One useful outcome due to Anna's agitation

Nice to see recognition that India is a federation of states, in the lokpal debate. Even outside of the lokpal, our union government has systematically usurped the power of states. The latest is a neat trick called NEET, which under the guise of standardization gives the students of Hindi/English medium schools an undue advantage. Let us not stop just now, get rid of so called national exams that recruit folks into various government services, educational institutions etc. Make the union government responsible purely for interstate properties (e.g. rivers, environment), defense and external affairs. Presently, our union government does none of these, ignores the NE states totally, obssess about Delhi and to some extent Mumbai only. Victimises Gujarat. Gutless when it comes to Koodankulam, Mullaperiyar, Telengana etc. This arrogance has to stop. Let us start with by saying that if any exam is national, then it can and must be conducted in all the languages of India.... Only then real integration of India will happen. Diversity is best handled by recognizing it and not by homogenizing it.... Somehow, our policy makers are consistently missing this simple axiom....

UPA is UP so(u)p...

The UP election triggered reaction from UPA has resulted in
thoughtless law to provide quota for minorities. In case, you all
didn't know our constitution already provided the freedom to religious
minorities to setup their own religious institutions and admit only
minorities, all totally free from government control. The majority
Hindus don't have that privilege. Yet, despite its almost 60 years of
existence, we need to honestly take a look at what the minorities have
done. Christians open convents and instead of using them to benefit
their fellowmen, they are using them as nothing more than conversion
agenda driven efforts. Similarly, if only the muslims had invested the
money and effort in opening Madrasas in opening engg/medical colleges
where would that community be ? Their leaders are not one bit
interested in taking such logical steps, as they want to keep their
vote bank ignorant and dependant, ready to be exploited by UPA
(congress in particular).

How can anyone explain as to why "Vandemaatharam" is objectionable and
why the UPA indulges folks in that, perhaps, we should enact "Vande
Maathaa Rome" then I am sure the congress will become "secular" and
overrule objections, including from its spoilt minority children.

Thanks to my cousin Ammu for the Maatha Rome twist :-)

Guess Some Maathaas are more equal than others..

When someone painted Saraswati Maatha in an offensive way and the
pictures were all over the internet, our HRD minister didn't get hot
under his collar, displaying righteous indignation. When Sita Maathaa was painted in a sexually offensive way, he didn't bother. When Bharat Maathaa went through the same treatment he didn't bat an eyelid. When seminars were organized by a select club of "intellectuals" asking for sedition of certain states from Bharat Maathaa, he didn't feel it worthy enough even to comment. Boy, now an Italian Maathaa is portrayed in an "offensive (according to him) way", he is blazing hot and jumping all around.

Please don't take him seriously. Please, please don't dignify him by trying to engage him on a debate. Such morons are best left ignored.

Welcome to the club ! Justice Kapadia...

Read the paragraph below and tell me whether it sounds familiar !!!

[-person xyz-] has said on Someday that the entire [-professional-] system could not be brought into disrepute because of a few erring [-professional-]s. “We do not mind studied and fair criticism, but attempts should not be made to generalise the wrong doings by a few,” said [-person xyz-] on the occasion of the [-someirrelevantforum-].

“Anybody coming out with allegations against any member of the higher [-profession-] should keep in mind that they have solid material to back it up instead of painting everyone black with the same brush. If you feel that a [-professional-] is corrupt, then take a stand and name him in public and tell the [-chief authority-] instead of making a generalisation. Do not put all [-professional-]s in one basket. Do not bring the entire [-profession-] into disrepute..,” he said.

The [-person xyz-] emphasised the need for uplifting the integrity, excellence and competence of the [-profession-], saying that this would enable them to maintain the confidence and trust of the people. “People have faith in the [-professional-]s and because of the wisdom of the [-professional-]s they rely in [-profession-],” he said.

“If [-professional-]s are of integrity, they will not worry about accountability and the [-professional-] Accountability Bill, he pointed out.“[-professional-] independence is the corner stone of the [-institution-] and for that we need public confidence and public trust.”

Now how many of you feel that you heard this before. Substitute Profession and Professional with whatever you want - be it GovernemntEmployees and Government, or Doctors and medical profession, Politicians and politics !

Yes, it is very apt to the modern Indian setup of today. A new welcome addition to this "club" is judiciary. It is precisely at the attempt to ensure accountability that Justice Kapadia the CJI of the SC lamented the above with Judges and Judiaciary as the combination here... How apt, it is scarily similar....

I would recommend Justice Kapadia, to look into the judge who for unexplained reasons reduced the compensation for victims of uphaar tragedy in Delhi in SC last month. Or look at the list given to him by the Bhushans. Finally, recommend that truth is defense when it comes to contempt of court cases....

Somehow, I don't think this will happen. Maybe he knows a thing or two about judicial corruption amongst fellow brethren in the Judiciary... Else, why he would choose to hide behind this blanket statement that we have heard about all other professions.... He is another MMS, though personally honest they are presiding over a monstrosity that is corrupt...

A new pontiff has arrived on the scene, folks.....

Watch out for the Civil Society – Part 6

Well, folks brace yourselves for another assault - the Churches, NGOs and all JNU professors & Parsi Aunties will be on an overdrive soon. They will be shedding tears for the killing of Kishenji alias Koteshwar Rao who headed the Maoist movement in AP, before being driven out by stern anti-naxal operation by the state police, he has camped in WB and headed the naxal movement there.

This bastard is responsible for killing hundred’s of policemen, thousand’s of civilians have been grievously injured. All development works like roads, schools blasted & new roads halted, cell phone towers blasted, so that critical connectivity to far off areas is destroyed etc. He is in bed with the local churches, whose conversion factories disguised as schools are untouched but the government schools which run in the same areas are blasted. Bottom line, this bastard worked tirelessly to keep people poor, ignorant, away from development and at the same time providing ample opportunities for conversion factories to “harvest their souls”.

He waged an armed & brutal war against the state, plain and simple, period. There is no way of crushing his brutal tactics other than by armed response, which is precisely the government – in an unusual display of spine – did and killed him. Now, all the leftists, churches and their front end NGOs will come all over TV, shedding tears for this “saint” how he was a victim of poverty etc. how development is lacking etc… ad nauseum.

The tolerant media hosts will not ask them the tough questions…

• Why did they blast schools, killed teachers ?
• Why roads were destroyed ?
• Why cellphone towers which provided badly needed connectivity were blown up ?
• Why their ideology explicitly calls out not eradication of poverty alone, but overthrowing the state ?
• How come they never contested elections ?
• Why did they threaten people from voting ?
• In a democracy, there is no right to sediton, don't they know that ?

But, then you will look “right winger” if you do all that, which is anathema to our media. They are happy with JNU idealogues and Parsi Aunty club….

Ignore them, educate yourself on the atrocities the Maoists have committed. Which is hundreds of orders of magnitude worse than the “bad government” they portray. Hats off to the AP government which said “&^%$ you” to this human rights/ngo/church factory and literally gunned them down and into fleeing the state. It is time rest of India emulated that tactic…

Perfect place for these Maoists to run to will be to China, we would be rid of them and they wouldn’t be allowed to practice “Maosim” and be killed there as well. What an Irony !!

Saint Ishrat Jehan ?

If you watched the Anglo media in India - today, you will notice that a saint was brutally murdered by policemen, for tirelessly working for the benefit of mankind, blah blah etc. How a special investigating team has unearthed the murdering of an innocent girl etc…

What is the truth ? The SIT has called out (rightly so) that the encounter in which she was killed as a “fake”one. I.e. is stage managed. At no stage or report it has called out her as innocent. In fact, the evidence from the Americans (courtesy David Hedley’s confession) and LeT’s own communication has called out that she was an active member training to be a human bomb! Yes, it is not some fundamentalist minority hating politician or puppet police making this claim. Even our own NIA (mind you it is headed by PC) had to admit to this!

Then why is our media reporting so biased and prejudiced. It only adds to the wrong fear complex amongst the minorities that the Indian state is out to get them. For what reason our media is doing this ? I hate to repeat it -- the Italian Maatha needs all the help from the media to win a seat or two in UP, that is it…. The media is doing that bidding…. It gives me shivers to think what Mr. PigVijaySingh will do based on this. Azamgarh, UP is probably being decked up for his next press conference....

This kind of reporting is not unbiased, but furthering their own agenda. Maybe Justice Katju saw a thing or two that we missed…. ?

(pseudo) Secular sympathy from the media...

How to investigate and how not to investigate…

Folks, consider the situation and answer the questions below…
1. A blast happens in a religious place
2. The state anti-terror squad immediately arrests few youth “solving” the case
3. Political pressure mounts and CBI and the NIA all start investigations
4. The folks who gave confessions allege torture and retract
5. There is a not a shred of additional evidence
6. Investigations are unprofessional and totally botched up.


Now tell me whether the government should be releasing youth ?
Should your release depend on whether you are a Hindu or Muslim ?

Well, if you answered Yes to the first one and No to the second you are fair. Now tell me while I am glad that the muslim youth have been released with prolific apologies from the government, media etc. why there is not a peep on the other set who are going through the same thing ? No one to fight for their cause. Is it because their names are Joshi, Sadhvi Thakur & Swami Aseemanand ?

You can bet you will not be reading about these in the media. Not even the human rights commission will be interested. No NGOs, No Teesta Setlavaad or Arundathi Roy et al. What are you talking about, they are Hindus and it is election time in UP… Is the general feeling in intellectual media circles… as well.

Now do you understand the sympathy from the Union government ? I bet, Digvijay Singh will launch a crusade in Azamgarh UP for apologies from all and sundry. I can’t wait for that comedy show to unfold....

The media is doing a great dis-service to the country by highlighting only one side of the issue. The Italian Maatha should be very happy though, maybe that is all that matters to our Home Minister.

Sorry MuKoo, what goes around comes around in life…

In the late sixties (or early 70s), there were reports in a newspaper that the CM of a state was the actual father of an illegitimate child. The opposition raised it in the assembly made a hue and cry the father (CM) filed a defamation case against the daily, totally denying that the child was his daughter and totally denied any illicit relationship with the mother… the editor lacking scientific proof (hard to come by those days) had to apologize and pay a fine.

Folks, want to guess who it is? Who the child is now? Well relax and sit down. The child was named KaniMozhi, the mother was Rajathi Ammal and the father who was then in the birth records is now known as “Muthuvel Karunanidhi”. MGR pestered and campaigned so much that a vexed MuKoo had to acknowledge the fact that Kani was indeed his daughter. Never mind that he committed perjury in a court of law by those denials earlier. The poor editor must have gone through a severe trauma at not being able to legally establish what the truth was. He is probably smiling in his grave at the copious tears MuKoo is shedding for his daughter who is in jail.

Sorry MuKoo, what goes around comes around in Life…. Your so called “suffering” is nothing compared to what that poor editor must have gone through.

அரசன் அன்று கொல்வான், தெய்வம் நின்று கொல்லும்

Thank you Justice Katju...

Let us pause and tip our hearts to Justice Markhandeya Katju...

Recently on Devil’s Advocate Katju appeared and made not so flattering observations about the media. Some of the key points he observed were on the quality of the journalists. He was point blank that today’s anchors and journalists are not at all well read and are of low intellect, Biased and prejudiced. He gave specific examples on the following:

1. A English channel running paid news where in favorable coverage was done for a Rs.1cr fee!

2. Journalists negotiating with media consultants (we all know Burqa-Radia gate)

3. Biased coverage based on what their ideology is (whole ndtv brigade)

4. Sensationalism often based on incomplete truth or outright lies…

He gave specific examples as to how a kareena kapoor wax statue or lady gaga interview takes precedence over news of substance. He pressed for more authority to Press council of India to regulate electronic media and wanted the weapon of fines and cancellation of licenses.

His comment that journalists have their own hidden agenda and ideology can’t be ignored. Let us see how many of you recall this news and identify the fringe group in this…

“A girl was beaten up in a town for act that was considered immoral and anti culture. A group of religious zealots got upset threatened her and beat her up. The police declined to register a case and requesting that it be settled out of court”.

Now guess what is the name of the Fringe group…
1. Sriram Sene,
2. Bhagat singh Sene or
3. Bajrang Dal.

If you are devout follower of NDTV I am sure you would pick one of the above. But the news was about a Muslim girl who had “Glory to god” tattooed in Urdu was chased and beaten up in Hypercity mall, in Malad Mumbai, by a group of educated middle class Muslim youth (both boys and girls). Now how many of you recall even hearing this story in the media? Whereas we all know what happened to under-aged teenage girls being served drinks in a Mangalore disco, by Sriram Sene. Tell me what is the difference and why the media is choosing to run a story on one for a week and not even mention for a second the other?

Now do you agree with Justice Katju? What is left now is for PigVijay Singh to find out if any support was extended to Justice Katju by RSS, I am sure that it will be news for the media especially the “Breaking News” kind.

7aum Arivu Movie - A bold attempt indeed....

A Bold attempt indeed…

I watched “7aum Arivu” movie this weekend and was thoroughly impressed with the strong basis for the story, a good attempt at Science Fiction Genre and a relevant villain (China) for the present time. This movie is very different from the usual genre and doesn’t really fit into any existing categories as well. Usually the movies are all about heroes and punch dialogs and heroines as decorative ornaments and with liberal that calls out secularism usually in the form of a Muslim or a Christian father as the only kind group of souls in the society. This movie has given all the usual lines a go by, that in itself in my opinion is remarkable and bold.

The movie starts off tracing the Pallava dynasty till 5th century and calls out the achievements of “Bodhi Dharman” who predicts a major disease in China and starts of on a lone crusade (not the conversion army kind) to stop it within the existing region and cure the people as well. How is deified by the locals in China and eventually they archive him permanently is well captured and narrated as well.

The story then switches to modern day Chennai where in a circus performer is pursued by a Bio Engineering student (excellently portrayed by Shruti Haasan), initially it appears illogical that such a beautiful and smart girl will be after a circus guy but the director reveals the mystery down the line with each and every scene being tied into a brilliant script in the end. You have to watch the whole movie to understand it.

Suriya’s already a very good actor and has delivered on his roles with an element of naturalness that is missing in most heroes of today. He becomes and defines the characters. Whether it is dealing with the village folks that don’t trust him initially, falling for Shruti, realizing and portraying disappointment after understanding her motives, dialog delivery, action he has done them all well. Even in dancing, which is his Achilles heel, he has done well !

I must say that I was surprised by Shruti’s performance. She delivered excellently on the character and has a role that is equal to suriya’s - in length/time, scope and influence in the whole movie. Shruti looks refreshing with a girl next door charm and looks uniformly beautiful in a variety of dresses. After a long time, we have a “Tamil” heroine who knows the language and has actually dubbed for herself. Make no mistake, this is also a “bold concept” in Tamil movies now-a-days !

This movie also calls out how we as a society are deriding ourselves, without even thinking and giving credit for the fact that “our forefathers were not fools either”. In the end it implores people to look at the possible scientific motives behind our traditions. It also somewhat appeals to Tamils in particular to back each other up and not to pull each other down. In that there are some slightly chauvinistic dialogs deploring the condition of Tamils in Malaysia and Sri Lanka but stays within the realm of truth in that also.

This movie is sure to rile several critics, usually the media in India particularly the Anglo and the “Dravidian” kind have all been constantly fed crap that ancient Tamils are not Hindus, everything was forced on them and hindu/ancient religious practices and traditions are bad etc. Most of the media critics will be afraid to write anything about the hardnosed message in the movie, which is “Approach and understand your traditions scientifically, don’t be dismissive of them”. Murugadoss has to be given credit for having the guts to write “Religious conversion is also destroying your ancient knowledge wealth”, Suriya also for having the guts to actually deliver that dialog. This is anathema to the secularists.

I am of the opinion, if some Western director had made the movie on Bodhi Dharma and had the same science fiction angle in the later half, immediately all the so called critics will line up like moths to light to call out “How the facts have been researched in depth, how some anglo actor has portrayed the character excellently”. If Aamir Khan had done this, then our media reviews would have been will be totally different as well. Well that is another topic for another blog.

Hats OFF to the team that delivered this great experience ignore the critics - go see it. Definitely paisa vasool and then some.

முன்னோர்கள் முட்டாள்கள் அல்ல - just about summarizes the message of the movie.

We need JanCricketPal bill....

What does HCA stand for ? We know H is for Hyderabad & A for Association....

Well, if you ask a fan who attended the ind-eng ODI match, C will most like stand for Crooks or Corruption and definitely not Cricket. My family was unfortunate enough to go to the match, in the stand there was no water, no food most of the time. Bathrooms had no light whatsoever, no evidence of them being cleaned ever as well. Simple samosas were sold for 50 Rs. A 49 Rs. Pizza was sold for Rs. 200, Rs. 10 Ice creams were sold for Rs. 50. I have never seen so many “officials” doing nothing in my entire life. A huge protest by the people in the stand made them provide some food and water, at unaffordable prices…. The HCA officials had sumptuous 5-star buffet arranged for them and their cronies and VIPS, of course. God help Hyderabad Cricket, there is really no hope as long as the present lots of crooks run the show. This from someone who was in the 4000Rs. Stand, imagine the rest…. It is high time the government banned all matches in this stadium till everything from roof to toilets are ready.

Never trust fake symbolisms...

Once again, Narendra Modi amazes me. His policy has always been development for all and appeasement for none. In that true spirit he declined to wear a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric.

It is time, that folks shunned the wrong belief that those that don't believe in your religion but dress like you for your vote are your friends...

India has a long history of such fraudsters starting with the "Roman Brahmin" several centuries ago, who disguised themselves as Brahmins so that they can establish and carry on their conversion factories....

White Skinned ? Contact BCCI urgently...

Are you white skinned ? Or do you live abroad ? It doesn't matter what your skill is -- in singing or "performance arts". Please contact BCCI we need truck loads of them to perform in IPL, Champions league etc. You will get a platform for your "mediocre skills" while we completely ignore homegrown talent that is high-class and readily available. Yes, we don't even have local women who can wear the same skimpy clothes as you all do, for the cheerleader's post. Yes situation is desperate, contact BCCI immediately.

Folks, when I look at what is being showcased to the world by the BCCI, this is what comes to my mind as their "talent" sign-up. Upset at the latest champions league entertainment.it is the same western or wannabe western crap. When will we learn.... Some, Jaambavaan needs to tell this Hanumaan about the talent within...

Watchout for the civil society - Part 5

It is pardon time in India. There is a huge debate on death penalty, what is cruel and unusual punishment etc. There is a set of civil society, especially the Catholic Church inspired kind that abhors death penalty and wants it abolished. They have only one option, which is to work with the government of the day to get it abolished. As long as death penalty is there in the statuette books, we have no option but to enforce the judgment.

The biggest culprit in the death sentence debate is the government and to some extent culpability exists with the Supreme Court. The government of the day wants to pardon Afzal Guru, the attacker of the parliament, just because it feels that it will help win elections in key states where in the Muslim population is the swing vote. Nobody can insult the Muslim patriots more than this line of thought and action is my opinion on this.

Due to political reasons the government kept the pardon applications of convicts pending for decades. Some intellectual in SC decided that to keep someone’s application pending is cruel and unusual punishment. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and a larger bench overturned the verdict. But lot of intellectuals (== ignoramus folks) are quoting the earlier judgment and are asking for pardons of all kinds.

We all have our genuine grievances to bomb our parliament, kill the present lot of MPs etc. but that doesn’t mean it should be legal or it should be pardoned ? Already, the SC has struck down a lot of death sentences ruling that only rarest of rare cases should get it. Even in those lot of sentences have been commuted (e.g. for Nalini, RG’s assassin etc.)

What is shocking is that folks like Nalini are now demanding release saying that I have spent x years in prison etc. totally forgetting that their conviction was for a death penalty deserving crime and they were sentenced as such and upheld all the way till SC.

Now every chauvinist is asking for pardon and commuting of sentences etc. Our SC is also unwittingly playing into their hands expressing reservations about cruel and unusual punishment angle etc. As usual, our government is totally silent, perhaps with glee hoping that this will a precedent for them to pardon their trophy criminal Afzal Guru.

God is our only hope, from this civil society… Let us pray.

The half italian has woken up....

Finally, Yuvarajaa felt it worthwhile to attend parliament. Alarmed, by the fact that MMS for one might take the initiative and solve something, he waltzed in and derided the whole direction of the debate. His plan will take another 50 years, if truly every aspect of corruption has to be tackled. It is very clear, that he wanted to show who is the boss and it clearly is not anyone running the government. His speech had a "Kapil Sibalish" feel to it. Now, the sycophants are lining up to applaud for elevating the debate. Boy, I am trying very hard not to puke at his statement.

1. Why a constitutional authority is better ? He needs to answer this.

2. He said that corrupt person as lokpal will be more damaging. Yes, you can't blame him -- for the person this govt will choose will be by default a corrupt sochopant. Look at the Doormat occupying the president's post. There is a candid admission here...

3. Even if it would take many more lokpals to deal with the problem, having one is better than nothing isn't it ?

It is a shame that no one in the media is asking all these Qs. Instead everyone is moronically reporting that he has broken his silence, elevated the level of the debate etc. The fundamental problem is asking for prosecution for corruption is like asking the congress to commit suicide.

At least, finally BJP has woken up and are demanding vote on the three specific aspects that AH camp wanted to begin with. The congress wants just a seminar in the lok sabha not a debate that would force all to make where they stand with respect to corruption and its prosecution.

Why I’d rather be Anna than Arundhati

I am posting this upon the request from the author to demolish that the lies that are being propagated through Arundati Roy and "THE HINDU" against Anna's movement. Please read it and post it in on all forums you interact with, because we can't expect "HINDU" to publish this rebuttal.

The original article is at http://clearvisor.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/why-i%E2%80%99d-rather-be-anna-than-arundhati/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was an article in The Hindu today by Arundhati against the movement for Janlokpal, she’s eloquent as usual, and she misses the point, pretty much as usual. In this article I am trying to talk about the points she raised and hopefully when we are done we might have a broader perspective of this movement than what Arundhati has projected.

Arundhati’s most important gripe seems to be that the people in the movement are raising slogans like – (a) Vande Mataram (b) Bharat Mata ki jai (c) India is Anna, Anna is India (d) Jai Hindi. Would she prefer if they said (a) India Hai Hai (b) Indian govt murdabad (c) Jeeve-jeeve Pakistan, when they come out on the streets to demand that the Indian government creates a better system for our people?

She’s lying when she says that the slogans are the answer you get when you ask questions about Janlokpal. The team that’s running Janlokpal has made every attempt to talk to anyone who is concerned about it, and to alleviate all their doubts. For months there was a public referendum on the provisions of Janlokpal, very openly, and lots of provisions were rejected, modified, and adapted according to the inputs of the people. This is a fact, not what Arundhati is saying.

Even now Anna Hazare and his team has announced that they are open to any public debate on Janlokpal and they will answer all the questions that anyone might have on any issue. Yesterday Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan did just that on a popular television network. There are videos of the team members speaking on different aspects of Janlokpal and why we need them that have been online for months.

Arundhati, lie one caught.

Her second claim is that Janlokpal seeks an overthrow of the Indian state. Lying again. For almost an year now the Janlokpal team has been working with the government, with all the members who care, to frame a strong law against corruption. They’ve met the current government leaders, opposition leaders, chief ministers, individual MPs, talking to them, and telling them why the country needs a strong anti-corruption framework. Is that working to overthrow the state?

They sat on a very hostile government panel and tried everything they could to push their proposals forward in the way government wanted them to. After the government panel wasted the nation’s time and failed to include even one, repeat, even one important proposal of the Janlokpal bill, and instead sought to push their own Jokepal which would prosecute the victims instead of the perpetrators, they decided to sit on a dharna asking the government to make a strong bill.

Let me remind Arundhati that this was done in a perfectly legal and an non-violent manner, and Anna is asking this administration to implement Janlokpal, not seeking a new government. Are you trying to tell the people of India that demanding a strong anti-corruption framework amounts to overthrowing the government? Let us hear that again more clearly.

Arundhati, lie two caught.

Next she proceeds to tell us that Anna Hazare is a ‘freshly minted saint,’ which should suggest that he has no right to speak against public injustice as apparently, only stale saints are allowed to crusade for India.

Wait a minute though, this freshly minted thing doesn’t sound true at all. Anna Hazare took voluntary retirement from the Army in 1978 and started his campaign to transform Ralegaon Siddhi. All through the next decade he worked hard for the villagers campaigning for things like liquor prohibition, grain banks for the poor, better milk production, creation of more schools (he sat on a fast for this), against untouchability and for collective marriages. In 1991 he started the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan. What was Arundhati doing then? Oh wait, she hadn’t written her first book yet.

Anna Hazare has led many movements against corrupt officials and politicians. Powerful people. People who’ve maligned him, filed false cases against him, and even sent him to jail. He has borne the worst of what the powerful and the corrupt have to offer, unlike Arundhati whose only achievement seems to be making radical statements. It’s a shame that someone like her should call a fighter like Anna a ‘freshly minted saint’.

Arundhati, lie three caught

She is also giving a distorted version of the sequence of events that unfolded during Anna’s stay at the Tihar jail. She’s saying that Anna remained in Tihar as a ‘honored guest’. If you are looking for honored guests Arundhati look for Suresh Kalmadi, Kanimozhi, A Raja, Manu Sharma, or Vikas Yadav, maybe even Afzal Guru. Anna isn’t one of them.

Let me remind you that Anna Hazare was picked up from his residence by the Delhi Police. He hadn’t been on the streets murdering people with a gun the night earlier. He was at Rajghat where he sat for an hour in meditation.

The police sent Anna to Tihar in 7 days judicial custody. To prevent what? A non-violent protest against corruption in India. On 16th August nearly 15,000 people of New Delhi and Mumbai courted arrest. They went to JP Park, Azad Maidan, or whatever the venue was in their city, asking the police to arrest them. They did not burn buses, break glasses, or set fire to homes. I have a photograph of the special jail at Chhatrasal Stadium for you here.

The people brought to Chhatrasal Stadium after their arrest.

The government was counting on their belief that no one would come ahead for Anna, and that they would be able to dispose him the way they disposed Baba Ramdev. Unfortunately for them the people of India had had enough. Anna was made an ‘honored guest’ in your words because of all the people who were in the jail, and outside the jail for him.

Why didn’t Anna come out? Because he was asked to (a) go home, (b) leave town. When Anna Hazare asked whether he would be allowed to hold an unconditional protest the Delhi police refused. Anna said that if they release him he would lead the protest and they would have to arrest him again, so it’s better that he remain in jail until the government agrees to let him protest.

Usually when a protest is organized, the people who run the protest have enough time to make preparations. There has to be enough room, and proper arrangements to make sure that the thousands collected are managed properly and without harm. If Anna had gone to the protest before the arrangements were made it could have resulted in utter chaos that might have had serious repercussions for the people gathered. Do you realize that Arundhati?

She also said that Anna’s team whizzed in-and-out of prison and it is a privilege that no one else has. Anna’s team came out when the individuals chose to be released, and when Anna refused to budge Kiran Bedi and other team members were invited by the government to try and negotiate with Anna. How does that compare to Kalmadi having a nice tea-biscuit brunch with the Warden a few days ago? Or Manu Sharma being surreptitiously paroled? Did you hear about them at all?

Arundhati, lie four caught.

Her next claim is that MCD worked hard to prepare the grounds. Is that right? I will bet anybody that Arundhati didn’t go to the grounds to inspect the preparations, and she’s talking out of her head again. I went to the ground and saw the state it was in. Here is a photograph for you Arundhati. Do you see the MCD here? Or do you see young people who are rushing to clean the wet mud, trying desperately but in union, to make the place better than a pigsty so that the people could stand.

They dug a little canal to channel the water from the ground into the drains

She's mopping the carpet so that it may become fit to stand on

Even if they weren’t, and even if MCD had sent all their workers to prepare the grounds for Anna Hazare’s protest, would there still be a reason to complain? What MCD did there was its job. The Ramlila Ground is supposed to be maintained by the MCD for massive gatherings. When MCD doesn’t do its job and the grounds is water-logged and mosquito infested, it creates a serious health hazard for everyone who’s there. MCD prepares the grounds for all public protests too. It did the same for Sonia Gandhi’s rally just a few months ago. Arundhati, you want the MCD to not do its job because this protest is not organized by a political party?

Arundhati, lie five caught.

She’s upset that the Lokpal has wide-ranging powers of investigation, surveillance and prosecution, and then she uses her amazing writing skills to suggest that Lokpal will practically have everything except their ‘own prisons’. I am on the verge of losing my breakfast!

Arundhati, one would expect someone who questions the Indian legal system so openly to have better knowledge about it. The police has the powers of (a) investigation, (b) surveillance, and (c) prosecution. So does the CBI. How are Lokpal’s power different? The only thing that Anna is asking for is that the Lokpal be a specialized body against corruption and that it must not need to seek permission from anybody to prosecute a corrupt office holder. Our present system puts severe restrictions on the investigative bodies. That’s why a CBI under the prime minister could not file a charge-sheet against A Raja, but when the supreme court took over the investigations A Raja was brought to jail.

Arundhati, I know that you knowingly did not make the point that the powers of Lokpal are limited to investigation, collection of evidence and prosecution. The Lokpal can bring a case to the court, and the judge will then decide on the basis of the presented evidence whether the person is guilty. How is that radically dangerous?

Arundhati, lie six caught.

It’s really amazing to see how Arundhati Roy can go to ridiculous lengths to fill the reader’s mind with garbage against Janlokpal. If you didn’t know about her problems with the Indian government, you could easily imagine she has been paid by it to write the article. She’s actually suggesting that the hawkers who pay the beat constable to set up their stalls might have to pay the ‘lokpal representative’.

Lokpal representative? Now she can frame those words and hang them on the Red fort for all to see and it still wouldn’t become true. The Lokpal is not a policing body. They can’t go and collect ‘hafta’ from the hawker.

When land-owner’s land is grabbed illegally and a mall is built there, or when a poor person’s store is unjustly removed, or when the beat constables or MCD representatives, or other government agency officials unjustly seek bribes from the people, that is corruption. The Lokpal is built to take care of that.

According to the provisions of the Janlokpal Bill, a citizen can make a complaint against an office holder, and the lokpal will investigate the complaint. If it is found true action will be taken. Lokpal is not going to send beat lokpallers to collect hafta from the poor. That’s downright ridiculous and only a fancy imagination could have conceived it.

Arundhati, lie seven caught.

She also says that the choreography, and aggressive nationalism seems to be like that of anti-reservation. It’s a clear attempt to draw the dalits away from the fight against corruption. And how inappropriate an attempt it is! It is the deprived, the dalits, who have to the bear the worst of corruption. The rich and the influential are filled with upper caste people who can actually use the present system to their advantage because they have money power, influence, and contacts.

The dalits don’t have the same advantages, that’s why when all other things being equal, it is the dalit who stands to lose when they compete with the upper caste. All due to corruption!

Now coming to the choreography. What sort of vague word is that? ‘Choreography’, what are we supposed to understand from it? If she’s talking about the slogans, we’ve already dealt with that. What else could she be talking about?

The anti-reservation protest was fraught with street violence and self-immolations. The people who opposed reservations closed down schools, colleges and offices, burnt buses, had violent clashes with the law, and burnt themselves to death. That hasn’t happened in Anna’s movement. This movement is perfectly peaceful and organized. Even when people are on a march, they stop at the red lights and crossings to let the traffic pass before continuing. What the hell is Arundhati trying to imply with her ‘Choreography’ then?

Arundhati, lie eight caught.

The next bit is very cruel. She craftily tries to separate Irom Sharmila, Bastar, Jaitapur, from the fast and implies by extension that Anna Hazare does not oppose Posco, or the farmer deaths in Maharashtra, or any of the other myriad problems that our country is battling right now. This couldn’t be furthest from truth.

Unlike Arundhati, Anna Hazare has recognized that too many of the problems that our country is facing are a direct result of corruption. That’s why a Madhu Koda is able to earn thousands of crores in graft money directly depriving the adivasis. That’s why Yeduyarappa is able to give illegal miners a free hand. That’s why Bastar and Irom, and Niyamgiri exist. Because of corruption.

If our framework made the responsible people accountable, it would create a huge difference in all of these issues. Imagine a bastar free of poachers, miners and land grabbers, a maharashtra village where the government’s benefits schemes are truly implemented. Forget all the other instances, just imagine what Manrega can really do for the people if it is implemented honestly.

You’ve also claimed that Anna doesn’t care about the farmers in Maharashtra, or in other places, even though he has spent his entire demonstratively in fighting for the poor and deprived villagers and farmers. Maybe you didn’t hear about this because you were too busy hobnobbing with India haters.

Arundhati, I believe that fighting corruption is fighting on behalf of all the people you’ve named, and not against them. If you believe otherwise, give me your reasons.

Arundhati, lie nine caught.

The next slander if of course the ultimate weapon that anyone can hurl at Anna. That he supports Raj Thackarey or Narendra Modi’s alleged wrongdoings. This is a joke, specially in sight of the fact that many of the hardliners aligned with the BJP, the hindu-brigade, and Narendra Modi are up with cudgles against Anna Hazare. They’re making the claim that Anna Hazare is an agent of Congress, propped up by Congress to facilitate the crowning of Rahul Gandhi.

The communists have no love for Hazare, the right wingers have no love for Hazare, and the Congress has no love for Hazare. My God! He must be awesomely right!

Answering your gripe, Anna Hazare has said it publicly multiple times that he is against any oppressive actions targeted against any community and that he supports a system that gives equal rights to all citizens irrespective of their religion.

And if you think you were succeeding in your nefarious scheme to distance the muslims from the movement, you’ve failed. Muslims as a community have lent their support to Anna Hazare in a massive way. Many Imams and Maulavis have made public statements, and the Dar-ul-Uloom, which is the biggest body of Muslims in India has said that it is the duty of every Muslim and citizen of India to support Anna Hazare. If they are wrong, then you must know something that they don’t. Care to share?

You’ve also brought the ‘Youth for equality’ into this. So what if Anna’s movement is supported by the Youth for Equality? It is also supported by the All India Youth Federation. Let me show you a pic of AIYF activists who marched against corruption for Anna. Lest you’ve forget the AIYF is the youth wing of the Communist Party of India.

They supported Anna because they want a corruption free India

Do you realize that when it comes to this fight against corruption Anna does not choose who supports him. He gratefully accepts their support. Of course he doesn’t give them anything in return except a law that’s strongly against corruption.

That’s why the Gyan Das Akhara of Ayodhya, and Hashim Ansari, the famous anti-temple litigator have jointly expressed support for Anna Hazare. Do you have the courage to rise above your own pettiness?

Arundhati, lie ten caught.

You are also very misinformed, or maybe you choose to present wrong information to the people. You have said that ‘Kabir’ is an NGO run by Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. Actually Arvind Kejriwal does not run Kabir. He is an executive member because Manish Sisodia is an old associate from Parivartan, but he does not manage it, or intervene in it. It is managed by Manish Sisodia. Arvind Kejriwal’s foundation is the PCRF. They have received no donation from Ford. Their balance sheets are available on their website for public inspection. Have a look at all the money this foundation has.

Arvind started this foundation with 14 lakhs, the money he got with his Magsaysay Award. He used it for public cause and to support RTI in India.

The PCRF maintains complete accounts for the present anti-corruption movement too. Details of all incoming donations are available on the website of India Against Corruption, and expenses are detailed too. You should have a look at that.

The amount Kabir has received as donation from Ford is $200,00 and $400,000 as you claimed. This is verifyable form the website of the ford foundation (http://www.fordfoundation.org/grants/search). You could have done well to note that this donation has nothing to do with the present movement, but you did not. I will do this for you here. This donation was made in 2011 to Kabir to promote the use of RTI in India, and not to support the India against corruption movement.

Arundhati, lie eleven caught.

You say next that the present bill fails to bring the corporates and the NGOs against the ambit of Lokpal. Does our present legal system allow that? Does our present legal system allow surveillance of the functioning of privately funded NGOs or corporate bodies in the same manner that it allows the surveillance of government organisations? The legal experts have said no, and this is the reason according to the team that they are not proposing this at the present time.

What you’ve forgotten is the fact that it is the government system that’s the worst offender when it comes to corruption, because it allows its misuse by the private sector resulting in the problems you’ve mentioned. There are already checks and systems to prevent and prosecute the wrong-doings of the private sector, but they are compromised because the investigative bodies are in the graft, or their masters are.

If we can make this start by creating a law that forces the government systems to work properly it will undoubtedly lead to better handling of the private sector too. Can you imagine the telecom companies benefiting from 2G the way they did if they didn’t have A Raja working for them? Or the various private companies making huge profits from CWG tenders if Kalmadi and Sheila Dikshit didn’t back them so brazenly?

Anna’s team has given the commitment to keep fighting, to further the cause, and take fresh measures to rid the people of corruption once the Janlokpal bill is in place. By making the Janlokpal bill an excuse to talk about all the different malaise we have you are attempting to short-circuit the anti-corruption drive itself. How is fighting government corruption any less holier than fighting corruption in private organisations?

Arundhati, lie twelve caught.

The only sense you are making is in the last paragraph when you say that Anna’s movement is the result of the failure of the legislature which is filled with criminals and millionaire politicians who have ceased to represent their people. You know, that’s exactly the point that Anna Hazare has been making. Our MPs are totally living in denial of the people’s needs and aspirations. They believe that 9% growth of GDP is an achievement worth having 11% food inflation for. It is their corrupt mindset and disconnect which must be challenged, and that’s exactly what Anna is doing when he mobilizes people in such a massive manner against corruption. The fact is, we should all be thankful to Anna Hazare for reminding the MPs that a democracy is not just made up of the parliament, but also of the people.

Note: This article is copyright free. You can share it wherever you want, you can post it on your fb or twitter profile. You can put it on your blog, even with your own name if you want. You can translate it and use it. You can add to it, trim it. Just don’t change the facts and the purpose. Thank you guys for your overwhelming response.

An Achievement indeed....

Poor Manmohan Singh, his carefully crafted image both that of an economist and Mr.Clean have all just disappeared into stratosphere. He is now heading the most corrupt, most inept and most immoral government in Indian History. That too it is a remarkable achievement considering that he has done one better than likes of VPSingh, IKGujral & DeveGowda! I myself have to stop and admire this significant achievement!

We all have had seen the reports on 2G (not the SoniaG&RahulG kind), how systematically the government has kept under wraps the names of black moneyed account holders in Switzerland, how they using all kinds of underhanded tactics have tried to undermine the civil society protests…

The latest tactic from the Un Perfoming Alliance is that “this is a middle-class movement, largely upwardly mobile crowds”. I am shocked that they still haven’t’ learnt their lessons. The only question for MMS to answer is who is he protecting? Who is being shielded from responding to the calls for probity, whose ill-gotten wealth is at risk ? The answer is obvious to all of us, but not to the NDTV brigade. They are now increasingly shrill in deriding the base of Anna’s movement. There is a popular mis-conception that only the middle+upper class sections pay bribes. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Our maid, who had to give our postal address (as they are homeless) was in a heated argument with the postman, who refused to give her family’s Aadhaar Cards, unless she paid Rs.20 each! Shocking but true. I had to yell and threaten official complaint for the postman to relent! That is the reality of corruption today in India.

So for those that think, that this somehow a very small subset, stop and reconsider. Against, all odds, despite these unfortunate events, I am hoping that Anna will triumph. We simply can’t afford another failure. I hope that the people revolt in front of the MPs who are representing in each and every constituency, so that the MPs get the gravity of situation.

But for congress, the only tactic left is to somehow brand this movement as inspired by “Hindutva” forces again. It will surely get the NDTV brigade on their side. I am waiting for that comedy show to unfold…..Watch out…

Mr. Prakash Jha, Learn from Mr. Khan

Well the domino pieces have begun falling, we all were saved from major societal upheaval by the government with several states lining up to ban “Aarakshan” the movie. This movie according to the critics who saw a preview is about the state of education, its availability, opportunities and crass commercialization etc. Unfortunately, it was named “Reservation” (in Hindi) and that set off a huge chain reaction. With folks, who have no clue as to what the movie is about coming out of the woodwork to agitate on “Pseudo-intellectual/secular NDTV” brigade.

The worst culprit is Mr. Kancha Iliah, whose stance of anti-hinduism and highly provocative and objectionable articles/books/interviews are all tolerated by this nation in the garb of intellectual freedom. It was sheer hypocrisy to see him come on TV channels and proclaim “How can we tolerate a movie made by High caste Hindus?” nobody bothered to ask him as to what Hindu caste Saif Ali Khan belonged to… What about his concern for freedom of expression now etc. This was even too low by NDTV brigade’s abysmal standards.

What surprised me is the total absence of the “Pseudo Civil Society” that ensured that we all were enlightened by “My Name is Khan” just a few months ago. Where are they now, why this deafening silence? Well in this comedy show, your guess is as good as mine.

In parting, I want to pass on a tip to Prakash Jha in the future no matter how objectionable your movie is or what kinds of holy cows you want to debate please name it as “Big Bad Casteist Hinduism” or some variant of it. All you need is to rile some fringe Hindu group to denounce it that is it, rest is a free ride. The “Civil Society” will rally, courts also gladly step in and will admonish the governments into providing full protection to the theaters and the audience, even at the cost of a terrorist hit somewhere else…..

Hypocrisy thy name is “Secular Civil Society” in India today.

A major movement to uplift Indian women...

What is good for the west, must be good for India too…, Right ?

There is a huge movement to uplift women is sweeping the country, city after city page3 personalities are shouting, lot of “feminists” are coming out of the woodwork. If you thought that a huge movement is underway, to educate women, provide them self employment opportunities, educate them about their rights, safeguard natural birth-ratio you couldn’t be more wrong, my friend.

The so called “huge movement” to uplift women, underway – sweeping the whole nation “If you believe the Anglo media” is …. Drum roll please…. Catch your breath …. Sit down --- is the SLUT WALK !!! Yes, you heard me right it is the slutwalk.

This movement is supposed to protest remarks the chief constable of Toronto, who cautioned in some form asking women not to dress like sluts in public. So immediately, it started in Toronto and slowly spread to the rest of the west. But the, we have lot of Parsi Aunties in Delhi and several “self made” (== My dad’s fame and Money) personalities like Koel Purie, for whom this was “too good” an opportunity to pass… So the desi version of the “slutwalk” was born. It started in Bhopal as “Besharmi Morcha” with about 50 folks dressed in jeans and t-shirt !

Hmm… I was under the mistaken impression that slut walk in some sense about the right of women to protest that they shouldn’t be victims of violence and how they have an inalienable right to be in “slutty” attire!

The icing on the cake on this comedy show was the quote from the organiser, I have cut and pasted the newspaper report on this for your funny bone as well.

“Unlike Toronto, we advised women participants not to dress provocatively as it was against our culture,” said Radhika Shingweker, a law student who organised Bhopal’s Slut Walk.

Isn’t this the very anti-thesis of this movement? When we as parents caution our children to watch how they dress/behave in public, we were doing something wrong and somehow the right to a slutty attire was an inalienable right – was supposed to be the very basis of this “slut Walk”.

What am I missing ? Educate me please….. Only thing I see here is a primal urge on the part of certain delhi-ites to decide “What is good for the west, must be good for India too ?”

When religion became a burden for Justice Dinakaran

What a hypocrite ? Justice Dinakaran, finally resigned when the noose tightened around his neck, in the impeachment proceedings -- with SC clearing all hurdles to go ahead. He has suddenly discovered, that he is a Christian and that too a dalit and that is why he is being prosecuted. When he was recruited based on reservation into the lower judiciary, got promoted and eventually appointed to High Court all based on his being a Christian and Dalit, he didn't find that burdening. When a caste/religion agnostic corruption probe is launched he suddenly discovers his minority origin... Shame on you Dinakaran -- you have let down all the downtrodden masses who looked up to you as a hero....

Watch out for the "Civil Society" - Part 4

Watch out for the Civil Society Part 4

Boy, just as I thought the congress and their media inspired civil society will take a break, they are onto the next one. The topic this time is “Judicial overreach”. The debate and the orchestration of it is also going along predictable lines.
1. There is constitutional separation of powers
2. Supreme court is subsuming the government
3. Court is establishing precedent
4. Etc. on a variety of issues…
Let us ignore these morons and for ourselves, analyze the issue of what has the court done, the potential and consequences of its actions if any…

1. In the 2G case, the court admonishes the government and the ministry and assumes direct ownership of the investigations by the CBI, thoroughly delinking it from the government
2. In the black money case, the court creates a special investigation team and makes all relevant heads of government departments, who are charged with investigating financial crimes, members reporting into it.
That is it, this has ticked off the media and government with several intellectuals worrying about “Judicial overreach”. There is predictable and nauseating discourse on constitution. All these folks have forgotten that when one arm of the constitution abdicates its responsibility, the others exist to checkmate that and course correct it. Any disagreements?

Now, in light of the above, let us look as to why the courts had to “over reach”.
1. In the 2G after the initial admonishment the CBI filed charge sheet against “unknown persons” and didn’t do anything for 2+ years. That is right. Other than filling in a statutory requirement that too with the best option to let off the accused, the government (through CBI) was circumventing and totally abdicating its responsibility. Even after the second round of admonishment the CBI just filed two cases out of the 14 where there were blatant wrong doing by the minister!
2. The IT department sent a notice for concealed income and back taxes and penalties for 9000 crores to Hasan Ali, a known Congress Money launderer. Yet, other departments which charted with tracking the source of illegal income sat silent on the petition for 6 years. Yes SIX years… Even after the initial admonishment of the Supreme Court the government formed a committee of secretaries and was patting itself on the back! That is it no progress for 9 months.
For all the so called “intellectuals” and “constitutional experts” I have one question, what is the remedy? One more arm of the constitution the President is nothing more than a lapdog, which will lick and clean Antonio Maino’s feet at the drop of a hat. So which branch in the constitution the citizenry can lay its hopes on?

Please answer all these questions and judge for yourselves as to whether there is any judicial overreach? I for one am very happy at this transgression by the SC, if at all there is one.

Part 3 - http://baskarkothandaraman.blogspot.com/2011/07/watch-out-for-civil-society-part-3.html
Part 2 - http://baskarkothandaraman.blogspot.com/2011/04/watchout-for-civil-society-part-2.html
Part 1 - http://baskarkothandaraman.blogspot.com/2010/10/watch-out-for-civil-society.html

Watch out for the Civil Society – Part 3

Crocodile tears for under trials and judicial system.

There is a lot of noise about judicial delays in India, in the media today. By default, a panel will be assembled with a sympathetic politician, a lawyer from SC and member of human rights forum. They will shed tons of tears for the backlog of around 3crores of cases in the judicial system. How more than 2.5 lakhs of under trials are languishing in jails awaiting trial, how we need to speed things up etc. blah, blah.

On the face of it, nothing wrong right? Well, such shedding of crocodile tears will always be followed by how unfairly, RAJA, KALMADI & KANIMOZHI are victims of this horrendous judicial system in India, how they “deserved” bail but have not been given due to media pressure, over lynch mob mentality of the public etc.

Well, now you understand the where the real sympathy lies ? They will consciously ask/mask all reasonable attempts at reason/debate.

E.g. If so many under trials are already languishing in jails for several years, what is special about Raja/Kalmadi/Kanimozhi they their cases needed to be acted with alacrity. They can ensure that they get out of jail, by asking for a fast track court for corruption, ensure that they don’t even request a single adjournment, stop all frivolous appeals unless and until the court of first instance is done with its job of conducting a fair trial. Will they take up this offer, me thinks not.

Keep in mind, no politician while in office has even been filed a charge sheet against corruption and proceeded against, while they or their allies were in power. Even in the present case, the UPA government tried every trick in the book, including browbeating the CBI into filing charge sheets against “unknown persons”! It is due to the zeal shown by the Supreme Court that some light is now in the tunnel, though not the end of it.

Considering the capability that exists in these individuals and their allies all the way to the Italian Maatha, I am say -- get them even if it means going against the norm.

Human rights are not applicable those that work against the welfare of the society. Make no mistake, corruption is clearly against societal interests. So we should ignore such crocodile tears – at the minimum for some time – to come. We all know the saying that “All is fair in Love and War” it is time we added “getting at the corrupt” to that list.