Eliminate the root cause of discontent leading to terror

Let us not forget the root cause of terror lies within us - Indians. We do very little in terms of action, other than paying lip-sympathy to the grave problems plaguing our daily lives in the form of the terrible corruption and the abysmal lack of integrity in all walks of life.

When a disaster strikes these glaring shortcomings stand out and cry for solutions. Let us first do some serious introspection before pointing fingers at anyone, for it is all our weaknesses together that allowed these tragic things to happen.

Let us be bold enough to face facts and call a-spade-a-spade and be aware that the faults lie within us. We need to go in for some radical reform in our mindsets to rid ourselves of this scourge.

Please let us first of all eliminate the root cause of terror viz., discontent leading to unlawful and undesirable activities.

Secondly, the spiritual base of Bharat has degenerated into religious anarchy and unholy confrontations with the confusing concept of secularism.

Thirdly, we, the people of India, are going through a crisis of character who no longer have faith in or prefer to live by the great human values of integrity and honesty in our day to day life.

Lastly, let us follow all our good intentions to their logical end.

End all kinds of discrimination imaginary and real which are perfect grounds for the breeding of terror and violence.

1.)End all discrimination based on caste, religion, gender and region. We are one people united against all divisions. Make economic criteria the only discriminatory/deciding factor in lieu of all the others.

2.)Bring about transparency in governance making corruption very costly at all levels. Make all information available on the internet to everyone. Make everyone holding responsible positions in government accountable.

3.)Build and establish independent institutions on the lines of the election commission and particularly this applies to the police and investigation agencies.

4.)Let Citizens Committees be formed to act as watch dogs and also vetting good candidates for elections to all governing bodies. This will encourage good public spirited people to enter politics. Let candidates be selected bottom-up rather than imposed top-down.

5.)Change to a Presidential form of government with suitable modifications to suit specific Indian conditions. This will free the President/PM to appoint really capable and proven people to ministerships instead of incompetent politicians. We must encourage professionalism at all levels.

6.)The justice system needs to be completely overhauled. It is very pathetic right from the inhumanised police station constables to the inexorable delays in getting justice for the people. Also the police and armed forces need to be equipped with the state-of-the-art weaponry.

7.) Make the same law applicable to every citizen irrespective of all considerations and make this visible to everyone.

8.)Do away with all reservations and make merit the only consideration for any decision making. Make scarcity a thing of the past and strengthen the supply side of anything required by the people.Let good educational institutions from primary school level (and managed free from political influence) be established and accounted for efficiency and proficiency.

9.)Take steps to prevent exploitation of the disadvantaged and the poor through any form of activities be they religious conversions or sheer political exigencies.

!0.) Make existing democratic institutions stronger and establish them on a firmer foundation as responsible self-regulating organisations/mechanisms.

11.) Make education along with the cost of living of a single child completely free. This will be an incentive to have only one-child families and have an impact on population growth in a positive manner without any coercion.

12.) The electoral system must be changed so that candidates can be approved as well as disapproved. Thus a winning candidate will be truly representative of the electorate.