10 Questions to World Leaders

Honorable US President Mr. Obama, US Secretary of state Mrs. Clinton, UK Prime minister Gordon  Brown, Norway Minister Eric Solheim, most importantly UN Secretary General Mr. Ban ki moon,

About quarter million civilians are in Internment Camps behind barbed fences. About 20,000 wounded are in need of immediate assistance. Food, Water and Medicine are in immediate need.

Even after the SL government claims to have won the war, President Rajapakse is busy celebrating his victory, while the Tamils are struggling for their lives, living at the mercy of the Sinhalese prison guards, without food, water and medicine.

Yet, the IC, UN, Red Cross and all World Organizations are watching the happenings without any action.

If you could touch your heart and answer even one of these questions truthfully, you are justified to be in the seat that you occupy.  

1. What is stopping Mr. Rajapakse from allowing international help to reach the affected area? Is it because he needs his people to clear up all evidences to the genocide, in the name of clearing land mines?
2. Why is there no Tamil in the Srilankan Army? Can those aristocrats in Delhi, Washington, London, France care to answer or comment.
3. Weren’t the TNA MPs democratically elected? Then why is that their input is not taken into consideration in any of the decisions taken by the World Organizations?
4. Millions of Tamils around the world have fled their home country Sri Lanka. Is it because, they wanted to tour the world?
5. Those millions worldwide demonstrated in support of LTTE, and described LTTE as their freedom fighters. Are all of them hardened terrorists, as the Srilankan President Rajapakse is claiming?
6. When will Rajapakse allow international aid to reach the Tamils? Or does he think that it is not necessary? Why was the ICRC thrown out of Srilanka?
7. When will the reporters be allowed to report freely from the affected areas? What is the status of investigations carried out in the case of the reporters who have been killed? Why were the UK journalists thrown out of Srilanka?
8. Why have the SL Government arrested the doctors who reported casualty figures from the war front? Also, why any one who raises his voice against the government, even if they are civilians or reporters, arrested and investigated?
9. What is the function of UN? You might think that this is a stupid question, but I bet if anyone can provide an answer and prove that the answer is justified by quoting the activities of UN.
10. How come Mr. Rajapakse has not yet mentioned about what he intends to do to protect the rights of the Tamils? Is he going to think of a plan when he has time after his victory bash?

Indian leaders from Delhi, Chinese Communists and Japanese war mongers are excluded from these questions, as this is directed to those who have some basic dignity and humanity.  

Note to Mr. Ban Ki Moon: Please do not ask advice from the following people

1. Mr. Vijay Nambiar who goes for a leisure tour to Srilanka every few days and says everything is fine.
2. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee who has been assigned to look out for investment opportunities in Srilanka, on behalf of Mdm. Sonia Gandhi.
3. Mr. Manmohan singh, as he cannot answer without Mdm. Sonia Gandhi’s permission. So kindly do not disturb him.

Written by Joy Arun

Joy Arun is an engineer who also works to spread education to the needy. He believes education is the foundation for a healthy society.

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Politics, World, Ethnic Cleansing, genocide, IC, India, LTTE, Obama, Pakistan, Politics, Prabhakaran, Rajapakse, Rajiv, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Tamil Eelam, Tamil Nadu, Tamil Tigers, terrorist, UK, UN, USA, War, War mongers

Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka

Whatever the outcome of the battle in Sri Lanka, the world cannot stand by and see over 500,000 innocent men women and children be the victims in this war. We in India have a special duty to go in and add to the rescue efforts of the innocent on a much larger scale than we have. Not just as a humanitarian gesture, but as a neighbour we are most suited for the rescue mission. And if we do not, the Tamils of Sri Lanka will never forgive us, nor will our Tamil people forget this.

I am not taking sides in the War. I just do not know enough. Except that we all know that India has meddled in Sri Lankan affairs in the past, has been responsible for the formation of the Tamil Tigers, and then tried to rein them in, leading to Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.

Whatever the past, we cannot just be bystanders. Even the political fallout is extremely dangerous for us. If the battle for a separate Tamil State fails in Sri Lanka, those ambitions could easily be transferred to Tamil Nadu.

Written by guest writer Shekhar Kapur.

Shekhar Kapur is a noted film maker with international repute. One of the few Indian movie directors to make a career in the U.S., Shekhar Kapur has proved his filmmaking worth in both countries. You can read his blog here.

Filed under: Asia, Politics, India, Rajiv, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Tamil Eelam, Tigers

Ultimate outsourcing destination outsourcing its political leadership

Outsourcing is sharing or moving of responsibility and work. It is about hiring someone outside your organization to get things done. Companies outsource part or entire business process to a third-party service provider. This would give the benefits of reduced cost and improved quality. 

Outsourcing is an age-old concept, but it is increasingly becoming popular with fortune 500 companies in the western world. Not only companies but hospitals, law firms and department stores across the world have willingly accepted outsourcing and are moving their in-house operations to economically viable and politically stable locations.

India is one of the desirable offshore outsourcing locations. Outsourcing to India is turning out to be a blessing for the country which has ample educated men and women who form the backbone of the outsourcing industry. India’s edge in this segment is largely due to the large population with good English speaking skills who can adapt to western accents. Improved quality and cost benefit is drawing organizations towards her. 

While India remains the ultimate outsourcing destination for corporations all over the world, it is also interesting to note the departing parallels in the political sphere of India. Have you noticed how India has outsourced its political leadership?

We all know that Dr Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister of India. We all respect Dr Manmohan Singh for his simplicity for sure. We also know that he was not elected by the people but appointed by Ms Sonia Gandhi – the President of the Indian National Congress party. It will not be an overstatement if I state that Mr Manmohan Singh functions as a representative of Ms Sonia Gandhi. So it is fair to also say that Ms Sonia Gandhi is the real power center of Indian government today. 

Let us review Ms Sonia Gandhi’s history. Having born and raised in Italy she probably has very little exposure to the Indian culture and heritage. Having lived in the US for more than 10 years now, I still have hard time understanding several issues of this country, especially political issues and have to consult with friends to understand the basics leave alone suggesting solutions for them. Also my approach to several of these issues is based on the intellectual skills I acquired during my early years back in India and hence largely differ from that of the locals.

I can safely assume that the situation would be similar to Sonia unless she is blessed with extra ordinary sensory skills to understand the undercurrents of the Indian society. Considering the fact that Sonia’s life in India was in the confines of the bungalows and heavily fortified prime ministerial complex, there would have been very little influence on her intellectual of the so called “true Indian way” of dealing things. 

I am discounting any knowledge or understanding Sonia might have gained from her reading habits about which I have no knowledge. This is because even if she is an avid reader and read all about India, she would not fare any better, because growing up immersed in the ambience of a culture and understanding the intricate details in a gradual manner is far different from what we grasp from literature and movies. 

Consider the fact that our leadership’s intellectual development took shape in Europe and functions based on the value system that is far different from that of our own. Anyone who has travelled to the west would know to appreciate the difference between the East and Western societies. There are both good and bad and I am not gauging one against the other in any manner.

Now coming back to the latest fifth-generation heir of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty – Mr Rahul Gandhi – He is being well groomed to become the Congress party president and then eventually Prime Minister of India. It is strikingly interesting to learn about Mr Rahul Gandhi in the fact that he closely followed the footsteps of his father Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. Like his dad, he completed the four-year course in economics, but did not get his degree since he did not score the required grades at Harvard, USA. As Rajiv chose Italian born Sonia as his wife, Rahul chooses Colombian born Juanita as his girlfriend. 

What makes Indian educated elite and common people to irk about is the heir’s of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty like to study abroad, spend their vacations and formative years in various overseas destinations (Rich Nations) and choose a westerner as their life partner, but however they come back to rule India somehow and maintain the dynasty rule. 

As this trend continues and will be supported by the next generation of Indians, there is more likelihood that, some day or other administrative control of India might transfer from Italian born citizen to a Colombian born one.

Business Week magazine published an article in its New York edition recently and had the following to say about India:

“Growth is only starting, but the country’s brainpower is already re- shaping corporate America”

If the above statement is true, while Indian leadership qualities are recognized in global corporations, why is it not shining high in our politics?

Why do we need to outsource the “Top job of India” to overseas? Don’t we have enough talents in India among 1000 million population?

Shiv Nadar, CEO of HCL - India's largest Infotech conglomerate

When we have smart leaders such as Mr. Shiv Nadar and Mr. Narayana Murthy performing their best to lead Indian corporations, why are we not able to find people with similar qualities to occupy the top job of India?

Narayana Murthy, Non-executive Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited

Supporting the diversity in businesses and consuming overseas manufactured products should not be confused with the selection of who is going to take the “top job of India”. America itself has a policy that overseas citizens cannot stand for Presidency merely to protect its interest and safety. When “the consumer and owner of outsourcing” – America has this policy, why can’t India introduce similar policies to protect it long-term interest and safety?

When Indians elect leaders based on their talents and not just based on their heredity, we will start to see the same performance achieved by corporations headed by smart Indians like Shiv Nadar and Narayana Murthy.

Written by Kandhan.

An engineer by profession, Kandhan writes to promote progressive politics in India.

Filed under: Asia, Culture, Politics, Congress, gandhi, INC, India, Narayana Murthy, Outsourcing, Politics, Priyanka, Rahul, Rajiv, Shiv Nadar, Sonia

Stop Rajiv bashing and focus on Tamil Eelam

It is evident that majority of Tamil people in Sri Lanka have endorsed an Independent Tamil Eezham (The 22 elected members from the TNA have extended unconditional support to the Tamil Tigers). It is also evident that majority of Tamil Nadu people are endorsing an Independent Tamil Eezham (Recent Surveys by Indian Express & Ananda Vikatan).  The Tamil Tigers have built a military force that can defend this independent territory.

A grand majority of Lankan Tamil groups are behind Tamil Tigers today (TNA Members – EPRLF, TELO, TULF, Tamil Congress etc). There is still a minority group (among Lankan Tamils) that has a different view which is quite normal in any society. Rajapakse knows that his army cannot eliminate the Tigers. All he is hoping to achieve is to reduce Tamil Tigers territory and improve Sri Lanka’s negotiation power.

However the challenge for Tamil Indians today is to convince Delhi to endorse Tamil Eezham. Tamil Indians cannot do this by bashing Rajiv/Congress at this juncture. Some may feel that they can expose Rajiv’s ill advised Sri Lanka venture and garner popular support from the people. However, that is a waste of time and energy and takes the focus away from the real objective.

Its is a popular belief that there is an involvement of an external super power and some local agents in the death of Rajiv. Many Tamil Eezham supporters are making huge mistakes by bashing Rajiv, because by doing so they are validating the opinion that Tigers were the sole parties involved in Rajiv’s death.

The deadlock caused by Congress’s stand on this issue has to be resolved in a meaningful way and that can be done only by not raking the Rajiv issue again. If you truly analyze the situation, even though some members of Congress & Tamil Iyers are opposed to the creation of Independent Eezham, it is the lack of unity within Tamil parties such as DMK, ADMK, PMK, MDMK, VC & DMDK and the lack of courage by the state leaders Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha that has caused the impass. If the focus had been on the common enemy Sri Lanka, rather on raking up internal issues, the state could have seen better progress regarding this issue. Their bashing only pushes the neutral spectators from those segments away. There must be some space left for people to cross the border with dignity and join the mainstream. It is easier said than done. But it is the right thing to do.

Two fighting brothers will forget their difference and join forces, when they see a BIGGER common enemy. When the Indian Tamils identify their enemy and focus on it they will make headway for the endorsement of Tamil Eezham. One Enemy, One Focus, One Goal.

Filed under: Asia, Politics, Eelam, India, LTTE, Rajiv, Sri Lanka, Tamil