Abhinav Bhindra Deserves a Big Hand

For the first time ever the Indian National Anthem was played at the Olympics, an event in which a resident Indian was given a gold medal. It was simply great to see the young Abhinav Bhindra receiving the medal without the nakra we have come to associate with the likes of Sania Mirza and of course, the cricketers. The outstanding performance of Abinav Bhindra was in spite of the Indian system and not because of it. It was due to his own effort and that of his family that was responsible for the outstanding performance. If we had the Indian Government involved in promoting shooting as a sport the fate would be disastrous. Just look at Hockey, a sport in which the like of Dyan Chand gave the country an enviable reputation. I think the time has come for the Indian Government at the Center and the State Governments to let go of sports and concentrate on just law and order.The demeanour of Abhinav Bhindra was quite a contrast with what we have come to expect from sporting icons. He comments were dignified and almost self deprecating. He did not hold himself as a model for the rest of the youth and honestly admitted that he "has been punching holes in paper bags for the last ten years" an obvious reference to target practice.Somehow NDTV was not happy with the victory of Abinav Bhindra--it was politically incorrect. A rich boy from a well-to-do family has won a gold medal. NDTV would prefer an OBC with a non English speaking background to have won a medal as that would promote the fractured political identity that is celebrated in elite circles in India today. So when Suhil Kumar won a bronze medal in yes a sport from the boon docks of the cow belt of North India,it was just the opportunity for NDTV to pull out all stops.

Terrorism, the Congress Regime and Sushma Swaraj

The repeated acts of criminal violence against the citizens of India should be a matter of serious concern if we have a half decent government. But we have in New Delhi a self obsessed bunch of courtiers and dynastic fascists who want to hood wink the people at every step. The Congress and its so called secular parties are never tired of saying that the minorities should not be disturbed. If jihad terrorists take refuge among the minority population how is the nation to defend itself. Now that HUJI is being suspected the police will have to investigate the settlement of illegal Bangladeshis in the country. To cry out of roof tops that police investigation is ipso facto minority harassment is another way of encouraging terrorism and the politicians who play this dirty game never suffer the consequences only innocent citizens.Susham Swaraj has drawn attention to the fact that the Congress Party is the likely benificaiary of the wave of terror attacks. In Assam the ULFA militants atre openly protected by the state leaders of thwe congress, in Nagaland the naga militants are close to the Congress. In fact the history of the Congress Party aiding and abetting with anti national groups is well known. Who supported the Sikh extremists like Bhindrewale? Everyone knows that Indira Gandhi for improving the electoral prospects of the Congress in the Punjab supported the Damdami Kahalsa terrorists and only when they gunned down Atwal, the DIG, near the Golden temple did she have any second thoughts. Her Home Minister misnamed Gnani Zail Singh must have been aware of the facts but being a courtier rather than a political figure he did not utter word and kept his mouth shut. Similarly in Tamil Nadu Mrs Gandhi aided and supported the LTTE throughout the 1982-84 period. Given the fact that the Congress has indulged in anti- national activities, I would not be surprised if the terrorists have acted in concert with their political supporters. When BJP ruled states only are targeted, if becomes clear that the terrorists see eye to eye with the Congress which is also anti BJP.The fact is that the vote of confidence won by the UPA is tainted victory and large sums of money have changed hands in order to ensure a comfortable victory for the Congress and the bunch of courtiers in the LOK SABHA. The terror strikes have diverted attention from the cash for vote scandal and I feel that the Susham Swaraj theory needs to be taken seriously. As long as India has anti national parties like the Congress and the Communists there will always be Terrorism.

In fact when Narasimha Rao was the PM the vote of confidence was won through outright bribery.

A Solution to the Israeli Palestenian Question?

The peace in the middle east seems to be extremely difficult because both Israel and Palestine are locked in a state of mutual recrimination: peace with justice means that the existing paradigm for ordering the relations between the two societies has to be reconsidered. The Ashkenazi elite from eastern Europe and Poland that is essentially the ruling aristocracy of Israel has dominated the politics of Israel since 1949 and given its long association with Zionism is unlikely to support the obvious solution to the problem: A single Palestinian and Israeli state. A decade back even the so called liberals in the State of Israel would have been aghast at this solution but now civil society groups in Israel have begun debating the single state solution. The great Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine has been a long time advocate of this new shift in Israeli perception toward Palestinians.
The central feature of this new solution is the recognition that land for peace has not provided either security to the State of Israel or peace to the Palestinians. It is necessary for those affected by the placement of Israel in the erstwhile land of Palestine to have a chance to lead a life of hope and a normal life as any signatory to the UN Charter of Human Rights will testify. An ethnically pure State of Israel has been of great moment only to the Ashkenazi and the Mizrahim sections of Israeli society with roots in North Africa, Asia and the Ottoman Empire have now willing to consider the possibility of the joint Israeli-Palestine state. This solution recognises the historical injustice of evicting the Palestinians from the land and at the same time recognises that a Jewish homeland, as promised in the Balfour Declaration is a reality. The fact that 4.5 million Palestinians are living in conditions of extreme deprivation is the real cause for terrorism in the region and if USA is sincere about a viable peace in the region it must address this issue.
For more than 2 decades the official US position as reflected in the Camp David accord and later the Oslo Agreement is the 2 state solution. While Israel is in favor of this policy it does everything to undermine the peace accords by making the living and working conditions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank extremely difficult. These territories are so closely guarded by Israel for fear of suicide attack that both territories have become huge camps where life, to put it mildly, is horrible.
It is time for USA the major backer of Israel to put its weight behind a solution as promised by all American administrations since Richard Nixon.

Politics Without Purpose

It is time to introspect: Is the Congress, a party that took India to the horrors of Partition, serving the cause of India well. The answer is a resounding NO. Right from the time of Indira Gandhi the party has become an instrument of dynastic advancement and this violates the very purpose for which India fought for freedom. The sacrifices of millions of people have been hi-jacked by the so-called first family of India politics. Further, the Congress has presided over a highly criminalised system: the mystery surrounding the Nagarwala case has still not been solved, though Ramachandra Guha in his latest India since Gandhi has tried his best to cover up the tracks. Now we have a vote of confidence that is sought to be won by brandishing every kind of inducement possible and the same suspects are being rounded up this time round; Shibu Soren. Who has forgotten the fact that he took money from Narashima Rao in order to vote in the vote of confidence. The mystery of the disappearance of his secretary Parka sh Jha is still to be solved. And now the Manmohan Singh government is trying to give him a minister ship as reward for his support. With this kind of politics where is salvation.
The Akali Dal, forgetting the fact that the Congress was responsible for the worst post Independence massacre in October of 1984 of Sikhs in New Delhi and other parts of India even wants to extend support to a discredited regime by abstaining. I think this is totally uncalled for. Even Deve Gowda thought it was pay back time and he has decided to vote against the Government.

The Fall of the UPA Regime

It is unlikely that the regime of Dr Manmohan Singh and Soniaji will survive the vote of confidence and the nation will heave a big sigh of relief to see the end of a corrupt, inefficient and arrogant government whose sole raison d'etre is dynastic fascism of the most crude kind. I normally do not have kind words to say about the vampanthis, but they have done the nation proud by setting the process of the fall of this regime. The irony is that the Congress is going with a begging bowl even to Deve Gowda whose own government was pulled down by the Congress after the PM was named nikkamma (stupid) by the then President of the party, Shri Sitaram Kesari, the late and unlamented Congressman from Bihar. The arrogance of Congressmen is still on public dispaly when the General Secretary of the Party Shri Veerappa Moily is addressing the media with venom and spit spewing from his lips in equal measure. No one has forgotten the fact that it was during Veerappa Moily's tenure as CM of Karnataka that his name sake Veerappan had a free run of the forests of Karnataka and this fellow now talks about politics after having served as a front man for Veerappan. Then comes the other pillar of secularism and dynastic fascism, Karunanidhi. It was during his regime that Kachchateevu, an island off the coast of Ramesvaram that belonged to Tamil Nadu as the Sethupathuis of Ramnad excercised suzerainty over the island, was handed over to Sri Lanka in 1974. And Indian fishermen are being killed with impunity nu the Sri Lankan navy. Why does he not remove his dark glasses and yellow shoulder rag and see reality for what it is: make the retrieval of Kachateevu the price for DMK support for the Congress regime.A cut back to the past: 1999 when Atal Behari Vajpayee faced a vote of no confidence in which Jayalalitha was the prime agent. He did not trey to purchase MPs with money power, or intimidate them with the CBI or blackmail them into supporting the government of the day. He faced the Lok Sabha like a statesman and lost by one vote and then went on to win the elections. It is pathetic to see the shenanigans of the Congressmen. Some are being offered ministerial posts in spite of a criminal record. others are being wooed with money and the asking price is anywhere from 25 to 50 crores. Nothing like this happened in the past when the NDA was ruling. Why are the so called secularists not alarmed at the fall of public values at the hands of the Congress. The best part of all this is that even god cannot save the regime in New Delhi and it will fall and as I keep saying, good riddance to a bad regime.The Congress has devalued the post of the Prime Minister making a mockery of the most important constitutional post by making Manmohan Sigh the PM without power or authority. Somnath Chatterjee, thee Speaker, has suddenly woken up to the fact that he hols a constitutional office and so does Lal Kishen Advani, who is the leader of the Opposition. He cannot say that he will not vote with the BJP. He can at best say that as Speaker he would like to be neutral and that is understandable.

Politics of Fleshtrading:The Congress struggles to survive

The newspapers call it "horsetrading". But to my mind the corrupt, corpulent, illiterate Indian politicians cannot be compared with horses that are brave, noble and beautiful. Flesh trading is perhaps a better metaphor for the game that Congressmen are playing at the moment. The minority Narashima Rao survived by the purchase of MPs both in the wholesale and retail market. Now Manmohan Singh is trawling the MP retail market having purchased the SP MPs at a wholesale rate. I am told that the going rate of an MP is 50 crores today and the Ambanis will certainly be in a position to provide the cash. Hence the meeting with the queen bee of the Congress and all the drones and workers are abuzz with excitement.The Congress regime must not be allowed to perpetuate its misrule and hence it is in the interest of the nation that this government is allowed to fall. The numbers are not in favor of the Congress and hence they will try to organise abstentions on July 22. If around 20 to 25 MPs abstain then there is a chance for the UPA regime. Otherwise it is curtains and the country will not regret the demise of this regime.There can be questions about the nuclear deal and its merits. There can however be no question about the fact that 4 years of Congress misrule has only seen a radical rise in social temperature, increase in crime and lawlessness, spiralling inflation and all round misery. India stands isolated in the region and there has been no serious improvement in the economic situation. Hence this regime must go.Dynastic fascism as is being promoted by the Congress runs against the fundamental ethos of the country.

A Lazy Day

Classes began today and a few students mostly from Andaman sauntered into class. I began the course listed as Medieval Societies and I am teching this course for the first time. After class I went to the post office as I was told that a package of books from the University of Hawaii was wainting for me. I sent the dollar draft for nearly 135 US $ a year ago and only now I have received the books.
A letter from my daughter was delivered and was happy to know that she is well. But her spelling was just awful in the letter. Went home and fed the cats, dogs and the rabbits. I take delight in feeding animals as they seem to be so grateful.
Must prepare for classes in the evening and must travel to Chennai to catch up with some domestic chores.