The proposition that India is a dangerous country for women cannot be gainsaid. The number of cases of violence against women in states such as Haryana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is increasing. In Mayawati's Uttar Pradesh alone over the past month or so more than a dozen case of rape have been reported and in the Lakimpur incident it appears that even the police were involved. In Delhi women, particularly the young ones find it difficult to lead a life free from sexual harassment. So I agree that public attention has to be directed toward the menance of sexual predation. Having said this, we have to examine the motivation behind the "Slut Walk" which is being organised by a few women in the national capital. Yesterday on TV channel, Headlines Today, I watched the debate on this issue and would like to respond to it.
I wish the women behind the Slut Walk take up real issues that pertain to the conditions of the girl child in India today instead of making a splash in the name of post colonial ideologies of gender and identity. One remarkable way of depoliticising any society is to police the terms of the debate within which a society negotiates with its constituent elements. Post colonial forms of individual choice based on sexual preference, gender, and identity skit the issue of social change by taking the problems of society out of the realm or domain of organised politics and placing them squarely within the framework of individual choice and identity. Unfortunately, the vaporisation of post colonial theories in our so-called Institutions of higher education has resulted in the elite women of Indian society mimicking western feminism and thy simply ignore the reality that confronts the girl child in this hell called India.
The women who have organised the Slut Walk claim to represent Indian women. I am certain that they are not aware of the real conditions faced by women in India and are resorting to sensational methods which only skit the real issue and trivialize the abominable conditions faced by the girl child. Are these women aware of the fact that India ranks among the highest in terms of maternal mortality? What are they doing to create public awareness about it. Are they aware that in India dowry deaths have become so common that it does not make news anymore. Slut Walks of the sort that these pyts (pretty young things) are organising will make things even worse for the girl child. Are these women aware of the declining sex ration and female fetishist that is rampant in north Indian societies. How will the Slut Walk help in making even women aware of the horrid reality of female feoticide that is taking palce all over India. By asserting their idividual right over collective destiny, the organisers of Slut Walk are playing havoc with the future of the girl child in India because of the conspiracy of silence over the real issues facing the girl child in India. I wish that the articulate and obviously educated young women take the plight of their less fortunate sisters more seriously.
The fact that India remains a dangerous country for women should make us sit up and take notice. But Slut Walks will not make India safe for young girls. The solution lies in what Dr B R Ambedkar said--educate, organise and agitate. Tamashs like slut walks are mere spectacles
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Ramachandra Guha's "New Political Gurus":A Critique
The prolofic Indian intellectual, Ramachandra Guha has published an article entitled "India's New Political Gurus" in the latest issue of Newsweek (June 20th 2011). The main purpose of this rather pointed intervention in the Indian debate over corruption and the role of the so called civil society activism spawned by the like of Dr Kiran Bedi and Anna Hazare is to belittle and trivialise the common Indian before the elite Newsweek reading audience of the world. As a historian, at least having some academic training in social and environmental history, one can expect Dr Ramachandra Guha to show a modicum of integrity in his analysis. However what he comes up with is only a tendentious piece of reportage for an American audience which is both fale in its approach and apologetic in its tone.
The likes of Baba Ramdev have entered the political space only because during the course of the last 60 years since Independence the politicians have rendered Indian democarcy into a dynastic fascist regime it is today. The COngress party started this trend in the years following the split in 1969 and today the party is only an appendage of the Gandhi-Nehru family. What Ramachandra Guha hides from the rest of the world that itn was the Nehru dynasty that strarted praticing massive corruption on a scale that essentially made India into a third world kleptocracy. The Nagarwala case, the Oil import scandals of the 1980,s the Bofors Scandal and of of course the present season of 2G Spectrum Scandal and a host of other scandals are all the creations of the Congress Party with support from their allies like the DMK. Ramachandra Guha completely distorrts the context when he cleverly shields the Congress Party from any balme for the scandals. I was really shocked when in his massive 800 odd page book India Since Gandhi we do not find any discussion on the criminal pogrom of massacre organised by the Congres Party in the days following the excecution of Indiara Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. So Dr Ramachandra Guha is extremely economical with the truth.
The emergence of men like Baba Ramdev upsets western educated aritocrats like Ramachandra Guha because they represent the India that is srtruggling to keep afloat unlike the middle class that battened itself with the pickings of liberalisation and its concomitant corruption. Baba Ramdev articulated his stand against the monstrous corruption in India using the rhetoric of India religion and myhology--a rhetoric that Nohandas Gandhi had perfected. Comaprng Corruption to demons from the rich reporoire of India myhology and making people aware of their inherent human and constitutional rights using the idiom of morality and religion is what every teleevalgalist in the USA does. When Baba Ramdev articulates a similar argument, the Ramachandra Guhas of the world must paint them in dark colours of superstition and reaction.
The regime in poweer very cleverly manipulated the rather simple minded Baba Ramdev and tried to create a very public split in the ranks of the growing anti corruption movement in India. The other crusade against corruption, Anna Hazare is more to the taste of Ramchandra Guha. He has gathered around him some media friendly faces like Arvind Kejariwal and Kiran Bedi and this crew is projected as the very backbone of the crusade against corruption. In fact Baba Ramdev is the one whose movement will go forward and Anna Hazare and his crew are now busy debating whether the Prime MInister should be brought under the aegis of the Lok Pal Bill.Baba Ramdev has rightly identified foreign bank accounts of Indians as the major source of unaccounted wealth and wants the Government to nationalise the ill gotten wealth stashed abroad by the corrupt Indian politicians. In a recent raid on the "ashram" of the Afro headed "saint" Satyanarayana Raju, more than 100 kilos of gold bars and 400 kilos of silver were found. There is enough black money within India for the Government to seize and Baba Ramdev is being very reasonable when he demands the return of this wealth.
Ramachandra Guha did not make any attemt to hide his glee at the brutal crackdown on the unarmed men, women and children on the night of June 4th 2011 when the regime of ManMohan Singh sent its police to attack the grounds where the peaceful demonstration was taking place. The brutal crackdown against Baba Ramdev drew the attention of the Indian Supreme Court to the unlawful act and Ramachandra Guha does not mention the criminal actions of the regime in power.
Guha calls Baba Ramdev "reactionary". I think by using the language of the Congress Party to stiganatise all its opponents as "communal" reactionary, "anti national" etc Ramchandra Guha has shown himself to be a publisist of a corrupt, criminal regime.
The likes of Baba Ramdev have entered the political space only because during the course of the last 60 years since Independence the politicians have rendered Indian democarcy into a dynastic fascist regime it is today. The COngress party started this trend in the years following the split in 1969 and today the party is only an appendage of the Gandhi-Nehru family. What Ramachandra Guha hides from the rest of the world that itn was the Nehru dynasty that strarted praticing massive corruption on a scale that essentially made India into a third world kleptocracy. The Nagarwala case, the Oil import scandals of the 1980,s the Bofors Scandal and of of course the present season of 2G Spectrum Scandal and a host of other scandals are all the creations of the Congress Party with support from their allies like the DMK. Ramachandra Guha completely distorrts the context when he cleverly shields the Congress Party from any balme for the scandals. I was really shocked when in his massive 800 odd page book India Since Gandhi we do not find any discussion on the criminal pogrom of massacre organised by the Congres Party in the days following the excecution of Indiara Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. So Dr Ramachandra Guha is extremely economical with the truth.
The emergence of men like Baba Ramdev upsets western educated aritocrats like Ramachandra Guha because they represent the India that is srtruggling to keep afloat unlike the middle class that battened itself with the pickings of liberalisation and its concomitant corruption. Baba Ramdev articulated his stand against the monstrous corruption in India using the rhetoric of India religion and myhology--a rhetoric that Nohandas Gandhi had perfected. Comaprng Corruption to demons from the rich reporoire of India myhology and making people aware of their inherent human and constitutional rights using the idiom of morality and religion is what every teleevalgalist in the USA does. When Baba Ramdev articulates a similar argument, the Ramachandra Guhas of the world must paint them in dark colours of superstition and reaction.
The regime in poweer very cleverly manipulated the rather simple minded Baba Ramdev and tried to create a very public split in the ranks of the growing anti corruption movement in India. The other crusade against corruption, Anna Hazare is more to the taste of Ramchandra Guha. He has gathered around him some media friendly faces like Arvind Kejariwal and Kiran Bedi and this crew is projected as the very backbone of the crusade against corruption. In fact Baba Ramdev is the one whose movement will go forward and Anna Hazare and his crew are now busy debating whether the Prime MInister should be brought under the aegis of the Lok Pal Bill.Baba Ramdev has rightly identified foreign bank accounts of Indians as the major source of unaccounted wealth and wants the Government to nationalise the ill gotten wealth stashed abroad by the corrupt Indian politicians. In a recent raid on the "ashram" of the Afro headed "saint" Satyanarayana Raju, more than 100 kilos of gold bars and 400 kilos of silver were found. There is enough black money within India for the Government to seize and Baba Ramdev is being very reasonable when he demands the return of this wealth.
Ramachandra Guha did not make any attemt to hide his glee at the brutal crackdown on the unarmed men, women and children on the night of June 4th 2011 when the regime of ManMohan Singh sent its police to attack the grounds where the peaceful demonstration was taking place. The brutal crackdown against Baba Ramdev drew the attention of the Indian Supreme Court to the unlawful act and Ramachandra Guha does not mention the criminal actions of the regime in power.
Guha calls Baba Ramdev "reactionary". I think by using the language of the Congress Party to stiganatise all its opponents as "communal" reactionary, "anti national" etc Ramchandra Guha has shown himself to be a publisist of a corrupt, criminal regime.
Friday, June 17, 2011
CIVIL SOCIETY AND THE LOK PAL BILL; WHY WE NEED A DEBATE
The concept of civil society evolved in eighteenth century Europe when the socilal organisation based on the 4 estates started disintegrating under the twin impact of secularization and economic changes engendered by the Industrial Revolution. Groups of professionals loosely associated with political factions, coffee shops, newspapers--constituting what Habermas would later designate as the public sphere--started asserting their point of view against the entrenched political and social elites. The newly emergent groups were called civil society and political philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau and even Montesquieu termed as civil society those organised and articulate members of society that struggled for political and economic rights, freedoms and were at the forefront of what in the last century came to be called the Human Rights movement.
India does not have a civil society in the real sense of the term and if we are to apply the western concept of civil society then it is the caste based social organisations such as the Khap panchayants which constitute civil society. Along with the Khap Panchayants we can include sectarian and identity groups, bhajanna mandalis, charity organisations and the like. We harly hear any of them ever making a political demand. Civil society in India, particularly parts of northern India, are bastions of social evil and nothing good can ever come out of Indian civil society.
Suddenly we have the media speaking of Anna Hazare and his designer dress wearing cohorts as the "civil society". I find this situation absurd. 5 self appointed front runners cannot appropriate for themselves the right to speak for the dispossessed masses and who gave them the right or the mandate to represent the non political calsses. I agree that the Congress led UPA II is a corrupt regime and I have always said that the dynastic fascist Congress Party will always remain corrupt and criminal. The only way to get rid of corruption and criminalization of India is to get rid of the Congress Party by any means possible. A Lok Pal will not be able to reign in corruption. See how the Cong res managed to appoint P J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner even though he stands ac cued in a number of criminal cases. We have a situation in which the Courts at different levels alone seem to stand for decency and justice. Now this present Lok Pal bill as suggested by the Regime in power will take the Prime Minister out of the purview of the Lok Pal.This immunity to the PM does not exist even in the Constitution and by asking for a Lok Pal the so called civil society activists have further insulated the Office of the Prime Minister from proper political and judicial accountability.
There is another problem about the concept of civil society. The more articulate members of the so called civil society are always on the defensive over the issue of the RSS. The RSS represents a point of view and in a democracy it has the right to express that point of view. How can Arvind Kherjiwal call that organisation "communal". Is the Congress Party not a criminal organisation given its track record in 1984 and the present 2G scam. I feel that Corruption, dynastic fascism and criminalisation all stem from the Congress Party and the fight for a better and more civilised India should mean a struggle to liberate India from Congress rule.
India does not have a civil society in the real sense of the term and if we are to apply the western concept of civil society then it is the caste based social organisations such as the Khap panchayants which constitute civil society. Along with the Khap Panchayants we can include sectarian and identity groups, bhajanna mandalis, charity organisations and the like. We harly hear any of them ever making a political demand. Civil society in India, particularly parts of northern India, are bastions of social evil and nothing good can ever come out of Indian civil society.
Suddenly we have the media speaking of Anna Hazare and his designer dress wearing cohorts as the "civil society". I find this situation absurd. 5 self appointed front runners cannot appropriate for themselves the right to speak for the dispossessed masses and who gave them the right or the mandate to represent the non political calsses. I agree that the Congress led UPA II is a corrupt regime and I have always said that the dynastic fascist Congress Party will always remain corrupt and criminal. The only way to get rid of corruption and criminalization of India is to get rid of the Congress Party by any means possible. A Lok Pal will not be able to reign in corruption. See how the Cong res managed to appoint P J Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner even though he stands ac cued in a number of criminal cases. We have a situation in which the Courts at different levels alone seem to stand for decency and justice. Now this present Lok Pal bill as suggested by the Regime in power will take the Prime Minister out of the purview of the Lok Pal.This immunity to the PM does not exist even in the Constitution and by asking for a Lok Pal the so called civil society activists have further insulated the Office of the Prime Minister from proper political and judicial accountability.
There is another problem about the concept of civil society. The more articulate members of the so called civil society are always on the defensive over the issue of the RSS. The RSS represents a point of view and in a democracy it has the right to express that point of view. How can Arvind Kherjiwal call that organisation "communal". Is the Congress Party not a criminal organisation given its track record in 1984 and the present 2G scam. I feel that Corruption, dynastic fascism and criminalisation all stem from the Congress Party and the fight for a better and more civilised India should mean a struggle to liberate India from Congress rule.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
BABA RAMDEV AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN INDIA; THE STRUGGLE INTENSIFIES
India is presently ranked very high in the list of the most corrupt counties in the world. Only Nigeria and Burkina Faso rank a few places below. With such a d distinguished ranking, may I add that the leadership of that corrupt government headed by Sonia and ManMohan Singh even want a place at the high table of diplomacy and statecraft. I have said so several times on this blog and else where that India does not deserve a security council seat given its track record of governance. Having said that let me get back to the question at hand.
A very powerful civil society movement against corruption has begun in India: this movement is partly inspired by the example of the Arab Resistance against corrupt and tyrannical regimes and partly by the disclosures made by WikiLeaks. Those who rail against WikiLeaks are unaware of the positive role played by this organisation in inspiring people across the world. All corrupt and criminal regimes such as the one in power in India, have learned to fear WikiLeaks. A Yoga Guru from the north India state of Uttar Pradesh has become the unlikely leader of the anti corruption movement and the Government of India unleashed the most barbaric acts of repression against him on the midnight of June 4th 2011.
Baba ramdev, a well respected Yoga Guru, gathered a crowd of nearly 100,000 men women and children in the Ramlila Grounds of New Delhi after getting permission from the Government. The regime was so rattled by the movement started by Baba ramdev that it deputed 4 senior Government ministers to negotiate with him. It appears that the Government of India put up a presence of negotiations in order to prepare the ground for an all out attack. Like the Night of the LOng Knives, the Congress regime unleashed its police against the followers of Baba Ramdev who were badly beaten up by the police. It must be stated very categorically that the demonstration against corruption was both peaceful and disciplined. The regime had absolutely no justification for the brutal mid night attack. The Baba himself was arrested and sent out of Delhi. The Supreme Court of India is likely to rule that this action on the part of the Sonia-ManMohan Regime was both unconstitutional and illegal.
The real reason for the panic reaction on the part of the dynastic regime in power is because for the past few years a series of scams have dented the image of the government and corruption has become a huge political issue in India. The Political Party the DMK, a South Indian regional party and a partner in the coalition in power lost the elections in Tamil Nadu solely to the public perception that the present government was irredeemably corrupt. The daughter of the former Chief Minister, Mr Karunanidhi is presently in prison awaiting trial as she was exposed as a recipient of kickbacks from the 2G Spectrum scandal in which telecom mobile licenses were issued to favored few without going through due process. It has been estimated that nearly 5.5 billion dollars were taken as kickbacks in this scandal alone and much of this ill gotten wealth is invested in tax havens like Virgin Islands, St Kitts, Swiss banks and the most favored destination of Tamil politicians, Mauritius. The corrupt Government of India refuses to take any step to get back the money on the spurious argument that going after ill gotten, illegal wealth stashed abroad is against the double taxation agreements. A totally false and baseless justification for complicity in crime. I must say that the US Treasury was able to get the notorious Swiss bankers to reveal the names of American holders of Swiss accounts and Baba ramdev wants the Indian Government to make a serious effort to retrieve India's wealth in foreign bank accounts.
The Congress Party has been in power for most of the time since Independence and one dynasty, the Nehru dynasty has controlled the party. It is believed that the Congress in neck deep in political corruption and hence will both unwilling and unable to act against political corruption. Even so the savagery of the attack against baba Ramdev has shocked the entire nation and the Congress and its alliance partners will pay a very heavy price in the next elections. As I have said right at the very beginning of this blog, Indians are used to corruption and bad governance, unlike the Chinese who expect a degree of honesty and patriotism from their Government. Yet the attack on a spiritual leader with a huge following has resulted in a sea change in the mood of the people.
The peaceful protestors were beaten up and nearly 75 of them very seriously injured. TheMahatma, Baba Ramdev himself was pushed from the dais and barely escaped with his life.A corrupt and criminal government has shown that it will use force against its own people who protest against corruption.
A very powerful civil society movement against corruption has begun in India: this movement is partly inspired by the example of the Arab Resistance against corrupt and tyrannical regimes and partly by the disclosures made by WikiLeaks. Those who rail against WikiLeaks are unaware of the positive role played by this organisation in inspiring people across the world. All corrupt and criminal regimes such as the one in power in India, have learned to fear WikiLeaks. A Yoga Guru from the north India state of Uttar Pradesh has become the unlikely leader of the anti corruption movement and the Government of India unleashed the most barbaric acts of repression against him on the midnight of June 4th 2011.
Baba ramdev, a well respected Yoga Guru, gathered a crowd of nearly 100,000 men women and children in the Ramlila Grounds of New Delhi after getting permission from the Government. The regime was so rattled by the movement started by Baba ramdev that it deputed 4 senior Government ministers to negotiate with him. It appears that the Government of India put up a presence of negotiations in order to prepare the ground for an all out attack. Like the Night of the LOng Knives, the Congress regime unleashed its police against the followers of Baba Ramdev who were badly beaten up by the police. It must be stated very categorically that the demonstration against corruption was both peaceful and disciplined. The regime had absolutely no justification for the brutal mid night attack. The Baba himself was arrested and sent out of Delhi. The Supreme Court of India is likely to rule that this action on the part of the Sonia-ManMohan Regime was both unconstitutional and illegal.
The real reason for the panic reaction on the part of the dynastic regime in power is because for the past few years a series of scams have dented the image of the government and corruption has become a huge political issue in India. The Political Party the DMK, a South Indian regional party and a partner in the coalition in power lost the elections in Tamil Nadu solely to the public perception that the present government was irredeemably corrupt. The daughter of the former Chief Minister, Mr Karunanidhi is presently in prison awaiting trial as she was exposed as a recipient of kickbacks from the 2G Spectrum scandal in which telecom mobile licenses were issued to favored few without going through due process. It has been estimated that nearly 5.5 billion dollars were taken as kickbacks in this scandal alone and much of this ill gotten wealth is invested in tax havens like Virgin Islands, St Kitts, Swiss banks and the most favored destination of Tamil politicians, Mauritius. The corrupt Government of India refuses to take any step to get back the money on the spurious argument that going after ill gotten, illegal wealth stashed abroad is against the double taxation agreements. A totally false and baseless justification for complicity in crime. I must say that the US Treasury was able to get the notorious Swiss bankers to reveal the names of American holders of Swiss accounts and Baba ramdev wants the Indian Government to make a serious effort to retrieve India's wealth in foreign bank accounts.
The Congress Party has been in power for most of the time since Independence and one dynasty, the Nehru dynasty has controlled the party. It is believed that the Congress in neck deep in political corruption and hence will both unwilling and unable to act against political corruption. Even so the savagery of the attack against baba Ramdev has shocked the entire nation and the Congress and its alliance partners will pay a very heavy price in the next elections. As I have said right at the very beginning of this blog, Indians are used to corruption and bad governance, unlike the Chinese who expect a degree of honesty and patriotism from their Government. Yet the attack on a spiritual leader with a huge following has resulted in a sea change in the mood of the people.
The peaceful protestors were beaten up and nearly 75 of them very seriously injured. TheMahatma, Baba Ramdev himself was pushed from the dais and barely escaped with his life.A corrupt and criminal government has shown that it will use force against its own people who protest against corruption.
Monday, June 6, 2011
THE ATTACK ON BABA RAMDEV: THE POLITICAL FALLOUT
My regular readers would have by now realized how accurate I was in predicting the response of the UPA Government. I also pointed out that the statements made by the so-called civil society chatterers would embolden the Government to act in a reckless manner. The mid night attack on the Mahatma's satyagraha was an absolute disgrace. I think given the fact that the dynastic-fascist party the Congress is in power, we can call the mid night attack the Night of the Long Knives" the night when German thugs flexed their muscles before the advent of totalitarian rule in Germany. I had expected this response and was not surprised at what transpired. I think the Baba needs political advice and he should have been told that the fork tongued congressmen will try and deceive him.
The attack showed very clearly that the Sonia-Rahul-ManMohan dispensation is out to protect the holders of black money and are willing to use the arm of the state to crush all those who raise uncomfortable questions about the money plundered by politicians and deposited in Swiss banks and other tax havens. The Government or the regime acted too smart and thereby exposed intentions before the whole world. Now the issue of Black Money will become a huge political issue and the Congress stands as a protector of the Corrupt. I would not be surprised if this perceptions influences the electorate in the same manner as did the Emergency in 1977. The political advisors of Sonia-Man Mohan have handed the BJP a political issue on a silver platter and I hope the faction ridden BJP does not turn this into another liability as they did with the victory in Karnataka.
Baba Ramdev is a highly respected spiritual leader with a large and impressive following. The lathi charge on the followers and the brutal attack on women and children was witnessed by the whole world. The action by the police was uncalled for and the suo moto intervention by the Supreme Court will have consequences. I do hope that in the interest of the Nation Baba Ramdev keeps the BJP at an arms length and does not let that faction ridden outfit hijack his agenda. The next General Election will see the Baba Ramdev phenomenon at least in Northern India.
Even the Anna Hazare camp has come out in support of the Mahatma. I blame them for falling for the divisive tactics of the "secularists". The RSS is not a banned organization and so how can the support of the RSS for such a major political issue be battered away for the sake of New Delhi's domesticated civil society activists. I wonder why Arunditti Roy who jumped to the defence of Dr Binayak Roy is silent over the brutal attack on Baba Ramdev. Is it because she is on the side of the Establishment.
All democratic forces must condemn unequivocally the barbaric attack Mahatma Ramdev and the UPA regime has only dug its own political grave by its crimes.
The attack showed very clearly that the Sonia-Rahul-ManMohan dispensation is out to protect the holders of black money and are willing to use the arm of the state to crush all those who raise uncomfortable questions about the money plundered by politicians and deposited in Swiss banks and other tax havens. The Government or the regime acted too smart and thereby exposed intentions before the whole world. Now the issue of Black Money will become a huge political issue and the Congress stands as a protector of the Corrupt. I would not be surprised if this perceptions influences the electorate in the same manner as did the Emergency in 1977. The political advisors of Sonia-Man Mohan have handed the BJP a political issue on a silver platter and I hope the faction ridden BJP does not turn this into another liability as they did with the victory in Karnataka.
Baba Ramdev is a highly respected spiritual leader with a large and impressive following. The lathi charge on the followers and the brutal attack on women and children was witnessed by the whole world. The action by the police was uncalled for and the suo moto intervention by the Supreme Court will have consequences. I do hope that in the interest of the Nation Baba Ramdev keeps the BJP at an arms length and does not let that faction ridden outfit hijack his agenda. The next General Election will see the Baba Ramdev phenomenon at least in Northern India.
Even the Anna Hazare camp has come out in support of the Mahatma. I blame them for falling for the divisive tactics of the "secularists". The RSS is not a banned organization and so how can the support of the RSS for such a major political issue be battered away for the sake of New Delhi's domesticated civil society activists. I wonder why Arunditti Roy who jumped to the defence of Dr Binayak Roy is silent over the brutal attack on Baba Ramdev. Is it because she is on the side of the Establishment.
All democratic forces must condemn unequivocally the barbaric attack Mahatma Ramdev and the UPA regime has only dug its own political grave by its crimes.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
BABA RAMDEV"S CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION IN INDIA
The advent of Baba Ramdev on to the public scene has electrified the Indian nation. Unlike the so called civil society activists who are at the beck and call of the corrupt Indian political establishment in the name of their misguided "secularism", Baba Ramdev is following his own independent path. The left tried its level best to discredit him by raising all kinds of questions about the health products that he advocated. Nothing came of of it. The political establishment tried to probe his charities to find out whether Baba Ramdev has violated any rule or law. The Baba is genuine material and he speaks the language of one who lives and breathes for India. His politics is based on patriotism and I wish Baba Ramdev success. I for one will fast on June 4th 2011 as a mark of respect for the Mahatma.
Corruption has become endemic in India and I think that the dynastic fascism of the Congress and other parties like the DMK is primarily responsible for the corruption. It is not an accident that the most corrupt political parties are also the ones deeply implicated in family rule and dynastic politics. The Congress started this trend and other so called "secular" parties followed suit. There is some criticism that the Baba is competing with the other Baba, Hazare. I do not think so. While I respect Anna Hazare, I do not think with the crew that he has gathered around him, Kiran Bedi, Kejariwal and the BHushans, he will be able to achieve much. The wily Congressmen have already sown the seeds of discord and the movement led by AnnaHazare is in imminent danger of collapsing. Baba Ramdev's politics is based on the power of truth and his satyagraha is carrying with it the moral authority of a whole nation. I have no hesitation in saying that like the great Mahatma, Baba Ramdev too will make the mighty bend to his will. Already there are signs of panic. The corrupt UPE Government knows that Baba Ramdev will strike a deep chord in the hearts of the Indian people and is sending ministers to placate him. Can the likes of Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and the like be able to even talk to a moral force like the Baba.
The Baba has stated very claerly that he seeks the return of all the money stashed by Indians abroad. The loot of India vy politicians is much greater than the loot of the East India Company. In fact the Nagarwala case under Indiara Gandhi of only of 60 lakhs, the Bofors under her son Rajiv Gandhi only of 60 crores and the 2G spectrum scandal of 60,000 crores and still counting. The people of India must realise that during the 6 years of Vajpayee there was not a single scandal and yet they voted out that Government and brought in the UPA which is the most shameful government in the whole world. Even African kleptocracies are not as venal as the Congress UPA regime.
I wish that the movement started by Baba ramdev touches the hearts and minds of the Indian people.
Corruption has become endemic in India and I think that the dynastic fascism of the Congress and other parties like the DMK is primarily responsible for the corruption. It is not an accident that the most corrupt political parties are also the ones deeply implicated in family rule and dynastic politics. The Congress started this trend and other so called "secular" parties followed suit. There is some criticism that the Baba is competing with the other Baba, Hazare. I do not think so. While I respect Anna Hazare, I do not think with the crew that he has gathered around him, Kiran Bedi, Kejariwal and the BHushans, he will be able to achieve much. The wily Congressmen have already sown the seeds of discord and the movement led by AnnaHazare is in imminent danger of collapsing. Baba Ramdev's politics is based on the power of truth and his satyagraha is carrying with it the moral authority of a whole nation. I have no hesitation in saying that like the great Mahatma, Baba Ramdev too will make the mighty bend to his will. Already there are signs of panic. The corrupt UPE Government knows that Baba Ramdev will strike a deep chord in the hearts of the Indian people and is sending ministers to placate him. Can the likes of Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and the like be able to even talk to a moral force like the Baba.
The Baba has stated very claerly that he seeks the return of all the money stashed by Indians abroad. The loot of India vy politicians is much greater than the loot of the East India Company. In fact the Nagarwala case under Indiara Gandhi of only of 60 lakhs, the Bofors under her son Rajiv Gandhi only of 60 crores and the 2G spectrum scandal of 60,000 crores and still counting. The people of India must realise that during the 6 years of Vajpayee there was not a single scandal and yet they voted out that Government and brought in the UPA which is the most shameful government in the whole world. Even African kleptocracies are not as venal as the Congress UPA regime.
I wish that the movement started by Baba ramdev touches the hearts and minds of the Indian people.
Monday, May 30, 2011
NIAILL FERGUSON'S CIVILIZATION: THE WEST AND THE REST
Niall Ferguson has won for himself the status of a "rock star" among historians. Like Fernand Braudel, he too takes history not in short bursts of time but surveys large processes of historical change and development from a comparative perspective. World historians have turned their attention to a singular aspect of woprld history especially after the onset of Globalization as an economic force backed by multi lateral institutions such as the WTO< IMF and World Bank. The rise of China from the middle of the 1970's under the leadership of Deng Xio Ping has resulted in the dram tic shift in the center of economic gravity from the Washington Consensus to the Pacific region. China holds nearly 3 trillion US dollars in her kitty and is the largest subscriber to US Treasury bonds. In the unlikely event of China deciding to undermine the stability of the dollar, the world monetary and fiscal architecture will collapse like a house of cards. Hence, historians have turned their attention to an exploration of the roots of economic growth and the concomitant social and cultural transformatiom it engenders. Long ago Karl Polanyi in his wonderful but sadly neglected The Great Transformation attempted to expalin just this question. The intellectual arrogance of Marxism and the dominance of the leftists in the field of History resulted in other theories doing the rounds including the dressed up version of Inmanuel Wallerstein, the World Systems Approach with its circular center/periphery dichotomy.
Niall Ferguson's Civilization explains the growth of the West in terms of its inherent historical processes. Competition which enabled economic production to compete for markets and patent laws that protected intell;ectual property rights enabled the western world to make the transition to economic growth. The wide spread diffusion of atrisanal skills which kept the labour market wide open, unlike the closed caste structures in socities such as India meant that there was close cooperation between those who practiced crafts and those who theorised about tham. The Scientific Revolution together with the print culture made knowledge widespread in western societies.
Ferguson writes like a true believer. He completely ignores the horrendous human tragedy that ensued in the wake of Western advance into the world of the "REST". Can there be a greated human tragedy than slavery that became the basis of Western economic dominance. Aferall as an economic historian he is well aware that there are "competitive advantages" due to low labor costs.
In spite of the fact that NIall Ferguson sings hosanas for Capitalism, this is an interesting read.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Masquerade's Wizard of Oz at Sivakami Petachi Auditorium, Chennai
On Friday, 20th May 2011 my daughter and I watched the Wizard of Oz. I remember reading the Puffin
version of the story to my daughter when she was a little girl and the checked dress of Dorothy made
quite an impression on her. She even set aside a green Magyar sleeve frock aside as her Dorothy dress
and named a white stray dog which she persuaded us to adopt as Toto. So Wizard of Oz was a must see
for both of us.
The Chennai Theatre Group called Masquerade put up an adaptation of this story in Chennai recently. A
simple and innovative set design was the main feature of this production. The props were kept to a bare
minimum and the stage lighting was excellent. The yellow brick road was realistically done with a sliver
of light on the stage. Obviously Harshavardhan Ganesh is talented and it showed. The costumes were all
well designed and suited the character. The ‘Cowardly Lion’ played by Shankar Chockalingam was
dressed in a yellow suit complete with tail and all. Rahul Murali, the Tinman, looked metallic with silver
grease paint on his face. It was Neetha Srikanth as the Wicked Witch of the West who took all the
honours for acting. Her performance was electric and there was a certain menace in her demeanor. She
seemed a perfect witch and her sidekick the “cat” looked pathetic as he suffered at her hands.
Frank Baum’s classic tale set in the corn fields of Kansas is really a parable dressed up as a fairy tale: a
story of self discovery and realization. If the yellow brick road is the magic path to self awareness
offered by religion, a straight path to certitude, the four travelers in our play find out that all the
knowledge they sought was within them. Thus the Cowardly Lion discovers that he is brave, the
Scarecrow finds out that he is brainy afterall and the Tinman finds out that he has a heart at the end of
the adventure and even Little Dorothy has within her the ability to return back to her farm in Kansas.
The director has taken some liberty with the text and the innovations such as the Mylapore Mami, could
have been avoided. I am not opposed to innovation as such but a classic text such as the Wizard of Oz
cannot be amended to suit the taste of a contemporary audience. The dance movements introduced to
represent movement and change of scene and tempo derived from Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk was
stunning. Chennai does have talent in the field of theatre.
I enjoyed the play immensely for two reasons. To a large extent it recaptured the lost wonder of
childhood and the innocence of a era long gone. Second the screen adaptation and the script was tight
and well organized leaving few loose ends. And Mitra Vishvesh as Dorothy was the icing on the cake. She
delivered her lines like a seasoned professional and she will go a long way in Theatre.
After a long time I saw a play that I really enjoyed
version of the story to my daughter when she was a little girl and the checked dress of Dorothy made
quite an impression on her. She even set aside a green Magyar sleeve frock aside as her Dorothy dress
and named a white stray dog which she persuaded us to adopt as Toto. So Wizard of Oz was a must see
for both of us.
The Chennai Theatre Group called Masquerade put up an adaptation of this story in Chennai recently. A
simple and innovative set design was the main feature of this production. The props were kept to a bare
minimum and the stage lighting was excellent. The yellow brick road was realistically done with a sliver
of light on the stage. Obviously Harshavardhan Ganesh is talented and it showed. The costumes were all
well designed and suited the character. The ‘Cowardly Lion’ played by Shankar Chockalingam was
dressed in a yellow suit complete with tail and all. Rahul Murali, the Tinman, looked metallic with silver
grease paint on his face. It was Neetha Srikanth as the Wicked Witch of the West who took all the
honours for acting. Her performance was electric and there was a certain menace in her demeanor. She
seemed a perfect witch and her sidekick the “cat” looked pathetic as he suffered at her hands.
Frank Baum’s classic tale set in the corn fields of Kansas is really a parable dressed up as a fairy tale: a
story of self discovery and realization. If the yellow brick road is the magic path to self awareness
offered by religion, a straight path to certitude, the four travelers in our play find out that all the
knowledge they sought was within them. Thus the Cowardly Lion discovers that he is brave, the
Scarecrow finds out that he is brainy afterall and the Tinman finds out that he has a heart at the end of
the adventure and even Little Dorothy has within her the ability to return back to her farm in Kansas.
The director has taken some liberty with the text and the innovations such as the Mylapore Mami, could
have been avoided. I am not opposed to innovation as such but a classic text such as the Wizard of Oz
cannot be amended to suit the taste of a contemporary audience. The dance movements introduced to
represent movement and change of scene and tempo derived from Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk was
stunning. Chennai does have talent in the field of theatre.
I enjoyed the play immensely for two reasons. To a large extent it recaptured the lost wonder of
childhood and the innocence of a era long gone. Second the screen adaptation and the script was tight
and well organized leaving few loose ends. And Mitra Vishvesh as Dorothy was the icing on the cake. She
delivered her lines like a seasoned professional and she will go a long way in Theatre.
After a long time I saw a play that I really enjoyed
Thursday, May 5, 2011
OSMAMA BIN LADEN AND HIS KILLING;LEGAL OR A LAWLESS ACT
Early this morning the US Special Forces acting on a tipoff launched an attack on a villa near Abbotsbad, a town 150 kilometers from the capital. The US attack was successful and without the loss of life the master mind on 9/11 was killed. It would have been foolish to take him prisoner as that would have encouraged hostages situations. So he was killed and no one can fault the US forces for this successful attack. I must say that there will be a sense of closure for a national trauma and my thoughts go out to those who lost their loved ones on that day in September2001.
The death of Osama bin Laden will certainly weaken the al-qaeda network and I am sure the Special Forces will continue the hunmt for other key elements. Unexpectedly this victory has given Obama's presidential relection bid a big boost and I ma sure he will cash in for what it is worth.
The situation in Pakistan will deteriorate and it may be time to call the Army out to lead. The Zardar Government has helped the US to carry out drone attacks and men like Raymond Davis on whom I have written are really the unsung heroes. But for such men thsi operation wopuld not have been a success.
Fist things first. USA gave an accurate and truthful account of the mid night encounter in which Osama bin Laden was killed. Had the same event happened in my part of the world, the Government would have lied saying that the man was armed and was using women as human shield. A rifle or M-16 would have been placed next to him to make it appear that the truth has been said. I appreciate the Obama Administration and the Navy Seal VI unit for resisting the temptation to score brownie points. Second, as I have often said the Pakistani Administration was abetting in the crime of shielding Osama. The fact that he was found within meters of the Military Base at Abbotabad shows that the ISI and the Army knew of the high value asset located there. It is quite possible that the Pakistanis surrendered Osama bin Laden to the US for some concessions in Afghanistan. The truth will eventually come out. For the moment let us assume that the civilian administration knew little of value. The CIA, NSA, the Department of Defense handed the entire Operation Gerimono is a professional manner, and they deserve a big round of applause.
There has been a controversy over the burial--some would even say, hasty and thoughtless--of the body of Osama bin Laden. The fact is that a tomb or burial site anywhere in South Asia would become a magnet for would be jehadis and a cult would have grown around it. A lieux de memoire is uncalled for and an anonymous burial was the need of the hour. The body of the terrorist could have been burnt and disposed off. Instead the Arabian Sea has been polluted with this corpse. The Obama Administration did what it thought best and it need not have revealed the facts about the disposal of the body. A picture of the dead Osama should have been published in order to quell the nay sayers and the inevitable conspiracy mongers. Why there was such haste is disposing off the remains of Osama bin Laden. USS Carl Vince and its identity ought not to have been revealed.
The hunt for Osama bin Laden was long and wearisome. Countless false leads and deliberately misleading clues were sifted in order to establish the identity of al-Kuwati the courier whose existence was first revealed by Khalili,a Git Mo detainee. In fact the success of the operation shows that the policy of questioning the detainees in a thorough manner was not off the mark. The CIA did a good job in tracking down the fugitive. I do not know why the lack of internet connectivity was troubling. The man was using a data card and it is just possible that WI FI connectivity was there. As for telephone who has land lines in these days of mobile phones. I just do not think that these were important clues that led to the identification of Osama bin Laden. I would like one of the 22 seals who participated in this encounter to write the history of this extraordinary event which in the words of a great historian of ages past, an event likely to be remembered for eons to come.
On 29th April 2011, President Barack Obama signed an excecutive order that authorised the Navy Seals VI unit to seek and kill Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the targets in USA. Are we to believe that the US president has the authority to order the execution of those deemed inimical to the US. Is this argument that USA can violate the sovereignty of a state, enter its territory, carry out a clandestine operation, pick up the evidence and leave, all actions done in accordance to domestic or international law. No court of law has ever convicted the target of the May 1st attack and therefore what is the legal basis of Obama's actions. I have no problem at all with the killing of terrorists, but I am raising a larger issue: the legal and constitutional validity of the presidential order of April 29th 2011.
The nearest example that comes to my mind is the infamous case of Adolf Eichmann who was captured by the Israelis in Brazil and brought to Jerusalem for trial and execution. In this case, the Government of Israel acted according to the testimony of several who gave evidence in the Nuremberg trials. Eichmann was indicted for crimes against humanity and there was ample eyewitness accounts of his direct involvement in the crimes at several camps in Europe. Further there was also the domestic legislation in the new state of Israel that made the capture and trial of German war criminals a responsibility of the Government of Israel and international law went along with this extended interpretation of the doctrine of eminent domain over German war crimes claimed by Israel. I want to know whether there is any provision in US law that enables or authorises the US president o carry out attacks on targets chosen by the US. I am not going into the merits of this particular case. I am raising a larger legal issue. Of course the USA can come out ans declare that they violated the sovereignty of Pakistan as they believe that the situation in that country makes it a "terrorist state" and hence the USA is not obligated to be constrained by the principles of international law.
Pakistan has become a haven for terrorists of every kind and therefore it is not a state in the true sense of the world. It does not have full control over its territory. Sayed Hafiz, a known terrorist is moving about freely in the country. Dawood Ibrahim a known criminal is being protected by the ISI. Since Pakistan does not have control over its territory and its so called civilian government has no monopoly over the use of force within the borders, USA can make a strong case for the violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan. As far as Osama bin Laden is concerned, though there is no evidence that can stand up in a trial court, the law of national self defence does permit nations to defend themselves.
There is now controversy over the killing of the man. I had raised this issue in my very first blog on this subject. The Obama Administration made things difficult for itself by giving contradictory version of the sequence of events leading to the killing of Osama. First they said that he fired at the raiding assault party and Leon Panetta stood by this version. Then they said quite truthfully that that he was not armed. This has not gone well. USA should have stood by one version. Then they said that he used a woman as a human shield and then they back tracked. Now both these contradictions are fueling speculations about the manner in which Osama was killed. There is even one theory doing the rounds that Osama bin Laden was killed in cold blood. I do not subscribe to this version.
Finally the pictures. THe most gruesome image was of the fall of the Twin Towers. How is it that USA is not revealing the pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden. Is there something in the pictures.
The death of Osama bin Laden will certainly weaken the al-qaeda network and I am sure the Special Forces will continue the hunmt for other key elements. Unexpectedly this victory has given Obama's presidential relection bid a big boost and I ma sure he will cash in for what it is worth.
The situation in Pakistan will deteriorate and it may be time to call the Army out to lead. The Zardar Government has helped the US to carry out drone attacks and men like Raymond Davis on whom I have written are really the unsung heroes. But for such men thsi operation wopuld not have been a success.
Fist things first. USA gave an accurate and truthful account of the mid night encounter in which Osama bin Laden was killed. Had the same event happened in my part of the world, the Government would have lied saying that the man was armed and was using women as human shield. A rifle or M-16 would have been placed next to him to make it appear that the truth has been said. I appreciate the Obama Administration and the Navy Seal VI unit for resisting the temptation to score brownie points. Second, as I have often said the Pakistani Administration was abetting in the crime of shielding Osama. The fact that he was found within meters of the Military Base at Abbotabad shows that the ISI and the Army knew of the high value asset located there. It is quite possible that the Pakistanis surrendered Osama bin Laden to the US for some concessions in Afghanistan. The truth will eventually come out. For the moment let us assume that the civilian administration knew little of value. The CIA, NSA, the Department of Defense handed the entire Operation Gerimono is a professional manner, and they deserve a big round of applause.
There has been a controversy over the burial--some would even say, hasty and thoughtless--of the body of Osama bin Laden. The fact is that a tomb or burial site anywhere in South Asia would become a magnet for would be jehadis and a cult would have grown around it. A lieux de memoire is uncalled for and an anonymous burial was the need of the hour. The body of the terrorist could have been burnt and disposed off. Instead the Arabian Sea has been polluted with this corpse. The Obama Administration did what it thought best and it need not have revealed the facts about the disposal of the body. A picture of the dead Osama should have been published in order to quell the nay sayers and the inevitable conspiracy mongers. Why there was such haste is disposing off the remains of Osama bin Laden. USS Carl Vince and its identity ought not to have been revealed.
The hunt for Osama bin Laden was long and wearisome. Countless false leads and deliberately misleading clues were sifted in order to establish the identity of al-Kuwati the courier whose existence was first revealed by Khalili,a Git Mo detainee. In fact the success of the operation shows that the policy of questioning the detainees in a thorough manner was not off the mark. The CIA did a good job in tracking down the fugitive. I do not know why the lack of internet connectivity was troubling. The man was using a data card and it is just possible that WI FI connectivity was there. As for telephone who has land lines in these days of mobile phones. I just do not think that these were important clues that led to the identification of Osama bin Laden. I would like one of the 22 seals who participated in this encounter to write the history of this extraordinary event which in the words of a great historian of ages past, an event likely to be remembered for eons to come.
On 29th April 2011, President Barack Obama signed an excecutive order that authorised the Navy Seals VI unit to seek and kill Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the targets in USA. Are we to believe that the US president has the authority to order the execution of those deemed inimical to the US. Is this argument that USA can violate the sovereignty of a state, enter its territory, carry out a clandestine operation, pick up the evidence and leave, all actions done in accordance to domestic or international law. No court of law has ever convicted the target of the May 1st attack and therefore what is the legal basis of Obama's actions. I have no problem at all with the killing of terrorists, but I am raising a larger issue: the legal and constitutional validity of the presidential order of April 29th 2011.
The nearest example that comes to my mind is the infamous case of Adolf Eichmann who was captured by the Israelis in Brazil and brought to Jerusalem for trial and execution. In this case, the Government of Israel acted according to the testimony of several who gave evidence in the Nuremberg trials. Eichmann was indicted for crimes against humanity and there was ample eyewitness accounts of his direct involvement in the crimes at several camps in Europe. Further there was also the domestic legislation in the new state of Israel that made the capture and trial of German war criminals a responsibility of the Government of Israel and international law went along with this extended interpretation of the doctrine of eminent domain over German war crimes claimed by Israel. I want to know whether there is any provision in US law that enables or authorises the US president o carry out attacks on targets chosen by the US. I am not going into the merits of this particular case. I am raising a larger legal issue. Of course the USA can come out ans declare that they violated the sovereignty of Pakistan as they believe that the situation in that country makes it a "terrorist state" and hence the USA is not obligated to be constrained by the principles of international law.
Pakistan has become a haven for terrorists of every kind and therefore it is not a state in the true sense of the world. It does not have full control over its territory. Sayed Hafiz, a known terrorist is moving about freely in the country. Dawood Ibrahim a known criminal is being protected by the ISI. Since Pakistan does not have control over its territory and its so called civilian government has no monopoly over the use of force within the borders, USA can make a strong case for the violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan. As far as Osama bin Laden is concerned, though there is no evidence that can stand up in a trial court, the law of national self defence does permit nations to defend themselves.
There is now controversy over the killing of the man. I had raised this issue in my very first blog on this subject. The Obama Administration made things difficult for itself by giving contradictory version of the sequence of events leading to the killing of Osama. First they said that he fired at the raiding assault party and Leon Panetta stood by this version. Then they said quite truthfully that that he was not armed. This has not gone well. USA should have stood by one version. Then they said that he used a woman as a human shield and then they back tracked. Now both these contradictions are fueling speculations about the manner in which Osama was killed. There is even one theory doing the rounds that Osama bin Laden was killed in cold blood. I do not subscribe to this version.
Finally the pictures. THe most gruesome image was of the fall of the Twin Towers. How is it that USA is not revealing the pictures of the dead Osama bin Laden. Is there something in the pictures.
Friday, April 29, 2011
PURULIA ARMS DROP NEW FACTS AND QUESTIONS
In December 1995 when the Congress regime under P V Narashima Rao was in power a Latvian ari craft flew into India from Karachi and dropped nearly 500 Rifles and cases of magazines and high explosives on a sleepy village of Purulia on the Bengal Bihar border. Since that time there have been numerous quetions that have cropped up but no answers have been given. I am not surprised that the Congress regime did nothing to stop the arm,s drop, as I strongly believe that the dynastic fascist Congress Party is only a prop for a putrid dynasty and is not a political party. Be that as it may, the large Anotov aricraft flew right across Indian territory and at the exact coordicates alredy known to the Indian Government the arms were dropped. The aircraft was intercepted over the Arbian Sea and orced to land in Mumbai from where Kim Davy, the mastermind of this operation escaped. It now transpires that he escaped to Nepal in the official car of one of the Yadava crimals who was an MP at thatr time Shri Pappu Yadava. This Yadava criminal is now serving a life term in prison for murder and we hope his country cousins the other Yadava criminals--Mulayuam and Laloo--follow him soon.
Questions began to surface right from the start. For whom were the arms meant for. Kim Davy in an interview with Times Now claims that the arms were meant for the Ananda Marga who were being massacred by the CPM goons. I fully understans that the CPM is a Party of goons and so is the Trinamool COngress for that matter. So this part did not come as a great revealation to me. However, I am under the firm understanding that the RAW tried to intercept a consignment of arms commisioned for the Anand Marga and tried to divert it to a small local insurgency unit operating in Bangla Desh. This angle alone enables me to anwser the question why the Government of India disd not act even though the British MI 5 had tipped off the Indian Government and the Joint Secretary sent this information to the West Bengal Government by registered post aCKNOWLEDGEMENT DUE-- THE SLOWEST POSSIBLE WAY OF COMMUNICATION.
Kim Davy and Peter Bleach both seem to be speaking the truth. Peter Bleach was in prison for 8 years and Indian Government let him off with a presidential pardon before he could be tried. This itself shows that the Government of India is hiding something. Kim Davy on the other hand lives in mortal fear of being extridited to India where, like Batcha, he too will probably be eliminated if he sings like a canary. Thwere are far too many loose ends in thsi case and it only goes to show that the CBI, IB and RAW consist of men who like the Pink Panther are incompetent and at times even act the double or triple agent.
The fact that the radar was switched off on the crucial night of the air drop needs to be explained. Second, why was the CBI looking for KIm Davy in New Zealand and South America when it was well known that he was living in Copenhagen, Denmark. In oter words the CBI as it did in the sacr of Octavio Quatrrocci, the Bofors scamster, was adept in searching in the wrong palce and covering up after the ded had been done. As far as the RAW is concerned thetre is little parliamentary or political scrutiny over it. A Joint Parliamenmtary Probe must be conducted on it for the year 1985. The Purulia case shows that the RAW is incapable of even ferrying illegal arms to a small insurgency near the Indian border and that is the main reason I find it hard to beleive that the Balucci insurgents are being funded by Insdia. The only time the RAW tried its hand at the big boys's game was when it trined the LTTE in 26 trining camps all over Tamil Nadu in the 1980s and India ended up in a bloddy bloody mess in Sri Lanka. I think the Indian nation needs to be told the truth and the then Jt Directon of the CBI J K Dutt was so unconvincing innhis rebuttal that it left us wondering wheteer his blatant falsehoods serve only to escalate the questions marks on the subject.
The complicity of the Indian Givernment in the Arms Drop is there for all to see. However I do not think that the arms were meant for directing and fomenting an insurgency against the Left in Bengal. The RAW and MI 5 tried to use the viceral anti communism of the Ananda Marga to allow it to purchase arms ferry them to India and once over Indian airspace the Raw felt that it could hijack the operation and have the arms dropped in the Bangal Desh insurgent territory. As usual the Indian Government proved to be utterly incompetent.
Questions began to surface right from the start. For whom were the arms meant for. Kim Davy in an interview with Times Now claims that the arms were meant for the Ananda Marga who were being massacred by the CPM goons. I fully understans that the CPM is a Party of goons and so is the Trinamool COngress for that matter. So this part did not come as a great revealation to me. However, I am under the firm understanding that the RAW tried to intercept a consignment of arms commisioned for the Anand Marga and tried to divert it to a small local insurgency unit operating in Bangla Desh. This angle alone enables me to anwser the question why the Government of India disd not act even though the British MI 5 had tipped off the Indian Government and the Joint Secretary sent this information to the West Bengal Government by registered post aCKNOWLEDGEMENT DUE-- THE SLOWEST POSSIBLE WAY OF COMMUNICATION.
Kim Davy and Peter Bleach both seem to be speaking the truth. Peter Bleach was in prison for 8 years and Indian Government let him off with a presidential pardon before he could be tried. This itself shows that the Government of India is hiding something. Kim Davy on the other hand lives in mortal fear of being extridited to India where, like Batcha, he too will probably be eliminated if he sings like a canary. Thwere are far too many loose ends in thsi case and it only goes to show that the CBI, IB and RAW consist of men who like the Pink Panther are incompetent and at times even act the double or triple agent.
The fact that the radar was switched off on the crucial night of the air drop needs to be explained. Second, why was the CBI looking for KIm Davy in New Zealand and South America when it was well known that he was living in Copenhagen, Denmark. In oter words the CBI as it did in the sacr of Octavio Quatrrocci, the Bofors scamster, was adept in searching in the wrong palce and covering up after the ded had been done. As far as the RAW is concerned thetre is little parliamentary or political scrutiny over it. A Joint Parliamenmtary Probe must be conducted on it for the year 1985. The Purulia case shows that the RAW is incapable of even ferrying illegal arms to a small insurgency near the Indian border and that is the main reason I find it hard to beleive that the Balucci insurgents are being funded by Insdia. The only time the RAW tried its hand at the big boys's game was when it trined the LTTE in 26 trining camps all over Tamil Nadu in the 1980s and India ended up in a bloddy bloody mess in Sri Lanka. I think the Indian nation needs to be told the truth and the then Jt Directon of the CBI J K Dutt was so unconvincing innhis rebuttal that it left us wondering wheteer his blatant falsehoods serve only to escalate the questions marks on the subject.
The complicity of the Indian Givernment in the Arms Drop is there for all to see. However I do not think that the arms were meant for directing and fomenting an insurgency against the Left in Bengal. The RAW and MI 5 tried to use the viceral anti communism of the Ananda Marga to allow it to purchase arms ferry them to India and once over Indian airspace the Raw felt that it could hijack the operation and have the arms dropped in the Bangal Desh insurgent territory. As usual the Indian Government proved to be utterly incompetent.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
OBAMA'S WAR IN LIBYA; WHY THE STAKES ARE HIGH
Libya was the last major territory to be seized by the Roman empire and the first to escape from its clutches along with Parthia. The Libyans fought long and hard against the Italians when they conquered the desert land in the 1930's. The fact is that Col Qaddaffi who was recently rehabilitated in the affections of Western powers after spending more than 30 years as an international paraiah is not a military and political pushover. In spite of the Lokerbee bombing he was able to get the main conspirator freed from a Scottish prison during the Labour regime because of the vast oil revenues that he holds.
The USA together with France has imposed a no-fly zone over Libya. Under the pretext of enforcing a no-fly zone NATO jets are bombing Libyan government and civilian positions. A no-fly zone would only mean that if case the Libyan air force attempts to land in rebel held areas, then NATO can enforce compliance of the UN resolution 1973. The Obama Administration and Sarkozy's France have chosen to interpret this resolution as a mandate to intervene and impose regime change in Libya: regime change is not implied in the UN resolution. On the first day of bombing US rained 110 Tomahawk missiles on Libya and US B-52 bombers dropped 45 1000 kilo bombs in the first day itself. Was such a massive attack justified? Is this not a savage and brutal act of war against unarmed civilians? Already in Iraq and Afghanistan, US intervention has caused untold suffering and there is no count of the casualties. What makes the matter even worse is that the war heads carried depleted uranium warheads making these attacks a nuclear attack on civilian target violating all lawa of civilised warfare.
The US, UK and France are keen to see the oil rich region around Bengazi is brought undetr direct rebel control. Like Chablis in Iraq, the US has propped up a quisling called Khalifa Heftir,a "CIA asset" of many years. It seems that the USA will not learn a lesson from its own recent history. The town of Sirte, the tribal area from which Col Qaddaffi come has borne the brunt of the bombing and there is just no military or political justification for this. The ragtag rebel troops are being finnced by the Saudis and the brutal Saudi regime is being hailed as an exemplar of democracy. Even the US Admiral James Stavridis has admiotted in Congress that the rebels are being infiltrated by Al Qaeda elements. It appears that the US policy is to strengthen the forces that are bent on destabilising the region. Though the Libyan Government assets of nearly 45 billion US $ have been frozen by the Western Governments, the so-called "interim transitional national council" has been permitted to acess these funds which are being used to fiance the NATO bombing of Libya. So we have Libyan money being used to kill Libyans in their own land.
The po;icy of Obama is bound to fail. USA cannot afford another long tern engagement in the deserts of Libya and the longer the war and Resistance continues the easier it would be for Col Qaddaffi to cling on to power.
One one really likes the Col and he is an unsavory sort of fellow. A megalomaniac with vision of grandeur extending throughout North Africa. It appears that al-jazeera is extremely influential; in the Arabic world just as I pointed out in an earlier blog. However, this channel is successful against secular dictators and is making no headway in countries like Saudi Arabia in which repression is a way of life.
Col Gadaffi is unlikely to give in to the US backed EU enforced no-fly zone. Bengazi is right now on the verge of falling to Col Gaddaffi's troops and since the US has ruled out ground troops, the no fly zone will only lead to civilian casualties which will turn the world opinion against the intervention. The only gainer from this ill advised move is al qaeda which will now have yet another cause to trumpet. With all his failings, the Col like Saddam Hussain had kept Islamic terrorism firmly under control and his weakening will only result in North Africa becoming another war zone. Already the civilian casualties have started increasing and the hospitals have started showing signs of overstretch.
The intervention in Libya is ill timed and will further erode US credibility in the Arab world.
The USA together with France has imposed a no-fly zone over Libya. Under the pretext of enforcing a no-fly zone NATO jets are bombing Libyan government and civilian positions. A no-fly zone would only mean that if case the Libyan air force attempts to land in rebel held areas, then NATO can enforce compliance of the UN resolution 1973. The Obama Administration and Sarkozy's France have chosen to interpret this resolution as a mandate to intervene and impose regime change in Libya: regime change is not implied in the UN resolution. On the first day of bombing US rained 110 Tomahawk missiles on Libya and US B-52 bombers dropped 45 1000 kilo bombs in the first day itself. Was such a massive attack justified? Is this not a savage and brutal act of war against unarmed civilians? Already in Iraq and Afghanistan, US intervention has caused untold suffering and there is no count of the casualties. What makes the matter even worse is that the war heads carried depleted uranium warheads making these attacks a nuclear attack on civilian target violating all lawa of civilised warfare.
The US, UK and France are keen to see the oil rich region around Bengazi is brought undetr direct rebel control. Like Chablis in Iraq, the US has propped up a quisling called Khalifa Heftir,a "CIA asset" of many years. It seems that the USA will not learn a lesson from its own recent history. The town of Sirte, the tribal area from which Col Qaddaffi come has borne the brunt of the bombing and there is just no military or political justification for this. The ragtag rebel troops are being finnced by the Saudis and the brutal Saudi regime is being hailed as an exemplar of democracy. Even the US Admiral James Stavridis has admiotted in Congress that the rebels are being infiltrated by Al Qaeda elements. It appears that the US policy is to strengthen the forces that are bent on destabilising the region. Though the Libyan Government assets of nearly 45 billion US $ have been frozen by the Western Governments, the so-called "interim transitional national council" has been permitted to acess these funds which are being used to fiance the NATO bombing of Libya. So we have Libyan money being used to kill Libyans in their own land.
The po;icy of Obama is bound to fail. USA cannot afford another long tern engagement in the deserts of Libya and the longer the war and Resistance continues the easier it would be for Col Qaddaffi to cling on to power.
One one really likes the Col and he is an unsavory sort of fellow. A megalomaniac with vision of grandeur extending throughout North Africa. It appears that al-jazeera is extremely influential; in the Arabic world just as I pointed out in an earlier blog. However, this channel is successful against secular dictators and is making no headway in countries like Saudi Arabia in which repression is a way of life.
Col Gadaffi is unlikely to give in to the US backed EU enforced no-fly zone. Bengazi is right now on the verge of falling to Col Gaddaffi's troops and since the US has ruled out ground troops, the no fly zone will only lead to civilian casualties which will turn the world opinion against the intervention. The only gainer from this ill advised move is al qaeda which will now have yet another cause to trumpet. With all his failings, the Col like Saddam Hussain had kept Islamic terrorism firmly under control and his weakening will only result in North Africa becoming another war zone. Already the civilian casualties have started increasing and the hospitals have started showing signs of overstretch.
The intervention in Libya is ill timed and will further erode US credibility in the Arab world.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION
I love the song and ceremony of convocations. Last year I wrote about my meeting with Dr Javed Akthar, the noted poet and lyricist who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University with which I am associated with in a very senior capacity. The Vice Chancellor, Professor J A K Tareen is a good administrator and I can say with the authority of one who has attended almost all convocations, that our University puts up a good show and the meticulous planning of the VC is there for all to see. Today the 21st Convocation of the University was held and I had to attend dressed like a penguin.Though Mani Shankar Ayer has made some radical noises about the utility of the balck academic robes and his other Iyer colleague in the UPA cabinet Jai Ram Ramesh has even gone to the extent of pulling off his robes while addressing the Convocation at IIT Delhi, I think the robes do add a touch of the drama and enhances the moment. After all convocations are but theatre.
The Vice Chancellor began by saying that the University has grown 300% daring the course of the last 4 years. I agree that the Vice Chancellor has done a great deal to enhance the standing and stature of the University. I was associated with the Coffee table Book and can say that when it finally makes its appearance the visibility of the University would be indeed great.
Dr K M Cherian, the famous heart surgeon was awarded the D. Sc (honoris Causa) and I think he did deserve the honour. He has virtually given the gift of life to countless people and he did give a soul stirring speech on success.
Montek Singh Aluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission was the chief guest and he too received an Honorary degree. Educated at St Stephen's College, Delhi and at Oxford University, Montek made an unabashed plea for liberalisation. He indicated that until the onset of liberalisation in 1991 -92 India was growing at the rate of 3.5% annually with a population growth of around 2.5%. This rate of growth, cynically called the Hindu Rate of Growth was certainly a recipe for stagnation. During the past 2 decades India was growing at the rate 0f 9 to 10% and Montek was at pains to point out that at this rate of growth, India will emerge as a leading economic power house in the decades to come. Indian policy elites do not like comparisons with China and Montek Singh was honest enough to admit that by all parameters China was far far ahead of India. India, he could have added is held back by a Corrupt political system headed by the likes that are presently in power.
The convocation went off well and I though that I should put up my blog about it.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
RAHUL GANDHI; AMUL BABY OR A DYNASTIC MASCOT
I normally do not agree with communists and with V S Achutanandan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, I have a particular kind of contempt because he insulted Major Unnikrishanan, the martyr of Mumbai. Those interested can read an earlier blog on this theme. However, in the recent controversy with the Yuvaraj of the Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi, I am forced to side with VS. For all his faults, V S Achutanandan has been in electoral politics for more than 50 years and has maintained a clean public image though he is regarded as a rumbustious factional leader. Ask Pinyari Vijayan for details.
It is a crying shame and a blot on India that for the last 65 years the post of the Prime minister has become the virtual monopoly of one family. Dynastic succession and Democratic way of life are contradictory and Indians do not seem to realise that by giving space to the likes of Rahul Gandhi we are only encouraging a putrid and corrupt courtier type of dynastic politics. In fact the stink of political corruption goes hand in hand with dynastic politics. Just remember Bofor and before that the Nagarwala case all involved the Nehru family. Now the 2 G spectrum scandal too has a dynastic angle because the example of the Congress is followed by other criminal elements in the political system. Against this background, I think VS Achutanandan should not have bothered to put Rahul Gandhi on the same level as himself. In a way, V S Achutanandan is right. Afterall, Rahul Gandhi was born to political power, social and economic previlege and like every spoilt prince in history conflates his dynasty with the larger society. Once he is said to have remarked that his family got India freedom and forgetting that there was a Congress regime in place even made the absurd statement that if his family had been in power, the Masjid would still be standing. The young man believes that he is born to rule from a hereditary throne and it is time the electorate realised this.
Rahul Gandhi's utterances are stupid and it is time the Congress and its pretenders are shown the door,.
It is a crying shame and a blot on India that for the last 65 years the post of the Prime minister has become the virtual monopoly of one family. Dynastic succession and Democratic way of life are contradictory and Indians do not seem to realise that by giving space to the likes of Rahul Gandhi we are only encouraging a putrid and corrupt courtier type of dynastic politics. In fact the stink of political corruption goes hand in hand with dynastic politics. Just remember Bofor and before that the Nagarwala case all involved the Nehru family. Now the 2 G spectrum scandal too has a dynastic angle because the example of the Congress is followed by other criminal elements in the political system. Against this background, I think VS Achutanandan should not have bothered to put Rahul Gandhi on the same level as himself. In a way, V S Achutanandan is right. Afterall, Rahul Gandhi was born to political power, social and economic previlege and like every spoilt prince in history conflates his dynasty with the larger society. Once he is said to have remarked that his family got India freedom and forgetting that there was a Congress regime in place even made the absurd statement that if his family had been in power, the Masjid would still be standing. The young man believes that he is born to rule from a hereditary throne and it is time the electorate realised this.
Rahul Gandhi's utterances are stupid and it is time the Congress and its pretenders are shown the door,.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
WikiLeaks and the Mad House of Indian Politics
India must be grateful to Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks. But for the expose published in the Hindu, few of us would have realised the depths to which Indian politics has descended. Many of us knew that the corrupt, criminal dynsatic fascist Party, the Congress will try to buy the votes in order to survive the political crisis caused by the withdrawal of support by the Left. Afterall did not Narasimha Rao, in whose Cabinet Dr ManMohan Singh was the finance minister not survive the full 5 years by bribing the MPs. Only the JMM group in Parliament was procecuted for the crime and even that rather half heratedly.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/article1559476.ece?homepage=true
In the interview with the Hindu whose link I have provided here, Julian Assange has answered a range of questions. It is certain that he takes the Freedom of Expression extremely seriously. After the WikiLeaks bombshell it will be impossible for any one to claim that the Great Powers are motivated by the desire to protect Human Rights and Dinity. Just see what Obama is doing in Libya.
Only one Indian politician come out squeaky clean in the WikiLeaks episode. Hon'ble Narendar Modi, the Chief MInister of Gujarat did not cringe before the US officials who raised questions about alleged human rights violations in the post Godhra days. He rightly rebuked the diplomat by saying that the US record on human rights is virtually non existent. I think, India will certainly benefit from the like of Hon'ble Narendar Modi. He is a true patriot and he deserves our respect. I wonder why the US diplomats do not ask the Congress to account for its criminality in 1984. This itself shows that US is selective in its approach to Human Rights.
Julian Assange has exposed the corruption in Indian political life and he will certainly go down as the one single individual after Gandhi who has changed the course of Indian politics.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/article1559476.ece?homepage=true
In the interview with the Hindu whose link I have provided here, Julian Assange has answered a range of questions. It is certain that he takes the Freedom of Expression extremely seriously. After the WikiLeaks bombshell it will be impossible for any one to claim that the Great Powers are motivated by the desire to protect Human Rights and Dinity. Just see what Obama is doing in Libya.
Only one Indian politician come out squeaky clean in the WikiLeaks episode. Hon'ble Narendar Modi, the Chief MInister of Gujarat did not cringe before the US officials who raised questions about alleged human rights violations in the post Godhra days. He rightly rebuked the diplomat by saying that the US record on human rights is virtually non existent. I think, India will certainly benefit from the like of Hon'ble Narendar Modi. He is a true patriot and he deserves our respect. I wonder why the US diplomats do not ask the Congress to account for its criminality in 1984. This itself shows that US is selective in its approach to Human Rights.
Julian Assange has exposed the corruption in Indian political life and he will certainly go down as the one single individual after Gandhi who has changed the course of Indian politics.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
MONEY POWER IN INDIAN POLITICS AND THE WIKILEAKS EXPOSE
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Indian Dynastic Democracy is criminal, corrupt and runs on the fuel of ill gotten wealth. The likes of Laloo and Mulayam, the Yadava duo have ensured that crime and political power walk hand in hand, step by step. The recent revelations by Julian Assange in his US diplomatic cables expose is only symptomatic of a political system is which the most cynical manipulation of the electorate by the distribution of cash has been instutionalised.
I have often written that the main cause for political corruption in India is the dynastic fascism that seems to be inherent in the very psyche of the people. I remember that when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister the famous scandal called the Nagarwala Affair took place on the eve of the 1971 election. That scandal involved only 60 lakhs, but what is really sinister aboput the whole affair was the fact that all those connceted with the scandal including the Judge and Migistrate who tried the case in court died in rather mysterious circumstances. I have written elsewhere that Ramachandra Guha in his India Since Gandhi ignored the scandal and I expected him as an honest historian to draw attention to the event that marks the first signs of the corruption and crime in the Indian political life.
In South India under the great Dravidian dispensation bribing the electorate has become a part and parcel of the electoral process. Jayalalitha may scream against Karunanidhi, but the fact remains that her party too indulges in this shameless practice of bribing the electorate with nose rings, mixies, saris and cash. Wikileaks has exposed the fact that in Tirumangalam election M K Alagiri ensured victory by bribing the electorate. T R Baalu who won from Sriperumbadur in the last elections is said to have distributed Rs 5000 for each vote. Where does all this money come from? The Indian electorate by participating in this charade called Indian Democracy is an accomplice in its own victimisation. The electorate will rail against corruption but is an active accomplice in the creeping criminalisation of Indian political life. Afterall Laaloo Prasad Yadava, D P Yadava, Mulayam Singh Yadava, and sundry other criminal-politicians have all been elected to the Lok Sabha. In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry liquor, money and sarees are distributed by party workers on the eve of the elections. In fact political parties are finding inventive ways of subverting democracy in India.
The other revelation that made headlines is the fact that MPs were bribed on the eve of the trust vote during UPA I a trust vote that was held after the so-called Left withdrew support after the Indo-US nuclear deal. Steven White, a US Embassy official recorded seeing chests opf money in the house of a Gandhi family courtier called Satish Sharma. A sum of 50 to 60 crores is estimated and Ajit Singh's party the RLD may have received bribes. What is surprising is that none of the mainstream media brought out the fact that Narashima Rao's government survived its full term in office due to the bribes paid out to the JMM and Shibu Soren was even procecuted for the crime of taking bribes and then arranging the murder of Jha, his private secretary who was a witness to the whole affair. Crime and Corruption go hand in hand.
The dynastic fascist party the Congress and its criminal acolytes who call themselves the "secular parties" are primarily responsible for the corruption and criminalisation of Indian political life. I wish Baba Ram Dev all success in his noble venture.
Predictably all political parties involved in the corruption are crying foul. However the diplomatic cables were not meant to be made public and hence the Embassy staffers had no motive for making up allegations. As far as Tamil nadu is concerned I know from personal experience how corrupt the place is. Even Vice Chancellorships of Tamil Nadu universities go for a price of 5 to 10 crores.
I have often written that the main cause for political corruption in India is the dynastic fascism that seems to be inherent in the very psyche of the people. I remember that when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister the famous scandal called the Nagarwala Affair took place on the eve of the 1971 election. That scandal involved only 60 lakhs, but what is really sinister aboput the whole affair was the fact that all those connceted with the scandal including the Judge and Migistrate who tried the case in court died in rather mysterious circumstances. I have written elsewhere that Ramachandra Guha in his India Since Gandhi ignored the scandal and I expected him as an honest historian to draw attention to the event that marks the first signs of the corruption and crime in the Indian political life.
In South India under the great Dravidian dispensation bribing the electorate has become a part and parcel of the electoral process. Jayalalitha may scream against Karunanidhi, but the fact remains that her party too indulges in this shameless practice of bribing the electorate with nose rings, mixies, saris and cash. Wikileaks has exposed the fact that in Tirumangalam election M K Alagiri ensured victory by bribing the electorate. T R Baalu who won from Sriperumbadur in the last elections is said to have distributed Rs 5000 for each vote. Where does all this money come from? The Indian electorate by participating in this charade called Indian Democracy is an accomplice in its own victimisation. The electorate will rail against corruption but is an active accomplice in the creeping criminalisation of Indian political life. Afterall Laaloo Prasad Yadava, D P Yadava, Mulayam Singh Yadava, and sundry other criminal-politicians have all been elected to the Lok Sabha. In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry liquor, money and sarees are distributed by party workers on the eve of the elections. In fact political parties are finding inventive ways of subverting democracy in India.
The other revelation that made headlines is the fact that MPs were bribed on the eve of the trust vote during UPA I a trust vote that was held after the so-called Left withdrew support after the Indo-US nuclear deal. Steven White, a US Embassy official recorded seeing chests opf money in the house of a Gandhi family courtier called Satish Sharma. A sum of 50 to 60 crores is estimated and Ajit Singh's party the RLD may have received bribes. What is surprising is that none of the mainstream media brought out the fact that Narashima Rao's government survived its full term in office due to the bribes paid out to the JMM and Shibu Soren was even procecuted for the crime of taking bribes and then arranging the murder of Jha, his private secretary who was a witness to the whole affair. Crime and Corruption go hand in hand.
The dynastic fascist party the Congress and its criminal acolytes who call themselves the "secular parties" are primarily responsible for the corruption and criminalisation of Indian political life. I wish Baba Ram Dev all success in his noble venture.
Predictably all political parties involved in the corruption are crying foul. However the diplomatic cables were not meant to be made public and hence the Embassy staffers had no motive for making up allegations. As far as Tamil nadu is concerned I know from personal experience how corrupt the place is. Even Vice Chancellorships of Tamil Nadu universities go for a price of 5 to 10 crores.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
DMK Congress and the Absurdity of Alliance Politics in Tamil Nadu
The last week has seen the histrionics between the two most corrupt political parties of India united by the ideology of dynastic fascism, the Congress and the DMK, engage in a bout of public posturing. Like thieves, who are partners in crime, both the political parties cannot afford to discard each other. The DMK is dependent on the Congress for survival in Tamil Nadu and the regime of Sonia-Singh is woeful;ly dependent on the support of the DMK MPs. Therefore one cannot exist without the other. The public declaration that the DMK has withdrawn support to the UPA regime is just that-- a declaration without any meaning. Given the fractured nature of the verdict in the last General Election, it is but natural that all major political parties in the state are attempting to stitch up an alliance. In this game, Ms Jayalalitha seems to have the advantage, at least for now. Her alliance with the mercurial and utterly unreliable Vijay Kant stems from the cold realisation that the vote bank of both is virtually the same and therefore it is in their mutual int erst to join forces. In the last Parliamentary election, Vijay Kant undecut the vote share of the AIADMK and by bringing him on board for a price of 100 crores, Jatyalalitha has stanched the hemeoraging of her vote share or so it appears. Like any mercenary, Vijay Kant is up for grabs. If the Congress offers him a better deal both in terms of seats and money, he will certainly leave the AIADMK alliance.
Will the DMK break with the Congress. As I have said both parties need each other. If the Congress following the line of the Yuvaraj, Rahul Gandhi, decided to go it alone then it will get just one IT two seats and this party is riven with factions. The man who calls himself Home Minister of India, P Chidambaram (this Harvard zero was defeated in the General Elections but got the returning officer to issue him the certificate) wants his son Karthik to succeed him and is doing everything to undermine the Congress. G K Vasan heads another faction inherited from his father G K Moopen. With factionalism rampant in the party and with a vote chare of 11-15% the Congress is hardly in a position to play hard ball.
The DMK is staring defeat in the face. The issue of Corruption will play a role, even though Tamil Nadu politics is a dirty cess pool of filth, corruption and crime. The DMK has a vote share of 29 to 31 % and hence if it enters into an alliance with a major Party it can hold on to power. However fighting alone the DMK will not be able to get a decent figure in terms of seats. The PMK like the DMK and teh Congress is a dynasty based political formation with a support base of Vanniyars in Northern Tamil Nadu. In Pondicherry because of the revolt of N Rangaswamy, the Vanniyar vote will go to the new party launched by N Rangaswamy and if AIDMK enters into an alliance with Rangaswamy, the NR-AIDMK alliance will grab power.
The next moves will be watched. Ground realities favor AIADMK and if it holds on to the Alliance and target the Karunanidhi Family rule for crime and corruption then the AIDMK has a chance. However, as we know the worst enemy of AIADMK is the General Secretary herself. Her inability to compromise with the smaller parties and her imperious style of functioning can alienate the electorate. I remember seeing her candidate fro a Parliamentry seat sitting on the stage on a plastic stool while she was seated on a splendid throne. The electorate did not like this scene.
If AIADMK is able to stitch up a good alliance then it has a chance of winning the upcoming polls.
Will the DMK break with the Congress. As I have said both parties need each other. If the Congress following the line of the Yuvaraj, Rahul Gandhi, decided to go it alone then it will get just one IT two seats and this party is riven with factions. The man who calls himself Home Minister of India, P Chidambaram (this Harvard zero was defeated in the General Elections but got the returning officer to issue him the certificate) wants his son Karthik to succeed him and is doing everything to undermine the Congress. G K Vasan heads another faction inherited from his father G K Moopen. With factionalism rampant in the party and with a vote chare of 11-15% the Congress is hardly in a position to play hard ball.
The DMK is staring defeat in the face. The issue of Corruption will play a role, even though Tamil Nadu politics is a dirty cess pool of filth, corruption and crime. The DMK has a vote share of 29 to 31 % and hence if it enters into an alliance with a major Party it can hold on to power. However fighting alone the DMK will not be able to get a decent figure in terms of seats. The PMK like the DMK and teh Congress is a dynasty based political formation with a support base of Vanniyars in Northern Tamil Nadu. In Pondicherry because of the revolt of N Rangaswamy, the Vanniyar vote will go to the new party launched by N Rangaswamy and if AIDMK enters into an alliance with Rangaswamy, the NR-AIDMK alliance will grab power.
The next moves will be watched. Ground realities favor AIADMK and if it holds on to the Alliance and target the Karunanidhi Family rule for crime and corruption then the AIDMK has a chance. However, as we know the worst enemy of AIADMK is the General Secretary herself. Her inability to compromise with the smaller parties and her imperious style of functioning can alienate the electorate. I remember seeing her candidate fro a Parliamentry seat sitting on the stage on a plastic stool while she was seated on a splendid throne. The electorate did not like this scene.
If AIADMK is able to stitch up a good alliance then it has a chance of winning the upcoming polls.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
P Sainath and the Faremer Suicide Debate
I have always admired the writings of Shri P Sainath, a distinguished journalist and an internationally acclaimed critic of Indian social and economic policies. His book Everbody Loves a Good Drought is a scathing indictment of the policies initiated and implemented at the block level both by the State and Central Government. He is able to show that the elected representatives of the people make money out of the misery people face and the Governments are only colluding with the rich and the powerful. We have seen pictures of rotting grain in the godowns forcing the Supreme Court to order its distribution. Sainath is a very good speaker and he was in a local University the other day and I happened to listen his key note address to an International Seminar on Farmers's Suicides in India. Sainath was perhaps too politie to point out the irony in the very topic of the seminar.
Being a student of History, an MA from JNU, New Delhi, Sainath began by pointing out that in Western Maharashtra in the late nineteenth century, farmers were out protesing against the agrarian policies that were pursued by the then British Government. Now in the 21st century they are committing suicide in large numbers. Sainath is a master both of statistics and rhetoric and he deployed both with devastating effect. At a time when according to the Census figures, the farmring population is showing signs of decline, the number of suicides is increasing. Hearing Shri P Sainath remined me of the great Victorian public figure and chronicler, Digby who wrote a 2 volume book on the Great Famine of 1877-79. Trenchent criticism without any alowance for intellectual sloppiness.
Sainath blames the Government policies for the present crisis. He draws attention to the fact that Aurangabad which has the largest number of Mercedes Benz cars, located in the very heart of darkness as it were, people are able to get State Bank of India loans for 7% while farmers get koans fopr 12.5%, a rate that is unsustainable as far as farm income is concerned. He also drew attention to the fact that farm subsidies in the form of electricity, fertilizer and seed, hels only the rich farmer and the irony is that the farmers with around 10 acres of land end up killing themselves because the rural credit mechnism has broken down. Sainath mentioned the tragic incident of a farmer in Vidhrbaha who killed himself with pestticides bought on loan.
I was very happy that a critic of government policies was invited and I hope the students of the University learn something from such personalities. In India all too often educational institutions paly it safe and invite sarkari intellectuals who give bland and insipid analysis of the situation. Sainath, like William Digby is a socially motivated critic and he said very poignantly that mothers in Western Maharashtra want double rations for the mid day meal progrm because the child has staved for two days over the weekend. A very moving statement.
Liberal critics have termed the farmer suicide and the increasing numbers as state genocide. Though Sainath did not use this term, it can be said that the wrong policies forced down the rural economy has led to such a situation. Sainath says that as India is increasing its GDP together with the rising income the rate of farmer suicide is also increasing. Gujarat under Narendar Modi seems to have devised policies that are more successful as that state has not withessed the same rash of suicides. The reasons must be probed and lessons drawn.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A Raja, the Telecom Scandal and Political Corruption in India
Today A Raja, the former Telecom Minister is languishing in jail and both his own so-called Backward class dominated DMK and the Congress had absolutely no hesitation in making an example out of him. A few months back the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Madhu Koda was arrested and thrown into prison. In my blogs I have dealt extensively with both issues. It seems that the law has arms long enough only for dalits and tribal. Not a single backward class politician who in this madalised polity of ours have captured political power have been arrested and punished. My point is simple: Raja may be corrupt but so are 99% of the political personalities in India. The NDA Government headed by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee was certainly a dedicated and fairly honest Government, but the people voted for the criminals who are now ruling India. Only Gujarat has shown native wisdom and had repeatedly voted for good governance in spite of sustained and motivated campaigns against the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Narendar Modi.
It is impossible to imagine a scandal of this magnitude without the active connivance of the higher ups in the UPA government and yet we have a Prime Minister who like Gandhi's monkeys believes that he saw no evil, spoke no evil and heard no evil. In short he was a silent spectator or worse an active abettor in the crime. It is high time the people of this dynasty obsessed country realise that as long as they vote for political parties that promote family and dynastic rule they are promoting corruption and nepotism. In a recent book on India Patrick French has shown that 100% of the younger members of Parliament are scions of political families and the woman's reservation bill in this situation will only enable daughters and daughters in law to enter the political fray.
Corruption is endemic in India and the system has failed to even identify the corrupt let alone punish them. The vast sums of money stashed away in foreign accounts only goes to prove that Indian politicians have systematically looted the country. In the 200 years of British loot the amount taken out of India was only a small fraction of the 1.3 trillion dollars which the politicians have looted from the Indian people. However, I will venture to add that the Indian Electorate will forget all this and will raise its hooves silently in favor of the criminals who govern India. In this context effort must be made to eliminate the criminals who masquerade as elected representatives of the people.
In MP the IAS couple the Joshis were found with 330 crores of ill gotten wealth. Sukh Ram was found with 3 crores in his puja room. Khetan Deasi, the Chairman of the Medical Council of India was found with 1 tonne of gold. My question is what action was taken. All these criminals are roaming free, while a dalit politician is in jail. It appears that the backward mandalised political groups have made a mockery of both democracy as well as rule of law. Who can forget the criminal misdeed of the Yadava chieftains, Mulayam, Pappu, Laloo etc.
It is impossible to imagine a scandal of this magnitude without the active connivance of the higher ups in the UPA government and yet we have a Prime Minister who like Gandhi's monkeys believes that he saw no evil, spoke no evil and heard no evil. In short he was a silent spectator or worse an active abettor in the crime. It is high time the people of this dynasty obsessed country realise that as long as they vote for political parties that promote family and dynastic rule they are promoting corruption and nepotism. In a recent book on India Patrick French has shown that 100% of the younger members of Parliament are scions of political families and the woman's reservation bill in this situation will only enable daughters and daughters in law to enter the political fray.
Corruption is endemic in India and the system has failed to even identify the corrupt let alone punish them. The vast sums of money stashed away in foreign accounts only goes to prove that Indian politicians have systematically looted the country. In the 200 years of British loot the amount taken out of India was only a small fraction of the 1.3 trillion dollars which the politicians have looted from the Indian people. However, I will venture to add that the Indian Electorate will forget all this and will raise its hooves silently in favor of the criminals who govern India. In this context effort must be made to eliminate the criminals who masquerade as elected representatives of the people.
In MP the IAS couple the Joshis were found with 330 crores of ill gotten wealth. Sukh Ram was found with 3 crores in his puja room. Khetan Deasi, the Chairman of the Medical Council of India was found with 1 tonne of gold. My question is what action was taken. All these criminals are roaming free, while a dalit politician is in jail. It appears that the backward mandalised political groups have made a mockery of both democracy as well as rule of law. Who can forget the criminal misdeed of the Yadava chieftains, Mulayam, Pappu, Laloo etc.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Salman Taseer's Killing in Kasaabistan
think the holy land of Pakistan can be rechristened, at least by those living in India as Kasaabistan. After all the holy warrior who killed 186 people on 26/11/2008 came from there. I have decided to call Pakistan as Kasaabistan and I would urge all like mined people to rename Pakistan as Kasaabistan. They are obviously proud of his heroics in India that they are unable or unwilling to bring the perpetrators of that horrific crime to justice. In fact the gunning down of the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer has been hailed as an act of a Gazi by the Kasaabistan press and I would like to reflect on that killing.
The civil society in Kasaabistan has disintegrated under the twin pressures of religious militancy and political and ethnic tension. If you remember what I had written when Benazir Bhutto was killed, I had said then and I repeat now that civilian rule will only make things worse in the country. The politicians do not enjoy any credibility in Kasaabistan and hence the Army has to step in. Even now the country is run by the military with Mr 10% and his gang from the PPP acting as frontmen. It is in India's interest to help the country along the path of total civil and economic chaos. Unfortunately the Indian Government has no long term plan except provide some guns and training to Baluchi terrorist who have turned to India not out of love for India but out of hatred for the mohajirs and Punjabis who actually run Kasaabistan.
The country was founded on the premise of religious identity and so for the Indian media to go looking for secular liberals in Kasaabistan is an absurdity. Salman Taseer was the darling of the Indian media. He courted and abandoned an Indian woman who very bravely went on to bear his child. How did Salman Taseer treat the young man when he tried to meet up with him in Rawalpindi. Read Stranger to History and find out for yourself.
I do not think that a country like Kasaabistasn can call itself a civilised society with men armed with guns killing each other and women in burqas blowing themselves up as suicide bombers. As long as religion dominates their thinking they will remain barbarous and violent and we should help them achieve extinction. Sooner the better.
The civil society in Kasaabistan has disintegrated under the twin pressures of religious militancy and political and ethnic tension. If you remember what I had written when Benazir Bhutto was killed, I had said then and I repeat now that civilian rule will only make things worse in the country. The politicians do not enjoy any credibility in Kasaabistan and hence the Army has to step in. Even now the country is run by the military with Mr 10% and his gang from the PPP acting as frontmen. It is in India's interest to help the country along the path of total civil and economic chaos. Unfortunately the Indian Government has no long term plan except provide some guns and training to Baluchi terrorist who have turned to India not out of love for India but out of hatred for the mohajirs and Punjabis who actually run Kasaabistan.
The country was founded on the premise of religious identity and so for the Indian media to go looking for secular liberals in Kasaabistan is an absurdity. Salman Taseer was the darling of the Indian media. He courted and abandoned an Indian woman who very bravely went on to bear his child. How did Salman Taseer treat the young man when he tried to meet up with him in Rawalpindi. Read Stranger to History and find out for yourself.
I do not think that a country like Kasaabistasn can call itself a civilised society with men armed with guns killing each other and women in burqas blowing themselves up as suicide bombers. As long as religion dominates their thinking they will remain barbarous and violent and we should help them achieve extinction. Sooner the better.
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