On Christmas eve, the capital (not just for governance, but also the ugliest of events and wiliest of people) of Kerala witnessed a brutal incident, which again passed off as yet another "routine" event in the records of our skewed system. "Party workers" (allegedly from the ruling party) attacked the only Cafe Coffee Day outlet in the city, demolishing the property, injuring both the innocent workers and the hapless customers, and also damaging cars parked outside.
Local press, including leading dailies, underplayed the incident saying it was a retaliation (as if in agreement that the license to police the state is given to the political parties, and not the police) to an accident near the outlet, involving a couple of alleged frequent customers of the outlet, who were racing ("illegally"!!) their cars (or ?bikes) on the adjacent Kowdiar road (which is the only road in the city without potholes and has two lanes - one lane is used for parking and the other for traffic by the law-oblivious population of the city, aided by the jawless, understaffed traffic police - and hence celebrated as the "model road" for Kerala).
Whatever the incident or the "provocation", it is this kind of freehand given to the thugs with political backing that is the biggest hindrance to a civilized and peaceful society in Kerala. It is so enraging to read about goons destroying property and beating up civilians when they fancy. One wonders if the police has even a little bit of shame left when they walk around in their khakis. Ofcourse, our leaders have none of it. It was reported that while these goons were on the rampage, the police who arrived in a jeep were mere onlookers. The goons after completing their "job" even hung around for a round of slogan-chanting before marching away as a group. And all this while, the police just looked on, and later reported that no case was registered since "both parties had no complaint". It is sad that the police has been brought down to such a level by our rulers. One wonders how brave and honest officers can function in such a system.
These incidents are no different from the Mumbai incidents if you think deep enough. And it is this kind of laxity in policing and governance that ultimately cultivates terrorists and criminals. Kerala has reached a stage where any thug or criminal with political backing can do whatever he wishes to do. Police will just watch like a bunch of ball-less people in uniform. In Kerala, it is not the courts or the police that enforce the law these days, but political "party workers" who force injustice, for their vested interests and selfish gains.
The above incident is surely not an isolated event, but just another "routine", daily instance of absolute lawlessness and selfish political mastermind. Doesn't it stink with shame to be a part of this culture and political system? We cry in fury and agitation over terrorists and lack of security and intelligence, but isnt it so obvious that the system we have created is not even able to provide a safe and secure environment in our daily lives? Do we need people to die to wake up and cry foul? If we are threatened every day by our own people (or are they not ours?), and if we cannot have order and system within our own societies, why do we mourn our martyrs and celebrate our commandoes from Mumbai and Kashmir? If our government and police cannot protect our lives and property, and enforce a civil society (even after we shamelessly claim to be 100% literate), why are we shocked to read about riots and killings in Kandhamal and Gujarat, or terrorists striking at will? Its all the same and the result of 100% irresponsible governance.
THE 'SAVE KERALA' INITIATIVE
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
God's Own Terrorists?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
98 comments:
read about this in the paper..pathetic situation..reflects the state of our system well. but this is not the only incident. every day it is the same thing. in tvm recently party workers destroyed a one-of-a-kind clay factory that was doing very well just because the management couldnt fulfill some of the local leader's recommendation to employ his thugs.the factory is now being restarted in tamil nadu. yet our ministers fool the people by talking about investments and creating jobs. like another commenter said earlier, its laughable. people of kerala are fools, forget literate.
And on Christmas day, wish you a Merry Christmas, MC and to all the contributors to this blog!
Wishing for a year of peace and love. No matter, where violence happens,its sad! Take care!
Political terrorism...as someone so rightly pointed out in a post here! Nevertheless wishing the entire DOC team a cheery Christmas and Happy New Year!
Pathetic..you cant expect these lowlife scums to behave in any civilized manner.
Merry Christmas guys!!
Truly outrageous!
"Both parties had no complaints???" We all know the background tales behind these settlements... Wonder when the word 'civilised' could be attributed to these animals..
I HATE the Communism in Kerala.
On rethinking, I hate all the Political Parties. They'd go to any length in the name of false "saving the morals or something" campaign!
And, they attacked women!
Pathetic. They're a bunch of sickos.
To add:
"DYFI activists had only intended to conduct a peaceful march and dharna in front of the restaurant but restaurant staff provoked them by throwing stones."
The restaurant staff saw a group of 100 DFYI "activist" headed for their place and decided to pelt stones?
Couldn't they come up with something better??
The Hindu
The one striking feature of Kerala is that it does not think it has a problem . This is like trying to treat a patient who does not accept that he is ill. It will take a crisis to let the people know that they have been doing all things wrong. Just the way the Balance of payment crisis of 1991 forced the central government realize that they must change.
Our state has been extraordinarily lucky so far . Our neighboring states have been insulating us from our crumbling agriculture system leading us to a massive food price inflation. Other states and countries have helped us from making our our unemployment problem spiraling into a civil riot. A global credit bubble artificially boosted the price of our assets (property) which made our people wallow in a sense of false pride . An unprecedented boom in international tourism led us to believe that Kerala can be sold to tourists at any price while our infrastructure investment is a joke compared to other tourism economies. Our lack of higher educational institutions is made good by our neighboring states. Huge remittances from expatriate Keralites have saved our government from a fiscal collapse. The state must thanking the whole world for helping it from drowning into a huge cesspool of poverty and unemployment.
We need a crisis which can really dry up the revenue streams of all political parties before they loosen their clutches on the state. We badly need a fiscal crisis which will make our state realize that we are not so important to dictate terms to everyone who deal with us. We need a crisis which can badly impact the rich and poor alike which make them realize the need of 'real growth' and production.
I hope it happens sooner than later.
Noble Paul hit the nail on its head.
I don't think anyone can explain the state of Kerala better than the comment by Noble Paul.
@ everyone - thank you for the comments.
this incident signifies several things.
1. the pathetic state of policing in the state.
2. how deep the political involvement is in our daily lives.
3. how blatant political parties violate laws and that too with the support of the government and police.
4. how the media selectively and conveniently highlights content.
5. that this violence happened right outside the raj bhavan's front gate shows the level of security of our state.
noble paul's comment is very apt and revealing..but the question is havent we already reached that critical crisis state?
well folks, why am i not surprised.
i am no longer living in kerala or for that matter in india and its not because i dont love the place, but because i hate the communists in our country. i am living in china, the so called communist state and i when i look back and see what our acchu ammavans and pinnaroy's of the world are doing i feel nothing but pity and that they have learned nothing from the failure of communisms across the world. If they had spoken communism 50 years i would have agreed, but what marxian philosophy can they apply now in a country which is growing at 8% GDP every year. But more than that i feel pity for all those dyfi youth who have no clue what they are being misled on. they are no different from the terrorist who are being misled in the name of religion. we still elect them and so we get to bear the brunt of it. I have said this in this blog once that i will invest in any state in India and advise the other companies too, but not in kerala as long as we have communists like this.
Any sign of good life is seen as an Imperilaistic design and has to be destroyed by this political terrorrist, who wants to take Keralite society to the dark ages.
Is life in Kerala anyway different from life in Afghanisthan?
CCD being the only modern joint in Trivandrum city has 1000s of wannabe youth hanging around dawn to dusk and creating problems for joggers, motorists, families and neighbors. The majority of us who would like to spend a few good times up there with friends and some good coffee are disturbed by the presence of the typical Trivandrum local who rarely gets to see some nice booty and is frustrated at not having one to himself. So they resort to tactics like wheeling bikes borrowed and tweaked by the Choola mechs.
Then, there are the so-called rich kids (sons of police officers/govt officers/newly-rich real estate agents) whose dads have got them their favorite Swift car (mostly 3rd world-ish car), and that feeling of under-poweredness makes them do silly things like knocking down a few families off their two-wheelers.
Now, these things have been happening for ages, no cop was ever seen there. Coz their sons would end up in jail. There have been gang fights, nobody did anything about it. There have been cases of eve-teasing and nobody did anything about it.
Finally, the DYFI came and ransacked the place. And we are now complaining.
DYFI has no right whatsoever to harm innocents and damage cars. I am sure it is ok for them to walk in and throw out a few of the jerks who hang around there. I am talking about the same ones who hung around in front of Ambrosia for years. They are back now in CCD.
But again, doesnt mean DYFI can take the law into their hands. But what can we do? It is the DYFI and is supported by the goon -GoK. So lets chill and move on.
In recent times there has been an increase in bike racing on city roads in Trivandrum causing accidents to riders and pedestrians. I saw two guys in national highway on my way to Trivandrum riding `wheelie' -- on the back wheel with the front wheel up -- and trying to zig-zag around circles. Cafe Coffee Day in Trivandrum is their favorite place to meet and fix next race. Lot of accidents to people have been reported in the city recent days. People complained to Police. Nothing happened.
These criminals must be controlled in the first place. These guys have been warned several times by people staying nearby and Cafe Coffee Day have been instructed not to entertain these folks.
Kittendathu Kittiyale kuttanu urakkam varu
MC
As outsiders we can see that there is an obvious problem. But those who live there largely likes it. An average keralite welcomes a hartal (unless he/his family member has to travel) and celebrates it. When there is a problem they are OK if DYFI takes law into their hands because the cops don't. Nobody really understands the long term price we pay for a non-state actor using force.
Read this news item while I was there in Trivandrum for the holidays. Till last year, I was among the youth who used to sit there and chat for a long time..Agreed there were a handful who created a lot of nuisance with racing and all..But other than that the atmosphere was not as picturised in the media..There were no incidents of eve teasing or being a nuisance to families as one commentor here pointed out..
and watching the visuals of the attack, I was surprised...the so- called racing bikes that they vandalised included scooters like activa and sunny which not even a fool wud take for racing and wheeling
when will these foolish idiot communists wake up!
the comments by ilovemycoffee and manoj sums up a lot for us. it is this same attitude that fosters criminals and terrorists. so what difference do they see between these "party workers" who beat up innocent customers and destroyed the cafe and kasab and the other terrorists who shot down innocent people in Mumbai? Going by your comments, you are pardoning such people since both groups did their acts thinking that their actions are justified (and a lot of people actually justify them, like you).
the same convoluted thinking fosters violence and crime, whether political or otherwise. and its terrible to see how there are people who can justify these things. as long as it happens to someone else, we mallus are happy to discuss other peoples tragedies?
so isnt DYFI part of the current government? why cant they ensure that the police do their jobs? but wait..isnt it the same DYFI who barges into police stations to release their own criminal friends from jail?
like someone else said, its looks like its got more to do with the intolerance to someone else having a good life.
why dont these party workers join the army and do a service to the nation? guess that would mean hard work and doing the right thing without bribes and alcohol.
@ praveen - as long as we have retards like manoj and the other guy, who represent the socially challenged and unrefined chunk of malayalis that are left behind in the state, we will have "foolish idiots" continuing to make a mockery of governance and making a donkey out of the public.
Both Manoj and Ilovemycoffee have inadvertently pointed out something important. The fact that mallu youth misbehave in public. And it is not just the rich or new rich. Even boys from ordinary families do it. If the cops don't take action, it is because their hands are tied. There will be a hartal if those boys are pulled up. Ultimately organizations like the DYFI are responsible for aiding and abetting such behavior. You reap what you sow. CCD is not responsible for people who misbehave around their premises. If the DYFI were really sincere about curtailing misbehavior they could have empowered the cops to do so. But then that would not work in their favor in the long run would it?
Anonymous chetta
I am not a DYFI supporter. But just points out a fact shared by many especially staying near the place.
A society driven by conservative values do exist in Kerala especially in Trivandrum. It may be for good or bad. You can’t do or promote any nuisance in the name of development or globalization in this society.
At the same time wide between have and have-nots have been increasing on an alarming rate in India. Retail giants exploit rich. DYFI exploits poor. Clashes inevitable
@Manoj - the gap between rich and poor in India maybe widening, but it is definitley not that wide in Kerala. And no one is exploiting anyone here. People make their choices based on their spending power. Thats democracy. And don't explain away lewd behavior as conservatism. If we do not teach our boys to respect girls then this attitude of congregating near groups of girls and showing off and making lewd gestures and staring will not stop.
@ manoj - thats exactly why we need a system and we all need to work within the system. when we let political parties, who also (unfortunately) lead the system, take control of the system and manipulate it, we are inviting a crisis.
you dismiss the incident since the DYFI took on nuisance creators on a single road in a city. what about the nuisance created by demonstrations and hartals. why arent the DYFI working against them? if they cant do the latter, what is the justification for the former? the reason there is no justification is that they are just a political outfit and not the government.
if we let the politicians take control of our state like this, we will end up being slaves. it is the same reason why they get away with beating up people when they dont contribute to the party funds or create havoc on their hartal days.
Smita
With due respect to your view let me tell you by conservatism I didn’t mean misbehavior of malayalee youth.
I meant the orthodox culture of the malayalees not to accpect the change as it is.
I share your concern about the painful misbehavior women do face in our society. Majority of youth in Kerala wants sincerely to change this.
Let me tell you the main reason is the absence of good parenting. Broken families cultivate this. Kids grow up seeing drunken father coming to house and beating mother. Divorce has become a status symbol in our society. First elders must change then only kids will follow.
@Shankar
I agree with you. You can’t expect anything more from a party and its youth wing with a slogan “Hartal is my birthright”. Even UDF is not better. They also do hartal and bandh.But look at the people in General they support Hartal right. They enjoy each and every hartal. Enybody can do hartal. Just hire a taxi and mic and declare a hartal in the name of XYZ . Kerala will be on standstill.
What happened in Trivandrum is the same in a different angle. People had a genuine problem. They complained to Police and nothing happened. Then the local comrades came into action. They were waiting for an opportunity and utilized it maximum
Manoj,
The Kerala society is not conservative. Conservatism means following of age old cultural traditions and rituals. Kerala society is repressive. It represses girls and gives unlimited freedom to the male child. It is considered "aanatvam" to tease girls and also girls are held responsible if they are teased or molested. Men consider that the girl 'deserved' the teasing and it was punishment for not following society diktats like dressing conservatively and not staying at home after college hours. If parents want their daughters respected, they have to start the change from home. Those boys if parented properly would not have resorted to those tactics you mentioned. So the nuisance producer is our society and not CCD or globalization. Lets tackle the problem at root level (home) and control incidents like this for now by shackling party goons and giving our police the power to pull up the miscreants. I understand you are no DYFI sympathizer. This is just a part of the discussion here :-)
@ everyone - please do not bring in names or make personal attacks based on hearsay.
@ manoj - according to u divorce has become a status symbol. That's one of the most immature comments I have ever heard in recent times. Divorce is a painful process and a decision that is never taken lightly. No body considers it a status symbol, but a few unfortunate people end up having to go through it, because there is no alternate option. I have seen several families affected by it, and believe me, not of their own choosing. True there are more cases of divorce now, and that's because people understand that rather than live with someone who is totally incompatible (violence and worse reasons at times), its better to get out of the whole situation. No one will ever choose to take such a drastic step, without valid reasons. And in case you are thinking about it, its certainlly not a case either of Malayalis starting to ape the so called bad Western influence.
~Liz
Wish you Happy New Year 2009.
Liz
There has been a tremendous change in the social fabric malayalees living for the last decade. One of the most important changes in this is the collapse of joint family system.
Popele lived under this had a strong bondage. There has been an authority to settle disputes in the family. Family members c-operate with each other and solved disputes.
Now that has gone so the bondage. There has been a lot of divorce cases recent time. If you look into most cases reasons are simple ego issues. The sad part is that some parents support it and take pride in that. Let me take my comment in that context please
i think the discussion is now veering towards the hurt mallu-male ego here. until very recently it was allowed to be inflated, just like his prostate, and he ruled roost over the women.
nowadays the newer generation women are becoming increasingly independent and not allowing their male counterparts to abuse them like before, whether in marriage or otherwise. (probably this is the reason why statistics show increased abuse and cases of molestation, since they are becoming bolder to report them - but very surely, this is just the tip of the iceberg).
so this is a welcome change and i hope more and more educated women realize their worth and take independent but responsible decisions in life. the ones in the family that really love us will always stand by us, irrespective of it being a nuclear or joint family. the rest of the pretenders will always be the same. the biggest reason for the collapse of the joint family is the same - a sensisble woman with self-respect cannot tolerate the mistreatment in a house filled with "concerned" of "ungles and aundies". so i guess we should consider it a welcome change in the context that manoj mentioned.
a big group of DYFI party workers barged into a police station near kumarakom and released their friends arrested for creating trouble after drinking. this is published in the newspapers today. they also rampaged the station and threw stones at the cops, injuring several of them.
so i am not sure what the buffoons who are talking in support of such antinationals are trying to convey. do we need a 26/11 in kerala to learn? what about our ministers, including the chief minister, and police officers - dont they even feel a bit ashamed? i cannot understand how we can function as a state and contribute to the nation if we go on like this.
In Hyderabad you know how many CCDs we have? Everywhere you will see coffee day. This is why in Kerala when i went there was no CCD anywhere to be seen! Only one CCD. A lot of other better cafes are also coming up in Hyderabad which will unfortunately not come up in Kerala because of these kinds of incident
cafeyum,,coofieyum,baristayum..aristavum okke vannu bangaloril oru nalla nadan kappi kittathe vanna stithi anu...kerala ppl are fortunate
Espresso,
Espresso Americano,Lighter espresso .
Macchiato
Expresso .
Cappuccino
okke kudichu nalla taste anennu paranju..rs waste chyan yogam illalo bhagyam
"bangaloril oru nalla nadan kappi kittathe vanna stithi an"
I guess you are blind or suffer from selective blindness as outlets like CCD dont even make up 1% of the coffee outlets in Blr. But then you see what you want to see.
what the anonymous person here has said again reflects the typical commie type attitude..just saying some cheap stuff without basis, that would instill a false sense of bitterness and division amongst people, but in the end serves no real purpose or good. there are 1000s of places, including shacks and cafes that serve very good coffee in bangalore. so its obvious the statement was just more of a desperate attempt to score and dilute the focus here.
Retail giants plan is very simple. They will come with AC shops with 5* facilities.
When they start their out let they will sell with less of the market price to attract people. It’s essential for them to destroy small shops who selling these items. They will come up with lot of business tricks like gifts bla bla bla.
When they complete their mission like completely destroying the small shops when will suddenly hike the price? Now no option but to buy from these exploiters. People in Kerala must be wise enough to know this.
Anonymous Sir at 9:47 PM,
You are either naive or a commie. You really think the ordinary Indian who is known for his tight fistedness will spend more when he can get things for less? You live in a fools hell. Go to Blr and see. Only Malls that gave good offers in the long run survived. Rest have shut shop. People have lots of choices. They can pick up a T Shirt for Rs 50/ or Rs 5000/-. And the ordinary and not so ordinary Indian know where to get the best bargains. Malls and so called Retail giants face stiff competition from the unbranded sector and only the most reasonable in terms of prices and bargains survive. They have to constantly keep an eye on prices to keep afloat. The Indian shopper is not a fool. If he knows how to earn money, he also knows how to spend it. Besides that is his right! Stop speaking on behalf of the people like they are some dimwits who need to be protected so that "you" can benefit from "protection rights".
no offence to those who hung out at CCD, but I was a regular there too, and the clientele began to become a bit too comfortable. IMO they were asking for it - its the problem as with women dressing provocatively, but in this case , it invovled males mostly.
What happens there mostly is a battle of rich hoons vs poor hoons. there is a lot of truth in ilovecoffee's post
The poor ones come on yezdis, pulsars , and other 2 strokers tuned locally, and then there is the rich bunch who, show up in riced swifts and the like, vying for the attention of the female audience. the behavior of both parties is quite similar, really. while one side wheelies, the other side do burnouts, they both dont mind ripping their engines as they go past. These folks are really not very different , if we were to take their money, cars and female companions away.
the folks inside mock the ones outside , and they return the favour. guess it got out of hand one day.
Not justifying anything, but I'd seen it coming a long time
before anyone jumps at my previous post about women dressing provocatively, It was not meant to say that they shouldnt - they have all the rights to, but the sad part that everyone may not respect their rights.
the same case here , except that it happened to a bunch of guys whose show off went over the top.
JK
You must be sitting at your posh apartmen,surfing and barking for the retail gaints.Bangalore is not India. You must also remeber that you are living in a country where mjority is still struggling for a days living.GOT IT. Still don't get it? Go out of Bangalore and see real India. Then speak. If you want to save Kerala you must speak for poor and try doing something to eradicate poverty. Don't Bark
Exactly my friend. Go see the real India where people shop from small petty shops and where no retail giant will ever venture. Understood? So don't go around saying that retail giants will kill small shops etc. Get real man!! You don't even know what you are talking about!
And... Mall, Retail giants, Plush A/c office/apartment are all old hat sakhave! Besides it wont cut ice with the intelligent. Go shout it in a party meeting!
Only mallus with their false prestige will spend more than they can afford. The people in the rest of the country are very prudent in their spendings. And if our boys show off in front of girls it is because the police have been snipped off their powers to control them.
Yes. They won't come to rural areas.. So as u can see in the add..avar adichodukkum..thanneyum thane retailneyum..JK manasilao avo?Evdunnu alle?
and this is why we call this blog DOC..cos this kind of lowly and uncouth behavior we see every day in kerala deserves no better name. and the justifications in the name of absurd ideologies, serves nobody but vested interests and self-proclaimed leaders (not even the workers and their families). we have to isolate and eradicate this attitude and behavior to really make progress. everyone has a right to exist peacefully and in the way they can/want as long as they respect the law and respect other human beings.
the anonymouses who support the atrocities and attacks by political parties, or anybody for that matter, are as bad as the senseless people who justify the attacks in kashmir and mumbai.
if every body or group who has a grouse and is feeling less fortunate in this world starts taking law into their hands, then we would have civil war every day. instead of empowering the poor and the less fortunate people in the state, the so called leaders and party workers are only furthering the divide for their own causes and selfish motives. i dont know when our masses will realize this truth.
as for these anonymouses who talk about the poor (without knowing a crap about the poor or their needs) are no better. its just hollow talk that will at best earn some claps from the drunk party workers and misguided youth. sooner or later they will realize their folly. for all the talk by these so called leaders, what difference has it made to the real poor of the state or country? instead how many crores have their children and benamis made? its no secret as to the assets even these parties have. so i dont know who they are fooling, except the very poor whom they supposedly fight for.
its a lost cause trying to argue with these supposedly educated fools. we have a better chance with the poor and the masses.
bottom-line of this post - the attack on the cafe by a political unit was a criminal act. and its a shame that our government lets these incidents occur right under their nose, without taking any action. incidents like these are reducing the police in kerala to nothing more than a bunch of incapable dummies at the hands of the politicians.
it is now very clear that the commies and their workers, including these anonymouses, want the poor to remain poor forever. only then they will get slaves for themselves, while they rule the roost. its time for the people to now go beyond these party folks. its time to ignore these fools and empower the poor. and that way these cheaters will just cease to exist and become insignificant. just like they have become in the center and across the world.
[avar adichodukkum]
Sorry comrade, the people in the rest of the country are not commie Malayalees to act like that. They may be poor but they a lot more cultured than our sakhaav's. They simple buy what they can afford! :-P
JK, i think the commie mallu is a different species altogether, and much more venomous and senseless than the commies elsewhere, who seem to be more sensible and open to change in order to better the nation.
Retail giants add flavor to the comfort of posh lifestyle of rich. Its fact dude. They have no commitment to the poor. That is what exactly my point. That is why they never come to rural area where poor is living.
I repeat to JK. Take a break mate from your Brigade road and Cunningham road outlets and go to village and see the plight of poor people. Come to God's own country and see how Cola exploited the drinking water of poorest of the poor to quest your thirst people like you in Bangalore. Globalization must have a human face. It must have concern for the poor. Otherwise poor will up against them.
Also if anybody raise concern about the poor do not attach that tag to communism. That is why communists get the sympathy of poor. Go it?
Also one humble request to the author of this blog. If you blindly support retail lobby's view I am sorry to say your blog doesn't go well with savekerala tag.
Being "comfortable" or "asking for it," in your opinion, does not make what occurred any less illegal. I could stand on a street corner and yell about how the DYFI consists of a group of thugs and degenerates, literally asking for some backlash, and yet it would still be illegal for anyone to assault me, use violence, or encroach upon the basic rights guaranteed to me by the constitution of India, which, like it or not, still applies here in Kerala.
The fundamental problem, which many of you have already touched upon, is the lack of a civic sensibility which transcends political or factional affiliation.
The police in the United States and Europe do not serve the ruling party. They serve the constitution of the country (or the state), the power of which goes beyond the particular group of people who have been elected into power. This is the way it should work here, too, since India purports to be a democracy.
Instead, what Kerala has is more like a system of cabals--political groups that place internal loyalty above all other forms of loyalty. These is no sense of a set of shared legal ideals to which everyone has a responsibility and a duty to uphold. There is only the duty to help your friends, the responsibility to live up to the expectations of your particular political group.
Until Indians, and particularly people of Kerala, can develop a sense of civic responsibility--a sense that this sidewalk belongs to us, that it affects me if police do not live up their constitutional duty to protect ANY person's rights, that I deserve to be able to expect safety when I drive down a street or cross a road, that I deserve to be able to express any kind of political opinion or live any kind of lifestyle, within the bounds of legality, without fear of retribution... Until this realization emerges here and people begin to take collective action toward furthering it, Kerala will continue to stagnate, or, as the global economy and political situation crumble, perhaps worse.
well anonymous i can only pity on your thoughts about retail chains and coca cola's of the world. My friend rather than criticising JP and others i think you should get out of your " frog in the well" mentality and see how nations progressed. Do you know what is the fundamental difference between indian economy and the other developed or developing economies?. where the others started from manufacturing to service we did the reverse, and for a country of the size of india mass employement in the field of manufacturing or retail is required to maintain a 8- 9% GDP growth which can help more people grow out of the poverty line. In todays world you dont need vast agricultural lands and " vazha nadal" by communists. This can be done by hibrid seeds. What we need is more retail and manufacturing outlets which gives mass employment. Learn from China my friend and i am sitting right here and can teach you something if you stop reading " deshabhimani" and start seeing beyond cuba.
So dont feel that you giving some suresh gopi dialogue when you ask people to come out of their corporate towers and walk out to the villages. we have lived in those villages and then have reached where we are today , but as usual if you are a communist i am sure you would never understand what i am telling sakhave because for you still das kapital holds good.
Till then inquilab sindabad.
Menon sare
My point is that globalization must have a human face. I stick with what I said.
Also what is wrong if I mention the Cola story? Its one of the many examples how mutinationals expolited even the 100% literate state like Kerala. It is true right?
Pinne Suresh Gopi style.Thank you for that I hope he is a super star and tell truth as it is:)
Menon, maybe we don’t need 'vaaaaast' lands of agriculture, but we definitely need agriculture that would at least cater to the needs of the state. As for Hybrid seeds, we are already seeing its destructive mode. Please remember that there are folks genuinely interested in agriculture and there are quite a few who runs it like any other corporate office. Even an agriculture enterprise provides jobs and maybe also a different kind of satisfaction. So please don’t wish away agriculture and think that only factories that mass produce like China is the answer. Since you are in China, you must be also aware that the recent economic turmoil which crippled mighty powers like US has also affected China. The newspapers do report that people are returning to their villages and taking up cultivation. As long as we love our food and the way we eat our food (not the pills that the astronomers take), we would still need someone to cultivate it.
As for the TV news about the beating up by the DYFI, even I was disturbed the way media was reporting it. They reported in a way that was not responsible. I believe no one has the right to take law into their hands for whatsoever reasons. I am also sure there are incidences that may have irked the residents since we cannot expect everyone to have the same adrenaline that runs in the youth. What Kerala needs is a strong judiciary; one which makes sure that “wrongs” are not made “right” when certain powers intervenes. Only this will make our police stronger.
As for political parties; I find none better and I whole heartedly agree with Noble Paul when he says “We need a crisis which can really dry up the revenue streams of all political parties before they loosen their clutches on the state”. This could be in the form of mass return of the NRI’s since the outside world is not like before.
Anonymous Sir at 10:16 PM, you could not have put it better.
Menon Sir, well said...what our friends don't realize is that the Suresh Gopi lines and Achumama lines that gives them such an adrenaline rush was just a line of script!
When lakhs of pople in Kerala were living like slaves under menons and other madambis
It was communism which given hopes to them and later on emancipated them. Don’t forget that while you surf and think about beautiful Kerala sitting in USA , Europe , China and Bangalore.
Today I too agree some corrupt leaders are in the party. But millions of malayalees still respect EMS , Krishna Pillai and AKG. Look for leaders like them.
Everybody wants to live better and live in peace. Let’s take poor and rich together. Lets wipe out the tears of poor while you shope for expensive dresses and bite burger.
Malayalees always love poor people and support the brave struggle wherever in the world even if it is in Cuba
This is my last comment
Bye
This is my last comment
goood riddance to bad rubbish!
one question to the anonymous complaining about cola and retail outlets, and assuming that everyone commenting here (except him ofcourse) is sitting in bangalore or USA and europe. what is the justification for DYFI workers beating up the people in the cafe and destroying property? what is the justification for the DYFI workers attacking police stations and releasing their workers arrested for crime?
its the usual tactic to bring in the poor's name at your convenience and say that everything is done for the poor. every crime and atrocity done by these people are also for the poor. thats the biggest lie ever. what good is our politicians doing for the poor? nothing at all. they are just ensuring the poor remain poor for their survival.
Malayalees always love poor people and support the brave struggle wherever in the world even if it is in Cuba
Who are the people of Cuba struggling against ?If you look closely , you will realise that its been against Communism and Castro's rule . Kerala Communists always seem to be looking to Castro and Cuba for inspiration . They have made Kerala into another Cuba .
Malayalees always love poor people
Yeah...sure! They are so lovable...like teddy bears. Only more lovable because they have votes.
the poor these anonymouses are talking about must be the party workers who wouldnt take up a job and earn money for themselves. instead they are more interested in petty politics and strikes, and fleecing the working class for their living (which is mostly on alcohol). and while the people who earn do so because of sheer hard work and effort, these leeches just talk about socialism and rob the others, and remain happily unemployed. and ensuring this status quo is the success of our political leaders.
Kitten and Annonymous at 1: 06 am,
You are right we dont need vaaaaaast amount of land for agriculture and dont tell me what hybrid seeds do. well i am not salesman for them, but if technology is harnessed in the right way there is no manipulation my friend. By the way i am not anti agriculture , but what i am requesting is to stop branding multinational companies who dont give you " pirivu" as the destructors of the environment. There are strict code of conducts in terms of environment which companies have to adhere to for eg if its an electronic industry they have something called EICC standard that they just cannot violate. And trust me companies in today's generation are more focused on corporate responsibilities than the age old " dinesh Beedi" factories run by our sakhav's. I told you that you guys are talking like a frog in the well, without being part of what happens in the corporate or developed nations. I have been on both sides my friend so i can tell you the truth. Come out of your party meetings and start seeing the world beyond what acchu's and pinnaroy's tell you. and let us not talk about the " literacy" of kerala. ability to read 4 newspapers in the morning, having one beedi and all talk no work is not literacy. Let me tell you that you are being fooled in the name of literacy. You can only be proud of what you have done in kerala as long as you have not seen the world outside. Take for example calicut port. one time that was the largest port in the world, and the market there was world famous. Today why there is nothing there?.thanks to the red flags. adn my kitten, you know in china the biggest worry the chinese govt today has is not because of the recession. they had changed their labour laws and made it pretty tight for companies and more than 40 k companies have shut down in china and these people dont want to go back and do farming. they afraid of this social unrest. so just chill and when you have facts , then let us talk.
Till then Inquilab sindabad.
Menon when you advocating hard for the Corporates you are forgetting or simply don't know the painful situation where capitalists creating
"Basmati, neem, pepper, bitter gourd, turmeric . . . every aspect of the innovation embodied in our indigenous food and medicinal systems is now being pirated and patented. The knowledge of the poor is being converted into the property of global corporations, creating a situation where the poor will have to pay for the seeds and medicines they have evolved and have used to meet their needs for nutrition and health care."
The big corporate enslaves you by giving you big salaries to shut your eyes to the hard realities.
"Basmati, neem, pepper, bitter gourd, turmeric . . . every aspect of the innovation embodied in our indigenous food and medicinal systems is now being pirated and patented."
Sorry my man you got your facts wrong. There was an attempt to patent them which the Indian govt successfully thwarted! So get your facts right from your leaders and then speak!!
At last someone like JK agreed corporates doing or atleast very "Good Things" to India and its poor people.
Common Malayalee
Kitta
You are 100% rite man. Some people like Menon and JK support corporate without seeing anything. Your comments about are Kerala are shared by all who love kerala sincerely not like self styled reformists sitting in China and Bangalore like JK and Menon
Kitta
I really appreciate your effort to picture the real color of multinationals and its supporters. More surprised that being a woman you are well informed as is not the case with “SOME” of the regular society ladies commenting in this blog. Kerala and of course for its future needs woman like you who can clearly tell merits and demerits of the real issues facing our beautiful state
cafe coffee day, the cafe that was attacked was not a multinational but an indian holding company.
our people sat on their butts smoking beedis, thinking they will always be provided for and maintained free by the government, instead of patenting neem and basmati. our own inaction and inefficiency is what has lost us the patents.
as for this talk about "sitting in china" or "sitting in bangalore" or "sitting in AC room", its all trash talk..as long as its sensible you try and understand it, rather than blindly dismissing it by bring in irrelevant stuff. it is this same dismissive attitude that has gotten us this far in deep trouble.
most of the people sitting outside kerala are there not because they wanted to go, but only because of the lack of opportunities and stuff like bandhs and unions.
kerala is definitely a beautiful place, its some of the people and their attitude that is making it terrible. we need to change it. and like everyone agrees, its up to us to change and up to us to change ourselves.
Multinational corporation (MNC) is a corporation or enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country.
"CCD has opened a Café in Vienna, Austria and is planning to open other Cafes in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Egypt and South East Asia in the coming months.”
So its multinationl :)
@ common malayalee - glad you googled it and i accept the definition. but what i meant is that CCD is our own and not a foreign company like some people here are raging about.
Sankar
Weather it’s Indian or not multinationals are same in their functionalities. Like Kitten explained its nature, they will go to any extent to increase their profit.
I am not forgetting that these companies generate jobs for our educated youngsters. But they have great social responsibilities. That should not be limited to the " suitcase amount" they given to party funds to get their things done. We must be cautious and object if they do any harm to society like patent and plachimada issues.
Before I sound as a die-hard protester of MNC's let me also add that we can make MNC’s work if only we were a corruption free society. Menon pointed out thus “There are strict code of conducts in terms of environment which companies have to adhere to for eg if it is an electronic industry they have something called EICC standard that they just cannot violate” . All this may happen in societies which normally follow rules and not bypass rules. If a common man can get away with breaking rules, what stops the corporate from doing so?
As for the comment "More surprised that being a woman you are well informed", please note that majority of the Keralite women has always been fairly or even well informed / educated. Compared to her compatriots in most other States, most women enjoy a good status in her own household and the society. This is also another unique aspect of the Kerala society. Maybe some of us don’t get enough time to stay informed due to the hustle and bustle of managing a household, but in my case this was taken care of by my better half who made up for all the ignorance that I exhibited in certain subjects.
From some of the comments here it is clear that the issue is about CCD and not the violence done by the DYFI. Just shows what some peoples priorities are. Commie b^$%#@ds!!!
Another Corporate fraud
Satyam, our respectful decent software giant became Asatyam today.
Even God don’t know what will happen to investors.
Menon: Did you get this news in china?
JK. Did you read the paper?
Oh yes I do! And I see more frauds by the commies than by corporates!
angane paranju samadanocho:) hope you didn't invest in satyam shares
atleast satyam has some residual value despite its inflated account books..185 of the top 500 fortune companies included..unlike the cheating ministers in kerala, who rob the people without creating anything even worth 1 rupee for the state.
in any case, at least the scam is exposed and the chairman has submitted himself to the law of the land - will any of our politicians do that ever?
not absolving satyam, but just a thought in response to the anonymous comment. so typical of the cheap mallu mentality - thrilled at someone elses downfall while forgetting ones own stinking hole.
Kuttapan...Well said Sir!!!
kuttappa..
if you were loosing your money in the falling shares you will also say 185 of the top 500 fortune companies included..:)he he
sorry to spoil your joy, but i am not interested in discussing my stock portfolio with you. why dont you rather focus on the topic of the post here, instead of sidetracking and discussing individuals?
well anony,just because we have some commies and dyfi guys can we think that all mallu's are violent and non progressive. we cant right?. If people see the behaviour of the dyfi and commies then no one would ever recruit a mallu in her /his life. This applies to sathyam's case. dont judge an industry by one bad apple. and why do you think this scam came out?.it was because of the controls that were put in place like SOX audits , so the final " sathyam" came out. By the way dont forget that some of the world's worst corruptions happens in communist countries and the world worst industrial unhealthy attitudes was seen in chernobyl in USSR and Tainted milk and poisonous toys issues in china.
And i can bet you that people like you and those “common malayalee” will not waste an opportunity prefer to work in a MNC than a dinesh bedi factory, or jump to a so called capitalist country like US than preferring Cuba. So wake up dude and dont be a hypocrite. If not for some of us who you guys referred as “ Self Styled reformist” the kerala economy would have tumbled down. So stop giving me that movie dialogues again.
and for you Kitten, i am sure you would have seen corporates of that age, but in today's world corporates have a proper CSER ( Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility ) teams who are directly responsible for compliance and corporate governance. It is made of individuals like you who might be passionate about community and not just money and they report to the board of directors. Well of course it wouldn’t work if all are corrupt including auditors, share holders, independent directors etc. In that case we get the corporations and the governments we want. And by the way I am not a congress supporter or a communist supporter or for that matter supporter of any of the parties in kerala. All are different sides of the coin that’s it.
Menon
Well I can understand your helplessness to protect the interests of MNCs since you might be working in one of them. That is fine as long as you get their pay slip. Satyam case is not a stand alone incident. Narayanamoorthy said its good lesson to other corporate. He said so because there is a geat deal of chance that other companies might fall into same business what Satyam did. So you comment "don’t judge an industry by one bad apple" is not relevant.
“World worst industrial unhealthy attitudes was seen in chernobyl in USSR and Tainted milk and poisonous toys issues in china”
In your comment you yourself praises China refer to your first comment “Learn from China my friend” then you points out the failures “Tainted milk and poisonous toys issues in china”. If you want to points out the US mistakes and wrong things they do you will be forced to do long horizontal scrolling. So I am not doing it.
“If not for some of us who you guys referred as “Self Styled reformist” the kerala economy would have tumbled down”
Helloo sir. If anybody reads these they will think that Kerala is there because of you. Come on sir. Kerala was here and was in well shape before you guys going to these places. OK. So don’t make stupid comments like this.
Also one question to you since you are the champion of capitalism. You were so disturbed by the fact that some rich and bike races got beaten up in Trivandrum what is your stand of killing innocent people by Isreal and the support giving by US
This is for you JK
Your comments like "in any case, at least the scam is exposed and the chairman has submitted himself to the law of the land"
Latest news is that Satyam's disgraced former chief Ramalinga Raju is untraceable with reports suggesting he may have left for Texas or even Dubai.
This is called obeying law of the land:)))))
To the Anon giggling above like the feminine mallu man you are....for every Satyam there is 10 Commie Ministers. And how many of them will get investigated or prosecuted? The answer is none! As Kuttappn said, typical malayalee attitude...gloating over someones downfall and possibly rubbing hands at the happy thoughts of people losing jobs. You are nothing but vultures and I dream of the day communism is rooted out of the country forever. And that day is not too far away Sir ;-)
After reading about "Satyam" I do wonder if it is true that we Indians have "corruption" in our blood streams! Once we start making money, we hire efficient Auditors to evade tax and then if are in a mood to break rules, we hire efficient lawyers to ensure we don't get caught. If this is at the individual levels then why blame a corporate?
If Satyam's chief has escaped then it was the only reason why he disclosed. He knew he was safe from the law. Even today Madoff lives in luxury:
“NEW YORK - A debate has been raging in New York over the fact that Bernard Madoff remains free on bail, spending his days in his luxury Manhattan penthouse despite being accused of the largest financial fraud in history.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28540171/
I do not think any Indian is naïve to believe that Raju is alone in this fraud and that this is only a recent development. If the common man does not trust an individual then he needs for sure some institution that he can trust. Where are the auditors and the bankers? Where are the board members who resigned well ahead? If these people are not punished then we will have more corporate following the same path. Imagine the plight of all those who people put their savings in Satyam only because they trusted them?
And Menon, I am not that ancient :) and I only left the firm recently.
See GK. If you don't know how to argue with facts don't get into it. Your comments like 10 Commie Ministers for every satyam don’t make any sense. It’s just an attempt to save your face and thereby simply forgetting Congress, BJP frauds. That we have seen in Parliament with suitcase money.
Your comments are nothing but coming out of a mouth who finds solace in the comfort offered by multinationals. Your praise and love for MNCs will turn out be sad and frustration when you get the pink slip from them. Your love is that much. Nothing more than that
Pink slips and job loss are part of life dude. So chill and don't worry about me. Look after yourself as I am sure you work in an MNC! ;-)
u were so disturbed by the fact that some rich and bike races got beaten up in Trivandrum what is your stand of killing innocent people by Isreal and the support giving by US
let us first save ourselves from the thieves and criminals we call politicians in Kerala..and then worry about israel and US. same principle applies to the dumb people here bringing in capitalism and retain chains when the post is on DYFI people attacking private property and hurting innocent people. going by these dumb peoples theory, every thief and robber and criminal can be excused. this is the 100% literacy kerala boasts about?? there is no sign of it in kerala our actions and behavior.
Kuttppa
We have to create a collective force of youth who can convince the idiology stuck people both left and right living in our socity to change or to perish.We have to create a movement what we have seen in Mumbai after the attack . That movement must be lead by people who have good vision about Kerala and who could be able to strike a balance between every issue for the sake of our state and its wel being. No guy from a good family will not enter into politics now because that field is not supposed to be a place for good people. But since that is the only way or process to serve people we have to do enter into that.Otherwise goons and crminals will rule our society
Kuttapan: u seem to think that the politicians including that from the Communist Party have come from the outer space. Haven't they all been nurtured by those who cast their votes?
BTW, I hope you saw the destruction done by the Congress when the issue on Santhosh Madhavan was fresh.. so every party has taken law into their hands. The incident at Tvm is deplorable but as I usual we like to remain spectators and enjoy the show.
Happy Kitten said...
Kuttapan: u seem to think that the politicians including that from the Communist Party have come from the outer space. Haven't they all been nurtured by those who cast their votes?
absolutely spot on. then i think we all agree that the current set of politicians need to be wiped out from governing us totally. they are the most inefficient and criminal lot.
the positive thing i see is that a lot of educated youth is now contemplating joining politics, mostly because they are tired of the current situation. thats a welcome sign and something that needs to be encouraged.
Isn't PricewaterhouseCoopers, the agency that declared Kerala as State No 1? :>
Whatever u all say, i'm sure kerala is much better than many other states in many ways... though i agree that it is worse in many other ways. It's the responsibility of all those who have roots in Kerala, including you and me to bring a change there. Let's hope for the best. Let's not shy away from our responsibility with the war of words...
Kuttappan, I refuse to believe that Kerala has not produced and do not have good politicians. There are and have been good ones across all the parties. Maybe they are not perfect; but then in the current world when even Gandhiji is being criticized by many, I do not think every leader can appease everyone. I believe N.K. Premachandran from the current government is a person who talks sense and has a good idea of the portfolio he is holding. I also think he is capable. So there are leaders amongst us who can perform. I can suggest more, but I may end up taking more insults :)
Like Pillai and Kamini and many others suggested, it is up to Keralites to make A CHANGE. Let our youth and maybe even the NRI’s join politics for the right reason and not as a source of income only.
This quote by Ayn Rand although written in 1957 seems quite appropriate for the Kerala of today.
"When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion - when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see money flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and pull than by work, and your laws don't protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed."
From 'Atlas Shrugged'
interestingly, CCD is empty these days, there are no cars parked in front...whatever happened.
Even better, these so-called CCDians have started hanging out in front of Thattukadas in Vellayambalam just down the road. Others in front of a tea shop in Althara. Some more outside the numerous "malls" like Kedaram.
This is a city which relishes its Shawarma that tastes like anything but shawarma. Hence the crowds outside Zam Zam.
Where else can you go in trivandrum? So boring soooo so boring...
The incident and its related issues point to a fact. How far we progressed towards making Kerala an investor’s friendly state?
If a guy who wants to make an investment in India will be given two option Kerala or Maharashtra, which state he will go for? The answer is simple Maharashtra. Or even if we think that Maharashtra has some advantages, let me put Punjab or Haryana. The answer will be Punjab or Haryana
Or if the same question will be asked to an NRI Indian or NRI malayalee who wants to invest in India will not put his investment in Kerala. As everybody commented here people in Kerala must think about it.
The attack happened in Kerala is not a stand alone incident. It’s one of the several incidents happened to tarnish our state's investment friendly image.
The first step towards this is to avoid band and hartal. I have lived in Mumbai for 10 years and I have read several calls for strike in news papers during my stay there. But Mumbai was working as usual. People just avoid the call and come out for work. Only solution to hartal is that. A mass movement to avoid the call and then attend office.
This one step alone will take us huge way ahead to restore confidence in people who wants to do business in Kerala.
@MC
Oh Mc you are the original moral police. you find the right thing. this is the most cracking news on christmas. I dnt know y these party workers done this to our cafe coffee day. Mc so from now onwards wer we will go for coffee. we have to complaint through blogs . i searched in newspapers but i didnt find the news . you have journalism in your mind. and whats ur opinion on the attack in pubs in mangalore. if people are behaving like this where we will go for drinking. we should protest MC. come on MC protest.
Post a Comment