Make your votes count
In democracy, the citizens are kings and our elected representatives are there to serve us and the society we live in. Even when we know this is an illusion, there is some happiness in believing it. The citizens, no doubt, are kings and hence are important. But that’s only on the day of voting. All the other days we live being servile to the politicians is the hard truth we are all used to. But then we cannot blame our rulers alone for this. They have been capitalizing on the weakness of voters since long. Our constitution has entrusted us with the right to choose an able candidate as our representative. But we have ‘sold’ that power for small prices. As a result, we are happy being single day kings.
We sell our votes for caste, community, faith, alcohol, sarees, small gifts or even money and spend rest of the days cursing the elected representatives. That cursing is like spitting at the sky. It lands right back on our face. Once we lose the opportunity to vote, we need five years to get it again. More than anything else, we need to take a vow that our votes won’t go a waste. Because once we give it away like a gift to someone, we lose all rights over it. And gifting our votes to someone is the biggest act of treachery we can commit. Likewise we shouldn’t sell our votes either. Once we give it away for sarees, money, alcohol and other small items that can never compensate for the power of vote, we cannot expect the elected candidate to work for us because we would have then handed over the power to him. It becomes corruption. And corruption never begets integrity or power. It makes us weak. Just the way as money, alcohol distribution is wrong; seeking votes in the name of religion is equally terrible. These politicians who do not do much, are now back to seek votes in the name of everything else apart from the works they did. Violence and development can never go hand in hand.
Constitution has given us the rights to choose our representatives. The ones who are speaking against the constitution need the old system to exist where some people had default access to society’s privileges, and one could never choose their representatives. When we go to vote today, we need to remember this. There are elements that want to push us to the medieval way of living such as the feudal system. These people want to push us into the system where we are rendered voiceless. We need to give our votes as a loan, not as a payment of gratitude to the candidate. When he/she knows they have this vote as a loan on them, they will be forced to repay it. And even those who give it as a loan, will have the rights seek repayment of the same. In case of no candidate being the appropriate one, we always have choice of NOTA where we can reject all candidates. But then, sometimes even this does not seem like a feasible solution since NOTA would still mean the candidate with highest votes is declared the winner either way. Why should we waste the vote? Let’s then make a choice of better ones among the lot.
Voting is the foundation of democracy. This would contribute to how strong the structure would be. Every stone to the foundation counts. Even one bad stone can contribute to the weakness of the structure at some point in time. Hence, let’s support those candidates who work to strengthen the identity of Kannada, Karnataka and its people. We need to provide strength to those ones who work for the empowerment of the poor, and hold up the integrity of the state. We owe this to our state and its people.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
