In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections if the Congress projects Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial Candidate & the BJP projects Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial Candidate most people in India will have a tough time deciding which political party to vote – Congress or BJP. Both the Congress & BJP are two sides of the same coin. Once in power at the center both do the same things i.e. increase gas-petrol-diesel prices, give govt. contracts to their builder – corporate - industrialist friends in return for kickbacks & Commissions & Election funds, pass on lands belonging to farmers – tribals – fisherfolks for commercial/residential projects, increase direct-indirect taxes to pay the salaries & pensions of govt. employees, add more security personnel so that dissent against the govt. can be crushed especially on land acquisition issues, provide land for constructing Hindu temples, turn a blind eye to land encroachment in urban areas and allow slums to grow, turn a blind eye to water shortage problems in urban areas, turn a blind eye to the inflated electricity bills of urban users, turn a blind eye to the inflated prices of milk – vegetables – mutton, etc.
The development that you notice in Gujarat is because of the entrepreneurial and aggressive protestant type skills of the Gujaratis and the billions of dollars of investments being pumped into Gujarat by NRI Gujaratis and the hundreds of industrial – pharmaceutical – textile – automobile units that have shifted from bombay region to gujarat because of trade union problems & bad policies of Maharashtra govt. So the development that is happening in Gujarat cannot be replicated all across India. The Maharashtra govt. is in the process of destroying the entire konkan region by allowing the construction of 5 Lakh rental homes of 180 sq. ft. for migrants, giving unlimited floor space index (FSI) to builders lobby, allowing open spaces – mangroves – saltpanlands – gardens – playgrounds – forest land to be exploited by builders lobby, allowing more than 60 SEZs in the eco-sensitive konkan region. Hence there is a need for the natives of konkan region (thane, bombay, raigad, ratnagiri, sindhudurg districts) to agitate for a separate statehood for konkan and make bombay capital of konkan. Somebody said all the bad things that are happening in & around bombay like ships colliding, ships sinking, cloudburst, bomb blasts, streets flooding, terror attacks, etc will stop if the name of city is changed from Mumbai to the prosperous Bombay. LONG LIVE BOMBAY. The Catholic Portuguese baptized the seven islands with the name Bombahia (which means good bay or good harbour) and the Protestant Britishers anglicized the name Bombahia to Bombay. Neither any city by the name Mumbai existed before the Portuguese arrived and neither the Kolis had agitated to change the name Bombay to Mumbai. Just because the name of the city has been changed to Mumbai by outsiders that does not mean it will remain Mumbai forever. If you have violated some traffic rule and the traffic cop gives you an option of either pay the official fine of say 500 rupees (which goes in the govt. account) and get a official receipt or pay 100 rupees (which goes in the traffic cops pocket) and don’t get any receipt. What will you do pay 500 or pay the bribe of 100 or file complaint against the traffic cop with the anti-corruption bureau OR if you have violated the height restriction in your village and increased the height of your house by two feet and the punishment for violating the height restriction is not fine but outright demolition but the local municipal officer gives you an option either pay him a bribe of 20000 rupees and he will turn a blind eye or don’t pay and he will send the demolition squad. What will you do allow the municipal officer to send the demolition squad or bribe the municipal officer or complain against the municipal officer with the anti-corruption bureau. Leaders of Dalit Christians & Dalit Muslims went on a Hunger strike between 25-28th July, 2011 at jantar mantar, delhi to demand reservation status. NDTV, CNNIBN, headlines Today, Newsx, TIMESNOW no national English channel in India bothered to give any coverage AND all this talk of the Congress Party appeasing minorities (i.e. muslims & christians ) is B******t because after India’s independence the Congress party has been in power for almost 40 years and during the 40 years the congress party did nothing to ensure muslims & christians got jobs in govt – public – private sector. Excluding Goa, Kerala, Nagaland & Kashmir in all other states of India especially Maharashtra you will find almost all employees in the central – state – public – municipal depts are from the Hindu community so where is the question of congress appeasing muslims & christians. The Catholic Church/Clergy in India is supporting the reservation in govt. jobs for Dalit Christians but the Catholic Church/Clergy is not interested in reserving seats in catholic schools & other catholic institutions for Dalit Christians most of whom are catholics. This is what you call Hypocrisy. Alcoholism is a serious problem among catholics in Bombay & Goa why has the catholic clergy not done anything to discourage catholics from drinking alcohol. Why has the catholic clergy not done anything to encourage the catholic youth to become doctors, engineers, ias/ips officers, entrepreneurs, etc. Why has the catholic clergy not utilized vacant church properties for the housing of the catholic laity. The answer is in the seminaries (training college for priests) the clergy were not trained to improve the Health, Wealth & Housing of the catholic laity. If the Catholic Clergy are honest people then why are they not prepared to disclose in the Parish Bulletins or Notice Board the details of how church funds were utilized, details of vacant properties in possession of the church alongwith cts nos. - survey nos. - property card details – location of the property, details of church properties given on rent or lease, details of church properties sold in the past and what the money was utilized for, details & professions of members of church finance committee – church property cell committee – catholic school committee. TOP Ten Point agenda for all Catholic Associations, Forums, Sabhas in Bombay: 1. Demand from the Centre/State/BMC for adequate representation (or job quota of 5%) for catholics in central/state govt. undertakings in bombay as well as in BMC, Collectors office, City survey office, ration office, police, high court, junior courts, mmrda, mhada, urban development dept, town planning dept., etc. At present the representation of catholics is almost NIL. Don’t believe then just go and check the bmc or police or collectoroffice or any central or state govt. offices or banks in bombay and you will find barely 1 or 2 catholic employee. 2. Demand from the center/state/bmc to appoint 2 special representatives from the catholic community from bombay in the Indian parliament, 5 in Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly & 10 in various BMC Committees. 3. Demand from the Central/State govt. to appoint in the Minority Commision & Departments only those Catholics who are prepared to serve the interests of the Catholic Laity. At present the catholics who are appointed in the Minority commission & departments are only interested in serving the interests of the Catholic Clergy & Missionaries. 4. Demand from all parish priests in bombay to disclose in parish bulletins or church notice boards details of all the vacant properties along with cts no. survey nos. property card details & address of the properties in possession of the church and details of the properties that have been sold in the past and for what purpose the money was utilized and details qualifications professions of members of church finance committees, property cell committees & catholic school committees. 5. Demand from the catholic church in bombay to utilize vacant church properties for the housing needs of lay catholics. 6. Demand from catholic schools in bombay to reserve 50% seats for catholics. 7. Demand from the catholic missionaries in bombay to utilize 50% of their foreign funds for the welfare of poor catholics. At present the catholic missionaries are utilizing almost all their foreign funds for serving poor non-catholics with an intent to convert them. 8. Start mass campaigns to educate catholic youth about various scholarships schemes for minorities which will enable some of the meritorious but financially weak catholic students to pursue higher studies and possibly become doctor, lawyer, engineer, ias/ips officer, etc. 9. Discourage catholics from drinking alcohol. 10. Educate & enlighten people about the need to protect environment, open spaces, gardens, playgrounds, mangroves, saltpanlands & forestland in order to minimize loss if there is any future natural disaster earthquake tsunamis heavyrains cloudbursts in bombay. It is untrue that God has promised that all His children will have a lot of money, because there are conditions which must be met, such as knowledge, hard work, wisdom, godliness, etc. At the same time it is equally untrue that it is sinful for God’s children to create wealth. The key is to simply think of money as an important tool, rather than something to be loved. Have you ever read in the Bible that if you skip next week’s church service or Sunday mass or revival meeting you have denied the Christian faith and you are worse than an infidel in God’s eyes? No, the Bible nowhere says such a thing. However the Bible does say that if you do not take care of your household financially you HAVE denied the Christian faith, and you are worse than an infidel in God’s eyes! Roger Aranha Bombay.
