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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, March 31, 2009 |
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Attacks on women continue unabated all over India | |
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Where are the Pink Chaddi people? Delhi: A BPO executive was abducted by robbers right from her doorsteps. Her decomposed body was later discovered by the roadside. Delhi Police quickly nabbed the perps based on CCTV footage from shops where the perps had used the victim's credit cards. As a bonus, the police also solved another mysterious murder case in which a TV producer was killed in an apparent drive by shooting. So, you get two for the price of one during the election season. Does anyone else find this a bit strange? The perps have refused to consent to identification parade for the older case. Where are the human rights people? Please show some enthusiasm! Another strange facet of the case is that one of the perps was reportedly a police informer. Not only that, he went about his business claiming to be a cop. He had vehicles, beacon lights, fake ID cards - the works. His landlord thought he was an undercover cop. Chennai: Cop: What do you think you're doing? Don't you know that you're in public? Hyderabad:
Ghaziabad: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly burnt alive, on Monday afternoon, by four residents of her village in a case of "aggressive moral policing," as they suspected she had a physical relationship with one Irfan of the village. Kashmir:
posted by barbarindian at 11:22 PM Permalink
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Sunday, March 29, 2009 |
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Shobha weds Momin | |
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Just kidding.Marrying a rape victim cannot be a ground to secure bail. This is what a trial court had in store for a rape accused who moved a bail application stating he was willing to marry the victim. [...]
posted by barbarindian at 10:33 PM Permalink
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Saturday, March 28, 2009 |
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Human Achievement Hour | |
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Defeat the assorted loonies who are planning to turn off their lights this weekend! Read more.
posted by barbarindian at 11:24 AM Permalink
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Friday, March 27, 2009 |
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Faces of secularism | |
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Nothing new here really, it has happened before.
posted by barbarindian at 8:41 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 |
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Preferred nomenclature | |
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Since we are now an ally of the great North American Nation, we issue the following advisory:The Obama administration appears to be backing away from the phrase "global war on terror," a signature rhetorical legacy of its predecessor.Also, Instead of referring to threats from terrorists, Janet Napolitano is referring in her speeches to "man-caused disasters." In an interview, a reporter for Germany's Spiegel Online asked Napolitano whether her avoidance of the term terrorism means that "Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose[es] a threat to your country?" So, does it mean that "freedom fighter" is no longer the preferred nomenclature? Perhaps we should call them "disaster causing men". Unconfirmed sources say the new nomenclature for Hindus is "suckers", as in the suckers will be left holding a huge invoice for expensive nuclear reactors in their hands while the rest of the world gulps down cheap oil. Also, they will be made to commit troops for the Overseas contingency operation, made to part with "disputed territory" in exchange for peace with "disaster causing men".
posted by barbarindian at 8:38 AM Permalink
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Thursday, March 19, 2009 |
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Failed people, not failed nations | |
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 The idea of "failed nations" is rather disingenuous, a nation after all is made up of people, the loudest among them being the "intellectual" class. Indian intellectuals simply can not pat themselves enough over a cryptic obituary published during the period of emergency in the mid seventies. The obit, which was published in The Times of India hoodwinking the censors read something like - "the death of D.E.M. O'Cracy, mourned by his wife T. Ruth, his son, L.I. Bertie, and daughters Faith, Hope, and Justice."
You get the drift. That was the extent of resistance provided to a ruthless regime's attempt to take the country private. If some political outfit not popular with the intellectual cartel had imposed emergency, you would never hear the end of it. But aside from occasionally dropping the above anecdote at parties, the period is often talked about like it was a summer camp of fun. Actually it was, for a certain set of people. Some of them still feel nostalgic about the better public service during those days, especially trains running on time etc. Indian intellectuals can not figure out for the life of them what makes Pakistan such a basket case and why India is not quite there yet. The most obvious difference can not be discussed, for reasons of political correctness. The factors they attribute these differences to act as a nice litmus test. The leftist types and the closest communists blame the market economy. The intellectuals of the "centrist" variety blame certain social groups for all problems local and global. No intellectual is really "rightist" - or more accurately, "rightists" are not considered intellectuals. As a sampler of current opinion pieces about the India vs. Pakistan issue, check out:
The Indian intellectual is a special case. This species is highly dynastic in nature and a fierce protector of their own turf. The origin of this class is in the Government, as is the case with communist style centrally planned countries. The legacy has been carried forward, despite certain superficial reforms. What used to exist as an unofficial branch of the Government survives today as a strongly cartelized system. Coming back to the emergency issue, the reason intellectuals did not really make too much of an attempt is simply this: they widely expected the emergency to continue and ultimately evolve into a permanent autocracy. Put another way, it didn't make too much of a difference to them either way. Only, they could not publish those Indira Gandhi cartoons for a while. It is no wonder they fail to see why India took the other branch of the fork. Ultimately people decide their own fate. Democracy is a negotiated system of Governance. People must decide to what extent we can let the system be subverted. We have a pliable president. We had the cash for votes scam. We are going to have a relic from the dark days of emergency as our new CEC. Has the time come to sound the bugle for freedom? Sadly we can not fall back on our sold out intellectuals for guidance. It is clear that they haven't changed much since the emergency days.
posted by barbarindian at 11:00 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009 |
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Quietly ..... | |
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Will expand on it later, but briefly - there are 1.5 Billion of them, globally speaking. There are 800 millions of yous, not all of them all that committed at this point. The keyword here is "public" - as in 800 million people who are not looking this way. The other keyword is "quiet" - which is very intriguing. Will this silence be bidirectional? If so, there is not much value to it really, because certain people want to hear what they want to hear. The fact that all this deafening silence is loudly talking back from India's largest circulation newspaper is besides the point. Hush, hush I thought I heard her calling my name now Hush, hush She broke my heart but I love her just the same now Hush, hush Thought I heard her calling my name now Hush, hush I need her loving and I'm not to blame now - Hush, Deep Purple
posted by barbarindian at 2:54 AM Permalink
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Anantnag -----> Islamabad | |
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Srinagar, March 15: Opposition Peoples Democratic Party's demand of changing the name of South Kashmir’s Islamabad district from the official name of Anantnag to the popular name of Islamabad has led to resentment among pro-Hindutva activists in Jammu.
posted by barbarindian at 1:28 AM Permalink
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009 |
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Attack on women in Mangalore continue | |
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One more for the Pink Chaddi women to protest against:
posted by barbarindian at 8:35 AM Permalink
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Sunday, March 15, 2009 |
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Men, women and statues | |
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 They wanted to erect a monstrous statue at this tranquil sea beach The best hatchet job award of this year, and mind you it is not quite a quarter yet, must go to The Times of India:
This got us curious, the "housefull" aspect of it too. The CNN-IBN version:
Now that we were down to "activists", we decided to investigate even further. The Hindustan Times version:
Barbarian View: We urge the readers to read the Times of India article in totality, particularly the quote about religious freedom. Inasmuch as the line between news and editorials are getting increasingly blurred, this one takes the cake: they added a "Times View" right under the article. The prevarications in the article run into dozens. The statue was not even built, but yet it was attacked by a party not anywhere near the place. In most Western townships, if an outsider generally tries to grab public land and build a permanent structure that overwhelms the landscape, he would run into serious trouble. In most American counties, he would run the risk of getting shot. Also, what is that thing about Guinness book of records? This type of news coverage is possible only under very rare circumstances when there is a fortuitous confluence of several factors. It is uncanny just how much they can get away with. In contrast, consider the coverage of a recent incident when locals objected to a Hanuman statue in Kanyakumari. The statue was already built and later removed, as is the usual outcome for such cases. Also note that the statues of certain leaders are being built everywhere. We all know about the statues in UP. In Hyderabad, a statue of Indira Gandhi is being built. Don't we have enough of those? Aren't our seculars afraid that someday foreigners will start taking notice. Hey, you guys are constantly harping about Hindu fascists, but how is it that Congress leaders' statues outnumber those of Saddam in prewar Baghdad or Chavez in Venezuela? Not to mention universities, schools, colleges, stadia, awards, monuments, pavilions, airports, roads, cross roads ..........
posted by barbarindian at 5:10 PM Permalink
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Chand-Fiza Update | |
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Update to the Anuradha Bali story:
It may be noted that Anuradha Bali lost her job as the Assistant Advocate General of state of Haryana. The Dar Ul Uloom seminary has ruled that the divorce is valid. No, we don't have any questions, we know all the answers by now.
posted by barbarindian at 5:02 PM Permalink
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Saturday, March 14, 2009 |
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"Poke" a Politician! | |
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 The Times of India seems to have partnered up with a website called hotklix.com. This latter site can be most charitably described as a soft porn website, promising voyeurs uncensored videos, "hot masala" or "pink bikini pics" of Bollywood starlets. This site does not really produce content, it actually links to several blogs and spurious sites that actually host such content. Links to this site appear not only from the TOI landing page but as the above screenshot shows, they appear on the side panels of stories. In any case, we almost could not believe it when the above link inviting users to "poke" politicians appeared on a TOI page, for instance try this one. This must be one of the funnier instances where cultural aspects get lost in translation. So, before you go around "poking" politicians or others on facebook or some such networking sites, we urge you to watch this [YouTube] segment from a classic show.
posted by barbarindian at 12:17 AM Permalink
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Friday, March 13, 2009 |
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CNN-IBN can dance for the secular party | |
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 (click image for a larger version) It is one thing to root for a political party, quite another when a leading news channel shows symptoms of puppy love towards one. Any bad news for the communal party must make Sagarika Ghose ecstatic enough that sometimes she does things for which she feels silly afterwards, like teens usually do. She quickly wrote a blogpost following Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik severing ties from NDA. The original version is still available on google cache (screenshot above). Perhaps she later realized that saala is not exactly a flattering way to address a chief minister, no matter how endearing he appears to be in the heat of the moment. So an update followed. Pappu might have passed his political test, but CNN-IBN falls short of sobriety expected from a national news channel.
posted by barbarindian at 12:29 AM Permalink
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009 |
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The man who wanted to Nuke India does a lecture tour of New Delhi | |
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Recently Pakistani singer Adnan Sami got into an ugly court battle with his wife over his huge property, in Bombay. Yes, you are reading that right. Adnan Sami won the case in Bombay High Court. So, Adnan will now bring his ailing father over. It is not clear who gets to keep the family dog. The small but growing Pakistani Indian community can not be underestimated anymore. As India becomes increasingly globalized, it is only natural it will attract talent from neighboring countries. Aside from a somewhat more conducive atmosphere, artists find the Indian market attractive. The Indian market can also be used to bootstrap a global career. Thus we see Pakistani artists, singers, models, actors, journalists etc. frequently making trips to India and often making it their second home. There is also a strong influx of businessmen who want to sell their wares. Chidren of Pakistan's tier II elite come to India to study fashion design etc. although their experience must be a mixed bag. (Tier I kids go to Londonistan). Of course the favor is returned, to the extent possible. An Indian filmmaker recently won the top award at a film festival in Islamabad. The Dawn newspaper now carries a lot of articles by Pakistani intellectuals bashing India's failure to deal with social injustice. The Dawn newspaper now carries a lot of articles by Indian intellectuals bashing India's failure to deal with - social injustice! So, it was no surprise to see the former dictator of Pakistan go on a lecture trip in New Delhi. The Dawn reported that Musharraf awed his Indian audience. It is well documented that Musharraf wanted to put some of the high tech stuff to good use, only to back off after a stern rebuff from the then US President Bill Clinton. So, excuse us if we sound a bit skeptical when our liberal media claims that we are whipping up a war frenzy. Because if this war mongering, we don't know what surrender looks like. So, if we need a friend, we will get a dog.
posted by barbarindian at 1:03 AM Permalink
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Sunday, March 08, 2009 |
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9 is not 19 and Kandhamal is not Kalahandi | |
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 Kalahandi Kirana shop (picture courtesy: growthforall.org) In year 2000, there was a series of bombings at churches around Bangalore, also in Andhra Pradesh and Goa. Anyone vaguely familiar with contemporary Indian politics can pretty much imagine the resultant furore and indignation. At the time however Karnataka was Congress ruled, with S. M. Krishna at the helm (until 2004). The case was eventually solved and the sentencing of the perps happened last year. Many Indians will be surprised to read just this passage. Actually this is by design. Secularism follows a need-to-know paradigm for information dissemination. You don't need to know anything beyond which party is secular, do you? In any case, it is almost a decade since 2000. The demographics have changed, so have the power equations. The big story right now is the unceremonious dumping of BJP by Naveen Patnaik led BJD. This came as a big shock to many political analysts. It has certainly shocked and awed BJP, whose prospects seem dimmer and dimmer in the upcoming elections. A little bit of coalition drama is to be expected - consider the sham divorce between SP and Congress, the declaration by MIM and various other minority parties about their intent to fight the election on their own. But the manner in which BJD broke off with BJP was unprecedented. It is quite clear that the party wanted out, forever. What changed? Blogger RealityCheck tries to explain this using his fantastic framework. Unfortunately this does not fully explain the extremely hurried reaction by Naveen Patnaik, not does it explain why he would close the doors on BJP so summarily. Equally surprising was the speed with which BJD attracted support of the Left and NCP and thus jumped into the third front coalition (meaning they will prop up a UPA coalition or a rag tag coalition depending on the election outcome). This risky move by Naveen Patnaik shows just how much pressure was built up on him. The Open Doors organization keeps track of and publishes a world wide index for persecution of Christians. India has moved up from rank 30 to rank 22 in 2008 and as you can see, it has been promoted to a different category.
It is little wonder that Naveen Patnaik wanted to scram from all this as fast as possible. The world has very little patience. Even prosecuting over 1 Lakh people is not going to let him off the hook. No one in the world can fight such huge surges in demographics. No force in the world can reverse the tide backed by so much of global wealth and clout. Could it have been avoided by providing a little extra security for the Hindu seer? Seems doubtful in retrospect. This had to happen. The whole thing was engineered at the highest level. After all, what doesn't kill you makes you stranger.
posted by barbarindian at 10:20 PM Permalink
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American Politics Quiz | |
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Level: AdvancedVellore research centre makes stem cell breakthroughQuestion: How will this be accepted in the US scientific community?
Once again, no prizes for correct answers. Get yourself a DVD of Slumdog Millionaire.
posted by barbarindian at 4:42 PM Permalink
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The latest Indian Idol generates little interest on Women's Day | |
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So, India celebrated a massively state funded women's day with a special emphasis from the Bangalore hit job unit. Seminars, lectures plenty, special issues, articles etc. flew freely. Funny, the topic of a woman winning the Indian Idol for the first time was not discussed, at least not in the context of women's day. One possible explanation is that they didn't want to dilute the message with the Indian Idol stuff. Elections are coming up. Of course, it didn't help that the girl has a Hindu name.
posted by barbarindian at 12:24 PM Permalink
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Saturday, March 07, 2009 |
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Our people, their people | |
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Hindu families from Pak seek refuge in India This must be one of the happier endings, so to speak, under the conditions described. Basically it is quite funny. We fought a war in 1971, the official cause given by the Indian Government was that we had a refugee problem. So, we fought. To stop the flow of refugees. Well, that didn't happen. Bonus funny: the people who should have been allowed to cross over perished by the hundreds of thousands. The people who should not, cross by the thousands every month. Even today. Now with the Sipahi Mutiny 2.0, surging religiosity in the backdrop of world financial crisis, a food stampede is waiting to happen at the eastern borders. As far as eyes could see there was a place for you and a place for me you didn't trust me I didn't trust you hunger and thirst who will get there first? The monsters that rule you and the monsters that have ruled us always they call themselves "the civil society" these days So, die my friend, die your noble death clutching the Kalashnikov you die I will place a wreath on your grave if I live to see that day ...... Previous poem:
posted by barbarindian at 1:16 PM Permalink
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Thursday, March 05, 2009 |
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Ramba Ho: BJP should license this song | |
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At least it is more entertaining than Jai Ho. Deeply symbolical, CPM hates this song, wanted to censor the artist. Also, Bappi Lahiri.
posted by barbarindian at 11:15 PM Permalink
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Wednesday, March 04, 2009 |
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The paranoia matrix | |
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 First, determine your demographic profile (religion, ethnicity, position in economic value chain, political power etc.). On each row, put an X under the category the people on the left of that row are most likely to put you in. Enjoy.
posted by barbarindian at 12:25 AM Permalink
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Sunday, March 01, 2009 |
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Amar Singh's adventures | |
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 Looking stiff: Amar Singh with actress Jaya Prada Amar Singh attended this year's Oscar ceremony, which was held on February 22nd. Coincidentally he was fined by a court in New Delhi on Friday, February 20th for not appearing. Amar Singh's counsel informed the court that the politician was out for "political and personal work". The Oscars are an invitation only event, one can only imagine what sort of behind the scenes activity goes on to get in. Add to it the massive donation to Clinton Foundation - you got an international man of mystery right there. Our media simply does not know how to handle the multifaceted personality of Amar Singh. His theoretical power as an MP and a regional politician simply belies the amount of influence he yields and we are not even talking about the confidence vote. It is simply stunning how he manages to do all this. He even managed to perform a guest role in a regional movie. He almost managed to install a very unusual woman into the parliament [YouTube]. We are merely speculating this, but the clamor for various security levels among politicians isn't fully explained by a desire to show off. Perhaps the higher levels of security calls for strict protocol for media and perimeter sanitizing. It is easy to see why some politicians would need their privacy or more accurately, their clientele would. If the UPA comes back to power, expect to see more of this man.
posted by barbarindian at 2:41 PM Permalink
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