Monthly Archives: May 2009

Jantar Mantar Voices

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Democracy in Action: An example of ordinary citizens being able to voice their concerns

By Dinesh Wagle
Read the article as it appeared on today’s OP-ED page of the Kathmandu Post

If you wish to see the great Indian democracy in action, go to a place called Jantar Mantar, near the Parliament House in New Delhi, where centuries ago a king had installed some planetary observation platforms. From these observatories today, during the day time, one can see not the stars but people from across India and beyond shouting slogans, rallying and screaming against (or for) the government and institutions and staging sit-ins or fasts advocating varieties of causes and condemning many of the evils in the world. Continue reading →

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The Indian Democracy

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Just as our April 2008 poll verdict, this Indian election, it appears, was about stability and progress of India

By Dinesh Wagle
Wagle Street Journal Here is the PDF version of the page.]

Indian naitonal congress party victory
A kid, carrying the Indian National Congress Party flag, walks on the street in front of the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on the day of the counting of votes of the month-long parliamentary elections. Congress emerged as the single largest party with more seats than it got in 2004 polls. Pic by Zakaria Zainal

One thing that provides India with the world’s, particularly the West’s, trust and respect is its virtually stable and reasonably functioning democracy. Like in Nepal, votes can still be bought by a glass of drink in many parts of India and millions don’t cast their vote but vote their caste. And many don’t even care about the democratic process. They ask a brutally simple question: “How does it matter to me who wins or loses?” Therein lies a challenge to all democracies all over the globe: indeed, how to attract people to the decision-making process and make it more inclusive? But still democracy in India is a matchless outlet for people to vent their anger, dissatisfaction, frustration and, at the same time, express their desires, aspirations and dreams. Continue reading →

Iron Man: Conversation With a Press Wallah

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By Dinesh Wagle
Wagle Street Journal
[This article first appeared in today's Kathmandu Post. Here is PDF version. Shorter version in Nepali appeared in today's Kantipur.]

This is about this guy whom I have been seeing busy at his work all day, almost every day, since I came here to Jangpura Extension, one of south Delhi’s many residential complexes. He is there, right at the front of the building, on the side of the road that is attached to number B-19 whose third floor I live on. It’s been six months, and we have never talked. When leaving my apartment and returning, I see him busy at his work. Freezing cold? He is working. Scorching heat? He is busy. Every time I see him I can’t but appreciate his dedication to work. I am inspired. Look at this guy who is working so hard, standing and in harsh weather. How can you complain or possibly find difficulties in the comfort of a chair and air conditioner? How can you not complete the work that has been pending for a week? Continue reading →

India and Indians: Friends of Two Different Kinds

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By Dinesh Wagle
Wagle Street Journal
This article appeared in today’s Op-Ed of The Kathmandu Post. Here is PDF of the page

Sometimes, I wonder why the official Nepal-India relationship doesn’t become as friendly and earthy as the down-to-earth friendship I enjoy with some Indians here in Delhi. Why doesn’t the bond between the two countries become as affectionate and emotional as the bond itself? The bond being that of roti aur beti (bread and daughter) that has brought families across the open border closer together.

[Somehow related:
1. Indian parties spat over Nepal crisis (PDF)
2. How Maoist-Delhi Relations Soured]

It seems friendship between the two nationals is not the same as the relationship between their respective countries. The diplomacy is ruthless, heartless and, in the words of a former Indian diplomat who was talking about Indo-Nepali relationship in Delhi a few weeks ago, immoral. Otherwise, a prime minister, in a nationally televised address, wouldn’t have complained about foreign intervention albeit without naming the country (but who doesn’t know the name!). And his finance minister wouldn’t have angrily told an Indian channel the story, in his own words, of the intervention of Delhi’s bureaucracy in Nepali affairs. Continue reading →

Heat and Dust of Delhi

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By Dinesh Wagle

In a terrible afternoon last week, as I was walking on a parched street and struggling with the heat wave, I realized something. Heat in Delhi comes as a curfew. Very few people were on the street that would otherwise be packed in normal circumstances. The street, I observed, remained vacated for about four hours in the afternoon beginning from around 12. People often get dehydrated and, in some extreme cases, die because of heat wave. So what do you do? The heat imposed curfew-like situation means you will have to stay indoors consuming energy via air conditioners and coolers. But that’s only when there is no loadshedding in your area.

The rising temperature throughout India came as a challenge to its democracy too. Reports from various parts of the country suggested that voter turnout at the elections has been very low as people didn’t get out of their homes because of the intense heat. Some towns have already recorded as much as 47 degrees celsius. Not even half of Mumbai turned to polling stations on Thursday in an election held under the shadow of the Nov. 26 terrorist attacks. But the Election Day in Mumbai wasn’t that hot (only around 35C). So the media quickly blasted the city for being indifferent to the democratic process. “All talk, no vote,” said one headline the next day. “Despite 26/11, candle-light vigils and voter campaigns, Mumbai stays home.”
“Temperature rose to 43 but voter turnout went below 44,” said a reporter from another city on a TV channel. Continue reading →