Dear Constitution
Dear Constitution,
How are you doing? I am writing this letter hoping that it reaches you before your 108th operation… and don’t be scared, it’s good for you, and for all the parties, and their vote banks, and to the nation, and to me.
I know for a fact that since the very start, you were adamant about providing equality to all. You wanted to rate people according to their merit and capability. Thankfully, the people amended you and made you see the extreme need for looking people through the glass of religion, caste and creed (and now… finally…. gender too!). It was necessary to provide preferential status to some sections of the society due to the extreme minority they were in. They needed the help, and still do. But, you protested. Now, do you realise your mistake? How wrong you were when you said “Equality, of status and opportunities, to all”?
Obviously women need empowerment. There must be a reservation for women in parliament! Are you scared that there would be proxy and we will get to see wives of great politicians stand up? Well, not to worry. They deserve that. After all, the whole political system is based on a dynasty rule. And oh, you think that there would be no incentive to nurture the constituency, because who knows whether in the next election the lottery will declare the seat women-only or not? All your questions will be answered soon. Let me explain it to you through a good example. Women reservation bill is for those women who would not win in normal elections, therefore need to compete with other women. So, let there be a woman, let’s call her Mrs. X. Mrs X stood up for Lok Sabha elections last time, and lost to a more deserving candidate Mr K. But now, since this constituency has been declared as a woman-only one, Mrs X can finally win. And Mr K, even though he was competent and perhaps even more capable, could not even stand in the election because of his gender. Obviously, Mrs X will work for the upliftment of women and poor more-than-capable Mr K will be a male chauvinistic pig and not at all interested in such lowly issues. Yes, Indian politics just got better. Now even our representatives will be based not on their merit, but their gender. Hum honge kamiyaab!
Still not convinced?
Well, take a look at the Indian education system today. A young boy based on the merit of his caste can now successfully get admission in a good college, thanks to quotas, against a mere hardworking boy who got better marks. How can he be allowed? On the basis of marks? Haha, you are so naive. The boy who deserves that college seat is the one who was born in a minority!
I am sure you think what is going on in Maharashtra is bad. But come on, why don’t you realise that being born in Maharashtra is a privilege ticket? And those vile non-maharashtians had the guts to come to a state in their own country and cause it to develop. Horrible. They should be beaten mercilessly and thrown out!
And what is with you trying to unite everybody under the Indian banner? Can’t you see the vast difference between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh? So what if it costs a lot to create a new state, which according to you is unnecessary? It will give rise to new politicians, new bureaucrats and so much more entertainment news fodder. I say, we should also give way to Gorkhaland, Bundelkhand, Pachimanchal, Coorg, Mithilanchal, Saurashtra, Bhojpur and Purvanchal too. Come on! Don’t think like Sardar Vallabhai Patel and try to unite. Whenever the people demand a new state, you should be willing to tear the country into unmanageable small fragments. Give up the statement “FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the nation” from your preamble.
I heard you were pissed about M. F. Hussain leaving India at the age of 95. What? You are still sticking by the “LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship”? Oh please! You of all people should realize that religion supersedes all. And how dare he make a paining similar to something that has been sculpted in Khajuraho since 9th century? Good riddance.
I can go on and on to convince you how brilliant this bill is. Also, the only thing I am more pleased than the bill is the manner in which the people opposing the bill acted in the parliament. Violence! Ahh… just what the father of our nation wanted.
Anyhow, I hope you get better after your 96th operation. And don’t be scared… it is good for you.
Get well soon.
Love,
Citizen
Murtaza
10 Mar, 2010 at 12:11 am
dude, this is probably the need of the hour…good going man…amazing sarcasm…totally ironic…on the go dude…just loved it…
Kritesh
10 Mar, 2010 at 3:23 am
Thanks Murtaza. But it is too cluttered and not as “open minded” as I wanted it to be. The reservation bill may as well bring some good to the country.
But the fact that reservation of any kind goes against the principles of equality, I am and will be against it, unless some clear benefit is seen.
I have to work on improving the way I express my thoughts
Manu
10 Mar, 2010 at 12:49 am
Your rant is totally justified. I am against this mechanical way of empowering women. I am sure that it wont make retards respect women nor it will bring down domestic violence. Its just another misguided attempt at uplifting.
On passing note, I would like to mention that Hussain himself has said that accepting Qatar citizenship has economic and artistic angle. Secondly, freedom of expression lasts as long as you dont impeach freedom of others. Why be selective in artistic freedom? He will never draw paintings of important poeple from Islamic history as nude.
Well written, though I feel this ‘anger burst’ aint needed to recorded.
Have fun while it lasts
Kritesh
10 Mar, 2010 at 3:29 am
True. The intentions are noble, but the method is wrong.
Even though Hussain has said that it had an economic and artistic angle, India still is unclear on its freedom issues.
Also, who’s freedom is being impeached if anyone outrightly paints nude images of people from Islamic history?
In any case, I am a supporter of right to offend. It was even mentioned on Barkha Dutt’s We the People. Some woman said that.
About the anger burst. I know! But, there were just so many issues and I have been meaning to write on all of them. Guess this was the way it had to come out
Need to control.
Priya
10 Mar, 2010 at 8:12 am
Very well written. Worthy of being published. Women don’t need reservation just ‘coz they have a vagina. That’s the last aspect Indian government needs to base its decisions upon
Akash
10 Mar, 2010 at 11:14 am
I will have to disagree with Manu on one point. How is painting nude hindu gods impeaching their freedom? If anything, it’s enhancing their freedom!
Jaya
10 Mar, 2010 at 3:39 pm
AWESOME sarcasm. & now i agree with you
Akash
12 Mar, 2010 at 1:21 pm
You know what? I thought about it for a while and even though having reservations weakens the government in a way it still is important for empowering minorities. Reservation’s benefits outweigh it’s costs and will definitely help women get things done. Another solution would have been for parties themselves having women reservation but that will never happen.
Kritesh
12 Mar, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Reservations give the opportunity to a less deserving candidate based on some characteristic which the candidates have no control on. This not only affects the efficiency but also promotes feelings of hatred in the deserving candidate.
And as far as the women reservation is concerned, do you thing the male MPs which have been farming their constituency for many years give way to educated women or their own bahu-betis (daughter in law and daughters) ?
And that will only result in rule by proxy and who knows we may see more Rabri Devis come up.
Does this benefit (more participation of women) really outweigh he cost which is the loss of equality, less efficiency and another division of the population, this time in the form of gender bias?
Manali
14 Mar, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Super! This is among your best posts! Me LOVED it!
sakshi
22 Mar, 2010 at 12:26 pm
dear friends.. i know a lot more wrong things are going on in india.. but we cannot declare each of the aforesaid points to be wrong completely.. we all are analyzing the issues just from a single point of view. there are many other similar things that is, there are pros and cons to everything. so declaring the policies wrong outright is a very wrong attitude provoked by frustration. the best way to stop all this is just to take part in the indian politics and not to criticise the policies framed.. we are the people who are capable of giving a new face to india.. and if we are going to make judgements without putting in our unbiased and constant efforts, it will just be like a person going in random direction aimlessly just due because he is frustrated. so think about it!