Gun-toting terrorists and financial terrorists
Pakistan is widely acknowledged to be the world's biggest and most efficient exporter of terrorism, a fact known only too well by India which constitutes one of the largest captive markets for Islamabad's main product line. Pakistan has turned a dangerous liability into a lucrative asset which helps to keep an otherwise bankrupt economy afloat. By supposedly being America's chief frontline ally in Washington's `war on terror' Islamabad annually extracts billions of dollars from the US. This money, which is meant to be earmarked for anti-terrorist operations is in fact diverted into acquiring more arms for use against India and in setting up more terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Pakistan's terrorist consignments seem to be boomeranging right back where they came from. Among the notable victims of such `export-reject' terror coming home to roost have been Benazir Bhutto, Punjab governor Salman Taseer and Pakistan's minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, the latter two having been targeted for their vocal opposition to the country's anti-blasphemy laws by which those who renounce Islam can be awarded the death penalty.
If Pakistan is an expert in gun-toting terrorism India specialises in another kind of terrorism: - financial terrorism. Except that we don't call it that. We call it scams.
Is there any country in the world which produces scams - hawala, fodder, stamp paper, CWG, Adarsh, 2G, Isro - at the rate India seems to? As a nation, we should demand inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records as the country with the highest scam count in the world. You name it, we'll scam it, seems to be our motto. There appears to be no end to our ingenuity for scamming. Why, then, haven't we done what Pakistan has done with terror? Why haven't we exported our scams - and our scamsters - to foreign countries?
Further, like Islamabad which extracts protection money from Washington using the threat of terror, New Delhi could extract similar hafta from the international community using the threat of exported scams. How is the idea?
We are all corrupt
The recent Lokpal Bill agitation saw people slamming politicians, some publicly booed away. Some politicians have voiced apprehensions about a 'climate of disdain' growing around politicians. The supporters of Indian politicians are of the opinion that India does have 'upright politicians' generating 'confidence for the future'. They say that it is wrong to generalize. Politicians are elected to ensure good governance and high public standards like transparency, diligence and empathy. Indians usually look upon politicians with amusement. After building a huge empire of bribery and black money, Indian politicians seem to thrive on corruption. Parliament as a whole avoids tackling corruption. The proof lies in the fact that Lokpal Bill itself kept hanging for 42 years.
Politicians repeatedly get away with malpractices. It's become a habit for those who are in government service to take bribes, and demand favours as 'perks' of their post. It is the politicians who are responsible for making criminals out of public servants and victims out of the public. They may now try avoiding blame by spreading it around, stating corruption is a 'social problem'. But it is precisely their job to tackle such problems and improve systems by denying power to the corrupt, besides leading through example. They haven't done that.
It needs two persons to give birth to corruption. Each time you or I pay a bribe we are being corrupt. Money is found to be the quickest way to avoid hassles, ensure services and escape questioning. Each time we pay a bribe, we break our system a little more.
Politicians are simply a reflection of our own tendencies. They too emerge from everyday India. Their ideals are stripped away at early stages of the electoral process. They act the way they do because of us. We don't hesitate to vote back the same tainted representatives. At times, we vote for cash, TVs or freebies. And sometimes, we don't vote at all.
It is our fault that corruption has become the monster it is today. To cleanse the system we should fix our tendencies to slip cash and use 'contacts' for licences, degrees and connections. That's the only way to get rid of corruption.
An ideal mind
Why do you need mind? You need it to bring a sense of purpose and better quality into your lives. You must understand the working of your mind if you want to make best use of it. The mind is meant to absorb information, transform it into knowledge and lead it into action. Action and speech determine the quality of your life and these come from the mind itself.
Most people's minds are as hard as a rock. Just as a rock is impervious to water, information that falls on a hard mind bounces off without a trace. A hard mind shows resistance to information that doesn't agree with knowledge that is already stored in it even though that information is the truth and amenable to reason. You should make your mind as soft as a sponge so that you can absorb maximum knowledge. A soft mind easily absorbs information and allows free flow of knowledge into action.
What makes your mind hard or closed? It is because of your ego. If you encounter an idea or a situation that is not in line with your thinking, you immediately close your mind by putting up a block against it. Ego creates mindset. This mindset is self-destructive. For example, a simple discussion develops into an argument and leads to a verbal or physical fight.
It is not enough to use your mind just to gather information. You must transform this into knowledge and next into action.
Keep your mind pure. A pure mind will think about common welfare. A pure, soft mind is gateway to divine living. Don't just think positively. Think divinely. This way of thinking will make your mind soft and pure.
An impure mind creates words and actions that hurt people. Pure mind brings joy to people.
An object that slips out of your hand can be recovered, but an inappropriate word that slips out of your tongue cannot be erased. Hence you must do introspection and see whether your mind harbours harmful thoughts. Clean your mind of those thoughts and purify your mind. Ideas and inspiration flash freely in a pure mind to transform information to knowledge.
Remember that mind is an organ which can covert you from human to Divine.
Pakistan is widely acknowledged to be the world's biggest and most efficient exporter of terrorism, a fact known only too well by India which constitutes one of the largest captive markets for Islamabad's main product line. Pakistan has turned a dangerous liability into a lucrative asset which helps to keep an otherwise bankrupt economy afloat. By supposedly being America's chief frontline ally in Washington's `war on terror' Islamabad annually extracts billions of dollars from the US. This money, which is meant to be earmarked for anti-terrorist operations is in fact diverted into acquiring more arms for use against India and in setting up more terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Pakistan's terrorist consignments seem to be boomeranging right back where they came from. Among the notable victims of such `export-reject' terror coming home to roost have been Benazir Bhutto, Punjab governor Salman Taseer and Pakistan's minorities minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, the latter two having been targeted for their vocal opposition to the country's anti-blasphemy laws by which those who renounce Islam can be awarded the death penalty.
If Pakistan is an expert in gun-toting terrorism India specialises in another kind of terrorism: - financial terrorism. Except that we don't call it that. We call it scams.
Is there any country in the world which produces scams - hawala, fodder, stamp paper, CWG, Adarsh, 2G, Isro - at the rate India seems to? As a nation, we should demand inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records as the country with the highest scam count in the world. You name it, we'll scam it, seems to be our motto. There appears to be no end to our ingenuity for scamming. Why, then, haven't we done what Pakistan has done with terror? Why haven't we exported our scams - and our scamsters - to foreign countries?
Further, like Islamabad which extracts protection money from Washington using the threat of terror, New Delhi could extract similar hafta from the international community using the threat of exported scams. How is the idea?
We are all corrupt
The recent Lokpal Bill agitation saw people slamming politicians, some publicly booed away. Some politicians have voiced apprehensions about a 'climate of disdain' growing around politicians. The supporters of Indian politicians are of the opinion that India does have 'upright politicians' generating 'confidence for the future'. They say that it is wrong to generalize. Politicians are elected to ensure good governance and high public standards like transparency, diligence and empathy. Indians usually look upon politicians with amusement. After building a huge empire of bribery and black money, Indian politicians seem to thrive on corruption. Parliament as a whole avoids tackling corruption. The proof lies in the fact that Lokpal Bill itself kept hanging for 42 years.
Politicians repeatedly get away with malpractices. It's become a habit for those who are in government service to take bribes, and demand favours as 'perks' of their post. It is the politicians who are responsible for making criminals out of public servants and victims out of the public. They may now try avoiding blame by spreading it around, stating corruption is a 'social problem'. But it is precisely their job to tackle such problems and improve systems by denying power to the corrupt, besides leading through example. They haven't done that.
It needs two persons to give birth to corruption. Each time you or I pay a bribe we are being corrupt. Money is found to be the quickest way to avoid hassles, ensure services and escape questioning. Each time we pay a bribe, we break our system a little more.
Politicians are simply a reflection of our own tendencies. They too emerge from everyday India. Their ideals are stripped away at early stages of the electoral process. They act the way they do because of us. We don't hesitate to vote back the same tainted representatives. At times, we vote for cash, TVs or freebies. And sometimes, we don't vote at all.
It is our fault that corruption has become the monster it is today. To cleanse the system we should fix our tendencies to slip cash and use 'contacts' for licences, degrees and connections. That's the only way to get rid of corruption.
An ideal mind
Why do you need mind? You need it to bring a sense of purpose and better quality into your lives. You must understand the working of your mind if you want to make best use of it. The mind is meant to absorb information, transform it into knowledge and lead it into action. Action and speech determine the quality of your life and these come from the mind itself.
Most people's minds are as hard as a rock. Just as a rock is impervious to water, information that falls on a hard mind bounces off without a trace. A hard mind shows resistance to information that doesn't agree with knowledge that is already stored in it even though that information is the truth and amenable to reason. You should make your mind as soft as a sponge so that you can absorb maximum knowledge. A soft mind easily absorbs information and allows free flow of knowledge into action.
What makes your mind hard or closed? It is because of your ego. If you encounter an idea or a situation that is not in line with your thinking, you immediately close your mind by putting up a block against it. Ego creates mindset. This mindset is self-destructive. For example, a simple discussion develops into an argument and leads to a verbal or physical fight.
It is not enough to use your mind just to gather information. You must transform this into knowledge and next into action.
Keep your mind pure. A pure mind will think about common welfare. A pure, soft mind is gateway to divine living. Don't just think positively. Think divinely. This way of thinking will make your mind soft and pure.
An impure mind creates words and actions that hurt people. Pure mind brings joy to people.
An object that slips out of your hand can be recovered, but an inappropriate word that slips out of your tongue cannot be erased. Hence you must do introspection and see whether your mind harbours harmful thoughts. Clean your mind of those thoughts and purify your mind. Ideas and inspiration flash freely in a pure mind to transform information to knowledge.
Remember that mind is an organ which can covert you from human to Divine.
No comments:
Post a Comment