A Piece of Cloth!!!

        On the 26th of January, 2011 ordinary citizens of this nation will mark the Indian Constitution's coming into force by hoisting the tricolor across the country. But it is one such planned hoisting, in the heart of the northern most state of the country, which promises to become a flashpoint as the BJP’s Youth Wing(BJYM) marches towards Lal Chowk and the establishment puts all its might behind preventing it. While the CM of the State has gone on record calling the flag hoisting as ‘divisive’ and has sealed the state’s border with adjoining Punjab, thus restricting movement of citizens within their own country, the PM has also echoed the same sentiments. Some prominent journalists, meanwhile, choose to question the need to ‘stir the pot’ at this point in time when Kashmir was ‘limping back to normalcy’ even asking why no such ‘Ekta Yatra’ was held in the last 20 years and some even comparing it with the patriotism of soldiers in Siachen in order to prove its lack of importance. What they chose to completely sidestep was the determination of the government to deny the citizens of the country their constitutionally guaranteed right to hoist the tricolor.

        The simple answer to the people questioning the motives behind the choice of venue and timing of the event is that there need not be a reason to hoist the national flag. Any citizen can do it, anywhere he wishes to do it, anytime he wishes to do it. However, if they really need a reason then they should just go back in time to September, 2010 when this incident occurred. As is the case with any ‘sensitive’ issue, this event received minimal coverage in the media as Separatists in the valley unfurled the Pakistani flag at the same Lal Chowk while the state government, lacking the power or rather the will to stop them from doing so, became silent bystanders. Surely, the soldier standing guard in Siachen does not do so to witness this sight. The politics of appeasement which has led the valley into a spiral of unrest, ensured that the same government would take no action against these separatists but it would employ all the machinery at the disposal to prevent the hoisting of the tricolor to avoid antagonizing these very separatists.

        Some journalists have called this event as a return to ‘nationalistic yatra politics’ for the BJP. They claim that the BJP is not the standard for patriotism and that a person does not become any less nationalistic by hoisting a flag. They are right on both counts. But doesn’t a person/organization become less nationalistic if it tries to prevent the flag being hoisted on Indian soil? The issue here is about fundamental right of the people. What is different about this yatra than all the BJP’s previous adventures, is the absence of Hindutva as a rallying point. It has no reference to any temple or any community. The only intention is to restore national pride at the same place where, not very long ago, a separatist mob openly mocked the law of the land. If somebody’s sentiments are hurt by the hoisting of the tricolor, does that individual even deserve to live in this country?

        As the establishment and the media grapples with its inability to paint this event with a communal hue, it has tried to create an impression that the law and order of the state will be disturbed if the hoisting does indeed take place. As mentioned earlier, the flag hoisting is being dubbed as ‘stirring the pot’ in a state ‘limping back to NORMALCY’. This is the same state which has forced thousands of its own people to become refugees for the last 20 years only because of their religion. This is the same state where the flag of a hostile neighbor was unfurled in an act of open defiance not too long ago. This is the same state where citizens are not allowed to hoist their own national flag. And this situation is normal? Is the absence of violence the only indicator of normalcy? Doesn’t the denial of basic human rights strike these ‘intellectuals’ as being abnormal? Is this state of apparent normalcy a good enough reason for the government to behave in such a spineless appeasing manner? Reminds me again of the famous Joker dialogue, “When everything goes according to plan, nobody panics, even if the plan is horrifying.” In this case, the plan being that the people of Kashmir let the stones remain on the ground, even if it requires subverting the constitution to suit their whims and fancies.

Happy New Year!!!

         Another Day, another Year, another decade passes away. It was quite an eventful year marked by a plethora of unfortunate events – Corruption, Inflation, Chelsea winning the EPL – this year had it all. Even the Fourth Estate ended the year with mud on its face. However, despite all the negatives the year ended positively in most areas. A positive vote for governance from the caste conundrum that is Bihar, was reassuring to say the least. The Judiciary (and the CAG) provided the much needed scrutiny that the media failed to provide while the opposition surprised us by showing that it still has the bite needed to provide a stiff challenge to the Grand Old Party of Indian Politics. Finally, the year ended with India reigning supreme on the Test Rankings and Manchester United lording over the EPL. The Sporting world enters 2011 in refreshingly fine shape.

         If I have to pick one person or object or incident etc. to represent 2010, it has to be Twitter. The advent of Cable Television marked the beginning of the decline for the newspaper. The speed of the visual medium was the USP which allowed it to defeat the mighty pen. Incisive, fact based journalism with a 24 hour lag was no match for Know-It-All anchors hysterically debating the fallout of events as they happened across the globe. Well, 2010 was all about the return (or atleast the beginning of it) of the written word. Twitter had taken the USP of News Channels and turned it on them. It allowed users to pursue whichever topic interested them, from whichever source they wanted, from whichever place suited them. So while the Media Barons blanked out ‘uncomfortable stories’ like Radiagate, there were quite a few uncomfortable questions raised by the Twitizens for which there were no answers. Long Live the age of the Internet.

         Another remarkable incident this year was the coincidence that took place on 19th December, 2010 (as pointed out by a friend). Two legends who have made a habit out of creating history, did just that on the very same day. While Sachin Tendulkar chose the fateful day to become the only batsman in test history to score 50 Test centuries, Sir Alex Ferguson eclipsed Sir Matt Busby to become the longest serving manager at Old Trafford. These two larger than life individuals, who have come to represent perfection in their chosen sport, who reached their own personal milestones this year will be looking towards 2011 with an eye on achieving things which will bring a sense of completeness to their careers. While the Master Blaster will seek to add the World Cup to his otherwise exhaustive list of trophies, the Scottish Genius will seek to bring a 19th League Title to Old Trafford cementing Manchester United’s claim as the most successful club in English Football. As was the case with Sir Don, sport can be a very cruel master. But surely in the case of these two legends, it will choose to make an exception.

         Thus, with 2010 ending on a hopeful note, the first day of the fresh year began with a fresh frame of mind. However , ‘The Masthead Of India’ sure knows how to puncture my mood as I found Chetan Bhagat and his stupid smirk staring back at me as soon as I opened their Editorial. I guess my hate for the newspaper will continue this year too (though they made up for it with a wonderful piece in the Sunday Times by Gurcharan Das). Also, on the last day of the year I decided to make up a resolution, “ I will not procrastinate in the new year as much as I did in the last one”. But then again, I thought I will give this year a miss and keep this resolution for the following year. ;)

         Finally, by now I believe all you guys would have gotten over the hangover of late night parties. Hence, leaving you all with a nice article to read and ponder over here. Happy New Year, Folks!!!