4 ms·

People in India are killed for scams of far lesser magnitude. Being an Indian I sometimes feel really bad about what my country has become.

placeybordeaux 11y ago
Do you feel like it is getting better or worse?
- tequila_shot 11y ago
  This is my belief. It was worse when Congress was in power. Now that Modi is in power, I'm hopeful India's state would improve. But this goes without saying, I don't really know. No one really knows. Modi has committed a lot of atrocities during his term as a CM for Gujarath. The only feeling that sticks with me is, fear/uncertainty of future. Still not sure why I'm being down voted. I did provide some reasoning as to 'why' I'm being uncertain.
  - Manishearth 11y ago
    (To non-Indians reading the above comment: Congress is the name of a[1] political party in India, not a house of legislature. Seen lots of folks get tripped up by this.) [1]: Well, many. There used to be one, now it has fragmented. But the one being talked about is the Indian National Congress.
  - littletimmy 11y ago
    As someone who doesn't know a lot about Indian politics, could you please tell me why there seems to be a large liberal crowd in India that's very anti-Modi? I heard recently Arundhati Roy returned her government honors, for example.
    - spacecowboy_lon 11y ago
      BJP is a very nataionalist party that has been accused (with some pretty strong evidence) of siring up sectarian violence. And this is major riots with large numbers of deaths not just descrimination.
    - hbharadwaj 11y ago
      BJP is a right wing "Hindu" party with close ties to nationalist organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Shiv Sena. They have had a rather sordid history in the last couple of decades wrt religious violence - Gujarat Riots, Babri Masjid demolition etc., Recently, there have been some incidents which have resulted in communal/religious tensions flaring up 1. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-divided-after-hindu-mob-lynched-muslim-man-over-rumours-he-killed-cow-ate-beef-1522743 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-divided-after-hindu-mob-lynch... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._M._Kalburgi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._M._Kalburgi India's intellectuals have started criticizing the Government for not speaking out against this violence. In fact, some BJP affiliated people have made some really controversial statements with regards to Muslims in India. Arundhati Roy is among a host of people who are returning their awards in protest of the Government's stance.
    - shripadk 11y ago
      Arundathi Roy is anti-National. If you read any of her books she is absolutely anti-Hindu and mostly talks in favor of terrorists. She shares dias with Naxalities and Kashmiri Separatists. I wouldn't even call her an Indian. Read more about why here: https://in.news.yahoo.com/wonder-arundhati-roy-even-indian-anupam-kher-105528313.html https://in.news.yahoo.com/wonder-arundhati-roy-even-indian-a... This liberal crowd is what we call "pseudo-liberal, pseudo-secular". It's all a pretense. These are stooges of the Indian National Congress who spread misinformation among the Indian public. They used divide and rule policy to divide communities among religious lines and then used the minorities for votebanks. India tolerated them for almost 60 years. This is the first time India elected a party apart from Congress with such a huge majority. So the liberal crowd is not really "large". They are few and on the payroll of Indian National Congress (because it was the INC which gave them the honors). India during the rule of Indian National Congress was effectively put under a National Emergency under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 70s (Read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India)). The entire Media was censored, the democratically elected Opposition leaders thrown behind bars (with some who were even sent to gallows but narrowly missed it, some even died) and a mass-sterilization campaign was carried about by them on the Indian public. Can you imagine the Government barging into your house and sterilizing you forcibly so you can never pro-create? None of these so called "liberals" returned their awards and honors during that time. Not even when the same Indian National Congress committed genocide of the Sikhs in 1984 riots (Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots). They did not do anything when radical Islamists butchered Kashmiri Pandits and drove them out of Kashmir (Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_Pandit#Exodus_from_Kashmir_.281985.E2.80.931995.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_Pandit#Exodus_from_Ka...). Where was this "liberal" crowd then? However, only after 18 months of BJP coming to power, with Narendra Modi at the helm, they started this drama of "Intolerant India" all because the Bihar (Indian state) elections was underway. As soon as the election was over, they disappeared. Do you hear about any of these so called "liberals" giving away honors now? Nope. Why did this movement suddenly die out? Has India which was intolerant for these so called "liberals" for past 18 months suddenly become tolerant after the elections? But things are changing now. We have a really strong Prime Minister who is focused on development and bettering India's infrastructure. We have normally stayed away from participating in Wars and always took a neutral stand. However, for the first time, India has taken a stand against ISIS by declaring that it is willing to fight under the UN flag (Read here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-ready-for-operation-against-ISIS-if-UN-adopts-resolution-Manohar-Parrikar/articleshow/50199721.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-ready-for-ope...). This would never have happened if the Indian National Congress was at the helm of affairs as we have always refrained from military invasions abroad. The heads of the Indian National Congress (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) on the other hand are facing serious corruption charges and will have to face court proceedings tomorrow (Read more about the case here: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bail-for-gandhis-tomorrow-all-you-need-to-know-about-national-herald-case/story-I4pCdg9Uh0WhBNLrOu79nM.html http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bail-for-gandhis-tomorro...). I tried my best to explain the Indian political situation from my point of view. Hope this helps give more clarity :)
- manu29d 11y ago
  That's debatable considering your current position in the society and your point of view.
- sremani 11y ago
  Its not fair to say, worse than before. The amount of money involved now a days in Politics is unheard of. People with political connections will get large loans from Publicly backed banks, with almost no collateral. So, is it bad from that stand point. India has made tremendous strides in other areas, including market economy, number of people lifted out of poverty etc. There are massive improvement and massive transgressions happening in parallel. The pollution has gotten worse but the salaries of people and disposal income has gotten better. Long story short, its a mixed bag. Politics in India are very much tribal, massive reliance on caste or religious identity followed by buying up or attempts to buy up voters from slums or who ever is economically backward, either through immediate gifts, like liquor, food packets etc or through promises of Government largess like free cable tv or free saris etc. The Political process in India has become crass and rely on power brokers and money brokers to create a political machine for winning and ruling. This is "a" monster that is taxing Indian people with perpetual corruption of worst form even from the highest of the elected offices.
- nascentmind 11y ago
  It is mixed. On the one hand there are quite a bit of honest people and there are quite a lot of corrupt people. The problem is the amount of variables which are huge and how it has become a way of life.
- intended 11y ago
  Man, it's unfortunate that you have a plethora of answers with t=15 years. India's improved tons. I'm not as grey bearded as I should be, I remember the 1980s. India has come a damn long way. Politics has improved pretty significantly. "Booth capture" and "license raj" we're actual things, not the bogey men that most people blithely quote. Vyapam is scary to me because it's a throw back to those times. We've gone through three major insurgencies, and multiple terror organizations which had destabilized entire states. What we seem to really have a glut of now is a lot of literate people, but with very little education. (Ie - ability to apply their knowledge in new and novel ways to new and novel situations + willingness to learn more in depth) The economy has shifted dramatically since the 90s. I've seen a period where there was a wait for phone lines (and 7 digit numbers), to a period where we have more mobiles than people. India is a marvelously and infuriatingly complex country, the fact that it hasn't imploded itself is step 1.

placeybordeaux 11y ago

Do you feel like it is getting better or worse?

tequila_shot 11y ago
This is my belief. It was worse when Congress was in power. Now that Modi is in power, I'm hopeful India's state would improve. But this goes without saying, I don't really know. No one really knows. Modi has committed a lot of atrocities during his term as a CM for Gujarath. The only feeling that sticks with me is, fear/uncertainty of future. Still not sure why I'm being down voted. I did provide some reasoning as to 'why' I'm being uncertain.
- Manishearth 11y ago
  (To non-Indians reading the above comment: Congress is the name of a[1] political party in India, not a house of legislature. Seen lots of folks get tripped up by this.) [1]: Well, many. There used to be one, now it has fragmented. But the one being talked about is the Indian National Congress.
- littletimmy 11y ago
  As someone who doesn't know a lot about Indian politics, could you please tell me why there seems to be a large liberal crowd in India that's very anti-Modi? I heard recently Arundhati Roy returned her government honors, for example.
  - spacecowboy_lon 11y ago
    BJP is a very nataionalist party that has been accused (with some pretty strong evidence) of siring up sectarian violence. And this is major riots with large numbers of deaths not just descrimination.
  - hbharadwaj 11y ago
    BJP is a right wing "Hindu" party with close ties to nationalist organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Shiv Sena. They have had a rather sordid history in the last couple of decades wrt religious violence - Gujarat Riots, Babri Masjid demolition etc., Recently, there have been some incidents which have resulted in communal/religious tensions flaring up 1. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-divided-after-hindu-mob-lynched-muslim-man-over-rumours-he-killed-cow-ate-beef-1522743 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/india-divided-after-hindu-mob-lynch... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._M._Kalburgi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._M._Kalburgi India's intellectuals have started criticizing the Government for not speaking out against this violence. In fact, some BJP affiliated people have made some really controversial statements with regards to Muslims in India. Arundhati Roy is among a host of people who are returning their awards in protest of the Government's stance.
  - shripadk 11y ago
    Arundathi Roy is anti-National. If you read any of her books she is absolutely anti-Hindu and mostly talks in favor of terrorists. She shares dias with Naxalities and Kashmiri Separatists. I wouldn't even call her an Indian. Read more about why here: https://in.news.yahoo.com/wonder-arundhati-roy-even-indian-anupam-kher-105528313.html https://in.news.yahoo.com/wonder-arundhati-roy-even-indian-a... This liberal crowd is what we call "pseudo-liberal, pseudo-secular". It's all a pretense. These are stooges of the Indian National Congress who spread misinformation among the Indian public. They used divide and rule policy to divide communities among religious lines and then used the minorities for votebanks. India tolerated them for almost 60 years. This is the first time India elected a party apart from Congress with such a huge majority. So the liberal crowd is not really "large". They are few and on the payroll of Indian National Congress (because it was the INC which gave them the honors). India during the rule of Indian National Congress was effectively put under a National Emergency under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 70s (Read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emergency_(India)). The entire Media was censored, the democratically elected Opposition leaders thrown behind bars (with some who were even sent to gallows but narrowly missed it, some even died) and a mass-sterilization campaign was carried about by them on the Indian public. Can you imagine the Government barging into your house and sterilizing you forcibly so you can never pro-create? None of these so called "liberals" returned their awards and honors during that time. Not even when the same Indian National Congress committed genocide of the Sikhs in 1984 riots (Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots). They did not do anything when radical Islamists butchered Kashmiri Pandits and drove them out of Kashmir (Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_Pandit#Exodus_from_Kashmir_.281985.E2.80.931995.29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_Pandit#Exodus_from_Ka...). Where was this "liberal" crowd then? However, only after 18 months of BJP coming to power, with Narendra Modi at the helm, they started this drama of "Intolerant India" all because the Bihar (Indian state) elections was underway. As soon as the election was over, they disappeared. Do you hear about any of these so called "liberals" giving away honors now? Nope. Why did this movement suddenly die out? Has India which was intolerant for these so called "liberals" for past 18 months suddenly become tolerant after the elections? But things are changing now. We have a really strong Prime Minister who is focused on development and bettering India's infrastructure. We have normally stayed away from participating in Wars and always took a neutral stand. However, for the first time, India has taken a stand against ISIS by declaring that it is willing to fight under the UN flag (Read here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-ready-for-operation-against-ISIS-if-UN-adopts-resolution-Manohar-Parrikar/articleshow/50199721.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-ready-for-ope...). This would never have happened if the Indian National Congress was at the helm of affairs as we have always refrained from military invasions abroad. The heads of the Indian National Congress (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi) on the other hand are facing serious corruption charges and will have to face court proceedings tomorrow (Read more about the case here: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bail-for-gandhis-tomorrow-all-you-need-to-know-about-national-herald-case/story-I4pCdg9Uh0WhBNLrOu79nM.html http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bail-for-gandhis-tomorro...). I tried my best to explain the Indian political situation from my point of view. Hope this helps give more clarity :)
manu29d 11y ago
That's debatable considering your current position in the society and your point of view.
sremani 11y ago
Its not fair to say, worse than before. The amount of money involved now a days in Politics is unheard of. People with political connections will get large loans from Publicly backed banks, with almost no collateral. So, is it bad from that stand point. India has made tremendous strides in other areas, including market economy, number of people lifted out of poverty etc. There are massive improvement and massive transgressions happening in parallel. The pollution has gotten worse but the salaries of people and disposal income has gotten better. Long story short, its a mixed bag. Politics in India are very much tribal, massive reliance on caste or religious identity followed by buying up or attempts to buy up voters from slums or who ever is economically backward, either through immediate gifts, like liquor, food packets etc or through promises of Government largess like free cable tv or free saris etc. The Political process in India has become crass and rely on power brokers and money brokers to create a political machine for winning and ruling. This is "a" monster that is taxing Indian people with perpetual corruption of worst form even from the highest of the elected offices.
nascentmind 11y ago
It is mixed. On the one hand there are quite a bit of honest people and there are quite a lot of corrupt people. The problem is the amount of variables which are huge and how it has become a way of life.
intended 11y ago
Man, it's unfortunate that you have a plethora of answers with t=15 years. India's improved tons. I'm not as grey bearded as I should be, I remember the 1980s. India has come a damn long way. Politics has improved pretty significantly. "Booth capture" and "license raj" we're actual things, not the bogey men that most people blithely quote. Vyapam is scary to me because it's a throw back to those times. We've gone through three major insurgencies, and multiple terror organizations which had destabilized entire states. What we seem to really have a glut of now is a lot of literate people, but with very little education. (Ie - ability to apply their knowledge in new and novel ways to new and novel situations + willingness to learn more in depth) The economy has shifted dramatically since the 90s. I've seen a period where there was a wait for phone lines (and 7 digit numbers), to a period where we have more mobiles than people. India is a marvelously and infuriatingly complex country, the fact that it hasn't imploded itself is step 1.