Abort

The best way to understand a situation is to play the part/act, getting into the shoes of the person undergoing that trauma. The role of Haresh Mehta, husband of Nikita Mehta has been rolling around in my head. Nikita Mehta is the pregnant mother of a 24 week old foetus which the doctors say may have a congenital heart defect. The Court ruled that a predicted disability is no ground for abortion this rejecting the couple’s request.

I believe the decision to go for abortion is a parental jurisdiction. The hospitals/courts  just need to make sure that parents intent of late abortion (anything after 20 weeks) is only done in cases that would result in a child born with a congenital disorder that would be fatal or associated with significant morbidity; The responsibility lies with the parents. If they think they are incapable financially or would not be able to endure the trauma   of supporting a child with deformities, government has no right to force them in having the children. Parents being the primary care giver would be responsible for the upbringing.

“We may ignore the terrorism, but terrorism won’t ignore you”

Two days of consecutive blasts have left me rattled. I ignored the first one but the second one scared me. The news that Surat was going to be attacked on the third day brought back fears in my mind reminiscent of childhood in Kashmir. There have been usual speeches and condemnations from the people in the higher echelons of government.
There was a strong outburst from some of my friends who have now lived in US for years, have observed the high value this country places on a life of a single individual. They suggested something called quote “proportional response”, “India showing some balls” and “fucking them in their backyard”. All this rhetoric is necessary and suggested action surely required but   nuking some terrorist’s camps is like a story in “Durga Saptashati” where one of the incarnations of “Shakti” kills a demon but when the drop of his blood falls on earth one more demon is recreated.

Terrorism is like prostitution. Condemnations and powerful speeches won’t stop it. The solution is not only to round up everyone who practices it. The solution should also contain something which stops people from both availing and providing this service.

The problem lies within us rather than across the Indus. As Indians we have grown up in a culture which  considers loss of life to be a small affair where the price of life is too low and losing a life is a trivial matter probably that’s the reason, we lose maximum lives to terrorism and stand 2nd in this list only after Iraq.(source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_loses_maximum_lives_to_terror/articleshow/2312796.cms ); the first  part of the solution definitely lies in increasing the price tag we put on a life of an individual Indian. As written  by Ajay Sahni in Outlook quote “The gravest threat to India’s security is not Pakistan, not the ISI, not terrorism, but the limitless acts of omission, the venality and the ineptitude of the political and administrative executive, and the complete absence of accountability in the top echelons of government” (http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080728&fname=ajai&sid=1).
We the people of this country and our government  have to be more accountable  for each and every life that is lost due to unnatural reasons.

Second part of the solution needs to concentrate on prevention and tackling the problem at its root. We all need to understand terrorism in India is just not due to religious reasons but as proved by Naxal’s, Bodo and Prepak in north-eastern regions it has also originated due to socio-economic conditions. We have to make sure that polices being designed in the power corridors of Delhi are actually being implemented in the villages and towns of India. People who commit crime (murder and rape) in the name of the God are tried and justice is served that’s the only way we can make the minorities believe in the Indian dream. As I watch this video I am ashamed that this man is walking free and am sure what is being depicted in this video would surely accelerate the process of a Muslim youth becoming a terrorist. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfnTl_Fwvbo)
 
I would like to classify the above two solutions as the part of the internal approach ,  the external approach as we all know of consists of letting  world know that India has the  ability and courage to strike back and strike hard….