No Mention of OROP by Finance Minister Jaitley

As expected the union budget has been presented. Generally the pundits are feeling it’s a good budget, but that is not what will interest the ex-serviceman who has slogged for the Indian nation.  The budget is silent on One Rank One Pension and as reported by Indian express all the FM said is that he is "committed" to sanction OROP once the dispute on interpretation of OROP is sorted out between the forces and the Ministry of Defense.

This is very sad as it skirts the issue completely. The interpretation of OROP is accepted by 2 parliaments and yet the Finance Minister talks of ‘dispute" and "interpretation". Obviously he is skirting the issue and taking refuge in some bland statements which are in fact tantamount to lies. It is so sad that a BJP government that came to power under Modi on a plank of One Rank One Pension is now talking of "resolving” some issue between the MOD and the forces. Frankly this is a ploy to bypass the sanction of OROP and shows that the BJP is not to be trusted. I wonder what happened to the promise by the Defense Minister Mr. Parrikar that OROP would be considered as Military pay and sanctioned immediately.

The Indian state has scant respect for men who wear the uniform. As things stand the government will allow this year to pass and I don't think any good will come in the coming years. The government is testing the patience of the soldier and hoping that as many as possible old pensioners die so the liability is reduced. This shows the warped mind of this government and it seems despite the slap in the Delhi election, the BJP has leant nothing.

Hemingway wrote " For whom the Bell Tolls". Has the BJP considered this? Frankly one cannot blame the BJP alone as all other party's on the political spectrum are equally responsible. After all the Congress and the UPA sat on this demand for 10 years. Maybe the NDA and BJP will sit on it for another 5 years at least.

A major lacuna is the complete abdication of responsibility by the General Staff\. The COAS is unable to exert himself, which is hard to reconcile as the army is the biggest stake holder in the unity of India.

Muslims, Girls, Pakistan and the Bikin . 63

Background

The Logo

I will start this short post with a personal incident. More than 2 decades back I was friendly with a Muslim dentist girl in Mumbai. We moved all over Mumbai on my Royal Enfield and she once remarked that it was a pity that there was no outlet for a Muslim girl to express herself in the fashion and beauty world.
63
Much later I came to know that a lady from Pakistan who was resident of Canada had concieved and launched a Miss World Pakistan beauty contst especially for Muslim girls from Pakistan. She is Sonia Ahmed who launched the contest in 2002 in Canada. The contest was a hit and Muslim girls flew in from Pakistan to take part. Many of the girls were reimbursed air fare from Pakistan to Canada. The first Miss World Pakistan winner was Zehra Sheerazi who went on to represent Pakistan in internatational World Miss University.

The Contest Firms Up

Contestent in Bikini

The contest has been held every year and there is no shortage of sponsors. Obviously this contest has irritated the Pakistan government and the Mullah lobby, but Sonia has continued unfazed. The popularity of the contest has gone up and girls who have won this contest have all eschewed the Burkha and carried themselevs withaplomb. The contest cannot be held in Pakistan and hence it is held out of Pakistan.
The 2014 contest is being shifted to New York.

The 2013 Winner

Miss Pakistan 2013

The 2013 contest was a great hit and the winner was Shanzay Hayat who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. from the restive North West frontier region of Pakistan. Shanzay was educated in Islamabad and represnted Pakistan in international pageants. Hayat was the first Pakistani beauty queen to take Pakistan to the top 15 round and win subtitles for Pakistan.

she is latest Ms Feroz miss Pakistan 2015

Last Word

The contestents

The contest is a tremendous outlet for Pakistani girls who are hemmed in by a repressive society dominated by dogma. It is clear that given the opportunity Pakistani Muslim girls are second to none. One can see that many girls are trying to break into mainstream Hindi cinema as well as Pakistan is a closed society. Pakistan will move forward.

Kejriwal has Brought a Whiff of Fresh Air

Kejriwal has won the Delhi election, winning 67 of the 70 seats at stake. This win has jolted the BJP and more particularly Narendra Modi. Though a victory in Delhi does not mean a victory in India, yet Kejriwal's win is creditable. He has shown that people want progress, change,development and a corruption free environment.

The BJP and other parties lost heavily as they banked on the status quo.The BJP never fulfilled its poll promises and thus alienated voters. For heavens I could not understand why the One Rank One Pension was not fulfilled. This alienated ex servicemen who form a large voting constituency.

Kejriwal needs to be complimented in bringing a breath of fresh air in a moribund world. Its almost like the tale of Jack the Giant killer. Best of luck to Kejriwal

Narendra Modi and the Defeat in Delhi Election

Narendra Modi is Prime Minister if India and so far it appeared he was like King Midas, the man with the golden touch as he swept every election from Kashmir, to Maharashtra with aplomb.  But the recent Delhi election is a rude jolt to him and the BJP, the party he heads. One cannot minimize the effect of this loss and put it under the carpet for it is a dangerous pointer to the public perception of how the Modi government has worked.

The BJP has received a drubbing winning only 3 seats out a possible 70. The Aam Adami Party (AAP) has swept everything before it and won 67 out of the 70 seats; a tremendous achievement. Most polls had predicted an AAP win, but no one expected this complete sweep. However in case one looks at the way the BJP under Modi has functioned will be a pointer as to why the defeat took place.

The fact is Modi sidestepped many issues and promises made during the run up to the general election. Some of these he reiterated after election as well, but over all there was no implementation.  We can list a few of them.

a) His promises and rhetoric on 'Black Money" turned out to be a damp squib and his claim of bringing in all the black money turned out to be hollow. No black money has come and overall Modi made to look a man who failed.

b) He promised one rank One Pension (OROP) to retired servicemen, but 10 months down the line the BJP has done nothing and overall has just been sitting on an egg like the hen. Modi has been unable to explain why OROP is not sanctioned and the government of India letter issued. This has alienated millions of ex-servicemen who make a considerable voting bloc.

c) Modi had got elected on a promise of 'development'. But the last10/11 months have shown that Modi and his party instead of development have followed a sectarian agenda. Attacks on churches, so called Ghar Wapsi) reconversion) has taken center stage and all along Modi has kept an enigmatic silence.

These are major issues and the voter who voted Modi in has realized that he is a man with feet of clay a lumbering giant who only talks but does not perform. Is it any surprise that Modi is trashed? In case he does not pull up his socks, he may well go into the dust bin of history, notwithstanding his wearing a suit with Narendra Modi embroidered all over it.

US President visits Saudi Arabia *

American President Obama's Visit to Saudi Arabia was a Fiasco

US President visited Saudi Arabia to condole the death of King Abdullah. The point to note is that no other head of state of any Western or Eastern power visited Saudi Araabia on this occasion. We didn't see any leader of France, UK or Russia or Japan and India making a beeline for Saudi Arabia, yet Obama wished to visit Saudi.  This is an enigma as Ms Michelle, the wife of the US President ( who accompanied him) was almost cold shouldered there.  In Saudi women have a second class status and it appears the Saudi government officials were not too happy about Ms Obama  moving around without head scarf and  NIkab.

Obama is an unconventional president, but I suppose he stretches things a little too far. I wonder what is the soft corner Obama has for Saudi Arabia.