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12th March, 1993
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Bombblastsin the
Bombay Stock
Exchange
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• Serial blasts
• Hijacking of aircrafts
• Loss of innocent lives
• Attack on the Parliament
• Defiling places of worship
• Gun battles …
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India has mourned innumerable times
She has picked up her dead and wounded to
move on
Only to be targeted again
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But the point is not about impotency of the state
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Point is, some patriotic Indian had taken a bribe to let the consignment of RDX through
Others had been “bought” & “purchased” on the way
Still others had used loopholes in the antediluvian legal system to protect and shelter him
Other Indians had, for political reasons, either looked the other way, or had actively encouraged his metamorphosis
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And herein lies the crux of the matter
The laws of the land are antiquated
The enforcers are corrupt
The law makers are politically motivated
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And the people morally bankrupt
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26th November, 2008
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The bullets of terror that tore into ATS squad
chief
brave-heart
Hemant Karkare
felled him because …
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Some “patriotic” Indian had signed his death warrant by ordering sub standard
bullet proof vests
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Its the small bribe that “we” pay
That lets them buy the guns that are trained on us
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The Hawala route that we take
To evade a few Rupees … is
used by them to finance their operations around the
world
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The speed money, the Hafta’s, the Tola’s
That we pay to get things done find their final destination in coffers that are used to wage a war against the
Nation …
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Be it the tea industry in Assam which inadvertently financed the fire in the
north east
Or the Construction and Steel Industry that is today financing the Maoists
Or the Diamond Merchants, the builders and the sultans of Bollywood, who continue to be the don’s supply
source
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Let us not forget
• That the bullets that are making us bleed are fired by enemies
• But the enemies that are bleeding the Nation through corrupt means are equally guilty
• The insiders are the ones who are emboldening those that are outside
• We must therefore, fight the war on both fronts
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Law breakers have the impunity
• As with easy money comes
the opportunity to buy the
way out
• Maintenance of status quo
ensures the continued
support of the “System”
• The safety of numbers
• The perpetuation of injustice
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What is the solution?
• Revolution?
• Emergency?
• Benevolent Dictatorship?
• The Federal format ?
• Political cleansing?
• Purging of the system?
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NoWe must look inside and start by giving ourselves a better
system, well within the limits as set out by the
founding fathers
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Individually
We are up against a“system” that is naturallyaverse to change,
for maintenance of statusquo ensures :
equitable distribution ofbribe,
thriving of vote banks,continuity of personalfiefdoms,
reign of the corruption
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Why me ? we all askAs it is easier to shrug,
pay the price
and move on,
than be the victim of “the system”
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Issues facing the Nation
• Anachronistic laws
• Corrupt law
enforcers
• Politically
motivated law
makers
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For too long, we have focused on
• The severity of punishment
as opposed to
• The certainty of punishment
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Is there no hope then?
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There is
The hope is in the future
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The power of “one”
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Who are today raising their collective voice around the world
AND
Are being heard
A Million Mind Workers
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Young, impressionable minds
That can take up the cause
IF
We today start the onerous task of
planting the seeds
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and Corporate India can take this initiative
Let us adopt a NO BRIBE stance
Let each of us ingrain this in our corporate ethos
AND
Flaunt the “NO Bribe” logo in all facilities
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Imbibe Integrity
Educate the next generation
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Only moral integrity
Can make India secure from inside
And strong enough to face threats from outside
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Gujarat NRE – AMA Centre for National Integrity
A common platform, a confluence of like minded individuals
discuss issues of common concern
speak in one voice so that we can be heard over the din
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Guiding principles
• Inculcate a feeling of patriotism
and good nation building
• Developing right
value system and
ethics
• Respecting and
practicing ethical
behaviour
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Proposed Projects• A course on Good Governance
• People Movement – Involving
those working in the ground
level and in tribal villages
• Inter college competition to
target the youth, to provide
them a platform to express
their views
• Pilot project in schools to try
and inculcate moral values
among the school kids
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Proposed Projects
• A research paper on
ethical practices based on
Indian tradition and
mythology for the youth
• Reinstating Moral Science
in school curriculum
• A quarterly Newsletter
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All “DO”-able things
If we have the honest will to change the way we live and govern conduct ourselves