Power and glamour go hand in hand. Power backed by money needed to sustain glamour is a nasty combination. This is what they had in Bollywood back in the day. Money needed to make movies came from underworld which is turn was protected by politicians. Nasty stuff that. Dawood Ibrahim was the de facto ruler of the whole show. What bhai wanted, bhai got. Some actors associated with him and his ilk because they had no choice. Others did because they wanted to. Sanjay Dutt may have belonged to the second category.
Now the problem with Dutt was that he came from a very privileged background and he fancied himself as a tough guy / cowboy. He was a young man living in the world of glamour and political power (thanks to his father) where he started to believe in this make-believe world where he was invincible. He thought that he could get away with it. As they say, “umr ka takazaa tha”. Unlike a regular daydreaming youth who deals with his own kind of people, Dutt was dealing with hardened criminals; maybe unbeknownst to him. Of course all this is conjecture. I do not know anything about the guy other than the fact that he has never struggled to make a living, has no talent and would not be where he is if it were not for his father.
What is clear is that this guy is no terrorist. Not the brightest of bulbs, he has made a lot of foolish and terrible choices in life but he is not a jihadi. But as we see clearly is that he is getting punished (and very rightly so) for crimes he has been found guilty of. However, this is all a big “nautanki”. Think about it. No one who was really guilty has been even caught, let alone punished. The only big fish they are going to fry here is Tiger Memon’s brother. I am glad that someone from that family is going to pay for it.
Until the Indian government can get to the terrorists hiding in Pakistan or Bangladesh, or their sympathizers in India (SIMI / Madani / Owaisi / Zakir Naik) kind of people or those politicians who used to be or are still on the payrolls of the underworld, this whole thing is going to be a “Bandar ka naach”.
Sunjay Dutt is a bad actor, a privileged brat who refuses to grow up, a debauch (how many times has he been married?) and a fool with a penchant for making bad choices but he is not a terrorist. However, he is going to pay for sins of lot of others who are still walking free.
Youth Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi (left) and Smt Maneka's marriage register being signed by a witness Mohammed Yunus (right) as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (2nd left) looks on, in New Delhi on August 1, 1974.
Letting the Italian marines off the hook in a quid pro quo is nothing compared to what happened in the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster. We all know how the Union Carbide CEO, Warren Anderson was allowed to leave India under Arjun Singh’s rule (of MP). What some of us may not know is why he was let go. An article in an online American magazine (which has now been purchased by Newsweek) says the following:
On June 22, a spokesman for India’s Bharatiya Janata Party challenged the ruling Congress Party-controlled government’s plan for more compensation for Bhopal victims. More pointedly, he claimed that the late Rajiv Gandhi, an icon of the Congress Party, protected Union Carbide’s CEO in a secret 1985 political deal with President Reagan.
The contention is that the prime minister secretly promised India would not seek to extradite Anderson. In exchange, Reagan allegedly granted a presidential pardon to a childhood friend of Rajiv Gandhi’s, who was also the son of an important foreign policy adviser to the Gandhi family.
That friend, Adil Shahryar, was serving a 35-year federal prison sentence for drug trafficking, wire fraud, and firearms violations, when, without fanfare or public notice, he was pardoned by Reagan on June 12, 1985, the day Rajiv Gandhi made his first formal visit to the White House.
That pardon has never been made public. The Daily Beast asked the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to release details of it, but so far, it has not been released.
“His dad was part of Indira Gandhi’s (and later Rajiv Gandhi’s) cabinet,” says a Florida lawyer, Douglas C. Hartman, who represented Shahryar on separate state arson charges before the Indian was convicted in 1982 on the five federal counts. “He always told me: ‘I will be pardoned.’ And I am just looking at the guy, you know, ‘Right.’”
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley last month twice ducked questions about whether India had asked for Anderson’s extradition, saying such requests are confidential. He added: “If the government of India makes such a request of us, we will carefully evaluate it.” Then, in Toronto for the G-20 meeting, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh avoided the question at a June 28 press conference.
“We will try to ensure that the U.S. government takes a more favorable attitude toward extradition,” Singh said. “But we have not approached them yet. I did not raise this issue in my discussions with President Obama. We will cross the bridge when we come to it.”
The implications of this are staggering. To protect a Gandhi family friend, Congress let go of a guy who was in some way responsible for the deaths of over 3000 people. The Italian marines had killed just two Indians and thus are very small potatoes.
The extremely upsetting detailed report can be read at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/07/18/union-carbides-warren-anderson-life-in-exile.html
Our earlier blogpost on the topic can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2010/11/hamara-mai-baap-kaun-hai.html
In what is being describes as a clever move by Nitish Kumar at a rally in New Delhi, we get a clear view of the same old and tired way of doing politics. Opportunism instead of ideology, positioning instead of performance, fear (labeling the BJP as communal) instead of hope, freebies instead of opportunities, victimhood instead of pride are some ways that petty and selfish politicians have been ruling this unfortunate nation of ours. Nitish Kumar is clearly trying all the tricks to keep himself relevant with one eye on the PM’s chair. His ambition is clearly diverting his focus which should be doing his current job well. And this guy is one of the better politicians we have. We all know what others are capable of.
We also know what brand of politics Congress plays. The country has paid dearly for the mistake of less than 30% of the voters who chose to vote for these guys. But what should the voters do? Why should they vote for the BJP? After all they had their chance and blew it in 2004 and 2009. Having said that, the BJP of late has made some good choices. One of them was to remove Gadkari and the second was to bring Narendra Modi to the national stage. There are indications that Advani is still playing dirty politics with his 85 year old eyes on the PM’s chair. Let us hope that he comes to his senses and does the right thing which would be to give his unconditional support behind the man who is changing the rules of Indian politics i.e. Narendra Modi.
In his third national appearance this year, Modi has shown to the Indian voters how it should be. In an anecdote, he said the following:
I was sitting with a PM. He wouldn't talk so I started. I explained the revamp of JNNURM to the prime minister. He was interested, he asked me for a report. Sam Pitroda was very enthusiastic after I gave him the report. But it has been three years since that and not one word.
He has proposed privatization of railways which has become India’s version of social welfare. He proposed innovative ideas on waste management, alternative energy, more accountability from bureaucrats (something that UPA is trying to implement. Modi did that in Gujarat back in 2003), amongst other things. A fellow conservative, Shashi Shekhar wrote it well when he said:
The highlight of the speech was Narendra Modi standing up for his convictions be it on why Government must not be in the business of Government, why a mindset shift is needed from rights-based entitlement towards the spirit of enterprise, on how creating a sense of pride and ownership can make a marked difference. The speech also saw for the first time a major BJP leader speaking out against the UPA’s flagship schemes like NREGA and the UPA’s penchant for new Acts and rights. The punchline, “We don’t need more Acts we need action”, clearly resonated with the audience.
These are the kind of things we expected from Chidambaran and Manmohan Singh who are associated with Harvard and Oxford not from a man who has risen through the ranks. He may not be able to vow the liberal urban elite with fluent English or may cut a rustic image. However, his oratory, wit and substance / ideas are second to none. He may not be a Sam Pitroda or Montek Ahluwalia but his ability to use Technology or sense of economics leave those two in the dust. Modi has concrete ideas about removing poverty while Congress has sought to remove poverty by redefining the term.
It seems that the new traffic system in Amdavad is inspired by a French system and the power distribution system in Gujarat was inspired by a South Korean system. Clearly, he thinks of himself as a student and as one, he is always on the lookout for the next big idea. As Venky Vembu says in his excellent article:
In other words, the critics’ unblinking focus on the 2002 riots all these years has compelled Modi to work harder than he otherwise might have to project himself as an agent of development – and spin off ideas for reimagining India. That’s an enterprise that’s well worth continuing…
Clearly, Modi has seized the debate and changed the rules of it. His message laden speeches are going to force other politicians to change their message as well. Freebies and fear mongering is not going to cut it anymore. Whether he becomes the next PM or not, we will have to thank him for introducing India to a different kind of politics.
Shashi Shekhar's article can be read at: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/03/17/modi-articulates-centre-right-agenda-56292.html
Venky Vembu's article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/modis-critics-should-never-stop-talking-about-2002-riots-664195.html?utm_source=frontpagepicks&utm_medium=hp
Highlights of his speech can be read at: http://conclave.intoday.in/article/india-today-conclave-2013-narendra-modi-namo-mantra/3712/39.html
It seems like it is an open season on Indians. Soldiers beheaded. Killer blast in Hyderabad. Got sucker punched by Italy. Terrorist attack on our CRPF boys. All this happened just this year. A business quarter is not even over. We are like the proverbial lamb, ready to be fleeced and then slaughtered.
This kind of thing does not happen to China. This is despite of the fact that they are also considered lesser people (non-white and non-Christians) like us by West and Muslims. They have translated their new found economic might into a protective weapon of sorts. Moreover, they are ruthless pragmatic and cunning people. No one messes with them. They shot down an American spy plane and made the US apologize in the Hainan Island episode. They are determined not to repeat history.
While we do not have the same economic might as the Chinese, we are no slouch in that department. We have a money to spend, services to provide and we are a democracy which gives us righteous footing in the international stage. And yet we are completely helpless.
Pragmatism says that we need to strengthen Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh by helping her out with water and other issues. But we cannot because Mamata Bannerjee is opposed to it. Pragmatism says that we side with the Sri Lankan government against UN resolution (the Chinese are waiting to fill in the vacuum there which will surround us) but Jayalalitha is opposed to it. Pragmatism says that we formulate a hard-nosed strategic foreign policy vis a vis Pakistan. However, to appease Indian Muslims and liberals, our policy is one of hope and well, I don’t really know. This is what happens when people place selfish interests before that of the nation. In that sense I don’t think that we are patriotic at all.
Atalji’s government capitulated to the British pressure and released the Brit guilty of the Purulia arms drop. What pressure can the British apply? These bastards are trying to sell their wares to us. We should be holding all the cards and yet we kneeled. Then there was the Kandahar case where bureaucratic turf war ruined BJP’s credentials for ever. Just today, someone compared the Italian Marines escape to UPA’s Kandahar, ignoring the fact that no Indian lives are at stake in this shameful episode.
As weak as the BJP government was, the UPA really has outdone all their predecessors. Not only do we look like helpless cowards, given to hollow talks but we also look like gullible fools. We let Union Carbide chief walk out of India. We let Quattrocci leave the country and if that were not bad enough, unfroze his bank accounts. We let the French fool us in a case similar to the Italian marine case. And now we have the Italians take us for a long ride. If Manmohan Singh has a Dodo sized egg on his face then it is his own doing. Do you think that the Chinese would have let those marines stay at a nice cottage like we did? If that were not bad enough, they were allowed to go home for Christmas. Now we have the Supreme Court (headed by a man who is a Congress faithful) allowing these guys to leave the country on a promise by the Italian government, the kind that was headed by a debauched pervert like Silvio Burlesconi. Only a gullible fool would trust the Italians. Have we learned anything from history? The Europeans are white and Christians. They have gotten fat by robbing people like us. They consider us lesser people. They may have succeeded in masking their revulsion for us under the guise of civility and colonial guilt but make no mistake – every action of theirs reveals their true colors.
I have a solution to this problem. Let us all convert to Islam. Then the Pakistanis will not attack and hurt us. If we become Sunnis then we will get cheap oil and backing from the Saudis. Don’t like that idea? How about converting to Christianity? That way, we will get the backing of Pope and the religious lobby in Europe and the US. Don’t like that either? Then we have very limited choices. Rejection of fractured regional politics, Hindu unity and election of a leader who can say more than "theek hai" in times of need, are some of the preliminary steps. Don’t like that either? Then be ready to be fleeced and killed. You can be a lamb or you can be a lion. It is that simple.
Manmohan Singh recently said “Joh garajte hain who baraste nahin”. He then went on to quote Chacha Ghalib. Wow. A lot of words from a guy who kept quiet through the systematic pillaging of the nation by his allies, terrorist attacks, beheadings of our soldiers, brutal rapes, farmer suicides amongst slew of travesties and tragedies. Yeh who sajjan hain jo nah toh garajte hain na hee baraste hain. It took one speech by Bhai Narendra to wake this sphinx up from his power-induced stupor. Meanwhile, the Mamata Bannerjee who is the CM of a state where the workers riot and strike more than any other state said that they riot in Gujarat, not in Bengal. Noise coming out of the anti Modi lobby is becoming shriller. In fact the closer he gets to the official declaration of his ascension to the national stage, the anti Modi hate speeches are going to become nastier and nastier.
In fact a non issue like the speech at Wharton has filled the anti Modi lobby with glee as if permission to speak at a US university or visa to US is some kind of validation for an Indian leader. Those with even a cursory knowledge of US politics know that political correctness has run amok in that country. Liberals have been meeting with known America haters like Hugo Chavez without any consequences. A typical US university is bastions of liberalism and as a result preach freedom of expression but do not practice it.
Even conservative writers in India are bothered by all this. One author is worried if Modi can ignore his critics. People are worrying if Modi is going to be enough to put BJP over the top in the next elections. I have a suggestion for all those people.
As a researcher, I know how to differentiate between baseline noise and relevant data. If you want to use a traditional analogy then think of Arjun who could see nothing but the eye of the fish. That is precisely what the BJP have to do. Modi already knows what to do because that is what he has been doing since the tragedy at Godhra station and riots after it. The party needs to FOCUS. The next election is akin to the eye of the fish. All the rest is just background noise. Modi has essentially been given the lead role. His speech at the BJP meet was meant for the party cadre and it did the trick. The enthusiasm in the workers was palpable. An expert hand at this, Modi clearly knows what to say to whom.
Modi and the BJP need to ignore the increasing din from the Modi detractors and focus on the message of development, prosperity and India first, all encompassing kind of secularism (something we on this blog have been a long time proponents of). The voters are clearly tired of same old politics. The voters want to hear about clear cut and implementable plan rather than trumped up statistics and Ghalib poetry. Modi has implemented a lot of plans that have been working wonders in Gujarat. Those plans can and need to be implemented on the national level. That is the message the voters want to listen. The response of students at SRCC tells us that.
Let us leave the statistics, poetry and good looking / polished fluff to Congress. Let us stick to the basics – integrity, food, development, security and path ahead for our children. In the end, actions speak a lot louder than words. Congress has failed the nation. Modi has delivered at state level and can deliver for the country. That should be the message which rises above the cacophony.
A good article on the Wharton fiasco can be read at: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/03/05/fiasco-of-modi-at-wharton-52433.html
This is what we wrote a last year on our blog:
When PV Narsimha Rao took over as PM, the Indian economy was in tatters. He offered the job to IG Patel and then to Manmohan Singh (when Patel refused). India had, has and always will have tremendous potential which will remain untapped. Manmohan Singh did the obvious (PVNR gave him a carte blanche and stepped aside) and India’s economic recovery began. The myth of Manmohan Singh was thus born.
The fact still remains that India’s economic ascension began on Manmohan Singh’s watch and thus he deserves a lot of credit. But he has been amply rewarded for his role. Even though he has never won in a general election, he has been a two time PM of our country. However, while Manmohan the FM did well, Manmohan the PM has failed at every level. I am a scientist and can barely manage my own money so I defer to others when it comes to matters of money. Heritage foundation ( a liberal American think-tank has published an article where Dr. Derek Scissors says that India stays on the path to economic failure. He has used terms like undisciplined spending and unrealistic expectations, consumer inflation, lack of reform, unsuccessful infrastructure program, ill-defined property rights, deficit, falling GDP etc. Now what even I understand is that all these terms have to do with Manmohan Singh’s area of expertise i.e. Economics. He and his man Friday, Montek Ahluwalia, have miserably failed. Even though Chidambaran is the FM, he is a party faithful and thus more interested in making Sonia ji happy. Management of economy is PM’s responsibility. If he wants to take credit for putting India on a road to recovery then he has to shoulder the blame for our misery as well. When taken to task by the opposition, Singh got help from Rashid Alvi who says that Singh’s honor is national honor. What a pile of dung! If Alvi is right and Singh’s honor is the same as country’s honor then Mother India’s honor resembles MF Hussain paintings of Hindu deities. Alvi’s loyalty is acknowledged but he cannot cover up Singh’s failure in managing the economy.
I am not even going to bring up the issue of corruption. That is way too painful to talk about.
But what about foreign affairs, you say? Hasn’t he succeeded there, you ask? Other than toeing the American line with little to show for, he has done nothing. Even the much-vaunted nuclear deal is nowhere to be seen. That was supposed to be the crown jewel in Singh’s infrastructure development. Other than Gujarat and other prosperous pockets, power remains our Achilles’ heal. In every budget or plan, even the promise (forget about reality) of development is made only in Congress rules states.
The aam aadmi laments that if you cannot feed me then at least keep me safe. Well, other than liberal lapdogs like Aakar Patel (if you do not know who he is then you are lucky) no one thinks that Singh has done anything to keep us safe. If we have not been attacked more often than we have then it is because the pakis have been too busy with their own problems to attack us. But that does not mean they cannot attack us at will. Known IM operatives, the Bhatkal borthers are living in Karachi’s defence housing colony (sounds like a cruel joke) under paki protection. One of these brothers was arrested in Bengal but was let go by the police over there. These policemen are good at arresting cartoonists lampooning Bannerji but when it comes to Muslim terrorists, their incompetence comes through loud and clear. Anyway, despite of all of pakistan’s perfidy, Singh is hell bent on making peace with them to cement his legacy. A legacy built on a pile of dead is still a legacy to Singh. I suppose that is the liberal way of thinking.
In most civilized democracies, when a tragedy strikes, the political leadership is there to reassure the population that all is being done for their safety and bringing the guilty to justice. What we saw in the brutal rape and murder of Jyoti Singh Pandey (I am still at a loss why is this goddamned government hell bent on keeping her name a secret), Singh was nowhere to be seen until they could hide him no more. After that all we heard was “Theek Hai”. What inspirational and reassuring words!
If you cannot feed me or protect me or inspire me then what good are you? What right do you have to continue to stay in that chair? If the Indian opposition and the voters were not so divided, this man would not be there as a painful reminder of our impotence. If the voters do not set their priorities straight then be prepared for another Congress term in the next election. In the next term we may get someone even worse than Singh as PM.
Our blog on the topic can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2012/07/manmohan-singh-is-not-only-one-at-fault.html
The Heritage Foundation article can be read at: http://blog.heritage.org/2013/02/28/india-stays-on-path-to-economic-failure/
The Nanjappa article on Bhatkal brothers can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-ib-traces-bhatkal-brothers-to-terror-colony-in-karachi-pakistan/20130301.htm
If someone robs your house and kills a dear one, is an apology enough? I am sure that most people (especially the ones who believe in the Old Testament like the British) will say no. An eye has to be the proper response for an eye (with no apologies to The Mahatma). But crimes were committed by the Brits against us and that too a long time ago. The Brits are now somewhat of an ally and a lot of people of Indian origin live and prosper in England. We have reasonably good trade relations with them. All this makes a “proper revenge” or “justice” impossible. But the knowledge that these criminals systematically robbed us for almost 200 years and that we are not going to see any of that wealth or have even a symbol of that coming back has to make us seethe in anger. Every time you see their porcine queen wearing the Koh-e-noor, your BP has to go up.
But knowing all this, what will assuage some of our pain? I would say that return of some of our treasures and a proper apology may work. By proper apology I mean either the British PM or their porcine queen come over to India only to apologize and actually apologize instead of indulging in linguistic gymnastics.
The Brit PM recently offered some thing of an apology. The reason that apology was an empty one is because this representative of the nation of shopkeepers was here to sell British wares and thought that an apology will work better than bribes. In fact such an apology makes it even worse because you know that this insincere apology is just another British way of robbing us. Infuriating stuff this.
Now it is not that the Brits don’t know what they did wrong. Andrew North who is a BBC reporter writes the following in a very honest report: By making a statement of regret over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, David Cameron has opened up a can of other questions and grievances over Britain's colonial past . North accepts that India suffered two famines, which were essentially man made. Millions died while Churchill mocked at us.
No. No apology can be enough. The Brits should not even try because a non-apology of this kind hurts a lot worse than no apology at all. We should continue to do business with the British but should never ever trust them or forgive or forget.
A couple of very good articles on the topic can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/a-sorry-apology-david-cameron-at-jallianwala-bagh-632541.html
http://www.rediff.com/news/column/a-reality-check-for-david-camerons-india-quest/20130221.htm
I spent part of my youth in Lucknow. I remember that during Muharram, there always used to be Shia-Sunni riots. In fact all the while I was there, We did not have any Hindu-Muslim riots but we used to get article 144 or curfews enforced during Muharram. I hear a Sunni guy call out to a shia saying: “Abe too aadmi hai yah shia?” Such is the hatred that the sunnis nurse for their estranged cousins. In the toilet called Pakistan, there have been two blasts this year. One claimed 106 Shias and the other 84. Pretty impressive kill rate even for the murdering pakis! So bad is the situation that a Pakistan journalist is suggesting that the Shias flee Pakistan. Here is what he writes:
As the Shia massacres in Pakistan gain momentum, the State, including the Superior Courts, appear completely impotent.
In such troubling times some Shias may have a choice. They may sit and wait for a messiah or relocate to a Shia-exclusive enclave elsewhere, or to escape from Pakistan altogether.
Space is fast running out in Shia graveyards in Quetta. It may be the time for Shias to relocate to protect their next generation.
Now this is clearly a fault line in Pakistan begging to be exploited. Just like the Balochis, we need to support the Pakistani Shias. Even if we do not actively help the helpless Shias, it will still keep the Pakistani leaders on the back foot. Ideally I would like the RAW dirty tricks department to arm these people but thanks to IK Gujral, that capability has been taken away from us. At the very least we can start raising awareness for the Shia plight in the international forum. Iran cannot do so because they are in the dumps themselves.
Of course the pseudo-secular Indian parties will never come to the help of Shias. As big a supporter as Mullayam or Mayawati or Congress or Mamta maybe of Muslims, they make a crucial distinction. They support the Muslims because they are the Muslim majority and thus will not do anything to hurt their vote bank. Who in India can then come to the aid of Pakistani Shias and help them while perpetuating India’s soft power in the world? It will have to be the BJP who are not beholden to Sunni votes but rather to human lives. My suggestion is that Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who is a Shia Muslim and a BJP stalwart, start talking about it in the press and raise as much awareness as possible. If need be, he should try to garner some international press as well. We may be able to help Shias (who are lesser of a problem to the world than Sunnis) and ourselves in the bargain
The article by the angry and frustrated pakistani journalist can be read at: http://dawn.com/2013/02/17/time-for-shias-to-leave-pakistan/
As great a speech as Bhai Narendra made at SRCC, it still was the first step. The next scheduled elections are in 2014 but it is clear that we are going to have early polls. By getting rid of Gadkari, the BJP have cleaned up their house to some extent. Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi clearly have their work cut out for them. They will need to identify the areas of strength and weaknesses at the national level and start their grassroots campaign immediately.
An interesting poll has come out in a magazine and then discussed in the e-magazine First Post, which says that Modi has a national advantage of 10% over Rahul Gandhi (In the chart, Modi is represented by saffron). It is not a surprise unless you think that Modi should have a bigger national advantage against a clearly inferior candidate representing and impotent and corrupt party. Since this magazine has suggestions for Rahul for improving his support, the article may be biased towards Rahul / Congress. What is important is that if a pro-Congress poll will downplay Modi’s strength and exaggerate his weakness. Based on that, let us analyse the results based on geography and gender. All other criteria may be important but it may be too late to change a lot of those (eg. Muslim or tribal support).
1. In the east (Bihar, Jharkhand, WB, Assam and NE states) Modi is ahead 55-45. This is a surprise because other than Bihar and Jharkhand BJP has no legs to stand on in this region. Maybe the poll-responders are differentiating between Candidate Modi and the BJP. This is very significant because a strong candidate Modi can make a good case for the BJP in Bihar, Jharkhand (already a base) and Assam (there is some support there and can improve with the right tie-up). In the Communist Islamic state of West Bengal (Can you really call it anything else?) any Loksabha seat will be a bonus.
2. In the North, the poll suggests a 13-point advantage for Modi. This means that candidate Modi can help BJP as they clearly have lost out to the regional players (SP and BSP in UP) and Congress (Haryana and Uttarakhand) in this area. This is going to be the key to BJP’s victory because BJP have won from this area in the past and need to rebuild their base. Without a significant number of seats from UP, no one can form the central government. That is an unpleasant truth. The BJP can regain their lost voter base if they start the campaign right now with the help of younger and knowledgeable local leaders. The old guard needs to be forced out as they have proven to be ineffective.
3. In the west (which is Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Rajasthan) Rahul is AHEAD by one percent. This is a shocker indeed especially because Goa is too small to make a difference and in Gujarat, Modi has to be far ahead. This implies that Rahul is way ahead in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Since the BJP used to have an established base in these two states, the implications are that work needs to be done here. I don’t know if tying up with the right party is the right solution or taking the case directly to the voters is the best way to go. Since recently Modi met with Sharad Pawar for 90 minutes, work has begun in that state. Rajasthan should not be too difficult because Gehlot has been a disaster in that state. It remains to be seen if Scindia will be an asset or a liability.
4. A bigger shocker in my opinion (the article does not think that way) is the advantage Modi has in the south. He is ahead of Rahul 55-26. This is big and has good implications. If Modi runs an American style campaign i.e. the candidate first and the party later then BJP will do well. In Karnataka, it will be a matter of reassuring the existing base. In Andhra, popular local leaders with Modi’s help can make a lot of difference. In TN, the BJP will have to tie up because of an extremely fractured polity. With Jayalalitha’s popularity waning and DMK mired in their own problems, Modi can re-energize AIDMK and maybe win a seat or two for the BJP. In the Communist Islamic Christian State of Kerala (what else are you going to call that state?) the scared and the angry Hindu voters can be promised good governance and their safety (their property, their women and their temples), then BJP may be able to open an account here. Just like WB, any seat will be a bonus.
5. Modi has a bigger lead amongst men (61 to 42) but a lot smaller in women (40 to 34). This is very important. Woman may have been relegated to a lesser status in these unfortunate times but they veil the real power if they harness it. I expect Indian women (especially housewives) to be a lot more rational of matters of good governance and development because they run the households (and thus handle money) and are lot less likely to be prejudiced based on non-issues like secularism. Modi needs to work on this demographic section because just like Obama, if he can energize women then he will win big.
It is clear that the responders have differentiated between Candidate Modi and the Party. This tells me that it is important to declare Modi as the candidate soon. The forthcoming budget session is going to be a tumultuous one where recent and older scams are going to make an appearance. Congress will be on the back foot. The regional parties are also in trouble either by non performance (Mamta or Jayalalitha or Akhilesh) or law and order problems (too many Hindu-Muslim riots in UP during the SP rule. Mayawati’s poor performance has not been forgotten). The Party should campaign where they used to have the base. A Candidate Modi can clearly help the party in other areas. It will be up to the party decision makers to decide who should campaign for whom in what region. That is a decision made easier once they formally announce Modi as their man.
The First Post article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/shockers-in-new-modi-survey-his-big-southern-advantage-and-gender-gap-629301.html
The actual poll can be read at: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/where-their-support-comes-from
This was an old post titled “Indian Army,Indian Politicians and Aam Aadmi“ of March 2012 which has suddenly become relevant.
The latest episode involving the Army has been a heartbreaker at many levels. Despite of many past evidences (Tehelka episode where a Brigadier was willing to sell out for a bottle of whiskey), the aam aadmi believed in the Indian Defense forces. It is primarily because of the human need for heroes because heroes keep us believing in all things good. However recently we have had too many episodes of corruption involving the army and that is painful to all of us. Maybe it is our naïveté, which makes us belief that our soldiers can wade through the corrupt cesspool, which is India, and come out looking like a clean lotus. After all, the soldiers are human with the usual failings. But how did our army that used to be our pride and joy come to this pass.
Defense budget is one of the largest and India is one of the biggest buyers on weapons and other defense related equipment. Needless to say the money involved is huge and even a small percent of that is enough to put an honest man to test. Since our current system is more opaque than a concrete wall and involves middlemen or as I call them defense-pimps it should be expected that people will steal. All our systems were put in place during the British rule and we all know of their intentions, how can we expect anything except widespread theft. These defense-pimps were put in place to deal with foreigner suppliers who did not know the language and culture. These defense-pimps made their money like prostitutes. Of course when they make such large amounts of money do you think the politicians are not going to demand their share of laddoos. This is where things get hairy. If everyone else is making money and saying “SCREW YOU” to the country, why should the soldiers make all the sacrifices and ignore all that laddoo out there.
In an article whose url is attached, there are two schools of thought. One says that the role of these defense-pimps should be legitimized thereby making them accountable. But the problem is that if they are not part of the system, they CANNOT have accountability. Moreover the huge commissions made by them will still be too much enticement for the political class and we are back to square one. Mr. Uday Bhaskar claims the following:
The so-called middleman provides a domain knowledge that goes beyond the commercial. By officially allowing such expertise to be made available to the Indian decision-making process, long-term decisions that enable indigenous capacity-building will be positively enabled. These days the arms trade is increasingly technology-driven, and very often officials authorised to take decisions do not have the requisite technical, commercial and legal competence. Knowledge, in their case, is acquired on the job, or through a trusted loop of family and friends which may include the same middleman.
This of course is hard to digest. I work in R&D and use all kinds of instrumentation. The user is the best judge of equipment. Purchase department nowadays are manned by users / ex-users and not babus. So I do not agree with Mr. Bhaskar’s premise at all. His suggestion of bringing transparency by legitimizing the defense-pimps reeks of self-interest.
What does make more sense is suggestion by a retired Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Raj Kadyan who claims that there may have been a need for these defense-pimps in the past but with the advent of communication technologies and internet where any information is available within seconds with a few strokes on a keyboard that need has evaporated. The seller can now directly communicate with the user in terms understood and appreciated by the user. Lt. Gen. Kadyan goes on to say that:
Direct contact between buyers and suppliers is possible, and must take place without intermediaries. There must also be transparency right from drafting the request for a purchase to the stage of final evaluation and award of contract. The bidders need to be allowed to witness the different stages to instil confidence. On larger purchases, where political considerations might exist, the contracts must be negotiated and finalised on a government-to-government basis. In the interest of national security we must spruce up indigenisation and achieve self-sufficiency in our defence requirements. In the interim, we need to do away with the antiquated system of middlemen.
Essentially, the army needs to have their purchase department do the legwork. The process should be open and transparent to the extent that after a while it could be made available to public if need be. The people making the purchase decisions should be kept under the watch of a “defence lokayukta”. No politician should have the final say in the matter because we all know what their priorities are.
Indian politicians have managed to drag our soldiers in their gutter. It is up to the aam aadmi to boot the current politicians out and bring in honest and patriotic politicians. That is the only way we can restore the pride and glory of Indian Army and other such institutions with murky present but glorious past.
Arundhati Roy’s criminally misplaced and traitorous allegiance to Kashmiri militants and the deadly Maoist is well known. This Naxal sympathizer called the Maoist “Gandhians with guns “. Her shameless support to separatist leaders like Syed Shah Geelani and Yaseen Malik is a matter of record. Anyone who has seen Malik talk, knows that this man is not about compromise or betterment of Kashmiri people. Everything has to be his way or no way. He may have given up active violence i.e. being “Gandhian with a suicide vest” but judging by the company he keeps has not given up his penchant for violence of the worst kind. This murderer was seen with LeT Chief Hafeez Syed. Anyone who does not live in a cave knows that what LeT is and who Syed is. Malik was clearly mocking the entire nation by appearing with the man responsible for so many terrorist attacks. Why does he do that? He clearly knows that as long as Manmohan Singh and Sushilkumar Shide are in charge of India’s security apparatus, he has got nothing to fear. Sab Kuch Theek hai, you see. We are a soft state of the worst kind. We used to have men like Amar Shaheed Udham Singh who avenged the Jallianwalabagh massacre by going to London and shooting Michael O’Dwyer dead. Now we have Manmohan Singh and Sushilkumar Shinde who cannot even say the right thing let alone do it.
Coming back to Roy who gets a heroine treatment by our leftists, this association must have been clear. Yet this pathetic wretch has not lost any opportunity to side with Gilani and Malik. Even now that Malik’s association with Syed is out in the open, she has kept quiet. Maybe the next terrorist attack where one of her loved one gets blown up may change her mind.
This is what she write in one of her Outlook post’s “The slogan that cut through me like a knife and clean broke my heart was this one: Nanga bhookha Hindustan, jaan se pyaara Pakistan (Naked, starving India, More precious than life itself—Pakistan). Why was it so galling, so painful to listen to this? I tried to work it out and settled on three reasons. First, because we all know that the first part of the slogan is the embarrassing and unadorned truth about India, the emerging superpower. Second, because all Indians who are not nanga or bhookha are—and have been—complicit in complex and historical ways with the cruel cultural and economic systems that make Indian society so cruel, so vulgarly unequal.”
What I would like to see is for Yaseen Malik to be tried for treason for associating with known enemies of the state and for Roy to be condemned and boycotted. But that is not going to happen. At least not in Congress raj. Malik will continue to flaunt his hatred and so will Roy. I guess if we elect a government which allows this, then we are the ones to blame.
Why do I keep calling the speech a game changer? Why am I using a term often used in American politics to define people like Obama and Sarah Palin (that may have been a mistake)? You see, when a good state level leader makes the move to the national stage, he (or she) has to go through ambitious national leaders in their own party while letting their name known to the entire nation. It is not a mean feat. When Barak Obama made his now famous speech at the John Kerry’s nomination meeting (the biggest meeting for a party in the US), he essentially made his national debut and planted the seed of the first black president in peoples’ mind. In many ways, Modi's speech was like that.While the media was talking of Rahul’s Obama moment on Rahul’s speech which may have been good by Rahul’s standards but by most standards, it was a pedestrian effort. But we will not commit the crime of comparing Modi and Rahul. We will try to analyze Modi’s speech on its own merits.
1. Though not young, Modi is definitely in tune with the needs of young India. After all, how hard it is to empathize with the youth? Today’s youth may text more than write letters but they still have the same concerns as the youth of 30 years ago. The language and the way of addressing, conveys that Modi is really the first youth icon. Congress can claim Rajiv Gandhi as that but the man had limited vision and no leadership or intellect.
2. Modi’s speech amply demonstrated his vision for India. Of course even that is not difficult. We all know what is needed to repair India? Even Rajiv Gandhi showed signs of that but he did not have the leadership capability / background, or the intellect or deeper knowledge on the issues. Just appointing Sam Pitroda as the tech Czar was not enough. It was like buying a laptop for a hungry family. Modi on the other hand has led from the front, is a proven winner and clearly knows how to implement workable policies to suit his vision. No one in Congress has that or can do that.
3. The speech was a real game changer in that; it changed the rules of the debate from here on. Petty, made up and irrelevant topics like saffron terror or communalism will always get trumped by the real issues: corruption, governance, development, poverty, jobs, health to name a few. Even the UPA knows that the voters want more than trumped up issues and a good looking middle aged stuffed shirt which is why they are a worried lot today (read the article below). While Modi promises a vision with a proven ability to implement it, Congress offers Sonia’s tears.
4. Obama who is the first black president of the USA won both the elections using the support of the youth and women. Modi should use the same model because these two sections of the society are relatively impervious to age-old prejudices. The way the liberal students of a liberal college of a liberal megapolis like New Delhi connected with Modi gives you a hint of that possibility. The youth was supposed to be the constituency of Congress' middle aged Rajkumar. Modi rode into Rahul’s town and won over a hitherto unwinnable constituency (BJP has not won New Delhi is a while) by talking about what is of paramount importance to today’s youth. Modi’s economic plans and the existing safety record of women in Gujarat have to resonate with housewives.
5. The road the PM’s seat goes through UP. It also goes through states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, AP, TN, WB etc. because of their large number of Loksabha seats. Modi needs to make similar speeches in colleges in those states and tell the youth what his vision is and HOW does he plan to implement it. He needs to provide them with a working solution like the politicians do in the US. The smart Indian youth of today cannot be placated by empty rhetoric.
This was the first step that Bhai Narendra took towards New Delhi. It was like hitting a sixer on the first ball of the match. Let us hope that the march continues, unimpeded. Modi needs to ignore the cacophony and negativity out of the Congress owned media and keep harping on the message. We pray that the party and the Hindus unite behind this man and give him a chance. We all deserve a real leader for once.
After Narendra Modi’s speech in SRCC, the liberals and the pseudo seculars are a frustrated lot. You just have read their reactions. Pro Congress journalists are either ignoring the speech (like The Hindu) or offering very reluctant praise followed by extreme criticism and raising the Hindu extremism bogey. Some idiot has gone ahead and called the SRCC audience right wing students (I have met SRCC students. They are all very liberal people). Someone is saying that Modi has done a Chetan Bhagwat completely ignoring the fact that this speech has been made in one form or the other well before this one.
Of course the Congress supporters and leaders are running from pillar to post trying their best to either discredit the speech or the speaker, labeling him as a state level leader amongst other things.
The angrier and more frustrated these pseudo-seculars become the more I am convinced that Modi is doing the right thing. The liberal responses betray their unease and a fear of what is to come. That is certainly comforting to the conservatives
Before the Gujarat elections, Ajmal Kasab was hung. We had contended that it was a political ploy to win brownie points from the voters on security matters. Afzal Guru’s crimes were much older than Kasab’s and even then he was kept alive. How many of you think that even though it was the right thing to do and way overdue, the timing betrays the real reason behind it? Congress wants to divert the public / media attention from Modi’s game changing speech. When Modi takes the next big step on the national stage, whom is the Congress going to hang? Poor terrorists must really hate Modi right now.
Anyway, this was just one speech and that too in New Delhi. The speech Modi is going to make or should make in a big college in UP (Allahabad University or Lucknow University) will be the most important speech of his life. It is because the road to center goes through UP. Also, the response to Modi’s speech will become more virulent (thanks to SP and BSP). Modi like an elephant will have to leave these yapping dogs behind and soldier on in the name of the good fight.
In all the hubbub of the coronation of Rajkumar Rahul at Jaipur, I forgot that he got compared to Barak Obama. I thought that the comparison needed some close examination. We will try to compare them point-by-point.
Barak Obama was fathered by an African student in the US and never really was a father to him. His mother who essentially was a single parent brought up Obama. She moved from place to place with him. By all the available information she was not exactly a rich person. Not exactly a charmed or a privileged life. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi was born into royalty. DO NOT KID YOURSELF. Gandhi family is royalty without the title. They are filthy rich and extremely powerful. Do not get fooled by his so-called sad story of playing badminton with guards. This guy had a privileged life and did not have to work for anything.
Obama went to Harvard Law School and graduated with a J.D. magna cum laude (which is the highest way to graduate from one of the best Universities in the world). He was also Editor of the Harvard Law Review. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi went to some non-descript University in Florida. Do not believe all that crap about him being at Oxford or Harvard. Investigations into his being at those universities have come up with nothing.
After Graduating, Obama worked at the University of Chicago (another great University) as a visiting Professor and then worked in a law firm specializing as in Civil Rights litigation. On the other hand Rahul Gandhi worked in Consultancies, which are not answerable to anyone and thus can hire people as a favor. A consultancy wanting to get close to a powerful family in India could easily hire the family’s son. After all, the family son in law made hay during the family rule.
Obama became a state senator and then a US senator from a Midwestern State (the kind which do not easily elect a black man). On the other hand Rahul became an MP from Amethi, which is a Congress safe seat. He then went on to become a bigwig while his mommy was the grand wizard of the party.
Obama’s big moment came at a speech, which he made at the 2004 party meeting where they nominated John Kerry. I am told that this is the biggest forum in the US to address the party machinery. Obama’s speech was so good that people started to predict that he would be a great nominee in 2016 elections. You can watch his speeches on Youtube. He can handle the press very well. On the other hand, you can watch Rahul Gandhi speak and come to the conclusion that when it comes to public oratory, Obama and Rahul Gandhi are like Sachin Tendulkar and a High School Cricketer.
Instead of waiting till 2016, Obama then went on to become the President of the United States of America. He did it again in 2012. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi took a long time to decide what he wanted to become. Even then the post was forced on him because the Gandhi family could not hide him anymore.
Obama won the elections by courting the young voters who are less beholden to the matters of race. In that, he is a true youth leader. On the other hand, the youth leader title on Rahul is either imposed (by the party or the media) or self assumed for self promotion. Failure to win anything in UP or Bihar or WB or anywhere tells you that he has no base with the regular non-Congress youth.
Obama overcame the racial barrier to get where he is. Black people were being discriminated against in the worst possible way until 50 years ago. Breaking that wall and becoming the first black president would have been unthinkable before his 2004 speech. That way he is a pioneer. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi has further raised and strengthened the barrier. Think about it. In many ways, we are still trying to break the shackles of our servile attitudes i.e. awe of English language and inferiority complex vis a vis white skin. Indians with means are beholden to fluent English which is why they send their kids to missionary Christian Schools or insist on fair skin in matters of personal relationships. Now what do Sonia and Rahul bring to the table other than their Dynasty Rule and white skin? Do not kid yourself by the power she holds. It is not her ability but our slave attitude which bestows that upon her. Yes. Rahul is bringing back the wall.
Comparing Obama and Rahul is a disservice to one of the greatest personalities of our time. You may not like Obama’s policies but no one can deny his achievements. The two names should not be even spoken in the same sentence.
We do have a person who is an OBC and thus like Obama, comes from a very modest background. He may not have the fancy degree of Obama but he shown to possess the ability and the intellect (one example is his use of the latest media technologies). Like Obama, he has come up through the ranks on his own. Like Obama, he has won on performance and political acumen even in the face of extreme negative campaign. Like Obama, he has the pulse of the youth of the nation even though he is no longer young. Just like Obama, this man is also a tremendous orator who can inspire and instill confidence in people. Who is he? I will give you a hint. He is the three time chief minister of a major Indian state. With any luck the voters will give him a chance to lead India. I am sure you can figure this one out on your own.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS NOT OUR'S. WE ARE POSTING WITHOUT PERMISSION BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW WHOM TO CONTACT FOR THIS. The article is actually a letter by someone who uses the same nom de plume as us. Clearly he is an extremely frustrated Hindu and thus a kindred spirit. He is also a brother from the south which is why it grabbed my attention. It is my fervent belief that our South Indian Hindu brothers got crushed by the pseudo-secular brigade by a number of reasons and under devilish pretenses. Leaders like Karunanidhi used a fear of Hindi to unite people of TN and rebel against anyone who wanted to oppose them even on other matters. Under their leadership, Hindus got sidelined using Congress / Communist / British tricks of guilt, Macaulayite education (and booze in Kerala) to control Hindus especially the middle class, OBC and dalit Hindus. Our brother questions a lot of established beliefs and raises many fantastic points as a wake up call to all the Hindus. We can unite, vote right and survive or stay divided continue to elect the same demagogues and get destroyed. Please read:
aam aadmi • 12 hours ago −
Why Muslims and Christians always win in India?
Take a look all of you.
1. Why did the Imperial British Government deal ruthlessly with Tilak, Aurobindo and Savarkar - all of whom had their minds, bodies, spirits broken.
2. How did Gandhi become a Mahatma in 1914 itself and how did he ascend to leadership position in 1917 when Tilak was still alive? What had Gandhi done until 1914 to deserve to be called Mahatma?
3. What was Gandhi's views about Tilak?
4. Why did the British government not see Gandhi as a threat to their rule when they saw Savarkar, Tilak and Auriobindo as immediate threats?
5. How did the Muslim League gather more and more strength in the polity with their explicit Muslim agenda?
6. Did Hindus have an explicit Hindu agenda?
7. Who spoke for the Hindus during the so-called freedom struggle while we all know who spoke for the Muslims?
8. Why was the RSS incapable of providing an aggressive political leadership to the Hindus when they knew well what Gandhi was doing and what the Muslim League was doing?
9. Why was the Sapru Committee report not taken up by Gandhi with the same enthusiasm with which he welcomed the Cabinet Mission proposals which concealed the ticking bomb of partition in its enticing proposals?
10. Why did Gandhi ask Hindu women to bite their tongues and kill themselves and not ask the Hindu men to pick up the sword to protect their women and their land?
11. What did Gandhi tell the men of Punjab when he jheard that they were forced to crawl along Kuccha Kurrichan because of the orders of Brigadier-General Dyer? And then what was Gandhi's reaction to Jalinawala Bagh (and dont pl give me the bullshit of Attenborough's Gandhi and its apocryphal depiction) Did Gandhi even react to Jalainwala Bagh? If yes, what did he say?
12. Why did Gandhi ask Rajajai and KM Munshi to get out of the Congress and why did he accept parition of the country to Jinnah and say he was ok with partition of the Hindu Bhumi as between brothers?
13. What is partition between brothers? Was Gandhi saying Jinnah was his brother? Is India Gandhi's baap ka maal that he will decide the basis for partition?
14. Even if Jinnah was Gandhi's brother and all muslims are hindus' brothers because like someone in the Hindutva fold said - everyone in this land is a hindu or was a hindu, which sounds as soothing as accoing lullaby, dis Jinnah or the Muslim League think they were our brothers?
15. But they still got Pakistan didn't they? And Kashmir because Gandhi told Nehru Kashmir was Nehru's baap ka maal.
16. And the Muslims continue to get everything they want even in the territory which remains after they amputated the Hindu Bhumi, after they took away Pakistan and Bangladesh. And scum Hindus in govenment and every pillar of democracy tremble at the first mulsim threat of unleashing violence.
17. The then state government and the police succumbed to threats of unleashing violence against the FACT exhibition on Aurangazeb and after damaging priceless exhibits the police violated every rule governing arresting women and arrested 3 harmless women - one young, one middle aged and one old - after permitted hours. The old so and so sarkari Nawab of Arcot who continues to enjoy government recognition when all hindu kings have been dereognized, actually issued a public threat - he knew exactly how to dismantle the exhibition.
18. Blooming villains in the media continue to equate Hindus taking objection to MF Hussein - for the media Hussein's Durga copulating with the bull, a naked saraswati, a naked Bharatmata is the same as depicting Al Qaeda and other terrorists in a film.
19. The current acting chief of the Madras High Court told me it is easy to remove fish stalls but not hindu temples will today decide whether Kamala Hasan's Vishwaroopam will be released for public viewing or not.
20. The same Elipe Dharma Rao came to the rescue of a church which was built illegally on TN government land and told the state government not to demolish the church but to accept compensation.
21. The supreme court which has pordered all religious encroachments to be removed or off with your heads, and Jayalaithaa and Karunanidhi and Narendra Modi and Yeddiurappa went on a temple demolishing spree, no one in TN seems to have noticed that there are 476 Jesus and Mary shrines in a small locality called Nungambakkam - in Susaipiuram, Vaikuntapuram and Kamarajapuram. 476 street Jesus and Marys.
22. And how many Hindu street temples were destroyed?
23. Four days ago a 100 strong cancerous Christian group went screaming their Jesus songs in front of the Nungambakkam Shiva temple on Thai Poosam day handing out christian leaflets to Hindu bhaktas coming to the temple on that sacred day.
24. The local police told Uma Anandan that by objecting to Christian prosepytising in front of a hindu temple, she was causing communal disturbance.
25. So communal harmony is always maintained only when Hindus remain silent, do not object, do not react violently. Communal harmony is disturbed when Hindus pick up arms and raise their voices to protect their way of life.
26. Look at TN all of you - there is a insidious pandering to the Church if you have the nose to smell it. In every important government appointed position if there is one hindu at the top, there is a Christian immediately by his side breathing down his neck.
27. Hindu temples can be violated, hindu sensibilites can be abused, Brahmins continue to be the target of Dravidianists because every hindu who has ascended to high leadership positions has consciously de-Hinduised himself when in power.
28. Every Muslim and Christian, no matter where he is located, will do two things proactively - he will serve his religion, he will refuse to play secular and act in the disservice of his religion.
Hindus not only actively do great injustice to Hinduism, temples and hindus, but also serve secularism and the Constitutiion which serves the Abrahamic religions.
Every Hindu organization, every Hindu leader by their inaction, their silence has facilitated the ascendance again of the abrahamic adherents.
Given Hindu leadership failure on all fronts Muslims and Christians will win always, always. What has any Hindu MLA, MP, Minister , judge, lawyer, political party, done to protect the cow, temples, hindus? Can we get 100 people to protest when Hindu sensibilities are harmed?
We are grateful to our brother and his letter can be read in response to Venky Vembu's article at this url: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/hindutva-card-is-a-losing-proposition-for-bjp-today-611309.html?utm_source=frontpagepicks&utm_medium=hp
