Indian Army, Indian Politicians and Aam Aadmi

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.

Defence budget is one of the largest and India is one of the biggest buyers on weapons and other defence 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 defence-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 defence-pimps were put in place to deal with foreigner suppliers who did not know the language and culture. These defence-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 defence-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 defence-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 defence-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.

The article with Mr. Bhaskar and Lt. Gen. Kadyan can be read at: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/gunrunners-sons-589

BJP Should Resolve Leadership Issues

BJP should have proposed Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi’s name for CM before the elections began. This is not wisdom achieved in hindsight. Readers of the blog know that we had been saying that ad nauseum. One of the reasons why SP and BSP (to some extent) did well was because the voters knew whom they were getting. In case of Congress, the voters KNEW that Rahul Gandhi was never going to be the UP CM. In case of BJP EVERY leader was a possible candidate. Therefore the possible supporters of Congress and BJP did not know around whom to rally. Lack of a clear cut leader has been bandied about as a reason for Congress’ loss as well by their experts. BJP may have lost the election in Uttarakhand because of the same issue. The next general elections are going to be held before 2014 and thus BJP needs to resolve their leadership issues because with Congress we know who that guy is going to be and so should the BJP supporters.

After Advaniji there has been a power struggle at the top, which still is going on. In fact Advaniji himself has not taken himself out of the running even though he ruined BJP’s chances of winning in 2009. RSS leadership forced Gadkari on the party who has turned out to be even more incompetent than Rajnath Singh and that is saying something. Sushmaji is sulking and really wants the top job without showing any ability except to make speeches. Arun Jaitley is BJP’s Manmohan Singh- a man who has always found his way into the government through the Rajyasabha. Of course as long as these people are around, another leader can never come up and that is going to ruin the next elections for BJP.

BJP needs to establish a clear hierarchy of leadership. This way they can establish a vision and a path forward with a leader whose decision and authority does not get questioned at every juncture. In absence of a royal family like the Gandhis, how can the BJP achieve that? The answer in not that difficult. The leader will have to be someone who is respected and feared if not loved by the party workers so they can rally around him or her with enthusiasm. The leader will have to be a person who has established him or herself as an organizer, a winner (in general and state elections, not the Rajyasabha), national recognition (that is less important because once projected, they can make a name for themselves), a very strong performer and a man of unimpeachable character. Now such a leader may exist in heavens but not earth. However, we can always find someone with most of these abilities. The BJP need to hold their own party elections where the possible candidates throw their names in the hat. EVERY member of the party should be allowed to vote. Whomever wins should become the party head. That is the only way we can find someone who can effectively lead the party because then no one can second guess his or her being there. Also, we need to do this quickly so that the party gets time to build this person up and the voters get used to the idea of that leader as our PM. That makes the process of decision making a lot easier. This also makes it possible to enthuse the voter base who may otherwise stay home.

That is my suggestion and I do not have another idea. However what we do not want is seniority as a criteria or the RSS leadership deciding who should be the leader. If the party workers elect an outsider like Bhai Narendra Modi or an old timer like LK Advani then so be it. Merit should trump all. If we cannot practice meritocracy or democracy at a party level then we have no business practicing at a national level.

India Should Wake Up To Modi's Accomplishments

Brooking’s institute is a liberal think tank. One of their research fellows, Michael O’Hanlon has taken it upon him to run down Indian nuclear program. They have never lost an opportunity to influence the US government to isolate us on the nuclear issue. Now one of their top officials interviewed Bhai Narendra Modi and came away with a very positive impression. That interview was published. To Bill Antholis’ amazement, Modi broached the post Godhra massacre riots himself. Antholis writes:

Modi has never apologized. “I was just installed in my position the day before.” He had been formally elected and sworn in on February 26th, having been acting Chief Minister for six months, mostly overseeing response to Gujarat’s 2001 earthquake.

Later he told me in general terms about his years in office, “I have made mistakes, and my government has made mistakes. What is important is that we recognize them, evaluate what we have done, and then fix them.” Last September, he led a state-wide fast for “peace, unity, and harmony.” He has started to reach out to the Muslim community, expressing “pain … for the families who had suffered.”

Of course Bhai Narendra should never apologize. If he was guilty of anything then it was his inexperience in handling the government machinery. Congress had been in power for 35 years at the time of the revenge killing / massacre / pogrom of Sikhs in 1984. How long did it take them to mobilize protection for the Sikhs?

Anyway, I have written too much on the topic and I wont do it anymore. But following this interview, the Asian edition of Time Magazine published an article on Bhai Narendra, which is very complimentary in nature. Needless to say, Indian liberals and the pseudo-secular lobby are distressed by it. They carried out a systematic character assassination of Modi in USA and other countries. Indian liberals in the US ensured that Modi would never get the US visa. Of course some of those liberals have now been found hanging out with Ghulam Nabi Fai who is now in jail for being a spy on the ISI’s payroll. So much for the credibility of Indian liberals in the US!

The Congress leaders who are so outraged by Modi's picture on Time magazine are forgetting that the one time Nehru appeared on the cover was when Mao Tse Tung had duped him of the permamnent seat in the UNSC.

After all things said and done, the whole world is seeing what Modi has done for Gujarat. The progress in the state is the envy of many leaders. In weak moments leaders like Sheila Dixit have praised Modi’s administration. Either the liberals cannot see what the world is seeing or they are loath to admit the remarkable work Bhai Narendra has done for Gujarat.

What is more bothersome than the liberal pretension / ignorance is treatment meted out to Bhai Narendra in BJP and at the hands of RSS leadership. Instead of proudly portraying him as the leader of the BJP and a national alternative to anyone Congress can put forth, they do not seem to pass up an opportunity to demean him.
It is time that all right thinking Indians acknowledge what is now obvious to the world. We need a leader like Modi. We deserve a leader like him.

The Brooking's interview is a must read. The url is http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2012/0316_modi_antholis.aspx?p=1
The article on Time magazine can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-narendra-modi-a-firm-no-nonsense-leader-time/20120317.htm

SP Rule In UP Has Begun With Bang-Bang

One of my favorite fables goes as follows:

It is about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and begins carrying the scorpion, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked, the scorpion says: “this is my nature”.

People are no different especially people who have tasted power and have stronger desires than morals. Politicians and hoodlums fit the bill better than most. Politics in UP Samajwadi Party came to power based on the strength goonda power (and of course vote bank politics). Of course the voters of UP forgot the state of terror during the past SP regimes, fell for Akhilesh Yadav’s charms and brought back the SP to power. The scion of the Yadav clan promised a goonda free raj and people bought it. Now we see that the new SP raj has begun, not with a bang but bang-bang. People have already died at the hands of SP supporters and it has not only been a week since the oath ceremony, As Meer Taqi Meer said: “Ibtadaae ishq hai rota hai kya, aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya.”

As we can see from the composition of the new Yadav ministry, we have nearly half of the ministers with criminal cases. Knowing UP politicians, we all know that criminal cases are seldom limited to financial crimes. In most civilized countries, most of these guys would be in jail. In a news article, the Rediff scribe is placing the blame on Yadav senior. But what can he do? If winning in UP means caste politics, placating the lowest common denominators in the Muslim community, dirty money and muscle, then does anyone with a clean record have a chance?

If Akhilesh Yadav thinks that he can somehow control his ministers then I would like to attract his attention to the aforementioned fable. Once a criminal, always a criminal. Poor guy. He may have all the noble intentions in the world but he is caught in a catch 22 warp. He cannot win without these criminals but he cannot function with them. Good Luck Akhilesh Boss! I wish you the best.

Again, I place the blame squarely at the feet of the UP voters especially the Hindu middle class. If they do not go out and vote properly then we will continue to see UP oscillating between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Of course this brings me to a question I often wonder. The UP voters voted for these guys out of sheer ignorance. Consequently their suffering is going to continue. My question is: Does the punishment here (the suffering) befit the crime (voting for the wrong guy)? It does not but that is democracy for you. We deserve the government we elect. On the flip side we have the “yatha raja, tatha praja” dictate. Good luck to Yadav but better luck to the UP voters. They will need it in spades.

Is Mulayam the 'remote control' behind Akhilesh?

Significantly, Mulayam' s younger brother Shivpal Yadav was facing nine criminal cases including kidnapping, dacoity, fraud, embezzlement as well as a case of attempt to murder. He was also known as the kingpin of the police recruitment scam exposed during the Mayawati regime.
The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/is-mulayam-the-remote-control-behind-akhilesh/20120316.htm

Regionalism Divides. Hinduism Unites.

Nitish Kumar recently said that Indians now prefer regional parties. It is news to only the cave dwelling Indians. But the question to ask is why? It is because people want their share of the pie to be as big as possible. They want that often at the cost of more deserving states and the nation. Kerala, Poschim Bongo and now UP all have enough Muslim voters to decide who gets to rule the state. These states do not contribute a whole lot to the national GDP other than cheap labor. However, because of their political clout, they now can influence the central government to suit their needs. Majority of people in Poschim Bongo and Kerala hate Narendra Modi and yet when it comes time to squeeze the central government for money they probably are getting what Gujarat (and similar states) contribute to the national coffers. That is only the money aspect of the story. One can justify that unfairness on the need to bring up the entire nation. But then there are issues like security and foreign policy, which should not be left to the regional parties. If Mulayam Yadav wants to keep his vote-bank happy by siding with Pakistan (when he demanded that we bailout Pakistan from a financial mess) or siding with Iran when UN wanted to impose sanctions then we have a problem. Mamta Bannerjee single handedly scuttled a proposed Teesta water sharing accord with Bangladesh. This deal would have strengthened the hands of Sheikh Haseena who is our friend. This had long-term security implications.

We have repeatedly written on this blog that regional parties are weakening the central government. With great difficulty, we had finally achieved an effective two party system – NDA and UPA. But now, that is going to become a pipe dream thanks to the selfishness of the voters.

So if regionalism divides, what unites us? Are we essentially doomed to be balkanized (a Paki wet dream) or are we going to maintain the status quo and remain united? If we are, then we need to identify the unifying factor and make it stronger. It is safe to say that Indians are prejudiced against people from various parts of the country. Sometimes that hate becomes virulent as we often see in attitudes towards migrant workers from poorer states. Yet when it comes to a national issue, we stand united. Why do we feel this kinship? The answer that even the liberals would agree reluctantly in private is our religion – Hinduism. Our culture, way of life, way of thinking and problem solving is guided by Hinduism. Indians of other religion are also deeply affected by Hindu culture. Examples are all around us. In the eyes of the world Indian is synonymous with the word Hindu and for extremely good reasons. So what are we doing to strengthen this unifying factor?

NOTHING!

Today the Hindu way of life is constantly under the secular gun. The blasé attitude of the younger generation is very disheartening. Freedom of speech and thought often gets confused with indiscipline. The constant threat of promiscuity is destroying family values. Macaulayite education system now perpetuated by Congress is ensuring that the word Hindu is now close to an invective, a “gaali”. Media and films portray Hindus as a caricature while the western hedonism gets celebrated.

Unless this problem is identified and solved, the Maharashtrians had better get used to the idea of getting a visa to visit Allahabad or Banaras in the Islamic Republic of Uttar Pradesh.

Our blogpost on a similar topic can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/07/conservative-india-or-liberal-india.html

The picture is from: http://rummuser.com/?p=4285

India: Fallout Of UP Elections.

As I have written over and over, winner of UP elections is going to have a major impact of the 2014 general elections. Of course if the winner were either Congress or BJP then the analysis would be easy. However, with SP as a huge winner, the analysis is a bit different. 2014 is too close for any kind of anti incumbency sentiments to build up. SP will win at least 50 seats. With 65 MPs, the communists essentially controlled the government and repeatedly brought it to its knees. They did it for an ideology perverted as it maybe. Imagine what a party like SP will do with 50 MPs?

If they join the government, then they will ask for plum assignments. Mulayam Singh used to be the Defence Minister. This time he will ask for more high profile portfolios. The implications are clear – a repeat of UPA 1&2. I remember a rally in Lucknow where the SP had taken out a rally, shutting down Lucknow to support Iran against UN sanctions. With 50 plus MPs, the SP will be making our foreign policy to ensure appeasement of Muslim voters. Mulayam Singh was also a major proponent of paying Pakistan free money to bail them out of their financial problems. He will definitely be one for increased talks and accommodation of the Paki demands. Can you imagine what kind of stance would the SP take if the SIMI was found to be guilty of a terror attacks? Aside from costing the aam aadmi money, this setup is going to make our security system weaker. The nation will pay one-way or the other.

If they support it from the outside then they will use the central government as an ATM just like Chandrababu Naidu did to the Vajpayee government. Essentially, the rest of the country is going to pay for UP’ites decision of election SP. Moreover, with that kind of strength, they all will have a “get out of jail” card. After all, Mayawati has managed any kind of investigation into the Taj Corridor case because of her MPs in Loksabha.

Of course, there is a third possibility. Mulayam Yadav has long been a proponent of a third front because that is the only way he will become the PM. He tried very hard when the communists had a large number of seats. That reprehensible Harikishen Singh Surjeet, was his point man. Luckily, all those efforts came to a naught. But this time he will be armed with a much larger number of MPs. If he soon does not get a favorable deal from the UPA2, he may start reaching out to other regional parties for early general elections. Mamta and Jayalalitha may be very accommodating towards that because they would want to exploit their current strong position in those elections before they become victims of anti-incumbency. While we all want early general elections, the third party is going to make the national polity even weaker. Those coalition governments will be even weaker because there will be no cohesive force other than greed. Instead of an ideal strong two party nation we will enter an era of perpetually weak central coalition governments. Instead of bringing the renegade and selfish regional parties under control, we will be creating a Frankenstein.

Of course I may be getting way ahead of myself but what scares me is that the two national parties are very weak and vulnerable right now. Congress is weak because of corruption, sycophancy and dynastic politics. BJP is weak because of abject poor leadership and constant in fighting. This makes the specter of the third party a lot closer to reality.

Thanks to the voters of the regional parties in TN, WB etc and now UP, we are going to be mired in a situation where a party with less than 30 % of total votes can continue to rule without fear. Think about it. The current UPA has less that 30% votes. This means that 70% people do not want them in power. But because of divided votes, the inept UPA government can continue to rule and redefine democracy i.e. majority does not rule, splitting the opposition does.

The picture is from: http://www.ipatrix.com/2908/indian-elections-color-palette/

SP: Fallout Of UP Elections.

Mulayam Yadav took a page from the Congress election book and converted OBCs and Muslims into his faithful votebank. In the last election he made the mistake of inducting Kalyan Singh for the Lodh votes and paid dearly for it. He has since gotten rid of his money man (Amar Singh) and is now dealing directly with the Ambanis for money. Kalyan Singh was also fired to bring back the Muslims. Promises were made to OBCs and Muslims (middle class Hindus will pay dearly for that and they would deserve every bit of the punishment) at the expense of the exchequer (like it is done in the Southern Indian states) and then he introduced his son Akhilesh who turned out to be more of an asset that Rahul Gandhi ever was for the Congress. The SP entered the race well prepared. What they did not expect was a complete rejection of Congress by Muslims and an extreme incompetence of the BJP to take advantage of the anti-incumbency wave. They have won big. Really big and are firmly ensconced in UP for the next five years. Those of us with longer attention span than a typical UP voter remember well the days of SP rule. Folks, it was as if the state had become a lawless frontier of sorts. Mulayam introduced the concept of Jumbo ministries. He had close to a hundred ministers. Things we really bad and that is putting it too mildly and charitably.

Akhilesh has promised an end to Goonda Raj. We hope for the sake of UP that he is right. We have to deal with them for five years. Akhilesh is “foreign returned” (although his dad always preaches against use of English and computers etc.) and thus is coming up with these seemingly new concepts like crime free politics in UP. Good luck to him. You see, the SP cadre has been out of power for a long time. They would want to fill their coffers first. No one can stop them from doing so, not even the son and dad combo. Then we will have the OBCs and farmers clamoring for their doles. Of course the Muslims will be ready with their own demands. To ensure longevity of his son’s political career, Mulayam will fulfill all his promises to the Muslims even if it means turning the state into a Pakistan clone (parts of it are already there). Other than the Sahara group and the Ambanis, no one will invest in the state because the corrupt bureaucracy will remain just that.

Am I being too negative? Should I give a chance to the new SP? I am not twenty years old. If I know one thing about people is that they do not change unless they have faced death or some event like that. I do not buy this reinvented SP story. Akhilesh Yadav may be an improvement over his father but his party members are still the same. Muslim appeasement and the largess to the OBCs is going to continue unabated.

In democracy, you deserve the government you vote for. UP voters are going to deal with SP for the next five years. Hopefully they will be happy with their choice. What these voters do not realize is the national implication of SP’s win. Of course that is not their concern. After all, people all over the country vote for regional parties so why not the UP’ites? The price the nation will pay for this will be discussed in yet another post.

BSP: Fallout Of UP Elections.

Finally, the sins have caught up with Mayawati who has been sitting on UP’s fate like a cobra for all these years. She was like an extreme punishment which was not commensurate with the crime of voting for her. A visit to Lucknow is rewarded with unsightly posters singing paeans in honor of Behenji. Huge parks with elephants and her statues assault the senses. Once beautiful and cultured city was first destroyed by the SP Yadavs of western UP and the task has been completed by the BSP. Once ubiquitous politeness has been replaced by rudeness, the Lucknawi attitude by a fear of the unknown and the beauty of the old stands marred by the current day architectural eunuchs (malls). The same story seems to have been repeated all over this once great and cultured state.

Now the state represents corruption and incompetence. Scams are big and mired in worse crimes like murder. Parts of the state have come to represent mini Pakistans. Poverty is worse than that in the sub Saharan countries. People are eating mud to fill themselves up. Laborers are leaving the state in droves looking for work and becoming a source of constant ridicule. You need only say that you are from UP to have your credibility shot to the dust in the rest of the country. That is what UP has become thanks to one incompetent regime after another. Even the BJP led governments did nothing for this unfortunate state. SP rule and then BSP have dug new depths for the state if that were possible. Almost all the BSP leaders should be in jail. Mayawati has finally got her comeuppance. People of UP have voted her out along with her air flown shoes and her food tasters and her private road. That they have brought back the SP will be covered in another post.

Hopefully, the BSP will die in ignominy. Hopefully, Maywati and her cronies will be tried in a court of law. Hopefully, our dalit brothers and sisters will find real leaders who will look out for their interests without pocketing the much needed funds. Hopefully they will find leaders who will not try to pull wool over the dalit aam aadmi by showing him the past rather than making a bright future a reality, leaders who will build to bring prosperity rather than monuments. I hope and pray that such a leader emerges from the BJP. After all, our tallest leader, Bhai Narendra Modi is an OBC as is Uma Bharati. How hard can it be to find the Hindu conservative dalit who will work for the society’s forgotten in the BJP fold? It is a matter of trying and making it a priority. A rather large population of dalits should tell us how urgent it is to find that dalit Narendra Modi.

Congress: Fallout Of UP Elections

Even after pulling out all the stops, indulging in the cheapest of theatrics, pandering to their now lost votebank, eating with the poor and similar tricks, Rahul Gandhi, family name, white skin and all, came up croppers. Of course unlike the shameless BJP leadership, the Congress leaders have started to accept blame for their roles. Rahul Gandhi has accepted his mistakes. Even the despicable Digvijay Singh has apologized. All we are hearing from the BJP leadership is how they have won the all important elections in Punjab (where they have actually lost two seats as compared to the last time) and Goa. No mention of UP elections.

Of course the UP results indicate that the Sins at the center caught up to the Congress in the worst way. Leaders of the party are trying their best to insulate the family from any negative fallout but I don’t think that will be possible. Non family loyalists ( I think they are there. I hope they are there. I pray they are there) will finally begin to question the role of the Gandhi family in Congress’ future. Sonia and Rahul played an important part in uniting the party in the late 1990’s. They may even have helped them will in 2004. However, being part of an extremely corrupt government and relying on shameless sycophants for feedback, the mother and son duo started to believe in the legend. But recent failures (TN, WB, Bihar, Punjab and now UP) show that the magic, if it actually was were there, is now gone. This family has made enough money at the expense of India and Indians and time has come for them to leave (impotent Indian law cannot do anything to them anyways).

Congress has an important role to play in India. It is still the only national alternative to the BJP. If you take out the Gandhi family from that party and let leaders rise to the top due to their merit then you have a party which we all could consider voting for. Surely they are (without the family) a much better alternative to criminal regional parties like AIDMK, DMK, SP and BSP. They are the only party with presence in every corner of India (e.g. Manipur). I wish that the newer generation of Congress leaders would eschew the old votebank politics and delusions of their brand of secularism and do what is right. That way Congress can become the party of Sardar Patel and LB Shastri rather than a party which carried on the worst of the old British traditions.

BJP / RSS: Fallout Of UP Elections

The all important UP results are out and I will try to express my thoughts in a series of articles based upon the party involved. Being a BJP supporter, I will write about them first.

We had written on this blog that there was no way that BJP was going to win the elections in UP. What we did not even dream was that they would perform worse than the last time. Even with a tsunami of anti-incumbency against Mayawati and Congress (all the scams at the center), they dropped their total. WOW!! I thought that Rajnath Singh was a terrible leader. But amazingly Gadkari has outdone him in incompetence. However, what I know of the current crop of BJP leaders, I am not holding my breath for a mea culpa or even a regret.

Since Gadkari has no honor, he will not resign. He needs to be thrown out with extreme prejudice. People responsible for his appointment to the post should own up to that blunder. Yes. I mean the RSS elders. They need to accept full responsibility for Gadkari’s buffoonery. Once again, I am not holding my breath.

We all know what went wrong in UP. Muslims voted in droves for SP. OBC’s voted in droves for SP. Dalits voted for BSP. Leftover votes from the aforementioned groups voted for Congress. BJP voters could not be inconvenienced to come out and vote. Either that or there are no BJP supporters left in UP. What can you expect with leaders like Rajnath Singh and Lalji Tandon. These men could not excite and inspire a group of five year olds let alone blatant casteists and selfish voters of UP. The campaign for UP should have begun five years ago. It is a huge state with a divided polity. BJP does not have any grassroots level support. The RSS cadre support is a myth. The sooner the RSS and the BJP realize that the better it will be for all. To win UP elections in 2017, they need to identify a local leader with ability and charisma. Someone who can connect with the voters and can make a social contract (thank you brother Rajeev Srinivasan) with them. Yes. A UP version of Narendra Modi. Someone who uses Hindutva as a guiding light but focuses on development like Narendra Modi. Someone who is honest and can keep babus around him honest. Like Narendra Modi. Need I go on? The reason why BJP is doing well in MP, Gujarat and Chattisgarh is because they have a strong leader around whom the party workers can galvanize. Such a leader was sorely lacking in this elections. Uma Bharati was brought in too late. It was like putting on a band aid on a gaping wound. I would go one step further. I say that we fire all the older leaders in UP whose egos have been a bigger problem that the Muslim votes. We need a new generation of leaders who are as much dedicated to the cause as they are to their careers.

The fifty MLAs of the party should be made to really work for their constituents to lay ground work for the next elections (including the general elections in 20140. BJP should wake up to the realities of regional politics. India has been corrupted with local parties which are here to stay. To counter that, the BJP needs to behave a like business conglomerate and treat the state units as wholly owned but almost independent subsidiaries. The central leadership should only get involved when their help is needed. That way, the local leaders who have a better feel of the electorate get what they want. Local BJP leaders wanted Narendra Modi to campaign in UP. After all, none of them were under the illusions about Muslim votes. Instead of listening to them, Gadkari not only ignored Modi but brought in Sanjay Joshi (whose claim to fame is a porn video) who is an outsider to UP politics. There are credible reports that RSS leadership is actively trying to rein in Bhai Narendra Modi so that he does not get the national prominence because he has the chutzpah to do things his way rather than toe the RSS line. What we are seeing is that Modi’s way works but RSS way is failing- over and over.

Of course none of this is going to happen unless the party’s central leadership makes amends for all the foul ups of the last decade. Men like Gadkari, Advani, Sudheendra Kulkarni or anyone associated with the 2009 general election debacle and now the one in UP, should retire. If they do not retire then the party should fire them. Leaders who have won elections and can win them in future should be the decision makers not the ones who take the Rajysabha route.

A business oriented party like the BJP should adopt the tenet of privately owned enterprise – perform or perish. Ability and merit should be the only guiding force. RSS leadership should realize that they are the nations answer to the evil of foreign owned NGOs but that is it. RSS leaders are true patriots but lousy politicians. They should become Professors Emeriti rather than the chairman of the department. That is the only way we will be able to save our party. Otherwise make room of the likes of Maulana Akhilesh Yadav.

Are Quran and Geeta More Important Than A Human Life?

A Quran gets accidently burned in Afghanistan. Obama apologizes. It was a mistake. Karzai is offended but he accepts the explanation and the apology. But what about the aam aadmi in Afghanistan? What they should have done was gather around the US embassy with placards and shouted slogans. Maybe even burn Obama in the effigy. After that they should have gone home. After all, accidental (or even deliberate) burning of Quran will not shake the foundations of Islam. But what really happened? Taliban from Pakistan entered the picture, the protests became violent and dozens of poor Afghanis died. The topic to ponder is – Is the sanctity of a religious book more important than a human life?

Hindus have gone through centuries of abuse. Muslim marauders destroyed everything we held scared. Our temples were burnt and converted into Mosques. Who knows how many of our holy books were destroyed. Then came the British with their subtle ways of destroying us. They raped us for couple of centuries. They inflicted their culture and ways on us. But, did it destroy Hinduism? No.

Look at the Jews. Their numbers were far less than us. They went through a holocaust. I am sure that the Nazis did not treat their temples and the Tora with any kind of respect. Did that destroy Judaism? No.

The point is that all religions have strong foundations and will be there well after the followers are gone. It is the faith and the belief that makes the religion strong. The religious books, which carry the message, are just that. Books. Their destruction will not harm the religion. What destroys a religion is lack of faith not destruction of books.

What about the emotions and sentiments of the followers? When someone puts a picture of Ganpati on a toilet seat, it is hurtful and we should protest. But there are ways to protest. If a book gets burned, then it can be printed again but a human life is gone forever. With that in mind, our protests in matters of this kind or for that matter all the kind should be one which shows our resolve, faith, strength of character and civility not our inner beast. I wrote the following on our blog in regards to MF Hussain and his depiction of Ma Saraswati.
Even as a Hindu, when I saw the picture of a so called art piece where Jesus Christ was shown immersed in urine, I was offended. The guy who made that had only one thing in mind and that was offending all the religious conservatives in the US. Despite of that grossly offensive piece of puerility, the artist was not harmed in the US. He was just ignored. That is what we should have done to M F Hussain. He should have died an ignominious death in complete anonymity instead of getting feted by the entire left wing of India (of course that speaks volumes of them).
Islam and to some extent Christianity have always been the aggressors. These religions in attempts to expand have inflicted unspeakable cruelty on the non-believers. Christians now have mended their ways and resort to other tactics to meet their ends. They have come to believe that the foundations of the religion are strong enough to withstand onslaughts by liberal perverts. However, Muslims are still very insecure about their religion. Even the slightest provocation brings out the most worst in them. It is upto their religious leaders to correct this. Instead of provoking the Muslim aam aadmi to meet some political end, they should actually respect the lives of their followers and refrain from provocations, which result in deaths. Until that happens, we will continue to see what we are now seeing in Afghanistan.

I would like to remind the Muslims a powerful line in a poem by a Muslim Sufi poet.
Kis-waleya ka Majnu-nu, O teri Laila disdi kaali we!
Majnu ne jawab ditta, O teri ankh wekhan-waali we!
Je tu dekhe meri ankh naal, Teri surat na jaaye samhaali we!Ved bhi chitta ter Quran bhi chitti, Vich shyahi rakh ditti kaali we!Ghulam Farid jitthe ankhiyaan lagiyaan, Utthe kya gori, kya kaali we!
The highlighted line means that both Ved and Quran are blank pages until we put black ink in them. Of course the poet is using that line to prove that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but we could take home a different message from it.

Our blogpost on MF Hussain can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/06/m-f-hussain-india-and-freedom-of-speech.html

Bollywood and Indian Culture

Is there anyone out there who believes that Bollywood is a true ambassador of Indian culture? I have never believed it to be the case. Bollywood has not done anything of late to prove me wrong. I will try to make a case here that not only do they not represent our culture but also their desire to peddle to the lowest common denominator of the society to make easy money makes them peddle stuff, which is out to destroy our culture.

Movies made by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and their contemporaries in Bollywood made movies that represented India well. Even the Bollywood potboilers prior to the 1990s with its melodrama, seemed innocuous and in tune with sensibilities of a typical house hold. Something happened to Bollywood on it’s way to today. Let us examine.

Movies of today make you uncomfortable if you are with your parents or children. Sleazy dances with white women (what is with the Bollywood obsession with white women? Is it our slave mentality at work here?) are all over the place. The lifestyle depicted in these movies is often that of unbridled promiscuity. If a non-Indian watched these movies, they would think that pre and extra marital sex in India is as common as smell of garam masala. However, it seems that promiscuous behavior has become common in our urban areas. The young Indians seem oblivious to the emotional and health cost associated with this kind of behavior. We are already seeing a dramatic increase in divorces. AIDS is already an epidemic with Hepatitis C ready to claim the throne of the biggest killer. Cervical cancer is also associated with unprotected sex. Can I really claim that Bollywood is causing our young to divorce and have promiscuous sex? NO! However they are not helping the matter by repeated portrayal of this kind of behavior as the norm.

Idol worshipping goes hand in hand with movies. In Amitabh Bachchan’s heydays, you could see youngsters copying his hairstyle all over the place. Emulating his clothes and mannerisms were part of one’s growing up. However his movies were still tame compared to the smut being peddled today. It is one thing to copy the hairstyle and entirely different to copy the lifestyle of the stars. Idol worshippers try to copy the easy and not the hard stuff. No one got inspired to take on twenty men because he did so in Deewar. However, one cannot claim the same about the unbridled sex shown in today’s movies.

Stars of yesteryear were not exactly paragons of virtue. Maybe it was because of lack of media coverage that Indians were protected from their bad behavior. Today’s stars like Salman Khan are nothing short of criminals. In any other country, the man would have served significant amount of time in jail for vehicular manslaughter or domestic violence but not in India. He has gone from strength to strength thanks to our ever-forgiving audience including the Hindu middle class. We are bearing witness to Saif Ali Khan’s violent behavior (what else do we expect from a man whose name means sword of Ali). He seems to be an unstable person with a violent temper. However he has the money and star power, not to mention a mother with ties to the pseudo secular politicians. I can bet that the Indian establishment is going to ensure an honorable exoneration from his latest violent escapade and audience are going to forgive him and make his forthcoming movie a success. Bravo India!!

Then we have the reality shows, which seems to have lowered the level of sleaze if that were possible. Now we have porn stars becoming mainstream celebrities thanks to shows like Bigg Boss. Sonny Leone has now been hired to act in a mainstream movie by Mahesh Bhatt who never ever misses an opportunity to spew venom against the Hindu aspect of our culture. This sleazy bastard made one good movie and since has done nothing but soft-core porn. Of course if he is still in business then we only have the audience to blame.

We have always had Muslims dominating Bollywood. However in days past, they kept their fanaticism under wraps. They looked and talked like everyday Indians. But in today’s India, they seem to be emboldened by the power of pseudo-secular establishment. Shah Rukh Khan seems to be dropping his Insha-Allahs all over the place. In the latest Filmfare awards (what a crock of shit that was), he greeted AR Rehman with Asalaam Aleikum and was greeted back the same way. Rehman went on to say Alhamdulillah on the stage, which is essentially the same vein as Allah Ho Akbar. I wonder what would the reaction if someone went Bajrang Bali Ki Jai ho on such a stage? If anyone has seen Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday to the end, you know what the reaction would have been. A true blue leftist liberal, Kashyap depicted the Kar Sevaks around Babri Masjid as caricatures of Hanumanji. Essentially Monkeys. Of course he showed the bombers of Mumbai as men who were normally reacting to the goings on in Ayodhya.

Therefore in my opinion, majority of crap coming out of Bollywood is not representative of Indian culture at all. If anything, they are either actively destroying it (like Kashyap and Nandita Das) with their unfair and biased portrayal or indirectly like today’s mainstream moviemakers who are peddling smut.

Of course the ultimate responsibility of this perversion lies with the aam aadmi. If no one watches these movies then the moviemakers will be forced to respond. If we boycott the movies of criminal stars then the producers will get the message. If we do not fulfill our responsibility and succumb to Salman Khan’s antics then we have no right to be outraged by his bad behavior. After all, we enable him.

The image is from: http://www.indiamarks.com/guide/Ruling-Khans-of-Bollywood/595/

Should India Help Baluchistan?

It is clear to all but the liberals and the jhola brigade that all our security problems are due to Pakistan. They are behind every hot spot either directly or indirectly. They helped misguided Sikhs in the 1980’s to their nefarious ends. Now they are using the Maoists, which was confirmed by Assam CM who is a Congressman. It is also clear to all but the ideologically blind that our government has no clue of how to deal with. Vacillating between hollow threats and repeated and unrequited peace overtures, they are confused.

Instead of threatening a crazy nuclear armed country with no political will to back it, we should strengthen RAW and their dirty tricks department. We used to have an extremely effective RAW but that pakiphile IK Gujral dismantled it. What a mistake that was. It takes years to develop human intelligence capabilities and misguided liberals undid it. A department like that can raise the cost of doing terror for the Pakistanis. It is the old “you send one of mine to the hospital, I will send one of yours to the morgue” adage. A country like Pakistan is rife with fault lines waiting to be exploited. We have written on that topic on this blog. I proposed a division of Pakistan into five parts (of course in discussion with my friends) long time ago. Later on, security experts and journalists after 9/11 expressed the same sentiments. After getting railroaded by the Pakistanis, US lawmakers are now proposing that Baluchistan is a candidate for freedom. That state has been abused and destroyed by the Panjabi dominated Pakistani establishment and military. They have used heavy weaponry against Baluchi insurgents. They have been doing this since the formation of the country. Except for India, the world stood by and did nothing. Eventually we also abandoned them.

The Americans have turned a blind eye to every one of Pakistan’s crimes. Now that they are feeling the effects of it, they are proposing an alternative approach. Dana Rohrabacher, who used to be extremely pro-Pakistani, said the following:

"Baluchistan deserves our attention because it is a turbulent land marked by human rights violations committed by regimes that are hostile to America's interests and values," Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said at a Congressional hearing.

Stating that Islamabad has refused to concede any legitimacy to Baluch nationalism or to engage the Baluch leadership in serious negotiations, Rohrabacher said:"Its response has been based on brute force, including extra-judicial killings." Congressman Ted Poe from Texas said that the current situation in Baluchistan fits into the category of self-determination.

It could be that the Americans are trying to threaten the Pakistanis with the second division of the country hoping to force them into compliance. It also could be that if Baluchistan becomes a free country then that would open another route to Afghanistan, which will bypass the Pakistanis. Of course the Americans are doing it for their self-interest. Now the bigger question is, should we also do the same i.e. do something for our self-interest?

Yes we should. Baluchis (and to some extent the Sindhis) have always been friendlier with us than the Punjabis. There are still functional Hindu temples in Baluchistan but none in other parts of Pakistan. If Baluchis form their own country, Pakistan’s coastline becomes a lot smaller and thus makes them vulnerable to a superior naval force such as ours. Pakistan will lose a lot of their natural resources and thus will become more amenable to trade.

Even bigger question is- what can we do to help the Baluchis? All we need to do is to look at old reports of the RAW. Moreover, if the US does the heavy lifting then we should be there to help them out especially if we can do it with enough deniability. Continued diplomacy with the US, Iran and Afghanistan will also be beneficial. Other than that, I am sure that the IFS guys, who are much smarter than I, can come up with other ways. It is important for our Baluchi friends. It is important for India.

Our old post on the topic can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/01/pakistan-problem-division-as-solution.html

The US proposal on the matter can be read at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-using-brutal-force-in-Baluchistan-US-lawmakers/articleshow/11831982.cms

Assam CM's claims can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/assam-cm-gogoi-sees-maoists-isi-axis-behind-insurgency/20120219.htm

The map is from: http://www.chakranews.com/rajpura-sikhs-remember-terror-and-fear-in-baluchistan/411

The Importance Of Muslim Votes In India

High growth rates and a tendency to congregate has given rise to areas with a high Muslim percentage. Add illegal migration from Bangladesh and you have a recipe for disaster. Border areas of West Bengal aka Poschim Bongo now have Muslim majority areas, which used to be Hindu majority. A report says:

In Malda, Muslims stood at about 50 percent of the total population in 2001, Hindus at 49. In North Dinajpur, Muslims constituted 47 percent and Hindus 52 percent. Murshidabad has Muslims at 64 percent far outnumbering Hindus at 36 percent . In the 1951 census they were 55 percent and Hindus 45 percent . In Malda, too, the share of Muslim population has risen over the years from 37 percent in 1951.For the state as a whole, the percentage of Muslim population grew from 20 to 25 percent between 1951 and 2001. That of Hindus dropped from 78 to 72 percent . Among the districts, Birbhum has 35 percent Muslim population and South 24 Parganas 33 percent , both higher than the state average.

We have similar population dynamics in Bihar and to a somewhat lesser extent in the entire country. There are reports that the Communists in Poschim Bongo encouraged illegal immigration because Muslim dominated areas were their votebanks. Needless to say that this makes the Muslim votes very crucial to win elections because a typical Muslim vote is not decided by the voter but by the demagogue leader he or she follows. We are seeing examples after examples of that in UP which is the most crucial election before the 2014 elections. As I have said on this blog that no trick is too cheap, no low is too low for politicians to win that votebank.

Salman Khurshid and his wife have single handedly violated any and every norm of fair elections by promising reservations for Muslims. They have to do it. They are realizing that if they do not form the government in UP, Rahul Gandhi’s chances of becoming the PM in 2014 become infinitesimally smaller. He has been a major disappointment to the average Congress worker. The very fact that Priyanka Gandhi is out there with her children asking for votes. A sleazy and a cheap trick indeed. Speaking of shamelessness, what about the pronouncement that Sonia Gandhi bitterly cried when she saw the pictures of Batala house encounters? That was done to appease the Eastern UP Muslims where they have enough votes to influence the outcome.

Besides reservation, the Congress refused a VISA and protection to Salman Rushdie with an eye on UP elections. They have unleashed yet another investigation on Bhai Narendra Modi. Another sleazy trick to win the Muslim votes. Mr. B Raman whose analyses are always apolitical says the following:

It is no longer a case of the law taking its own course, but one of malicious witch-hunt against a political leader by his political opponents and by sections of the media and lawyers and others who are not well disposed towards him. Even after having failed to prove the charges before the SIT, they are determined to keep their vicious campaign alive for political reasons and not for reasons of natural justice.
I have never been an uncritical admirer of Modi. Nor am I in the ranks of his perpetual demonisers. I have always sought to judge him as objectively as I can. It is my view that the demonization campaign against him must stop now.

I happen to be in Lucknow on the day (2009) when Samajwadi Party was holding a massive rally in protesting sanctions against Iran. Most SP voters and workers will have difficulty-finding Iran on the map and yet here they are protesting something they have no clue about. The reason – Muslim votes.

Why have we never ever caught an Indian sympathizer of Paki inflicted terror? Why do we keep on talking diplomacy with the Pakis while they keep us bleeding? Why did we not intervene in Maldives? The same reason! Now we are being told that the Home Ministry is treading delicately on the latest bombing of the Israeli interests and not blaming the Iranian involvement is because we are buying oil from them. Even if went in full support of Israelis we will still be able to buy Irani oil because they need the money and our support in matters of Afghanistan. You see, they do not want the return of the Sunni Taliban in their neighborhood and we are the only major country who would help them out in that matter. So why is Chidambaran shying away from naming the Iranis? Any guesses?

This is extraordinarily bad. It is one thing to have domestic agenda based upon Muslim votes. Now we have to forge our foreign policy because the pseudo-secular parties want the Muslim votes? This is a very slippery slope. At this rate we are going to have Sharia laws in another 50 years or so. The votebank politics will achieve what Pakistani terrorism could not do.
The B Raman article on Modi can be read at: http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers50/paper4911.html
The article on mushrooming Muslim population can be read at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2005-06-24/kolkata/27837880_1_muslims-hindus-west-bengal
Report on Sonia Gandhi crying can be read at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/sonia-gandhi-cried-bitterly-after-seeing-batla-house-encounter-images-salman-khurshid-in-azamgarh-175042
The cartoon is from: http://twocircles.net/2010oct23/tcn_cartoon_muslim_voters.html
An eye opener on Muslim vote percentage can be read at: http://www.islamicvoice.com/april.98/FEAT2.HTM#DIV

Are Religious Minorities Victims?

We have discussed Hindu-Muslim relations on this blog a number of times and have strongly believed that the Muslims are not the innocent victims as described in the media and our history books (thanks go to our Macaulayite education system). What we have never discussed are the Hindu-Christian relations because the Christians have kept a low profile and try to propagate their religion under the guise of charity and education (Convent Schools and colleges like ST. Stephen’s). Their agenda is no less insidious especially because they have the blessing of our UPA bigwigs and our middle class who are enamored by “Convent Educated Children” who can speak English fluently.

The empowerment of Christians began during the British days when they were targeting the dalits and the tribals for conversions. In Orissa, we have Kandha tribals who are and have been more prosperous and thus powerful than the Pana tribals. Of course the Baptist Christian missionaries converted the Pana tribals who saw their new found religion as a way to empowerment. Of course the whole thing dovetailed with the British “divide and rule” policy because the Kandhas and Panas are still fighting. A lot of the Christian tribals have become Maoists and are raising hell all over the place. Christians in the west think of their religion as a bulwark against Communism. I hope they find this ironic. The point to note is that Kandhas and Panas were fighting before the Panas became Christians. Yet their fights have been declared a war by the Hindus on helpless Christians. What else remains buried is that aside from help from men like the late Swami Lakshmanananda (who was assassinated by Christians) no one helps the Hindus. However, the Christians have the entire media, Congress machinery and western propaganda and money behind them. Of course the Hindu cause was not helped by the unforgivable and extreme brutality shown by Dara Singh towards the family of Graham Staines.

We keep reading these reports where as many as 1000 churches have been attacked in the BJP ruled Karnataka. In an interview with Vicky Nanjappa (I have become a reluctant fan of this guy), P N Benjamin, a minorities commission member and coordinator of the Bangalore Initiative for Religious Dialogue Says the following:

It is not correct (accusation of 1000 attacks). It is just an exaggeration. I feel there have been a handful of attacks, which were instigated by some fringe Christian groups.

He goes on to say that the bigger the exaggeration the more the money these groups get from American and other western religious groups. When asked about threats to the Christian communities from Hindus, he says:

The real source of danger to the Indian Christian community is not the handful of Hindu extremists but the self-styled saviours of Christianity who assert that they alone are the holders of valid visas to heaven and paradise.

This all sounds very familiar. You replace America and the western religious groups with Saudi Arabia, you replace Convent schools with madarsas, you replace the various dioceses with Dar Ul Uloom and you have the entire Muslim story repeated down to an identical political dynamic.
The biggest misconception that we have had so far did that despite all, the Christians are a peace loving community. But with examples of the Maoists and extremists in South India and Orissa (the ones who killed Swami Lakshmanananda that misconception must be laid to rest. With the help of top UPA leadership and the Communists in Kerala, the Christians are anything but helpless victims in India.
With what we know about Christians now and what we have known about Muslims, is there anyone out there who thinks that Religious minorities are victims of any kind. To those who disagree with me I would like to point out that if you really want to see religious minorities as victims then you should look at Buddhists in China or Hindus and Christians in Pakistan. Now those are really helpless victims.

The Nanjappa interview can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-interview-with-pn-benjamin-on-church-attacks/20120206.htm

The story of Swami Lakshmananada's assasination can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/28orissa1.htm

A short history of the so called religious violence in Orissa can be read at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence_in_Orissa