Deathblow?

The ruling combine in Maharashtra has dealt a master stroke to shatter the opposition(BJP & Shiv Sena). Just prior to the election in the Northern states, the Maharashtra Government decreed that all taxi drivers should know to speak Marathi if they want their licences renewed. This obviously gladdened the hearts of the regional satraps but soon came a clarification that the cabbies need only know any ‘local’ language, which would mean even Hindi or Gujarati! This sent the regional language saviours into a tizzy trying to outshout each other in trying to save the Marathi manoos and his language and a revival of their slogan of Mumbai for Maharashtrians. This was soon trashed by the RSS whose political party the BJP had to follow suit for self preservation in the electioneering states. In the bargain they lost a lot of love from their old political partners in Maharashtra – the Shiv Sena. This rift augurs well for the Congress in the State as well as in the oncoming elections in the Northern states. Two birds with one stone! A masterstroke indeed!

Goodbye Mr.Jyoti Basu

Jyoti Basu has proved that he practiced what he preached, even in death – the mark of a true leader who leads from the front.
As per his wishes there will not be any religious rites nor will his body be consigned to flames or soil. Instead it will be donated to a hospital for research. His eyes also have been donated to bring vision to some visually challenged person.
I salute Jyoti Basu. May there be many more leaders like him. Our country is in dire need.

Merciless Mercenary Oz

400 Indians attacked in a year. Australian government pooh poohs it as a hysterical creation of the Indian media.

Bal Thackeray announces that Australian players will not be allowed to play in India with the IPL (a money spinner for players) looming large on the horizon.

With great alacrity the attacker of an Indian taxi driver who was assaulted a couple of days back is arrested and convicted!

Who killed Hemant Karkare?

Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed by terrorists near Cama hospital on the night of November 26 when they were chasing terrorists. Who is responsible for their deaths? The Government or the terrorists?
As per a report on CNN-IBN, the bullet proof vest worn by the slain Chief of Maharashtra’s Anti Terrorism Squad offered no protection to him. The autopsy report says there were eight bullet marks on Karkare's body: four on the top of the right shoulder, one in on the back of the right shoulder and three on the right chest. One bullet was found in his left kidney and another in the right of his liver.
Apparently, the samples of the vest had failed trials at a police firing range. Yet they were procured and somebody laughed all the way to the bank.
This is the result of almost all government bodies who float a tender for supplies and select the cheapest product – quality be damned, as long as it is to be used by somebody else.
And now the vest worn by the hero is ‘lost’. Nobody can find it!
How sad is that?

A slap on democracy?

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members on Monday attacked state Samajwadi Party chief Abu Azmi inside the legislature after he insisted on taking his oath as a legislator in Hindi. His insistence, am sure, does not stem from his love for the national language but from a deep rooted desire to be in the limelight at any cost. Yet, the incident is nothing short of shameful and disgusting.

Street violence has ousted democracy. Is nothing sacred? Politics has been redefined by the neo fascists. Linguistic chauvinism has scaled new heights and the credit goes to Mr. Raj Thackeray and his bunch of goons who dare to call themselves ‘Ministers’ in our Legislative Assembly. Their being there reflects sorely on our educated electorate who did not bother to come out and vote and assisted in the gradual demise of democracy. If there is no participation of the citizen in elections it is not democracy.

Strategy or Lethargy?

China has asked India to stop The Dalai Lama, from visiting Arunachal.
National Remote Sensing Agency has confirmed that construction of dam is on at the Zangmu site on the Chinese side of the Brahmaputra River for possible diversions of the river.
China invests in power projects in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
Kashmiris are being given a stapled attachment for a visa instead of a regular Chinese visa - all aimed at conveying Beijing's latest anti India ploy.
India’s patience is being tried but India just smiles indulgently at the antics of China.
Gandhiji’s legacy survives?

Who is the 'terrorist'?

The right wing party has its militant wing called the ‘Bajrang Dal’ the self styled ‘moral police’ which has ‘terrorised’ people into following their diktats. The Left wing parties have their militant wing called ‘Naxals’ who terrorise the establishment and those associated with it. And it is the contention of both the parent parties that their militant wing members should not be called ‘terrorists’. It seems so similar to the movements in Kashmir where their militants do not want to be labelled ‘terrorists’ despite their terrorising the locals.
The ‘democratic process’ in India sure seems to have neglected the common man enough, except while looting him, to frustrate him to the point of taking law into his own hands. And now the ‘powers that be’ complain that they so much want to improve the living conditions of the common man but are unable to do so due all the militancy. Sigh.
Who is the terrorist? The perpetrator or the victim?