Indian Interests

[prahaar]

NM is a highly regarded leader but his vote-pulling-power is not yet demonstrated nation-wide.

NM is local leader only.. what has he done to people outside GJ, hain ji?

NM is not a local leader, he is considered a national force across the country. I was writing specifically about the *demonstrated* vote-pulling-power. I am just not aware of his vote-gathering pull outside of Gujarat + MH (anecdotal evidence), due to my limited exposure. The reasons for my doubt lie in 2009 polls where NM actively campaigned in many constituencies - although the reason may not lie only in his personal failure, it could be local issues as well.

[Atri]

i was bring sarcastic, prahaar ji... I know Namo is a national leader..

[RamaY]

The BT thread shows how people who have no respect for a leader (galli/state/nation) descend upon his eulogy thread without any maryada and hijack the discussion and keep repeating divisive and communalists tags until the thread gets locked.

{self-edit: so post doesn't get deleted and thus losing the key message!}

And we wonder why no national news papers do not publish eulogies for leaders like Bal Thackray.

How many non Maharastrians moving to Mumbai/Maha every year since 1960s and how many maharastra Muslims are kicked out of the state?

An article on Mumbai migration http://iussp2009.princeton.edu/papers/90798
It starts with a statement

Migration to Mumbai has always remained a matter of serious concern to researchers, planners and policy makers.

Note the concerned are not Hindu communalists or Hindu cheuvanists.

[RamaY]

Often times I said that Bharat would progress and be strong even if it is a declared Hindu state. Some posters thought that it is not secularism (Christianity without church) and so must be opposed irrespective of lack of reason or proof.

Here is an interesting insight from someone who can be abused by the very (sic) secularists
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/gujar ... 29422.html

Mufti Asad Munshi, an Islamic scholar who is associated with madrasa education in Gujarat, says: “Our views may not be in sync with Narendra Modi’s views on a variety of issues but then there is this undisputable fact that he has been the chief minister of this state for the last 10 years and we are part of his subjects. It is his duty to engage with us and for us to have a dialogue with him. We wanted to place someone else, or a party of our choice (in power), but that didn’t happen. If we remain closed to him just because of that it would not solve our problem. Whether he is the culprit of 2002 is an issue for the courts and judicial processes to decide. The fact is the riots took place during his regime, and this is a blot on him. But when he wants to correct that and (does) certain other positive things, should we not move on? We have to live for the better.”

The same thing could have repeated all over Hindustan, the undivided Hindustan.

That is why our sastras say "Yatha Raja, Tatha Praja"

[RamaY]

A quote from Asifa Khan, the 3M candidate (Muslim, Mahila and Media per Congress calculations - Aaak thoo on whoever came up with this formula)

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/musli ... 30308.html

“There is one policy, one implementation in Modi’s regime, without discrimination, without bifurcation on grounds of caste, creed and religion. There is clarity of sense and purpose.”

When we have this level of clarity and purpose, India doesn't need caste/religion based reservations or vote-banks to move forward towards national well-being, progress, security and destiny.

and this proves Bji's mercantile-interests theory

Rasheeda Bhagat, writing in BusinessLine, quotes social scientist Achyut Yagnik as saying that the mercantile community among Muslims is now moving towards Modi, and some of them told her “our lives and businesses are safe when he is in power”.

Yagnik confirms this point to her: “It’s because Bohras, Agha Khanis or Khojas and Memons are all mercantile communities and they support him. And the Bohra support is because their spiritual leader Syedna openly supported Modi in Rajkot recently.”

The mercantile sword is sharp on both sides.

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Right

Winter storm

Even as the opposition ranks remain divided over the best way to corner the UPA government on FDI in retail, the Sangh Parivar has already anticipated fireworks in Parliament’s winter session. While Panchjanya has carried an editorial highlighting the “difficult situation” the government finds itself in on this issue, the Organiser has devoted its cover story to it. The editorial in Panchjanya claims the government was engaged in “bargaining” with the SP and the BSP, and apprehended that even UPA partner DMK’s silence on FDI in retail was a kind of “bargaining tactic”.

The Organiser report, however, appears confident that “FDI in retail grinds the government to a halt” and hoped that the “stormy winter session will dwarf Congress grandstanding”. The cover story also suggests the opposition’s “focus will shift to policymaking and economic reforms” during the winter session, despite the fact that the issue of alleged irregularities in coal block allocations washed out the last session.

Hail Mamata

While she continues to focus less on her governance in West Bengal and threatens to force the UPA at the Centre to a floor test, it’s the Sangh Parivar that has come to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s defence against the criticism she has faced over police firing in her state recently.

The editorial in the Organiser describes the “overdrive” of the CPM and the media “to damn Mamata” over the issue as “unjustified tirade” and appeals to everyone to “give her time, if not support” because Banerjee has “inherited an empty coffer, a corroded industry, a society that had been suppressed by the Red cadre terror and a system completely infiltrated by communist loyalists, fellow-travellers and sympathisers”. Extending its claim of communist infiltration to the deepest corners of government, the editorial loudly thinks that “it would not be surprising if it turns out that the police fired on the villagers at Nadia and elsewhere in the state only to besmirch her governance”.

The editorial points out that Banerjee never claimed to possess any “magic potion” to heal the state from the ills of 34 years of communist rule overnight. It appeals to others to not join the ranks of the Left and the Congress, which were “doing more a job of termite” as her ally.

“The Congress and the Communists are watching from the pavilion to see her trip and fall. We must not add chorus to it,” the editorial says, adding that Banerjee is a “rare breed” of politician in a country that “need dozens like her”.

VHP behind Modi

While Narenrda Modi’s recent visit to the Sangh Parivar headquarters in Nagpur was seen as an attempt by Modi to rope in active Parivar support for his fourth consecutive chief ministerial bid, he appears to have succeeded. Both Parivar weeklies have reported a Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha meeting in Ahmedabad recently where VHP patron Ashok Singhal had lauded Modi saying his government not only brought development but also “enhanced the power of Hindu community”. Singhal’s remarks are likely to motivate his followers.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari

[abhishek_sharma]

India’s billionaires club

[Sanku]

A brilliant speech by Lokmanya B G Tilak.

We see here the basic ideological seeds of what MKG would turn into a mass movement later. And his words were not only prophetic, but remain true for India even today.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920):
Address to the Indian National Congress, 1907

The Indian National Congress was created by a group of English-speaking urban intellectuals in 1885. The original "moderate" leadership was soon more "militant" group, led by Bal GangadharTilak (1856-1920), which demanded "Swaraj [self-rule] for India. What follows is an excerpt from Tilak's address to Indian National Congress in 1907 calling for boycott of British goods and resistance to British rule.

"Two new words have recently come into existence with regard to our politics, and they are Moderates and Extremists. These words have a specific relation to time, and they, therefore, will change with time. The Extremists of today will be Moderates tomorrow, Just as the Moderates of today were Extremists yesterday. When the National Congress was first started and Mr. Dadabhai's views, which now go for Moderates, were given to the public, he was styled an Extremist, so that you will see that the term Extremist is an expression of progress. We are Extremists today and our sons will call themselves Extremists and us Moderates. Every new party begins as Extremists and ends as Moderates. The sphere of practical politics is not unlimited. We cannot say what will or will not happen 1,000 years hence - perhaps during that long period, the whole of the white race will be swept away in another glacial period. We must, therefore, study the present and work out a program to meet the present condition.

It is impossible to go into details within the time at my disposal. One thing is granted, namely, that this government does not suit us. As has been said by an eminent statesman - the government of one country by another can never be a successful, and therefore, a permanent government. There is no difference of opinion about this fundamental proposition between the old and new schools. One fact is that this alien government has ruined the country. In the beginning, all of us were taken by surprise. We were almost dazed. We thought that everything that the rulers did was for our good and that this English government has descended from the clouds to save us from the invasions of Tamerlane and Chingis Khan, and, as they say, not only from foreign invasions but from internecine warfare, or the internal or external invasions, as they call it. . . . We are not armed, and there is no necessity for arms either. We have a stronger weapon, a political weapon, in boycott. We have perceived one fact, that the whole of this administration, which is carried on by a handful of Englishmen, is carried on with our assistance. We are all in subordinate service. This whole government is carried on with our assistance and they try to keep us in ignorance of our power of cooperation between ourselves by which that which is in our own hands at present can be claimed by us and administered by us. The point is to have the entire control in our hands. I want to have the key of my house, and not merely one stranger turned out of it. Self-government is our goal; we want a control over our administrative machinery. We don't want to become clerks and remain [clerks]. At present, we are clerks and willing instruments of our own oppression in the hands of' an alien government, and that government is ruling over us not by its innate strength but by keeping us in ignorance and blindness to the perception of this fact. Professor Seeley shares this view. Every Englishman knows that they are a mere handful in this country and it is the business of every one of them to befool you in believing that you are weak and they are strong. This is politics. We have been deceived by such policy so long. What the new party wants you to do is to realize the fact that your future rests entirely in your own hands. If you mean to be free, you can be free; if you do not mean to be free, you will fall and be for ever fallen. So many of you need not like arms; but if you have not the power of active resistance, have you not the power of self-denial and self-abstinence in such a way as not to assist this foreign government to rule over you? This is boycott and this is what is meant when we say, boycott is a political weapon. We shall not give them assistance to collect revenue and keep peace. We shall not assist them in fighting beyond the frontiers or outside India with Indian blood and money. We shall not assist them in carrying on the administration of justice. We shall have our own courts, and when time comes we shall not pay taxes. Can you do that by your united efforts? If you can, you are free from tomorrow. Some gentlemen who spoke this evening referred to half bread as against the whole bread. I say I want the whole bread and that immediately. But if I can not get the whole, don't think that I have no patience.

I will take the half they give me and then try for the remainder. This is the line of thought and action in which you must train yourself. We have not raised this cry from a mere impulse. It Is a reasoned impulse. Try to understand that reason and try to strengthen that impulse by your logical convictions. I do not ask you to blindly follow us. Think over the whole problem for yourselves. If you accept our advice, we feel sure we can achieve our salvation thereby. This is the advice of the new party. Perhaps we have not obtained a full recognition of our principles. Old prejudices die very hard. Neither of us wanted to wreck the Congress, so we compromised, and were satisfied that our principles were recognized, and only to a certain extent. That does not mean that we have accepted the whole situation. We may have a step in advance next year, so that within a few years our principles will be recognized, and recognized to such an extent that the generations who come after us may consider us Moderates. This is the way in which a nation progresses, and this is the lesson you have to learn from the struggle now going on. This is a lesson of progress, a lesson of helping yourself as much as possible, and if you really perceive the force of it, if you are convinced by these arguments, then and then only is it possible for you to effect your salvation from the alien rule under which you labor at this moment."

Source:
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920): Address to the Indian National Congress, 1907, reprinted in William T. de Bary et al., Sources of Indian Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 195

[Hari Seldon]

^Wow. Thanks for posting that sanku ji.

The parallels between what the Briturd Raj was doing and what our UPA sarkar seems to be doing is uncanny. only.

[anmol]

While Narenrda Modi’s recent visit to the Sangh Parivar headquarters in Nagpur was seen as an attempt by Modi to rope in active Parivar support for his fourth consecutive chief ministerial bid, he appears to have succeeded. Both Parivar weeklies have reported a Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha meeting in Ahmedabad recently where VHP patron Ashok Singhal had lauded Modi saying his government not only brought development but also “enhanced the power of Hindu community”. Singhal’s remarks are likely to motivate his followers.

WTF is going on ?

Either RSS supports Modi, or it does not. Weren't we told by MSM that VHP hates modi ?

[abhishek_sharma]

Javed Anand (general secretary of Muslims for Secular Democracy) on Bal Thackeray

Shekhar Gupta on Bal Thackeray

[abhishek_sharma]

From the Urdu Press

Operation X

The hanging of Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving terrorist from the Mumbai attacks, has been lauded by most papers. Munsif, Rashtriya Sahara, Inquilab and Hamara Samaj all have editorials praising the handling of the matter and how due process was fully followed.

THACKERAY AND FACEBOOK

The action taken by Mumbai police against two girls for their views on Facebook against the bandh following the death of Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray have come in for criticism from most papers. The editor of Inqilab, Shakeel Shamsi, in his column on November 21, writes: “Nobody has the right to complain against what was done by Shiv Sainiks, because destruction of property, violent scuffles, goondaism and the policy of intimidating the common people are inseparable from their politics. But everybody who is in favour of the right to express one’s views would object to what the Mumbai police has done. Everyone knows extremist organisations are the worst enemies of the right to free speech. But if governments start acting against people’s liberties, it is shameful.”

Rashtriya Sahara, in its editorial on the same day, wonders if “the right to expression of views is not for everybody.” It writes, “there is astonishment that criticism of the bandh could be taken to be hurting religious sentiments. How is calling a bandh unnecessary hurtful to anyone’s religious sentiments?... One characteristic of Bal Thackeray was that he was used to plain-speaking and whatever was in his heart was also on his tongue. Is it not cruel that these girls are being punished for this very quality?”

Siyasi Taqdeer has criticised the government’s decision to give a state funeral to Thackeray. It asks: “The question is, is it proper for governments expressing faith in social harmony to wrap the body of a person in the tricolour and describe him respectfully as a true and honest son of the motherland who, throughout his life, made fun of democratic values and declared himself an admirer of Hitler?”

Israel-Gaza Conflict

Rashtriya SAHARA, in a November 20 editorial, says: “[Barack] Obama has failed in his first test [as US president] after re-election. It was hoped that, in the face of the barbaric bombardments by Israel, Obama would take a serious view and force the Israel prime minister to stop these bombings. But, regrettably, Obama only repeated the old tune to the effect that Israel has the right to defend itself. Obviously, he was saying that since rockets are being fired into Israel from Gaza, whatever Israel is doing in its defence should be treated as a response. Ironically, Israel is praising the US, saying that the drone rockets given by it have made Palestinian rockets ineffective. .. Is there then any pretext for this barbarian bombing?”

The daily Inquilab argues that “recent political changes in the Middle East are harmful to Israel from every angle. Binyamin Netanyahu finds himself beseiged... But Israel draws courage from the fact that there is no unity between Hamas and Fatah... the silence of the Arab world is adding fuel to the fire.”

Batting for Azharuddin

Most papers have hailed Andhra Pradesh High Court’s judgment in the match-fixing case against former Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The daily Azad Hind, in its commentary on November 9, writes: “The record holding cricketer and former captain of India, Azharuddin, has got justice after a long period of 12 years. It is surprising that the judiciary took 12 years to arrive at the truth, even though no proof has so far been found about his involvement...”

Taking a slightly different line, Jadeed Khabar in its editorial on November 10 writes: “The aggressive manner in which Azharuddin started his cricketing career deserves to be inscribed in golden letters. But the world of wealth and glamour lured him and he committed some mistakes... [he] may not have realised while making these mistakes that they would weigh heavily on his life and he would be deprived of his beloved game for ever.”

[email protected]

[ShauryaT]

Section 66A, IPC 295, defamation - all debated on We the People show. Mods should watch this.

Internet freedom: In danger of being stifled?

[Prem]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-new ... 63658.aspx
Ancient tombs discovered in Swat

ian archaeologists say they have discovered a cemetery that reveals complex funeral rites dating back more than 3,000 years in Swat valley, recently controlled by the Taliban.The Italian mission began digging in the 1950s at Udegram, a site of Buddhist treasures in Swat, the northwestern district formerly known as the Switzerland for its stunning mountains, valleys and rivers.Archaeologists were aware of a pre-Buddhist grave site in Udegram, but only recently discovered the collection of almost 30 graves, tightly clustered and partially overlapping."Some graves had a stone wall, others were protected by walls and enclosures in beaten clay," Luca Maria Olivieri, head of the Italian mission, said."The cemetery... seems to have been used between the end of the second millennium BCE and the first half of the first millennium BCE," he added.Olivieri says the tombs point to the culture that predates the Buddhist Gandhara civilisation that took hold in northwest ancient India from the first millennium BCE to the sixth century AD."The presence of a few iron fragments might be amongst the most ancient traces of this metal in the subcontinent," he said.Bodies were first laid to rest in open graves, fenced in by wooden railings. Then the graves were re-opened and the bones partially burnt before the graves were sealed and a burial mound built.Men were buried with high quality flasks, bowls and cooking pots, and women with semi-precious beads, bronze hairpins, and spindles.

How does this gel to Burial rites of Russian Steppe?

[abhishek_sharma]

A voice of wisdom is lost

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Right

Kasab moment

Going by the cover stories in both Sangh Parivar journals, where the Congress’s alleged misdeeds have been highlighted, the execution of Ajmal Kasab has failed to find the most prominent display.

While Panchjanya has carried an editorial, the Organiser has carried a brief news report on VHP leader Pravin Togadia’s statement on the issue.

Regretting the secretive manner in which Kasab was hanged, the editorial in Panchjanya says the government should have undertaken a “public execution”. It also raises the question of capital punishment for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. “The UPA government must realise that the country now awaits [the] hanging of Afzal,” concludes the editorial. The report about Togadia’s statement in Organiser makes similar demands.

Ballad of Balasaheb

The demise of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray gets prominent space in the Organiser, with a full-page obituary of the leader who made the politics of Hindutva “fashionable” and fought “casteism, Muslim fanaticism and Pak lobbyism”, as well as an editorial.

The editorial says Balasaheb changed the “city under siege” where “roads blocked by namaz being offered” held the city to a standstill “until the ’60s”. Thackeray’s politics got Hindus spilling on to the streets and holding up traffic through “organised ‘aartis’ in temples”.

“Now, the police had to act. And they did. They were forced to end one to end the other. Such a dramatic and clever strategy set Bal Thackeray apart from the politicians of the day and caught the imagination of the ordinary man,” says the editorial, elaborating on his brand of politics whereby he opposed the Mandal Commission report, and maintained a “committed anti-Pakistani” position throughout his career. The editorial also dismisses the accusation of his complicity in the 1993 Mumbai communal riots saying, “But for the restraining hand of the Shiv Sena chief, the riots would have been much worse”.

The editorial, however, has refrained from demanding any memorial for Thackeray, claiming that “nurturing his ideals and his people” will the best memorial.

Congress cronyism

The Organiser has highlighted the recent 2G auction, with its cover story suggesting that the ruling establishment was “celebrating” the poor response from the market. The two news reports wonder loudly whether the “2G spectrum auction [was] manipulated” only “to prove [the] CAG wrong”.

“The government, which ought to have been concerned over the failure of the auction, sounded jubilant,” said one of the reports, while the other blamed the “lackadaisical attitude to the spectrum auction right from the beginning of the process”. The reports, however, seek to stress that “the recent failure of the auction does not invalidate calculations in the audit report”.

Panchjanya, on the other hand, has carried a cover story suggesting that the Congress has become “rudderless” and is likely to become history soon.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari

[Rony]

From Rajiv Malhotra's Yahoo group discussions,

Angana Chatterji hosted at Harvard by Michael Witzel

Posted by: bhattacharyya

What is most confusing and troubling about the ongoing Angana Chatterji story is the continued backing and support she receives from top levels of U.S. government and academia. However, her relationship with Directorate of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)/Pakistani government agent Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, as well as Fai’s own bizarre story are instructive in understanding Chatterji’s status in such circles.

Chapter 14 of Breaking India describes how Chatterji called for foreign intervention while providing testimony regarding events in Orissa before a U.S. Congressional committee investigating international human rights in 2008. The Congressional committee was chaired by Congressmen Trent Franks and Joe Pitts. BI identifies Trent Franks as a strong proponent of U.S. intervention in India regarding caste/human rights issues, and as a board member of Dalit Freedom Network (DFN), while Joe Pitts, a Christian fundamentalist, is described as a fierce critic of India’s anti-conversion laws with a pro-Pakistani bent. Congressman Pitts has also worked with Congressman Rick Santorum in promoting DFN, which, as discussed at length in BI, is essentially a front for Christian evangelical interests. Additionally, according to Angana Chatterji’s Wikipedia page (which provides links to press releases from one of her organizations) , in 2008 and 2010 she testified before E.U. and U.K. Parliamentary committees regarding supposed human rights violations in Kashmir, and called for international action on the issue [https://en.wikipedi a.org/wiki/ Angana_P. _Chatterji , see footnotes 53,64].

However, with the arrest of Pakistani ISI agent Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai in 2011, Chatterji’s credibility was called into question when it became evident she may be linked to the ISI agent. For over 20 years, Fai had spearheaded an ISI/Pakistani government-financed and -controlled operation in the U.S. and Europe promoting Pakistani interests in Kashmir, which included organizing conferences (where Chatterji was a regular invitee) as well as heavy political lobbying. Despite U.S. lawmakers claims that they did not know of Fai’s ISI/Pakistani government links, he was a naturalized U.S. citizen and very much a political ‘insider’ in America. His Washington-based Kashmir American Council (KAC), founded in 1990 and located a few blocks away from the White House, regularly drew Pakistani dignitaries as well as U.S. scholars and powerful Congressmen to its various events, while Fai’s wife (a Chinese Muslim) worked for the U.S. government’s Environmental Protection Agency. In 2005, Fai reportedly received the Republican Senatorial Medal of Freedom, and in 2007 he was given the American Spirit Medal, both from the U.S. National Republican Senatorial Committee. Fai himself was reportedly frequently invited to United Nations (UN) conferences during this period, as well. His KAC was given Special Consultative Status by the UN in 1999. Fai thus achieved international prominence and became known as a ‘Kashmir expert’. This despite the fact that the KAC was completely controlled by (and Fai’s ‘expert’ opinions/evidence were entirely directed and manufactured by) the ISI/Pakistani government.

Through Fai’s efforts (along with his associate Zaheer Ahmad and others), the ISI/Pakistani government was able to contribute funds to several U.S. Congressmen, including Joe Pitts, Rick Santorum (both mentioned in the first paragraph), and Dan Burton. Disturbingly, Congressmen Burton and Pitts have both called for foreign intervention in Kashmir. From a NY Times article: “Mr. Burton has taken perhaps the aggressive role in promoting the agenda pushed by Mr. Fai…While he was working as an ISI agent, Mr. Fai testified at a House subcommittee hearing [in 2004] at which Mr. Burton presided. Mr. Burton has introduced legislation over the years that would have terminated humanitarian aid to India unless it repealed laws that he said permitted widespread human rights abuse in Kashmir. As recently as September, he criticized the Obama administration for failing to take up the topic.” [https://www. nytimes.com/ 2011/07/21/ us/politics/ 21agent.html? _r=0]. Burton has been a particularly outspoken critic of India over the years, and among U.S. Congressman, he likely received the most funding from the ISI/Pakistan.

Additionally, in 2004, Joe Pitts introduced a bill before Congress that supported Pakistani interests in Kashmir, and called for U.S. intervention in the region. Shockingly, the bill was reportedly introduced only a few days after Pitts received a financial contribution from Fai’s KAC. Pitts has long been involved in Pakistani issues, and even traveled to Pakistan to meet personally with president at the time Pervez Musharraf in 2002 (as well as on earlier occasions). Pitts, a self-proclaimed “champion of Pakistan”, has served as Chairman of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, created to safeguard Pakistani interests (Dan Burton has also held this post). Inexplicably however, Pitts has served simultaneously on both Congressional India and Pakistan caucuses, which some suggest was to help ease passage of pro-Pakistan (and anti-India) legislation [http://www.tribunei ndia.com/ 2004/20040922/ world.htm# 1]. Pitts also made an inflammatory speech before Congress in which he gave a wildly distorted account of the 2002 Gujarat riots and called for U.S. intervention.

The picture that seems to emerge is that the ISI/Pakistani government arranged for Fai to testify before U.S. Congressional committees presided over and/or containing pro-Pakistani members such as Dan Burton. Fai’s ‘expert testimony’ was either directly prepared or approved by the ISI/Pakistan. And in turn, based at least in part on Fai’s testimony (and while they received money from the ISI/Pakistan) , Burton, Joe Pitts (and perhaps others) continually pushed for Pakistani interests in Kashmir at the upper levels of U.S. government. (It may be noted here that Fai also made donations to both Barack Obama’s and Al Gore’s presidential campaigns, as well as the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee).

Surprisingly, after investigation and trial, in March 2012, Fai was sentenced to only 2 years in jail, for charges related to his attempts to cover up his association with the ISI/Pakistan and for tax violations. This punishment seems like a slap on the wrist for what appears to be a decades-long infiltration by the ISI/Pakistani government which involved a number of prominent U.S. lawmakers. The tale is made even more bizarre by reports that Fai’s associate Zaheer Ahmad, who was a co-defendant in Fai’s trial and operated a top hospital in Pakistan (and who was also linked to Osama bin Laden), apparently mysteriously died of a stroke in Pakistan and never appeared at the trial in the U.S. Unfortunately, this sordid and unsavory story contains interesting parallels to events in which Angana Chatterji is involved.

After obtaining her PhD and undertaking a lengthy tenure at California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS), Chatterji was recently suspended, then fired from an academic post at the California school (CIIS is also mentioned in BI). However, her removal from CIIS was not for any connection to Fai, but rather for academic misconduct. Many likely assumed that Chatterji’s dismissal was related to her link to Fai, especially since news of her suspension coincided with details of Fai’s arrest (and his contacts in academia and government) becoming public. However, it now appears that her association with Fai was either ignored, not investigated, or not reported on. And amazingly, she turned up again this year (2012) in March at a U.S. Congressional committee hearing to testify about human rights in South Asia, where she provided predictably biased, distorted, anti-Hindu/anti- India testimony regarding Kashmir, religious conversion/Orissa, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and other topics [http://tlhrc. house.gov/ hearing_notice. asp?id=1227]. Familiar players are involved, as the U.S. Congressional committee she testified before contained Joe Pitts, Trent Franks, and Dan Burton as members (also on this committee are Congressmen James Moran, Dana Rohrabacher, and Dennis Kucinich, who are also recipients of ISI/Fai money)[http://tlhrc. house.gov/ members.asp]. Chatterji is listed as a “India Human Rights Specialist” in the documentation of the hearing.

The transcript (and video) of the 2012 hearing contains an almost laughable exchange between Congressman Pitts and Chatterji during which, in the space of a few sentences, they effectively attempt to clear one another of any wrongdoing regarding their associations with Fai and the ISI/Pakistani government. Pitts even makes a point of struggling over the pronunciation of Fai’s name, no doubt in a clownish effort to conceal any relationship or familiarity he had with the ISI/Pakistani agent. In this regard, a photograph of Fai talking with Pitts at a 2010 KAC conference that took place on Capitol Hill is viewable at the following link [https://picasaweb. google.com/ KashmirMission/ 11thInternationa lKashmirConferen ce#5500486207286 124674] (Pitts is in photo #45; Congressman Kucinich can also be seen addressing the gathering in photos #102-104; Congressman Danny Davis, who is a member of the 2012 Congressional committee that Chatterji testified before, can be seen in photo #64). Congressmen Dan Burton and Jim Moran, as well as Fai and Chatterji can be seen in photos from a 2009 KAC conference at the following link [https://picasaweb. google.com/ KashmirMission/ 10thInternationa lKashmirConferen ce] (see captions).

Yet in the course of the exchange between Chatterji and Senator Pitts mentioned above, Chatterji admits to Fai inviting her to present at numerous conferences where she would see Pitts, while Pitts in turn admits to attending such events (as the previously referenced photo makes obvious; see below for link to more photographs of Chatterji and her husband at the same 2010 conference).

Throughout the 2012 Congressional hearing, however, Congressmen Pitts and Franks make no effort to disguise their own pro-Christian and anti-Hindu biases, which are easily detected in the wording of their questions (to Chatterji and others). Chatterji is of course more than willing to indulge and further the Congressmen’s biases through her answers to their loaded and leading questions. In addition to her verbal testimony at the hearing, Chatterji submitted a lengthy 30-page report to the committee detailing her allegations. The entire exercise is an unpleasant, up-close glimpse at the manner in which anti-India nexuses operate hand-in-hand, as discussed in BI. Noting her consistently anti-Hindu and anti-India stand, and her proximity to Fai, The Hindu American Foundation lodged a complaint against Angana Chatterji’s involvement in the March 2012 Congressional hearing, in which the group even cited evidence pointing to her direct contact with Pakistan/ISI [http://www.hafsite. org/media/ pr/hindu- americans- protest-disgrace d-academic- invited-speak- us-congress].

It is astounding that Chatterji continues to be regarded as a credible expert on human rights in India, but this only speaks to the biases of those who purport to ‘investigate’ human rights. She is still apparently in the good graces of the top levels of U.S. government, while in academia, she appears to have gotten some form of a promotion, moving from CIIS to the higher profile (and much wealthier) institution UC Berkeley, as mentioned in this thread. This despite her dismissal from CIIS, where she and her husband Richard Shapiro (Chairman of the CIIS Social and Cultural Anthropology department which also housed Chatterji) engaged in gross academic misconduct. As mentioned, Chatterji met Shapiro in the course of obtaining her PhD at CIIS, during which he was a faculty member. At the time of their suspension, the two were the only full-time faculty members in the department in which they were found to have created and cultivated a bizarre, cult-like environment among students. The couple also frequently gave grades to students arbitrarily, based on non-existent work. Importantly, Shapiro himself has also been an invitee/speaker at Fai’s Kashmir conferences, and a vocal critic of India’s policy in Kashmir. The following link contains a photo of Shapiro and Chatterji at a 2010 KAC conference [https://picasaweb. google.com/ KashmirMission/ 11thInternationa lKashmirConferen ce#5500486182471 308290] (also see photos #20-23, #33-43, Fai appears in #30-32, #37-38; this is the same 2010 conference attended by Congressmen Joe Pitts and Dennis Kucinich referenced previously). Shapiro frequently accompanied Chatterji to Kashmir until 2010 when he was denied a visa to enter India. Remarkably, the visa episode resulted in a protest demonstration by CIIS anthropology students (and others) outside the Indian Consulate in San Francisco [http://alumni. ciis.edu/ newsletter/ index.asp? id=164]. Shapiro and Chatterji’s student cult would thus apparently mobilize to actively demonstrate against the Indian government. The shadowy husband and wife duo have no doubt been instrumental in turning CIIS from an institution founded to promote the teachings of Sri Aurobindo to one in which anti-India propaganda and rhetoric is preached (discussed in BI). Chatterji even apparently first met Fai at CIIS in 2003, when she claims he visited the university where she was teaching to give a talk [http://tlhrc. house.gov/ docs/transcripts /03-21-2012_ South_Asia. pdf , see page 48].

As a side note, while writing this, I came across a series of Letters to the Editor written by Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai in 1990-2000 that were published by the NY Times [http://query. nytimes.com/ search/sitesearc h/#/Nabi+ Fai/since1851/ allresults/ 1/allauthors/ oldest/]. Fai identifies himself as affiliated with the Kashmiri American Council in the letters. And as may be expected, the letters are filled with anti-India rhetoric and call for swift international intervention in Kashmir. Given the stature of individuals and institutions that Fai had dealings with, it’s not hard to imagine some sort of quid-pro-quo between Fai (and the ISI/Pakistani government) and U.S. media. In this regard its notable how the whole Fai affair was dramatically downplayed by U.S. media, despite the profound, far-reaching implications of the saga. There are hardly any detailed reports on the internet among top newspapers, and information is always incomplete. For instance, there is little or no mention of the apparently close and long-standing relationship between Fai and the U.N./international human rights community, and it is extremely difficult to find any information about this aspect of his subterfuge. Such lack of investigation/ reportage tends to obscure the fact that Fai was able to achieve worldwide ‘expert’ status regarding Kashmir, and also covers up any effects Fai and the ISI/Pakistani government had on influencing international human rights bodies. Here, it may be noted that Angana Chatterji has herself recently begun to testify before U.N. human rights bodies.

Furthermore, the reportage regarding Fai often conceals the beliefs and intents of various U.S. Congressmen who received money from him, as the following two passages from a NY Times article about Fai show: 1) “Mr. [Dan] Burton has been a champion for Kashmiri causes in Congress, appealing to Presidents Bill Clinton and Obama to get more involved in attempting to mediate a settlement between India and Pakistan over the border region”; and 2) “Both Mr. Fai and Mr. Ahmad also donated to Representative Joe Pitts, a Pennsylvania Republican who visited the region in 2001 and 2004, meeting with Pakistani and Indian leaders and calling for a cease-fire. He also introduced a resolution in 2004 calling for President George W. Bush to appoint a special envoy to help negotiate peace” [https://www. nytimes.com/ 2011/07/20/ us/politics/ 20agent.html? pagewanted= 1&_r=1&ref= politics& adxnnlx=13536396 26-fHS/A% 20VNPMdQBdGrYgsb cw]. Such descriptions belie and obscure the true nature of Fai’s and the ISI/Pakistani government’s relationship with U.S. lawmakers, and the manner by which Pakistani interests in Kashmir were promoted and favored. But again, the idea that obfuscation in the press may itself be another manifestation of such favoritism should not be ignored.

Additionally, the fact that Fai apparently lied about getting a doctoral degree from a U.S. university seems to have been completely ignored by the U.S. press, with some articles even claiming he actually obtained a degree in 1988. Interestingly, Indian reports in this regard directly quote court documents from Fai’s trial, and seem to unequivocally indicate his doctoral degree was determined to be fake by U.S. attorneys [http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2012- 03-30/news/ 31261155_ 1_al-faruqi- macbride- doctorate- degree]. If such stories are true, the fact that a Pakistani spy, who lied about his educational credentials and disseminated ISI/Pakistani government-manufact ured propaganda, could somehow come to be considered a Kashmir ‘expert’ speaks volumes about: 1) the lengths superpowers such as the U.S. are willing to go in order to advance foreign policy agendas and 2) the glaring lack of oversight mechanisms within international human rights bodies/proceedings.

The issues discussed in this post may be appreciated in broader contexts of anti-India nexuses and strategies discussed in BI. Figures 11.5, and the various diagrams in Chapters 13 and 14 of BI (as well as the text of these Chapters) are particularly useful in understanding ties between ‘liberal’ left-wing academicians and ‘conservative’ right-wing Christian evangelical elements, who are seemingly at odds over a variety of issues, but united in their staunch anti-Hindu and anti-India stand.

[SaiK]

wrong thread..

[brihaspati]

But it is also important to explore - what exactly leads to such virulent anti-Hindu and anti-India feelings in such a one as "Angana" "Chatterjee". She bears a very Sanskrit, very Hindu name, and her surname shows a connection to Bengal and a ceratin "forward" section. Did she really suffer at the hands of the "Hindu", the "traditional India", and the idea of India itself - so badly that she plays such a role? Very unlikely, given the obvious social roots and the fact that she managed to obtain higher education at the postgrad level [which still has an obviously statistically significant positive correlation with higher economic status and privilege].

So Anganaji's gussa kiun aata hain?

[RamaY]

But it is also important to explore - what exactly leads to such virulent anti-Hindu and anti-India feelings in such a one as "Angana" "Chatterjee". She bears a very Sanskrit, very Hindu name, and her surname shows a connection to Bengal and a ceratin "forward" section. Did she really suffer at the hands of the "Hindu", the "traditional India", and the idea of India itself - so badly that she plays such a role? Very unlikely, given the obvious social roots and the fact that she managed to obtain higher education at the postgrad level [which still has an obviously statistically significant positive correlation with higher economic status and privilege].

So Anganaji's gussa kiun aata hain?

One Answer: http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 4#p1370264

[Agnimitra]

But it is also important to explore - what exactly leads to such virulent anti-Hindu and anti-India feelings in such a one as "Angana" "Chatterjee". She bears a very Sanskrit, very Hindu name, and her surname shows a connection to Bengal and a ceratin "forward" section. Did she really suffer at the hands of the "Hindu", the "traditional India", and the idea of India itself - so badly that she plays such a role? Very unlikely, given the obvious social roots and the fact that she managed to obtain higher education at the postgrad level [which still has an obviously statistically significant positive correlation with higher economic status and privilege].

So Anganaji's gussa kiun aata hain?

Answer: http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 4#p1370264

RamaY ji, that may be one part of the answer. But the other part is that people who grew up hearing and watching their elders speak and behave towards the 'other' in certain hypocritical, condescending, fear-mongering or malicious ways -- such people often become the most energetic whistle-blowers and converts, and anti-whatever it is they came from.

[ShauryaT]

IK Gujral has passed away. After MMS - do not think, we will have any more leaders, who grew up in Colonial India.

[abhishek_sharma]

x-post

Srinivasa Ramanujan: Going Strong at 125, Part I

[Lilo]

Lalu Prasad says he is more popular than Nitish Kumar in Pakistan

Ridiculing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allegedly seeking publicity after his recent Pakistan visit, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad today claimed that he was more popular in that country than Kumar.

"The people and politicians in Pakistan still talk about me and my administrative capabilities," he told a public meeting during his 'Parivartan Yatra' in Bihar's Saharsa district.

"My contributions as the railway minister is being effusively talked about in political circles in Pakistan even now," he said, referring to Muttahida Qaumi Movement(MQM) MP lawmaker Sajid Ahmed's statement last month that Pakistani railways be handed over to the former Indian railway minister for the revival of its fortunes.

The RJD supremo, who had also visited Pakistan as a member of the parliamentary delegation in 2003, claimed, he had left a lasting imprint on the minds of the people in that country and the words of praise coming his way from a Pakistan lawmaker proved that he was still being talked about positively in the corridors of power in Islamabad.

"Such visits are routine affairs," Prasad said and asked Kumar to concentrate on mitigating the miseries of the minorities in the state.

Criticising Kumar for his 'feeble protest' on the arrest of Muslim youths from Bihar by security agencies of other states on fake and fabricated terror charges, Prasad said he neither provided legal aid to the detainees to prove their innocence or consoled the aggrieved families.

"Let him (Kumar) prove me wrong," he said.

Prasad also questioned the secular credentials of the chief minister and alleged that the minorities, like the weaker and downtrodden sections of the society, had suffered various atrocities from the police and the communal forces during the NDA rule even as the latter 'looked the other way for convenience.'

Looks like popularity in Pakiland is the new touchstone for being "secular" among Indian neta's .

[Arjun]

Suketu Mehta provides a good case study of the tortured logic and 'thought' process of India's humanities-educated birdbrains:

Recent non-fiction books on India are mistakes

The concept of Modi as prime minister is not only scary, but also impossible in my opinion. I don’t think the rest of the country will accept him. He is still too tainted with what happened in 2002. When you look after the rights of the minority, you are also looking after the rights of the majority. India is actually lucky to have the world’s fourth largest Muslim population. It’s because we take care of this enormous percentage of Muslims that we also have this system of civil rights which in turn protects Hindus’ rights also. Countries which don’t have substantial minorities find that the law can ride over everyone else’s rights.

Indian Muslims, because they are politically active and can bring down State governments if they choose, will not let Modi become prime minister, and that is going to save all of us.

[svenkat]

Howmuchever I haTE Suketu types,the rule of law and western type modern type liberal laws were not the norm anywhere in the pre-modern world.In India,dalits faced pretty strong discrimination which has had both economic and social aspects.Also there are strong linguistic sentiments as well.In fact it is the linguistic minorities and dalits who have kept Congress afloat.We have to address dalit discrimination and betterment without reservation.Reservation for dalits,appeasement of minorities and on top of it OBC reservation is recipe for disaster.The emphasis has to be on rule of law,protection for linguistic minorities and end of appeasement/preferential treatment.

Meanwhile,in Tamilnaadu,

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ramadoss-consolidates-intermediate-caste-groups-against-dalits/article4158686.ece

Marking the formal emergence of a socio-political movement against Dalit assertion in Tamil Nadu, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss on Sunday brought together groups belonging to intermediate castes to hit out at sections of the Scheduled Castes and demand dilution of the law aimed at curbing anti-Dalit atrocities.

Repeatedly referring to the meeting held here as one of non-Dalit organisations, Dr. Ramadoss, whose support base is drawn from the Vanniyars, identified officially as a Most Backward Class, demanded amendments to prevent the misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and accused Dalit youth of fomenting social tension by filing false complaints under the law and ensnaring girls from other castes with bogus professions of love.

“They wear jeans, T-shirts and fancy sunglasses to lure girls from other communities,” he told reporters. A resolution adopted at the meeting cited statistics of broken marriages to claim that inter-caste marriages ended in failure because they were unions born out of caste design and not love.

In the company of groups representing various intermediate castes and some Muslim organisations too, the PMK leader said all of them would hold demonstrations across the State on January 4 to press the demand for amending the Act to prevent its misuse against non-Dalits.

The emergence of a caste bloc against Dalits may not augur well for inter-caste relations in Tamil Nadu, especially in the aftermath of the Dharmapuri violence of early November.

The particular hatred/disdain is because the dalit community involved in Dharmapuri is the pariah which is now an adjective in the English language.The English educated classes of BRF might feign to ignore caste in public discourse,but caste is kicking and alive along with modernity in rural India.The pariahs are the quintessential panchamas-the fifth outside the caste system.

Ramadoss and Tirumavalavan co-operated in the Tamizh protection movement.Both are admirers of Prabhakaran.Anbumani earned the contempt of the urban upper castes during Mandal II.

This is Indian reality-caste.linguistic and ethnic identities.

[Pranav]

Answer: http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... 4#p1370264

RamaY ji, that may be one part of the answer. But the other part is that people who grew up hearing and watching their elders speak and behave towards the 'other' in certain hypocritical, condescending, fear-mongering or malicious ways -- such people often become the most energetic whistle-blowers and converts, and anti-whatever it is they came from.

If they allow their personal gripes against their close relatives to morph into a hatred of their nation and culture, it does show a certain shallowness and emotional instability.

[shaunb]

In the recent GPS show - Nov 24, 2012 Fareed talked to Robert Kaplan who had very interesting observation on the "Indian Sub-Continent". Yes Fareed used that word.

Kaplan talked about the geographical location and the ancient dynasties of India; Nalanda, Gupta, Maurya etc and about how these dynasties have always have control over Afghanistan and Pakistan. Essentially concluding that India will always have interest in the region and would like to keep the ISI from gaining there.

Any comments from gurus if you have seen that episode? Podcast for that show can be downloaded from iTunes.

[brihaspati]

Howmuchever I haTE Suketu types,the rule of law and western type modern type liberal laws were not the norm anywhere in the pre-modern world.In India,dalits faced pretty strong discrimination which has had both economic and social aspects.Also there are strong linguistic sentiments as well.In fact it is the linguistic minorities and dalits who have kept Congress afloat.We have to address dalit discrimination and betterment without reservation.Reservation for dalits,appeasement of minorities and on top of it OBC reservation is recipe for disaster.The emphasis has to be on rule of law,protection for linguistic minorities and end of appeasement/preferential treatment.

Meanwhile,in Tamilnaadu,

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ramadoss-consolidates-intermediate-caste-groups-against-dalits/article4158686.ece

Marking the formal emergence of a socio-political movement against Dalit assertion in Tamil Nadu, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S. Ramadoss on Sunday brought together groups belonging to intermediate castes to hit out at sections of the Scheduled Castes and demand dilution of the law aimed at curbing anti-Dalit atrocities.

Repeatedly referring to the meeting held here as one of non-Dalit organisations, Dr. Ramadoss, whose support base is drawn from the Vanniyars, identified officially as a Most Backward Class, demanded amendments to prevent the misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and accused Dalit youth of fomenting social tension by filing false complaints under the law and ensnaring girls from other castes with bogus professions of love.

“They wear jeans, T-shirts and fancy sunglasses to lure girls from other communities,” he told reporters. A resolution adopted at the meeting cited statistics of broken marriages to claim that inter-caste marriages ended in failure because they were unions born out of caste design and not love.

In the company of groups representing various intermediate castes and some Muslim organisations too, the PMK leader said all of them would hold demonstrations across the State on January 4 to press the demand for amending the Act to prevent its misuse against non-Dalits.

The emergence of a caste bloc against Dalits may not augur well for inter-caste relations in Tamil Nadu, especially in the aftermath of the Dharmapuri violence of early November.

The particular hatred/disdain is because the dalit community involved in Dharmapuri is the pariah which is now an adjective in the English language.The English educated classes of BRF might feign to ignore caste in public discourse,but caste is kicking and alive along with modernity in rural India.The pariahs are the quintessential panchamas-the fifth outside the caste system.

Ramadoss and Tirumavalavan co-operated in the Tamizh protection movement.Both are admirers of Prabhakaran.Anbumani earned the contempt of the urban upper castes during Mandal II.

This is Indian reality-caste.linguistic and ethnic identities.

Svenkat ji,
what do you mean by "pre-modern"? usually the pre-modern in India seems to be taken in the sense of before British empire formally taking over ruling. Any specific time period you have in mind? Also a reference to "dalit" in that "pre-modern" period would be of great interest. Much obliged if you can provide.

[Agnimitra]

If they allow their personal gripes against their close relatives to morph into a hatred of their nation and culture, it does show a certain shallowness and emotional instability.

True. Outdated identifications, a culture of hypocrisy and lack of a living ethical culture (i.e., such a society that one can belong to) will generate more such fickle minds, or alternatively vicious and violent minds. Not sure which is worse.

[kshatriya]

We have to address dalit discrimination and betterment without reservation.Reservation for dalits,appeasement of minorities and on top of it OBC reservation is recipe for disaster.The emphasis has to be on rule of law,protection for linguistic minorities and end of appeasement/preferential treatment.
.

I wonder how many BRF'ites read local Tamil Magazines to know more about the Dalit Discrimination/Caste Issues...

All the groups that have allied with Ramadoss know what a scum he and his son's are . The current alignment is predominantly due to the
1.) Misuse of PCR in Western TN
2.) Murders of several intermediate leaders of so called Caste Hindus

and most importatently Thiruma's thugs barging into the some of the houses of some of the so called Caste Hindus who's girls have an affair with one of the Dalits and demanding exhorbitant amounts of money either to split them or a share of Inheritance right after wedding....

What you hear from the likes of Al Hindoo, Undeetv etc is one side of the story. Dalits/Leftists have literally taken over the Tamil Media Industry(Sans Jaya TV) and all one has to do is the watch some discussions/news on how one sided things are against the "Caste Hindus" It was a better of time all these caste's were going to ally and this is only the start... Things are going to get much worse

[ramana]

Bji, Fractal recursivity is one possible reason for Angana's angst against the Hindoos. Her ilk hates their birth in the Hindu family and wants to shed their Hinduness by attacking them.

[Pranav]

If they allow their personal gripes against their close relatives to morph into a hatred of their nation and culture, it does show a certain shallowness and emotional instability.

True. Outdated identifications, a culture of hypocrisy and lack of a living ethical culture (i.e., such a society that one can belong to) will generate more such fickle minds, or alternatively vicious and violent minds. Not sure which is worse.

Sometimes it is the most deracinated types (e.g. the Nehrus) which display the most vicious behaviors. In any society you have all kinds of individuals will all kinds of good and bad characteristics, have to deal with it. Can't allow folks like Chatterji to evade responsibility for their pathological behavior by blaming others.

[Prem]

Ancient Thakurdwara Near Attock

[abhishek_sharma]

Views from the Right

Cash scheme

The UPA’s announcement about direct cash transfer appears to have riled the Sangh Parivar, with the Organiser carrying the cover story “Congress Cash Transfer Hoax”, ostensibly to expose the Congress’s “hidden agenda”. The story equates this “obnoxious political extravaganza” to “bribing the voter with tax-payers’ money” that will work “against the aam aadmi” in the long term. “It hopes this promise of a regular cash dole to poor families across the country for all times to come will fill up the ballot boxes for the Congress... It is a fiscal scandal, a political fraud and a treacherous conspiracy to permanently ruin [the] Indian economy and push it to the ranks of the spendthrift European economies,” claims the Organiser. Moreover, the move will give rise to spiralling prices; end subsidies on fuel, food and fertiliser; and force migration to cities.

Panchjanya has an editorial criticising the move as a motivated attempt by the Congress, with an eye to elections, to tide over the impression of “Congress ka haath, bhrashtachariyon ke saath” by riding on new slogans like “aapka paisa, aapke haath”.

Killing democracy

The Sangh Parivar appears to have been rattled by the claims of a retired CAG official on 2G spectrum allocation findings, dejected by the prime minister’s rejection of the BJP’s demand for holding back the new CBI chief’s appointment and frustrated by the government’s agreement to debate FDI in Parliament with a vote. So much so that the editorial in Organiser has used these developments to declare that “the word democracy for the current Indian political scenario seems a misnomer” in the “theatrics” of the ruling Congress.

Without taking cognisance of the opposition’s obstructionist and maximalist positions on several issues, the editorial says the Congress “has been committing one sin after another” and it would have caused “irreversible corrosion to the constitutional structure of India” by the time it demitted office. It highlights attacks on the offices of the CAG, PAC, Parliament.

These opinions have been prompted by the recent controversy over 2G spectrum allocation against the backdrop of claims by a retired CAG official. The editorial claims “the government has let loose its team... to launch a shrill, low-level disinformation campaign against the CAG” in an apparent attempt to wriggle itself from “the other reports of the CAG on coal blocks, airports, power and Commonwealth Games” which it can dump as “exaggerated and unfounded”.

Babri, 20 years

Panchjanya celebrates two decades of the demolition of the Babri mosque in a cover story. It declares that the “resolve” of Hindus is fast gaining strength for building the Ram temple at Ayodhya: “The Babri structure was demolished with the Hindu unity then, we need similar Hindu unity now for construction of Ram temple,” the story quotes one of the “saints” present at a recent conference of saints in Ayodhya.

“The temple construction will begin in 2014,” VHP patron Ashok Singhal is reported to have said at the gathering.

Compiled by Ravish Tiwari

[SSridhar]

Our think-tanks are too Delhi-centric - Op Ed, BusinessLine

It is curious to see the polarisation of views and comments, when we listen to policy prescriptions and debates in the media on national issues. There is also a certain level of predictability in the views aired by various speakers.

This polarisation is to be expected between the government and opposition, but the polarisation among think-tanks and specialists is rather strange.

It is difficult to decipher what they are divided on. So, the convergence of opinions is between governments and one group of commentators, and the opposition and another group of commentators.

What is required is a move towards convergence, with broad areas of concern and agreement among participants, rather than a widening of the wedge between ‘for’ and ‘against’.

Globally, this role is played by think-tanks and they do it through research, and engaging policy makers and legislators, whether in the ruling party or the opposition. They find a common ground and provide a platform for impassioned debate.

Think-tanks in India have failed to provide the intellectual bridge between protagonists and antagonists. The failure again comes from the lack of focused research groups and research outputs, and the lack of independent think-tanks.

Another important factor is the concentration of think-tanks in Delhi. The concentration of political power in the capital city begets concentration of think-tanks in that city. This comes from access to policy and decision-makers, and information. This should lead to positive outcomes.

There is scope for constant interaction in various international and national forums, which should actually lead to convergence. But unfortunately that does not happen. This is perhaps because of the polarisation of views, leading to divisive camps, and convergence of views within the divides.

The Global Go To Think Tanks Report 2011 by the University of Pennsylvania brings out a ranking of think tanks globally. From India, only the Centre for Civil Society (CSS) is in the top 50 global think tanks (non-US).

The Institutes that figure in the Top 30 think tanks in Asia are Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations, CSS, Centre for Policy Research, The Energy Research Institute and Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

The other Institutes that figure in various specialisations are: Institute of Economic Growth, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, and Development Alternatives. This shows the paucity of think tanks in India for its size and complexity, and is also indicative of the concentration in Delhi.

Role of Think Tanks

In other countries, think tanks have legitimate role to play in legislating and policymaking. Influential thinkers and researchers from these think tanks can, for instance, be invited by the US Congress in Congressional hearings to give their considered opinions.

The legislatures commission studies on specific policy issues, or can seek ‘independent’ opinions. These thank tanks through their commissioned as well as sponsored research, provide policy inputs to decision making. These can be engaged by lobbyists as well. Think tanks may be known for adherence to a particular school of thought, but their reports are well received and respected.

They can also call for meetings and seminars to engage in opinion-making. Everybody at the end of the day is interested in influencing policy making, and these think tanks help reach a consensus. They do it in a sophisticated way, rather than through ‘my opinion’ vs ‘your opinion’, where analysis and evidence are given a go-by.

Delhi Centricism

The most contentious aspect is that most major think-tanks are in Delhi. It is to be expected that formulation of policies and laws is concentrated in Delhi, given the location of the Union Government.

But it is not necessary that the think-tanks have to be concentrated there. By virtue of being there, they feed on each other, and it is a story of action and reaction.

Today, given a policy, we know who will say what. The TV channels resemble each other. They depend on same set of specialists, and lack genuine research output or data and ground work.

There is such an euphoria around being in a ‘happening’ scenario that the analysts have to furnish quotes impromptu. So, someone from Delhi would comment on State government failure on management of the cyclone in Andhra Pradesh and move on to why FDI in retail can be a tsunami. The differentiation is lost and everybody looks alike — the policy makers, specialists, think-tanks, reporters, and general observers.

Decongest Think-Tanks

It may be worthwhile to encourage think-tanks around the country. Earlier, there were schools of economics in various States — such as Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune, Madras Institute of Development Studies in Chennai, Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, Institute of Social and Economic Change in Bangalore. These institutes have helped in strengthening regional focus in research and studies.

They suffer from not being able to communicate their research findings and actively engaging in policy debates. Being away from Delhi and closer to the field, they have conducted field-based studies than relying on secondary data.

They also tend to focus more on policy implementation and not just planning and legislating.

The Economic and Political Weekly has been walking a lone path for decades, contributing to prolific generation of papers on public policy.

The Central government itself made an attempt once. It encouraged IIM Bangalore to establish its Centre for Public Policy a decade back with support from UNDP. It has evolved as an alternate think-tank on public policy through research in select areas like health, urban governance and infrastructure. It is now about more than a decade old.

For a country of our size and given its democratic system, think tanks can play a larger and effective role. These should be encouraged at each State as independent entities. There is a paucity of independent policy professionals, unlike in the US and the UK.

Like all long-married couples, think-tanks in Delhi tend to resemble each other in ways and thoughts.

(The author is Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.)

[abhishek_sharma]

From the Urdu Press

Politics of FDI

The victory of UPA 2 on FDI in retail in the Lok Sabha made headlines in several Urdu papers. Munsif on December 6 carried a prominent front page report. Prior to the debate in Parliament, Jamaat-e-Islami’s bi-weekly, Daawat, commented: “The unprincipled stance of political parties on FDI in retail... and their somersaults in the game of numbers has proved that no party has any principled or solid view and, chameleon-like, they are changing colours with the situation”. According to Jadeed Khabar, the manner in which the government agreed to the vote showed its double standards. “It shows the government is not bothered about the sanctity of Parliament or democratic principles and only wants to protect its interests... and is prepared to go to any limit in this regard.”

Cash in hand

ON THE proposed cash transfer scheme, Rashtriya Sahara, in an editorial on November 28, writes: “Even though it will take some time for the new scheme to prove its merit, and it is not certain if it’ll be foolproof and free from defects, yet it certainly is a sincere effort and the first towards reform in this sphere and has been welcomed.” The editorial adds: “There is no doubt that some political gain is always a part of any government welfare scheme. But is it a sin? The real question is whether the benefit to the Congress after this step is more important than the benefit it would bring to the people at large... The opposition is afraid of the very thought of the electoral gain the new scheme would bring to the Congress.”

The editor of the daily Inquilab, Shakeel Shamsi, in his column, writes: “The decision to implement this scheme in our country is good. But many have doubts about how accounts will be opened and how the amount will reach its intended recipient... It seems this would be another new way for touts and the corrupt to pocket money. But a good scheme cannot be opposed merely for fear of the dishonest.”

Siyasi Taqdeer writes in its editorial: “The Congress has won an election in the name of MNREGA, which is now taken as a synonym for ‘scam’ and its leaders were looking for a similar prescription and it has stumbled upon that successful or rare prescription that it wants to use for having a monopoly on the political chessboard...”

For honour

THERE are sharp responses to the killing of young Abdul Hakeem of Bulandshahar district for marrying a woman of a so-called high caste. The daily Siasat, on November 30, comments: “The most important thing is that there exists today in Muslim society extremist traditions with belief in caste discrimination. After all, if they (Hakeem and his wife, Mehwish) had married out of choice, how does the question of loss of pride for a family crop up? One wishes the Muslim community showed broad-mindedness, instead of its antiquarian mindset, and moved with the times... so that innocent lives are not lost in this manner.”

Jadeed Markaz says: “Despicable acts of killing in the name of false family pride have been taking place through khap panchayats. Now this disease is being spread among Muslims too. Killing in the name of false pride is common in the tribes of our neighbouring country, Pakistan. But no one can be allowed to commit such a wretched crime in a democratic country like India.” In contrast, Inquilab has blamed the “media” for “maligning Islam and Muslims” in its coverage of the Hakeem case. It writes: “The khap panchayats of Haryana, Rajasthan and western UP have openly killed couples (in the name of honour). But have you ever seen anyone spitting venom against the Sikh or Hindu community...? The police investigation revealed it was not a case of honour killing and the murder was committed due to personal enmity. But the media raised questions about (the credibility of) the police.”

Compiled by Seema Chishti

[abhishek_sharma]

x-post

Book: Durbar: Author: Tavleen Singh

Book: Durbar

Author: Tavleen Singh

Publisher: Hachette

Price: Rs 599

Pages: 312

A recurring theme in veteran journalist Tavleen Singh’s exceedingly readable Durbar is that the country has been let down by its rulers. Insulated from the harsh realities of the country by a cocoon of privilege, most politicians are out of touch with the real political, social and cultural problems of India, she argues. Singh traces the root cause of this phenomenon to dynastic politics, which has installed a ruling class, which looks to the West as a role model and is unfamiliar with India’s rich heritage. Rajiv Gandhi, for instance, despite his speeches against power brokers in the party, was influenced largely by his advisers into taking the wrong decisions. The precedent for dynastic politics was set by the Gandhis and has since been emulated by other parties and politicians.

Singh gives us a peep into the darbari politics of the Gandhis in the Seventies and Eighties. She herself was part of the exclusive social circle in which Rajiv and Sonia once moved. The Gandhi coterie included Arun and Nina Singh, Suman and Manju Dubey, Romi Chopra, Ottavio and Maria Quattrocchi, Satish and Sterre Sharma and Mohan and Nimal Thadani. With her eye for detail and an incisive touch, Singh provides us some juicy nuggets. You get to know how the politically privileged conduct themselves in private. Politics was never discussed with the Gandhis during the Emergency. There is a riveting account of a dinner party conversation between Naveen Patnaik, now chief minister of Orissa, and Sonia Gandhi. Patnaik was not sure whether it was proper for him to mingle with Rajiv and Sonia since Indira Gandhi had put his father Biju Patnaik in jail but he finally decided that etiquette demanded he go across and say hello. Admiring Sonia’s dress, he asked if it was a Valentino. Sonia replied that it was stitched by her local darzi.

At another party, Singh encountered Rukhsana Sultana, Sanjay’s infamous Emergency aide, dressed in chiffon and pearls and sporting elegant dark glasses. She boasted of her social work in the slums of old Delhi, introducing Muslim women to modern ideas like family planning. She claimed she was a role model for these women. A few week later, there were riots in the Walled City because of Sultana’s forcible sterilisation programme and Singh, herself, was nearly attacked by a mob since her sunglasses caused some people to mistake her for Rukshana.

Despite her past proximity to Sonia, Singh fails to explain the Sonia enigma. Rajiv’s wife once swore she hated politics so fervently that she would rather see her children begging on the streets than joining politics. Sonia, according to Singh, was a good cook, a generous friend and a connoisseur of beautiful things. She had an impressive collection of shahtoosh shawls and once sent a Russian sable coat to Europe to be re-cut by Fendi. Sonia, however, seemed remarkably indifferent to social causes and to India in general. She was a major influence on her husband and weeded out people whom she considered undesirable from his social circle. She went out of her way to befriend Singh and sometimes bought clothes for her son Aatish, when the writer was temporarily in somewhat straitened circumstances after separating from her Pakistani partner. But when Singh wrote a profile in India Today, which was not entirely flattering — she blames a colleague on the editorial desk for adding some vitriol to a piece which the editor, Aroon Purie, felt was too bland — Sonia never forgave her and cut her dead at every subsequent encounter.

Singh’s gutsy conduct and determination come through in her recollections of covering trouble spots, particularly Punjab. She had the temerity to ask Bhindranwale if he had been funded by the Congress, after which the interview was hastily terminated. She was under a very real threat from Bhindranwale’s goons after he publicly criticised her writings. She managed to sneak into curfew-bound Amritsar after Operation Blue Star by sheer bluff and bluster, waving a letter from her father to General K S Brar.

Singh emphasises that though she might have come from the same privileged class as those who ruled India, her career in journalism has taught her to make up for deficiencies in her early education. For instance, she has re-learnt Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. But Singh cannot completely shed her upper-class instincts. There are occasional digs at middle-class mores, from commenting derisively on the Janata lot of politicians slurping their tea and picking their noses to the terylene shirts and badly cut trousers worn by clerks. She recounts with horror, the shabby state of the toilets she was compelled to use during her election tours. Singh’s self-righteous streak that she knows best, comes through very clearly. There are no shades of grey in her positions, she sees issues in clear-cut, black and white terms.

[abhishek_sharma]

Supreme Being: How Samir Jain created the modern Indian newspaper industry

Recommended.

[johneeG]

राष्ट्रीय रहस्य…सोनिया गांधी
राष्ट्रीय खुजली…महेश भट्ट
राष्ट्रीय गाल…शरद पवार
राष्ट्रीय चुगलखोर…स्वामी अग्निवेश
राष्ट्रीय दामाद… कसाब, अफज़ल गुरू और रॉबर्ट वढेरा के बीच टाई

राष्ट्रीय युवक...राहुल गांधी
राष्ट्रीय विदूषक...दिग्विजय (लालू को पीछे चोढ दिया)
राष्ट्रीय भाषा...अंग्रेजी
राष्ट्रीय मैच फिक्सिंग...सपा-बसपा-कांग्रेश
राष्ट्र का एकमात्र बुद्धिमान...कट्जू
राष्ट्रीय सिनेमा... My name is Khan, New York और क़ुर्बान के बीच टाई
राष्ट्रीय शांतिप्रिया नेता... ओवैसी और बुकारी के बीच टाई
राष्ट्रीय आतंकवादी...साधु और साध्वी
राष्ट्रीय पत्रकार...पदमा श्री बर्खा दत्त
राष्ट्रीय पत्रकार जोड़ा...श्रीमती और श्री सागरिका
राष्ट्रीय खलनायक...गुजरात के मतदाता: जो बार बार मोदी को ही चुनते हैं
अंतरराष्ट्रीय प्रभावशाली...मनमोहन (forbes)

पाकिस्तान का ओबामा...इमरान खान
पाकिस्तान का मर्द...इमरान खान
निशान-ए-मर्दांनगी...इमरान खान
दुनिया का दर्द...पाकिस्तान
पाकिस्तान का दर्द...भारत
पाकिस्तान के दर्द की दवा...सियाचिन, अमन का तमाशा, और भारत-पाक क्रिकेट शृंखला|