Animal Welfare Bill 2011: The WTF bill

Recently a new 'Animal Welfare Bill 2011' has been tabled in the Parliament. This will replace the old Prevention of cruelty to Animals Act 1960. Lets look at it's provisions.

(1) Freedom from thirst and hunger. Hmm, what about the million people starving in the country and hundreds of hunger deaths every year.

(2) Freedom from discomfort including access to shelter & place to rest. Well, why don't we first start with those people who are forced to live on the roads.Why don't we rehabilitate the slum people first?

(3) Freedom from pain, injury, sickness including prompt veterinary care. The country faces severe shortage of Primary health centers, medical professionals and services in rural areas and many die everyday due to absence of prompt ambulance services.You got to be kidding me with this.

(4) Freedom to express normal behavior of that species. So next time when you decide to throw a stone on a stray dog barking into the night and being a pain in your ass, think twice, that dog will be capable of suing you for this offense.

(5) Freedom from fear and distress and also provision for adequate space for natural movement and company of animals of their own kind. So while taking your dog on a walk, if your dog wants to indulge in some playful activities with the stray dogs, you have a right to remain silent, even if they indulge in public display of affection.

Well fun apart, the government needs to realize that nothing can be more important than the betterment of living standards for poor people. First ensure the fundamental rights of the people and an equitable society, then we will talk about animal rights. And for those who feel that dogs(read animals) should be treated humanely, i would say, lets first stop treating humans dogly.

Decade of tears

They stood there,at ground zero,
mourning those souls who hadn't erred.
Those were innocent people.
Young and old.Black and white.
They never waged a war.

Is it fair, to take innocent lives,
for inducing terror, or for making a point,
Is it fair, to punish people,
for someone else's greed.
The answer is no.

 Those responsible, should be hanged.
No, that would be far too easy.
Slow poison may be,
or a revengeful beheading.

We need to tell their brothers,
that we can kill too.

An eye for an eye,
would make the world blind.
But at least, that blind world,
would be fair.

Remember, remember, eleventh of September.


RIP

1947, all over again !

Recently when I read Bipin Chandra's India's struggle for independence, I was touched. Deeply. We can not even imagine the magnitude of patriotism which prevailed in those times. There was this fire within every Indian.Desire to sacrifice everything for her independence. The fraternity amongst Indians was unprecedented. And those visionary leaders like Gandhi, Nehru and so many others. Oh, would love to get a glimpse of those times.If only I could go back.

But then, Anna happened.And this desire to witness 1947 came knocking on the door.The gates of Ramlila Maidaan,Delhi are the time machines which will give you a ride of a lifetime.As soon as you enter, you are awestruck by the amount of patriotism which is in the air.The unity and fraternity is unprecedented. The volunteers from across the nation are doing excellent work to maintain order and dignity. I was amazed to see even small children so willing to go to the stage so that they can hug the old man. People came up with their own patriotic poems and songs to electrify the already super charged atmosphere.One could see Anna struggling to keep away the tears drawn by the immense love and trust by the fellow Indians. I hope our representatives realize that our demand is not draconian, but the prevailing corruption surely is.

Initially I didn't object to the school of thought which claims that no law can end corruption in this country.What needs to be changed is the mindset of people. They further claim, that there is a very stringent law against dowry in the country, but did that help.Their points are valid ones. But then we cannot just sit idle criticizing.

Yes, may be this will not eradicate corruption in totality or even considerably for that matter, but surely it is a big step forward as far as the awakening of masses is concerned. Yes, some of the demands may be beyond the line, but given the extreme penetration of corruption in the government machinery, it's justified. Yes, civil society drafting a bill may be unconstitutional , but a constitution enacted in 1950 cannot be held like the word of God.

People are frustrated with corruption and it the anger shows it all. One man, 74 years of age, has mobilized millions and millions of people. Why? Because he struck the right chord in every Indian. We all already feel and know what he is saying out loud. But this collective voice never resonated with a pitch so mindbogglingly high. This is the time to let the anger come out. This is the time to unite. This is the time to be a part of the second freedom struggle of India. In any way possible, make your contribution. Because it's now, or never.

Anna is India \m/

I & Me

I have been running,
don't know since when.
I remember, turning back,
fearing those ubiquitous shadows.
They have been stalking me,
don't know since when.
They manipulated, I became me.
I struggled, all in vain.
I acted cowardly, didn't resist,
allowed them to paint the world, for me.

But you can never run away,
from the real you.
May be you pretend, or hide,
cannot just run away.
So, it came back, all of it.
I could see my original sin.
But no more of that now,
demolishing those strings, me became I !

Article 78, Personified

Article 78 of our constitution talks about the duties of the Prime Minister with respect to furnishing information to the President.In a way this is only article which talks about the relationship between two most important executives of our country.

Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Rajendra Prassad were the first to portray these two roles in Indian polity.And boy, they did set the standards pretty high so much so that no other pair has attained those levels of understanding and respect for each other. What helped was, they were very good friends and had known each other since long and cooperated in the national freedom struggle. Both maintained a cordial relationship between the two offices and maintained their sanctity.

Then was the era of the charismatic Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who undermined the office of the president.She even went to the extreme of making office of the President a mere rubber stamp by imposing on him the advice of Council of Ministers as binding by the 42th amendment act.Later though, the President was given some discretion. So in her tenure, there was hardly any coordination between the two offices. No retaliation came from the office of the President due to weak incumbents. The relationship worsened in the times of Rajiv Gandhi and Giani Zail Singh.They became almost anti to each other which was very destructive for the smooth functioning of the government.

When P.V.Narasimha Rao came into power, although there were no difference per se with the President but there were hardly any exchanges. He was such a deep thinker and silent personality that he would have taken the whole day to update the President on a single matter. And hence things didn't work out at such low pace. Although then came a time when we can say that the relationship somewhat revived in the times of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam. They it seems used to communicate well and enjoyed working with each other.But the press ridiculed it by saying that it is just because of the fact that both are bachelors and have nothing to do at the end of the working day. Whatever may be the reason, the country did benefit under their leaderships for sure.

At present, we have a Prime Minister who has not spoken since he advocated the liberalization process in the 1990s. And to his misery we have a lady President. Imagine how difficult it is for Manmohan Singh to coordinate with the office of President. What is required today, is the presence of strong, statesman and visionary leaders in both of the offices who can rise above the petty politics and assert a dream to carry India ahead on their strong shoulders.