ELECTIONS '98
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What sort of government levies tariffs on a life saving vaccine?

In the same month that the Woman's Reservation Bill was introduced in Parliament, a women corporator was burnt to death in public. Not in some obscure village in Madhya Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, but in our great cosmopolitan New Bombay. If a corporator is not safe on the streets, I shudder to think of ordinary women.

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Tamil Nadu has been ruled by the Dravidian parties for the last 30 years. G K Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress has decided to bring back Kamaraj rule in the next election. In a land where Dravidian parties hold sway the TMC has hijacked a Dravidian icon E V Ramaswamy Naicker, 'Periyar.' The latest issue of the party periodical -- Nav Shakthi -- has a three page article telling us how much Periyar liked Kamaraj. Of course, it doesn't tell us that Periyar was one of the founding fathers of the Dravida Kazagham which spawned the DMK which ousted Kamaraj. Next I expect M Karunanidhi to tell us how much Nehru liked DMK founder C N Annadurai.

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Matho-Pitha-Guru-Deva -- Mother, father, teacher and then God. That's what our scriptures tell us. The West tells us that teaching is the noblest profession in the world. In India teachers blind students and sometimes kill them. And we claim to be the spiritual leaders of the world?

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In our country they don't tell us why they are transferring the chief justice of a high court. But we have now retired Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen who announces, "India is using some of its satellites for military purposes" while our politicians and bureaucrats shove the Official Secrets Act down our throats. Looks like our service chiefs don't know about OSA.

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Enforcement Director M K Bezbaruah has been transferred again. The last time he was transferred, the Supreme Court reinstated him. This was four months ago. Now we know every time the Supreme Court interferes with politicians' games the action will be replayed a while later. Will the Court interfere again?

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Hepatitis-B is said to be more infectious and dangerous than the AIDS virus. A Hepatitis-B vaccine dose in India costs Rs 300 for a child and Rs 400 for an adult. This is beyond the reach of most Indians. This price is not because of any exclusive patent, but because of customs and excise duties. What sort of government levies tariffs on a life saving vaccine?

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Vishwa Hindu Parishad boss Ashok Singhal repeatedly announces that the VHP is not bound by any court decision on the Ayodhya dispute. If Ram, in spite of being an incarnation of Vishnu, could be sent into exile, why not Singhal?

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And the happenings in Gujarat. The Master of Excuses say it wasn't the VHP or Bajrang Dal -- it was the Hindu Jagran Manch that did it. We don't care what the fundamentalists call themselves. They must be stamped out. Alternatively, the BJP can sit in the Opposition for the next 40 years. I&B Minister Pramod Mahajan says, "The attack on churches in Gujarat are being blown out of proportion." Looks more likely that the fundamentalists will blow Vajpayee out of Delhi.

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We are told the Sangh Parivar has lost control over its cadres in Gujarat. What about the cops, the administration and ministers? Have they lost control too?

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In Karnataka there was a strike and then a wage settlement. As a result, 600,000 government employees will be paid Rs 56.5 million annually. This year, revenues are expected to be less than Rs 110 billion. That means, 600,000 people will eat up more than half the state's money.

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India keeps telling the US to condemn Pakistan's action in Kashmir. This is an exercise in futility. How can you expect the US to condemn Pakistan when it spends $ 97 million publicly to fund the opposition in Iraq?

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The Rashtriya Janata Dal plans to strengthen its base in Tamil Nadu. And for this noble deed, Laloo Prasad Yadav will arrive in the southern state in the near future. Why us? We have enough problems here with Jayalalitha, Krishnaswamy, Subramanian Swamy, Veerappan…

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Chandrababu Naidu is going to Davos to address the World Economic Forum. It seems he is a member of a 'Dream Cabinet' of world leaders.

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Last month the power tariff was raised in Andhra Pradesh because the Electricity Board was running at a loss. This month they have raised the wages. Where do we go from here?

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In Tamil Nadu's Tiruvarur district 22 idols and temple objects were found when a government employee dug up the earth. The government wanted to take the idols, but the villagers wanted to keep it. The tussle resulted in police firing. Three people were killed. Three lives lost for a few idols. Why is the government so desperate about idols? Are they more important than people's lives? Somewhere we have lost our way. I hope we find it before the turn of the century.

A Ganesh Nadar