Defending true criminals

Recent posts by avid Chindu readers have asked for our comments on this topic. I have taken a stab at this topic, but given the significance of this topic in current social conditions, I would request you the reader to post your thought on this topic to help with the discussion.
One of the toughest jobs in society is the job of a defense lawyer. These people often have to defend the scum of society, in cases knowing they are guilty and still have to stand in court and speak about their client's honest profile and how they saved a kitten from a truck. That however is not the job of a newspaper. The Chindu in its editorial today, decided to defend SIMI and its leader Safdar Nagori. For those who are not informed, SIMI is a Taliban like organization involved in terrorist activities across several states. The editorial by the Chindu is written here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040155450800.htm
I usually have a strong stomach to read Chindu's junk, but this one defending the activities of a terrorist organization hits new depths even for the Chindu. Yenmin Ram decides to trade the future of the country defending a terrorist group which has been denounced by its own community. This is the exact same logic followed with the Taliban in the 80s and 90's and look where it lead the world to.
The grammar in the article is poor and with unclear logic it makes for poor reading.

a critical mass of disillusioned young Muslims who had tired of their community’s traditional leadership, and the state’s promises of secularism, equality of opportunity, and democracy.

How many of these young muslims are there?

very bitter about being Indian,” he was voicing and exploiting the rage of a generation. SIMI at the time had an estimated 40,000 ikhwan, or volunteer ‘brothers,’ and upwards of 20,000 people routinely

How many Muslims are there in India? There are about 120 million Muslims in India. How can this miniscule population be representative of an entire community?
There are hundreds of thousands of Muslims who are as patriotic, who participate in the regular processes as any citizen, who do regular jobs, who protect our borders, this article disrespects all the hardworking, honest, patriotic Muslims.
There is no explanation in the Chindu about this. Then the Chindu goes on and rambles,

Embittered at being denied social and economic equity and justice by a rising tide of communal prejudice, and angered by a brutal succession of riots, massacres, and pogroms that scarred the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of young people saw in Mr. Nagori’s calls for jihad

Which riots of the 1980's is he detailing? What pot is Yen Ram smoking? The Delhi riots perhaps, but they were against Sikhs. The imagination of Chindu runs wild here. There is little evidence of any communal prejudice against Muslims alone. Minorities in India have it far better in terms of opportunities in education, business and politics than in most countries in the world. However what they don't need is mollycoddling but idiots like Yen Ram.

The Sachar Committee report offers a quite radical blueprint for the “inclusion and mainstreaming” of India’s 150 million Muslims after addressing the specific “deficits and deprivation” with remarkable honesty.

Statements like these will be followed with plans to increase reservations based on communities in education and Government institutions. Rather than doing that, if they could ensure that the minorities get the proper schooling that would build the right foundation to alleviate any bridge if any. A lot of other minorities are in much worse shape than the Muslims, like say the Kashmiri Pandits, Tibetian expatriates, Goa Christians, people of the North East. You don't hear of these people trying to attack and blow up innocent civilians. Its easy to appease minorities by offering excuses for their current state, but unless you state the bitter truth, the first step in social equality will not be possible.

Emperor Palpatine launches Death Star commencement

In a recent post HF had exposed how the Chinese soldiers were posing as monks. The incident reminded me of the Storm troopers in the Star Wars movies who were supposed to be the army of saviors but then turn against the people. Following that the Chindu posted the headline that Fearless Leader Hu Jintao had commenced the Olympic torch relay, which really serves little purpose other than free advertisements for the Olympics in local media. The article is detailed here:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040155841300.htm
Check out this clip from the Star Wars saga, to get an intro into the Emperor. The Fearless leader shamelessly states,

“The Olympic flame symbolises the Olympic spirits — hopes and dreams, brightness and happiness, friendship and peace. With the spirits, it has come to the land of China,”

Could you please consider the same spirits of the Tibetians who were brutalised a few weeks back?
The whole thing appears like the Emperor Palpatine launching the death star in the Star Wars movie.


Who do you think will make the best Darth Vader and why? Is it,
1. Yen Ram
2. Prakash Carat CPM
3. Sitaram Leechury CPM
4. Anyone else
Let us know of your thoughts.

Chinese soldiers posing as Tibetan monks

Just in case you wondered why these "Tibetan monks" were so violent in Lhasa....

Charging against windmills

The CPM takes a look an important issue facing India, does a deep analysis and comes up with quixotic solutions which will in all probability do nothing to resolve the issue. However the media will not question the party about the plan or the rationale of the intended tactics. The Chindu however proclaims this as the next launch of the Freedom movement. The article is listed here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/31/stories/2008033157900100.htm
Inflation has caused price increase in food commodities. CPM would not address the problem at its source but would rather have the Government bear the expenses for the cost of the increase and banning futures trading in agricultural products.

the cut in foodgrain allocations to States under the PDS be done away with; 15 essential commodities such as pulses, edible oil and sugar be included in the PDS; futures trading in 25 agricultural commodities be banned as proposed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution; customs and excise duties on oil be cut and restructured; retail prices of petrol and diesel be reduced;

The common man should be able to afford basic essentials, but not by bartering the country's future. The various parties have made their plans to spend amount raised by increasing oil prices. Comrades Yechury and Bardhan state,

“The Central government has collected over Rs. 40,000 crore more in 2007-08 in import duties on oil than what it had budgeted due to the ad valorem structure of customs and excise duties, whereby the government’s revenues also increase along with the price of oil,”

The Chindu does not follow this quote with a reasonable analysis.
More on the fun at the CPM annual carnival soon.
About a year back there was a great blog post on the same topic by Ashok Dhamija, a lawyer where he ridicules the actions taken by the UPA Government and its Communist partners on the tactics to manage inflation.
http://ashokdhamija.blogspot.com/2007/02/futures-trading-in-farm-commodities-and.html

CPM Congress review

Senility overcomes Basu
Land reforms against religious discrimination? Religious discrimination entered political lexicon only recently, with the NGO "findings" in Gujarat and the Sachar committee.

The Hindu : National : Common man has not gained: Basu

Since Independence, the Communist parties had stood for a self-reliant path of development and worked for the benefit of all sections. The land reforms had been essential to create a just society, free of exploitation and caste and religious discrimination. “That is why we have fought communalism in all its forms.”

CPM files a news report in Chindu
Basu told some visiting members of the electronic media of which Chindu is obviously not a part. However, this article appears in Chindu because it has been filed by CPM. More evidence? I ask you back, what does it take to combine this article with the above one? What additional value is this adding as a separate article?

The Hindu : National : Watches meet proceedings on TV

Veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu on Saturday watched the telecast of the inaugural session of the six-day CPI(M) Congress at his Salt Lake residence here.
... he told some visiting members of the electronic media.

Sound bytes from Karat?
As far as I know, this is the first time Karat has said anything about minority extremism. Welcome step. Notice how he deliberately avoids detailing any plans, while elaborates on tactics against BJP/RSS.
The Hindu : National : BJP, RSS assailed

“While doing so, the party will also counter the fundamentalist and extremist elements in the minority community.”

Question to Karat
While you have so many questions to the UPA, I have one question to you, Sir. Why did you, during your 30mins speech, not talk about the performance of the three Left-ruled states? How about comparing them with "communal" Gujarat?
The Hindu : Front Page : Centre’s report card not satisfactory: Karat

Posing questions on the UPA government’s performance since mid-2004, he said it was not able to convince the Left why Indian private banks should be handed over to foreign banks or why the insurance sector should be opened up further to Foreign Direct Investments.

Mr. Karat’s other queries were: “How is FDI in retail trade beneficial when it will lead to the loss of livelihood for millions of shopkeepers and traders? Is putting pension funds of government employees in the stock market the best way to ensure social security? Why can’t the government strengthen the PDS by restoring the universal system?”

Militant Bardhan
Bardhan is calling for nation-wide militant struggle against Congress to fight BJP. :-o Talk of communist logic. Again, notice how the Left agenda is determined by anti-BJP policy.
The Hindu : National : Soaring prices most serious issue, says A.B. Bardhan

“Left should ensure that BJP is not allowed to come to power”
Mr. Bardhan said the Left parties had suggested several measures to curb price rise but to no avail. “We have, therefore, called for a wide-ranging militant struggle on this burning question beginning on April 17 and 18,” he said inviting the CPI(M) to join the agitation.

Frontline's Take on the Tibetan Crisis

Apparently, the Chindu's Tibet amnesia syndrome seems to have afflicted its sister publication Frontline. See John Cherian's article 'Trouble in Tibet' in today's issue. The heading reads

'Lhasa erupts in violence as Tibetan separatists clamour against the Olympic flame passing through the capital city of the autonomous region.'

Apparently there is a new twist now - dark hints are thrown that the CIA is responsible for it! This is what the first couple of paras have to say:

THE agenda had been clear for some time. The Tibetan exile groups based in India and in Western capitals were working overtime to put a spanner in the carefully orchestrated build-up to the Beijing Olympics to be held in October. The exile groups, which are led by their spiritual and political leader Dalai Lama, had vowed to not allow the Olympic flame to pass through Lhasa, the capital of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. Small but rowdy groups of Tibetan protestors in New Delhi and other capitals were loudly talking about organising a march to Lhasa to highlight their demands. Almost on cue, Lhasa witnessed an orgy of violence.

The violence, which lasted a couple of days, started after the Chinese authorities arrested 60 monks on March 12. They were part of a volatile group staging a protest to commemorate the anniversary of the Central Intelligence Agency-backed insurrection against the Communist government in China in 1959.

Even Patrick French who has been fairly critical of Tibetan exile groups did not go this far. This is what he said in his op-ed in the NYT:

Protests have spread across the Tibetan plateau over the last two weeks, and at least 100 people have died. Anyone who finds it odd that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rushed to Dharamsala, India, to stand by the Dalai Lama’s side fails to realize that American politics provided an important spark for the demonstrations. Last October, when the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Dalai Lama, monks in Tibet watched over the Internet and celebrated by setting off fireworks and throwing barley flour. They were quickly arrested.

It was for the release of these monks that demonstrators initially turned out this month. Their brave stand quickly metamorphosed into a protest by Lhasa residents who were angry that many economic advantages of the last 10 or 15 years had gone to Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. A young refugee whose family is still in Tibet told me this week of the medal, “People believed that the American government was genuinely considering the Tibet issue as a priority.”

I leave it to the reader to decide who is being truthful here. After this come two sections, one detailing the 'CIA conspiracy':

The CIA’s role in Tibet has been well documented. The CIA’s support for clandestine operations on behalf of the Dalai Lama was stopped only after the historic visit by President Richard Nixon to China in 1972. But covert cooperation between Western intelligence agencies and Tibetan separatist groups continues unabated (emphasis added). According to Gary Wilson, an American investigative journalist, the close coordination between the American intelligence agencies and the recent events is evident. He said that the main source of the reports about the activities of the so-called Tibetan liberation struggle and the recent events in Lhasa appearing in the Western media is an individual called John Ackerly. Ackerly happens to be the president of the International Campaign for Tibet. This group works in close coordination with the U.S. government, including the State Department and Congress. During the Cold War, Ackerly worked with “dissidents” in East Europe.

Who better to blame than the communists' favorite enemy of all times, the CIA? Food riots? Blame the CIA. Demand for freedom? Must be an American conspiracy. After all, how could people even dare demand such a thing but for evil American influence? How could anyone even suggest that the exalted representatives of the People's Republic could ever be wrong about anything? And what is the evidence on offer? Some diplomatic meetings preceding Nancy Pelosi's visit and news about the CIA's covert action during the Cold War! The Chinese probably forgot to lend Chindu the service of its spin doctors.

Then the talk shifts to 'China's resolve' and the blame to the British:

Tibet was occupied by British troops in 1907. This was the price it had to pay for being a pawn in the “Great Game” then going on between Czarist Russia and Imperial Britain. A weak China, itself under pressure from the imperialists, was powerless to act against the British occupiers. The Kuomintang government of General Chiang Kai-shek kept on protesting against the British about their occupation of Tibet. After liberation, Mao Zedong ordered the “liberation” of Tibet in 1950.

This is utter falsehood. Tibet had close relations with British India but was never occupied by the British. The truth is complicated and involves a long story that I will reserve for another time.

Anyway, Cherian assures the reader that there is nothing to worry.

Zhang Qingli has tried to allay the fears of minority groups. Prime Minister Wen has assured the Tibetan people that the government would continue to improve the region’s economy and strive to protect Tibetan culture.

When the fox is in charge of the hens, why worry? Eh?

Rogues of a feather flock together

Its that time of the year when the appetizer(CPI's junket) is over and the main course the CPI-M's Congress is commencing. This time is like the Oscars, Olympics and World Cup all rolled into one for Chindu.
You can see Chindu planning the schedule, buffet layout and sound bytes of an politically irrelevant organization.
The article is written here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/29/stories/2008032955871200.htm
Some of the senior citizens like Surjeet and Jyoti Basu are put out to pasture this time.
Apparently they have some sort of election,

The delegates were those who were duly elected to various units of the CPI (M), unlike the practice of other parties which nominated delegates to their meets.

The most hilarious is this statement,

Twenty-six fraternal organisations from 24 countries would attend.

We in the Chindu will keep you updated on the antics from Coimbatore.

Zardari plays Doom

The Kashmir problem has been a thorn in the minuscule India-Pak relations. The recent democratic elections in Pak with the election of a new Government has been proclaimed by Chindu as a new chapter. Looks to me though that Mr.Zardari is playing Doom.
In an article by Ms. Nirupama Subramanian, the important discussion between Zardari and Mehbooba Mufti(Yup the same terrorist loving traitor), is detailed here:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/29/stories/2008032958940100.htm
Ms.Nirupama, being a benign journo does not cast any doubt on the statements of Mr.Zardari. The entire episode reeks with backdoor politics. Ms.Mehbooba is attending a conference on regional stability. Why was Pranab Mukherjee too busy relaxing after his trip to the US? Besides Mehbooba (for who's release many hardcore terrorists were released in an incident many years ago) does not have an official post and for her to discuss the Kashmir relations makes little sense.

The article is filled with contradictions, illogical statements and pie in the sky statements. Lets say the average Pakistani politician plays a game of Doom.
Each statement can be used to predict the lifespan of the player or political term.
Statement #1:

“If boys in Kashmir are to be given pens instead of guns, if they are given jobs, if they are allowed to meet their relatives in Pakistan, if we allow our Kashmiris to meet their Kashmiri brothers across the border, I think it will go a long way,”

Whoa Mr.Zardari, are you saying that the ISI should stop arming the terrorists?
Lifespan: If implemented, Zardari would be the next high profile target. Chances of implementing this are between 0 and negative infinity.
Statement #2:

“We are totally involved with Kashmir, and we intend to solve the Kashmir problem and not just shadow-box on it,”

What is this are you having Harish Khare write your speeches? A bold statement with nothing to back it up and one for TV sound bytes.
Lifespan: Zardari's is firing blanks here. Your core supporters would not be too happy if you somehow killed the goose laying
the golden eggs.

Justice Krishna Iyer on PIL and Development

Former Justice Krishna Iyer gets a lot of space in the Hindu all the time no matter what he writes whether it is an 'open letter' to some official or as is more commonly the case, a rant against 'capitalist' outrages. His op-ed a couple of days ago in the Hindu is typical of his writing:

"The basic structure of the feudal Indian legal system with its dated, diehard methodology, still smacks of fossil features and a colonial-curial culture. Its substantive and procedural features are conditioned by values of Victorian vintage."

The Indian legal system was an import from the British system where it had evolved through centuries of feudalism and matured by the time it reached India into a distinct Victorian post-feudal set-up (Britain was in the throws of industrialization and empire-building and while the class hierarchy was very much alive, was not exactly a 'feudal' set-up at that time). So how does he see the problem?

"Our Constitution, on the other hand, envisions a radiant socio-economic scenario and forward-looking forensic infrastructure. Such a vision seeks to ensure that its creative mission may functionally fulfil the fundamental rights and egalitarian aspirations of the vast population which is even now governed by an arcane establishment. This establishment’s ‘survival after death’ philosophy is incongruous with the ‘socialist secular democratic’ developmental order which is our swaraj objective. The revolutionary tryst with destiny that ‘We, the People of India’ made on gaining Independence, remains a tragic illusion and an irony of jural magniloquence."

Forward-looking forensic infrastructure? What in the world is that? Better forensic techniques for law enforcement? I have no idea. I am not sure the constitutuent assembly really had much to say about forensics, infrastructural or otherwise - they had more important things to worry about such as writing a document to frame the structure of government in post-independence India. Again, what is this 'survival after death' philosophy? I could do with some enlightenment. 'Socialist secular' developmental order is our swaraj objective? When the constitution was written, neither 'socialist' nor 'secular' was to be found in it - those came much later when Indira Gandhi added them through the 42nd amendment. Our tryst with destiny remains an irony of jural magniloquence - huh? Again, a bunch of high-sounding words with little meaning. What does jural magniloquence have anything to do with swaraj or our supposed failure to achieve it? Well, here is his answer to that.

"Law India, with its obsolescent Indo-Anglian codes and ‘lordship’ robes, misses the socially sensitive fundamentals and the crimson economic grammar. It benumbs the common people’s deprivations and expectations and inhibits the advance of the backward Indian humanity. Regrettably, communalism, regionalism, gender and class biases and the globalisation-cum-private corporatisation kink do not spare the judiciary in its perspective and performance. So much so that the Constitution remains a merely eloquent parchment. Many a judicial Judas has pretended loyalty to the Constitution. Worse is the fate in the Cabinet and the House. Is swaraj a camouflage for satellite raj?

The cults, semantics, outfits and obsolete processes of the pre-Independence days must go into oblivion and the high bench must transform our swaraj jurisprudence with a creative commitment. In order to realise this grand goal, tools, technologies and master-engineers tuned to our constitutional revolution are needed. The activist judges are the legal locomotive, and the technology of transformation is inscribed under Articles 32, 141, 142 and 144. And public interest litigation is the versatile modus operandi in its forensic flavour."

Ahah! So here is his analysis - the judiciary is really tasked with social upliftment and the legal system is held back by the Anglo-Indian 'codes' and those various provisions of the Constitution should be used to do away with this and advance it in the direction he seeks - against capitalism, businesses and in favor of what he talks about next.

"But today the nation’s instrumentalities, including the judicature, forsake socialist egalite and economic democracy. They lag, laze and languish in the shadow of Whitehall, the White House and the commands of global big business. They commercialise our administrative culture, jejunise our judicial jurisprudence and legitimise grab-economics. Our national environment is pathologically polluted. Consumerism has ruined the simplicity and goodness of people’s life. Why does our high bench hesitate to deliver vibrantly socialist swaraj pronouncements in the interests of India’s billion-plus humans under the command of the Constitution? The finest hour of the Supreme Court of India will arrive only when it performs as the Supreme Court for Indians.

This chronic subjection of the Ganga to the Thames should end. So should the subjection of the Indian judicial instrumentality, which is oath-bound to uphold suprema lex (“the welfare of the people shall be the supreme law”) to Westminster. Failure here is functional frustration of the judicature. The democracy of judicial remedies in a land of mass destitution, environmental injury and expensive Bench-Bar-run adversarial process, is a socialist casualty and an ecological frailty."

So the court should deliver 'socialist swaraj pronouncements'. The court should do what (at least he thinks) the people want, not uphold the law in the books. The democracy of judicial remedies in a 'bench-bar-run adversarial process' is a socialist casualty. So is he suggesting doing away with the bench and the bar? I don't know but I fail to see any connection between this and his other socialist ideas. All of this takes us to the heart of the problem here - what is the role of the higher judiciary in the Indian system? Is it, as he seems to suggest, to act as the ombudsman of general welfare, push through pet agendas and roam around looking for injustice to set it right? Every judge will have his own pet ideas about how to advance the public welfare. So if the job of the court is supposed to be to discard legal 'codes' and deliver judgments that favor public welfare, how does one decide what constitutes the public welfare? As he says, if one were to rule against businesses, who is going to provide people employment? If one were to rule in favor of environmental groups all the time and shut down or otherwise punish businesses or heavily regulate them in favor of 'public welfare', who will want to come and invest in such an environment? Besides, will the consumer, i.e., we, the people, not bear the costs of those regulations? If every one is expected to pay twice what we are paying now for any product, how does that advance the 'public welfare'? The stupidity of these suggestions is mind-boggling. The fact is that there needs to be a balance between government regulation and free enterprise, between environmental activism and a favorable environment for businesses, between labor rights and employer prerogatives and so on. A judge in his own right is not in a position, especially in an court setting, to take all these aspects into account and frame laws or regulations. Only the legislature can do that. For the same reason, judges pursuing pet agendas from the bench without an understanding of the big picture will not lead to development, swaraj or otherwise; it is a recipe for anarchy. And besides, why do we call them judges in the first place? Because judges, as Hamilton famously put it ' have neither force nor will but judgment'. Yes, that is exactly what they are there to do. When two sides come to them, they merely decide who is right, not based on what they like but on what the law that has been adopted by the people says. They are like umpires in a cricket game - imagine what would happen if the umpire were to decide to advance the agenda of one side. Where would that take us? And finally, if one were to discard the bar, are ordinary people sufficiently well-versed in law to be able to argue their case in the higher courts pro se?

Then he strangely quotes Warren Burger, a conservative chief justice:

“A court which is final and unreviewable needs more careful scrutiny than any other. Unreviewable power is the most likely to self-indulge itself and the least likely to engage in dispassionate self-analysis… In a country like ours, no public institution, or the people who operate it, can be above public debate.”

I am fine with the debate but he is suggesting 'careful scrutiny' here. If Iyer's suggestion is taken up and promoting an agenda is the goal of courts, what is left to scrutinize? The judge simply decides what he believes conforms to his idea of promoting public welfare and states it so - the debate only comes into play if we are seeking out what is correct and true based on what the law as is written in the books means and how it ought to be intepreted according to those very 'codes' that he disparages. If upholding those codes and written laws is not the job of the courts and deciding the public welfare as they see it is the job of judges, what is there to debate?

He continues in this vein:

"The law of locus standi is therefore expansive. Wherever there is an injury which affects the people at large or an individual, it is not a narrow issue. Anyone who is not a busybody and who has sincere concern is at home in court when he sues to espouse a community grievance or public cause. This is the root rule of public interest litigation (PIL), ideologically socialistic and paradigmatically sound. ‘We, the People of India’ have resolved to secure to all its citizens justice, social and economic, and liberty, equality and fraternity. To deny this collective faith is to defy the republic’s foundation.

PIL is the incarnation of judicial activism in its people-oriented litigative dimension and environmental preservation. Fiat justicia (‘let justice be done’) becomes a living reality only if PIL becomes a pragmatic facility for the common people. There is a profound political philosophy behind PIL, which some learned brethren miss. Judicial allergy to PIL therapy — many on the high bench suffer this pathology — betrays high-brow hostility unbecoming of our constitutional instrumentality and the oath of office of judges. Every cause has a martyr. A judge who challenges PIL debunks the Supreme Court’s democratic dimensions. Some judicial neophytes and charlatan jurists at times make egregious errors during their institutionally accountability-free incumbency."

He is wrong here on several counts. Locus standi was not expansive until the courts themselves with people like him made it so. And once those doors are opened to all and sundry, distinguishing a busybody from a one espousing a real grievance becomes very difficult. No one will come to the court announcing that he is a busybody and the court will have to expend valuable time and effort to figure that out and might well be a good reason for the 'expensive' litigation (expensive not only monetarily but also in terms of lost time - 'time value of money' as economists put it) that has occured. Secondly, providing socio-economic equality, fraternity and other forms of justice was not a responsibility thrust on the judiciary. Thirdly, he is obviously dreaming if he thinks judges are exhibiting 'allergy to PIL therapy' - many of the problems have arisen precisely because of too much PIL therapy - judges like himself have taken it upon themselves to solve the country's problems without sufficient understanding of their intracies and these judgments are either unimplementable or impractical but are not easily overturned rendering the whole issue more complex and the problem more acute than it originally was. The ongoing 10-year old forest case is a classic example. The mess of professional college admissions is another. And I can quote a whole lot more but you get the point.

Krishna Iyer is wrong about much of what he says. True to his roots, he should have stuck to political advocacy rather than dabble with the legal system. His personal honesty would have at least been more valuable there than his contributions to the law based on half-baked notions of swaraj and development through adjudication.

Chindu demands democracy in China*

In a breaking news The Chindu demands democracy in China. I got this from a future version of the newspaper from the year 2100* :) You did'nt believe this for a second didn't you.
Ok before I lose my train of thought, another clone from the "N.Ram stable" one Ms.Vidya Subrahmaniam, asks the question why is democracy in America a failure and filled with bigots?
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/28/stories/2008032854761000.htm
Are you kidding me? Sure America has its share of bigots, but so does any country. Thats the way the world is.
Last I checked Ms. Vidya Subrahmaniam, the favorite country of The Chindu, China is a communist nation with no freedoms.
How about writing about human rights where you can speak your opinions without being run over by a tank?
At least America has the freedom to let people discuss and make fun of their would be leaders.
The first person to comment on Hu Jintao in that manner in Beijing would be sent to a gulag.
How about the civilians in Tibet who were brutalized by the Chinese army for trying to peacefully raise the issue of autonomy?
India has a great history to elect a diverse set of leaders. But believe me, the second any media members dare make a comment like that to the Indian leaders like the American media, their offices would be burnt down.
The erudite Ms. Vidya cannot understand English as she cannot understand Maureen Dowd's statements on Hillary Clinton, but stating Maureen Dowd as the worst commentator.

Easily the worst has been Maureen Dowd commenting in The New York Times. Reacting to Ms Clinton’s tears at a vulnerable moment on the campaign, she said: “She [Hillary] won her Senate seat after being embarrassed by a man [husband]. She pulled out New Hampshire and saved her presidential campaign after being embarrassed by another man [Obama].”

Ms. Vidya, have you ever seen Sonia Gandhi attending a press interview answering questions? Or for that matter your communist buddies attending a debate of any merit?
Another reason why Chindu decides to publish its warped version of reality.

Equating Bangladeshi migrants with informal labour

Mukul Sharma makes a lot of noise about Gujarat riot victims. Here he is asking for equal treatment of Bangladeshi "migrants" with informal labour markets. If you read too much into it, on one side is people and on the other side is a market. Mukul Sharma laments that treating Bangladeshi "migrants" separately is discriminatory. Reading this along with Vir Sanghvi's latest demands on Bangladeshis, there is an interesting trend emerging in the ELM on the issue of Bangladesh.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Migrants and a silent human rights crisis

Most migration management policies and pronouncements today are getting to be discriminatory. Governments encourage selected migration in white collar work while officially discouraging the migration of the poor and marginal people. The Delhi government that publicly states the absolute necessity to exclude irregular Bangladeshi migrants from its territory, is prepared to tolerate the existence and even the growth of informal labour markets for the purpose of preparing for the Commonwealth Games or the Delhi Metro project which rely largely on the labour of unregulated migrants.

Indian communists during the Freedom Movement

K.K. Chaudhari: Quit India Revolution (Popular Parakashan, Mumbai)

The betrayal of the Indian Freedom Movement by the Communists has been described quoting chapter and verse by, K.K. Chaudhari in his excellent work Quit India Revolution (Popular Parakashan, Mumbai). The Communist betrayal of India was systematic and thorough. The Communist, official organ of the CPI, of November 1940 lampooned Gandhi's individual satyagraha movement mercilessly. This anti-Congress diatribe continued with the Communists charging Gandhi of all people of betraying the national cause. When the AICC passed the Quit India Resolution. People's War, the new organ of the CPI ridiculed it, saving of the earlier labours of the Congress Working Committee that "after nine days of labour, the Working Committee has brought forth an abortion". The British gleefully accepted the Communists as their saviours. Writes Chaudhari: "It should be emphasised that the British did not entice the Communists into betraying the Quit India Movement. In fact the Communists and their ally N.M. Joshi, went about, systematically and persistently, brandishing their usefulness to the Government". The British Government took no time to release the traitorous Communists, till then in jail, in order that they may fight the Congress. Among those released were B.T. Ranadive, R.S. Nimbkar, S.G. Patkar, S.S. Mirajkar, Sajjad Zaheer. The British felt that the only party. that could sabotage the Quit India Movement was the CPI. As Chaudhari has stated (p. 193): "On many occasions the Communists were indeed more royalist than even the king of England". In exchange for the release of Communists, CPI General Secretary P.C. Joshi promised Home Secretary Reginald Maxwell to run pro-government guerrilla camps in Punjab with the collaboration of the military, authorities. People's War called all opponents of the CPI, including the Congress as Fascist elements and fifth columnists" (p. 199). Joshi was so anxious to prove the CPI's bona fides and its utility to the British that he claimed it was doing a better job of stemming the Quit India Movement, of denouncing Subhas Bose and leaders of the underground - Jaya Prakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia. Achyut Patwardhan and others than the Government themselves (p. 200). P.C. Joshi argued that Communists were more vigilant in tracking down 'saboteurs' (Congressmen) than the police and the CID. Communists emphatically claimed that they had successfully divided the nationalists. In a 120-page report to the Government Joshi bragged about what the CPI had done to sabotage the Quit India Movement. Several files in the National Archives of India testify, to this. The CBI was happy to assist the British bureaucracy in intelligence work against underground Congressmen (p. 207).

And what is the Communist record in the creation of Pakistan? Based on documentary evidence, Chaudhari notes how "by incessant and vociferous repetition" the Communists proclaimed the thesis that "India was not one nation but a collection of separate nationalities, that the demand for Pakistan is a just and democratic one because Hindus would oppress them (Muslims) in future, that Muslim League itself now (has become) progressive and secular and that Congress must concede to the Muslims the right to self-determination" (p. 208). The CPI complimented itself on how Muslims were flocking to it because of its espousing the demand for Pakistan. When not even the British, at that time, were ready to accede to the Muslim League's demand for Pakistan the Bombay Committee of the CPI went to the extent of adopting a resolution (13 April 1943) to the effect that the League's demand for Pakistan should be accepted in principle (p. 209). The Communists were willing to sell India down the drain. As Chaudhari observes: "Documentary evidence indeed makes it amply clear that the Government did not entice Communists: the Communists went about systematically and persistently brandishing their utility to the Government. They made feverish approaches to the bureaucracy offering their services". It is significant that not even hard-core Muslim Leaguers were betrayers of the nationalist cause. As Chaudhari observes: "A scrutiny of documentary evidence in the form of Bombay Congress Bulletins and newspapers makes it amply clear that no Muslim in Bombay was found to help the CID in the matter of investigation of sabotage activity or arrest of Congressmen, as was done by the Communists... Congregations of Bombay Muslims were praying for Gandhiji's life during his epic fast".

Bhagat Singh was a CPM revolutionary

What next? He died fighting Hindu fundamentalism? It takes incredible talent to come out with these kind of stories. That is what makes the "eminent historians".

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Bhagat Singh as seen by Ramasami Periyar

Periyar saw in young Bhagat Singh an ally who stood for rationalism and spoke against caste oppression. He was clear that Bhagat Singh’s principle represented socialism and communism ...

Even I am clear in my mind that Karl Marx was a staunch Hindu and stood for upholding the principles of Sanatana Dharma. Does that change anything?

Ramasami Periyar was inspired by similar sentiments and was engaged in the 1930s in organising industrial and agriculture workers to fight against the big capitalists and landlords. This struggle invited the wrath of the colonial government leading to the ban on Communist Party and other like minded organisations.

Does it not make the communists look like they were leading the independence movement? I will post a detailed one on the communist involvement shortly.

Bhagat Singh was not only against communal and divisive politics, he hated and mocked at the Indian caste system, which makes the people untouchable on the basis of their birth in a particular caste. He reiterated in his writings and statements that all exploitations-economic, social or cultural, had to go if we want to build a strong nation. Echoing these views in his own way, Periyar wrote further in the editorial that “to abolish untouchability we have to abolish the principle of upper and lower castes. In the same manner, to remove poverty we have to do away with the principle of capitalists and wage-earners. So socialism and communism are nothing but getting rid of these concepts and systems. These are the principles Bhagat Singh stood for.”

Why does it appear to me that I am reading the biography of an Indian communist? I suspect this paragraph has been lifted and the communist name replaced with Bhagat Singh. Communal and divisive politics sounds pretty much like CPM manifesto, doesn't it. Gives me the impression that BJP was more powerful than British at that time.

Bhagat Singh’s ideal and supreme sacrifice has the potential to enliven millions of struggling lives. Like Che Guevara, Bhagat Singh will
continue to inspire all those who are committed to secular socialist values and reject the caste based hierarchical society.

Why does the author not stop with "secular socialist values" but add "reject the caste based hierarchical society"? Did he have to write a minimum number of words for his article to be complete? Or did he have to fulfill some grammatical construct criteria? Or is he trying to suggest Bhagat Singh's fascination for some desert cult?

Fwd: Open Discussion on Tibet (Kerala, Mar 29, 2008)

oNe "China" Ram and his communist jhollawallas have deflated the
number of deaths. the NGO crusaders are absent. violence speaks.
this one china concept is humbug. india must reject it for our own
security. we need to start questioning china's rights not just over
tibet and taiwan but also that uighar province - (xinghi?)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Friends of Tibet <support@friendsoftibet.org>

Tibetan Government-in-Exile in India led by His Holiness the Dalai
Lama says more than 140 people were massacred and thousand others were
injured by the Chinese army since March 10, 2008, the 49th Anniversary
of the Tibetan Uprising Day. The Chinese government claims the death
toll is only 22 and accuses the Dalai Lama for 'masterminding' the
recent violence inside Chinese occupied Tibet. Is China using the
People's Liberation Army to crush the Tibetan people's struggle?

Join an open discussion organised by Friends of Tibet in association
with Design & People. The Discussion will be held on March 29, 2008 at
Lumirere, Opposite Andhra Cultural Centre, 13th Main Road, Panampilly
Nagar, Cochin at 11am. Panelists:

Dr Sebastian Paul (Member of Parliament)
Dr KS Radhakrishnan (Vice Chancellor, Sanskrit University)
Dr Venugopal (Editor, Bashaposhini)
Yesudasan (Political Cartoonist)
Adv Joshi Jacob (Samajvaadi Jana Parishad)
Adv N Nagareshan (Swadeshi Jagran Manch)
Geo Jose (NAPM)
Fr Prasanth (CMI)
Lhakpa Phanthok (Tibetan refugee living in Kochi) and many others.

To know more about this event, call: 9847044248, 9895103483 or email:
support@friendoftibet.org.

. . . . .
Friends of Tibet, PO Box: 16674, Bombay 400050, India.
. . . . .
Friends of Tibet is a people's movement to keep alive the issue of
Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending
China's occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people.
Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people
for independence. To know more, visit: www.friendsoftibet.org

. . . . .

Chindu's gospel on the recent Tibet incidents

Finally Moses(N.Ram) has returned from the mountain after his heartfelt discussion with his God(Communist mandarins of China) and give the ill informed readers of Chindu his gospel on Tibet.
The Gospel of N.Ram on Tibet can be read here in its entirety
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/26/stories/2008032655431000.htm
The 10 commandments are listed here,
1. The Tibetian uprising is a fiction cooked up by Hollywood, Tibetian supporters and ignorant media. This wrong information been publicized by Youtube and TV channels.

If you go by western media reports, the propaganda of the so-called ‘Tibetan government-in-exile’ in Dharamsala and the votaries of the ‘Free Tibet’ cause, or by the fulminations of Nancy Pelosi and the Hollywood glitterati, Tibet is in the throes of a mass democratic uprising against Han Chinese communist rule.

2. But Ram (from his perch in Anna Salai based on his phone calls with compadres in Beijing) confirmed that the militant monks, not Chinese soldiers were responsible for 22 deaths(source:Xinhua)
3. Tibetian rebels were responsible for the brutal assault on civilians, but the Chinese army was a passive observer.
4. The Chinese Government action should have been praised for smothering the protests.
5. Any large country cannot afford to be silent to savagery of public order. (But he would not say the same if it happens in India like say Gujarat or Maharashtra because they are not in China?)

As evidence accumulates, the realisation dawns that it is too much to expect any legitimate government of a major country to turn the other cheek to such savagery and breakdown of public order.

5. Chinese govt. has been holding discussions with the Dalai Lama who does not accept any logical solution offered by China.
6. Tibet is on a path of high growth rate. (But does not address for whom, indigenous Tibetians or Han settlers?)
7. The Dalai Lama is ignorant for asking maximum autonomy. (That would only be given to Honk Kong, Taiwan etc. not to a country China occupied by attacking and occupying.)

The Chinese government points out that this is applicable only to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and that the kind of autonomy that the Dalai Lama demanded in November 2005 cannot possibly be accommodated within the Chinese Constitution.

8. The Chinese government will not give an autonomous territory simply because, it cause ethnic re-engineering and other problems.

doing ethnic re-engineering, if not ‘cleansing’, and causing enormous disruption and damage to China’s society and political system.

9. While the insolent Indians have made statements which appear to toe the US line, the magnanimous Commies have decided to overlook that in term of their long term friendship or until the next time they invade us.
10. India should punish any Tibetian for voicing his/her opinion against China as its a bilateral agreement as confirmed by Pranab Mukherjee.
(Then should China not arrest Pallavi Aiyar and Harish Khare for making statements against India?)

Viva la Revolucion` CPI ishtyle

Once a while the "great" minds of the Left wing decide to hold a convention discuss some issues relevant today with an out of focus lens once owned by an irrelevant and long dead Marx(Karl, Groucho, who cares) and come to asinine conclusions. As the elections approach CPI and its allies decide to launch an agitation against the UPA Government. Of course with this being the most relevant issue facing the people, the Chindu decides to update the masses in its breaking news section.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200803250325.htm
Thanks Chindu, D.Raja and his dirty dozen clowns, sorry compadres will surely have the people's ear as they transform India.
As Mr.Raja future Nobel laureate says,

Attributing the price rise to liberalization, globalization and privatization and reckless economic reforms, the party said the latest rise in price of petroleum products had further aggravated the price crisis.

Not to be left far behind another CPI joker, sorry spokesman Shameem Faizee does some saber-rattling of his own, to earn some Chindu brownie points

We would like the UPA government to implement the common minimum programme if it wants to survive its full term

Of course the meal would not be complete without the ritual beating of the US pinata,

Though CMP commits the UPA to promoting multilateralism, the government is heading towards strategic alliance with United States and the nuclear deal is part of it, the CPI leader said.

Fwd: An op-ed by a Commie loving bureaucrat by pilid

This is a great post by pilid which I'm pasting below.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the op-ed in the Hindu today by M.K.Bhadrakumar and contrast it to the front page headline in the same paper 'India's position is clear and consistent: China'. Apparently, notwithstanding that consistent position, the Chindu takes aim at the GOI's position - even the mere expression of 'distress' by the GOI at the violence in Tibet is considered an outrage despite the fact that the Chinese government itself has been okay with it. More pro-China than the Chinese govt. itself! Can you beat that?!! What is worrying is that the fellow writing this is a former member of the IFS. Wonder how many other IFS men are out with such pro-China sympathies willing to do hit jobs to please their master.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for bringing it to our attention pilid.
As I read through the editorial published in the Chindu, there was cringe inducing line after line. Things like this,

Dharamsala is a beehive of intelligence operatives.

or this,

The first question that occurred to me when I wandered through the narrow lanes and by-lanes of Dharamsala was whether the Indian intelligence sleuths knew beforehand about the imminent outbreak of violence in Lhasa.

Or this statement which questions the Indian Governments capacity to rule and the sovereignty of the Indian state.

After all, in something like 150 districts in India, the writ of the Indian state no longer runs. ...
It boggles the mind on what ground India can be so very self-righteous in rendering unsolicited advice to another country.

The writer then goes on to link 2 unrelated incidents without a shred of evidence. He links the statement of the OIC against Kashmir and India's management of its people with the relationship between India and the US.

Very obviously, the UPA government’s West Asia policy has begun to affect India’s standing in the Islamic world. A perception is growing that India is edging away from an independent foreign policy and cosying up to U.S. regional policies; that India is harmonising its stance with the U.S. strategy in West Asia on issues such as the Iran nuclear file and the Palestinian problem.

The conclusion of the editorial in the Chindu is the stupidest statement I have read in the last year and believe me I've read some trash.

Suffice it to say, there have been helpful nuances in China’s position on Kashmir in recent years. In a manner of speaking, it is possible to estimate that Chinese spokesmen have articulated on the Kashmir issue in a “Shimla spirit.”

Please think of our country's plight if people like these were allowed to represent our country in any international forum.

Why we must continue running this blog...

From: Ranjith
Date: March 18, 2008 12:03:18 PM
To: letters@thehindu.co.in
Subject: Internal affair ?


Dear Editor,

CPI(M) refuses to comment on Tibet issue as it is an "internal matter of China" and they condemn U. S. report on Nandigram as it is an internal affair of India. But in the past CPI(M) Polit Bureau (PB) has issued comments on internal matters of other countries, like Nepal. A PB press release dated 7 April 2006 denounces the "crackdown" by the King's regime in Nepal against the "movement to restore democracy". That statement also asks the Government of India to interfere in the Nepal affair. Isn't that a clear double standard?

Thanks Ranjit for sharing this letter.

Now, when a supposedly objective paper behaves in a shamelessly partisan manner and filters out any voice of dissent, where is the outlet for the other view- views of people like Ranjit.

Now, who is doing all this ? - the very N Ram, who thundered about freedom of expression when Jayalalithaa's men barged into his premises.

This is a direct challenge to the freedom of speech and expression,"It's outrageous and highly undemocratic. ... It has become a major national question. Political India and constitutional India will have to make up its mind on the issues at stake," he said."It's a criminal misadventure, a foolish misadventure. It is going to backfire," he added.

Well, this , coming as it does from a person who blacks out anti-China views, blacks out anti-CPM views in nandigram and blocks any view that runs contrary to his ideology. This very paper slammed the Modi government for "allegedly" restricting access to journalists covering the Gujarat riots. In Nandigram, the CPI(M) beat the BJP in this game. In China, there isn't a scent of free speech. The internet is heavily censored, foreign journalists are evicted from Tibet and nearby provinces and the only source of information is Xinhua. The commies have been consistent in maintaining double standards and their propaganda vehicles are more than happy to wag their tails faithfully.


I am not for a moment suggesting that Ram must not be left leaning. He has every right to embrace an ideology and propagate it. My only problem is with his claims of being objective and unbiased. Let him declare himself to be Marxist mouthpiece and continue his yeomen service to the cause of communism. By not doing so, he is misleading the pubic and committing a fraud on unsuspecting minds.

Thankfully, the blogs aren't censored in India and they strip dubious publications/politicians naked. Against this backdrop, it is no wonder then that the Chindu(and the commies) want India to ape China!

Tibetan blackout continues

The Chennai bureau of Xinhua is doing a heckuva (a la Bush) job blacking out anti China views. Over the weekend, there have been two high profile statements condemning China and there is not a line mentioned about these in Chindu.

First the president of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering spoke out against Chinese actions against Tibetans and went as far as to suggest a boycott of the Olympics.

The president of the European Parliament said European countries should not rule out threatening China with an Olympic boycott if violence continues in Tibet.

"Beijing must decide itself; it should immediately negotiate with the Dalai Lama," Hans-Gert Poettering said in Saturday editions of Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-tibet-protests_5smar23,1,6648312.story
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-7393446,00.html

Even the Guardian - Chindu's British buddy- carried the news.

Next, the German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticised China for its handling of the crisis in Tibet.

Speaking to the German daily Bildzeitung Steinmeier said the world wanted to know exactly what was happening in Tibet. He called on the Chinese government to allow expelled foreign journalists back into the restive regions. China's crackdown on anti-government protests in Tibet and neighbouring provinces has drawn sharp international criticism and clouded preparations for the Beijing Olympics in August. Exiled Tibetans say over 100 people have died in the violence

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,2145,12215_cid_3207999,00.html

The Times of India reports the reaction of the world to the vents in China here.
But Chindu does not even report the Tibetan estimate of those killed in the violence. Instead of 118, it quotes the updated casualty count at 18!

Updating its earlier toll of 13 in the unrest in Lhasa, which started on March 10 coinciding with the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Communist rule in Tibet, Chinese authorities said the violence claimed the lives of 18 civilians and a police officer.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/23/stories/2008032354700800.htm

Thanks for visiting India. Hope you had a pleasant stay.

Most people visit India for a variety of common reasons like business, family, travel, religious conversion etc. What appears now to be a trend is people to visit India, take advantage of the nation's hospitality and bomb its citizens and distribute false currency. What was once the sole responsibility of our neighbor to the West appears to have now been distributed to a neighbour to our East, which was part of our western neighbor.
Please read Chindu's article here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/23/stories/2008032360620100.htm

I do not have an issue with the article itself, nor am I painting all the people from these countries as terrorists.
The bigger issue is Chindu will not write a proper editorial about National Security faced currently, simply because the borders with Bangladesh are not being properly policed. The important question of how those people managed to cross the country to spread havoc in places like Mumbai (for those who know, the transportation of illegal immigrants was spearheaded by one Late Mr. Sunil Dutt) and Bangalore is not being asked by Chindu.
They would rather carry sermonizing articles by Asghar Ali Engineer or Harish Khare and the like, talking about how a particular community is unfairly painted by a broad stroke by the communalists or about the need to have dialogue with our neighbors. Terrorism is a real problem and given India's porous borders, the media's(especially Chindu's) lackadaisical approach towards this problem is shocking.

Finally someone speaks out against the atrocities.

The atrocities against the civilians in Lhasa has been covered by the media from the outside with the PRC doing its best to make light of a serious situation. Most world leaders have chosen to keep quiet and monitor, given the ominous threats from the Chinese who are sensing the impacts to the Olympics. But Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US Congress decided to take action into her own hands and met with the Dalai Lama.
The article is reported here in the Chindu.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/22/stories/2008032259661200.htm
Ms.Pelosi demanded an outside investigation. Calling the Chinese action in Tibet a

challenge to the world’s conscience

Of course the Chindu not hampered by any statement by a US politician decided to publish not one but two counter statements by different Chinese officials here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/22/stories/2008032258120100.htm
and here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/22/stories/2008032259651200.htm
The funny part is the use of quotation marks in the second article. While the intent of Chindu is to make light of the Tibetian accusations, it actually blows up on their face. Read this line for instance,

China also showed a documentary about the violence in Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, which “clearly” showed that the incidents were “masterminded and organised by the Dalai [Lama] clique.”

Please employ some proof readers with some skill Chindu, please!

Kissing commie *ss - French style

Of what consequence is the result of French local body election to the Indian public? Negligible?India's national newspaper since 1878 thinks otherwise. While there is a deafening silence on the repression in Tibet, the paper deems it fit to write an editorial on the French local elections. The editorial , after lashing out at Sarkozy, goes into jubilation mode and informs us that the French Left have performed brilliantly and contains advise on what they should do to emerge stronger . It concludes with a sweeping statement.

All considered, the French Left have become much stronger and have all to play for.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/19/stories/2008031952961000.htm

...., although the French Left generally are looking stronger and more capable at the local level than they have done for a long time.....

Looks like commie propaganda vehicles never get tired of kissing *sses.

Naked lies

The Natarajan temple in Chidambaram is the latest victim of M Karunanidhi's (ir)rationalism. Continuing his tradition of interference in temple affairs , M Karunanidhi, earlier this month sent his police force into the temple to "implement" a government order that allows tamil hymns (Thevaram) to be sung. This order was in response to a complaint filed by some Arumughasamy, a sick geriatric whose senselessness is second only to the spineless Chief Minister's. The audacity of the administration has left many shocked.

This temple in NOT under the administration of the HRCE( a govt dept), but is being managed by the Dikshitars. The state has no jurisdiction to pass orders on a temple that is clearly not under its control. (The state made several failed attempts to exert influence on this temple) .Not only this, this order interferes in the religious affairs of the temple. Has this government ever passed any order interfering in the religious affairs of Churches and mosques? Cho Ramasamy remarked " Will this govt pass a GO saying that the Koran must be recited only in Tamil ? Why is it that only temples must "promote" Tamil and not mosques and Churches?"

The order itself is a complete fraud. When this very Thevaram is being sung for years by properly trained people inside the temple on a daily basis, what is the need to "thrust" Tamil? There is a vicious propaganda that the temple is against singing the Thevaram and a cheap attempt to portray the temple as "anti-tamil". This is regional chauvinism at its worst.

Had a BJP govt done this to a minority place of worship, Chindu would have brought the roof down with loud grunts about "religious freedom blah blah". But here, it shamelessly reproduces a himalayan lie

What could not be accomplished over thousands of years (singing Tamil verses) inthe historically and spiritually renowned Nataraja temple had now become a reality and this could be possible because of the Tamil-loving Chief Minister.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/19/stories/2008031959770800.htm

And Arumugasamy gets a special pension for his efforts. Pseudo secularism's ugly dance is unfolding right infront of Nataraja's eyes!

Fwd: Excellent take on Chindu by Tejas

the numbers are growing...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anonymous

Dear All,
An excellent take on Chindu by Thejas in Churumuri which i am pasting it below.

THEJAS H.K. writes from Madras: There was a time not too long ago when I used to walk a couple of miles to get a copy of The Hindu in Mysore. Here, in the City of its birth, it is delivered to my room at 6 am, but over the last few years, a strange feeling of unease, even disgust, makes me run away from a newspaper I used to pursue.

Today, when the paper lands at my doorstep, I wonder if it is the same publication that professors used to goad us to read for its English; if it is the same publication that parliamentarians used to cut and quote; if it is the same publication that our parents used to say was the last word in correctness and credibility.

The unease, the disgust, has been building up for a while now.

Hate in the City of Joy

The most recent Taslima Nasreen incident has been well covered. From her exodus from Bangladesh to her entry into India to the harassment from the conservative Muslims and the Marxists and finally, exit to London.
The article detailing comments from Taslima is published in an article by Marcus Dam in The Chindu here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/20/stories/2008032060180100.htm
The Chindu while printing her statement does a bit of 'smart' editing to her statement.
Her original statement reads,

“Even though they constantly pressured me mentally to leave the country, I refused to budge. I was determined I would not leave this country. When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body. In this they succeeded by ruining my health, which leaves me with no other alternative but to leave this country.
“I am forced to leave India. I used to call this the torture chamber. I gradually came to realise that it was the chamber of death instead.”

The smart editing is in 2 places,

they [the government] constantly pressured me

and

this [the undisclosed ‘safe location’ in New Delhi where she was put on November 23, 2007] the torture chamber.

The casual reader would assume that the Central Government was responsible for all this. But in fact the largest pressure came from the conservative Muslims in WB and feeling the pinch from their vote-bank, the CPM ministry. Where is the democracy where people have the right to practice their religion or have rights of free speech? Even if she's not a citizen, aren't guests equal to God in India (Athiti Devo Bhava)?

Once again Chindu decides to add its own spin to cover up the misgivings of the mandarins of Calcutta.
The silver lining lies in her quote,

She would address it and other seminars to speak of things “I have not been able to all these months in confinement.”

Hopefully that should clarify and fill in the missing pieces.

The Tibetan sacrifice

Why does N."Jaichand".Ram not want to recognize Tibet? How do you think his remuneration is calculated: based on India's expenditure in securing the Tibet border or based on the economic benefit to China by occupying Tibet? I would say neither. N."Jaichand".Ram would sell his daughter for a few silver coins.

'If India wants, it can sacrifice Tibet issue'

... many Indians think that free Tibet is India's real defence. This is not a hypocrite thinking.

Do you believe so?

It is not a question if I believe or not. Since time immemorial till 1951, did India spend a penny to secure its border? Was a single military man was ever deployed on the Tibet border? And, now, how much are you spending hourly to defend the Indo-Tibet border? How much problems are you facing on this border? What is the Sino-India border issue? This needs to be analysed.

As long as Tibet was a free and sovereign country, there was no border issue. In 1914, the Simla agreement was signed between Tibetan government and British government of India. The border issue was completely resolved. It was resolved in the manner that the Indian government of that time wanted. Tibet had agreed to it.

We had a trade agreement to be renewed after every 10 years as it was done by Tibet and India in 1924, 1934 and 1944. There was no trade issue. Then came 1954 when the trade agreement was duly renewed in Beijing instead of Lhasa. Then five very beautiful sentences called Pansheel were prefaced to it.

Panchsheel is not an agreement. Panchsheel is a renewed agreement of trade with Tibet and a new preface was put on this. It was decided that it will be renewed after every eight years and not ten years. The eight years were to be completed in 1962. The 1962 war was planned long back in 1950s. They had calculated that in 1962, they will be able to plan an aggression. All this was pre-planned and people know about it.

Media blockage in Tibet

Chindu has to abide by the same censorship rules as it is governed by the Chinese rulers in Beijing.

From this report: "Several of us saw the monks being beaten to the ground".

Fwd: Chindu's nationalist fight

the contrast between the two reports is glaring. chindu condemns the indian government and asks to explain its action whereas the tribune commends india for taking the right step. both the papers are acting in their best national interest: chindu for china's and tribune for india's.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Praada

Chindu's notoriety dates back to the time of Kargil war
(see the last para)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/aug1999/ind-a13.shtml

What others have to say
http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99aug12/edit.htm#1

Posted by Praada to The Chindu at March 19, 2008 7:09 AM

Lhasa is ethnic violence by Tibetans on Chinese

You read it right. The violence in Lhasa is not a freedom struggle but ethnic violence. The Tibetans are trying to thnically cleanse the Chinese Hans and the minorities.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : ‘It seems… they want to kill anyone not Tibetan’

One hundred people are trying to stone one man.

“The residents are very angry. They are throwing stones at anyone who is Han [Chinese] or from other minorities like the Hui, who are Muslims. It seems like it’s ethnic — like they want to kill anyone not Tibetan.

Here we have seen people trying to stone anyone they can — Han and other minorities, not foreigners. The Tibetans had stones and knives. I saw Chinese people running away — there was nothing they could do.

All the other newspapers see the world differently.

Dalai Lama hardens stand on Tibet-India-The Times of India

On Saturday, as news of unrest in Lhasa continued to trickle in Dharamsala, the Tibetan government-in-exile demanded the UN to intervene to end what it called "urgent human rights violations" by China in Tibet. "The Tibetan parliament urges the UN to send representatives immediately and intervene and investigate the current urgent human rights violations in Tibet," the administration said in a statement.

And here's a biscuit. Good boy.

The nature of the relationship between India and China is quite an interesting one. On one hand you have a country which has attacked you without cause, still claims a huge chunk of your land as its own and supplies nuclear weapons to your biggest threat. On the other hand an opportunity comes where there is internal strife within China. Rather than jumping at the opportunity and using moral superiority to trump the Chinese at an international stage, the Indian Government decides to pussyfoot around the issue and claims its an internal issue. Beyond political opportunism, there is the human side over 100 lives have been lost, yet the Chindu does not display any humanity towards the innocent.
The article is published in Chindu right here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/19/stories/2008031958160100.htm
As the straight shooting Ms. Pallavi Aiyar notes in her headlines,

Appreciates stance of the Indian government

The Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, beacon of truthfulness, throws a bone at his counterparts across the southern border by appreciating their tacit silence at the brutality in Lhasa. He goes on to state,

appreciated the “position and stance of the Indian government in handling the activities of the Dalai Lama clique,

The article on Chindu which reads as though it was edited by a Xinhua editor, oh wait a second, of course.
The highlight though is the magnanimity of the Communist Government to allow the press into Lhasa, of course it would be considered, discussed and approved sometime in the near future (2009?).

he would consider organising a trip for foreign journalists to Lhasa so that they could survey the situation firsthand.

It meanders with the usual blackballing of any Dalai Lama claim, portraying him as the second coming of
Che Guevara. It was interesting to read Chindu giving the Dalai Lama a few lines and then as a good "unbiased" judge delivers the verdict to the Commies. Bravo Ms. Aiyar your vigilant articles are deserving of a Pulitzer.
The wait for an editorial continues...

True form of Government revealed! Again!

For many years Chindu has been tooting the horns of the PRC's system and governance. The real form of the so called "socialism" has been revealed with the election of Xi Jinping to Vice-President.
The Chindu reports this "election"
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/16/stories/2008031659521600.htm

The article written by the thoughtful Ms.Pallavi Aiyar, while depicting his achievements of growth in the Golden Triangle areas, seems to neglect the fact he was leading the development of the Yangtze region and not the Shanghai region as stated in the article.

the economies of Shanghai, Zhejiang and Fujian have flourished

The larger issue here is the form of Government on display. If you look at Mr.Jinping's resume, it stands out that his family has been in the upper echelons of the Party for many years. Also you can clearly notice a trend of rapid promotions with a careful track of "corruption-busting". It bears mention that he will oversee the Olympics this year which will set him up for the Presidency in 2012.
The word to describe such a Government is Oligarchy - rule by a few. Of course, the people who are plugged into The Matrix will not speak about that.

China's handling of "violent" protests

Fwd: The Chindu on the March 2008 Tibet Uprising

chindu's stance on tibet is distinctly pro-chinese and anti-indian.
"friends of tibet" has exposed this in a series of articles on their
website.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vivek

Hi, thought you might find these latest articles in The Chindu interesting.

On March 13th, when BBC, New York Times and Times of India were
reporting this.


BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | China admits Tibet monk protests

Tibetan exiles in India began a march to the border with China on Monday - one of several events protesting against the Beijing Olympics and campaigning for an independent Tibet.

Monk Protests in Tibet Draw Chinese Security - New York Times

Chinese security forces were reportedly surrounding three monasteries outside Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, on Thursday after hundreds of monks took to the streets this week in what are believed to be the largest Tibetan protests against Chinese rule in two decades.

Tibet was taken militarily by China in 1951 and has remained contentious, particularly because of the bitter relations between the Communist Party and the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

Monks arrested as police quash protests in Tibet: Report-China-World-The Times of India

Up to 60 Buddhist monks were arrested in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa as authorities quashed protests marking an uprising that led to the exile of the Dalai Lama, Radio Free Asia said on Tuesday.

Chinese troops killed tens of thousands of Tibetans, according to a report on the incident on the Tibetan government-in-exile's website.

China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 and officially "liberated" it a year later.

In a speech to coincide with the anniversary of the 1959 uprising, the Dalai Lama on Monday attacked China's human rights record and accused Chinese authorities of "unimaginable and gross violations" in his homeland.

"For nearly six decades Tibetans have had to live in a state of constant fear under Chinese repression," the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said from his base in Dharamsala, India.

Also on Monday, Indian police banned about 100 Tibetan exiles in India from going ahead with a historic trek to their homeland as part of pro-independence protests ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

The Chindu was reporting the following.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/14/stories/2008031456271800.htm

"The CPPCC is a patriotic united front organisation of the Chinese
people, serving as a key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and
political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of
China (CPC), and a major manifestation of socialist democracy."

On March 14th, when Chindu finally reported the news in Lhasa, it
picked this following piece - sourced directly from its favorite
Xinhua news agency.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/15/stories/2008031560801200.htm

Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region of China, witnessed violence on Friday with protesters setting many shops on fire.

“We are resolutely opposed to any plots attempting to separate Tibet from China,” Mr. Qin said.

Relevant Chinese departments will handle the issue. — Xinhua

Fwd: Chindu reporting on Dalit Christians

No investigative journalism by Chindu's prominent journalists like in the case below.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : A Dalit temple's encounter with official India

I arrive at the NCSC armed with the documents I have collected from Bibipur, a small village in Haryana's Karnal district where the Dalit struggle to build a temple to Sant Ravidas has come up against severe forward caste and official resistance.

No screaming headlines about caste discrimination like the ones below.
The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Salem News : Dalit student's death: caste discrimination alleged
The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Atrocities against Dalit women continue in the State

No misleading article on the front page to project a family crime as a dalit issue as in the case below.
The Hindu : Front Page : Dalit youth's murder: three held

Five days later, his wife Shirisha approached the Uppal police suspecting the involvement of her mother Shakuntala, the corporator and Maruthi Ramulu with whom Ashok was reportedly seen last.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/10/stories/2008031054320600.htm

Two die in police firing

A.V.Ragunathan

VILLUPURAM: Two persons died in police firing at Eraiyur near Elavanasurkottai in Ulundurpet block on Sunday. Trouble erupted following a friction between two sections of converted Christians over access to church services.

The police resorted to firing to disperse a mob that had ransacked houses of Dalit Christians....... In the police firing, two persons, M.Periyanayagam (40) and Mahimai (30), Vanniyar Christians, died of bullet injuries.

Dalit Christians of about 150 families complained that they were discriminated against in offering worship at the Annai Sahaya Mary church at Eraiyur. Since Vanniyar Christians constituted a majority, numbering about 2,000 families, they got preference in all church functions and Dalit Christians were relegated to the background....

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

Readers should note the heading, surprisingly mild by Chindu standards, given that the issue involves Dalits. Normally, the story would be flashed in the first page with a full banner heading such as "Atrocities on Dalits". But, here it is relegated to the interior (page 10, in the print edition). Normally, any Dalit issue would invite the obligatory centre page Op Ed by "Rural Affairs" Sainath and a sermonising Editorial (by none other than the Chief himself) to wash it down with.

The problem here is the clashing parties are Chindu's pet minorities, although Chindu calls them "converted Christians" so as to (indirectly) lay the blame on their "purvashrama". It would be interesting to know about non-converted Christians in India (Mataji Sonia, may be the rare one).

In contrast to Chindu, the New Indian Express (Monday, March 10, 2008) carried the same story prominently on the first page.

For a brilliant and detailed write-up on the topic, see:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hinducivilization/message/26735

Posted by Anonymous to The Chindu at March 15, 2008 10:40 AM

Somnath's blocking tactics

The venerable Mr. Somnath Chatterjee has taken it upon himself to defend the CPI'M's dastardly actions at Nandigram and other places.
Please read the content in its entirety here: Reference to Nandigram violence in U.S. report evokes condemnation

Please read the US State Department report here which lists other CPM activities in Kerala and other parts of the country.
India Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007

He goes to the level of saying,

“should be ignored with the contempt it deserves.”

He also goes on to say that, our sovereignty should be impinged by external intrusions,

It said the report was based on “totally misplaced facts.”

This coming from the same Mr. Chatterjee who does not raise his voice to Chinese threats on Arunachal Pradesh or Pakistan's comments on Kashmir and Gujarat.
Chindu's reporting does not comment on the rationale behind the statements, nor does it contain balanced details of the happenings in Parliament for that session.
The article does not detail that the report also documented information about killings in Kerala and other parts of the country by CPM associates.
It is likely that we will see an editorial coming up soon, probably the mandarins at Anna Salai are wording it up as we read, probably written by Karat or Yechury.

684 vs 165

A "secular" cause in Jaipur gets 684 words while a "communal" one in Chindu's own backyard is written in 165 words. Compare and contrast the two incidents and Chindu's reporting.

The Hindu : National : Film-maker hounded out of Jaipur

A documentary film-maker, who was trying to expose the politics of fake encounters in Gujarat through his movie, was hounded out of the city on Thursday on the pretext of threat to peace and public order, much to the disappointment to the civil rights groups that wanted to apprise the people of the dangers of the State violence perpetrated against citizens.

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Art exhibition on Aurangazeb cancelled

An art exhibition on the life of Mughal emperor Aurangazeb in the city was closed down on Thursday following protests by a section of visitors who objected to the “communal nature” of some of the exhibits.

The blame game

The Chindu provides opportunities for "leaders" of "secular parties" and other organizations to voice their opinions from time to time. Sometimes there's rational writing by people like Shashi Tharoor, but then again it provides people like Amar Singh an opportunity to rant.
Check out this editorial under Leader Page Articles
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/13/stories/2008031355651000.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not against leaders voicing their opinions, just that they do it themselves, not allow some-one in Anna Salai to fill in the paragraphs. Take for example this line here:

"and facilitated the increase of U.S. influence and hegemony in South Asia."

This is Chindu-speak for UPA government did not get approvals from the Chinese mandarins before discussions with the US.

Then the article goes into a tailspin ranting against Ms. Mayawati's government with lines like,

She is bent on creating a chaotic model of governance wherein governance and public policies are getting highly personalised.

The next person to face the axe of Mr.Singh is the unfortunate Mr.Pawar, the minister of Agriculture. His success in making Indian Cricket a flourishing enterprise (not that me or you could do a worse job given the demand) is held against him.

The self proclaimed leader of the farmers, Mr. Singh puts the blame squarely in the UPA government for not briding the divide. The significant waiver of the loans by the UPA government is not even mentioned.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check his earlier comments after the budget:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/02/stories/2008030260031000.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then Mr. Singh decides to finish off with a flourish taking on the foreign policy of the UPA government. He claims,

In the bargain, we also seem to have lost interest in managing good relations with our neighbours and traditional friends.

Now who are these neighbours and when did we have good relations with them?
Of course he must mean the confederation as defined by his party, Samajwadi Party which:

favours a confederation of India-Pakistan-Bangladesh.

Not to mention the democratic standings of the Samajwadi Party (as stated in its official website)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How is the party run?
Yadav's standing ensures that he is in overall command. There is no challenger in sight. His wish is the Samajwadi Party's command.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts. Good night and good luck.

Khare declares himself as the "natural" sycophant

The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Sonia Gandhi’s decade as Congress mascot

The very Nehruvian secular state she had undertaken to rescue from the communalists was back in their grip. The bogus deshbhakts were back with a bang, and the Congressmen were staring at a long, bleak political winter.

The qualifying adjectives are mind-numbing. A secular state is Nehruvian and a Nehruvian state is secular. Anyone opposing the Nehruvian state is a communalist. Only the Congressmen are patriotic nationalists (patriots is reserved for americans). The rest of us mortals are anti-nationalists.

The Congress is constantly distracted from its obligations as the natural party of governance.

Sycophancy cannot get any better than this. Why all the elections and all this talk of democracy. Only the Congress Nehru dynasty has the right to rule this country. And this country belongs to Congressmen. All others are anti-nationalists.

After 10 years at the helm, Ms Gandhi remains a prisoner of her own image as a benevolent patriarch, always willing to accommodate and reward the bogus sycophant and family loyalists.

Khare is clearly thinking he is the "natural sycophant" and the rest all are bogus.

Ms Gandhi needs to summon from within the sagacity and foresight to put slowly in place an exit strategy.

As the "natural sycophant", he wants Ms Gandhi to be thrown out. So "natural", isn't it.

Fwd: CPM office attack in Delhi

yet another instance of chindu's "balanced" reporting.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Here's the latest example Chindu's perverted journalism: suppressing
facts to help CPM

See the front-page news about the CPM office attack in Delhi:

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/10/stories/2008031056800100.htm

and now, compare this with news appeared in other newspapers/tv channels.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/282357.html

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/mar/09delhi.htm

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/cpm-moves-notices-to-suspend-question-hour-in-parliament/60821-3.html

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080043523&ch=3/9/2008%2010:33:00%20PM

After reading the Chindu report alone, a Chindu reader would wonder:

(i) In the first place, Why did BJP-RSS workers organize a protest
march towards CPM office?
(ii) What is the BJP's take on this issue ?
(iii)Was it a one-sided attack ? Did any BJP-RSS workers also get injured ?

Poor Chindu reader will never get answers to these questions. Because
the answers will make the CPM bosses unhappy.

Chindu supresses the following facts which is clearly stated in *ALL*
other news papers/channels

(1) This was a direct fallout of Kannur killings, where CPM workers
killed 5 BJP-RSS workers in the last 3 or 4 days, in Kannur Kerala,
with the help of state machinery.

(2)It was not a one-sided attack. There was stone pelting, as a
provocation, from the CPM office where many RSS/BJP workers also
injured.

Obviously, as expected, Chindu never publishes the opinion of RSS/BJP
leaders, which finds place in every other news papers.

Posted by R to The Chindu at March 10, 2008 12:18 AM