Politics @ Security

4 people dead, buses torched, taxis destroyed, shops forced to shut down, financial capital of the city held to ransom by the goons of Superman"oos" Raj Thackeray whose "party",Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is taking its baby steps to be the latest enterant in the murky and dark world of regional politics.

The melting pot of cultures, ethnic and religious diversities which goes by the name of India has for long been an outstanding example of democracy as a system and as a form of governanace. What made it even more endearing was the fact that inspite of the flaws in the political framework, it still managed to run and run tremendously well showing the utmost faith of people in the supreme authority of our land i.e. the constitution. Hence it is saddening to see that the class of politicians whose primary fuction is to see that such a system sustains itself, are the ones who are hell bent on getting political mileages by playing the chauvanistic religious and the regional card. As if the mindless protests on Valentines day by the Shiv Sena and some random "youth" wing of parties headed by senior citizens wasn't enough triviality to deal with, we have the Superman"oos" Raj who attacks young students from other states who had merely come to write an exam on the pretext of protecting the Marathi culture and the well being of the Marathi people. After targetting the poor taxi drivers, these young students are his latest target. For all his blah about the welfare he cannot duck the questions being thrown at him. Maybe he wants the Maharashtrian youth to be only taxi drivers and 4th class railway employees that's why he targets this segment of the population. Our Superman"oos" is steeped in the welfare of the local people then maybe he would like to explain that why did he buy the Kohinoor mill land when closing down that very mill led a great deal of loss of jobs of the people he claims to fight for? Obviously this great man greatly values Marathi culture and the language, maybe he would like to answer then why do his own children study foreign languages and study in English medium. Ever heard of practising before preaching Mr. Raj??

If he has the right to earn his livlihood by buying mill lands then so do hundreds of shopkeepers who reagardless of their religion and regional identity suffer crippling losses in business. Who is going to compensate for all that destruction of property and private as well as public vehicles that were stoned and torched by his insanely manglomaniac, overzealous workers of his party?

At some level it points to the rotting state of our law enforcement agaencies whose credibility is anyways under doubt after various suspected 'phoney' encounters. Hence complete disregard for them by way of daring them publicly to arrest the culprits by the MNS party workers is very much on the expected lines.It's a plea to the state machinery on behalf of belaguarded and hapless Indians who reside in Mumbai that such elements of our society should be dealt in the strictest maneer possible so that a strong clear message is sent out that law is supreme and a city just cannot be held to whims of a man. Till then, as all Indians do, we too shall adjust and go on with our lives and wait with hope in our hearts that this circus shall soon get over.

And so it starts.........

Today was the day when the oft dreaded "E" word i.e. the exams got over. As i number crunched during the exam the clock ticked away and lo behold as always the time flew which meant i didnt exactly complete my papar but hey! thats been more of a rule than an exception in my case. Between the chilling out and fun with friends in the foyer, i recieve a harried call from M. Y. saying that the pak embassy's got a problem again. DAMN!!! This pakistan embassy is really gonna make us earn our visa i begin to think. As it turns out i was right, it bloody involved a whole lot of work right from printing the form to typing it to finding my dad and getting stuff and actually mailing it after shelling out quite a hefty amount. 10 days left and no signs of any progress on the visa front. A wee bit scary actually!
Due to the exteme work required, all the plans to chill the day exams got over get shelved. My friends are chilling out at PIZZERIA and i crash at my house finally at 8! Though a wifi router awaits me at my house. Didnt exactly know how to set it up but i do guess that will happen pretty soon and i get to write these blogs from my own room.
And so it starts.......my holidays. Packed with crazy stuff, right from interviews in college for HCAP programme to NYDS lahore for which all 3 of us have kept out fingers crossed, followed by the global mdg summit where unfortunately though ive been allotted the lamest topic which delas with environment sustainibility...man wateva!! Apart from this eco circle work coming up along with that of students council and my sister's birthday and over that diwali which though would have a touch of nostalgia around it as dad is leaving for Afghanistan. If this wasnt enough then ive got to work on my research paper for eco sem and over and above that bear nipa everyday and work on my french!! Clearly i need holidays to recuperate from these holidays...............

P.S.
I really do hope that we can make it for N.Y.D.S. Lahore!!
ARTHA 08.....woo hoo!!!