Congress and BJP fight but CPI grabs the headlines

CBI must pursue missile deal probe impartially: CPI(M)

The Italian is trying extract revenge on George Fernandes in the age-old Sicilian way. The BJP and Congress get all heated up and exchange statements and counter-statements. The environment is all charged up with slogans from members of both parties. The communists, watch the action from a far-off distance, and make a trivial remark in some back alleys. CBCNN glorifies this trivial remark and puts it as a headline in "National" news.

Chinese party sets 15-year agenda - so what?

CPC lays stress on social harmony

I cant think of the relevance of this article to India. Chinese party concluded its plenary session. This is not an international news by any standard. No Indian newspaper would think of informing it readers about this. But as we all know CBCNN is China's national newspaper, incidentally located in Chennai.

CBCNN supports N.Korea nuclear tests

An alert reader has brought to my notice that CBCNN did not carry any statements from the communist parties about N.Korea's nuclear blasts. The communists, who are vocal on any and every damn issue, have chosen not to comment on this one because N.Korea is another darling communist country. I decided to have a second look at the editorial.

The end of 'non-proliferation'
CBCNN calls this act of N.Koreas as "adventurism". No strong language. No condemnation. It is trying to justify the actions based on changed circumstances. The routine blame-game is also seen.


The international community cannot pretend it had no forewarning.
This sets the tone for the elaborate justification of "adventurism".
- N.Korea has been telling us all along that they plan to do the testing but we all who ignored the warnings.
- N.Korea was never under any obligation not to perform the tests. So it did not violate any law.
- The circumstances have profoundly changed.
- The old nuclear order was based on "unequal global nuclear bargain".
- India, Pakistan, Israel have all stayed out of NPT.
- There are close to 30 countries which are virtual nuclear power states.
- Non-profileration is all about double standards.
- N.Korea is justified to use Article 10 of NPT.

CBCNN says US condemnation of "adventurism" is based on hypocrisy. CBCNN asks India to shut-up because N.Korea is doing exactly what India did in 1998. If India thought it had a right to perform the tests, then N.Korea too is justified in its "adventurism".

CBCNN categorically states that N.Korea is not to be blamed for its "adventurism"; the fault lies with Bush administration, which must accept a major share of the blame for missing chances for a re-configuration of relations with the Kim Jong Il regime, for its bluster against the `axis of evil,' and for imposing short-sighted financial sanctions.

Why is CBCNN supporting N.Korea's nuclear tests?

Economic liberalisation is anti-democratic

The debt we owe Kanshi Ram - Harish Khare


If Dr. Ambedkar can be credited with putting in place a constitutional edifice for the Indian state, it was Kanshi Ram whose organisational devices and political stratagems ended up shoring up the democratic legitimacy of the state system, that too at a time when anti-democratic forces had mounted an offensive against the egalitarian order.
...
The new regime, for better or for the worse, was anchored on a premise that the Indian state must turn its back on the masses, and that the polity must reverse the 30-year-old experiment in populism, and that the decision-makers must hitch their policy wagon to distant investors, creditors, and chambers of commerce. Suddenly, the very matrix of democratic legitimacy and popular accountability was being redefined — to the disadvantage of vast sections of Indian society.
In yet another brilliant analysis, Harish Khare says that economic liberalisation is anti-democratic.

The second development that helped Kanshi Ram become relevant was the sangh parivar's assault on the secular order. The assault began when Mr. Advani set out on his rath yatra from Somnath in 1990 and culminated in the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. More than the destruction of a medieval mosque, the sangh parivar was out to roll back the Ambedkarite constitutional order, with its promise of a place for everyone under the Indian democratic sun. Assorted sadhus, mahants, and shankaracharyas were sought to be elevated to the status of arbiters of our collective destiny. The Hindutva juggernaut was meant to use the democratic space to hijack the Indian polity away from large segments, especially the vulnerable and the marginalised.
The political prejudices of Harish Khare and CBCNN are amply displayed here. This is pure, unadulterated "secular" terrorism for you. Harish Khare levels several baseless allegations on the sangh parivar. And, CBCNN is the best media outlet for all these "secular" terrorists.

The Dalits remain the only "ethnic" group in India that has not experimented with the idiom of violence
The clever missionary ploy of categorizing dalits as a separate "ethnic" group, for conversion purposes, is being reinforced here. The editor-in-chief, N.Ram, is married to Mariam, a Keralite Syrian Christian. His first wife, Susan, is an English lady and also a Christian. N.Ram is a Christian by injection.


Many extremist groups have tried to enlist the Dalits in their "struggles" against the Indian state
Harish Khare does not mention who these extremist groups are. Please comrade, spare me the suspense and tell me who are these people fighting against the Indian state.

Communist Voice

Consult unions on pension funds: CPI

CPI comes out with its nonsensical ideas and CBCNN is obliged to give it prominent space. CPI wants pension funds to be regulated so that pensioners dont get high returns on their money. It wants funds to be used for infrastructure projects which neither the CPI or the Congress government support.

Developing Northeast the Yunnan way: AIDS, drugs and prostitution

Developing Northeast the Yunnan way Pallavi Aiyar

Pallavi Aiyar, in an earlier article, tells us that Yunnan is the AIDS capital of the middle kingdom.

"We have a real crisis in Yunnan. We are doing everything in our power to fight it but the AIDS situation is only growing worse," says Zhang Chang An, Director of the Office for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS of the province.

Impoverished and underdeveloped, Yunnan shares an over 4,000-km porous border with the notorious golden triangle states of Laos and Myanmar. The province has thus some of the worst drug and prostitution problems in all China ...


Pallavi Aiyar wants Northeast to be developed the Yunnan way: the capital of AIDS, drugs and prostitution.

Despite the similarities pointed out earlier with India's Northeast in terms of geography and population, it is apparent that the parallels between the two regions end here. The seven States that comprise Northeast India continue to languish in poverty. Per capita incomes are well below the national average.
So too is the per capita income of Yunnan much below the national averaga of China. But Pallavi Aiyar is trying to deliberately misinterpret statistics to push her point that all is well and rosy in Yunnan. In an earlier article, she clearly states that Yunnan is one of the poorest provinces in China.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Northeast has tremendous potential for tourism and the infrastructure is underdeveloped. But the situation is no different from the rest of India. To reiterate, I agree that Northeast must be better integrated into our country's prosperity; tourism is a good way to do so.

Thus far China has been the initiative's most enthusiastic proponent; India its least. The initiative currently remains track-two despite Yunnan's efforts to lobby New Delhi to upgrade it to governmental level.
This condescending attitude towards India is something we find consistently in CBCNN. It is always India that is not doing enough - be it bilateral trade with China or peace-process with Pakistan.

Pallavi Aiyar talks about improving road and rail infrastructure to boost trade in this region. Good point. But why does she outrightly reject India's concerns? The Stillwell road was closed around the Chinese invasion in 1962, while India has already helped Myanmar build 100 km of good quality road from Imphal towards Mandalay. So there are some obvious security considerations here. India is not rejecting but directing the trade routes according to its national interests. The second important question is the nature of bilateral trade. The Myanmar route is used for smuggling drugs and arms, which in turn increase restiveness in Northeast -- clearly a disadvantage to India. The bilateral trade, along these routes, with China is not beneficial to India. It provides an outlet for China to flood Indian market with cheap goods, thus killing the domestic economy. Also, as Pallavi Aiyar points out, iron ore is the major component of exports from India. CBCNN earlier argued that iron ore exports must be discouraged.

Pak acknowledges aiding insurgency but CBCNN refutes

We may have helped insurgency some time, says Pakistan envoy

Pakistan has admitted that it might have aided insurgency at some time. But CBCNN emphatically states that Pakistan is not involved.

Karat Speaketh

Karat assails Jaitley's charges

Prakash Karat sneezes and CBCNN reports it as a national event.

Afzal's clemency appeal

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/07/stories/2006100704931000.htm
The readers of CBCNN are upset that the clemency appeal is even being entertained. The exception is S.N.Samuel, Salem, TN -- undoubtedly an abrahamite -- who doubts the system, an opinion shared by CBCNN, the rent-an-ngo guys, social activists, etc. I wonder why "The law must take its own course" in the case of Shankaracharya - because hindus dont matter.
The last comment by A. Balagangadharan, Pollachi, T.N. beats me.

Garnering support for co-abrahamite

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/06/stories/2006100618921700.htm

CBCNN is trying to appeal to our emotions by projecting Afzal's family. CBCNN is obviously sympathetic to Afzal because he is a muslim. CBCNN reiterates that muslims have more rights than hindus.

Separatist leaders get prominence in CBCNN

India not reciprocating, says Mirwaiz

A Kashmiri separatist leader gets column space in CBCNN and his opinions and statements are printed in entirety. Not surprising at all to a regular reader of CBCNN.

On finger-pointing

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/06/stories/2006100602331201.htm
What is solid and verifiable evidence? Do we expect Gen. Musharraf to confess that his country planned and supported 7/11? The General may even do it, knowing that in India there are sections of society and media that will come to his support. I remember what my friend used to say — no one believes India as its policies are heavily loaded with overzealous exhibition of magnanimity.

S.V. Krishna,
Visakhapatnam

S.V. Krishna is asking the right questions here. Obviously, CBCNN is the shining example of media supporting Musharraf and Pakistan.


The editorial's conclusion borders on oversimplification of a national malady. There are dissenters and disgruntled elements in all sections of society but they do not target innocent people with foreign assistance like the men who volunteer for LeT service do.

Srikantan Sivaraman,
Bangalore
This is the line CBCNN must take. Instead it asks us to put our house in order and goes to the extent of justifying those volunteering for LeT. This is CBCNN for you.

The limits of finger-pointing

The limits of finger-pointing

In this article, N.Ram clearly crosses the limits of finger-pointing. NDA government never took the extreme step of dropping diplomatic relations with Pakistan but it took an even more extreme step of mobilising the forces along the border for a full-scale war. The UPA government, on the other hand, has not tried anything beyond the hopelessly futile "peace process". The joint mechanism is an irrational extension of the "peace process". When U.S. shared information with India, about the mobilization for nuclear testing, India promptly used that information to identify a suitable timeframe to evade the prying eyes of U.S. sattellites. It is foolish to think that sharing information with Pakistan can result in mutual confidence. N.Ram resorts to selective amnesia and misplaced trust in the enemy, to indulge in drum-beating for the congress. What measures has Pakistan taken lately to enthuse such trust? I think I know. Musharraf extended N.Ram a special invitation last year to visit Pakistan.

... the Indian Government must get its own house in order. The fact that the LeT is able to motivate young Indians to plant bombs in their own cities is a cause for serious concern. No amount of finger-pointing will solve this particular problem.
This is how devious communist logic can be. If a Pakistani bullet is hitting an Indian, it is obviously the Indian who is to be blamed because he did not react quickly enough to escape the bullet. Dont blame Pakistan but first get our house in order. Make sure every Indian can react fast enough to escape bullet fire. What is with communism and logic? - they can never coexist.


While it defies common sense that General Musharraf or the Pakistani GHQ could order a dramatic terrorist attack in Mumbai with fingerprints so easily identifiable ...
Exactly the point. ISI will not leave an easy trail and so solid evidence of ISI hand may not be obtainable. However, sufficient evidence pointing to ISI involvement may be obtained. N.Ram has repeatedly questioned the sincerity and credibility of the police. Here again, the casts doubts on the police version.
The evidence New Delhi marshals must be verifiable and solid — and not based solely on custodial interrogations and pseudo-scientific procedures such as narco-analysis and brain-mapping.
and he also gives an example to discredit `ISI link' theory. This guy, N.Ram, will not be satisfied with any amount of evidence to prove the ISI involvement. To N.Ram it might be not be clear how ISI was involved in this, but to us, the readers of CBCNN, it is amply clear how prejudiced N.Ram is.

Karat Speaketh

Investigate UNI stake sale scam: Brinda Karat

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat asked the Goverment to order an inquiry into the UNI scam. Why does this matter have to be given such prominent space? Because Brinda Karat's husband, Prakash Karat, and the editor of CBCNN, N.Ram, are good friends. Secondly, because some communist made a statement and CBCNN, being the voice of communists, is obliged to report it prominently.

Damn Lies, Statistics and Arundhati Roy

Demand to commute Afzal's sentence

"Prominent political leaders, social activists, writers and academicians" are all fighting for the rights of a criminal; the reasons: he is a muslim. CBCNN, on its behalf, is giving prominent coverage to these jholawallas and rent-an-ngo businessmen.

Arundhati Roy says, "The Parliament attack case is full of fabricated stories and evidence...". We must all believe her because she knows fiction best. She was even given a Booker prize for her fictional work. It is rather unfortunate that her fictional work on Gujarat did not receive the same kind of response.


http://www.hvk.org/articles/0203/4.html
Writing about the Gujarat riots, Arundhati Roy had this to say (Outlook, May 6,2002).

“A mob surrounded the house of ex-Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri. His phone calls to the director-general of police, the police commissioner, the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary (home) were ignored. The mobile police vans around his house did not intervene. The mob broke into the house. They stripped his daughters and burnt them alive. Then they beheaded Jaffri and dismembered him.”

The description is graphic; the veracity of the incident taken almost for granted coming from a writer of Arundhati Roy's reputation. But, alas, that's where we make the mistake. Fame and honesty are not interlinked as the following paragraph clearly indicates.

Jaffri was killed in the riots but his daughters were neither 'stripped' nor 'burnt alive.' T.A. Jafri, his son, in a front-page interview titled Nobody knew my father's house was the target (Asian Age, May 2, Delhi edition), says, "among my brothers and sisters, I am the only one living in India. And I am the eldest in the family. My sister and brother live in the US. I am 40 years old and I have been born and brought up in Ahmedabad.”

So if Ehsan Jaffri had only one daughter (singular) who was safe and sound in the US, where did Roy get her facts about not one, but daughters (plural) being stripped and burnt? Was it the fantasy of a writer's mind? Or was it willful deceit aimed at maligning her ideological adversaries?

Arundhati Roy did apologise for her mistake in a letter published in Outlook May 27, 2002.

http://www.fisiusa.org/fisi_News_items/Godhra/godhra0146.htm
We all know by now that her vivid account of how former Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri and his family were killed was a piece of fiction. Roy had begun her charter of hate with another damning description: "Last night a friend from Baroda called. Weeping. It took her fifteen minutes to tell me what the matter was. It wasn't very complicated. Only that Sayeeda, a friend of hers, had been caught by a mob. Only that her stomach had been ripped open and stuffed with burning rags. Only that after she died, someone carved 'OM' on her forehead".

Shocked by this despicable "incident", I got in touch with the Gujarat government. The police investigations revealed that no such case, involving someone called Sayeeda, had been reported either in urban or rural Baroda. Subsequently, the police sought Roy's help to identify the victim and seek access to witnesses who could lead them to those guilty of this crime. But the police got no cooperation. Instead, Roy, through her lawyer, replied that the police had no power to issue summons. Why is she hedging behind technical excuses?

Medha Patkar goes a step further in her crusade for Afzal.
Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan said death sentence to Afzal was a reflection of "terrorism by the establishment.
Wonderful wordplay by Patkar. "Terrorism" is in vogue so Patkar is trying to use it to be hip.
Afzal's execution would widen the rift between communities.

How does Afzal's execution widen the rift between communities? He is punished by our secular legal system for committing an act of crime and not because of his religion or ethnic background. It is the communists who are seeing the criminal as a muslim and hence fighting for his case.
The minorities should be made to feel secure and opinion of the Kashmir people should be respected.
ROTFL. Is this Patkar stupid? What has the opinion of Kashmiri people got to do with this case? But why am I asking this question. It is proved beyond any doubt that communists have no logical abilities. Communism kills all logic.
Even if a thousand culprits escape, not a single innocent person should be victimised," she said.
The neo-liberalism of communists. The persons killed in the terrorist acts are innocents too. So I would like to ask Patkar, "Can thousand suspects be convicted to save one innocent from terror attacks?" Are the human rights of a terror victim any less than the human rights of a suspected terrorist?
By the blood money concept, the life of a muslim is more valuable than that of a hindu. The communists, and hence CBCNN, believe in this blood money concept.

Religion of peace initiates riots

Violence breaks out in Nizamabad district
... people belonging to a particular community objected to a procession carrying the idol of goddess Durga on Achanpally road passing in front of their place of worship.

CBCNN is extremely sensitive to the feelings of muslims and hence does not name them in this report; it just says "a particular community". If it were Hindus that initiated the riots, CBCNN would be screaming from the rooftop about minorities being terrorised etc. CBCNN also goes on endlesslessly in its editorials that muslims are forced to resort to violence because they are being terrorised. But just as in this case, muslims have attacked Hindu symbols of expression without any provocation and purely out of bigotry. How long can CBCNN sustain this campaign of disinformation?

87,000 mass protests in China last year

Confucius makes a comeback in China - Pallavi Aiyar

Last year alone 87,000 mass protests rocked the country, according to official police figures.
87,000 mass protests in one year is a huge number. It comes to about 240 protests per day. And if you consider that the officials under-report such numbers, it is alarming to imagine the situation in China.

Pallavi Aiyar also tells us the reason for these protests.
The reasons for this embrace of traditional wisdom are to be found in the dissent and discontentment that three decades of market reforms have sparked off amongst large swathes of Chinese society.
a culture of getting rich quick has spawned corruption, envy, and obsession with money.
In a 2005 government survey, nearly three quarters of respondents said that "money" was what they desired most.
Corruption scandals have thus repeatedly wracked the country

CPI fights for China and CBCNN doesn't want to miss out

CPI: Clarify decision to block Chinese firms
CPI is pushing India for China's interests; nothing new about this. CPI is among the frontrunners for the position of traitors of India. As explained in my earlier post, China cannot be clubbed with other countries for the sake of comparison. China's imperial interests are the primary concern for India's national security.

This article serves the double purpose of highlighting CPI and Chinese interests. So, CBCNN gives prominent coverage to this article by putting it in the "National" section. Once again, only the Chinese point of view is presented elaborately and convincingly.

Condoning Ismalic terrorism in Gujarat

Gujarat madrasas: an education in terror? - Comrade Praveen Swami

While none of the four men possessed weapons more dangerous than inflammatory Islamist literature and videos, police say they have hard evidence that the men were linked to Lashkar cells responsible for a string of terror strikes in western India.
Swami is giving the benefit of doubt to the 4 suspects, while trying to find some gaps in the police version.
Ever since the arrests, Gujarat's madaris have faced sometimes-venomous attack from both politicians and the press.
And now trying to shift the blame. Thankfully, "hindu fundementalists" have been spared.
In the next six paragraphs, Swami elaborates on how Sardana and Sheikh operated to establish Lashkar cells. He also acknowledges that these cells carried out terror attacks.
Sardana is believed to have recruited at least 20 men from Gujarat and Maharashtra to the Lashkar-e-Taiba — including several members of the cell which executed the July serial bombings in Mumbai.
Zabiuddin Ansari, the operational head of the Lashkar cell that carried out the Mumbai bombings, was one of the men Sardana persuaded to join the Lashkar.
Zulfikar Fayyaz Ahmad `Kagzi,' the author of the abortive February 19 bombing of a Mumbai-Ahmedabad train, and one of Ansari's principal lieutenants.
But Swami still wants to convince us that they possessed weapons no more dangerous than terror manuals. Yeah Swami, CBCNN is utterly convinced with your arguments as it matches with their ideology.
Swami then repeats a similar attempt. He tells us that madaris are breeding grounds for Islamic terrorism.
Even as this theatre was unfolding, Sardana had begun work on his next project: building the new Lashkar cell in Gujarat using his seminary contacts.
Sardana uses his seminary contacts to start terrorist cells and he recruits terrorists from madaris. Shakeel Ahmad Sheikh followed exactly the same path. And these cells in turn multiplied using the same path ofcourse.
Swami then tries to convince us that madaris have nothing to do with terrorism by quoting the maulvi and citing the good work done by madaris etc.
In practice, however, madaris have acted as centres where Islamists may meet, network and obtain access to individuals connected with terrorist groups.

At this point, I am surprised. How the heck did this article get published in CBCNN? It is against their editorial policies. Wait, there could be one possible explanation : the communists acknowledge the mistake only to push the blame on the opponenets -- I was forced to do this mistake as a reaction to this action of yours.
Oh yes, thats exactly how Swami ends it.

Despite its liberative possibilities, modernity has for the most part spoken to Gujarat's Muslims through the twin media of economic marginalisation and communal violence.
At least some of his students see offence as a more effective form of defence.

Oh! I see. So madaris are becoming terror networks because muslims are being terrorised. Thank you CBCNN for letting us know this.
2000 muslims gathered peacefully at 7AM in the morning to watch 59 people burn alive. They did not initiate the attacks. Hindus reacted without any provocation. Around 250 Hindus and 750 muslims died. It is a program, ethnic-cleansing,..... in Gujarat against the peace-loving muslims.

Swami does not see any problem when some of madaris' students see offence as best form of defence. But Hindus "MUST NOT" do the same because Hindus got no human rights. This also resonates with CBCNN views.

Now that we are done with it, Swami ends on a high note: blame the society and absolve muslims.

Madaris, though, aren't the problem: India's civil society must instead undertake the more difficult task of serious critical engagement with the ideas and ideologies that engender violence.

State sponsored genocide in China

Combating AIDS: Yunnan shows the way
Comrade Pallavi Aiyar is trying to tell us how good the Chinese government is. As with all communist talk, the logic is completely twisted. China unleashed terror on its citizens.
In the early 1990s, a government-organised blood-buying programme in central China's Henan province resulted in HIV contamination of the entire province's blood supply.

Commercial blood sellers during this period paid donors for plasma. To maximise profits, they separated red blood cells from the plasma and then re-infused the donors with pooled red blood cells so that they could donate blood more frequently. An estimated 70,000 to 2,50,000 villagers in the province became infected with HIV as a consequence.
Com. Pallavi is in fits of appreciation when China is attempting to make amends to this disaster. To an impartial observer, what comes out clearly is the pathetic healthcare system in China. Government is in the constant combat mode to cover up its blunders. The utter lack of transparency is once again evident in the Government's handling of a crisis. This is the heaven that the communists and its mouthpiece - CBCNN - advocate for India.