IN THE NAME OF LAL SALAAM...............

The year 1967 might not be a significant year in the pages of history for many.It might be an year incidents of which are worth forgetting.But during that fateful year, in the small neglected distict of naxalbari a spark was ignited which slowly turned to flames;Flames of anger against injustice,negligienceand apathy towards those voiceless millions who were fighting for their survival,for their rights and for their dignity.A motley group of youth most of them with a goodeducation and from a higher section of society left everything,a promising future,a glossy lifestyle,a walk on rose petals and instead chose a path of thorns.They lit those torches which themselves had forgotten the aura of light.They stood for those who couldnot fight for themselves.they sacrificed their lives to bring a ray of hope in millions of empty eyes.They answered injustice with vengeance.They broke those walls which had the corpses of the poor as bricks.They were the naxals. It has been nearly four decades of rebellion by the naxals against the state.The red corridor today runs through Maharashtra ,U.P, M.P,Chhattisgarh,Orissa,West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand controlling around 220 districts across the country.But the larger question that looms around remains unanswered.Is their rebelion justified?Are they the true representatives of the tribals?years of armed struggle hasnot yielded any justice to thetribals nor has it improved their position.On the other hand the state machinery has improved a lot.It might not exactly be an epitome of good governancebut has certainly improved over the years.So, the idea of political and judicial justice sounds more realistic in today's scenario.The naxals believe in destroying the current society and replace it with a new structure.But can the destroyer ever be a redeemer?Can an organisation which has only been known forblood bath be trusted for creating a better social structure.The naxals believe in Mao Zedong's idea that war can only be abolished through war and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.But sadly, the above lines donot workout in real life.By taking up guns you don't get rid of the guns .Instead you increase the number of guns pointed at you.War cannot be abolished through war.It can only lead to a bigger war.Naxals' annihilation masqueraded as revolution could have beeninhibited by the Govt had it acted wisely.Had the Govt addressed the grievances properly then and decided to nip the movement in the bud itself by eliminating the cause which attracted scores of people,naxalism would have reduced to imagination.The Govt said it will kill the naxalites and bring development to the area.But the idea of killing lakhs of our own countrymen won't solve the problem.We have to make them realise that it's not the noise of the bullets but their voice which can win the battle for them.They will have to shout themselves out until it echoes from every nook and corner of the country.They will have to compel the state to give them justice long denied not with the power of gun but with the power of sheer determination.It might be a difficult path to walk on but atleast it is not tarnished with the blood of the innocent.This , though is a hopeful speculation that may never materialise.For it's not the beginning to an end.It is just the beginning.I stand here ready to count the number of bodies that will fall , of those holding the gun and of those innocent millions to be sacrificed in the name of LAL SALAAM............. \

PAINTED BLACK

I closed my eyes;A drop of tear rolled down my chin.I opened it again & i saw a black man staring at me through the shiny surface of the mirror.I was ashamed to look at him.I had not realised his presence earlier.He didnot seem to exist in the past.But that fateful day you pulled me out of my closet & made me look at a dark figure with wet eyes & a wrinkled forehead instead of the person who used to stand there earlier.You made me realise that he was a black man; I was a black man.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You taught me that my colour was my sin,a sin which i had no hand in.May be God was the culprit,may be my ancestors were responsible or better still it might have been the work of the Sun God.I just didnot know.You thought your skin was more precious than my blood.I bled because of you,infront of you,for you.I was mocked,beaten,thrashed,insulted just because i didnot have a lighter skin.I am a victim of fallacy,misjudged & misrepresented.But who am i to blame, the God who chose to paint me in a colour that eroded me of my dignity or you who snatched away my self respect that was supposed to be my birth right.I cant create a revolution,i cant change the mindset of billions of people. I am just a weak person fighting for my right to live with intergrity & dignity.Donot deny this to me.Take the peel off & you will find a soul ,pure, starving for love.The peel doesnot matter, it never did. ................................................................................ Uphold the essence of humanity before its very defination sounds hypocritic.

PAINTED BLACK

I closed my eyes;A drop of tear rolled down my chin.I opened it again & i saw a black man staring at me through the shiny surface of the mirror.I was ashamed to look at him.I had not realised his presence earlier.He didnot seem to exist in the past.But that fateful day you pulled me out of my closet & made me look at a dark figure with wet eyes & a wrinkled forehead instead of the person who used to stand there earlier.You made me realise that he was a black man; I was a black man.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You taught me that my colour was my sin,a sin which i had no hand in.May be God was the culprit,may be my ancestors were responsible or better still it might have been the work of the Sun God.I just didnot know.You thought your skin was more precious than my blood.iIbled because of you,infront of you,for you.I was mocked,beaten,thrashed,insulted just because i didnot have a lighter skin.I am a victim of fallacy,misjudged & misrepresented.But who am i to blame, the God who chose to paint me in a colour that eroded my dignity or you who snatched away my self respect that was supposed to be my birth right.

STORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST PATHETIC DEMOCRACY

On 26 Jan this year as India turns a 60 year old republic,looking back in time we don't have much to boast about.We have the largest number of hungry people in the world,we have the worst rankings in corruption & human development index,our literacy rate is 68% or to put it in a straightforward way a little more than half of our population is lucky enough to get educated.Our education system is in ruins especially in the rural areas where we don't have enough teachers or enough students.India's total number of Olympic medals is humbled by china's achievements in a single year. Amidst these tainted milestones one achievement stands out though.India's reputation of being the world's largest democracy.The world looks at 11 billion odd people with respect for making a country one of the greatest democratic successes ever.But Alas! Only some know the truth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unlike other successful democratic counterparts election process in India is a different ball game.Here is a democracy where a man wins votes by distributing motorcycles & ends up usurping 4000cr. of public money, where votes are won not on developmental issues but by dividing people on communal and ethnic lines,be it the Ram temple or the marathi issue.This is a country where people are more concerned about their rights than their duties, where half the population doesn't even bother to vote.This being a country where people live like aliens in their on country,with no compassion & dead patriotism.Where voting is marred by ruined ethics,where the game of power is played crushing & crumbling the soul of democracy,where private interests weigh over national interests,where different communities,clans,religions & groups fight against the nation as a whole for their selfish interests the dome of democracy is bound to fall. Democracy in India is a fallen fort with crumbling walls with the prisoners standing as guards themselves. -----------------------------------------------------
Why has India made a mockery of itself? Why the democratic attire of ours is now crinkled,maligned & tarnished? Look beneath your soul & you might find the answer but might not like it.Today i ask myself the question as to what we truly are-World's largest democracy or world's most pathetic democracy. ----------------------------Open your eyes before it is too late to save the slowly dying Indian within us.

On 26 jan this year as India turns a 60 year old republic,looking back in time we don't have much to boast about.We have the largest number of hungry people in the world,we have the worst rankings in corruption & human development index,our literacy rate is 68% or to put it in a straightforward way a little more than half of our population is lucky enough to get educated.Our education system is in ruins especially in the rural areas where we donot have enough teachers or enough students.India's total number of olympic medals is humbled by china's achievements in a single year.

Amidst these tainted milestones one achievement stands out though.India's reputation of being the world's largest democracy.The world looks at 11 billion odd people with respect for making a country one of the greatest democratic successes ever.But Alas! Only some know the truth.

Unlike other successful democratic counterparts election process in India is a different ball game.Here is a democracy where a man wins votes by distributing motorcycles & ends up usurping 4000cr. of public money, where votes are won not on developmental issues but by dividing people on communal and ethnic lines,be it the Ram temple or the marathi issue.This is a country where people are more concerned about their rights than their duties, where half the population doesnot even bother to vote.This being a country where people live like aliens in their on country

JUSTICE DELAYED,JUSTICE DENIED.

17 years is is a long period.It is a gap big enough to heal many a wounds,wash away many a memories, make people forget their worst nightmares.But even the world's best medicine,time, failed to remove the scars inflicted on that fateful day,-6 December 1992.It was the day when God did something even devil will tremble to do. For 17 yrs people waited with hopeful eyes for something that has become dubious in this country-justice.After 17 yrs , a man comes and proves their worst fears that justice here is a right denied to the common man.A man named Liberhan.It took Mr. Liberhan 17 yrs to what every man in India already knew.And what he should have written, his pen shied away.Liberhan might well be India's next entry to Guinnes Book of Records for being the author of a report that may be the world's most delayed report.This gentleman took 17 yrs, 48 extentions,spent 8 cr of public money & produced 960 pages of crap.The report failed to mention any single person responsible for the demolition of the masjid.The report names 78 people culpable for arousing sentiments of people leading to Babri's fate.But action has been recommended against them.That means we have the criminals but no punishment.So, its party time for sangh parivar coz this issue brought BJP & its allies back to limelight who were otherwise lost somewhere in the darkness.Narsimha Rao came out neat from this mess with the report stating he was innocent enough to know anything becoz of lack of intelligence reports.(Did Rao need a report when even a fruit vendor of Delhi's bazaar knew exactly what was going in UP during that period?) Atal Bihari Vajpayee's reputation was tainted though(But then again he is no saint either.) People like Thackeray,Advani,Kalyan singh,Vinay Katiyar,Vaghela are walking under the sky of freedom & probably planning another dharma yudh.In this battle between Ram & Allah who won no one knows............but common man's blood was sacrificed as always.Babri has turned to dust & so has our dream of justice............................................. Not satisfied with the current report? Want another report to fill in the loopholes of Liberhan report. Wait for another 17 years..................................

26/11- I WILL REMEMBER

You might forget this date.And why shouldnot u? coz you are so engrossed in your business of living ,as you tend to put it, that for you every massacare becomes an event worth forgetting.you take out processions,burn candles, shout slogans against politicians and every other individual or instituition possible ,shed fake tears and shout over roof tops about a revolution that will hardly occur.You talk about, in your in manicured tongue ,the hows & whys of what happened in public debates glamourising the story behind 170 corpses .The very next day you erase from your memory of those who bled,of those who lost someone who will never return,of those whose tears that shall never dry up.

But i will not forget.I will remember every bullet that was fired,I will count every drop of blood that was shed,every droplet of tear that trickled down the eyes.I will remember every body that fell & salute every person who took the bullet for us.I will remember every single promise that never materialised,every step that was never taken ,every hand that didnot come out for help.Iwill not forget anything for if I forget today tomorrow will be even more messier,bloodier & darker.