An Open Letter to Vineet Jain, The Times Of India

November 11, 2010,

To,
Mr. Vineet Jain,
Managing Director,
The Times Of India,
Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
Mumbai

Congratulations Vineet Jain & The Times Of India for taking the lead...

….the lead in cleaning the corrupt India... Well, India is shining, but behind the glare are a huge number of corrupt individuals who are in a looting spree raping India day by day.... And you and The Times of India have in the recent past shown the courage to bring these demons in public which others have not been able to.

Being born and brought up in Bengal, have been fed by the rich media of The Telegraph and The Statesman, which let me be upfront, had and has much much higher quality of editorial and literature, may be the intellectual Bengal touch... But, even in the communist driven state they could not do what u guys have started....

My compliments once again for shifting your core from being just an “Aggregator of news” to becoming a “Social Change Agent”. I sincerely hope its not just momentary... this is what me or any common Indian has noticed in the past few years only... Be it the 26/11 or the CWG or the recent Adarsh Society Scam, you guys have done a good job and are responsible to get biggies like R.R. Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Suresh Kalmadi and the latest one being CM Ashok Chavan get thrown out of their chairs, which the “Aam Aadmi” only wished, abused over a cutting-chai and forgot !

Some of your critics say that since you and TOI did not get the CWG Business contract, you screwed up the Common Wealth Games. It is not that it is for the first time in India, that some scam happened. But yes, it is definitely for the first time in India, that a Scam of a stature was brought out and people behind the same exposed, and the system pressurized to take a tough call. Some say that Vilasrao Deshmukh or Narayan Rane or the Opposition and others have used you to open up the Adarsh Society matter against Ashok Chavan... But for a commonner like me, it doesnt matter as far as the facts are coming on table and actions are being taken... Tomorrow, there will be another TOI to take care of Vilasrao and others... Some people say that you and your paper write only against a few segment or sect or lobbies of people, but for a commoner it does not matter, as the Awakening you have started, would create some other TOI to expose the segment you may be avoiding, if at all.


So in this Media Awakening, for whatever reasons be it, hope commoners like us are awakened and benefited in whatever ways. Thanks Vineet Jain and Team TOI for giving India the required literacy, being the medium of that lieracy. There are yet many areas that you - TOI initiated for eg. Avinash Bhonsle- Cidco and MKVDC Scam, the Lavasa scam, the Citiscape issues of Mumbai, which are as of now, hope not permanently lying low. Look forward to see them reach the right logical end, courtesy TOI !


Many literates and educated segment like us do mock down your “Aman ki Asha” or “Lead India” or “Teach India” as pure CSR activities which would bring in huge mass visibility and ofcourse the Ad revenues (Come on, lets not shy away from the core of the business we are talking about). I too personally feel the same at times, but well the above activity which you have not branded otherwise is the one which a commoner is appreciating and applauding and wish you the best and hope to see you playing this role of a “Change Agent” and not just a “Commercial Media” !


With Best Regards,
Jalpesh Mehta
Citizen of India
www.jalpeshmehta.blogspot.com

10 Questions Mumbaikars are asking !

Its 14 days now that a few kids took Mumbai with a big police, army and NSG force on hostage– official sources say 10, but some media sources said 15, and former CIA counter=terrorism and militant networks expert Farhana Ali in Washington said 23 terrorists have come in India as per her information from Pakistan ( Source : Timesgroup paper). As per the same source – Taj CCTV Footage at 1:30 AM showed 4 terrorists and we have only 3 dead ? Where is the remaining one ?

Well, imagine a situation like this…………….4 terrorists with British or other country Passport enter TAJ on 20th November – 3 days before the attack….. and are living in there, exploring the whole area and creating a blue print for the assault after 3 days….3 more join in from the Sea and kill many, they die but the 4 who planned and also killed, leave back their weapons, change into some other hostages outfits and smartly walk out as a relieved hostage. The police would track this but to an extent….not going into details of each hostages last 20 years of life history… and may be the orders from the top could be for ignore this leg altogether.

There are some questions in the Minds of the citizens of Mumbai :

(1) Where are the other terrorists ? Are they preparing for the next assault ?
(2) Still the security of the state not in place, remember the recent report of a man carrying a revolver at the CST station freely passing through a metal detector ? shameful is’nt it ?
(3) Its very obvious that its not easy to enter a new country and attack without knowing things around or without having any Local support. Who is the local support, does it take 14 days to find that out ?
(4) Who in the Taj was involved – How can such weapons pass through the security and how can they have grenades piled up on all floors without internal help ? How did room Service ignore the presence of weapons in the room. Why is no reference to the booking names yet out in public ? Why don’t we have the CCTV of Taj– hour by hour – a week before the attack ? Am sure much could be dug from it. And if we have, hope the facts are not suppressed, which can easily happen, because if it comes out then imagine who will have to resign.
(5) Where did the SIM Cards come from – we saw some links to Calcutta, but more is yet to be revealed. Hope its comes out and is not suppressed.
(6) Where did the Credit Cards came from ? Its easy to track down the same ….every card sold has an application form stored with the name of the agent and code etc. Every agent / executive outsourced has to go through a reference check and physical verification and even if he has left the job now, one could easily trace him and further the roots. Hope police is doing so, or may be not as they don’t have orders ! And some press said that those cards were of the hostages... why would a terrorist collect cards from hostages ? to pay the Taj for food ???
(7) The most important as also stated by the DGP, Mr. S.S.Virk, -“Get Kasab to confess on TV”…. Before he changes his mind or memorizes a script given. Why aren’t we putting Kasab in front of the International Media, rather than running the tom and jerry race with Pakistan ! Are we afraid that he would name a few local ministers ? or spill some messy beans ?
(8) Look at the audacity of the Pakistanis recently in a news channel claiming that the Indian Army orchestrated this event ( well, personally I feel its bullshit) but the way the general spoke was worth some entertainment claiming that “Inki Shakalein Hindu wali hain” – (they (terrorists) looked Hindu from faces only.) They wore saffron bands, kadas etc… Am attaching a link for reference - http://www.hotklix.com/?ref=content/152704 . There was no reaction from the Indian side on this, surprisingly. If this link is void by the time you see it, take it that something was fishy – else have fun !
(9) The latest being Narayan Rane claiming evidences of involvement of politicians behind these attacks ( Why is that not yet revealed ? or will this too be suppressed ? )– As per former IPS and Lawyer YPSingh, withholding of information is a crime under section 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Lawyer Majeed Memon also confirms the same as an offence). Hope the facts are out before they are suppressed.
(10) The last question will be about politicians – as this is the last thing a Mumbaikar would want to discuss now. A slap on the face of politicians was the recent gathering at the Gateway on 3rd December – a first in its kind Non-Cooperative, no Leader led movement post 1947, showing that Indians – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs can come out TOGETHER on the streets. If tomorrow there is a scam, Indians can jam the roads in front of Mantralaya. The message was clear, though outcome not concrete besides Preity Zinta encashing on the pires of dead and some Media channels being there at the right time and right place for their business ! But the regional divide which any politician could not go without, is now disappearing and people are uniting over a larger cause then caste and creed. Well, Mumbaikars are angry and will remain, though have seen the anger melting down. The message is clear that “changing of politicians” is not enough… Chhagan Bhujbal is more tainted and worst than Mr. Patil, who lost out purely because of his communications skills. What will the Candle-lighters be able to do now is a question…will the movement go on ? And that reminds, one has to file an RTI asking for the reason behind giving Deshmukh and Patil Z Cover, if they still have !

Hope these questions get answered soon and Mumbaikars and Indians do not calm their anger.

Lighting Candles at the Gateway of India is not enough !

Mumbai Terror Strikes ; December 1, 2008, Monday : I got an sms on Sunday to come to the Gateway of India and light a candle.... there were some more SMS's and emails inviting citizen to Gateway on 3rd December, 2008.

Well, it’s the normal Indian Tendency–call it the “why do I bother attitude” within the hearts or Mahatma’s principles of “forgiving and forgetting” on the outside that handful of terrorists can have courage of molesting India time and again. They too know that behind the mask of “Spirit of Mumbai” or “bouncing back” lies a “docile, hapless selfish person”–The “poor selfish person” also knows he can’t do much–as he knows the judiciary system, the politicians and willingly chooses to stay out. Hence people tend to forget these assaults and hence we get more assaulted.
For a change now, since media has become quite active there is some impact of our anger and hope this anger remains. Last 24 hours has seen 2 Big Resignations and 1 on line–(1) The Union Home Minister–Mr.Shivraj Patil (no loss to the mankind), (2)Mr. R.R.Patil–Deputy CM (called this a small incident and the public gave it back)(3) Mr.Vilasrao Deshmukh (Someone more concerned of helping his son in Bollywood, having audacity of taking RGV to Taj). But is this an end or just a beginning–we all have to decide !

We will need to learn from our mistakes -to begin with our Security System. It is evident that our Intelligence has failed and we need to follow other countries in stepping up our security be it the US,UK or even Israel. Secondly,Pakistan’s Involvement is very clear. Dr. Manmohan Singh could be the next, not just for reading out the most impassionate speech in this time of crisis, but for the soft approach on the Security Issue or on Pakistan.The Citizen of India will give it back if not so fast, then in the elections soon.

The Politicians should be clear that gone are the days to buy votes against Biryani, Saaris and play the Divide & Rule Games-atleast in certain strata of society, though things will not change overnight.Thanks to the citizens like Shobha De, Suhel Seth, Rahul Bose, Arjun Rampal, Farooq Shaikh, Prahlad Kakkar for speaking out. The Corporate Citizen did not come out in that large number except Kishore Biyani, Ajay Bagga etc (may be dependencies). Net-net there are clearly 3 type of people who TOGETHER can make a change;of course supported by Media:(1)The Opinion Maker Citizen-The Educated,networked. (2)The Industrialists/Corporate Citizens-CEO's, Business Leaders, Fund sponsors (3)The Common Man- Aam admi- the lower & middle class minus religion, caste.

It could be a mass decision, a forum, or a movement or supporting even one life lost. Just by lighting candles at the Gateway of India will not achieve anything. The Basics need to be in place. The mindset of people will have to change. We will need to question,be assertive and aggressive with non-performers who need to deliver out of our taxes.

Today we are angry and that anger needs to remain else 26/11 will repeat itself…..it would be a normal scenario where people will get aggressive for a while and again come back to normal,forgetting and forgiving–Thanks to Mahatma and the “Spirit of Mumbai”.Hope people try The Bhagvad Gita and “Krishna & Arjun Strategy’ for a change too !

Mumbai Terror Strike : Ranking of Politcians.

November 29, 2008, Saturday, Mumbai

Mr. R.R. Patil showcased once again the insensitive side of an Indian Politician – The Citizens of India feel that today there is nothing wrong in generalizing any politician as Insensitive or selfish. Selfish to make bucks, selfish to get mileage out of any grave incident. Though there are many exceptions to this type, but the same is too less to change the generic perception. Mr. Patil – You are right to handle Dance Bars and Drunk Drivers only, so better you stay limited to it.

Mr. Patil on Saturday said "small incidents like this do happen in big cities" while referring to the Mumbai terror attack. When asked at a press conference whether the terror strike was an intelligence failure, Patil said in Hindi: "Aisa nahi hai. Itne bade shahar mein chhota hadsa ho jata hai. To total failure nahi hai. (It is not like that. In big cities like this, small incidents do happen. It's is not a total failure.)"

One such statement left behind other Politicians behind in the Rank, even Raj Thakrey. If we look at the Mumbai Terror Strikes in the last 3 days – here goes the Rankings of Politicians in the parameters of (1) Selfishness(2) Insensitivity and (3) Ruthlessness.

So here the Ranking of the Politcians during 26/11 goes as below : The TOP 5 Politicians !

(1) Mr. R.R. Patil – Cares a shit about these attacks which are called India’s 9/11. As Mr. Prahlad Kakkar stated in the recently held chat session, the whole defence operation till the NSG / Army came in was direction less and without enough planning and capacity, which caused the loss of lives of our policemen including Hemant Karkare, Salaskar and Kamte. And above all he dares to call this a “Small Incident”. Hope you travel with your Z security, else someone may pelt a stone (no one will waste and egg) on you.

(2) Mr. Shivraj Patil –or we call him Mr. Failure or Mr. Whocares – as these phrases means Shivraj Patil and Shivraj Patil means the same. Well, why the intelligence has failed is a no brainer and what has happened under his leadership is very well known. Not just once, but repeated ! This head will have to roll, else the Congress will face a lot of dent.

(3) Dr. Manmohan Singh – The most impassionate speech I have ever heard in my life. The street side wannabe politicians are much energetic ! And it was very clear that Dr. Singh was reading out a script written by a strategist and vetted by Ms. Gandhi. The speech has left behind a very poor perception worldwide on the passion, anger, aggression a leader should have at this time, if not emotional. Look at Bush, Gordon or even Osama ! Another instance to prove that not necessarily an economist can lead the country in times of such criris (even in economical crisis, the feeling is same). Well, Indians have ahabit of giving all a second or third chance, we give it to the terrorists too..as you saw…. So, people of India will see (1) how you handle the situation now (2) How aggressively you take up Pak (summoning and ISI chief is not enough) (3) How do you create Security System to protect further 26/11 – All this will decide your and your Party’s fate in the time to come…

(4) Mr. CM – Deshmukh – As Suhel Seth said, he would be more visible in his Son’s Movie Premier. If we all remember, the News Channels were off the air as per the DGPs instructions on Friday and were forced back on air, as the CM wanted to deliver a speech…what non – sense ! As it was debated in the chat show, if ML crashes the CEO has to take responsibility and resign as a gesture, some socialists are hell bent on the same being implemented in case of a state too.

(5) Raj Thackrey – No need to say more, but am sure all of us have received those innumerable forwards asking for Raj Thackrey’s and his peoples number so that they can be intimated that NSG and Army who are non – Maharastrians were fighting for the Mumbai and he and his team was missing. The Citizens have now made it quite clear that they would no more tolerate the non-sense of divide and rule and politics of religion and caste.

In fact, though not in Top 5, there were various politicians who started dropping by to – “take a feel, or jaayaza”…..diverting the security focus for them which was not at all required. What feel did you get and what are you going to do about it ? All the citizens have a question in mind. Is it something concrete or announcing a free bee of a few crores that to be thrown back on the face.

Thanks to these incidents and media, that the citizen of India is becoming more literate to know who matters and who does not and what to expect out of a politician, set their goals, do appraisals ( through opinion leaders in the media chat shows) and rate them (in the elections). Gone are the days to buy votes against Biryani, T Shirts, Saaris and Liquor. (Stoves, TVs, and more down south )

Thanks to the citizens like Shobha De, Suhel Seth, Rahul Bose, Arjun Rampal, Farooq Shaikh, Prahlad Kakkar, taking the lead. People may feel that they had nothing to loose and hence they came out in open and the most needed the Corporate Citizens / Industrialists are still behind – as they will need the politicians to function their machinery. Some like Kishore Biyani etc came but were quite diplomatic – as good as not coming out….There are clearly 3 types of people - all have their own areas to act upon,but it needs to be a coordinated effort who, only TOGETHER can make a change :

(1) The Opinion Maker Citizen ( The Educated, well to do, networked, not neccesarily rich )
(2) The Industrialists / Corporate Citizens ( The CEO's, Business Leaders, the Fund Holders )
(3)The Common Man (Aam admi - the lower class, middle class minus religion, caste etc.)
We would ideally be a mix of 1 and 3.

Till the time all 3 types of people would come out TOGETHER, things will not change and 26/11 will repeat itself… . And the Media who is playing a role of the Change agent will have to stand by ! Else, the same situation would continue as it is today and the masses will get used to the same…..it would be a normal scenario where people will get aggressive for a while and again come back to normal, forgetting and forgiving everything – with the so called “Spirit of Mumbai” – Thanks to Mahatma Gandhi …… Hope people try and follow – The Bhagvad Gita and “Krishna & Arjun’ for a change too !

Mumbai Terror - 24 hours plus !

Its now 24 hours, I am compelled back to visit my blog to share some unsettling thoughts - Its now 24 hours to the bizarre terror strike, let me rephrase this as PROXY WAR at MUMBAI as Mr. Manmohan Singh was reading out of speech written by his secretary, vetted by Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the ONLY feeling which is coming to anyone I am speaking to – be it any SVP, businessman, college youth or a watchman is that Administration has failed (nothing new) miserably – giving the citizens of India an only feeling that if India goes on for a War, surely we will loose as we have failed to control this strike for 24 hours with so much of Police, Army and Navy Support. The List of failure tops with many politicians – I would not name anyone particular, actually there is no point !

Here’s some analysis / thoughts :

What went wrong :

(1) Low Equipped or No Equipped : The ATS and Police went ahead to fight the terrorists without any proper gears. They are responsible for the death of the 3 stalwart officers and the state government and central government should be ashamed to proportioning so much of the tax payers money to Security, and they have balls to give away loan benefits to the farmers who are the voting bank….

(2) Intelligence or Fools : The high failure of intelligence and private security of the Taj, Trident Oberoi where so many terrorists could have used the back doors, kitchen areas of the Hotels – how did they knew about the map, the Mumbai police does not have a map yet ! As Mr. Advani said this is a well planned and coordinated attack based on an effort of 2 months – were the Intelligence and Police day dreaming all this while and focusing on making brownies in front of seniors for Drunk and Drive Case, closing of Dance Bars, looting poor two wheeler, taxi and car users for any possible reason to pocket their booty or over achieve their targets.

(3) Limited or No Capacity : All our force not even apt for a handful of terrorists ? How will we ever fight a war ? The only hope was the Army, navy, the commandos, but 24 hours of efforts, with more policemen killed than the terrorists is yet another shame, proving that Mumbai is as unsafe as Noida, Ghaziabad or Azamgarh.

(4) Slap on the face of the Administration : The well planned assault by the terrorist , more effortful than 9/11 - especially hijacking the Police Vehicles have made the statements, hope we learn something from this costly mistake !

What is worth appreciating :

(1) The Media for keeping the administration on toes by building the necessary pressure. Not just the great journalists, cameraman, speakers and all behind the scenes.

(2) The Efforts from the Police and Army though not much result as they are not to be blamed for the unequipped strategies - where is our tax money going, Mr. Home Minister ?

(3) The efforts of the Hotel Staff (those who are not hand in gloves with the terrorists) for managing and bearing the pressure…

(4) The spirit of the citizens affected and all their relatives. 2 MBA passouts of 2007 batch from a premier institute passed away and got to hear the entire story through a close friend.

Some Questions which remain unanswered as of now :

(1) Where are the Power bearers ? Where is the PM, HM ?? Why have they not yet reacted on this as compared to the parliament attacks ? Is there something more important than this ? Deshmukh gave an interview and as Suhel Seth said in Arnab’s show in Times Now, Mr. Deshmukh would have been more visible in his Son’s Movie premier ! The only leader I saw initiating a speech was Mr. Modi !, though Mr. Advani and Mr. Jaswant Singh ( was looking as if he was forced to come along and his wife was weeping ) made an appearance.

(2) Did not see the same “Spirit of Mumbai” this time as even was shared by Suhel Seth, Farooq Shaikh etc on Arnabs Show ( I don’t know Arnab, matured people like you have to get some female in your show for glamour factor – Shefali Shah (Chaya) this time ? In what capacity ?? ) Offices were empty today as people and their families are worried and if the netas and leaders can stay back home, the citizens can also have their rights. But am sure the city will soon rise back, though taking a little while this time. As the physics law, bounce will come – every action(read by leaders, administration) has a reaction, but if there is no action, who would react ? But, the citizens would react – in a few days by being back to work with the same spirit and in the long run - hope in the forth coming elections too.

(3) Why do we sleep on these issue as always ? Why don’t we have balls to take drastic action against Pakistan or is it that there are many pass backs ! One should settle the scores for once and all.

(4) Time to prove the difference between a Boy and a Man : And Mr. Manmohan Singh, its time to come out of the shadow of your god-mother and prove that you have turned from a boy to a man! There is so much you can do from just sacking Mr. Shivraj Patil, whom God could also not save this time.

Well, all said and done, one would feel – gyaan dena to asaan hai, kuch karna mushkil- and that is a fact, but even trying the former is an effort or a thought and the latter would follow, has to…. if not during these 24 hrs (bumping into this would have added to more confusion) then later - Many injured would need blood and otherwise - every and any smallest initiative or control to ensure security at home, workplace, nearby areas would be worth a contribution. And only thing which I can do is pray right now for the end of this crisis at the earliest (it has to, but hope these 24 hours don’t go to 36, 48...) If this goes long, the administration will showcase, they will have to have some reason for it - that they saved so many “x” lives and that’s why took so long, no one will speak of the lives lost...and no on will speak of the loss of revenue the country had in the last 24 hours ?

Mumbai Terror Strikes : Yet another Intelligence Failure

26th November, 2008, 9:40 PM Mumbai hits the global headlines for being attacked by the terrorists openly firing at the Public. All news channels carrying bizarre scenarios of the firings and blasts (40, expected to reach 200, which officially might be quoted the half) in number till 12:44 AM) were heart sinking – Some channels showed beheaded bodies and brutally injured citizens. An innovative strategy of the terrorists moving from Masses to Classes (Retail to HNI) showcasing immense courage by attacking a new area – the Urban Mumbai by targeting South Mumbai (Oberoi, Taj, Cama Hospital and CST Station ) and also Centaur (Sahara Star) at Vile Parle- Santacruz and JW Marriot - This clear strategy of crippling Mumbai’s Financial Capital Image and targeting the High Society Area, Diplomats, Tourists (Security Failure at the Two Big Names of the Indian Hotel Industry – Taj and Oberoi) will definitely leave back a Big Dent.

This was yet another blow on the face of the Vilasrao Deshmukh’s semi crippled government (Narayan Rane has got his 5th Chance to run to Sonia Gandhi and complain against his colleague), especially when one heard Mr. Shakil Ahmed, the Minister of State for Home Affairs behaving irresponsibly with the Media and disconnecting the call and running away from the situation as always. Mr. Shakil- Have some shame atleast, the injured could be some of your relatives too…..Its 12:44 as I am writing this blog and neither Mr. Deshmukh nor Mr Patil have issued any statement or appeared for any audio / visual interview reinstating the fact that they are not interested and their strategists are off for the day and once they rejoin tomorrow, they will be able to issue any statement.

Only one question which comes up to the mind of the citizens of India and Mumbai especially is the repeated failure of Mumbai Police (read Intelligence and not On Ground) and the State Government and all other the Intelligence Agencies to track and control any terrorist movements. All what the Mumbai Police is interested in is catching people drunk and without proper traffic rules and that is only what the Police is capable of doing and ofcourse creating unnecessary hype around Pragya Thakur and low important (compared to Mumbai) Malegaon case.

The Best part was the Terrorists running away from the Metro Cinema site hijacking / stealing a Police Jeep – This is the most shameful part of the incident. I don not understand with what standing do people accuse Bihar and UP Politicians, who are much better than the ones here.

The main is yet to arrive as the Media confirms some 40-45 Hostages in the Oberoi and much more to come for sure. But, the whole incident would prove 3 THINGS ofcourse at the cost of deaths of so many (20 till now at 12:44AM) and injured and estranged citizens :

(1) The Success of the New Strategy and Innovation by the Terror Groups giving them their job satisfaction and motivation of raising the bar with more in future (They are successful, since our Intelligence is failure)

(2) Failure of the Mumbai Police (Intelligence, not ground) and the State Governement and to an extent the Central Government too – Mumbai Police not the ones of the Ground who are doing the best possible job but the ones sitting in the AC headquarters calling themselves Intelligence and actually the Fools ( It was intimated by Hyderabad Police some days back that there are 50 Militants / terrorists entering Mumbai with a Plan)

(3) The Spirit of Mumbaikars – which will forget the incident in a few hours, slapping on the face of the terrorists and getting back to the normal life, showcasing the “Never say Die Spirit” – That’s the only thing Mumbai is still Mumbai else the first two factors would have made this place an Azamgarh in no time.

The only worst things which can happen now is (1) Mumbai Police killing some innocents claiming that they were the Terrorists. (2) Mumbai Terror Relief Fund coming up (3) Some celebrity trying to encash this situation and supporting the cause for the image management purpose (4) And the Best (for them - Terrorists) is Afzal Guru being conferred a Padma Shree which would have surely happened if the Parliament would have been in Mumbai.

Hope the Army comes in time and controls the situation and the Ground Mumbai Police showcase the best possible with the limited resources available (service revolvers for eg. against the AK 47s) - Its a chance for them to prove and change their image. And well, Mumbai is matured enough not to ask for the CM or HM or Mr. Shivraj Patil to resign, Mumbai will answer back with its Spirit – It’s a matter of time !