ON KHUSHWANT SINGH - TRUTH, COURAGE AND AGNOSTICISM: AN OBITUARY

Khushwant Singh: Of Truth, Courage and Agnosticism - An Obituary Khushwant Singh, a prominent journalist and a noted novelist, breathed his last silently at noon on Thursday, March 20, 2014. He lived his life perfectly well to his satisfaction almost nearing a century (99) which was a rare achievement keeping all his vitals intact up to the end. On the eve of his departure, he had his last Patiala peg of single malt whisky with golden fried prawns on Wednesday at 7pm sharp. The next day he got up at 5 am and as usual along with daily papers, he had his mental exercise with crosswords puzzle – almost a type of hobby he had developed – and when tired got to sleep, this time for an everlasting sleep, not to wake up again. The end was supposed to have set in between 12.05-12.55 pm in his sleep. He had been for the last few years in dialogue with death. The idea had obsessed him; he talked much about it; played with the nuances of its philosophical approach; wrote a lot on it sportingly, and never was afraid of it. He took it as a peripheral aspect of life. In fact, life to him was more important which reflected in varieties of work and various form of actions. He believed in work culture and discarded worship. He never wasted his time in religious rituals, prayers, meditation and gup-shup. He was least concerned with the word God and was quite vocal about it. In this respect he surpassed Einstein who only at the far end of his life tried to express his idea about God – the word - which he did not believe. Khuswant Singh, even when he was young, had a clear cut outlook about non-existence of God. Religion to him was acceptable with its non-fundamentalist profoundness, but God for him was far away from reality. It might sound contradictory to many, but he was quite clear in his approach to life – a self proclaimed agnostic, a non-worshipper and a blasphemer. He was the man who knew his strengths and weaknesses. He had a positive approach to life making most of it through work and pursuit of fruitful activities. Though born almost like a prince in a well to do family and ‘walked with kings (and higher ups) yet (he) had a common touch’ as his son Rahul Singh has very aptly put it quoting Kipling. He had a bit of grudge against his writing career. Why did not he start as a novelist much earlier in life? He could have done so better as a writer. He was almost a contemporary of V.S.Naipaul who had achieved international status in the literary world as a writer and a novelist. Khushwant Singh took to writing much later in life and the field of journalism and contemporary politics had a toll on his literary genius. It had given him name and fame but took a lot in return by not allowing him an elevated position in the world of literature. He had the capability of achieving much higher a place to what he had really achieved. Journalism is a time consuming and risky business which thrives only in its temporariness. It helps to rise instantly but never brings depth of a literary charm, satisfaction, a prize, a Booker, a Nobel. He missed the opportunity of a whole time literary writer, a narrator, a novelist and standing in the line of a well recognized man of letters early in his life. As a journalist he was able to produce, train and nurture serious scholars and editors, Akbars and Karkarias, but missed the whole life chance of becoming a Naipaul, a Wilson, a Moore or a Fowles. He stands much behind them, although he has had better privileges and longevity of life. He has yet to be assessed as a novelist with his limited stock and range of production separately. Writing on sex has not been his weakness, but strength, strategy, and a hobby. He has opted for sex oriented subject matter and style of writing because he has firm belief that it sells like a hot cake; it is a central theme of every body’s life and has a larger scope for writing and provides larger circulation and wider audience. But he has never tried to become sublime as sex occupied higher place in his life than love. He seldom rises to a higher plane of love. For Khushwant Singh love finds its ultimate destiny in sex and lust. They are intermingled and inseparable. His populist ways have been a constraint in his achieving higher levels and greater pursuits of writing. It checked him to soar high like a star in sky. It stopped him to become a timeless writer transcending the boundaries of agelessness. Journalism restricted him to temporary realities. He could travel only from The Illustrated Weekly to The Hindustan Times that too after many efforts put up by Sanjay Gandhi and he became his “Bhakt” on that count. There seemed to be a great contrast when one looked at The Weekly days of Khushwant - the time he joined, and when he left it. There were two aspects of it. It was Khushwant Singh who brought its sale many fold (from 60,000 to 4,50,000) and it was he who brought it to the point of closing down too. It was a paradoxical situation. The Illustrated Weekly ceased to be a respectable family magazine – for every house hold, family, and drawing room. Bannet Coleman & Co was much disturbed by it. In fact, it produced a wrong signal and Khushwant Singh’s term of editorship ended without delay or any extension. Khuswant Singh converted the magazine to the caliber of a Play Boy. It soared high, but it became a carrier of too much of paper sex, gossips and cheap humour. Khushwant Singh never exhibited author’s journalism. It lacked the literary charm. It symbolized Hinglish style of ‘Roti-making and Chappal-faking’ language developed and adored by Khushwant. It was said that with Khushwant Singh the Illustrated Weekly of India had attained its perfection and peak, and with him also started its decay and downfall. Even Kamath, who succeeded him, failed to check its deceleration and imminent close down. His other distraction was his unacceptable punching humour tending to farcical situation and creating unending annoyance. It never became classical; it attained only a populist way and vanished the moment it was released. It was mere a collection of jokes, some acknowledged, other anonymously projected, and he worked them out as an editor, getting also published in book form in his name almost becoming a farcical character himself of the rank of either Banta or Santa who will perhaps survive through the eternity. This sense of humour was isolated from real life and could not attain any literary charm, a well expressed form and style, sublimity, relief or emancipation. It never hit the imagination, but spoiled the taste, the ambience, the individual and group behaviour of understanding to overcome the socio-cultural inhibition and relief of tension. He unfairly caricatured his own image, society and people whom he represented. He showed the exemplary strength of character as an editor when he supported Indira Gandhi during the Emergency days. It was not a sudden advocacy. One has to understand Khushwant Singh’s basic adherence to the principles of democracy and its real purpose. One has to understand the times, the delicate situations, the meaning behind the utterances, and the hidden agenda made to spoil the governance of the period. Khushwant supported Indira and the imposition of the Emergency as a logical conclusion of JP’s anarchistic style of politicking. While Khushwant Singh succeeded in his stand, the most of journalist fraternity failed to understand it because they worked only on the lines of cartel behavior guided by the capitalist bosses. Indian journalism has never been free, the way freedom of press is really understood. It has always remained a caged bird. It works under the lense and surveillance of industrial groups of the type of Goenkas, Sahu Jains, Birlas, Andrews, Karnanis, Kasturis etc. Indian press remains censured always mentally and emotionally by their crony money magnates. So when censorship was imposed during Emergency it was the group like Goenkas or JP’s which was hit most because this pseudo revolutionary movement was highly projected through the press. The press was already a jailed bird controlled by industrial giants and others. What mattered if they were not allowed to magnify an anarchist movement? Khuswant Singh survived Emergency because Bannet Coleman as a unit was never influenced individually as was Goenkas by JP. Infect JP lived on Goenkas patronage. Had any Daily news paper stopped its circulation or production in protest against press censureship? Had any editor left his job in protest against his freedom? JP was neither a socialist nor a democrat. He paid lip sympathy to Gandhism and always misguided the people who surrounded him; who considered him as a revolutionary or an avatar to bring total revolution which flopped within two and a half years and Indira like Phoenix re-emerged from ashes to punch JP’s sense of inflated ego. ‘JP failed yet again’ wrote one of his sycophants and when Indira met JP at Kadam Kuan (Patna), he had no words but to appreciate her courageous victory. JP said to Indira,” you had a bright past and I wish you a brighter future”. Those who lived during the Emergency times and still dishonouring the era of discipline – Anushasanparva – or discarding Emergency must answer the nature and causes of Indira’s re-emergence as a victorious leader. Many adulatory books or “JP Chalisas” had been written by journalists, civil servants and academics but none had courage to answer: why Indira re-emerged and why total revolution turned to be a total flop? The followers of JP still keep this dead movement close to their chest in the hope that it might come to life someday like Macaque monkey keeping the dead infant close to the heart. Khushwant Singh was one of the great personalities of India who had seen merit in Emergency. This was the truth of his life and somewhere in his consciousness Khushwant found a Gandhian touch in him as far as the courage of conviction was concerned. Khushwant had always admired Gandhi. As a student of Modern School, he had an occasion to meet Gandhi who created a lasting influence on him. The strength of truth provided Khushwant Singh a special mindset to generate a sense of righteousness of his own understanding. This elevated him amongst the journalists of his times – he was The Master. As an editor of Illustrated Weekly he had a cover story to publish about the pitfalls of JP’s movement. And he did so courageously while JP was alive. What Khushwant Singh predicted had happened. Emergency was imposed and JP was jailed. In the luxurious ambience of PGI, Chandigarh, well protected and carefully looked after by doctors, nurses, servants and bureaucrats who willingly worked for JP as his assistants, advisors and secret messengers. JP had an occasion to spew up venom in the elaborate elegy written as a Prison-Diary. The conditions of Emergency were of JP’s own creation. There was no alternative to the anarchy brought about by him. JP had given a final call for armed forces to revolt. No government, worth the name, would have tolerated such a situation. JP was in hurry to become a Marx, a Lenin and a Mao – combined in one. But history had pulled him down as a failed leader or a fascist who could not successfully ‘March on Delh’ before the Emergency. Those who still adore JP must answer: where is the total revolution? One has to admit Khushwant Singh as a truthful and courageous editor who admired Emergency to its core even in the midst of all opposition from his journalist fraternity. And he ultimately had to pay the price for it. Unperturbed by trials or tribulations, he stood on his ground firm like a rock of strength with full conviction and faith that Emergency was inevitable. Khushwant Singh’s truthfulness had been reflected much when he wrote quintessential books on his life like – Absolute Khushwant: The Low-Down on Life, Death and Most Things In Between; Khushwantnama: The Lessons of My Life; The Good, The Bad and Ridiculous; Agnostic Khushwant: There Is No God; Truth, Love and A Little Malice; Women and Men In My Life etc. As a writer he believes that truth must be told, accepted and worked out. Nothing except truth should prevail. It is truth that is exhibited in all his writings – journalistic or literary. He is comfortable with it; sometimes hilarious and other times bitter too. He left nothing untold about his life: of love, dejection, hope and despair; of sex, women and prostitution; of friends, family, home and hearth; of death, deception and defeat – in a sense all about his professional and personal life. It is this revelation which makes him different from Gandhi‘s openness who had concealed his clear way of approaching his love for a woman of Tagore’s family (as discovered by his grandson later) and his practical indulgence in prostitution in London. Revelation does not mean fooling the readers; it is courageous way of embracing bitter truth as Khushwant Singh has done. His truthfulness and agnosticism are the outcome of his transparent behavior, openness of mind and clear vision of life. He is bold enough to acknowledge his failures and also a bit of his ugliness, malice, sex, bitterness and blasphemy. Khushwant Singh had a peculiar sense of imagining his death and writing about his obituary or own epitaph. At one time he was so enamored with the idea that he wanted to have a grave of his own. Well and good. He was trying to create a non-sense style of humour to make others rejoice on his death. Sometimes he felt ‘The Tribune’ would write this or ‘The Times of India’ write that. But it did not happen. Of all his prophecies, perhaps one stood correct out of his ‘make belief’ obituaries. It reads,”Khushwant Singh, a noted novelist, died in his sleep……”. He wrote his own Epitaph emphasizing how he should be remembered – ‘as a critic, a sod, a blasphemer and a nasty writer (not a good man to remember?), thank God he is dead’. But the most fitting Epitaph is as follows (in Khushwant Singh’s own words with a bit alteration and much addition) and with an apology to this great liberated soul: “Here lies the man whose pen had no condom to wear”; He was a literary sort of Vikky Donor and a great seer. He produced and nurtured writers, journalists, as the Peer; And left behind his affairs, to mourn, crates of whisky and beer.

On Reading 'Half Girlfriend' - A Critique

On Reading ‘Half Girlfriend’: A Critique. The writer of ‘Half Girlfriend’ has caricatured almost the whole of Bihar by introducing a character – Madhav – originally hailed from the hinterland of Patna, but might be said as a representative of any district of Bihar – call him a typical ‘Bihari’ - who happened to be from anywhere of the interior of Musahari or Motihari; Chhapra or Madhopura. The story moves around two main characters, another Delhiite girl, who under certain circumstances becomes his friend – both school fellows - and are proud of being Stephanians. The writer has specifically tried to define the concept of half girlfriend. But it is a confused word and may be interpreted in different ways. The term half brother or half sister is quite prevalent, but concepts like half married and half widowed are of recent origin. In the same way, half girlfriend in its origin, is a recent term, and is liable to be vaguely interpreted by the author himself. In any case, half girlfriend is not very attractive title of the book. Dear author, girlfriend is a value loaded word. It means many things to many persons. It is hope for life. Possession of it is the creation of life, dispossessing means death. Don’t vivisect it by making half or a quarter of it. Love is not surgically operated as you have done. Like his other stories, the writer had again tried to be autobiographical and could not detach himself from the story. A good writer dominates his writings through his thoughts, words and style, and not as a person or a character. Have you ever heard Shakespeare appearing in any of his plays? It is another point that you are trying to set a new trend in writing. Well and good. Your marketing management training has lured you to do so. It is possible this fine story may land you some day in the sphere of acting as a Bollywood star. But this self characterization has its own limits. When the imagination fails a writer, what is left is autobiographical form of writing. You might not be aware of it, but you must be losing some inner talent as a writer in a slow process. A writer must move out of his own orbit. How can a writer expand his horizon unless he changes the orbit? The story of half girlfriend is primarily written for teenagers who accept any form or style of writing without any comment, if it suits their sense of sex and love. They are governed by these basic instincts without any thoughtful provocation. But the writer of half girlfriend does not want to go beyond it. A boy meets girl; they are separated for good. But they meet again only to get separated. They ultimately come together. The concept of half girlfriend is smashed somewhere in the very process of narration only to be converted into a type of live-in relationship – half married, half divorced and a child in between. The writer seems to be a protagonist of new social order – changing the mindset - of young generation. Very subtly he had introduced father- daughter bitter chocolate relationship and also tried to open the path of divorce and re-marriage. In the age of shrinking world and having acquired advanced technical skill, one can hope to serve two Hemispheres together – East and West. It is a sea change from rural Bihar to New York, shuttling almost at will. The writer seems to be weak in style of his narration and describing the story. He seldom tries to read the situation minutely. His expression lacks the literary charm. He does not touch the line of a novelist. He goes on adding one book after another but simply remains a story teller. He is good in making a plot – a fine story – but he is always in hurry to create events, and developing the story, and by doing so he leaves behind much valuable aspect of literary element that goes through the process of a masterly expression of thought and style. He is in no way being called a novelist in literary parlance. The writer claims to be a catalyst of change. But in what way he thinks so? What has he given to the society through his language? He is getting more and more debased in the use of words. His diction is simply getting horrible. ‘Deti hai to de varna kat le’. What does this mean? Mr. Writer, please keep in mind that whatever be the stature of a woman in society - she must be dealt with dignity. Even prostitutes have their self respect. Are you going to elevate womankind with such a language? As a writer you cannot absolve the responsibility. These are not Madhav’s words. This is the writer’s Hindi – not Bihari (Bhojpuri) language – but pure and simple Punjabi-Hindi mixed dialect. This very sentence makes the book a trash. And the word F**king has been so profusely used in the book that it has become the catchword – rather a password – of the book, half girlfriend, without using that you cannot enter into the text to read the sublime passages. ‘F**k or get f**ked’ is the message teenagers can receive from your book. And here in this book you have used abusive word Ch***a also. How nice of you Mr. Writer, to think of changing the society in this way! If you want to become a good novelist you have to mend your language. You have to develop a literary style of creativity with a deep sense of expression which is pleasing to mind and soul. You never try to describe landscape; never try to form images through words; never write passages to beautify text. Bare story surrounded by events with common narration does not make a novel. A novel is a form of writing which requires the creativity of an artist, profoundness of a linguist and perfection of a writer who is able to describe the quality of observation through the choice of his words, easily to be moulded at his command. He must have the sensitivity of revelation and ability to impress upon his readers the view points with his capacity to organize a story of an architectural quality, brick by brick, stone by stone. A good plot – a nice story – is of utmost importance. It must have a definite beginning, middle and an end. It must flow with ups and downs creating rhythm through words. It must carry the universality of some of the deepest human emotions to sustain the story. It is music within heart which comes out spontaneously and reaches the zenith to serve a climax and slowly arrives at the destination as a river flows down calmly into the sea. There is nothing like a set pattern, but the designer has to invent paradigm to bring out a sense of in depth satisfaction and achievement in each of his successive creation. Somehow ‘half girlfriend’ does not come to these expectations. In spite of a good story and a plot, it lacks the smoothness of narration, depth of emotions and sublimity of diction or language. No doubt, the writer has capacity to create a good stuff for his book, but as a columnist or a journalist, he always remains within bounds of a dead line for his story to be sent to the press. This has created in him a hurried style of writing and he has adjusted to the temporariness of journalistic writing than to a more sustained and value added concept of a man of letters. He fills columns but does not prettify his writings. He has been for the last ten years in this profession, but still lacks maturity. If observed minutely, he seemed to have deteriorated a lot in the use of words – rather became more abusive - and dwelled on the surface of the story. How one can make Bihar proud? By f**king a girl and win her over? Has the writer not degenerated in his understanding of the state? There are instances which count in making a story worthy for appreciation or rejection and here one may find many such points of rejection. It is not novel-material but pulp fiction stuff. How can such a writer think that he should be ‘missed’, if not remembered? At most he can be put to the level of yester year (Hindi) writers like Kushwaha Kant or Gulshan Nanda – an English version of them. They had written good stories which were also converted into films, but survived for a decade or two only and never were ‘missed’ because others were in the pipeline to fill the gap. The writer of half girlfriend has great power of creating stories, generating plots, but he does not want to come out of quick fame of journalistic style. He is satisfied with that. He is in essence a columnist, not a writer of great promise. He has to develop the other facet of his personality as a writer. He must come out as a man who knows the art of narration, observation and description; the man who has the capacity to develop literary style of expression, the man who has potential of a novelist of some name and fame. But he has to change his style. I do not want to see him transformed into a Hardy or a Naipaul. Centuries have lapsed; times have changed a lot. But permanent truth can never be obsolete. In ‘half girlfriend’ one may find some traces of a good novelist in making. Just mark the letter – wonderfully set and drafted - in section33, page 189 by Riya to Madhav. This letter surpasses even Hardy’s letter when Tess writes to her lover (in a different context of course) addressing, ‘My Own Husband….’. This letter of Riya creates the climax of the story. It is worth reading, preserving, and appreciating. There are other better expressions too, but they run only up to a line or two. This is unsolicited advice to the writer of ‘half girlfriend’ to accept the challenge as a novelist and rise above the level of a story teller. In spite of all its failings, ‘half girlfriend’, is worthy for reading and appreciating.

Khushwant Singh: Truth, Courage and Agnosticism - An Obituary

Deepika Padukone scolds the Editor : TOI and it's lack of respect for women

The editor of the online entertainment section of TOI tried to redo a Khushwant by morphing – rather zooming and highlighting through an arrow and a circle - the worst kind of act, for better attention of the readers to prove his degenerated sense of sexism with a caption ‘OMG …Cleavage Show’ of an otherwise simple professional photograph of a popular Bollywood actress. What was there in that image which prompted the editor to highlight it? Has he not seen the cleavage of any other woman in his life? With this perverted sense of editorship you can go on making your online edition a sexshop by putting as many arrows, indications and images of woman’s body – breasts, buttocks and pelvis etc till it is contested in the court of law as porno or the sure way of outraging the modesty of a woman. But the common public is not attracted towards it. It pulls down your prestige and makes the mockery of your paper. Perhaps you know the under lying cause how and why Khushwnat singh was fired from Illustrated Weekly? The magazine had ceased to be the carrier of respectable reading material for every household, family and drawing room. Its readers were getting confined to the clubs and coffee houses. Bennett, Coleman and Co had sensed its degeneration and promptly closed down the Weekly. Do you want the same fate for your online edition? People will not remain silent if you do this bakvas any further. Every woman has a right to have dignified and respectful place in the society. You must assure she gets it and see that her modesty is not hurt in any form by your actions directly or indirectly. The time is not far away when apart from Verma Commission’s new definition of rape, the court will also draw a line beyond that print or electronic media cannot go to attract attention through semi or complete nude photographs of women. You put black strip to cover your malafide intentions. But now this will not do. The photo-journalism is a branch of activity which has devoured the good sense of writing and understanding of the editor. Please be in your limit and don’t show to the world that you do not respect your women. You admitted that the heading could be better. But at the same time, in retaliation, you loaded more photographs to bring the situation at the same point from where it had originated. Have you really lost your sense? What you want to project? Yes, she is a woman. She has breasts. So what? She is young, attractive and beautiful. But she is not meant for your entertainment edition to attract readers. You have no right to put arrow or circle over her photograph. It is morphing of a new order. It is a crime. The fault lies in your thought process, approach and understanding of women. It is against sexism, erotica and sensuousness that the women are fighting. The aftermath of Nirbhaya episode should have taught you a lesson. But you have forgotten the tension the society is passing through. You are living in a society which has certain laws – social and legal. You have to obey them. Don’t retaliate if a woman asks you to behave in an orderly manner. She gets now more protected under the law of state than she used to have earlier. Putting online images and zoom them in your interest amount to outraging her modesty. Whatever is the level, the status or position of a woman – high or low – she has to be dealt with dignity, honour and respect? A beggar woman, a household maid or an office girl, an actress or a selected beauty queen, all have the same dignity as a woman as our daughters and sisters. There should be no distinction among them as far as the dignity of a woman is concerned. Why you try to pull her down? Why you call her a calendar girl? How would you feel if I call you a news paper vendor or a hawker? There is no difference between an editor and a news hawker. Both bring news to our door step. You must remember that women are not a sex signs. They are trying hard to change this image. And you must try to understand difference between professional and personal life. It may also be said as the reel vs. real life. You want to project that the photographs which you uploaded in retaliation as a reply belong to her real life. No. They are all stills from professional life. Women are fighting for equality and empowerment but by bringing in a woman’s or man’s anatomy to attract attention is a cheap form of journalism – print or electronic. Don’t peep into a woman’s body; don’t zoom to expose her skin pixel by pixel. Please have respect for women off-screen. You have highlighted the image of the actress encircling her breasts and cleavage. Why? Are you full of shit or have any sense of art form? Your arrows and circles create a doubtful journalism. Surely, the world of online is different from news paper. But underlying philosophy is the same. You have to have a healthy outlook of journalism. You have miserably failed in this test. You seem to have wrongly landed in this field. You can best fit as a pimp. You can attract more clients in that business than what you do to attract readers for your online entertainment section. There is an instance in our cultural history. ‘In the reign of King Dilip, there were no poor, no thieves, no fear among men and women. There was equality among people and no clash of material interest and when there were no unchaste men how could unchaste women be?’ It only means that man is elevating as well as degenerating factor for a woman. Let us accept this truth and the reality of our social life. Let us lift our women high in our mental setup and don’t degrade them only as sex symbols. She needs our help. She is God’s best creation. We must give her dignity, respect and love. I request Bennett, Coleman and co to look into the matter seriously and sack the editor(s) of the online edition of TOI as well as the editor of the entertainment section, if there is any, and replacing them by women editors so that it may get rid of pelvis-penis kind of journalism which has put your online edition into great controversy. Women journalists will at least not play the arrow-circle game and this will also be the test for the management how much respect they show for women.

Labyrinth of Rail Tariff Authrity

LABYRINTH OF RAIL TARIFF AUTHORITY The proposed rail tariff authority is a complex institutional phenomenon; the more it is worked out, the greater is the complication, intricacy and confusion involved in it. One is sure to be lost in its incompatibility and impracticality of thought process and action. The idea was first mooted to establish Indian Railways Regulatory Authority (IRRA) by The Rakesh Mohan Committee Report (2001) along with other innovative recommendations. But it was not taken up seriously because the committee stood for corporatization of the railways and almost proposed to dismantle the Ministry and the Railway Board. Not knowing about the consequences, the idea was reopened by Dinesh Trivedi (2012), although the railways’ professionals and think tank did not consider it a welcome step. Later on, other ministers - Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mallikarjun Kharge - under the pressure of the Planning Commission - took up the cause for establishing Rail Tariff Authority. Though Bansal had to leave the railways, it was Kharge who ultimately succeeded in getting the proposal of Tariff Authority passed by the Cabinet. It is at present lying with the Ministry of Law. The tragedy with Indian Railways is that it is molested, time and again, by its own mentor for personal and party pleasure. Who is to check the top brass? And how is it possible to bell the cat? When it comes to Railways Budget Session, the minister feels elevated – a time for bounty distribution – mostly unplanned expenditure is added year after year. And the back log grows so heavily that no amount of Vision 2020 or any other such Vision would suffice to end this process. The past experience shows that the malady lies somewhere within the ministry of railways. It is the minister who needs to be checked, controlled and stopped from making imprudent and whimsical decisions. But what is the way out? Is there any authority over him? Is there any regulatory body to mend his ways? Constitutionally none, except the Parliament to which the minister is answerable. For the past several years, the railways has shown unprecedented ways of bringing the department to near bankruptcy. It seems to be the fall out of insensible decisions taken by the ministers like popular schemes of no hike in tariffs, unplanned expenditure, unfeasible projects and adding up limitlessly new trains and new programmes every year without any financial provisions for the same. It is perhaps for this reason that a consensus was created to establish Rail Tariff Authority. It sounds good to have such an authority provided it is feasible. Perhaps neither the Planning Commission nor the Cabinet has given a second thought to it about its impracticability. The idea of Rail Tariff Authority (RTA) is unrealistic, inappropriate and disruptive because of the duplicity of the authority and other related factors involved in it. It seems like creating an authority over the final authority. What type of power structure does it envisage? The most experienced financial cadre of Indian Railways and academics engaged in research studies at various rail study centres like Rail Transport Institute, Delhi, and Railways’ Staff College, Varodara, have opined that the set of players involved in railways are different than those in other tariff authorities like the Tele-Communication Sector (from where this idea is borrowed). The players of the Tele-Communication Sector are outsiders and cannot be equated with the railways. A. V. Polouse, an authority on railway finance, and former member Railway Board, has never welcomed the idea of Rail Tariff Authority. He is of the opinion that tariff authority like the Tele-Communication is working only because this sector is multi-operator-service-sector, unlike railways which is single-operator-service-sector. The railways is a single player business unit. Whom will the RTA regulate? An authority to regulate an authority! Should one regulate the Minister for Railways or for that matter the Prime Minister if he keeps the railways portfolio with him? The Rail Tariff Authority is a mismatch proposition and does not conform to the railways setup and its operative pattern. The railways as a department, and the government at the centre – both seem to be rather confused over the setting up of the Rail Tariff Authority. Perhaps it is on the basis of such a scenario that the proposed RTA has yet not taken a concrete shape and though it has got a nod from the Cabinet, the proposal is still languishing in cold storage or perhaps lying somnolent with the law ministry. The doubts regarding feasibility of the Tarff Authority have come home to the roost. The protagonists now say that if RTA has to be adopted, it must go through both ways i.e., executive and legislative. Though it is easy to establish RTA through executive order but it would remain in that case a subordinate and weak institution. Its recommendations would never be mandatory. The railways by nature and authority cannot digest any super body dominating it. It is not practically possible to do so without recourse to legislative process. It, therefore, needs an amendment in the Railways Act 1989. It is here that the conflicting opinions prevail. The nature, role and practicability of RTA have to be ascertained first. The purpose of tariff authority has to be well defined. Its functioning has to be made clear. The feasibility aspect must be judged properly. The railway ministry wants it to be an advisory body where as the government at centre thinks it to be much stronger an institution whose recommendations would be mandatory. The Cabinet Committee though in principle has accepted the establishment of a regulatory body but it has different versions of the proposed authority. The minister for railways, Mallikarjun Kharge, has said that the Cabinet has approved the proposal of establishing RTA but there are some points which are still to be clarified. What are those points are not clear. In fact, a stronger RTA needs amendment in the Railway Act. The Act should provide fine teeth to RTA to enable it to regulate railways tariffs with power, grace and dignity. In this case it would have authority to fix fares and freights binding on the railways. And, perhaps the railway administration would not accept this process on technical grounds and in the long run the Rail Tariff Authority would become useless. The railways on the other hand, has an authority to submit budget to the Parliament - an authority - which is superior to any other department functioning within the government except the Ex-Chequer, the Ministry of Finance. How can a third party intervene the functioning of the railways and the Parliament? Does the RTA want to make this power of the railways redundant? There seems to be a tussle of power being exercised between RTA’s advisory and mandatory role. This situation, in any case, should be avoided in the general interest of the railways and the people. What is use of submitting separate budget by the railways if it cannot fix fares and freights on its own? The aspect of fare and freight policy governs the gamut of railways system and functioning. If this process is changed, the railways cannot survive as a dignified department. The setting up of an intermediary body would disturb the whole power structure of the railways. A common acceptable solution has to be found so that the RTA would fix the brackets of increase or decrease of rail fares and freights taking into account input costs like fixed and variable costs, marginal and average costs and other expenditures and market conditions of demand and supply including elasticity and sensitivity aspect of passengers and consignors. However, the final authority must remain with the railways. This requires executive and legislative changes and amendments. Only the time will tell what shape the RTA takes if the government is keen to establish it. If Indian railways has to be saved from the political clutches and unrestricted power being exercised by the ministers to promote their private and party interests, the RTA with fine teeth should emerge as a solution to the present deteriorating situation or else the railways would be driven into doldrums. The railways has already experienced a damaging effect due to ministers uncontrolled behavior during the recent past and the ministry of Railways needs a shock therapy to bring it on the right track.

Raiways and Corruption

Railways and Corruption There is no option for Pawan Kumar Bansal but to resign as the railway minister. Explaining his position and distancing from his nephew would not absolve him of the act so directly or indirectly committed. A top most member of railway board is alleged to be a culprit and a part of a deeper conspiracy of the most sensational bribery case came to light in the annals of the Indian Railways who has day to day access to the minister. It is unbelievable that the minister is unaware of his nephew’s nefarious activities concerning the railways affairs. Bansal’s close relationship with his nephew is well known as an insider of the family as well as the manager of Bansal’s election campaign for Lok Sabha seat from Chandigarh . Bansal’s residence at Chandigarh is in the neighbourhood of his nephew’s residence and both the families meet almost daily. Bansal was instantly informed of the raid which CBI officials conducted in the night of Friday. The frequent visits of Bansal’s nephew to Rail Bhavan along with railways contractors as well as his visits to Delhi hotels with them and their associates confirms his motives to influence people and take advantage of it. It is helping indirectly the party to which the minister belongs through individual and material power. Ministers are not there for nothing; they are not hermits. They have to serve the party and their personal interests. The service for the nation comes much afterwards. Gone are the days when patriot like Bhagat Singh laid his life for the cause of the country. It is certainly disgusting to know that a person representing Chandigarh, which is the home town of the Prime Minister also, was neither afraid of God nor his own boss and does not show any respect to save the honour of the railways and the ministry. Why does he not resign to protect UPA’s dignity and his own self respect? P.K.Bansal does not belong to the generation of micro family of recent times. He neither believes nor practices it. He has an extended family closely woven into a commercially planned empire furthering business and political interests. The family includes sisters, brothers, nephews, sister-in-laws, son-in-laws including sons and their wives wife. They live in the same sector of Chandigarh and conduct their family businesses and activities almost in an interlocking manner. The patriarch of the family – Pawan Bansal – visits them on weekends to look after their interest. This Bansal clan has more than fifty members including children. The more prominent adults are named as: Madhu Bansal (wife), Amit Bansal and Manish Bansal (sons), Monika and Shiana (daughter-in-laws), Madan Mohan Singla, Mithan Lal Singla, Vijay Singla, Rajesh Singla, Vikram Bansal, Punit Bansal (all nephews), Sunaina Bansal (Vikram’s wife), Shalini Bansal (Rajeshe’s wife),Chetan Singla (Vijay Singla’s nephew) and Anshul Bansal (Punit’s wife). One-time Congress small functionary and a man of humble beginnings, Bansal rose to the level of a patriarch of a multi-crore empire run by his extended family. His proximity to Manmohan Singh is well known as both belong to the same state; same city of Chandigarh. During his thirty years of long political career Bansal has carved out a safe place for himself through his softness of speech, meaningful smile demeanor and clever persuasive style of handling people, problems and politics. His exterior is so much camouflaged that it is difficult to decipher who is art work - a detached man of unimpeachable integrity or an attached man of large crony and greedy family empire? Lalu Prasad supports him as a man of great moral values and honesty. Bansal says, “Nothing can influence my decision – neither my sons nor my wife; nephews are too remote and distant relations”. Just wait for court verdict, if any prima-face case exists against him. But the problem still remains unsolved. How officers at the top have developed a perception that the job of such a high position can be acquired through money? The answer lies in railways deep rooted mismanagement. Since past few years the bosses at Rail Bhavan have added to their own miseries. The top bribery charisma and its fall out are of recent origin. B. S. Ghosh Dastidar, a former member (Traffic), Railway Board, has expressed his extreme anguish and pain over the incident and added that for the past thirty eight years of his service to the railways, he had never heard of such a top bribery case. Banasal may or may not be a party to this so called scam but the way this sensational case came to limelight, he has to bear the brunt of this sudden volcanic erupltion. Bansal seems to have misled the people having said that he (or his family) has no business links with his nephews. It is open documentary evidence that his sons, wife and daughter-in-laws along with his nephews are the directors of Bansal Raunaq Energy Group Ltd., ISIS Packing Pvt. Ltd., IV Health Pvt. Ltd., Theon Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Etc (details are available on Indian Express Website). It has also made clear that ‘Rail Neer’ and railways catering contracts are given to this extended family. Apart from this, Bansal’s family – his wife and sons - have borrowed Lakhs of rupees as ‘soft loans’ from the companies managed by their extended family to which his nephew Vijay singla (one of the main accused) belongs. How can Bansal keep himself aloof from such scenarios of family and money influences? Bansal plays safe not to be directly involved in any of his family business activities. He promotes business through his remote controlled politics and influences people indirectly or in other sense the business gets promoted itself as his graph of political clout increases. There is party- wise, political and ministerial help; there is family-wise, friendly and partnership help; there is business-wise, trading oriented and organizational help. The Bansal clan gets it all collectively. There is support for him from inside and outside. He supports others and gets supported by them. It works smoothly, regularly and automatically even without his knowledge. His son Amit and his nephew Vijay Singla are his left and right eyes – if one is hurt the other has to feel the impact; if one rejoices, other can’t resist feeling happy sensation. The minister Bansal, where ever he is, uses his authority softly just in a whispering way – what his right hand does the left hand can’t sense it. He helps those who in turn help him. It is pure and simple professional and business relationship. As a MoS Finance, he got appointed Sunil Gupta as government nominee to Canara Bank, who in turn arranged a soft loan of Rs. 35 crore to his sons and nephews companies. Sunil was an auditor in Bansal’s empire and ultimately became a share holder of the bank. One can’t see any wrong doing in such activities. These are legally acceptable ways except where the ‘use of official power for self interest’ is involved. One has yet to see if the clauses of prevention of corruption Act and misuse of authority are applied in such cases and if he can be questioned for all this? The next step is that the PM must save railways from getting into doldrums. In that case he has to ask the minister to resign. The bribery case is directly a threat to passengers’ safety. When there is ‘zero morality syndrome’, the threat perception for safety multiplies exponentially. The PM must ask Bansal to quit. If the PM really wants to reform the railways he should immediately dissolve the Railway Board and reconstitute it as the bold Indira Gandhi did in 1980. In this respect no aspiring member or Chairman would adopt wrong ways to capture the post and the railways would be purged of the present higher ups who might have acquired the posts through foul means. But it requires strong decision and guts to do so. The railways is gasping for life and it seems its days are over. What a peculiar way of expressing by a member of the ruling party that this ‘small act’ is being much hyped. If this is small thing, what worse can happen to the railways? With what justification Sharad Yadav comes to the rescue of P K Bansal? Ministers do have several relatives, but not so close as Bansal’s naphew is. He is his political manager of election. He is to Bansal what Sanjay Gandhi was to Indira in political matters. The top body’s (Railway Board’s) member is involved. All the circumstantial and real evidences so far available show that the malady lies at the top. The head therefore must come to scanner. Bansal will create greater problems for himself and the party if he does not resign immediately. The case is not confined to the subject of top promotional level only. It relates to more sanctioning of the projects and the money involved in it not of Bansal’s regime alone but Mamata’s stint also. Dinesh Trivedi advocates much of honesty but only CAG report will tell how much he or his boss were right in dealing with and sanctioning the projects and transferring the money out of way. The corrupt practices so far kept hidden in railways have suddenly erupted which will certainly enfold the top bosses serving the railways at least for the past one decade. A free hand to these authorities was given by the government at centre and the PM with the result they acted in an autocratic style. The railways was almost held as a hostage of Trinamool Congress for more than three years. Mamata is a glaring example of an autocrat who still dreams to have railways portfolio. Just think why? The railways is the only department of the government of India which has the budget greater than any of States governments’ budget and comprises more than one tenth of the general budget of the nation. A ten crore alleged deal by a member of the railway board forms just a fringe of the greater deals which might be waiting to be burst out. Let CBI and CAG together make an enquiry for the past one decade and bring facts to the public. If PM does not cooperate in this process, history will not forgive him for tolerating corruption at the top level. The worst scenario of the railways is that it is totally minister driven. He is the monarch of what he surveys. There is no body, no committee and no group to oppose him. He never waits for suggestions. This process creates many loopholes in the administrative system. It was for this reason that it has become much sought after ministry. The department of railways is so vast that it gives an impression that you are ruling a nation. The Prime Minister has yet to set this rotten system right. Instead of showing his inability due to coalition compulsions, he must now rise to the occasion and operate the cancerous disease vitiating the body- railways. The Fare and Freight Regulatory Body has to be set up to intervene if the minister’s actions are getting autocratic. The Project Sanctioning Authority – an independent body – must be established to control the minister. The railways must have its separate Five Year Plan (rather than a part of the general FYP) and no unplanned projects or expenses be allowed unless approved by Finance Ministry and The Planning Commission. If no timely check on the working of the minister for railways is imposed and the powers of the minister are pruned, the cases like recent bribery at the top level will continue with greater intensity, spread and effectiveness.

Meaning of Arvind kejriwal's Resignation

Meaning of Kejriwal’s resignation Why did Arvind Kejriwal resign? This is the question which every conscientious citizen of Delhi should ask himself and try to find out answer from within. It was Kejriwal’s Act 1, Scene1 of the political theatre where in he was deceived and ‘stabbed’ like Julius Caesar by his confident Brutus. ‘Et Tu Brut…then falls Caesar’… and the scene ends. But Kejri’s theatre is continuing, Act by Act; Scene by Scene, even more intensely. Just about two months earlier to this tragic scene, the congress leadership on its own tried to woo Kejriwal by promising unconditional support to him. Not that he was eager to capture the office of chief minister, but a kind of challenge was thrown to him. Kejriwal does not play his cards with the shrewdness of a poker faced politician because he is at heart pure and simple and a man of conscience without any malice, but intelligent enough to understand the tricks played by others. At that time he had several options which a cunning and crafty politician might have chosen. But he did not indulge in debased politics for a wider and solid support and contended himself with only eight votes more as a good gesture from the Congress, but on his own terms. Kejriwal is a straight forward man and knows his way and the mission well, unlike other politicians who play with tricks and numbers only. His guiding force is the ‘Aam Admi’and his one point agenda is to exterminate corruption from administrative set up at every level; other things are subsidiary to him – the politics, party and position. AAP is not a party but a political revolution and anybody joining him is aware of the fact that he has to sacrifice all - money, power and position in order to achieve the mission of eradicating corruption. He has made it clear to all – join us or not – but service to the nation is the only ambition which one has to aspire. It is the second war of independence and in absence of Gandhi one has to model himself as Gandhi and sacrifice the same way as he did. It was with this intent that he had to sit a Dharna before Rail Bhavan. He was protesting against the police which disobeyed him. Everybody has a right to protest peacefully. One cannot dictate the methods, the places and the ways of protest. There is nothing theatrical about it. He considered himself a common man (even as CM) and behaved like a common man. Gandhi never wished to rise above common man. He lived and died as such. Since we have forgot the Mahatma, his way of life and the methods of his protest, we see oddity in Kejriwal’s action. The Congress had forgot Gandhi long back. It never revived those values which were very dear to him. It had been converted into a shrewd political force and had established a system that thrived on corruption. Other parties too learned the same lesson, more or less, because it was a built-in process and difficult to avoid unless you set to change the system. If you achieve power the motto becomes simple; ‘Live (In corruption) and let live (In corruption)’; ‘Do scams and allow others to do’. And the concealed cunningness of the system should never be exposed. The same story of corruption runs from Boforce to Coalgate – from one PM to another. Just think it deeply. When did the Congress support Chandra Shekhar or Charan Singh whole heartedly? It was a political game. It seems good in a bad politics. Shrewdness is it’s another name. Scoundrels govern the whole system and we have become a part of it. But it was a different proposition when Kejriwal accepted the support of the congress. He was very clear in his mind. He had no ambition to be CM (Or PM). He is a rebel and a revolutionary in his own way. One cannot cheat him - not even politically. If one does, he will revolt because he has nothing to lose. This is what he has done while resigning as CM. But by doing this, he exhibits the courage of a crusader, the strength of a rising rebellion and moral force of a Mahatma. One has not to go into the technicalities of constitutional procedure or democratic way of getting passed the Jan Lokpal Bill for Delhi (Or for the country). Politics in India has de-generated our institutions and methods which support legal framework. Our laws are obsolete and ineffective, system is inefficient and corrupt, the policies and programmes are widely used to support corporates in the name of liberalization and free economy. Money governs the government. The common man is left to reconcile to his fate. There are instances to prove this – be it is Gas-Price –Scam, dilution of Jan Lokpal Bill or taxing common man in the name of higher fuel or water cost. If Delhi Legislative Assembly cannot pass or present Jan Lokpal bill on its own, what type of government it is? Is it a municipality or a village Panchayat – always to seek permission from above? Delhi government must assert its power. The opposition – especially the Congress, should have allowed passing or presenting the bill as promised. If it was unconstitutional, there was every possibility of its being rejected at President Level. But why it was obstructed in the midway? There are cooperative ways of supporting a coalition government. With Anna Hazare’s movement, and Kajriwal’s coming to the forefront, a new polity is being generated. If one misses this point, one has to suffer. Constitution is the same, but new players are coming up with new values, mindset and awakening, and giving priority to the cause of empowering common man. Even Rahul Gandhi has changed his ways due to Anna or Kejri effect. The members of Delhi Legislative Assembly must rise to the occasion. They have to shed their old values. It is a final call to the Young legislators. They should be clear hearted and must not adopt the old political tricks or gimmicks to run or defeat a government on technicalities. The people are watching them. They have little time at their disposal. The Delhi government has to fight many a battle in future where there will be clash between the Centre and the State power. The centre government should not reduce Delhi government to the level of a district or a village Panchayat. The net result is: Kejriwal is now posing a great threat to the Congress and BJP in Delhi (and elsewhere). The trick thrown has boomeranged. Kejri has evolved into a great moral force. This fact should not be ignored. He has not fallen: he has risen higher as a crusader to finish corruption. This image of his would remain in the minds of the voters for long. If one discards Gandhian values and does not keep promises, one has to lose not only power, but solidarity of the party and the unity of the country.