[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

The fellow must have been warned many times, but he wanted to be a hero and got what he wanted.

This is the most pathetic statement ever made. Doing one's job honestly is called heroism in our country, no wonder bollywood actors are real life heroes for us.

If a govt. servant is corrupt, there is a lot hue and cry about the demands made, when he is straight, he "tried to be a hero". Being honest means that you stand up for what is right, not turning away from corruption. The true meaning of honesty has been totally lost in our public's imagination.

RIP sir, we need more people like you for India.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

This is the most pathetic statement ever made. Doing one's job honestly is called heroism in our country, no wonder bollywood actors are real life heroes for us.

If a govt. servant is corrupt, there is a lot hue and cry about the demands made, when he is straight, he "tried to be a hero". Being honest means that you stand up for what is right, not turning away from corruption. The true meaning of honesty has been totally lost in our public's imagination.

RIP sir, we need more people like you for India.

Well said.

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

The fellow must have been warned many times, but he wanted to be a hero and got what he wanted. One has to be practical in todays world, Ram raj kab ka khatam hua, its kaliyug now and one has to adjust accordingly.

Unfortunately, the end of Ram Raj (Ram's era) hasn't signaled the end of primitive ape like thinking among us. It is one thing to make a spectacle of oneself on a public forum, quite another to lay responsibility on the shoulder of someone who cannot stand up for himself, and something in supremely poor taste to conjure up a person's innate desire to become a martyr by getting burnt alive.
Take a moment and think about what his family would be going through right now; and if you can stretch your imagination, try and see what your statement would mean to them.

[download2live]

I just sometimes think what would Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and other Freedom fighters will think if they were to be brought back to life. Is this the India for which they gave up their lives? Was it worth it? What will they say when brought face to face with Sukhram, Lalu, Radia, Raja and Kalmadi.
As of now its just that rulers have changed. From British to Indian.

I know I will be hounded to death but I have to say this: I never watch patriotic movies. It makes me so sad that they gave up everything so that Raja can Kalmadi can enjoy. When in Fame Lido, Bangalore, they play the National anthem and people rise to pay respect to Mother India, I look around and wonder, How many of them have done something corrupt, to loosen a brick in the foundation of our country.

May the soul of the Slain Commissioner lie in peace. Lets hope against hope that this time some change comes.

[lohithrao]

d2l, completely agree with you and similar thoughts run in my mind too! am sure they will prefer death instead of seeing this bad face of our country!

Very very sad!

Originally Posted by download2live

I just sometimes think what would Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and other Freedom fighters will think if they were to be brought back to life. Is this the India for which they gave up their lives? Was it worth it? What will they say when brought face to face with Sukhram, Lalu, Radia, Raja and Kalmadi.
As of now its just that rulers have changed. From British to Indian.

I know I will be hounded to death but I have to say this: I never watch patriotic movies. It makes me so sad that they gave up everything so that Raja can Kalmadi can enjoy. When in Fame Lido, Bangalore, they play the National anthem and people rise to pay respect to Mother India, I look around and wonder, How many of them have done something corrupt, to loosen a brick in the foundation of our country.

May the soul of the Slain Commissioner lie in peace. Lets hope against hope that this time some change comes.

[Spitfire]

All is not lost: http://timesofindia.hotklix.com/link...-Hamrosite-com

[Bullitt]

This heinous crime only highlights the fact that we are turning into a lawless state by the day. Law and order is a myth in this country, and scoundrels are getting away with greater and greater crimes everyday.

We cannot expect anything other than this in a country where the representatives of the people themselves blatantly and shamelessly gobble away thousands of crores of tax-payers' money siphoned off through illegal and criminal channels (oil pilferage and adulteration being one of them, not to mention 2G, CWG blah blah...), and then audaciously claim innocence right in the poor inflation-burdened people's faces, on prime time TV. Those who try to raise their voice or oppose these demons, including honest govt officials and RTI activists, are ruthlessly done to death under the watchful eye of the media, who in turn clap their hands in glee in expectation of increased TRPs. And all this while the entire law and order machinery, including the Supreme Court and the CBI, just stare helplessly with bangles on their wrists.

The biggest losers however, are us, the people. It is only a matter of time before these flames of corruption engulf us too, along with the entire nation. Anyone who thinks we are living in a superpower-to-be country had better check his bearings.

I will probably get flamed for this, but looking at incidents like these, I personally feel we would have been much better off under British rule. We, as a people and a republic, are not capable of administering and policing ourselves. 63 years after we gained independence, we have just proven that we are just a bunch of 1.3 billion apes, who are willing to take the life of another ape at the drop of a hat if that ape opposes our selfish interests; even though they may be contrary to the interests of the public.

Criminals hiding under the guises of politicians and actors are glamourized and glorified by the greedy media in front of an awe-struck and dumb-struck public; they have become role-models for the coming generation. The day is not far, when levels of selfishness and crime and corruption associated with it increase to an extent when this country will implode on itself, right in our faces.

Originally Posted by San Phrangmung

The fellow must have been warned many times, but he wanted to be a hero and got what he wanted. One has to be practical in todays world, Ram raj kab ka khatam hua, its kaliyug now and one has to adjust accordingly.

It is indeed sad that things have come to this level, but one must admit that this comment holds up a mirror to our collective mentality as a nation, where corruption and the illicit gains made out of it are no longer considered a stigma. They have turned into objects of desire to be worn on one's sleeve and flaunted in public.

The only solution I can see to this is the kind of law that is practiced in Middle Eastern countries. Anyone commits a robbery, chop off his arm. Anyone commits adultery, stone him to death. Unless we have such painful and personal-loss inducing punishments that are handed out INSTANTLY, nothing is going to change. Then, the corrupt and criminal people will think a million times over before trying to gain even a single rupee which is not rightfully theirs. And to bring such laws into existence, we need an iron-fisted leader like Hitler.

I hang my head in shame that I, as a citizen of this beautiful country, can only sit and watch, while my beloved country burns.

May his soul rest in peace.

- Bullitt.

[vishnurp99]

Folks, I think all of us are being overtly pessimistic here. We are also guilty of underestimating a lot of our institutions here talking about going back to medieval codes of justice etc. The incident in question was horrific no doubt and the family needs all the support they can get. However our country is a 60 year old infant republic which is still building it's institutions. I strictly believe things are changing for the better and these one off incidents are the exceptions than the norm.

[akhilesh]

Well its easy typing away on our keyboard. How many of us are going to come out and support action against the perpetrators?
We have forgotten Satyendra Dubey, an IIT graduate who tried to stop corruption in the golden quadrilateral project and even wrote an application to PM if I am not wrong. He had a few siblings to support and was the only earning member in the family. If he can be forgotten and a certain Sachin's 50th century can be played a zillion times across all the channels on prime time, we will always have hollow hero's. Our priorities are misplaced and we our news channels address Sanjay Dutt as 'Munna' even when he accused of treason.
Someone said things are getting better? Is it?

[Bullitt]

@ akhilesh: +100.

Even the dreaded terrorist from across the border who gunned down so many innocent people 2 YEARS AGO is still very much alive and well, enjoying state hospitality. He even had the cheek to refuse jail food and demand biryani instead. And then our esteemed politicians go to the jail and enquire about his well-being, and whether he is being treated well by the jail staff. In a way it figures, since he is one of their kind, the only difference being he is not an Indian national.

2010 was the year in which the Indian public saw the largest scams coming to the surface, in terms of both numbers and magnitude. And every single scamster is walking free, even today. 1000 bucks say they will NEVER go to jail (sorry I cannot afford to bet more than that, the taxman took all my money and put it in the scamster's pocket).

Things are changing for the better? Anyone who thinks so needs to take off those rosy sunglasses and take a good hard look. Armchair optimism is not going to change reality, it only takes our eyes away from the bitter truth.

How many of us remember Manjunath, the IOC officer who was gunned down for sealing a gas station selling adulterated diesel in UP?

Sadly, his life too, was lost in vain. An excerpt From Wikipedia.com:

*************

Aftermath:
Indian Oil Corporation paid Rs. 26 lakhs compensation to the family. The matter of adulteration in diesel was taken up by the Energy Coordination Committee chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. One of the policy remedies being considered is to minimize the subsidy in the price of kerosene (used as cooking fuel by the weaker classes), and to explore alternate mechanisms for implementing the subsidy. Subsequently, several tanker trucks, laden with thousands of liters of kerosene, were seized en route to a district neighbouring Lakhimpur Kheri.

Source: Wikipedia

*************

It has been 5 years since, and the status quo remains. Then it was Manjunath, now it is Sonawane. This "Energy Coordination Committee" headed our esteemed Prime Minister have been sitting their big fat behinds on this kerosene subsidy reduction proposal for the past 5 years. Meanwhile, another life has been lost. Is this change for the better? 2 lives lost over the same crime are still exceptions? Is there some kind of benchmark number as to how many people should be killed over oil pilferage and adulteration before the government takes action?

Sadly, in a country of 1.3 billion people, value of human life is dangerously close to zero. The hard truth is, unless some minister or someone from his/her family is directly affected by the monsters that they breed, nothing is going to change.

Enough raving and ranting.

[tj123]

Adulteration of fuel not only bleeds the exchequer by misusing subsidizing kerosene but has a greater impact on all of us.
Adultrated fuels used by our cars and bikes reduces fuel economy, causes unnecessary pollution and overall decreases life of an engine.
Such crime is a crime against all its nationals and stringent action should be initiated to curb this mafia activity.

Government is planning to put markers in kerosene and putting GPS systems to detect fuel leakages, it is also way mechanism to mint money.
I feel that lopsided sided pricing mechanism is the root cause of all this corruption .
I wish government should do away with all this fuel subsidy and try to incentivize poor with cah etc...

[srishiva]

As long as the goons have protection from the higher up rulers, they will be bold enough to crush anyone who comes across their ways.
If you equate the rulers to British, its also true that we don't have people similar to freedom fighters who also fought against the might of British.
The rulers have become much more shameful and the ruled have become more subdued.

[akhilesh]

I am sorry but we blame our leader for everything when they are nothing but a result of our collective conscience.

And apart from demanding that the scamster should be punished and sent to jail, the more pertinent request in my view should be to bring back all the money! What 1 year jail term for a 1000 crore rupee fraud.... nothing! And if that is not going to be the case, the accused should be hanged if proven guilty.

[caliper]

Originally Posted by motorhead666

@W.A.G.7 Completely agree with you i think we Indians are one of the most tolerant people in the world. Tolerant of loud neighbors, tolerant of eve teasers, of corruption and generally tolerant of crime. Eventually we get desensitized to all these things happening around us and evil doers get courage to go a step further every time we tolerate.

Sare jahan se achcha hamara Hindustan!

Seriously, though, kudos to the brave officials who have stood up to corruption. It needs to become a mass movement to get these corrupt people out of power (both the legislatures and the boardrooms).

We need a movement like in Egypt and Tunisia.

Wake up, India!

[prateekm]

Completely agree with you i think we Indians are one of the most tolerant people in the world.

Tolerant by choice? I don't think so. We are tolerant by force. We fear about the consequences if we stand up for the good. For example, go to pay a fine for breaking a law when the police is demanding a bribe, and you end up paying either a bribe or you pay up added charge which you haven't committed. So rather then unnecessarily paying more, we become tolerant and end up paying the bribe.

Completely agree with you i think we Indians are one of the most tolerant people in the world.

I wish the people who killed Sonawane are physically tortured to death. Not only they will realise what wrong they have done, but it will also send a wake up call to the innumerable corrupt politicians. Cut one of his finger everyday, record his sufferings and send it to every damn minister in India.

[vishnurp99]

well i said things are changing for the better because when i take a holistic view it's definitely become better for me. For one i have better opportunities in terms of jobs today than i would have had 10 years back. I get to enjoy a better standard of life in terms of cars/housing/roads etc than i would have got 10 years back. The air tickets has become cheaper and entertainment in terms of news channels and movies are better than ever before. If you want to get real news you have the option of reading news on Internet which is cheaper than ever before or get it on my 3G phone. The connectivity is better than ever before. i get cutting edge gadgets in india which i would not have got 10 years back. Best part is i have connections in my local town/city/state which means that i am not unnecessarily harassed. Yes there is bad news and the picture is not all rosy. But I believe that India is becoming better and when my employer ran after me offering to initiate a green card for me to stay in US on top of my H1 i didn't have to think twice to come back to india.