Awkard logic

It takes some talent to beat the stalwarts in Chindu. Deepa Kurup, who has earlier argued for free, open source software (link) , is upset that BJP is supporting this cause.

The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : The BJP’s awkward embrace of Free Software

Left parties have for long backed the Free Software movement politically. It is surprising that the BJP, with its strong pro-corporate and pro-patent leanings, should back this cause.

She straight-jackets BJP as pro-corporate and raises an objection. What exactly is the objection, Deepa?

As for their new stance on “digital standards” — that is, proprietary claims on algorithms and software programmes — the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, notably, was the first to amend the Patent Act in March 1999 and in June 2002 as part of the WTO agreement under Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

"Corporates such as IT majors Infosys and TCS have long lobbied for patents" and "digital standards" is in favour of corporates.

a senior spokesperson from Microsoft, a company that will be hit hardest by an OS regime, told The Hindu that the company is “encouraged by the focus on IT by political parties,” describing the policy of the Government of India as one of “technology neutrality.”

And Microsoft finds the BJP initiative encouraging.

So, I have to ask the question again: what is your objection, Deepa?

The BJP’s discovery of the virtues of OS would appear to sit uncomfortably with its slogan “Let a hundred Bangalores bloom.”

With nothing in the article to support how BJP's strategy is in conflict with its vision, it is obvious that Deepa is getting delusional.
There is a need to strike balance between open-source and commercial software. Exclusive open-source initiatives can leave the students irrelevant in corporate world. Even while pushing for open-source, it is important to protect the intellectual property rights of commercial vendors as they are driven by the same cause as open-source. Deepa is obviously mixing up issues, thus demonstrating that she has no understanding of the economics and motivations of the players within the industry. As is the hallmark of any writer on chindu, her article is driven by a blind hatred towards and opposition to BJP. She is left in a tricky situation here because BJP and Left are on the same side on this issue. She has to oppose out of ideological compulsions (anti-BJP) but cannot do so to the extent of hurting the communists (pro-Left).

Photo of the day

Thanks to an anonymous user, this is the photo of the day and added comments of the implicit thoughts :)

China and India should work together for the interests of developing countries on the global financial and economic stage, including cooperation on such issues as a new world reserve currency, according to Zhang Yan, China’s Ambassador to India.

Really Mr. Yan? I believe Mao and Chou said the said the same thing before the war of 1962.

The importance of detecting and battling cancer

In today's editorial titled Battling cervical cancer in the Chindu, it tackles the importance of screening and detection in battling this dreaded disease in women.

While there was no significant reduction in the death rate in the VIA as well as the pap smear groups compared with the control group, a significant decline was seen in the rate of advanced cervical cancer and associated deaths in the group that took the DNA test during the eight-year study period.

It is truly heartening to see some effort being shown in Chindu in educating its readers about these diseases and the tests needed to tackle it.
But more needs to be done to tackle this and other diseases in India which are rapidly reaching epidemic levels.

Village idiot Praveen Swami complains again

There are arm chair critics like Praveen Swami who cannot be placated at any level. He will complain against the Government for not having a policy which supports his views, complain against the Government for inaction during the Mumbai attacks and rarely offer constructive opinions. Now he complains that the Mumbai police has purchased weapons without conducting tests that he would have liked. In an article, "Mumbai Police modernisation generates controversy" he claims,

Ill-planned efforts to upgrade the counter-terrorism capabilities of the Mumbai Police may have led to the acquisition of outdated and inappropriate weapons, highly placed government sources told The Hindu.

So what did the Government actually purchase?
- Colt M4 5.56-millimetre carbine A real awesome modern Carbine used by NATO for its operations. It can kick the shit out of an AK-47. Hello Mr.Terrorist say hello meet my little friends.
- Brügger & Thomet sub-compact MP9 Real compact weapon which can fire hundreds of rounds in close range with little recoil and high accuracy.
The other two, he Smith & Wesson Military and Police 9-millimetre pistol as a personal sidearm and the M107 50-calibre Special Application Rifle are nothing to be sneezed at.
Our policemen and women had antique rifles, handguns to tackle the terrorists. Now Praveen Swami would have them use those antique weapons than getting some state of the art weapons to kick the terrorist butts. He goes on to make statements without proper evidence like,

Notably, the committee did not hold consultations with the Maharashtra Police and the NSG, which have primary responsibility for counter-terrorism roles in Mumbai.

Getting weapons is often an activity played close to the chest. It is not a beauty contest or a car buying spree to list out all the specifics to the public. As usual "unnamed sources" (Harry Potter and Hari Puttar) are used to spill the beans, one of whom states,

"It is our job to act as a facilitator of modernisation and not to sit in judgment on what equipment best meets the needs of a particular state. While we may have our concerns, we do not wish to be cast as spoilers,” a senior official said.

A tip, if you are reading this Praveen, stop being an annoying whiny bitch and start offering something constructive for a change.

Lalu forced to recant his own statements

As pointed out in this blog yesterday, Lalu tried to amp up his base i.e. the minorities by trashing Varun Gandhi where he said,

Had I been the country’s Home Minister, I would have crushed Mr. Gandhi under the roller and destroyed him without caring for the consequences for his hate speech against Muslims

Now the Election Commission is coming hard at Lalu for making such irresponsible statements and that too from a Union minister however unqualified he might be.
Lalu in response tried to change his statements saying,

he only said he would have crushed BJP’s Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi under “the roller of law.”

Now let us see the paragon of secularism Chindu's reponse to these statements.
Will it take it out in an editorial as it rightly should given Lalu being an experienced politician as well as a minister should not be ranting? Or will it just ignore it and pander to minorities?

Fwd: Capital gains for CPM

to go along with this is the number of people they pushed into poverty. the makings of a communist paradise.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090406/jsp/frontpage/story_10780772.jsp   The CPM's fortunes seem to have kept pace with the rise in its political graph that touched an all-time high in the 2004 elections. Its net worth on March 31, 2006, was Rs 77.27 crore — not too bad a capital for a communist party.

Communists do not figure in this secular agenda

But chindu will continue with the boot-licking.

Notice the term "state terrorism" below.

The Pioneer > Online Edition : >> Muslims must elect Muslims

Wherever an Ulema Council candidate is contesting, he should be supported. Such support will send a message: Muslims are not wiling to keep quiet on state terrorism. Mr Badruddin Ajmal’s UDF must be backed to provide real Muslims with bargaining capacity. At the national level, only the Congress is capable of challenging the BJP. Hence, wherever a Congress candidate is in a sound position, Muslims should vote for him. In Uttar Pradesh they must prefer Samajwadi Party candidates over those of the BSP because the track record of Ms Mayawati is not very encouraging for Muslims. She publicly supported Mr Narendra Modi.

The secular chill pill for any threat to India's security

The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : Combating the peddlers of hatred
Malini Parthasarathy wanders from one topic to another in this article that it is hard to identify the central idea. Mumbai terror attacks were horrible and people are frustrated with the political system. Suddenly, she says: "But remarkably, there was no attempt this time to find scapegoats, or to take out their frustration on minority groups." as if she was expecting us to go and attack minorities every time there is a terrorist attack. This is a ritual that is religiously(?) followed by the blood-thirsty people of India as is attested by the backlash after each of those numerous terror attacks.

More about the failure of the political system as a whole. And then she throws in Afzal Guru. Then she makes a switch from national security to public interest. Now it is time to pick up the favourite topic of Godhra riots. The blame game begins.

Before it gets into another full-length article on Godhra riots, she moves on to secularism and democracy.

...the conceptual linkage between secularism and democracy. In the original conception of the Constitution, secularism was viewed as a cornerstone that along with democracy would provide the framework...

India is a flawed democracy and secularism is a sham in India. Ironic that a leftist fundamentalist like Malini should lecture us on democracy.  And obviously, she does not care for secularism or she would have called for Uniform Civil Code. She calls for "the principle of equality before the law, equal protection of the laws and equal rights for every Indian citizen regardless of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth" in the context of catering to Muslim sensibilities!

Until this confusion over the real meaning of secularism as a governing doctrine is sorted out, it will be impossible to ensure that the national discourse prioritises the issues of real concern such as development and governance.

She is done with democracy. It is left to just secularism now. In case you forgot by now, she started off with national security.
Unfortunately for Malini, she is not the first one to link development and governance to secularism. UPA did that with the Sachar committee.

The rise of a deadly form of Islamist terrorism in the subcontinent that has a narrative deliberately woven around the suffering of the Indian Muslims particularly after the ascendancy of Hindu majoritarian nationalism, is a challenge that severely tests the political capacities of the Indian state, as the terror attacks in Mumbai last year showed.

I think this is the point she wantd to make. The rest is just a facade. So secularism will end all threats to national security - internal and external. And what of the failed political system? Never mind.
She moves on to Varun Gandhi, communalism, democracy, secularism, democracy. But at this point, I give up.

If they could talk back...

Media is chock full of soundbite remarks by politicians and 'secular' types talking down to "unwashed masses." Sometimes it is aimed at their opponents, overall it's about silly posturing, meaningless platitudes, or something to get the spotlight and show themselves as cute idiots. But what if their subjects could talk back? Some of the comebacks we can imagine:

I would have crushed Varun under a roller: Lalu 

I would have crushed Lalu under a dump truck: Varun

Pranab 'distorting' W. Bengal's image, says CPM

CPM's image of W. Bengal is an illusion, says Pranab

I invite Advani for an open debate: Mallika

I invite Mallika for an open dance session: yours truly (No, we're not confusing her with mademoiselle Sherawat)

I understand English: Kasab (in court)

We understand jihad: Court

This list can be endless. Readers' suggestions are welcome.

Green drive in China - media sponsor? Chindu

Thanks to an anonymous reader for forwarding this interesting titbit from yesterday's news. Chindu in its practice of blindly publishing news from Chin-hua trots out another useless article with some Commie leaders planting trees in Beijing. As per the UN, 17 of the 20 most polluted cities are in China. Now the Chinese want to repair that or have been trying to do so.

According to a decision by the National People’s Congress on voluntary tree planting issued in 1981, Chinese citizens aged from 11 to 55 should plant three to five trees every year as a way to increase China’s forest coverage.

Hmm then can some one explain this sight of Beijing's clean air and skyline?


Do your research Chindu before publishing news from Chinhua by rote!

Discussing polygyny in Islam

The topic of polygyny in Islam has been a topic of heated discussion over the years between the followers of Islam and other groups as well. Most organized religions do not have clearly defined rules pertaining to how many wives a man can have. But in modern society it has become the norm.
However followers of Islam have misused this rule till date often claiming minority victimisation if this issue were to be removed.
In a recent article in Chindu Why hedonistic polygyny is against Islam by A. Faizur Rahman tackles the same topic.
As most readers of this blog know, Chindu treads lightly when tackling topics involving reform of minorities and religions like Christianity and Islam. But this article is well written and provides historical details about the inception of the rule,

Even a simple reading of verses 4: 2, 3 and 127 will show that it was under such circumstances that the Quran allowed conditional polygyny, mainly to protect orphans and their mothers from an exploitative society.

But the author so cleverly blames women for their current plight without really blaming the religion and its structure of power which has resisted reform for centuries.

It is sad that Muslim women have allowed themselves to be subliminally brainwashed into becoming objects of sexual gratification for men, which has resulted in scores of them suffering in silence. It is time they broke free from the shackles that hold them hostage to the whims of a few patriarchal ulema who have stalled the progress of the Muslim community through their misinterpretation of Islam.

Its easy to tell the oppressed that they should break through the shackles as much as its easy to be an armchair critic.
However I will give credit to the writer for attempting to tackle a topic with some pragmatism which might kick off reform in Islam. Though I wonder if he would have the courage to speak out loud in a mosque.

Black money

The Pioneer > Online Edition : >> Blind about black money

The Swiss Government reportedly has placed India on top of a list of five countries, in terms of the magnitude of holdings. The total amount held by Indians is said to be $1,456 billion, about eight times more than the Indian national Budget.

So far, only the BJP and JD(U) have spoken on the need to get our wealth back to the country. Congress is hiding behind technicalities. The communists are barely to be heard on this subject apart from the mandatory press release. N.Ram and his team have no further opinions/analysis to offer on this subject.

Ram Narayan provides interesting information on the Vatican Bank

If the Indian citizen who has stashed money abroad is a Roman Catholic by religion and holds a valid baptismal certificate issued by a parish priest, his or her pay-backs and black money is likely to be hidden in the Vatican Bank (called The Institute for Works of Religion or IOR). Vatican City in the center of Rome is a internationally recognized independent city-state, and Italian government revenue officials are not able to enter its 100 acre area without permission from Vatican City's Secretary of State. The Vatican Bank within the Vatican's walls has a notorious reputation for secrecy and its connection to the Italian mafia. For many years in the 1980s, the bank's archbishop director could not enter Rome for fear of arrest. Neither India nor any other country looking for money kept by its citizens in this bank, will be able to access the accounts held in this infamous Roman Catholic financial institution.

Fwd: Yahoo! News Story - China blocks YouTube, again

the chinese are realising that the tibetan uprising is getting beyond control. while using extraordinary force to quell the uprising, it is planting articles in international media describing its adventurism in tibet as social emancipation. the tibetans are demonstrating the power of social media in countering the establishment.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: arun
Subject: Yahoo! News Story - China blocks YouTube, again

A report released Wednesday finds the Chinese Internet to be the least free of 15 countries studied, tying for bottom place with Cuba.

China blocks YouTube, again

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/oecensor

YouTube has been inaccessible for most of the past week, since Tibetan exiles posted a film showing Chinese militarized policemen savagely beating Tibetan monks and civilians.

Another Congress mass murderer escapes justice

Someone said the guiding principle of the Indian penal system was that a thousand guilty can escape but one innocent should not suffer. I'm not sure given the rampant corruption running through the socio-economic-political system that this should be the corner stone. Probably few who are the grey area should be punished to warn people observing as well as for future generations to learn.
One such example is the case of the 1984 Sikh riots where thousands of innocent Sikhs were murdered by rampaging mobs urged by the Congress after the death of Indira Gandhi. The same Congress whose leader termed the massacres as

the Earth shakes when a big tree (Indira Gandhi) falls

Here's one of the accused who escaped from the clutches of justice, probably because his party is in power and managed to control the wheels of the law from moving.

Mr. Jagdish Tytler along with his party colleague Mr. Sajjan Kumar are among the main accused of planning and leading the mobs to kill a few thousand Sikhs in New Delhi. Now the CBI after doing an investigation of decades comes back with this enlightening conclusion

that it did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute the former Union Minister, Jagdish Tytler, in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case.

If Hitler was tried in the Indian judicial system, probably he could've escaped any blame for the Holocaust.

The radical religious fundamentalist

Chindu makes Davender Ghai look like a religious fundamentalist who is pursuing a divisive agenda. When a Hindu asks for his rights, it raises alarm bells in Chindu's ivory tower. This article has a sensational title that is hardly justified by the content. And the article begins by demonizing Davender Ghai.
The Hindu : Opinion / News Analysis : Mainstream Hindus frown upon open-air pyre campaign

When Davender Ghai, a rights activist with a penchant for headline-grabbing controversies, moved the High Court in London last week demanding an end to the ban on open-air cremations in Britain as it interfered with his religious beliefs he claimed that his campaign had the backing of “90 per cent” of the country’s Hindu community and a significant section of Sikhs.

How exactly Mr. Ghai arrived at that inflated assessment is not clear. The visions of a “silent” majority quietly cheering him? Assurances from self-styled community “leaders?” An assumption that all Hindus not only think alike but think like him?

BBC provides a more balanced view on the issue.

Timesonline, inspite of the majority Protestant bias, acknowledges Davender's position and the support he has got within the community:

Davender Kumar Ghai, the devout Hindu at the centre of the case, fits no one’s idea of a radical minority-rights activist.
He has lived in Britain since 1958, is the founding president of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society and the holder of a Unesco Peace Gold Medal and an Amnesty International lifetime achievement award.
...
The National Council for Hindu Priests, in common with most British Hindu organisations, supports the man’s claim, viewing it as “the single most significant campaign to promote Hindu religious freedom in British history”.

Say no to Cut and Run

An interview on TimesNow that's worth your time, especially if you're going to vote. 

Link1

Link2

As regards the IPL issue, a counterargument is being made that we should accept the reality that the security situation is not good in the country. And hence moving the games is justified instead of false idealism. Well, this is a little too facile. There's no perfect system as such and we have to fight with the sources we have, not with the sources we want. We've tried poverty alleviation, women's equality and countless other initiatives which have arguably not succeeded. Should we then make cut and run our official policy, since reality says that these worthy causes are false ideals?

India might do well with such cynicism, but the aam aadmi of Bharat desperately needs the optimism that says surrender is not an option.

Kasim Sait - reader or ghost

As some of our readers have duly pointed out, Kasim Sait is one of those regular writers to Chindu who happens to be published on a daily basis. He has a singular track record of supporting Chindu on most of its opinions (probably around 95% of the times). Recently he voiced his opinions on LiC's path breaking piece on Tibet's emancipation,

The emancipation of the people of Tibet is a historical landmark. The condition of the Tibetans up to the late 1950s under the yoke of the Dalai Lamas and their feudal kulak nobility was primitive. As N. Ram has pointed out in his article “Celebrating social emancipation in Tibet” (March 28), the patient efforts by the CPC led to the liberation of the enslaved Tibetan peasantry and toiling classes. They were put on the path of economic empowerment, free from the suppression of a theocratic state. The drumbeating supporters of the retrograde Dalai Lama would do better to serve the cause of not only the free Tibetans but also the entire toiling humanity.
Kasim Sait,
Chennai

There are numerous sycophants in the Anna Salai white towers. I truly wonder if this person really exists.

The ability of LiC to twist facts.

I'm appalled at the ability of LiC to once again write banal accounts of his trips to Tibet and make the Tibetian cause appear weak and paint their rightful struggle as a figment of someone's imagination.
In an article 'Celebrating social emancipation in Tibet ' the LiC brings out the lowest level of yellow journalism.

The commemoration has come half a century after the Democratic Reform did away with feudal serfdom and slavery and the theocratic system in Tibet, emancipated a million serfs, and laid the basis for the autonomous modern development of the region as part of the Chinese socialist system.

Really celebrated by whom? The communist politbureau?
He then goes on to quote selected quotes from the Dalai Lama to portray him as an ardent supporter of Marxism and Mao.
Quotes like these,

I was so attracted to Marxism, I even expressed my wish to become a Communist Party member.

If LiC can cherry pick the Dalai Lama's quotes then how about this one?

As for the failure of the Marxist regimes, first of all I do not consider the former USSR, or China, or even Vietnam, to have been true Marxist regimes, for they were far more concerned with their narrow national interests than with the Workers' International; this is why there were conflicts, for example, between China and the USSR, or between China and Vietnam. If those three regimes had truly been based upon Marxist principles, those conflicts would never have occurred.

Ignorance thy name is LiC

Fwd: China Takes Aim at Dollar

china is the one developing nation which is overly worried about  imminent devaluation of usd, what with its 1.3 trillion dollars turning into worthless paper. for long, it flogged its citizens to sustain the extravagant lifestyles of americans. and when the american corporations have collapsed under their own weight, the impact of bankrupt americans is having a multiplier effect on the export-oriented chinese economy. the chinese govt cannot dump the dollars as it will trigger a financial meltdown and insane write-offs; it cant use the money to pump up its economy without risking hyper-inflation. the chinese are doomed long before the communist govt is. india is relatively insulated as the exposure to usd is minimum.
you can expect the cheap cronies in chennai, who only cost a few cents, to now call for a financial overhaul. after all, it is in china's best interests more than india's.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123780272456212885.html   China called for the creation of a new currency to eventually replace the dollar as the world's standard, proposing a sweeping overhaul of global finance that reflects developing nations' growing unhappiness with the U.S. role in the world economy.

"Hindoo superstition" registered as TM

While Hindus are busy rejecting their culture and customs as blind superstition, the vultures are indulging in cultural appropriation. The ancient Hindu knowledge is repackaged, registered as trademark, patented and commercialized globally while the Hindus are getting thoroughly "secularised".

Now, Super Brain Yoga joins "Christian yoga".

IPL now in South Africa

Continuing with the series on the IPL issue which my fellow blogger socal has so rightly pointed out most of the parties involved have exhibited a cavalier attitude towards the real problem and are only focused on furthering their own personal agendas.
As per the latest news, IPL will now be played in South Africa. Lalit Modi has struck a deal with the cricket association of SA and more details will be announced soon. One can expect the Chennai Super Kings to play at the Centurion or the Mumbai Indians in Durban or the Kolkatta whatever to play in Cape Town. The larger issue is that IPL has disappointed the fans at large. There are certain aspects which made these teams unique,

• The loyalties towards cities and their fanbases


• The presence of up and coming local talent


• Live cricket watching experience

Granted the audience in the stands is a fraction of the overall population, but playing in SA is akin to playing in Mars. If the English Premier League or the Italy Serie A were faced with a similar situation would the Manchester United were to play in say Mangalore or AC Milan were to play in Beijing? One wonders how their fans would react hearing such news. But IPL takes fans for granted and thinks they will spend their hard earned money on a crappy product and a significant portion of the revenue would be given to SA. I do hope that the fans bring this up to the attention of the IPL and potentially the courts.

The real shame

With some skill our dream home minister has turned debate over cricket into political football, simultaneously realizing its dreaded politicization in turn. While politicization is such a strict no-no with the establishment, you would think that dear minister would calibrate himself more carefully. But this being election season, such restraint is not politically feasible. To twist a common dictum, there's no such thing as bad politicization. 

'Enough about politicization already!' you say. Well, we're just getting warmed up. Rather warming you up...for the inevitable editorials that'll ensue. And 10 points for guessing who'll be the fall guy delegated with this crucial responsibility in your favorite communal newspaper.

While the scribes are obviously worked up at the coming 'Festival of democracy' (they see the taxpayer funded ad money ringing at their cash registers), the widespread despondency among aam aadmis can be witnessed in the comments section online, and in comments flying freely on streets. Some are even rudely chastising the media to take their 'festival' and shove it, since it hardly makes a difference as to which crook rules them. They have a point. Election is about spending their money to decide who should spend more of their money over the next five years(assuming the govt. lasts). IPL, on the contrary, is about instant gratification, today. Kal kisne dekha hain?

But lets concenrate on the serious. The most dubious reason cited by our dream home minister against the IPL is its commercial motive. Now, one doesn't recollect the constitution saying anywhere that all commercial activity should stall during elections. So whence comes the noblesse oblige? Politicians anywhere else in the world will stampede to claim any mega sports event precisely because it jumstarts real economic activity. The other untrue notion being bandied about is that only the organizers benefit from the event. Hmm...who gets the tax windfall out of the IPL's massive earnings? From the record ad revenue? Certainly not the aam aadmi. 

Since we are talking about a good ol' Congress politician, if it is not about money, what else could it be about but politics, and power that follows. To understand the PC mindset (I mean politically correct)  at work here we need to remind ourselves the feats achieved by jihadi terrorism. The jihadis have always jacked up the impunity of their attacks, starting with bicycles going right upto airplanes. Audacity of their hope next time could well mean despair for cricket fans and relatives in some Indian city. What went on in Pakistani capital during the recent attacks on cricketers could well prove to be a mock rehearsal. Considering the fabulous job done by his immediate predecessor, and himself, PC probably knows what we don't. Another deadly attack amidst the election could well drive the proverbial nail in UPAs political coffin. Goodbye to cabinet ministership after that.

What else do you make out of the IPL saga then? That the might of Indian govt. has been made to surrender to fear, again, is the real shame. 

Election commission tamasha - Varun Gandhi Chronicles

The Election commission is now a fully functioning organ of the UPA government. In a recent statement the EC condemned the BJP's nomination of Varun Gandhi, stating his recent comments should be condemned,

The Commission expects that the least that the party [which has disapproved Mr. Gandhi’s speeches] must do is to deny the party nomination to Mr. Gandhi as its candidate at the present general election to the Lok Sabha. Any sponsorship of his candidature by the Bharatiya Janata Party, or any other political party at this election, would be perceived as endorsing his unpardonable acts of inciting violence and creating feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes of citizens of India, destroying the social, democratic and plural fabric of the country, as enshrined in the Constitution.

WTF ! I say WTF! Let me see the numerous ways in which this statement is filled with hypocrisy. The EC has been silent and inactive when numerous other activities of communal hatred and castiest violence were pursued by 'secular' parties and leaders like Laloo Prasad, Karunanidhi, various CPM leaders etc.
Now for it to come and offer advice to the BJP is ridiculous to say the least.

Campaigning for a criminal and a terrorist

It is elections time and politicians shed all inhibitions. Chindu joins the frenzy by rooting for its favourite party. Vijayan's statements are reproduced unquestioningly, a luxury accorded only to CPM.

Vijayan is an  accused in the Lavalin scam and Maudany (Madani) served jail term for the Coimbatore blasts targetting the communal Advani.

The Hindu : Front Page : Maudany stands for secularism: Pinarayi

Mr. Vijayan said the LDF had opposed Mr. Maudany strongly in the past. However, Mr. Maudany made it clear that he was in favour of secularism following his release from jail. He came out in the open against religious extremism and communalism and rightly approached political parties that followed similar principles.

When the hand gets the finger

Let's face it: national parties aren't doing so well this election season. First, it was the BJP in Orissa, and now it's the turn of the media's favorite party. Twice in a row at that. Laloo extinguished the Congress flame in Bihar with his lalten and now it's the JMM in Jharkhand hitting bullseye from its quiver.

Is it an indication of the underlying weakness of the ruling party? I don't know. Those who do, viz., the media, surely aren't telling much. Only Ram knows why. :)

PS- What Abhishek Singhvi will say, too, is anybody's guess. 'Fool me once'....perhaps. 

Secularism rears its beautiful head-Varun Gandhi chronicles

Recently Varun Gandhi going off on a rant said,

This is not a hand [Congress symbol], it is the power of lotus [BJP symbol]. It will cut the head of …
If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless; if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes; if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand.

And in Chindu there are numerous quotes by the secular bigots like Digvijay Singh and others condemning the statement.

It comes as bit of surprise that the Congress and the Left show more anger towards someone making rabble rousing statements, than against the terrorists and their masters when they attacked Mumbai.
Request:
I have seen only one grainy video on youtube. Could someone please post a link to a video of the alleged speech on the comments section?

The tiger, goat and bale of hay

One of the earliest puzzles from my childhood was how a boatman could transport a tiger, a goat and a bale of hay? It's odd that a person would be transporting a tiger and a goat by himself. It is a situation that Indian politics finds itself in today with the three large groups the UPA, the NDA and the motley crew of the Third front. However what is clearer is the fact that UPA and the NDA will not support each other to power and the Third front cannot get close to a majority by itself.
What is obvious for any political observer is the fact that despite the pronounced breakup between the UPA and the Third Front, it is likely that they would shed their past hatred in a heartbeat and get back into bed to taste sweet political power after the elections.
This naked ambition is evinced by Tamil Nadu State Congress president K.V. Thangkabalu who,

predicted that the Left’s resumption of ties with the Congress-led UPA would be based on the realisation that the Third Front was a pipedream.

And his opinion of the irony of central alliances and state battles would make anyone in the states cringe.

They have been good to us and we have been good to them in spite of being on opposite camps in a few States such as West Bengal and Kerala.

It appears that the pigeons have been released even before the battle has started. It will make for an interesting election season for the Indian Citizen and his/her sensibilities.

Letter to Hindu

The following is a letter I received from a reader J.Ravi with the request that it be published. He says that he sent this to the Chief Editor of The Hindu and the MD but (not surprisingly) got no reply. I reproduce here the contents of his letter as mailed to me in its entirety.

The Managing Director

The Hindu

Feb/08/2009

Dear Sir,

Since Mr.Ram took over as the Editor, certain unsavoury changes have taken place in our revered newspaper.

Please allow me to elaborate on these.

* The “letters to the Editor” is filled with letters that totally agree with the editor’s views and many sing paeans to his wisdom. Letters critical of the editor/paper are almost never published.

Also, certain readers have their letters published very often (possibly because they agree with the editor always). The reader Kassim Sait comes to mind – we readers are condemned to read his jaundiced remarks, sometimes twice a week!

* The letters supporting the views of the editor are self-righteous and strongly expressed, while the very few critical letters are meek, almost apologetic (possibly due to heavy editing).

I have been watching this trend for years now and I have analyzed this – please find attached an Excel file for your kind perusal. This file has analyzed the “ letters” and the editorial sections for 100 days – from Sept/17/2008 to Jan/12/2009. On average, each day has about 14 letters with one letter criticizing the editor/paper’s stand – on most of the days, there are NO dissenting letters!

* All the leading English dailies have provisions for the readers to post comments on

editorials/op-eds/front-page stories etc that allow for active reader participation. Abusive remarks/postings are removed periodically even by other readers.

Unfortunately, the Hindu does not have this feature. Your readers have to be content with the editor’s views/opinions/beliefs/values/prejudices presented as news and the gospel truth with no discussion or debate – so important for lively exchange of ideas and free speech, things which the editor often professes to cherish.

* The ombudsman is content to clarify on clerical errors, grammar and syntax mistakes. Please give him the authority to be the true conscience-keeper of the paper.

* Biased reporting – we see this as the basic philosophy of the editor: Samples:

· The general news coverage, the editorials and the opinions sell the premise that the BJP/center-right parties in India and the world/the U.S.A can do nothing right and they are the fountain-head of all evil. Equally, the Left (especially the CPM!!!) in India & abroad, and Russia/China can do no wrong and these are the epitome of the combined wisdom of the human race and are the torch-bearers of righteousness.

· According to the editor, nationalism in India/Japan/rest of the world is fascism, but one-party dictatorship seamlessly integrated with nationalism in China is perfectly acceptable.

· Certain public individuals are above board for the editor – Karunanidhi, Karat, Bardhan, Yechuri, Chandrachoodan, Jayalalitha, several others of the Left and selected regional chauvinists are never criticized.

· Sonia Gandhi was referred to by her full name – then it gradually became Ms.Gandhi and now it is only Gandhi – possibly this is meant to convey to the young readers that perhaps she is related to the Mahatma.

· Issues are deliberately reported partially with malicious intent – in a recent example, the BJP was (as expected) castigated for the Mangalore incident, but utterances against the “pub culture” by Gehlot and Ramdoss were not reported. Another example is the vitriol poured by the editor on CEC Gopalaswami’s recommendations. He was ridiculed, chastised, and his motives were “exposed” by 2 articles on the same day! The CEC’s other recommendations (of not giving government jobs to the commissioners and not allowing them to join political parties after retirement) were published two days after the other English dailies reported it!

· Under the present editor, the Hindu has become a spokesperson for the CPM – he is perfectly entitled to his party membership, but the paper should not be a vehicle to propagate the ideology of one party (any party for that matter). If the editor persists in this, the Hindu is not a national newspaper but merely a party mouthpiece.

· Under Mr.Ram’s editorship, certain issues affecting our country are never discussed: examples:

a) the burgeoning cost of Admiral Gorshkov (the free warship now to cost $2bn) – possibly not to offend “the time-tested friendship”.

b) China ’s claim of Arunachal Pradesh

c) Bangladeshi infiltration into India – possibly not to expose their participation in polls to elect the Left parties in west Bengal and Tripura.

d) China ’s back-stabbing in the NSG – believe it or not, Siddharth Varadarajan actually supported their actions!

e) Riots in India whenever instigated by the Congress and the Left ( Delhi riots and Nandigram pogroms come to mind).

f) Corruption in the Left parties – SNC Lavalin issue is a recent example.

We can go on and on.

The central issue is that under the present editor, the Hindu has lost the stature it had in the past. We remember the halcyon days when it was the beacon of free unbiased reporting during the Bofors issue.

Now the credibility and professionalism have been lost – it reads like a handout from the CPM’s office. In the process, the Hindu has only succeeded in misleading its readers, especially the young minds – and that hurts.

Please excuse me for intruding on your busy schedule.

I have also attached this letter as a Word file for your kind perusal -- I look forward to receiving your valuable comments.

Yours sincerely,

Jay Ravi

'Relaxed Atmosphere' in Tibet

A few days ago, Dirt Digger pointed out on this blog a news item from Xinhua about Tibet that spoke about N.Ram in the third person I quote a statement made therein:
“The reality is that Tibet is on the road of rapid economic development and the atmosphere there is relaxed, not tense at all,” he said [emphasis added].

Contrast that with this report in today’s New York Times:

…Now, the authorities have imposed an unofficial state of martial law on the vast highlands where ethnic Tibetans live, with thousands of troops occupying areas they fear could erupt in renewed rioting on a momentous anniversary next week. And Beijing is determined to keep foreigners from seeing the mass deployment.

…Tibetan regions, a sprawling, lightly populated swath of western China that measures about one-quarter of the country’s total territory, have become militarized zones. Sandbag outposts have been set up in the middle of towns, army convoys rumble along highways, and paramilitary officers search civilian cars. A curfew has been imposed on Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

“The Tibetan ethnic situation is very serious,” said a paramilitary officer after he stopped three foreigners on a snowy mountain road. “Tibetans are causing trouble. This is an extremely sensitive time.”

The young officer and his half-dozen colleagues at the checkpoint were members of the People’s Armed Police, the main Chinese paramilitary force. The officers said their unit was based in Beijing and had guarded the Bird’s Nest stadium during the Summer Olympics in August, but had been sent here last month. Their mission included keeping foreigners out of the area.

So this life under the military jackboot is the ‘relaxed’ atmosphere in Tibet that Mr.Ram is talking about. I am waiting for a refutation from the honorable Chief Editor about how the Western Press is utterly biased and only The Hindu speaks the (official) truth (with red blinkers) about how things are wonderful but for some mischief inspired by the West which, by the way, does not however exist except in their minds.

Confronting Maududi's Dogma

Praveen Swami usually reports facts about terrorism and the Islamist movement and he does it well. But he is usually careful to refrain from offering any policy prescriptions or advice. Of late, that has changed a little as he has been concluding his writings with a couple of sentences about the way to resolve the issue. In today’s op-ed ‘Mumbai, Mawdudi and the Mujahideen’, he concludes with the following words:

...a host of fugitive jihadists …are working to revive the IM’s campaign. India’s police and intelligence forces have an important role in preventing them from succeeding. But the real challenge involves politics, not policing: defeating Mawdudi’s ideas involves demonstrating that democratic struggles against communalism can succeed. Bar a few honourable exceptions, no politician appears either able or willing to take up this challenge.

If fighting communalism was all it took to confront Mawdudi, we would have had it really easy. Unfortunately, Maududi’s ideas have not achieved their dominant position in Islamist circles because of Indian communal politics. While a small but significant number of Indian muslims may have signed up to volunteer for the jihadist movement, the infrastructure that spawned and sustains it emerged from its own dynamic. The triumph of the ideology and its consequences including the jihadi organizations, training camps and violence all function with very limited contribution from Indian muslims. Communal politics may fuel rage and contribute volunteers to the effort – to that extent Swami is correct – but to argue that successfully combating communal politics will defeat Maududi’s political doctrine is to fatally underestimate its potency and the attractiveness of its teachings to the faithful.

Maududi’s arguments are not about communal justice nor is it merely a doctrine of hate-and-kill Hindus. In fact, Maududi himself, as far as I know, never advocated violence. His argument was that Islam is not merely a religion in the sense that religions are understood in the modern nation state but a complete code of life. And the role of the state ought to be not only to advocate the ideal (read Islamic) way of life but to enforce it. This proposition must be read in the historical context of Mughal rule which to many signifies the most successful experiment in Islamic triumphalism in South Asia. Aurangzeb Alamgir who is seen as the last great ruler of that empire is greatly revered by Islamists for his austerity, piety, strict interpretation and enforcement of Islamic tenets – his teachings are still followed as the textbook in some major schools such as the Dar-ul-Uloom-Haqqania madrassa. The caliphate that Islamists seek to resurrect in South Asia is therefore, in their view, merely a restoration of the lost glory of Islamic rule – a cause that is not only worthy of the ultimate sacrifice but also achievable in light of the past through the subjugation of what they see as an effete Hindu dominated society. As one can see, these are revolutionary ideas whose objective is to supplant the existing world order with a tyrannical alternative that commands obedience and subservience of the pagan faiths from whom it brooks no dissent. These ideas must be confronted for what they are and what they have to offer which means taking religious zealotry by its horns and neutralizing it. The medieval crusades, the Bolshevik and Maoist revolutions, the rise of Hitler and more recently, the victory of the Taliban all teach us that militant minorities often prevail over silent, ambivalent and vaccillating majorities. That means revolutionary ideas can only be confronted by equally passionate alternatives which in our case would amount to the notion of individual freedom and the articulation of alternative doctrines of a just society. Fighting communalism can only be a part of the struggle, not the whole.

Untimely attack on Lankan cricketers in Pak

A few hours back there was an attack on Sri Lankan Cricketers in Lahore. 6 players were injured.
One might remember this was the tour India was supposed to be part of. After the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, India withdrew and Sri Lanka in its anti-India efforts decided to magnanimously step in. The whole attempt to attack peaceful sportsmen and civilians is condemnable. However there are various levels of irony in this incident. One that while Sri Lanka is the midst of civil war, its cricketers thinking Pakistan of all places, would be safe were attacked in the bee's nest. Another is that all the claims of Pakistan that the Mumbai attacks were stage managed is laid to rest. It would be deeply interesting to see how Chindu attempts to paint the story here.

The Readers' Editor Writes on The Hindu's Coverage L-affaire Gopalaswamy

Today's opinion by the Readers' Editor is reasonably well written. It points out the one-sided coverage of the paper on the CEC v. EC controversy. 

Mr.Ram defends the one-sided coverage as 'value judgment' and having nothing to do with fairness. It is true that newspapers seldom entertain the entire range of views on any subject - at some point, the editor must decide what to publish and what to exclude - but it is stupid for a newspaper claiming to be more than a mouthpiece of a particular party to insist that value judgment has nothing to do with fairness. Where an alternative perspective is equally plausible as in this case and many eminent writers indeed made a well-argued case for a contrasting view, the liberal idea of viewpoint diversity and the compelling nature of counterarguments very much warranted their publication. To claim otherwise may be within the editor's discretion but it suggests an illiberal mindset and a cloistered worldview. If those indeed are the values the chief editor espouses, they reflect poorly on his newspaper.

The Reader's Editor says that he is told that the letters that appear in the paper represent a fair proportion of letters received. I have no statistics to disprove this but having carefully observed the sort of letters that get published, I am strongly inclined to look at such a claim as nothing short of facetious. The majority of published letters are laudatory and only the last one or two in a long list happen to be modestly critical. It is quite inconceivable that every editorial position always receives a favorable response in the very same proportion.

CPM, CITU clash; expect chindu to go silent

Unlike the ram sene's attack on a pub, this news will not make a splash. There won't be NDTV reporters at the place well ahead of the goons to report the event live on national television. Chindu will in all likelihood not even report this matter. So there wont be any need to editorialize and the matter may be considered closed.
CPI-M cadre burn down CITU office, angry CITU men attack mall
Activists of Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the labour wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Sunday attacked a mall here after their party office was set ablaze allegedly by some Marxist cadre, CITU members said.

Fwd: Tibetan monk 'shot' while on fire

this is the same place n.ram visited a few days ago and described it as heaven.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Xinhua Ram

** Tibetan monk 'shot' while on fire **
A Tibetan monk is shot after setting fire to himself during a protest against Beijing's rule, reports say.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7916544.stm >

Hollow praise in the third person, news or propaganda

Reading this article here Tibet on road of rapid uplift
reminds me of how high school used to be with friends spreading positive rumors about friends. I'm not sure of the smoke and mirrors with this style of reporting.

“People always asked why I went to Tibet again and again,” said Mr. Ram, attributing the visits to his intention to “do a reality check.”

Funny thing is its published in the Chindu from an article of Chin-hua about Chindu's own LiC! Surely one would've thunk Frontline would have some space to showcase out a detailed article.

Swat falls to the jehadis but Chindu chooses silence

On the outset, what I'm about to write is based on my look at the high level articles published on the Chindu in recent days about the handover of the Swat region of Pakistan to the jehadis. If there has been a detailed article other than quotes from the UPA Government and officials from other countries.
For those who have not been following this, the Swat valley was a tourist location (similar to Kashmir) and in a stroke of irony it was infiltrated by the Taliban who started to ring in their parallel government.
The Pak government tried to use its military might to control the situation.
However the situation went out of hand and the Pak government essentially had to hand over control of that region to the Taliban militants.
Essentially an elected democratic government has to yield power to a bunch of fanatic religious bigots who do not tolerate other religions and want to go back to the 7th century customs and traditions.
Compare this to the recent incidents with the Ram Sena and Valentine's day ruckus. The Chindu was all over this complaining about how the "Hindu-taliban" was sending the country back to stone age.
But when the Pakistani government essentially hands control over to the militants, there is not a peep to be heard from Chindu.
I am not sure who is the worse bigot the Taliban or Chindu.

Gopalaswami's Letter and Ram's Reply

I have been busy lately and apologize for not being able to respond to all the comments regarding my previous post. Regarding the CEC's letter and N.Ram's reply to it, a careful reading indicates several things.

1. In para 1, Gopalaswami explains that six months of the delay was because of Chawla. His statement is 'More than half the delay is explained by Mr. Gopalaswami’s keeping the BJP’s petition to himself between January 30 and July 20, 2008'. Does that mean that less than half (but perhaps nearly half) the delay is due to Chawla? Clearly, N.Ram is not denying the entire truth of the statement, only perhaps contesting it marginally.

2. Regarding para 2, he simply reiterates his view that the CEC's suo motu recommendation is unacceptable and therefore the CEC should not have not have entertained the BJP's complaint. But Ram does not argue that going by the CEC's view, his actions were not only acceptable but proper - after all, it makes no sense to have the EC in the room if the complaint is against him.

3. Ram claims that 'Mr. Gopalaswami’s version of Mr. Chawla’s stand in a 43-page counter affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in June 2006 is highly misleading'. Why is that? He says he quotes one sentence from the affidavit on the CEC’s recommendation being a condition precedent for the removal of an EC but not this clear assertion in page 17 of the affidavit: “I therefore submit that in terms of Art. 324(5) of the Constitution of India, the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner becomes relevant only in an instance where the appointing authority, i.e., the President (acting on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers) takes a decision to remove an Election Commissioner. I submit that, however, the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner is neither binding nor mandatory, definitely is not contemplated while considering the appointment of an Election Commissioner.” The issue being addressed here is whether the CEC's recommendation to remove an EC is 'binding or mandatory' for the President, a matter that becomes relevant only after the CEC has made his case. Note that the statement says nothing at all regarding the relevance of a reference from the President to the CEC before the inquiry is initiated which is the question before us. It is therefore Ram who is being misleading here.

4. Ram argues that other material suggest that Chawla does not necessarily share Ram Jethmalani's submission in the SC regarding the CEC's powers (he says that Jethmalani needs to explain or correct himself in view of Desai's observations - in other words, Jethmalani does not know anything about the constitution and is not qualified enough to talk about it!). The argument has its strengths but given that the SC has not laid down the law, it is not wrong for a constitutional authority to act upon what he considers to be a reasonable view (even if the SC eventually takes a contrary position) so long as it is done in good faith. The CEC's claim is just that when he says: "The very fact that many eminent jurists have taken a similar view goes to show that the existence of suo motu power is equally plausible." Ram does not address why Desai's view is so sacrosanct when alternative opinions are also perfectly plausible. Instead, he simply chooses to swear by it insisting that that indeed is the 'widely accepted view of constitutional experts'. I suppose that list of experts does not include Soli Sorabjee, Ramaswamy Iyer or Vivek Reddy. Even Fali Nariman is not as categorical as he has been made out to be.

5. Ram is however right on one thing - the two judge bench which wrote the August, 2007 order explicitly stated that it was not addressing the substantive questions at all. Given this fact, the sentence that Gopalaswami quotes in para 5 must be understood as summarizing Jethmalani's views and not as the Court's own position (sadly, courts often do not use inverted commas or put headings when they are summarizing the arguments of one side).

Solution to terror in Mumbai, gift Pakistan aid

In the cult classic 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' actor turned terror supporter Sanjay Dutt in the protagonist's role gets this brainwave to praise his enemies and give them gifts. That worked well in movies. Now Chindu's resident genius and Wonder boy Siddarth Varadarajan claims India should now think of giving Pakistan sops to help it fight a war on terror.
His rationale being,

After expecting the worst, New Delhi today finds itself having to fashion a response to a Pakistani investigative effort that the entire world is likely to judge as serious and effective.

He then goes on to advice the UPA Government,

In order for this positive turn to be consolidated, the Manmohan Singh government should resist the temptation to gloat or to pick quick holes in what the Pakistani investigation into Mumbai has revealed.

Therefore in conclusion he deems that the Indian Government should praise the Pakistanis and give them sops for their effort.

Now that Pakistan has demonstrated more than a modest measure of cooperation, India will have to also evaluate the carrots, if any, it is prepared to offer to ensure the progress that has been made continues, and the planners of Mumbai are brought to book.

First off, who the f*ck cares what the world thinks. This problem has affected India most of all. There is more than circumstantial evidence to prove the involvement of Pakistan and its crony organizations like LeT and others. The more the investigation's report comes out, Pakistan appears even more negligent and blind to this cancer. Every attempt in the past by India to give out the Olive branch has been rebuffed or leveraged against it by Pakistan. So why should India reach out the olive branch again?
Of course a lot of bleeding heart liberals like Mr. Varadarajan would deem that Pakistan has turned over a new leaf. I disagree, there is still lack of details from the investigation from Pakistan(Source:Yahoo News)with details like

Malik said the suspects also used a digital teleconferencing system whose service provider is based in Houston, Texas, while a satellite phone used by the attackers was issued in a "Middle Eastern country," he said, giving no more details.

Let us say we were running a bank, someone comes in and breaks a few windows. We know the crooks and ask their landlord to help us catch them.
The landlord decides to dilly dally first stating the crooks don't live in his building, then keeps frequently changing his tune. Now there is an person who says, given the credibility of the landlord's information, the bank should give him a loan. What would the bank do? Probably fire him and recommend psychological analysis. That is what needs to be done in this case as well.

Constitutionality of the CEC's Recommendation

There has been considerable discussion in The Hindu regarding N.Gopalaswami’s recommendation to the President to remove EC Navin Chawla. As anyone who has been reading the newspaper in recent days knows, the Chief Editor N.Ram who broke the story has since then been persistently canvassing his view regarding the illegality of Gopalaswami’s move. Not only was this point made in several news items but it was repeated in an editorial. Additionally, Ashok Desai’s opinion to the former CEC B.B.Tandon was published on its pages as well as that of retired Justice S.Mohan’s opinion yesterday. The consistent point of all these opinions has been that the CEC has no authority to make a suo motu recommendation and must await a recommendation from the President seeking the removal of the EC before he is entitled to act.

The trouble with this claim is that it has no obvious basis in either the history, text or intent of Art.324(5) of the constitution. I suggest to all the readers to read carefully both Desai’s opinion and Justice Mohan’s opinion wherein they quote directly from the Supreme court judgments first before pronouncing their own views. The point to note here is that their common inference does not at all follow from the passages they cite.

All these commentators and Ram himself are however entitled to their views and to canvass for the same in the op-ed pages. What I would have appreciated though in light of these facts is a tad of modesty. While Fali Nariman was reported by The Hindu to have supported this line of reasoning, he was at least honest enough to admit that this is a grey zone in the law that remains to be clarified by the Supreme Court. I saw no such admission of even a remnant of doubt in Ram’s opinion which is what makes his dubious assertions all the more brazen.

There has been a good discussion on LawandOtherThings regarding this question. Read Vivek Reddy’s post as well as Sorabjee’s op-ed in IE which make a more reasonable case on this score. My own view is somewhat similar although I would not go as far as to assert the EC’s guilt nor do I entirely agree that President ought to be generally bound by the CEC’s recommendation unless there are good reasons to do otherwise. Still, I believe that the provision is best interpreted to mean what it says and no more – the CEC is entitled to act on any complaint or no complaint at all, there being no bar as to when he/she might recommend removal of an EC. A reference from the President ought to be treated in the same way as a complaint from a political party but even in the absence of either, an unethical act or breach of duties or obligations by the EC is sufficient cause for the CEC to initiate an inquiry suo motu and recommend action on that basis to the President.

Also read Manoj Mitta’s interesting post wherein he cites how Navin Chawla reversed his views regarding this legal question when it no longer suited his purpose.

Fwd: Holier Than Xinhua

a demonstration of chindu's loyalty towards its fatherland.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Arun

 ADB: India shows resilience amid economic downturn

   MANILA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- India has shown resilience amid the global economic downturn, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Saturday.
 
    The global economies have seen a downturn, which may become even deeper, and the recovery will take longer than earlier expected, but India's economy was expected to grow at around 7 percent in 2008, the Manila-based bank said in a press release, quoting ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda.
 
    "Although lower than last year's 9-percent growth, this is nonetheless an impressive growth rate and a remarkable demonstration of India's resilience," said Kuroda, who also called for a "global solution" for the global financial crisis.
 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/07/content_10779113.htm
 

---

Global crisis to hit China more than India: ADB

7 Feb 2009,  PTI

NEW DELHI: Multilateral lending agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Saturday said that the impact of global financial meltdown will be much more on China than India as the Chinese economy is heavily dependent on exports.
 
"The extent of slowdown in China is much bigger than India because Chinese economy is more dependent on exports than Indian economy," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said in an interview to a news channel, adding that both China and India were not in recession. 
 
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Indicators/Global_crisis_to_hit_China_more_than_India_ADB/articleshow/4092979.cms

---

Silence
 
Chindu is holier than Xinhua
 
http://www.hinduonnet.com/
 

---

IE demonising RSS and Hindus

Two posts from IE which have URL links with text that contradicts the main article. Now the media outlets are competing against one another in demonizing Hindus.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rss-is-the-ravana-with-many-faces.../415688//
Sriram Sene not part of Sangh: K’taka CM

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/hindu-terrorists-strike-again/418392/
Hindu activists attack missionary school

Sonia sayeth..

In what seems to be a regular occurrence Ms. Maino continued her series of making obvious but meaningless statements. In a speech in Dadra and Nagar Haveli she vowed to defeat terrorism. Can you do it  Ms. Maino?
The victims of the Mumbai attacks are still waiting.

India’s identity is that all religions and communities co-exist in harmony. Our neighbour wants to weaken this strength of ours but they do not know that we can give a befitting reply to their every design

So far the only reply we have given is boring statements through TV interviews. If our solution is to kill them by boredom then we are in for a long wait.

Fwd: Chinese earthquake may have been man-made, say scientists

the chinese have been messing with nature in a rather disconcerting manner. around 90% of groundwater and 70% of waterways is contaminated. more than 10% of arable land has been destroyed. about 1/3rd of china is desert and the rate of desertification is alarming. and now the earthquakes arising out of massive dams. god save the chinese from china.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish 

Chinese earthquake may have been man-made, say scientists The 511ft-high Zipingpu dam holds 315 million tonnes of water and lies just 550 yards from the fault line, and three miles from the epicentre, of the Sichuan earthquake. Now scientists in China and the United States believe the weight of water, and the effect of it penetrating into the rock, could have affected the pressure on the fault line underneath, possibly unleashing a chain of ruptures that led to the quake. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4434400/Chinese-earthquake-may-have-been-man-made-say-scientists.html

Fwd: Mangalore Pub Attach: NCW Blames Media

can someone gag the media, please. look at what the ghoul of calcutta did to the city's image with the help of foreign media. or how the elm has already done irreparable damage to gujarat. karnataka better watch out.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Girish

"Media hype has spoilt Karnataka's image"  MANGALORE: The "disproportionate media hype" over the January 24 pub attack here has tarnished the image of Karnataka, member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) Nirmala Venkatesh has said. "People of Karnataka are a peace-loving lot. This incident makes it seem as if that is not the case," she said. Ms. Venkatesh was visiting the city as part of a one-member inquiry commission set up by the NCW to submit a report on the attack on women by Sri Ram Sene members. In an interaction with the media, Ms Venkatesh remained non-committal about the alleged role of Hindutva outfit in the attacks. Asked if she would recommend a ban on Sri Rama Sene, she said, "We will definitely consider that [banning] under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)." A little later she, however, said, "We are not after this group. Why should we concentrate on groups? We must focus on the mindset of men who commit such acts." http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/31/stories/2009013154371300.htm

Contrary to all available evidence, chindu blames the victim

Chindu indulging in the usual secular game of blaming the victim as the aggressor. This time, the victim is not just a second-class Hindu citizen but an irritant to the dynasty. On the other hand, Navin Chawla is a Congress sycophant and has never been shy of displaying his loyalty, much like Chindu.

Gopalaswami’s claims on timing of missive are seriously misleading

A careful, item-by-item verification by The Hindu of the CEC’s claims on what happened within the Election Commission between January 30, 2008 and January 12, 2009 reveals that they are seriously misleading.
The documentary record shows that he relentlessly hounded an Election Commissioner...

Read anything but the chindu to get the true picture.

Arun points out the following articles on Rediff:

Chawla's loo breaks led to Congress phone calls: CEC

In the report to the President, the CEC notes that whenever the full bench meeting was seized of an issue, Chawla will make an excuse of going to the washroom. And soon thereafter, invariably, the CEC would get phone calls from top Congress functionaries even as the meeting was in progress.

Unfair to impute motives to CEC
Chawla was also found to have exercised 'extra-statutory control in jail matters', including 'the treatment of detenues'. Not confining himself to dictating to his boss as to the persons to be arrested, he also prescribed how they were to be treated in prison. For instance, he was for constructing special cells with asbestos roofs to 'bake' certain prisoners. Kishan Chand pathetically admitted to Justice Shah that he was not a free agent and Chawla used to receive instructions directly from Sanjay Gandhi and he (Kishan Chand) came into the picture only to the extent that he was required to fulfill some technical formalities.

Daily Pioneer has gone on to suggest Why Chawla must go.