Saving Delhi – Part 1: Get The Weapons

How to make Delhi safer – Part 1 : Get the weapons!

International Women’s Day in India was greeted with the cold blooded murder of a Delhi student, Radhika Tanwar. She was 21 and on her way to college. One can sympathize with her family and friends but there is no way we can feel or experience the pain it has brought them. Around the same time the stupid body called UN inducted Iran into the UN ‘Women’s Council’. So much for women’s rights. And if you think that is horrendous, the UNHCR was about to pass a resolution praising Libya’s human rights record. This even as a civil war is raging in Libya. It may be time to dismantle the useless body called UN. That’s whole different topic. But it may also be time to take a serious look at safety and security in Delhi and take a series of strong measures.

I am no security expert or political administrator. But this series intends to look at a few steps that are definitely ‘do-able’ to make Delhi safer and get rid of the ‘Crime Capital’ tag it has acquired. A long time back New York  under Rudi Guiliani and the head of the police department dramatically reduced crime in NY. That was a city infested with criminals, mafia and if it can be done in NY, it can be done in Delhi too. This could apply to all other metros too.

Students protesting Radhika's murder

Not long ago Tejender Khanna, the Lt. Governor of Delhi, made a statement that “north Indians liked to break the law” and P. Chidambaram blamed it on migrants. Sure enough, PC was lambasted for his statement but there is some truth in what he said. That will be taken up in later parts in this series but let’s take the first step. Get rid of weapons in private hands.

Before that a central security agency needs to be formed. Very frequently the Delhi government, the Union Home ministry and the police play a blame game on crime and security. This can be stopped by forming a new central body like an ‘NCT Security Force’. Following which some ordinances need to be passed. The first among them should be to get rid of weapons. Here is what the ordinance should look like:

Get rid of killer weapons

Ordinance to surrender all guns held by private citizens, legal and illegal:

1.   Pass an ordinance requiring all citizens, other than police and security forces, to surrender all guns within 7 days to the nearest police station. Guns can be regular or  country-made or whichever way the govt. wishes to describe them. This includes guns for legal hunting. Rifles and guns used for sporting pursuits can be returned after due verification. Even some types of swords may be called for surrender.

2.   If not surrendered within 7 days provide for a penalty of Rs.1o  lakhs and imprisonment for 1 year. In case of inability pay the monetary penalty extend the imprisonment for an additional two years.

3.   On expiry of the 7-day limit start a massive combing operation to weed out  guns from society. Make random checks on citizens coming into Delhi to ensure no new weapons come in. The combing operations may reveal a lot more than just weapons.

4.   Shut down all guns and ammunition shops. These should be sold only through police department outlets under the strictest supervision and monitoring.

I am positive there will be those who will argue that murders can be committed even with kitchen knives. It is this kind of faulty and silly logic that stops governments from acting. These steps do not imply that crime will be totally eliminated. That’s like eliminating evil people itself, which is not going to happen. But it sure will make a big difference and the steps I am recommending differentiate wanton crimes on the streets and other crimes. Motivated murder may not stop. Street crimes can be prevented, if not eliminated. Motivated murder does not need weapons. One can strangle a person with bare hands. But it does make killing a lot more difficult.

This may appear to be a diversion from my usual posts on the media. But if the Editors’ Guild got together and devised 10 steps to reduce and prevent crimes in Delhi such posts would not be needed. The Editors’ guild can not only devise those steps but strongly petition the government to act on it. But they won’t! On the contrary the media feasts on crimes. It is their bread and butter. This series will have 10 parts and will recommend 10 simple and doable steps to reduce crime on the streets of Delhi. This may well apply to other cities too. If you have suggestions, I welcome those.

Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Sharia

Yesterday (March 7) there were protests in New York over a controversial hearing to be conducted by American Congressman Peter King. The hearings are about the radicalisation of the muslim community in the US. While it may appear to be singling out the muslim community Peter King has stated that “if Al Qaeda were recruiting any other group -- be they Jews, Hindus or Irish Catholics -- he would have the "same hearings for those groups." The truth is that it’s mainly members of the muslim community that have been indulging in terrorist acts in the US, demanding extraordinary privileges and then there are some who have gone to the extreme of wanting Islamic law in the US. Some states like Oklahoma have even passed legislation to outlaw Sharia law and there are debates on whether such legislation is actually needed.

The protests in NY have been covered extensively by our online media. Yet, when it comes to the outrages by members of the muslim community our media slips those under the carpet. Our liberatti sheds tears for the likes of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti but there were no serious protests or reports over a Bangalore newspaper being attacked for carrying an article by Taslima Nasreen or the Statesman’s editors being attacked and dragged to court for reprint of an article about Mohammad. Those who attacked Taslima at a Hyderabad meeting roam free. The new dean of Darul-Uloom, Ghulam Vastanvi was attacked by his own community for suggesting that muslims are also progressing in Gujarat. This was twisted to infer that he supported Narendra Modi, when in reality he had made no statement endorsing Modi.

The uprisings in some countries in the middle east and north Africa have had our media gloating over how the protestors have revolted against dictators in the desire for freedom, liberty and democracy. The uprisings are justified and dictators should be thrown out. But what’s going to replace them? Secular democracy? It would be a rare mullah or Imam in the Islamic community who hasn’t strongly endorsed Sharia as the replacement. Tunisia is almost on the way to Islamic Sharia rule. Time will tell what happens in Egypt, Libya and other nations. The Muslim Brotherhood makes no secret of desiring Sharia law.

Omar Ahmed, the founder of CAIR (Council on American-Islam relations) is reported to have made it clear: "If you choose to live here (in America) ... you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam...Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant...The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth”. Though he later denied making the statement, the reporter stood by the report. CAIR is also linked to Hamas, the notified terrorist group. ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) has also encouraged Islamic law. The very idea of overthrowing the constitution of the USA and replacing it with Sharia law is a favourite idea of many Imam’s and muslim leaders. This, coupled with the number of terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic groups, does seem to justify the hearings that Peter King has proposed to conduct on radicalisation of muslims in America.

The problem is many Imams and muslim leaders abuse the very freedoms that democracies allow them. Anjem Choudary, recently promised a march to the White House to demand overthrow of the US constitution and its replacement by Sharia law. (Later cancelled due to ‘overwhelming support’!) Now, Anjem Choudary is not even an American citizen. He is British, the judge of a Sharia Court in Britain and is a champion of the concept of an Islamic UK and USA. Yes, Britain has over 85 Sharia courts. Some of his previous organisations have been banned in the UK. And yet no serious Muslim leader questions this man. I seriously doubt any muslim leader or prominent citizen in India would protest the desire for Sharia law to replace our own Indian constitution. The Imam Bukhari of Delhi is on record stating ‘Islam will rule India again’. There can be no denying the freedom to express such views. But this is a clash of ideologies that will eventually lead to a serious war, civil or world. Events in the Mideast and Africa have the potential to generate permanent conflicts. The ones cheering the uprisings the most aren’t those who value democracy. They are the ones who see the opportunity for an Islamic Caliphate.

'The White Masjid' - sharia4usa.com

If some Hindu jerk were to strongly suggest that our constitution be replaced by the ‘Panchatantra’ I would be revolting at the idea and would be strongly protesting. Yes, I would have a good laugh too! Yet, the idea of Sharia law in major democracies through the overthrow of highly cherished and valued constitutions does not seem to evoke any strong protests from muslims. And I doubt if there is any muslim leader who does not desire Sharia law in India too. Time will tell if they speak up. The pic here from Sharia4USA.com says it all. The site desires a ‘White Masjid’!

That multiculturalism has failed has now been accepted by many European leaders. The problem lies mainly with the muslim community. Two things seem to dictate this problem. Terror and Money. The Libyan and Saudi funding of many prominent universities in the UK has had many heads rolling. (Libya and the LSE: Large Arab gifts to universities lead to 'hostile' teaching) It is a matter of speculation but one wonders how many media and other outfits in India are being similarly funded by Islamic money. If not money, the extremists will use terror tactics of the kind that killed Salman Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Theo Van Gogh, and continue to threaten the lives of many others who question or criticise Islamic practices. While protesting the hearings of Peter King, muslims would do well to question why their community is under the spotlight. It is the consequence of their own community members’ doings and not of others. They are not the victims here.

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is one of the most famous phrases in the American ‘Declaration of Independence’ and considered by some as part of one of the most well crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language. And these words represent the inalienable rights of humans (Wikipedia). But if Anjem Choudary and many like him have their way,  the constitution would have a new preamble : ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of Sharia’. I don’t think I want that, do you?

Libyaberration

The protests in Libya and earlier in Egypt and Tunisia have fascinated the world. Rightly so. Ordinary people challenging dictators are always good to watch. Unlike Tunisia and Egypt, the protests in Bahrain, Yemen have turned ugly, more so in Libya. Defiant dictators unleashing the army on their own people. Then there is also a lot of drama associated with such uprisings. So can our journalists be left behind? After all, these are the champions of democracy. Aren’t they? Let’s see!

Liberation or Journalistic Aberration?

India can claim to have exported many great brains and professionals across the world. However, our journalists probably wouldn’t belong in that category. First, the ones that landed up in Egypt ended up reporting more about their own plight rather than the events there. How they were harassed by authorities, detained by police and so on. So I wonder, do we really need any reporting from clumsy Indian reporters? They do a bad job in India itself why take it out there? I have to admit, going to conflict zones does take courage and I do give them that. But beyond that it’s just comic relief.

First, it was Times Now that landed in Libya. Well, Egypt-Libya border if you like. And for the first two days last week what was it that Times Now reported? Their report consisted of one line repeated over and over again for two days: “Times Now is the only Indian channel on the Egypt-Libyan border”. Bravo! That’s the second biggest leap for mankind since the landing on the moon. I know what you’re thinking! Where’s Barkha Dutt? Well, while Kashif of Times Now was telling us how his was the only Indian channel there, our brave lady was tweeting her way right up to Libya. What followed from her could have been in a tweetathon.

No one described Barkha’s experience better than B. Raman, the former bureaucrat and strategy analyst. Here is a sample of what he wrote on his blog:

“Barkha and her NDTV team made their way through nearly 700 kms of beautiful desert made famous during the second World War by the epic tank battle at El Alamein between the allied forces commanded by Field Marshal Montgomery and the Nazi German forces commanded by FM Rommel. Barkha has over 200,000 followers in her Twitter site. I am one of them. I keep exchanging Tweets with her from time to time on current developments...... The Twitter enabled us to follow Barkha and her team for nearly seven hours of their 15-hour journey. We kept encouraging her through Tweets and E-mails and advising her and her team to take good care of themselves and not to walk into a trap. I was touched by the gesture of even some critics of Barkha in praying for the safety of the team. One of her critics tweeted her: “May not agree with her opinions on matters ....but safety is paramount ..I pray for her safety... There were so many others who prayed for their safety. I tweeted Barkha: “ U see how many well-wishers U have in the sub-continent.”..... Even people in Pakistan tweeted her “good luck.” Ms. Munizae Jahangir, a journalist, who is the proud daughter of Mrs.Asma Jahangir, the famous Pakistani human rights activist, tweeted Barkha to say that she was E-mailing to her the telephone numbers of some Pakistanis in Libya whom she could contact if she needed any assistance.”

That’s exactly what Barkha described too. 15 hours of travel, beautiful empty highways and deserts, and tweets that said she hoped the internet and other stuff worked out there in Tobruk. (If you don’t know where Tobruk is just look up her tweets)Wait! Even ‘Pakistanis’ tweeted her goodluck! Isn’t that nice? (Just as some other Pakistanis were busy killing Shahbaz Bhatti) And so at the end of these exchanges we were all better educated about the situation in Libya. Both from Times Now and from Barkha Dutt. It doesn’t end there. Not to be out-done Headlines Today rushed their own team out there. So we had a Gaurav Sawant and Co. taking us through the strife. Playfully, if I may add. That’s it! Enough is enough said CNN-IBN! So by Sunday (Mar 6) CNN-IBN announced their team was there. Why in the world does CNN-IBN need their own out there? Aren’t they a sister channel of CNN with the likes of Nic Robertson and Ben Wedeman doing the reporting there? And these guys are hardened conflict-zone reporters. Unlike our ‘studio heroes’ who landed up in Libya, you are unlikely to find Robertson or Wedeman frequently in TV studios.

Am I famous now? Isn’t that how CNN got famous overnight on January 17, 1991 by being the only channel to report live on the first Gulf war? Yes, I was somewhere in Europe that night to watch it all. So you might see a Gaurav or Barkha or Kashif hogging international channels very soon. There is a reason why American journalists are all over the place. The US has a lot at stake in many countries and regions given its political and economic influence for a long time. India simply doesn’t have any stake in any region except for our citizens living there and general trade. And if you wanted conflict zones, those are in abundance within our shores. And yes I do hope and pray our journos remain safe and out of harm’s way.

Those who run channels like Aaj Tak and India TV may hold the strong belief that most Indians are stupid, gullible morons who will buy into the ‘Bhoot-Pret’  and ‘end of the world’ stories or Amitabh Bachchan or Shahrukh Khan’s previous avatars. Make no mistake, India TV is probably the most popular channel in India. But the English channels need greater sophistication in treating their audience to stylish tom-foolery. The funny part is just as these journos got into Libya the biggest stories were breaking in India. The SC judgement on the CVC and then the DMK pull out of the UPA or "what the hell is going on..." hogged the TV channels for the last few days. And their greatest achievement might simply be one of just having gotten into Libya, without visas. Other than that there is nothing much in their coverage that is not already there on CNN or BBC or such channels. Very soon Al-Jazeera maybe in India too. Yes, that TV channel whose post box the Al-Qaeeda love so much. Will be more fun then.

I seriously wonder. Just over a year ago, there were strong anti-government protests in Iran. None of these bravehearts dared to go there and do some reporting. Does Islamic rule have anything to do with that? Does courage stop at fully Islamic countries? It’s hard to say if Libyans will truly find Liberation. But with our journos I can say with some confidence that it has been a Libyaberration!

Manish Tiwari Establishes ‘The Supreme Court Of Perception’

On Friday (March 4) there were two events of significance concerning the CBI. First, the Supreme Court issued notices to L.K. Advani and others on the Babri case on an appeal by the CBI. Earlier, a High Court had quashed further proceedings against Advani & Co. on this case. The second, a Delhi Court accepted the CBI’s appeal for closure of the Bofors investigation.

Predictably, Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari was invited on CNN-IBN to comment on the SC notice to Advani. I assume Tiwari believes the SC too may throw out the CBI appeal. So instead of commenting on the notice Tiwari makes a sweeping judgement on Advani and others. His repeated statement to CNN-IBN’s Bhupen Choubey was that regardless of the outcome of the appeal in the SC it was established in the eyes of the people that ‘Advani and others, the BJP, the VHP, the RSS and the Sangh Parivar’ were responsible for the Babri masjid incident. And his statement effectively meant that in ‘public perception’ the people and groups involved were already ‘guilty’. And like lame ducks, both Choubey and the other anchor on CNN-IBN allowed  Tiwari to continue with his senseless rant.

Manish Tiwari - Chief Justice: 'Supreme Court of Perception'

Manish Tiwari is supposedly a lawyer. I have no idea since when lawyers started using ‘perception’ as strong evidence in legal issues. Never mind! I agree that perception does influence thoughts and actions of people but I doubt courts are influenced by perceptions. Perhaps they do in ‘The Supreme Court of Perception’ conveniently established by Manish Tiwari, with himself as its Chief Justice. So, I have some more cases for Mr. Manish Tiwari.

In the second case where a Delhi Court has accepted closure of the Bofors case are Rajiv Gandhi, Quatrochi and others now ‘perceived’ to be ‘not-guilty’? The media should take that to the Court of Manish Tiwari and it would be interesting to hear his answers.

Again, Advani recently apologised to Sonia Gandhi on Swiss bank accounts. Hmmm, that again should be taken to Manish Tiwari’s court of perception. Do people really believe that Sonia Gandhi or family does not have Swiss accounts? On Friday, on the black money case the petitioner once again repeated the charge of the Gandhi family holding illegitimate Swiss bank accounts and ill-gotten wealth. That includes a 2 Bn dollar pay off by the KGB. What does Manish Tiwari’s court of perception have to say about that? An Allahabad court has recently issued notice to Rahul Gandhi in a petition of ‘illegal detention’ of a woman named Sukanya and her family. What’s the perception Mr. Tiwari? In the same related incident there are allegations of rape against Rahul Gandhi floating for over 4 years on the net. What’s the perception, Mr. Tiwari?

Who killed Sanjay Gandhi? Why was the inquiry commission closed? Any answers from the court of perception? How did politicians like Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot and YSR die in mysterious accidents? Should we take these cases to the courts of perception?  I am quite certain the loud and foul-mouthed Tiwari will certainly have answers to all of these. The case of Hassan Ali, accused to have black money to the tune of 9Bn dollars in Swiss bank was not being pursued vigorously by the UPA. This till the Supreme Court had to lash out asking “what the hell is going on..”. And the media suddenly reveals political connections of Hassan Ali. What’s the perception, Mr. Tiwari?

The media frequently calls politicians and allows them to make ‘hit and run’ statements without any follow up questions. If perceptions were votes Mr. Tiwari, you would be selling vegetables at Crawford Market.