2019 General Elections News and Discussion

[chetak]

[Singha]

Kureel has some epic cartoons on jihadidi....my favourite is the wahabi warrior in a pram sucking on a milk bottle, then suddenly namo appears and the 'baby' jumps up into his mom jihadidi's lap - cant find it now its a old one

[Singha]

[nandakumar]

Sadhvi is playing her part in "change the narrative" process. A small but immensely important part.

Narratives, that are held for ages, do not change just like that. It is a process. And one important step in that process is to have a storm trooper to raise the unpopular POV at the initial stage. He/she will bear the burnt of negative sentiments and push back, not from just the establishment but also from the population seeped in the ongoing narrative. Even his/her associates would be singed to some extent. And it is by design and it is good. because these brings in part 2 of the process.

SEE, NO ONE WILL CHANGE THEIR POV JUST BECAUSE HE/SHE BROUGHT IT UP in PART 1. But that's ok. The job is still done. The idea has been floated. The population has received the shock. Next it is the job of the initial supporters of the unpopular POV to do the communication is a polished manner. Many times the supporters would be forced to, because they are getting singed by association otherwise. This is part 2 of the "change the narrative" process.

And the success of changing the narrative depends on the sustenance of this part 2. The more vocal the supporters, the faster is its spread in the population. The more they can continue their communication and withstand the oncoming brick bats from the establishment, the more chance of making a lasting impression on the population initially antagonized to the idea. *

And that's the game NaMo is playing, changing not just the administration but the overall narrative. It is a long game but only this can ensure the long term success of BJP because otherwise it is just another version of the existing political parties. In this, he will need both kinds, the common supporters but more importantly, some storm trooper who are unafraid to take on both the establishment and population. Typically, such folks do not appear as the smartest and suave. But that's one of the most important role and not many are available to take that up as it needs enormous amount of moral courage and conviction to disregard the well being of self and associates.

Also, three more important points to consider.
a. Opening up too many fronts simultaneously is counter productive, hence important to ensure not too many green horn storm troopers are in play. I think, now that Yogi is established, there was space for another storm trooper and Sadhvi fits in.

b. It is important for the storm trooper to use the most visible event to raise her "change the narrative" pov to ensure it reaches the max audience. In India, nothing beats a "Indian General Election League" ** in terms of audience. If NaMo hadn't brought her in as an election candidate in a high profile battle, she could shout all these and none would have cared. Neither would the supporters be forced to be vocal about it.

c. The storm trooper has to fit in that role naturally, some one not having the necessary qualities would slink away at the face of adversity and hide completely from view. She is playing that part perfectly, raising the points to ensure traction among the right wing tweeple and then taking a step back personally to ensure BJP's electoral chances are not marred by her utterances. Very few of the right wing tweeple are inclined towards her naturally to pick up the fight but they will be forced to as associated with BJP's electoral prospect.

* And this is where the importance of the sanctuary for the supporters come in. The common supporters, though passionate, do not have what it takes to be a storm trooper and hence will need a protected space. Sometimes a part of them will be conflicted on their own but will find the common path as long as internal communication within the sanctuary is going on and is protected. NaMo's win in 2014 ensured that sanctuary and hopefully, that will continue else the supporters will go silent and the process will die a natural death. I still rue the closure of GDF as one such sanctuary for large scale debate and dissemination of RW ideas. Hopefully individual whatsapp groups have taken up the slack as distributed vs central with single point of failure mode of operation.

** With 7 phases and 2 months, no other description is apt.

Spectacular post there, Picklu!

I too endorse that assessment. Picklu's reasoning is very intuitive and as he himself points out, nothing else fits the sequence of events. Usually the schedule of candidates on election campaigns are tightly strucured and choreographed. You know, hugging a very old lady, lifting a child and giving it a peck on the cheek, Arti and stuff like that. Even interactions with the media are part of this choreography. Now, I have seen the video clip a few times. This does not appear to be a scheduled press conference. It is as though the person posing the question seems to be the only reporter present. No other camera or jostling crowd of newspersons. He is seen as thrusting a microphone in front of her face, supreme in the belief that his cameraman is right behind him. Indeed it would be fair to ask the question was he even a reporter? It is picked up by ANI a video news agency that every channel and newspapers subscribe to. Predictably everyone plays it up. Read the Twitter comments that followed. First the intellectuals jump into it with the claim that Modi has just made a boo, boo. Then the counter narrative starts. Where do we stand now? A gradual dawning of realisation that perhaps Gandhi and more importantly, the Congress party got a free pass on its claim of having got India its freedom all these years and it is time its role is more objectively assessed. That was Modi's objective all along.

[Singha]

[chetak]

twitter

The historical significance of #LokSabhaElections2019 is that this's the last election @cpimspeak is going to contest as a 'National Party'. CPI has already lost the status and it won't have even a single MP this time. As per surveys, CPM will confine to 0-2 seats

[Suraj]

Open the Magazine has two very well written articles:
The Dawn of Hindu Politics
Why Modi is Still the One

[Mukesh.Kumar]

Spectacular post there, Picklu!

I too endorse that assessment. Picklu's reasoning is very intuitive and as he himself points out, nothing else fits the sequence of events. Usually the schedule of candidates on election campaigns are tightly strucured and choreographed. You know, hugging a very old lady, lifting a child and giving it a peck on the cheek, Arti and stuff like that. Even interactions with the media are part of this choreography. Now, I have seen the video clip a few times. This does not appear to be a scheduled press conference. It is as though the person posing the question seems to be the only reporter present. No other camera or jostling crowd of newspersons. He is seen as thrusting a microphone in front of her face, supreme in the belief that his cameraman is right behind him. Indeed it would be fair to ask the question was he even a reporter? It is picked up by ANI a video news agency that every channel and newspapers subscribe to. Predictably everyone plays it up. Read the Twitter comments that followed. First the intellectuals jump into it with the claim that Modi has just made a boo, boo. Then the counter narrative starts. Where do we stand now? A gradual dawning of realisation that perhaps Gandhi and more importantly, the Congress party got a free pass on its claim of having got India its freedom all these years and it is time its role is more objectively assessed. That was Modi's objective all along.

It's already started. I am seeing RW storm trooper friends already start sharing articles on MKG. Overton window being reshaped.

[Sachin]

Looks like Congress is doing U turns after U turns.
Ghulam Nabi Azad now says that; he never said Congress would NOT accept the PM-Ship. Now he says his party needs to be given a fair chance (i.e the thugs of thugbandhan needs to support the Congress) to have a stable government at the Centre , .

TRS, YSRCP to await clarity on poll results, may skip Sonia's counting-day meet. So none of the regional parties are taking any decisions now.

UP Muslims' silence speaks loud about their poll tactics. This is how a Malayalan news paper analysed the "silence of the lambs" from the Muslim community.

[sajo]

Open the Magazine has two very well written articles:
The Dawn of Hindu Politics
Why Modi is Still the One

Suraj-ji, many thanks for sharing. It summarizes quite succinctly what me and many others like me feel about the whole revivalist movement, like we are sitting on the cusp of something great, and all we need is a shove. Modi is that shove.
I was too young when Babri happened, and rue the fact that due to an extremely biased media and with an overall control of the narrative, the Nehruvian Marxists undid what was supposed to be a tidal wave of Hindu Revivalism.
PS: I am glad that after years of lurking, I signed up. We need to get more people under the BRF fold.

[kedariprasad]

At the verge of tears after reading this

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/from-t ... e-congress

Was too small a kid, am sure the reality during those days would have been even worse than what is written in words. Pitroda screwed everything with three words

If Sam Pitroda said he translated the word Bura to Huwa, then does he mean to say Bura toh Bura?

[Aditya_V]

Sam Pitroda knew what he was talking, he is just willing to be the fall guy in case 23 May. You can't expect RG or PV to take responsibility can you?

[aylamrin]

NM says that he condemns Saadhvi. And even though she has apologised, he will never forgive her.

My loyalties are divided now. Being from WB, which suffered almost as much as Punjab, and my previous generation evicted from their birthplace, I have heard stories of what Gandhi was, or what he stood for ...

Godse was an assassin, and perhaps he was a patriot as well. Question is, are these mutually exclusive?

[Rahul M]

NM says that he condemns Saadhvi. And even though she has apologised, he will never forgive her.

My loyalties are divided now. Being from WB, which suffered almost as much as Punjab, and my previous generation evicted from their birthplace, I have heard stories of what Gandhi was, or what he stood for ...

Godse was an assassin, and perhaps he was a patriot as well. Question is, are these mutually exclusive?

Let me prephrase my reply by stating that my background is virtually the same.

In my mind there was legitimate grounds forbGodse's criticism of Gandhi. But I disagree with the method he chose to express that disapproval. Godse criticised MKG as a willing accessory to the events that tormented India, he can't really escape responsibility on that point.

[Lekhraj]

I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion here and I might get piled on, but here goes.

I don't think Sadhvi Pragya is cut out to be a politician. Politics is a matter of perception and you do not always say out loud what you might believe in private (no matter if it is "right"), if it can give the opposition a stick to beat you with. Unfortunately, she has done that with the Godse comment. She did it with the Karkare comment too, but that is more forgivable because she had personally suffered because of him. Now the INC's paltu kuttas in the media have smelled blood. She will be relentlessly hounded by the media with controversial questions just so she can make an unforced error like this.

Only silver lining is that there is only 1 phase left and her own constituency has already voted, so the impact will probably be limited.

+1 on Sadhvi not being good on message discipline.

I think the impact of her statement will be less on the election and more on the global reputational war being waged against Indic interests. It is an IED of a statement, any amount of reasoned responses would be useless in countering it.

The damage she has done is huge. It is making me question Modi's political acumen in choosing her. I can only guess he misjudged her.

Modi and Shah's political accumen has been outstanding and they factored these things obviously. There was no catalyst to make such statement and the statement has been given. It is all planned and hope for good only. No need for dhoti shiver.

[chetak]

this is fair warning to everyone in the BJP that their leaders are serious.

sadhvi P has been flying fairly close to the sun and here be dragons

BJP suspends Anil Soumitra for remarks on Mahatma Gandhi

Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah came out with their statements on their party leaders' comments on Nathuram Godse, BJP has reportedly suspended party leader Anil Soumitra from the party's primary membership and absolved him of all positions for his comment on Mahatma Gandhi. Soumitra had said, "Pakistan was born with the blessings of Bapu, therefore Mahatma Gandhi can be the father of Pakistan but not of India."

[pankajs]

rNDTV has already started .. What foreign media is saying on Sadhvi Pragya .. basically calling on the authority of the White man, which is gold with a section of Indians, to promote their own narrative.

On expected lines this ...

[Prasad]

Its like circular logic. Your own write in foreign publications, cite them in local news, claim international condemnation. Anyone with half a brain can see through their idiocy.
NaMos statement on pragya is just good cop, bad cop. You don't expect him to agree with her do you? That foot soldiers will do.

[pankajs]

I don't know if this was planned or unplanned, OR if this was a master stroke or a self inflicted wound BUT one thing is for sure ... this will send a new generation of Indians to dig/google/study the Gandhi/Godse episode and events surrounding it AND that is a good thing.

With the advent of internet the narrative can not longer be channeled/controlled in a certain direction like the days of the yore by the left distortionists. Not all but those who discover massive discrepancies in the previous narrative will start questioning the whole of history as it is being taught. Something good will surely come out of this manthan.

[chetak]

only on India today

India Today Verified account @IndiaToday

While waiting for his execution in Ambala jail, Nathuram Godse repented firing bullets at Mahatma Gandhi. He was scared when he was being taken to the gallows in the jail.

[Singha]

i have misposted a couple of true indology posts on understanding the US thread. meant it for here.

gandhiji is not a simple case. its a world full of secrets and shadows...

[pankajs]

i have misposted a couple of true indology posts on understanding the US thread. meant it for here.

gandhiji is not a simple case. its a world full of secrets and shadows...

Saw your last one .. As I have stated in the prior post, this might be the moment when the "History of India" project of the durbari distortians may start getting demolished.

If the Gandhi bio that mangos read in schools and colleges are whitewashed, what else is whitewashed will be the next question. May be the door for completely re-writing history has just been opened.

[Singha]

1948 - Brahmin genocides of Maharashtra — The gruesome episode blotted out of Indian history in the aftermath of untimely assassination of Gandhi.

https://medium.com/@Sooraj_Kumar/1948-b ... 39bd5c6c0f

[Primus]

india was the only large populous country not burned badly by WW2 - none of these leaders knew the true horrors of a mass war.

usa
russia
uk
france
china
italy
spain (had a civil war francesco franco(with axis powers) vs communists)
japan
germany
poland

Singha Ji, Beg to differ. India by then had been burning in the slow and smoldering fires of Islamic Iconoclasm and British Colonialism for over a thousand years. All these countries may have faced fierce violence for a few years during the 20th century, but the price paid by India and her people was much higher. Estimates are mind-boggling and one can only imagine the loot in terms of temple wealth and Hindu slaves that were repeatedly carted off by successive waves of marauding Ghaznis. The British were probably even worse - as documented in Tharoor's 'Era of Darkness' - the only good thing creditable to him.

Even after all this, India did suffer again from forced inclusion in WW1 and WW2.

[chetak]

TrueIndology @TrueIndologyliv

Sadhvi pragya- "Godse was a patriot."

Liberal gang- non stop outrage.

Ambedkar in 1948- "Godse did a good thing. Gandhi was a danger to the country. Good will come out of Gandhi's death."

Liberal gang- Consuming Fevicol since 70 years




10:39 am - 16 May 2019

275 replies . 5,517 retweets 7,371 likes
Reply 275 Retweet 5.5K Like 7.4K

[Singha]

india was the only large populous country not burned badly by WW2 - none of these leaders knew the true horrors of a mass war.
Singha Ji, Beg to differ. India by then had been burning in the slow and smoldering fires of Islamic Iconoclasm and British Colonialism for over a thousand years. All these countries may have faced fierce violence for a few years during the 20th century, but the price paid by India and her people was much higher. Estimates are mind-boggling and one can only imagine the loot in terms of temple wealth and Hindu slaves that were repeatedly carted off by successive waves of marauding Ghaznis. The British were probably even worse - as documented in Tharoor's 'Era of Darkness' - the only good thing creditable to him.

Even after all this, India did suffer again from forced inclusion in WW1 and WW2.

I was speaking of a different thing. our esteemed leaders of the 1947 generation did not have to manage the wholesale slaughter and chaos of cities and rural areas at war, lakhs killed, emergency survival mode. not even close. our army did indeed go to middle east, italy and north africa but the only real battle on home soil was manipur and nagaland against what was 2 underequipped japanese divisions sent walking across the hills up from the myanmar plains ... and even today how many indians can correctly place manipur , mizoram and nagaland and their capitals on the map?

the war left the indian heartland and people untouched and with barely any scars except some shortages of food surely.

my father grew up a normal life in tezpur. my grandfather was a PWD executive engineer and was busy building roads and airfields for the huge "hump" effort that packed the airbases in eastern assam with american transport planes. nearby a crashed hulk of a dakota and spent bullet casings were used to tip their play bamboo arrows. even assam was never in danger. convoys of american GIs and airmen used to move around in trains and trucks - fairly friendly and used to throw chocolates from their well kitted rations to village kids. the war raging in china and myanmar was not felt among the indian population.

frances back was broken in ww1 itself with terrible losses of young men whose ranks not replenished fully by mid 30s, hence the generals decided they could never attack the larger pop of germany and build the maginot line a purely defensive concept.

that is why bankrupt ideologies like gandhiji's brand of "ahimsa" could not only take root but sold on the market as gold. a couple of cities in bengal shelled to extinction by advancing japanese hordes would have quickly snuffed out this stupid idea. nowhere it did gain any traction than india because EVERYWHERE was in flames.

war of annihilation like ww2 is the ultimate test of what works and what does not.

her majestys govt was happy to play along and let gandhi and banditji keep revolution in india quiet. india was a source of manpower and resources for war and they did not want to rock the boat.

[VKumar]

Political assassination is a bit different from murder. The aims and motives are different.

[UlanBatori]

Re: War. The people suffered but the leaders/bureaucrats lived in luxury.

[darshan]

What would have been the Bharatiya history if Gandhi was alive till natural death?

[Singha]

What would have been the Bharatiya history if Gandhi was alive till natural death?

probably not much difference. nehru had already realized he was a liability and made him a margdarshak

[Sachin]

If the Gandhi bio that mangos read in schools and colleges are whitewashed, what else is whitewashed will be the next question. May be the door for completely re-writing history has just been opened.

The more I read about India's "Independence Struggle", the more I get that it was a well choreographed event by the British themselves. I may be sounding rude, but I feel the entire process was a sham. If the British allowed Gandhi to indulge in politics and try out his unqiue ways to get Independence; it was clearly after a good "due diligence" process. The British were never kind to any one who tried the armed struggle route, but were all fine and dandy when fakirs/god men etc. tried their ways. The British may have allowed Ghandi's drama to run its full course, because in him they found a person who they can use to manipulate gullible Indians. In Chauri Chaura, UP a police station was burnt down and police men killed but Ghandi called of his non-cooperation movement. A police station is a mark of authority, and folks like Ghandi were not very keen on such armed strikes on that authority. Ghandi also gave his "approval" for Indians joining the British Army, Navy and Air Force.

White-washing of history has been done quite well, and it could have continued if there was no technology improvements (like social media). First a narrative was built that it was Ghandi and his side-kick Nehru who got us the Independence. Ghandi was portrayed as the best role model sanyasi for the Hindus. Using school curriculum and the print media of those days an aura was first created for Ghandi, which then was passed on to the Nehru-Ghandis. Now once Ghandi has been euologised, the Nehrus started their game. They usurped the surname of Ghandi, and then stared the Nehru-Ghandi model of governing India. Considering the elitist background of Congress folks like Nehru (and his womanising skills) it is very reasonable to expect that the British still got their plans executed through them.

To be frank, I feel even movies like Gandhi by Attenborough seems to have been made with a clear propoganda value. Looking back, the way Nehru et. al has been portrayed gives me such a feeling. Some other Congress-wallah talks about Nehru's charm and dare-devilry etc. With Congress folks mainly in power, any group who tried to expose the Nehru-Ghandis would have been stymied in the process. But today with BJP (with a different leadership) having a major role in the politics, the old propoganda schemes of the "seculars" & Nehru-Ghandis are failing.

her majestys govt was happy to play along and let gandhi and banditji keep revolution in india quiet. india was a source of manpower and resources for war and they did not want to rock the boat.

+1. Ghandi and Bandit-ji were allowed to run around India only with the blessing of the British. The British in 1947 ensured that the rule was handed over to carefully vetted brown sahibs like Nehru, who were Indians by birth; but British by heart (and may be faith as well). They ensured that Indians remains as "heathens" totally confused over their identity, culture and even think about a time frame before the arrival of Islamic invaders and European Colonisers.

[chetak]

What would have been the Bharatiya history if Gandhi was alive till natural death?

probably not much difference. nehru had already realized he was a liability and made him a margdarshak

maybe we would have been speaking urdu with jinnah's descendants lording it over us.

a couple of more direct action days would have nudged nehru out of office.

ps sorry for the edits. was interrupted/distracted by phone calls.

[Ranarasika]

NaMo & Shah concluded the press conference. Shah took all the questions.

Quite a few journalists raised questions concerning Godse. Shah deftly handled it. He categorically mentioned that show-cause notice has been issued to three leaders and they have been given 10 days to respond. Party follows a procedure and outcome will be for all to see. Congress, even though pitch Gandhi philosophy has never done anything concrete about it and it was BJP which started "Swachta" initiative.

He separated the issue of candidature and Godse comment. Candidature is a symbolism to thwart the bogey of "Hindu Terror".

So, NaMo dismissing the statement of Sadhvi Pragya and Shah issuing disciplinary notice was a preemptive measure before the press conference.

[darshan]

Would India's post 1947+ history have been worse with both Nehru and Gandhi alive?
Would Nehru have done everything he can to get rid off Gandhi to set up Nehru empire if Gandhi had tried to intervene?
Would Gandhi have supported people Iike Patel and Ambedkar against Nehru?
With Gandhi alive longer, how far worse or better Hindus would have been?
Did Gandhi's early death save India from the worst case scenario of being sold down the river and broken up in pieces? Or at least slowed the BIF process down?

[Ardeshir]

Gentlemards, with respect to Sadhvi, Modijee distancing himself and the party from the statement, and Overton Windows, there are (atleast) two angles here in my opinion.
Also, to state a personal bias, I am someone who has often got into trouble socially because I've referred to Gandhi as a "Duratma", so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

First, on the distancing bit - I think it's the "non-state actor" ploy here. If you recall, about 5 years ago, Yogiji was the one making such incendiary statements. Congis are past masters at this game, which is why they have their own "non-state actors" like Pitgaya and Mani Shankar.

Second, the thing about Overton Windows is that, it has to be radical change. Incremental change does not register, or is outright rejected. I read a wonderful analysis of how this was shifted on the issue of Gay Rights in the US, but can't seem to find the link. Basically - the activists who wanted equality for the LGBT crowd, didn't just want housing and employment access, as demanding that would be seen as mundane and people wouldn't even register such a demand in their collective consciences. So they start demanding the right the get married. If you recall, even as late as 2008, Hillary Clinton was against Gay Marriage. So in less than a decade, this was permanently shifted in favour of the LGBT groups, where gay marriage is now a mundane occurrence.
With the Sadhvi's remarks about Gandhi, the conversation has already started, and the more that people discuss this, the more mundane the topic becomes. The journey from Mahatma Gandhi to MK Gandhi has started, in my opinion.

[ShyamSP]

Looks like Congress is doing U turns after U turns.
Ghulam Nabi Azad now says that; he never said Congress would NOT accept the PM-Ship. Now he says his party needs to be given a fair chance (i.e the thugs of thugbandhan needs to support the Congress) to have a stable government at the Centre , .

TRS, YSRCP to await clarity on poll results, may skip Sonia's counting-day meet. So none of the regional parties are taking any decisions now.

UP Muslims' silence speaks loud about their poll tactics. This is how a Malayalan news paper analysed the "silence of the lambs" from the Muslim community.

Committed non-NDA parties including INC may get up to 230-240 range in good case, BJD and TRS may become crucial in number game. Mommy and mama are buying lollipops to make the cool kid sit on the chair *. EC is working hard so Azad from NDA for PM seat for Azad/INC to put its candidate may be difficult so UF like situation is reasonable.

* https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/baby-ro ... 745946.jpg

Gentlemards, with respect to Sadhvi, Modijee distancing himself and the party from the statement, and Overton Windows, there are (atleast) two angles here in my opinion.
Also, to state a personal bias, I am someone who has often got into trouble socially because I've referred to Gandhi as a "Duratma", so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
...

for 70 years people were fed with certain narrative and they exchange Gandhi currency every time they buy something. Feeding of other information may be slow and have to sink into people for decade or so to have "Duratma" accepted by common populace.

On political side, taking on Gandhi can help Congis to divert criticism on Nehru and Ghandy clans. INC ecosystem put Gandhi placard and do all dirty and corrupt activities and politics from behind.

[aylamrin]

Looks like Congress is doing U turns after U turns.
Ghulam Nabi Azad now says that; he never said Congress would NOT accept the PM-Ship. Now he says his party needs to be given a fair chance (i.e the thugs of thugbandhan needs to support the Congress) to have a stable government at the Centre , .

TRS, YSRCP to await clarity on poll results, may skip Sonia's counting-day meet. So none of the regional parties are taking any decisions now.

UP Muslims' silence speaks loud about their poll tactics. This is how a Malayalan news paper analysed the "silence of the lambs" from the Muslim community.

Committed non-NDA parties including INC may get up to 230-240 range in good case, BJD and TRS may become crucial in number game. Mommy and mama are buying lollipops to make the cool kid sit on the chair *. EC is working hard so Azad from NDA for PM seat for Azad/INC to put its candidate may be difficult so UF like situation is reasonable.

* https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/baby-ro ... 745946.jpg

Gentlemards, with respect to Sadhvi, Modijee distancing himself and the party from the statement, and Overton Windows, there are (atleast) two angles here in my opinion.
Also, to state a personal bias, I am someone who has often got into trouble socially because I've referred to Gandhi as a "Duratma", so take what I say with a pinch of salt.
...

for 70 years people were fed with certain narrative and they exchange Gandhi currency every time they buy something. Feeding of other information may be slow and have to sink into people for decade or so to have "Duratma" accepted by common populace.

On political side, taking on Gandhi can help Congis to divert criticism on Nehru and Ghandy clans. INC ecosystem put Gandhi placard and do all dirty and corrupt activities and politics from behind.

YA will have his task cut out when he succeeds ...

[chetak]

Gentlemards, with respect to Sadhvi, Modijee distancing himself and the party from the statement, and Overton Windows, there are (atleast) two angles here in my opinion.
Also, to state a personal bias, I am someone who has often got into trouble socially because I've referred to Gandhi as a "Duratma", so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

First, on the distancing bit - I think it's the "non-state actor" ploy here. If you recall, about 5 years ago, Yogiji was the one making such incendiary statements. Congis are past masters at this game, which is why they have their own "non-state actors" like Pitgaya and Mani Shankar.

Second, the thing about Overton Windows is that, it has to be radical change. Incremental change does not register, or is outright rejected. I read a wonderful analysis of how this was shifted on the issue of Gay Rights in the US, but can't seem to find the link. Basically - the activists who wanted equality for the LGBT crowd, didn't just want housing and employment access, as demanding that would be seen as mundane and people wouldn't even register such a demand in their collective consciences. So they start demanding the right the get married. If you recall, even as late as 2008, Hillary Clinton was against Gay Marriage. So in less than a decade, this was permanently shifted in favour of the LGBT groups, where gay marriage is now a mundane occurrence.
With the Sadhvi's remarks about Gandhi, the conversation has already started, and the more that people discuss this, the more mundane the topic becomes. The journey from Mahatma Gandhi to MK Gandhi has started, in my opinion.

the discourse has already started to gather momentum on SM.

Ambedkar is being quoted by the majority along with Patel and Bose.

it is only the commies and minorities who have long propped him up and held him as an example of some paragon of virtue and the apostle of peace because of his constant advice to the Hindus which was exactly what the lefties and the militant minorities wanted most of all, that the Hindus should willingly die without resistance when the killers of the Hindus came for them.

all this was aided and abetted by the colonial brits who were licking their chops in eager anticipation of an imploding India gutted by anarchy, mobocracy and mindless chaos.

[Aditya_V]

In all this the person stating 26/11 was an RSS theory Digvijay singh is not discussed along with Batla hoouse and other exploits.

[chetak]

neatly done

He was first brought out of his den and now he would be arrested.

justice maybe in sight for the Saradha Chit Fund subscribers who lost their money.

Sob homara dushmon hoi, Hom aag loga dega

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