the 26 jinx!

I just realized.. most of my blog posts are posted either on 5th or the 26th of any given month!

Once your organisation (irrespective of government holding) reaches a critical mass, bureaucracy is inevitable.

"The best way of finding the law is relying on its primary source"
-- Abhishek Sanyal

The way forward...

The paradigm shift of the politico-economic system in India from a laissez-faire setup (pre-independence) to that of a modern social welfare system (post independence) and then to the present “liberalised economy” [which in my view actually translates to “Yes, we want capitalism(but won’t admit it) albeit with socialist goals”(“socialist and secular” being added vide The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 to the Preamble of the Constitution of India*], has left indelible impressions on governance and business in the country.

I call these models “politico-economic” because I believe the kind of economic system your country follows largely determines your policies and kind of laws that you legislate, and vice versa. They have a symbiotic relationship with one another. Which takes precedence is probably a chicken-or-egg debate. Moreover that is not what I wish to discuss here.

The era of the modern social welfare state, in my opinion (as opposed to conventional notions), is fading. I believe what is fast replacing it, is creative capitalism (features of which, though central to the topic, shall not be discussed in this post). I am not saying that welfare is not the motive of this new system. What is changed is that economic growth is accentuated and welfare is a desireable, but not the intended outcome, as opposed to the former, where welfare is the motive and the State and its policies are the means to attain it.

The fact that we do not acknowledge/are not aware that the era of the modern social welfare state is on the verge of being booted out is probably because of the fact that the shift has been swift; the changes not being a result of any one specific incident (such as the Great Depression of 1929 which made many countries react to the changed circumstances and choose between the right and the left).

Coming back to India... In these changed circumstances, we are somewhere between the shackles of the past and the needs of the future. So are our policies. Let me take the example of my favourite Momo vendor to put forth my case, because that is what inspired me to write this post. The need of the welfare state of ensuring public health, necessitates the issuance of licenses for any vendor to sell roadside food. There are, of course, other licenses and permissions that have to be taken from the authorities by the vendor to legally run such a business (whether these are actually taken, or dispensed with by bribing the authorities is a different issue). But the sheer number of formalities, permits and licenses, along with their procedures are so boggling and intimidating, the idea of opening a roadside food outlet would be dismissed by most people.

Under the garb of being a welfare state and therefore having the policy of permits issued by the health departments of Municipal Corporations, a lot of people would have lost out on a lot of opportunities – not because they would not have been able to provide food of good standards, but simply because of the procedural rigmaroles involved in the entire process.

One may argue that there is a strong need for such a system to ensure public health, and that may well be the case. Well, in August 2006 I contracted typhoid, a water borne ailment. I scanned my memory to remember where exactly I’d had water from a source that could be contaminated. Then it struck me... a couple of days before, I’d had gol gappas from the chaat shop which supposedly has a permit from the health department of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

One may still argue that this was an isolated incident, and that such a system is necessary in order to ensure the quality of food being served at such outlets. That is again, another debate that I do not wish to discuss here.

I wish to address a larger issue.

I believe that in order to move ahead, you must give your citizens freedom. This is an era where the state is diminishing its responsibilities and private participation and engagement in business is the best way of ensuring economic prosperity. The State must engage itself in a minimum set of activities which lie at the core of governance. It must act as a regulator and may engage in business. It must simplify procedures and do away with unnecessary licenses. What the government started in 1991 (doing away with the license raj and liberalizing the economy) must not stop, but continue.

Clearly, that is not the case in India as yet. We are surely headed there, but we need to be there faster.

A mere glance at the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom published by The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal would indicate where we are. Ranked at 115, we have been categorized as “mostly unfree”. The ratings were made on parameters such as business freedom, trade freedom, fiscal freedom, government size, monetary freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, property rights, freedom from corruption and labour freedom. What this really means is that people in India are not as free, economically, as compared to nations like Singapore, United States, Australia or Hong Kong.

I’m not saying that economic freedom is the only way of attaining economic growth, rather, it is a major factor contributing to it.

I began this post by saying that the policies and economies are interrelated. I believe the way forward is following a policy that enables your citizenry do be economically free.


* The five-year law syndrome!

"It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep movin' forward…how much you can take and keep movin' forward. If you know what your worth go out and get what your worth, but you gotta' be willin' to take the hit."

-- Rocky Balboa

The Hollywood Midlife Crisis

There comes a time in your life, where (if you’re a regular hollywood movie buff) after having seen enough movies, you start seeing a pattern in them. You start typecasting films into genres- and I don’t mean just “science-fiction, “thriller”, “action”, et al. You will classify them into categories, based on their storylines... Now, you might not exactly know what I’m saying... because I believe you can’t completely identify with whatever I plan to write in this post without having seen enough films... I wish to share some that come to mind right away... So let’s start!

Doomsday’s here – This is the kind of storyline which is likely going to be something like this – A meteor is going to hit the earth (Armageddon), or the aliens are going to attack (Independence Day), or the earth will perish (Day after Tomorrow)... so the US Govt. gets together a team which will invariably use a nuclear bomb (WMDs can be useful as well!) in their plan. This of course, includes other variants like the earth’s core is slowing down (The Core) and the like! Other countries are useless and counting on Uncle Sam to save the world... Cold War enemy Russia, at times, is given a more proactive role... typically, by allowing access to a Soviet sub or maybe a helping hand in the form of a charming blond Russian with the typical “don’t mess with me Gringo, I know martial arts” attitude..! This typically happens when the Americans and Soviets have common enemies... (A few James Bonds and Iron Eagle for example)

Robots will take over by 2050 – Man created the Artificial Intelligence that eventually led to its doom... The Cyborgs form an army and fight for global domination (Terminator Series), or that machines silently took over the world without man even knowing it and whatever you see is an illusion, a computer program... this coupled with some philosophy about everything that has a beginning has an end – yep,...no points for guessing! Matrix... Then of course, there are scriptwriters who actually have faith in the inherent goodness of computers, and proclaim that a few black sheep bring disrepute to the race (I, Robot)...

Military experiment/Lab Experiment gone horribly wrong – Man oh man... you just have to see one of these! Species, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (don’t remember whether it started out as a military experiment though), The Fly, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, fall in this category... The Resident Evil Series also comes under this one...! Yep..the military wants cutting edge weapons, which are, by the way, never likely going to be used in an actual battle... but still, funding continues until a mutation is produced... Mutation takes revenge... yawn... and oh yes... the experiment has some hi-tech name... ala “nemesis” program of Resident Evil...


Mindless Action/ What was in the case endings – The tagline is inspired by Ronin... There are bloody scenes... men fighting men with the deadliest of weapons... for what??? You don’t get to know even after the movie ends...! probably giving the director enough room to squeeze in a sequel... Mission Impossible 3 is another example... The bad guy manages to kidnap Tom’s wife... Tom hatches a plan - jumping off buildings at angles... landling on the other one... sliding down the glass and shooting the bad guys on the way... (you begin to wonder whether IMF holds campus recruitments in MIT...) to get what the bad guy wants in exchange for his wife... most people in real life situations would reply with a “that’s okay... you can keep her..”!

Bomb somewhere in the city – Terrorists have possession of a deadly bomb which has been planted somewhere in the city... or is going to be planted in the city... but only one cop finds out where it is..or stops it from getting planted! Oh..and the terrorists are from either Germany or from the Middle East (Die Hard, True Lies, Ultimate Force, Next)

Spy Games – One of my favourites... If you’ve seen enough of these, you’ll know that the CIA’s headquartered at Langley in Virginia... and that there is a wall where stars indicate heroes who died in the field... Most of these kinds have twists in the end... Usually, there are two protagonists – a young and an old... (Spy Game, The Recruit, Breach). You also learn that all CIA assets are dispensable!...

Baseball/Basketball Loser turns winner at the end of the movie – Supposedly inspirational movies where the team gets its act together and finally wins the playoffs... the hero kisses his girlfriend at the end of the movie...

Graduation day’s here; getting drunk is the only thing we can think of… - OK..so you’re about to go to college and these are the last days of ur high school… how can things ever be right?? (or at least that’s the impression you get!) Oh... and how can we forget the cut-throat competition for the Prom Queen...! There’ll be some hot chick who’ll bitch about the “good girl” and somehow both will end up not getting the crown!... oh... but the good girl gets the guy... who invariably is the captain (as opposed to a goalkeeper or maybe a defender) of the Football/Basketball team... These films make you wonder whether these are the only games that are played there!... Oh and there’ll be some rich kid who’s parents are out of town and she/he has agreed to her house being the venue for the party. Later on, she/he spends more time on telling the fellows at the party not to spoil the rug, or the sofa, or the lawn... and all these houses are equipped with a swimming pool... and our graduating couples find a bedroom upstairs to have sex... (Can Hardly wait, Girl Next Door, Eurotrip, American Pie Series)

Spend more time with your family movies – Chuck work... your kids need to spend time with you.... and family time means going for a picnic! But midway the director realizes that he needs to make the film more balanced to make it more marketable... so films of this genre toe the line – ok... you can work... but don’t neglect your family. (Click, Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty)

Watch till the end to uncover what is really happening – There are some really interesting movies in this category. The suspence or the twists unfold at the end.. All the whodunits fall in this category. There aren’t any “characteristics” that can describe these films but I can give you examples – Psycho, Wild Things (you’ll lose count of the no. of twists this one has!), Memento, Lucky Number Slevin, Snatch, Fight Club, Sphere, etc.

And this, is not an exhaustive list! You start yearning for different kinds of movies... once you hit the Hollywood midlife crisis... while action films can still continue to thrill you, directors need to really churn out something other than the cliched.

The "Second Coup"

Is it really a "Second Coup"?
When the General had taken over in October 1999, THAT can rightfully be termed as a coup. This time, however, he was the one in power when Emergency was imposed.
Thus, imposition of Emergency cannot really be termed as a "coup", for it was him, who was at the helm of affairs and did not overturn a head of the government.

But in another sense, a coup HAS taken place; the overturning of the rule of law.

It was noxious, almost painful, to see the highhandedness in the manner in which the General literally took over the Supreme Court and swiftly appointed a Chief Justice, who was quick enough to dismiss the cases in which the General's candidature as President was in question. It is evident, that the "coup" really happened because the General was expecting an almost unanimous verdict against him on Tuesday, the 6th of November, 2007.

One thing which has stood out in all of this, is the sense of righteousness, courage, fearlessness and the sense of of duty demonstrated by the Higher Judiciary in Pakistan. Out of the 17 Judges in the Supreme Court, 13 refused to hear regular cases, protesting against the dismissal of Chowdhary,J and the proclamation of Emergency (which was, on the very day of its imposition declared null and void by the Supreme Court).

The legal fraternity in particular, has stood out in recent times for being at loggerheads with the General. The lawyers relentlessly demostrated, protesting against the ousting of Justice Chowdhary. Even after the Emergency was imposed, the President of the Bar Association came out strongly against the General and was arrested. And if newspaper reports are to be believed, the lawyers are now spearheading the demonstrations.

It is strange how perceptions can be so different; the General seems to be popular in Pakistan, if you're sitting in India. It is a perception that has been created by the media. The ground reality is somewhat different.

I want to be, just for a second, (i really mean "just for a second!"), in the shoes of the General. To see what it’s like being him. Imagine his plight...

Your country is next to Afghanistan, from where elements of the Al Qaeda are pouring in, and spreading their tentacles in your country. Fundamentalism seems to be on the rise. You wait and watch with nervousness, and decide that something has to be done to stop this. Your troops are fighting the insurgents in the Northwestern part of the country, but with limited success. While you're looking at the Northwest, there's a bomb ticking away in your interior. Clerics have started declaring themselves as above the law and even policemen are being taken over as hostage by them. You decide: Enough is enough... the Mosque must get stormed and the fundamentalists neutralised. The writ of the law must be followed. You do neutalise the fundamentalists, but at the cost of lives of civilians.
On the other hand, Uncle Sam wants you to take more concrete steps in the War against Terror. You assure them, cite the Mosque incident as an example, of your commitment to fighting terrorism.

At the same time, you are also being asked to hold elections; which, if fairly conducted, would in all probability, bring back the man to power, from whom you took over and deported from the country. Worried about your survival, you decide to send the plane back and try and strike a deal with the head of the other major party. You declare that elections WILL be held, but not with the last lawfully elected Prime Minister in contention.

You manage to win the Presidential polls, but while you were contesting, you also held the position of the Chief of Army staff (This you do, because, in the event of you losing the polls, at least you have an option to fall back upon). All's well? NO! A petition is filed, challenging that because you held the post of Chief of Army Staff during the Presidential polls, such election stands null and void in the eyes of the law. You try your best and convince the Judges to hold in your favour, assuring them that you would give up the post of Chief of Army Staff to Gen. Kiyani.

An upright Judiciary, knowing fully well, that the World's eyes are cast upon them, is not inclined to let you off the hook and is surely going to decide against you.

You, in a desperate attempt to survive, declare Emergency and suspend the "leader of the pack" and install a puppet CJ. But just then, the civil society looks at you in disapproval and the world insists you bring democracy back...

Phew!
Certainly, that's one man's shoes I wouldn't want to be in!
I don't know whether I, or any of the readers of this blog would have done things differently, had I/we been in his place.

But one thing is for sure, there are very few roads (if any) left for the General to take, in order to get out of this situation.

Perhaps we should judge his future actions by looking at the world from his lens. In that process, however, we must also not forget that at the end of the day, he is not a democratically elected head of state. And additionally, if he is not popular among the people, he has no right to continue. We must not forget, that he is indeed responsible for the "second coup".
I wish Pakistanis a long awaited return to a stable democracy. A stable South Asia is instrumental in ensuring World peace.