Kasab or Raj Thackrey - what is the difference?

Greetings Earthlings!

It's been quite some time since I was last here. Since then, a lot has been happening in the world around us.

Good News : Barack Hussein Obama is now the President of USA. Bad News : Gaza Strip still knows no peace. Expected News : MNS activists rampaged a 5-star hotel & Mumbai University. More Good News : Slumdog Millionaire and A. R. Rehman are going places and getting famous there!

So much for providing news on the go... Time to ramble on.

Quite a few things have been said by a lot of different people that have left me so restless - with all negative vibes. For starters, the Chief Justice of India said that since terrorists should not be allowed human rights. Moreover, he detests people who represent these terrorists. Yeah right. In that case, Mr. Chief Justice, it's high time you first made a few changes in the Constitution. It's the Constitution that allows such terrorists to live. Not the lawyers alone.

Then, there is this whole new dimension about women going to pubs. Some mad-cap guy in Mangalore wakes up one morning and go about rampaging pubs and women. The newspapers think he is some big, long forgotten hero, decorate him on the front page will huge smiling images. It later on turned out that the mad-cap guy and his mad-cap gang meant to overthrow the government and set up their own king. Ram Rajya or something similar. Yeah right. They forgot one vital detail - India is still a democracy, & the largest one at that! To get things complicated, all the political parties have now joined the fray - there is a whole debate on which party should take what stand!!!

What I don't understand is why has there been no uprising about men going to bars, getting drunk and/or beating up their wives... Why has no one ever vandalized men who drink??? I never knew Rama or Krishna drank Kingfishers, Budweiser's and Old Monks?? Or did they??

As is expected, MNS is back to their rampaging ways again. First it was a 5-star hotel. I am still clueless as to why did they have to break glasses and destroy furniture of a 5-star hotel. Apart from that, when they were not allowed to meet the head of the University of Mumbai, they rampaged the place. The reason why they wanted to meet : Marathi should be compulsory.

Before I proceed, a quick flashback. This is an incident that happened a few months back. While I was waiting in the immigration queue at the Tehran airport, I happened to chit chat with the guy standing in the line behind me. He was an Iranian. As the flight was from Tehran to Mumbai, I asked him why was he flying to Mumbai of all places. He said he studied at the University of Mumbai. When I gave a puzzled expression he explained that there were definitely Universities in Iran, but none were as good as Mumbai University. The standard and syllabus of Mumbai University was quite high. That, coming from a foreigner, made me feel very proud of our Mumbai University and of being a Mumbaikar.

Return from flashback and I realize this is the same Alma Mater we are talking about here. It's such a sad thing - it takes years to build a good name and an even better reputation - but it takes only a few vandalizing MNS activists to destroy it all. I fervently hope and pray, the authorities at Mumbai University do not give in to their demands.

The Maharashtra State Government chooses to grin away at all these illegal vandalizing activities. If the MNS ONLY indulges in illegal, illicit & vandalizing activities, why is the government taking so long to declare MNS to be a terrorist outfit. What purpose does their existence serve apart from breaking bones, breaking news and disrupting life for the common man? I believe none whatsoever. If MNS is allowed to continue - it just means the government really does not care who does what. Kasab or Raj Thackeray - what is the difference. I am just reminded of a board that I had seen on the walls of Wipro. It said "There is black and there is white - there is no gray". So true. The gray area that the government chooses to stand behind does not exist. If the government does nothing to curb the menace, then our governments sides with MNS.

What options does a common man have in such circumstances? Very few.

There is another more surprisingly aspect. Whenever there is any such activity happening, the media fraternity reaches the place and gets live coverage of the incident. But Mumbai Police always manages to reach after the incident is over and most of the miscreants have escaped. So much like a Hindi movie. Simple question - how does the media find out what the police does not? And more importantly, if and when media finds out, why do they not inform the police so that the hooligans can be stopped before damage is caused? Very clearly, to create "Breaking News" media no longer cares what it has to break down. When the media has gone to the dogs, it only deserves to be curbed. It should be restricted.

To Dr. Manmohan Singh - I believe you are the ablest of Prime Minister my country has had for years. I believe in you and your policies. But is there nothing you can do to save the common hard working man of Mumbai? Please help us.