How cHindu tampers with PTI news reports

Please check this post for the original details.

Here's what the PTI report had to say:

Harvard scholar Lobsang Sangay was today elected Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and would take over the political duties relinquished by spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

43-year-old Sangay polled 55 per cent votes out of 49189, defeating his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8,646 votes, Election Commissioner Jampal Chosang announced here.

Here's what cHindu modified the statement while giving credit to PTI:

Harvard scholar Lobsang Sangay was on Wednesday elected “prime minister” of the so-called “Tibetan government-in-exile” and would take over the political duties relinquished by the religious leader Dalai Lama. A research fellow at the Harvard Law School, Mr. Sangay, aged 43, polled 55 per cent votes out of 49,189, defeating his nearest rival Tethong Tenzin Namgyal by 8,646 votes, “election commissioner” Jampal Chosang said here. Tethong Tenzin Namgyal, a Stanford scholar, polled 18,405 votes, while Tashi Wangdi, the Dalai Lama's representative in Brussels, New York and New Delhi, finished third. The election was held on March 20.

These are just excerpts and part of a long standing tradition of yellow journalism that our beloved cHindu has stooped to. One shudders at the thought of Holocaust denier SV becoming the new editor in chief. His rampant ideological support to the jihadists of Palestine would ensure that we read about those "martyrs" more frequently than Al Jazeera does.

Company law board response for cHindu succession battle

To all interested in the details of the succession battle held last year for cHindu. This is the Company Law Board response for the petition of N.Murali and N.Ravi over LiC and minions.
It reinstates N.Murali to Managing Director till August 2011 when he will step down. It will be interesting to see if LiC follows suit.

I thereby set aside the decision taken by the board of directors on 20.03.2010 to the extent it reallocates the functions of the Senior Managing Director and direct that the position prior to 20.03.2010 shall be restored as far as allocation of departments concerning the 2nd petitioner is concerned.

cHinduToon on cHinduleaks

cHindu made a huge hullaballoo on the interview with Assange. What were the interviewer and interviewee really thinking?
Here's what our "brain analyzer" had to say:

cHindu demeans Anna Hazare.. kind of

Rather than detail a serious editorial, cHindu outsources the analysis to R.K.Raghavan ex CBI head-honcho to detail the view of the newspaper. It is a decent viewpoint from an outsider but still does not detail what the newspaper who is stuck in the paid news scandal to express its opinions on the issue.

Despite glib words of praise for the principle that motivates Anna, there is unmistakable chagrin among those in the corridors of power — whom he is challenging. They claim that they alone are vested with the authority to decide what kind of legislation should be drafted to tackle corruption in high places, and not the likes of Anna Hazare. They look upon him as an usurper who has to be put in his place somehow.

At least this issue sweeps the chinduleaks under the rug for the time being.

Pearls from Kasim Sait

This regular reader of cHindu has never disappointed in entertaining us with his pearls of wisdom. He is a veritable modern day Socrates in his analysis and unfailing ability to always side with the judgment made by cHindu. Here's his latest on Wikileaks -

The BJP's propensity to misuse Hindu nationalism and its not-so-hidden support to the Indo-U.S. strategic relationship, have been reinforced by the India Cables. However, the most amusing part is the glee of the Congress leaders in the BJP's discomfiture. Should they not worry about the corroborative evidence in the cash-for-votes scam provided by the earlier cables? Amid all the somersaults indulged in by the Congress and the BJP, should not we laud the sincerity and honesty of Prakash Karat who not only stuck to the declared ideological stand of his party during his interview referred to in the cable but has also been forthright on the happenings during the UPA-1 regime, which led to the Left's withdrawal of support?

Laud the sincerity of Karat? Bashing BJP on its agenda? The writer can surely do better than trumpet the old mantras of LiC and minions.

cHinduLeaks - Sonia supports Islamic terror for Kashmiri votes

The cHinduLeaks via India cables, expose the key differences between Sonia G and then President Abdul Kalam.
In was a clear evidence of one person's conviction for justice and integrity and the other person's corrupt nature. The Congress with Sonia and Ghulam Nabi Azad argued with Kalam on the behalf of Afzal asking him to provide clemency. This for a known terrorist who was involved in the planning and execution of the attack on the Parliament.

It quotes unnamed party sources as telling the Embassy that if “the UPA grants a pardon for Afzal or stalls his execution, the Congress Party will be portrayed by BJP leaders as weak on national security. If, however, the President lets him hang, some fear Congress may lose support from their traditional Muslim vote block on a national scale.”

Another traitor who was exposed is Yasin Malik who has been claimed as a peace broker by cHindu and its pet Arundhati Roy.

Kashmiri Muslims feel sympathy for Afzal” and that his only crime was “buying a car.” (Afzal Guru was not a member of the team that attacked Parliament but had bought the Ambassador car which breached Parliament's first line of security.) “How does this warrant a death sentence?”

So in what is clearly a planned lack of suo motu by the Government the usual rigmarole of keeping terrorists within the justice system without meting out the punishment given by the courts was enforced.

The cable suggests that the “easiest option for the Congress may be to delay Afzal's execution for years to consider his appeal for clemency.” This is exactly what has happened. In February 2011, Home Minister P. Chidambaram clarified in Parliament that Afzal Guru's mercy petition, filed on October 3, 2006, had not yet been forwarded to President Pratibha Patil.

It is to be seen if cHindu and LiC will pursue justice with the same zeal they have pursued cases like Godhra or the Orissa killings.

The curious case of cHinduLeaks

One of the casual reader's pet peeves with the cHindu has been that it has been conservative beyond the point of boring. Rather than breaking news as early or even reasonably of value, it often waits until that news is dead or people have moved past it to pronounce its verdict. Case in point being the Wikileaks story. It was like the Godfather movie plot in slow motion. With Assange out of the spotlight (albeit temporarily), this has been passed over for other more important things like the situation in the Middle East, Japan earthquakes, World Cup etc. Now cHindu in typical cHind-like fashion decides to resuscitate the Frankenstein called Wikileaks which shall be thus named as cHinduLeaks.
So we will be looking at the analysis provided by cHindu and provide our usual colour commentary.

Of music, vidwans and critics

Carnatic music is one of India's grand traditions, albeit not a big following as cricket or movies, but a niche following. So its interesting when one of this blog's "patrons" LiC and T.M. Krishna noted Carnatic musician decide to joust on the value provided by cHindu's music critics during the music season.
During a felicitation ceremony of S.V. Krishnamurthy LiC made this passing statement that Indian musicians did not respond well to criticism and wanted to listen to words of praise.

He said many musicians and sabhas were “thin-skinned” and “not used to robust criticism that musicians in western countries get all the time whether they like it or not.They want only favourable reviews, but that is decidedly not The Hindu's expectation,” he said, citing the guidelines evolved by the newspaper in consultation with critics for reviewing concerts and dance performances. He said the critic was an individual expert rasika and writer on music and The Hindu chose “its critics and respected their musical knowledge, integrity, independence, judgement and writing style.”

In response T.M. Krishna responded,

No amount of guidelines will help unless the right people are found. I completely agree that robust criticism is very necessary but it can be robust only when people are chosen very carefully and at the same time I do agree that musicians need to understand the role of critics. But one is not going to happen without the other.

To which LiC responded,

We and tens of thousands of our readers, knowledgeable as well as lay (like me), think highly of our critics, most of whom are well schooled in Carnatic music or are experts. The majority of them, in fact, are not staff journalists.

While in principle I would side with LiC that musicians typically are thin-skinned (knowing quite a few in my family and friends) the larger issue is that LiC should not be the one make that statement. After all he did not like it when others rightly criticized his paper for being a Chinese and communist mouth-piece. He still has the gall to employ people who are assumed associated with the "paid-news" scandal. Its a case of the pot calling the kettle black. In this context if you refer back to cHindu's music reviews they are amatuerish as Krishna rightly claims vacillating between saccharine sweet praise to rabid criticism without details or understanding of carnatic music. I would say this round goes to Krishna on points.

Celebrating Internet freedoms - with a dollop of hypocrisy

The writers of cHindu have many avatars to act out from moral pontification to snide criticism to rambling rhetoric. Everything other than actual journalism (barring a few like Sainath).
A recent editorial where LiC from his high horse in Anna Salai decided to preach to his minions about how the US was unfairly targeting Wiki Leaks and Twitter. The article for the most part is valid in many of its criticisms over the control that governments impose over the information that's being disseminated.

To praise the Internet for aiding truth-telling and, in the same breath, dismiss the discussion on free speech for websites such as WikiLeaks as a “false debate” is hypocritical. It can be credibly argued that the simmering discontent in Tunisia exploded in public anger when WikiLeaks published the cables on the U.S. ambassador's assessment of corruption by President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. The Tunisian uprising, then, was triggered by the WikiLeaks revelations, and fanned by the Internet. In a more connected world the key question before the U.S. is to define confidentiality.

However the larger issue is that this is an instance of the Devil quoting scriptures.
cHindu in the recent decade has been an MSM outlet which has thrived on delayed or often mis-representing facts. It has propounded principles based on its convenience. All the while maintaining one standard for its political master cHina and another for everyone else.

cHindu censors China's Jasmine revolution

The "paragon" of free-speech cHindu censors anything its master from across the border orders it to.
The most recent example being the Jasmine revolution which has been widely covered everywhere except cHina and in cHindu. (Thanks Xinhua R for the reminder)
The peaceful protests have been put down with an iron fist. Some protestors will probably never see freedom in their lifespan. Many others will experience long terms in gulags simply due to their belief that freedom is a right. Shame on cHindu for censoring this.

Authorities detained activists Sunday, increased the number of police on the streets, disconnected some cell phone text messaging services and censored Internet postings about the call to stage protests in Beijing, Shanghai and 11 other major cities.
Police took at least three people away in Beijing, one of whom tried to place white jasmine flowers on a planter while hundreds of people milled about the protest gathering spot, outside a McDonald's on the capital's busiest shopping street. In Shanghai, police led away three people near the planned protest spot after they scuffled in an apparent bid to grab the attention of passers-by.

Celebrating MMS the new-era Dhritharashtra

There are certain figures in mythology who are tragic figures due to circumstances and some due to their own creations. Dhritharashtra of the Kurus showed a blind eye (literally and figuratively) to the rampant corrupt and vengeful behaviors of his sons and paid for it with the loss of their lives and his kingdom. As a ruler of a nation maintain Raj-Dharma is of paramount importance and is one of the valuable lessons Indian history has tried to teach its rulers. Its something MMS has done poorly in 2 terms as the PM of India.
After numerous scams and feeble efforts to defend the government's inaction and bringing the perpetrators to justice, the new "vigilance" is being swallowed by the MSM especially cHindu hook, line and sinker.

The same Prime Minister whose silence and ambivalence on 2G was seen by the Opposition and the public at large as weakness and even complicity has pushed the Central Bureau of Investigation into summoning and questioning top industrialists like Anil Ambani, raiding Kalaingar TV, the business arm of a key political ally, the DMK, and sending A. Raja, who was Telecom Minister till some time ago, to the unwholesome confines of Tihar Jail.

Call me a sceptic but sending a minster to prison temporarily and raiding KTV is not vigilant action. The corruption is endemic and across the nation and token actions are simply not enough. Sidd V asks a potent question when says,

The question, of course, is whether or not the CBI will persist in its endeavours. Are we being treated to an elaborate dog-and-pony show? Or does the agency's current activism represent a fundamental course correction for a system which has tolerated and thrived on corruption? If yes, does the Prime Minister have the political clout to see things through?

However where Sidd Varadarajan fails to hit the nail on the head is his sympathetic portrayal of MMS as being a decisive leader misled by his ministers.

As an economist and a man of unquestionable integrity, Dr. Singh knew full well the revenue consequences of forgoing an auction for the allocation of 2G spectrum and recorded his unhappiness with the decision. If the Prime Minister were anyone other than Dr. Singh, one might be justified in treating his belated intervention in the 2G matter as an indication of his own involvement. In reality, the delay was the product of both his individual political weakness and his party's failure to understand the political implications of the scam.

Its as though cHindu wants to treat MMS and the UPA with kid gloves and come hard against the BJP for similar failings. Final words from Sidd V.

Corrupt politicians come and go. But unless the crony capitalists who use them are punished, Indian democracy will continue to corrode.

What about corrupt journalists Mr. Siddharth Varadarajan?

Wen cHindu celebrated

The arrival of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on his second state visit to India on Wednesday is akin to a return for 'Lord Ram' from the forests (or just King Ram for the rationalist morons) for the people of cHindu.
Even if a single accord worth Rs.10 is signed one can expect a huge hullabaloo from the LiC and his minions on how this turns the relations between the two countries and presumptuously world domination.
Already Sidd V has started the opening act of getting the readers ready for the onslaught by putting out a piece Time to reset the India-China relationship.
As usual Sidd V blames Indian politicians and military commanders for questioning the Chinese authority (how dare they!)

But the stridency of its assertions — especially its objections to Indian leaders visiting the north-eastern State — took the Indian side by surprise. On their part, some Indian military commanders muddied the waters by making irresponsible public pronouncements which have fuelled both the jingoism and insecurity of a hyper-nationalist media and middle class. The suggestion made on background by some Indian officials that China's claims to the whole of Arunachal Pradesh violated the “political principles and parameters” governing the boundary settlement agreed to by both sides (because of the reference there to due regard being paid to the wishes of settled populations) may also have pushed Beijing into a more assertive mode.

Currently Sidd V is the leader in this week's Jackass of the week award (to be published shortly).

cHindu continues on its anti-semetic tirade

Of the themes continuously carpred by LiC and his minions one theme consistently stands out that is the tirade against anything Israel or Jewish. In that series, LiC rants against Israel's ability to manipulate the US to get aid and weapons but not give Palestine terrorists their state.

In consequence, the talks that began with three meetings between Mr. Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in September are indefinitely stalled. The Palestinians are refusing to engage in further direct talks unless construction is halted; and Mr. Abbas is threatening to dissolve the Authority if an agreement for Palestinian statehood cannot be reached.Mr. Netanyahu will not be troubled by the stalemate or by criticism that he cannot control his Cabinet. That his Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, wants Israeli Arabs — about 20 per cent of Israel's population — compulsorily transferred to any future Palestinian state makes it easy for him to claim that his hands are tied.

The ridiculous nature of cHindu's rants are clearly exposed by reading any objective analysis of the situation which clearly puts equal blame on the Palestinian terrorist groups which pose as their voices which threaten a genocide that is tacitly supported by Iran (another cHindu favorite) who has been clearly exposed to be building nuclear weapons (wikileaks). But that's an angle cHindu will not touch. Hypocrites to the bone.

How to spin Bihar results 101 by LiC

This is for anyone who thinks LiC has integrity, though being a biased journalist.
How does anyone honorable tip their hat if the group they ideologically support has been beaten, thrashed beyond the point of recognition in an election?
That's not the approach cHindu and its "fearless" leader LiC take when Nitish Kumar lead NDA alliance swept the Bihar polls. The margins of victory in all regions of the state across all communities was a surprise to most pundits. LiC however presents a biased view painting Nitish Kumar as some sort of "secular" hero of the masses.

In the place of the casteist vote-bank politics of Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal, he offered the people a new vision, the hope of economic growth and sustained development. Chief Minister Kumar spent the last five years trying to steer towards development one of India's most socio-economically backward States. At the end of his first term, he could report success in building infrastructure facilities, investing in school education, boosting medical care in rural areas, and cracking down on crime. For the people of Bihar, who endured 15 years of stagnation and deterioration of law and order under Lalu-Rabri rule, this was a welcome change. Not surprisingly, the 2010 election saw renewed voter interest, and a surge in the participation of women voters. Mr. Kumar not only cut into the support base of his political rivals; he also seems to have won over sections of the hitherto politically indifferent.

Of course managing the victory without taking potshots at the BJP was irresistible.

But the BJP, with its deeply divisive agenda, could also have been a serious electoral handicap. Mr. Kumar shrewdly kept his distance from controversial BJP leaders without damaging the alliance.

Any responsible journalist would have kept the focus on responsible governance and the failings of Lalu and company. Or for that matter the "leadership" shown by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress who were nearly wiped out in the state. But LiC chooses to gloss over these facts. Its sad that someone so experienced chooses ideology over ethics time and again.

cHindu-NDTV silence on barkhagate- Friends with benefits

Hat tip to KVSarma for identifying this unholy alliance and appropriately coining the phrase FWB.
The rooted silence on the barkhagate scandal, stoic defense of A.Raja, denial of any existence of Nira Radia, all leads to one question why? Simple answer the cHindu NDTV alliance. Its akin to 'Honor among thieves'. NDTV is the media "Godfather" and has collected many chips and its collecting them by means of total blackout (barring few non-consequential discussions) into this issue. In all likelihood it will provide some information to the JPC or whatever committee and in return be promised some minor slap in the wrist (no impacts to Government advertising).

Alternative Theory by Pilid (Which I have shamelessly copied from the comments)

The alternative explanation for cHindu's silence is the involvement of senior DMK figures. Perhaps it is some of both. Also senior folks in The Hindu have themselves acted as "conduits of information"; in fact Malini Parthasarathy defended accused journos on twitter on this ground. So the sympathy is understandable not to mention accusations would have amounted to the pot calling the kettle black. Also, the censorship is not unusual for The Hindu; most other major media outlets have not carried the item either. So the explanation for silence may lie in their loyalty to the broader fraternity of powerbroker/journalists.

Blame the process not Raja - LiC

Hat tip to reader Balaji for pointing this out.
If you read any cHindu article or editorial you will find some editorializing going on. Even if say a dog bit a old woman Bangalore, cHindu would probably tie it to the BJP government's lack of social responsibility. However in the case of what appears to be one of the biggest scandals in Indian Parliament history cHindu has staunchly supported the DMK and A.Raja ('A' standing for acidic, acerbic?)
Now LiC from his perch in Anna Salai comes out and blames the process of allotting the spectrum as the culprit and not any one individual. Its a bit like blaming the German judicial system for the Holocaust and not Hitler. Or Indian Army for losing the Indo-Chinese war of 1962 and not Nehru. It sets a wrong precedent
of future allotment of blame in such scandals.

The integrity of the process always determines the quality of the product that comes out of it. If a process is wrong, the product seldom turns out right. It is now a common conclusion that the procedure for the allocation of spectrum in 2007-08 for the second generation (2G) telecom services was flawed, and grossly so. When there were many more aspirants for the licences than there was frequency spectrum, and an auction should have been the obvious method to decide on the winners, the licences were handed out instead in a non-transparent, first-come-first-served basis and at a low price set seven years earlier.

Hindsight is indeed 20-20. Where is the issue of incompetence of A.Raja and his steadfast refusal to resign?
Or for that matter the kickbacks he received?

The Manmohan Singh government has no option but to take serious note of the glaring non-performance by these companies. Perhaps it was inevitable they would fail, because as the CAG discovered, many of these companies did not have any experience in telecommunications. Revoking their licences would therefore be a rational and appropriate response.

If this is a cover-up article aimed at fooling the reading public of cHindu, then LiC better start packing his desk.

Different monkey same tune- cHindu presents Atul Aneja

Just when one thought all the tunes of the Obama visit were played and completed on the cHindu, starting with the US bashing, Indian servitude and moving on to cautious optimism but balanced support for China, Atul Aneja comes along and plays cHindu's longstanding view on the war on terror.
Theme 1:
cHinduism - War on terror is an imaginary war as there are no terrorists in the world.

While the two foiled plots out ofYemen are counted by many in the West as battles won, victory in the war on terror is nowhere on the horizon. On the contrary, the tactics in the counter-terror campaign are alienating and radicalising many Muslims across the globe, especially in West Asia and Europe.

Perhaps the author is not aware of the "peace" camps organized by LeT, Taliban, Al Qaeda across the border.
Theme 2:
cHinduism - America is the existential cause of terror.

Terrorism breeds on hatred of the American. Unless the animosity towards the U.S. is diminished, the threat of a grandiose and carefully planned terror strike that will sow fear and rage in the collective western psyche and further polarise a deeply divided globe cannot be ruled out.

Perhaps Atul should read terror plots and attacks in nations like India, Russia, England, Pakistan...
Theme 3:
cHinduism - America is still evil, but Barack Obama can magically create peace between the Islamic world and the radical America and its friends the Jewish nation of Israel.

Obama may have no choice but boldly re-engaging with West Asia, irrespective of the sweeping resistance he encounters from mainstream Israel and its neoconservative and Christian-Right allies in the U.S., who are so inextricably tied to the highly partisan but emboldened Republican Party.

Theme 4:
cHinduism - Muslims are driven to terror by America's wars and have no hate otherwise.

..his (Obama's) will not be easy to accomplish, as the psyche of the people in the region is still traumatised by the images of torture in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, and the horror stories emerging out of the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay.

After so many years again the same BS of fragile Muslim psyche driving them into terror is ridiculous. Why are we not seeing so many other people driven to violent behaviors attacking unrelated folks? Similarly the rabid support (by cHindu) of the radical nation of Iran which has demonstrated irresponsibly setting up a clandestine nuclear weapons program shows the hypocrisy of LiC and his cohorts.
Similarly the blind support for the terrorist groups of Palestine shows cHindu's bias towards Islamic terrorist networks who don't have any peaceful intentions.
Thus with great pomp, I hereby declare Atul Aneja for the Jackass of the week.

The liberal democracy of Saudi Arabia's new workplace rules

There are few nations which seldom disappoint in ensuring that their standing in the nations around are kept high (or in the abyss in this case).
Saudi Arabia in this case shows its fervent stand in ensuring workplace equality between men and women is imposed strictly per the law. Only that in this case, the law or Sharia states that women should not be allowed to work with men.

The official fatwa issuing body said “it is not permissible for a woman to work in a place where they mix with men,” said the news website Sabq.org.
“It is necessary to keep away from places where men congregate.
Women should look for decent work that does not make it possible for them to attract men or be attracted by men,” it said.The ruling was unambiguous, and signed by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, head of the Senior Scholars Council, and six other members of the fatwa committee.

Waiting for cHindu and progressive leader N.Ram to come up with an editorial praising the religion of peace.

Hiding behind technicalities - Arundhati Roy charges

Being a journalist in many parts of the world is a tough job. Not wanting to banal, other than the TV heads and the heads of print media, most of the remaining journos have to fight multiple things like competition, lack of imagination, lack of news, reader fatigue to publish good stories. However given a great story like wacky "intellectual" Arundhati Roy pushing for separation of Kashmir from India, N.Ram and his team of jackasses publish what is probably the most banal articles possible titled '‘Sedition' versus free speech '.
Defending Ms.Roy for her treasonous activities, LiC initiates his salvo at the BJP,

It is deplorable that three sentences uttered at a seminar relating to the status of Kashmir within India should have evoked such zealous hyper-patriotic anger and resulted in demands for invoking harsh sedition laws.

He makes it claim as though she was charged during the Spanish Inquisition and burned on a stake!
The primary claim of all left wing journos is that they want freedom of speech when one of theirs makes treasonous statements. But when a nationalistic person makes a statement bashing China or Communism or a certain violent minority, the hypocritical N.Ram and his minions would be in a mad rush to beat them up.

In his classic defence of free speech, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill laid down what is known as the ‘harm principle.' It postulates that the only justification for silencing a person against his will is to prevent him from causing harm to others. It is to this powerful libertarian mid-19th century principle that we owe the idea that free speech cannot be proscribed merely because we find it disagreeable, and that curbs may be imposed only if such expression constitutes a direct, explicit, and unequivocal incitement to violence.

What Arundhati Roy did was exactly that. Supporting the rock throwing militants of Kashmir, who have for years sucked on the funds from the "special" status provided by Article 370 is a clear unambiguous evidence of treason. For all the free speech thrown around by the jerk N.Ram, how about publishing articles of the pogrom conducted by these stone throwing militants? Or the plight of the Kashmiri Hindus who were evicted from their homes?
But these are not the voices N.Ram and his minions like Sidd Varadarajan want to listen to. This is the real BS pushed as editorials by cHindu.

Return of Kasim Sait to cHindu

This "avid reader" of cHindu has nothing but the highest of praise to anything done by LiC and his minions. So its a pleasant surprise to his thoughts on the words of Arundhati Roy on the Kashmir issue:

The editorial “‘Sedition' versus free speech” (Oct. 27) is a classic defence of free speech, which only a steadfast defender of freedom of speech like The Hindu can make. The noisy clamour made by the BJP is a damp squib, as shown by the strong support extended to this cause by none other than the BJP's own fellow traveller, Ram Jethmalani. Why can't a writer, a painter, an educationist or a creative artist express his or her views freely in a liberal democratic country like ours? Why has one to constantly look over one's shoulder for expressing one's opinion and for not being termed a seditionist or one who has hurt somebody's religious or other kind of feelings? Should not our civil society draw upon the lead provided by such bold media initiatives as that of The Hindu and struggle to build a movement to usher in a really sincere liberal society, rather than the one dictated by the whims of extremist elements in society?
Kasim Sait,
Chennai

This is probably the only time you will hear "bold media initiatives" and cHindu being associated in the same sentence.