Another family massacred

A group of militants barged into the house of one Ahad Bhat at Mangloobi-Dalwah in Gool sector of Udhampur district in the wee hours today and fired indiscriminately on the inmates.

Bhat, his wife Fatima, their daughter Mubeena and niece Shameema died on the spot.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Udhampur, Basant Kumar Rath said the family was targeted after Bhat refused to marry his daughters to two militants who had visited the house with the proposal last night. (more ....)

You won't see the socialists picking up this story. No pics either.

Do you like snuff pictures?

* * * please scroll down for updates * * *

If the answer is yes, please head over to the Satyam Shivam Sundaram blog, pronto.

You must have heard, how could you not, if you are one of the gazzillion perpetually ashamed of his religion/caste Indian, about the atrocious brutality committed on a Dalit (erstwhile Dalit, I suppose, for they had embraced Buddhism) family.

Needless to say, the socialist/gimme seats lobby is overjoyed at this incident and it shows. For some reason, this atrocity translates into the absurd solution of sending rich OBC/Dalit kids in the metros to IITs and IIMs. Yeah.

My heart particularly aches for the young woman Priyanka. She was a good student, but she would find it difficult to get into a good school. The creamy Dalits will continue to grab the prime land as always.

By the way, in case you missed it, here is a little factoid for you:

The Bhotmange's were one of the two Mahar families of the village that is dominated by the OBC's, the landlord clans here. Bhaiyyalal had movedto this village to farm his mother's 5-acre land about 18 years ago. But it was surekha, who tilled her farm and fought for regaining the hold over a portion grabbed by the upper castes, which is a decisive political force in this part.

So, hope you will feel better when we start sending rich OBC kids to IITs and IIMs from the next academic session.

Jai Hind.

[Note: we recommend the death penalty for the perpetrators, unlike the Afzal shouldn't hang/Santosh Kumar should, gang of socialist freeloaders.]

[Update: 1]
Shivam Vij confirms that the perpetrators, members of the Power and Kalar castes, are OBCs. Remember that this is the true face of rural India today - marginalized Dalits and MBCs living in perpetual fear in villages dominated by powerful and ever ambitious OBC landlords.

[Update: 2]
Dilip D'Souza compares this incident with past black lynchings in America. Well, I suppose he has got to try harder. A correct analogy would be a massacre of a say a Red Indian family by black youths in a Philadelphia suburb (for instance).

[Update: 3]
Shivam does NOT support the death penalty for the perpetrators. Well, nice try. Do that in a Dalit annual meeting or something.

[Update: 4]
Abi has a post up at the Other Idiots site, which claims percentage wise, Dalits actually experience less violence than the general population. Although he ends the post by suggesting under-reportage, I believe he is building up something stronger. Don't be surprised if you see him googling up documents all over the internet and proving that the most recipients of violence are OBCs and most givers are the privileged.

[Update: 5]
The good Doctor Bruno never fails to surprise us. He left a comment for me on the It's my way or the Highway blog:

@ Barbarindian : This incident says that OBC Castes need education. Being dominant in a village by virtue of being the majority caste / rich may be just a factor. Education is more important.

How to educated these guys, any ideas??

Er, is that a question Doc?

Did Afzal just run out of luck?

I think I mentioned it earlier, the Other Idiots blog and its various offshoots such as this and this are sort of like leading indicators for upcoming Congress political strategy. These guys are mostly card carrying party members, they know what's going on inside. For instance, the Other Idiots blog started just around the time Arjun Singh was planning his diabolical OBC game plan. The blog pretended to be a one stop shop for various socialistic weepy issues, starting from stray dogs to atrocities directed towards women. When the reservation issue was at its hottest, the blog was churning out about a dozen posts per day on the topic. Most recently, not only has the frequency of posts gone down, they have moved towards the same ole same ole, i.e. the very original Garibi Hatao. By the way, no post about 7/11 on the blog.

Sometimes I wish I were a socialist. Posh jobs with no responsibilities, guaranteed pseudo-journalistic assignments in various Cong-pet-poodle newspapers, fine whiskey, lavish lifestyle, lots of free time to blog.

Anyway.

After 7/11 happened, some folks (you know who they are) tried their level best to start a riot. It just didn't happen. As a matter of fact, folks reacted with a mixture of bewilderment and confusion, much to the chagrin of the riot-plotters. Then the blasts happened in Malegaon. For a while they tried to pass it off on Hindu fascists. That didn't hold water, since the explosive used was RDX. Another strange fact came out during this time. Apparently the Bombay blasts had been planned several years ago, around 2000-01. At the time the Gujarat riots still didn't happen. So, the revenge motif just wouldn't work. It was a blow to an election strategy like no other.

Then the issue of Afzal came up. It was a golden opportunity, not to be missed. Congress' most vocal spokesperson on the blogosphere went to town on the issue.

Here is a sampling of how the viewpoint changed over time:
1. Death penalty is primitive and immoral (by the way, try seaching for Dhananjay in those blogs).
2. Afzal hanging will be a blow to Indo-Pak relations (as if they are the best of buddies now).
3. Afzal hanging is illegal (read here).

Some of these articles were categorized under "human rights".

Most unfortunately for them, another issue, which had captured the country's attention came into prominence around this time. Well, I am talking about Priyadarshini Mattoo. The man on the street is now unequivocally "hang that bastard". Now this is too sensitive a time to run afoul of popular sentiments. In fact, this is high time to screw Afzal. Last time I checked, they are basically deciding between the lethal injection and the rope from Tihar jail. See?

Of course, this is all verifiable, because apparently now there is only a feeble justification not to hang Afzal.

This is not an argument against the death penalty. I do not claim that Afzal is innocent of the charges against him, or that he did not receive a fair trial. I am simply saying: Afzal alive is our only chance to find out the truth about the attack on Parliament.

Sorry if all this leaves you completely speechless.

India's next Prime Minister

Far fetched? Hardly.

Abu Salem is already starting to contemplate a deeper role in Indian politics. In a country where Osama bin Laden is revered as a hero, this is not at all surprising. As a matter of fact, the likes of Abu Salem is being increasingly seen as martyrs for a cause, for instance here. A man unambiguously convicted of hatching a conspiracy to bomb the Indian Parliament (in case you have forgotten, it is the very basis and symbol of India the sovereign state) is hailed as a hero.

We all know about Arjun's quota games. Laloo's Garib Rath can't be far behind.

Gandhi never won the Nobel peace prize, Yasser Arafat did. You see, all it takes is just a little imagination.

Blogger returns, yarns spun

Readers might recall that Dilip D'Souza bid goodbye to the blogosphere a while ago. I was quite certain he would come back and that it was a cheapshot attempt at attracting attention much in the manner of our politicians when they resign, protest and stage dharnas. If Dilip had expected that there would be scores of readers pleading him to come back, it didn't quite happen. The thread of the goodbye post ended up being a slugfest with Shivam Vij doing much of the cursing using different handles.

Anyway.

As expected Dilip did come back, with a bang so to speak because he has focused his attention on the so many bombings and explosions prepetrated by Islamic terrorists in India. He is spinning yarns with a zeal not seen in his pre-self-exiled avatar. For instance, in this post he links an alleged act of violence perpetrated by BJP affiliated student unions with the issue of singing Vande Mataram. In the same post he claims that this was the worst incident ever involving student union leaders. Needless to say, he does not support his premise with facts.

His latest posts mention his disillusionment at the Pope's recent remarks and the surrounding controvery. This is strange because for a man who so vociferously claims to be secular, it is quite perplexing that he could ever have been illusioned by religion in the first place.

Tragically for Dilip, the recent turn of events have summarily squashed his hopes that the Mosque attacks were the work of Vajrang Dal. The recent revelation about the long-term planning of the 7/11 bombings also shatters the myth that they were an aftermath of Gujarat riots.

The conspiracy behind the 7/11 blasts was hatched over five years ago in 2000-2001, when some of the accused in the blasts visited Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir to undergo training with the who's who of the world of terror.

The operational work was taken care of by the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba while funds and the crucial training given to the culprits came from the al-Qaeda, clearly underlining the spread of global terror.

So, while Dilip continues to spin his yarns, they appear to be a lot weaker than before.

Can you tell the difference?

The most worrying trends in the recent times may be the nexus between Islamic terrorists and communists. We already know of the nexus between LeT and Naxalites. Well, the similarities don't end there. Both indulge in large scale propaganda, often involving unsuspecting do-gooders or chronic anti-nationals with an agenda.

As far as the fake currency racket is concerned, it is by far dominated by ISI supported outfits. The reach and scale of this racket is astonishing and needless to say, several of our leaders are on the take. Needless to say, communists are well versed in this game.

It is no surprise that much of India's underworld is dominated by Muslims. It starts from the Bombay mafia, Bollywood film financing and reaches its zenith (or nadir, depending on your point of view) in the Abdul Karim Telgi stamp scam, Bangalore BPO fraud by LeT operatives etc. India remains for the Muslim world a land of heathens, to be conquered by hook or crook. Osama and Dawood are celebrated heroes in the various Muslim ghettos. The Shahi Imam issues statements to the effect that India will be once again taken by Muslims on a regular basis.

So next time you pop out a crisp 500 Rupee bill, reflect on it for a second.

Abi discovers Sweden

No one was as thrilled to discover a country since Columbus discovered Amerca. Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, comminists have had trouble finding fairy tales of happy commie kids singing lores of equality and "freedom". For a while China sufficed, but soon detractors called the bluff. Not only about half of China live in dire straits, the rest are essentially progressing because of a test tube version of capitalism. Strikes are a big weapon in the commie arsenal, except when they run the country, in which case they are banned. Dissenters are thrown into cages of wild animals. Ok, I made that one up.

Quite expectedly the desi commie community are looking elsewhere. Their recent discoveries include Chile and Sweden.

Abi writes:

Of course, its ideology makes the Economist try very hard indeed to trash this model. However, if you read between the lines (and you don't really have to try that hard!), it's quite clear that the choices facing the Swedish people are between different versions of the Welfare State; the Swedish model is in no danger of being dismantled.

We have been urging Abi to stick to what he knows best, i.e. materials science, because venturing into the murky territory of economics has its dangers. We are unsure whether it is plain ignorance or a propensity to spin propaganda which made Abi ignore large portions of the said article from the economist magazine. Because the portions Abi chose to ignore contain some serious indictment to Sweden's welfare statism.

Some examples (requires subscription):

In truth, the Swedish economy's best years are long gone. Between 1870 and 1950, average growth in Swedish GDP and productivity was, by some measures, the fastest in the world. In 1970 Sweden was the fourth-richest member of the OECDclub of industrial countries. But for most of the past 50 years the story has been one of relative decline, including a deep recession in the early 1990s (see chart 1).

Also:

Where will all this leave the much-trumpeted Swedish model? Most Swedes are weary of listening to foreign claims about the perfection of their society. Mr Lindbeck suggests that, where it does have economic strengths, they are of an essentially Anglo-American, market variety. Johnny Munkhammar, who runs a pro-market think-tank, Timbro, argues similarly that history shows Sweden's economy to have flourished when it has been more liberal and low-tax—and to have gone off the rails when higher taxes and more regulation have been imposed.

The version of Sweden the great welfare state that Abi conjures up (complete with socialism and Swedish blondes on the arms of materials science professors) resides only in his mind. Welfare in that context merely means job security and health and retirement benefits. In India of course it means complete blockage of anyone's ability to carry out economic activities. Sweden is decades away in terms of economic freedom and openness to global trade (remember Bofors?) and with ministers like Kamal Nath and PC seems to be basically out of reach.

Anniversaries all year round

Within days after the Russian city of Beslan remembered the massacre of school children and as the US prepares to remember the 9/11 victims, Islamic terror struck once again.

This time though, the public has rejected the overtures of politicians. As they say - you can fool some people some of the time etc. etc.

Looks like pretty soon we will have a terror attack to remember each day of the year. We can even come up with a new terror calendar. Something like, the month of Beslan, day of Malegaon bombings etc. Meanwhile, Dilip D'Souza claims that the residue found at the blast site is not RDX but his groin dust.

The only resolution of the Bombay/Malegaon bombings we have so far is as follows:

Following each terror attack, if you don't run out and hug a muslim, you are likely to be a Hindu fascist.

The "socialists" are doing pretty well for themselves - Part II

Abdul Karim Telgi, the main accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scandal, has named Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar during investigation. Telgi also accused former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Chhagan Bhujbal and former Karnataka minister Roshan Baig of involvement in the scam.






Meanwhile, the daughter hasn't done badly for herself either.

The affidavit filed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule for Rajya Sabha elections shows her to be one of the richest politicians in the state. Sule, her husband Sadanand and their two children, have properties worth a whopping Rs 41.52 crore.

(......) Mataram

What would our man say?

Noted Shia scholar and All India Muslim Personal Law Board vice-president Maulana Kalbe Sadiq on Tuesday tried to explore a midpath between national pride and religion, when he tried to delve deeper into the actual meaning of the word 'Vande'. "Does it mean salutation or worship?" he asked, adding that Muslims should have no problem if the word means 'saluting or paying respect to the country'.

In a country where women belonging to a certain religion are forced to accept polygamy by law, the Vande Mataram controversy is a non-issue. The biggest champions of human rights such as this and this never pick up stories such as this.

If you are a privileged Hindu, you had better keep your head down and wait for the sword. You are already doomed.

Submission

Read more here.

The "socialists" are doing pretty well for themselves

Our Hon'ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Ramadoss is well known for his crusade against health hazards such as Cola drinks and cigarettes. Pretty soon you will not see any film star smoking on screen, unless the image is pixelated. Not only did Ramadoss take stern measures towards banning cigarette and cola ads, he has spoken out against Cola based drinks several times.

"Sportspersons and Bollywood stars are icons. They should not take advertisement assignments for soft drink companies like Coke and Pepsi since these drinks are detrimental to the health of children," he (Dr. Ramadoss) said.

Naming celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, he said they must desist from promoting "Coke and Pepsi" if they wanted to do some good for society. (11th June, 2006)

Please note the date of the above article.

A few weeks ago, chemical tests conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment found above acceptable levels of toxic pesticides in Cola drinks.

Close on the heels of a major health scare on finding pesticides in bottled drinking water, a non-government organisation on Tuesday claimed that the bottled soft drinks owned by two multi national companies -- PepsiCo and Coke -- also failed the same health standards testing positive for pesticides.

According to the tests conducted by the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of CSE, all samples contained residues of four extremely toxic pesticides and insecticides: lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos. (5th August, 2006)

Bloggers went to town on this report. Needless to say, most people were appalled by the obvious double standards and questioned the rationality behind the contemplated ban of Cola drinks. Quite naturally, communists picked up the story as well and spinned it as an evil capitalistic conspiracy to poison hapless poor Indians. For instance, read the post by this moron, better still read through the comments as well.

So, does this mean no more Cola for you? No worries. The good Doctor Ramadoss has just given a clean chit to Colas. Not only that, he has expressed severe doubts about the methodology followed by the agency.

Health Minister A Ramadoss constituted the committee on August 4 to examine "the methodology of sampling, methodology of testing and validity as well as the consistency of results derived by CSE in its report."

As far as we can tell, the committee has just been formed. It will take a while to go through the documentation and conduct further tests. However, Dr. Ramadoss has no doubts in his mind, just like he has none as far as the OBC reservation goes. Our socialist Gods are beyond question and their actions beyond all scrutiny.

The folks of CSE however are not amused:

I am not at all surprised. It is a clumsy attempt of the Government to give a clean chit to the cola companies...Let us be very curt, it is not the Government speaking, it was Coca-Cola speaking - Director of CSE, Sunita Narain.

In case you are wondering, what made Dr. Ramadoss make a U-Turn on his stand and suddenly start squarely batting for the evil capitalists, we are a little confused too. This was a perfect opporunity for him to push for banning Cola based drinks, especially since he so sincerely believes they harm little children.

I guess we will just let it go at that. We suggest you do that too and enjoy Coca Cola.

Does Professor Gupta need his "Johnson"?

Okay, as our esteemed readers might be aware, the OBC quota thingy is nearing its end-game phase. There is a heck of a dogfight going on regarding who should claim credit for it. Strangely the media is totally mum about the creamy layer aspect and we are guessing it will not be excluded. For more updates on recent developments surrounding these issues, please refer to our good friend, blogger RealityCheck.

About the sixteen-thou-crore dumping on expanding the capacity of the affected institutes - we are still sceptical. We noted that some folks have already swallowed the OBC reservations as a given and at this point hoping that these monies will be at least spent towards infrastructure upgrade. Alas! As our past experience indicates with "development" projects, at least 70% of these monies will go towards enrichment of well connected contractors (read families and friends of Arjun Singh, Ramadoss, Meira Kumar, PC etc.).

So, how will the capacity expansion take place? Glad you asked.

Senior faculty member Ramesh Gupta has said in a published working paper that IIM-A can accommodate 150 additional students and continue being the academic leader even with existing faculty and infrastructure.

The paper adds that even the present hostels are enough. Of 26 student dormitories, two dormitories have been set aside for cultural events and can house 60 students. Also, there is no justification for offering 'married accommodation' for one-year executives' programme. If let out to PGP students, 100 more students can be accommodated.

Yes, it is back to the Nalanda days. Why do students need family lives or even sex? How about cultural events? Aren't they supposed to exercise strict Brahmacharya and keep their noses buried in books?

This reminded us about a comic scene from the cult movie Big Lebowski (not the scene pictured above). The protagonist (The Dude) narrates to his friends that a group of nihilists threatened to relieve him of his manhood.

The Dude: Fuck sympathy! I don't need your fuckin' sympathy, man, I need my fucking johnson!
Donny: What do you need that for, Dude?

We are wondering about that too. I am guessing professor Gupta must be in his middle age. He has already done with his procreation activities. He wonders aloud why do married executives need family accommodations. Does he need his "Johnson" at this point? Would an OBC doctor please detach the totally useless item from his esteemed body?

Brainwashing Cong Style: Catch 'em young

Remember the huge uproar surrounding the inclusion of certain personalities in the educational textbooks during the NDA regime?

Lok Manya Tilak as a militant national and Subhash Chandra Bose as a terrorist, that's not all, sexual innuendos, voyeurism and an ode to naxal poetry, that's what makes up the syllabus for students now.

Published by National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) this year, these textbooks will be read by students form class I to class XI. And for once politicians across party lines rose together in protest.

Now, I am unable to decide which is more atrocious, calling Lokmanya Tilak a militant, branding Netaji a terrorist or singing odes to the Naxals? (I am assuming exposing children to sexual stuff and innundoes in the name of "art" is ok since an IAS officer declared it so). Of course these are rhetorics and pale in comparison to the clear and present danger posed by the huge fan base of Osama Bin Laden in India.

Now. let us see if Netaji deserved the title of terrorist. For the sake of argument, we will assume the line of logic that one man's freedom fighter is always another man's terrorist. For instance, the recent Bombay bombings were acts of vengeance by fighters for minority rights, at least according to some eminent bloggers. Basically, let's just take out the moral element out of it altogether. After this the whole thing gets reduced to a few technicalities which show that:

Netaji:

1. duly formed an army and declared war by accepted conventions
2. fought battles against armed forces
3. didn't carry out deliberate civilian casualties
4. was open to bi-partisan talks and infact did participate in talks with other nations
5. was fighting for a political region he could claim as his own by birth
6. had credible reason to believe that the "occupants" were denying his ilk political freedom

I encourage readers to point out mistakes in my above assumptions. Doesn't sound like a terrorist to me.

How long before they brand Swamiji a Hindu fascist in text books?

Happy Independence Day

Hope by the time you grow up, you will be truly free. Free from the clutches of the communists, the propaganda of the socialists, the violence of religious zealots, ideological impurities such as reservations, political correctness, entitlement mentality ....

Most importantly, free to be able to wave your flag and proudly claim your identity.

Rhapsody in August

You woke up one morning and sneezed. A simple cold. But for you, a life changing event. You are not to go to school that day. You are a school boy in Nagasaki, Japan, the fated day is August 9, 1945. Later in the day, at around 11:00 am, "fat man" would be dropped on your city. All your classmates would get evaporated. Instantly.

Thereafter, every year, on 9th August, you would make a pilgrimage to your old school yard. There would be others too. You would stand in circles around a small memorial, place flowers around it. Every year, till the day you die.

Rhapsody in August is a lesser known Kurosawa film. It is relatively recent, released in 1991. The plot is simple. Four grandchildren visit their grandmother in the outskirts of Nagasaki. The parents of two of them are visiting the US and apparently found the long lost brother of Grandma.

Grandma had lost her husband in the bombings (he was a school teacher in the above mentioned school). She is still ambivalent about America. She is still in pain and she still misses Grandpa.

Would her feelings change when her half American nephew (played by Richard Gere) visits her?

Kurosawa presents a heartwrenching tale of loss, redemption and forgiveness in this gritty film. In one of the most memorable scenes, the grandchildren are walking around statuettes in the memorial park. Each statue is from a different country. They read out the names of the countries. The youngest asks, where is the statue from the US? He is quickly reminded by the others, there is none from the US.

Indeed the Japanese moved on and made the most remarkable success story of the 20th Century. Today they are the second biggest economy.

Fast forward about 60 years. Think about Iraq. It is astonishing what a stark contrast that country makes. Indeed one can not help but wonder, what if we were to gain our independence in today's fractious political environment? What would the likes of Chidambaram, Ramadoss, Meira Kumar, Laloo etc. do?

Wanna play the game of reservation chicken?

Remember the dogfight between various factions over who wanted credit for the OBC quotas? Well, the game has barely even begun.

Divisions within the UPA on reservation for OBCs seem to be widening by the day. After last week's acrimony among senior ministers on quotas comes the latest salvo from DMK chief M Karunanidhi, asking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to "respect and respond to the people's mandate by immediately extending reservation to OBCs at all levels and in all institutions under the government of India without any dilution".

"It is strange that the creamy layer concept was not applied to the unreserved category till date...these demands are entirely unconstitutional and unethical"
- Karunanidhi

Strange indeed. At this point it is difficult to speculate who will have the last laugh in this game of reservation chicken.

Voice of the underprivileged muffled by totalitarian regime

The pro-quota folks often thump their chests by equating the numerical strength of the potential quota beneficiaries to democracy. In reality however, the quota benefits are cornered by a privileged few.

The same goes for dalit representation in the media and politics. Do the likes of Kancha Ilaiah, Udit Raj represent the truly oppressed? Don't think so. Same goes for the OBC leadership. These folks claim that the quotas are a triumph of the democratic process. Here is a thought, let's say we take to referendum the best way to disburse the Rs. 16,000 crores (quota cost). What do you think will win? Bags of rice for millions of poor or seats for a few thousand rich OBCs?

Raghav Mahto, the 21-year-old who owns the FM Mansoorpur radio station in Bihar that was shut down a few months ago, has now received an award for his achievement.

And from the small shop Raghav used to run the radio station that broadcasted music and social messages to villages within a 15-kilometre radius.

However, the state government shut down the radio station for running without a license.

This is expected. Raghav probably didn't pander to any political party. All he did was brighten up the lives of folks who will never see any benefits of our welfare largesse. If the quotas are not reaching enterprising folks like Raghav in large portions, they are basically useless.

Read more at the excellent Reality Check blog, here.

Abismal

Who is in charge of The Other Idiots site these days? Possibly not Dilip since he apparently bid goodbye to the blogosphere (speculation is rife why he did that - some claim that he had a spate with Shivam since the latter stole the thunder following the blog bans and published not one but two articles on Rediff, thus getting himself quite a bit of fan following). Can we have some quality control there please? It is alright to rant on your personal blog, not on a collaborative blog ostensibly set up for the very important task of highlighting the plight of the other half.

Here is what Abi writes in his recent post:

I didn't plan to attend the talk, as I wasn't keen on spending the evening before the Varalakshmi Vratam ("undertaken by the sumangalis for ... [among other things, a] long life for the husbands") by sitting through a diatribe against reservation; however, a friend challenged me by calling me a 'conservative' liberal (i.e., a liberal with a closed mind) who's unwilling to listen to opposing viewpoints. Just to show him that my mind was not closed (yet), I chose to go to the talk.

Here is a clue professor, keep your rants and personal life to your personal blog. If you must take on someone of the stature of Arun Shourie, you would sound a lot more credible if you didn't appear like you are desperately trying to untie the numerous knots in your knickers.

Needless to say Abi is still not convinced how reservations mess with equality. For a person who blogs 24/7 on the reservation issue, he is rather clueless about what happens in reality. For instance, he was shocked to discover that there could be creamy layer problem for Dalits!

The holes he points out in Shourie's talk are full of banalities and contradictions. For instance:

Shourie clearly puts growth on a pedestal. Many others take this view, too, and I won't argue with them, except to point out that there are many who wouldn't mind a (slightly) smaller growth if it is accompanied by a more broadbased (and more than proportionate increase in) social welfare.

Then on the issue of more support at the primary level he mocks Shourie:

Well, if loathing the policy of reservations pushes a person like Shourie to support a Big Government Welfare State, I want more reservations. Bring'em on! Yeh dil maangey more!

Make up your mind professor. You wouldn't mind giving up a little growth to send rich OBC/Dalit kids to IIT/IIM/Med schools but the idea to provide mid-day meals to poor school kids appears funny.

We know that Abi is logically challenged and briefly touched upon it here, but didn't know the problem was this severe:

Second, since everyone is in favour of a policy that favours one group (say, the OBCs), the advantage of playing vote-bank politics doesn't accrue to anyone, does it? So, what's the big deal?

Well, you can pretty much extend the logic to any populist measure, can't you professor? Wouldn't that prove that vote-bank politics doesn't exist at all? Or does it only exist when it is politically convenient for you?

But, there was very little passion in the way he pursued the main story line. At some level, he seemed to have reconciled to (the inevitability of) the reservation policy. For example, at one point, he seemd to indicate he would prefer reservations based on economic criteria. At another point, he argued for periodic monitoring mechanisms to keep track of who the real beneficiaries are.

Of course, we will never have any monitoring for the quotas. You see, there is no need, Abi passionately said so!

Dude, where's my manufacturing boom?

If ever there was any effort that was bound to fail at the outset, it was the Doha round of WTO talks. Needless to say, our Hon'ble minister for Commerce and Industry, a very constipated looking Kamal Nath came back home with nada.

The megalomania of our leaders shows no sign of tempering. Remember the Pundit Nehru days when we attempted to become a manufacturing powerhouse by building steel plants? Guess who we partnered with? Yep, the erstwhile Soviet Union. We are still bleeding from those things.

USSR collapsed but we still have those pipe dreams. Drop Rs. 16,000 crores, send rich OBC kids to IIT/IIMs. Problem solved. Might as well adopt the Bernanke solution and drop degree certificates from helicopters in rural areas.

Meanwhile despite the promises of huge incentives by our Hon'ble Prime Minister, farmers continue to commit suicide at record numbers. By now it should have been clear that we need to move large sections of our society from unsustainable areas in the agricultural sector to manufacturing. But with the majority of our leaders busy in social uplifting, that is not gonna happen anytime soon. The failure of the Doha talks means lucrative markets will remain closed to us. Can we bypass the manufacturing boom and move straight into a service dominated economy? Wishful thinking, it didn't happen even for Hong Kong.