Thursday, December 06, 2012

Agenda Aaj Tak

Was fascinating to see Arvind Kejriwal, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Ravi Shankar Prasad debate on Headlines Today in Agenda Aaj Tak today, moderated by Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal. Javed Akhtar also participated from the audience, making an impassioned request to Arvind to respect India's constitution, our judiciary, media and parliament, and not talk about killing the system that has served India so beautifully so far. Spend a week in Pakistan, he implored. You will come back and kiss this ground, Akhtar continued, asking him what his vision for the country was. Why are you giving Ambanis account numbers, he asked. Don't be a non-playing captain and just throw mud at others, a doctor in the audience pleaded. Another gentleman  questioned how he would lead a country by taking law in his own hands, like in snapping electricity connections in Delhi. Would you go ahead and shoot a murder suspect based on an accusation, he asked. And given that he couldn't keep his own flock together, how he would be able to keep the country together. And Mani Shankar and Ravishanker showed what solid politicians are all about - frankly, I am not a big fan of any politician, but today, both of them earned my respect for their clear thinking, elucidation and control. It was truly amazing. Give us a real plan for making the CBI autonomous and be constructive, said Mani Shanker. When Arvind brought up the case of a young rape victim struggling for justice, Ravishanker asked why he was tearing down our law and judiciary, instead of offerings the services of Prashant Bhushan and his other lawyers, thereby helping the girl get justice.

On another note, earlier in the morning, Anna accused Arvind of corruption and being power hungry, and said he would never vote for him.

Here is what is seriously troubling me. When a very esteemed and educated audience puts Arvind on the stand and questions him, and applauds the very politicians we love to hate, what hope do we have for the future of the anti-corruption movement?

Personally, I have been a proud citizen of this country for almost 4 decades now, and I love this country because it has given me freedom, choice, a great education and a very happy and secure life. Yes, we have corruption and a lot of other ills - but when someone assumes the role of change maker on behalf of me, and then questions every arm of the country, I have a serious concern.

If someone wanted to strengthen our judiciary, our media, our system - by following our constitution and our laws, I would support him fully. But do we want anarchy in the name of rule of the mob? No way!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Arvind Kejriwal is the Real icon of INDIA..!! Maybe you haven't seen the collusion between Javed akhtar and amar singh !! Plz turn some pages of B TOWN from History books and you would realize what relation amar singh has with Bollywood actors..!! Amar singh had financed and promoted FARHAN AKHTAR in his debut behind the scenes.

Dude open your eyes before its too late..!! You might be happy in your own world but what about 90% of indians who are livind below $5 a day ??

Its not about me...Its about US !!! The day you would start acknowledging this fact,You would never say NEVER !!

Huh!!

Siddhesh said...

Anonymous, I am not happy about corruption, neither am I in support of any politician. Javed's relationship with Amar Singh is also not the point here.

The point here is, are we today looking to build a India where mud slinging and mob power is what drives change, ignoring our constitution, elections, parliament, media, judiciary and institutions?

Look at the consequences of such systems worldwide - and hopefully you will realize this is as much about me as about those who live at Rs 200 a day (let's not use USD here, right? I mean, we have a different currency in use in India.. )

Anonymous said...

@siddhesh - Bro its not only me who uses Dollar sign..its OUR planning commission who release every single report/statistics with Dollar as their reference currency.For instance 36% of INDIA lives below $ 1.25 acc. to latest 5 yr. plan white paper and economic survey 11-12....

Its the GOVT. who gives importance to foreign currency.We economist are bound to imitate them..

You need to remind the GOVT. that our national currency is Ruppe NOT dollar (something they are obsessed with)..JAI HIND !!

By the way u CAN CALL me AAM AADMI :)

Rajesh K. said...

Well said anonymous. You win! Great points for debate. @Siddhesh, your argument is weak. I agree with the anonymous writer about the dollar sign and everything else.
-Rajesh Kohli.

Siddhesh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Siddhesh said...

Rajesh, let's focus on the real issue here - the methods used by Kejriwal.

And with Anna vocally disagreeing with him, IAC supporters would be well-excused for being confused, wouldn't you say?

Anonymous said...

@siddhesh -- Bro,i am from DELHI and have met kejriwal in person..!! Actually i was there @ the founding ceremony of AAP.I talked to Kejri sir and let me assure you he can give complex to the most humblest person you have met till date..!!

& if you had followed IMRAN KHAN's sppech @ agenda aaj-tak he clearly said that to change the system you have to be a part of the system !!

As far as the disassociation of ANNA & KEJRI sir goes,you have to understand a simple fact that ANNA is an illiterate person.He doesn't have a deep understanding of national issues.Have you ever heard him talking sense about the economic/political condition of the country.NO BRO NO !! he says what BEDI tells him to..!! plz understand this & now since kejriwal ji has a political outfit BEDI is against kejri(as she is a BJP supporter) and she is trying to demean AAP through ANNA !!

A small request...Until you have personally MET arvind sir,Plz dont make any strong opinion against AAP just bcoz ANNA said so !! :)

Siddhesh said...

Am very happy to hear that! India has a lot of hopes from Anna, Bedi, Arvind... A few months back, we all rallied behind the collective force led by the IAC. But as we see it splitting up, and the whole "action" coming down to trial by accusation on media, with no specific follow up or closure, I feel disheartened and confused. And Imran Khan's interview.. Well, the jury is still out on that, isn't it?

Rajesh Kohli said...

Siddhesh, NO. You are going on and on about how it should be rupees and not dollar. Anonymous really had some great points about that. So if you don't want criticism, then don't make absurd points like let's think in rupees shall we?

And don't judge something without knowing it first. Anna is not the know it all that you make him to be. Great point again, Anonymous!

-Rajesh.