responsible for this state of affairs? Mrs. G, probably institutionalized corruption & sycophancy. Even PVNR can’t take complete credit of economic liberalization. It was done not by choice but compulsion. So, why single out MMS only. The point I made was for the sake of civility, nothing else.
Now, a word about the so-called nationalists (many of whom have commented above). They are more comfortable in calling names from the comfort of their home and office and make rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth comments than lifting their arses to clean up the muck. (As one popular Indian blogger recently mentioned that all Indians can do is give verbal vent to their impotent rage on seeing the state of affairs). To give you an example, if I say that Gini coefficient of average income of India has detoriated since economic liberalization, they will without thinking call me a ‘leftist’. One gentleman (or is it a lady?) has already addressed me by the honorific of ‘Comrade’, on the basis of my previous comment which doesn’t include a single word to indicate my political inclinations.
Of course, the comments on your blog is your prerogative.
Lastly, no disrespect to you, but when I said ‘you called MMS a turbaned clerk’, I was referring to this post of yours http://www.deeshaa.org/2009/10/09/whats-destroying-the-us/
With Kind Regards,
Rajarshi
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@KrishnaSree,
I differ with you on calling S. ChandraShekhar as corrupt and ugly. To my knowledge Chandra Shekhar was one of the best PM’s India had though his term was very short(7 months?)
If you differ on my opinion please point to me a context of Chandra Sekhar’s corruption.
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I suggested to Arvind Kejriwal that we should get around 10,000 or so people to sit-in outside Manmohan Singh’s home and force him to quit. But what would that accomplish, he asked. What it would do is it will send a message to all that we are not going to tolerate him, and others like him, to continue to destroy the nation.
Very true. Something is better than nothing. These kind of people need to be shown that we are not going to tolerate. Even though the soul does like to see him and others like him who continue to destroy the nation lynched, for some reason we cannot. (I sincerely hope that reason is to be practically law-abiding, and not to be pointlessly non-violent)
What India really needs is NOT a Yuva, but a Rang De Basanti in action.
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My apologies for the second comment. The post was slightly long and hence, I had to re-read it to properly assimilate it.
You may ask, why do I take it personally. I take it personally because it breaks my heart to see the ubiquitous and awful poverty in India.
Very understandable. Here is a quote from The Godfather:
“Tom, don’t let anybody kid you. It’s all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it’s personal as hell. You know where I learned that from? The Don. My old man. The Godfather. If a bolt of lightning hit a friend of his the old man would take it personal. He took my going into the Marines personal. That’s what makes him great. The Great Don. He takes everything personal Like God. He knows every feather that falls from the tail of a sparrow or however the hell it goes? Right? And you know something? Accidents don’t happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.”
It is purely due to the corruption in the government that is the sole root of all evils in this country and even though I digress, this corruption is the reason why Indians Today are narrow-minded, have very low exposure and hence don’t quite appreciate movies like the The Godfather.
Honestly, more people need to take things happening in this country as personal.
Consider the following hypothetical law: All the inmates of the highest office would be prosecuted for any & every corruption in the country.
That would compel the highest office to be on its toes and ensure that the scams that are now rocking the very foundations of India would never be repeated. Here is an excerpt from a telugu movie:
oka sTUDemT tappitE, vADiki sariggA pATham ceppani mAshTArudi A tappu. oka pillavADu tappucEstE A tappu vADini sariggA pemcani tamDridi.
which loosely translates to:
If a student fails, its the mistake of his teacher. If a boy commits a crime its the mistake of his father.
Hence, its very reasonable to hold the highest office in the country responsible. Even though there isn’t a direct involvement (or in legal terms we can’t quite prove a direct involvement), it is absolutely an accomplice. It has to be. For sake, it is ruling a country whose founding fathers were giants and running it to ground.
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I agree to the fact that one should start getting personal. MMS has disgraced the office of the Prime Minister. Imagine he has not responded to the letters than Anna Hazare wrote to him. Is writing a reply or giving an acknowledgement a “compulsion of coalition politics”. And the whole nation may agree that MMS is an honest man. I cannot. When the loot is going on and someone is keeping silent. What does that mean??? Show me one person who can take all that shit silently, if he is not benefitted.
Manmohan Singh is India’s most corrupt politician and that’s a fact. He has got kicks for all CWG Games and 2G.
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