[Assam] Flushing out in election style

Wed Jul 25 01:13:08 PDT 2007

At 9:19 AM -0600 7/24/07, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>The intial "gripe" was the method of garnering votes, but as 
>expected, the argument invariably goes to whether successive 
>governments have brought change.

*** Aah yes! No fair. If only people could stick to the parts of the 
issues that are helpful to advance one's own political/religious/or 
ideological agenda, we could get a whole lot more done, couldn't we 
:-)?

But as thinking people should we NOT ask that question? Are they NOT related?

It should not cause any discomfiture if an acceptable answer could be 
found, should it?

>If we look at the first part about busing voters to the booth 
>(basically influencing or buying votes), that kind of thing happens 
>everywhere. It is more sophisticated in the US. In the past 
>presidential election, there were many churches that played a vital 
>role in basically influencing their flocks to vote the "Christian 
>way".
>But in the end - the voter decides both in India as well as the US.

*** Yes indeed, the voter does decide! But WHAT?  How do Indian 
voters' actions have helped advance their causes? It has nothing to 
do with what US voters do or how they do it, UNLESS we also compare 
its results. Is the US rudderless, stuck in a quagmire like India is?

Just look at the recent cause of consternation--the state of the 
'policiary'  and the  ToI piece I posted yesterday.  Was it a deep 
dark Indian secret, heretofore unknown  to mere mortals, until their 
supreme lordships, educated from having read the papers, let it be 
known? Question is what will come of it? I know *I* , unlike 
desi-seers, cannot predict the future, but based on past experience 
and present plans we can make some informed conjectures, couldn't 
we?  What would that be?

The fact is, that the US is not the standard by which India needs to 
operate. It needs to operate in ways to help advance its causes, 
under its own circumstances and responding to its needs.

Like two hard-line right wingers , one from the US -- Jonah Godberg, 
and one from India - Arun Shourie, finally have realized that 
elections are merely a process for selecting the crew to run the ship 
of state. But if it chooses an incompetent, or ill-equipped crew and 
the ship's hull leaks or the sails are tattered, that ship won't be 
going any place any time soon.

>  >Right!. And who is going to educate them in the art of voting on issues.
>  >There are several choices, offhand. Install a dictator (or a bunch 
>of people with firepower). They can >dictate how people ought to 
>vote.
>Or, we could send over a couple of friends from around here. They 
>could teach those caste-ridden >Indians to replace caste with 
>Christian (moral) values. :) :)

*** Are these the best choices we can imagine? If so  that would 
place the finger of responsibility right there: That those who are 
expected to be ABLE, the ranks of the best of desi-intelligentsia as 
represented by its NRI  standard bearers , are obviously clueless and 
the resulting state of affairs.

Or perhaps that is not really the case, that they really are NOT 
clueless, but are apathetic, uninvolved and dogged by a sense of 
failures over generations.

Or they can't care less, as long as they can take care of their own 
needs and wave that to the world to get a little respect, never mind 
what  happens to the rest.

Or perhaps other reasons?

>Lastly, C'da, the intelligentsia do vote. Or else, how do you 
>account for changes in Govt?

*** OK Ram, if you insist :-)! What would I know? But what I posted 
is a very widely known and accepted fact. If you do a bit of due 
diligence, you too will find what I only repeated.

>Changes would happen faster, if there wern't a some groups who 
>seem more interested in tearing >down whatever foundations of 
>democracy that exist right now (for their own personal/political 
>agenda) >than building a stronger India.

*** I see! So changes are thwarted by them terrorists, is it? Tsk, 
tsk! How terrible!!

But from what I hear, it is the other way round Ram: That those who 
seek to get the heck out from Indian
controls are, for one reason, because they have had it up-to here 
with Indian misrule, of remaining mired in its own excreta, unable to 
change.

>
>  >*** Indian voting, by and large is a matter of festivities, of a 
>holiday in the town for the rural voters, who
>  >rarely go vote on ISSUES, but do so to elect the candidates of 
>their CASTE, or on the promises that are made, >almost always never 
>kept.  And the intelligentsia hardly go vote, since they know it is 
>a joke.
>
>Right!. And who is going to educate them in the art of voting on issues.
>There are several choices, offhand. Install a dictator (or a bunch 
>of people with firepower). They can dictate how people ought to vote.
>Or, we could send over a couple of friends from around here. They 
>could teach those caste-ridden Indians to replace caste with 
>Christian (moral) values. :) :)
>
>Lastly, C'da, the intelligentsia do vote. Or else, how do you 
>account for changes in Govt?
>
>  >*** So has CHANGE happened? That is the real test here, isn't it ?
>
>Changes would happen faster, if there wern't a some groups who 
>seem more interested in tearing down whatever foundations of 
>democracy that exist right now (for their own personal/political 
>agenda) than building a stronger India.
>
>--Ram
>
>
>On 7/24/07, Chan Mahanta 
><<mailto:cmahanta at charter.net>cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>The issue here is not MY disdain, but the failure of India's 
>intelligentsia and its representatives abroad, whose biggest 
>achievement is holding up the facade of 'Indian democracy' to the 
>world, while its substance is little more than an Indian myth.
>
>
>
>
>  >The manner in which Indian voters have voted out incumbents and 
>brought in new governments >several times, with the hope that things 
>will change -
>
>
>
>
>*** So has CHANGE happened? That is the real test here, isn't it ?
>
>
>*** Indian voting, by and large is a matter of festivities, of a 
>holiday in the town for the rural voters, who
>rarely go vote on ISSUES, but do so to elect the candidates of their 
>CASTE, or on the promises that are made, almost always never kept. 
>And the intelligentsia hardly go vote, since they know it is a joke.
>
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>At 7:20 AM -0700 7/24/07, Dilip/Dil Deka wrote:
>
>>It is a pity that you treat the Indian voters with such disdain. 
>>The manner in which Indian voters have voted out incumbents and 
>>brought in new governments several times, with the hope that things 
>>will change - clearly shows money does not always buy votes in 
>>India.
>>
>
>
>As I remember, ballot papers in India do not carry voter 
>identification and polling booths provide privacy. So, even after 
>getting a bus ride from a given candidate, what is there to prevent 
>the voter from voting for any candidate he wants to, once he is 
>inside the booth? I realize there is group or block voting but that 
>is another issue, not because they ride in the same bus.
>
>
>
>Dilip
>
>Chan Mahanta <<mailto:cmahanta at charter.net>cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>  >being yolked together in jam-packed buses and taken to election 
>booths for casting their votes by >various political parties of 
>democratic India.
>
>
>
>
>*** For those who have missed it, or at least pretend that they 
>missed it, it is not just B'Deshis that are herded to voting booths 
>in democratic India. That is the main method , all over India, even 
>for the authentic citizens.  And those who have the most resources 
>to treat the revelers and get to the voting booths, win.
>
>
>
>
>
>At 2:08 PM +0530 7/24/07, <http://assam.org/>Assam.org Webmaster wrote:
>
>>On 7/23/07, Satyen Brahma 
>><<mailto:satyen_brahma at yahoo.co.in>satyen_brahma at yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>                   Flushing  out  Bangladeshis:  in 'Election Style'
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>          During elections, we find illegal Bangladeshi migrants 
>>being yolked together in jam-packed buses and taken to election 
>>booths for casting their votes by various political parties of 
>>democratic India. There are certain dalals (brokers) who carry out 
>>the process on being paid by the contesting candidates. There is no 
>>reason why such illegal migrants can't be thrown out of Assam by 
>>adopting such steps. I urge the Indian Army to launch such an 
>>operation to weed out Bangladeshis from Assam.
>>
>>
>>
>> 
>>----Satyen Brahma,
>>
>> 
>>Lokhora,
>>
>> 
>>Guwahati
>>
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>>Get the freedom to save as many mails as you wish. 
>><http://in.rd.yahoo.com/tagline_mail_5/*http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html/>Click 
>>here to know how.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>><http://www.assam.org/>www.Assam.org - Assam Portal since 1997...
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>>
>
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