This post from Praveen gladdened me. It gladdened me because it spared me some furious keyboard thumping of my own to let off steam. I badly wanted to write about the incident but I was too worked up to be coherent. So I am plagiarizing Praveen’s angst. That must be some first! :p
Much has been written about this utterly despicable episode. But in a way I am glad it happened. Glad because when politicians speak the truth, however occasionally it gives us a valuable glimpse into their mindset and thinking. And it is chances like this that will help us better understand this species. Yes, they are a species now of different hues and ideologies. Very different from other humans and in order to understand them, one needs ‘impromptu politically incorrect outbursts’ like this from them from time to time. It showed the man for who he is. This episode and another that happened a couple of years ago in college have coalesced to form an understanding of politicians in my mind. Let me share the same with you.
First Year College and we were part of an entourage of students and lecturers that met the Education Minister at the seat of power in Bangalore. The reason we met him is immaterial here. The minister was barely educated himself and when asked probing questions by the assemblage got hot under the collar as he had no clue and started shouting. Our English irked him more. After that the no one dared open their mouth as a minister is naturally feared for his power and the nasty things he can do to you or your family. Note the irony here. The PA signaled us to leave.
As we were leaving a group of villagers came to see the minister. The change in the minister was dramatic. He got up hands folded, a respectful smile on his face. He listened to them with humility and respect and a lot of show of attention and promised them action on some agricultural problem in some halli of Karnataka. They were perfect strangers but he gave them the respect given to a family.
Now if Sandeep Unnikrishnan was from a poor family, Mr. Politician would have been at his side in a trice. In fact most politicians from Gods own Country would have been jostling for space at his funeral. However Sandeep came from an educated middle class family. It is a class that is not happening for the politician. It is a class that is of no use to him as it does not vote and hence is not a threat of dethronement.
The poor on the other hand have nothing but a begging bowl of small grievances that can be patched up with a flourish and much fan fare and speeches to make him happy enough to vote him back to power. A pipeline here and an electricity connection there and viola…poor man is happy. His leader has delivered.
But the educated middle class? They are not happy with cosmetic applications!! They want infrastructure improved. They want accountability for their money besides they know English and the minister or MLA cannot argue with them and hope to win with words or a water tap and a lamp post alone. The temerity of the people who don't matter. Appalling! And why do we not matter, because we don't vote. Simple!
Therefore Mr. Chief Ministers arrival at Sandeep’s house and valuable time wasted to visit that house was just a formality. I am sure he detested the hypocrisy. Poor man! Do you think the public outcry will affect him? It will not and he knows that. He has already granted favors big and small to people who matter. We the unvoting junta can scream from our plush air conditioned cubicles. He cares two hoots. We don’t matter. And that’s the simple truth.
Politicians serve those who serve them. We, with our educated sneer and classy contempt are nothing but a bunch of emasculated populace who make impotent noise in the media and blogs. This is why a post like this will remain what it is at the end of the day…mere text. Because I come from a class that has no power or wont exercise their power.
Mr. Politician will notice us the day we start exercising our franchise. Till then we will remain mere pesky flies in his soup.
( Just heard about his apology under pressure to resign)
48 comments:
Anjali, this has been the most unfortunate and outrageous incident in the aftermath of Mumbai 26/11. Just shows how insensitive and insular our politicians are towards the feelings of common man, and here, of all people, a martyr..
Our CM is nothing more than an ignorant useless fool, with his IQ and EQ just blossoming into double digits. What more would you expect from a person who is a Std IV fall out?
Thanks to him the entire Keralites are now shamed in front of the country. Insulting a martyr and his family would be the last thing anyone would do...
Now Achu is not the kind of person like the minister in your post, but it hardly gives a comfort listening to some of the phrases and words coming out of his mouth.. Not long ago he insulted the former president Abdul Kalam in a similar way. This time he crossed the limits and has been made to pay for it.
Also note that this is the first time in his 84 yrs of existence that he has uttered the word "sorry"..
What to do? Our fate, simple as that...
Dear Anju Miss, now maybe I'm missing the point because I didn't know who Achutanandan was till this incident, but isn't everyone involved overreacting? What's with the public snubbing of politicians, what's with the sudden respect for dead soldiers. What happened to Maj. Unnikrishnan was pretty sad, he was commissioned in 1999, so despite the rank, he was a youngster, but why is everyone being a media whore about his death ... so two old farts from Kerala didn't come to the funeral ... and so they didn't behave themselves when they did come, but why is his family acting up. Don't they say courage is grace under pressure (I hope so, wouldn't help my point if it were the other way round) so can't people not make a circus out of the death of young man.
And your friend wanted to do a rang de basanti on them, pretty fitting role models for an armchair activist. And the shame of the Keralites, bleh to the genius who uttered that too.
"Much has been written about this utterly despicable episode. But in a way I am glad it happened. Glad because when politicians speak the truth, however occasionally it gives us a valuable glimpse into their mindset and thinking."
I too, in way, am glad that it happened. Now everyone knows what they really are. But I thought politicians knew how to fake sympathies and empathies in situations like this. Too bad the 100% literate state's so called CM doesnt even have the basic sense to say the right thing, however fake it is, to a bereaved family. I wonder whether his IQ is negative.
I am sad at the way in which media twists remarks.This issue was created by the Times channel - Sandeep's family has also issued a clarification apologizing to the CM.Why is no channel reporting that?
Read more and listen to the sound clip here from Sandeep's family here : http://mathrubhumi.com/php/newsFrm.php?news_id=1268310&n_type=HO&category_id=1&Farc=&previous=Y
PS : There is an old proverb in malayalam - " Kaala pettunnu kettapol thanne kayaredkkukka.." meaning " the housewife got a rope to tie down the newborn calf the moment she heard that the Bull had delivered".
Sadly our media and people fit this description better.
The less said about this the better .. just some cheap opublicity for him!!
The education minister incident is insightful.
the education minister incident u mentioned is a typical example of an Indian politician's mindset. surprisingly I wasn't shocked when I read that incident maybe because like lakhs of other Indians I've grown used to this and expect nothing more from our elected representatives..But when I saw the peace marches today and the reactions of the lakhs who participated in it, I really have a glimmer of hope, that this really is the turning point in India's political history, the beginning of the end of the great Indian political thamasha!..hope, hope , hope...
and thanks a lot for linking my post here..
@Santhanu: Oh, interesting fact!
Scorpiogenius: "Insulting a martyr and his family would be the last thing anyone would do" Very true...especially when he was the only son of his parents!
Santhanu Nair: Please see the Youtube link. I am afraid this is one tight spot Mr CM is not going to wriggle out of. There is absolutely no justification for his statement!
Kannan: I am not surprised that Sandeep's family apologized. You cannot stand up to a politician and get away with it. They will fix you good and proper. Mr Unnikrishnan and family have to live in this country dear and you cannot after snubbing a politician!
RM: I am afraid this is a man who lost his only child. Dont expect to act with grace under pressure. The CM on the other hand should have been sensitive to Mr Unnikrishnan's state of mind and acted accordingly.
Thomman: It was a display of sheer arrogance.
Deepti: It turned out to be an expensive publicity stunt instead :p
Karthik: Thats the state of affairs sadly!
Praveen: I am also of the believe that this is the turning point for us. And thanks for inspiring me with your post.
Uhm, I don't know why I'm saying this, but grace under pressure is only grace under pressure if it is under pressure! But from the looks of it, it does seem that his family did show it.
But apart from that, I totally agree with you! :)
I am surprised at your reply to my comment.My point was not about the CM or the dead soldiers family - it was about the media manipulation of news .
In the statement issued on Mr Unnilrishnan's behalf by his family, they clearly say that it was the Times reporter who asked the CM the following question :
" When Mr. Unnikrishnan heard that the Kerala CM is coming to his house, he said 'No dog should come to my house' . What is your opinion?"
The CM had responded to this question .The question was removed by the Times Now editors - seemingly with the clear intentions of creating a new controversy.
In my opinion (and I am sure a lot of us share the same thoughts) the CM just said the truth -Who would have visited them if it was not a martyr's house ? Why is no politican visiting the other NSG commandos who fought but did not die.
In India , a soldier has to die to get noticed. And they are forgotten within weeks..How many of us remember Jerry Amaldev from Trivandrum who died in the Kargil conflict?
What about Vikram Batra or Anuj Nayyar ? I am sure most of us will ask ..who?
What about the 3 soldiers who died in an accident while doing a demo firing for Barkha Dutt in Kargil during the war? Even she might have forgotten about them. (The Navy chief recalled this two days back : http://www.hindu.com/2008/12/03/stories/2008120360861300.htm)
The media always looks for controversy and sensationalism , their concern about TRP ratings and correlated ad revenue has blinded them to most of the real issues of the country. So blinded that they were doing live telecasts of the Mumbai operation (and the Kargil War previously ) revealing army positions to the terrorists .
Its upto citizen journalists like us to remind them about the real issues we face and responsibilities of a journalist. Sadly most of us play to their tune.
dont want have much to say..each word of your and Praveen's post echoes with my thoughts..
Kannan and Santhanu: I have read your comments. And I am appalled that you should defend him. Whether instigated or not a statesman of his stature should have not made such a statement. For arguments sake let us say that the Times asked a provocative question. Isn't he old and wise enough to reply tactfully? What example is he setting for his people who are already notorious for their belligerence? Social niceties like sympathy and empathy with the bereaved is inbuilt in our culture. Why didn't Mr CM display that? If he made an error in judgment under provocation, then he could have rectified it by apologizing. He didn't.That was his second slip! How many errors are you going to pardon? And why may I ask? Lets not deviate into any other issues like Kargil martyrs etc here. This issue has to be addressed and like the rest of my countrymen I have had enough of our politicians.
And thanks for the comment! Peace. :)
Mathew: That statement was an eye opener. Our leaders think we are dirt!
When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities.
I think Shanthanu has answered himself in his post..
Even if you see the question and answer together there wouldn't be a huge change of angle to the whole story. The man is a CM, for Gods sake, and he is not expected to talk like an illiterate layman when the spot light is on him, and addressing a martyr's family of all people!
Achutanandan has no one else to thank, but himself for all these. And next time he better be careful of what falls out of his mouth, im sure he will now..:)
So now its done and dusted, i'm stopping here. Thanks silverine for taking up the issue here..:)
It is sad that old martyr's are mere deviations to you.
And I also see that you still do not see my point. A lot of people like you have been misled by Times Now.And this is why Sandeep's family decided to issue a clarification statement.
(Link removed)
One more thing - you choose what you see and hear.In that interview, the CM spoke about his respect for Sandeep's family,the supreme sacrifice he made and the attachment the people of this nation have to them. Sandeep's family heard this -that is why they issued their statement.Sadly some people prefer to hear only a part of the statement and jump the gun.
Since my name was mentioned, I couldn't help putting one more comment.
Scorpiogenius, please watch this clip.
( Link removed)
Hope you are a Keralite. Note the channel too.
This entire event was shown with great media fanfare only in Non Malayalam channels. Coz if you see the question and answer together in Malayalam, its just natural.If you feel that the question and answer together doesn't change the angle, sorry I can't help telling, its just your prejudiced mind against VS.
And the protests in Kerala, is just another gimmick by different parties.
Another twist they made to what VS said was in twisting "Maanasika vikshobham anubhavikkunna" to "Called him mental" .
Since dog was more potential, they give more importance to it.
It is time our media grew up above such cheap tricks.
By insulting VS, who is CM of our Kerala, TimesNow have insulted each and every keralite.
Offtopic :And my name is Santhanu , not Shanthanu. :-)
Offtopic :Sorry Anjali for using your comment section for replying to another comment. But you can also watch the link. :-)
Anon: Very true!
Scorpiogenius: Thats exactly what I was trying to say. That as CM he has to maintain certain decorum! And as an old statesman he should have shown more prudence! Thanks!
Kannan: I don't think I have said anywhere that old martyrs are mere deviations. When I write a post of older martyrs we can discuss that then. I want to keep the discussions here on the topic at hand and i.e the inappropriate statement made by the CM. I don't care who or what instigated him. Mr CM's reaction and words were inappropriate for a man of his age and stature. And about Sandeeps family apologies, I wonder why they did it. Sounds very fishy to me and I refuse to believe it was due to remorse. ( I have removed the link you pasted as it serves no purpose. I can paste several links of my own to counter it. That degenerates the discussions to oneupmanship)
Santhanu: I have no problems with anyone replying to anyones comments here or engaging in discussions here as long as the tone is amiable. So go ahead! :)
(Your link too removed for the same reason as Kannans! :p)
Santhanu, I see where you are coming from...
If you notice we are arguing two different points here.
Yourself about the meaning of the sentence which got lost in translation and about the media crookedness. I second that, to a good extent.
I'm talking about the prudence of usage of such sarcastic layman terms on camera by a CM under the circumstances. I'd say i will be aghast if my son uses that term in such a situation while speaking... I'm sure you'd think alike.
So we will shake hands here, since the issue appears settled, and we've got each others point. :big grin: :)
@santhanu
"By insulting VS, who is CM of our Kerala, TimesNow have insulted each and every keralite."
am a keralite. I understand malayalam. I've seen the clips in all channels, malayalam as well as non-malayalam. And after analysing all that, I dont feel insulted at Timesnow's coverage of the issue. Please show the courtesy to accept a mistake even if its done by a party which you owe allegiance to. What he said is wrong, and thr's no point in trying to explain it in a way that suits achu. now, both parties have apologied(though only party did it only because it had no choice), the issue is over
Anju Miss, am I the only one who's totally agreeing with you? It's eerie, that's what it is. :P
ah, i was wondering what this whole Times Now-VS hullaballoo was.. makes sense now..
i think VS speaks the way he feels.. political correctness is not always something he aims for.. which might sometimes be an admirable trait in a politician, but can sometimes also be the political equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot..
look, VS has been in politics long enough to know that the media are not as concerned with reporting the 'fair and balanced' news as they are with ensuring business.. he may not have intended to hurt the feelings of maj. unnikrishnan's family, but he definitely should not have been so flippant and insensitive about his statement..
now the reporter may or may not have been trying to put words in his mouth with the wording of that question.. but VS should have answered it better than as if it were a private conversation..
back to the topic of the original post, mr unnikrishnan may not have been angry at VS for not visiting his house.. i don't think that would have been any consolation, or even necessary in the first place.. VS definitely visited his house later with PR in mind.. i think what really angered mr unnikrishnan was the media circus that his son's death had become..
ps: sorry for the long comment..
It is sad that you find Mr Unnikrishnan's statement irrelevant & without purpose.By removing the links showing his statement you have taken away the neutral character of this discussion as well as shown complete disrespect to the truth.
I can understand a person's prejudice to his/her point of view and the difficulty to change their stand.But it would have made more sense if you had facilitated a fair discussion and then stood by your argument.
My feelings exactly, but dont u think for too long we hav accepted the state of affairs as it were?
The apathy that we were used to is not acceptable anymore, considering the gravity of the situation.
@ Santhanu, "to see where you are coming from" is a usage meaning "I understand what you are saying and why"..
Cheerios!!
And Anjali, thanks for allowing all these spam :)
I'm wondering if a dog would have the temperament to withstand these sickening politicos!
talk about pedigree! :D
RM: Not strange in a political discussion! :)
Jackson: Thanks for the insights. Most of our politicians displayed scorn for the people during this episode. It was an eye opener to the lengths we the public have encouraged them in our apathy. And I have no problems with long comments! :)
Kannan: I really don’t think we need props like links to keep discussions fair. If you have a case you can convince anyone with your points. We have all read the various news reports and counter reports. So adding more links here of no use. I can counter every link with my own and it would lead to nowhere.
We cannot have a fair discussion here unless everyone believes that human beings and their feelings are more important than any party, leader or ideology and other loyalties. Clearly it is blind loyalties by fans that have emboldened people like the CM to throw caution to the winds and shoot off their mouths…this time deeply hurting a grievously wounded pair of aged parents!
Santhanu: Thanks for the comments though I am not happy with your reply to Praveen. I think you are jumping to conclusions that he is jumping to conclusions! :) In a discussion like this, it ‘does look’ like you are defending your party and the CM while the rest are outraged at his remarks and nothing else. Peace it is nevertheless!
Alterego: I think we need to go deeper into the issue. Why or when did we become apathetic? I think the time is right to explore this enigma. I think it is time we forced the govt to make an effort to encourage people to join politics like the do for the Army. Sounds laughable I know! :) But think about it. I feel like a fool joining the various commenters’ at various blogs defending or opposing one politician or the other when nothing is stopping me from being on the other side.
Rakesh: True!
MC: LOL!!
Santhanu: Isn't he a representative of his party? :) If not I stand corrected. My bad!
Anju Miss, that's so not true.. eerie is what it is!
:P
At times I wonder if we overreact to circumstances.
The core idea of a democracy is that there is no absolute power. A politician has checks and balances which keep him in line as well as watchdogs which ensure that he does not get too comfortable.
While it is easy to say that a chief minister is supposed to know better, what we need to also factor in is that we have a deteriorating situation with the very arms which keep politicians in line.
The bureaucracy and the media which is supposed to be made up of the educated and even middle class representatives do not function as it is expected. While politicians take the flak, its those who are in the background that implement come up with schemes that hit people hard.
The media often forgets its role and becomes a mob of ratings crazy entities whose only purpose is to get the next sensationalist sound bite.
So does it make sense for us, armchair pundits to simply point fingers only at the politicians and not look at the complete picture?
Hi Silverine,
U have hit the bulls eye
The ministers in our country are the worst class of professionals in our country.
The Qualificaion for becoming minister in our state is
minimum 2nd standard pass.
atleast 10 murder case,15 rape casee,10 scams,connections with underworld.
guess what ...during elections they will visit all slums and hold a crying child in their hand and wipe the tears with their own shirt ..taking photo with this .. ..make sure that this photo appear in front page of leading daily news paper and after election... these people will be flying in state cars ..poor public waiting for hours ....to give way for this category.
These people can be seen in public..only when they feel that some incident will be advantage for winning hearts of people....like visiting places after riots,flood,martyr deaths...showing their crocodile tears and giving false promises ...which they hardly remember...if we approach to claim it.
What a plight of our country... what else to say about our leaders ....harldy we have any leaders who has education and the poltical will to execute it.
I feel many people are prejudiced against kerala CM personally and/or politically. I read somebody wrote this is not expected from a man of his stature and age. So I thought of mentioning another similar incident.
in 1970s Rajan, an REC calicut student was taken in police custody and went missing for ever(dead). Achutha menon(renonwned as the best politicilan and CM in kerala history) was an aquaintance of Rajan's father who was constantly in search of his missing son. Once the CM got Irritated and made a remark which meant like this : "What if his son went missing, shall I put a towel over my head and go out searching that chap".
I wonder if mistakes has much to do with one's stature/age :)
This is the same anonymous who commented above. Don't get impression that I am in favor of our CM in this issue. Initially I was strongly against, later the angst got a bit diluted.
and personally I don't like the usual blame game we all play against politicians(may be bzoc i didn't had to face any bad experience yet), but i feel if somebody is to be blamed it is th epeople of india. We can't import politicians alone from some successfull European country. May be this is the politicians/rulers we deserve.
RM: :)
Loup: Since independence we have been largely a country of simple illiterate people. Today the situation is changing and we have a rapidly expanding educated population but they are still in the minority. So it is natural that they get frustrated when they see the kind of politicians selected by the uninformed majority who mainly vote along caste, regional and other considerations. What else can they do but become arm chair critics, hoping that one day their voice will be heard!
Dreamcatcher: I think the answer lies in education. Only education will make our people elect good leaders.
Anon: There is something a lot of people don't see here. Mr CM’s statement clearly conveyed that we the common people are nothing and only a martyrdom or such event in our family or lives makes us eligible for a passing glance by a politician. That hit a raw nerve. It wasn’t just Mr Unnikrishnan’s family that felt outraged but every ordinary Indian. It was like a personal affront. I hope you now understand the import of that statement.
Anju Miss, how can I set my line up, if you won't agree with what I said! :-|
Oh sure, now even they agree with you ... but I agreed with you first, AM!
:P
Hi silverine,
What you have said is correct...i think..we have introduce to american system of election... like debates before the election and creating awareness among people ...about why people should bring them to power and what is plan of action which they wil undertake .
I know... we can only dream ...when Obama say "Yes, we can!"
What we lack is leader with vision and a party to back the vision.
Only when people exercise their right to vote... we can expect a good leader.
Hardly people have time to go to polling booth to exercise their right to vote.
When we start using that power... these netas will run for cover
obama story is inspiring so far..but i dont beleive the american electoral system is always good, how about their president for last two terms(george bush)..i think there was enough controversies and opposition against him in his own country (remember al-gore, john kerry , michael moore, )
PS: american literacy rate is 99% !!
Id like to point out something here.. I dont want to support or oppose american vs indian system of elections.. I will reserve that for some other day. But someone commented that american literacy rate is 99%. I wonder what is the literacy rate of ours! Dont you think THAT's exactly what our politicians are taking advantage of? The Quota system, Vote banking, renaming of Bangalore to Bengalooru, Movie stars and other ppl who know nothing abt economics/politics creating their own party.. All depend on one thing - The longer the country remains illiterate, the easier it is for them to make money!
I agree India suffers a lot due to lower literacy rate and poor social setup. Google says our literacy rate is 61%. But is not there less corruption in america because of its higher literacy. a mere google search will prove other wise. a relative of mine who returned from america recently told just like our bribing, they have a better setup called "fixers" who arrange meeting and bribing with authorities. it was widely rumored that dirty politics and corruption is behind the recent wars. the family which had offered two presidents(during both terms there were gulf wars too) to their country is said to have oil business.
about movie star getting into politics : ronald reagen was a failed movie star and did similar sorts of work until turned up to politics, became one of the best american presidents. i beleive its the organizational capabilities and comanding powers that makes a good ruler and not university certificates. but surely an improved literacy rates and social conditions will help to have a better government(which is quite natural to deduct)
RM: You sure did! :p
Dreamcatcher: Debate before elections seems like a good idea. At least the people know what to expect and they will be more aware when the promised goods are not delivered!
Anon at 11:19 AM: You have a point there. But I feel we cannot judge Bush just by the jokes and controversies. Maybe he did do some good or perhaps the people had faith in him. I wouldn't know sitting here in India unfortunately!
Rosh: Absolutley agree with you. I am told of an incident when a Xian missionary was threatened to be manhandled on the charges of conversion and given a deal that he would be let off if he did not teach the tribals! So lack of education is a very important element in election victory for our politicians! I also feel that the political parties are content with the musical chairs being played out in the name of elections.
Anon at 11:31 AM: I am glad you bought about that point as many people do not know about fixers and how lobbying can get you preferences if your lobbyist knows the intricate power structure in the corridors of power. But then again I do not know if they grease palms or help in getting the right people connected to the right people.
Anon at 11:47 AM: I feel that most of our movie stars were inducted into politics for their Star power. Reagan may have been genuinely interested in serving his country. Just a thought!
the last 4 anons are same :)
Balu.
Balu: I have no way of ascertaining that unless they leave an initial or name like you did! :)
yea, sorry for not giving name earlier :)
i started thinking of just one comment, but ended up with ..
Balu.
I agree Santhanu that if you listen to the whole conversation in Malayalam, there is nothing "insensitive" about the way VS said it. Having lived in Trivandrum for 20 years, I can say that is the way people speak in public. VS actually seemed quite respectful of the family except for that one word. Probably it points to a deeper problem in language people of Kerala use nowadays. I am in general against VS and his policies. But in this case, its just media hype.
Roy
Alrighty, be mean, you fascinating word weaver. :(
I'm not sure if I can untangle this one to make sense, so lets just say it's all eerie. :D
See you around next year, by which time you should have enough crazy glints in your eyes that your folks will tell you, "you better go write something Anju Miss" ... although they might not call you that... hmm.. ahem ... alright.
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