Recently, Kamal Hasan when said that he is seriously thinking about leaving India, the Indian democracy might have ashamed once again. The incident which forced him to say is also one of the biggest shames to India. Vishvaroopam Movie directed by Kamal Hasan has been banned in Tamilnadu because of protests by some religion communities. Some may say “cultural censorship” or “dirty politics” but I would say it is the next danger to Indian democracy. Famous Amit Nandi controversy in Jaipur, Salman Rashdi in West Bangal and fresh new fatwa against Girls Band in Kashmir are falling on the same lines. Are we really living in democratic country?

                      Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar included freedom of speech as one of the six fundamental rights. But he never would have dreamt of this recent situation. Most of the protesters don’t know about what they are protesting or opposing. They have been brought by certain groups backed by either political parties or some religion groups. The government reaction to these protests are most of the times political one thus leading whole scene to further chaos. Most of the times it resulted in increased publicity of respective personalities.

                       The role of media in whole process is also suspicious. The breaking news, they made on Ashish Nandi without thinking what has been actually said is changeling their maturity. Opinion is getting stifled, creativity is being challenged, women are from smoking and drinking, films from being released, books from being sold. The pillars of democracy are shaking and may lead to collapse if not stopped. The hope of light is still there as film industry supported kamal hasan and writers; authors came into support of Ashish Nandi and Salman Rushdi.

                       The responsibility is not only of the government but also every one of us. The protests are integral part of democracy. But we should think that upto what level it can be taken seriously. 

By 

Swapnil

The Political Tamasha

          The current trend in political circle remembered me the first tenure of UPA. Bengal chief minister has pulled back their support which she has been indirectly saying since last 2 years. Is she prototype of Left front with different tag? I don't know about the economy much. Dr. Manmohan Singh knows it better. But what I understand is that the price of Poha has increased almost 5-7 Rs. within last 1.5 years. There is  no need of economist to tell common man that he has to cut his expenditure as the income is not going to increase.
          The reason behind the whole thing is that there is no money in the market. And if we want money, we have to bring it from outside. The FDI is the solution. To get something, u have to give something. Can Mamata tell me that what she will do if govt decides to pull back the reform? How can she bring back the whole economy on track? The same is with gas cylinders. We have been wasting crores of money by subsidies on diesel. The man who can buy car worth Rs. 3-4 lakhs, we are giving him subsidized diesel so that he can buy a new car to boost car markets. Don't forget, it's tax-payers money. I agree that diesel is used in the other commercial vehicles and the increase in it will result in inflation. Let it increase. We can take other measures to control it. By giving subsidy on diesel, we will be losing two times that that. Petroleum companies are already running in loss.
            After all, its all about politics. What common man understands, he has to save money for his retirement and for the next generation. Whichever govt help him doing so, he will vote them. As simple as that.