Monday, April 27, 2015

AS I SAW IT

Beijing’ s Cat’s Paw                                                                                             26 March 2015
China may improve relations with India, but not at Pakistan’s expense.

Is China’s alliance with Pakistan in trouble? Pakistan’s recently announced intention to invite Chinese President Xi Jinping as chief guest at their joint military services parade and subsequent postponement has encouraged some to see cracks in the relationship. Like periodic reports about China’s unhappiness with Pakistani militants’ role in training and arming Xinjiang;s jihadi Uighurs or Beijing’s  supposed distancing itself from Islamabad on the issue of Kashmir, this more recent flurry is also much ado about very little.  Pakistan’s security situation and President Xi’s busy calendar may delay his first visit more than Islamabad would like, but the Sino-Pak friendship is based on too long a history of strategic cooperation to be affected by minor irritants.
If china decides to develop formal alliances, Pakistan would be the first place we would turn. It may be the only place we could turn. This seemingly total trust in Pakistan is rooted in intimate and unwavering collaboration over decades from which both countries have benefited. It is also based, small writes, On China’s steady, long-term commitment to ensure that Pakistan has the capabilities it needs to play the role that China wants it to. Mao passed away shortly after meeting Zulfikar ali Bhutto and blessing nuclear cooperation with Islamabad. His funeral in September 1976 provided the occasion for AQ Khan, father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, to meet china’s top nuclear official in Beijing. Their secret collaboration has since enabled Pakistan to build an arsenal of warheads and long-range nuclear capable missiles. On the other hand Pakistani transfer of pilfered western know-how-from centrifuge design to US Tomahawk and stealth helicopter technology-has given China bility to leapfrog the West.
Pakistan has also benefited from China’s close collaboration with Washington against Moscow while helping china with its own contacts. Small notes that Kissinger joked with Chinese leaders that the best way to contain India’s ambitions was to arm Pakistan and Bangladesh with nuclear weapons. Like its earlier role in facilitating secret US and Chinese contacts leading to opening of relations, Pakistan’s privileged ties with Saudi Arabia (which at the time had no diplomatic relations with Beijing) enabled it to arrange secret meetings between Saudi and Chinese officials. It eventually culminated in the sale of Chinese long-range nuclear capability: warheads produced by Pakistan could presumably be made with Chinese-built Saudi missiles if Riyadh wished to do so. Ties between Beijing and Islamabad flourish in asymmetric warfare as well. Small shows that China was “intimately involved in Pakistan’s history of using irregular forces as an instrument of its military strategy. One of the two sides’ closest areas of tactical cooperation. That cooperation with Pakistan involved the supply of arms not only to the anti-Soviet mujahideen, but also to Naga, Mizo and assamese insurgents battling central rule by New Delhi. While brutally suppressing Uighhurs and urging Pakistan to do the same, China itself has maintained contacts with ihadi groups offering moneyand small arms in exchange for pledges not to target China or support Unighur separatists.
Today, facing a nascent alliance between India, the US and Japan, Beijing may indeed seek to improve relations with New Delhi, but this will not happen at the expense of its all-weather friend. Whether or not Xi Jinping attends a parade in Rawalpindi this year,Beijing alliance with Islamabad remains rock solid.
To Conclude China follow the “Principle” enemy’s enemy is the best friend

Grateful to Nayan Chanda

Advantage Modi 18-2015

Advantage Modi 18-2015                                                                           30 April, 2015
 Beef Up Governance
BJP’s social engineering bids can derail Modi government’s development promise
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power promising minimum government, maximum governance. This was a liberal promise that appealed to India’s burgeoning and globally networked young, driving the electoral wave that gave BJP its historic mandate. Now, almost a year later, now BJP state governments from Maharashtra to Haryana appear to be upending Modi’s original promise with divisive social engineering bids. They seem more bothered about regulating what we eat, wear, watch ad think than what they were voted in for : to make everybody’s lives easier.
After Devendra Fadnavis’s Maharashtra government banned beef, Manohar Lal Khattar’s Haryana government followed suit. Then Maharashtra’s advocate general Sunil Manohar tried to cover up the patently communal aspect of the beef ban by claiming that the ban on cow or bullock slaughter would be extended to other animals-before the government clarified, of course, it wasn’t banning mutton too. Now, even as NDA at the Centre wants to examine how to make it easier doing business, state culture affairs minister Vinod Tawde offers a textbook example of how not to do this by decreeing that multiplexes compulsorily screen at least one Marathi film during prime time every evening. Promoting Marathi films is a worthy cause. But it’s inexplicable why the political class is generally of the view that in order to promote x you need to ban y or bludgeon z.
While these are state government, technically outside the purview of the PM’s administrative domain, they were voted into power on the back of his personal  campaigning. Muscle flexing by central BJP ministers such as Giriraj  Singh and Smriti Irani and state ministers in Maharashtra and Goa-where one minister said the his wife has never been teased because she wore a sari- add up to the impression that BJP has forgotten about its governance promises and is trying to implement its old hindutva agenda. Already India Inc is fretting that the sheen is falling off the Modi government-as Marico chairman Harsh Mariwala has argued-even as BJP’s washout in Delhi elections sent a message  about its cultural disconnect.

The spirit of today’s youth demands ‘thou shalt not discriminate’; a spirit captured well in Modi’s own slogan of ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’. The PM should now lead a course correction, clamping down on erring ministers and party members and refocusing on governance and development. 

Advantage Modi 17-2015

Advantage Modi 17-2015                                                                                  21 April 2015
Voice of the People
Narendra Modi projected himself as an alternative to a meek PM and a corrupt Congress. Nine months later, people have begun to realize that this talkative man cannot deliver.
Deepak Kanungo, Bhubaneshwar
When you have the RSS and the VHP running ‘ghar wapsi’ campaigns. Alienating the minorities and tarnishing the image of the government, who needs an opposition. Also the BJP may find it convenient to accuse the parties in opposition of behaving irresponsibly, but in the last 10 years, it had acted in a similar fashion and stalled Parliament on numerous occasions. The government must get its house in order and prepare itself to face tough times ahead.
Ambar Mallick, Kolkata
Having two ideologically opposite parties-the BJP and the Peoples Democratic Party-form the government in Jammy and Kashmir meant heated debates would be the order of the day (False Start in the Valley, March 23). While the PDP is constantly mindful of not alienating its Kashmiri vote bank and doesn’t want to be seen as following a ‘right-wing’ agenda, the BJP has the challenge of running a government in a troubled state while keeping its national interest and image intact. It is too early to pass a judgment on the success or failure of this alliance. Both parties have been out of power and have worked hard to win back the mandate; they will not be fooling and throw away the opportunity in J & K.
J.S. Acharya, Hyderabad
India has always ben patted for its tolerance unfortunately, the numerous instances of Muzzling of free speech and expression in the past few months have tarnished India’s global image. From banning movies to the sale of beef in some states, we have shown ourselves to be no better than fundamentalist countries that we so often make fun of.
V.K. Tangri Dehradun
Banning a documentary on the December 16 gang rape is no solution to the problem of growing incidents of violence against women in India. A ban culture cannot cure society of its crude mindset, whereas tough laws and strict punishment surely can.
Mahesh Kapasi, New Delhi

 Adopted from India Today

Advantage Modi 16-2015

Of ‘presstitutes’, (as good as prostitute) politicos                                                             17 April 2015
and other ‘buyable’ types

The unwritten rule in the UK and quite a few other Euroean countries is that, once you rise above a certain rank in the military, you automatically bar yourself from anything like a political career. This is a good rule: it keeps top-level command decisions from being influenced by anybody’s future ambitions; it stops old generals, air marshals and admirals from interfering in military matters; it ensures that the defence minister will always be a civilian providing critical checks and balances for the armed forces; it protects against a certain military mindset from bleeding into civilian life, where the requirements of a democracy are fundamentally opposed to the unquestioning obedience all top brass have got used to over their careers, It short, it’s regrettable that any retired general should enter politics in India. In any care, V K Singh was an utterly avoidable choice, and it’s now clear that he’s out of his depth in the job he’s been given.
It’s an untrue cliché that minds steeped in military manoeuvres usually lack a sense of humour and are blind to irony. History provides us several examples of witty and self-aware generals but perhaps V K Singh is not among them. Had he been, he might have hesitated before broadcasting this little coinage, realizing that if the Indian fourth estate is a house of ill-repute, then its most frequent customers, not to mention its managers, are people from his own political formation. He might also have given a thought to all the ‘keeping’ our politicians owe to the oligarchs. In any case, one coinage often inspires another-so I, for one, would must rather be a presstitute than a polstitute.
Extracted from TOI 12 April 2015
Why can’t Mr Zaveri live where he wants?

Modi doesn’t like answering unscripted questions but if I had the chance I would like to ask him: When you told an audience in Paris on Friday that your government will defend the rights of citizens of all faith, does that include defending the right of a Muslim citizen to live where he wants? If the answer is yes, do you intend to arrest Togadia and other like him who constantly attacks the right of Indian citizens of the Muslim faith? Since you became PM, you have given us all sorts of great advice. Don’t defecate in the open. Pay your taxes. Make in India. Would you consider exhorting the Hindus of Gujarat to stop discriminating against Muslim citizens? Are you prepared to tell India that Mr Zaveri’s house can be wherever he wants it to be?
Extracted from TOI 12 April 2015
Comments:
On one hand PM Modi addresses people of Indian origin in France “I will provide equal and safe environment to the people of all castes and color”. And at the same time BJP alliance partners in Maharashtra & the central govt calls for taking away the voting rights from Muslims and the BJP maintains utmost silence , whom to believe? And now the same people have advocated castrate them so that they don’t grow and further.

It is surprising how come no Bajrangi and hard “Hindutva” advocates have made no noise on channel “Zindagi’ relaying Pak serials and the Pak cricketers actively participating in the ongoing IPL (Wasim Aktar/Ramees Raja/Shoiab Akhtar) not only now since beginning of IPL.


Wake up India. 

Advantage Modi-15-2015 (Ambedkar Jayanti)

Advantage Modi-15-2015       (Ambedkar Jayanti)                                          14   April 2015
An opportunity lost
To start a debate you need a measure of sobriety, not name-calling. Mature leadership demands the encouragement of conversation, not a chilling effect on speech by using words and language best left to anonymous trolls on social media.
Two separate remarks, one by the prime minister and the other by the minister of state for external affairs, seem to have raised the pitch in a polarized environment. In a nation of perpetual outrage, the words-‘five star activist’ by one and ‘prestitute’ by the other-have erupted in controversy. And the fact that they stem from the top political leadership is cause for concern.
Modi’s cryptic reference cautioning the judiciary against ‘five-star activists ‘ made at a conference of chief justices and chief ministers has led some commentators to conclude a case of legislative overreach; other believe that it is a call to the judiciary to delivery judgments without fear or favour to prevailing public sentiment.
In contrast, Singh’s use of the word ‘prestitutes’ has no ambiguity and is so reprehensible that even his party has distanced itself from it. By choosing to use it to describe a critical media, Singh has managed to mitigate the excellent work of his ministry in evacuating citizens from Yemen. It leaves him open to being branded as an immature hothead, unsuited to diplomacy.
Perhaps Singh was smarting from the insinuation that attending a Pakistan Day function in New Delhi to which separatist leaders from Kashmir had also been invited was ‘anti-national’. The questioning of the former army chief’s patriotism by the Times Now channel was certainly out of line. But with ‘presstitutes’ the general has scored a self-goal.
These are valid questions and must be asked in a vibrant democracy. Equally germane are questions about the media’s rapidly falling standards. Paid media, the trivialization of news, a cosy proximity with sources, the failure to self regulate, media trials, and the lack of accountability are genuine concerns that must be debated if any semblance of public credibility is to be restored.

But to start a debate you need a measure of sobriety, not name-calling. Mature leadership demands the encouragement of conversation, not a chilling effect on speech by using words and language best left to anonymous trolls on social media. 

Advantage Modi-14-2015

Advantage Modi-14-2015                                                                                  30   March 2015
Disruptive ,Destructive, Irrational politicians supported, by RSS and protected by BJP.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Union Minister of State “Aapko tay karna hai ke Delhi mein sarkar Ramzadon ki Banegi ya haramzadon ki (you must decide whether you want a government of those born of Ram or of those born illegitimately),” she said at a public event in Delhi in December.
Yogi Adityanath, BJP MP : “The issue of ‘ love jihad’ would certainly be an issue,” the Yogi had declared ahead of by election in Uttar Pradesh.
Sakshi Maharaj, BJP MP : “Madrasas are making them terrorists and jihadis. It is not in national interest,” Sakshi Maharaj had said in September. “Godse was a nationalist. Gandhi ji also did a lot for the nation,” Maharaj was quoted as saying in Maharashtra in December.
Sadhvi Prachi , of VHP has joined them. The fire brand lunatic is spitting venom. Calling MG all possible names British agent/communal etc.
Subramaniam Swamy: A political discard for last 3 decades. Ram his one man show ‘President of Janta Party’. Suddenly changed colours. Became a Bajrangi about 18 month back. Spreading communal hetred at Gauwahty states masjid and  churches are not religious places just constructed buildings can be demolished. And recently at Muzaffarnagar stated “Ram Temple” would be built at Ayodhya by 2016. (Even against the count order)
Markandey Katju: Another buffoon, wants to remain in media attention. His earlier utterance.
·         90% Indian are fools
·         Katerina Kait should be the next president of India.
·         If shazia Ilami was the CM candidate in Delhi election, BJP would have won.
·         Any now he has crossed all possible decency’s and limits and calls Gandhi a British agent and Subhash Bose a Japanese agent.

They have been let loose to keep the communal tensions high on the agenda. It appears they can’t be tamed.  Just because our constitution is liberal we can’t even shut them up.

VK Singh

If that was not enough VK Singh (Minister of States External Affairs)  was directed and ordered to attend Pak function on 23 March at Pak High commission in New Delhi. He found himself in the company of separatist leaders from J & K (Hurriat). Though he left in ten minutes and expressed his anger and invited the wrath of the PM and others.


VK Singh you have to forget that you were a “General” and “COAS”; now you are just a stooge and obedient soldier under the orders of Bajrangis.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Advantage Modi 13-2015

Advantage Modi 13-2015                                                                                       23 March 2015
Saffron purged
The Delhi debacle is a reality check for Modi and Shah
                            
Around 10.40am, a senior officer came up to a Union minister with a clutch of papers, and requested him to sign them. As the minister began reading the first sheet, the officer told him there was no time for that. “You tell me then what it is, “the minister said. The officer exasperatedly told the minister that he had to reach the prime minister’s office with the papers by 11 am and would explain it when he returned. “This is my fate. I am the minister, but it is almost as if the PMO is running all the ministries,” the minister told his confidantes on February 10-the day the BJP faced its first crushing defeat since Lok Sabha 2014. Sources say this minister was among, including BJP MPs, who discreetly rejoiced in the first failure of the Modi-shah duo. The joy was about the halt, however temporary, to the control freaks who have little freedom to others in the cabinet to do their work.
But what went wrong? A BJP leader narrated what he witnessed a few days ago: A party worker was waiting for three hours before his note was accepted Amit shah’s staff. Two hours later, he learnt that the more had landed in the trash and Shah won’t meet him. “Workers simply have no acess to him nowadays,” said the leader. “Modi and shah had not figured that Delhi was not Gujarat, where they had other links to reach the masses.”
“They seem to have forgotten that there is a Delhi BJP unit, which has its ears to the ground, knows people and their issues,” said a BJP candidate who lost the election. “We were completely bypassed with Modi and Shah taking all the decisions. It was not our election, really.” A senior BJP functionary in Delhi echoed the sentiment, saying. “I had gone to give some suggestions. But the suggestions given by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were implemented. He has not won an election, and he declined to lead the party in the 2008 Delhi polls.

The Modi magic may not have vanished, but the constant self-projection possibly did him in. The over-the –top display of ‘my friend Barack’; the self aggrandizement in the form of a golden pinstripes suit combined with his inability to explain the continued with his inability to explain the continued price hike and the arrogance of his ministers who meet capitalists but not workers or the public gave a picture of a prime minister who talked too much and acted too little. Alos, there are murmurs within the BJP that Modi’s style of campaigning in Delhi substantially contributed to its defeat. “One swallow does not make a summer,” said a BJP leader. “Let us wait and watch. The AAP cannot replicate the Delhi experience across the country in the short term. And we play for the long term.  Some consolation.

Advantage Modi 12-2015

Advantage Modi 12-2015                                                                                       05 March 2015
Constitution is my govt’s only scripture, says PM
“My governments only religion is ‘India first’, my government’s only religious book is ‘Indian constitution’ our only devotion is ‘Bharat Bhakti’ and our only prayer is ‘welfare of all’, he said in Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on President’s Address.

He declared that as the Prime Minister, it was his “responsibility” not to allow “anaap shanap (ridiculous) comments in the name of religion. “Nobody has the right to discriminate on the basis of religion… “No one has the right to take law into his hands, “he said. “Communalism for political reasons has destroyed the country. Hearts have been broken,” Modi said, asking why question are being “posed to us”.

Insisting that “We want all religions to prosper”, the Prime Minister said it is possible only in India under its constitution which has been prepared with the thinking of thousands of years of the country’s history. “This nation full of diversity. We are for unity in diversity, not disunity. All religions should flourish. It is the uniqueness of India because of its Constitution, he said.

“We want to take the nation forward within the frame work of the Constitution,” Modi said, adding he saw only the “tricolor” and “no other colour”.

Comment:
The words of the PM sounded superficial and artificial. His (PM’s) present organization (RSS) and other affiliates are spilling venom and creating an atmosphere of social & religions disharmony. Every day a new chapter is opened by some one or the other.

The latest is quoted below:

Hindu must boycott khan films: BJP leader

“Hindus should boycott the films by the Khans of Bollywood as they “promote love jihad”, said BJP leader Sadhvi Prachi at a meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Dehradun on Sunday. She also criticized Mother Teresa, saying she was opposed to laws against conversion, and suggested president Rahul Gandhi marry an Indian girl”.

Would anyone shut them up, Happy Holi


Wake up India.

Advantage Modi-11-2015

AdvantageModi-11-15                                                                                                                             02 March 2015                              17 Commandments For Modi                                                                                                                    
1.       Here is a list of 17 action points if BJP wants to remain the dominant political party in India.
2.       The PM, with all due respect, is floating too high. Come back to earth. Don’t try to present an image of a global statesman. You have won an anti-in-cumbency election when Congress was weak, by increasing BJP’s vote share by a few percentage points.
3.       Don’t just get claps from NRIs. If they love you so much, ask them to pay.
4.       Get the Lokpal. Have a good, independent CBI and CVC office. Clean up corruption systemically. Don’t say if Modi is there, nobody can be corrupt What if Modi isn’t there tomorrow?
5.       Don’t bully the media or juniors in the party. Inspire respect, not fear.
6.       Shut up regressive Hindutva fanatics.
7.       Don’t be overconfident in your speeches.
8.       Dress down. Charisma comes from integrity, competence and compassion. Not from expensive clothes.
9.       Stay connected to and do something visible for the youth.
10.   The party president may be really clever. But sometimes it isn’t about who is most clever but who genuinely cares.
11.   Don’t talk down to people. Talk to people. Don’t address people if you never want to take questions. Don’t give monologues on radio.
12.   Open more colleges. Open up tourism. Reduce taxes on high employment sectors. Give tax breaks for companies that move head quarters to smaller cities. Do anything to take skills and jobs to the interiors. Fix the primary schools. They have to teach well. Half our school kids can’t read properly.
13.   Be real. Have work life balance. Why can’t the PM catch a movie sometimes? Or eat chaat in Delhi somewhere? A humanized PM works better than a glorified PM.
14.   No statues, please. School or statue? Hospital or statue? No need to explain further.
15.   No personal attacks on opponents.
16.   No hanging out with rich industrialists.
17.   Ultimately, all of the above comes down to the party listening and acting according to the wishes of the people.
As listed by Chtan Bhagat and compiled by self.


Advantage Modi 10/2015

Advantage Modi 10/2015                                                                                         21 Feb 2015
fnYyh ds taxy esa eksj ukpk ¼rek’kk½
yks th] ftUgsa taxy esa gksuk Fkk] og vc ‘kgjj esa ljdkj cukus tk jgs gSA oSls Hkh taxy esa eksj ukpk] fdlus ns[kk-----A ij blls ‘kgj vksj taxy dk Qklyk feV x;kA vc eksj dgha Hkh ukp fn[kk ldrk gSA ysfdu vcds Hkktik ds eksj us ukpus ls bUdkj dj fn;kA fpafrr Hkktikb;ksa us eksj ls iwNk fd vki d;ksa ugha ukps\ eksj cksyk] rqEgkjk rks vkaxu gh Vsfdlh dh etky] tks vfer HkkbZ ds vkaxu dks lh/kk djus dh lykg Hkh ns ik,A
bl chp] irk pyk gS fd fnYyh esa nqxZfr ds ckn dkaxzsl vc jkgqy xka/kh ds jksM ‘kks ds lhlhVhoh QqVst [akxkyus tk jgh gS] ftlls ;g irk yxk;k tk lds fd tks bruh HkhM+ tqVh Fkh] os vkf[kj Fks dkSu\ D;k os flQZ gyok iwjh [kkus vk, Fks fd ikVhZ dks thjks fQxj  lkbt esa cny fn;kA ij Hkktik okys ;g ugha le> ik jgs fd yksdlHkk pquko esa ns’k dkaxzsl eqDr gqvk] rks mudh >ksyh Hkj xbZ] ij tc fnYyh Hkh dkaxzsl eqDr gks xbZ] rks mudks >ksyh esa tks Fkk] og Hkh D;ksa tqV x;k\ Hkktik us viuh lRrj >ksfy;ka nksckjk psd dhA bl nkSjku dbZ Nsnksa dk irk pykA vc fnYyh esa eQyjeSu dh /kwe gSA cank cnulhc Fkk ij eQyj us ykt cpk yhA eQyj ds fdLer dusD’ku dks ns[krs gq, vki dh ljdkj fnYyh esa eQyj dks jkT; izrhd fpUg ?kksf”kr dj ldrh gSA ij fojksf/k;ksa dh pyh] rks Hkfo”; esa fnYyh pquko fpyfpykrh xehZ esa djk, tk,axsA blls dstjhoky eQyj ugha vks< ik,axs vkSj cxSj eQyj ds mUgs igpkusxk dkSu\ ,d vkfi;s us iwNk ] crkvksa 16 ebZ vkSj 10 Qjojh esa D;k QdZ gSA og cksyk] ugha----- ukS eghus dk QdZ gSA ljdkj  dk ikao Hkkjh Fkk] ij fodkl u gqvkA fQj iwNk] ljdkj uDlyokn dk lQk;k D;ksa ugha dj ikbZ\ eSus dgk] rqEgha crk nksA mlus dgk] iwjh ljdkj fnYyh ds ,d uDlyh dks rks fuiVk ugha ikbZ] udlyckn dk [kkd lQk;k dj ik,xhA
A satire on Delhi state Election. Kejriwal was called Bhagoda ¼HkxksM+k½, Badkismat ¼cnfdLer½ Naxlite, Mufflerman ¼tks gj le; eQyj igurk gS½, all there adjectives were used by no less a person than PM Modi.
PM Modi addressed 4 rallies and BJP got 3 seats, if he (PM Modi) had addressed 60 rallies may be BJP could have got 45 seats.  Delhi election is certainly a direct referendum on Modi & Amit Shah JODI ¼tksM+h½.

Wake up India

Advantage Modi-Series-9/2015

Advantage Modi-Series-9/2015                                                                              14 /02/2014
Modi during electioneering: Shivalaya se pahle shauchalaya-uttered only once, May be sangh directions to balance his statements towards Hindurva.
Sloganeering : Achche Din Aane Wale Hain/Abki Bar Modi Sarkar/Less Govt more governance/Sabka Vikas Sabke Sath. And now, Rise of Hindu Rhetoric and Voice of fundamentalist is more vocal. Inflation/Corruption/Black Money/Women’s Safety is in the background.
Too Much Hindutva Rhetoric : Modi’s silence on communal speeches by members of the Sangh casts a shadow on his governance. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Union Minister of State “Aapko tay karna hai ke Delhi mein sarkar Ramzadon ki Banegi ya haramzadon ki (you must decide whether you want a government of those born of Ram or of those born illegitimately),” she said at a public event in Delhi in December.
Yogi Adityanath, BJP MP : “The issue of ‘ love jihad’ would certainly be an issue,” the Yogi had declared ahead of by election in Uttar Pradesh.
Sakshi Maharaj, BJP MP : “Madrasas are making them terrorists and jihadis. It is not in national interest,” Sakshi Maharaj had said in September. “Godse was a nationalist. Gandhiji also did a lot for the nation,” Maharaj was quoted as saying in Maharashtra in December.
But I have promises to break
10 of Feb a historic day of Delhi. 67 seats going to AAP- a party of less than two years existence. Congress in any case was destined for bashing and to near decimation. BJP’s deduction to just 3 seats is amazing & astonishing 22 cabinet ministers, 120 MP’s and all CM’s of BJP ruled states were pumped in. As a last sort MODI factor was also brought in. Though BJP is not accepting, but this defeat  is certainly a referendum on MODI’s functioning. Briefly 4 ‘S’ s Sangh (RSS) Sangathan (org) Sarkar (the Control govt.) and lastly Shah (Amit Shah) The BJP president are responsible for BJP’s debacle in Delhi.
Narendra Modi’s first eight months in office reflected “ache sitare” (lucky stars) more than “ache din” (good days). But luck can turn nastily. Suddenly, dark global clouds over Russia (and maybe even China) signal the risk of “bure din” (bad days) ahead.
Rashtra Neeti National Agendra by Sarsangh chalak –RSS and BJP to frame RajNeeti Accordingly.

Wake up India

Advantage Modi 8-2015

Advantage Modi 8-2015                                                                                              07/02/2015

Visit of US President Barack Obama to India was a personal triumph for PM Modi. How far we would go on the nuclear deal is a point to ponder. Renewal of Defence cooperation is a ten year ritual. The US equipment is extraordinarily expensive. Just to quote an example the cost of one C-17 Transport aircraft is Rs 2200/-crore (360 Million US $). The parting shot of President Obama sends enough warning to the likely investors in India. 

Parting shot: Obama prods India on religious tolerance

India will succeed so long as it is not splintered on religious lines. Every person has the right to practice their religion how they choose. (Obama even quoted articles 25 of the Indian constitution).

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO ABOUT HER DAY-TO WALK THE STREET, OR RIDE THE BUS-AND BE SAFE AND BE TREATED WITH THE RESPECT AND DIGNITY THAT SHE DESERVES. MATTER OF GREAT PRIDE TO SEE INDIAN WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES INCLUDING THE OFFICER WHO LED THE GUARD OF HONOUR FOR ME WHEN I ARRIVED.

‘Women progress must for success’

US president Barack Obama on 27 Jan 2015 said the sight of “incredible Indian women in the armed forces was one of his “favourite things” on his India visit as he stressed that nations become successful when their women make progress.

Rajnath backs Obama, says no to ‘ghar wapsi’     
                       
The home minister’s comments are the first from top-ranking BJP leaders on US Prez’s parting shot that raised the hackles of right-wing Hindu groups. Union home minister Rajnath Singh endorsed on Monday US President Barack Obama’s warning that an India divided on religious lines would not progress, saying there was no room for campaigns such as ‘ghar wapsi’ that were being pushed by Hindu groups.

 “But he (Obama) is right; India cannot progress without unity,” Singh said, looking visibly uncomfortable with the question. Singh said India could progress only when all communities worked together. He wnet as far as to condemn the Sangh Parivar’s religious conversion campaign, saying “there is no scope for any activity like wapsi in the nation”. “BJP completely believes in secularism and is committed to tackle any attempt to divide people on communal lines, “ he said.


The only senior leader who has commented is Rajnath Singh. Either he is establishing a broad base for his future, or he has visualized his early ouster?

Advantage Modi 7-2015

Advantage Modi 7-2015                                                                                          28 Jan 2015
Preface:
Jaipur Literary Festival has become a global activity. People from all facets of life- Authors, literary people, politicians, bolly wood, media people or one can say people from all walks of life. The participants have absolute freedom to speak out. Narayan Murthy is an “ICON” of IT industry, speaks out his mind.
A narration by Narayan Murthy at JLF is produced below.
‘Babus need to change mindset’                                                                                                   
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION Narayan Murthy stressed on the need to revamp bureaucracy to ensure Modi’s ambitious Make in India campaign works.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Make in India campaign to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub is doomed to fail unless Indians discipline themselves, industrialist NR Narayana Murthy said at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Sunday. Murthy, who became the face of the country’s software revolution after he founded software services exporters Infosys in 1981, encouraged budding entrepreneurs but said the bureaucracy needed a complete overhaul. “Our bureaucrats function today like the British did a hundred years ago.” He said, while adding that Indians must become more punctual and disciplined to succeed. “Unless we become more disciplined, Make in India will not happen.”
The 86-years-old endorsed Modi’s mantra of “minimum government, maximum governance”, but said no one man can lead India given the diverse factors at play in every sector. “As long as there’s good regulatory agency, I think the business of business should be left to the private sector,” he said.
Often described as the father of the India IT sector, Murthy praised former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his team of P Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia for pushing economic liberalization in India. “People don’t remember the time when you had to wait five years to get a telephone connection,” Murthy said in conversation with Journalist Rahul Jacob.

Murthy also narrated a 1974 incident when he was dragged by authorities through a train platform and kept confined for 72 hours without food or drink while travelling between Bulgaria and Serbia after he tried to strike up a conversation with a French woman and he male companion didn’t like it. “That event shaped my transformation from a confused leftist to a determined-compassio0nate capitalist, “he said. “ It was, in some way, the last nail in the coffin, so far as my belief in communism was concerned.” 

Advantage Modi 6-2015

Advantage Modi 6-2015                                                                                                23 Jan 2015
Main Chup Rahoonga Starring “Narendra Modi”

This is seriously worrying. Too many voices were silenced recently. And our voluble Prime Minister said nothing. Yes, he did condemn the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris and tweeted about it. But closer home, when Perumal Murugan, a highly respected scholar from Tamil Nadu, was forced by rightwing extremists to declare his own death as a writer and flee, there was no official response from Narendra Modi or his team. The reason behind the PM’s stony silence is naturally being attributed to what we in India call ‘vote bank politics”. It is being said he didn’t condemn the killings in France too vociferously for fear of antagonizing the clerics back home. And he stayed mum about Murugan to appease those who play caste politics in a state where his party has no real presence.

Producer & Director Shobha De TOI 18 Jan 2015

Advantage Modi5-2015

Advantage Modi5-2015                                                                                              19 Jan 2015
vkus okys dy dh rLohj

vk’kkokn vkSj vfrokn ds chp >wy jgs ns’k dh fn’kk&n’kk u, lky esa r; gksrs ns[k jgs gSa
ns’k esa bl le; v?kksf”kr :Ik ls jk”Vªifr iz.kkyh gSA ujsUnz eksnh ns’k ds lcls rkdroj usrk gSA mudh ikVhZ vkSj ljdkj esa mudh ethZ ds fcuk dqN gksus dh laHkkouk ugh ads cjkcj gSA bldk ;g eryc drbZ ugha gS fd fofHkUu rjg ds ncko lewg fu”izHkkoh gks x, gSA blds ckotwn ns’k] ljdkj vkSj ikVhZ esa mudh ethZ py jgh gSA iz/kkuea=h ujsUnz eksnh ns’k dks vkxs ;kuh Hkfo”; dh vksj ys tkuk pkgrs gS] ysfdu la?k ifjokj ls tqM+s dqN laxBu ns’k dks vrhr esa ys tkuk pkgrs gSA bl cgl esa iM+s fcuk fd os tks dj jgs gS og lgh gS ;k xyrA loky bl ckr dk gS fd ns’k dks bl le; fdldh t:jr gSA vrhr dk jkLrs ij pydj ge dgka igqapsxs bldk vkdyu rks fd;k gh tkuk pkfg,A Bgjk gqvk lekt  dHkh le`) ugha gks ldrkA tks le; ds cnyko dks igpkuus ls budkj dj nsrs gS le; mUgsa Hkqyk nsrk gSA vrhr dh vksj tkuk ,d rjg dk iyk;u Hkh gSA
ctjax ny vkSj fo’o fgUnw ifj”kn ds dk;ZØeksa] dkaoM esa ‘kjhd gksus okys vkSj bl tjg ds vk;kstuksa esa ‘kkfey gksus okys ;qokvksa ij tjk utj Mkfy,A dkSu gS ;s yksx\bu laxBuksa dks D;ks fey tkrs gS ;s ;qok\ fdlh  lkekftd ‘kks/k laLFkku us irk ugha dHkh bl ‘kks/k fd;k ;k ughA bl HkhM+ esa ‘kkfey ;qokvksa dh ‘kS{kf.kd  ;ksX;rk vkSj vkfFkZd  fLFkfr ds ckjsa esa v/;;u dbZ u, rF; mtkxj dj ldrk gSA vuqHko ds vk/kkj ij dgk tk ldrk gS fd njvly buesa ls T;knkrj u dsoy csjkstxkj gksrs gS] cfYd vfu;ksT; ;kuh jkstxkj ds v;ksX; gksrs gSA ;s vfu;ksT; ;qok gh bl rjg ds laxBuksa ds flikgh curs gSA blds cgkus bUgs ,d lkekftd nkf;Ro fuHkkus] cfYd lekkt dks lq/kkjus dh feF;k vuqHkwfr gksrh gSA lekt dh mis{kk >sy jgs ;s ;qok vpkud vius dks egRoiw.kZ le>us yxrs gSA
ç/kkuea=h vkSj mudh ljdkj  dks nks ekspksZa ij ,dlkFk dke djuk pkfg,A la?k ifjokj ds bu laxBuksa ij fu;=a.k vkSj ;qokvksa ds jkstxkj] [kklrkSj ls ,sls ;qodksa ds jkstxkj ds ;ksX; f’kf{kr ugha gSA dsUnz dh eksnh ljdkj fodkl ds eqn~ns ij lRrk esa vkbZ gSA mls vius ,stsaMs ls u rks gVuk pkfg,A fQj og la?k ifjokj ls tqM+s laxBu gks] Hkktik ds dqN usrk ;k fQj jkT; lHkk  esa foi{kh nyA dksbZ Hkh lalnh; O;oLFkk v/;kns’kksa ds ifj, ugha py ldrhA ifjfLFkfr;ka dqN Hkh gksaA gky esa tkjh v/;kns’k fodkl ds jkLrs ij vkxs c<+us dh ljdkj dh ea’kk tkfgj djrs gS] ysfdu blesa jkT;lHkk dks u pyk ikus dh lRrk i{k dh ukdkeh Hkh >ydrh gSA lafo/kku esa ,slh dksbZ O;oLFkk ugha gS fd laln ds nkuks lnuksa ds fcuk fo/kk;h dk;Z gks tk,aA laln ds nksuks lnuksa dk la;qDr vf/kos’ku cqykus ds fy, Hkh t:jh gS fd yksdlHkk gh ugha jkT;lHkk Hkh pysaA
u;k lky jktuhfrd nyksa ds :[k esa dksbZ cnyko ysdj vk,xk bldh mEehn de gh yxrh gSA blds ckotwn tks tSlk py jgk gS oSlk gh pyrk ugha jg ldrkA lkspuk gksxk fd ljdkjksa ds cnyus ls ns’k fgr ugh cnyrkA

Extracted from an article DJ (Hindi) 01 Jan 2015 by Pradeep Singh

Advantage Modi-4/2015

Advantage Modi-4/2015                                                                                                                               15 Jan 2015
Passing off fiction as fact
Ancient India made many landmark scientific achievements but mythology cannot replace history to glorify the ‘Hindu civilization
This latter development has a bearing on us, with the current ruling dispensation increasingly showing tendencies of all power flowing from the Prime Minister’s Office. The authoritarian trends are increasingly seen with the strengthening of the current ‘ordinance Raj’. The Union finance minister has reportedly said that while the Rajya Sabha can have “it’s say”, the government will have “its way”. President Pranab Mukherjee’s reported unprecedented cautioning of this government of frequent recourse to take the ordinance route seems to be falling on deaf ears.
The former development, once again, shows that rousing religious passions spreading intolerance lead to unpardonable crimes against humanity through terrorist attacks. Aggressive pursuit of the Hindutva agenda and sharpening communal polarization through campaigns of ‘love jihad’ or ‘ghar wapsi; engender such tendencies in our country. Communalism and fundamentalism in our country grow by feeding on each other. In order to strengthen themselves, they seek to glorify the past, to conquer the present and capture the future. To glorify the past, mythology replaces history and masquerades as the repository of scientific advance. Thus, there is a tendency to continue to refuse to learn the correct lessons from these developments.
The RSS/BJP are Vigorously working to transform, by sharpening communal polarization, the modern secular democratic Indian Republic into the RSS project of a rabidly intolerant fascistic, Hindu Rashtra’.
As narrated by Sitaram Yechury HT 13 Jan 2015


Advantage Modi-3/2015

Advantage Modi-3/2015                                                                                                                           13 Jan 2015
Festivals belong to the people
Should every day not be an occasion to promote the values of good governance? Why make it a once-a-year ritual? The ‘Good governance’ Day idea comes at a time when there appears to be a concerted attempt being made by a section of the sangh parivar to demonise the Christian community by raising the bogey of conversions.
Just look at the original idea suggested by the HRD ministry: An essay and elocution competition on the December 25 for children to speak out on good governance, effectively ensuring their attendance in school on a holiday. It was only after a newspaper expose that the government backed off, while putting up the rather lame excuse that participation was in any case only optional. It doesn’t stop there: Now, there are large advertisements in newspapers of various government functions that are planned for Christmas Day, each designed to spread the message of good governance.
Janus Faced                                                         
For the BJP-led government, development and communalism go nicely together
Since Modi came to power, the entire Hindutva agenda has returned to the centre stage of Indian politics. At the heart of that agenda are communal violence, inflammatory statements about the relationship between Hindus and other religious groups (especially Muslims), mobilization over Ramjanambhoomi/Babri Masjid, repeal of Article 370, religious conversation, and most importantly, disrupting and reworking the education system.
Liberals convinced themselves that Modi was all about development-sanitation, sustainable urbanization, education, economic reforms and revitalization of manufacturing. Surely communalism would get in the way of developmentalism, and, if so, it was a good bet that the prime minister would hold back the right-wing lunatics in this fold.
The prime minister thus far has achieved quite little. The economy is mired in the 5-6% growth trap. His reforms are fairly puny, mostly things UPA would have done anyway or had already begun. On foreign policy, we are no better off with Pakistan and China, thanks to a series of blunders. His constant traveling threatens to become an international joke. And bureaucrats coming to work on time is not good governance but rather a middle class fantasy come true. What Narendra Modi has achieved is in fooling a lot of people into thinking that he stands for development against communalism. Nothing could be further from the truth. He well push either or both pedals as it suits him.

Extracted from an write-up by Kanti Bajpai TOI 13 Jan 2014

Advantage Modi-2/2015

Advantage Modi- 2/2015                                                                                                                               08 Jan 2015
Converting Hinduism
The ‘ghar wapsi’ campaign needs to rebuild the ‘ghar’ they want people to return to
The RSS, the Hindu Mahasabha and other elements of the Sangh Parivar who want to turn India into a hindu rashtra through mass conversion called’ ghar wapsi’ have their work cut out for them, because they face a couple of serious obstacles in achieving their objective. And these obstacles are not their ideological opponents like Congress and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. Nor is it the trifling matter of the Constitution, which clearly defines India as a secular republic.
No, the real problem with the so-called ‘ghar wapsi’ compaign is that many of those whom the Parivar is urging to come wapsi-ing back to their ‘ghar’ didn’t belong to the ghar in the first place, which makes it difficult, semantically at least, for them to come back to it. For a lot of people being targeted for ‘reconversion’ by the Parivar belong to tribal communities, which by and large were animists and did not belong to the Hindu fold. Indeed, as the story of Eklavya in the Mahabharata shows, tribals were given short shrift by mainstream Hindusim with its caste hierarchy: Eklavya, a tribal, is made to cut off his thumb and give it to Dronacharya as guru-dakshina because Dronacharya fears that his ‘low-born’ pupil will outdo the ‘high-born’ Arjun is archery.
Tribals apart, many of those being’ reconverted’ are dalits who, if anything, have been even more badly treated than tribals by casteist Hinduism, which looked down on them as being ‘ untouchables’, literally and metaphorically. It was this enforced ‘untouchability’ which impelled many dalits to embrace religions like Buddhism. How can those who were considered ourcasts-or ‘ourcastes’ –be brought back to a Hinduism which excluded them to begin with?
But perhaps the biggest problem faced by the ‘reconversionists’ is that, unlike Islam and Christainity, Hinduism has never been a proselytizing religion ¼ij/keZ vuq;k;h½. Before the Arya Samaj leader Swami Sharddhanand launched a program of mass conversions in the 1920s, Hinduism never had a tradition of conversions, much less ‘reconversions’.
So before the Hindu brotherhood of the Sangh Parivar goes about converting, or ‘ reconverting’ , people to Hinduism it might have to do a bit of converting of Hunduism itself so as to being proselytizing within its purview. In order to bring in recruits to swell its ranks, Hinduism might have to convert, or reinvent, itself.
But should it do so, it might run a risk. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, recruits to Hinduism could well say they did not want to join a religion which would have them as converted members.
As narrated by Jug Suraiya TOI 31 Dec 2014

Note: NAMO has conveniently decided to maintain absolute silence on such issues.

Advantage Modi-1/2015

Advantage Modi-1/2015                                                                                                                               05 Jan 2015
This Day & That Day
Wanted: a Freedom of Expression Day
Give us the occasion; we Indians will give you the Day. We’ve adopted Father’s Day and Mother’s Day from the West, we have Children’s day (Chacha Nehru’s in-perpetuity birthday gift), we have Teacher’s Day (former President S Radhakrishnan’s birthday), Sardar Patel’s birthday will be marked as Unity Day, and we have just inaugurated Good Governance Day.
Now that babus have commemorated Atal’s birthday by clocking in to office on Christmas, how about a day that commemorates a fast dying freedom, namely Free Expression Day? Most newspapers only get three holydays in a year: Republic Day, Holi and Diwali. News gathering happens 24x7, 365 days of the year. But just as the PM had chosen to remind government servants that Christmas isn’t a time  for carols but to keep the files moving, maybe we in the news media also need a day to recall the values of the Fourth Estate. So how about a ‘Freedom of Expression ‘Day?
Yes, the Constitution guarantees free speech, but is that enough? After all, these days free speech is as endangered as the spotted leopard. Big Brother is perpetually watching. If you’re not a ‘loyalist’, you’re a ‘traitor’. If you voice any criticism, you are struck off important lists. If you protest at the possible horror of a Godse Day you may be dubbed an ‘anti-national’. If you ‘offed sentiments’, moral policing thugs are liable to ransack your home. Books are being banned, films are sought to be boycotted and top leaders take pride in their contempt of journalists. Fear is the key. Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati and jayalalithaa won’t speak, Rahul is incommunicado, Mamata stagaes walkouts and the PM prefers to tweet rather than take questions. Source-based newsgathering is getting tougher: old fashioned document-driven investigative stories are under threat from political bosses. Editors are content managers and field reporting is considered expensive. Today’s media groans under three pressures: corporatization, sensationsalisation and politicization.
The ever-present threat of withdrawal of ads from government or big business ensures muzzled journalists. A sound bite driven society has little time for a lengthy report: these are hit-and-run times for hacks. That’s why citizens and journalists need a special day to remind ourseves of the joys of freee speech and thought. If good politics is good marketing and if the idea of ‘good governance’ can be ‘sold’ through a ‘Sushasan Divas’, how about the ideals of India’s free press being advertised through a Freedom of Expression Day?
As narrated by Sagarika Ghose,TOI 24 Dec 2014
Note- Golf sets are selling cheap (in Delhi) Golf club memberships are easily available. Even holiday packages are on the asking-’Babu’s are at work even on holidays.

Advantage Modi-Series X

Polish The Diamond First

Before marketing India abroad, make sure we are really ready for business
Full marks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on three scores: his oratory, his passion to sell the India story to the West and the diplomatic coup of inviting the US president for Republic Day. I am not sure, however, what his grade would be in two others: one, the premature timing of all this and two, the solo, personality-dependent nature of it all. For this to happen, we need to get our own house in order. We need to make India ready to receive FDI. We havn’t done that, but we have launched a full blown promotional effort. It may attract attention and make investors curious. However, when investors come down and look, they will find the promises were a tad too much and business far more difficult than anticipated. The worst part is next time they will be wary of believing any Indian hype. Unlike Indian voters, who can be (and usually are) wooed emotionally, investor divisions ultimately come down to logic and cold numbers.
I met a billionaire industrialist last week who have me an analogy: “Indian government treats investors like a bahu or a daughter-in-law. They bring her into the house with great pomp and show, but over time, they slowly wring her neck to suffocate her.” With such perceptions what is a charged up marketing campaign going to achieve.
We have another example of this Our tourism department launched an ‘Increadible India’ campaign, blowing up a lot of money on advertising. However, the ground reality was our tourists had a terrible time getting visas, taking safe taxi rides or locating a clean toilet near our attractions. We didn’t fix all that but jumped into advertising. The result. Chine still gets 57 million tourists a year, we struggle to reach 7 million. Just as in FDI China beats us hollow, receiving many time more FDI than India. So, what need to be fixed? Well, first of all we genuinely have to get the government out of business on a systemic level. There is huge difference between a ‘business-friendly environment’ and a ‘business-friendly environment’ irrespective of the government in power. There is massive red tape, a complicated tax structure, a hostile tax department and dozens of permissions. There’s also an overall presumption that people doing business are bad. This needs to change.
The second important issue is the solo nature of the PM’s efforts. Perhaps it is BJP’s political strategy to project only Modi as the face of all positive changes happening in India. However, what works better for global investors is projecting a solid, talented team, all on the same page and with the ability to execute the PM’s vision.


An extract of an article by Chetan Bhagat TOI 29 Nov 2014.