Why so didactic?

This post originally appeared here.

What is the overwhelming feeling one is left with when one has just experienced yet another primetime TV news debate or has read a column by our star TV journalists? Does one feel having experienced a debate? Does one feel all points of views were expressed? Does one feel the moderator or the columnist was being impartial and trying to keep the debate balanced? Or does one get a feeling that we were being guided in a certain direction. That we were being instructed on what the appropriate questions ought to be and who was really guilty of some wrongdoing.

Surf through almost any of our top national TV news channels and you will witness a rather cagey debate going on shows with grand titles moderated by the leading stars of TV news industry. More often than not these shows are anything but debates. We get to witness some extremely sanctimonious sounding characters imparting lessons on morality to us. Apparently those watching these shows lack sound judgment and lack the capacity to evaluate facts on merits. Therefore the viewers must be helpfully guided in making the correct choices and ask the correct questions. This was on ample display during the Karnataka land mining report debate. If an aam aadmi is left alone he may ask such obvious questions. However they would be inappropriate, incorrect and morally wrong for the extremely sanctimonious characters have already identified where the guilt lies. To help guide the people we are presented with debates fixing responsibilities and lengthy, sermonising columns such as these do the trick. It is of course irrelevant that all this debate and column writing prejudges issues even before full facts are before us or appropriate procedures are carried out.

Curiously all these moral sermons, all these helpful moral instructions are invariably directed at a particular set of set of people while all this is deemed unnecessary when it comes to a certain other set of characters. Take all the recent happenings in our country and revisit the debates and columns around them and one cannot help but think our debates have become very didactic.

Some popular myths revisited

This post first featured in Centre Right India.

Manmohan Singh is a paragon of honesty.

That was true in 2004. But boy, does this sound ridiculous now or what! He was a very clever choice for the Congress party high command that could not become the Prime Minister herself. But as the past 7 years have proved, he has worked wonderfully well for his party leaders alone. The incessant scams getting exposed with each passing day under his watch means cheerleaders can no longer chant “Singh is King”.

Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke saath.

This slogan is quite funny. It is also quite brazen. The Congress party’s record on this count is dismal to say the least. It’s fetish for socialism in the early days had driven millions to poverty. And it’s policies are no better now. Millions still continue to suffer. None of it’s “garibi hatao” slogans or programs have actually worked. The only garibi they ever managed to eliminate is that of the partymen. NREGA is the latest name of one such scheme which has wrecked havoc with the rural economy. Thousands have died on account of terror, runaway inflation is robbing food away from the poor and all the party has to show for it’s 7 year rule so far is gargantuan scams. In light of all this and more, the slogan needs to be re-calibrated as Congress ka haath aam aadmi ke gaal par.

Rahul Gandhi is our destiny deliverer.

When Rahul Gandhi first flashed his photogenic dimples for the cameras you had to see the raptures in secular media to believe it. Fawning media coverage and gushing columns continue to this day. And Abhishek Manu Singhvi would have you believe that Rahul Gandhi is indeed divine. But what does the alleged “destiny deliverer” have to show for his 7 years in public life so far? Nothing. Much of this was covered in an earlier post. Not only is Rahul Gandhi not a destiny deliverer but his dangerous cluelessness will cost us dear. And the soundness of his mental faculties too is being questioned as seen through wikileaks.

Sonia Gandhi is the most benevolent leader.

A yet another assiduously crafted image of a person who is anything but that. Please do readearlier post on this topic from the archive and this one by friend S Sudhir Kumar. For an alleged benevolent leader, Sonia Gandhi is surprisingly callous to the sufferings of her aam aadmi voters. She doesn’t even deign to spare a few minutes facing the media and the public.

“Inclusive growth” with a human face.

This is a rather funny coinage. This marketing technique worked very well in 2004. But what has transpired since then is hardly “inclusive growth”. Perhaps the only growth the Congress party has achieved since of that of the UPA coalition itself. Crores of Rupees have made way to the UPA constituents and they still haven’t burped yet. “Inclusive growth” is the mother scam. All other scams are a result of this.

Criticising the Congress party is communalism.

This is one of the funniest ploys the self declared champions of secularism resort to. When you cannot defend your own record, when you find yourself facing inconvenient questions, when you are caught red handed in an inconvenient act, it is always useful to use the “communalism” charge. This allows the Congress party to escape scrutiny of it’s record and deflect all debate to the secular versus communal cacophony. What is missed in this theater is that the Congress party itself is rabidly communal.

Tangential journalism

You would think that when a political party assumes power promising inclusive growth with a human face and fails miserably to do so, the media would hold those failing their promises accountable. You would think the media would ask tough questions and demand explanation of the party’s leadership for its failures. But apparently that is not the right way to think. Instead we are lead to believe the entire political class is a failure. The ruling party could not be held accountable because, again, all politicians are bad. What are we to do in such a situation? Apparently we must watch prime time TV news shows disparaging all politicians. We must light candles at national monuments to show our disgust. We must write lengthy columns expressing similar sentiment. But what we must absolutely not do is politicize any issue in an electoral democracy. We must not encourage people to be more aware politically and urge them to participate in the electoral process. This logic is at play in large, influential sections of our mainstream media.

Every time there is a raging issue confronting the nation we find our newsmen asking exactly the wrong questions. Rather than question the ruling party for their failures, political opponents are pitted against each other and we are expected to watch this believing this is serious debate. These scenes are repeated with unfailing regularity each day. A typical scene involves a newsman posing cagey questions to a member from the ruling party. The ruling party member promptly shifts goalposts to the opposite end without losing any time and the opposition party member is left defending himself.

This script works very well in a wide range of situations. It is a template that fits everything. Take terrorism for example. The perpetrators of terror harbor no illusions on what and why they are doing. They are quite upfront and candid about it. But it would be unsecular and inhumane of investigating authorities to carry out any profiling, to carry out any serious investigation simply because it involves a disproportionately large number from a certain religion. It is only a minor inconvenience that perpetrators of terror happen to be in disproportionately large numbers from a certain religion. But prime time TV newsmen tell us it is abominable to carry out logical investigation and that we must feel guilty for doing so. To drive home this point shows are conducted posing such existential questions as “are we unfairly targeting minorities?” or “has the majority failed the minority?”.

Lets take corruption. That the issue has hit the roof is an understatement. And again here a certain political party has a disproportionately large share in it. Now see the questions being posed by our newsmen. See the pattern?

But it should not surprise anyone who has observed the media and our homegrown opinion makers. Over the years a convenient equation has been bandied about. A certain political party by the virtue of a certain type of characters being at the helm are automatically secular. Something very desirable, something young people should aspire for we are led to believe. And then of course what is left is very undesirable. A certain other political party naturally falls in this category. A very communal party, highly undesirable trait, we are told. Now when you have your very desirable, very secular political characters getting caught in seriously compromising cases it becomes well nigh impossible to criticize them squarely having cheered such characters for decades. Thankfully we have the other undesirable party to direct all the public anger at. So we have this strange situation where the secular party - in face of never-before-seen-in-history mismanagement - claim the moral high ground and question the communal party for its failure to check all ills while it was briefly in power. While all this happens almost none on the media puts things straight.

One cannot help but notice that most of our star journalists seem to consistently miss hitting the mark. Instead our media is a willful facilitator helpfully taking viewers and readers on the tangent lest logical questions be asked leading to obvious, inconvenient answers.

Cultural clones - the engineering

Continuing the cultural clones series of posts, in the previous two posts here and here, we saw the stark difference between the early Greek accounts of India in the BC era and the later Jesuit accounts in the AD era. Where Greek records lacked all the general toxicity associated with Christian writers, the Jesuit records were full of it. When the Jesuits landed on Indian shores they brought with them land grabbing, Bible selling, pagan hatred in plenty. There was power struggle among the various European Jesuits, but eventually the British ones prevailed. Having subjugated enough of the pagans, they soon began to consolidate and plan for their continued hold over the land.

Many British Jesuits tried their hand at further gaining and consolidating their influence over the pagans. They tried selling Christianity in various ways but none had any noteworthy success. Then came Thomas Babington Macaulay who first landed in Calcutta to serve in the "Supreme Council of India" that the East India Company had established. He realised, to successfully indoctrinate the Indians, he needed a much granular program. He needed to come up with a plan to program a class of people who would be from among the Indians but only in physical appearance. In all other respects they would resemble every bit the Englishmen. He came up with a draft program for education in colonised India. It was adopted by the council on March 7, 1835. This plan can be found in his "Minute on Indian Education". The gist of the plan was -

"We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions we govern; a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect."

He carried out this plan with great zeal. We can see it going very well in this letter to his father on Oct 12, 1836 -

"Our English schools are flourishing wonderfully. We find it difficult, at some places impossible, to provide instruction for all who want it. At the single town of Hoogley fourteen hunderd boys are learning English. The effect of this education on the Hindoos is prodigious. No Hindoo who has received an English education ever continues to be sincerely attached to his religion. Some continue to profess it as a matter of policy. But many profess themselves pure Deists, and some embrace Christianity. The case with Mahometans is very different. The best educated Mahometan continues often to be Mahometan still. The reason is plain. The Hindoo religion is so extravagantly absurd that it is impossible to teach a boy astronomy, geography, natural history, without completely destroying the hold which that religion has on his mind. But the Mahometan religion belongs to a better family. It has very much in common with Christianity; and even where it is more absurd, it is reasonable compared with Hindooism. It is my firm belief that, if our plan of education is followed up, there will not be a single idolater among respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence. And this will be effected without any efforts to proselytise, without the smallest interference with religious liberty, merely by natural operation of knowledge and reflection. I heartily rejoice in this prospect." (Emphasis added.)

Thus Thomas Babington Macaulay, a Jesuit British coloniser, laid the foundation to engineer a class of cultural clones from among the Indians that would continue to govern India for their colonial overlords. It is this plan that has effected many a cultural clone we see insisting on dominating all opinion making, indeed anything of significance in India. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that Jawaharlal Nehru was a product of this very same cultural cloning program. Having gone through it, Nehru furthered the plan to continue generating more of them. The unwashed masses could not be allowed to have their say in their very own land.

(References also from "Lies With Long Legs" by Prodosh Aich.)

"Inclusive growth" is a scam

Back in 2004, the Congress led UPA came to power criticizing the NDA's ill fated "India shining" campaign. Upon gaining mandate to govern the nation, the UPA sought to differentiate itself as a government that cared for the people who did not benefit from the economic growth yet. It came up with a common minimum program that purported to carryout out development with a "human face". "Inclusive growth" has been the buzzword since then. And to add credibility to their claims, the Congress party installed Manmohan Singh over us.

To carry out their "inclusive growth", the UPA came up with many social benefits schemes. The mother of them all is the NREGA, their flagship showcase. This scheme aims at providing 100 days of guaranteed employment to the poor. It was launched in Feb-2006. The UPA has been touting the program's success ever since. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, especially the latter, have hardly missed an opportunity to sell the story to us. But audits do not agree with such claims -

NREG fails to deliver [Link] (2008)

Punching a hole in the UPA government's campaign of Bharat Nirman and other flagship schemes, its official auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report released on Friday that the government had been overstating the expenditure [Link] (2009)

A conservative estimate of the disappearance into thin air of money meant for the poor NREGA recipients in 2007-08 is about two-thirds of the money spent on the programme. Disappearance means money not accounted for by receipt, by the poor or the rich. It is unlikely that corruption in the NREGA has decreased in the last three years while having increased in all sectors of the economy. Which means that scam money in the NREGA, in just one year, 2010-11, is upwards of Rs 25,000 crore. [Link] (2011)

So a noble sounding social benefit scheme has quickly degenerated into a giant scam, a hallmark of the Congress party. Many things could be said of this but the fact remains that the Congress party is only continuing it's money making ways at the expense of the same poor it purports to help under a new name, "inclusive growth".

This abominable cruelty is not limited to social schemes. Anywhere there is money to be made, there is a scam to be pulled off. Take the current rage for example, the 2G spectrum scam. First seen here. The monumental scam is now know to one and all. Similar is the case with our highways. Since the regime changed hands from NDA to UPA in 2004, highway development activity has slowed down to a halt. Tall claims were made by UPA ministers. But 6 years later they have nothing to show for those claims. In fact this report will give you a glimpse of the rot that has set in the NHAI. Between 2007 and 2008, there were as many as 5 changes to to the NHAI chief post. And you would think with all the scams hitting the roof, the Congress party would have learnt it's lessons, but to the contrary dubious characters continue to be considered for the NHAI office. The agriculture ministry under Sharad Pawar is another case of gross mismanagement. Poor PDS infrastructure, rotting grains, farmer suicides are rampant under a Maratha strongman who comes from the farming belt in Maharshtra. Apparently, multitasking is not Pawar's forte, what with him heading the ICC as well.

We had to live a horrific nightmare under the incompetent beyond imagination Shivraj Patil. For a party with heavy socialist tendencies, they have failed at almost all human development indices. The story is same everywhere. Railways, 26/11, Pakistan, ISRO, Maoist manace, police reforms, defence, border disputes, Kashmir are no exceptions either. Six years have passed since development with "human face" began but all we have is a cargo load of scams. Each bigger than the other. "Inclusive growth" has a very limited scope than claimed by the Congress party. Only their inner members have grown significantly, others continue to be robbed of their destinies. "Inclusive growth" is a scam.

Open medium comes with distractions, don’t fall for it

This piece was written for Centre Right India. Also posting it below -

Veteran counter terror analyst and former head of intelligence agencies B Raman was recently at the receiving end of some unsavory treatment on the internet, especially Twitter. So much so that it led to an entry at his blog and in Outlook lamenting the attack. He labelled his tormentors “The Hindutva Storm-Troopers” because almost all of the abusers were upset with terror being linked to Hindus. Now this is no way to defend anything. Heaping personal abuse on someone can never be a credible defense of anything. Rather than doing any good, it actually harms the defender’s cause.

Questioning popular views, irreverence and occasional abuse has earned a certain band of people on Twitter the moniker “Internet Hindus”. We can thank journalist Sagarika Ghose for that. Leaving the irony of those denouncing label pasting, well, pasting labels on others aside, let us see if all this warrants the importance being given to it.

All of this “Hindutva Storm-Trooping” is taking place on the internet. This wonderful new medium has been a revolution in providing unprecedented access to information, news, entertainment, discussion that was hitherto unavailable or was inconvenient using conventional mediums. It has contributed to the richness of debates infusing some much needed diversity allowing all points of views being expressed. We have seen some excellent blogs and discussion forums emerge. Independent bloggers on the strength of their credible analysis are successfully transitioning into contributing columnists to established news media. Serious think tanks are emerging thanks to the networking capabilities of the internet. These are only some examples of the enormous promise and potential the internet holds.

On the other hand, in the absence of filters, this free-from-control medium finds all kinds of folks frequenting this space. Trolls and abusers are some who are the most disliked. They are given to attempting to derail discussions without adding any value. But they are just that, distractions, mere unwanted noise. If they had anything concrete to successfully derail debates, we would not have seen the growth of all these successful blogs and think tanks. To pay serious attention to them is to allow minor inconveniences distract us.

Some may argue that abuse is not unprovoked. But this is an endless discussion and nothing is likely to come of it. Besides provocation can hardly be an excuse to unparliamentary behaviour, especially when directed at respected personalities or when used in sensitive topics. If this “hate-abuse phenomenon” is such a monster as some think it is then veterans should surely know attention fuels, not defuses, such behaviour. Employing starve-the-beast strategy can be useful here. Works surprisingly well. Eminent journalists, columnists popular on Twitter have been at the receiving end of similar misdirected energy. But they have learned to adapt and are aware of the pitfalls of the new medium. Once this adjustment is made, debate carries on.

The internet seems to have unleashed all the disgruntled energy people had for perceived unidimensional discussions on national television. People seem not to know what do do with the availability of equal opportunity tools like Twitter. This is manifesting in all kinds of behaviour. Once this energy is released, debate here will temper to more serious, reasoned tones.

The internet, while it has been around for a while, is still evolving. For all the impact it has had on our lives, it’s potential is far from being realized and we have still not wrapped our arms around it. While some are coming to terms with it, those getting diverted by this fringe behaviour are either new entrants very much behind the curve or still have not adapted to it. The following B Raman attracts for his blogposts and the wide readership for his columns is a testimony to the respect he commands. Lamenting the minority who resort to personal attacks risks ignoring this fact. Look at the immediate reaction to his laments. Personal abuse directed at him was rightly denounced, support came pouring in which is very encouraging. Like most things in life, there are always different sides to everything. While a majority of people respect B Raman, there are a few who do not. Unless there is serious criticism, why fall for distractions?

Rahul Gandhi is no leader

This piece was written for Centre Right India. Also posting it below -

It is impossible to miss the name Rahul Gandhi if you are reading, talking, discussing India . His appointment within the Congress party was not by employing any democratic means, but simply because the Congress president, his mother, chose him. This in the world’s largest democracy and in a party that never tires talking of democratic principles. And now, he is being presented as our future Prime Minister sans any debate. With the Congress chief deciding this, the nation’s talking heads have busied themselves endorsing and selling him as our ‘destiny deliverer’. We are destined to have Rahul Gandhi lord over us and we simply must accept this.

Only in our nation could someone be hoisted over us without merit. We were born that way. Our first Prime Minster was appointed ahead of Sardar Patel who enjoyed the most confidence within the Congress party. From then on the trend has continued and sustained to our current Prime Minister. And all indications are it will in the future. Because our national media will not take the time to examine Rahul Gandhi, we are left to ourselves to size him up. Let us begin with his background.

Education

Rahul Gandhi comes from the most high profile political family yet his personal background is not very well known. He is entitled to his privacy of course, but a potential national leader will attract some scrutiny. His educational background is mired in controversy. So too are his claims on election affidavits. It seems strange that our future leader cannot seem to get his story on education right or is unwilling to set the record straight putting all doubts to rest. Very little is known of his professional life before joining politics.

Political career

Rahul Gandhi was elected to Lok Sabha from Amethi in May 2004. He has not held any political office yet and has mainly concentrated on party building activities, especially the youth wing. His pet project, bringing democracy to Congress, is not yet a success. Internal elections in youth Congress and his youth leader appointees have not exactly been controversy free. He took up party building responsibility in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. While he enjoyed moderate success in UP, he is still far from breaking Bahujan Samaj Party’s hold on the state. His Bihar attempts were a disaster as evidenced in recent elections and his visits to other states, especially Gujarat, have had little impact on his party’s fortunes there.

After having spent over 6 years in domestic politics, travelling overseas, interacting with foreign leaders and having the best political minds within the party to support and mentor him, there is very little Rahul Gandhi espouses or articulates. His sporadic attempts at making political sounds have resulted in more controversies and have done very little to add or give direction to political debates. Rather they come across as manipulative and aimed at exploiting short gains. Leaders he has hand picked have failed to deliver.

For someone who purports to be concerned of the nation’s wellbeing, he is remarkably detached from parliamentary proceedings. He only goes there about half the time and for the limited time he spends there, he almost never participates in debates.

Discovery of India

A couple of years ago, Rahul Gandhi embarked on his very own ‘discovery of India ’ to understand the country better and gain political maturity. When he was touring, not a day went by when a doting national news media did not report his encounters with the unwashed masses, especially during the last general elections. Visiting dalit houses, tea stalls, road side vendors, his jumping the security cordon and shaking hands with the crowds featured fondly in national news space. This discovery phase now seems to have ended. It is only natural for us to expect Rahul Gandhi to list his learnings, summarize them for us, articulate them for the nation. But nothing of the sort has happened yet, which leaves us to wonder if he has learned anything at all. One might cite his speech in the parliament during the Indo-US nuclear deal debate. But that too was a half baked, disappointing attempt. The debt ridden Kalavati he spoke about is still waiting for better days and had to travel to Delhi to remind Rahul Gandhi of his unkept promises.

Photo-ops

In an interview to NDTV, Arun Jaitley was asked for his advice to Rahul Gandhi. In his answer Jaitley said, Rahul Gandhi should make constructive political interventions and participate in debates more. Politics could not be “an endless series of photo opportunities”. That was very well put and summarizes Rahul Gandhi’s political life so far. No astute observer will miss this coincidence. Glance through our national media and you will see nothing but favourable coverage of Rahul Gandhi. Critical reports of him are hard to come by. Prominent television news editors have been at the forefront of this. Rahul Gandhi is found missing every time the nation faces crisis but will emerge to exploit any and every convenient photo opportunity.

In the 40 years of his life so far, Rahul Gandhi has not exhibited any leadership traits. Over 6 years of his political stint have only yielded in often banal and sometimes controversial utterances. He has not added to or defined any political debate and still cannot speak extemporaneously. Despite the stage managed, carefully choreographed tours, when faced with unscripted events he has had to beat a hasty retreat on more than one occasion. He is reluctant to face harsh, inconvenient questions without any safety net. There is very little he espouses or articulates. His ‘youth icon’ or the ‘destiny deliverer’ facade is built on the strength of fuzzy op-eds and fuelled by exploiting photo opportunities.

Cultural clones - change in narrative

In the previous post we saw how India was viewed and recorded in the pre-Christian times. Innuendo and agenda were completely missing from such records. However when we turn to read records from the AD era, especially by the early jesuits who landed on India's shores in the 1500s, the narrative changes.

The early European "traders" set off from their shores towards India on hearing of the riches that could be made. The heavy Christian influence of the time meant there were a large number of Church going Chrisists in the crew. And almost every good Chrisist felt obliged to write back to his Church of what he saw in far off lands that still hadn't bowed to Christ. It is these records that form the bulk of western records on India from the 1500 onwards. Where early Greek ambassadors were color blind, Jesuits saw "black" people in India. Where Megasthenes recorded Indian culture with interest, Jesuits saw the "wrong" religion.

Being the good soldiers of Christ, the Jesuits couldn't run away from their duty of bringing the word of the one true lord to heathens of India. One such committed soldier was Roberto de Nobili of Italy. Nobili wrote extensively during his stay in India. He soon realized that all India knowledge was captured into Sanskrit, an ancient language no longer spoken by Indians. He also realized that the custody of this knowledge was the exclusive domain of the Bramhins and worst of all, this knowledge was not written, but was handed down verbally. A smart Jesuit, Nobili realized he had to befriend the Bramhins if he wanted to gain access to that knowledge. But he had little luck. He did see the status Bramhins enjoyed because they preserved ancient Indian knowledge.

He soon struck upon an idea to sell himself as a Bramhin to hoodwink the locals into thinking he too was a Bramhin so he could sell them Christianity. He began to dress like one, tried to get himself in Bramhin circles, he claimed to be a "sanyasi from Rome". He even wrote a book and tried to sell it as the "Azur Veda", one of the lost Vedas.

So having landed in India as "traders", the Jesuits soon got to their real work, selling Christianity. They employed every trick they could think of. "Traders" soon began snatching land from locals beginning with Goa and south Indian ports. Chruch building ensued, inquistion followed.

European accounts of India on the AD era were recorded by Jesuits whose eyes and minds were colored by their religion. Next, we will see the plan to engineer cultural clones.

Cultural clones - the beginning

Alexander hit a snag in his world conquest when he could not penetrate far into India. Suffering serious setbacks, he had to retreat. He died at 32. Soon after that his empire was divided up by one of his generals, Diadochs. Later, Seleukos I Nikator (358-261 BC) set up his dynasty between Syria to the Hindukush mountains that bordered India. He entered into a peace treaty with Chandragupta Maurya which involved exchanging ambassadors. One of them was Megasthenes.

Megasthenes (350-290 BC), by all accounts was highly educated and had experience in administration. He travelled in India far and wide and recorded every aspect of India he could in the 11 or so years he was here. Sadly most of his works have not survived in the original. However a lot of it has been preserved and reproduced in the Hellenic accounts. Because of his authentic and first hand accounts, it was natural for Megasthenes to be the source for most of the Hellenic writings on India. Diamachos succeeded Megasthenes as ambassador who did his won writing on India.

These early accounts by the Greeks show their curiosity, their interest in observing and studying India. The writings covered flora, fauna, geography, peoples, administrations, military, culture, customs, food and much more. Everything they saw, they recorded in vivid detail. One can actually picture what everyday life was like in the Mauryan period. The freedom they had in traveling, observing and recording India indicates the wonderful working conditions they operated under without bother.

The richness and depth of the writings is indeed remarkable. However, what is even more striking is the complete lack of innuendo. This was the BC era, pre-Christian times. None of the "missions" were born yet. The writings come across as purely objective, observational in nature. There were no comparisons. There were no judgements passed. They were chronicles of educated ambassadors who were not sent on "missions" to India, who were not under any pressure to carry out some "good work", who were not under any pressure to produce weekly, monthly, annual reports or accounts to promote interests. (to be continued...)

In the next post we shall see the change in narrative, who changed it, what changed it, how did it get coloured.

"Hindu terror"

That is the new buzz in mainstream media these days. Apparently, investigative agencies believe that certain right wing Hindu groups may be behind Mecca masjid (Hyderabad) and Ajmer Sharif blasts. It seems picking up people with Hindu names for interrogation is proof enough of "Hindu terror" existence. This is more an effort to counter popular perception world over about Islam and its band of Jihadi terrorists taking innocent lives and causing much damage to property on almost every continent. Islamic terror is the name given to that phenomenon and it not without reason.

Islamic terror has entered every serious discussion across the world since 9/11 occurred. Attacks by Islamic Jihadis in India, US, France, Spain, Russia, China, indeed parts of almost every continent on earth has everyone taking of terror. And everyone believes it is Islamic terror. Reasons -

1. Every Jihadi quotes verses from Koran or orders from religious leaders to justify their attacks.
2. There is no dearth of Islamic religious leaders exhorting the faithful to wage Jihad in the name if Islam. They claim it is incumbent upon every Muslim to spread Islam all over the world and crush everything coming in the way.
3. There is also no shortage of Muslims willing to take up Jihad, sacrifice innocent people and themselves to spread Islam.
4. Muslim parents sending their children to wage Jihad can be found in plenty. They insist it is their duty.
5. Educated, well off Muslims who have spent significant part of their lives in western or non-Islamic countries have been joining the rank of Jihadis. Religion is the connection.
6. Almost every terrorist attack has been carried out by Muslims.
7. Jihadis also seek to threaten sovereignty of nations.

We have witnessed this for decades in India. The Indian Mujahideen sent lengthy e-mails quoting Koran to justify their acts. What other logical conclusion could be drawn in face of these facts? Yet "secularists" hesitate; indeed chide anyone mentioning "Islamic terror".

However, all of this is missing from "Hindu terror". Hindu political or religious leaders calling for terrorism? Absent. Sanction for terror in Hindu religious scriptures? Absent. Sanction for terrorism in Hindu society? Absent. LeT, HuJI, AQ like terror groups by Hindus? Absent. Existence of "Hindu terror" world over? Absent. And this despite suffering Islamic terror for decades in modern times. But, "Hindu terror" it is! If talking of Islamic terrorism hurts Muslim sentiments, wouldn't Hindus be upset too? This consideration is clearly missing and casts doubt on intentions behind this attempt.

And how do "secularists" support their claim? Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Col. Purohit and other Hindus under investigation. It matter less if the charges have'nt been proven yet. On the contrary, the case against them has been weakening with every passing day. All attempts to find some terror connection to them have failed so far. It riles every "secularist" up to learn many Muslims picked up for interrogation are eventually let go for lack of evidence. However, they couldn't be bothered if Hindu connections cannot be proved and continue to be in jail. But attempts to sell the "Hindu terror" theory must continue. How else will "communal" vs. "secular" debate continue? How else will Muslims be portrayed as victims?

"a mind with a secular bent"

The recent Swiss referendum to ban constructions of new minarets has riled every "mind with a secular bent". One such mind, Vishnu Som of the NDTV, declared -

"It represents a fundamental threat to millions of Muslims in our country" [Link]

It would seem strange that someone would declare a ban which is the result of a democratic referendum in a sovereign country and which is applicable only within the country's borders to be a fundamental threat to Muslims of another country. And this question was rightly asked by Nitin and others (follow the debate here). The response from Vishnu was unsatisfactory to begin with and entirely typical of "a mind with secular bent". His answer -

"This is as easy to comprehend as it gets." (Complete answer here)

What he seems to imply here is that the issue is so simple only a fool could not comprehend the threat to Muslims. The long, meandering response is anything but an answer. Instead it is a "secular mind" wondering why "right wingers" fail to get it. And Vishnu is guilty of doing the same things he accuses others are doing. In his response he says -

"I cannot tolerate such a generalisation and cannot tolerate people who believe that to be the truth. And it is generalisations like this which represent a fundamental threat to Muslims in India and around the world." [Link]

He disapproves of generalisations yet he paints all those who criticized his views as having a "right-wing edge". So any view that is not congruent to that of a "secular mind" is automatically "right-wing". And the connotations associated with "right-wing" are well known in India. Ergo, all contrary views are invalid. Only Vishu's, possessing a "secular mind", are correct. Indeed in this very first comment he sets a prerequisite to win any debate, one needs "a mind with a secular bend" to understand what he said. After this a "right-winger" can never win.

Another thing that's typical of a "secular mind" is the desire to jump to speak on behalf of the Muslims. If the Indian Muslims feel threatened by something that happened to Muslims elsewhere, let them say so, why should Vishnu feel compelled to do so? The Indian Muslims are capable and have the necessary freedom to do so. Indian Muslims are Indian, Swiss Muslims are Swiss and sovereignty of nations must be respected.

Much of what I feel has been articulated very well here, here and here. This is a very good example of the techniques the left uses when debating, declare your's is the right way, label opponents as "right-wingers", continue arguing "right-wing" is wrong hence anything it says is invalid and declare victory -

"Enough of the great minaret debate. Horrified by the right wing wall I ran into. New subject today ... Will tweet later today." [Link]

Perpetuating stereotypes

The characters that appear on mainstream media debates are nothing more than stereotypes of respective segments of society. And what goes on during these debates does nothing to dispel them. Instead, stereotypes are only reinforced. It would be a mistake to think this is an innocent phenomenon. Rather it is by design to keep the secular vs. communal debate alive.

The only ones that ever represent the "Muslim voice" in the television studios are the fatwa dispensing Mullahs. None of the other well meaning ones ever seem to get invited. And when there is an outrage against the extreme views of the Mullahs, the secular kind ask - why are the Muslims forced to prove their patriotism? They have suddenly found use for the non fatwa reading Muslims. Feigning naivete, the secular kind think the criticism is directed at all Muslims in general. Similar is the case when seeking opinions from the "other side". Groups like the Ram Sene seem to represent Hindus because they fit the secular idea of a fundamentalist. Over 60 years of Independence and we still have the same charade going on.

Indoctrination works

When the Wall Street whiz kids, the doctors, the engineers or what are otherwise called the cream of the society tend to think of Rahul Gandhi as the deliverer of India's destiny, we know that the secular indoctrination that begins with our primary schools has worked wonders. When our children set out of schools the only names with the highest recall value are Gandhi and Nehru. That is further reinforced by breathless secular cheerleaders breaking us news and non-news alike 24x7. And the result is, the Mahatma and the other Gandhis are indistinguishable.

The much publicized visits to the poor by Rahul have led to many gush filled praises by those who find much virtue in such tokenism. It bothers none that Rahul's party pretty much has a monopoly on governance. His is the party that has been winning elections on empty slogans. 'Garibi hatao', 'Congress ka haath gareebon ke saath' are the pertinent ones. Yet India continues to have one of the largest population of absolutely poor people. The involvement of some of the most significant freedom fighters with the Congress and the continued rule of the party by the Gandhi family is still yielding dividends. And visits, such as the ones by Rahul, only reinforce that.

In a country - touted as the largest, most vibrant democracy - dynastic stranglehold on politics and governments is given a free pass. Debates, especially during the elections, are a telling example of how secular parties obfuscate issues. At the slightest hint of being evaluated on governance record, the discussion is hijacked into a communalism and secularism debate. Existential questions 'how can you not support secularism?' are posed. And with enough canards raised and reinforced by newsmen secular parties become the automatic choice.

And no effort is spared in retaining control. When popular mood turns contrary, discussing facial features resembling past leaders, invoking nostalgia are not out of bounds. Once that works, it is business as usual for the next term and the same facial features will only be invoked when needed next.

One only has to take an objective look at Indian politics, particularly the secular parties and their governance record, their continued dynastic dominance, the remarkable congruity in the views expressed by the media and it will be clear that secular indoctrination has worked.

Non-news drown out real ones

Recent weeks have been no exception to the nauseating coverage of non-news that our Delhi based media seems to be so fond of. All the irresponsible hoopla can be termed as juvenile reaction at best. Editorial responsibilities have long been relinquished in favour of SMS polls and the OMG generation is transfixed.

While feckless journos spread panic reporting swine flu outbreak and wearing masks on TV and attributed unrelated deaths to the flu and also completely over blowing the magnitude of the outbreak, the UBS and the US reached a deal. The UBS agreed to co-operate with the IRS of the US in helping it go after illegal money hidden away in secret accounts. The IRS is seeking 52,000 names from the UBS to go after. Already, 5,000 names will be handed over to the US authorities. And the IRS tax net has widened to go as far as Hong Kong. Yet, such significant events are burried under hysterically drummed up issues. Why is India not doing something similar? Why is the GoI not asked to go after tax evaders? The manufactured panic over swine flu helped drown it out. Singh is still the King.

And if you were to believe our newsmen, a certain Hindi film actor being held for questioning at an US airport was an outrage worthy of diplomatic action. Never mind that it is hardly a case unique to this "celebrity". Many others have had to go through the same. Examples include, Ted kennedy, Bob Dylan, Irfan Khan etc. But the inaction, even on the diplomatic front, by the Manmohan Singh govt. over the Mumbai attacks by Pakistani jihadis seems to be fine. Loss of over 300 innocent lives in a terrorist attacks counts for much less than an hour of a celebrity detention. That's the real outrage.

And while all this allegedly "racist" saga was being hyped up on our TV sets, our "oppressed" "brothers" from the "religion of peace" were rampaging on Janmashtani, destroying Lord Krishna idols and attacking processions celebrating the day. It seems Hindus can never live in peace in their own land. This incidence involved Muslims, who are a majority in the Shahpur-Nagoriwad area of Gujarat, burning houses of the Hindus, pelting stones at them and causing much grief in general. Yet, national news cameras would not care to peep. Contrast that with the moral policing incidence of Mangalore. Social justice demands secular censorship.

Cowardice disguised as progressive liberalism

Terrorism, as we knew it, is no longer the same. It is now a "man caused disaster". This completely blunts the effect. A "man caused disaster" does not have the same effect as terrorism. Janet Napolitano (secretary, US Department of Homeland Security) beat many of our social justice warriors to it. They would have loved to have come up with that substitute themselves. However, we knew they were implying the same in their many columns and debates.

This is a peculiar trait of our social justice intellectuals. Create nuances to grave problems and hijack public discourse to avoid reaching any concrete solution.

So terrorists entering our borders and gunning innocent people down are really militants fighting for freedom. That's exactly how a terrorist is referred to in our news media. Terrorism cannot be defeated with apologies. It is a tough battle. Pakistan attacks India via terrorists and it us who must understand them. It is us who must extend a friendly hand. Even in the face of increasingly obvious evidence and the history of our conflicts with Pakistan, it is us that must act like a big brother.

It is the same wooly-headed cerebrating that leads many of our public commentators to argue for Kashmir's secession. None is prepared to face the truth, but is inclined to believe that the terrorists will happily give up their killing habits if Kashmir is given away.

The Muslim persecution theory has been in vogue for quite a while now. While the Islamists are free to make a mockery of our constitution and freedom in our country, it seems, anyone else but the Muslims are responsible for them. This theory has been perpetuated without any proof. Muslims prosper as much, if not more, in this country as anyone else. Be it politics, entertainment, art, business, science, technology we have seen many a Muslim succeed. Even the Sachar Committee report contradicts itself.

Our public intellectuals are living in denial. They hope to make problems go away either by choosing to not acknowledge them or by apologising for them. It is not as if these intellectuals do not realise that denial is no solution. Even a man on the street understands cowards run away from problems.

The media's ADD

Hunt for sound bites and the next breaking news has relegated serious research and discussion on matters of national significance to an unimportant exercise. How many national news media put serious thought, carried out any research and objectively discussed matters concerning our nation? None. Instead what passes off as debate is political opponents bickering enticed by the hosts. Arun Shourie, echoing my thoughts, laments the frivolous nature of journalism in vogue today.

In an interview to Claude Apri -

[...] Previously, whatever would happen, the media would go into depth (into the issue). As you know, today the media is as superficial as the politicians. It is even more ephemeral, one day there is a big issue, the next day, it is forgotten. 'Breaking News' (sometimes) lasts a shift, not even for the day.

[...] Sometimes journalists hear that I had spoken in Parliament or a particular issue is (being debated); journalists come and insist (to have my reaction). They come with a microphone and TV crew. They tell me: 'Sir, there was an issue in the morning, what was the issue?' I tell (the subject of the debate) the chap who then says: 'Sir, our editor is sending us, please tell us what question we should ask you.' (Laughs.) It is a really a fact.

Or questions like this: 'Please, sir, tell us, are you for the Budget or against it?' What can you respond? This is the level that issues are treated.

It is true for the Budget or any other matters, 90 percent of journalists will ask you such questions. [...]

[...] not more than one correspondent who came to interview me had read the documents. And yet, apart from this correspondent and perhaps three or four politicians who had read the documents (nuclear deal), everybody had an opinion: 'We should go with America!' Or 'We should be against!' This type of opinion!

The point that I am making is that the examination (of the issue) is not at all present and yet in that particular case (the nuclear deal), it requires no more than 75 pages to read. [Link]

Yet that won't stop the editors pontificating from their studios. Apparently they seem to think, their opinion is all the matters.

G-20 assessment of Indian measures against terrorism

Cheerleaders won't take the "communal" folk's word on Congress' laxity towards terrorism. Well, then here's the G-20's assessment. India fared poorly against these key measurement criteria -

1. Number of terrorists listed under
UNSCR 1333/1390 for which a freeze order has been issued: NIL

2. Number of other terrorists under UNSCR
1373 for which a freeze order has been issued: NIL

3. Amount of assets frozen for all
terrorists: ZERO

4. Specific risk-based measures in place to ensure that
non-profit organizations cannot be abused for the financing of terrorism?: NO

Even an Islamic country like Saudi Arabia fared better than us. For the complete listing click here. Because this report by the G-20 is inconvenient to the "secular" party and gives more fodder to the "communal forces" no mention was made of this by any news media covering the summit.

It is time the "voice of the people" media shunned its slant and start taking matters concerning our national interest seriously. Reducing the debate on terrorism to a yelling contest only takes the focus away from the grave dangers facing the nation.

Election histrionicses

With the growing number if television news channels, in addition to the print media, this election season seems to have got a lot of exposure. The quality, though, is sub par. However the exposure has brought on record things we already knew happened.

Hours before the elections, police on
Wednesday seized more than Rs 15 lakh cash including Rs 2.80 lakh from an MIM
leader who was distributing money to voters in his house at Toli Chowki. A Praja
Rajyam Party candidate was also arrested for violation of the model code of
conduct.

[...] Police arrested Moinuddin and
recovered Rs 2.80 lakh cash from the house.

In another instance, Cyberabad police
recovered Rs 1.80 lakh from a former TDP Councillor who made a vain attempt to
avoid being caught by fleeing in an RTC bus.

[...] Police recovered Rs 1.80 lakh with
him. [more here]

If only these cashlords had dispensed half their duties, they wouldn't need to be doing this. Now, they lost their money and their face. Besides, voters have gotten smarter. They realise most have failed them, so they'd rather take the money when it's raining and vote whoever they deem fit.

[...] Voters often take money from many parties and finally vote
for the one they support. [Link]

Even as the media scrutiny has helped expose malpractices, the debate leaves a lot to be desired. The primary debate during elections ought be on the incumbent government's performance. None of the prominent media houses cared for an audit on the UPA's governance. Instead we had them parroting the same talking points presented by the various UPA members. What we have witnessed on TVs these last few weeks is the same old "secularism" vs "communalism" debate.

Every such debate is futile because it is an diversion from real issues and more importantly, neither "secularism" nor "communalism" is clearly defined. Even before it's proved, it is readily accepted "communalism" is evil and "secularism" is noble. And the media has made it more than clear, BJP is communal and Congress is secular. That tilts the scales heavily in favour of the "secular" parties even before any debate.

The television debates are also ineffectual for another reason. Participants almost never stay on issues being discussed. Instead any question or issue raised is sought to be diverted so opponent bashing can be carried out rather than answer one's own performance. So, for instance, when faced with a question on terrorism, we have the Congress slamming the BJP by questioning attacks during the NDA regime rather than explain it's own failure. The BJP too is incapable of articulating its criticism of the UPA effectively and demolishing canards about its record. Similar is the case for every other issue. No party can see its mistakes. Every debate is reduced to faulting the other than staying on message.

Another quite intriguing aspect of the media is the slant and bias in its reporting. If you were to scan the election coverage news, you'll notice the favourable, indeed fan like, coverage given to the Gandhi dynasty. It seems the dynasty is beyond scrutiny and the Nehru-Gandhi progeny can never do any wrong and the divine powers have ordained them to rule our nation. The favour is also extended to the Congress party. Contrast that with the unfavourable coverage given to the "communal" parties and anyone who's opposed to the "secular forces".

The "voice of the people" media has failed miserably in holding the UPA accountable. While the UPA goes about faulting the NDA's record, it never cares to explain it's own failure in correcting them. After all it has been in power for the past 5 years, enough opportunity to correct the alleged mistakes.

Teesta's falsehoods exposed

The NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, headed by Teesta Setalvad, has been doing exactly the opposite of what its name suggests. It has made every attempt to deny justice and derail peace in Gujarat with its concocted theories of "Hindu atrocity" on "Muslim minority". It is now clear that facts are contrary to Teesta's claims. The SIT investigating the Gujarat riots 2002 case has this observation -

The Special Investigation Team
responsible for the arrests of those accused in Gujarat riots has severely
censured NGOs and social activist Teesta Setalvad who campaigned for the riot
victims. [Link]

Here's the SIT noting Teesta's fabrications -

Many incidents of killings and violence
were cooked up, false charges were levelled against then police chief P C Pandey
and false witnesses were tutored to give evidence about imaginary incidents, the
SIT said in a report submitted before a Bench comprising Justices Arijit
Pasayat, P Sathasivam and Aftab Alam. [Link]

And here are a few stories cooked by an imaginative Teesta to guarantee maximum publicity -

The SIT also found no truth in the
following incidents widely publicised by the NGOs:

* A pregnant Muslim woman Kausar Banu was
gangraped by a mob, who then gouged out the foetus with sharp weapons

* Dumping of dead bodies into a well by
rioteers at Naroda Patiya

* Police botching up investigation into
the killing of British nationals, who were on a visit to Gujarat and
unfortunately got caught in the riots Rohtagi said: "On a reading of the report,
it is clear that horrendous allegations made by the NGOs were false. Stereotyped
affidavits were supplied by a social activist and the allegations made in them
were found untrue." [Link]

Teesta Setalvad and her "secular" cohorts have made a career out of their false stories on the Gujarat riots. The SIT's findings will now leave Teesta and her ilk jobless.

Next to Teesta, the media shares the most responsibility for spreading the canards by her and making them part of the popular folklore. The time and publicity given to the false cases from a cahoot media and repeated falsehoods have prejudiced a great number for minds against the BJP and Narendra Modi in particular. The eagerness shown by every "secular" champion to pass an judgement even before the legal proceedings reached their conclusions betrayed their prejudices.

The myopic "secular" eyes fail to see that the Muslims are probably the most prosperous in Gujarat than anywhere else in the country. Various reports indicate that the per capita income amongst Muslims is the highest in Gujarat. Besides various Muslim individuals and organisations have come out in support of Narendra Modi in appreciation of his governance and progress brought about in the state. Such facts are blacked out precisely because they are inconvenient to the "secular" belief.

The alacrity shown by the media to ignore facts, jump the gun, pass judgements and prejudice the people's minds is appalling. It is time that the "secular" cheerleaders stop perpetuating these myths about Gujarat. The various awards granted to Teesta must be revoked and every media house that aligned with her must come clean.

You can read more about Teestas falsehoods here, here, here, here and here.

Returning the favour

Not for nothing did the nation's prominent mainstream news editors win the various padma... titles. Their fierce protection of the warped secularism practiced in our nation has impressed their far from secular political masters. This favour meted out by the Congress lead government is more than being returned by the news hounds in this election (not that any other election is any different). Integrity has become redundant in editorial ethics.

Measurement criteria differ when it comes to the "communal" or "saffron" folks. While a doctored video (which took about 10 days to produce) is passed off as evidence of hate speech, actual hate speeches by patron parties do not have to pass the "secular" test. It simply is enough to belong to a convenient political party. National editors turn a blind eye over all that is inconvenient. Here are instances that will not make prime time debate or proportional to "communalism" coverage -

RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Monday said he
would have ‘crushed’ BJP candidate Varun Gandhi under a roller for his
anti-Muslim speeches if he had been the country's Home Minister. [Link]

The Congress had organised a rally near
the Jama Masjid ground, supported by 23 Muslim organisations. While addressing
the largely Muslim gathering, Kidwai had allegedly said, “Main mufti nahin hoon
iska mujhe afsos hai, kyunki Mufti log hamare yahan fatwa de sakte hain. Aur
agar main mufti hota to sirk ek fatwa deta ki musalmaan ka BJP ke sath jana kufr
ke barabar hai. (I regret not being a cleric as only clerics can issue a fatwa.
If I were a cleric I would have issued only one fatwa that for Muslims to vote
for the BJP is a sin.)” [Link]

Senior Congress leader and former
minister Kagodu Thimmappa, who had stirred the hornet's nest by allegedly
instigating partymen to 'chop-off the hands of Hindu chauvinists' in an election
campaign meeting recently, today charged that some vested interests had twisted
his statement. [Link]

Mines Minister Sis Ram Ola has winked at the court judgement, transferred department Secretary Shantanu Consul, ignored suggestion of the nation’s Cabinet Secretary, paid no heed to his Cabinet colleague Ram Vilas Paswan’s claim that the national mineral company NMDC should have the mining right at Ramandurg and bulldozed his way through in granting mining right to the PSU trading company, MMTC, which has set up JV with a private company, India Bulls, with the steel czar LN Mittal as the ultimate beneficiary. And all these have been done when the model code of conduct has been in force and the Government led by Manmohan Singh is just a caretaker one. [Link]

A 45-year-old rickshaw puller was beaten
to death allegedly by an acquaintance and his accomplices when he objected
to
them passing lewd remarks at his daughter at Bawana in Outer Delhi on
Saturday.
Three of the accused have been arrested.

The tragic incident took place around 10
p.m. when Harpal went to meet his neighbour Rasool and warned him against
passing vulgar comments at his daughter. This led to an altercation between
them, following which Rasool and his friends allegedly beat up Harpal.
[Link]

Police today imposed prohibitory orders
under section 144 at Kayathamaranhalli extension here, after a clash between two
groups last night, in which, many vehicles and houses were damaged.
Police
said today they resorted to tear-gas to disperse the warring groups. Two
Assistant Sub Inspectors and four constables, were among others, who were
injured in the incident.
Four temples were damaged. The miscreants also
attacked the house of the former Mayor H N Srikantiah and ransacked furnitures.
[Link]

This blog chronicles the molestation and
abduction of Hindu
girls my Muslims in Bengal. [Link]

I just returned from a month in India
during which time an incredible number of significant events were occurring. My
primary mission in going was to document and raise awareness of the ethnic
cleansing of Bangladeshi Hindus. I found plenty, including evidence of ongoing
attacks on them both in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India. The border between
the two is so porous that terrorists and contraband move freely with and without
the help of India's Border Security Force or West Bengal police. But I also
witnessed the tragic beginning of the end for Pakistan's Hindus. Once one in
five Pakistanis, they have been reduced to one percent of the population.
[Link]

In connection with indulging in rampage
in a banana plantation belonging to Babbukatte Nityadhar Church and trying to
disrupt peace in the region, Ullal policemen arrested seven persons on Wednesday
March 18.

They are Jayson Verghese (23), Vijit
Sunny Rozario (21), Araki Alfred (20), Roshan Cutinho (26), all from Nityadhar
Nagar and Ronald Roshan (22), a resident of Kuttar Prakash Nagar. They were
produced in the court on Wednesday.

On Monday morning, the banana plantation was found to have
been damaged heavily to look as if people belonging to a particular community
had barged into the plantation, and a saffron flag had been planted there,
signifying that Hindu outfits had been involved with the destruction. The
incident took place at a time when Hindu Samajotsav was being organized in the
city. [Link]

The internet is replete with scores more of such incidents. Yet only the convenient ones get reported and debated.

One by one most of the Vadra family members have dropped dead. Mysteriously all of them died either in an accident or committed suicide. Something is clearly not right. But the CBI will not investigate them. Political masters will rein it in. And we will also not see national editors debating this. The media, we are told, only expresses public opinion. However, a majority seems to be excluded from the "public".