It does not stop at 49.5 percent

"My intention was to remove the distance between the leader and people,"

"On the Indo-US nuclear deal, my thinking is that in India we need not be scared or lack confidence in dealing with anything or anybody,"

"As a general secretary, I have just made some recommendation in favour of younger boys (in ticket distribution)."

"I will get married soon,"

"Perhaps, we could consider making the land ceiling variable based upon land productivity,"

"This is the real India"

"It is one thing to give an advertisement and totally different thing to do some work for them"

"For ideological or political reasons the deal is being opposed. But the Congress has taken a decision which is correct. Sometimes in life, risk has to be taken.

"I do not believe in Valentine's Day, at the same time I have no problem with people celebrating it. There should not be one day to show that you care for somebody."

"I will get married soon,"

"Connect with the poor in India. We must open up opportunities for the poor so that they can dream the same dream which you and I do," Rahul said.

"I am not in the business of making private conversation public,"

"As general secretary of the Youth Congress, I just make some recommendations as far as younger boys are concerned, that's all. I am not unhappy with the ticket distribution,"

"I will speak here as an Indian first and not as a Congressman."

"I congratulate Manmohanji for empowering the poor and enabling many. It is the only policy by which the country can progress,"

"During one of the tours I visited the house of Sunita and was surprised to see that while the elders of the family were properly clad in warm clothes, the young ones comprising even a seven-year-old girl were bereft of clothing that could keep the...

"I will get married soon,"

"My prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha elections is Manmohan Singh,"

"This is the time to remain united to face the challenge of terrorism,"

"My ambition has never been anything specific or targeted like becoming the general in the army. My ambition is to have a decent understanding of this country and its people. And to...

"The present government is corrupt, and..."

"I am running late,"

"If you cannot think of improving and advancing the country you should not join politics,"

"Youths have an idealistic outlook but there are doubts among the youth over politics as if there is a wall. We will demolish this wall in near future,"

"During my visit earlier this year to a village in Amethi, I went to a poor Dalit villager's home and was shocked to hear what his children told me,"

"I wanted to show him (Miliband) the village life and the spirit of poor people of the country." "There are two parts of India (rural and urban). Our job as a politician is to ensure both parts move together."

"Jab mein airport par pahuncha to mujhe ek call aaya ki aaj ki saare programme cancel kar do marne walon ke respect main lekin mein yahan aaya hun unko sharandanjli dene aap logo ke saath,"

"Ham sab ko ek jut hokar inka mukabala karna hai"

"A hero is only necessary when systems fail."

"I spotted the poor man Bansilal after campaigning in Indore and went to him to find out about his well being. He reluctantly took me to his house and told that his house was grabbed by a powerful builder mafia in the city,"

"I have not been given permission to talk to the press," Mr Gandhi told the Guardian. "It is an order."

"Opponents may say whatever they want. I have said only what my father had said,"

"The true realisation of India's power lies in igniting the fire of ambition of our aspiring millions,"

"a road does not differentiate between people just as water does not discriminate between people".

"I am trying to attract maximum youths to politics and nation building exercise,"

"they might have tried to stop me but I went there and talked to so many youngsters and students and I had better time talking and getting their...

"I am running late,"

"Our biggest achievement is that we have not deviated from our ideology,"

"I believe in politics of heart and have come to win the heart, not election,"

"When she refused to answer, I asked her to whisper it into my ear,

"I will get married soon,"

"If you waive the loan for everybody, then the whole system will collapse,"

"Once someone asked me what my religion was and I said `Indian flag'."

"I am running late,"

This is perhaps an extension of the uncovered meat concept.

Here is an excerpt from a dated news from the WSJ:

Why [The President] Wants Control of the Census
Counting citizens is a powerful political tool.
By JOHN FUND

President [..] said in his inaugural address that he planned to "restore science to its rightful place" in government. That's a worthy goal. But statisticians at the Commerce Department didn't think it would mean having the director of next year's Census report directly to the White House rather than to the Commerce secretary, as is customary. "There's only one reason to have that high level of White House involvement," a career professional at the Census Bureau tells me. "And it's called politics, not science." [link]

India's last census was done in 2001. We are due for another one in 2011. Quite clearly, a lot will be riding on who controls New Delhi at the time. Partial information is available from NSSO reports, but they are clearly inadequate. If you are a betting person, don't put you money on a full caste census for 2011.

Andhra Pradesh update:

General secretary of the AICC Prabhu Kumar spoke of the need for inclusive politics, which should serve and protect the interest of Minority members. He said that though official records state the percentage of Christians in the State to be close to 9%, the actual figure is about 19% of the total population, which is a significant number that needs to be accounted for, he said. [link]

More details at Indian Catholic. Now, 9% to 19% is quite a jump by any standards. Although, given the rock star like efforts by the CM's own son-in-law, this is not entirely surprising. Of course, the beneficent state helps out in no small measure.

In other words, expect some surprises in 2011.

Pakistan updates:

So, how is our pesky little neighbor doing?

... in God's own country:

More details from Haindava Keralam, mugshots of perps available on KeralaOnline. Reticence of The Hindu can be seen here ("ragging" case).

The troubling part is the systematic effort on the part of the authorities to hush up the incident, including manipulation of medical evidence. In the end only three students are actually convicted. Three students (Ashly Varghese, Robin Paul, Divin Philip ), the Principal (K.M. Mariam), the Director (Muraleedharan) and head of the Department of Psychiatry (Dr. Zybunneesa Beevi) were found not guilty. The trial would have been highly technical in nature.

Private minority medical school, political connections, selective convictions - it's all there.

It is not clear if these incidents (read the last part) fall into the chilling pattern of hate crimes. In any case, the poor girl learnt her lessons in secularism in a particularly cruel way.

January 29th, 2009. A nondescript apartment complex in a middle class neighborhood in Mohali, Punjab, is mobbed by the paparazzi. Their target appears to be a second floor apartment. Shutters click away furiously, media people scurry to get to their quarry. A TV camera makes its way into a bedroom and zooms in on a dishevelled, distraught woman slouched on a sofa. Then they follow a burlesque man down the stairs with the woman hung over his shoulders, all the way through. as she is put on the backseat of an ambulance. The camera takes in every curve of the woman's body hungrily, to be broadcast later that day.

Misery loves company, company watches cable TV.

The saga had been going on for quite sometime. It reportedly started when the second son of a powerful regional political lord, a married man with three children in his forties, noticed Anuradha Bali drinking a beverage at a roadside stall. He was smitten immediately. The man happened to be the then Dy. Chief Minister of Haryana, Chander Mohan. The woman, then called Anuradha Bali, was the Additional Solicitor-General of Haryana, a divorcee in her mid thirties.

She ignored his advances at first. Then he pulled a Sanjeev Kumar in Pati, Patni aur Woh. He narrated how he was being tortured by his family, how his kids didn't respect him. He peppered her with SMS messages. He said he would kill himself. It worked. Perhaps she wanted a long term solution. As an attractive divorcee in a very public profession, she had no dearth of suitors. But these relationships as we all know, seldom go beyond the hotel room.

Chander Mohan was willing to go all the way, and yes, it meant marriage. But there was a catch. Because of family pressure and the potential political fallout, he could not ask for a divorce.

This is where the secular state kicked in. They could both convert to Islam and quickly get married, taking advantage of a legal loophole which allows Hindu men to take on a second wife, thus hoodwinking the process of divorce and settlement. So, Chander Mohan became Chand Mohammed and Anuradha Bali became Fiza. A Qazi solemnized their marriage.

The marriage cost Chander Mohan his job. But the couple appeared jubilant. They appeared before the media, trimphantly declaring their love for one another and how that was the only thing that mattered. The family and the party appeared to have clammed up. Until one day, Chander Mohan zoomed out of Fiza's life just as he had zoomed into it. Fiza called around and soon realized the game was up. Later, Chander Mohan would tell the media that he still loved his first wife. Media soon sniffed out the game and the scenario described at the beginning of the post played out.

This is certainly not the first time a Hindu man took advantage of the legal loophole and it won't be the last. In 1995, the supreme court had ruled that conversion for the purpose of entering a polygamous marriage can not completely absolve the man from settlement or maintenance. But one can easily see what a legal minefield this is, how is one to prove that the conversion was done solely for the purpose of marriage? What if a man converts today and gets married one year from now?

Fiza has now taken the only recourse that is available to her. Aided by a few friends and good samaritans, she has taken the fight back to the family. She has charged Chander Mohan with fraud, rape and abandonment. Again, a supreme court ruling makes it clear that under certain circumstances, carnal knowledge of a woman under false promises of marriage is tantamount to rape. But we are yet to see it put into practice when religion is thrown into the mix.

Chander Mohan is now reportedly in London, for unspecified medical treatment. He has issued a statement to the effect that he still remains married to Fiza and has no intention of abandoning her.

So, in effect, Fiza can neither swallow nor spit out. In all likelihood, she will live in a legal limbo for the rest of her life.

Needless to say the brave warriors of the NCW, Renuka Chowdhury etc. have stayed away from this case. The media is only interested in the salacious details, there has been no attempts to make a moralistic TV show out of it. Of course, if one were to read the news reports, which by now run into thousands, you would never guess one of the protagists had anything to do with politics.

Fortunately for Fiza, she has support from unexpected quarters. For instance, a young student, pictured above on the right, has stayed by her side though she is not related to Anuradha Bali. Watch this feisty young woman on this YouTube video. What a stark contrast from the Pink Chaddi activists.

Chandan Mitra writes:

Basically what is happening is, the tolling of the iron bell from afar is bringing the faithful to their knees here. Very quietly the scope of the holy war has been expanded from Kashmir to now large parts of India, including Hyderabad, Gujarat (erstwhile Junagad) and Assam. No one seems to be too bothered about this. Seculars already want to cede large territories to them.

AS I PLEASE, by George Orwell
Tribune, February 4, 1944

...Up to a fairly recent date, the major events recorded in the history books probably happened. It is probably true that the battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, that Columbus discovered America, that Henry VIII had six wives, and so on. A certain degree of truthfulness was possible so long as it was admitted that a fact may be true even if you don't like it.

[...]

The really frightening thing about totalitarianism is not that it commits atrocities but that it attacks the concept of objective truth: it claims to control the past as well as the future. In spite of all the lying and self-righteousness that war encourages, I do not honestly think it can be said that that habit of mind is growing in Britain. Taking one thing with another, I should say that the press is slightly freer than it was before the war. I know out of my own experience that you can print things now which you couldn't print ten years ago. War resisters have probably been less maltreated in this war than in the last one, and the expression of unpopular opinions in public is certainly safer. There is some hope, therefore, that the liberal habit of mind, which thinks of truth as something outside yourself, something to be discovered, and not as something you can make up as you go along, will survive. But I still don't envy the future historian's job. Is it not a strange commentary on our time that even the casualties in the present war cannot be estimated within several millions? [As I please, George Orwell]

They manhandled some members of the "other community". This "other community" is now a side point, a footnote. This community is news. The other community is a nuisance.

So, what sort of people were the organizers of this public meeting?

Ulema Council Chairman Maulana Amir Rashadi, whose son Talha Amir was picked up by the police only to be released later, had organised the trip from Azamgarh to Delhi. He met Home Minister P Chidambaram and submitted a memorandum on the issue.

[...]

Why do you think Azamgarh is being targeted?

They have been watching the Muslim community. They have been watching where the community has prospered financially and academically. They are targeting such places.

Who are the 'they' you are referring to?

The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government. They have been acting under pressure from (the Israeli espionage agency) Mossad, which has been acting in coordination with the Sangh Parivar and targeting the Muslim community.

All the terror attacks in the country have been carried out by them. Karkare exposed them and brought out this naked truth. So they killed him.

We salute Karkake. In fact, we are going to approach his wife and request her to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Azamgarh. She is a like an elder sister to the people of Azamgarh. [link]

Of course, they had special trains to ferry them to these meetings.

Grammar of power
By Jawed Naqvi
Thursday, 19 Feb, 2009 | 11:53 AM PST |

[...]

A former editor of a leading English daily in Delhi rejoices in his competence in Urdu poetry, an asset he has learnt to put on display as a lawmaker in parliament. In his intervention on the tragic events in Mumbai, the MP was expressing outrage at the government’s tardy response to the gruesome killings.

Though an advocate of 'two eyes for an eye and a jaw for a tooth' in the war on terrorism, the MP found himself quoting Josh Malihabadi with neither the context nor the lines making any sense against his blind rage. A bigger tragedy was that there was no one in the house or in the media to correct him.

The original couplet goes thus:

'Koi hadh hi nahi hai ehteram-i-aadmiyat ki
Badi karta hai dushman aur hum sharmaaye jaate hain'.

It's a celebration of the exalted human race that though faced with an underhand assault by a fellow human, is only embarrassed at the lack of civilised demeanour in the adversary. To be sure Josh was hardly making a biblical case for gory revenge, as the MP would have us believe.

[...] [link] [emphasis added]

We must have pondered only briefly over what seemed like an irrelevant and unnecessary religious reference. We had to find out who the above mentioned MP was.

Karan Singh, Shourie match poetic wits

Arun Shourie, commenting on India's response to Pakistan, recited a couplet by Josh Malihabadi. "Zulm karta hai dushman aur ham sharmaye jaate hain," Shourie said, underlying that even though the enemy (Pakistan) continuously led terror attacks on us (India), we were still shying of fighting back.

Karan Singh, who opposed the suggestion of calling off the peace process, quoted Shakeel Badayuuni in response by saying, "Ek zarra idhar, ek zarra udhar. Nafrat se na dekho dushman ko, shayad woh kab mohabbat kar baithe." In other words, meaning that treat your enemy with love as you never know when he may start loving you. [link]

We don't know which is the bigger tragedy here since Jawed Naqvi might have got the story second hand with significant transmission losses. Perhaps the tragic part was for us to even attempt to read this column. If this is a typical sample of Pakistan's civil society, we want refund from our seculars.

Fast learners
Urdu for beginners

Figures show rise in rights violation cases against minorities

NEW DELHI: Cases of human rights violation against minorities in the country have increased in the last two years.

The figures, disclosed by minister of state for home Shakeel Ahmad in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing Parliament session, show that 12,794 out of a total of 32,965 cases registered with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in 2007-08 pertained to minorities as compared to 9,603 during 2006-07.

In 2006-07, while 8,390 cases pertained to Muslims followed by 851 to Sikhs and 362 to Christians. However, during 2007-08, the figures for Muslims, Sikhs and Christians increased to 11,178; 1,003; and 613, respectively. [link]

This proves that at almost 33%, a particular minority community accounted for more than twice its percentage share in the population. Also, if the proportion of human rights violations against religious groups have increased, the proportion of human rights violations against caste groups must have decreased.

On the National Human Rights Commission website, there is an important instructions page. This page does not list guidelines for dealing with cases related to religious minorities. The website also provides a search facility. A search between the 1st April, 2007 - 31st March 2008 yields only 202 records. This is not surprising, perhaps the total number comes from collating data from State Human Rights commissions.

We also came across this interesting case report:

NHRC INTERVENTIONS
NHRC Notice to Assam Government on Communal Clashes

The National Human Rights Commission came across a distressing report that appeared in the "Tribune" Jalandar dated 16.10.08 captioned "Assam communal clashes toll mounts to 30". The press report alleged that in the recent clashes between immigrant Muslims and Bodo tribe at Rowta in the Udalguri and Darrang districts of North Assam, the death toll increased to 30. A large number of people from both the clashing communities were injured and over 70,000 persons were rendered homeless from more than 25 villages in both the districts. The Commission taking a suo-motu cognizance of this press report issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and Director General Police of Assam calling for a factual report in the matter within four weeks.
The Commission also decided to send its Investigation Team to the affected areas to study the situation in relief camps. [link] [emphasis added]

This was the top under reported story of last year. The funny thing is that the NHRC noticed it only on October 16th and that too in a rather obscure newspaper. According to this Economic Times report, parailitary troops were deployed by October 6th.

In any case, we sincerely hope the NHRC knows what it is doing.

We hope that the Government will provide a better statistical database and details on how cases are reported or categorized in future. For instance, we simply don't know how the anti-terror related arrests and detentions are treated, if they are accounted for and if yes, at what point does a standard police procedure become an NHRC case. We also don't know if minority-on-minority cases are counted as violations against the minority community.

So, what happens when news from SWAT hits the Indian fan boys of the Taliban? A classic piece of media coverage that starts with CNN-IBN's gentle introduction to the new set of laws. Then they explain not much has changed really (a few decapitations here and there not withstanding, including one of their own) - it is just another set of laws.

Do you need laws everyday? Do you eat laws? No, right? After all girls schools are open. See the girls above? Do they look scared?

You see the laws themselves aren't bad as such. The only issue is multiple interpretations.

Of course there are those nosy Indians who demand more details. For them there is another explanation ready. You see, it is not really the problem of Pakistan Government or Taliban or laws as such. It is the big bad capitalist US that has winked at the problem. Now, don't you start asking how come US is still the big bad guy after the evil dude was replaced by The One. It takes time. Was Rome built in one day? No, right?

The only question is when the SWAT-New Delhi express train service starts, will there be a stop at Islamabad? Good question. It doesn't matter, there will always be some chain pulling.

So, all aboard, the media already is.

Two special trains carrying ulemas and other people belonging to the Muslim community will leave from Azamgarh to Lucknow today evening. Demanding a high-level probe into the Batla House encounter, the ulemas under the banner of Ulema Council will hold a rally at Teele Wali Masjid in Lucknow on February 20.

It will be the second such show of Ulema Council after holding a dharna at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on January 29. At that time too a special train -- Azamgarh to L-18 Batla House was booked from Azamgarh. [link]

Remember, first claim on resources.

Over 500 MNS workers protested outside Kalpana theatre at Kurla demanding the deletion of the song Marjani Marjani from the screenings of Shah Rukh Khan's latest film Billu. The workers have decided to take up cudgels on behalf of the entire Muslim universe and are objecting to the use of certain words in the song featuring Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

"We are fighting for the rights of Muslims all over the world. The song has hurt the sentiments of Muslims who truly believe in [edited]," says Chintoo Sheikh, Secretary MNS Mahtuk Sena. [...]

According to the workers, the words 'rab ke hazoor mein kasmein bhi khaali li, duniya ki oni boni kasmein nibhadi' insult the works of [edited], the messenger of god. "How can they undermine the work of [edited] by calling the world a small place," says Sheikh. [link][edited for religious sensitivity]

Contrast this with the Times of India report. Did we tell you that TOI is the most secular newspaper?

It looks like there is a strong support building up:

Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may have ruffled many feathers with its anti-North Indian campaign, but has found support in Mumbai's Muslim community. The growing support for the party in the megapolis's Muslim-dominated areas like Umerkhadi and Dongri, is sure to give the ruling Congress-NCP a hard time during elections. The Muslim-dominated areas saw a lower voter turnout during last year's civic body elections.

More than 2000 Muslims have enrolled as party activists in the last 3-4 months, said MNS Vibhag Pramukh (unit leader), Virendra Patil, of the newly formed Mumbadevi assembly constituency after delimitation. [link]

(click for a larger size)

Meanwhile the payback for the diamond workers was quite harsh, this despite the Yuvraj's recent visit and criticism of the state Government for not doing anything for diamond workers.

Hope someone is keeping tab on the mammoth stimulus packages being announced.

Curiously, trickle down does not work as we all know - it is probably in NCERT textbooks by now, but economic slowdown seems to affect everyone. We will call it the great Indian Socialist paradox and leave it at that.

(Please click on images for a larger size)

We decided to investigate.

First, a little history. The original logo of the Pink Chaddi campaign was a spoof on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS):

Progression of the original logo of the Pink Chaddi campaign, now withdrawn

This progression can be seen on the flickr page of user "book slut". We will not speculate whether "book slut" is Nisha Susan's handle but it may be noted that she wrote a book called Broadband and Bookslut.

We don't know if RSS is linked to the Sri Rama Sene (the villain in this drama), but this was a deliberate reference. The folks who are allergic to calling all people terrorists etc. are suddenly using a very thick brush to paint all Hindu groups and that is a-okay. Perhaps they will start maligning Sri Ramakrishna Mission, Swamy Vivekanada Ashram next. We don't know. But the fact remains that they withdrew this first logo. Also, we fail to understand this allergenic reaction to boy scouts given the proliferation of boy and girl scouts in western countries. In fact, this is the girl scout cookies season.

Back to the Om symbol. This is a very sacred symbol in a certain religion. Once again, we are just stating what appears to be public domain opinion. An assortment of Om symbols is provided below for reference, randomly drawn from a google image search on "Om" and "Aum".

Assorted Om symbols from the web

In their defense, the Pink Chaddi blog presents the following as being the inspiration behind the logo, the designer herself clarifies via a comment on the blog:

Samples provided by the Pink Chaddi campaign

Let's take a closer look at the Pink Chaddi logo:

Detail work on the Pink Chaddi logo

Notice the detailed work on the background as opposed to the hurried work on the font. The black arrows were added to point to a tear mark on the top right corner on the logo and a segment with noise added. Since we are not that familiar with graphic work, we will not speculate whether there is something amiss about it except to say that a stock image might have been used as the background.

As a side point, logo designer Shilo Suleman's portfolio contains vivid imagery drawn from Hindu Mythology, which sort of makes her a female version of M. F. Hussain.

The charge against the Pink Chaddi campaign with regards to the deliberate desecration of the Om symbol remains inconclusive.
It is regrettable that the folks who have taken it upon themselves to fight for personal liberty are so callous with regards to slandering organizations not involved with the issue. One of them being a law student, this is an astonishing slip up.
Since the campaigners and the artist herself went to great lengths to explain that the logo was not an insult to Hinduism, they should provide the stock image (if any) or provide a progression of the background, if prepared from scratch. This should lay the controversy to rest.

If the logo was indeed created form an Om graphic, it may be too late. By now the logo has been plastered all over the web. Fortunately for these blogger, the clause in the law used to book people for showing malice against religions is not enforced with rigor for a certain religion as opposed to say the prompt arrest of the Statesman Editor or the ouster of the poor Pakistani student or the arrest of a mentally disabled person in Jaipur recently on charges of desecrating a religious book.

The Morning of St Valentine' by John Callcott Horsley (1817 - 1903) [source]

Secular ritual or Religious festival?

Every year, after destroying notions of personal liberty all year long while simultaneously extending the Government's intrusion into people's lives as far as permitted by the current political arrangement, the secular people suddenly become upholders of individual freedom for one full day - on February 14th. Each year, we also see a wave of massive denial about the religious nature of this festival. This does not hold up to any amount of scrutiny. A good start would be the Wiki page or the Valentine's day home page on History channel.

The whole imagery of this festival is steeped in religious fervor and has often been represented in art and sculpture as such. Web sites of religious institutions bring out specials for this day. It is included in religious sermons and used in sanctimony against a certain religion. We also see many long winded articles about how secular this festival is:

Valentine's Day: An Inside Scoop
by Lavina Noronha - Mangalore
Feb 14, 2009

Valentine's Day (or Saint Valentine's Day as it was formerly known) is celebrated worldwide on February 14th. Although this is one of the most popular holidays in the modern world, the real significance of this day is shrouded in mystery. [link]

Well, mystery or not, exactly what part of SAINT is secular? Of course, the St. gets conveniently dropped and over time Valentine's Day becomes V-Day.

Given this backdrop, it is essential to view the fringe Hindutva and other not so fringe religious groups' opposition to St. Valentine's Day separately from their general campaign against some of the other issues of personal freedom.

Religious Freedom and The Indian State:

The Indian State is at best a work in progress to achieve Liberal Democratic Republic (LDR) status as far as religious freedom is concerned. Others might say it is a confusing and unfixable tangle. For instance, take a look at what we can call a "moderate" viewpoint:

All religions are not the same; but all fundamentalists are. They share an aversion for modernity and a hatred of gender equality. It is entirely logical that the Ram Sene should find an ally in the Jamaat-e-Islami; their ethos is not dissimilar, no matter how different the imagery their rhetoric might contain. The same mindset persuades some maulanas to issue a fatwa condoning divorce through triple talaaq even when the husband is drunk. The very clerics who will damn you to eternal hellfire for touching alcohol are ready to rationalise any diktat that amounts to subjugation of women. Eminent Islamic scholars have repeatedly proved that instant triple talaaq is bad in Islamic law, and such variations even worse. Islam institutionalised the rights of women; such distortions are at variance to its liberating spirit. But the issue is not law: this is conservative, male domination over women. [link][emphasis added]

Ergo, the state is still subordinate to religion - it is just great luck for humanity that according to that particular "moderate", coincidentally the state is not at odds with the faith. Well, just try putting it to a referendum.

This is where the Indian state and its notion of secularism never quite took off. So essentially we live in an uncomfortable equilibrium of multiple theocracies and see violent confrontation where their edges collide. The trouble accentuates where the state tries to correct perceived market failures even within this equilibrium. Attempts to fix the religious aspects has only resulted in an increase in secular indignation.

St. Valentine's Day's violent assault on Religious Freedom and Social Justice:

Once we accept that Valentine's Day is indeed a religious festival, it is easy to see that aside from wasting valuable resources of the state, it is raising serious ethical questions about religious freedom.

For one thing, very vocal and often crude statements from Renuka Chowdhury, Cabinet Minister in the UPA Government is clearly way out of line and can be seen as actively promoting a religious festival. This is at odds with secular traditions of the state.

Individual conduct has not been very honest, to say the least. Be it Nisha Susan or Jo or schmoe, the common refrain seems to be:

- I have never personally celebrated Valentine's day

- it is not a Christian holiday

- but we must all celebrate it as a secular tradition

- any opposition to it is an assault on personal liberty

The attempt of the Pink Chaddi throwing campaign to club this with the larger issue of personal freedom was no doubt political in nature, aided and abetted in no small measure by the secular party's machinations who needed a diversion from their pitiful failure in all areas of Governance. The sole focus on groups belonging to a certain religion smacked of gross hypocrisy, not to mention a general almost institutionalized hatred for that religion.

The implications of institutionalizing this religious festival are grave, for example:

It may undercut other festivals such as Holi and associated fringe benefits such as being allowed to leave office early
Those who do not celebrate may be unfairly branded fundamentalist, backward etc. and persecuted
May create an Iftaar like situation and lead to misuse of tax payers money - all our politicians are obligated to throw lavish Iftaar parties, not to mention participate in various other religious festivities.
Massive wastage of state resources in providing security in addition to gross violation of human rights by preventive detention of possible troublemakers
White collar workplaces have started celebrating this festival with great enthusiasm. What about those who feel it is against their religious traditions? Of course we just don't mean Hindus.

Solutions for the Indian Liberal Democratic Republic (LDR):

Any proposed solution to the St. Valentine's Day related issues must meet the following standards of the LDR:

- it must reduce Government involvement

- it must reduce use of state resources

- it must not infringe on religious freedom

- it must not infringe on democratic rights of protests and activism

We propose that the clergy must come out of their denial and immediately declare it as a religious holiday. Following this, the Governments across the world (where relevant) and also in India must accept it as a recognized religious festival. In addition, the Government must stop actively promoting a religious festival.

This will fix almost all problems of St. Valentine's Day. The various religious groups will stay away from spoiling it, just like they stay away from - say Christmas. If they don't, the Government can then book violent protesters and vandals under rigorous religious atrocities laws.

People from other religions can still participate in it just like they participate in their friend's Christmas, Holi or Iftaar parties. Parents of underage children will be able to restrict their freedom according to taste and in line with accepted norms of parental control.

We believe this simple change in mindset will completely throw Valentine's Day out of the agenda of religious fringe groups. The commercial aspects will continue as will general participation.

Of course this will not fix the larger issue of violation of individual rights such as assault on pub going women, harassing inter-caste or inter-religious couples etc., issues collectively known as "moral policing".

(Please click on image for a larger image)

A little bikini sized nip here, a little tuck there and voila! Gullible Aam Aadmi ready news!

News is like sausage, you don't wanna know how it's made. But technology allows us to take a deep dive into the entrails of the beast without getting our hands dirty.

So, it is another day in Mangalore. Young girl (16-year old). Bus. Bus conductor (26-year old). Throw in a few "suspected" Ram Sene goons, and what else can you get but trouble? Just like the previous one. Only, this time the story is a lot more darker - the girl involved end up committing suicide.

Here is the news wire version (PTI). Here is the Times of India version. A side by side visual comparison for your convenience above.

ExpressBuzz reports:

BANGALORE: Controversy surrounds the alleged suicide of a 16-year-old school girl in Mangalore Wednesday. Did she kill herself after being allegedly raped by a [edited for religious sensitivity] man she knew, as per the police version, or did she take the extreme step because she was humiliated by members of a rightwing Hindu group for moving around with two [edited for religious sensitivity] men?

The girl committed suicide near Moodabidri, around 40 km from Mangalore, Wednesday. Police have arrested Saleem, 26, on charges of rape and abetment to suicide.

Deccan Herald reports:

The suicide of Ashwini, a 9th standard student of Aikala school in Kinnigoli, after being allegedly humiliated by pro-Hindu activists here, on Thursday took a new turn. The police included the word sexually abused in the complaint lodged by the victims father Jaya Moolya.

When Deccan Herald contacted the Mulki police station on Wednesday night, there was no mention of the word "sexually abused" in the complaint read out by one police official. Moolya said on Thursday that he "added the point later."

The new twist has caused the media to clam up, we see only about a couple of dozen reports, compare with the hundreds of reports for the MLA daughter abduction case. NDTV has reported the incident with suitable editorializing. CNN-IBN decided to give it a pass altogether.

If you go beyond recognized news sources, there is a lot more out there. For instance, here is a coverage from Haindava Kerala:

Ongoing Sexual [edited for religious sensitivity] - One more Hindu girl ended her life

[...]

16 year old Aswini Kulal is the recent victim of Sexual [edited for religious sensitivity] against [edited for religious sensitivity]. Aswini Kulal who was raped by Abdul Salam ended her life on a piece of rope. Police arrested 26 year old Abdul Salam in connection with the suicide of this School girl.

Aswini was lured by Abdul Salam a typical [edited for religious sensitivity] and raped her by taking her into his hideout in a hill top near Venoor.

[...]

Three school girls consumed poison and ended their life in Alappuzha, Those responsible in that case were also [edited for religious sensitivity] youth. National Medias which were in Mangalore before time during pub attack is no where in scene now in Mangalore to report the sad plight of this girl. Minister Renuka Choudhary who sprouted up as the saviour of liberal women's right since two weeks back too is mum about th eongoing sexual [edited for religious sensitivity] in the country.

The second story mentioned in the above report also checks out, it was published on The Times of India. It was a sordid case of two male students blackmailing and sexually abusing three female classmates which eventually led to the latter committing suicide.

It looks like the Times of India has resurrected the story, under the headline "Moral cops drove girl to suicide". In this version the 16-year schoolgirl and 26-year old Bus conductor Saleem were "spotted in a secluded place" and brought to the police station, i.e. no bus, just the conductor.

Pakistani girl Saba Najam ran into the Taliban: in Mumbai

Some women suddenly approached her and assaulted her over the tattoo which read 'Shukr Alham Du Lillah', meaning 'Thank you, God'. Riyaz Ahmed Talukdar, a member of Jan Seva Sangh, a local NGO, had first spotted the tattoo on Saba’s back and informed his mother, Shabana Talukdar. Riyaz said, "When I saw the tattoo I was furious as holy words from the Quran were on her back." Shabana, along with a few other women, then came to the mall in the next 15 minutes and confronted Saba in the washroom.

They slapped the girl several times before the mall management intervened.

In her statement Saba said she was sorry and that she would get the tattoo removed through laser surgery in the next three days. Nevertheless, the cops referred the matter to legal experts to see if they could book Saba for hurting religious sentiments or under any other legal provision.

On Friday night, however, Saba left for Lahore. Ravi Gupta, executive director of Whistling Woods told Mumbai Mirror that Saba seemed extremely disturbed after the incident.

Saba was unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, Riyaz says he is happy Saba has left the country. [source: Mumbai Mirror via ReasonForLiberty]

If you secular people protested against it, we didn't hear it.

If you secular media covered this, we didn't see it.

If you secular intellectual editorialized about it, we didn't read it.

If you secular politician hyperventilated about it, we weren't informed about it.

Incidents such as this are everyday occurrences. Don't believe us? well, here is another one:

The Statesman's editor Ravindra Kumar and publisher Anand Sinha were detained in Calcutta after complaints. Muslims said they were upset with the Statesman for reproducing an article from the UK's Independent daily in its 5 February edition.

Angry Muslims have been demonstrating in front of the offices of the Statesman since its republication of the article. Police have broken up the demonstrations using baton charges several times this week. Some Muslims close to the Jamiat-e-Ulema e Hind (The Organisation of Indian Scholars, a leading Islamic group in India) later filed a complaint with police alleging that the publication had "outraged their religious feelings", which is an offence under Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code. Mr Kumar has said he has already issued a public apology for reproducing the article. [link]

If Mr. Sardesai (President, Editor's Guild of India) expressed outrage about this incident like he did on the other one, we didn't hear it. We didn't hear Sagarika Ghose's nostril flaring outbursts about how dare they treat an editor like that. Indeed we were not able to find much news coverage about this. As an example, see this obligatory coverage by The Hindu.

Of course we didn't see any secular chicks throwing their dirty underwear at these people.

The truth is that India is ruled by Taliban, it has almost always been.

These outdated designs are supposed to be part of a risque campaign

Beyond the logo, we fail to see anything amusing about a bunch of women suddenly acting comically immature and with conviction too. These women are all working, well past the college going age of mischiefs and creative protests. The head honcho is a Tehelka reporter, no less!

Actually, we find it terribly sad. All these women are victims, they are merely trying to live the "cool" college life of the West they want to emulate but could not have, thanks to Socialism. They want to pretend like a 17-year old normal teen girl in Sweden, experimenting with sex, drugs, love and the heady Euro-cool lifestyle. At some level, these women do realize the silliness, they say as much on their blog:

It does not matter that many of us have not thought about Valentine's Day since we were 13. If ever. [emphasis added]

Transposed onto the Indian landscape, the campaign has triggered, among other things, a severe shortage of pink underwear:

Delhiite Nisha Susan had started the campaign on February 5 but the buying spree kicked off only yesterday. Student Nisha Dhavan returned disappointed from Mumbai’s Linking Road shopping district this morning. "I didn't get any I liked," she rued. "One shopkeeper said he had already sold 150 pieces, priced between Rs 20 and Rs 35, today. I'll try out the other markets." [link]

Yet, we do not judge Ms. Nisha Susan, because we are strong believers of personal liberty, each to his own. But we must strongly register a protest about her utter disregard for personal safety and hygiene.

From the blog:

This year let us send the Sri Ram Sena some love. Let us send them some PINK CHADDIS. Look in your closet or buy them cheap. Dirt-cheap. Make sure they are PINK. Send them off to the Sena. [emphasis added]

Of course the shortages have reportedly resulted in relaxing the color requirements, but what about STD? What about crabs? Where are the handling instructions? Further below, we learn that some male members will collect these undergarments. This is disgusting.

In the comments we see some presumably male commenters cheering these women on, asking them to send even unwashed smelly ones. Yuck!

Ms. Susan is advised to hold the mirror to herself sometimes, or should we say introspect, as every other article on her own magazine asks Hindus to do, often in a stern tone. There is a hypocrite inside all of us but it takes it to a whole new level where MIM leaders (Taslima), Christian churches in Kerala (sex slavery of Nuns), religious leaders (Sania fatwa), various secular politicians (Shah Bano) await their panty loads with bated breath while poor Mr. Muthalik gets his unwashed smelly ones by mail. She could also ponder why Mr. Muthalik has so any unemployed, uneducated youths awaiting social justice at his disposal while minorities traipse their way into St. Stephens.

How Much Huff Is Enough?
NISHA SUSAN analyses the online world’s ample response to the Mumbai crisis
IN THE way that some cultures turn to rudaalis — professional mourners — to ease their goodbyes to the recently departed, we turn to our favourite bloggers. After momentous events we go online to see what our good man or woman has said. Mommy blogger, geek, scenery-chewing diva or girl-about-town — there is someone out there who has the mot juste, the words taken right out of our mouths expressed better than we ever could. We look to them to soothe ourselves into quietness. So, when the Mumbai terror struck, while the television shrieked, the option of navigating your own way online into some degree of understanding held more than ordinary appeal. [link]

Featured on cracked.com as one of the 5 real life soldiers who make Rambo look like *** (WARNING! Link contains graphic language)

9th D. P. Kohli Memorial Lecture on

"The Enemy Within – Corruption, Development and Governance"

by Hon’ble Vice President Shri M. Hamid Ansari

NEW DELHI: While the Supreme Court is yet to permit CBI to review its report accusing Mulayam Singh Yadav and his family of owning disproportionate assets, the agency has in an internal note already prepared the ground for burying this politically sensitive matter by admitting in effect that it was a frame-up.

In a 17-page review done on February 2, CBI's DIG Tillottama Varma disclosed that, while submitting its October 2007 report to SC, the agency had gone by the allegations made in a PIL without verifying any of those with Mulayam and his family members.

Finding herself in a catch-22 situation, Varma said: "The image and the reputation of the organization will be in jeopardy if the representations are considered." Since CBI is likely to get into further trouble if it takes any corrective action at this stage, Varma's note, a copy of which is with TOI, suggests that the representations made by Mulayam’s family may be considered "only after getting permission" from SC. [link]

They fixed the Constitution (many times). They are fixing (almost fixed) the judiciary. They fixed the Election Commission. The Backward classes commission was fixed satisfactorily. The Human Rights commission, NCW, Minorities commission etc. never had any problems to begin with. NCERT books fixed. Arjun Singhji also fixed the heads of academic institutions.

Obviously the last remaining bastion of fascism requiring fixing happens to be the fascist people themselves. We will keep you posted on the progress.

Renuka [Chowdhury] said: "Situation in Karnataka is getting worse everyday. I am planning to talk to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and, if required, will take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The state government has lost control over the situation. Talibanisation is happening. There is a clean communal divide where a Hindu girl is prevented from talking to a Muslim boy. It is a very dangerous trend. We should look it as a national security problem", she added.

Renuka said that she is giving a long rope to the state government. Referring to the pub attack in Mangalore, Renuka said: "I am asking a simple question. What is Sri Rama Sene? How are they empowered to make a decision that they can attack couple or women or community or religion on the streets? Who has empowered this people? Who are their funding agencies? What is the real face of this men? They are coming out of the jail on bail and issuing threat warnings".
[link]

Perhaps she didn't get the latest updates. Offstumped has more details.

In any case, if Renukaji still needs ropes etc., we will try our best to help.

Sozzled member of NGO molests doctor's wife

LUCKNOW: Sozzled members of an NGO working for the upliftment of the fairer sex allegedly molested a doctor's wife and misbehaved with the doctor when he resisted, at a multi-starred hotel on the banks of the river Gomti in the upmarket Hazratganj area on Thursday night.

What was even more shocking was that though the incident took place before the hotel staff, none of them intervened to help the woman and her husband. Finally, the harassed doctor approached the Hazratganj police who in turn lodged a case in connection with the incident. On the other hand, deputy general manager of the hotel, Promod Chaturvedi washed his hands off the issue when approached by the victim. "We are only responsible for what happens inside the hotel rooms,'' Chaturvedi reportedly said.

Even while talking to TOI, the deputy general manager said that the hotel staff was not in a position to intervene. "If two drunk visitors pick up a fight in the hotel restaurant, we can't do anything. At best we can tell them to approach the police,'' Chaturvedi told TOI, adding: "After all, this is a public place.'' [link]

This is shocking at many levels. At a time when we want to exorcise India of ghosts of Hindu groups such as the Sri Rama Sene, this is callous reporting at best - if not shoddy journalism.

Name of the NGO is not mentioned
Name of the hotel is not mentioned. There is no "Promod Chaturvedi", but there appears to be a "Pramod Chaturvedi" in Lucknow who coincidentally happens to be a Dy. General Manager of Hotel Clarks Avadh in Lucknow (5 Star Hotel). Whether it is a typo or deliberate obfuscation or a mind blowing coincidence - we will never know.
What's an NGO doing throwing parties at multi-starred hotels? Also, we understand the great national need for unrestrained consumption of alcohol, but is it proper to knock down so much at company expense? Especially when the company is an NGO.
The Dy. G.M.'s assertion that the hotel is only responsible for safety of guests inside rooms is rather strange. There is such a thing called perimeter. This is really Abhishek Manu Singhvi type argument. What if the man had started sexually assaulting the woman right in the corridor?
A man associated with an NGO which works with lots of disadvantaged women is a certifiable perv who is apparently not afraid of much. Anyone see a problem with that?
The police did not appear to be too eager to nab the perp, even though they clearly had information about the NGO.
Are we still saying "fairer sex"? Sounds sexist, not to mention skin color obsessed.

What if the NGO supports Hindu outfits? After all it is often alleged that many NGOs are mere fronts for disbursing funds to local vote marshals. Even the good ones tend to provide little information. As an example, take the Mahila Samakhya NGO, with a branch in UP. With over 400 staffers including 14 drivers, their website does not list any details of activities, funds collected or used. As a matter of fact, there is simply no names or contact lists on the website. Elsewhere we find that the NGO received Rs. 34 crores in budgetary allocation for 2007-08. The NGO is linked to the Education Ministry, no less.

We are rather disappointed by TOI's reporting of this incident as well as the behavior of the hotel staffers and bystanders - as reported by TOI. More power to Renuka Chowdhuri, if she can truly fix these things, we will personally campaign for her.

So, here is the latest transgression of Mr. Muthalik:

a group of men intercepted the bus on the outskirts of Mangalore
forced Shruti out, along with her co passenger, Shabeeb
They were interrogated about their relationship for over 20 minutes before being released.
"It is the Sri Rama Sene which is responsible for this incident as well," Kunhambu told HT

Times of India:

Shruthi said she and Shabib were dragged out of the bus by four men, aged between 25 and 30 years,
who forced them to an autorickshaw before taking them to a house in Padil area of Mangalore. They hit me and later they took turns to beat Shabib,'' Shruthi told TOI over phone from Mangalore.
Her mother Sumathi said her daughter met Shabib in the bus and some people might have informed the rampaging men that the two were talking to each other.
The attackers let off Shruthi after realising that she was an MLA's daughter, but assaulted Shabib, sources said.

NDTV:

Few persons who had boarded the vehicle under the guise of passengers, forced them to alight and took them in an autorickshaw to an unidentified place
Kunhambu told NDTV that his daughter and her friend were assaulted by Bajrang Dal, Ram Sena goons.
The MLA said that the bus conductor belonged to BJP. "He called Bajrang Dal, Ram Sena goons."
"They let my daughter go after holding her captive for one hour. The Muslim boy was released much later," he said.
"Ram Sena, Bajrang Dal activists snatched away my daughter's mobile phone," he added.

CNN-IBN:

According to reports Sene activists allegedly barged into the bus and picked up the girl, Shruti, and the boy and took them away in an autorickshaw.
Shruti said Ram Sene activists were angered by the fact that her companion was a Muslim.
However, both of them were set free after a few hours.
Her father and Kerala MLA CH Kunhambu told CNN-IBN that he suspected Ram Sene to be behind the abduction.
"The incident happened in the afternoon. I believe that the driver and conductor of the bus are involved in the incident." he added.

Sify:

On the way, a boy, her classmate, also boarded the bus. As they were reaching Mangalore, she said a few men started shouting abuses at both of them," Kunhambu said over telephone.
Later, these people were found to be activists of Sri Ram Sene, said the legislator from Manjeshwar in Kasargod district.
"She said she was held hostage for almost an hour."
"It was only after the bus conductor informed the police that things eased out and she was let off," said Kunhambu.
The girl's mother M Sumathi said while she was not attacked, the boy was assaulted and abducted for a while.
"As the bus entered Mangalore, a group of people came and took away the boy," Sumathi said.

ExpressBuzz:

Eyewitness told police that Shruthi, on alighting at Mahaveer Circle, began walking towards her hostel in Valencia. Shabeeb, a friend of Shruthi's classmate, who was also travelling on the same bus, volunteered to accompany her till the gates of the hostel.
Suddenly, a group of eight men who arrived in four two-wheelers, swooped on the duo and allegedly beat them up.
Later, the men bundled them into an autorickshaw and dropped Shruthi after travelling some distance.
Shabeeb was taken to an undisclosed destination in Padil on the city's outskirts and was illegally detained for over a hour.
Later, the miscreants dropped him near Padil and fled from the place. Shabeeb, with bruises all over the body, was shifted to a private hospital in Kasargod, police sources said.
Kunhambu suspected the hand of Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sene men behind the merciless beating of his daughter and Shabeeb.

The Hindu:

Mr. Kunhambu said Shruthi and the boy, Shabeeb, a resident of Kasaragod, were forcibly dragged out of a private bus at Mahaveer Circle (Pumpwell Circle)
and were made to sit in an autorickshaw allegedly by the Hindutva activists.
After an hour-long ride they were made to alight at a place [...]
He alleged that his daughter had to “beg” and “touch their feet” to secure her release. She was released only after she promised that she would not commit the “mistake” again.
They threatened to take her life if she made the mistake again, he added.
The police official said the boy was beaten up before being set free. “He is safe now,” he added.

There is also a report from Indian Express which provides irrelevant details.

In any case, this a grave incident which calls for immediate and exemplary punishment. Do not let minor details confuse you. Remember, as an Indian citizen, you are honor bound to conform to the strict standards of secularism and social justice. This mainly involves believing the media and trusting the leaders of the secular party.

National Security Adviser Shri M. K. Narayanan

This has to be a very interesting period in the history of the United States. Obviously Indian media is on a complete radio silence mode, after giving non-stop headline attention to the country for months. We understand, in a few weeks from now they will need to recast our unmarketable Prince in the image of a man who is possibly most unlike him among all world leaders. Better to skip the barrage of unsavory info coming from those quarters. Without getting into details - a popular news aggregator service called it a circus. Only, a circus merely entertains. This thing can cause serious damage.

It is neither unusual nor without precedence that domestic troubles force popular leaders to create a diversion. Typical targets tend to be distant foreign places with a high global emotive appeal and low fallout potential. The writing on the wall could not be clearer. Our neighbors are reading it loud and clear.

Obviously the Indian establishment has been showing signs of nervousness. But it is a difficult situation, even a mere suggestion of the tiniest doubt as to the infallibility of the most powerful God of world is liable to bring a full bore attack from the media and intellectuals. Also, the Prince, as explained earlier.

So, it takes a man of extreme courage to do this:

MK Narayanan, India's national security adviser, said the new US president was in danger of dredging up outdated Clinton-era strategies in an effort to improve ties between the nuclear armed neighbours.

"I do think that we could make President Obama understand, if he does nurse any such view, that he is barking up the wrong tree. I think Kashmir today has become one of the quieter and safer places in this part of the world," Mr Narayanan said in an interview with CNBC TV18. [link]

Don't blame the man if retractions and protestations of having been taken out of context follow. Those are par for the course in the Indian reality. In the past this blog has had to say some unflattering things about Mr. Narayanan, but we must give credit where it's due.

Mr. Narayanan wanted to resign after 26/11. Now he won't have to worry about it any more. It will be a tragedy to see him go even as Navin Chawla marches into the EC as the chief.

Ever heard of the Open Budget Index? We hadn't either. A news report from The Times of India introduced us to this index:

India has been ranked 13th in a survey of 85 countries in terms of public access to budget information and openness of the government in divulging financial information. [...] Conducted by a Delhi-based NGO, CBGA, in collaboration with Washington's International Budget Partnership (IBP), the survey scores countries from zero to 100, based on the public availability of eight key budget documents, with a particular emphasis on the executive's budget proposal.

Brimming with nationalistic pride and joy, we went looking for details. Then we thought, wait a minute - that (see image above) doesn't quite look like the 13th rank! But a report from The Hindu also corroborated this. However, The Economic Times puts India at 18th rank.

Perhaps this is merely a typo and not shoddy journalism.

The organization within India that helps prepare this report for the country is the Center for Budget and Government Accountability (CBGA). Interesting organization, lots of JNU people, started in 2002.

By the way, if any JNU person is reading this, sure you don't want commercial places at your institute? Not even pubs, eh?

From CNN-IBN:

New Delhi: Just ahead of elections the United Progressive Alliance is showering sops. It is trying to attract young voters by promising a a laptop for just Rs 500which will be on display at Tirupati on Tuesday.

The UPA Government is launching the cheapest laptop ever seen priced at Rs 500 even as the private sector, with its best efforts, has not managed to bring down the price of a laptop lower than $100 (Rs 5,000). [link] [video report]

From The Hindu:

TIRUPATI: The Ministry of Human Resource Development unveiled here on Tuesday what has been tagged as an “ultra low-cost” computing-cum-access device that can “make wonders” in the dissemination of education to the remotest corners of India.

With talk of the “introduction” of a laptop costing Rs.500 making the rounds, the prototype of the device was introduced to the delegates as well as Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh, Minister of State D. Purandareshwari and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy during the formal launch of the National Mission on Education through Information and Computer Technology on the Sri Venkateswara University campus. [link]

From The Times of India:

TIRUPATI: The much-touted laptop for the masses said to have been built by students of Vellore Institute of Technology that would cost a mere Rs 500 actually turned out to be only a computing device.

Making this clear at the inauguration of the national Mission on Education Programme organized by the Union HRD Ministry here on Tuesday, joint secretary N K Sinha said the computing device is 10 inches long and 5 inches wide and has been priced at around $30 at the event. However, he refused to comment as to why was it being projected as a laptop when it was not. [link]

Chawla was also found to have exercised 'extra-statutory control in jail matters', including 'the treatment of detenues'. Not confining himself to dictating to his boss as to the persons to be arrested, he also prescribed how they were to be treated in prison. For instance, he was for constructing special cells with asbestos roofs to 'bake' certain prisoners. Kishan Chand pathetically admitted to Justice Shah that he was not a free agent and Chawla used to receive instructions directly from Sanjay Gandhi and he (Kishan Chand) came into the picture only to the extent that he was required to fulfill some technical formalities. [link]

So, not only did this man allegedly run GITMO style prisons, he also allegedly subjected political prisoners to asbestos boarding.

We only ask, where are the human rights activists? We need to understand this a little better. If these allegations are true (there is also an Italian medal involved, please read the above article in full), then it is even worse than the GITMO situation. At least in GITMO the detainees are allegedly non-state actors. Here, we have the garden variety political dissenters.

We need our intellectuals to take a stand right now. We can not let our 50-50 democracy to undergo any further erosion.

We also watched an interview by former editor of The Hindu, Shri N. Ram:

Reporter: Mr. N Ram, firstly he is the first among equals, Mr Gopalaswamy [CEC]. Does he have the powers in him to suggest something like this to the president directly bypassing the government?

N. Ram: You are absolutely right about the first among equals, the supreme court has made it clear. Does he have the power? No. If you read here under part 15 of the constitution under elections ... talking about superintendence direction and control of elections.. to be vested ...that means high constitutional standing for the election commission. Removal comes in. [reads from the Constitution] "The Chief Election Commissioner, can not be removed except through impeachment", in exactly the way Supreme Court judges are protected and it also.. there are safeguards. As for the other election commissioners .. it is not provided.. impeachment is not provided.. I think the constitution [inaudible] amended on that..it is made clear [reads again] "that they shall not be remove from office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner". Now its elementary that only the appointing authority can seek removal and this is safeguard to protect the independence of the Election Commission, as you would want to protect the independence of the judiciary. and this is made clear also in the judicial interpretation of ...in the Seshan case in 1995 .. TN Seshan Chief Election Commissioner of India vs. Union of India in 1995.... please look it up. They made it clear, the CEC is not an oppressive power. this is only meant to be .. to protect, to safeguard the independence of the Election Commission. Therefore without a formal reference, if you suo motu, of your own bat, seek removal, then where is the independence, where is the equality? [link] [transcript ours]

It is hard to argue with something like this. Mr. N. Ram contradicts himself, makes irrelevant points, argues with his own points and then ends with a question he couldn't possibly answer himself. It makes no sense. If the EC is supposed to be independent, what is N. Ram doing trying to wrestle with it? If the CEC is indeed the first among equals, where is the question of equality?

Let's try this again:

Provided further that any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

This is the only place in the whole constitution which talks about removal of ECs other than the CEC. If you take the exact inverse of this statement, it reads like:

Provided further that any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner can be removed from office only on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Let's focus on the words "except" and "recommendation".

If the phrase did not carry the "except", a whole slew of interpretations would be possible. The word "except" really changes the whole thing. If we accept the secular interpretation that the founders never intended the CEC to be able to intiate proceedings for the removal of an EC, we get into a deadlock situation. Right now, Congress has no reason to seek removal of Chawla. If the CEC can not initiate the process, who else possibly can? The only route open to the opposition is litigation. So, the EC has gone baddy, the CEC totally wants him gone, but he is waiting with bated breath for the Government to seek removal of the EC. What's the CEC to do?

CEC: Hey, look I have got my recommendation, like, totally ready, could you please seek the EC's removal?
Congress: Sure!

If the Election commission is designed to be independent, it is absurd to think that the Government can actually seek the removal of an EC. As a matter of fact, "Government" has no meaning with respect to the Election Commission. After appointing the members through constitutionally binding process, the Government must not seek to influence the EC. Only political parties can submit complaints.

This is really a simple issue, if only people stopped confusing the Government with the Congress party. We understand, they have ruled the country for so long, it is hard to separate the two.

Congress spokesperson Abhsishek Manu Singhvi (screen cap from a TV interview)

(inset from the painting The Trial)

We noted the unique style statement of Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi on at least one occasion earlier. There was this unmistakable Grecian reference in the attire he chose to appear in on a TV interview, to take on Arun Jaitley of BJP. This is almost as snobbish as it gets and we mean it in a good way because frankly, we like it. Democracy after all originated in ancient Greece.

Unfortunately, while we are highly impressed by his style, we can not say the same for the substance of his arguments about the current Election Commission controversy.

Meanwhile, "experts" keep coming out of the woodwork and weigh in with their worthy opinions. The central point of contention really is whether the CEC can initiate the process of removal of another Election Commissioner. Needless to say Singhvi & Co. aided by the media are throwing in as many confusing straw man arguments as possible into the mix.

A senior TV journo said the allegations of the CEC against the EC (partisan etc. ) was "provocative". This is surprising, when a CEC wants to fire an EC, the situation has already gone beyond diplomatic niceties. The CEC can't really seek the removal of an EC if he dislikes his hair or something, can he? In other words, the most likely reason a CEC would want an EC out is because he thinks the EC is partisan. This is a problem, because if that TV journo is to be believed, the CEC can not seek the removal of an EC without sounding provocative.

The only place where the constitution talks about the removal of an EC is in the article 324 (5). The only entity mentioned in that phrase is the Election Commissioner. We need to understand how that translates into - the CEC is not empowered to seek the removal of an EC.

A country which is allergic to "merit" suddenly can't decide how to interpret the constitution without an army of experts.

As we understand it, Chawla must be fired immediately without delay. If the current arrangement is not right, the ruling party is welcome to seek a constitutional amendment.

After the cash for votes, numerous serious allegations of corruption and nepotism not to mention gross incompetence, if the Congress wallahs continue to be in contempt of the written words of our founders, we are afraid we will have to pull support from the Government - like people in Thailand did.

If the Congress intellectuals feel their vision for the country is being encumbered by minor technicalities imposed by the norms of democracy, they are welcome to seek a different form of Government. They already did it once.

Links:

RealityCheck: EC about to turn shell

Offstumped: Navin Chawla must go - part 1

JAIPUR: A woman was on Sunday arrested for allegedly desecrating '[...]' which she had stolen from a [...] in Makrana town of Rajasthan's Nagaur district, police said. The woman -- Sudha Mandania, who is said to be mentally challenged, entered the [...] located at Jai shiv Chaok around 0330 hours and took away the [...].

She tore some pages of it which were collected from Sadar Bazar by some people of the [...] community early today, SHO Makrana Police station Nirmal Sharma said over phone. She was arrested later from a temple, he said, adding that a case against her has been registered under section 295(A) IPC. [link] [edited for religious sensitivity]

Readers are reminded that the Indian State of Rajashthan recently saw the communals ousted from power by the seculars.

Jai secularism, jai jai secularism

Socialism is immoral