Why blame religion for bad behaviour of those who do not follow the tenets of own religion?

Of late I had been reading various comments on corruption in India. I am a little disturbed by attacking the religions for poor moral values of individuals who do not follow truly any religion. While I believe no religion teaches any of its followers to steal or cheat or live dishonestly, it is the people who claim to follow the religion but actually are thieves and murderers in disguise. To blame them how do our respected group getting to attack by name of a particular religion? There are enough bad guys in all religions and irrespective of caste and creed both good and bad people occur. Wholesale condemnation or self deprecation is not called for. Ridicule also is irrational. The first mantram said to be uttered 2.1 b years ago in Esavashopanishat comes to my mind. EshavAsyam idam yat kincha jagtyAm jagat tEna tyaktEna bhunjithA mAgridhah kasya swiddhanam ! Translated freely, means the entire universe and every tiny part of it is of the creator and only belongs to Him. What you get allocated you enjoy - but do not try to be greedy and aspire for more- it is not your wealth and all belongs to Lord only. Then again if you read Anushasana Parva of Sri Maha Bharata , the detailed Raj dharma, disciplined life one has to lead are all described so very well, including punishments for even mental acts of violence and aspiring for more than one deserves. Bhagavad Gita of course describes what a Satwick person is and how one should live while also describing the traits and thinking of the tamasa -- a very greedy self-interest driven crowd too. Practically all of us have been well categorised. Just because we find many to be in tamasic nature today, how religion becomes responsible? We hardly get any education in understanding our scriptures nor spend those years of study needed to get a hang of it. But happily and confidently we do not hesitate to pass comments as if we know so much. As far as I am concerned bad individuals in any religion do not represent the religion- they may even construct churches or temples or dargas but only to make money for themselves exploiting the majority of the innocents. Blame them for their moral turpitude but the faithful who believe and come to donate are not corrupt. Please think over . Kindly do not blame any religion for our ills. We must take responsibility for ourselves and our educational systems where we hardly have any foundation laid for living properly with values. Uneducated tribals have better values. They may worship Kali in jungles but do have better values than many of our highly paid MBA graduates flooding the Banks and Financial institutions all over the world.

Moolamurthy of Sri Venkateswaraswamy Tirumala

Tirumala Dhruva Bera Tirumala Dhruva Bera is the name given to the idol of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Andhra Pradesh. Dhruva Bera is the official terminology used for the main deity of a temple with the exact translation being The Immobile image and as the name suggests, the idol is stationary and other idols are used for pujas, sevas that requires the deity's presence outside the garbha griham (sanctum sanctorum). Other terms used for Dhruva Bera include Moolavar or Moola Virat (Main Deity), Achala (Main). Tirumala Dhruva Bera is considered to be Swayambhu - self-manifested and not created by human. According to Sri Venkatachala Mahatyam, Lord Venkateswara came to reside in this sacred spot to provide blessings to devotees in the Kali Yuga. The idol does not conform to the agamas (rules) for making a deity, thus furthering the belief that the temple's idol is Swayambhu. HideIdol description The dhruva bera stands approximately ten feet tall<[1] and stands a platform of about 18 inches. The platform follows a simple lotus design and the details of the any inscription on the platform is unknown to anyone except the temple's archakas (priests). The platform is usually covered in tulsi leaves except on Thursday afternoon and during Friday abhishekam.[2] The face of the idol has exquisite features, with the nose neither flat nor prominent. The eyes are prominent and has the outline of 'namam' though it is not projected out of the idol. The eyes are partially covered with the namam made of pachakarpuram (raw camphor). The size, shape and details of the namam are governed by strict rules laid by the Vaikhanasa agamam. The idol has a crown carved up to the forehead and jatajuta (curly hair) resting on the shoulder. The chest is estimated to be between 36 to 40 inches in width and the waist would be between 24 to 27 inches, though there has never been a formal measurement of these statistics. Since the upper body is bare, features of the chest are prominently seen with the main feature being the image of a sitting Sridevi carved on the right side of the chest. The image of lakshmi is integral to the idol. The idol has 4 arms. The upper arms in the position to hold his weapons though the Chakram and Conch are not integral to the idol. The removable Sudarshana chakram is placed on the upper right arm while the Panchajanya - Vishnu's conch is placed on the upper left arm. The lower right arm is in the Varada Hasta pose - palms facing outward towards the onlooker to signal boon giving nature of the lord. The lower left arm is in the Katyavalambita pose - palm facing the lord with the thumb nearly parallel to the waist. The idol is seen with a dhoti worn waist downwards. Both the knees are slightly bent forward to indicate that the Lord is willing to come to the devotee's rescue. The shoulder of the lord has marks resembling scars made by constant wearing of bow and pack of arrows though the idol is not in the Tribhanga pose (unlike Tirumala Rama Idol)[2] Ornaments Tirumala Dhruva bera has a number of ornaments as seen on the idol. The yagnopavitam (sacred thread) is seen on the bare chest of the lord running from the left shoulder to the right waist. Four sets of necklaces are seen on the idol. The idol also has a two inch katibandham (waist band) running over the dhoti. The arms have armlets and the legs have ornaments near the ankle. The lord sports ear ornaments also.[2]

Kejriwal answered well, but then what next?

While Kejriwal's reply is as per expected lines a class I officer would have drafted when placed in the position he found himself, does not help the cause except grabbing the headlines in press.

These are well known facts and as mentioned by him they are any number of movies depicting the scene prevailing , over the last two decades.

Why the corrupt are so much attracted to hold government power? Why industrialists invest to get in to parliament ? Why the candidates spend so much money in elections to win?

It is for the same reason a contractor seeks to get a contract- to make money. A business proposition. But how the government is able to attract so many and so fast? The risk to reward balance in abusing the government power heavily favours the reward seekers, because the wonderful facility of hiding the files and the process, while issuing public orders to favour arbitrarily throwing the norms out of the window.

And further, the government machinery is used to deny documents needed for any aggrieved to even seek justice in a court of law. Thus level playing field is denied to the aggrieved and whether a just order is issued by the authority disposing off the public assets or not is left to internal scrutiny by well controlled CVC or CBI.

A rich harvest hence is waiting to be reaped. Corrupt will get elected repeatedly, only party symbols change.The lure of power and pelf with no accountability to render public service is much better than normal business. returns are very high.

But unlike murder which cannot be prevented, this is preventable- instead of creating a cop thief game as proposed by more legislation creating a super power like Lok Pal as envisaged by Kejriwal. Who is sure that you will get a squeaky clean Lok Pal among the sample f populations in India? Import? Like in cricket umpiring!

Instead the simple solution is to remove the honey pot in the seat of power. There is no law that government should keep the files used to issue public orders, not impinging on the security issues of the nation, to be kept hidden as secret files and then control what can be shared under RTI etc.

If Kejriwal and his friends worked to demand that government should publish file on web along with the order issued, the charm of the government is immediately lost. Shorn of secrecy , the press and courts will have influence now to tear wrong orders of the government in to pieces. The politician and abetting bureaucrat will be exposed in real time-- none of the scams like Adarsh or 2G would have occurred.

Then corrupt lose taste for the government. Mostly honest interested in public service will find their way to govern.

The elections too will become clean and criminalisation of politics will cease.

Even to make such demand Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi refuse!! Interesting! I spoke to Prashan Bhushan too . he avoided direct answer. Even filing a PIL in SC to direct government not to deny justice to aggrieved by hiding away documents , is not too much to ask. Why not? But Prashant too went about Lok pal bill etc. A round about way to keep issues alive.

Sometimes I wonder, we are only witnessing a show with each having private agenda. Prashan Ji did indicate they will go for putting up candidates in coming general elections!!

SO finally I thought to myself, a ground is being prepared for the group to get in to seats of power themselves , while keeping the honey pot safe and well for themselves?

Whither Indian Railway?

Earlier we used to to have a few dedicated engineers with vision on future and truly struggled with single point concentration passionately think and evolve the strategy for the capital intensive track modernisation and renewals in time so that we do not face spate of accidents stretching the infrastructure to its failure limits.

But in spite of such efforts, finally the system had to go through very painful anguished time of a spate of accidents, punishment to a number of good people too, before wisdom prevailed and the infrastructure revived.

A period of peace many enjoyed. Now the phase of looking ahead and planning for what next is due to be done in next decade is arising. Traffic densities have almost doubled, and we cannot afford to cripple the system, dropping the traffic for the sake of infrasrtucture renewal and up-gradation.

A holistic plan must be drawn out particularly factoring in new realities of social milieu.

The usual turf wars, myopic short term goal oriented pass the day attitudes at policy making levels too have to be factored in.

The intrinsic strength of bridges have carried us this far. I am now worried the complacency set in because of that, left many thousands of bridges in service, much beyond their safe service life.


A combination of bridge and track failures will finish off the financials of railways dropping traffic carried to less than 30% of current levels and hurt national economy too.

Coming two decades will be very painful period not only for the track engineers but also the traffic department, I can foresee.

A prayer for issue of writ of habeas corpus to Government of India in public interest not to deny level playing field in availing justice in India

Honourable Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India,

Your Honour,

Sub: A prayer for issue of writ of habeas corpus to Government of India in public interest not to deny level playing field in availing justice in India to aggrieved by orders of Government of India or any public authority in India

Whenever Government or any competent authority decides and issues a public order concerning public assets or infrastructure or a project, while one party gets advantage of such an order, there is always other stakeholders who feel aggrieved because of losing own assets or adversely impacting their life style or business, and would like to avail their basic right of seeking a judicial review.

But in the current practice of government , the files are kept secret, while government orders are public. For secret matters, not open for public to know, it is fine to keep secret files, in the larger national interest. In such secret matters, the orders there of also remain secret.

However in all other cases, government has to follow public policy and any activity has to be in public interest and knowledge. There can be no secret agenda for issue of any public order. By keeping the file secret, while making the order public a serious lacunae is dispensation of justice is occurring.

The aggrieved stakeholder, be it a party who lost an opportunity, or the public themselves whose life and assets could be adversely influenced, stand to be denied any relief in time, before damage happens, from a court of law, because the basic documents needed to assess the fairness or otherwise are all locked away in government secret file. By not allowing ready and easy access to these documents along with the order, government has created an undue advantage to the party getting benefited by the order, while, denying a level playing field to the aggrieved to have judicial relief.

Thus in our country, the basic fundamental right that every citizen is entitled to protection from arbitrary actions of any authority public or private in our nation. through availing justice through courts, in time, not wantonly delayed by the authority, is violated.

Today the authority is vitiating the right of an aggrieved citizen, by causing delay in getting the access to approach courts, abusing their power arbitrarily to keep the concerned file secret.

While it is not a matter of national security nor sensitive information useful for enemies of the country but only public interest is the basis, and government expected to act fairly , the file also should be published along with order as a matter of assuring citizens' fundamental right to seek judicial review of any unfair order, in time and not many years later post suffering damage and then long drawn out investigations to prove the guilt.Once time passes, the evidence trail also gets cold or vanishes.

I believe & hence pray that a very serious matter of public interest is involved to deserve the use of the rarely used constitutional provision empowering the Supreme Court to issue a writ habeas corpus under Art 184(3) , to government of India and all public authorities in the Nation, to ensure that every order which is public or has an impact on life or assets of any citizen or groups of citizens, shall be published along with file, and keeping a secret file denying the same to the aggrieved, be considered a criminal cognisable offence , as violation of fundamental rights granted to citizens of India.

I pray Your Honour to grant justice to the common man of India, who is today placed at a disadvantage & denied justice in time, whenever government issues orders from secret files.



--
सत्यं परम् धीमही
बी. राजाराम
Rajaram Bojji M.Tech. IRSE (Retd.), FIE, FNAE, AMASCE
Currently@Hyderabad Facebook Blog:: Reflections

Youth of India struggle against dishonest in government as well in own leaders in their movement to cleanse our society?

Whenever I look at the way youth of India like you, working so hard and so sincerely trying to solve whatever problem comes in your way. to help the helpless, my heart goes out for you.

What hurts me and makes me angry too, is the way the corrupt meantime, invest in elections as a simple business deal, to get government under their control, and then make use of the magic tool of keeping the files secret from public, but issue orders to loot us left and right. Then they also get protected by the same government policy of holding the file secret, hiding the documnets so that the aggrieved cannot get justice in time. That lso gives them time to erase evidence and escape.

Once the corrupt get money in hand they become stronger, seduce all the regulatory systems and manipulate press and even the NGOs who come up to fight them.

The simplest requirement that government must publish the full file with every govt order made public ,[ obviously secret orders are not required to be made public] , can make our life different. An aggrieved will have full file to iimediately seek legal redressal. SO in real time we can prevent the corrupt from making money. Stay orders can be easily obtained from a court for a bad order.

But alas, to add insult to injury, the leaders spearheading movement against corruption, even persons like Kiran Bedi and Aravind Kejriwal, act like the Prime Minister's office- refuse to even discuss.debate or respond why they do not want this simple solution. It is not against Janlokpal. A level playing field for getting justice for a citizen aggrieved by the government order, why we should not demand? Publish file with order should be a simple demand which Kiran Bedi and Aravind can agree to demand along with Janlokpal. To implement this demand no separate Act is needed.

It is adding insult to injury, that our own leaders too do not want make this simple demand which can transform our governance. Once corrupt do not find any means to make money from the government, they leave the government power. That helps people like you. It is so unfortunate of this nation that corrupt seems to get support even from those who claim to be fighting them. Asking corrupt to make money and then flee and later we will have batallion of forces to chase you to put up a cop-thief game show is not an honest move, by our leaders, I believe.

NCTC & Corruption

Wish one serious aspect of the terrorist funding and arms trade route as well as the money laundering route of the corrupt state heads, criss crossing with each other is not forgotten.



If a state has a history of stealing from nation for private stashing out of the country, then terrorists do have a leverage with such states. The compromised heads can never act as honest as they make public utterances. The US agencies identified this serious problem which helps the terrorism. In India, by the mechanism of keeping the files secret but make public orders, hiding arbitrary& bad nature of the order, corrupt generate massive amounts of black money. This has to take the same route as the terrorists use. We get a compromised state.



It is not just NCTC- The corrupt in power can now use this against innocents,not necessarily against the terrorists.



First we must remove this very innocent looking mundane practice of keeping file secret and order public. We must get both file and order published by the Government by exposing this abuse of administration, which has been inherited from the British. This also causes justice to be denied to the aggrieved by denying the needed papers from the file, to get relief from a court. A serious violation of constitutional right to the citizen of the country. So we should get this distortion in administration corrected.



Then the corrupt will lose incentive to rush for government power, because unfair orders will get stayed anyway. It becomes difficult for them to work in government.



Only public service is possible. So corrupt will leave. Then only those honest who want to do public service will aspire for government power.



The terrorist will then have no leverage with those in state power, because the black money flow will not be from the state power seats.



Then NCTC will be the most effective instrument.



Else it will be another state tool to threaten honest citizens and activists.