The DMK's rising sun gets a chance to shine in Tamil Nadu after a decade of waiting ⁠— MK Stalin will be the next Chief Minister

Tamil Nadu state assembly election 2021: Winning candidates across all constituencies

DMK is poised to make a comeback in Tamil Nadu after a decade with the MK-Stalin led alliance in the lead

As the second phase of the <keyword id="43573" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="General-Election">general election</keyword> takes off in India, voters in 11 states and 1 union territory— West Bengal, Odisha, <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword>, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Manipur and Puducherry — were up early queuing up at the election booths. Nearly 5 million people are eligible to vote in the state of West Bengal with a nearly equal distribution between men and women, albeit there are only 87 registered third-gender voters in the three constituencies going to vote in the state today today. And Puducherry, while being a union territory, is home to nearly one million voters who have been facing <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/india/puducherry-congress-tries-to-win-back-sole-mp-seat/articleshow/68899027.cms">increasing</a> debt and a fall in social initiatives due to lower devolution of taxes from the central government. A lot of voters and politicians are wondering if the second phase of polling will be marred with problems of EVM malfunctions and poll booth violence like evidenced during the first phase of the general election in India. Two incidents of poll booth violence have already been reported in West Bengal. In Uttar Pradesh, four of the contesting politicians — Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati — have been <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/top-story/up-election-2019-after-yogi-mayawati-ec-bans-azam-maneka-from-campaigning/story/337566.html">banned</a> from campaigning by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for issuing controversial comments. For Tamil Nadu, the days leading up to the election were a little chaotic after the Income Tax (IT) department seized over 1,350 kilograms of gold and nearly ₹14.8 million which was allegedly stashed to bribe voters. Elections in Vellore, one of Tamil Nadu’s most-watched constituencies, were cancelled altogether after ₹1.05 million was found at Durai Murugan’s house, the father of Kathir Anand — a DMK candidate in the district. Another ₹115.3 was also found at Poonjolai Srinivasan’s cement godown, a known associate of Murugan. Even Maharashtra hasn’t had an easy go of it with over 15,000 cases of alleged Model Code of Conduct violations <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/lok-sabha-elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019-over-15-000-code-of-conduct-cases-filed-in-maharashtra/story-luAZtetS7fq6EUDRsYztmI.html">registered</a> since March 10.The Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Dilip Shinde, has stated that over 700,000 officers and employees of the states are involved in keeping elections in Maharashtra peaceful and efficient for the 10 seats of the state going to the polls today. <div type="ExtQuote" text="The enforcing departments (Income Tax and Police) also lodged total 15,095 FIRs against the offenders for violating the model code of conduct, with most of the cases pertaining to storage and distribution of illicit liquor, followed by possession of firearms." auname="Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dilip Shinde"></div>

 If voters aren’t being bribed, then they’re being threatened. Kawasi Lakhma, a Congress minister from Chhattisgarh, has been <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/general-elections-2019-chhattisgarh-congress-mla-kawasi-lakhma-threatens-voters-with-electric-shocks-2024279">telling</a> voters that they vote against his party, the EVM machine will deliver an electric shock. While Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu struggle with voter bribery issues, Bihar and Karnataka are more concerned with voter turnout. The city of Bengaluru — the Silicon Valley of India — in particular, has issues of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/election-2019-gold-confiscated-in-tamil-nadu-ahead-of-second-phase/articleshow/68933494.cms">voter turnout</a> while Bihar’s <a href="https://www.livemint.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections/bihar-elections-2019-patna-is-missing-a-whole-generation-of-millennials-1555350536677.html">brain drain</a> means that a lot of its eligible millennial voters don’t actually live in the state anymore. As Manipur goes to polls again, the Returning Officer (RO)The Returning Officer (RO) of the Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, Haobam Rosita, has <a href="https://www.newsclick.in/returning-officer-recommends-re-poll-19-polling-stations-manipur">recommended</a> that re-polling needs to take place at 19 of the polling stations from the first phase of the general elections in the state. Among the many reasons that Rosita cites for repolling, the most disturbing is probably one of the constituencies showed that voter turnout in excess of 100% and that the polling booth for the Najang Village was put up at a non-designated location. In order to keep disruptive elements from affecting the polls similarly, the west Indian states of West Bengal and Assam are <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/2nd-phase-tight-security-in-five-election-bound-districts/articleshow/68868180.cms">increasing</a> security in constituencies along the border — especially in districts classified as ‘vulnerable’ and ‘critical’. And unfortunately, for Jammu and Kashmir, none of the contesting political parties are talking about the environmental issues which have a heavy bearing on the state’s water supply as well as its tourism industry, which has been suffering as more and more of the state’s green capital is being destroyed. The third phase of the general election will kick off on April 23 covering 14 states — Assam, Goa, Karnataka, Odisha, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and West Bengal. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/election-2019-gold-confiscated-in-tamil-nadu-ahead-of-second-phase/articleshow/68933494.cms">Over a ton of gold seized a day ahead of polls shows the depth of the rot in Tamil Nadu</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/job-losses-will-haunt-bengaluru-indias-silicon-valley-as-it-goes-to-polls-today/articleshow/68930893.cms">Job losses will haunt Bengaluru, India’s Silicon Valley, as it goes to polls today</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lok-sabha-elections-2019-second-phase-of-polling-in-tamil-nadu-voters-issues/articleshow/68930595.cms">Tamil Nadu’s angry voters have a small oil field, a big highway, a medical entrance test, and a police shootout in mind</a>

Here’s what the second phase of the Indian general election has in store for the 11 states polling today

Election 2019 DMK Candidate list for TamilNadu

While on one hand <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> star <keyword id="2823" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akshay-Kumar">Akshay Kumar</keyword> was not even nominated for the role in the movie <keyword id="433624" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rustom">Rustom</keyword> in Filmfare Awards this year, he has managed to grab the most prestigious film award for the same. 
 
The actor was announced the winner of the National Film Award for Best Actor for his role as Captain Rustom Pawri in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/Rustom-release-Akshay-Kumars-Rustom-is-inspired-by-this-real-life-story-and-it-is-a-must-read/articleshow/53663632.cms">semi-autobiographical movie</a>, based on the story of Naval Officer K. M. Nanavati. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/akshay-kumar-to-play-pad-man-a-movie-on-how-an-indian-manmade-sanitary-napkins-for-village-women/articleshow/56390033.cms">Akshay Kumar to play Pad Man: A movie on how an Indian man made sanitary napkins for village women</a> 
 
Sonam Kapoor's critically acclaimed 'Neerja,' based on the life and death of braveheart airhostess <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/movies/Sonam-Kapoor-To-Play-Neerja-Bhanot-In-Biopic/articleshow/46766082.cms">Neerja Bhanot</a> was honoured with the Best Film Award. 
These are the 64th National Film Awards, and the jury was headed by director Priyadarshan. 
 
The awards were held at the National Media Centre, where Ajay Devgn's 'Shivaay' also won the award for Best Special Effects. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-where-bollywood-celebrities-travelled-in-2016/articleshow/56232780.cms">Here’s where Bollywood celebrities travelled in 2016</a> 
 
Here is the complete list of winners: 
 
Best Actor (male): Akshay Kumar ('Rustom') 
 
Best Actor (female): Surabhi Lakshmi ('Minnaminungu') 
 
Best Director: Rajesh Mapuskar ('Ventilator') 
 
Best Supporting Actress - Zaira Wasim ('<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/latest/aamir-khans-dangal-is-the-highest-grossing-hindi-film-of-all-time-beating-pk-sultan-and-bajrangi-bhaijan/articleshow/56405877.cms">Dangal</a>') 
 
Best Hindi Film: 'Neerja' 
 
Special Mention: Kadwi Hawa, Mukti Bhavan, Adil Hussain for 'Mukti Bhavan' and Sonam Kapoor for 'Neerja' 
 
Best Visual Effects: 'Shivaay' 
 
Best Film on Social Issue: 'Pink' 
 
Best Children Film: 'Dhanak' (Hindi) 
 
Best Supporting Actress: Zaira Wasim ('Dangal') 
 
Best Tamil Film: 'Joker' 
 
Best Malayalam Film: 'Maheshinte Prathikaaram' 
 
Best Kannada Film: 'Reservation' 
 
Best Lyrics: Dharma Durai (Endha Pakkam) 
 
Best Child Artist: Kunju Devam, Ardish Praveen, and Shaj Pathak 
 
Best Action Director: Puli Murugan 
 
Jury Award: Mohanlal 
 
Best Female Playback Singer: Iman Chakraborty 
 
Best Male Playback Singer: Sunder Iyer 
 
Best Screenplay (original): Syam Pushkaran ('Maheshinte Prathikaram') 
 
Best Screenplay (adapted): Sanjay Krishnaji patel (Dashakriya) 
 
Best Editing: Rameshwar ('Ventilator') 
 
Sound designer: Jayadevan (Kaadu Pookunna Neram) 
 
Best production design: 24 
 
Best Costume Designer: Sachin 
 
Best Environmental film including agriculture: 'The Tiger Who Crossed The Line'. 
 
Best Make-up Artist: MK Ramakrishna 
 
Best Music Direction: Babu Padmanabha 
 
Best Non-Feature film: 'Fireflies in the Abyss' 
 
Best Short Fiction: 'Aaba' 
 
Best Educational Film: 'The Waterfall' 
 
Best Book On Cinema: Lata Surgatha 
 
Best Biographical/Historical reconstruction: 'Zikr Uss Parivash Ka' 
 
Most Film Friendly State: Uttar Pradesh 
 
(Image source Baltana)

Akshay Kumar wins the National Award for best actor; 'Neerja' wins best film

Everything comes at a price even cricket players. Indian Premier League (IPL) season kicked-off amid glitzy ceremony and eight teams will be contesting with each other to win the coveted trophy. 
 
Preparations for the IPL extravaganza had begun long time back with auction of cricketers from India and across the world (minus Pakistan). 
 Owners of the eight teams- Delhi Daredevils, <keyword id="13880" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mumbai-Indians">Mumbai Indians</keyword>, Kings XI Punjab, <keyword id="1494441" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunrisers-Hyderabad">Sunrisers Hyderabad</keyword>, <keyword id="6354467" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata-Knight-Riders">Kolkata Knight Riders</keyword>, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions- retained and even poached players from other teams by bidding a higher amount. 
 
The bidding process threw many surprises as players like Nathu Singh were netted for Rs 3.2 crore. Even M Ashwin was auctioned for Rs 4.5 crore from previous Rs 10 lakh. 
 
Here is a complete list of players who were auctioned for crore of rupees, taking the whole cricket festival a notch higher 
 
 
 
Shane Watson- Rs 9.50 crore 
 
Kane Richardson-Rs 2 crore 
 
Stuart Binny-Rs 2 crore 
 
Jaydev Unadkat- Rs 1.60 crore 
 
John Hastings-Rs 1.30 crore 
 
Mohit Sharma-Rs 6.50 crore 
 
Kyle Abbot- Rs 2.10 crore 
 
Pawan Negi-Rs 8.50 crore 
 
Chris Morris-Rs 7 crore 
 
Carlos Brathwaite- Rs 4.20 crore 
 
Sanju Samson- Rs 4.20 crore 
 
Karun Nair- Rs 4 crore 
 
Rishabh Pant- Rs 1.90 crore 
 
Jos Buttler- Rs 3.80 crore 
 
Nathu Singh- Rs 3.20 crore 
 
Tim Southee- Rs 2.50 crore 
 
Krunal Pandya- Rs 2 crore 
 
Kishore Kamath- Rs 1.40 crore 
 
Yuvraj Singh- Rs 7 crore 
 
Ashish Nehra- Rs 5.50 crore 
 
Deepak Hooda- Rs 4.20 crore 
 
Barinder Sran- Rs 1.20 crore 
 
Aditya Tare- Rs 1.20 crore 
 
Mitchell Marsh- Rs 4.80 crore 
 
Murugan Ashwin- Rs 4.50 crore 
 
Ishant Sharma-Rs 3.80 crore 
 
Kevin Pietersen- Rs 3.50 crore 
 
Irfan Pathan- Rs 1 crore 
 
Thisara Perera-Rs 1 crore 
 
Aaron Finch- Rs 1 crore 
 
Praveen Kumar- Rs 3.50 crore 
 
Dwayne Smith- Rs 2.30 crore 
 
Dale Steyn- Rs 2.30 crore 
 
Dinesh Karthik- Rs 2.30 crore 
 
Dhawal Kulkarni- Rs 2 crore 
 
Eklavya Dwivedi- Rs 1 crore 
 
(Images: Indiatimes)

Cricketers who turned millionaires, thanks to IPL-9

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday referred to a larger constitutional bench the case related to the release of those convicted of the murder of former <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">Prime Minister</keyword> <keyword id="12596" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Rajiv-Gandhi">Rajiv Gandhi</keyword>. The convicts will not be released from prison till further orders, the court said. 
 A bench headed by <keyword id="42759" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chief-Justice">Chief Justice</keyword> P Sathasivam delivered the judgment at 10.30am on Friday. The apex court bench framed several questions to be addressed by the five-judge constitution bench, including after commutation of the death sentence into life imprisonment whether the government can further grant them remission by releasing them. 
 
The Supreme Court said that the constitution bench will also address which government has the power to exercise remission for condemned prisoners under the code of criminal procedure; whether it is the state government or the central government or both. 
Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at Sriperumpudur near Chennai in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991. A special court for Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (POTA) found all the 26 persons guilty of the offence and awarded them death sentence in January 1998. On a referred appeal before the Supreme Court, the death penalties of only four, Nalini, Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, were confirmed. Later, on the recommendation of the Tamil Nadu cabinet, the state's governor commuted the death penalty of Nalini alone into imprisonment for life. 
 Meanwhile, the mercy pleas of the three condemned persons pending before the <keyword id="2540" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="President">President</keyword> for more than 11 years were rejected, and their hanging was scheduled to be held in September 2011. It was, however, stayed by the Madras high court. 
 
On February 18 this year, the apex court commuted their death sentence into imprisonment for life, saying inordinate and unexplained delay in disposing of their mercy pleas by the President would be a valid ground for commuting their sentence. 
 On February 19, Tamil Nadu <keyword id="5269" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Chief-Minister">chief minister</keyword>, J Jayalalithaa, announced their immediate release from prison prematurely by invoking provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Assailing the decision, the Centre rushed to the Supreme Court, which stayed their release on February 20. 
 
Last week, Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, on a visit to Coimbatore, had told a group of reporters there that verdict on the validity of their premature release will be given before his retirement, which is on April 26. Taking exception to the announcement and apprehending a motive at the timing of such a disclosure, former chief minister M Karuananidhi had said the CJI ought not to have discussed such a thing in public, that too while the elections in the state were round the corner.

Rajiv Gandhi Assassins To Stay In Jail, Case Referred To A Larger Constitutional Bench: SC

The bastards are at it again. The teenagers who killed the French priest, and the suicide bomber who attacked Germany, are ardent ass-kissers of <keyword id="174501" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ISIS">ISIS</keyword>. So I have a little message for them and the likes of them. Before that, here' a blast from the past - a rite of passage you have to endure for the conclusion to fit right into your pocket. 
 
- 
 
What you are about to read does not have the blessings of God. He has made it clear that I am on my own on this one. He thinks I am crossing the line. So be it. 
 
This time, I want to be the judge of it. Not him. 
 
April 3, 2015. 
 
I am standing with my wife in a large playground. There are a thousand others. The Good Friday's service is in session. Veneration will soon follow. Hymns are being sung. Wife is mouthing the lyrics. I just stand solemn. By birth - she is an ardent Catholic, and am a liberal Hindu. 
 
The tempo picks up in the air. So many people at once. All dressed up. Prim and proper. 
 
The weather is wealthy. Perfect for the open-air setting. My arms are ambushed by a dense army of goosebumps. I surrender. 
 
There is promise in the atmosphere. Veneration commences. 
 
In the distant background, as we are entranced in the gospels, I hear the maghrib (after sunset prayer) from a mosque that is five buildings away from the playground we are in. 
 
Few notice. Rest ignore. 
 
I wonder – it is just one day, can't the Muslims leave it alone today! Dedicate the day to Christ? 
 
The breeze romances the trees. 
 
In a couple of seconds, from the far end of the street, bells from a Murugan temple start composing their rhythmic charm. It is Panguni Uthiram. A day on which Sri Deivanai married Lord Murugan. 
 
Man, this is not cool. 
 
I apologise to Jesus on behalf of the mosque and the temple. 
 
He sacrifices his life for the people, and he can't get a moment to himself? 
 
Is the mosque doing this on purpose? It is impossible for them to have been oblivious of the fact that today is Good Friday. 
 
What about the temple? Why are they playing foul! 
 
I shut up and listen. It starts to grow on me. The collaboration. Hymns here. Alla-hoo Akbar in this corner. Murgunakku Haro Hara in that corner. 
 
- 
 
The first thing I do is hate the mosque and the temple. If you ask me, Jesus deserved the full day to himself. 
 
In the playground, I see this kid running away from his mother's lap. He stumbles on a chair and falls on his face. The mother runs to his rescue. The kid is not crying. The mother pats his knees and wipes his face. She tells him that he is okay. He acknowledges. He is not a fussy kid. 
 
That is all the kid needed. He needed to be told that he is okay. 
 
I think that is what they are doing. The mosque and the temple. Telling Jesus that they are with him. An act of compassion. Standing by him. Holding his hands. 
 
I can only think of two options: 
 
First, neither the mosque nor the temple has any regard for its brother from another mother, despite sharing the same confederacy. 
 
Second, they feel for Jesus. That is their way of showing compassion. Besides, how else will they? These guys are super awkward socially, and they never show up in person anyway. They might as well use their proprietary branch offices to send a message to the man who was crossed today 1,980+ years ago. 
 
By all means, I will go with the second option. Sounds legitimate. Appropriate. Too candid to plead coincidence. 
 
- 
 
Don't you see that? 
 
They are all with each other, for each other. How do you know that the all three of them are not playing scrabble high over our heads right now? I am sure if you looked up right now you won't see them. Invisibility is their speciality. 
 
None of them hate each other. They are all celebrities in their own leagues. Think about it. If any one God was greater than the other, do you think he would allow the other newer or older God/s to evolve/survive? To be birthed in the first place? The way I see it, everything is God. Everything under the Sun is born and dead out of its own situation and discretion. It is not right to meddle with this sacred order. 
 
Despite their prophecy being solid, how come the Jews denied the claims of Jesus? How come who they refused to accept went on to change the face of the calendar for mankind? If Jesus was the ultimate son of God, how was prophet Mohammed allowed to jump into the picture? 
 
Religion is purely an art form. Each with its own structure, style, subject, and configuration. Each religion comes with its own painting. All subject to interpretation. Every picture is engineered with a special stroke, colour, depth, ambience, motive, and imagination. Regardless of their origin, form, or appeal, they share one common attribute - the quality of being unique. 
 
Art is to be cherished. It is not to be fought for, kill for, or be killed for. 
 
- 
 
ISIS, you take your God's name and kill folks because they are homosexuals, because they breastfeed in public, because they sell cigarettes. But what about Leishmaniasis? They are ripping your flesh apart and eating you alive, yet you have no punishments for them? 
 
You guys are over 200,000 in numbers. One Tsar Bomba would finish you off neat. To know a little sandfly is doing the job brings me immense joy. It'd not have been so, if you were any other people. 
 
I mean, I can never understand what in the world gives you guys this burning desire to wear your G.I. Joe-gone-rogue Halloween costumes and threaten people toward the blunt decoction of your religious rigidity. 
 
Anybody surrenders to a gun, man. You give me a gun. I will make you pee. It is not the question of who holds the trigger. The concern is what the trigger is going for. When it is for your uptight state of Mohammedan affairs, I feel that I should strangle your balls. Eyes, I mean. You don't need them, since you don't see the world you ought to be seeing it like. 
 
- 
 
All the people, who are not captured by you and videotaped by your 'Jihadi John' make fun of you (by the way is he still alive? Because his death is a greater mystery than the black hole). I am sure you know that. They call you heartless. No wonder it doesn't get to you. I even made a joke about you guys once. It goes like this. 
Q. Hey, you know why ISIS takes heads? 
A. Because they don't have one. 
 
Some kids pick up your flag on the street and what do they become? The Boko Haram. Brilliant. 
 
There are several other insurgency groups. But I am going to pick on you guys, since you guys seem to be having excellent PR, world over. 
 
Listen, all I have to tell you is this. The ISIS, the Boko Haram, the Hindus who led the burn attacks on churches in Delhi, the infants of the future crusades . . . why the hell can't we all be together? Come on, come shake my hand. I am a good guy. Come to my house. My mom makes this amazing avakai pongal. Taste it. Let's celebrate life. Not celibate it. 
 
I could come to your place too (so long as you don't kill me or put anything in my bum or mouth) and let me eat your fatteh. Let's exchange cultures. Let's exchange goodwill. Let's give each other life. We have facebook. We could be on each others' lists. Or as how Shay Mitchell put it in Mother's Day 'Tweet at me'? 
 
- 
 
Word is, it is not Leishmaniasis, it is the USA killing you guys using a sophisticated biological weapon, since you guys stirred a shitstorm in a pisscup. That might even be my own conspiracy. I even have vague theories to believe that you are the CIA's bastard children. The Snows sent to guard the wall. 
 
In the end all that matters is what you decide to do and do. If they or someone else asks you to eat shit, don't. 
 
If anyone out there is still waiting for the “real” son of God, well, you will only be spared the moon to dance with. It is just you and me now. Let's be good to each other. Our natural time will come anyway. Until then, if you are still interested in fighting something - take care of that mortality of yours. But so long as we are alive, can we forget about your religion, my religion, and their religion? Pray in your will. On your bill. Don't pry on another's. Don't tab another for your shit. 
 
Gods don't kill each other, man. Which is why we have so many. We have billions of Gods. You are a God to me. So am I to this cause. 
 
What's sinful is to not upgrade an amazing lifestyle such as realisation. 
 
The oldest and the foremost religion in the world is evolution. The rest is a combustion of mankind's masturbation. 
 
ISIS, as my wife would quote, "ISIS, you have put us in a crisis"; so before you can plunder us completely and impregnate Europe with Sharia like how the Nostradamus of the Balkans - Baba Vanga has predicted, here's what I have to rub my tits on your face for: 
 
Islam, like others, is still a religion. A religion is a business. A business needs people. Consumers. Consumers want benefits. Ones that fit their aspirations. If you give them something ill-fitting, they will discard it. If you want the world to wear your religion, you better have it well-stitched and make it look clean. Right now, the way you are flaunting it, it looks like you got into a drain and couldn't care less to get cleaned up. 
 
I am not sure if Islam will be the religion of the future. I have nothing against it. Nothing for it. What I do have, is fear. Because what you are asking of, or expecting people to do is insane. It's like my birth mom is still alive and I love her very much, yet you come, stone her head, kill her right in front of my eyes and then come tell me, "Call me, mommy." 
 
Fearing for my life, I just might. But deep inside I am going to curse you. Hate you real good. For you killed my mother. And you will never take her place. 
 
 
P.S. The offer of coming over to my place is valid only for those who have read the full article, and the offer expires upon reading this article.

ISIS - IT'S TIME YOU HAD AN ABORTION

The recent phenomenon of <keyword id="6355333" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Brexit">Brexit</keyword> where Britain decided through a referendum to leave <keyword id="6355110" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="European-Union">European Union</keyword> has brought the debate on perils of a <keyword id="6354914" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Democracy">democracy</keyword> back to the fore. Back home the episode of the release of Udta Punjab and the tale of ‘death’ of the writer Perumal Murugan are some of the instances which have put a question mark over the idea of democracy. Although the judiciary came out with landmark judgments on both the issues, but it certainly has initiated the debate that “too much of democracy” can lead to its own undoing. This takes me back to one of the discussions, which I happened to be a part of, on advantages of a benevolent dictator in a country like India against a struggling democracy. While this can be a good exercise to understand the perspective of people in favour of democracy or those opposing it, it is important to clearly identify the issues hurting the idea of Indian democracy today. 
 
There exists no single model or concept which can clearly define a democracy and provide us with a benchmark to analyse India’s democratic performance so far. Instead it has been an amalgamation of theories and ideas which have evolved into our current understanding of a democracy. This underscores the complication associated with the process and makes it difficult to compare Indian way of democracy with other countries. There have been efforts to quantify the performance at a global level. One example is the recent initiative (2006) of Economic Intelligence Unit to compile a Democracy Index. The Democracy Index measures the state of democracy in 167 participating countries based on five broad categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of the government, political participation and political culture. The 2015 ranking is headed by Norway with an aggregate score of 9.93 on a scale of 10. The US is placed at 20th position and India, the largest democracy in the world, is ranked 35th. While the parameters of assessment can be debated on the fact that it does not take into account India’s long struggle for independence and quick democratic turnaround, but more importantly another critical non-political dimension missing in the index is the people and the society which is an essential constituent of a healthy democracy. And this is where the Indian democracy struggles the most. There is a Global Democracy Ranking published by the Democracy Ranking Association in Austria which factors in the dimension of ‘Quality of Society’ and India is ranked 68th in it, well below the likes of Tunisia, Namibia and Senegal. A closer look at the dimension of ‘Quality of Society’, which comprises parameters like socio-economic and gender inequality, knowledge based information society, research and education, health status, environment etc., clearly demonstrates shortcomings of Indian democracy. 
 
One very important factor which has had significant impact on the democratic functioning of our country is knowledge-based critical thinking. India has struggled to establish a society based on scientific temper and rational thinking. Section V of our Constitution, Article 51A on ‘Fundamental Duties’ states that “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India.. To develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. Even our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had evoked scientific temper and critical thinking as “a way of life, a process of thinking, a method of acting and associating with our fellowmen”. Unfortunately, the current education system has not been conducive to promoting reasoning, original ideas, opinions and innovations. The incentives are misaligned right from the students, teachers and administration to all the way to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, in charge of the education policies of the country. The obsession with the quantification of performance in form of marks, revenue or the number of premiere institutes in the country have completely ruined the ecosystem of rational thinking and this is what is hurting the democracy the most. The episode of Bihar Board toppers is a case in point. The ability to logically think through any reasoning and then make an informed choice is what lies at the core of a successful democracy and currently it is not happening in our country. A society driven by rational thinkers has the potential to convert all the violent clashes and conflicts to a healthy debate of ideas and ideologies within a democratic framework. Imagine the impact it can have on all the issues of the country ranging from militant insurgencies to ideological extremism. This will also have a direct impact the performance of political community and the general ‘political culture’ of India. There will be less of rhetoric and more of quality discussion on public policies. The onus of changing demo-crack-tic India to a functional democratic India is both on the policy makers as well as on us. 
 
The criticism of Indian democracy should not be directed towards the inherent nature of its processes and institutions rather more towards the lack of support from its constituents in form of critical thinking and scientific temper. Note that India today stands at a very precarious position with its demography and any form of conformism without reasoning can result in a system which would be superficially democratic but inherently a dictatorship.. benevolent or not !! 
 
(The article has been authored by an IIM Bangalore student - <keyword id="3504238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rishabh-Raj">Rishabh Raj</keyword>, and all the views expressed above are that of the author.)

You Searched For "Murugan" and got 10 results

The DMK's rising sun gets a chance to shine in Tamil Nadu after a decade of waiting ⁠— MK Stalin will be the next Chief Minister

BI India Bureau

Tamil Nadu state assembly election 2021: Winning candidates across all constituencies

BI India Bureau

DMK is poised to make a comeback in Tamil Nadu after a decade with the MK-Stalin led alliance in the lead

BI India Bureau

Here’s what the second phase of the Indian general election has in store for the 11 states polling today

Prabhjote Gill

Election 2019 DMK Candidate list for TamilNadu

BI India Bureau

Akshay Kumar wins the National Award for best actor; 'Neerja' wins best film

BI India Bureau

Cricketers who turned millionaires, thanks to IPL-9

Akanksha Jain

Rajiv Gandhi Assassins To Stay In Jail, Case Referred To A Larger Constitutional Bench: SC

Times Of India

ISIS - IT'S TIME YOU HAD AN ABORTION

Sundeep Keramalu

An IIM-B student tells us why India is not a democracy, it's inherently a dictatorship

Guest Author