48 hours gone now.
Taj is still under siege.
My friend in Mumbai tells me she is dead-afraid to get out as there could still be grenade-wielding terrorists randomly ambling on the roads.
TV Channels all over the world are watching as every Indian... be it the VIP hostage inside, the CEO, the police cop standing on vigil, the red-eyed journalist still reporting gunshots, the relative waiting outside, the widow of the martyr, the kid who came back from the-shut-down-school today and asked his mom bewildered 'What's happening', the waiter who saw the bullet shots, the angry filmstar speaking aloud on the TV, everybody, EXCEPT OUR HARD-SKINNED POLITICIANS, every Indian sits numb with terror.
It's not shameful anymore.
It's shameless.
And no, I don't want to waste any time now on saying these to our high-seated Neta Babus.
I am saying this to myself, to a normal Indian.
There's one thing called patience. There's another called paralysis.
There's one thing called being silent. There's another called being 'dumb'.
There's one thing called being calm. There's another called being deaf.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
I recall one very emotional and angry line from Naseeruddin in a movie...Mujhe apne desh se ye kachda bahar chahiye.
For how long would we accept and kow tow our daily lives, our loved ones, our mental peace to the grip of terror?
There is garbage in our house today.
It's time to pick up the broom and burn the garbage away.
And the garbage does not necessarily mean the terrorists or their attempts, they mean the roots where they come from. They also mean the hypocrisy, the compartmentalised mindsets, the discriminatory treatment, the professional-economic-religious divide that forces a 25 year old to pick up a grenade against a fellow human.
The garbage also means the impotent machinery we, ourselves, by our own volition, have chosen and seated at the top chairs of our country. The very chairs who just serve as wheelchairs or cushions where politicians sit, wait and watch the bloody drama, only to come out two days later to encash personal tragedies as political agendas.
If citizens can pick up pens and cameras and turn into exemplary citizen journalists...why not citizen sweepers or citizen commandos.
Our peace and unity is our own responsibility.
It's time to sweep it out.
I am going to do it.
And the first step, where I would show what my broom can do, is at the upcoming elections...with my NO VOTE.
Answer me, I am your new vote bank.
Unless you prove that you can take care of my India's streets, stations, hotels and homes, don't have the gall to come and ask me for a vote.
I am not voting for vegetables anymore.
I am busy sweeping.
If anybody wishes to join, most welcome.
Let's start, share and learn...what can a ordinary citizen do when caught in a precarious situation, be it a five-star suite or a station platform?
Let's step out and ask for answers and share tips from today.
From citzens to sweepers to commandos.
Flush 'em out! ........and the first step is here......
Section 49-O of the Constitution (Your Right to vote for Nobody; Or reject all the candidates in the fray)
Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969 act, in section "49-O" that a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding election officer that he doesn't want to vote anyone!
Yes such a feature is available, but obviously these seemingly notorious leaders have never disclosed it. This is called "49-O".
Why should you go and say "I VOTE NOBODY"... because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received "49-O" votes more than 123, then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled. Not only that, but the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people had already expressed their decision on them.
This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way, of our whole political system... it is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public.... A wonderful weapon against corrupt parties in India... show your power, expressing your desire not to vote for anybody, is even more powerful than voting... USE YOUR POWER!
__________________
No comments:
Post a Comment