Does any minister remember reciting something like this?

‘I, son and so, do that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the Union and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.’

Can we get some answers that might change this country?

Mr. Prime Minister,

You are an economist shoved into the coveted chair – but having donned the mantle, do you have an option of not wielding the stick? Retaining poor performers, blood suckers and waiting for a huge national uprising to remove one of the most flashy liabilities that came with your post – just in case you wonder which one of those I am referring to, it is Shivraj Patil – just doesn’t look like the deeds of a person in control.

You are a learned man, a man who rose from the ranks fully familiar with the realities of life, the turmoils of the common man, yet you chose to focus your guns on pleasing the Lady, and doing nothing that would antagonise Her? Why else would we have an HRD minister so vitiated, that he refuses to step aside and insists on

 ruining, sorry running, his ministry from a wheel chair, when a vibrant band of enthusiastic new generation young MPs wait upon him? Wastefully.

Why, pray, would you have given your approval for a President who knows little of what’s happening around, and has no role to play, albeit that the authority and dignity of the post had diminished long long ago, thanks to a series of incumbents who were ‘elevated’ to the post only to get rid of them ceremoniously?  With the exception of one man who was safely refused a second term! And is the pressure of the post catching up, that you would spatter indiscriminately, much like the bullets from a terrorist’s gun, a speech so unemotional and detached – that instead of comforting a billion shocked people, you let yourself be lowered in reverence?

Why would you even agree to take a flight all by yourself, when the entire country was expectantly waiting for you to land with Advani in tow, or perhaps the other way around knowing the iron man? After all it was your own image and magnanimity that stood to soar, and yet you opted to land, with little attempt to make up for the lapse. And, really Mr. Prime Minister, it took the signs of a national rage for you to declare the need for a Federal Agency, better marine monitoring and the works? Perhaps, because of another incompetent minister handling defence? And, if the Home Minister gets the pink-slip for failure, who is responsible for the ministers’ failures? You, or Madam?

Sorry Doctor, for a person who reached great heights, created a clichéd Manmohanomics, you have gone down in our eyes – and it’s a pity we will remember you for all that you didn’t do - knowing fully well we won’t see you in the chair after the next elections.

 

Mr.Finance Minister,

What a pity I had to address the letter to the post and not the person, since I wasn’t sure who the FM would be! Nevertheless, the questions are in equal measure to Mr.Chidambaram as well, since this year and for a few years back, he is the one who has taken away a bulk of my money.

For every rupee we earn and spend, there’s so much going away in taxes, large enough for us to consider official evasion and yet the last thing we see is any of it working for us – oh let’s forget the roads and airports and the kind – there are other taxes covering them well. And more!

With every immensely anticipated budget, we see growing contributions to defence. How do you actually raise them – planned to keep pace with the growth in tension along LoC? And the rise in terrorist brutalities and gruesome bombings? How else, Minister Sir, would you account for increasing defence expenditure and greater allocations that have no impact on security and safety? Not everything is gloomy though, I’m sure there has also been a corresponding rise in scams and scandals in defence deals, only humbled by larger deals in fodder and stamp paper?

Considering that two of India’s most elite hotels were attacked, the accountability seems to be higher? People who stay, dine or shop there, obviously, are people with high net worth – that means they pay more taxes than the rest? And this is not just on income tax, but service tax, entertainment tax, luxury tax, sales tax, VAT  - oh you should know them all! They buy the most expensive cars, spend more on fuel – and fill your coffers with the kinds of FBT, excise, customs and more? And yet, they seem to have derived the least benefits when it came to security and safety? Isn’t it ironical, that people who pay most for services and goods get nothing to save or protect them, while the ministers whose salaries are paid from the same taxes get more protection and sleep better?

Sorry Mr. Minister – you are a big let down! Pity that your report card is as dismal as the very markets and economy you control!

Mr. Defence Minister,

India’s elite NSG has a strength of 7500 personnel – that leaves us with what, one NSG person for every 1.3 lakh Indians? How much do we spend on how many of them, to protect our netas, netas-to-be and have-been netas – that we can afford to let a dozen for each of them, whose worth is known directly by the number of black cats shielding him (or, her – how can I miss)?

So, how much are we spending on their support that they need to wait for an antiquated aircraft from Chandigarh to rush them across? How much do we spend on their training and equipment, that we should disgracefully be offered assistance by the FBI and Interpol? What facilities are they offered that they need to travel by uncomfortable busses and perhaps sleep on third rate bunks, and yet expect them to stay awake and fit through long testing ordeals and live up to the expectations of the country? How much money do we actually spend on them, that while they lead an ordinary unenviable life, their minister can afford first class travel, 5-inch spring beds and a large coterie? And Sir, you might as well tell us more about the other forces under you instead of waiting for us to ask you after the next war!

And if the terrorists came by sea, and from across the borders, where does that leave you as defence minister supposedly taking care of this? Where were you when the hotels burned, and thousands of hearts with it? Considering that all this mayhem would not have happened if they terrorists had not crossed over in the first place, why is that you stay taped to your chair, when the home minister is safely ‘neutralised’? Why is that you hold no remorse for letting these people in? Lest we forget, we are all aware that the 10 or 12 who came in now form a miniscule part of the hundreds that come in from across our incredible borders – and yet you remain safely protected and cared for, allowing them to spread unimaginable havoc and pain.

Sorry Sir, it is apparent that when it comes to the failures of your ministry, there’s just no defence.

M/s Opposition Leaders,

So much for unity and oneness? So much for talking of one country, one people and one goal? We must thank you for allowing us to die of laughter – so much better that then pains and shame we have seen recently. What stopped you from putting everything else behind, and taking one flight with the PM? Thanks to soaring fuel costs and traffic snarls, we ordinary citizens are into car pooling. And you, for an incredibly important and common cause, couldn’t find the necessity to air pool with the PM? Didn’t it strike you that the money spent on individual flights and travel could have been better spent on our commandos’ equipment or their family’s welfare?

In fact, why did you even have to come in the first place? To be sure the tragedy was for real? Or, knowing well that with hundreds of cameras covering every inch of the three epicentres, you had a sure chance of hitting prime time without work for your PR managers and campaign leaders?

Would you like us to forget that you were running the country for quite some time? And the same rules, failures, threats and miseries existed then? Where were you when the country called for rapid action? Isn’t it true that had you used the time you had for reforming the country’s security, we’d be seeing lesser bloodshed and better controls today?

And, having lost the opportunity to do a lot of constructive work when you were in power, why was it that you failed to make it for an all-party meeting? Was it because your campaign managers felt you’d win more votes campaigning for the party than doing something for the country? Or was it simply because the lure of victory in elections was larger than the prospect of facing fiery citizens? Or, was it to save yourself the embarrassment of coming to a meeting having done a lot of blasting and no productive thinking?

Sorry ladies and gentlemen – you just found the right formula to maintain status quo – for yourself as the opposition, and us as thumb-suckers!

 

Powers to be in the state of Maharashtra,

Some smart thinking guy beat me to this. My best starting line, or so I thought, was to question the histrionics of the anti-non Marathi dissembles. Why then Mr. Thackeray (any one of the three will do), didn’t we see you and your saffron brigade shooing away Sandeep Unnikrishnan and the rest of those unwanted North or South Indians? Why, didn’t you let your crusaders take on the wrath of those sworn enemies of the country? Where, on this holy earth, were you when your manoos died and city cried? You know to dig up pitches, bash up people, break glasses and set the city ablaze, and yet when the same skill sets were needed in abundance, you went underground?

You suddenly decided to stay behind the cameras, away from the lights and no where near the thronging crowds – at the infamous sites, hospital wards or at heartbreaking funerals? No statements, no appearances and absolutely no help to the society – is this what Marathis are known for? I am sure not, because a good part of Maharashtra defied this and was out there in large numbers offering help and solace.

We were shocked to see endless gaffes happen from one leader after another – from piffling statement belittling the developments, parades with glamour stars in tow, smiling away as though they were on a new excavation – oh, really the list is endless. But were you all aware that the nation watched bewildered at a ridiculous show of shameless selfishness. R.R.Patil arrives at the funeral of a hero with a dozen commandos protecting him – irony can’t get more striking than this, or can it?

You have no control over your greed, your humongous, insatiable hunger for power? That you can’t stop to think of the effects of your words and deeds? That you can’t stop hundreds of your party men put up banners condoling the deaths of true heroes, but can’t resist the temptation to put their names, pictures and party names as well? Exploiting human tragedies is not new to your tribe, or are these reminders of your true colours?

Sorry ladies and gentlemen, your capabilities and accomplishment are in a sorry state of affairs!

To the jawans, true heroes and citizens,

Oh my, what can we do to change this scape? Hang pictures of Zia-ul-haq and Musharraf at all government offices to remind them of the consequences of bad governance? Or, simply pick them up and dump them in the next place of siege, god forbid one more in our country and allow them to see the lion in its face?

My vote is out for that one leader who has the guts to say no more protection for me till every soul in the country is protected. My respect is out for that jawan who says to the babu, that I will no longer be your servant in waiting but work for m country, my people. My eyeball is for the media house that has the will to say, Mr. Politician we won’t cover your press conferences any more. Not our channel for your personal agenda! My love is for the people who can get together to stem this rot, and keep the tricolour flying high – bright colours of strength, selflessness, sacrifice and prosperity for the world to see. And envy.

Jai Hind!