Terrorist attacks in Bombay!

It is indeed shocking ! Thank god we have the nsg.

Its not over yet.

Manek

Hope all Mumbai members and loved ones are safe.

Would like to pass on this URL for emergency info, updates, etc:
http://mumbaihelp.blogspot.com/

Thanks.

Its a Good link, providing essential info.

Fortunately, my family and I are safe, and I went to work yesterday, even as “Flush out’ operations were in progress.

Seems it was timed to coincide with Prime Time on US Television – Thanks giving day.

Very, very sad. People Killed for Eyeball Attention on USA Prime Time !!! :-(((


Some friends that we know have lost their lives, and Many Many more, who were Friends of Friends. The 100 Dead estimate is probably a gross under-estimate. Women and children were shot at point blank range, while eating food.


Our house is within 1 Km ( as the crow flies) from all 3 sites, and we have been continuously hearing Gun shots and explosions for 2 days and 2 nights.
Kids in the building ( including my 10 year old son ) are terrified to sleep alone.
( Deaf lives even closer, and I wonder how it has affected his 2 little daughters....

I live on the 18th Floor, and some explosions have rattled our windows. Every explosion makes us wonder what the casualty would be in that Explosion.



This is Mumbai’s 2nd major terrorist attack. The last time, there were 7 bombs triggered in the densest population centres... and the Indian government refuses to retaliate.



Sad, what this world is coming to...

...i hate to sound pessimistic, but all we will have is our home minister wagging his fingers saying that the culprits will be dealt with severely

the only leader i can think of who had the *alls to do something is a women..Indira Gandhi.

i hope and really want to be wrong on this

What we can learn is that we have brave citizens, army and police of integerity. but so sad political leadership

Thank god we did not see political speeches by visiting politicians in the area this time.

apologies for sounding negative but i can only shudder as to how the world will be once our kids grow up

Thank god we did not see political speeches by visiting politicians in the area this time.

Sorry Arj, I saw Gujarat Chief minister ventilate outside the Oberoi / Trident a couple of days ago, while people were probably dying inside.

What we can learn is that we have brave citizens,

Sorry Sir !

NO BRAVE Citizens, Only COWARDS who prefer to burry their heads in the sand, as if nothing has happened.

... They even have the gall to call that " Mumbai's Reselience "

Sad ... Its all part of the Indian "Chalta hai" culture...

There is NO Public Uproar DEMANDING 'Hot Pursuit' and sending out a message that we will deal Fire with Fire, and will NOT continue to be passive sitting ducks, for the next terrorist attack... as we have been doing for the past decade.

We are a Nation of Cowards... and that includes us ALL... yes, us citizen too...

SHAME ON US

Amp_Nut schrieb:

NO BRAVE Citizens, Only COWARDS who prefer to burry their heads in the sand, as if nothing has happened. ... They even have the gall to call that " Mumbai's Reselience "

well I hope the term "the spirit of Mumbai" is not overused this time.

I was touched by the attitude of the staff at the Taj for safety ofo their guests as well as for their ow collegues.

very often we do miss out on the Unsung heroes among the population like the announcer at CST who kept shouting warning to the commuters to get out of harms way eve when terrorists were shooting in his direction etc.


But yes..the Chalta hai attitude in ALL of us is too sadly inteinsc.

this year I had vowed to make a difference and had voted in the past elections along with my extended family. The politicians in many ways are the reflection of the needs of the voting populace..the only way to change the politicians is by changing the voting population and hence the cumulative requirement of that population.

I was touched by the attitude of the staff at the Taj for safety ofo their guests

VERY TRUE !

They are the REAL Unsung Heros, of this incident.

Many Of them stayed back to help customers escape.

Many FIRST escorted customers out, then went Back in to get their families out from their rooms... often too late.

I Salute ALL of them... 30+Taj Employees lost their lives. They represent the few 'Marathi Manoos' who were not cowards.

The politicians in many ways are the reflection of the needs of the voting populace..the only way to change the politicians is by changing the voting population and hence the cumulative requirement of that population.

Elections are around the corner. PLEASE VOTE.

Amp_Nut schrieb:

Elections are around the corner. PLEASE VOTE.

Exactly... please do visit http://www.jaagore.com/ its an amazingly well done site.

Amp Nut,

I can understand your frustration. We pray that all our friends from this forum and thier families are safe.

As far as solution to this....i draw a blank. A solution is not possible, unless all of our (Indians) attitude changes....our politics, our attitude towards corruption and most importantly - displine and responsbility towards our social commitments (not just elections).

A relative of mine does a lot of business with many goverment agencies including our armed forces....the amount of corruption at hi-levels of those forces are unbelivable. We have a lot of brave soldiers, but they are a bigger victims of thier own boss(es) than these terrorists. That's how ugly it really is !!

Regards
Siva.

well..one thing I have learnt is that corruption exists in all countries (yes even the US/Britain and Australia) just that it is more grassroots level in Asia becausee we as people accept it. the US has legalized the corruption by "lobbys" in many ways..the amount of money Bush earns from oil due to his stake it in or Dick Cheney earns from Haliburton is mind boggling

How many of us will pay a Rs 50 bribe to a cop to avoid a fine for speeding/parking which could result in a day at the courthouse ? I have and now feel bad about it. the cop is as guilty for askin as I have for giving. i can always blame it on my busy schedule and not having time to spend around inefficient judges.

Corruption follows simple economics..if there is a supply there will be a demand. without supply, demand dies

But in the end, in a population 10% is always dirty and 10% squeaky clean. the rest just go with the crowd..and that holds true of those People in the top too. and that 10% is enough to give everyone a really bad name. youd be surprised at the number of really good uncorrupted IAS/Army and Police Sr officers. but the rotten minority is enough to give everyone a bad name. if only the reverse were true ie the name coming from the good ones

COWARDICE & Corruption are 2 Different things, though there could be some overlap.

I AM TALKING OF ALL OF US BEING COWARDS.

You guys are talking of corruption.

NO BRAVE Citizens, Only COWARDS who prefer to burry their heads in the sand, as if nothing has happened. ... They even have the gall to call that " Mumbai's Reselience " Sad ... Its all part of the Indian "Chalta hai" culture...

This is something I will never forget ever.

Talking of brave soldiers, my heart goes out to hotel staff who risked their lives for others and not to forget our own commandos. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My place of work is in the next building to the trident and those brave people have made sure my company can be open for business in these economically trying times and that I and others like us have a livelyhood. They have done so much for us. Thank you, nsg, marcos, army, the police force and the brave citizens. They are the true heroe's !

The politicians, the less said about them the better.

Manek
Manek

Just hope you and yours are safe... everyone!

Amp_Nut schrieb:

There is NO Public Uproar DEMANDING 'Hot Pursuit' and sending out a message that we will deal Fire with Fire, and will NOT continue to be passive sitting ducks, for the next terrorist attack... as we have been doing for the past decade.

yes, I agree that the biggest & very saddest thing in all this is that there is NO PUBLIC outcry about dealing fire w/ fire.
Bush might be an a$$hole of a president but you gotta give it to him/his admin of fighting fire w/ fire in Afghanistan & Iraq. It has drained our coffers but these militants only seem to understand this sort of language.
It is true - the Indian govt needs to deal fire w/ fire in this issue.
This time the whole world will be watching us (India) on how we deal w/ this issue. This attack has caught all the 1st-world powers' attention. I just pray that India doesn't f*** it up!!

Inagine: the BOM shoreline open & unattended & freely accessible to the attackers???!! WTF?
I do not think that I can simply access the US coastline w/ some patrol from the Coast Guard accosting me. didn't the dinghys show up on anyone's radar?

These attackers might have been flushed out but they did send India a big message.
I think that we need a reply just like one given in the Bollywood movie "A Wednesday".....
I liked the lead actor's dialogues in the end when he was speaking to the chief of police - very pertinent & exactly the way a resident of BOM out to feel towards this dastardly act.

Bombaywalla

Fighting fire with fire is for the US and isrealis and maybe other countries which have respect for their people and a sense of responsibility. Our babus just won't do it. Elections are round the corner. This situation will be used and abused by them for their personal gains, another babu with an even more dismal understanding of security will come in and we will be worse off. Our babus couldn't fight fire with fire when their own workplace (parliament) was attacked and when they were in danger. You think they will do it for a couple of hotels and a building occupied by jews ? Never !

We keep saying that the key is in our hands and we bring these babus in and that we must vote. Now tell me, out of the guys standing for election is there any one different ? And even if their was someone different does he or she ever get elected ?
Voting for such unscrupulus people is to my mind a waste and a danger to the public at large.

Manek

Manek schrieb:

Voting for such unscrupulous people is to my mind a waste and a danger to the public at large. Manek

Manek this is what i have also felt..but a couple of events has changed this perception.

the population demographics will not change in 1 election but int will in a couple of elections. eg Chandrababu naidu of Hyd did a fantastic amount of work in Hyd (I was in the city last week and the impact of his work is still there) but he was voted out of power because people like us did not vote..it was the farmers who did in droves and there requirements are very very different. thankfully what he did for Hyd continues although nothing new has come up

Practically and pragmatically speaking the politician will work for votes. and when he sees the requirement for votes is different he will also change. all of us who do understand a lot of these requirements never vote. and candidates who believe in any idealogy will come up only if there is a demand.
there was a professional person in Bangalore who came in with an platform similiar to what we stand for in bangalore..sadly with only 5-10% of "US" voting he did not make it.

I am sure I speak for all of us island residents when I say that our response has been one of sheer outrage. I know for a fact that if any babu gets up on his soapbox and talks about "resilience," the closest Mumbaikar will slap him so hard that one day his descendants will wake up from their sleep with a stinging pain in their cheeks wondering "What the hell was that??"

Yes, we would love to fight fire with fire. But we know the reality of war too well. Kargil remains fresh in our minds. Our brave soldiers have immense courage and are certainly some of the finest fighting machines in the world. Just look at how they overcame the odds fighting in some of the toughest terrains in the world.

But they are let down. By poor equipment. By backstabbing politicians. By those in the international community who talk of peace but arm our foe to the teeth with the latest weapons and nuclear know-how.

There is, however, something we can do that can be far more effective. Other nations must join us in imposing economic sanctions against Pakistan. Cut off all trade, economic aid, and diplomatic relations with this cursed nation until they are forced to stop their heinous activities of funding and breeding terror. Bring them to their knees financially till there is no money left to pay for such mercenaries and equipment.

And just as important -- you ministers -- please, please equip our men and women in uniform far better than what they are given now. Give them bulletproof vests that work, firearms that are not from the 19th century, unmanned drones so that lives are not lost not knowing what lies in wait. Give every metro its own anti-terror commando force so we don't have to wait 10 hours for one to arrive. Spend a little less on your foreign trips and more on setting up a better coast guard so that we may guard our shores. But most importantly, please stay the hell away from our fair city and do not darken it with your unwanted presence.

I'd say that we have jumped the gun on pointing out who the real terrorists are...
The authorities... right down to every cop who must have looked the other way when Arms and Ammo were brought in will be branded bigger than the one that weils the Gun.
Lets wait and watch till the investigations are over and we will a picture of the people involved...
God Bless...
"Only the dead have seen the end of War..."
HP

Hp

There is no doubt an operation of this size, 4 locations, could have been done alone by some foreigners. They deffinately had local support from authorities and civilians.

There were confessions from the guy captured that 15 of them were coming to mumbai. We have 10, where are the other 5 ? No one is asking that question.

No ones asking the question of how many are there already embedded within our city out of the 25 who were trained at that dam.

These babus only want to stick their behinds on their "kurchi's". Fevicol ka jod se bhi 100 guna majbood hai yeh kurch ka jod. Even after such a bloodbath, our most honourable mr deshmukh and his trusty aid honourable mr patil won't give up their "kurchi's". "Out of the question", is what they say. Sometimes I wonder if these guys are human at all or totally another species from another planet !

Now the babus want a federal agency and an nsg like force in mumbai. What for ? To protect them not us ! Be very clear about that guys. Its never for us and will never be for us ! What's the use of having such security agencies and torops here when they are only going to be called in 10+ hours after the carnage begins ? We always had the marcos and the army commandos at hand all the time at navynagar ! didn't we ?

If called immediately they would have been here in a jiffy ! 30 mins into this situation was enough to make even an ant realise there are serious problems and we need special help !

So many questions remain unanswered guys but I know I will never find answers. Its finally each family on their own and their relatives and friends nearby who may help. The government will never.

They don't care and they don't realise the seriousness cuase they are never in a situation like this. They always have the black cats guarding them. Would they ever try and understand the plight of the guy on the street, station, hotel or a flat that was attacked ? Never ! They didn't even act when they themselves were attacked in the parliament so what makes anyone think they would do anything here ?

I am so so angry....! Feel so helpless and frustrated !
Sorry for the rambling....

Regards

Manek

Manek,
Thanx for venting. (Atleast I am). you certainly have a sympathetic ear amongst many of us so don't feel that you need to apologize. Many of us are thinking just like you are.

Indeed what you have written is the hard/harsh truth. Unfortunately. Too frigging unfortunately!
I always felt that India would change when its citizens wanted that change. Maybe we are coming to that point??
Yes, there are enough educated people who would not want their resp. cities taken over by these horrible terrorits.
If elections are around the corner - VOTE!!! get you entire family & extended family + friends to VOTE. Vote the best of the worst & let those elected officials know what you want from them. If the whole public rises up, the hell that these babus will hold onto their rituals, corruptions & scams. I feel that they'll have to serve the public. IMHO.
Once again I hope that India deals w/ this terrorist attack such that nothing like this happens again.

Dear Bombaywalla,

Many Thanks for your support and Empathy, even though you are 10,000 Kms away. Its heart-warming.

I always felt that India would change when its citizens wanted that change. Maybe we are coming to that point??

ABSOLUTELY !

This time Mumbai's citizens HAVE created an UPROAR.

In this city that pays 30% of the country's taxes, but gets less than 3% of the kitty, IS MAD AS HELL.

Some captains of Industry have suggested that Corporates delay / stop paying their Advance Tax due on 25th Dec.

There IS A Huge Public Outcry....

The stupid government HAS been FORCED to atleast show knee-jerk reaction.

The Home Minister in Delhi has resigned. ( He NEVER was Home Minister material ).

Maharashtra's Chief Minister has resigned.

Maharashtra's Home Minister has refused to resign, and stays Stuck to his chair, as pointed iout by Manek. However, for his refusal, he stands out even more, as a corrupt politician and insensitiive human.

( This fool when visiting the Taj After the Carnage said that such SMALL incidents are bound to happen in a large city ! )

So you see, guys, Public Opninion DOES COUNT.

YOUR Voice DOES get heard.

SPEAK UP... DONT Be A COWARD, and find excuses not to speak up, or not to vote.

ACTION DOES GET REACTION - except against Pakistan...

Vilasrao deshmukh resigned ? When ? This morning ?

Who in his place ?

Why is R R patil not doing any resigning? Sonia should ask him to step down. Matbe congfress are looking for a suitable replacement before they take action ? He held the portfolio of inter security in maharashtra didn't he ?

The must be public outcry against him.....

Manek

What really surprised me is the delay in deploying commandos. Commandos were ready to go but there was no plane to fly them! What a pity! If you see the Delhi airport, at any given instant you will find at least half a dozen passenger airplanes are in ready to fly condition. Home Ministry and NSG authorities instead of waiting for a plane to come from Chandigad, could have vacated couple of such planes and flown those commandos to Mumbai. I am sure all operators (Indian, Jet, Kingfisher, Go Air, Deccan etc) would have co-operated.

Nation’s security is above all that includes some inconvenience to some passengers.

See the Time Line (sequence) :

09:30 PM First report of Attack.

10:00 PM CM of Maharashtra was informed (He was in Kerala)

11:00 PM CM called Union Home Minister and asked for Commandos.

12:30 AM Commmondos were ready at Delhi Airport

Plane to carry those commondos was in Chandigad and its Pilot was is in deep sleep. Then it took time to fuel the plane and then it started from Chandigad to New Delhi.

02:00 AM Plane reached New Delhi Airport.

05:30 AM Commandos reached Mumbai Sahar Airpport and got into BEST buses !

6:15 AM First BEST Bus carrying commandos reached South Mumbai

7:00 AM Commondos started operation!

Manek schrieb:

Vilasrao deshmukh resigned ? When ? This morning ? Who in his place ? Why is R R patil not doing any resigning? Sonia should ask him to step down. Matbe congfress are looking for a suitable replacement before they take action ? He held the portfolio of inter security in maharashtra didn't he ? The must be public outcry against him..... Manek

its RR patil who has resigned. apparently vilasrao and his son were in Taj along with Ramgopal varma ..Could be to make a movie starring his son so they can make more money and fame.

Accountability by the elected has always been a discussed issue. wonder if this is finally when it is put in place ?

Sicerely hope so irrespective of that the mind says...

I just saw a nice blog by someone

I usually do not blog and do not reply back to messages. I keep cribbing about the corrupt politicians, but I do not take any action. When I see potholes on the road, I crib on the administration. But I do not take the time to register a complain with the municipality. I have not raised my voice when I saw incompetence and corruption in front of my eyes. Now I feel equally responsible for the Mumbai blasts. May be the politicians/administration have a direct responsibility, but I think we are also responsible. It is about time that I change. It is about time that I become more responsible to the society. It is about time that I raise my voice. It is about time that I save Mumbai. It is about time that I save India. You bloody incompetent and corrupt insects....run for cover, because I have decided to change...India has decided to change.

Manek, You are correct... the CM has not resigned. I thiought I heard that on a Hindi News channel last night. Guess my Hindi is REALLY bad

Todays newspaper talks of the Masharashtra CM's head being offered as a peace sacrifice, but they dont know who copuld take his place !

Seems they want us to believe that there IS a shortage of Imbeciles

Amp_Nut schrieb:

Seems they want us to believe that there IS a shortage of Imbeciles :.

well put

i guess rather than the "person with maximum positive impact of to the public" the lookout is "with minimum negative impact to the party"

I think we need to move past our Voting concepts...
Vote...YES....But WHO???
For me ...
We need inculcate attitudes and approach in our kids and hope and pray our society improves.
No way in hell voting would have changed the attitude of the official who did not investigate the illegal goods that were taken from the boat using cranes...
Come on man.....
If the person had the right attiude...then the difference would be obvious...
Limitations of Democracy.
Regards
HP

Hey I just got this in the mail.

Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969 act, in section " 49-O" that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding election officer that he/she doesn't want to vote anyone! Yes such a feature is available, but obviously past + present leaders have never disclosed it.

This is called "49-O".

Why should You go and say " I VOTE NOBODY". Because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received "49-O" votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people had already expressed their decision on them.

This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way; of our whole political system. It is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public.

Please spread this news to as many as You know.

Seems to be a wonderful weapon against corrupt parties in India. Show Your power, expressing Your desire not to vote for anybody, is even more powerful than voting. So don't miss Your chance. So either vote, or vote not to vote (vote 49-O) and pass this information to all.

Sounds too good to be true innit.Now for the fly in the ointment.This is still a proposal that is yet to accepted/debated/applied.However if one is able to create a sufficient groundswell, then maybe that will force the change.

Here is a link to the Election Comission website from where you can download the PDF.

http://www.eci.gov.in/PROPOSED_ELECTORAL_REFORMS.pdf


So for starters if each of us can forward this via email to a bunch of contacts, we can get something going.

What say?

Krish..that is something amazing.

ideal way to Vote against all unncessary candiates and show them how useless they are.

is there anyway you can get it to the news channels ? this needs wider coverage..more than what can be done vie Emails and personal contact.

And the newspapers !

And the news websites like rediff.com

I think it would catch on like wildfire.

Manek

Arj schrieb:

Krish..that is something amazing. ideal way to Vote against all unncessary candiates and show them how useless they are. is there anyway you can get it to the news channels ? this needs wider coverage..more than what can be done vie Emails and personal contact.

Arj schrieb:

Krish..that is something amazing. ideal way to Vote against all unncessary candiates and show them how useless they are. is there anyway you can get it to the news channels ? this needs wider coverage..more than what can be done vie Emails and personal contact.

No I do not know anybody in the Media.But, maybe that really does not matter.If each of us were to fwd this to as many people as we can fwd this to, i think that we would have started a chain.

If you happen to google 'section 49-O', you will come across a variety of blogs that are already carrying this bit of information.

I would urge you, if you truly believe that it's worth the effort, to download the PDF file or send a copy of the link to as many people as people as possible.In time, I'm sure that media will pick this up as well.

Cheers
K

My heartfelt empathies with all you Mumbaikars. I shudder to think about the pain the affected people went through.
I can only imagine the agony Ampnut’s and Deaf’s young ones have gone through. My empathies and support to all of you

A comment from a thorough friend, when I sent him an E-Mail copied and pasted from Krish's post :

Never ever believe what you read on the internet from non official websites without proper checking out. Pasted below is in its entirety the section 49.O of the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 (and not Constitution of India) picked up from Govt of India’s website. It mentions the process for registering of a non voter. Nothing else. Cheerio, Bharat.


49-O. Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his
electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters
in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as
required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his
vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in
Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb
impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

Amp_Nut schrieb:

A comment from a thorough friend, when I sent him an E-Mail copied and pasted from Krish's post : Never ever believe what you read on the internet from non official websites without proper checking out. Pasted below is in its entirety the section 49.O of the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 (and not Constitution of India) picked up from Govt of India’s website. It mentions the process for registering of a non voter. Nothing else. Cheerio, Bharat. 49-O. Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.

Hi Amp Nut,
I thought I had made it clear that section 49 O was still at the proposal stage.In fact I did make it a point to check it out.

The link that I pasted is that of the Election Commision of India ( unless, the url is a fake ).

Let me reproduce the relevant section from that report.
NEGATIVE / NEUTRAL VOTING

The Commission has received proposals from a very large number of individuals and organizations

that there should be a provision enabling a voter to reject all the candidates in the constituency

if he does not find them suitable. In the voting using the conventional ballot paper and ballot

boxes, an elector can drop the ballot paper without marking his vote against any of the candidates,

if he chooses so. However, in the voting using the Electronic Voting Machines, such a facility is not

available to the voter. Although, Rule 49 O of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 provides that

an elector may refuse to vote after he has been identified and necessary entries made in the

Register of Electors and the marked copy of the electoral roll, the secrecy of voting is not protected

here inasmuch as the polling officials and the polling agents in the polling station get to know

about the decision of such a voter.

The Commission recommends that the law should be amended to specifically provide for

negative / neutral voting. For this purpose, Rules 22 and 49B of the Conduct of Election

Rules, 1961 may be suitably amended adding a proviso that in the ballot paper and the

particulars on the ballot unit, in the column relating to names of candidates, after the

entry relating to the last candidate, there shall be a column .None of the above., to

enable a voter to reject all the candidates, if he chooses so. Such a proposal was earlier

made by the Commission in 2001 (vide letter dated 10.12.2001).

(A petition by the People.s Union for Civil Liberties seeking such a provision filed at the time of the

recent general elections is pending before the Hon.ble Supreme Court)

Hope this clarifies things.

Cheers

Hi Krish,

Thanks for your feedback.

The key issue that my friend Bharat was making is that there is no hint or move towards what has been said in your para :

Why should You go and say " I VOTE NOBODY". Because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received "49-O" votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people had already expressed their decision on them.

Hence, the Voting for nobody, has no practical consequence to the Election of candidates.

It simply provides each person to go to the Polling station and not vote. It does not affect / barr any other condidates, no matter How many people go out and say " I VOTE NOBODY."

I must add, that I would Love it if what you had posted was correct ... sadly, the politicians will never let that appear even in a draft....

R.I.P. the innocent Indian and Foreign citizens, and the brave solders who lost their precious lives. May the injured recuperate fast. May the passing of time heal some of the anguish. May the damaged property regain its lustre soon.

Now the question is; do we have the balls to take on not just the terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan, but the co-sponsor of that failing state namely US and China? And while at it, can we grow a pair of cojones and withstand the bully of self righteous leftist “liberal” media both Indian and foreign?

Do we have tough people at the helm right now? Have any of our so-called leaders demonstrated any “leadership”? Has any of them made a singularly inspiring posturing? Neither the present ruling party or the so called “hardliner” opposition have any proactive man in their rolls.

One can wish for a dream leadership team comprising people like Indira Gandhi, Lalbahadur Shastry, Sardar Vallab Patel, Narshima Rao. Or even Narendra Mody. Now before you yahoo’s lynch me for taking his name in this propah english, urban forum – he is not half as bad as being made out by our media and the chatterati class.

Till the rot is stemmed and we have competent people and polices in place we will continue to bleed by the Pakistani state objective of death by a thousand cuts.

aks07 schrieb:

Till the rot is stemmed and we have competent people and polices in place we will continue to bleed by the Pakistani state objective of death by a thousand cuts. :|

looks like Obama's "vote for change" is even more applicable in India this time in the elections!
All you guys who can vote please vote for the best (of the worst) candidate who can do better for the city/state/country.

Ask the politician...

http://www.whysosleepy.co.in/

bombaywalla schrieb:

aks07 schrieb: Till the rot is stemmed and we have competent people and polices in place we will continue to bleed by the Pakistani state objective of death by a thousand cuts. :| looks like Obama's "vote for change" is even more applicable in India this time in the elections! All you guys who can vote please vote for the best (of the worst) candidate who can do better for the city/state/country.

As I said earlier...
this change can never be made by Voting anymore...
If you do believe so....Then you are expecting change overnight....
The only possible way to change is by investing in our Children and educate them of the wrongs and the rights and way of goverance.
If we start now...we MAY have promising leaders in another 30 years.
HP

herculepirate schrieb:

If we start now...we MAY have promising leaders in another 30 years. HP

hey I resent that. we have many Promising Leaders.. All they do is make promises
The whole problem is about delivery of those promises

Hp

I do agree with you. It makes no sense expecting improvements for voting for the least corrupt or least lazy guys as all the politicians are cut from the same cloth, be it any party atleast in our country. So a politician as corrupt or lazy will come into power. And with politics now becoming a family affair with many, the same genes are at play here, only younger and less mature. It becomes scarier. And would these politicians ever allow a nice man/woman to be around ? They would ensure that persons ruin one way or another.


The only way these guys will ever stay in check is if there are ways to throw them out at a drop of a hat, its only when they are scared about loosing their kurchi's will they be a little more responsible. The problem here is once the politicians are elected there seems to be nothing we normal folks could do for the next 4 yrs if they didn't perform. We just has to bear the consequences of our own actions without a choice of taking corrective measures.

For the first time ever I think, politicians have been made to resign under public pressure on account of their words and actions.

This is the first time I have seen democracy at work for the people. Kudos to the media to highlight such events and make the attemp to rouse peoples feelings and emotions. If it were not for the media I think we as people would have swallowed the crap dished out to us again and kept quiet.

I hope other cities and states pick up the cue and get their own share of bozo's out of power by the basic right of freedom of expression. No amount of voting every 4 yrs would make any difference.

Btw, what is the percentage of voter turnout below which the polling is condisidered invalid ?

For eg, if a majority of people do not vot and the polls were rendered null and void, wouldn't the political parties be forced into a re-poll with better candidates ? I know it would weigh heavily on our treasury but if we do so once or twice that would send a message to the political parties straight away to not dish out crap. It should happen in a few constituencies a few times at the local level atleast. If it works then the idea could truely put the power in peoples hands.

Manek

herculepirate schrieb:

bombaywalla schrieb: aks07 schrieb: Till the rot is stemmed and we have competent people and polices in place we will continue to bleed by the Pakistani state objective of death by a thousand cuts. :| looks like Obama's "vote for change" is even more applicable in India this time in the elections! All you guys who can vote please vote for the best (of the worst) candidate who can do better for the city/state/country. As I said earlier... this change can never be made by Voting anymore... If you do believe so....Then you are expecting change overnight.... The only possible way to change is by investing in our Children and educate them of the wrongs and the rights and way of goverance. If we start now...we MAY have promising leaders in another 30 years. HP

HP,
not totally true.
yes, by educating our children "correctly" we will incubate good leaders for the next generation.
But what about right now?
Are we to simply give up & throw our hands in the air & say that we (you & I) cannot have good goverence at the local, state & center levels? (I will not believe for a second that you will say "yes" to this!)
So, we have to vote in the best of the worst (somehow politics brings the worst of mankind up for voting! ) & let them know in no uncertain terms that they are for the people & by the people & that they are civil servants. The more honest the citizens can keep them the better as it will ensure that they serve the people & the nation.
I believe that India is ready for a change for the better. Whew! I wondered if this day & time would have ever come during my life-time!
It's a shame to see India not in the top-ranks of various fields when I KNOW that it's people are 110% capable of standing shoulder-shoulder with just about any other nation on ANYTHING.
let's hope that our govt doesn't f*** it up (again)!