India: How Poor People Everywhere Are Being Neglected
Written beside the American creed of hating terrorists and loving the Irish and Italians should be the footnote and we ignore poor people. Poor people always get the shit end of every deal usually because they can’t get the attention of politicians or pundits, and because of this the poor people in New Orleans and India have a lot in common.
India has more than 100,000 millionaires, and is creating new ones at a rate rivaled only be Russia. Meanwhile, nearly half of Mumbai’s 14-18 million residents live in slums. In the United States, poor people suffer under a specialized caste system that masquerades as a functioning democracy. In the good ole’ US of A, the top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.
Yet, in the 2008 election, neither major candidate uttered the word “poor” in the thousands of hours clocked speaking into cameras. But the sickness of ignoring the poor goes beyond John McCain and Barack Obama. The United States government and the corporate media systematically ignore the suffering of the poor, too.
India has more than 100,000 millionaires, and is creating new ones at a rate rivaled only be Russia. Meanwhile, nearly half of Mumbai’s 14-18 million residents live in slums. In the United States, poor people suffer under a specialized caste system that masquerades as a functioning democracy. In the good ole’ US of A, the top 10 percent, roughly those earning more than $100,000, reached a level of income share not seen since before the Depression.
Yet, in the 2008 election, neither major candidate uttered the word “poor” in the thousands of hours clocked speaking into cameras. But the sickness of ignoring the poor goes beyond John McCain and Barack Obama. The United States government and the corporate media systematically ignore the suffering of the poor, too.
In now a days our politics is like this
WHAT WILL Dr Manmohan Singh do while the other Congress leaders are working overtime to
wrap up an institution like the Congress Party as soon as possible?
The middle class, disenchanted by the foolishness of the Bhartiya Janta Party, was admiring the
way the Prime Minister went ahead despite the very real danger to his government.
But the party affairs managers of the Congress Party have thrown away this goodwill.
They should have learnt their lesson from the Jammu agitation that the people of this country wil
no longer tolerate traitors and jihadi elements. But the Congress is not yet ready to learn and
act tough against terrorists. When reminded of its duty, it starts accusing the BJP,
and thus discredits itself completely.
Who will tell these semi-literate leaders that they have come to power and remained in power
because they have kept their electorate poor and illiterate? That they win elections only by
dubious means? Once the country is fully literate, future generations will wonder how these
pathetic souls, not worthy of holding a peon’s job, actually led ministries and kept India poor and
impoverished, serving their own selfish motives, for such a long time.
Despite bad leaders like Shivraj Patil, India as a nation has grown stronger and stronger.
It is already a major economy of the world and hopes to be in the league of developed nations
very soon.
Feudal Indian society bestows respect, somewhat scornfully, on those who possess power by
any means. Yet politicians are the last in line, despite amassing unimaginable wealth through all
possible means of corruption. That is the reason why, until now, whenever any bright,
young politically inclined person shows intent to venture into politics, he becomes an outcast and
is at the risk of being thrown out of his home. Sometimes his actions might cause a strong
reaction from his parents. Not many venture into politics anyway, fearing condemnation and
being looked down upon.
The strong apathy, particularly among the middle class of Indian society, leaves the political
field wide open to be occupied and exploited by all kinds of people. There are very few politicians
who are civilized and honest. There are still fewer who have survived the political grind and have left their distinctive mark. But for the majority of politicians, there are no appropriate words to describe them. And as for the present ministers, some are really outstanding.
Patil sank into oblivion after losing repeatedly. However, since he kept Congress "deity"
Sonia Gandhi happy, she reciprocated his "chamchagiri," or sycophancy, by making him the
home minister of India. She perhaps knew that giving Patil such an important ministry would
be safe since he would do nothing without her prior permission. Mr. Patil went a step further,
had dozens of suits made and enjoyed all the perks while doing nothing. But this act of
benevolence on Sonia Gandhi’s part proved very costly to the nation, as the enemies of the
nation interpreted these as soft measures. Terrorists became emboldened and spread their
network throughout the country.
The very vociferous Member of Parliament Prabhunath Singh narrated an incident in the
parliament that supposedly happened in the Harihar Nath festival some years ago.
The month-long festival, also known as Sonpur Mela, is famous for cattle trade. Once,
a trader asked Rs. 30,000 (about US $650) for a good, healthy cow. When inquired
as to how much milk she could give, the trader replied that she did not give any milk
but her good looks justified the price tag. Take it or leave it! After concluding,
Prabhunath Singh suggested to Sonia Gandhi that the country deserved a minister who works and
is accountable. But, being a seasoned politician, he knew that his request would be in vain.
The home minister is in very good company, since the two ministers of state in his ministry are
always busy studio-hopping. They must feel very exhausted at the end of the day. Their agony
must intensify when some ghastly incident takes place and they have to rush to that place to
assess the situation. "Narendra Modi" and the "Khandhar Hijacking" incidents are their answers
to any query or question put to them. Ask them about police reform and they will start telling you
how Narendra Modi is behaving like a dictator. Ask further about the repeated intelligence failures
and they will cite the Khandhar incident.
The British left the shores of India six decades ago, but India has kept and preserved the same
laws to govern the police force. Whoever is ruling wants to use the police as instruments of
power. One has to buy a dictionary of political science before asking any question to them about
police reforms. State lists, central lists, concurrent lists – all kinds of excuses are put forward
and the standard response has been the same for decades now