Read a pundit who opined that we have a Westminster by which he probably meant a system that originated in Britain amid the violence of the Magna Carta and the civil war in which Charles I lost his head. Britain has always been a monarchy and even today the monarch is not allowed into the House of Commons reminiscent of the times when the King could have your head chopped off. The British, therefore, evolved an adversarial system of government and we have made it worse. Our government consists of criminal politicians who immediately annoint themselves as VIPs and VVIPs and kleptocrats who believe that their brief is to keep the people under control and not to serve them. It is time that we got rid of a system that treats the taxpayer with contempt and passed laws that forces our government to serve us. The VIP system is an abomination and must be junked. Every letter must be answered within seven days. Every application must be approved within one month or clear written explanations must provided as to why it has been refused. Better still let sarkari fellows actually do our work. For instance get the tax fellows to file our returns every year. Why should have to pay an accountant to file our return and then live in fear of being summoned to the tax office to answer questions? Our passports and driving licenses should be renewed at home by a fellow who will come by appointment. Any lapse would be punished by deductions in salary. Becoming naxals is not the answer. Let us force the sarkari fellows to work and maybe all the garbage will not be so eager to stand for elections.

The unrest in South Africa's townships are due to broken promises. More than one person, interviewed on tv, claimed that they had been promised houses. These are people living in shacks and would never have the money to pay for one square yard of land never mind an entire house. This means that some politician had promised free houses to poor people to get votes. This seems to be the pattern across the entire developing world. Institutions such as the World Bank say that poor people must be lifted out of poverty. The only way to do so is to educate every child in the country. Unfortunately it is the poor who continue to produce large number of children when they clearly cannot afford to feed, clothe and educate them. The reason they produce so many is that they can send the children out to work and enjoy their earnings. They do not see any advantage in education. After twelve years of school and four years of college the child may earn a lot but may not share with his parents so the parents opt for profit now rather than uncertain wealth in the future. Poor uneducated people have no regard for their children, their country or the climate. They want to squeeze as much out of the system and their ever increasing numbers mean that crooked politicians will promise whatever they want. Clearly this cannot go on. No country can go on throwing freebies at ever increasing poor. China recognised the danger and forced a one child policy derided by every pundit and bleeding heart. This may be why China has managed to grow at 9% even in such a severe recession. The Chinese may be like cockroaches but there may be something to learn even from them.

A case that has caused a lot of debate in the US recently concerns one Prof. Gates, an African American, who found himself unable to open his front door. A woman saw him fumbling with the key and called the police who arrested him despite the professor showing the officer his identity. The professor accused the police of being racist although a black officer said that the professor over reacted and that he would have done the same thing. Even though they have a black president African Americans feel that they are not respected by the whites. It may be because Africans treat each other worse all across Africa. You look across the huge continent and all you see is famine, filth, corruption, murder and mayhem. People judge you by how your politicians and senior civil servants behave and how they treat their own countrymen. An example was the digustingly shameless footlicking that was on show when Hillary Clinton visited India. The way every idiot was fawning on her was cringe making. Worse is on show in Nepal where a British actress, Joanna Lumley, is being called a goddess because she campaigned for retired Gurkha soldiers to be allowed to stay in Britain. When the Prime Minister thanked her for helping his own people settle in Britain he is, in effect, saying that Nepal is dung heap of a country. Contrast that with the way Israeli leaders are dealing with Secretary of Defence, Gates, and the middle east envoy, Mitchell, visiting the country and you know why jews have survived centuries of persecution to be so powerful today.

There is serious unrest in townships in South Africa. Black South Africans feel they have been waiting too long to see any material benefit to their lives even though ANC has been in uninterrupted power for almost two decades. After Nelson Mandela things have been going steadily downhill. Although an educated man Thabo Mbeki is said to have been too autocratic and unwilling to listen to anyone. Crime was allowed to get out of hand. A Medical Research Council study found that about a quarter of all men admitted to having raped a woman at some time and one in twenty admitted to doing it more than once. That is a shocking statistic. Mbeki's denial of HIV allowed AIDS to become an epidemic and this encouraged tuberculosis to become a leading killer. From MDR TB we now have XDR or extreme drug resistant TB. Mbeki's support of Mugabe has been the main reason why this murderous monster is still in power in Zimbabwe. Eventually Mbeki lost the confidence of the ANC and was forced to resign. Jacob Zuma is now the President, a man who managed to dodge rape and corruption charges and says he took precaution against HIV by taking a shower. A polygamist who sings violent songs to energise his supporters he now has to confront rebellion by his own people. Couple of days ago he warned that anyone indulging in violence will be severely dealt with. Isn't that what Mugabe says?

Yesterday it was the turn of the Kurds to hold elections in the autonomous zone in the northern third of Iraq and as usual there are allegations of vote rigging. However election cheating is the least of the problems facing the Kurds, the Iraqi government and the Americans. Since the Americans established a no fly zone over the north of Iraq the Kurds have prospered. How much of it is due to Kurdish enterprise in a land locked region and how much is because of money spent on their development is impossible to judge because everything in the english press is likely to be propaganda put out by the Americans and the British. Anyway prosper they have and Talabani, the President of Iraq, is a Kurd. The Kurds are aspiring to an independent state with oil income from Kirkuk to make them rich. However, as everything in the middle east, it is probably not that simple. Sunnis and Turkmen people living in the Kirkuk area want a share of the oil wealth and this may result in civil war once the American forces leave. Turkey in the north is dead against an independent Kurdistan and will not hesitate to send in its troops. If civil strife breaks out it will have a ready made excuse. The only restraint on Turkey would be serious negotiations with a view to full EU membership but that is not going to happen. Two founding members, Germany and France, seem to be against it and if Turkey feels rejected it not pay heed to any calls for restraint. Obama can pull troops out of Iraq but he may not be able to get Iraq off his plate.

Another election and another robbery, this time in Kyrgyzstan. Before that it was in Iran, before that in Kenya and before that in Zimbabwe. It is impossible to remember all the smaller countries in Africa where elections are blatantly rigged. It follows the same dreary pattern. The opposition cries foul. Crowds come on to the streets. The Election Commissioner, who has been appointed by the incumbent claims that elections were fair. The cheat claims it as a triumph of democracy and then lets lose the police to kill and beat up opposition supporters into submission. The international community goes through a phase of handwringing and then says let us get on with it for the sake of the poor and the cheat always wins in the end. Subtler version occurred in Georgia and, of course, we should not forget the hanging chads and a hung supreme court. Presidents of Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia have taken the preliminary steps by getting rid of the mandatory two term limits and we wait for the same disgusting hypocrisy to play out in these countries. Perhaps alarmed by events in other countries Hondurans took pre emptive action by throwing the incumbent president out of the country in his pajamas when he tried to hold a referendum to allow him to stand for another term. Now, however, all the countries are united in their support for the ousted president and have threatened severe sanctions against Honduras. Seems shocking that politicians everywhere are ready to do business with cheats and dictators but gang up if you try preventive measures. All politicians are crypto dictators and fascists.

The worst of all scenarios is here. The monsoon has failed over large parts of India, mainly the grain producing areas. This means that electricity production will fall hitting industrial production in turn. Rise in food prices will hit the poorest sections of society causing famine. Already over 40% of our children are malnourished and any further reduction in food will surely result in deaths. It is not a question of simply buying food from other countries. After dishing out bribes to win the elections the government is strapped for cash. It has to borrow over Rs 4 trillion from the markets and already the bank chiefs are warning of hardening of interest rates. Desperate ministers keep reassuring us that the monsoon is only late and it will be alright in the end. The real joker is the housing market. There has been no correction in property prices as have occured in other countries. The reason is that Indians buy properties by paying more than half the price in cash or black money to avoid exorbitant taxes. The rest may be mortgage. This sets a lower limit on prices as the owner cannnot afford foreclosure under any circumstances as he will lose all the money paid in cash. The housing bubble is, therefore, very much intact. The politicians were hoping that a good monsoon stimulating rural demand combined with economic recovery in the rest of the world will cover up their sins. Fortune, it seems, is not as forgiving. As always we have to rely onn crossed fingers. Ram bharose.

Seems that former President of India Abdul Kalam was physically searched while boarding a Continental Airline flight to the US including taking of his shoes. Righteous indignation pouring out. But why? The US has no concept of VIP or VVIP wherein elected criminals are protected by elite commandoes and allowed to flout all rules with scant thought. In Delhi, our capital city, the roads around the US embassy are restricted for Indians. If stop walking the embassy security will ask you to move on and if you argue that the road belongs to us Indians the Delhi Police will beat you up. Many thousands of Indians have died to terrorists but can we restrict Americans around our embassy in Washington? When our Prime Minister visits the US he does not merit any mention in their newpapers but Hillary Clinton was all over our newspapers and television news channels with politicians and kleptocrats competing with each other to be photographed with her. A leading english daily of yesterday has her on pages one, twice on page 7 and once on page 11. Americans know that India is a nation of chamchas led by criminals and boot lickers. After all their companies are paying huge bribes and must have proofs so they can do what they like. Finally it was the last Congress led government which refused a second term to Mr. Kalam. The Americans know that too.

The Taliban in Afghanistan have captured an American soldier and released his video on the internet. He is very young and in the video says that he does not think he will return back home. It is gut wrenching to watch and must have killed his parents. The Pentagon has said that releasing the video was an act of propaganda and against international norms. Trouble is that the American army has no moral authority to preach to anyone else when they have been torturing Afghans at Bagram Air Force base for years. In the initial assault on the country they allowed Dostum's forces to kill hundreds of unarmed prisoners . Even now indiscriminate bombing of suspected hideouts are killing thousands of innocent Afghans. Predator drones regularly bomb targets in Waziristan killing civilians. It is to be hoped that no one among the captors has served in Bagram prison or had a brother killed by the Americans. No doubt Americans will spend lots of money to buy intelligence about the young man's whereabouts and if possible to secure his release and one hopes they will be successful. If the soldier dies then the responsibilty will rest squarely Bush/Cheney policy of using torture and brutality in their fight against terror. Maybe that is why Cheney has been so aggressive of late.

Seems to me there is a simple rule about building statues and monuments. They are best constructed after death. For instance Mount Rushmore still stands as monument to past US Presidents without any objection while the statue of Abraham Lincoln seated on a chair at Lincoln memorial is a must for tourists to Washington. Likewise the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square will probably stand for another century and if anything happens to these monuments the respective government will probably spend public funds to get them repaired. India has its fair share of statues to various dead personalities of the past from Mahatma Gandhi to Rabindra Nath Tagore who are revered to this day. The problem arises if you build statues and monuments to yourself during your lifetime especially with public money. We all saw what happened to Saddam's statue in Baghdad. When it was toppled delighted Iraqis hit it with shoes and slippers. Eventually Saddam was hanged. Ceausescu built a huge palace for himself in Bucharest, Ruamania. He and his wife were shot as common criminals. People who build statues of themselves should remember they will die in a few years while their statues will last a long time. They will remain as invitations to future generations to show their contempt as they think fit.

Seems that our esteemed Prime Minister has promised his Paki counterpart that in future terror talks will be delinked from peace talks. Not sure what this means. Does it mean that the Pakis have succeeded in making itself equal to India as victims of terror? Or does it mean that we will be discussing peace and brotherhood of man with them while the ISI sends more mad dogs into India to kill our innocents? Why after 62 years of constant murders do we fail to understand that every Paki is a terrorist, if not active then as supporter? The Paki Prime Minister, Gilani said later that Dr. Singh was ' magnanimous.' That is a terrifying word because it seems to indicate that India has given away something major to the benefit of Pakistan. Yet to the surprise of all Dr. Singh claimed later that peace talks are conditional on Pakistan taking action against terrorists. Is our Prime Minister saying different things to different people? If so which is the truth? Meanwhile Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton is coming to India. No doubt she is carrying a message from her Paki loving boss urging India to talk peace with Pakistan because the life of one American soldier is more important than the whole of India. No doubt, also, our boot licking politicians and kleptocrats will tug there forelocks and accept her dictat instead of telling her to go jump. Wonder who is more dangerous- our enemies or our politicians.

While everyone lauds China's economy it remains one of the most barbaric countries in the world. Its people are enslaved by a murderous regime which thinks nothing of driving tanks over innocent people. It is not surprising, therefore, that they are attracted towards equally brutal and crooked dictators probably feeling comfortable in such company. China has always been a haven for the Pol Pots of this world and today is the chief supporter of assorted thugs such as in Burma, North Korea and Sudan. It has paid billions of dollars to these thugs and in exchange is plundering the natural resources of these countries. China has over 50000 workers in Algeria, an oil producing state ruled by the dictator Bouteflike. For over a decade this brotherhood of bastards has worked wonderfully to the advantage of all except for the exploited people of Burma, North Korea and Africa who are dying of hunger. Suddenly this comfortable brotherhood has been shaken up by another bunch of rabid killers, the Al Qaeda. After the recent killing of muslim Uighers in Xinjiang province Al Qaeda has issued an invitation to its followers to kill Chinese workers in Africa. In panic China has issued an advisory to its people working in Africa. Must confess that I shall enjoy this one.

The British like to say that they are not overtly religious. This makes them less emotional and more logical in their thinking and how they run their country. They proudly point to falling attendances in their churches as evidence and sneer at Americans whose religious fanaticism interferes in rational discussion about subjects such as abortion or homosexuality. Yet every year around this time a bunch of Protestants, called the Orange Order, march through Catholic areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland dressed as clowns in orange coloured clothing and heavily protected by the police. This, apparently, is to commemorate some sort of victory in battle over the Catholics in the distant past. To Catholics this is a painful reminder of British brutality, of potato famines and bloody sunday and naturally they react to this blatant taunting by throwing stones and sticks. This gives the police an excuse to beat up the Catholics and vilify them as thugs. Sure the Protestants have the right to dress up as clowns and march up and down like idiots all year if they so desire but there is no need to go through Shankill Road just to goad the Catholics. By their incredible brutality the British have managed to bring Sinn Fein under control but the IRA could yet revive unless they feel they are respected as citizens. Brutality built an empire in the past and it seems to still guide official British policy.

In August, 2006 Prof. Sabharwal, head of department of political science of Madhav College, Ujjain was beaten to death during student elections in front of other students. Inspite of so many witnesses the six accused have been freed by the sessions judge because the prosecution ' miserably failed ' to prove its case. Meanwhile there is tension in Kashmir because police destroyed evidence in the case of rape and murder of two young women. No surprise. Police in India are under the control of politicians who are villainous scum. Poorly paid and demoralised they are vilified by the people who see them as enemies. Half the police are used for guarding politicians instead of arresting and hanging the criminals. If they do arrest a criminal politicians interfere to get him off. They are used as collectors as in organised crime. Their main work is to create traffic obstructions and then collect fines from motorists. In Delhi traffic fines have been increased from Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000. Previously you paid a bribe of Rs. 50 to be let off but now you have to pay at least Rs. 500. It is a win win solution. The government earns more without being cursed for increasing taxes. The earning of the entire police force has jumped because the money is shared all the way up the chain thus effectively increasing police pay without increasing government expense. By keeping the entire force dependent on immoral income the politicians keep their hands on the leash. The public cannot complain because we are told that this is being done to reduce accidents and save lives. So why are Indian roads so hazardous? It is because everyone gets a licence by paying touts and hence no one knows how to drive. Who is in charge of driving licences? The police of course. Beautiful.

The Wall Street Journal, India has an article which says that the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI is formulating a policy to tackle corruption in India. They are trying to decide whether to go after the top officials or the two penny clerks because, apparently, the government is worried about India's image as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. What a laugh. It is the Congress party which has been in power for 52 of the 62 years since independence and is solely responsible for corrupting the entire social fabric. Corruption is how they maintain their hold on power and they will do anything to keep it. If they are serious I have a few suggestions. Make the police and all the investigative agencies autonomous answerable to committees with public participation. Pass a law that all cases must finish within two years. When cases take decades the accused very often die before the verdict. Shut down the IAS school and recruit top officials from the market. Cut down the number of kleptocrats by 80%. Pay them not to come to work. This instantly cuts down the number of thieves and stops dilution of responsibility. Stop bribing journalists so that the press is free and not freeloading as at present. Pass a law so that no first degree relative of an elected politician may stand for elected office until 25 years have passed from the day the politician leaves office. Will it happen? Not a hope. It is like asking a cat to guard your milk.

China has promised to execute as terrorists all those who take part in protests in its muslim province of Xinjiang. Uighars, who are muslims, killed some Han Chinese in rioting and now the Han are demanding revenge. They obviously do not see anything wrong in the migration of huge numbers of Han people so that the Uighers are becoming a minority in their own province. The same tactic has worked very well in Tibet where the locals are now a minority in their own land and are employed as menials by their Han masters. In Sri Lanka, doctors who had reported about Tamil civilian casualties have said that they were forced to do so by the Tigers. After months in prison, where they must have been given the third degree, it is not much of a surprise. Meanwhile at least 200 innocent Tamils die everyday of disease and beatings in the concentration camps that they are confined in. In Iran the Basij militia continue to beat up anyone protesting against the stolen elections. It is so easy for those in power. Commit any crime, do anything you like and if people protest then they are either criminals or terrorists. Yes Naxals are terrorists because of the methods they have adopted but why have people resorted to armed struggle 62 years after independence against their own government? After all Congress won the elections in May and so claim support of the people. Pity the people who have no choice.

Reacting to President Sarkozy's attempt to ban the burqa in France a hardline Islamic cleric, Anjem Chaudhary has called Mr. Sarkozy's wife, Carla Bruni a prostitute. Writing on Islam4UK website he says, 'Sarkozy may be content with being wed to a prostitute who flaunts her body to the world believing it to be righteous conduct, but he is reminded that a Muslim is not this shallow and depraved.' Mr. Chaudhary should be reminded that it is depraved to abuse a man's wife especially since she is unlikely to retaliate. It is also very depraved to take advantage of life in a liberal western country where freedom of speech allows dissent even if it is totally disgusting. Would he dare to criticise rulers of any muslim country while living there? I would advise Mr. Chaudhary to travel to the middle east where buying 'wives' is the norm. In the middle east it is customary to pay money to the father of a girl and rich old men frequently pay large sums to marry 17 or 18 year old girls. It was common to see girls of that age being admitted to hospital with hysterical illness just to avoid a dirty old man. Mr. Chaudhary should know that, for the rest of the world, a prostitute is a woman who is bought for sexual purpose. How does he categorise the wives of the middle east? Difficult, no?

The coup in Honduras that deposed Jose Zelaya as President has united every political villain in the world. The UN General Assembly which can never agree on anything of benefit to the world was unanimous in its condemnation as was the Organisation of American States. No one is condemning Zelaya who was trying to corrupt the constitution to stand for another term. Chavez and Morales have already done it. Politicians all over the world are united in their belief that winning an election gives them the power to ride roughshod over every rule of decency. Firstly, very few politicians actually have any mandate at all. People have become so sick of lying scoundrels who have the money to become candidates that vast numbers do not bother to vote. Getting 50% of the 60% who bother to vote gives you only some 30% of the total and is no mandate at all. Yet politicians all over are united in their belief that an election victory is an advance acceptance by the public of any corruption that they wish to carry out. Thus Berlusconi used the parliament for immunity from prosecution for bribery and other charges. The MP's expenses scam in Britain is another example. In poorer countries elections are made meaningless by bribes to the poor majority in the form of cheap food or free electricity that the country can ill afford. Having squandered Venezuela's oil wealth Chavez is in a frenzy. Indian politicians love the poor who give them the excuse to tax us to death. Also competition to survive brings down the price of labour helping companies to make huge profits. Democracy has become a shangrila for villains. We need citizen's corporations to cut down on the power of politicians to end the world.

Seems that Nepal government is thinking of issuing trousers without pockets to all employees at the country's airports. Shows that there is still some innocence and honour left in Nepal. It shows that the amounts of bribes must be small to fit into trouser pockets. Secondly, the government believes that such a simple stratagem as taking away pockets will stop bribes because people are not really criminals. Unfortunately, such simple tactics will fail spectacularly in India because our kleptocrats are career criminals. Why would a person choose to become a civil servant, pushing endless files, cheating, lying, sucking upto bosses for promotions or a lucrative transfer or carrying shoes of politicians on their heads unless the person is useless and is getting in through the backdoor of reservation or is a congenital criminal wanting to get rich quick? If pockets are eliminated in India kleptocrats will think nothing of using their chaddis or even their orifices. It would be impractical to check all chaddis and orifices everyday. Also our kleptocrats think big and steal in tens of millions. Whenever an official is arrested we learn of bank boxes full of cash, many properties and luxury cars. Indians are said to hold about $ 1.5 trillion in numbered accounts abroad. No wonder we are always voted one of the most corrupt countries in the world.