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Socialism is immoralProtest the quota systemEnd entitlement benefits for freeloaders Support the death penalty for terrorists and anti-nationals |
| FAKE STINGS AND SECULAR GAMES: | |
| The deep rooted conspiracy to subvert the political process [link] |
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 |
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Everything you always wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask | |
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 It appears that the intellectuals of our country are totally taken with the idea of sex education. Great. Children ought to be told about the birds and bees. But the sex education proposal has met with various roadblocks. The commies in Kerala don't want anything to do with it which may have something to do with the high Muslim population in the state. Mayawati wanted sex-ed but angry teachers in UP rejected it. Various governments, both Congress and BJP, have decided not to introduce sex-ed.We do not have much opinion on this matter, except that one can not ignore the political opportunism at play here. As if we do not have more important issues to tackle. You can rest assured, even the most staunch proponents of sex-ed within Congress will not make a peep on this topic while campaigning in rural or Muslim dominated areas. These issues are exclusive to the habla Englais crowd. Basically it gives your sec-soc friends another stick to beat you with in case you happen to support a certain communal party. Sex-ed is also being touted as a panacea for AIDS, teenage pregnancy and as a measure to prevent sexual abuse of children. These are questionable claims. Sex-ed is a serious topic, it's not picnic. It is not like you give condoms to your kids at age 12 and take them to a sex party like folks do for chicken pox. When the kids in the above pic start to paw one another, it won't look so cute any more. Introducing sex-ed could be a good idea but trying to score political goals with from the get go is doomed for failure.
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Eclipse | |
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 Yesterday, two of the greatest film directors of all time passed away, within hours of each other.
posted by barbarindian at 7:38 PM Permalink
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Monday, July 30, 2007 |
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Easy on the Kaju Feni | |
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 It appears that the Congress has won the first round in the game being played on Goa assembly floor. From the analysis provided at Offstumped and Lex it looks like quite simply what Congress did was to run away with the last three chairs instead.Various indignations followed. The Joker Singhvi claimed it a victory of ideology etc. Fourteen governments in seventeen years, some ideology this. Meanwhile our favorite TV personality Sagarika Ghosh is holding her breath. To recap, recent Goa related coverage basically followed this pattern: Eve of election: Goa land of sleaze and land mafia, flesh trade, land grab, foreign hand After election (Congress had won): Goa the heaven, land of tranquility where people rejected communalism. We are extremely curious to see some Goa related coverage after this episode plays out.
posted by barbarindian at 8:57 PM Permalink
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Sunday, July 29, 2007 |
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HRD Minister Arjun Singh in Anti-Dowry jam | |
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 A case under the Anti-Dowry Act has been registered against Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh, his wife Beena Singh, son Abhimanyu Singh, grandson Abhijeet Singh and three others at a police station on Sunday, police said.Image: UNICEF Comics - Say No to Dowry [pdf]
posted by barbarindian at 9:14 PM Permalink
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Helpless in Hyderabad | |
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Eight people, including two women, were killed and eight others injured when police opened fire and rained lathi blows on them in Khammam district during the statewide bandh called by the CPM and CPI on Saturday. The bandh was to protest "police highhandedness" against leaders and cadres of the two parties on Thursday while picketing collectorates in the districts. [link]Media reports strongly emphasized: (a) Police opened fire only when they were pelted with stones (b) The police were vastly outnumbered (c) CM YSR Reddy suspended a top cop and ordered a judicial enquiry Compare and contrast this with media reports during the Chattisgarh protests and Gujjar crisis. This being a Congress state, no poetic flourish is forthcoming from our Sec-Soc friends. Dr. Reddy also appeared on Devil's advocate. The interview segments are highly educational for those interested in understanding Indian politics [video 1, video 2, video 3]. It may be noted that Dr. Reddy recently got a lot of flak when he used most unparliamentary language against his political opponent Chandrababu Naidu. Dr. Reddy is running quite a racket over there. Land grab, intimidation, mafia style operations, illegal mining permits. You have to really watch him on the Devil's Advocate interviews, he breaks into smiles at the most inopportune moments. This is a man who does not care, in the numbers game the fractious Indian politics has become, he is beyond judicial reach, since he brings in precious support using identity based politics. Perhaps the most atrocious thing Reddy has done is trying to silence the Eenadu media and newspaper group: A nasty situation has developed for media freedom in South India's largest State — with the dominant Eenadu group targeted by a State Government that is at the receiving end of aggressive investigative journalism. The modus operandi of the Rajasekhara Reddy Government has an element of ingenuity: it is to attack the financial base of the media group, ostensibly targeting the owners' HUF financial institution, Margadarsi Financiers, while claiming that no attempt has been made to curb either the daily newspaper or the television channels of the group. [link]When the Congress rag Hindu reports such items, you can safely assume the cut runs much deeper.
posted by barbarindian at 10:21 AM Permalink
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Saturday, July 28, 2007 |
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The Nuke Deal: An open RTI petition | |
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 Come to think of it, the mango must be a mysterious enough fruit for foreigners that they need a step-by-step instruction on cutting and consuming it. Some folks like to suck on the sweet nothingness of the mango seed, long after the flesh is gone. Of course the foreigners miss out on the fun.The nuke deal is one such issue all sides will keep on sucking, even after the issue is bone dry. We have not gone into too much analysis of the nuke deal. I am sure the NationalInterest folks and many others will have a lot more to ruminate on this topic for days to come. So, we decided to take a layman's approach and see through what the deal is about. Specifically, we took this Tehelka article to put some structure around our thought process. If you find any inaccuracy in what we say here, please let us know. To summarize, the nuke deal can be explained as follows: The Nuke deal will allow India to procure civilian nuclear technology from American firms in exchange for some covenants on its military nuclear programs.Several questions immediately pop out of that statement alone.
So let's see what the people's paper has to say on the deal. As mentioned, we do not wish to go into the details of the issue at this point, so we will restrict ourselves to some eye popping quotes from the article (written by Ram Jethmalani, no less):
Deal or no deal, we deserve to see the goddamn document, in full.
posted by barbarindian at 4:09 PM Permalink
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What's next? | |
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 Skinny little Mohammed Haneef, he grew up, his beard filled out. No sooner than the Auzzies dropped him like a political hot potato, he was lapped up by the eagerly waiting political opportunists.Offstumped reports: The excitable Abhishek Singhvi has handed himself a slap in the face by allowing his emotions to displace sobriety to celebrate the the prevailing of the rule of law in a foreign land. [...] Coming especially on a day when it took 17 years to award death sentence to the accused in the 1993 Mumbai Blasts, one would have expected the Congress to have performed some honest introspection on its Executive Delinquency rather than jump on the opportunity to score a few political points. Fairness and Justice in Australia mean very little by way of National Interest to India and Indians. Abhishek Singhvi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would do well to introspect on their perverse celebration of the same. [link]The celebration is expected. You have to remember that there is no room for ambiguity in the Jeep driving Jihadi case. But no one is talking about Kafeel Ahmed or his brother Sabeel Ahmed. These names were drowned in the constant media and political rhetoric surrounding the Haneef case. To the casual observer, the case never even existed, it was a conspiracy at a global level to malign the names of minorities. The simplified version of this case asserts that Haneef just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Indeed you can not blame a man if he has a black sheep in the family. Unfortunately there are unexplained facts in the case and the facial hair is not the last of them. First, a note on the beard. It could be due to outgrowth during the period of detention but this picture does not suggest so. Also, Auzzie prison regulations clearly state that a prisoner can shave or shower if they so desire. There are serious discrepancies in the interview Haneef gave that even the most liberal media can not discount. The global terror networks see India mostly as a facilitator for now. With its easy come easy go policy, lax law enforcement, chalta hai chalne do attitude and a people friendly Government coupled with its relative modernity (i.e. access to technology, travel and modern financial systems), makes it particularly suitable to do planning, procurement and training related activites. Ever wonder why there are so many cases of RDX seizure? They keep showing up on news every other day. Every week there is a new report on fake currency racket involving the ISI. Like it or not, terror has been outsourced. Funny that it should start at Bangalore!
posted by barbarindian at 12:03 PM Permalink
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Thursday, July 26, 2007 |
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The ad that got their knickers in a bunch | |
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The fascists are at it again.
posted by barbarindian at 11:59 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, July 25, 2007 |
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Barkha please! | |
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 Barkha Dutt, super star journalist and editor-in-chief of NDTV wrote an article called Haneef: India's hypocrisy which was published on 21st July. The tone of the article was strikingly similar to a post on our blog titled Dor, published on 16th July.Now, we are not saying that the mighty Barkha Dutt reads our blog. While all the other journos were calling Auzzies racist etc., we took a contrarian view, just like Barkha did. That's all we are saying. It came to our notice that the same article was published in Australian media, now the title was changed to Haneef - the view from India. This version was slightly modified from the originally published article, which is understandable. A quick recap on the major themes as put forward in the media and blogs: Indian MSM: Haneef good, Bush bad, Howard puppet, Auzzies racist, Hindu bad, Modi bad.Barkha took a contrarian approach, as pointed out earlier. She argues that Indians are hypocrites because they let Hindus play rough shod on innocent Muslims detained for terrorism while they are crying foul over Haneef's alleged bad treatment by Auzzies. Barkha's article is full of anecdotes such as: More recently, Tariq Dar, a Kashmiri model who made it big in Bangladesh was locked away on charges of terrorism. [..] The judge who acquitted him was passionate in her ruling. "It’s astonishing," she wrote that "without an iota of evidence against him, Dar was kept in custody for 90 days which could be a lifetime for any common citizen." But do you remember anyone you know sharing her anger?Well, I remember at least two who shared the judge's anger. Arundhati Roy and Barkha Dutt. Then Barkha goes on to cite the following example to prove how Auzzies are so good: According to the Herald Sun, an Australian citizen, Roy Somerville, who has never met Haneef emerged as an unlikely benefactor and offered to post the ten thousand dollars in bail because he believes in a 'fair go'. The newspaper quotes the Brisbane resident as saying that if the police only charged Haneef for giving his cousins an old sim card, then it was "bullshit". Can you imagine anyone in India bailing out a stranger implicated in a case of terrorism?Let's see here, who was that eminent lawyer in India who offered his services for Afzal? Who was the then CM of UP who gave a clean chit to SIMI? Which party in India said that POTA was not needed and that ordinary laws for tackling burglaries etc. were enough to tackle a few misguided youth? Barkha would have run amock with her indignation at Indian hypocrisy but for the fact that she had to stop right before she killed many of her own articles. Articles where the Western imperial forces are conspiring to destroy world peace. That is why she does not venture into the actual legality of the case. These are murky territories and it requires the skills of a trapeze artist to prevent one from falling into icky material. Even as we cry ourselves hoarse discussing Haneef, India is handing out very tough sentences to the ones implicated in the '93 terror attacks. These sentences can not be justified unless you are willing to discuss issues such as nationalism, national threat, attack on a sovereign country etc. Overall Barkha's article seemed like a watered down version of early Roy when she was starting out on the lecture circuit. There is hypocrisy alright, but the hypocrisy lies in understanding the explosive political potential of the Haneef case and exploiting it to the hilt.
posted by barbarindian at 9:06 PM Permalink
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Tuesday, July 24, 2007 |
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Freedomnomics | |
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 Price discrimination, price gauging, predatory trade practices etc. are wrong. Always wrong.Actually all these practices are hailed as progressive steps when undertaken by various Government agencies. They are denigrated only when corporations engage in them. Even then, there are very strong evidence that markets tend to correct themselves beautifully even when corporations indulge in such activities. Opinion poll after opinion poll reveals that politicians are ranked lower in terms of trustworthiness than CEOs and entrepreneurs. Yet people tend to believe that the very same politicians can become beneficent and altruistic saviors of the oppressed when they form a mysterious entity called the Government. Move over Freakonomics, Freedomnomics is here. In a lucidly written text, economist John Lott explains why free market works so well. A section of the book does deal with rebutting some of the ideas put forward in the famous book Freakonomics, but this book is much more than an empty exercise in polemics. John Lott provides interesting examples, lots of them. Among other things he explains why the academia is predominantly leftist and always roots for a big Government. Freedomnomics explains why there is a perverse cycle of justifications given to over zealous Governments attempting to correct real or imaginary market failures, which they end up making even worse. A must read for free market believers.
posted by barbarindian at 11:16 PM Permalink
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Requiem for a dream | |
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 It's a classic tale of small towns and big dreams -- only this time round, the dream almost came true for Sushila Mishra, a resident of Nadda Village in the Bangah District of Bihar.I guess there is some substance to the rumor spread by vicious anti-reservationists that piss poor Brahmins do exist.
posted by barbarindian at 6:44 PM Permalink
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Crime and Punishment | |
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 Ten-year-old Asma is not only living through the pain of her grievous injuries in a Mumbai hospital, but also of her nightmarish, near death experience under the wheels of a jeep driven by an eve teaser. [link]Discuss.
posted by barbarindian at 2:31 AM Permalink
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Sunday, July 22, 2007 |
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No Blood, No Tears | |
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 The clock is ticking for 23 South Koreans, kidnapped by Taliban affiliated terrorists. It is unclear what will be the outcome of this grave incident. The forces are standing by as multi-Government negotiations are going on. It is an international mess. A google news search reveals that there are several thousands of news items on this issue. Surprisingly, this incident has attracted little coverage in Indian media.The Koreans were reportedly on a humanitarian mission and consisted of young men and women, mostly English teachers and paramedics. It may be noted that South Korea has some military technicians deployed in Iraq. In many ways this is a bad move by the Taliban, one that they may come to regret in the days to come. South Korea is a very strong nation today, with a vibrant economy and a solid education system. The country has seen extreme savagery in the recent past in the form of wars. There is constant tension with the "friendly" neighbors in the North. I am not sure this incident will go down well with the Koreans. [No Blood, No Tears is a popular Korean movie. Korea has a strong movie industry and Bollywood has adapted at least two from the South Korean stable - Zinda (Oldboy) and Awarapan (A bittersweet life). The lead actress from this movie, Jeon Do Yeon, won the best actress award in the recent Cannes festival.]
posted by barbarindian at 7:58 PM Permalink
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Caption Contest | |
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posted by barbarindian at 5:11 PM Permalink
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Saturday, July 21, 2007 |
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One way ticket | |
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posted by barbarindian at 9:57 AM Permalink
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Friday, July 20, 2007 |
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Hungry kya? Try the Gitmo cookbook | |
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 The cookbook is a professionally printed 5.5 x 8.5 softcover book. The recipes are official Navy recipes that serve 100, so if you are cooking for a crowd this book will be extremely useful. We have also scaled the recipes down to 6-8 servings so that you can prepare Gitmo meals for your family. Read more here.
posted by barbarindian at 7:33 PM Permalink
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007 |
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The anti-reservation movie you have been waiting for is here! | |
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Author Shiv Khera is angry with the Censor Board for "irrational and irrelevant" cuts in his documentary film, inspired by the AIIMS anti-quota stirKhera will be lucky if the film is not outright banned. Meanwhile, after being side-stepped by presidential elections etc., the whole OBC reservation chaos is all set to resume its run. Read a preliminary report on it here.
posted by barbarindian at 11:15 PM Permalink
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Monday, July 16, 2007 |
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Dor | |
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 The latest film from Nagesh Kukunoor has the same problems his movies usually do, sentimental, cliched and overlong. You can see the official website here.Even as the media is doing backflips over the alleged misfortune of Mohammed Haneef, detained under suspicion of indulging in terrorism related activities, similar tales are unfolding without catching anyones attention. Salim, who went to Saudi Arabia in September 2003 for employment, was caught from his friend's house by officials, who had raided the latter's room in May 2006 for narcotic drugs. Salim, 30, was working as a mechanic in Riyadh.For some reason, Sagarika Ghosh didn't make a show on this and call the Saudi authorities racist. Is she pandering to the Muslim elite? A quick fact check reveals that far more Indians are incarcerated in the Arab world, often under frivolous charges. The recent arrests of Indian doctors in terror-related cases is only a drop in the ocean of Indians incarcerated in prisons scattered across the world. On the last count, there were over 6,000 Indians in foreign jails. The good news however, is that the number may be coming down and not rising.Meanwhile, the response of the Auzzie press and human rights groups have been excellent to say the least. Their coverage and protests against the issue has been effective so far. Read some of it here and here. Granted that her hubby just won one of those prizes and she is feeling overly zealous, but we just wish Sagarika exercised a bit more restraint while throwing around terms like racism, casteism etc. Given the volatile situation in India, this sort of irresponsible journalism may lead to serious headaches.  A typical racist Australian.
posted by barbarindian at 9:05 PM Permalink
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Who the fuck is Haneef? | |
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I want updates on the presidential election. That is all.
posted by barbarindian at 7:03 PM Permalink
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Sunday, July 15, 2007 |
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Riot breaks out on CNN-IBN show | |
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 A riot broke out on a CNN-IBN show and was narrowly averted by anchor Sagarika Ghosh when a Muslim member of the audience threateningly advanced towards a Hindu man who had asked a question about the Quran. You can see the show here.There are 7 video segments. Modi was invoked on the fifth segment, at around 2:30. The Sachar commission report was also invoked at some point of time. The show featured prominent personalities from media and public sphere such as Teesta Seetalvad. We did not quite understand the objective of the show. However, we learned quite a few new things. We urge you to take your time to watch all the seven segments. Some highlights (apart from the almost riot and Modi and Sachar invokations):
 Sagarika Ghosh sheepishly grins as she is administereda harsh reality check on a CNN-IBN show.
posted by barbarindian at 3:44 PM Permalink
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Kaisa Mamu Banaya! | |
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 In a development that could drive a wedge into India-China relations, the CIA has revealed declassified information on American policy and thinking that were kept secret for decades. "Love blossomed" between a "lonely" Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the country, and the last Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten's wife, Edwina, who had other "lovers" before, says her daughter.Hmmm, looks like they made quite a Mamu out of Chachaji.
posted by barbarindian at 9:27 AM Permalink
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"Calm down" | |
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posted by barbarindian at 12:53 AM Permalink
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Saturday, July 14, 2007 |
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Random predictions | |
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posted by barbarindian at 11:39 PM Permalink
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Six degrees of Modi separation | |
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 We have invented a new game, let's call it the Six degrees of Modi separation game. The rules of the game are simple. Take any malaise (real or imaginary) the world faces today and connect it with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, using 6 or less number of connections.We tried this game and found it to be great fun. Some suggested topics:
posted by barbarindian at 9:50 AM Permalink
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Scripts and Manuscripts | |
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 A letter by Gandhi, reportedly written just 19 days before his death went up for auction at Christie's. For a country where bullock carts are a common sight in most major cities, our Government acted on a frenetic pace to stop the auction and acquire the said letter.Apparently this letter was the last ever written by Gandhi. Well, maybe not. In any case, the letter is safe and sound and is back in India where it belongs. The same zeal was not exhibited in releasing the full text to the public. For something as important as this, where the highest level diplomatic intervention and an undisclosed sum of money was used to procure this symbol of secularism, the public needs to see the stuff. Unfortunately, it does not look like the full text disclosure is forthcoming. Perhaps we will need to depend on people friendly interpretations that are being released in bits and pieces. According to some sources, in his last letter, Gandhi called for better treatment of religious minorities. But from many reports, it appears that the subject matter of the letter was the dwindling sale of the Urdu edition of Harijan, a magazine Gandhi published. Clearly the folks that this magazine was intended for wasn't showing too much enthusiasm. Meanwhile Gandhi has been rather unceremoniously dropped from the British school curriculum.
posted by barbarindian at 7:07 AM Permalink
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Friday, July 13, 2007 |
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Have fun | |
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posted by barbarindian at 12:14 AM Permalink
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Wednesday, July 11, 2007 |
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7/11 | |
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posted by barbarindian at 8:25 PM Permalink
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Tuesday, July 10, 2007 |
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Bounce | |
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 You might be curious to know how the much touted PM's relief fund is working for the debt ridden Vidarbha farmers. According to reports, one farmer was beaten up when he went to ask about his relief. But this one was perhaps the most ironic. A woman tried to cash her relief fund check and it bounced! [link]I can't seem to locate the video from any of the links on the site. I had a copy of the URL in my browser cache. Meanwhile, looks like some damage control was done. Apparently, the check bounced because of local issues. The cheque issued to the widow of a debt-ridden farmer in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region did not bounce due to delay in release of assistance by the Prime Minister’s Office but "local issues", a PMO statement said on Saturday.Perhaps competence and good Governance will never be a relevant topic of debates.
posted by barbarindian at 8:20 PM Permalink
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CNN-IBN: Naxals are not terrorists | |
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Hawala is an informal money transfer system which operates below the financial systems radar. But it's not a terrorist activity only that the hawala route funds, but also the Naxal activities. Who is funding the Maoists and their expanding armed guerrilla movement? CNN-IBN also ran "investigative" reports that conclude it is easy to send large sums of money abroad using Hawala rackets, without any official documentation. POTA anyone?
posted by barbarindian at 7:57 PM Permalink
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Monday, July 09, 2007 |
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Price of stardom | |
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 Rajnikanth is perhaps the biggest star in India at the moment. The box office figures speak for themselves. The recent flick Sivaji drew crowds into a mad frenzy all over the globe, causing mini riots from Bangalore to Malaysia. The movie was able to transcend language barriers to a great extent. Two bloggers found this the hard way when their blogs drew over thousand comments apiece [confused, Anuradha Sengupta].Unfortunately, the biggest stars also make the biggest shakedown targets. CHENNAI: A Congressman on Monday sought a ban on screening- Sivaji-the Boss , the tamil film starring superstar Rajnikant, for allegedly defaming UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.I think this is the first time an entertainment industry related PIL seeks such a large sum of money. The politics behind this is highly confusing, a line of dialog from the movie (heard on the trailer) says: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. This appears to be straight out of the election manifesto. From whatever I have heard about the movie so far, I doubt if the audience would even notice the pictures of Gandhi and Singh amid such concentrated action. On the other hand, it is doubtful that such a movie will depict anything remotely politically incorrect for the relevant demographic. I will not speculate if this is a result of an uneasy alliance between DMK and Congress (with the latter solidly being at the receiving end). I will grab a DVD the first chance I get. This is a movie I just can't miss.
posted by barbarindian at 11:27 PM Permalink
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That's a lot of global warming | |
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 As investigations continue, more details are emerging on Kafeel Ahmed, the Indian national involved in the attempted attack at Glasgow airport. Kafeel - the elder brother of one of the other suspects, Sabeel Ahmed - was driving the flaming jeep which crashed into Glasgow airport. According to sources, in his last conversation with his family, Kafeel claimed to be working on a large scale confidential project, apparently on global warming. [link]Distance between Ahmedabad and Bangalore: 1000 miles Distance between Bombay and London: 4400 miles Distance between secularism and reality: ______ miles
posted by barbarindian at 10:03 PM Permalink
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Sunday, July 08, 2007 |
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No more Mr. Nice Guy? | |
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 First a little quiz. Why this picture and why is this relevant? What movie is this from?Stakes have been raised once again in the presidential election. I just read the transcript of Rajnath Singh Devil's advocate interview and sure enough, some skeletons appeared to have tumbled out of Mr. Shekhawat's closet. According to the transcript, there appears to be four principal charges against Shekhwat, who had been hitherto touted as Mr. Clean of Indian politics. 1. He accepted bribe as a young policeman during the British era and was suspended for that.Now, I think the 4th charge is rather hypocritical. Our esteemed PM happens to be an MP from a constituency in Assam. The Presidential election represents the very fibre of our democracy and it needs to be held by persons of the most impeccable track record. Just by raising these issues, the charges against Pratibha Patil will not go away. At the same time, Mr. Shekhawat needs to answer these questions ASAP. There was yet another very serious charge against BJP that many of their allegations against Pratibha Patil were manufactured. Apparently Pratibha Patil's bio never said she was founder president of a bank. Well, I found a version of the bio [pdf] on the web which suggests otherwise. I also suspect some spring cleaning was performed. Someone needs to do a proper post mortem, an improper burial may lead to ghost sightings. Meanwhile, two more things caught my notice. While the allegations of accepting bribe as a cop needs to be answered, I think it is a monumental blunder to imply there was anything improper in accepting British employment by Shekhawat. "When people left behind everything to join the freedom struggle responding to Mahatma Gandhi’s call, Shekhawat thought it fit to be part of the repressive colonial police," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said. "No one knows whose ideology motivated him but the fact remains that he left the force only when India became independent," he said, urging Shekhawat or his campaign managers to explain this part of his past now that he was contesting for the highest constitutional position. [link]Remember these were the days of Ahimsa. You were supposed to lead a dual existence, accept British salary during the day and wear khadi in the evening and sing Raghupati Raghava. Who accepted British employment during those days? Well, almost everyone, including some great names. Indian soldiers were a proud part of British army during WW II with many valiant victories to their credit. The second item was nothing but a veiled threat. On the other hand, the NDA too needs to temper its assault on Patil as it builds Shekhawat's campaign. Patil is, after all, very likely to become Head of State, and the NDA, as the main opposition, will have to deal with her. Midway through the next President’s term will come a general election and a new Lok Sabha. Getting shrill against Patil would be justified if there were a real chance of beating her in the contest. It is fair to raise noises about a rival candidate — especially when there are substantive issues to raise — but the NDA might want to calibrate its opposition in tones that do not become a liability later. [link]I am not sure what is being implied here. There is a very dangerous message embedded in this. On the other hand, knowing the sort of loyalty Patil feels for the Gandhi family, it is a rather moot point. I don't know about you, but I want a clean and competent president, someone I can look up to and respect.
posted by barbarindian at 3:54 PM Permalink
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Saturday, July 07, 2007 |
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Posters then and now | |
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 Here are some assorted posters from various times. See if you can recognize some of the folks in the older posters. The print quality has definitely improved. This is an interesting article which gives some more details. [link]I still think the Rahul riding on Sonia's back is the best in terms of creativity. Previous: Goddess of all things
posted by barbarindian at 10:03 PM Permalink
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8 facts about me you could live without | |
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I have been tagged by Sandeep, so here it goes:
posted by barbarindian at 11:05 AM Permalink
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Thursday, July 05, 2007 |
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Your personal immigration agent: Manmohan Singh | |
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 It didn't take our hon'ble PM long after a couple of Indian doctors were detained in London and Australia in connection with bombing plots in UK to reach out to the British PM:"I spoke to British prime minister and told him I am worried about stereotyping of Indians in the UK. Britain should not draw hasty conclusions about the guilt of those arrested," Manmohan Singh told reporters. [link]Is he really concerned about stereotyping of "Indians"? How did he react when Modi's visa was rejected, does anyone know? Recently there was a huge outcry when BJP leader Ritambara was planning to visit the US. Didn't see the PM react then. You could argue that for some reason some people believe that they know better than Scotland Yard and various other international intellgence agencies put together. Meanwhile there are strange headlines in the newspapers. "Wife says she knows why there was a one way ticket", "He led a humble life" etc. There was the customary interview with the family who believe that they were innocent. The media reports became a little subdued when a dude drove a flaming Jeep into an airport and was subsequently identified as the brother of one of the doctors. The latter dude is an Engineer. There is no reason to presume guilt but I feel it is beneath the dignity of our PM to make presumptions about a sovereign nation's policies.
posted by barbarindian at 9:08 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, July 04, 2007 |
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For those who value freedom | |
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 The United States of America: Date of Birth: July 4, 1776 Republic of India: Date of Birth: August 15, 1947 Note: The officially recognized intellectuals in India reject nationalism and patriotism. Barbarindian recommends that the Government of India put an immediate stop to all independence day/republic day celebations (perhaps using another constitutional amendment) and use the funds for feeding hungry street children. We can not allow a virulent emotion such as nationalism to sprout. These celebrations might put the wrong ideas into the heads of Indian youth.
posted by barbarindian at 10:49 PM Permalink
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Tuesday, July 03, 2007 |
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Want medical advice? Ask NGOs | |
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 The HIViro worship continues and now new twists and spins are being added to the already troubling problem.Painful though the attitude of untouchability during her delivery, what is more painful now for the woman is that the doctors have stopped her from breastfeeding her child.Yeah, the NGOs are medical experts now. Meanwhile take a look at this WHO report: With the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, however, and the recognition that HIV-infected mothers can transmit HIV to their infants through breastfeeding, specific recommendations apply to infants born to HIV-infected mothers. The overall aim of these recommendations is to achieve the ultimate goal of increasing child survival, while reducing HIV infection in infants and young children. Mother-to-child transmission of HIV can occur during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, during delivery, or at any point during breastfeeding. The risk through breastfeeding is cumulative; the longer the HIV-infected mother breastfeeds, the greater the additional risk of transmission through breastfeeding. [link]It is highly likely that the family in question contracted HIV via the husband, who went whoring. But media hails these folks as victims. The only reason the media is interested in such stories is the allusion of untouchability which allows them to indulge in another round of Hindu bashing. Meanwhile no efforts are being made to enact strong laws with strict penalties for errant spouses who expose their families to this disease. The report goes on to claim that while India spends millions on AIDS awareness, for many people being HIV positive continues to spell untouchability. We all know how these millions are spent, by staging fake kissing shows. It would help if at least some of these millions were spent in telling people that HIV spreads mostly through utterly irresponsible and reckless behavior such as whoring and needles. [Note: It would be interesting to know Pratibha Patil's views on this issue. I hear she is quite enthusiastic about sterlization etc. ]
posted by barbarindian at 6:53 AM Permalink
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Sunday, July 01, 2007 |
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Gods come in various sizes | |
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 Allah is great, Jesus is good too. It is well known that Hindu Gods are evil. What about the other Gods? Well, secular media thinks they are merely small. Some of these religions are denominations of Christianity. It is not clear whether they are officially recognized or even eligible for reservations at St. Stephens. [link]
posted by barbarindian at 10:32 PM Permalink
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