User talk:Suvrokamal

'  ''The Forgotten People of the Forgotten Land

Travelling through the country in the last couple of months and meeting different people across a question comes in my mind as to who are we? What are we aiming at for our country? I find no answer to all these queries and this makes me disappointed and dejected. What kind of development are we aiming at? How long will we fool our self with the notion of India Shinning, Feel Good Factor and Bharat Nirman? Different Governments in our country have spoken about the Feel Good factor and the Bharat Nirman. But then where are the Feel Good and the Bharat Nirman.

Besides the politicians our country the elite and the mainstream media is equally responsible for creating this disparity between our own people. Since independence we the elite and the political class have been hood winking the masses with different ploys at different times but then we should realize that we are playing with fire which can engulf us in future. It had engulfed France, Britain, China and Japan in the past and India is no exception. Today in this country we have around 17 crores of unemployed people and the number is increasing with every passing day. It’s only the 5 percent of India which includes our mega cities and towns which is shinning what about the 95 percent of the poor and impoverished India which is the real Bharat. We don’t need to crisscross the country to see this disparity. Even within the mega cities of Delhi and Mumbai this disparity is so glaring. On one side we have the ivory mansion of Juhu beach and Jan path and on the other side the slums of Chow patty and old Delhi. The richer is getting richer and the poorer is getting poorer in this shinning India with every passing day

When will the political class of our country deliver for things which they are voted for? Media’s people prince Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Advani media’s iron man why can’t you all see this glaring reality do you all need a telescope from NASA to see this harsh reality. Why don’t you all do something genuine about it? Enough of government’s schemes and programs it’s time to deliver. The people whom we contempt with an eye disgust are actually the real haves and we the elites are the have not’s. They might be poor but they have self respect, love, tradition and culture in them. We the elites have neither remained a part of that self respecting Indian of that Bharat neither have we been able to make ourselves the modern Englishman. We should understand this country is not the India which we project but it’s the country of those people of Bharat which the great Mahatma represented. We don’t need another Lord Krishna to liberate us from this mess which we ourselves have created. We can do it on our own. What is required is little bit of love, compassion and helping hand from the haves towards our poor brethrens after all to have a shinning India we first need a shinning Bharat.

High time for our political class to stop the politics of Aam Aadmi and Ram before every election to gather few extra votes. Where does the Aam Aadmi go after election? It’s time to deliver. The political and the business elite of our country should deliver on those promises which they kept on repeating for years. Love, self respect and dignity which lord Ram and the holy Christ gave us thousands of years back is something which every citizen of our country needs. Perhaps the deaf political class of our country understands this stalking reality. Hopefully as the affluent lot we will understand this basic duty of ours as fellow human beings. In this critical juncture the expectation from the political class is far higher then what it was yesterday. It’s this question which I try to answer again and again and I find no answers to it. It’s this reality which bites and it bites my conscious soul very hard as I stand helpless like a fallen leaf before this power hungry reality.

'''                                                        Suvrokamal Dutta

(Renowned Television Personality, Economic Expert and a Political Critic)Italic textItalic text

'Can we get the Black Kohinoor Back

Off late there is a lot of talk on the issue of black money which is staked in the foreign banks abroad and how to bring it back. Ever since veteran BJP leader L.K.Advani raised this issue in the 2009 Lok Sabha election the issue of black money together with price rise has become like never ending quick sand for the UPA 2. In my understanding the biggest achievement of the UPA 2 for 2010-11 is price rise and series of corruption scams now the black money issue seems to be giving sleepless nights to Dr Singh with the coming of the social activist Anna Hazare and the yoga guru Baba Ram Dev the combo seems to be very fatal for our dear UPA government and the government seems to be totally clueless as to how to defuse the situation with tacit BJP backing to the movement the agitation seems to be more deadly. As claimed by Baba Ramdev RS 800 lacs crores is what is seemed to be stacked in the various foreign banks most of it in the Swiss bank, if the figure is true then I would call this the black Kohinoor which is as priceless as the original stolen Kohinoor which is there in the British Crown.

In my understanding further the amount which is there in the foreign banks abroad is one third of what is present over here in India. The amount of unaccounted, Hawala and black money present in India in very conservative estimates should be around Rs 1200 Lacs crores if not more. Why not get this accounted first as this is very much within our national and the government machinery reach but then targeting this will get many innocent souls and Dharma Gurus exposed. Would any elected government dare to do it or would the champion of this anti corruption crusade movement launch a movement on it. Perhaps the answer is a big no in capital letters.

Everyone in this country specially the common people who is sick and tired of corruption in daily life supports the crusade against corruption whole heartedly. Who would not want the last penny of the Indian black money staked abroad to be brought back and be declared as a national asset after all it is the people’s money. But then is it so easy to bring it all. The Swiss government would be the last one to declare the source of all the Indian Black money kept in Swiss Banks after all it is a open secret that the whole flourishing banking industry in Switzerland survives on unaccounted and black foreign money in which besides money from India currencies from other countries like China, Russia, Germany, UK, USA, Japan etc is also staked piled. It is very easy to argue that the Swiss government disclosed the accounts and names of all defaulters to the German and the American governments when they asked for it. But we should not forget that the Swiss government legally and politically had to do so to the German and the US governments as Switzerland is a part of the European Union and the NATO and it is binding on them to share all the information asked by another European Union or a NATO country as it is binding under the NATO or the European Union charter to do so. In the Indian case there is no such binding rules on the Swiss government to do so as India is not a part of NATO or the European Union nor does India have any bilateral treaty signed with Switzerland on money laundering, capital fraud, illegal black money and so on. Nor does India have a double taxation treaty with that country as such the Indian government can only plead and request the Swiss authorities to do so and it is up to them to decide on the Indian Plea. Why hasn’t the Indian government done so or whether it has actually done it is an answer which perhaps the Indian government can best answer. If it hasn’t done so as claimed by many in the anti corruption crusade lobby is true then perhaps the Indian government is trying to save many high profile names from the Indian political class.

Again the Banks in Switzerland is highly autonomous they have there own set of rules and regulations and it is up to them whether they want to share information with any foreign governments even if the Swiss government agrees to the Indian government’s request the next hurdle would be to convince the Swiss Bank to disclose the names of the individuals and the companies holding illegal money account in the Swiss Bank.

So where is the alternative? The need of the hour for the anti corruption crusade forum is to do the homework well involve legal, academic luminaries, media, the political and the corporate class, youths and students in it. Then build pressure of the Indian government to sign double taxation and legal treaties with the Swiss government and initiate the process of cleaning it would take months if not years and one should be prepared for a long drawn peaceful and patient struggle. The opposition NDA should also play a constructive role in bringing back this lost national wealth and not play petty politics and it should understand the legal and the technical limitations of the Indian government on the black money issue in the Swiss bank after all the NDA was also in power for six long years. Perhaps only then we can bring this black Kohinoor back. Let us be prepared for a long drawn battle.

Suvrokamal Dutta

(The writer is a renowned Television Celebrity, Foreign Policy Expert and a Political Critic.)'