“Only thing worse than doing Good and remembering it is expecting others to Remember your good………………..”
Many people in India and some even abroad are under a false impression that Anna or his team have lost the battle in this fight for Lokpal. Anna would have lost if he would have got some personal gain to make by creation of this Lokpal. Neither him nor any of his team members has any intention of being nominated to this 9-member team which is going to make up the Lokpal.
On the contrary, Anna has been able to put this issue in the forefront from the back burner where corrupt politicians had managed to put it since last 42 years. No party can publicly say that it doesn’t want creation of a strong lokpal lest it will be seen standing one with corruption. Of course, parties like Shiv Sena have tried saying so but their numbers in parliament are hardly relevant and they often talk in a different language simply to stand out different. Amazingly, even Laloo, Mulayam and Mayawati have advocated formation of a strong lokpal institution while privately, they shudder to imagine their plight the day it comes into existance.
One who has come out most disgraced of this whole lokepal saga is the Congress party which stands fully exposed in its half-hearted and ham-handed approach. Like many subservient institutions (read CBI) which it has created, it wants to create a pliable Lokpal which it wishes to select and terminate itself. It staged a drama in Parliament and made mockery of Rajya Sabha by its clumsy acts. It was simply playing to the gallery by pretending that it wanted to get the Lokpal bill passed without even taking its own alliance partners like Trinamool Congress on board when it knew that it did not have support of majority in Rajya Sabha.
BJP did play its role as an effective opposition by calling the government’s bluff but in all this tamasha,its the common man who has come out as the ‘worst sufferer’ as it still doesn’t have a Lokpal and neither has any hope of getting one in immediate future, at least till the time this corrupt government is in power.
“You cannot change the world but you can definitely change yourself……….adapt and see the same world in a new light”
Just when the general public and media was giving up all hope on this UPA 2 government, it came up with a pretty unexpected decision- allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. No sooner did cabinet pass this proposal, that opposition sensed a potentially explosive issue on which it could garner the government. Their cause was further helped by strong support lent by even the allies of this government, Trinamool Congress and DMK.
Like all others ideas whose time has come, FDI in retail is a decision which was long due in a country like India. Our farmers are committing suicides, more than 40% of our crop is destroyed due to wastage and absence of cold-storage facilities, prices of essential commodities touching sky-high prices, larger than required role of middle-men, all could have been tackled with this decision since these multi-national companies bring modern technology and modern methods of business in addition to huge foreign capital.
One can understand left parties and ambitious small parties like Trinamool
opposing FDI in retail but for BJP to oppose smacks of ‘political oppurtunism’ of the worst kind. BJP may claim to be championing the cause of small traders and may even win over their vote but the common man and farmers all over the country should see through their electoral agenda. On one hand, you want your Indian workers to get equal rights in America and western countries, you speak in a strong voice when America wants to restrict out-sourcing from countries like India and on the other hand, you want to stop their companies from doing business in India on an even footing. This is highly unbecoming of a national party harbouring ambitions to rule at centre. Congress has not much to gain by pushing this piece of legislation but the country has lot to lose if the proposal fails to pass through. I am sure India is going to face a serious backlash and crisis of credibility overseas very soon.
Lets hope for the betterment of all but few corrupt and incompetent traders, FDI is allowed in retail with required checks and balances. No country can stand in isolation in today’s globalized world, least of all a country like India which has more than a billion mouths to feed.
“The job of your opponents is to sow the seeds of Doubt in your mind and that of yours’ is not to let them do so………………”
