When Liars and Hypocrites get awards- LiC gets KR Narayanan award

Thanks to reader Sudhir for pointing this out.
It pains me to see journalism awards being handed out to petty hypocrites and liars. Like the Indian movie scene where deserving portrayals rarely get awards, the KR Narayanan award was given to Hon. LiC.

Justice K. Narayana Kurup, former acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, said Mr. Ram had been selected for the honour in view of his excellence in journalism. “It is for highlighting the problems of the ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka through a series of articles, fostering better relations between India and China, and for sensitising the readers of The Hindu to the hazards of climate change and global warming,”

Lets look at the reasons:

• Problems of ethnic Tamils - LiC sucked up to Lankan Prez and modern Hitler, skipped most of the problems until the war was over.
• Fostering relations between India and China - If sucking up to one's master (China) and defending them to the level of treason against one's nation is called "fostering better relations".
• Hazards of climate change - If publishing a few articles from the Guardian is called "senstising the readers to the hazards of climate change"

This award spits at the work done by former President KR Narayanan and disrespects his integrity to social and political life by giving it to a hypocrite.

Celebrating Buddha's decade cHindu style

All over the nation the Communists have been routed. The vaunted Third Front which was in the headlines during the N-deal brouhaha a year back is sidelined. In Kerala the CPM lead front grows thinner. In West Bengal, the Congress with Mao-Mata has gained control of the MP's for the first time in decades.
Amidst the ruins, cHindu has decided to tout the "accomplishments" of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. This blog has been fair to Buddha who is really a decent leader on a bad party, kind of like PV Narasimha Rao's Congress.
But as a CM he is responsible for his Govt. not just individual accomplishments. cHindu in this article has composed the paens in the vein of a Ganashakti writer singing the tunes of the Red brigade.

“There is no looking back, the only way is the one forward,” has been his refrain over the years. Mr. Bhattacharjee stays on track, apparently cool and stoic, while all around him, the sound and fury of political enemies and detractors grows fiercer by the day.

cHindu goes on to blame many of the failures of the Buddha lead CPM govt. to Mao-Mata and Congress, conveniently ignoring that CPM has lead that state for 30+ years and has little to show as accomplishments other than running the state to the ground.
In a time when areas of Bengal are in the throes of poverty and lawlessness, districts under threat of the Maoists, Mr. Buddhadeb is:

holding film festivals (the Kolkata Film Festival on which he has always been keen will be from November 10 to 17) at a time when the State is being buffeted by inter-party clashes

Simple naivete or calculated dhimmitude?

In most alien invasion movies one would see the locals (barring the smart heroes) fall into 2 broad categories; the ones who look up to the aliens as saviors (Independence day etc.) to the ones where a group of leaders and intellectuals accept the inevitable and agree to dhimmitude ala the X-Files and agree to the colonization for exchange of power in the new setup.
Now cHindu lead by fearless leader LiC and Sidd V decide that India's approach of kissing up to its Northerly neighbor is the best approach. They praise MMS' attitude of continuing dialogue while not bringing up contentious issues like the Karakoram highway or Arunachal or Tibet as it does not put the Chinese in the spot.

Mr. Ravi’s briefing points avoided any specific mention of contentious issues. “The Prime Minister stressed that neither side should let our differences act as an impediment to the growth of functional cooperation between the two countries,” he quoted Dr. Singh as saying. He said Premier Wen “concurred … that issues that may arise in the course of our bilateral relations should be properly handled through discussions and they should not become an impediment in the development of our friendly relations.”

Guess this picture says a lot ...
All in all everything in favor of China. Not concessions from the Chinese, no acceptance of their aggression as we don't want them to get angry and LiC is happy that his masters are satisfied.

Superman MMS praised for standing up to evil China empire

Thanks to Sudhir for pointing this out. cHindu has given freedom to VK Krishna Iyer to print whatever nonsense comes into his mind. For example he thinks MMS' has stood up to China:

Respected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: This letter comes to you from a patriot in far-off Kochi to a statesman Prime Minister who must vindicate the dignity and values of Bharat Mahan. This nation cannot tolerate anyone questioning your right to every inch of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh. You are our pride and our power, and ‘We, the People of India’, the least and the fallen, are with you. I salute you for your firm stand. No China has any right to protest against Manmohan entering the territory of Arunachal Pradesh. I salute you.

Wow ! Even MMS would be shocked to read that he had stood up to China. Probably sent a bouquet over to VK's home in Kochi :)

cHindu hypocrisy on handling naxalite problem in WB and other parts of the country

From our reader Xinhua Ram exposing the double standards by Leftist media on the naxalite problem, juxtaposing similar problems, but different analysis simply because one happened in a state where the Left is in power:
How do you solve the Naxalite problem? Do nothing. Just protect the CPI(M) cadres!

Step 1: Keep out the armed forces

... every instance of unjust use of violence, including sponsored vigilantism of the Salwa Judum kind, erodes the state’s credibility, legitimacy, and authority. It is a betrayal of the trust reposed in it by the people. Naxalites, and indeed armed extremists of all hues, thrive by provoking state violence and inviting repression not just on themselves but on the civilian population as a whole. The Indian state must not lose sight of the long-term goals of addressing social and economic inequities, and achieving development targets.

Step 2: Help resolve Lalgarh crisis

..politically inspired violence seeks the cover of socio-economic grievances. Maoist outlaws who went on the rampage in the Lalgarh area of West Midnapore district of West Bengal, carrying out murderous attacks on workers of the ruling CPI(M) and destroying their houses and party offices, were looking to settle political scores in the guise of protesting ‘police atrocities.’ Using the neighbouring State of Jharkhand as the base, they established a reign of terror and drove out security personnel and CPI(M) workers and sympathisers.

cHindu's solution to Maoist violence. Do nothing.

The master of obvious, LiC states the "intelligent" solution to India's Maoist problems. Keep the Army out and let the bureaucrats and state governments handle the problem. cHindu ignores the obvious root cause to the problem the tacit support by the communist regimes and the Left intelligentsia to the Maoist terrorists.
Stating obvious solutions like the one below does not really help in any way.

Providing social opportunity, tackling unemployment, and ensuring sustainable livelihoods are the ways to deal with extremist organisations that seek to alienate the people from the state by taking up these very same issues. The last thing democratic India needs is a spiral of violence, counter-violence, repression, and further extremist provocations.

Why not just print money and drop it into the Naxal strongholds and ask them to give up?

Relevancy of title to the article

The creation of a title to an written article is an art. The writer is forced to summarize what he has written in a few words to convey the overall theme but also interest the audience to bite. In a pure metaphorical sense it is the bait to reel in the fish (something this writer strugges with). The Chindu does a reasonably good picking its titles, mostly safe and bland but gives the reader a reasonable sense of what is contained within.
However a recent article had an interesting title, War for the soul of Islam in India by Praveen Swami. The summary beneath the title detailed that Islamic leaders have rejected terrorism and the terrorist remain outside the fringe.

Deoband’s rejection of the jihad will do nothing to persuade violent Islamists to end their campaign. It has made clear, though, that jihadists enjoy no support except at the polar fringes of Islam in India.

While this seems a logical extension to Khare's earlier rant, this article meanders into historical anecdotes of how the Deoband was created to the history of mushrooming of madrassas in Pakistan and finally
meanders into a discussion on Islam and modernity. The article does not present any cogent arguments or evidence on how the jihadists remain on the fringes but rather delves into irrelevant history.
The disturbing information presented in this article is the repeat of a statement by Maulana Khalid Rasheed on the challenges to Indian muslims,

India’s Muslims have faced three critical challenges. The first was Partition itself, which communalists leveraged to coerce those Muslims who chose to live in India. Second came the demolition of the Babri Masjid, which represented a full-blown assault on the economic and political future of our community.” “Now,” says Mr. Rasheed, “terrorism poses a third make-or-break threat”.

This makes little sense.
After the partition if the communalists were so powerful how come the Congress ran the Central and most of the state governments for about 40+ years?
Why is that Babri Masjid destruction blamed for every issue?
Why does Chindu take everything said by these so called Islamic leaders at face value, but question any word said by people of certain other sections of society?
The poor summarization by Chindu coupled with such illogical articles often does not help put forward any useful thoughts towards the resolution. Praveen Swami has proved that he's the political irrelevant equal of Judge Iyer.

LiC rants on intolerance

Recently there were a couple of incidents where the members of media were attacked by goons and activists. LiC having experienced some of the medicine first hand courtesy of JJ few years back decides to rant against the atmosphere of intolerance.

Similarly, the proper course for those activists who vandalised the residence of Loksatta’s Kumar Ketkar was to write ‘Letters to the Editor’ disagreeing with the newspaper’s stance.

I'm sure there are thousands of readers of Chindu whose letters to the Editor were not published simply because the newspaper felt those opinions ran counter to the newspapers arguments. How about giving a few of those readers a chance to express their opinions before preaching a course of action to the goons?
Also does LiC know for a fact that those activists did not write to the editor or talk to him politely before engaging in vandalism? Does anyone think that Mr.Sherlock Ram would've done his due diligence?

Newspapers have a right — indeed also a duty — to express themselves strongly and unequivocally on matters of public interest. They are not expected to stake out positions that please those in political life, those in power, or even those who constitute the majority. Intolerance against the written word is commonly justified in this country by invoking hurt sentiment.

This statement defines what a newspaper should and must be. Unfortunately this is a case of a quack claiming to be a registered physician just by reading the hippocratic oath. There have been numerous incidents over the recent past, many covered in detail by the writers of this blog, where Chindu has written articles with a serious lack of journalistic integrity. Hence for LiC to preach from his mountain in Anna Salai that newspapers should talk about the common man's interest is laughable.
The conclusion deserves some thought,

The sorry truth is that hurt sentiment in this country has become a cynical justification for those who want to bend the law or to take it into their own hands.

I would like to ask a simple question. There have been numerous incidents where Communists have taken the law into their hands (Nandigram, Kerala, Tripura, New Delhi the list goes on) and attacked common civilians, other party activists and even bureaucrats.
Where is LiC and Chindu's sense of duty towards the common man when these incidents happened?

Lets wait until the next terrorist bomb explodes.

The Chindu is often a picture of unintentional comedy. It charges windmills, tries to rail against phantoms of its imagination and more often than not makes a big fool out of itself. One of the key writers who ensures time and again that the Chindu appear like a dunce to the world is the Hon. Harish Khare. Readers of this blog know Harish and his pompous grandstanding ways filled with apathy and bigotry. Recently leaders of the Islamic community in Delhi decided to condemn terrorism by what else but reading out another pointless but laughable fatwa. (The concept of fatwa's and its relevance in modern society is another topic for discussion).
Harish takes this as an occasion to filibuster the audience with his standard litany of complaints against everyone and sundry. He starts of ranting against the BJP who happened to hold their national conference a day after the Deoband fatwas,

and the party found itself welcoming the fatwa. L.K. Advani even felt it expedient to exhort his party to reach out to Muslims.

Then he goes on to establish the Darul Uloom Deoband as the most respected Islamic seminary. But he does not care to define respected. By all rational standards, the institution is a Madrassa and has links to some of the recent terror attacks around the world including the Taliban. Given that they have given no indication of any internal cleansing this statement seems quite hollow. Check out the Deoband's website for more details including a one-page vitriolic article against Christianity.
Harish then goes on to group the canny terrorists, the communal Sangh Parivar, the imperialistic US, incompetent UPA Government for all the problems Indian Muslims are facing today.

With some help from a bumbling Bush administration, the terrorists have succeeded in their game plan: of generating irrational fears and a sense of insecurity among the majority community, and of invoking ham-handed administrative response from incorrigibly incompetent police personnel to create resentment, which in turn is used to find potential recruits in Muslim bastis and kasbas.

Isn't the responsibility of every active citizen to inform the law and order officials any information about potential terror activities? He then shifts his attention to the rapt reader his grand plan for how the Muslim leaders could integrate their flock into the mainstream. He talks about leaving the traditional secular camp (aka Congress) to better alternatives. Wonder who that could be? (If not the communal NDA, incompetent Congress then who?)
To Harish's credit he does make a couple of good points about how Muslims should avoid international distractions and focus on domestic issues. He also points out the obvious fact that Muslims should reject the oil money from the Sheiks. However the larger fault is that he paints Muslims as victims and giving them a free chit to escape what has happened over the last few decades with stupid statements like these,

The rest of India needs to summon responsible politics to help the Muslim discover the joys of harmonious co-existence.

Another irresponsible quote blaming the media is,

Admittedly, the media and other public opinion forums are dominated by non-Muslim personnel; but that need not be a discouragement to correcting institutionalised biases in an unrepresentative media profession.

Does he not read the "secular" media which from time to time fills the airwaves with pro-minority news?
There are several questions left unanswered as to how the religion should transform to adapt to a modern democracy and adopt a uniform policy towards other religions and women.
There are several communities which have similar social and economic conditions and are trying to adapt and come into the mainstream. Why is it that one specific community should be given a free pass?

Noble thoughts but wrong conclusions -IIT Syndrome

Quite often Chindu allows great pieces in its Sunday Open Page or the Sunday Magazine. While the context is often relevant and the train of thought is interesting, the conclusions drawn and evidence given in support don't really add up. Case in point, the recent article on the IIT syndrome by Mohammed Issam Siddique. The writer makes a simple argument that IIT's are elite institutions but the applicants outnumber the seats by a factor of 100. Given the inherent struggle and competition to enter into these institutions and the obvious career benefits the perspective of those involved often focuses only on the financial aspects. The author wants the IITs to

instead should focus on developing innovative ideas and products which can take the world forward.

Great ideals, but wrong insight on the issue. The author decides to blame a few people for the morass, the children and their parents for being petty and money minded and implicitly blaming imperialistic forces,

Secure because the lads coming out of such prestigious institutions are obviously going to be kidnapped by firms ready to drape them in bundles of dollars.

Mr. Siddique forgets that the students coming out have something called as freedom of choice. No one is putting a gun to their head to choose a company. Another statement with little logic is,

The IITs instead should focus on developing innovative ideas and products which can take the world forward. Rather than priding ourselves on high paid jobs, we should encourage income generating ideas. We need entrepreneurs who are daring enough to show the world the new way.

Some of the most innovative minds in the world today have been graduates of the IIT and have lead in the creation of the cutting edge technologies and innovations from the Pentium chip to the Windows operating system to the Java language to microfinancing, naval architecture, communication advancements and defense operations. The list is incredibly long and can clearly negate the article's specious argument.
There are poorly structured arguments like the below which indicate poor writing style,

And coaching centres are no way to get into such places. Only pure brilliance and unfettered dedication will let you survive inside the IITs.

The booming economy in most sectors has ensured that the pay scales of those coming out of other institutions are on the same scale of those coming out of the IITs. There are several options beyond the IIT's than it were say 15 years ago. While the students, parents and coaching centers can be accused of focusing on financial benefits, should the government not be blamed for not setting up more institutions or allowing private groups to setup institutions of similar standards?
The Chindu prided itself of writing quality editorials with structured arguments but upon reading this editorial one can see how far the apple has fallen from the tree.

Chindu's covert distortion of news coverage

This news link was provided by an anonymous reader.
Madame Sonia on her yatra across the native heathens of WB to drum up support for the panchayat elections hit the nail on the head when she said,

It is easy to criticise the Centre, but it is imperative that the State governments fulfil their responsibilities

The article can be read here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/29/stories/2008042962210100.htm
This is a known truth that the CPM government in its quest for Marxist utopia has recreated Dante's hell on earth in West Bengal and Kerala. Now when Madame Sonia of all people decides to stick the fork, Chindu decides to report the news with a twist.
Sonia questions why the state of minorities in WB was not improved?

introspect why after 30 years [of the Left being] in power the State is lagging behind when it comes to improving the condition of the minorities.

This is where Chindu cheats and Marcus Dam decides to covertly distort the news by not reporting it but referencing the Sachar Committee report just to cover the CPM.

The Sachar Committee presented the true picture of Muslims and their lot “is not the handiwork of any political party.”

Sonia's important statement which was edited out maliciously by Chindu was

“It’s unfortunate that the condition of the minorities has not improved even though the CPI(M) been in power for the past 30 years,” Sonia said.

The responsibility of the newspaper is to report the facts as is. India being a democractic country Madame Sonia as a leader can make a statement. If the CPM were confident of their achievements they would brush it off. However like vampires who are scared of the light, Chindu decides to quote the Sachar Committee report which by itself was created simply to cater to the minority votebanks.
Thanks to our readers these cheap tricks by Chindu cannot fool all readers.

Charging at windmills

India and China have growing energy problems. With rapid growth, the infrastructure needs grow rapidly and often with the global competition for fossil fuel, it makes meeting the needs difficult. China has taken a different approach by bartering with tin pot dictatorships like the Sudan. India has been chasing the pipe dream of getting access to Turkmenistan's vast gas resources and guess what by laying a pipeline through Afghanistan. Why was there no shortcut via Iraq?
The Chindu wags its tail in glee at the Government's blind optimism and cautions the UPA Govt. not to forget the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/28/stories/2008042851461000.htm
Last the people in the world heard, there was a war going on in Afghanistan. Recently the Afghanistan Government was forced to run from a public function when it was targeted by Al Qaeda operatives. There have been numerous kidnappings of workers belonging to multinational companies involved in the rebuilding projects in Afghanistan. How exactly is the UPA Government going to lay the pipelines? Perhaps assemble it in India and drop it over Afghanistan like a Lego toy?
Of course any thought that Pakistan can exert political pressure on India by controlling the pipeline is swept under the rug, by Chindu's statement.

A section of the Indian establishment fears that Islamabad will use India’s dependence on the Pakistan route for importing gas as a lever to exert political pressure. Such fears ignore the positive experience of other regions of the world, notably Europe, in sourcing gas through pipelines; and indeed the success of the Indus Water Treaty between the two South Asian neighbours.

I understand that to get energy, given the current world situation, some deals have to be struck with unscrupulous characters. Is it illogical to think that the deals have to be struck with countries who have a vested interest in India's failure?

Divorced from realities

The price rise in agricultural commodities is a world wide phenomenon and with the lack of proactive steps the situation promises to get worse. There are many causes which have added up but still the world's leading economists have struggled to pinpoint the root cause of this issue. However our beloved comrades have found the cause of the issue in India...its the Manmohan Singh led UPA government.
The article is on the Chindu getting front page, (with a snapshot of the magnificent dirty dozen :))
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/20/stories/2008042057630100.htm
The photo of the protesters is shown here,

The causes of the issue as identified by the CPM and its pals are nowhere close to what the real experts in the field state. Mr.Karat in his infinite wisdom states,

the government should ban futures trading in all essential commodities, withdraw all Bills allowing foreign direct investment in the commodities market, universalise the Public Distribution System, roll back the oil price hike, strengthen the essential commodities law and change the taxation structure of petroleum products.

Surprisingly there were a couple of the saner minds to be found joining these chumps. I was surprised to see N.Chandrababu Naidu with the CPM ( isn't the CPM supporting the Congress which has formed the govt. both in the Center and AP) and columnist M.J.Akbar one of the more rational writers from papers like TOI.
I guess desperate times bring in strange pairings together.

Kettle calling the pot black

I'm in awe that the day would come when 'The Hindu' would dare point fingers at someone to say that they are sycophants. Are you kidding me?
The Political pundit, Mr. Harish Khare speaketh that Mr.Arjun Singh has been disavowed by the Congress for making statements that Rahul Gandhi should be made PM. Now the statement itself is controversial and in some ways stupid, but it would be ignorance to deny that Mama Sonia would not have any grandiose thoughts of her son taking over the throne left by her husband.
Anyways Mr.Khare's article can be read in its entirety here,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/16/stories/2008041660801200.htm
So the story goes thus, Arjun Singh in one of his moments to grab the spotlight decides to speak an open secret that Rahul Gandhi should be considered for PM. Nothing wrong with that, when Manmohan Singh and Gujral can become the PM without facing a public election, whats to prevent Rahul or Rajiv's Mini-me from seeking the crown.

Thing is the elections are a year away and such statements will hurt potential partners from coming to the Congress. This the Congress high command or Sonia will not allow. This Shakespearean tragi-comedy has many ironies here namely,
1. Jayanthi Natarajan is the grand daughter of Bakthavathsalam and comes from a lineage of sycophants to the Gandhi-Nehru family if one were to read their public statements in the past. (Thanks for correction Thyagarajan)
In fact Rajiv Gandhi died when he was to address an election rally in support of the Congress candidate Maragatham Chandrasekhar. If you notice the videos leading up to the assassination of Rajiv you would notice that Jayanthi and Maragatham were close to Rajiv when he got out of the car, but mysteriously vanished when he went to talk to the hoi polloi. Conspiracy theories anyone?
2. Harish Khare states,

what Mr. Singh did amounted to undermining the image Ms. Gandhi has assiduously built as party chief: that she does not crowd the Prime Minister out of his constitutional domain

I'm sure there are a hundred examples of how Mr.Singh was hindered from doing his Constitution bound duties by the machinations of Mama Sonia.
3. Harish then goes on give examples of how Arjun Singh had torpedoed Congress Governments and the Congress Party in the past. However what he fails to explain is how could a person in such a position have survived those moves without the backing of someone powerful?
4. The general picture painted by Mr.Khare that Mr. Singh is the only sycophant and there are no others in the Congress. That theory is blown out of the water by anyone who attends or walks past a Congress meeting or even views a Congress poster. You would see the pictures (in decreasing sizes) of Sonia, then the local head, then the representative (MP or MLA) and finally Manmohan Singh.

5. Finally, Mr.Khare decides to conclude

The public rebuke to unalloyed sycophancy seems to send out a new kind of political message.

But Mr.Khare, you must forget the old saying that people in glass houses should not throw stones. Likewise the Hindu which is blatant supporter and panders to the ideologies of the CPM, China and few other special interest groups should not be advising anyone of sycophancy without getting its own house in order.

Defending true criminals

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

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

How many of these young muslims are there?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Charging against windmills

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

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

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

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

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

Viva la Revolucion` CPI ishtyle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dharamsala is a beehive of intelligence operatives.

or this,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hate in the City of Joy

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

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

The smart editing is in 2 places,

they [the government] constantly pressured me

and

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

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

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

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

Hopefully that should clarify and fill in the missing pieces.

Ram gives Harish a run for his money

Ram and Harish are falling over each other to please Madam Maino. So far, we all thought the Chief Congress sycophant at Kasthuri building was Harish Khare. But Ram begs to differ. To prove his point, he has come up with a typical - leftish (read stupid)- editorial that is sure to give Harish sleepless nights..

This gem towards the end of the editorial requires special attention:

Ms Gandhi’s commitment to secularism and social democracy and her political skills are not in question. After all, she put in place the 2004 winning combination

Let us explore this "commitment to secularism".

Gordhan Zadaphia, Home Minister during the 2002 riots is , according to the secular press, a communal, divisive, bigot. Guess what happened in 2007? Let me quote Chindu's super intelligent Vidya Subrahmaniam

In 2007, Mr. Zadaphia’s nominee and Congress candidate, Dhirubhai Dudhwala lost to the BJP

The Congress can give as many tickets to ex-BJP members and still remain a secular party and Chindu wouldn't even let us question the secular credentials of Madam Maino. Had the same members not deserted the BJP, they would not have qulaified for the secular certificate from the likes of Chindu.

This has been a legacy for the Congress and its coterie of pseudo seculars. The moment a person walks out of the saffron camp, he/she is secular. Take the case of the DMK. Having enjoyed power at the centre from 1999-2004 and having saved itself from Jayalalithaa's onslaught by running a parallel govt from New Delhi, it coolly walked out of the NDA days after cremating Murasoli Maran with State honours. The reason given, among the many given by its chief, was that it walked out in protest against the minority persecution in Gujarat in 2002. This would have made even the Left lunatics gasp for breath! It walked out in 2004 against something that "allegedly" (Chindu style) happened in 2002. Yet, the Congress and the Left would have no problems in accepting the DMK to its fold and endorsing its secular credentials. They formed the DPA in 2006 which included the The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) whose "secular" credentials need no elaboration. As a bonus you get several caste based outfits like the PMK. Yet this outfit sans the BJP is supremely secular. Never mind the fact that many of its constituents openly target the Brahmins in the State and shamelessly make overtures to certain other dominant political castes like the Thevars, Nadars and the Vanniyars making a mockery of the very concept of secularism.

According to Ram, despite these glaring inconsistencies, Sonia's secular credentials should not be questioned.

The other point that he raised in the Editorial was :

She(Sonia) put in place the 2004 winning combination.

To term the 2004 combination "a winning" combination is demagoguery at its worst. The post election combination cobbled together is nothing but a shameless marriage of convenience. The Left and the congress fought tooth and nail in Kerala , WB and the Left's pocket boroughs in the North East. In Kerala, the Congress drew a blank. How can the Left, which ensured Congress's defeat in all 20 seats in Kerala by campaigning against the Congress's policies, join hands with the very same party at the centre? Is this not a fraud on the people of Kerala? Worse, the very CPIM that cut the Congress's throat in Kerala, were (and still are) allies in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Not content with this , Chindu gives this opportunistic association an extra gloss by terming this 'a winning combination' .


http://www.indian-elections.com/resultsupdate/
http://specials.rediff.com/election/poll04results.htm

The seat matrix after the 2004 Elections was :

BJP+ 185
INC+ 220
Others 137

The Congress was a full 52 seats short of majority and Ram still has the guts to call this a 'winning' combination.

What makes this claim even more laughable is attributing this "victory" to Madam Maino's "helmswomanship".

Under Madam Maino, the Congress won 145 seats against the BJP's 138 - a mere 7 seats more. Yet, the media went into a frenzy hailing the coming of age of Madam Maino.

http://www.eci.gov.in/StatisticalReports/LS_1996/Vol_I_LS_96.pdf

In 1996, the Congress fought the elections under a gentleman called Sitaram Kesari. As with other non-Gandhi Congress Presidents, he has been erased from public memory. Under Kesari, the Congress won 28.8% of the votes and 140 seats. The party leaders were furious and unceremoniously threw him out blaming his "leadership failure" for the debacle.

In 2004, the Congress won 26.21% of the votes (in 1999, it won 28.3% of the votes) which translated to 145 seats. There has been a systematic erosion in the vote base of the Congress and only the blind and the biased will not see it. By winning a mere 5 seats more than Sitam Kesari, Madam Maino has proved her leadership and galvanized the party cadres and given a fresh lease of life to the secular fabric of India!!!! I never knew there was such an easy way to prove one's leadership abilities!

With 2 lines, Ram has seeks to cover up a collossal failure and paint it as a victory. To term this cheap would be an understatement.