WORD CRAFT

AND
STATECRAFT

By
Bahu Virupaksha
 Contents

1. Indian Politics

2. Personalities and Places

3. History

4. Book Reviews

5. Interesting Feature Pieces

 INDIAN
POLITICS
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Beyond Kilvenmani: The Dravidian Movement and violence

against Dalits in Tamil Nadu
2008-06-06 13:29
Caste violence has become an important element in the political life of
contemporary Tamil Nadu. We may define caste violence as
systematic, organized and sustained acts of physical and cultural
violence directed against the less powerful, marginal, and in a
hierarchical sense lower social groups by members of the dominant
landed groups. Though the latter are classified as backward castes
(BC) and most backward castes (MBC) in the case of northern Tamil
Nadu, the BCs and MBCs are by far the most powerful social groups
in the political and agrarian structures of rural Tamil Nadu.
Both NGOs and the academic interpreters of the endemic caste
violence in the countryside, conceptualize the growing social
distance between Dalit castes and the BCs and MBCs as instances of
"caste" conflict implying thereby that caste identities and loyalties are
at the root of this problem. Such an interpretation while not
inaccurate, skirts the more potent question pertaining to the
structural linkages between the politically organized sections of the
backward landed communities and the violence directed against the
Dalits in different parts of the Tamil region.
Rural violence is not a new and novel feature. Medieval inscriptions
record numerous instances of burning down of entire villages in the
fifteenth century during clashes between the idankai and valankai
groups. Caste hierarchy was reinforced through a range of measures
that included dress codes, restrictions on the use of certain musical
instruments, habitation exclusion by creating tindacheris, in which
particular social groups were sequestered, limited access to common
areas such as the sacred space of the temple, educational institutions
and the like. Indeed, the social history of the Tamil Nadu region can
be plotted along the axes of caste, community and sect, though the
boundaries between the three conceptual categories were always
fluid and permeable.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

In the nineteenth century we find identity formation crystallizing

itself around the twin poles of caste and race with the ethnic linguistic
category of Dravidian glossing over the different castes and sub
castes of the society. Uniting in the divided population in the name of
language, the concept of Dravidian defined the Tamilians identity in
terms of the cultural practices of the dominant non brahmin castes
thereby excluding the Dalits and other communities.
Dalit intellectuals have in recent years mounted a serious challenge to
the hegemonic claims relating to the liberator potential of the
Aryan/Dravidian dichotomy in which the discourse on Dalit
liberation and political praxis takes place. The literary critic Raj
Gauthaman in his excellent work entitled Dalit Parveyil Tamil
Panpattu has shown that even in the earliest corpus of Tamil bardic
poetry there is a stratum of communal and caste consciousness which
effectively marginalized tribal groups that came to form the basis of
Dalit caste of the historical times. This interpretation alters the
framework in which the emergence of caste consciousness is placed
by conventional historians in which it situates caste in the context of
autochthonous social trends.
The importance of Raj Gouthamn's work lies in his effort to reclaim
the historical memory of the Dalits to assert an identity that is distinct
from the one existing in the dominant Dravidian discourse. In his
counter reading of Tamil literary and social history, Raj Gauthaman
is in fact re interpreting the claims of Jyothi Das those Tamil cultural
practices as depicted in the early bardic works are just as oppressive
as that of the Aryan/Sanskrit other. He goes on to add that the ethic of
valour and conquest enshrined in the puram genre of poems are mere
ideological shibboleths to validate and legitimize the appropriation
of agricultural surplus from the tribal sections of Tamil society, who
he says were the ancestors of the present-day Dalit population. While
this interpretation may not have all the sophistication of a well
thought out historical thesis, it certainly points to a rupture in the
dominant paradigm.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

In this article, we attempt an analysis of the violence in the Tamil

region in which the caste conflict between the BCs and the Dalits are
contextualized in terms of (a) the groups involved and (b) the reaction
of the state. We examine the frequent outbreak of social conflict in
terms of the denial of the dominant discourse of the very basis of this
conflict and the issue of the Kilvenmani Massacre in terms of the
response of the state as well as the social groups which took part in the
massacre. I also examine the response of Dalit intellectuals and
political leaders such as Comrade Tirumavalavan to the growing
instances of anti-Dalit violence.
On Christmas Day 1968, when C N Annadurai was the chief minister
of Tamil Nadu, an incident took place that is regarded today as an
emblematic of caste relation in this part of India. A few days prior to
this incident, a group of farm workers began agitating for more
wages. The year 1967 had been a particularly bad year for the region
because of the sustained drought. The workers of the CPI felt that it
was an opportune moment to organize the peasants, particularly the
landless Pallan and other castes in view of the collapse of the
communist led insurrection in the Tanjavur district led by
Jeevanandham and other leaders. A day prior to the Kilvenmani
Incident one of the petty land owners was assaulted and killed,
allegedly by the organized group of landless workers. An armed
gang was sent to the cheri where the landless laborers resided.
However, they had by that time taken refuge in a barn along with
their wives and children. In a gruesome act of retaliation, the building
was burnt down killing 44 men, women and 8 children. The DMK
government which was in power in the state was reluctant to register
the case and even the news of the horrific massacre reached the public
only through the questions raised in the Assembly by the CPI MLA of
the neighbouring Nagapattinam constituency.
Left and Secular liberal hagiography sees the Kilvemani Massacre as
a mere class oppressor versus worker issue. In fact, the CPM has even
appropriated for itself the memorial for the 44 victims of the
December 25 incident and is reluctant to admit the caste identity of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the victims. In short, the incident itself has become a bone of

contention between those who prefer to see it as the Dravidian
Movements ambiguity about the question of Dalit identity and
human rights and those who view it in ideological terms. Social
conflict is also predicated upon the very morphology and
distribution of social groups across the territorial limits of the region.
The great historian, Burton Stein has argued that the territorial
segmentation, a structural feature of South Indian Tamil society,
reinforces the dominance of certain groups in specific regions and
sub-regions. The introduction of Panchayati Raj in this kind of a
socio-political configuration through the 73rd Constitutional
Amendment introduced yet another volatile arena of conflict and
violence.
II .Violence and the State
The Kilvenmani Incident is just one of a whole litany of violent
encounters between socially dominant landed groups and lower
status landless and marginal social sodalities such as Dalits. After
Independence the Tamil region has seen episodes of violent upsurge
against Dalit societies in alarming proportions. Given below are a few
of the more prominent incidents: Mudalukathur Massacre of 1957,
Melvalavu Massacre of July25,1997, Gundupatti incident of 1998,
Tambraparini River Massacre of July 23, 1999, Kodiyankulam
incident of August 31, 1995, Thinniyan incident of October 25, 2002.
In all these and other incidents the local dominant group was clearly
involved in and complicit in acts of unspeakable cruelty and violation
of human dignity, and in all these cases there was hardly any
action/reaction from the state. In one case however, the
Tambraparini River Massacre, the then DMK regime was the main
instigator of the violence in which 17 people were killed. The State
appointed the Justice Mohan Commission of Inquiry and it came to
the magnificent conclusion that the "police were not at fault" and that
the victims drowned because they "did not know how to swim". The
irony of the situation is that the very parties that soundly condemned
the violence against the workers of the Majoli Tea Estate are today
 Word Craft and Statecraft

local allies of the very regime that perpetrated the massacre. Once
again this reinforces the point I am arguing that there is considerable
ambivalence regarding the issue of state violence directed against the
Dalits.
The Kudiyankulam incident fared no better at the hands of the rival
ADMK regime. The Gomathinayakam Inquiry declared the police
innocent of any act of violence and thereby the state machinery that
was deployed so ruthlessly against the Dalits was absolved of all
blame. It may be pointed out that even in the case of the Kilvenmani
Massacre the state was at pains to absolve the perpetrators of any
guilt. The Naidu landlord was declared innocent by the Madras high
court after a lackadaisical trail. Shri Tirumavalavan,a noted Dalit
politician of the region has observed. "Only the explanation given by
the court for releasing Gopalakrishana Naidu who committed such
horrid murders is amusing and strange. It is not possible to accept
that a mirasdar who was very highly respected in the society could
have involved directly in the murders". He goes on to say that
without a shred of evidence, and based on this conjecture, the court
pronounced its judgment that day. From this we can say with some
conviction that a consensus about violence against Dalits had also
infected the judiciary which by 1968 had come under the stress of
Dravidian politics. The sad fact that the SC&ST Atrocities
Suppression Act in Tamil Nadu has so far secured a single conviction
shows that the administrative and political will to enforce
compliance is lacking.
The introduction of Panchayati Raj government at the local level
through the 73rd Amendment has resulted in the opening of yet
another level of inter societal violence and there is no let-up in the
intensity of the attacks. The position of the president of the village
governing council inappropriately called the Panchayat, after the
Gandhian metaphor for the Indian version of village democracy, is
increasingly becoming a contested one between sections of the
dominant castes groups and the Dalit groups in the case of reserved
seats. It is obvious that a great deal of government contracts is routed
 Word Craft and Statecraft

through the Panchayats and hence the competition for the post. The
murder of Leelavathi, a councillor of Madurai by DMK workers was a
direct fallout of the war over government funds and local
development that ruffled the feathers of vested interests. In this case
to the response of the then DMK government was lukewarm and no
one was either arrested or prosecuted for the murder.
Certain features of Dravidian political culture are deeply implicated
in the rise of anti-Dalit violence in parts of the state. Competitive
electoral politics between the DMK and AIDMK has resulted in a
situation where in the two major formations account for nearly 56%
of the votes polled, with an average electoral strength ranging
from24% to 26% for each of the two parties. This polarized electorate
has made it possible for weak political actors like the Congress and
the BJP to forge alliances with the two giants of Dravidian politics.
Further, the social morphology of the Tamil region, already alluded
to with dominant castes and communities concentrated in specific
regions of Tamil Nadu such as the Vanniyars in the north, the
mukkulathors in the south and specific zones in which the Kallars
and Maravars are numerically dominant in areas of Madurai,
Puddukkotttai and Ramanathapuram, has provided a fertile soil for
the proliferation of caste and clan based political parties. We may add
here while the political rhetoric of such parties is couched in the
language of egalitarianism about the elites in the areas where they
operate, the practice of social and personal discrimination is
prevalent in the context of Dalit groups.
Social domination and the resultant caste violence is predicated upon
the situational strategy of asserting equality towards the upper castes
and enforcing the 'inferior" status of the lower castes, particularly that
of Dalits. Dravidian political ideology has not been able to bridge the
yawning chasm between the imagined ideal of social justice and
equality and the appalling reality of caste division and hierarchy that
operates at the local Panchayat levels. The social scene of village
Tamil Nadu is beset with the visible symbols of identity and
oppression. The flourishing industry of human rights activism has
 Word Craft and Statecraft

already documented the existence of the "two-tumbler" system in

most parts of rural Tamil Nadu. The enforcement of the two-tumbler
system in parts of Madurai and Ramanathapuram and in the
vanniyar dominated regions of South Arcot and Dharmapuri
districts is a constant source of tension and violence. Along with this
there are other visible markers of status that are enforced. In the
habitation areas of the dominant castes the Dalits are forbidden to
wear footwear and the men folk are made to tie their upper cloth
round their waists. Such conventions become the cause of violence,
when educated youth resist such display of deference to the higher
castes they invite serious retribution.
The temple festival is yet another arena that generates conflict. In fact,
the southern districts see a spate of violence particularly during the
annual festivals of the amman shrines or clan temples. Status
assertions vis--vis the higher castes and its negation is another
reason for the outbreak of conflict and in such conflicts the local police
and the administration side with the dominant groups. Given the
highly politicized nature of the society with caste factionalism and
party based rivalries any local issue can become the starting point of a
caste conflict. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Annual Report for
the year 1996-97 has reported 282 violent castes conflicts in Tamil
Nadu, and out of this figure 238 or 84% involved conflict between
Dalit groups and powerful landed groups such as the Maravars, the
Kallars (often clubbed together as Thevars), Nadars, Vanniyars and
Pallans and other SC communities.
III. Panchayat Elections and Violence
The violence unleashed against Dalit aspirants to the post of
President of the Panchayat is symptomatic of the larger issue of Dalit
empowerment under the Dravidian political dispensation. A
problem that considerably complicate the issue is that the Tamil
communities referred to as AdiDravidas are themselves divided
along lines of hierarchy and there is ethnographic and anecdotal
information to show that the practice of social exclusion permeates
even to the door step of communities that bear the brunt of anti-Dalit
 Word Craft and Statecraft

violence. Thus,arundhitiyars are generally regarded with a degree of

social distance by other members of the Dalit communities.
In the case of Panchayats that are revered for the SC communities the
dominant landed groups are quite willing to support an arundhitiyar
candidate and make him virtually a rubber stamp of the local vested
interests. Thus, the differences within the Dalit communities are
exploited by the dominant landed backward caste groups, supported
by the political parties across the Dravidian spectrum. Shri P
Jaggaiyyan, an Arunditttiyar who was elected to the Presidentship of
Nakkalamuthanpatti in Tirunelveli was killed by the dominant
Maravar group when he refused to let his Vice President, a Maravar
himself, to preside over the Panchayat meetings. This case has not
been solved and the DMK regime is currently trying to arrange a
compromise. Similarly, Shri M Servanan, President of
Maruthankinaru village Panchayat was killed when he refused to
allow the husband of the Panchayat vice president, a Kallar, to act as
president in all but name. In this case also no arrest has been made. In
Tirulelveli, 10 Panchayat presidents have complained to the
Government about threat to their lives, and all of them are
Arundittiyars. The State Government is yet to act.
In the case of Shri Chinnan, President of Vakarai village in Dindigul
district, even as President he could not occupy his chair and made to
sit on a stool when the meetings were conducted. The compromise
worked out by the state government when the Dalit presidents
complain of being threatened or humiliated involved getting the
president accept his own subordination to the Vice President from
the dominant castes. This unfortunate aspect of Panchayat Raj in
Tamil Nadu needs to be investigated further. In the report of
Vishwanathan in Frontline of May 5, 2007 is the following
observation and it is certainly worth quoting: "The ill treatment
meted out to elected Dalit Panchayat presidents indicates that
untouchability is still practiced in Tamil Nadu villages, 60 years after
the constitution abolished it.". We may add that 40 of those 60 years
were under the rule of parties representing the forces of landed castes
 Word Craft and Statecraft

classified in the argot of Tamil Nadu as BCs and MBCs. Therefore, we

may be right in being cynical about the claims that these parties
represent the forces of equality and social justice.
It is well worth exploring whether the competitive electoral politics in
India, with its first-past-the-winning-post system servers to increase
rather than decrease caste tension and its consequent violence. The
most horrific case of anti-Dalit violence engendered by the Panchayat
election is the Melavalavu massacre of the Dalit president and 6 of his
associates on June 29, 1997.Melavalavu was a Maravar dominated
village that was reserved for the SC caste. Dalits who had earlier filed
their nomination for the post of the President of the Panchayat had
withdrawn their nomination when intimidated by the locally
dominant groups who were also patronized by the ADMK. Despite
booth capturing and other acts of electoral malpractice, Shri K
Murugesan was elected President. As it has become routine in Tamil
Nadu he was prevented from taking charge of his office and offered a
representation to the government. A small police picket was posted
at the village.
Shri M Karunanidhi, the Chief Minister of the state was informed of
the threat to the lives of Dalit presidents, but no action was taken. On
a bus on the way to Madurai Shri K Murugesan and 6 of his followers
were killed in a brutal manner. In the violence that followed several
buses of the state transport corporation were burnt. The real cause for
tension in the region was the decision of the Government to name a
road transport corporation after Shri Veeran Sundranarlingam, a
noted Dalit leader. In the mayhem that followed caste violence was
unleashed across the southern districts. These instances show quite
clearly that caste tension is simmering under the surface and that the
political parties exploit cast to create disturbances that can be used to
generate cast blocs and thereby consolidate the political base.
IV Conclusion
In this article, we have argued that contrary to popular perception,
the political mobilization in the Tamil region takes place along caste
 Word Craft and Statecraft

lines and the backward caste that form the backbone of the political
support base for the two Dravidian parties are not above using
violence to generate electoral gains. We have also documented that
the social morphology of the state with its layered and concentrated
distribution of dominant castes allows for the exploitation of caste as
a political resource. It may be said that the shift to proportional
representation will considerably reduce the dependence of political
parties on organized violence as a strategy for capturing political
power.
We have examined the several instances of caste violence starting
from the Kilvenmani Incident of December 25, 1968 to the more
recent instances of such violence and have shown that there is little
possibility of anti-Dalit violence declining as it is predicated upon the
very logic of the political parties that compete for power. In a larger
theoretical sense, we can even argue that the post-colonial nation
state is an engine of destruction in which innocent lives are lost.
The Political Fallout of the Nuclear Deal: Instability and
Opportunism
2008-07-06 13:32
The vampanthis, true to form, went on threatening and threatening
the UPA Government of Manmohan Singh, but did little to
destabilize it or even bring down the Government as they promised
to do. The time the Congress Government was out on bail furnished
by the vampanthis since August of last year, the congressmen as
every petty criminal; out on bail is wont to do, just jump bail and the
vampanthis are left standing with filth all over their faces.
The other day Veerappa Moily was on NDTV saying very badly that
"we have the numbers" meaning the UPA regime can survive with
outside support of the Samajwadi Party headed by the Mulayam-
Amar Singh duo. Had the vampanthis brought down the
government in November itself when the SP spoke out against the
Nuclear Deal, the credibility of the vampanthis would have been
quite high.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Now, even if they bring a vote of no-confidence against the UPA

regime, it is unlikely to have any immediate impact. Maybe this was
the game plan right from the beginning. We will make ideologically
charged and pro-China based threats and you use the interim period
to organise support for yourself. The vampanthis have shown that
they are indeed a "Loyal Opposition" to the dynasty obsessed
Congress party.
Enter the Samajwadi Party: A party that is all but wiped out, like the
Congress, in the major state of Uttar Pradesh. Suddenly the two
parties have discovered the virtues of "secularism" and this ever-
green fig leaf for every opportunistic alliance was once again invoked
by the Rajput chieftain, Amar Singh. He has even forgotten, quite
unlike Rajput's, the insult heaped on him by the queen bee of the
Congress Party, Soniaji. How long this alliance of mutual
convenience will last is any body's guess. Mulayam Singh betrayed
his friends in the UNPA to join forces with the discredited Congress
and he and his party will pay dearly in the coming elections. He will
certainly get the heads of Chidambaram and Murli Deora as the price
for extending support. Already there are signs of the Congress
regime helping their new partner.
Amar Singhji is known to be close to Anil Ambani and in the feud
between the two sons of Dhirubhai Ambani--Mukesh and Anil--the
SP is clearly on the side of Anil. So, the Congress regime obliges Amar
Singhji by launching its customs directorate at Mukesh and the two
planes he imported. It is such vindictive use of official machinery that
will increase due to the unholy opportunistic alliance at New Delhi.
In the elections that will follow all these shenanigans will tell on the
performance of the parties in the UPA. Congress will see a drastic fall
in numbers and in Tamil Nadu, the DMK regime will bite the
electoral dust. Pawar's NP is already cosying up to the Shiv Sena and
in New Delhi the Congress will certainly lose power. All this does not
mean that the BJP will sweep to power: it just means that it has a
chance of becoming the single largest party and must prepare for
power.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Politics of Flesh Trading: The Congress struggles to survive

2008-07-16 15:24
The newspapers call it "horse-trading". But to my mind the corrupt,
corpulent, illiterate Indian politicians cannot be compared with
horses that are brave, noble and beautiful. Flesh trading is perhaps a
better metaphor for the game that Congressmen are playing now. The
minority regime of Narashima Rao, survived by the purchase of MPs,
both in the wholesale and retail market. Now Manmohan Singh is
trawling the MP retail market having purchased the SP MPs at a
wholesale rate.
I am told that the going rate of an MP is 50 crores today and the
Ambanis will certainly be able to provide the cash. Hence, the
meeting with the queen bee of the Congress and all the drones and
workers are abuzz with excitement. The Congress regime must not be
allowed to perpetuate its misrule and hence it is in the interest of the
nation that this government can fall.
The numbers are not in favour of the Congress and hence they will try
to organize abstentions on July 22. If around 20 to 25 MPs abstain then
there is a chance for the UPA regime. Otherwise it is curtains, and the
country will not regret the demise of this regime. There can be
questions about the nuclear deal and its merits. There can however be
no question about the fact that four years of Congress misrule has
only seen a radical rise in social temperature, increase in crime and
lawlessness, spiralling inflation and all-round misery.
India stands isolated in the region and there has been no serious
improvement in the economic situation. Hence this regime must go.
Dynastic fascism is being promoted by the Congress, which runs
against the fundamental ethos of the country.
The fall of the UPA Regime
2008-07-20 11:21
It is unlikely that the regime of Dr Manmohan Singh and Soniaji will
survive the vote of confidence and the nation will heave a big sigh of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

relief to see the end of a corrupt, inefficient and arrogant government

whose sole raison d'tre is dynastic fascism of the crudest kind. I
normally do not have kind words to say about the vampanthis, but
they have done the nation proud by setting the process of the fall of
this regime.
The irony is that Congress is going with a begging bowl even to Deve
Gowda whose own government was pulled down by the Congress
after the PM was named nikkamma (stupid) by the then President of
the Party, Shri Sitaram Kesari, the late and unlamented Congressman
from Bihar. The arrogance of Congressmen is still on public display
when the General Secretary of the Party Shri Veerappa Moily is
addressing the media with venom and spit spewing from his lips in
equal measure. No one has forgotten the fact that it was during
Veerappa Moily's tenure as Chief Minister of Karnataka that his
name sake Veerappan had a free run of the forests of Karnataka and
this fellow now talks about politics after having served as a front man
for Veerappan.
Then the other pillar of secularism and dynastic fascism is
Karunanidhi. It was during his regime that Kachchateevu, an island
off the coast of Ramesvaram that belonged to Tamil Nadu as the
Sethupathuis of Ramnad exercised suzerainty over the island, was
handed over to Sri Lanka in 1974. And Indian fishermen are being
killed with impunity in the Sri Lankan navy. Why does he not remove
his dark glasses and yellow shoulder rag and see reality for what it
is?And make the retrieval of Kachateevu the price for DMK support
for the Congress regime.
A cut back to the past: 1999 when Atal Behari Vajpayee faced a vote of
no confidence in which Jayalalithaa was the prime agent. He did not
try to purchase MPs with money power, or intimidate them with the
CBI or blackmail them into supporting the government of the day. He
faced the Lok Sabha like a statesman and lost by one vote and then
went on to win the elections.
It is pathetic to see the shenanigans of the Congressmen. Some are
being offered ministerial posts despite a criminal record. Others are
 Word Craft and Statecraft

being wooed with money and the asking price is anywhere from 25 to
50 crores. Nothing like this happened in the past when the NDA was
ruling. Why are the so-called secularists not alarmed at the fall of
public values and at the hands of the Congress? The best part of all
this is that even God cannot save the regime in New Delhi and it will
fall and as I keep saying, good riddance to a bad regime.
The Congress has devalued the post of the Prime Minister making a
mockery of the most important constitutional post by making
Manmohan Sigh the PM without power or authority. Somnath
Chatterjee, the Speaker, has suddenly woken up to the fact that he
holds a constitutional office and so does Lal Kishen Advani, who is
the Leader of the Opposition. He cannot say that he will not vote with
the BJP. He can at best say that as Speaker he would like to be neutral
and that is understandable.
Politics without Purpose
2008-07-21 10:20
It is time to introspect: Is the Congress, a party that took India to the
horrors of partition, serving the cause of India well? The answer is a
resounding NO. Right from the time of Indira Gandhi the party has
become an instrument of dynastic advancement and this violates the
very purpose for which India fought for freedom. The sacrifices of
millions of people have been hi-jacked by the so-called first family of
India politics.
Further, the Congress has presided over a highly criminalized
system: the mystery surrounding the Nagarwala case has still not
been solved, though Ramachandra Guha in his latest India since
Gandhi has tried his best to cover up the tracks. Now we have a vote
of confidence that is sought to be won by brandishing every kind of
inducement possible and the same suspects are being rounded up
this time round; Shibu Soren. Who has forgotten the fact that he took
money from Narashima Rao to perform the vote of confidence.
The mystery of the disappearance of his secretary Parkash Jha is still
to be solved. Now, the Manmohan Singh government is trying to give
 Word Craft and Statecraft

him a ministership as a reward for his support. With this kind of

politics where is salvation? The Akali Dal, forgetting the fact that the
Congress was responsible for the worst post-Independence massacre
in October of 1984 of Sikhs in New Delhi and other parts of India even
wants to extend support to a discredited regime by abstaining. I think
this is totally uncalled for. Even Deve Gowda thought it was payback
time and he has decided to vote against the Government.
Terrorism, the Congress Regime and Sushma Swaraj
2008-08-02 11:52
The repeated acts of criminal violence against the citizens of India
should be a matter of serious concern if we have a half decent
government. But, in New Delhi we have a self-obsessed bunch of
courtiers and dynastic fascists who want to hood wink the people at
every step. The Congress and it's so called secular parties are never
tired of saying that the minorities should not be disturbed. If jihadi
terrorists take refuge among the minority population how is the
nation to defend itself. Now that HUJI is being suspected the police
will have to investigate the settlement of illegal Bangladeshis in the
country.
To cry out of roof tops that police investigation is ipso facto minority
harassment is another way of encouraging terrorism and the
politicians who play this dirty game never suffer the consequences
except for the innocent citizens. Sushma Swaraj has drawn attention
to the fact that the Congress Party is the likely beneficiary of the wave
of terror attacks. In Assam the ULFA militants are openly protected
by the state leaders of the congress, in Nagaland the Naga militants
are close to the Congress. In fact, the history of the Congress Party
aiding and abetting with anti-national groups is well known.
Who supported the Sikh extremists like Bhindrewale? Everyone
knows that Indira Gandhi for improving the electoral prospects of the
Congress in the Punjab supported the Damdami Kahalsa terrorists
and only when they gunned down Atwal, the DIG, near the Golden
temple did she have any second thoughts. Her Home Minister
 Word Craft and Statecraft

misnamed Gnani Zail Singh must have been aware of the facts but
being a courtier rather than a political figure he did not utter a word
against it. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu Mrs Gandhi aided and supported
the LTTE throughout the 1982-84 period. Given the fact that the
Congress has indulged in anti-national activities, I would not be
surprised if the terrorists have acted in concert with their political
supporters.
When BJP ruled states only are targeted, it becomes clear that the
terrorists see eye to eye with the Congress which is also anti BJP. The
fact is that the vote of confidence won by the UPA is tainted victory
and large sums of money have changed hands to ensure a
comfortable victory for the Congress and the bunch of courtiers in the
Lok Sabha. The terror strikes have diverted attention from the cash
for vote scandal and I feel that the Sushma Swaraj theory needs to be
taken seriously. If India has anti national parties like the Congress
and the Communists there will always be Terrorism.In fact, when
Narasimha Rao was the PM the vote of confidence was won through
outright bribery.
Chander Mohan, Anuradha Bali and politics of matrimony
Anyone reading my posts would have realized that I am an inveterate
enemy of dynastic politics and the cynical corruption of the Indian
political class. Having said that I must add that the way the son of
Bajan Lal, Shri Chander Mohan, the sacked Deputy Chief Minister of
Haryana was treated is not only shocking and barbaric, but also
violates the spirit of the freedom of choice so precious to all of us.
The politicians of Tamil Nadu have at the last count three wedded
wives and scores of concubines and they find a respectable place in
Sonia's (s)table and why should Shri Chander Mohan be treated
differently. First things first. The statement of Shri Bajhan Lal
disowning his son for having married his lover Anuradha Bali
suggest that he has the right to decide for his son. Shri Chander
Mohan was holding the responsible position of the Deputy CM of
Haryana after having won the elections from his constituency four
 Word Craft and Statecraft

times. What does it mean to "disown" his son. Further, he stated that
the responsibility for the upbringing of his two children from the first
wife, Seema, will rest with the "family". What law gives Bajhan Lal the
authority to take children away from the parents.
I wish the ever alert mahila organisations take note of the patriarchal
argument made by Shri Bajhan Lal, treating children as if they were
mere pieces of real estate. I am not defending Shri Chander Mohan, I
am only pointing out that he has a right to live out his life with a
woman he loves, for whom he gave up his political position. I am
reminded of Edward VIII who abdicated the throne to marry Mrs
Simpson. To my mind Shri Chander Mohan has shown spine and I
laud him for it.It is obvious that the marriage with Seema had broken
down and that she has the support of the patriarch. Chander Mohan
need not have taken the dubious route to matrimony through a bogus
conversion to Islam a la Dharmendra and Hema Malini. The Hindu
Marriage Act does not mandate against a second marriage provided
the wife does not complain.
This is the provision exploited by Shri Karunanidhi and scores of
Dravidian politicians who practice polygamy with the lan of their
Chola rulers. I saw both on TV last evening and it appeared that both
seemed very happy together. Anuradha Bali was the Assistant
Attorney General of Haryana and from the interaction on TV she
seemed a highly articulate and strong-minded woman, If Shri
Chander Mohan has married her out of love I think no one has any
right to complain, least of all Bajhan Lal.The divorce laws are
extremely antiquated, and I think if one cannot live in a state of
marriage he or she should be allowed to opt out. Shri Chander Mohan
has only done that. I wish the newlyweds the very best.
Ruchika Tragedy and the Indian Elite
Friday, December 25, 2009
Once again, we find a powerful police officer responsible for the
death of a young girl. By now, given the fact that the Indian media,
like the people of India in general, have a short memory. How many
 Word Craft and Statecraft

remember the fact that not that long ago the IPS officer, and the father
of two girls, R K Sharma IPS was found guilty of hiring Tyagi
gangsters from Meerut area and having Shivani Bhatnagar killed.
People of India have come to expect from politicians and police
officers a large degree of criminality and it is time we checked this. As
the people of India can be persuaded by emotion, cash and liquor it is
time for patriotic and freedom loving people to come together to
inflict punishment on criminals who use their high office and political
clout to evade punishment. The high voltage media campaign does
not help because even after the Priyarashini Mattoo, Jessica Lal,
Nitish Kataria and the BMW cases we are not seeing a reduction in the
number of cases in which powerful politicians and their associates
escape the long arms of the law.
It appears that only when the last witness against Laloo Prasad
Yadava is killed will the Fodder case come up before the bench. More
recently, in Madurai where three journalists were killed in the
Dinakaran office when it was attacked by DMK criminals led by
"Attack" Pandi and others, all the accused were acquitted and one of
the prime accused is now serving as a Union Minister. There is just no
point in thinking that politicians and powerful bureaucrats and
policemen can be brought to justice. Justice must be brought to them
in one form or other and only then will things change.
I was shocked at the brazenness with which S Rathore IPS swaggers.
The arrogance displayed by this criminal is breath-taking. He was
responsible for driving a young and budding tennis player, Ruchika,
to suicide after he raped her and threatened her family with dire
consequences if they persist in prosecuting him for the crime. He
subjected the entire family to humiliation and disgrace and this
resulted in the young and impressionable girl killing herself. S S
Rathore, IPS is a police medal awardee and this itself shows that the
Government of India honours powerful criminals if they are useful.
Stripping him of the medal now will be only of symbolic value as he
has already reaped the benefits of the ill bestowed medal.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

My question is simple: How do such criminals rise to the top and get
away with their criminal behaviour, even rape and abetment to
suicide. The answer is the politician-criminal officer nexus. Devil
Lal's son of Meham fame, Om Prakash Choutala (a well-deserved
name for a Haryana politician) seems to have covered up for S S
Rathore, IPS.
I do not think that the common India citizen will ever see the fact that
the politicians elected by the common man have all the traits of the
common Indian citizen - criminality, venality, prone to moral
turpitude and corruption. Therefore, there is no point in saying that
justice will finally triumph. Only when we take it upon ourselves to
punish wrong doers will the politicians fall in line.
Madhu Koda, harassed & humiliated
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Madhu Koda is harassed and humiliated by the Indian
Establishment's war against the Tribals. Everyone knows that Indian
politicians are amongst the most corrupt in the world and the name of
spectrum king, A. Raja, Sukh Ram, Laloo Prasad Yadava and the late
unlamented Narashima Rao are icons of filth, corruption and sloth of
the worse kind. Yet the Indian people did not once punish them, and
the political system found place for them in the Lok Sabha. The only
minister who was hauled up for crime was the Jharkhand leader,
Shibu Soren and even he was ultimately let scot free.
The spectrum king, A Raja has made at least 50,000 crores and all that
the chief courtier of Sonia can say is that he is innocent, and the CBI is
answerable only to the Prime Minister and therefore spectrum king
will go the Shibu Soren way. How much did Karthik Chidambaram
make in the last few years and yet no response from the political class?
However, it is over eagerness to prosecute a tribal leader even when
he is in the hospital.It seems Chidambaram has declared war on
tribals: in the name of anti-Naxalite counterinsurgency as he wants to
eliminate the tribals from their rich forest land and hand over the areas
to companies which serve the interests of Karthik and Co.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

I have always said that unless the people of India decide that the
Indian Constitution does not contain any mention of the word party
and throw out the rascals who stand from organized thug gangs
called recognized political parties the country has no future.I am sure
that Koda has made money. Also, have 99.9% of the MPs. So, why
discriminate by invoking the law selectively.
The anti-Sikh Holocaust and the Congress Party: 25 years on
Friday, October 30, 2009
Today is remembered all over the electronic media as the day Indira
Gandhi was killed by her own Sikh bodyguards. The mayhem that
the Congress Party launched under the leadership of the son and
successor of the then Prime Minister has been forgotten. Rajiv Gandhi
famously remarked: When a big tree falls, the earth shakes. The
cynicism inherent in the justification given by Rajiv Gandhi for the
wholesale killing of 12,000 Sikhs in the city of New Delhi alone will
remain an indelible blot on the recent history of India.
The Congress apologist Ramachandra Guha in his India since Gandhi
barely mentions this holocaust visited upon the Sikhs. I am not a Sikh
and yet have not forgotten or forgiven the Congress Party for its
complicity in the crime. If Narendra Modi is pilloried day in and day
out by the same liberal media that talks of the post-Godhra riots, I
wonder why the Barkha Dutts, the Paranoy Roys and the Arnab
Goswamis remain silent about the massacre of the Sikhs in the three
days of licensed killings in New Delhi, the so-called civilized Capital
of the Republic of India. What is even more shameful is that not a
single person has been punished in the 25 years since the riots. The
Congress and the BJP together have ensured that that sordid chapter
in India's past lies buried.
The historians of JNU who spew out their liberal rhetoric on NDTV
whenever they have a chance have ignored this carnage because they
are interested in safe guarding the reputation of their "secular" party,
the Indian National Congress.
I recently read a book published from Harvard University Press
 Word Craft and Statecraft

called the Black Book of Communism. This book documents in detail

the crimes perpetuated in the name of Communism from the 1917
Bolshevik Revolution to the organized slaughter of Pol Pot and his
gang. In fact, Communism has killed more than 150 million human
beings since the beginning of the 20th century. Compare this with the
mere 13 million of Hitler and his thugs. The biggest crime in India can
be laid at the doorstep of the Congress Party and if the people of India
do not cut the hand that kills them they deserve no mercy.Today let
us take a vow in the name of all that we hold sacred that the criminals,
the anti-Sikh carnage will not go unpunished and that we will not
vote for a party responsible for the largest massacre in Independent
India.
Why the politicians are responsible for Naxalite violence
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
P Chidambaram, the man who in now the Home Minister of India,
should know that he did not win his Lok Sabha seat. He was declared
the winner based on the usual consideration, but this dhoti clad
Harvard returned politician poses as if he is above the dirty level of
Indian politics because he speaks flawless English. Politicians like P
Chidambaram and his dynastic fascist party the Congress has
ensured the criminalization of the Indian polity that any self-
respecting nationalist will feel that he has to liberate India from the
clutches of such men who have perverted the ideals of India to serve
petty personal and caste goals. In the name of democracy, the
politicians have enriched themselves and have set themselves as the
custodians of Indian state. The world Party does not appear even
once in the Indian constitution therefore this party based political
system is actually a travesty of Indian constitution.
Further, the political parties are not even recognized in law: they are
at best unincorporated associations and therefore in theory it should
not be difficult to dismantle political parties using the methods of
appropriate response.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

he Naxalite movement that is strong in 20 states is the result of poor

governance in which all funds for development are taken by the
dominant castes in connivance with the political parties. The Naxalite
movement gains strength from the yawning divide between the
political class and the labouring class. Unfortunately, the Naxalite
movement instead of surgically striking at the politicians is like any
movement that has lost its ideological mooring is becoming
increasingly a terrorist movement. According to the Report of the
Home Ministry 4500 people have been killed in Naxalite violence
during the past 4 years. If the Naxalite rid India of its politicians no
one will complain, but unfortunately the indiscriminate violence
unleashed by the Naxalite in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand make
people wonder if there is any ideological essence left in the left
movement.
The only way to tackle Naxalite violence is to bring down the party
based political system with its first past the winning post electoral
system and replace it with proportional system of representation
with to right of recall. I have no doubt that without thus change the
Naxalite will ultimately win because the politicians and political
parties are very unpopular.
DMK and its Dynastic problems: Manmohan Singh faces
Difficulties in cabinet formation
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The unexpected and may I add, rather short-sighted, electoral verdict
from Tamil Nadu has given the thumbs up for the most rabid kind of
dynastic and family based politics. The real issue before the aging
patriarch of the Karunanidhi family is to reconcile the conflicting and
increasingly unquenchable differences between the children of
Muthuvel Karunanidhis's several wives and party loyalists.
It is a well-known fact that the daughter Kanimozhi is now emerging
as his chosen successor in the "literary" field and therefore he would
like to give her some post in the Central Government as a platform for
her to develop and flourish after his demise. This is strongly opposed
 Word Craft and Statecraft

by his two sons, one with the improbable name, Stalin and the other
the Lord of MaduraI, Alazhagiri. Now there is the curious presence of
Dayanidhi Maran the nephew and the most educated and articulate
of the Karuna tribe. The Congress is comfortable with this man and is
willing to give him a minister ship.
The Congress which started this charade of Dynastic Politics is in no
moral position to cry foul as it is shamelessly playing loyal courtier to
Rahul Gandhi and Sonia. It would have been better if the BJP had
made dynastic fascism as an electoral issue as the people of India did
not struggle for freedom to hand over the nation to the New Mughals
of Delhi. The DMK is fully exploiting the moral turpitude of the
Congress to promote family members to high political positions. The
DMK party is also full of servile trash like the Congress, but old hands
like T R Balu are unwilling to hand over their future to the tender
mercies of the Karuna family and are putting up a stiff fight and hence
the delay in the DMK participation. The DMK tried to put a spin on
this by making it appear that it is the Congress which is being
unreasonable; in fact, the INC is only bending backwards to please
the DMK and is willing even to appoint the Spectrum King A. Raja
and the Sethu Samundar Samrat, T R Baalu to cabinet positions. So,
when the Congress is asked to only bend by the DMK it chooses to
crawl.It appears that the struggle for succession has already begun in
the DMK. The different factions are only arm twisting their way into a
post-Karunanidhi world and the family wants desperately to retain
control over the Party as the Party hold all the wealth.
Lalu Prasad Yadava and his Foul Tongued Obscenities
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Yadava chieftain from the cow-belt of Bihar, who is facing
prosecution for the fodder scam, has said that if he were the Home
Minister of India he would crush Varun Gandhi under a "road roller".
We do not associate civilized behavior with the politicians of India,
but even by the promiscuous standards of Indian politicians, Lalooji's
comments seem to be far from the accepted norm of a loose, oath
 Word Craft and Statecraft

filled lying tongue for which politicians have become notorious.

What is alarming that a man who holds a responsible position in the
constitutional order of India can get away making such a barbaric
remark. What is worse he believes that the Home Minister can get
people crushed under road rollers as part of their perks of office.
So apart from the pelf and corruption that come with a political office,
Indian politicians now claim the secular right and privilege of getting
people killed preferably under road rollers. I know that Mrs Indira
Gandhi preferred people killed in car accidents. The fact that all
people associated with the 1968 Nagarwala case died in road
accidents cannot be considered a mere coincidence. Her father had
numerous of his lovers killed and the less said about Rajiv Gandhi
who justified the killing of 10,000 Sikhs in Delhi the better. The people
of India must have the sense not to vote criminals who speak the
coarse language of a gangster from the gutters. It is high time the
electorate made up its mind and rejected the criminals who
masquerade as "politicians". I wonder why all the criminals from
North India are from the Yadava or the Tyagi caste.
It is strange that Shri Varun Gandhi, the son of Hon'ble Maneka
Gandhi is being treated in such a shabby manner. Agreed that his
comments that were widely attributed to him do not deserve any
sympathy and bespeak of a mind-set is more attuned to the rhetoric of
the Congress Party than the BJP, the fact remains that his father the
late Sanjay Gandhi was the first to introduce the kind of coarse
language that has now become the stock-in-trade of that national
disgrace called the Indian National Congress. I do not want the sins of
the father to fall upon the son, but facts are sacrosanct and hence I am
constrained to state this. Having said that it is the Congress that has
brought about the absolute degradation of the political system by
entrenching the filth of dynastic politics the BJP is forced to react and
hence the relevance of Shri Varun Gandhi to the BJP. By effectively
using the coarse language of Shri Varun Gandhi as a foil the BJP has
dented the image of the Congress. Nothing works better than using
one royal prince against the pretender in chief, Rahul Gandhi.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Booking Shri Varun Gandhi under the NSA is totally a bad move and
it will generate a sympathy wave for the candidate and, I am afraid
will give tonnes of legitimacy to the ideas of Shri Varun Gandhi.
It is unacceptable that criminals like D P Yadav, Sahabuddin, Arun
Gawli and scores more can contest freely while Shri Varun Gandhi
sits in jail. I think Mayawati is playing into the BJP hands by doing
this and I suspect that the top brass of the BJP is not unhappy as it
would get the sympathy vote. Is there a secret alliance with the BSP
over the Varun Gandhi issue? The same is the argument over Sanjay
Dutt. This man is not half as dangerous as Mulayam Singh Yadav and
the dhoti clad criminals in the Yadava political parties of the cow belt.
But an example is made of him as he is easy pickings. I think the
Congress and its brand of politics needs to be consigned to the landfill
of Indian democracy had to survive.
Tharoor, Tweets and Twats: A Long Day's Journey into Night
2010-04-19 20:31
I remember Sashi Tharoor as a student in Delhi University sitting in
the CH (Coffee House for the uninitiated) with Swapan Das Gupta
and Chandan Mitra and a bevy of girls from Miranda House. I still
remember Tharoor with long side burns in a kurta and faded blue
jeans with an air of total nonchalance about him. I went on to earn a
Ph.D. in History from a good State University in the US and Sashi
Tharoor went to Fletcher School of Diplomacy to earn his. The Ph.D.
dissertation was published by Vikas under the title Reasons of State
and till this day remains the only full-lengthstudy of the process of
Indian foreign policy decision making.
I will say that I find it impossible to believe that Sashi Tharoor used
his position to make money. We have the likes of Laloo Prasad
Yadava and Papu Yadava, criminals to the core,being included in the
India political spectrum and Tharoor certainly is not cut from the
same cloth.Tharoor broke a few rules of the political game. First,
unlike N D Tiwari, Tharoor flaunted his penchant for pretty women.
When Barkha from NDTV was interviewing Tharoor on NDTV a few
 Word Craft and Statecraft

days back, I thought that Dutt would just sidle up to Tharoor. Such is
the force he exudes. We have a chief minister of one southern state
with more wives than he even cares to remember and his children
from different women are fighting for his political legacy even as the
old man like King Lear is still technically alive and kicking. No one
says anything.
The First Prime Minister, Jawarhar Lal Nehru accepted the Partition
of India as suggested by Mountbatten because Lady Mountbatten
was his lover and we keep that singular fact under the carpet. Tharoor
openly associated with a pretty woman and that was his first major
mistake. He took her to official parties and made it clear to all that she
was his love interest. Indians being hypocritical do not appreciate an
honest relationship. Had Tharoor kept Sunanda Pushkar (the pun is
unintended) no one would have objected. But, he was honest and that
was his undoing.
Sashi Tharoor is a serial offender as far as women are concerned and
that is a personality disorder not a crime. The Tiger Woods syndrome
affects even successful writers. Tharoor is the author of an
outstanding novel, The Great Indian Novel and is still regarded as an
outstanding piece of post-colonial literature. His short stories
collected in Five Dollar Smile and essays in book Less in Baghdad are
well written.
The first rule of Indian politics is that keep your twats under wraps
and do not flaunt them. Tharoor paid no heed to that. The second rule
of Indian politics is bow and scrape and do not ask questions. Tharoor
was tweeting away even on extremely sensitive issues. I have a blog
in this site on his "cattle class" remark. I think that the Indian Media
too does not know how to deal with a highly educated and
accomplished man and was complicit in undermining Tharoor.The
most important mistake that Tharoor made was to associate with low
brow convicts like the IPL commissioner, Lalith Modi. The convicted
drug dealer is not from the same class or status group of Tharoor and
Sashi must not have been seen associating with such muck. And he
will pay for that.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Sashi Tharoor fell for a woman who for all her looks and glamour did
finally show some character. When the sweat equity of 70 crores
became an issue, she did surrender the equity hoping thereby to pull
her beau out of the crisis. Sunanda Pushkar's husband Menon
committed suicide in New Delhi two years back according to the
latest Outlook and now see the mess Tharoor has landed in. The
moral of the story: Keep your twats strictly out of public glare and
scrutiny.
Telecom Scandal, Dynastic Fascism, and Political Corruption
2010-05-02 18:32
It appears that educated people in India do not want to make the
obvious link between political corruption and dynastic fascism
which is rampant in India. The linguistic division of state has
spawned a whole array of regional and sub regional dynasties vying
for space in the overcrowded menagerie of Indian politics. The
Congress Party started the slide by promoting a political dynasty and
all regional parties along with their national affiliates followed suit.
Only the two communist parties and the BJP seem to be bucking the
trend. It is easier and safer for corrupt politicians to park their ill-
gotten wealth in Party coffers and since they want their families to
access that wealth the logic demands that families will inherit the
parties. When Annadurai the founder of the DMK died no one in the
DMK would have thought of giving the reins of leadership to his son.
Though the two Dravidian parties swear by the name of Annadurai
both have betrayed the legacy of that leader. None more so than
Karunanidhi mistakenly called "kalignar" a term that means artist,
but I have still to discover what he is so good at that he deserves that
title. Tamils have become so backward that they have started the
biruda game like the kings of old.
It is only a matter of time before A Raja the Telecom scamster is shown
the door. The 75,000-crore scandal he presided over is directly linked
to the DMK party funds.In almost all the recent by-elections the party
has spent crores of money and it is quite obvious that some of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

money has come from the Telecom scam. A Raja in fact violated the
written directive from the Prime Minister's Office which instructed
him to keep the "empowered group of ministers" in the loop. It shows
that in this Age of coalition politics, the dictates of the PM can be
ignored with impunity. It is also possible that the PM's directive was
issued to provide a line of defence to the PM, just in case the scandal
became too much of a stench.
The Congress has perfected the art of political corruption and has
trained its 'secular" allies very well in this art. Corruption and
Dynastic Fascism are both the great gifts of the Congress to the
country.The only way to rid the nation of corruption is to appoint an
audit committee to consider the funding and accounts of all
registered political bodies. This is well within the purview of the
Election Commission. After all political parties are only
unincorporated association in law and it is within the competence of
the Election Commission to order an audit into the accounts of all
parties. If hawala money poisons the IPL chalice, why not the political
parties. And parties that refuse to comply must be forbidden to
compete in the elections.This is a reform well worth attempting.The
Supreme Court of India has seconded what I have said more than five
years back.
What I first suggested in this blog has now become main stream
politics with even the Congress ordering an audit of the Aam Aadmi
Party.
Nitin Gadkar, Lalu Yadava and the World of Dogs
2010-05-14 15:17
Nitin Gadkari, the President of the BJP has called the Yadava
chieftains from the Cow Belt "DOGS". Now I respect animals and I
am sure that this comparison is very offensive, and I condemn Nitin
Gadkari for making such an outrageous statement. I own a few street
dogs and to the best of my knowledge have never threatened to crush
anyone under a road roller. This being the case how can Lalu Prasad
Yadav be compared to a "dog". The dogs of this planet can feel
 Word Craft and Statecraft

outraged at the very thought that a gentleman who has the "fodder
scam" facing him should feel offended. I also like to point out that
Mishra who was seeing one of the girls of that Yadava was found
dead in a canal. Now dogs do not do such outrageous things and they
must be treated with dignity.
The politicians of this country call India corrupt and criminal and
they think that they have the licence to kill, abuse, pillage, rape,
murder and if they have the right "secular" credentials like the
Yadava duo or that D P Yadava they escape all accountability for their
crimes. Today these to Yadavas are crying foul. Has anyone forgotten
what Mulayam Yadava tried to do to Mayawati a few years back or
the horrible words uttered by Mrs Bahuguna against Mayawati a few
months b ack. Indian politicians are a disgrace to India and
everything decent in the world and therefore deserve no mercy.
The gang of corrupt criminals called politicians will thrive as long as
people not realise that by voting such people they are in fact
committing a crime against themselves.I am not saying that NITIN
Gadkari has done the right thing but there is a limit to the patience of
everyone. When George Fernandes was Defence Minister the
CongressParty used to hurl abuses in Parliament on the coffin matter.
Hon'ble Narendra Modi is being humiliated day in and day out by the
likes of pretty face Barkha Dutt and her tribe. As for me I say that
given a choice between dogs and cats and Indian politicians I prefer
dogs, cats, monkey, snakes and sundry animals as they are any day
more civilised than that khaini stained fodder thief.
Naxalite Outrage Again: Why Chidambaram's war against the
tribals will fail
2010-05-18 10:10
The war launched by UPA II against the tribal in the heartland of
India, labelled Operation Green Hunt is showing all the signs of early
senility, exactly like the mental and intellectual processes of our
"secular" congress brand politicians. Even dhoti clad Harvard
educated politicos are not free from that malaise. It is necessary to
 Word Craft and Statecraft

remember that across the social spectrum the Indian political

establishment has lost legitimacy. Winning elections with money
power and muscle power the politicians lord over the nation like the
palaiyakaras of olden times. Even Chidambaram should know that
his right to occupy his office in North Block is not without a huge
question mark. Did he or did he not win his Lok Sabha seat. There are
different versions about his vote share.
The is caught between the Indian security establishment and the
Naxalite and with a cranky man like G K Pillai as Home Secretary it is
unlikely that the Government will see any success. I have often
remarked in my extensive blogs that sending troops by carriers like
trucks and buses is just stupid as the Naxalites have mastered the art of
using IEDs. The Government should strike at the supply side of the
chain and clamp down on the sale of dual use chemicals. Further
corruption within the Establishment has resulted in a steady flow of
both information and arms and ammunition to the "liberated Zones". I
think that dhoti clad nincompoop called Chidambaram should read
classics like Mao's works, Sun Szu's Art of War, Machiavelli's the Prince
and Clausewitz's On War and he will realise that he just cannot win this
war as he does not understand the dynamics of what isgoing on.
I have said earlier that Arundhati Roy's piece in the Outlook should be
carefully perused as it contains valuable insight on the tactics of the
Naxalite. Instead of blaming the so-called intellectuals, the Government
of the day should realise that the Indian political establishment does not
have the loyalty even of its own members. I think the BJP keep out of this
war by just not commenting one or the other. Every Naxalite strike is a
coffin to inter the existing political calculus.In the latest strike the
Naxalite have exposed the fact that the Government is using civilians as
human shields in its war against the tribal.
The Indian State, The Naxalite and Political Violence
2010-05-31 09:17
The most recent outrage against the Indian Railways by the Naxalites
in Midnapore District of West Bengal once again drives home the fact
 Word Craft and Statecraft

that the Indian political establishment lacks the material and the
intellectual capacity to counter the Naxalites. In fact, the spate of
recent attack on civilian targets suggests that the Maoists now
consider civilians as fair game due to the absolute erosion of the very
authority of the state. The Indian political establishment is capable of
unheard of levels of brutality against unarmed civilians but is utterly
incompetent to deal with armed groups motivated by ideological or
religious considerations. It trumpets its dubious success against a
hand full of stray "hindu" extremists who seem to be to be absurd
elements in a theatre of death. To re-enforce its dubious secular
credentials some hot heads like Mutalik are paraded by the
establishment as "proof" of the even handedness of the India sate. The
fact is that the present political Establishment has lost all claims to the
loyalty of its citizens and the mere fact that some MPs like Lalu Prasad
Yadava and his criminal ilk "win" elections is no reason for such men
to be regarded as part of the political process or leadership. Even P
Chidambaram, the Home Minister has dubious credentials. His
premature announcements of Telangana once again ignited a
firestorm in Andhra and the Centre has just bought time by
constituting the Sri Krishna Committee.
The main reason why the Naxalite menace has risen to such levels is
because the UPA has within its fold powerful parties that have a
vested interest in Maoist violence. Lalu Prasad Yadava needs the
support of the Naxalites in Vidisha district from where he can hope to
win by using Yadava and Naxalite muscle power to rig the elections
in the cow belt. The unholy nexus between the Mamta Party and the
Naxalites are there for all to see. This is not to say that the CPM are a
bunch of innocent bystanders. In fact, the CPM routinely used the
same machinery and muscle power to crush opposition and I
remember that when that old thug called Jyoti Basu was the Chief
Minister, he had the skull of Mata broken when she led a
demonstration against the CPM Government before the Writers'
Building. Having supped with the devil of violence, the CPM now
cannot cry foul.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

My appeal to the Naxalites is as follows: Target the political

establishment and no one will complain. But do not kill civilians. The
Indian political class is a criminal gang and deserves to be punished
in the name of patriotic forces.
The Dravidian Parties and the Sri Lanka Jaffna Tamil Crisis
Monday, May 4, 2009
George Orwell pointed out several decades back that politicians use
words not to communicate but to obscure, confuse and obfuscate.
The Dravidian Parries, political, cultural and transgender ones, are
past masters in this game. Take the term Sri Lankan Tamils, for
instance. The use of this term would suggest that Sri Lankan Tamils
are entirely Jaffna and Eastern Tamils only. The fact is that the Jaffna
Tamils are of high-caste Vellala origin and hence the Dravidian
Political parties support them. The MBC and BC oriented politics of
Tamil Nadu means that there so-called Jaffna Tamils get sympathy
for reasons of their caste origin. The sympathy of the Dravidian
politicos for the Sri Lanka based Tamils is not based on humanitarian
principles but on caste considerations.
The other section of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, the plantation
Tamils, are of Schedule caste and poor social and economic
background, and therefore the BC and MBC dominated Dravidian
parties show no sympathy for the Plantation Tamils. The greatest
surprise is the fact that Sc based parties like the Dalit Panthers led by
Shri Timumavalavan also eschew the Plantation Tamils. Why does
not the plight of the Plantation Tamils not create any waves in Tamil
Nadu, and the living and political conditions of the plantation Tamils
is much worse than the situation confronting the Jaffna based Tamils.
The Indian media always confuses the issue by making it appear that
the Jaffna Tamils are the sole Tamil population in Sri Lanka. The
plantation Tamils were sent to Sri Lanka through the kankani system
by which labour was recruited for the plantation economy in
Malaysia, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
The recruits usually came from the lowest social sector and in India
 Word Craft and Statecraft

they would be classifies as the SC community. For this reason, the

Dravidian political dispensation does not highlight the conditions
under which the highland Tamils live. The Plantation Tamils have no
cultural or political rights and after five generation they are even
considered stateless. These Plantation Tamils because of the lower
social and economic status in the Tamil caste system are looked down
by the Jaffna Tamil and do not intermarry or have social ties with
them. The fact remains that the Plantation Tamils have no sympathy
for the cause of the Jaffna Tamils. Karunanidhi must be laughing all
the way to the election booth. His stunt of fasting lasted less than one
hour, and he went to the grave of Mr Annadurai in the Marina with
six air coolers a clutch of wives and party men. His shameless stunt
may get him some votes in the game of competitive chauvinism
indulged in by the high cast dominated Dravidian parties. It is
obvious that Rajapakshe has a tight game plan and the killing of LTTE
chief Prabhakaran is the beginning of the end of the politics of
Dravidian exceptionalism.
DMK Ministers Watch as Policeman is Hacked to Death
2010-01-09 11:14
I have always maintained that Tamil Nadu has degenerated into
medieval barbarism under the Dravidian dispensation. By this I
include all political, parties of Tamil Nadu and most certainly the two
prime Dravidian parties. I have no hesitation in saying that had Shri E
V Ramaswamy Nayakkar been alive today he would have rejected
the criminalised identity politics of the two Dravidian parties.
Nothing illustrates the degeneration of the political culture and
humanity in Tamil Nadu than the callous manner, in which two
magnanimous (sarcasm intended) ministers Pannerselvam and
Muhammad watched with utter disdain the death of Shri
Vettrivellan, a sub-inspector of Police in Tinevelly District who was
involved in arranging the security for the ministers. A few minutes
before the arrival of the convoy of the magnanimous Shri Vettrivellan
had been attacked with country bombs and hacked with avuvals (a
local weapon glorified in Tamil Nadu as the Tirupacchi) and as he lay
 Word Craft and Statecraft

dying the two honourable ministers watched the fun and not one of
them even bothered to send the dying man to the hospital even
though an ambulance was part of the ministerial convoy.
Tinevelly district has become notorious for gang warfare between
Maravars and Kallar politicos and the police are part of the gang
warfare as they are used by rival gangs to settle scores. This kind of
violent politics has been going on in the region since the late
eighteenth century and it is high time factional fighting is checked.
Rayalseema area of Andhra Pradesh is another region where such
violence has become rampant.The two ministers must be forced to
resign as they acted in a highly irresponsible and criminal manner.
A Raja, the Telecom Scandal and Political Corruption in India
2011-02-06 01:56
Today, A Raja, the former Telecom Minister is languishing in jail and
both his own so-called backward class dominated DMK and the
Congress had absolutely no hesitation in making an example out of
him. A few months back the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand,
Madhu Koda was arrested and thrown into prison. In my blogs I have
dealt extensively with both issues. It seems that the law has arms long
enough only for Dalits and tribal. Not a single backward class
politician who in this polity of ours have captured political power
have been arrested and punished. My point is simple: Raja may be
corrupt but so are 99% of the political personalities in India. The NDA
Government headed by Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee was certainly a
dedicated and honest Government, but the people voted for the
criminals who are now ruling India. Only Gujarat has shown native
wisdom and had repeatedly voted for good governance despite
sustained and motivated campaigns against the Hon'ble Chief
Minister, Narendra Modi.
It is impossible to imagine a scandal of this magnitude without the
active connivance of the higher ups in the UPA government and, yet
we have a Prime Minister who like Gandhi's monkeys believes that
he saw no evil, spoke no evil and heard no evil. In short, he was a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

silent spectator or worse an active abettor in the crime. It is high time

the people of this dynasty obsessed country realise that as long as
they vote for political parties that promote family and dynastic rule
they are promoting corruption and nepotism. In a recent book on
India Patrick French has shown that 100% of the younger members of
Parliament are scions of political families and the woman's
reservation bill in this situation will only enable daughters and
daughters in law to enter the political fray.
Corruption is endemic in India and the system has failed to even
identify the corrupt let alone punish them. The vast sums of money
stashed away in foreign accounts only goes to prove that Indian
politicians have systematically looted the country. In the 200 years of
British loot the amount taken out of India was only a small fraction of
the 1.3 trillion dollars which the politicians have looted from the
Indian people. However, I will venture to add that the Indian
Electorate will forget all this and will raise its hooves silently in
favour of the criminals who govern India. In this context effort must
be made to eliminate the criminals who masquerade as elected
representatives of the people.
In MP the IAS couple the Joshis were found with 330 crores of ill-
gotten wealth. Sukh Ram was found with three crores in his puja
room. Ketan Desai, the Chairman of the Medical Council of India was
found with 1 tonne of gold. My question is what action was taken. All
these criminals are roaming free, while a Dalit politician is in jail. It
appears that the backward political groups have made a mockery of
both democracy as well as rule of law. Who can forget the criminal
misdeed of the Yadava chieftains, Mulayam, Pappu, Laloo etc.
DMK Congress and the Absurdity of Alliance Politics in Tamil
Nadu
2011-03-08 21:46
The last week has seen the histrionics between the two most corrupt
political parties of India united by the ideology of dynastic fascism,
the Congress and the DMK, engage in a bout of public posturing. Like
 Word Craft and Statecraft

thieves, who are partners in crime, both the political parties cannot
afford to discard each other. The DMK is dependent on the Congress
for survival in Tamil Nadu and the regime of Sonia-Singh is woefully
dependent on the support of the DMK MPs. Therefore, one cannot
exist without the other. The public declaration that the DMK has
withdrawn support to the UPA regime is just that-- a declaration
without any meaning. Given the fractured nature of the verdict in the
last General Election, it is but natural that all major political parties in
the state are attempting to stitch up an alliance.
In this game, Ms Jayalalitha seems to have the advantage, at least for
now. Her alliance with the mercurial and utterly unreliable Vijay
Kant stems from the cold realisation that the vote bank of both is
virtually the same and therefore it is in their mutual interest to join
forces. In the last Parliamentary election, Vijay Kant undercut the
vote share of the AIADMK and by bringing him on board for a price
of 100 crores, Jayalalitha has stanched the haemorrhaging of her vote
share or so it appears. Like any mercenary, Vijay Kant is up for grabs.
If the Congress offers him a better deal both in terms of seats and
money, he will certainly leave the AIADMK alliance.
Will the DMK break with the Congress. As I have said both parties
need each other. If the Congress following the line of the Yuvaraj,
Rahul Gandhi, decided to go it alone then it will get just one IT two
seats and this party is riven with factions. The man who calls himself
Home Minister of India, P Chidambaram (this Harvard zero was
defeated in the General Elections but got the returning officer to issue
him the certificate) wants his son Karthik to succeed him and is doing
everything to undermine the Congress. G K Vasan heads another
faction inherited from his father G K Moopen. With factionalism
rampant in the party and with a vote of 11-15% the Congress is hardly
in a position to play hard ball.
The DMK is staring defeat in the face. The issue of Corruption will
play a role, even though Tamil Nadu politics is a dirty cess pool of
filth, corruption and crime. The DMK has a vote share of 29 to 31 %
and hence if it enters an alliance with a major Party it can hold on to
 Word Craft and Statecraft

power. However, fighting alone the DMK will not be able to get a
decent figure in terms of seats. The PMK like the DMK and Congress
is a dynasty based political formation with a support base of
Vanniyars in Northern Tamil Nadu. In Pondicherry because of the
revolt of N Rangaswamy, the Vanniyar vote will go to the new party
launched by N Rangaswamy and if AIDMK enters an alliance with
Rangaswamy, the NR-AIDMK alliance will grab power.
The next moves will be watched. Ground realities favour AIADMK
and if it holds on to the Alliance and target the Karunanidhi Family
rule for crime and corruption then the AIDMK has a chance.
However, as we know the worst enemy of AIADMK is the General
Secretary herself. Her inability to compromise with the smaller
parties and her imperious style of functioning can alienate the
electorate. I remember seeing her candidate for a Parliamentary seat
sitting on the stage on a plastic stool while she was seated on a
splendid throne. The electorate did not like this scene.
If AIADMK can stitch up a good alliance, then it has a chance of
winning the upcoming polls.
Money Power in Indian Politics and the Wikileaks Expose
2011-03-17 01:27
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Indian Dynastic
Democracy is criminal, corrupt and runs on the fuel of ill-gotten
wealth. The likes of Laloo and Mulayam, the Yadava duo have
ensured that crime and political power walk hand in hand, step by
step. The recent revelations by Julian Assange in his US diplomatic
cables expose is only symptomatic of a political system is which the
most cynical manipulation of the electorate by the distribution of cash
has been institutionalised.
I have often written that the main cause for political corruption in
India is the dynastic fascism that seems to be inherent in the very
psyche of the people. I remember that when Indira Gandhi was the
Prime Minister the famous scandal called the Nagarwala Affair took
place on the eve of the 1971 election. The scandal involved only 60
 Word Craft and Statecraft

lakhs, but what is sinister about the whole affair was the fact that all
those connected with the scandal including the Judge and Magistrate
who tried the case in court died in rather mysterious circumstances. I
have written elsewhere that Ramachandra Guha in his India Since
Gandhi ignored the scandal and I expected him as an honest historian
to draw attention to the event that marks the first signs of the
corruption and crime in the Indian political life.
In South India under the great Dravidian dispensation bribing the
electorate has become a part and parcel of the electoral process.
Jayalalitha may scream against Karunanidhi, but the fact remains
that her party too indulges in this shameless practice of bribing the
electorate with nose rings, mixies, saris and cash. Wikileaks has
exposed the fact that in Tirumangalam election M K Alagiri ensured
victory by bribing the electorate. T R Baalu who won from
Sriperumbadur in the last elections is said to have distributed Rs 5000
for each vote. Where does all this money come from? The Indian
electorate by participating in this charade called Indian Democracy is
an accomplice in its own victimisation. The electorate will rail against
corruption but is an active accomplice in the creeping criminalisation
of Indian political life. After all, Laloo Prasad Yadava, D P Yadava,
Mulayam Singh Yadava, and sundry other criminal-politicians have
all been elected to the Lok Sabha. In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry
liquor, money and sarees are distributed by party workers on the eve
of the elections. In fact, political parties are finding inventive ways of
subverting democracy in India.
The other revelation that made headlines is the fact that MPs were
bribed on the eve of the trust vote during UPA I a trust vote that was
held after the so-called Left withdrew support after the Indo-US
nuclear deal. Steven White, a US Embassy official recorded seeing
chests of money in the house of a Gandhi family courtier called Satish
Sharma. A sum of 50 to 60 crores is estimated and Ajit Singh's party
the RLD may have received bribes. What is surprising is that none of
the mainstream media brought out the fact that Narashima Rao's
government survived its full term in office due to the bribes paid out
 Word Craft and Statecraft

to the JMM and Shibu Soren was even prosecuted for the crime of
taking bribes and then arranging the murder of Jha, his private
secretary who was a witness to the whole affair. Crime and
Corruption go hand in hand.
The dynastic fascist party the Congress and its criminal acolytes who
call themselves the "secular parties" are primarily responsible for the
corruption and criminalisation of Indian political life. I wish Baba
Ram Dev all success in his noble venture.Predictably all political
parties involved in the corruption are crying foul. However, the
diplomatic cables were not meant to be made public and hence the
Embassy staffers had no motive for making up allegations. As far as
Tamil Nadu is concerned I know from personal experience how
corrupt the place is. Even Vice Chancellorships of Tamil Nadu
universities go for a price of 5 to 10 crores.
WikiLeaks and the Mad House of Indian Politics
2011-03-22 06:55
India must be grateful to Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks. But for
the expose published in the Hindu, few of us would have realised the
depths to which Indian politics has descended. Many of us knew that
the corrupt, criminal dynastic fascist Party, the Congress will try to
buy the votes in order to survive the political crisis caused by the
withdrawal of support by the Left. After all, did not Narasimha Rao,
in whose Cabinet Dr ManMohan Singh was the finance minister not
survive the full 5 years by bribing the MPs. Only the JMM group in
Parliament was prosecuted for the crime and even that rather half-
heartedly.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/article1559476.ece
?homepage=true
In the interview with the Hindu whose link I have provided here,
Julian Assange has answered a range of questions. It is certain that he
takes the Freedom of Expression extremely seriously. After the
WikiLeaks bombshell it will be impossible for anyone to claim that
the Great Powers are motivated by the desire to protect Human
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Rights and Dignity. Just see what Obama is doing in Libya.

Only one Indian politician come out squeaky clean in the WikiLeaks
episode. Hon'ble Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat did
not cringe before the US officials who raised questions about alleged
human rights violations in the post Godhra days. He rightly rebuked
the diplomat by saying that the US record on human rights is
virtually non-existent. I think, India will certainly benefit from the
like of Hon'ble Narendra Modi. He is a true patriot and he deserves
our respect. I wonder why the US diplomats do not ask the Congress
to account for its criminality in 1984. This itself shows that US is
selective in its approach to Human Rights.
Julian Assange has exposed the corruption in Indian political life and
he will certainly go down as the one single individual after Gandhi
who has changed the course of Indian politics.
Rahul Gandhi; Amul Baby or a Dynastic Mascot
2011-04-20 21:44
I normally do not agree with communists and with V S
Achutanandan, the Chief Minister of Kerala, I have a particular kind
of contempt because he insulted Major Unnikrishanan, the martyr of
Mumbai. Those interested can read an earlier blog on this theme.
However, in the recent controversy with the Yuvaraj of the Congress
Party, Rahul Gandhi, I am forced to side with VS. For all his faults, V S
Achutanandan has been in electoral politics for more than 50 years
and has maintained a clean public image though he is regarded as a
rumbustious factional leader. Ask Pinyari Vijayan for details.
It is a crying shame and a blot on India that for the last 65 years the
post of the Prime minister has become the virtual monopoly of one
family. Dynastic succession and Democratic way of life are
contradictory, and Indians do not seem to realise that by giving space
to the likes of Rahul Gandhi we are only encouraging a putrid and
corrupt courtier type of dynastic politics. In fact, the stink of political
corruption goes hand in hand with dynastic politics. Just remember
before the Nagarwala case all involved the Nehru family. Now the 2G
 Word Craft and Statecraft

spectrum scandal too has a dynastic angle because the example of the
Congress is followed by other criminal elements in the political
system.
Against this background, I think VS Achutanandan should not have
bothered to put Rahul Gandhi on the same level as himself. In a way,
V S Achutanandan is right. After all, Rahul Gandhi was born to
political power, social and economic privilege and like every spoilt
prince in history conflates his dynasty with the larger society. Once
he is said to have remarked that his family got India freedom and
forgetting that there was a Congress regime in place even made the
absurd statement that if his family had been in power, the Masjid
would still be standing. The young man believes that he is born to rule
from a hereditary throne and it is time the electorate realised this.
Rahul Gandhi's utterances are stupid, and it is time the Congress and
its pretenders are shown the door.
Purulia Arms Drop New Facts and Questions
2011-04-29 00:34
In December 1995 when the Congress regime under P V Narashima
Rao was in power a Latvian air craft flew into India from Karachi and
dropped nearly 500 Rifles and cases of magazines and high
explosives on a sleepy village of Purulia on the Bengal Bihar border.
Since that time there have been numerous questions that have
cropped up, but no answers have been given. I am not surprised that
the Congress regime did nothing to stop the arms drop, as I strongly
believe that the dynastic fascist Congress Party is only a prop for a
putrid dynasty and is not a political party. Be that as it may, the large
Anotov aircraft flew right across Indian territory and at the exact
coordinates already known to the Indian Government the arms were
dropped. The aircraft was intercepted over the Arabian Sea and
forced to land in Mumbai from where Kim Davy, the mastermind of
this operation escaped. It now transpires that he escaped to Nepal in
the official car of one of the Yadava crimes who was an MP at that
time Shri Pappu Yadava. This Yadava criminal is now serving a life
 Word Craft and Statecraft

term in prison for murder and we hope his country cousins the other
Yadava criminals--Mulayam and Laloo--follow him soon.
Questions began to surface right from the start. For whom were the
arms meant for. Kim Davy in an interview with Times Now claims
that the arms were meant for the Ananda Marga who were being
massacred by the CPM goons. I fully understand that the CPM is a
Party of goons and so is the Trinamool Congress for that matter. So,
this part did not come as a great revelation to me. However, I am
under the firm understanding that the RAW tried to intercept a
consignment of arms commissioned for the Anand Marga and tried
to divert it to a small local insurgency unit operating in Bangladesh.
This angle alone enables me to answer the question why the
Government of India did not act even though the British MI 5 had
tipped off the Indian Government and the Joint Secretary sent this
information to the West Bengal Government by registered post
acknowledgement due-- the slowest possible way of communication.
Kim Davy and Peter Bleach both seem to be speaking the truth. Peter
Bleach was in prison for 8 years and Indian Government let him off
with a presidential pardon before he could be tried. This itself shows
that the Government of India is hiding something. Kim Davy on the
other hand lives in mortal fear of being extradited to India where, like
Batcha, he too will probably be eliminated if he sings like a canary.
There are far too many loose ends in this case and it only goes to show
that the CBI, IB and RAW consist of men who like the Pink Panther
are incompetent and at times even act the double or triple agent.
The fact that the radar was switched off on the crucial night of the air
drop needs to be explained. Second, why was the CBI looking for Kim
Davy in New Zealand and South America when it was well known
that he was living in Copenhagen, Denmark. In other words, the CBI
as it did in of Octavio Quatrrocci, the Bofors scamster, was adept in
searching in the wrong place and covering up after the deed had been
done. As far as the RAW is concerned theatre is little parliamentary or
political scrutiny over it. A Joint Parliamentary Probe must be
conducted on it for the year 1985. The Purulia case shows that the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

RAW is incapable of even ferrying illegal arms to a small insurgency

near the Indian border and that is the main reason I find it hard to
believe that the Balucci insurgents are being funded by India. The
only time the RAW tried its hand at the big boys' game was when it
tried the LTTE in 26 training camps all over Tamil Nadu in the 1980s
and India ended up in a bloody mess in Sri Lanka. I think the Indian
nation needs to be told the truth and the then Jt. Direction of the CBI J
K Dutt was so unconvincing in his rebuttal that it left us wondering
whether his blatant falsehoods serve only to escalate the questions
marks on the subject.
The complicity of the Indian Government in the Arms Drop is there
for all to see. However, I do not think that the arms were meant for
directing and fomenting an insurgency against the Left in Bengal. The
RAW and MI 5 tried to use the visceral anti-communism of the
Ananda Marga to allow it to purchase arms ferry them to India and
once over Indian airspace the Raw felt that it could hijack the
operation and have the arms dropped in the Bangladesh insurgent
territory. As usual the Indian Government proved to be utterly
incompetent.
Baba Ramdev's Crusade against Corruption in India
2011-06-02 01:00
The advent of Baba Ramdev on to the public scene has electrified the
Indian nation. Unlike the so called civil society activists who are at the
beck and call of the corrupt Indian political establishment in the name
of their misguided "secularism", Baba Ramdev is following his own
independent path. The left tried its level best to discredit him by
raising all kinds of questions about the health products that he
advocated. Nothing came of it. The political establishment tried to
probe his charities to find out whether Baba Ramdev has violated any
rule or law. The Baba is genuine material and he speaks the language
of one who lives and breathes for India. His politics is based on
patriotism and I wish Baba Ramdev success. I for one will fast on June
4th, 2011 as a mark of respect for the Mahatma.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Corruption has become endemic in India and I think that the dynastic
fascism of the Congress and other parties like the DMK is primarily
responsible for the corruption. It is not an accident that the most
corrupt political parties are also the ones deeply implicated in family
rule and dynastic politics. The Congress started this trend and other
so called "secular" parties followed suit. There is some criticism that
the Baba is competing with the other Baba, Hazare. I do not think so.
While I respect Anna Hazare, I do not think with the crew that he has
gathered around him, Kiran Bedi, Kejriwal and the Bhushan's, he will
be able to achieve much. The wily Congressmen have already sown
the seeds of discord and the movement led by AnnaHazare is in
imminent danger of collapsing. Baba Ramdev's politics is based on
the power of truth and his satyagraha is carrying with it the moral
authority of a whole nation. I have no hesitation in saying that like the
great Mahatma, Baba Ramdev too will make the mighty bend to his
will. Already there are signs of panic. The corrupt UPE Government
knows that Baba Ramdev will strike a deep chord in the hearts of the
Indian people and is sending ministers to placate him. Can the likes of
Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and the like be able to even talk to a
moral force like the Baba.
The Baba has stated very clearly that he seeks the return of all the
money stashed by Indians abroad. The loot of India by politicians is
much greater than the loot of the East India Company. In fact, the
Nagarwala case under Indira Gandhi of only of 60 lakhs, the Bofors
under her son Rajiv Gandhi only of 60 crores and the 2G spectrum
scandal of 60,000 crores and still counting. The people of India must
realise that during the six years of Vajpayee there was not a single
scandal and, yet they voted out that Government and brought in the
UPA which is the most shameful government in the whole world.
Even African kleptocracies are not as venal as the Congress UPA
regime.
I wish that the movement started by Baba Ramdev touches the hearts
and minds of the Indian people.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Attack on Baba Ramdev: The Political Fallout

2011-06-06 05:52
My regular readers would have by now realized how accurate I was
in predicting the response of the UPA Government. I also pointed out
that the statements made by the so-called civil society chatterers
would embolden the Government to act in a reckless manner. The
mid night attack on the Mahatma's satyagraha was an absolute
disgrace. I think given the fact that the dynastic-fascist party the
Congress is in power, we can call the mid night attack the Night of the
Long Knives" the night when German thugs flexed their muscles
before the advent of totalitarian rule in Germany. I had expected this
response and was not surprised at what transpired. I think the Baba
needs political advice and he should have been told that the fork
tongued congressmen will try and deceive him.
The attack showed very clearly that the Sonia-Rahul-Manmohan
dispensation is out to protect the holders of black money and are
willing to use the arm of the state to crush all those who raise
uncomfortable questions about the money plundered by politicians
and deposited in Swiss banks and other tax havens. The Government
or the regime acted too smart and thereby exposed intentions before
the whole world. Now the issue of Black Money will become a huge
political issue and the Congress stands as a protector of the Corrupt. I
would not be surprised if this perception influences the electorate in
the same manner as did the Emergency in 1977. The political advisors
of Sonia-Man Mohan have handed the BJP a political issue on a silver
platter and I hope the faction ridden BJP does not turn this into
another liability as they did with the victory in Karnataka.
Baba Ramdev is a highly respected spiritual leader with a large and
impressive following. The lathi charge on the followers and the brutal
attack on women and children was witnessed by the whole world.
The action by the police was uncalled for and the sue moto
intervention by the Supreme Court will have consequences. I do hope
 Word Craft and Statecraft

that in the interest of the Nation Baba Ramdev keeps the BJP at an
arm's length and does not let that faction ridden outfit hijack his
agenda. The next General Election will see the Baba Ramdev
phenomenon at least in Northern India.
Even the Anna Hazare camp has come out in support of the
Mahatma. I blame them for falling for the divisive tactics of the
"secularists". The RSS is not a banned organization and so how can
the support of the RSS for such a major political issue be battered
away for the sake of New Delhi's domesticated civil society activists. I
wonder why Arundhati Roy who jumped to the defence of Dr
Binayak Roy is silent over the brutal attack on Baba Ramdev. Is it
because she is on the side of the Establishment?
All democratic forces must condemn unequivocally the barbaric
attack on Mahatma Ramdev and the UPA regime has only dug its
own political grave by its crimes.
Baba Ramdev and Political Corruption in India: The Struggle
Intensifies
2011-06-09 04:11
India is presently ranked very high in the list of the most corrupt
counties in the world. Only Nigeria and Burkina Faso rank a few
places below. With such a d distinguished ranking, may I add that the
leadership of that corrupt government headed by Sonia and
Manmohan Singh even want a place at the high table of diplomacy
and statecraft. I have said so several times on this blog and elsewhere
that India does not deserve a security council seat given its track
record of governance. Having said that let me get back to the question
at hand.
A very powerful civil society movement against corruption has
begun in India: this movement is partly inspired by the example of
the Arab Resistance against corrupt and tyrannical regimes and
partly by the disclosures made by WikiLeaks. Those who rail against
WikiLeaks are unaware of the positive role played by this
organisation in inspiring people across the world. All corrupt and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

criminal regimes such as the one in power in India, have learned to

fear WikiLeaks. A Yoga Guru from the north India state of Uttar
Pradesh has become the unlikely leader of the anti-corruption
movement and the Government of India unleashed the most barbaric
acts of repression against him on the midnight of June 4th, 2011.
Baba Ramdev, a well-respected Yoga Guru, gathered a crowd of
nearly 100,000 men women and children in the Ramlila Grounds of
New Delhi after getting permission from the Government. The
regime was so rattled by the movement started by Baba Ramdev that
it deputed 4 senior Government ministers to negotiate with him. It
appears that the Government of India put up a presence of
negotiations to prepare the ground for an all-out attack. Like the
Night of the Long Knives, the Congress regime unleashed its police
against the followers of Baba Ramdev who were badly beaten up by
the police. It must be stated very categorically that the demonstration
against corruption was both peaceful and disciplined. The regime
had absolutely no justification for the brutal mid night attack. The
Baba himself was arrested and sent out of Delhi. The Supreme Court
of India is likely to rule that this action on the part of the Sonia-
Manmohan Regime was both unconstitutional and illegal.
The real reason for the panic reaction on the part of the dynastic
regime in power is because for the past few years a series of scams
have dented the image of the government and corruption has become
a huge political issue in India. The Political Party the DMK, a South
Indian regional party and a partner in the coalition in power lost the
elections in Tamil Nadu solely to the public perception that the
present government was irredeemably corrupt. The daughter of the
former Chief Minister, Mr Karunanidhi is presently in prison
awaiting trial as she was exposed as a recipient of kickbacks from the
2G Spectrum scandal in which telecom mobile licenses were issued to
favoured few without going through due process. It has been
estimated that nearly 5.5 billion dollars were taken as kickbacks in
this scandal alone and much of this ill-gotten wealth is invested in tax
havens like Virgin Islands, St Kitts, Swiss banks and the most
 Word Craft and Statecraft

favoured destination of Tamil politicians, Mauritius. The corrupt

Government of India refuses to take any step to get back the money
on the spurious argument that going after ill gotten, illegal wealth
stashed abroad is against the double taxation agreements. A totally
false and baseless justification for complicity in crime. I must say that
the US Treasury was able to get the notorious Swiss bankers to reveal
the names of American holders of Swiss accounts and Baba Ramdev
wants the Indian Government to make a serious effort to retrieve
India's wealth in foreign bank accounts.
The Congress Party has been in power for most of the time since
Independence and one dynasty, the Nehru dynasty has controlled
the party. It is believed that the Congress in neck deep in political
corruption and hence will both unwilling and unable to act against
political corruption. Even so the savagery of the attack against Baba
Ramdev has shocked the entire nation and the Congress and its
alliance partners will pay a very heavy price in the next elections. As I
have said right at the very beginning of this blog, Indians are used to
corruption and bad governance, unlike the Chinese who expect a
degree of honesty and patriotism from their Government. Yet the
attack on a spiritual leader with a huge following has resulted in a sea
change in the mood of the people.
The peaceful protestors were beaten up and nearly 75 of them very
seriously injured. TheMahatma, Baba Ramdev himself was pushed
from the dais and barely escaped with his life.A corrupt and criminal
government has shown that it will use force against its own people
who protest corruption.
Civil Society and the Lok Pal Bill: Why We Need a Debate?
2011-06-17 00:47
The concept of civil society evolved in eighteenth century Europe
when the social organisation based on the four estates started
disintegrating under the twin impact of secularization and economic
changes engendered by the Industrial Revolution. Groups of
professionals loosely associated with political factions, coffee shops,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

newspapers--constituting what Habermas would later designate as

the public sphere--started asserting their point of view against the
entrenched political and social elites. The newly emergent groups
were called civil society and political philosophers like Voltaire and
Rousseau and even Montesquieu termed as civil society those
organised and articulate members of society that struggled for
political and economic rights, freedoms and were at the forefront of
what in the last century came to be called the Human Rights
movement.
India does not have a civil society in the real sense of the term and if
we are to apply the western concept of civil society then it is the caste
based social organisations such as the Khap panchayants which
constitute civil society. Along with the Khap Panchayants we can
include sectarian and identity groups, bhajanna mandalis, charity
organisations and the like. We hardly hear any of them ever making a
political demand. Civil society in India, particularly parts of northern
India, are bastions of social evil and nothing good can ever come out
of Indian civil society.
Suddenly we have the media speaking of Anna Hazare and his
designer dress wearing cohorts as the "civil society". I find this
situation absurd. Five self-appointed front runners cannot
appropriate for themselves the right to speak for the dispossessed
masses and who gave them the right or the mandate to represent the
non-political classes. I agree that the Congress led UPA II is a corrupt
regime and I have always said that the dynastic fascist Congress
Party will always remain corrupt and criminal. The only way to get
rid of corruption and criminalization of India is to get rid of the
Congress Party by any means possible. A Lok Pal will not be able to
reign in corruption. See how the Cong res managed to appoint P J
Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner even though he stands ac
cued in many criminal cases. We have a situation in which the Courts
at different levels alone seem to stand for decency and justice. Now
this present Lok Pal bill as suggested by the Regime in power will
take the Prime Minister out of the purview of the Lok Pal.This
 Word Craft and Statecraft

immunity to the PM does not exist even in the Constitution and by

asking for a Lok Pal the so called civil society activists have further
insulated the Office of the Prime Minister from proper political and
judicial accountability.
There is another problem about the concept of civil society. The more
articulate members of the so called civil society are always on the
defensive over the issue of the RSS. The RSS represents a point of view
and in a democracy, it has the right to express that point of view. How
can Arvind Kejriwal call that organisation "communal". Is the
Congress Party not a criminal organisation given its track record in
1984 and the present 2G scam? I feel that Corruption, dynastic
fascism and criminalisation all stem from the Congress Party and the
fight for a better and more civilised India should mean a struggle to
liberate India from Congress rule.
P Chidambaram and Amnesia: Why the 1984 riots organised by the
Congress Party cannot be forgiven or forgotten?
2011-06-26 21:28
Yesterday the Home Minister of India said something no Home
Minister of India have ever said: He asked the Sikhs to "forget the
1984 Riots and move on". This plea for amnesia is strange as the job of
the Home Minister is to ensure the security of the State and its
citizens. The main reason P Chidambaram made these thoughtless
and callous remarks is because of the infighting within the Congress
and the Home Minister wants to position himself on the side of the
dynasty. Even the loose cannon of the Congress party its General
Secretary, Shri Digvijaya Singh has not made any remark which rubs
salt in the wounds of the Sikh community. P Chidambaram should
apologise for his intemperate remarks and all should take a vow
never to forgive or forget the black deeds of 1984.
In any civilised society, the Party like the Congress which was
responsible for burning to death nearly 15,000 men in New Delhi
alone would have been banned from the political field and its leaders
prosecuted for organising and participating in the mayhem starting
 Word Craft and Statecraft

on October 31st, 1984. Instead all that the party did was to make man
like Jagdish Tyler, H K L Bhagat and Sajjan Kumar minister who even
represented India in the high councils of the world. Even after 27
years not a single person has been convicted for the crimes. Now the
Home Minister asks the community to move on. Mr P Chidambaram
is forgetting that the people of India have neither forgiven or
forgotten 1984 and the Congress will pay a heavy price.
Why this indecent haste to bury the past? The present UPA
Government is neck deep in scams, scandals and scum of every kind.
After some time, these scandals can also be forgotten, and the nation
asked to move on. The Congress has perfected this art of amnesia
because the JNU breed of domesticated "historians" like to brush
under the carpet all the crimes of the Congress in the name of fighting
"communalism". I ask is not killing such a large number of men
belonging to a minority community the worst kind of communal
atrocity which even puts the post Godhra carnage to shame. It is
shameful the P Chidambaram should say such an unkind thing.
There is another reason for the haste in burying the crime of 1984
committed by the Congress Party: The Nehru Dynasty was in power
and as long as that dynasty is in power such crime will take place and
by making a Sikh the Prime Minister of India-- a dummy Prime
Minister at that--the Congress cannot hope to cover up it gory, blood
filled past. India intellectuals are ever ready to apologise for the
Congress Party, but people will remember.
I hope 1984 is not forgotten and we will keep the memory of the
horrible crime alive even if the Ramachandra Guhas of the world
conspire to consign the memory of 1984 to the River of Lethe.
The Mumbai Terror Strikes of July 13th, 2011: Why India cannot
deal with Jehadi Terrorism?
2011-07-16 09:11
The recent terror strikes in Mumbai have demonstrated once again
that the common Indian citizen will always be at the receiving end of
terror strikes while the politicians escape. We have not forgotten the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Dawood Ibrahim inspired 1993 blasts or the train blasts, or the India
Gate attacks and 26/11/2008 will forever remain a day that will lie in
infamy. The Congress response has been to draft the Anti Communal
Bill which will make terror attacks even easier and will provide
immunity to the perpetrators of terrorist strikes. The ruling party,
particularly the Indian National Congress does not seem to realise
that terrorism is not an identity issue. The fact that not a single
sentence has been carried out to punish those guilty of terrorist
attacks only serves to embolden the jehadi groups bent on creating
mayhem in India.
There is absolutely no ground level intelligence gathering network
that can provide information about plots, targets and finance. The
civil liberty groups have ensured that there is blanket of security for
all terrorist groups to operate with utter impunity.no one is saying
that suspects should be immediately be arrested and thrown into jail,
but there is need to have deep roots in the Muslim communities,
particularly of northern India and Kerala to identify potential recruits
for terror attacks in India. A proactive policy of stopping terrorism is
far better than merely indulging in platitudes after the even. The
misplaced commissions such as the Sachar Commissions give
legitimacy to a moslem sense of alienation. There is poverty and
deprivation in all sections of Indian society and by making that an
identity issue, the Congress Party and its acolytes only encourage a
feeling of alienation among the Muslim sections of the Indian
population. It is the same misguided policy that led to the Partition
and the Indian National Congress in its present dynastic fascist
avatar has not learnt lessons from the past.
Apart from community based intelligence gathering, the country
needs to have a doctrine to deal with terrorism. When the BJP
handled the Kandhahar crisis one way the Congress politicised the
issue and when the BJP advocates strong action, then the same foul
moultedcongressmen say that there is a communal agenda at work.
Unfortunately, the "communal" bogey is raised whenever step need
to be taken to protect the aam admi from jehadi terrorism. The
 Word Craft and Statecraft

politicians are not targeted and hence they do not worry about the
plight of the common citizens who die in these brazen attacks. And
the jehadis do not attack the politicians because they know that if they
do they will be destroyed. In other words, the Congress regime does
not care about the loss of life in jehadi strikes.
Just think of the case of Kasab, He has been sentenced to death, but the
sentence is yet to be carried out and because the Congress regime
wants to let Afzal Guru escape, Kasab will probably be repatriated
back to Pakistan in a few months/years' time. We have an absurd
situation here in India where terrorists get full protection and the
citizen gets none. There is a lot to be learnt from Israel and the success
Israel has had in dealing with Palestinian terrorism. The justice of a
political cause cannot be used to justify terrorism and Israel has
shown how to deal with militants. Indian Government must seek the
cooperation of Mossad and Mossad must be involved in training
Indian Intelligence wing. I must also add that RAW and IB are both
full of traitors and they must be disbanded.
Even as the death toll mounts, Prithviraj Chavan says that the NCP
has the Home portfolio and hence the bomb attacks. Nothing can be
more cynical and criminal than this statement. Instead of taking the
responsibility for failing to protect the people of Mumbai, Chavan is
making political capital. Congressmen like vultures will feed on the
dead bodies of our fallen citizens and they must be eliminated. As
long as India continues to vote the corrupt criminals who are now in
power the country will be asoft target.
Do Rajiv Gandhi's Killers Deserve Mercy
2011-08-29 18:44
Thucydides, the great Athenian historian, has a famous chapter in his
book The History of the Peloponnesian War in which the fate of the
male inhabitants of the island of Melos is discussed in the Athenian
Assembly. Known as the Melian Dialogue, this chapter must be read
by all those who have rushed into the debate on the fate of Rajiv
Gandhi's killers. I do not have any sympathy for Rajiv Gandhi or for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

that matter the criminal organisation called the Congress Party. I

must add that I am one of those who argues vigorously that the
Congress should be expelled from the political arena because it
organised the largest massacre in the history of independent India
and Rajiv Gandhi actively abetted this crime. The fact is that Rajiv
Gandhi's killers are now perceived to be icons of Tamil Nationalism
makes it difficult for a soft state like India, and a government
rendered even more soft by incompetence, dynastic fascism and
corruption,to carry out the sentence. I do not think that the killers will
be executed on September 9th, 2011.
Thucydides with whom I began this blog says that political
considerations outweigh moral and even legal considerations while
debating the issue of clemency. Will any purpose be served now if the
three men convicted of killing Rajiv Gandhi are put down? It will only
reignite the fire of Tamil ethic nationalism and India cannot afford
another Identity founded political movement. Further, the role of
Rajiv Gandhi's mother in creating the very organisation that
ultimately killed her son will once again come to the fore. Further, the
incompetent and politically and militarily disastrous intervention by
the Indian Army in Sri Lanka following the Indo-Sri Lankan
Agreement will once again be the focus of attention. And the criminal
organisation called the Congress has conveniently chosen to forget
the Jain Commission findings because Sonia and her courtiers are
now in bed with the DMK in that menagerie called the United
Progressive Alliance. All these facts are highly damaging to the
Congress and hence the killers will have their sentences commuted.
Whether the three killers deserve mercy or not is a moot point.
Politically it will be impossible for them to be hanged. Already the
Tamil Nationalists are out in straight demanding the commutation of
the death sentence. The Gandhi family itself has set the precedent by
requesting and getting the sentence on Nalini commuted to life
imprisonment. The three killers will have their sentences commuted
and as they have spent more than 16 years in jail, they will be
eventually released. Tamil Nadu has the dubious distinction of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

releasing life convicts whose sentence in commuted for absurd

reasons like the 100th birthday of Mr Annadurai. So far six people
including a young girl have burnt themselves to death in support of
the killers. With this kind of madness around the soft state like India
cannot carry out its own judicial verdict.
One last point. Did not Rajiv Gandhi deserve his fate?He was
responsible for the largest massacre in the history of Independent
India and his three killers were only instruments of retribution.
Injustice to Anjali Gupta: The Ministry must answer
2011-09-12 07:00
The suicide of the Indian Air Force Officer Anjali Gupta is both
shocking and frightening. It is shocking because the so-called
electronic media that rallied around Jessica Lal and Ruchika Girhotra
completely ignored the plight of Anjali Gupta. It is frightening
because a woman who complained about sexual harassment against
her superior officers was found guilty of "indiscipline" and her
services were terminated and the young woman was discharged
"dishonourably" thereby adding insult to injury. The officers against
whom Anjali Gupta has complained must be made abettors to the
suicide in the same manner that S P S Rathore was proceeded against.
If India is to retain its pretension to be a civilized society.
Anjali Gupta had levelled serious charges of sexual harassment
against her superior officer who happened to be a male. Her
complaint was ignored, and her male officers ganged up against her
and fabricated a case of "indiscipline" against her and the prime
witness against the woman was the very officer against whom she
had levelled serious charges. The Supreme Court guidelines for
dealing with cases of sexual harassment were completely ignored
and this young woman was paraded before a hostile male inquiry
committee.
I think the media which covered the case in the very beginning soon
gave up and moved on to other stories. Had the case been fraught
under the searchlight of the media then this injustice could have been
 Word Craft and Statecraft

avoided. Anjali Gupta was driven to suicide by a corrupt male officer

corps and an indifferent media.
Can P Chidambaram survive the 2G Crisis: The March 25th, 2011
Note and its implications
2011-09-30 20:23
The only lasting contribution of the Congress party school of
Dynastic Fascism to Indian statecraft is the self-destructive passion
for factionalism and this talent was on full display in the recent
eruption of conflict between P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee.
The victory, if it can be called so, was to Pranab Babu, the wily Bengali
Bhadralok who made the dhoti clad Chettiyar from Tamil Nadu
witness his humiliation before the whole nation on public T V. And
that self-confessed brain challenged Home Minister even says that he
is "satisfied" and the "matter is closed". I say brain challenged because
the morning's newspapers say the P Chidambaram suffers from
"amnesia" a la Kalmadi.
The whole Nation is aware that Raja alone could not have carried out
the 2G Spectrum Scam without the complicity of other powerful
political personalities. The Cabinet decision was to refer Spectrum
pricing to an Empowered Group of Ministers (GOM).The Finance
Minister concurred with the Prime Minister's decision to withdraw
the Spectrum pricing from the purview of the Group of Ministers.
Now Shri Raja can claim on the basis of the March 25th Note the
policy of issuing licences on the first come first served basis was taken
with the full knowledge and concurrence of the entire Government of
India. In his press conference, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has reiterated
this fact before the whole Nation with P Chidambaram standing
behind him like a nervous school boy. With one fell stroke, P
Chidambaram was exposed as an abettor in the 2G Spectrum Scam
before the whole Nation and piece de resistance was the thanks from
Chidambaram for this brilliant drama.
If we look at the political career of P Chidambaram we find that he
was with the G K Moopen faction of the Tamil Nadu Congress and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

has been trained to put factional loyalties above Party, Dynasty, and
Ideology. He was instrumental in having the office room of the then
Finance minister bugged and the reason behind the bugging, perhaps
had something to do with the 2G Scandal. Anyway, Shri Pranab
Mukherjee never forgave this slight and like a true Bengali Babu
waited for the opportune time and struck a blow from which
Chidambaram will not recover. The March 25th, 2011 Note is a time
bomb with a very slow burning fuse time only to explode in the face
of Chidambaram. The questions that directly stem from the note are:
1. Why did the then Finance Minister concur with the First come First
served basisfor pricing of scarce spectrum?
2. Why did the then Finance minister not insist that the NDA policy be
reviewed and stall the pricing on the basis of the 2001 prices?
3. Why did the Finance Ministry agree to let the DOT do the
processing of the licences bypassing TRAI?
4. Is there any difference in the positions taken by Raja who is now in
Tihar jail (a Dalit and I have already pointed out this in an earlier
blog) and the high cast P Chidambaram who is still the Home
Minister of India, though his Sivagangai MP seat is likely to be struck
down by the courts?
Pranab Da has ensured the exit of P Chidambaram from the cabinet
and his exit is only a matter of when and how.
Bail or Jail for Kanimozhi? Do Politicians Deserve Any Sympathy?
2011-11-03 09:43
I think that the legal advice Ms Kanimozhi is getting is not only of
poor quality, but worse it is proving counterproductive. Kanimozhi
and her father represent a strand of Indian political culture that takes
India back to the days of dynastic rule and the culture of the courtier,
courtesan, and criminal. The DMK as a party and as a political
movement has shown scant respect for rule of law. In it said that in
Tamil Nadu when the DMK rules the police cannot act against
criminals because of the rampant criminalisation of the political
 Word Craft and Statecraft

culture. In fact, on the 100th birthday of Annadurai more than 100

hardened criminals were released from jail and all of them were
serving life sentences. In fact, the killers of Maneka, the fearless
woman councillor of Madurai who took on the "tanker lorry mafia" in
Madurai were released and the main accused had served less than 1
year in jail after being convicted of murder. So, let not the DMK
preach about rule of law. They suddenly discover the virtues of law
only when King Lear's daughter is in jail for criminal misconduct. I
think the real issue is the sort of values this aging patriarch has
imparted to his children. The DMK is a lumpen party with dynastic
fascism as its core ideology just like the Congress.
I have met Kanimozhi on one occasion and found her pleasant and
engaging and was extremely courteous to me. So, I would not have
personally been offended if she had been granted bail. But we are
addressing a larger question. Do politicians deserve sympathy. The
answer to this question is no. They have systematically plundered the
country. The 2G Spectrum scandal is only one of several. The 1984
carnage organised by the Congress party after the death of Indira
Gandhi has not resulted in a single conviction. The case against that
Yadava criminal from Bihar--Laloo Prasad-- will come up only after
the last witness has been killed. The illiterate fellow is still disgracing
the Parliament. So, India has a nation has no sympathy for politicians.
Political crime is a low investment and high return industry. See the
case of Papu Yadava, D P Yadava, Neera Yadava and sundry others.
Not one has been convicted.
Kanimozhi should have asked bail because her role in the 2G
spectrum was limited to the 200 crores invested in Kalaignar TV and
should have been successful in getting bail. However, she said that
being a woman, a wife and having an aged parent she should be given
bail. Just imagine the chaos that would result if bail is granted on
these spurious grounds. Every congress man will make his wife the
benami for his crimes and the poor woman will be in jail and then bail.
Thank god that O P Saini has seen through this argument. Moreover,
the DMK can have witness eliminated. If fact one of the directors of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the Greenhouse Promoters was killed and the Chennai police made it
look like suicide. What about the killing of Paul who was the E O of
Tiruchendur Temple whose gold was looted by a DMK bigwig
several decades back. DMK like the Congress party has crime in its
DNA and deserves no sympathy. Let the patriarch suffer like King
Lear.
The Congress Party, Bhanwri Devi, Mahipal Maderna and the
Political Crisis in Rajasthan
2011-11-19 21:52
Rajas tan voted for the Congress Party in the last General Elections
and has been rewarded with the kind of governance that even the
Duke of York would have avoided. I am not endorsing the BJP regime
in Jaipur under Vasundhara Raje Scindia, but that Government
avoided the sort of scandals which has made governance a non-issue
in the state. I always wonder why the people of India who know that
the Congress party is only a criminal organization, a facade for
dynastic fascism, repeatedly vote for the Congress. The people of
India voted out the NDA and are now reeling under the twin
challenges of price rise, corruption and the consequent stagnant
economic growth. But I digress.
A typical congressman is only a courtier bred like lap dogs to grovel
at the feet of the dynasty. Mahipal Maderna, a jat congressman and a
detractor of Ashok Ghelot apparently had his concubine a nurse
called Bhanwri Devi killed by a gang of Bishnoi criminals who were
close to this Congressman. This woman given the fact that she has
consorted with Congressmen had acquired a taste for life in the fast
lane and had made a secret recording of this corpulent congressman
in a total state of nudity as he fumbled and groped his way over the
assets of this nurse. Even the other congressman, N D Tiwari would
have found Mahipal Maderno's performance a trifle difficult to
stomach. Congressmen seem to have a genetic predisposition toward
crime, sloth filth and violence. Who has forgotten the fact that
Independent India's largest massacre of its own citizens was
orchestrated by the Congress Party.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Bhanwri Devi and her cohorts started blackmailing the Congress

minister with the CD. She should have known that Jats would have no
qualms about killing her, afterall she belonged to the Scheduled Caste.
The nurse entrusted the job of having the CD auctioned to a local goon,
Sahi Ram Bishnoi who hired two fellow Bishois to perhaps kill her and
dispose of her body. Bishnois are generally a peaceful lot, but given the
fact that Congressmen are around turn killers.
Ashok Ghelot was informed about the CD nearly year back and like a
cheap blackmailer used the information to keep the Jat faction leader
Maderna in check. By not taking any step, Ashok Ghelot has shown
himself to be not only incompetent but worse willing to blackmail for
power. What else can none expect from a man who has spent 50 years
in a criminal gang called the Congress party. The social fabric of
Rajasthan has begun to fray. The Meos, the Gujjars and now even the
Jats are all violently opposed to the Congress. If the Bhanwri Devi
killing leads to the fall of this Congress regime it will be welcome.
The central government should dismiss the Rajasthan Government
and order a CBI inquiry.
The Politics over the DAM; Kerala and Tamil Politicians are both to
blame
2011-12-04 20:39
Tamil politicians are back at their usual game of barbarous bluster
and brinkmanship. Vaigopalaswami, the leader of one Dravidian
faction has even threatened a blockade of Kerala over the
Mullaperyar Dam issue. It appears that with the defeat of the LTTE
and the return of normalcy in Sri Lanka, the Western Funded Human
Rights activists not withstanding (I wonder why they do not scream
at what the White men are doing in Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan),
Tamil politicians need an issue to whip up the cold, insane frenzy of
their electorate. The settlement of the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka has
deprived them of one milk cow that like Kamdhenu could be relied
upon to deliver votes. Now they have latched on to the Mullaperyar
Dam issue.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Let me begin by stating certain historical and legal facts which the
semi-literate Kerala and Tamil politicians ignore. First, Tamil Nadu
does not have riparian rights over the waters because the Peryar
River was diverted from its natural course and made to flow into
Tamil Nadu. So, Kerala can rightly claim that Tamil Nadu does not
possess riparian rights; for some reason they are not doing so.
However, I think that on humanitarian grounds, Tamil Nadu must be
given its existing share of water without too much ado. Keral
politicians, instead of driving home the legal and technical
arguments are like Tamil politicians whipping up the frenzy of the
mob. I was shocked when a highly educated girl sent me a SMS some
time back in which she frantically stated that 4 districts of Kerala,
including Kochi, in which she lives, is in imminent danger of
inundation. I told her that the collapse of the dam was only a figment
of the movie maker's imagination. I do not know whether she was
reassured. I am only saying this to show how much panic the Kerala
politicians have whipped up.
The 999-year lease agreement signed with the then Madras
Government is a legal absurdity. The legal rights of the then Madras
Government came from the unequal treaties and sanads signed with
princely states and Kerala are well within its legal rights to claim that
with Independence the treaty lapsed. Unfortunately, the legal
fragility of the argument of the Government of Tamil Nadu is not
being exploited by Kerala. The legal grounds on which Tamil Nadu
stakes its claim over the dam is not consistent with the Constitution of
India and its federal structure. Tamil Nadu cannot claim
administrative control over a dam located in Kerala territory when
the safety of the people living in the downstream districts lie with
Kerala. I am not particularly fond of Karal and its Communist and
Congress tribe of politicians, but facts must be our concern.
I think the Government of India is caught between the devil and the
deep blue sea. The best way to break the logjam would be to reinitiate
the Treaty of 1885 after a complete technical study of the strength of
the dam. It is another example of the absurdity of Tamil politicians
 Word Craft and Statecraft

who claim that for 999 years the dam need not be repaired.
The fun has begun. Let us see how it ends.
Uttar Pradesh Elections: Bahu's Analysis
2012-01-18 15:32
The chattering class has found a few topics to while away the time: the
upcoming UP and 4 other state elections. The Congress Party is
starting down the barrel of absolute defeat as it is unable to create
even the semblance of fight against the other major players. The
induction of Priyanka Vadra into the campaign shows that Dynasty
obsessed fascism in the Congress is alive, well and has lulled that
stupid party into thinking that by flaunting a pretty face they can get
back the base which was lost. Even the UP electorate has woken up to
the fact that the Congress is concerned only about the survival of the
Dynasty and nothing else. Priyanka will swing a few voted in the
decrepit pocket boroughs of the Congress, Amethi and Rae Bareilly,
and her presence will have zero impact.
The Congress does not have a social base for itself in UP as the Upper
caste Rajputs are with the Samajvadi Party and the Dalits are with The
Samajvadi Party has started its campaign by mobilising the so-called
backward castes and the Muslim vote banks. Its emphasis on
corruption and mis-governance will hardly find too many takers
because Mulayam Singh Yadava's regime was notoriously goonda
driven. There was no law and order during his tenure and people of
UP remember his mis-governance and corruption. Further, like the
Congress, Samajvadi is also turning into a dynastic fascist party with
son Akhileshrunning the show like the Yuvaraja.
The BJP has started on a positive not and has more or less identified
the key issues on which to fight the election. They have rightly
cornered the Congress over the Muslim quota issue. They have
highlighted the breakdown of the law and order and the rampant
corruption in Mayawati's regime. It seems that the BJP will improve
its tally but will fall short of a simple majority.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The election commission's order to cover the statues erected by

Mayawati has been challenged by that clown Laloo Prasad Yadav by
saying will they cover my "lantern". The statues were erected by
wasting crores of people's money while the lanterns on the street are
people's own private property and public money was not wasted on
them. So, there is need to have a perspective on these issues.
My analysis is that out of 403 seats, BJP will get around 98-100, BSP
will get around 150-175, SP will get around 70-90 and smaller parties
will divide the rest will Congress getting between 30-35 and Ajit
Singh's Party getting 15- 20 seats in Western UP.
Subramanian Swamy in Indian Politics: Why India cannot do
without him?
2012-02-14 18:59
The field of Indian politics is crowded with every kind of undesirable
criminal who somehow get elected to Parliament and pose as
"peoples Representatives". In most Western democracies one can
expect a basic level of education and civility from the elected
representatives. In India politicians tend to focus on personalities
rather than the issues and hence we need to take personalities
seriously. We have had number of colourful figures--Raj Narain, Ram
Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narain etc.All these personalities have
contributed immensely to Indian politics, either in a negative manner
like Raj Narain or positive manner like Lohia and Jayaprakash.
However, there is one and only Subramanian Swamy. A Tamil
Iyer,and I must say that like the Jews, the Brahmins of Tamil Nadu are
targeted by the Dravidian parties,by birth Subramanian Swamy has
earned for himself an abiding place Indian politics by sheer strategic
intelligence and perseverance. Given the overwhelming superiority
in numbers commanded by the backward caste, the political scene is
grim for the brahmins and Dalits. In this menagerie Swamy has
created a niche for himself.
Electoral democracy has given space to the criminals who
masquerade as politicians and men like Swamy cannot be a match to
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the Mulayam Singh Yadava, Laloo Prasad Yadava, and D P Yadava.

He does not have the muscle power or the money power to take on
the dynastic fascism of the Congress. Therefore, he has concentrated
on "issue based politics". This means that ideology is not the main
factor in his politics. Rather he creates a space for himself by
exploiting the very weaknesses of the so called political class. Swamy
understands Indian dynastic fascism is both corrupt and criminal, so
he uses the laws of the land to corner the politicians. He is a highly
educated individual and the semi-literate Indian politician is
virtually defenceless in front of him.Men like A Raja, the DMK
minister who is in jail, should have known long ago that the
backward class dominated DMK will sacrifice him and that is exactly
what happened. Kani is out and Raja is in. Men like Swamy
understand the caste dynamics of Tamil politics and play the tune
like an accomplished pianist.
Swamy, the Harvard Ph D, is sometimes mistaken to be a serial
blackmailer, targetingcash heavy politicians in order to force them to
offload some of the mullah. I too for some time believed that this was
indeed the case. I have now come to realise that while Swamy ruthlessly
pursues his quarry, he does not negotiate with it and, so he is not a
blackmailer, as he is sometimes portrayed to be. Had this been the case
the Harvard Zero, Chidambaram would have long ago purchased
peace. Swamy's technique is to use the law and procedures to harass the
politicians who he perceives to be anti-national. He can research the
subject thoroughly and being a well-known economist has an array of
sources which he deploys in a deft manner. Dr Arun Shourie was one
such individual, but has since become a writer close to the BJP. Swamy,
however, is still independent.
In the world according to Swamy, there are no permanent friends and
permanent enemies in politics and he truly lives up to the golden
adage of Machiavelli: it is better to be feared than to be loved. Indian
politicians from across the political spectrum loathe Swamy and this
is proof that he is on the right track. Attempts to target and paint him
using the Congress party's contribution to politic lexicon of India--
communal-- will not wash because in his personal life, Swamy shows
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the he is more secular than Nehru who did not want his daughter to
marry a Parsi. Even India's animus against Maneka seems to have
had a communal and caste tinge to it.
Swamy's list of "victims" is impressive: Jayalalithaa, Ramakrishna
Hegde, A Raja and scores more. Some his antics have been wasteful.
He brought down the VajpayeeGovernment in 1999 by one vote on
sheer whim. He had no hesitation in teaming up with J Jayalalithaa
and Sonia to bring down the NDA Government. I do not know what
he achieved by doing this except the vicarious pleasure of tweaking
Vajpayee's nose. He relentlessly pursued the cases against the other
major criminal organisation in India, apart from the Congress, viz the
DMK and kept the spotlight on the Jain Commission of Inquiry which
indicted the leadership of the DMK for various acts in support of the
LTTE. He kept the pressure on the DMK until the Congress for its
own political reasons jumped into bed with the DMK. Even in the 2G
Scandal nothing would have happened without the sustained
intervention of Swamy.
I think India needs a ruthless hunter like Swamy and I say all power
to him.
The Killing of Fishermen by the Italian Marines off Kochi; Why is
India Aggressive?
2012-02-20 08:19
Rule of Law is virtually unknown in India. Every criminal with
political protection can escape justice with impunity. Courts can
easily be persuaded to render judgements which are to say the least
quiet, insipid and bland. Think of the S P S Rathore case or the
judgements in the Jessica Lal case or even the Nitish Kataria case. I am
saying this only to remind the reader that Indian legal system is not
robust as any Western country.
A few days back two Italian marines,LatourMassimiliano and
Salvatore Girona shot and killed two fishermen from Tamil Nadu off
the coast of Kochi.They were marines protecting a cargo/ container
ship under the command of Enrico Lexie.The initial justification
 Word Craft and Statecraft

given by the Captain of the ship, who refused to surrender, was that
the two fishermen were "pirates". The threat of piracy was invoked as
the justification for the killing of two non-white men by two
Europeans. Are we going back to the days of the Portuguese when
Indians were killed on the high seas for no reason except that the
ships did not carry a cartas issued by the Goan government? No
country can ignore the affront to its national dignity which is posed
by trigger happy Europeans.
After much delay the ship and the two marines surrendered to the
harbour police at Kochi. Initially they claimed that the ship was in
international waters, an argument that the GPS data from the ship itself
disproved. Then the argument was made by the consular authorities
that the 2 marines would be tried in Italy. Are the Italians so naive as to
think that because India has an Italian ruler from the Maino family,
extra territorial rights are to be enjoyed by trigger happy Italian
marines. The Quatrrochi Affair after all and the Bofors Scandal are still
simmering under the surface. So, India,at least for now put on a tough
act. The question is will India keep up the tough stand.
I venture to suggest that once the noise dies down and the UP election
is over, India will start diluting its stand and will release the two
marines to Italian custody with the gentlemen's agreement that they
spend time in Italian jail, an agreement that Italy will not openly flout
but will not keep. Right now, it is politically inexpedient for India to
appear lenient toward the Italians. Sonia, the dynastic figure head,
does not want another row over favours shown to the denizens from
the land of Maino. That is all. The Congress Government is indulging
in bravado and I think the Italians will keep their mouth shut and go
along with the drama which is being played out in Kochi.
"Encounter killings" in Chennai: Was Police Action Justified or
was it a case of "unrestrained killing"
2012-02-24 08:48
Chennai, the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was rocked by
a spate of daring daylight heists. At least two banks were looted in
 Word Craft and Statecraft

broad daylight and nearly 50 lakhs were carted away. The Chief
Minister, Ms Jayalalithaa, unlike here predecessor is extremely
strong on the issue of Law and Order and her regime is usually
marked by strong police law enforcement. Her quick intervention is
many instances of "land grabbing" by DMK political goondas has
created a good impression in the minds of the ordinary people.
Obviously, the bank robberies had dented this carefully crafted
image and Tamil Nadu was being projected as a state without
security in the vernacular media. This negative perception prompted
the Chief Minister to instruct the police to act swiftly and decisively.
The Police under J K Tripathi, IPS did. Was the police action justified?
At midnight, 23rd Feb 2012, a posse of policemen surrounded a house
in Velachery, a suburb of Chennai and killed five young men in the
building. The Chennai Police claim that they acted in self-defence a
claim strengthened by the fact that nine sophisticated revolvers were
recovered from the site. The fact that the men were armed and hence
dangerous brings up the question of "proportionate force". Even in
UK and USA when the police deal with armed criminals, the use of
force including "shoot to kill" is conceded. The real problem is to
assess the "real and present" danger confronted by the Police in the
actual situation of encounter. Post facto one can make all kinds of
speculation, but the fact remains that the five men were armed with
sophisticated weapons.
The Newspapers, The Hindu and The Deccan Chronicle, have
pointed out that there were no bullet marks on the walls of the room
in which the encounter took place. The washing machine and the
television were both intact. This fact makes the human rights activists
suspicious. I too wonder how many rounds were fired. I would like to
know whether the firing was from inside the room to which the police
party responded or whether the firing was only after the police
entered the room, the latter fact does not necessarily mean that the
encounter was "fake" because weapon was found on the site that
clearly belonged to the criminals.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

It has become customary to raise doubts about the police version of

events because the credibility of the police force is low, and the courts
grant the benefit of doubt even when circumstantial evidence is
strong.
2012 Assembly Elections and their Implications
2012-03-07 11:34
The results of the 2012 Assembly Elections are finally out and just as I
predicted the Congress was soundly routed in all states except
Manipur. The defeat of the Congress in the politically significant
states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will have a bearing on the survival
of the U PA regime in New Delhi. The dual headed hydra--Sonia and
ManMohan--never the best of constitutional arrangement has been
decisively rejected by the people. Even in Uttarakhand the difference
between the Congress and the BJP is only one seat and so the
Congress cannot crow about its victory. Pretty Face, Rahul Gandhi,
has been shown to be an electoral non-starter and with an encore
performance as in Bihar, the significance of the "dynasty" in the
politics of Northern India stands considerably diminished. I cannot
say that the electorate has dealt a death blow to dynastic fascism as
Akhilesh Yadava, the son of Mulayam Singh Yadava has been given a
mandate to rule and his only claim to fame is that he is the son of
Mulayam Singh Yadava. Until the people of India learn to disregard
birth and lineage and start voting on the basis of the merits of the
candidates on offer, India cannot be regarded as a mature democracy.
Rahul Gandhi behaved as if he has the right of birth to high office. The
result has been a known-out blow to the pretensions of the Congress
"Yuvaraja". The courtiers that his young Yuvaraja had gathered, the
likes of Salman Khurshid, Digvijaya Singh, Beni Prasad Verma and
others, all stand exposed. The Congress played the worst kind of
identity politics when they raised the bogey of "reservations " for
Muslims knowing well that it will polarise the voters. The voters of
UP have rightly rejected identity politics based on religion. The
defeat of Mayawati shows that even identity politics based on caste
 Word Craft and Statecraft

was rejected by the UP voter. Rahul's behavior on the campaign trail

was erratic to say the least. Throwing garlands back to the crowd
something his grandmother used to do, did not go down well with
the voters. He is just too young for this kind of patronizing conduct.
Tearing up paper in public and other such gestures was not liked by
the people. Above all his comment that people of UP are beggars who
work in Mumbai has cost the Congress dear. I belong to Gorakhpur
and do not like my people to be so characterized.
The victory of the Samajwadi Party will unleash the forces of caste
goondaism in UP. The 5 years of Dalit rule has made people of UP
politically aware and conscious and they will not take kindly to
Yadava hegemony. I think there will be an increase in the social
temperature in UP because of the victory of the Yadava dominated
SP. The Muslims have returned to the SP this time round and, so we
can expect a great deal of communal violence in UP because of SP
victory. I think the victory of the SP will soon be regretted by the
people of UP. And the prospects for the survival of UPA II have
sharply decreased as a result. The performance of the Congress is so
bad that in the next Lok Sabha elections if we are to extrapolate from
these results, Congress will win less than 6 seats.
The BJP fared very poorly though there has been a slight increase in
the voting percentage. I think the choice of candidates was faulty
because of factionalism Uma Bharathi tried her best and failed. I think
the Party must craft a social coalition based on a unity between upper
castes, backward Rajputs and Dalits. Only such an orientation will
help the BJP in the next General Election. In Punjab as I predicted the
Akalis and the BJP have won. The Congress stands humiliated. I do
not know how the Congress could even hope to get Sikh votes after its
criminalmassacre of Sikhs in 1984. I hold the Congress Party
responsible for this massacre and I think its leaders need to be
punished. Anyway, Punjab has redeemed itself by rejecting the
Congress.Political instability will now increase, and I think India is
headed for a poll.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Mafia Culture in India; In India Democratic Politics has led to

Criminalisation of the Public Sphere
2012-03-11 18:57
The BJP always claims that it is more civilised than the Congress Party
with its dynastic fascism and courtier culture. Many may be inclined
to wonder after the recent train of events. Like the Congress Party, the
BJP is riven with factionalism and the appointment of the National
President, a man virtually unknown in the rest of India was a big
mistake and the party is paying the price for this. I blame the leaders
like Susma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for dividing the Party on factional
lines. Every BJP Government in India is as corrupt and criminalised
as the Congress Government and we wonder as we approach the next
election: What is the alternative for India. Instead of introspecting
and understanding the loss of its support base and the rapid erosion
of its popularity, BJP is as usual indulging in gimmicks. Apart from
Gujarat all other BJP ruled states are as bad as the Congress rule, in
some respects even worse.
Shivraj Chauhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, promised
good governance and what he did was to hand over the state to
various mafia groups who seem to enjoy the protection of the BJP big
wigs. The routine murder of RTI activists and more recently the
brutal killing of Shri Narendra Kumar an IPS officer by the timber
Mafia is a brute reminder that the BJP ruled states are as bad as
Congress ruled ones. What is worse, the government made an
attempt to pass off the brutal killing as a mere accident. If police
officers are killed so brutally while performing their duty then we
have cause to be worried. Each time such events occur we in the
media refer to the killers using a broad generalisation "mafia". We are
unable to pin down the names behind the abstraction called the
"mafia".The biggest mafia groups in the country are the political
parties themselves and unless the Election Commission of India is
empowered to audit their accounts nothing serious will happen.
Just think of the endless lists of mafias we read in the newspapers:
Tendu leaf mafia, timber mafia, coal mafia, oil mafia, tanker mafia,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

NRGEA mafia, railway mafia, defence contractor mafia,

infrastructure corridor mafia, Dalit mafia, OBC mafia, Muslim mafia,
jat mafia, labour union mafia, land mafia. I can go on and on. The
point is made. In India after successive Congress regimes the MAFIA
have inherited the land. The people do nothing about it. It is time to
make attack on public servants a serious offence. The police have lost
all credibility due to the absolute spinelessness with which they fawn
at the feet of the illiterate ministers and it is time the police took law
into their own hands and protected themselves. If the police kill
criminals, then the wind call goes off that it is a "fake encounter" like
the cry against the Tamil Nadu Police when they gunned down
Veerappan. Human Rights activists have nothing to lose and hence
they court cheap popularity by indulging in inane rhetoric. If
criminals are armed the police must be empowered to shoot to kill as
is done is Western democracies like UK, France and USA. Even the
Bhattala House event in which a police officer was killed is termed
"fake encounter" by the like of Digvijaya Singha.
In 280 districts of India, mafia is operating, and the Home minister is
unable to do anything because his own political legitimacy is in
question. Unless organised crime is dealt not as a mere law and order
problem but as a serious political issue more honest officers will die.
In Tamil Nadu when Kanimozhi's father was misruling the state 6
Tahsildars were killed by the "sand mining" mafia. After a meagre
compensation nothing more was done. Even Jayalalithaa has done
nothing which only goes to show how deep rooted the rot is.
BJP kept Yeddurappa and his mining mafia, the Bellary Reddy
Brothers, in power and the result is that in Karnataka the BJP will not
be re-elected ever again. It is time the politicians realise that the
purpose of politics is service not crime and the people of India must
not vote for criminals.
Western political theory with its Weberian categories of legitimacy
and Habermas' notion of public sphere will not be able to understand
the ease with which criminals are able to acquire political legitimacy
in India. The distinction between outlaw and citizen in becoming
 Word Craft and Statecraft

increasingly blurred so much so the time will soon come when people
will turn to organised groups who are outside the political sphere to
provide leadership. This trend is already visible as large swathes of
the country are under the control of "Naxalites" or radical Maoist
groups. These organised violent groups provide a modicum of
security in a society in which criminals can easily be elected to the Lok
Sabha and other state assemblies. In fact, parties like the Congress,
the Samajwadi party and to a lesser extent the BJP all provide political
support to criminals.
The Union Budget: Squaring the Circle
2012-03-17 15:33
The political crisis that has overtaken the UPA II is largely of its own
making. The dynastic fascist party, the Congress, seems to forget that
it not the master of its own house and therefore behaves as though it
has an absolute majority like the bad old days. It has learnt the very
difficult art of making policy announcements only to sheepishly
retract them later. The FDI in Retail sector and the National Counter
Terrorism Centre both ran into rough weather and the Centre looked
very sheepish. Now we have the fiasco of the Railway Budget with
Mamta claiming a new constitutional provision. A minister from her
party must seek approval from the party supremo to present the
budget. The Railway Budget itself is a relic of the early days of
Independence and we need to give up this senseless practice of
having a separate budget for the Railways: it gives the Railway
minister a false and illusory sense of his importance. Lalu Prasad
Yadava as a Railway Minister made a mockery of the budget and the
fellow even fooled the Harvard Business School.
Dinesh Trivedi has no legal or constitutional constraint to consult his
Party supremo over the budget. He is accountable to the Lok Sabha
for the budget and the Budget is a Cabinet document. If Mamata has
any problems with the budget, she should withdraw from the UPA
and vote against the regime in power. But like every Congress
politician, she too has learnt the fine art of barking and not biting. She
 Word Craft and Statecraft

wants to threaten the regime by attacking her own minister, but not
the Government on whose behalf Dinesh Trivedi has presented the
Budget. The present regime headed by ManMohan Singh and Sonia
Gandhi set a wrong constitutional and political precedent when they
succumbed to the old DMK gangster from Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi,
when he forced the UPA regime to sack his nephew Dayanidhi Maran
from the Cabinet when there was a feud between the sons and
daughters of the several wives of that old fossil from Chennai.
Since Manmohan Singh created a bad precedent both
constitutionally and politically by sacking Dayanidhi Maran, he is
now hoist on his own petard. Had that Karunanidhi not done that act
of having his nephew sacked, then the 2G scandal may not have
happened and one of his daughters, Kanimozhi, may not have been
caught in the biggest scandal of Independent India. Serves that old
bandicoot right. The Minister for Railways is accountable to the Lok
Sabha and Shri Man Mohan Singh must have the courage to tell the
cotton sari Didi from Kolkata that she cannot demand the sacking of a
Minister on purely partisan grounds. As usual the Regine will
prevaricate and in a day or two Trivedi will be shown the door and
the same budget will be passed without any more storms in Bengali
tea cups.
The Union Budget is caught between two diametrically opposite
objectives. It wants to slightly bridge the growing fiscal deficit and at
the same time raise resources by way of taxes without incurring the
wrath of the allies who will face the wrath of the people in the next
elections in a few months from now. The Budget does little to enhance
growth and stimulate the economy. In fact, the Budget will add to the
inflationary pressure that already exists. Inflation will push up
interest rates and hence the overall growth of the economy will
around 5 to 6 % only. Social spending must be curtailed, and the
badger does little in that direction. The move to amend the foreign
transactions taxation provision retrospectively from 1962 is legally
questionable but that is the only way the Government can come out of
the Vodafone mess. I think this provision must be passed on the
grounds of necessity and I hope the Courts concur.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The budget remains a flawed document and probably, will be the last
budget of this regime. The sooner it goes the better.
Should General V K Singh be sacked?
2012-03-30 07:18
The Chief of the Indian Army, General V K Singh is acting in a highly
irresponsible manner when he makes allegations against the civilian
leadership daily. This is not to say that the bureaucracy is not without
its fault. For too long the top brass has had to sidle up to the officers of
the Defence Ministry in order to protect their interests and in the
process the whole structure of civil-military relations has come
unstuck. Further, ever since the Bofors deal, corruption on a gigantic
scale has been taking place in the procurement of equipment and
aircraft for the Indian Armed Forces. Unfortunately, the Defence
Ministry has institutionalised corruption and even A K Anthony who
is said to be straightforward is unwilling or unable to do anything
about it. It is time to have a rethink on the whole question of
procedure for defence procurement.
Even serving Army, Navy and Air force officers act as agents for
defence suppliers thereby muddying the waters, General V K Singh
knows about all this but chose to keep quiet until the very last leg of
his term as Chief of the Army Staff. His eloquence at this stage is not to
be viewed as a patriot out to do good to his country, but rather as a
frustrated man venting his spleen at all and sundry. If he is happy
bringing out a scandal a day let him do so. The question is: What did
he do as Army Chief to stem the rot. The answer to the question is
simple: He did nothing. He was part and parcel of a corrupt
organisation though he himself may have been very circumspect.
General V K Singh has exceeded all limits in his tirade against the
civilian leadership. We know that the MOD is stuffed with agents,
crooks, double dealing criminals and what not. We do not need
General Singh to tell us that. After losing his battle on the age issue
with the Government he has opened up not just a second front but a
whole series of skirmishes with the Government. The BJP which has
 Word Craft and Statecraft

jumped into the fray with alacrity should ponder over the
consequences of Singh's actions. I think supporting V K Singh may
not be in the political interest of the BJP though it certainly
embarrasses the Government.
The Government of India, rocked as it is by a blizzard of scandals
does not have the moral authority to do anything and the man refuses
to go quietly. He must be shown the door otherwise the civil-military
relations will be damaged beyond repair. The actions of General
Singh in writing to the Prime Minister, bypassing the chain of
command, racking up old scandals whose only purpose is to create
confusion constitute misconduct and indiscipline and the
Government must reduce Singh in rank and turn him out.
Even in advanced Western Democracies Generals who take their
starched uniforms, their stars, their batons and other baubles of office
too seriously are turned out unceremoniously. President Obama
sacked his Commander in Afghanistan, Gen Macrystal, when he
stepped out of line. And this is the way it should be. General Singh
seems to be bent on creating confusion and his leaked letters are likely
to be misread of several countries. Instead of harping on China as a
threat, it is time for India to realise that China as a great and powerful
nation does not expect anything more than fair treatment from India.
Ever since India joined hands with USA, the Army has become
ungovernable in India and General Singh is only a symptom of this.
India is a Soft State and Hence Cannot Carry Out the Death
Sentence
2012-04-02 21:04
India became a soft state the day Nehru in his utter stupidity sated on
the day Gandhi was shot that his assassin was a "hindu". This silly but
devilishly perverse statement of Nehru introduced an element of
communal ism: in the judicial process of India. Forever more the
religious identity of the perpetrator of the crime became a mitigating
factor in the execution of the judicial sentence. Shri Nathuram Godse
was killed by Independent India solely because Nehru had decided
 Word Craft and Statecraft

that his Hindu identity made him far more culpable of the crime than
any other identity. Nearly 60 long years later India is still to overcome
the Nehruvian trap that makes the judicial sentence hostage to the
religious or ethnic identity of the convict. Among the many horrible
things that Nehru was guilty of this is perhaps the worst.
Cut to the present. Nehru's grandson (given the dynastic fascism
inherent in India the dynasty too pays for the crimes of the patriarch)
was killed by a group of radical Tamils who were probably close to a
faction within the Tamil Nadu Congress. I cannot imagine how all the
bigwigs of the party arrived only after the deed was done. They seem
to have had prior information of the killing and hence carefully
avoided shadowing him. The 3 killers of Rajiv Gandhi cannot be
hanged because their ethnic identity as Tamil protects them. It is
ironic that the grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi was primarily responsible
for introducing the principle that a crime became serious or less
serious depending on the identity of the criminal. The very parties
that arranged to have Rajiv Gandhi eliminated are now sharing
power in New Delhi and along with power they also share pelf and so
the killers cannot be executed even though the Supreme Court has
upheld the verdict and the President of India has rejected the mercy
petition.
Now take the case of Rajoana, the convicted killer of Beant Singh,
sometime chief minister of Punjab. The fact that the Congress Party
organised the largest massacre of innocent citizens soon after the
untimely death of Indira Gandhi has to be borne in mind while
deciding the fate of this man. He has said that the sole motive for
killing the Congress Chief Minister was to extract revenge for the
1984 anti-Sikh Massacre in which Congress Party and its goons killed
nearly15,000 Sikhs in New Delhi alone. This criminal organisation
went on to appoint the ring leaders like JagdishTyler and H K L
Bhagat ministers in the Union Cabinet. So much for the so-called
secularism of the Congress Party. (The day the Congress Party is
declared an illegal organisation and banned will be the day India can
stand proud). Shri Rajoana did not plead for mercy from the criminals
 Word Craft and Statecraft

who carried out the worst atrocity in the history of Independent

India. Quite rightly the death sentence cannot be carried out.
Do you think Kasab will be hanged. I do not think so. The UPA may
not give him their Bharat Ratna but I do not think the soft state like
India can carry out this sentence either. Bad precedents have been set
and the net result is that every political assassination is now hostage
to a powerful identity based group in the political process. The
Tamils think that Rajiv Gandhi's killers represent their "racial" pride,
the Sikhs think that Shri Rajaona waged war for the self-respect of the
"panth" and I will not be surprised if Kasab too like Afzal Guru finds
supporters.
Hon'ble Narendra Modi Stands Vindicated
2012-04-11 20:39
Since 2002, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi,
has been battling charges ranging from criminal conspiracy, rioting,
instigation to violence, abetment to murder and a host of imagined
atrocities he is supposed to have committed. In the entire history of
India, no Chief Minister has had such a tough agni pariksha, a trial by
fire. And the Hon'ble Chief Minister has come out unscathed.
Witnesses were tutored, statements were fabricated, evidence
manufactured, police officers dragooned into the campaign, but all
these conspiracies fell by the wayside. The Special Investigation
Team appointed by the Court has stated that there is not a shadow of
doubt about the innocence of Hon'ble Narendra Modi. My question is
quite simple: Sonia Gandhi called him a "merchant of death" (maut ka
saudagar). Where was she when 15,000 Sikhs were massacred on the
streets of New Delhi when her late husband Rajiv Gandhi was the
Prime Minister and Congress goons (in fact every Congressman is
indeed a goon) went from street to street armed with the electoral
rolls and pulled out Sikh men and mercilessly killed them. I have
another question: Why did the Congress shield all the criminals
involved and even appointed the ring leaders to important cabinet
positions. Why was the investigation so shoddy that not a single
 Word Craft and Statecraft

conviction has been secured in spite of major Commissions of

Inquiry? I think the answer is also simple: Congress is a violent
dynasty obsessed party and it protected its goons and I am somewhat
surprised that Atal Behari Vajpayee did not reopen this issue when
they had the opportunity.
Hon'ble Narendra Modi has repeatedly won the elections in Gujarat
and even the Muslim population of Gujarat seems to have reposed its
trust in him. The Congress brand of identity politics has lost ground
in Gujarat and therefore under the compulsions of electoral politics
the party tries to keep hounding him and Modi always bounces back
looking smarter than ever before. When the Courts have found no
evidence to even summon Hon'ble Narendra Modi I am somewhat
shocked to see that Congress courtiers always bring up the alleged
complicity of Modi in the post Godhra riots. As for as the Congress
MP who was killed in the Housing Society incident, it is well known
that he had a terrible reputation and his own enemies in the so-called
Congress party may have used the riots to have his butchered and
Congressmen are known to indulge in factional fighting.
Teesta Setavad has been convicted of perjury in the Best Bakery Case
in which she was found guilty of influencing the testimony of the
witness. With such a record the Bar Council of India should have
debarred her but she still soldiers on spewing venom against the
Chief Minister from every television channel. The Hon'ble Chief
Minister has been proven innocent and it is absolutely criminal on the
part of anyone to claim that he is implicated in the post Godhra riots. I
agree that the Hon'ble Chief Minister has unconventional methods of
dealing with organised crime, but his methods of course are effective.
Gujarat has emerged as the fastest growing state in India, and the
infrastructure and power situation are the envy of the nation. The
rapid strides made in the field of solar energy makes Gujarat a
pioneer and you have just to look at the mess in Rajasthan to
understand where Gujarat stands in this field.
Law and Order are of course on track and there are no major incidents
of atrocities on tribal and SCs in the state. The Congress brand of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

politics hinged on the manufacture of communal violence and the

state had paid a heavy price for that. Since Modi came to power, the
Congress brand of street fascism has been checked and we have only
the Hon'ble Chief Minister to thank for that. Despite all this, Modi
carries the Cross of Godhra and it will take him some more effort to
wipe the stains off. Already the judicial verdicts have given an
immense boost to his national standing and I hope that the faction
ridden BJP closes ranks around the Hon'ble Chief Minister.
One last point. Gujarat is perhaps the only state where the Chief
Minister is not corrupt, his ministers and officers are afraid of
corruption and there is a modicum of moral authority.
Bangaru Laxman was entrapped by Thelka and his conviction can
be challenged
2012-04-28 20:39
Bangaru Laxman, the Dalit face of the BJP, was trapped by a Congress
friendly medium outfit called Thelka accepting cash to the tune of Rs
100,000 for favouring an entity called Westland. It turns out that there
was no such defence deal and that the whole episode caught on
camera was only play acting.
Corruption as defined by the law involves giving a bribe to a public
servant for obtaining tangible gains. When there was no deal and the
reporters were only pretending to be defence contractors then no public
interest was affected in the whole fictitious transaction. In fact, if
Bangaru Laxman can be convicted then the two journalists involved
must also be prosecuted for indulging in bribery of a public functionary.
I think the whole episode reeks of entrapment and Bangaru Laxman,
though not innocent certainly cannot be called the only guilty party. It
appears that the quantum of punishment was set high to deny him bail.
I feel such vicious political prosecution will undermine people's faith in
the judiciary which must be seen to be above board.
Now contrast this to the Bofors case. In that case, it has been established
above any reasonable doubt that bribes were given in the form of
"winding up charges" to the tune of 64 crores. It is known from
 Word Craft and Statecraft

investigation from Sweden, India, Switzerland and other parts of the

world that the money trail led to Quatrrochi, an Italian known to be
close to the resident non-Indian first Dynasty of India, the Gandhis. Yet,
the CBI being a pliablepolitical tool did not conduct any reasonable and
sustained investigation so much so that after 25 years not a single
conviction has taken place. Further, even in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots
organised by the congress party, the CBI has been able to file the charge
sheet against Sajjan Kumar only last month. This shows that the CBI
operates because of political pressure. When there is a real and tangible
case of corruption then the CBI and the Courts are unable to act.
However, when there is no case of corruption based on public interest
as is the case with the Bangaru Laxman episode the CBI and the courts
are quick to convict. Bangaru Laxman incriminated himself and self-
incrimination is not admissible evidence. Further, the Courts must be
sure that public interest was affected by the act of bribe taking. In this
case no public interest was affected as there was no defence deal.
Hence there was no corruption. Entrapment is not a judicially
permissible method of evidence gathering. Laxman at best was guilty
of an indiscretion and I wonder why the Thelka "journalists" are not
brought into the judicial process as "bribe givers". In this case we
have judicial overreach.
Thelka thinks that the Abhishek Manu Sanghvi CD is not evidence of
misconduct as they want to protect the image of their paymasters, the
Congress, while poor Bangaru Laxman is found guilty. I venture to
say that this judgement will be set aside during the appeal. Why is it
that only Dalit and tribal politicians are convicted? We have Raja,
Madhu Koda, now Bangaru Laxman all of whom belong either to the
SC or ST category. A Karunanidhi or Sonia Gandhi seem to be above
the reach of law.
The Violence in God's Own Country: Kerala Seemed to Forget that
Party Politics is not All
2012-05-06 08:52
Shri T P Chandrasekaran, activists of the CPM and a follower of V S
Achutanandan, the former Chief Minister of Kerala was brutally
 Word Craft and Statecraft

killed near Calicut yesterday. The life and death of this 51-year-old
Party activist illustrates the perils of Indian political life. By all
accounts this man was a committed party worker who joined the
Student Federation of India and rose through the ranks.
Extremely popular with grass roots workers, this activist had built up
a following for himself in the Communist stronghold of Onchiyam. In
the recent polls his Revolutionary Marxist Party won the Panchayat
polls, and this seems to have alarmed the faction led by Pinyari
Vijayan. Even the Congress Home Minister of Kerala T
Radhakrishnan has hinted at the involvement of the Pinyari Vijayan
faction in the killing.
The CPM and the Muslim League both practice the politics of
violence in Kerala with great abandon. Who can ever forget the brutal
killing of Balakrishnan, the schoolmaster who was killed in front of
his students in the classroom about a decade back. The highly
politicised nature of Kerala society has led to a situation in which
political violence has become the tool for maintaining control over
the cadres.
The frequent hartals and strikes have given Kerala the reputation of
being a state on the brink of anarchy. I cannot understand why politics
cannot be conducted in a civilised manner in Kerala. I must say that
Tamil Nadu too is given to violence. Shri T P Chandrasekaran was
travelling on his two-wheeler when 3 or 4 men armed with country
bombs and sharp weapons waylaid him and hacked him to death. One
more loyal party worker was sacrificed on the red altar and I am sure
that within days there will be a retaliatory killing and the spiral of
violence will spin out of control like what is happening in Rayalseema,
Andhra Pradesh. Political parties like the Congress and the
Communist factions and of course, the Muslim League which promote
violence in the political realm must be banned from Indian politics.
League which promote criminalisation of politics and deploy
political Shri T P Chandrasekaranwho was travelling on his two-
wheeler when three or four men armed with country bombs and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

sharp weapons waylaid him and hacked him to death. One more
loyal party worker was sacrificed on the red altar and I am sure that
within days there will be a retaliatory killing and the spiral of
violence will spin out of control like what is happening in
Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh.
Ethnic violence in India: Assam, Bodos, Bangladesh Muslims and
the Indian State
2012-07-29 13:48
Ethnic violence on a large scale has broken out in the North-Eastern
state of Assam, India. This state has witnessed frequent outbreaks of
violence between indigenous tribal groups, the Bodos on the one
hand and migrants from Bangladesh, Bengali Muslims on the other.
The state government which is controlled by the Congress Party
which also is the dominant faction in the UPA, the coalition in power,
has abetted in the illegal settlement of Bangladeshis in the bordering
districts, particularly Khokrajar District, as the Muslims tend to vote
for the Congress Party. By playing on the fears of the illegal migrants
and by pandering to identity politics of the worst kind the Congress
has been able to remain in power. Tarun Gogoi, the present Chief
Minister, was recently re-elected to power.
The indigenous tribal population is under increasing pressure and
tribal lands are falling into the hands of the migrant population and
Bodos feel threatened and vulnerable. The State Government is
usually intervening on the side of the migrant population. The border
between India and Bangladesh is extremely porous and large scale
illegal immigration is taking place. The Central Government which
signed an Accord with the All Assam Students Union which led an
agitation against the illegal immigrants, some 20 years back,
committed itself to the detection, deletion, and detention of illegal;
immigrants from Bangladesh.
However, given the fact that India is a soft state, the Accord was not
ever implemented, and the situation has further escalated. The more
militant among the Muslim migrants from Bangladesh who receive
 Word Craft and Statecraft

arms and training from Pakistan have begun a campaign of terror

against the Bodos. This is not to say that the Bodos are a peaceable lot.
However, the Bodos are being symptomatically attacked and driven
from their land and consequently more than 250,000 Bodos have been
displaced from their villages and are living in refugee camps. Over
the past 3 to 4 weeks a silent tragedy has been unfolding in Assam.
Bodos are being evicted from their settlements and the Central
Government is both unable and unwilling to do anything about it.
The State Government as I said earlier is also under the Congress and
the Party relies on the votes of the illegal migrants and hence the state
government is also quiet.
Ethnic cleansing over large swathes of Bodo land has been taking
place over the past 40 to 50 years and now the Bodos living in the very
heartland of Bodoland, Khokrajar District, are being terrorized. Post-
Colonial states as V S Naipaul keeps reminding us ever so often are
half made societies and are tethering on the brink of chaos. I think the
people of Assam are paying dearly for their foolishness in voting the
Congress Party to power in Assam now is awash in blood and only
the Congress is responsible for the violence and bloodshed.
When is a Government Illegitimate? L K Advani Spoke for All of Us
2012-08-09 13:56
Parliamentary Democracy is predicated upon a very delicate balance
between public perception and the illusion of permanent power.
Since the tenure of a President is fixed for a certain period of time by
the Constitution, there cannot be too many question marks over the
legitimacy of a President.
This is not the case in a Parliamentary form of Government and more
so in the case of India where the fist past the winning post system is in
place. In the electoral battlefield, candidate resort to violence,
intimidation, bribery, impersonation and other mal practices are
employed despite the best efforts of the Election Commission.
Ultimately candidates sit in the LOK SABHA with less than 15% of
the valid votes polled.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

In the case of Mr P Chidambaram, the present Finance Minister of the

Government of India, he was actually defeated and got the certificate
of election by fraud and in all probability his election will be struck
down. The legitimacy of the parliamentary process is already in
doubt and so there is no harm in speaking of "illegitimacy" of the
Government. In the Lok Sabha debate on the violence in Assam, Shri
L K Advani stems from senior leader of the opposition referred to the
UPA-II as an "illegitimate government" and the sustained outrage of
the Congress benches aided and instigated by Sonia Gandhi led to
Advani withdrawing the remarks. While it was gracious of Shri L K
Advani to withdraw the remarks,
I would like to ask if his remarks were true and if there is truth in his
remark why did he withdraw the remark. I think Shri L K Advani is
making noises which may get his headlines, but he is not helping in
the gigantic task of getting rid of the two-headed hydra--Sonia and
Singh--who are ruling the country. The increase in the level of
terrorism in India itself raises doubts the ability of the two-headed
hydra to govern.
The ruthless Mumbai Attack of 26th November 2009 took place
during the watch of the present government and India has made no
progress in getting cooperation from Pakistan. Though Kasabhas
been sentenced to death, a soft state like India is unlikely to have the
political will to carry out the sentence. The Government has had no
success in controlling domestic terrorism. Naxalite violence has only
increased and CRPF soldiers are being killed by the dozens. In Dante
Wada incident alone 80 soldiers were killed.
The main reason for the doubts on the legitimacy of the Government
stems from the large-scale corruption indulged in by the present
regime. In the allocation of spectrum scandal, popularly known as the
2G scandal more than 8 to 10 billion US dollars were lost to the
country and to make matters worse a senior minister Kapil Sibal even
justified the loss saying that it was a zero loss to government.This
matter is pending before the Supreme Court of India. In the allocation
of coal blocks for mining huge bribe were paid and the Comptroller
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and Auditor General of India has documented the loss to the

exchequer.
Then there are a host of smaller scams like the Adarsh Scandal. The
involvement of Congress politicians in serious crimes is another
cause for concern. And the dynastic obsession of the Congress party
which projects the highly inexperience and volatile Rahul Gandhi as
the next Prime Minister of India raise question about the legitimacy of
the regime in power. L K Advani was certainly right in condemning
the regime as illegitimate.
The Coal Scam and the Scandal of Governance in India
2012-08-28 16:27
The 2 G Spectrum scan is still hanging like a cloud around the
Congress led UPA Government and it has already claimed the heads
of 2 central minister--Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja--both of whom
belonged to a regional political party, the DMK. In Indian politics
there is no such thing as a single author scam. It is obvious that the
highest summits of the political system which includes Sonia Gandhi
and Man Mohan Singh had a hand in the scam but were clever
enough to ensure that lesser mortal took the rap for it.
The coal scam is almost identical in its modus operandi, and the
Congress Government is trying its best to wriggles out of the ever-
tightening noose around its neck. With 2 scandals with a net loss of
nearly 20% of the GDP of the country, there will be a lot of froth flying
thick everywhere. The problem with the UPA Government like the
Bourbons of France is that they forget nothing, and they learn nothing.
From the 2 G Spectrum Scandal they must have learn that the auction
route is the best way of allocating scare resources and ensure a hefty
return to the state exchequer. However, since political gratification is
the objective, the UPA allocated 57 coal blocks in an arbitrary and non-
transparent. In the 2G Spectrum Scam, A Raja could be sent to jail as he
was a minister from a regional party and a Dalit to boot.
In the case of the Coal Scam the ministry was headed by the Prime
Minister himself who retained the ministry under his direct charge.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Now that the scandal has surfaced the Congress Party is trying its
best to protect the Prime Minister and others who were involved in
the decision-making process. India has large reserves of coal and the
state exchequer would have got nearly 15 billion US dollars had the
auction route been taken. Instead prime coal mines were allocated to
private parties which included Tata Power, Tata Steel,Essar Power
Generation, Jindal Steel and many other power generating
companies or steel plants. The criteria on which this allocation was
made has not been spelled out.
In the 2 G Spectrum at least there was a fig leaf of objectivity in that the
allocation was done on the basis of the first come first served basis.
Even this lame defence is not available for the coal scam. As per the
norms and procedure of the Government of India, the file for such
major decisions has to be signed by the cabinet minister and only then
it becomes operational. In the case of the Coal Scam the files were all
signed by the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Coal Minister and
hence he cannot now evade responsibility or accountability. The
mines which were allotted to private parties are the most lucrative
ones since they are all open mines and do not require too heavy an
investment in infrastructure.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in his Report
submitted to Parliament has clearly stated that gross irregularities in
procedure had taken place causing a net loss of 1.86 lakh crores
rupees to the treasury of the people of India. The kind of Governance
we have in India under the UPA aims at enriching the private players
at the cost of the Government and obviously huge kickbacks play a
role in the formulation of such skewered policies.
The principle opposition party the BJP has raised the issue in the
highest democratic forum of the country, the Lok Sabha. Instead of
answering the questions raised, the Prime Minster is indulging in
cheap gimmicks when he stated in his defence that this was done to
favour the opposition ruled states. It is only an accident that the coal
rich states are presently under the BJP and the Congress is not known
to have concern for anyone or institution except its "royal" dynasty.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The coal ministry bureaucrats suggested public auction as the best

method for pricing the coal blocks, but it was blocked by the Prime
Minster, just as was done in the case of the 2G Spectrum pricing. The
effort now currently underway to make the NDA responsible for the
policy is untenable because the policy change was initiated only after
the UPAGovernment was formed in 2004. The Scandals which have
undermined the present government will have their impact in the
next election. The anti-corruption movement led by Baba Ramdev is
likely to create enough impact to tilt the balance in favour of the BJP in
the next election. The 2014 elections can only be lost by the BJP due to
political mismanagement and factionalism.
Mulayam Singh Yadava, Mayawati, Mamta Banerjee and the
Circus of Indian Politics
2012-09-21 21:26
In Casablanca, the classic film of the 1940's there is a famous line: One
in one out, that's the way it goes. This line is equally true of Indian
politics; One out, Mata, one in, Mulayam. This merry go round will
continue until the next election which are scheduled to be held in
2014. Unfortunately, opportunistic alliances of sheer convenience
whose only purpose is to cling on to power at all cost is legitimized
using the "secular" card. It does not take too much imagination to
realize that the most corrupt and obsessively dynasty based are the so
called secular parties.
The DMK is neck deep in the 2G Spectrum scam and the old
bandicoots daughter too was in jail for nearly a year, Laloo Prasad
Yadava is caught in the Fodder Scam and though the witnesses are
being killed systematically the case is still alive, Mulayam Singh
Yadava if facing a disproportionate assets case and since the CBI is a
coalition partner of the UPA, the case is weakening or strengthening
based on the politics of the Yadava chieftain and there is no need to
even mention Mayawati with her diamond nose rings and flashy
salwar's with bags in tow.With such specimens in the political field
the UPA will not run out of partners who will suddenly discover the
virtue of "secularism" in order to hide their sins.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

There is however, one snag in the calculations of the UPA and its
potential partners in crime and power. All these parties are directly in
competition with the Congress for the same political space and the
more they support the Congress the more they will have to face the
responsibility for the scams, scandals and corruption. It will also have
to bear the backlash and it is inevitable for the FDI in the retail sector
which will dominate the next elections more than any other issue. The
Congress will be able to dilute peoples anger by pointing fingers at
their partners, and therefore it is not in the interest of these parties to
throw a life line to the Congress.
Of all the regional players only Mamta Banerjee has understood the
inherent logic of the emerging political scene. The Congress Party is
heading for a total disaster in the coming elections and with the
revival of the Left in West Bengal, Mamta had few options left. She
pulled the rug from underneath the feet of the UPA hoping to create a
crisis and she has succeeded eminently. The options before Mulayam
and Mayawati are rather slim. The next elections both these parties
will not be able to retain their seats and they also have to take
responsibility for all the sins of the dynastic fascist party, the
Congress. Without understanding this basic issue both these parties
are falling over each other to extend support.
Aam Admi to Mango People: Robert Vadra and His Language of
Contempt
2012-10-10 14:17
On his Facebook, Shri Robert Vadra, Soniaji's damad had talked
about India being a banana republic of mango people. The mango
people that Shri Vadra refers to is of course the subversive reference
to the very slogan under which his Mother in Law fought the election:
Aam Admi Ka Haath Congress Ke Saath. It is a story as old as the hills
that those who enjoy wealth and luxury without straining themselves
have contempt for those who earn their honest bread and keep. The
"Mango People" of India may be stupid for having voted the
Congress but they are by and large hardworking and decent,
something that cannot be said of the average Congressman.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Vadra, a small-time operator from Moradabad made it to the big

league of movers and shakers by virtue of his marriage or put it more
crudely by being the damad of the dynasty in power. Having got
political power, he wants to enjoy it like the Bourbons of France after
the Restoration in 1815. His reference to Indians as "mango people"
does not smack of elitism because Vadra knows that his background
is anything but elitist. He has neither education nor the skills required
to make him earn an honest livelihood,and his entry in politics during
the last Assembly Elections backfired and was the main cause for the
miserable failure of the Congress party. India does not have a
hereditary aristocracy and the likes of Vadra with political clout
along with the Rahul's, the Vikas. the Akhilesh's, the Marans and the
Karunanidhis become the aristocracy of power.
They perform an important role: they translate political power into
money and wealth. The main reason why corruption has increased
many time over is because of dynastic fascism of the sort favoured by
the Congress and mindlessly of the so called "secular" parties. Only
the Communist factions and the BJP are not touched by this tendency.
In fact, Patrick French in his recent book has shown that the vast
majority of the MPs in the current Lok Sabha are sons, daughters and
grandchildren of politicians.
In other words, the pool of talent from which politicians are recruited
is decided in the bed room and that is the reason for the phenomenal
increase in corruption. Dynastic politics breeds monumental
corruption and the recent spate of scams is proof of this statement.
The other fruit that figures in Vadra's eloquent comment is
Banana.The term banana republic came into being when the great
pioneers of human rights and democracy,USA, started intervening
militarily in the affairs of South American counties in order to safe
guard the interests of the United Fruit Company. They routinely
intervened in the internal affairs of Latin and South American
countries and got rid of the authoritarian leaders whom they had
propped up in the first place and replaced them with men of their
own choice who they felt would do the bidding of the UFC.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

These kleptocracies were all tied to US banking and financial interests

and so the term banana republic came to represent the corruption and
filth spewed by US backed regimes. India has already become a
banana republic as there is a total breakdown of law and order and
the only hope that remains is the judicial intervention. The Coal Gate
Scam and 2G Spectrum Scam both are symptomatic of crony
capitalism of the worst kind. And why not Vadra. He gets a loan
without interest from DLF to buy its own property as such sweetheart
deals are possible only in Banana Republics with Mango People.
Cabinet Reshuffle and the Farce of Governance in India
2012-10-28 14:50
The cabinet reshuffle that was announced this morning reminds me
of the famous line that a hopeless and desperate measure can be
compared with rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.
The Congress party over the past 10 years has presided over scandals
of monumental proportions and despite Parliamentary inquiries
nothing tangible has emerged. The Joint Parliamentary Committee
which was to probe the 2G Spectrum Scandal was stymied right from
the start by the recalcitrant attitude of the Congress party and this
faced the main opposition party to quit the panel.
The Coal Allocation Scandal has cost the national exchequer more the
6 billion US dollars and there is no visible sign of the scandal going
away soon. To make matters worse, the Son in law of Sonia Gandhi
seems to have built a real estate empire using funds from sources
which are clearly illegal and dubious. Against this backdrop, the
chances of the Congress doing well in the 2014 General Election are
rather slim. However, the BJP is caught in its own internecine
factional squabbles and this has left the party weak and in disarray.
Except in Gujarat where the Party can boast of good governance, the
BJP ruled states are all mired in corruption and mal administration
with Karnataka being the most egregious example.
Now, Manmohan Singh has reshuffled his pack and as we know from
history, the Prime Minister even in a coalition government has the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

choice of whom to appoint in his hand. In India since the Prime

Minister is a nominee of the Dynasty, he enjoys no such constitutional
freedom. He took orders from the Dynasty's Crown Price--Rahul
Gandhi-- and all changes were made according to the whims and
wishes of the Crown Price. So much for Democracy. Dynastic Fascism
has reached such a level that even the pretence of constitutional
propriety has been given up. The Newspapers were full of Reports to
the effect that Rahul "thought" that such and such a person was to be
inducted and such and such a person was to be shown the door. The
net result being an elaborate exercise in futility.
The fact that a corporate house, Reliance which is an important
multinational company in the Oil and Petroleum Sector has
succeeded in getting rid of Jaipal Reddy who was relieved of the
portfolio.
Civil Society and Crime, Corruption and political apathy in India
2012-12-29 22:06
The death of the gang rape victim in a hospital in Singapore has led to
an upsurge of emotion in New Delhi and other parts of urban India.
Candle light vigils, black ribbon marches, placards displaying
solidarity with the victim, named Nirbhaya or fearless by the doctors
of Safdarjung Hospital in recognition of her valiant battle to live,
which she ultimately lost. The anger against the criminal political
class is palpable but unlike the Arab Spring which was ignited by the
fiery protest of a street vendor and spread the rest of the Arab world
from Tunisia, these protests will not do much to change the system.
The one man one vote and first past the winning post system of
elections has atomized Indian society that the aggregate vote is
actually controlled by the political parties which are not afraid of such
protests because they are actually a mass of individual protests
within a spontaneous field of reaction. The political parties
particularly the dynastic fascists know that the tempo of protest
cannot be sustained until the next election. Is there a way out? The
liberal intelligentsia has been claiming that the rape of the Delhi girl
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and the sustained brutality to which her body was subjected is a

symptom of the "rage" of the underclass Marinate this argument with
a critic of the neo liberal economic agenda and you have that
thundering darling of the West, Arundhati Roy coming up with the
argument that rape of the Delhi girl was only a protest against
"poverty" and "marginalization". What this argument fails to
consider and hence dangerous if it starts attracting attention is that it
is an overt endorsement of crime against women.
Perhaps the novelist in Roy does not quote comprehend the
implications of her own argument. Another point is that most of the
perpetrators of such crimes,and I am going only by anecdotal
evidence, are from the OBC castes. The politically correct media will
not highlight this fact, but it is germane to the discussion. In fact, all
the six arrested rapists of the Delhi girl were from the slums of Delhi
and were from castes which historically have been violent. The bad
old days of the British Raj they were called "criminal tribes and
castes".
I am only suggesting that in the name of woolly liberalism we should
not lose sight of ground realities and forget history. The liberals in the
Indian establishment seem to be advocating a jurisprudence
predicated upon caste hierarchy. If the criminals are from the lower
castes, then their crimes can be ignored and if the victim is a Dalit then
the crime become all the more serious. Such relativism of crime has
led to political interference making it impossible for the police to
tackle the crime. There is another factor. Too much civil society
activism on frivolous issues spear headed by Arvind Kejriwal has led
to the dilution of civil society as a force in Indian public life.
Rahul Gandhi and Dynastic Rule in India: Will the "Congress
Party" Survive?
2013-01-20 10:35
One of the promises of Indian freedom movement was the
transformation of India from a society of privilege based on birth to a
society of "opportunity" albeit not equal opportunity for all. The
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Congress Party by nakedly promoting dynastic rule has broken this

historical contract between the people and the Constitution. With the
sole exception of North Korea,no other country has established a
dynastic rule in the name of democracy and this truth itself highlights
the absolute hollowness of Indian claims to be the world's largest
democracy.
The usual justification given is that other countries like the USA have
dynasties: the Kennedys and the Bushes etc. What the apologists for
dynastic fascism do not realize is that there are dynasties within the
Republican and the Democratic parties, the Congress in India is the
only dynasty which possesses a political party and its members are
not politicians serving a public cause but courtiers fawning and
grovelling at the feet of the Dynasty. The very presence of the
Congress and its Dynasty on the political landscape is an affront to
the dignity of India and its people.
The hidden cost of dynastic rule is borne by the people of India.
Political accountability for actions done by public personalities is just
not there. Even the very idea of public accountability is alien to the
political culture fostered by the dynastic fascist, Congress party.
Congressmen are routinely accused of rapes and murders and
because of the clout of the factions aligned to the ruling family are
able to escape the long arms of the law. In Rajasthan a leading
Congressman and a Minister in the cabinet had his concubine killed
and her body disposed of using another Congress MLA. In Himachal
Pradesh a Congress MLA who was recently elected in on the run
having been accused of the rape and murder of a young girl.
Congress Ministers even from pre-Independence days are notorious
for raking in the moolah and Jawaharlal Nehru's Planning Raj made it
possible for ministers to indulge in unlimited corruption in the name
of "socialism" and "Party Funds". Since there is no legal requirement
in India for the audit of Party Funds, there is the practice of parking
ill-gotten wealth in party coffers and hence the temptation to covert
political parties into family possessions. The Congress Party was
responsible for this horrible tradition is followed by all regional allies
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of the Congress. The DMK in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has
already undergone the transition to full blown dynastic rule as the 2
sons of the old bandicoot called Karunanidhi are engages in a full-
fledged war of succession. We hope the two sons fight to the finish.
Dynastic fascism of the sort encouraged by the Congress has
undermined rule of law. The mass killings of Sikhs in 1984 after the
death of one of their leaders is a direct fall out of the dynastic politics.
The son of the dead leader was named her successor and local party
leaders like Jagdish Tyler, HKL Bhagat, Lalit Makken and Sajjan
Kumar organised mass killings of innocent Sikhs in the name of the
Party and the ruling dynasty in order to prove the loyalty to the new
crown price. The Crown Price famously said: When a big tree falls the
earth shakes. Retribution caught up with this man when he himself
was mercilessly eliminated a few years later.
The elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the Vice Presidency of the Congress
Party in in line with the dynastic fascist ideology of the Congress
Party. The fact is that the people of India are sick and tired of the
corruption, criminality and monumental mis governance of the
ruling party and its allies. The BJP is caught in its own internal
factional squabbles and unless the Hon'ble Narendra Modi is given
the reins of the Party it is unlikely that the party will do well in the
next elections. The regional parties are emerging stronger and that is
the unfortunate fallout of the opportunistic politics of dynasty,
corruption and crime.
Asis Nandy and Corruption: Is there a caste angle to corruption in
India?
2013-01-26 20:40
Asis Nandy is the infant of Indian political journalism. From time to
time he stirs up the hornet's nest and there is considerable speculation
for some time. India today has become both caste conscious and
status conscious and there is no neat fir between the two. In the past
political power was in the hands of the educated elite which had
some values. Post-Independence brought mass democracy to India
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and with the vote came the temptations of power. The Other
Backward Classes of the OBCs as they are derisively referred to in
India are the most powerful political grouping in India and they have
administrative, political and muscle power. If we look at the list of the
mega corrupt in India, we find that they are usually of the OBC
variety. Laloo Prasad Yadav has become the symbol of corruption
due to his involvement in the Fodder Scam.
For the benefit of my readers who may not know let me describe what
the fodder scam is. Money meant for animal welfare was swindled to
an alarming extent and Laloo and his political cronies were directly
the beneficiaries of the scandal. The corruption and mal
administration made Laloo lose the election. Other OBC politicians
like Kalmadi, Mulayam Singh Yadava, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Sharad
Pawar are all involved in corruption and their corrupt deals are
common knowledge. Even the BJP has had its share of corrupt OBC
politicians: Nitin Gadkari is the most recent.
There is nothing wrong in what Asis Nandy has said. The OBCs in the
IAS are notorious for their corruption. The recent conviction of the
IAS officer Neera Yadava the former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh
is a case in point. OBC officers have accumulated tonnes of gold
which has been recovered in raids usually conducted by other OBCs
and so perhaps like the Kula ring reciprocity and exchange govern
these transactions. What Asis Nandy has said is usually spoken in
hushed tones in the privacy of one's home. People are afraid of the
"goon's" support enjoyed by the OBCs and hence even the press keeps
quiet.
In Tamil Nadu the backward caste has been in power since 1967 and
the state is a cultural desert with atrocities against Dalits increasing
by the day. Asis Nandy has provoked outrage by his remarks
because in these days of Identity sensitivity which borders on
political correctness one does not talk about OBC corruption. The
Dalits are not on the same scale for the simple reason there is more
value formation in the Dalit society and also there is fear of being
scapegoated by powerful OBC officers. In the medieval scam of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Dalit queen bee in UP all the officers involved were OBCs. Asis
Nandy has not said anything objectionable. He has spoken the truth.
Hon'ble Narendra Modi and the Wharton Business School Invite
2013-03-05 10:13
USA is in the game of criminalizing political leaders it feels will not
toe her line. As far as USA is concerned less said the better. American
actions have led to the death of at least a million men women and
children as a direct fallout of the Iraq invasion and its policy of arming
rebels all over the world. Yet USA behaves as if its political leadership
can sit in judgement over other leaders with implacable democratic
credentials.
Hon'ble Narendra Modi has been elected three times as the Chief
Minister of Gujarat and with the end of the dynastic fascist party, the
Congress very near the Nation looks upon the Hon'ble Narendra
Modi to provide leadership to a nation wracked with violence, scams,
corruption and an economy in decline. The Indian courts have not
found even an iota of evidence to implicate or even link the Hon'ble
Chief Minister of Gujarat with any act of omission or commission.
This itself is in contrast to the situation with regard to the Congress
Party which was responsible for systematic butchering of at least
15,000 Sikhs in North India alone and went on to reward men like
Jagdish Tyler and H K L Bhagat with ministerial posts. And USA has
no problem dealing with the Congress because it supports the global
strategic vision of USA and India is being dragooned into an anti-
China alliance. Hon'ble Narendra Modi was invited to participate in
an India Economy Discussion at Wharton School of Business.
The Gujarat success story is as real as the economic transformation of
China and was achieved through systematic encouragement of
entrepreneurship and a governance where there in not a whiff of
corruption. Again, a contrast with the Congress which is now
embroiled in the latest Westland Helicopter scam. Double digit
growth rate is not easy to achieve in a stare which is not rich in natural
resources. Wharton invited him and like a Facebook account it not
 Word Craft and Statecraft

"unlike' Hon'ble Narendra Modi. The liberals in the USA have made
it their agenda to target Modi and recently Martha Nussbaum even
issued a fatwa against Modi. Do American Universities not have the
freedom to invite guests who are perceived to be politically on the
wrong side? I have always believed that academic freedom was
within the margins of acceptable debate, and the Narendra Modi
episode shows to the whole world the politicised nature of American
university culture.
Sri Lanka, the Tamil Issue and the DMK: The theatre of the absurd
2013-03-21 16:36
A wave of student unrest is spreading across Tamil Nadu and
Pondicherry. The students and youth are out on the streets protesting
against the Sri Lankan Government and its alleged involvement in
the civilian casualties during the tail end of the war in May 2009. I
have elsewhere pointed out that India did not put pressure on Sri
Lanka to minimize civilian casualties, probably keeping the LTTE
and its horrendous record of,mass killing in mind. The fact that is
now forgotten is that the LTTE took 250,000 men, women and
children hostage during the last days of the war and used this civilian
population as a human shield. The DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu
at that time and Karunanidhi did nothing except go on a farcical
hunger strike that lasted just 15 minutes. His fast was called off within
less than fifteen minutes and this itself shows that the old bandicoot is
not serious about the Tamil cause.
The issue now is the US sponsored resolution about alleged human
rights violations by the Sri Lankan army. The DMK wants India to
support this US backed resolution before the UNHRC. USA is a
country that has destroyed Iraq, supported insurgents in Libya,
arranged for the killing of Kaddafi, now arming the Syrian rebels to
create lawlessness in Syria and with this track record no one can take
US protestations on human rights seriously. However, human rights
are a very good instrument by which great powers can intervene in
the internal affairs of other countries.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The US backed resolution is likely to be defeated as there is a great

deal of opposition to the inclusion of internal security problems in an
internationally binding resolution. India cannot afford to back a UN
resolution calling for international investigation in alleges war
crimes committed by Sri Lanka as Indian track records in Kashmir
and Nagaland is perhaps worse than that of the Sri Lankan Army.
Therefore, the criminal Congress dominated UPA under Man Mohan
Sigh did what it does best: it spoke in contradictory voices.
Chidambaram was dispatched to placate the old bandicoot and he
said that Karunanidhis's concerns will be addressed. All the time the
External Affairs Ministry knew that India cannot be party to a UN
resolution which will set a precedent for India. Knowing full well that
the mind of the UPA was made up. Karunanidhi walked out of the
UPA. His calculation is that by walking out, the sentiments of the
people will be turned toward the DMK. This is unlikely as the DMK is
perceived to be a corrupt and criminal party and the daughter of the
old bandicoot himself is facing criminal charges stemming from her
involvement in the 2G spectrum scandal.
However, the UN resolution and the declining credibility of the DMK
has led to a very serious problem. Sri Lankan citizens are being
attacked everywhere. A few days back a Buddhist monk who had
gone to the Big Temple, Tanjavur, was beaten up. Tamil pilgrims
from the Plantations who were visiting the pilgrimage town of
Vellankani were roughed up. Sri Lankan cricket players are being
attacked and the office of the Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai
is under threat. The UPA under Man Mohan Singh knowing full well
that it cannot support the US resolution should have argued its case in
a transparent manner which it did not do. The DMK is going to be
wiped out in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls along with the Congress. The
people of India have decided to give Hon'ble Narendra Modi a
chance and so the BJP will win by default. The fact is that the Sri
Lankan Army under General Fonseka did kill a large number of
civilians including Balachander, the son of Prabhakaran. The video
images are now being selectively being released and Channel IV
seems to have an unlimited access to war footage. Of course, dark
 Word Craft and Statecraft

deeds were done. But is the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for
them under international Law. In conditions of war collateral
damage do take place.
Sanjay Dutt and the Politics of Mercy: Why He Must Serve Time in
Jail?
2013-03-24 10:51
Rule of Law is a regime in which the law is equally enforced against
all, irrespective of status, wealth and pedigree. Unfortunately, this
time-honoured convention is being undermined by the senseless
manner in which politicians like Dig Vijaya Singha and Markendeya
Katju are loudly advocating clemency for Sanjay Dutt. This
politicization of the judicial process has already led to the delay in
carrying out the executions of the Rajiv Gandhi killers and the Sikhs
convicted of killing Beant Singh. There is nothing new in this: right
from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the India judiciary is being
undermined by the political class.
The Supreme Court of the land has found Sanjay Dutt guilty of illegal
purchase and storage of arms. Worse he acquired the weapons from
Dawood Ibrahim who was the mastermind behind the 1995 serial
blasts in Mumbai. Sanjay Dutt was 33 years old and he cannot claim
that he was not aware of his actions. If he is pardoned because of the
clamour from both the glitterati and from the political goons, then a
very bad precedent will be set. When Laloo Prasad Yadava is
convicted for his role in the fodder scam and when Salman Khan faces
the punishment for the killing of innocent animals or in the hit and
run case these very man will quote the Sanjay Dutt precedent and ask
for clemency/ pardon.
The political class and the influential will be beyond the reach of law.
Even now the political class is shielding its own and with the bad
precedent of pardon then they can just walk out of court rooms the
moment they are convicted. In fact, Karunanidhi the bandicoot from
Tamil Nadu used the executive privilege to pardon a DMK criminal
who killed Maekala, a very bold Dalit councillor in Madurai who
 Word Craft and Statecraft

used her position to supply piped drinking water to the homes

ofDalits and freed them from depending on the water tankers run by
the associates of DMK politico-criminals. The constitution has to be
amended to do away with the "clemency" power granted to the
Presidents and Governors. In fact, Pratibha Patil pardoned convicts
guilty of heinous crimes and earned for herself opprobrium and
universal contempt.
Sanjay Dutt was aware of the illegality of possessing arms and he was
also aware of the fact that the arms were coming from Dawood
Ibrahim. It is entirely another matter that most of the Bollywood films
are financed by the underworld and perhaps even some of Sanjay
Dutt's own films. However, to say that he deserves to be pardoned for
this crime is to insult the memory of 257 men, women and children
killed in the 1993 blasts. The rights of the victim for justice too needs
to be taken into consideration. The fact that Sunil Dutt was a Congress
MP and his daughter Priya is a sitting MP is behind the campaign for
mercy. Political considerations need not weigh matters of justice and
law. In fact, every politically connected criminal will now be
emboldened by the ugly precedent which will be set.
The law must take its course and politicians must not be allowed to
deter the course of justice. The call for pardon is misplaced and it is
being drummed up keeping the interests of film financiers, who take
money from the underworld and of coursecelebrity criminals like
Salman Khan, Tabu, Saif Ali Khan and the like. If this man is given
pardon who not Manu Sharma, Vikas Yadava, the killers of Nirbhaya
and the list is endless.
The vulgarity of dynastic fascism: Why dynastic politics harms
India?
2013-04-08 10:07
Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar has said something so
terribly obscene even by the standards of Indian politicians that I am
forced to write about it. The drought in Maharashtra is due to wrong
water derangement policies and rampant corruption in the Irrigation
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Department. In fact, the department has figured recently in a huge

scam and of course given the fact that a UPA ally is involved nothing
came out of the exposure. Indian politicians are not afraid of indulging
in high level corruption because they know that they can get away.
The Hindu this morning revealed that Rajiv Gandhi way back in 1975
even before he entered politics was the middle man who negotiated a
deal for a fleet of aircraft for India. Wikileaks must be complimented
once again for this exposure. Then came Bofors and not a single
conviction. The same is true of the anti -Sikh Riots of 1984: The
Congress hushed up the entire episode under the convenient blanket.
Ajit Pawar says that he cannot fill the dam by "urinating" in them.
When the people of Maharashtra are facing the most severe crisis
caused by the drought his remarks only reveals a dynastic fascist
mindset that has only contempt for the people of India. Do you think
that the people of India i.e. the voters will punish such politicians
when they come up for re-election? I do not think so. Indians do not
have a powerful public memory and vote on the basis of extremely
short-term considerations. Had the Indian voter been intelligent and
discerning he would not have voted the UPA to power by defeating
the BJP led NDA Government.
Of course, past winning post electoral system that India is saddled
with makes it possible for undesirable elements to gather the
plurality of votes. Rahul Gandhi made yet another of his stupid
meaningless remarks that has rightly earned him the title Amul Baby.
He says that India is a "bee hive". Does this stupid fellow even
understand the implications of his remark? In a bee hive you have a
parasitical queen bee and an army of drones and workers who gather
"honey". The Congress Party is gathering honey for a "queen bee" and
the drones i.e. the Chidambaram's, the C P Joshis, the Manmohan
Singhs, the Kapil Sibals etc gather honey. How apt this metaphor is?
Even a stupid man like Rahul can come up with amazingly accurate
analogies. If Indian reward dynastic fascism they are only putting
the seal of approval on a culture of violence, corruption, criminality
and rape. I hope the Indian voter has more sense in 2014.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Congress Party and its complicity in the 1984 Riots: Why Sajjan
Kumar and Jadish Tyler need to be punished?
2013-05-03 11:50
The news that Sajjan Kumar, the senior Congress leader from Delhi
has been acquitted as come as a rude shock to many of us who have
been following the 1984 Massacre Case. To recapitulate: On
November 1st after Indira Gandhi was eliminated by two Sikh
bodyguards, masquerading gangs of Congressmen aided and
abetted by the highest political functionaries including her son, Rajiv
Gandhi went on a murderous rampage all across Delhi and killed
Sikhs in retaliation and revenge. The Sikh President of India, Zail
Singh and his Home Minister Narashima Rao were silent spectators
when Sikhs were pulled out of their homes and petrol thrown on
them and set ablaze in full public view. The police were instructed to
keep quiet and even Sikh policemen were attacked.
The complicity of the Government of India was all too clear and the
more notorious killers like Jagdish Tyler and Sajjan Kumar were even
give tickets by the Congress Party and they went on to become MPs
and one of them even became a Cabinet Minister of the dynastic
fascist party. Nearly 29 years later, the Sikhs are still awaiting justice
and not a single Congressman has been convicted. The police were
instructed not to file the FIRs and the Sikh survivors approached the
Courts and in the case of Jagdish Tyler the CBI even closed the case on
the ground that there is no evidence against him. This is the same CBI
which rushes to show its interim report to the outlaw Minister
Ashwini Kumar on the coal gate scam.
The closure was contested and last month the Delhi High Court gave
the order that Tyler can be prosecuted. Sajjan Kumar another
notorious killer from the dynastic fascist party, the Congress, the
darling of the Indian middle class. The criminal investigation
procedures were all subverted in order to shield the criminals and in
this the Congress Party should be made accountable in every manner
for abetting the crime of 1984. By making a Sikh the Prime Minister
 Word Craft and Statecraft

behind who's back the dynastic fascists amass wealth, does not
absolve the Congress of its barbarism.
The Government of India under successive Congress regimes
adopted a set of three strategies in order to shield the criminals of
1984. First, it deliberately filled wrong details about the location and
events leading to the crime and in some cases even fabricated names
which could be easily proven to be wrong so as discredit the victims
of the crime. The second strategy was to question the wrong people
and then say that no witnesses could be found. The Sikhs like most
Indians have a set of common names. If the witness is named Jasbir
Singh, the CBI would get a statement from the wrong Jasbir Singh and
produce it in the court. The third was the good old Congress method:
intimidation and physical threat.
The acquittal of Sajjan Singh is a blot on the entire judicial system. The
case must be reopened, and the criminals punished. Since several
decades have passed and many of the witnesses and the
corroborative evidence destroyed, the words of the Witness must be
taken as the truth, just as was done in the Eichmann Trial. The
Criminal procedure and its code is being misused to shield the
dynastic fascists from the punishment due to them and this must stop
if India is to be regarded as a civilized country with rule of law.
Autonomy for the Central Bureau of Investigation: Why the CBI
must be given autonomy?
2013-05-15 11:36
The observations of the Supreme Court of India that the CBI is a
"caged parrot" mimicking its master's voice has resulted in a debate in
Indian liberal circles. As usual the India liberal will always jump to
extreme conclusion. The "policeman" cannot be "autonomous"
screamed one well-heeled liberal as if the Supreme Court mandated
an unaccountable CBI. The issue here is the rampant misuse of the
Government investigative agencies for partisan political purposes.
The Income Tax Department, the Intelligence Bureau, the
Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and scores of other Central and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

State agencies are being misused almost on a daily basis for either
protecting political clients or harassing political opponents.
Consequently, Rule of Law has succumbed to the Rule of Outlaws
and the Supreme Court is only attempting to set right the balance.
The Indian liberals abet in the crimes of the Establishment of staking
extreme positions which results in the existing aberration in
institutions go unchecked. The ease with which they jump up and
down ranting and raving about a "police state" in case the CBI is
insulated from political control shows that the liberals actually want
the current misuse of the CBI to continue. The other favourite ploy of
the Liberals is to see "communal" conspiracies in any attempt at
improving governance: the result once again is status quo.
The Congress Party has been misusing the CBI right from
Independence. The investigation carried out by the CBI in cases
involving high level criminals has always been lackadaisical. An
example may be give; The investigations in to the Nagarwala Case in
which all the prime accused were killed including the magistrate who
conducted the trial still haunts the pages of history. The Investigation
into the 1984 riots against the Sikhs organized by the Congress Party
has drawn the ire of the courts repeatedly. The main problem with the
CBI is that it calibrates its policy to the political demands of the
Congress Party.
I must say that the BJP did not abuse the CBI in this shameless manner
when Hon'ble Lal Kishen Advani was the Deputy PM and Home
Minister. Unfortunately given the ideological blinkers of the Indian
liberals they are unable to see that the abuse of the CBI is the original sin
of the Congress Party which the other major party of governance did not
commit. The use or rather abuse of the CBI to coerce political allies and
associates is yet another problem. See how the Taj Corridor case is
progressing according to the cooperation or otherwise of Mayawati. The
CBI is now going slow on Laloo Prasad Yadava and the other Yadava,
Mulayam Singh Yadava because of political compulsion and see the
alacrity with which it raided the house of the DMK rogue Stalin just
days after the withdrawal of support by the DMK. What the Supreme
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Court is trying to do is to insulate the CBI from such abuse. The

Supreme Court is not mandating a police state and the Indian liberals by
raising this bogey are actually playing to the Congress Gallery.
Naxalite Violence in Chhattisgarh: Is the Congress Party
responsible for the cycle of violence?
2013-05-29 11:08
The Naxalite Movement has created a state within a state in India and
with the eroding legitimacy of the Indian state based on the 1947
Settlement it is time to ask the fundamental question: Is the Indian
political class of which the criminal organization called the Congress
party is the preeminent example the main and fundamental cause for
the cycle of violence? During the course of the last 60 years the
dynastic fascists have ruined India by foisting a corrupt political
culture in which courtier's masquerade as politicians. Every
institution of the land, the Parliament, the steel frame of the
bureaucracy, the constitutional bodies like the CVC and investigative
agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI have been
perverted to serve the cause of the dynastic fascists.
The Indian constitution does not advocate a dynastic sate and the
criminal Congress party has converted the political process into
manipulated endorsement of dynastic rule. Unfortunately, the other
political parties like the BJP and the Communists play along without
realizing the fact that dynastic fascism is the root cause of political
and administrative corruption in India. The present regime of
Manmohan Singh is floundering in the ocean of corruption on a
monumental scale of which the Coal Allocation Scandal and the @G
Spectrum Scandal have caused a loss of nearly 15% of the GDP.
If India did not have this parasitical political class, it would be a very
rich country indeed. It is against this background that the violence
against the Congressman unleashed by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh
has to be viewed. The Congress Party always speaks in two voices on
all major issues and hence there is no consensus in India on any issue.
All criminology parties will unite in the name of fighting
communalism without understanding that the bogey of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

"communalism" was created by Nehru in order to deflect attention

from the Congress complicity in enforcing the Partition of the
Country and since then the artificial fears of "majority" rule has been
cleverly used to fragment Indian electorate into pliable voting blocks.
The BJP unfortunately plays along with the Congress without
realizing that the political future of India lies only in the demise and
extinction of political forces like the Congress. In Punjab the Congress
sided with the Sikh militants and lent support to Bhindrenwale, in Sri
Lanka the Congress Government of Indira Gandhi armed and trained
the LTTE and in Assam, the Congress is in direct cahoots with the
ULFA and uses the militancy in order to intimidate the other parties
including the BJP. Therefore, for the Congress leadership to say that
the attack on the "Parivarthan Yatra" is an attack on the "democratic
process" is both false and disingenuous. The Congress has been using
Dig Vijaya Singha to discredit any attempt at reigning in jehadi
inspired terrorism. Now when it has to face the consequences of its
own misguided policies to cries out as if "Democracy" is in danger.
The dynastic fascists re the biggest threat to democracy in India not
the Naxalite Movement. Unfortunately, establishment figures like
Ramachandra Guha fail to emphasis the obvious link between
Congress double speak and the culture of violence unleashed by that
party. Now the people are responding in kind. Another example of
the double speak is the patronage given to the anti-naxalite militia,
the Salwa Jadum founded by Mahendra Karma who was killed in the
attack recently. The petition of Ramachandra Guha made the
Supreme Court order the disbanding of the Salwa Jadum while the
Naxalite movement did not get any adverse notice from the Court.
The ideologues like Arundhati Roy and Ramchandra Guha
denounced in very strong language the violence of the Salwa Jadum
but were certainly not too vehement in their criticism of the Naxalite.
In fact, Arundhati Roy even calls them "Gandhians with Guns".
In fact, the Congress patronage of the Salwa Judam made this anti
Naxalite movement into a major force in the so called anti Naxalite
movement. The Congress trumpeted its Operation Green Hunt" after
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the Dante Wada Incident but as is always the case with the Congress it
lacks both the skill and the expertise to do anything except
corruption. Operation Green Hunt degenerated into a tribal killing
movement and this engendered more support for the anti-Congress
Naxalite Movement. If the Naxalite target the Congress and other
criminal political forces the people of India will not give a whit. It was
Karma, a Congressman who created and launched the anti-tribal
militia and the Naxalites took him out in a ruthless manner. Jairam
Ramesh the "intellectual" face of the dynastic fascists publicly
humiliated Mahendra Karma in the rally signalling the Congress no
longer found Karma useful and therefore expendable. The result the
brutal killing of this Congress tribal political leader. The Congress
Party itself is responsible for the killing not the state Government
under Dr Raman Singh. The Home Ministry guidelines are very clear
that in Naxalite liberated areas the conventional political parties
should not move in large convoys.
The convoy of nearly 40 cars was struck by well trained and armed
militants. As was the case with the Rajiv Gandhi rally in which Rajiv
Gandhi was eliminated by his political rivals the LTTE, in which the
participation of Congress insiders is still suspected. in the case of the
present attack the route of the convoy was changed at the last
moment and this led to the attack. In other words, the congress men
themselves were responsible for the brutality. Had the route not been
changed then the attack may not have taken place. Do we care about
what happened? I think the Indian nation does not care for the fate of
its politicians. V C Shukla was the Information and Broadcasting
Minister during the Emergency and that says it all. The BJP must not
go overt board in condemning the attack as the Congressmen invited
the attack on themselves.
Narendra Modi and the BJP; The Internal crisis and its
ramifications
2013-06-11 07:56
The elevation of the Hon'ble Narendra Modi to head the election
campaign for the 2014 General Elections was not unexpected. The BJP
 Word Craft and Statecraft

has seen in the Chief Minister a new kind of leader, one who has the
largest appeal in a country where the majority of the population is
less than 30 years of age. The demographics of the electorate dictates
the choice of a campaign strategist who can connect with the younger
sections of the population. Another important point. After fomenting
"identity politics" based on confessional sects, the country
particularly the Muslims were willing to give the Congress party its
thumbs up by default.
The Congress party had learned the art of whipping up minority fears
for its own dynastic purposes. The happy fallout of the Jaswant Singh
controversy has been that it has led to a rethinking about the role of
the Congress in the tragedy of Partition and many are now willing to
concede that the Congress too was complicit in the tragedy. Minority
fears also revolve around the unsettled and ongoing controversy of
the role of the Congress Party and its leadership in the anti-Sikh
Massacre of 1894. One happy consequence of all these developments
is that the Congress propaganda of being a party which protects
minority interests has been questioned.
The changing nature of Indian society and demography has led to
virtual rejection of politics of the "old kind". The cobbling together of
caste groups, vested interests and sundry other sodalities into a
combination that can hurl a candidate across the winning post and in
the first past the winning post system this strategy was often
successful. The only exception to this general rule was the 1977
election which was a referendum on the Congress Party imposed
Emergency. The 2014
Elections is showing every sign of snowballing into a referendum on
the Congress and its performance. The series of scandals involving
powerful congressmen like P Chidambaram and Pawan Bansal,
regional allies like the DMK and the rest has made the entire country
restive. Indians have come to accept a fair degree of corruption as
then price for democracy, unlike China where the Confucian ethics
curbs the predatory instincts. However, the rising crime graph and
the impunity with which the Congress dealt with the question of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

accountability has outraged the nation and so the 2014 Election will
be fought on the issue of governance and accountability.
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Hon'ble Narendra Modi has been able
to articulate a vision of politics which the young find highly
inspirational. He has turned politics over to Economics and has made
development the sole criterion for political legitimacy. In this, Modi is
essentially following the East Asian and China model which placed
salience on development. The growth rate of Gujarat over the past
decade has been virtually in the double digits and even the hostile
Indian print media has had to acknowledge the vast improvement in
the economy of Gujarat. There are however questions of inclusion
which still remain. We must say that only after the economy has
grown can one address the issue of inclusion.
The ideologues of the Congress and their cohorts in the Indian "social
science" establishment have raised questions about the "inclusive"
nature of Gujarat's growth story. What these ideologues fail to grasp
is that over the last decade Gujarat has become almost a developed
state and all social indices are positive. It is against this background
that Narendra Modi began to draw attention. The people of India,
particularly the young want better lives for themselves, better
education and better living standards and are convinced that the old
style of identity politicsfavoured by the Congress is not taking the
country anywhere except toward crime and corruption. The schemes
launched by the Gujarat Government if replicate on a national scale
will lead to tremendous progress. Governance in Gujarat is free from
the malaise of corruption. Hon'ble Narendra Modi is perhaps the
only chief minister who does not face charges of corruption and
financial maleficence.
The people of India want to give this new kind of politics a chance.
The BJP like any Indian political party is full of factions. L K Advani
has virtually disassociated himself from the leadership of Shri Modi.
This is unfortunate as Advani is a tall leader and well respected
within the party and outside. I have great respect for L K Advani and I
think that he is too great a man to let the clouds of today rain out the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

prospects for a better India. However, Modi has a tough job ahead of
him. Being the chairman of the Election Committee, he would need to
interact with state level leaders who are aligned to various factions
and the defeat of the party in Karnataka must have led to the
realization that factionalism is self-defeating. Modi must quickly
develop a line of command which reports directly to him and not to
the faction bosses. The 2014 Elections will be fought on the issue of
governance and corruption and Modi has demonstrated success in
both.
The Storm over Narendra Modi 's Interview
2013-07-12 22:36
The outrage industry is hard at work once again: pouring out anger,
invective, hatred and scorn at the emerging national persona of
Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Taking sentences out
of context, distorting the meaning of his sentences and putting words
into his mouth, the apologists of the Congress Party like Shoma
Choudhary, the notorious Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sanjay Jha and
scores of Congress friendly "intellectuals" came flooding to TV
studios to have their fifteen minutes of fame. They tried to suggest
that Narendra Modi had overreached himself and had exposed his
"communal" ideology. The riots of 2002 are always brought out when
the Chief Minister of Gujarat is discussed. However, what is ignored
deliberately is that the Supreme Court if India has monitored the
investigations into the 2002 Riots and has declared Modi absolutely
free of any fault either of omission or commission.
The liberals who vent their fury at Narendra Modi seem to forget that
the Congress party organised the largest massacre of Indians in the
post-Independence period when in 1984 Congress workers led by
Sahhan Kumar, Jagdish Tyler, Lalith Makken and scores of other
Delhi based politicians attacked Sikhs all over New Delhi and other
parts of North India and killed 5,000 Sikhs in Delhi alone. The count
of the dead in the rest of North India is not known. Yet these very
liberals are silent in the issue of Congress complicity in the 1984 riots
and earlier in the Bhagalpur riots ibn which nearly 1,500 men and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

women were killed. The reason why they vent their spleen on
Narendra Modi is only to polarise the electorate and harvest Muslim
votes. Unfortunately, the people of India have not forgotten 1984 and
the Congress has neither expressed its anguish over the killings nor
has the party apologised for the rampage of 1984. Yet when it comes
to Gujarat the Congress men like to pose as if their hands are clean
when in fact it is dripping with blood and the stains are there for all to
see.
Certain remarks made by Modi have been twisted out of shape. Modi
described himself as a "patriot", a "nationalist" and finally as a "hindu
nationalist". The votaries of the fake secularism jumped at the last
label and accused him of being divisive. What Modi meant was that
he has a vision of India founded on the values and traditions that are
associated with Sanathana Dharma and that forms the inspiration for
his statecraft. There is nothing divisive or even politically damaging
in this statement. Since he was speaking in Hindi, the Congressmen
have created a good deal of confusion by deliberately distorting his
remarks. The Supreme Court of India has ruled that Hinduism is not
a religion but only a way of life and therefore what Modi has said by
no stretch of the imagination can be termed "communal".
During the course of the interview, Modi referred to the pain he felt
when even a small puppy is killed by being run over by a car. This
remark was made in the context of the pain he felt for the suffering of
the people of Gujarat during the 2002 riots. A man who can feel the
pain of a small animal rum over by a car is certainly sensitive to the
feelings of people. Contrast this statement with what Rajiv Gandhi
said when the Sikhs were being killed in New Delhi during his watch
as Prime Minister: When a big tree falls the earth trembles. Not only
was the Army not called in Delhi to control the Congress thugs, but
the Sikh policemen who would have protected the people were told
not to report to duty. No police station filed the FIR against the
Congress men responsible for the killings and yet none of the outrage
mongers of today have a word of condemnation for the Congress and
this silence exposes the political purpose in hounding Modi. On
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Gujarat on the other hand, the police restored Law and Order within
24 hours and there have been no riots since much to the chagrin of the
Congress Party.
One last point. Modi rightly said that in democracies issues do get
polarised and he went on to show the differences between the
Republican and the Democratic parties. The Congress
spokesmanSanjay Jha seems to think that American politics is all talk
and not much polarization in US politics. He is just an illiterate fellow
who should know that the immigration bill and the Arms Control
measures are deeply divisive even in American Society. These days
the Congress party has begun holding the US as a torch bearer of
value politics forgetting its own stand not that long ago. There is
nothing wrong in polarising the electorate onto the side of good
governance and corruption free India which Modi not only promises
but has delivered in Gujarat.
The 2014 General Elections will be fought on the issue of corruption
and mis governance and on both these issues the people of India have
made up their mind and the Congress party wants to take the
agendas back to identity politics and is trying its level best to whip up
passion against Modi. The elections will see a total Wipeout of the
Congress party.
The Noon Meal Tragedy in Bihar: Callousness and Mis
Governance
2013-07-19 09:35
Two days back, in a village Chapra located 65 kilometres from the
capital Patna 25 school children all below the age of 11 died after
having taken their mid-day meals in school. In India, the mid-day
meal is a major incentive for families from poorer sections of society
to send their children to school. Originally conceived in the Southern
state of Tamil Nadu by the Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, the
mid-day meal program caught on and even in the mis governed
states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar this welfare scheme is presently
underway. The finances for the scheme are part of the state budget
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and the school appoints a cook and an attender to run the mid-day
meal programme.
However, in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh there is massive
corruption even in this scheme. In fact, Bihar has the dubious
distinction of having had a Chief Minister, Laloo Prasad Yadava who
was caught taking the money ear marked for animal welfare. The
now infamous Fodder Scam is reaching its final stages in the courts
and will end up convicting Laloo Prasad Yadava. Even a thug like this
Laloo Prasad was not able to kill all the 347 witnesses. The current
Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, a past master in the old-style identity
politics rode to power on the strength of a very fragile social coalition
consisting of intermediate caste, landed caste and the higher castes.
After taking over the reins of government for the second time, Nitish
Kumar began to feel the weight of his victory, but interpreted it as an
endorsement of his personal "charisma". This wrong and ill-
conceived notion was his undoing.
The tragedy in Bihar took place only because of mis governance. The
last 2 years the state administration has been paralyzed due to
national ambitions of Nitish Kumar. Ever since he declared his
opposition to the Prime Ministerial candidature of Honourable
Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar regime has been floundering.
Corruption, mal-administration, scams and scandals have become
the order of the day. The death of the 22 school children is a testimony
to the plight of Bihar under Nitish Kumar.
The shocking facts have emerged from the news reports. The food
items for preparing the noon meals were sourced from the shop of the
husband of the Head Mistress of the school, a man who as it turns out
is an activist of the Rashtriya Janata Dal whose leader is the fodder
scam accused Laloo Prasad Yadava. The shameless state government
sought to shift the blame to the RJD by implying that the RJD was
behind the tragedy in order to undermine the regime of Nitish
Kumar. The level to which politics has sunk in India can be
understood from the fact that the Government refuses to see the
tragedy as one caused by its own failures, but is quick to see political
 Word Craft and Statecraft

conspiracies everywhere. Corruption in the mid-day meal scheme is

the real factor.
Even after the children took ill, it took over six hours for the children
to be shifted to the Primary Health Centre and there was no nurse or
doctor and there were no drips to provide immediate relief. This state
of affairs prevailing in Bihar is a national shame and people must
realise that identity politics will lead to the grave as it did for the 22
children.
The World Bank and the IMF have given loans, soft loans to Bihar but
the utilization of these loans is so poor that the international funding
agencies are now wary of giving loans to Bihar. The country has slid
backwards under the rule of the Congress Party and its allies and if
India needs better Governance it must vote for change.
Durga Shakti Nagpal: An IAS officer suspended for doing her job
2013-07-30 14:32
In several of my blogs I have drawn attention to the criminalization of
politics in India, particularly in the state of Uttar Pradesh which has
elected a Samajwadi party as its single largest party. Mulayam Singh
Yadava, the strong man of the party appointed his son Akhilesh
Yadava as the Chief Minister and this young man presides over a
government in which criminals with serious crimes to their names
were appointed Ministers. The case in point is the Rajput criminal,
Raja Bhaiya who is known to be a thug operating in eastern UP, the
bad lands of the state. There is a story, I wish it were not true, that this
man feeds his enemies to crocodiles reared in a pond in his extensive
"kotti" or bungalow. The Samajwadi party like its predecessor in
power the Bahujan Samaj Party under Mayawati is steeped in caste
warfare and crime.
The social base of the Yadava dominated Samajwadi Party is of
course the Yadavas, the Muslims, the Mallas and the intermediate
caste. The proximity to the national capital has made Noida or
Gautam Buddha Nagar an important centre for the booming real
estate mafia. It may be worth recalling that Neera Yadava, the former
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Chairman of the Noida Development Authority an IAS officer is

presently under conviction for crimes of bribery and misuse of power
when she was in charge of the land development in the same district
in which Ms Durga Shakti Nagpal was posted as Senior Divisional
Magistrate.
This young woman was placed under suspension two days back for
having shown the courage in taking on the sand mafia. The term sand
mafia may appear ridiculous to a western audience. However, given
the building boom in New Delhi and Noida, river sand which is
mixed with cement in order to make building concrete is in huge
demand. The sand mafia was using sand dumpers to excavate sand
from the dry river bed of the Yamuna and was selling it at a huge
profit to the real estate dealers. The nexus between party members of
the Samajwadi Party, the local power elites consisting of the usual
Tyagis and Yadavas, and the real estate developers was so strong that
when this young woman stated seizing the sand dumpers and
confiscating the sand, the yelps from the Yadava criminals soon
reached Lucknow.
Akhilesh Yadava, the son of Mulayam Singh immediately ordered
the suspension of the woman who showed some courage. What is
really surprising is that a week back I wrote in a comment in Times of
India that this woman is taking on criminals and she is asking for
trouble. And exactly as I predicted Durga Nagpal was suspended.
In western countries the officialdom is not taken to task for carrying
out the law and implementing policy. The young woman was
following the instruction of the Supreme Court of India which has
laid down a strict policy of government regulation of sand mining
because of its environmental hazards. Durga Nagpal perhaps
thought that having the Supreme Court verdict on her side would
strengthen her position. However, Akhilesh Yadava's government
resorted to a crude rusein order to have the officer placed under
suspension. Citing law and order problems, the criminals of the
Samajwadi party tries to give an "identity" colour to the issue by
saying that Muslims were being targeted. This line was contradicted
 Word Craft and Statecraft

even by the local police. Thus, when people elect criminals to power
one can expect anything and the suspension of Durga Nagpal shows
the depths to which civil administration has sunk in India. In the
neighbouring state of Haryana, another IAS officer, Khemka who
exposed the shady real estate deals of Robert Vadra, the son in law of
Soniaji, faces similar problems.
The IAS Officers rallied to the support of the officer and even put out
a feeble statement. However, the rot in Indian politics is so deep that
honesty does not pay and hopefully in the next elections people of
India will show more intelligence in their voting pattern.
Narendra Modi, the BJP and the 2014 Elections: The Storm Ahead
2013-09-14 03:36
As expected the BJP Parliamentary Board met this morning and
declared Shri Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for
the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. The Congress party which
reposes faith in dynastic fascism as its only political principle in all
probability rally around Rahul Gandhi derisively called Amul Baby
in India. It will be an unequal match as Rahul Gandhi does not have
either the experience or the national stature to stand up to Narendra
Modi and in the forthcoming election all seasoned political observers
see a tectonic shift in favour of the NDA led by the BJP.
The issues that will dominate the Elections of 2014 are serious ones
and some of the issues are listed below:
1. There have been unprecedented levels of corruption and mis
governance during the 10 years of the UPA whose PM was the teflon
coated Dr Man Mohan Singh. The disappearance of the files relating
to the allocation of coal blocks in the coal gate scandal has put the
spotlight on the Prime Minister. Indians are used to corruption and in
our everyday lives have to deal with it at some level, but under the
Congress the scale and magnitude of corruption has broken all limits
and the common man in yearning for a change. Narendra Modi has
the image of a clean and efficient politician and is not tainted by a
singly scandal.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

2. There has been a virtual melt down of the Indian economy. The
growth rate has plunged to 3.5% and this is the lowest in nearly two
decades. The Current Account Deficit is nearly 7 % of the GDP and is
increasing. The trade gap is widening and despite the fall in the value
of the rupee exports are not picking up. The high rate of
unemployment had made the youth restive and it is the young voter
who is expected to vote en masse for Narendra Modi. The Congress
has offered no explanation for the decline in the economy except
blaming the policies of Pranab Mukherjee the former Finance
Minister and now President of India. Corrective measure has not
been taken for bringing the economy back on track. In fact, the
situation is getting worse with the inflationary pressure exerted by
the rise in petrol and fuel.
3. The populist measures taken by the UPA under the influence of a
bunch of civil society activists close to Mrs Sonia Gandhi has imposed
an enormous strain on the economy and has made corruption a rural
phenomenon. The Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has
spawned huge corruption and the Comptroller and Auditor General
has drawn attention to the lapses in the Government schemes.
4. The foreign policy scenario is not bright. India has declined before
the eyes of the World. There was a time when the voice of India was
heard. Today India is silent on all major issues confronting the world.
This decline is due. bad statecraft and muddled priorities. The
incursions of the Chinese Army have to be addressed in a bilateral
forum through discussions. The Newspapers are full of alarming
Reports of the presence of Chinese soldiers deep into Indian territory.
I am sure this issue can be settled through dialogue, but the weak
UPA Government lacks the credibility to undertake such a dialogue.
In the case of Pakistan, India has been craven. In spite of the fact that
the Government of India being aware that Pakistani soldiers killed 5
Indian soldiers in a brutal manner, the UPA regime sought to pass the
buck by saying that terrorists dressed in Pakistan Army uniform did
this dastardly act. The UPA lost what little respect people had after
this display of cowardice.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Against the declining fortunes of the UPA, Narendra Modi has to

craft a winning strategy. His personality and image alone will not see
the NDA through because the UPA will throw the 2002 Riots in
Gujarat against Modi in order to garner the votes of the Muslims. This
strategy will come unstuck in the big state of Uttar Pradesh, but may
have some purchase in other parts. Though the Supreme Court of
India has not found anything to prove the involvement of Modi in the
riots, the 2002 Riots are still there in public perception. NDA must
respond by bringing up the Sikh Massacre of 1984 when Indira
Gandhi died. The factionalism within the BJP with the senior leader L
K Advani sulking in the shadows after the announcement of the
candidature of Hon'ble Narendra Modi may be unsettling in the short
run.
The BJP has its work cut out for it and the sooner Narendra Modi
establishes an organization which can translate his vision into a
reality the better it would be.
Convicted Politicians, Rahul Gandhi and the outrage over the
Ordinance
2013-09-28 11:15
The Indian Government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh sent an
Ordinance to the President of India by which Indian politicians
convicted of heinous crimes would not be disqualified from the
membership of the State Assemblies and the National Parliament.
The alarming rate at which criminals are entering the political process
and getting elected to the seats of power has been commented upon
by several public figures and there have been very powerful civil
society movements too, The Supreme Court of India in a recent
judgement said categorically that convicted politicians lose their
seats and cannot continue in their elected positions. This judgement
was widely seen as a small step in cleansing the stables of Indian
politics of rapists, murderers and dacoits. Instead of welcoming this
judgement, the Congress Party introduced a bill on parliament to
undo the judgement. The strident opposition of the Bhartiya Janata
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Party forced the bill to be submitted to a special committee and the

matter rested there. The fact is that an important ally of the UPA, a
man called Laloo Prasad Yadava, a semi-literate thug from Bihar is
likely to be convicted in the Fodder Scam case whose judgement will
be pronounced on the 30th of September 2013. Despite having at least
4 prominent witnesses killed, the prosecution soldiered on and the
conviction of this fellow in on the cards.
In the forthcoming Parliamentary election which will be held by May
2014, the Congress and its allies will be wiped out as the Nation is sick
and tired of the grand corruption that has taken by place. The
minsters responsible for massive corruption have been shielded from
prosecution a plaint Central Bureau of Investigation or the CBI whose
Director was chastised by the Supreme Court of India for being a
"caged parrot" of the powers that be. In the Coalgate Scam even, the
files implicating the Congress leaders who got coal blocks allocated
to them have disappeared from the custody of the Coal Minister, who
happened to be the Prime Minster himself.
The BJP despite a very messy leadership struggle is poised to win the
upcoming electoral battle. The Congress Party pokes fun at the messy
struggle involving the aging patriarch, L K Advani and Hon'ble
Narendra Modi ignoring the sad fact that in the Congress party,
dynastic fascism ensures that on one can aspire for a leadership
position in the party except those born to the Nehru bloodline. This is
highly primitive system of ensuring that the leadership remains
within the "Royal Family" has contributed in no small measure to the
degeneration of the political culture in India as it has made politicians
cultivate factional loyalties and court family members in order to
ensure their visibility in the political arena. Unfortunately, the
Congress political culture is being emulated by all the other corrupt
political allies of the Congress like the DMK, the RJD and other
"secular" parties.
It is against the back ground sketched above that we must see the
"idealistic outburst " of Rahul Gandhi, the Crown Prince of the
Congress party and the son of Sonia Gandhi the Italian widow of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Rajiv Gandhi. When Man Mohan Singh was away on a visit to the
USA to address the U N General Assembly, Rahul Gandhi called a
Press Conference and denounced the Ordinance awaiting
Presidential assets as "nonsense" and deserves to be thrown out Most
political commentators felt that Manmohan Singh stood diminished
as a result of the public rebuke administered by Rahul Gandhi. The
Ordinance was sent to the President after it had been cleared by the
Cabinet and had the backing of Rahul's mother, Sonia Gandhi. It is
shameful that dynastic fascism has begun to undermine even the
office of the Prime Minister. In the noise caused by Rahul's "idealistic:
outburst what is forgotten is the fact that the President of India
refused to sign the Ordinance and the real credit for scrapping the
Ordinance should go to Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the President of the
Republic. Instead the pliant electronic and print media in India make
it appear as if Rahul Gandhi's "idealistic" outburst had led to a
rethink.
Certain trends are visible form this episode. First, there is a lot of
factional strife going on in the Congress Party. Second, a very
unhealthy precedent has been set: one in which the Crown Prince can
make the Government of the day make a complete turnaround in its
policy. There is no place for civilized political discourse in such a
scenario. Even Arun Jaitley, a senior leader of the BJP said that Man
Mohan Singh should resign because he was undermined by the
crown price. I expect that eminent Leader of the Opposition to know
that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet is responsible to the
Parliament and not to the stripping, Crown Prince. This just goes to
show how deep the shadow of dynastic fascism is in India.
The BJP did not emerge as the victor in this round but to its credit the
Party and Hon'ble Narendra Modi opposed the Ordinance. The
shameless courtiers of the Congress do not even have the dignity to
say that their Government has been undermined and the Prime
Minister, a nominee of the "Royal Family" has been publicly
humiliated. The demands for the resignation of the Prime Minister
only reinforce the perception that he is accountable to the "royal
 Word Craft and Statecraft

family" and not to Parliament. Rahul Gandhi said that it was his
"personal opinion" but such is the strangle hold of dynastic fascism
that personal opinions become Government policy.
The Assembly Elections in India: The Prospects of the Congress
and the BJP
2013-12-02 10:46
The Assembly Polls in the five states--Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mizoram--will soon be over and it is time
to look at the possibilities or rather the chances of the two parties. For
the BJP this is a make or break election as the Prime Ministerial
candidate, Sri Narendra Modi was the chief campaigner in all the
state save Mizoram. Any adverse result would be interpreted as a
reflection on his electoral appeal and so also the case with the
dynastic fascists, the Congress party.
The Congress fielded Shri Rahul Gandhi as their main campaigner
and once the ballot boxes are open the country will know the mood of
the electorate. This election campaign was characterized by
extremely low rhetoric from both sides and especially from the
Congress party. The Congress "crown prince" Rahul Gandhi the
inheritor of the family throne hurled abuses like "Chor" (thief),
"lootere" (looters) and his mother, the Italian born Sonia, not to be out
done referred to the BJP as "poison". Such rhetoric will hardly enthuse
the voter and as we begin the run up to the 2014 Parliamentary
Elections we expect the Congress to outdo itself in the rhetorical
sphere. The BJP responded to these flourishes of inspired invective
with a sobriquet that caught the goat of the Congress Party: Shehzada
or Mughal Prince. Of course, the title was used by Narendra Modi to
address Rahul Gandhi who is also called Amul Baby by the Indian
political class.
In Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje Scindia ran a well-organized
campaign and was able to connect with the electorate on the twin
issue of mis governance and corruption. The Dynastic Fascists
appointed, Ashok Ghelot as their Chief Minister and his Cabinet was
 Word Craft and Statecraft

plagued with serious issue of crime and corruption from the word
"go". The involvement of his cabinet colleague in the murder of a Dalit
woman who was also involved with another congress man
threatened the regime as both the Gujjars and the Dalits started
distancing themselves from the Congress Party. The Congress started
wooing the jets, the notoriously fickle and self-serving caste, by
promising a 5% reservation in Government jobs. However, it is
unlikely that this strategy will make much of a difference except in
the Bharatpur region. The Congress went to town about its social
welfare schemes, but the schemes introduced were badly executed
and ended up alienating more people. It is certain that the BJP will
form the next Government under Vasundhara Raje Scindia.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Government of SirajChauhan was a corrupt
and infested with elements which were thriving off the Government
contracts. The Timber Mafia has acquired a stranglehold over the
state and people are aware of it. However, the Congress party with its
internal factionalism and conflicts over ticket distribution was not
able to put up a credible fight. The senior congressman Dig Vijaya
Singha was side-lined, and the arc lights were on Jyoti Scindia, the
son of Madhav Rao Scindia and the nephew of Vijaya Raje. The price
rise, inflation and the price of onions all came into play in this
election. The BJP was able to recover lost ground as Narendra Modi
campaigned extensively in the state and the BJP is likely to come to
power with a fairly good majority, but it will see some drop-in seats.
In Delhi the BJP changed its Chief Ministerial candidate mid-way
through the polls. Vijay Goel was replaced by Dr Harsh Vardhan
Singh, a physician with some fairly good reputation as far as Indian
politicians go. The Capital has seen a contest between the Congress
and the BJP. This time with the entry of the Aam Admi Party of
Arvind Kejriwal there is a triangular contest. The two major parties
are both crying foul saying that the AAP is playing the spoiler and the
BJP very effectively countered the influence of the AAP by asking
people not tom waste their votes. It is likely that the BJP will win the
state, but the unfortunate presence of the AAP will make
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Government formation a trifle difficult. I would not be surprised if

the AA splits after the polls as the party is run on autocratic grounds
with Arvind and Sisodia dominating the show.
In Chhattisgarh, the massacre of May 2013 organized by a powerful
faction within the Congress Party has made the job of the Congress
Party extremely difficult. The Party tried to blame the BJP for the
massacre and elicit sympathy, but the electorate in India knows
exactly who was behind the attacks. Ajit Jogi ran a lack
lustrecampaign and Dr Raman Singh will remerge the victor.
In the elections the level of campaigning, especially been the
Congress Party fell to an all-time low. Yet with all the negative
campaign and personal attacks on Narendra Modi, the BJP will do
well.
The Challenge of the Aam Admi Party; How to confront the Great
White Hope of Indian Politics?
2014-01-04 09:18
Urban India is witnessing a novel political phenomenon: the rise and
rise of the Aam Admi Party. The anti-corruption movement launched
by Anna Hazare was accompanied by a surge of civil society activism
against corruption in India and the victory of the Aam Admi Party
can be traced directly to the political consciousness roused by the
movement of Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare. While the former
supports the BJP under Hon'ble Narendra Modi as the political
alternative, Anna Hazare decided to remain apolitical. His chosen
disciple Arvind Kejriwal decided to break away and form a political
party (the AAP) which rolled to power with the support of the
Congress party and is now the ruling party in Delhi. It is time to assess
the strengths of this new force and try to evaluate its impact on the
2014 Elections to the Lok Sabha. The BJP can ignore the AAP only at
its own risk and must take steps to counter its appeal.
Until the victory of the AAP it was generally held that the BJP will
emerge victorious in the 2014 General Elections with Narendra Modi
as the next Prime Minister. Now the picture is not that sanguine.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

primarily due to the politics of the Aam Admi Party. Led by a former
Indian Revenue Officer, Shri Arvind Kejriwal (around 45 years old).
the AAP seized control over the reins of Government in Delhi after
the BJP declined to form the Government. The BJP won 32 seats, a few
seats short of an absolute majority. The AAP after declaring publicly
that it will not seek the support of the Congress, a party with a
national notoriety for Crime, Corruption and Communalism, had no
problem in getting the support of the Congress which is extending
crucial support from outside the Government to sustain the
Government. This arrangement is neither politically valid nor an
ethical one as both Parties snipe at each other all the time and, yet the
Congress voted in favour of the APP in the Delhi assembly a few days
back. I do not think this arrangement will last beyond a couple of
months as the Congress will be badly dented if the AAP succeeds.
Arvind Kejriwal played to the gallery like a pro. He rode a metro train
to the Capital to take the vote of Office at Delhi's Ram Lila Grounds
where he sat on dharna along with his mentor. Such a populist
gesture went down well with the people who love to see their "High
Officials" appear ordinary. What is forgotten is the fact that to keep
the pretence of Arvind Kejriwal's pro poor image huge public
expenditure was incurred in order to secure the metro route. A mere
gesture, a nod in the direction of the common man, a supreme act of
condescension is taken as proof of the simplicity and honesty of
Arvind Kejriwal. Let us give him his moment.
The policy initiatives taken by the AAP even before it secured a vote
of confidence is proof of the absolute disregard for the public
exchequer. Announcing subsidies to the tune of 3, 500 crore rupees,
the electricity bills of the consumers in New Delhi got some relief.
However, the long-term solution to the problem of energy pricing lies
not in subsidies but in augmented power generation and the AAP has
no clue as to what to do. Arvind Kejriwal is a mechanical engineer
trained in IIT, Kharagpur in West Bengal and he may have some idea
of the problems inherent in his solutions.
The political phenomenon called the AAP is new to Indian politics.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

For long the political discourse has been dominated by issues of

personality and identity. The AAP has shifted the discourse to issues
concerning the common man: water, electricity, public safety, and
corruption. The shift to a non-identity based politics is welcome.
However, it was Narendra Modi who shifted the emphasis on
Governance rather than identity. The appeal of this new kid on the
block to the post 1990's generation is obvious. Liberalism initiated by
Narashima Rao in the 1990's has spawned a whole generation whose
politics is shaped by live issues concerning everyday life and
problems. The network created by the AAP during the heady days of
the Anna Agitation paid huge dividends. The AAP was able to
articulate the problems of the people of small neighbourhoods
because it had some dedicated cadres working here. This networked
interaction with localities using GIS and other sophisticated tools of
analysis makes the AAP a viable force/ The BJP will do well to invest
more timeand energy in drawing out local issues spread over 532
Parliamentary constituencies instead of banking entirely on the
charisma of Hon'ble Narendra Modi.
On balance, the AAP is certainly a new force but its alliance with the
Congress will spell its doom.
Sunanda Pushkar and the Indian Political Elite: Tweets of a Death
Foretold
2014-01-26 12:24
Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of the Union Minister for Education, Dr
Sashi Tharoor, was found dead in a hotel room in New Delhi on
January 17th, 2014. The events preceding her death are extremely
important. Apparently, she discovered an Affair between Tharoor
and a Pakistani woman, Mehr Tarar. Tharoor had saved the name of
this woman on his mobile under the gender bending name of Harish.
On the flight from Trivandrum to New Delhi this couple had a public
spat after which she took her husband's mobile and made public the
emails between the woman in Pakistan and Tharoor. In her last and
final tweet, she made a threat which her death a few hours later can be
 Word Craft and Statecraft

interpreted in different ways: I have taken the blame for this man's
IPL crimes and I am not willing to take anything "lying down". In the
same tweet she discloses that Mehr Tarar was an ISI agent.
The reference to the IPL could trigger the memory of the scandal in
2010 when the Kochi Tusker IPL franchise was allotted to Sunanda
Pushkar as "sweat equity". This scandal came to light because Lalit
Modi, the IPL honcho tweeted about it and Tharoor was forced to quit
his post as the MoS for External Affairs. Soon thereafter the two
married and Sunanda Pushkar shifted to Delhi from Dubai. This
woman has been quite unfortunate in the men she chose to have in
her life. She divorced her first husband within week of her marriage
and married his friend Sajith Menon who was the father of her 21-
year-old son, Shiv Menon. She then married Sashi Tharoor who is
close to the record of Henry VIII as far as matrimonial statistics is
concerned. The relationship fell apart under the twin strains of
Tharoor's serial infidelity and the stressses and strains of being a
Minister in a fractious UPA regime. In fact, on the day she dies, her
husband was attending the special AICC Session in which Rahul
Gandhi was all but nominated for the post of PM in the unlikely event
of the dynastic fascists coming to power.
The Police investigation was certainly full of unexpected surprises.
Though the Family of Tharoor and Sunanda were both interested in
floating the theory that the lady died due to a fatal mixture of "wrong
medication, stress and exhaustion". the autopsy revealed that her
death was caused by poisoning. And the examination of the viscera
has also more or less confirmed that she died due to induced
poisoning. And to make matters worse, the autopsy revealed injury
marks all over the body of Sunanda, evidence of either domestic
violence or a scuffle with her killers. The Indian Media has been very
lukewarm in the way this crime was handled. Tharoor enjoys a good
rapport with the English-speaking media because he is said to be a
noted writer, scholar and an internationally acclaimed diplomat.
While the petty affair of the woman who was being protected on the
request of her father by the Gujarat Police resulted in the Congress
 Word Craft and Statecraft

regime trying to embarrass the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat by

ordering a Judicial Inquiry, there is no attempt to find the truth of the
death of Sunanda. It is entirely another matter that the Government of
India could not find even a single judge to head the Inquiry it ordered.
There are a number of unanswered questions:
1. What do the injury marks on her body indicate?
2. Is there any truth in the allegation made by Sunanda that Mehr
Tarar is an ISI agent?
3. Why was the woman who was obviously ill left alone and
unsupervised in a hotel room?
4. Why is the family keen to stop the Investigation and close the case
as an "accidental death"?
The people of Trivandrum voted for Tharoor and he has brought only
scandal and shame upon them. Hopefully next time around they will
atone for their mistake.
The Election Campaign and the Prospects of a stable Government
in India
May 2014 - 2014-02-06 08:49
The Election Campaign for the 2014 General Elections in India have
started. All the major parties have started their run up for the
elections with the BJP under Narendra Modi leading the pack. A few
weeks back it appeared that the BJP was heading for a 300+ seats in
the Lok Sabha. Now a new uncertain factor has entered. A clutch of
regional parties like the BJD, the JD (U), the AIADMK and a number
of smaller parties with limited electoral prospects have entered into
an alliance of sorts, styling themselves, the Federal Front. From what
we have been able to gather, this new front is only a rehashing of the
Third Front whose stated objective is to maintain an equal distance
from both the Congress and the BJP.
However, in the name of fighting "communal" forces the Third Front
can be expected to side with the Congress should there be a fractured
 Word Craft and Statecraft

verdict. The ease with which the Congress is able to muster support
against the BJP makes the task of the National Campaign of the BJP
that much more arduous. The anti BJP and anti-Congress public
stance will last till the elections as the regional parties do not want to
share the responsibility for the criminal acts of monumental
corruption which has gone on under the Congress. The so called
Federal Front expects the Congress to prop up its Government just to
keep the BJP out. Since this game stands exposed let us now turn our
attention to the BJP Campaign.
Narendra Modi has had a series of very successful ralliesand in
Meerut, Gorakhpur and Kolkata Narendra Modi addressed massive
rallies. If the turn out in these rallies is any indication of ground
reality, then we can rest assured that the BJP will sail through to
victory. However, Indian politics is neither that simple nor
predictable. In all these rallies Narendra Modi addressed a litany of
local issues and was able to link them with major national questions:
insecurity due to increased terrorist activities and the
UPA'slacklustre handling of them, the massive price rise which has
sapped the people and of course the monumental corruption have all
been brought to the attention of the people. The issue of governance
has now taken centre stage and India seems to be moving away from
the old-style identity politics to embrace a more inclusive and
purposeful vision of politics. Narendra Modi whirls his magic with
the crowds and has the Congress really alarmed as the Congress does
not have a single leader of stature who can connect with the people. In
most rallies the crowd was around 400,000 to 500,000 and is a huge
figure even by Indian standards.
The BJP campaign strategy is three-fold. First, it is selling the Gujarat
model of economic development as one of successful development.
Despite obstacles placed on its path, Gujarat has been able to notch up
growth figures of 8 to 9% annually and the infrastructure in the state
is almost of western standards. In all the rallies, Narendra Modi
drove home the point: bijli, sadak, pani--electricity, roads and
drinking water. Secondly, the BJP has successfully targeted the
Congress and its top brass for Corruption. The 2G Spectrum Scandal,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the Coalgate scandal and more recently the Westland Helicopter

Scandal has landed the Congress in an unenviable situation and has
made feeble attempts to deflect the charge, Now the impression has
gained ground that the Corruption of the Congress is the one single
factor that inhibits development and Narendra Modi and his
Government may be guilty of unconventional politics, but corruption
is not one of his weak points. None of the other state governments can
match that record. Finally, the focus has now shifted from 2002 Riots
in Gujarat to the Congress sponsored massacre of 1984 when the
Congress party organized a massive pogrom of killing Sikhs when
one of their leaders was eliminated. For this shift of focus, the BJP has
to thank bloggers like this one who relentlessly kept the 1984 in the
public eye and of course, the rather inane and meaningless remarks of
the dynastic mascot, Rahul Gandhi.
All national surveys show the BJP and its allies in the NDA reaching a
figure of around 225+ out of 242 and the Congress Party may not cross
even into three-digit numbers/ The Federal Front is expected to do
well and if it reaches around 200 or so then the Congress will extend
support and encourage it to form the next regime. However, the people
of India are aware of the dangers of a fractured mandate and this time
around we can expect a decisive mandate. The Congress party has
started floundering. Its leader Sonia Gandhi's statements about the BJP
have evoked hostile response and the Telangana issue has already
started snowballing into a huge problem for the Congress. The ham-
handed manner in which Chidambaram as Home Minister handled
the whole Telangana issue so that he could get a safe MP seat from
Telangana has come back to haunt the Congress.
As usual let me end by making the prediction that BJP will emerge as
the largest pre-poll block in the next Lok Sabha.
Telangana Issue stokes violence in the Indian Parliament
2014-02-13 23:16
The Indian Parliament was rocked by unprecedented violence today
over the vexed question of the division of the state of Andhra Pradesh
 Word Craft and Statecraft

by carving out the state of Telangana from the existing state of

Andhra Pradesh. The Indian Constitution defines India as a Union of
States and it is perhaps not quite legal for the Congress Party to
separate Telangana from Andhra Pradesh when the state assembly
rejected the resolution authorising the division. The Congress regime
for reasons of gaining some electoral advantage decided to table the
bill for the separation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh in the
Indian parliament. The Leader of the Opposition, Sushma Swaraj, has
stated that there was no discussion with the Prime Minister over the
introduction of the bill. Without a consensus the Congress decided to
table the bill and pandemonium broke out.
The historical background of the demand for separate Telangana
goes back to the heady days after Independence when Nehru decided
to constitute the States Reorganization Commission in order the
created linguistic states as the basic building blocks of the federal
polity of India. In hind sight it is clear that the linguistic division of
states that valorised language as the major marker of identity was a
huge mistake as it has led to identity politics on a scale that is both
complex and self-destructive. Andhra Pradesh as irony would have it
took the lead as it was the 90 days fast unto death by Potti Sriramalu
which hastened the process of the creation of linguistic states. The
Telangana region which essentially consisted of the Nizam's
dominions wanted to maintain its unique identity even as early as the
1950s and the region's leaders made impassioned pleas for the
preservation of what they thought were the unique features of
Telangana regional identity and pride. Nehru, the doddering and
dithering man that he was gave the assurance that Telangana could
opt out of the union with Andhra if it so desired. Just as this man
made a mess in Kashmir, he was really responsible for this
controversy too. Successive Congress regimes have won elections by
pandering to regional aspirations and after the victory precious little
was done. In the 2009 General Elections, the state of Andhra Pradesh
was responsible for the return of the UPA as 33 Congress MPs were
returned to the Lok Sabha. Many of us feel that Andhra by voting the
Congress is now paying a heavy price for its sin.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

After promising statehood to the people of Telangana the Union

Home Minister, P Chidambaram made an announcement on 9th
December 2009 that the "process for the creation of the new state "
would be set in motion. This announcement galvanized the people of
the other two region of Andhra Pradesh, the Coastal region and
Rayalseema. Stiff opposition was mounted in both these regions and
the Central Government bought some time by setting up the Sri
Krishna Committee to study the whole question whether the new
state was viable or not. Sri Krishna recommended that division
should be the last option. The region of Telangana has suffered from
economic backwardness and though there are hydroelectric plants
on the Krishna, the benefit does not accrue to the people of the region.
The capital city, Hyderabad which attracted a lot of capital from the
coastal region emerged as a modern and vibrant urban area with the
Computer/ Software firms, Central Government educational and
research institutions and offices. The money made in coastal Andhra
Pradesh was invested in Hyderabad. Kurnool could have been
developed as an alternate city/ capital, but the emphasis was on
Hyderabad.
The rise of a street-smart politician, K Chandrasekar Rao and the
party that he established fought the 2009 elections on the plank of
separate Telangana and he could win only 2 seats out of 17 in the
region. The failure to win a respectable number of seats clearly
implied the rejection of the separate Telangana, but the Congress for
its own cynical reasons decided to forge an alliance with the TRS and
announced the intention of creating a separate state. The real issue
here was the insecurity of the Congress whose performance was just
deplorable. By dividing the state and merging the TRS with the
Congress, the leaders of the Congress hoped to gain some safe
electoral seats.
This morning when the bill was introduced in Parliament, the MPs
from the coastal region and from Rayalseema created an
unprecedented pandemonium in the Lok Sabha. One Congress MP
Rajagopal even brought a knife into the Parliament and MPs attacked
 Word Craft and Statecraft

each other with paper weights and pulled out mikes. The Speaker of
the Lok Sabha one Meira Kumar was forced to adjourn the house.
Now people are asking the question: Who is responsible for the mess.
The Congress Party MPs were the main perpetrators of the violence
as they felt that with the creation of a separate state of Telangana their
political future would be doomed. Coastal Andhra has invested
heavily in Telangana and there was pressure put on the central
government to protect the investments by making Hyderabad a
Union Territory, a plea that was rejected by the TRS. The BJP which
supports the creation of Telangana does not want to help the
Congress get the credit for the creation of the new state and hence has
distanced itself from the whole issue. The BJP seems to say to the
Congress" You created the mess now you clean it up. The violence
and disruption caused by the Congress Party by its thoughtless move
to create a new state to get a few seats in the next parliament shows
the depths to which the dynastic fascists can descend. Only the
people of Andhra are suffering.
The 2014 Parliamentary Elections in India: A look at the Campaign
and the trends
2014-03-07 09:58
The Election Commission of India has announced the Poll Schedule
and the upcoming 2014 Elections will be the longest and the most
hard fought in Indian electoral history. Spread over a month, the 9
phases in which the Elections have been divided, are designed to
move security forces around the country so that law and order can be
maintained. I expect this particular election to be violent as the Indian
National Congress is facing the prospect of losing power and it is
encouraging its storm troopers to disrupt the polls. Part of the
strategy has been outsourcing to the Aam Admi Party which has
already started attacking BJP election offices and is threatening to
unleash unbridled violence as part of its campaign. Unfortunately,
the rapid decline of the Congress has made the AAP the only visible
symbol of the social constituency which once supported the Congress
 Word Craft and Statecraft

at least in the urban pockets of northern India. The BJP and the
Congress have attacked each other with gusto and verve and of
course, the Congress has used its courtiers to hurl the worst kind of
abuses at the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate: Narendra Modi. Mani
Shankar Iyer, a Cambridge educated factotum of the ruling dynasty
mocked Modi by calling his a "chai wallah" and the Foreign Minister
of India Salman Khurshid even used the word "impotent" to describe
Modi, words that have outraged the Indian public. The rhetorical
assault launched by the Congress Party is directly proportional to the
slide in its electoral fortunes. The BJP, on the other hand, has
maintained studied silence and has not responded in kind.
The real reasons for the ease with which the NDA led by the BJP is
hurtling towards victory are to be seen in the changing character of
the Indian electorate. India is a young country in terms of its
demography and the first-time voters represent an aspirational India
which want better jobs, education, health and civic infrastructure.
This group is not into the old-style identity politics by which political
parties played one caste against the other and cobbled up a majority.
Modi has taken young India by storm as he connects successfully
with the young by his vision of a vibrant India in which modern
Industry and Infrastructure will usher in a better life style and
improve the living standards of the people. He has successfully
demonstrated the efficacy of his model of development in Gujarat.
Business confidence will certainly improve, and much needed
Foreign Investment will start flowing once the corruption infested
Congress regime is unsaddled. Apart for the young voters and the
issue of corruption, there are other issues that are playing out in the
minds of the voter. There is a perception that India's standing among
the major nations of the world has failed during the watch of the UPA
II. The lack of respect for Indian concerns and the manner in which
USA treated a senior diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, did not go
down well in India. The electorate is angry that the dignity of an
Indian woman, a diplomat and a representative of India was slighted
is so egregious a manner.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

On the foreign policy front, Modi who attacked Pakistan for its
barbarity in killing Indian soldiers and by drawing pointed attention
to the frequent incursions into India by China, Modi has signalled
that the image of a soft India will be contested. The Economy is in
shambles and only Gujarat is showing double digit growth figures.
The UPA regime tried to fudge poverty figures and derive
propaganda by making it appear that its flagship schemes like the
rural income schemes have made a difference to the lives of millions.
The truth is that the schemes like the rest of the UPA was riddled with
corruption and very little actually reached the people.
Political mismanagement has also helped the NDA. The Congress for
purely electoral gain decided to divide the state of Andhra Pradesh
and hoped that the formation of Telangana will ensure a substantial
win in the Telangana region. Even here the electoral gain is not for the
Congress but the local ally and the BJP. The unseemly politics over
the release of the killers of Rajiv Gandhi has paid put the chances of a
Congress revival in Tamil Nadu. Senior leaders like the discredited P
Chidambaram have nowhere to go. Even in the 2009 General
Elections, Chidambaram was actually defeated in the Sivagangai
parliamentary election but got himself declared elected by fraud and
this time he will be defeated if he stands anywhere in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP is coasting to a target of around 230 to 249 seats at the
moment. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which together contribute 120
seats the BJP is likely to win around 80 and set the stage for Narendra
Modi's appointment as Prime Minister of India. Both these politically
crucial states are in the hands of regional satraps who have failed in
the onerous task of governance. UP has seen nearly 250 riots during
the past few months and the regime of the Samajwadi party has only
given a thumb's up to law breakers known in local parlance as
"goondas". Nitish Kumar broke his alliance with the BJP hoping to tie
up with the Congress but that has fallen through and in the upcoming
election he will bite the dust.
By the time Mid May 2014 arrives India will have a new government
and the election of Narendra Modi looks certain.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Metaphysics of the Political Imagination: Narendra Modi, the

Indian Intellectual and the 2014 Elections
2014-04-05 08:21
A noted Indian "sociologist" in a centre page article in the Hindu
(April 5, 2014) has made some bold and superficially interesting
speculations abort the brand of politics Narendra Modi represents. I
wonder why such eminent sociologists do not subject the Congress
Party and its mascot, Sonia Gandhi to the same kind of rigorous
scrutiny as many of his conclusions can with equal justification be
extended to the Congress. In politics style matters as much as
substance and when Indian intellectuals train their guns on one
individual and suddenly find his ideological soul mates like Atal
Bihari Vajpayee and l K Advani more authentic than Narendra Modi
from a "civilization" point of view, then we know that something is
seriously wrong about the logic behind such ideologically
constructed posturing. Until not that long ago, Indian middle class
intellectuals, particularly the tele intellectuals of the JNU breed were
articulating their wisdom in terms of sound bites aired on NDTV
which drove home just one point: the BJP and its politics is a threat to
the "secular" values of the country and by default must support the
Congress party. The intellectuals found it both prudent and
professionally rewarding to mouth the empty slogans of "secularism"
and "inclusion", the stock in trade of high political discourse in India.
The JNU brand of tele intellectuals were never enamoured of the
politics of the BPJ and if they start discovering virtues in Atal ji and
Advani ji it can only mean that any kind of rhetoric is justified when it
comes to Modi bashing. All the three leaders named above share a
common vision of an India that is strong, free from corruption and
can hold its head high in the high table of world politics. Unlike the
intellectuals who hog prime time television in India, Modi does not
seek the approbation or approval of the western world. It does not
matter whether Economist endorses Narendra Modi. However, the
intellectuals like the author of the centre page article referred to,
thrive on signets of professional recognition from the Western media
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and institutions. This particular intellectual was opposed to the

nuclear policy of India, and throughout his long and distinguished
career has not criticized USA for the slaughter in World War II or the
repeated acts of armed aggression all over the world. Yet when it
comes to India they will pose as if they are the civilizational strength
of India lies in its ability to produce publicists like themselves.As far
as Narendra Modi is concerned his public rhetoric is civilized and
yes, his language is strong and effective but does not degenerate into
gutter rhetoric like Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her Congress courtiers.
Why does this man not take the Congress woman to task for making
public discourse so vulgar and coarse?
As a sociologist, the writer must be aware that in terms of social
inclusion as empirically measured by voting percentages and seats
won, the BJP scores much higher than it rival the Congress. At least in
North India, most of the SC reserved seats and ST seats have been won
by the BJP and there is no use in taking recourse to the Marxist line that
such figures only represent false consciousness on the part of the
"subaltern" classes. At the end of the day the tele intellectual is always
right and facts be dammed. Why let facts and empirically verifiable
date come in the way of a politically correct and rewarding statement.
The intellectual goes on to gratuitously advise the BJP to be more
"discursive" more "conversational". The discursive space in Indian
politics is hogged by the Congress and its academic bandwagon who
have monopolized public space in the name of secularism and
nationalism. If they want to suggest that the hysterical style of ranting
against electoral adversaries like the way Sonia, Rahul and other
members of the First Family, the Royal Dynasty represents discursive
expanse and a conversational style of politics, I am afraid that people
will not accept. The electorate sees the shrill hysterical ranting of the
Congress as hate mongering and it is time that the soft intellectuals like
the author of the centre page article recognize the political style of the
dynastic fascists as divisive and fraudulent.
To harp on Jaswant Singh has become fashionable. Suddenly the
opponents of Narendra Modi have rediscovered the virtues of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Jaswant Singh after his rebellion. But the same class of tele
intellectuals were berating him until the other day for the views on
Partition and his analysis that Congress too was responsible for the
Partition and do I need to remind my readers of what they said about
Jaswant Singh when the then NDA Government released the Taliban
prisoners in exchange for the passengers of the Indian Airlines flight
which was hijacked to Kabul. I agree Indians do not have a sense of
History, but if "sociologists" who write about the civilizational
strengths of the BJP should choose tom ignore recent events then it is
not oversight but deliberate distortion for political purposes. Is there
anything "civilizational" about Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi. If
Narendra Modi is faulted for not being "civilizational" them I wonder
if the hate filled rhetoric of the First Family is civilizational.
It is obvious that the writer has not followed the Campaign of
Narendra Modi and therefore is unaware of the reasons why he
resonates all around the country. He is not an "ersatz "version of the
BJP as the writer inelegantly puts it, but rather one who has crafted
his political message keeping the complex realities of an ever-
changing India. The fact is that Narendra Modi has jettisoned the old-
style identity politics and has changed the terms within which India
debates its future. And "sociologists" of course are livid as he has out
done them in their own game. He has crafted a message of social and
economic development based on the principle that the State has to
ensure that the basic structure within which resource transfers and
nation building takes place is in tune by and large with the
aspirations of the people. And he has successfully sold the argument
that the economic downturn in India is linked to the massive and
egregious corruption under the congress. What is offensive or
objectionable about this fundamental message. Governments will be
voted in and voted out not on the basis of real and invented identities
but on the grounds of performance as seen by the common man. I do
not see anything alarming in all this and wish the author had used the
resources of his mind to reflect on the conditions prevailing all over
the country. The sense of gloom and doom are there in the eyes of
everyone except the starry-eyed wonder struck sociologists of JNU.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The upcoming elections will mark a decisive turning point in the

history of India. Under Narendra Modi, India will be able to stand
and take strides towards improving its economy, living standards
and social harmony all of which were ruthlessly compromised
during the past 10 years.
This writer can say that Dharampal will certainly endorse Narendra
Modi.
The 2014 Parliamentary Election Campaign and its Aftermath: A
Bitter War of Words unleashed by the Congress party
2014-05-10 10:15
The dust is slowly settling on the unusually long, and even by the
standards of Indian electoral rhetoric, a very ugly campaign season.
The Congress party set the trend when its President, Sonia Gandhi in
an election rally accused the BJP of sowing fields of poison, an Indian
expression which cannot be rendered easily into English. Zehar ki
Kheti, the phrase used by Sonia Gandhi implies a deliberate
cultivation of poison in order to entrap innocents. The ugliness
inherent in this remark set the benchmark for others to equal or
exceed the shock quotient of Sonia's vulgar and tasteless rhetoric.
And the BJP returned the compliment in kind.
Throughout the last two years, Hon'ble Narendra Modi in his
speeches has been trying to focus attention on three issues:
development, corruption and security, both internal and external. He
deliberately set aside all divisive issues so that the Electorate makes
up its mind in an informed manner. The old style Indian electoral
politics of raising caste, religion, region and language controversies
were set aside for a highly civilized campaign based on performance
and governance. The Congress party rattled by the response that
Modi was getting decided to go on the offensive and picked up caste
and religion as weapons from its well-stockedarmoury.
The wild charges levelled by Priyanka Gandhi on Narendra Modi set
the stage for the rivals to rake up the controversial land deals of her
husband, Shri Robert Vadra. This uneducated man with absolutely
 Word Craft and Statecraft

no resources was able to build up an empire with assets of nearly

1,000 crore rupees. His business model was simple and ingenious. He
would approach a real estate or construction company for a soft loan
to buy land and use soft loan to buy land from Congress rules states
and get the land use changed and subsequently sell the same land
back to the same developers for windfall profits. The BJP called this
model the R S V P Model, each letter standing for Rahul, Sonia, Vadra
and Priyanka respectively. The Congress retaliated by accusing
Hon'ble Narendra Modi of gifting land to industrialists at throw
away prices and their ire was directed against Adnani a business
tycoon who like most businessmen in crony capitalism friendly India
was equally close to the Congress and it turned out that much of his
deals had materialized during the Congress regime.
The personal attacks on Narendra Modi were both vulgar and
intense. Any lesser man would have wilted under the intense and
well-orchestrated campaign of vulgar personal attack directed at
Narendra Modi. The fact that Hon'ble Narendra Modi had married
Jodhaben when he was very young was raked up to question his
marital status and of course the calumny that a man who abandoned
his spouse cannot be trusted. This campaign was a clever one in that it
touched a nerve right at the heart of Indian social values. Fortunately,
the clarification issued by the brother of Modiji's spouse cleared the
air and the campaign of Rahul Gandhi just exploded on the face of the
Congress party. Then the Congress shifted its attack on the Other
Backward caste status claimed by Narendra Modi. Having brought in
the dimension of "high" politics and "low" politics into the electoral
discourse the Congress stirred up the caste cauldron hoping to
conjure up the witches' brew. The unseemly remarks of Priyanka
Gandhi came in handy during the last phase of the Polls which were
to take place for 33 seats in UP and Bihar, and the BJPwent to town
over the remark and made it appear that the Congress was dividing
the people on the basis of caste. The thoughtless remarks of an
uneducated and unsophisticated young woman, Priyanka Gandhi
came in handy to tear the "inclusive" character of the dynastic fascist
outfit, the Congress party.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The conduct of the Election Commission was not above board. India
has a constitutionally mandated Election Commission which usually
does a good job. In Varanasi where Narendra Modi is also contesting
against the AAP candidate Arvind Kejriwal Narendra Modi was
denied permission to hold a rally while Rahul Gandhi and Kejriwal
were accorded permission. The discrimination was brought before
the public of Varanasi in a huge way.
The election process spread over 50 days has led the politicians
particularly the Congress apprehensive of impending defeat to use
identity issues to degrade the election. However, the next
Government is likely to be the Narendra Modi's.
Narendra Modi: India's New Prime Minister Leadership and
Vision
2014-05-13 13:46
For the first time in India's electoral history, a single individual has
been able to overcome the inherent contradictions of a complex
electoral system which makes it difficult for any one candidate to
emerge victorious as the first past the winning post system imposes
its own conditions. And for Narendra Modi to prevail in the face of
this hugely complex electoral system and surge toward the 285+
mark makes us stop to think, ponder and reflect. He has clocked
300,000 kilometres of travel by road, rail and air. He has addressed
nearly 500 rallies all over the country and had participated in over
4600 gatherings called "chai pe charcha". An Indian version of a Tea
Party. The hard work has paid off and the BJP and its Allies in the
NDA are poised to form the next Government in India.
Narendra Modi was born on 17th September 1950 in a family which
belonged to the OBC section of Indian society. Modi himself did not
present himself as an OBC leader as his strategy involved the
emphasis on development rather than identity. It was only when the
Congress party insulted his politics by calling it "low level" politics
(neech rajniti) that Modi decided to hit back and turned a barb into an
emphatic endorsement of his vision. Priyanka Gandhi made
 Word Craft and Statecraft

sweeping and rather crude remarks against Modi and that turned the
tide in his favour into a flood.Having shot her mouth about Modi's
"low politics", Priyanka and the dynastic fascists tried to mend the
damage, but it was too late. She came across as an arrogant woman
insulting a self-made man.
Narendra Modi spent his formative years in the RSS. The RSS, a
nationalist and patriotic organization has always remained the bete
noire of the Indian establishment because it was the only political
force which opposed the Nehruvian Plan of Partition of India. The
Congress made what Nehru called the "tryst with destiny" but that
tryst was predicated upon the unity of India not division. Since the
RSS opposed Partition, Nehru and his cohorts labelled it "communal"
and when Gandhi was murdered in January 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru
tried his best to implicate the RSS in the killing. Three National
Commissions of Inquiry have exonerated the RSS and, yet the
Congress and its allies always rake up the past in order to undermine
the organization. Narendra Modi came under the influence of Vakil
Sahib and owes his world view and personality to him. It was
Inamdar who encouraged Modi to study and he graduated with a B A
degree in political science from the University of Delhi and later took
his M A again in political science from South Gujarat University.
Right form an early age Narendra Modi has remained a voracious
reader with a formidable memory. During his long years as Prachark
of the RSS, Narendra Modi stunned people by his accurate recall of
names and events from times past.
An incredible capacity to juggle with the nitty gritty of organizational
details and a dedication to the mission and vision of the RSS ensured
Narendra Modi's transition from a Pracharak to the General
Secretary of the BJP during the years when L K Advani was the
President. As General Secretary of the Party, Narendra Modi realised
the importance of the newly emergent technologies, particularly the
Computer and has always shown a willing ness to harness
technology for political purposes. In the recently concluded
Parliamentary Polls, Narendra Modi successfully integrated
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Information Technology, GIS and the Internet to propel the BJP

forward. All his meeting and rallies took place well within the limits
of the Code of Conduct of the Election Commission of India. He
adhered to the time limit and there were days when he addressed a
rally in North East India in the morning, a rally in South India in the
afternoon and another in Western India all on the same day. Few
politicians have put themselves through such a gruelling task. Even
before setting off in the morning his Research Staff would have
prepared the dossier for the next day's rally. Even Generals planning
a campaign or war hardly show such dedication to detail.
The new Government will have a completely new policy on almost all
the important social and economic issues of the country. Massive
funding on projects like the MNREGA, the flag ship scheme of the
UPA will not be undertaken and the emphasis will shift to
infrastructure. Investment in Roads, Ports and Railways can be
expected to increase together with greater emphasis on Primary
Education. Social Welfare will be targeted keeping real poverty levels
in view and there will be less salience on identity issues. The hyped
statements of the Congress that a Modi victory will lead to chaos will
prove to be empty rhetoric. Even with the Muslim population, the
Modi Government will be fair. Since the narrative has changed from
identity to development, social temperature will remain normal. I
would not be surprised if new high-speed trains are introduced
between the different major metros.
On the foreign policy front, the strategic embrace of the USA will be
reconsidered as it is not in India's interest. Modi has always been an
admirer of China and will try to bring about good relations with
China. The confrontational policy will not continue, and Modi will
walk the extra mile to remain on friendly terms with China. With
USA the relationship will remain normal, but the special bond
between UPA leaders and USA will not be there.India under Modi
will not strut about on the international stage as there are great
challenges here in India. With Israel there will be excellent ties and
normal relations will continue with the Middle Eastern countries.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

With Iran, the stalled Gas Pipe Line project will be revived. As far as
the neighbourhood is concerned, India will retain its predominance
and will not follow a policy of letting the tail wag the dog.
On the economic front, the Current Account Deficit will engage the
attention of the Government. Investment climate will certainly
improve. Corruption will not be totally eliminated, but Narendra
Modi is known for his integrity and his zero tolerance for mis
governance and corruption. After 10 years of stagnation< India will
at last have a Government which will work.
"India has won": The implications of Narendra Modi's massive
Electoral Victory
2014 - 2014-05-17 09:11
Regular readers of my blog would have realized that I have always
predicted a Narendra Modi victory and my estimate even of the seats
won by the BJP has proved to be accurate. The Congress party, just as
I predicted lost and lost so badly that it does not even qualify for the
Post of the Leader of the Opposition. It appears that the Electorate has
voted decisively, and such magnificent electoral mandates carry with
them the danger of evaporating just as fast. It is necessary to
understand, grasp and analyse the el corruption was also election of
2014 as it will set the benchmark for several subsequent elections.
The BJP has become a National party in that in the elections just
concluded the BJP has secured nearly 50% of the votes polled and in a
Parliamentary form of Democracy this is massive. Second, the Party
which had just 2 members in the Parliamentary Elections of 1984 has
now secure on its own 282 seats and along with its allies reached the
332-mark. This means that Narendra Modi led Government will be
strong and stable and will not be subject to the politics of blackmail
that bedevilled the Congress Regime. Infrastructure building
ministries like Ports and Telecom were assigned to regional political
parties and the 2G Spectrum scandal and the Coal Allocation Scandal
were the direct outcome of coalition politics. Narendra Modi does not
have that handicap and being personally incorruptible he will either
 Word Craft and Statecraft

keep these ministries with himself or assign them to an aide whose

loyalty he is assured of. The trust that Narendra Modi has made with
revolves around the promise of Development which will pull the
country out of the morass of economic stagnation. The development
will be financed by large Infrastructure projects and the return of
investor confidence is crucial to the success of this project. The youth
have voted overwhelmingly for Narendra Modi in the hope that his
promise is delivered upon.
The fact is that the Congress led UPA regime apart from being
embroiled in egregious corruption was also undermining the social
fabric of the country by resorting to identity po9litics of the lowest
kind. Every political decision was taken keeping the interests of the
ruling party and its vote bank in sight. Narendra Modi now has the
elbow room to stay away from identity politics. The Communal
Violence bill is a good example of such misguided initiatives. In India
it is well known that all previous instances of communal violence
were instigated by the Congress party and even in the 2002 Riots for
which Narendra Modi was blamed and eventually cleared, it was the
Congress that participated in the large-scale killings that went on. In
fact, nearly 200 Congressmen are facing the courts for their role in the
riots. Under Narendra Modi social peace will prevail and that is what
India needs at the moment. The statecraft of Narendra Modi is
predicated upon economic issues and so will be driven by the need
and desire for social and political calm. In fact, the Indian rupee has
already started rallying withgoing hours of the Modi's victory.
The Governance of the country, or to put it in the words of Modi,
"minimum governance, maximum governance" will be based on
extensive consultations will all the constitutionally mandated
authorities. The National Development Council in which all the Chief
ministers of the States are represented, will play an important role
and to that extent the Planning Commission will be rendered
redundant. Of course, planning will be necessary but that will be
done on the basis of rational criteria. The Reserve Bank of India has
changed the interest rates and the new Government will take steps to
 Word Craft and Statecraft

increase foreign trade and reduce the widening trade deficit, Roads,
Powers and Hi Speed Railways will be give due importance and in all
these the involvement of China will be welcome.
India's foreign policy is in shambles. The previous regime did not
pursue any kind of strategy in the pursuit of Indian foreign policy.
The Americans made it a habit to take India for granted in the name of
the "strategic partnership". Under Narendra Modi the "look East "
Policy will be firmly in place Perhaps the first country Narendra
Modi will visit after taking office will be China. Narendra Modi has
written extensively on the impressive economic growth of China and
his development plank owes some of the boiler plate to China. With
USA in terminal decline, nothing much can be expected.
The massive mandate will bring peace and to some extent prosperity
to India both of which were massively dented by the Congress.
Gopalakrishnan Gandhi and his "Open Letter" to Narendra Modi:
A Political Critique
2014-05-20 08:48
In the Hindu dated May 19th, 2014, the grandson of the Mahatma
himself has issued an epistolary declaration of war against the newly
victorious Narendra Modi. Open Letter to Narendra Modi is bad both
in form and in taste as unbridled impertinence passes off as political
wisdom and liberal posturing masquerades as sage wisdom.
Gopalakrishnan Gandhi has flagged all the traditional liberal issues
without admitting that these issues have lost their relevance and
resonance in India today which is aspiring for economic growth and
social progress. At least he is honest enough to admit that the results
of the elections surprised him, and this speaks volumes about the
disconnect between "intellectuals" like this Gandhi and the Indian
reality of today.
Elitism has found a new language: it pretends to be couched in the
garb of morality, egalitarian sentiments and social inclusiveness.
Why else will Gandhi say that he was sickened by the "chai wallah"
barb of another veteran of the liberal brigade, the notorious and crass
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Mani Shankar Iyer who lost his deposit in the recent poll.It is entirely
irrelevant whether the likes of Gopalakrishnan Gandhi find Hon'ble
Narendra Modi acceptable or not. He is our Prime Minister by the
choice of the people of India and any democrat must respect that.
Gopalakrishnan Gandhi cannot presume that his idea of India ought
to enshrine in the India that Modi seeks to build. These days everyone
has his/ her own Idea of India and in a multi vocal and multi-party
democracy like India, everyone has the right to advocate his/her Idea
of India. The liberals like Gandhi are only interested in imposing their
idea of India as an assemblage of fragments as Partha Chatterjee
famously said on the rest of us. Narendra Modi has his Idea of India
and he has won the mandate to refashion India after that image.
Stoking the fears of the minorities is another of the tried and tested
methods of men like Gopalakrishnan Gandhi. The just concluded
elections prove that Narendra Modi's appeal transcends the
traditional fault lines of India society: Dalits, Muslims, tribals, the
OBCs, the SWC and STs have all voted for the BJP much to the chagrin
of men like Gandhi. Instead of recognizing the fact that identity
politics which played havoc with India has been set aside, Gandhi
bemoans the demise of traditional identity politics. This shows that
on habit die hard and men like Gandhi are stuck in the Jurassic Park of
identity, Idea of India, fake secularism and Dynastic fascism. But for
his last name, who would give time of day for men like
Gopalakrishnan Gandhi.
There is a reference to communal violence in his article, the sub text
being that Narendra Modi is still suspect for the 2002 events. The
Supreme Court has found Narendra Modi innocent and yet
Gopalakrishnan Gandhi and his fellow IIC stalwarts always
insinuate the involvement of Modi in the 2002 events. Do they pause
to ask the Congress party why for 10 days the police were not called
out in New Delhi in 1984? Do they ask why the Army which is
quartered in New Delhi itself was not called to maintain law and
order. And we have evidence that nearly 297 rioters were killed in
Gujarat in the immediate aftermath of Godhra. I do not expect men
 Word Craft and Statecraft

like Gandhi, ideologues of the Establishment to be honest. But facts

must be recorded, and History cannot be distorted to score trivial
political points.
Citizenship implies common laws and common responsibilities and
speaking about citizenship is not "monarchist language" as Gandhi
terms it.Modi rightly speaks of 125 crore Indians without
fragmenting them into narrow domestic walls which in reality
ghettoize the minorities. He seeks to bring them into the full sunlight
of citizenship which liberals like Gandhi who play to the gallery of
identity politics find very threatening. And last comes his absurd and
impudent advice that Narendra Modi should accept the
recommendations of the NGOs for names to the panel on SC and STs.
Why did Gandhi not give the same advice to the UPA.
The press is already started blowing the bugle of war against
Narendra Modi and those of us who want India to be strong and
peaceful must be unified in our resolve.
Smriti Irani and the Controversy over her Educational
Qualifications
2014-05-28 15:20
The new Prime Minister of India, Hon'ble Narendra Modi was barely
sworn in and a new row has erupted. The Prime Minister keeping in
mind his promise of Minimum Government, Maximum Governance
appointed a rather lean ministry. large infrastructure ministries
which were considered cash cows by the UPA regime have been
clubbed together in order to eliminate overlapping jurisdictions and
minimize time expended on getting clearances and permits.
Jawaharlal Nehru created a byzantine bureaucracy which was totally
beyond accountability and Modi has set out to rein in this wayward
officialdom. He followed it up with a spectacular gesture of inviting
all the heads of State and Government of the SAARC. Narendra
Modi's swearing in ceremony became a mini summit meeting of all
the SAARC nations. The invite to Shri Nawaz Sheriff. the Prime
Minister of Pakistan, was a diplomatic masterstroke. The presence of
the Pakistan Prime Minister added significance to the occasion.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Unlike the UPA with its huge mega Ministry of nearly 90 ministers,
Modi's Cabinet has only 24 Ministers of Cabinet rank. There are 10
Ministers of State with independent charge over their ministries and
14 Ministers of State. Many BJP heavy weights were denied cabinet
berths and a number of younger men and women were brought in as
Ministers with Cabinet rank. Obviously there will be a lot of
disappointed MPs who were expecting the be made members of the
Cabinet. One particular appointment however has generated some
controversy. Smriti Irani, a well-known TV artist who acted in the
mega serial Kyuki Saas bhi Kabhi Bahu thi was appointed Minister of
Cabinet rank for the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Higher Education comes within the purview of this Ministry and it is
quite likely that Narendra Modi may take that particular Department
and meld it with some other Ministry. He has spoken of the 5 Ts
governing his administration: Talent, Tradition, Technology,
Transparency, Tourism. Keeping this principle in mind perhaps the
Department of Higher Education may be merged with some other
Ministry. However, the Congress party raised the lack of educational
qualifications as a major talking point.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development was created by Rajiv
Gandhi and was headed for a long time by Arjun Singh who used his
office to literally sell licences to establish "deemed universities". The
Supreme Court had to intervene in order to regulate the spate of
deemed universities that have sprung up.With the exit of the State
from the field of Higher Education, private players have entered the
field in a big way and Higher Education is one field in which the cool,
refreshing breeze of liberalization has not been felt. Indian Higher
Education continues to be over regulated and there is no place for
innovation or initiative in the field of Higher Education. Indian
Universities are in a state of terminal decline and Higher Education
requires immediate attention.
Smriti Irani has clearly stated that she has studies only up to the 12th
Standard and the Congress party says that her lack of educational
qualifications makes her ineligible for the job. Indian Ministers of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Education have at times been over educated like Dr Nurul Hassan who
inflicted enormous damage to the cause of education by making higher
education drift in an over charged ideological milieu. Irani will
certainly do no such damage and it is best not to allow ideological
agents to occupy that position. In the two previous instances of non-
Congress rule, the Congress and its ideological allies mounted serious
challenge first to Dr Chander, the Minister for Education under the
Janata Party in 1977-79 and also to Dr Murali Manohar Joshi who
served as MHRD Minster under Atal Behari Vajpayee. By entrusting
this portfolio to a minster who will not be perceived as partisan,
Narendra Modi has insulated the field of Higher Education from the
kind of pulls and pressures which it has seen in the past. Smriti Irani
will obviously be guided in her brief by the Prime Minister.
One of the most damaging consequences of the long innings of Dr
Nurul Hassa as Minister of State for Education was that all important
Institutions were brought under the tutelage of the Congress party
and its affiliates: ICHR, UGC, ICSSR, ICCR, CSIR etc. It is time to
democratize these institutions and the time is now.
One Month of the Modi Sarkar: There is Hope
2014-06-30 12:12
Narendra Modi came to power promising "change for the better" or
as he prematurely declared. Acche din agaye. (Good time have
arrived, a parody of the Kingfisher tag line.) Cynics might say that
there is nothing new in what Narendra Modi has done. Let me list out
the new departures in just 30 days initiated by the Prime Minister.
1. Make the bureaucracy accountable. The round of meetings that
Narendra Modi has had with senior secretaries underscores the fact
that Modi expects the bureaucracy to monitor the policies and
programmes initiated and report fearlessly. All too often in India,
politician is able to suborn the bureaucracy for their own corrupt
purposes and the fear of transfer or worse Enquiry makes the senior
officers crawl when they are only asked to bend. Modi has taken a
decisive step toward making the bureaucracy accountable for the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

policies of the Government. He met the senior bureaucrats, the

Secretaries to Government without the presence of their
departmental Ministers, and in this he has taken a leaf straight from
the statecraft of Margret Thatcher. This move has been widely
commended in India. Another innovation is that Narendra Modi has
not permitted anyone associated with the earlier regime to be
appointed on the personal staff of his ministers.
2. The emphasis on Infrastructure and Investment is very clear and
Narendra Modi is expected to announce a series of measures to
facilitate economic development. An Indian Sovereign Wealth Fund
that will be traded in Wall Street is one measure that is bound to be a
hit in the western world. Narendra Modi has already taken steps to
bring in China as a partner in India's Infrastructural development.
China is expected to invest in at least four SEZs and that is really a
huge step in the right direction. Again, China is expected to partner
with India in the development of high speed Railways.
3. The crisis in Iraq has been dealt with in a states manly manner. The
envoys of all counties in the neighbourhood of Iraq have been
requested to use their good offices in the speedy repatriation of
Indians stranded in Iraq. The fact that Narendra Modi has chosen to
seek the support of West Asian powers suggests that he would like to
seek regional solutions for regional problems. USA is the real cause of
all the suffering in the region and cannot pretend that it is the solution
to the problem it has created. Narendra Modi's trip to Bhutan, B2B,
was a great success and if he follows this pattern, I am sure that Indian
isolation in the South Asian region can be broken.
4. On the economic front, prices are still rising, and food inflation is
also high. Narendra Modi has instructed the Food and Agriculture
Minister to crack down on hoarders and the State Governments have
been instructed to enforce the decision. There is the added challenge
of a failed Monsoon. The Met Department has already said the El
Nino Effect would result in a 50% shortfall in the rains. The food
security is being strengthened and imports will be done without
fanfare in the press.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Modi Sarkar inherited a broken economy and a wasteful

government and there are signs of the situation turning around.
Natwar Singh's autobiography. One Life is Not Enough: A
Courtier's rant
2014-08-05 12:40
Natwar Singh has an unlikely admirer, another Sonia Gandhi
loyalist, Mani Shankar Iyer. Knowing very well that the Natwar
Singh has fallen out of favour in the Gandhi household, Mani
Shankar Iyer has given a very laudatory account of Natwar Singh in
the current issue of India Today. Probably both studied in Cambridge
and were part of the elite IFS unities both men in a common miasma
of mutual admiration. Mani Shankar Iyer is known to possess an
acerbic tongue which can be hired by the Gandhi dynasty and
unleashed against anyone daring to ask the dynasty inconvenient
questions. Yet Man Shankar is very reverential when he engages with
Natwar Singh and his work. Probably another courtier waiting for
the opportune time.
Natwar Singh's so-called revelations do not add anything of
substance to what we already know about the regime of Sonia-
Manmohan Singh, the duo that had dominated the power structure
during UPA I and UPA II. Manmohan Singh's personality was too
well known, and it did not require Natwar Singh's laboured history
to confirm what we all knew. Sanjay Baru in his book the Accidental
Prime Minister had alerted the Nation to the dyarchy that prevailed
in the UPA regime. Even his explosive revelation that Rahul Gandhi
prevented his mother from taking up the Prime Ministership is
hardly an expose. Being a shrewd politician, Sonia Gandhi knew that
her public acceptance was very limited, and she could not have been
an effective PM. Holding the Remote Control in her hand ensured
that she held the sinews of power. Natwar paints himself as a victim
of a ruthless woman. Natwar Singh is really the quintessential
courtier whose entire life was spent in the personal service of the rich
and the powerful. He thinks that he is doing great acts of State when
he is asked to carry messages to and from people who matter.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Message carriers cannot deceive themselves into believing that they

are confidants of their handlers. This is the truth of Natwar Singh's
petty existence. he a mere factotum carrying messages between
Indira and her Ministers and later between Sonia Gandhi and her
extended court. Butlers and Factotums like Natwar Singh are
expected to maintain discreet silence. I remember that Princess
Dianna's butler also came out with a salacious book on the Princess.
Natwar Singh does not say anything about the Vocker Report and he
was dismissed from the Government because of his involvement in
the Food for Oil Scandal. It is true that the name of his son, his friend
and Natwar Singh's own name appear in the list of beneficiaries of
Saddam Hussein's largess. He had the opportunity to say his side of
the story and Natwar Singh is quiet about the whole issue except to
say that he was implicated in the scandal at the behest of the
Americans. This line of reasoning is suspect because the Vocker
Commission was set up by the UN Secretary General and there are
documents to prove the involvement of Natwar Singh in the scandal.
It is unfortunate that Natwar Singh chooses to obfuscate the entire
affair instead of bringing out the truth. And there is not a word about
the mysterious death of his daughter in law who was killed after
falling from the roof of a hotel in New Delhi and her cell phone did
not even have a scratch. Natwar Singh and his great admirer Mani
Shankar do not raise these inconvenient facts because public memory
in India is only as long as the days' headlines.
Natwar Singh, a jat from Bharatpur packages himself as royalty and I
recall Mahavir Singh a man who claimed to be his nephew always
addressing Natwar as Kuwar, a feudal title of respect. Men like
Natwar Singh are mere courtiers and their lives are not enriched
either by reflection or refinement. An unworthy man has written a sly
book which evades all the real questions and the hard controversies.
Raising questions over Sonia Gandhi will not make us forget Natwar
Singh's involvement in the Iraq Scandal. Yes, in one way this man is
right. One life is not enough for a corrupt predatory courtier like
Natwar all of 83 years of age.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Narendra Modi and his Independence Day Speech; A Vision

Statement and a Message of Hope
2014-08-15 10:01
August 15th is India's Independence Day and the speech of the Prime
Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi is a huge political
statement. Successive Prime Ministers have used the grand backdrop
of the Mughal splendour to bolster their political image and reinvent
themselves as "leaders" by making rhetorical gestures that border on
theatrics in order to pump up their sagging political fortunes and
score points against real and imagined enemies. Narendra Modi's
Independence Day speech was markedly different. It was delivered
with passion and honesty and he used the "bully pulpit" offered to
him to flag issues of real social and economic concern. There was no
Sabre rattling, tilting against the proverbial windmills in the form of
Pakistan or any other hostile neighbour. The Prime Minister made a
speech which emphasized inclusive governance within the
framework of real and meaningful federalism. There was no attempt
at throwing freebies to the people. On the contrary, the Prime
Minister emphasized the importance of delivering good governance
through a disciplined and honest bureaucracy. There is no doubt in
my mind that this speech has touched all the right chords in a
complex society like India and Modi's message of hope will not be
dismissed with the usual cynicism with which Indians usually treat
political rhetoric.
The first point worth noting is that he packaged himself as the first
servant of the people. In India where politicians claim to be above the
law and are used to lording over the people at large and being treated
with reverence, this statement of the Prime Minister will certainly
have the necessary effect. Further, he emphasized the fact that both
the Central Government and the State governments must work in
harmony to improve the quality of life in the country. He made the
point that India is not known to be a clean country and he urged the
people to keep their surroundings clean. Indians are not used to
sermons like this from their political leaders and Prime Minister,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Narendra Modi did not shy away from stating the pressing problems
of the day. Such controversial issues that touch the very core of the
Indian identity are generally avoided by political leaders. Narendra
Modi has shown the courage to speak the truth from the most
important platform available to a public figure in India.
Narendra Modi boldly spoke of the declining sex ratio in India
particularly in the under 10 years of age and boldly said what no
Indian Prime Minister has ever admitted in public: the skewed sex
ratio was the result of sex selective foeticide, the consequence of
western inspired notion that women must control their own bodies.I
am sure that this will be followed with stringent measures to ensure
that medical and scanning facilities are not used for sex
determination tests. Modi also spoke of the violence against women
and said that we in India have to hang our heads in shame due to the
violence that women experience in India. I do not remember any
politician making such a grim admission in public. He exhorted the
parents to bring up their sons with the same diligence that they
display toward their daughters. He has said in as many words that
the solution to the problem of violence is to be found in ways in which
boys are socialized in their domestic situations. A great solution to a
pressing social danger.
The other points worth reporting is: (1) the trimming of the role of the
planning commission in India (2) the encouragement of
entrepreneurship and (3) making Indian investment friendly.
Narendra Modi delivered a great speech and if he delivers on them
during the course of the next 5 years he will remain the PM for
another term.
Narendra Modi: Hundred Days and India is already feeling the
change
2014-08-31 20:59
In May 2014 when Narendra Modi was elected the Prime Minster of
India the public mood was sullen, angry and despondent. Years of
mis-governance,dynastic rule, and the loss of political authority by
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the then Prime Minister, Man Mohan Singh, had taken a heavy toll;
there was utter lawlessness all around, there was a slide in investor
confidence, the Indian Economy was melting, and the public deficit
was alarmingly high. It did not appear that things would improve.
The Indian Electorate chose to give a decisive mandate to the BJP and
Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. Unlike his predecessors,
Modi hit the ground running. Realizing that public perception was
vehemently against the shenanigans of politicians, he made his
Ministers walk a tight rope. They were not given the private staff of
their choice and the Prime Minister had a direct meeting with the
senior officers and impressed upon them the mantra that the
Government must perform, and he will not accept any excuse for
non-performance. This is the first time in post Independent India that
the political executive has clearly spelled out the vision of
governance. Corruption has already started declining and
Government files which were pending clearance were disposed of.
Manmohan Singh has limited authority over matters of State and he
preferred to fragment his authority even further by creating what he
called empowered Groups of Ministers to take decisions on
important and controversial issues like oilpricing, fertilizer
subsidies, gas subsidies etc. The net result is no decision was taken
and when on the rare occasion a decision was taken as in the
Ordinance making solicitedpoliticians eligible for public office the
dynastic mascot of the time, Rahul Gandhi famously opposed it and
the matter was shelved.
On 100 days things have visible improved. Food inflation and prices
have started coming down. Even the price of petrol has come down.
The Government of India, despite an anticipated drought, has
predicted a 6% growth in the GDP. Environmental clearances which
held up a large number of infrastructural projects have been given the
green signal and in the defence sector Foreign Direct Investment to
the tune of 49% has been suggested which will push up the growth
rate even further. The Judges Appointment Bill which was held up
for a long time has been passed and the dismantling of the Collegium
System which seems to have been misused by a few Chief Justices has
 Word Craft and Statecraft

been abandoned. The passage of the insurance Bill will also ensure
foreign equity in this sector of the economy. The Modi Government
has taken a leaf straight out of the experience of China: economic
growth is the only way out of the poverty trap. Generations of Indian
economists who have had their training in fashionable western
universities have always advocated a model of growth in which the
government is the prime mover. Now the pendulum has swung
toward the private sector and Government will facilitate
entrepreneurship.
The Address delivered on Independence Day (we have given a write
up on this blog) highlighted all the important issues confronting the
Nation and Modi did not shy away from talking about them. He
stunned the country by stating very boldly that the violence against
women for which India has become notorious can be stopped only if
boys are brought up properly within the family and I think his
message has gone home. His financial inclusion scheme will be
regarded as a milestone and the largest expansion of banking services
ever undertaken. Modi has shown the will to deliver on his promises.
There are however areas that have not yet caught his attention.
Education in India is nowhere near even Asian standards let alone
global standards. He has to address this issue and I am not sure if his
Minister, Smriti Irani has the intellectual capability for such a task.
There is need to increase power generation as India will need ahuge
amount in the next 5 years. The agreement with Nepal will surely
help. Modi has also outline the River Linking.
Narendra Modi's address on Teacher's Day
2014-09-09 14:43
A young school boy form Arunachal Pradesh asked a question which
would have stumped anyone: How do I become the Prime Minister of
India. Pat came the reply from Narendra Modi:Prepare for the
General Election of 2024 and I consider myself safe until then. At one
stroke 68 years of political privilege, one in which the highest office of
the land was held as a strange kind of dynastic trophy by the Nehru
 Word Craft and Statecraft

family, was set aside and the democratic principle that any citizen can
aspire to reach the top was reasserted. Narendra Modi's two-hour
interaction with students across India was an exercise in
sophisticated image building with a positive message. The students
from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Arunachal Pradesh to
Mumbai enthusiastically participated in their interaction with the
PM on Teacher's Day. The Congress Party which was carping about
the fact that the interaction session was made compulsory had to
admit that the programme was a resounding success.
The Prime Minister made three important points in his address and as
far as I can remember this was the first time any important political
figure has spoken about the issues. First, he spoke of keeping the
environment clean and the importance of having a toilet in each school
for girl students. In his Independence Day Speech, the Prime Minister
had spoken of a national scheme of building toilets in each school.
Second, he stressed the importance of education for the Girl Child and
his track record as Chief Minister of Gujarat is impressive. I pointed out
this fact in my rebuttal to the likes of Martha Nussbaum when there
was a cacophony of noises against Modi two years back. He rightly
said that a Nation cannot progress if the Girl Child is left behind.
Thirdly, he spoke of the need for making teaching a more attractive
profession and pointed out that in Japan and perhaps in China,
teachers form a highly respected and honoured segment of society.
Behind all the hoopla and din made by politicians about Modi's
televised National Address lies a stark fact. Narendra Modi
successfully reached out to the younger generation. His tone was a
mixture of authority and familiarity and was not patronizing or
condescending. All in all, it was a grand success and Modi has the
younger generation in his hands by one fell swoop.
Smriti Irani Bites the Bullet; The Need for a Common Central
University Legislation
2014-09-11 15:30
The Minister for Human Resource Development, Hon'ble Smriti Irani
has finally decided to take a giant step towards making Indian
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Universities have a better system of governance. Keeping in mind the

principle Maximum Governance, Minimum Government. The
Minister has decided to take the Pathan Report out of cold storage
and has called a Retreat at Jaipur to discuss the Common University
Legislation with Vice Chancellors of all Central Universities. This
issue has been hanging fire for some time and the UPA Government
lacked the political will to even discuss the need for a common
legislative framework. The principle enshrined in the Constitution of
India is being violated every day in Central Universities, each of
which has its own Acts and Statutes, thereby violating the cherished
legal principle of Equality Before the Law. While there is substantial
parity between Central University staff in terms of pay, service
conditions, and the like there are huge differences in the manner in
which they are governed. For instance, in the Statutory Bodies of
some Central Universities there is provision for elected
representatives of the Faculty in addition to cadre based
nominations. There is need to introduce a common legal framework
for the governance of Central Universities. The 18 new Universities
started during the UPA tenure have failed to take off the ground
primarily due to laxity in the legal framework.
What is the need for a Common Legislation? This question is seldom
asked because the stakeholders in the University prefer to leave large
areas of decision making as discretionary entitlements and
subsequently pressurise the Vice Chancellor to take decisions in their
favour. A common Law governing Central Universities will
necessarily act as a deterrent in this unseemly game of one-
upmanship. In Central Universities Vice Chancellors have been
"persuaded" to appoint unqualified people and there have been
instances of meritorious faculty denied their due because of their
reluctance to toe the line of the powers that be. Further, in terms of
service conditions there needs to be uniformity both of procedure
and norms of assessment. In the name of autonomy some
Universities prescribe what they consider "higher norms" for
promotion and even the higher norm is invoked selectively. The need
for University Autonomy cannot be equated with the power of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Vice Chancellor and his/her ruling clique to act in an illegal and

arbitrary manner. A common legislation will go a long way in
reducing the number of cases that Universities routinely face in the
Courts of Law. Arbitrary and illegal actions when contested before a
Court of Law are fought at the expense of the university, while the
individual has to bear the entire expense from his hard-earned
savings. I think the Hon'ble Minister for Human Resource
Development will earn the gratitude of the entire teaching
community if she successfully pilots the Common Legislation
through the Lok Sabha.
The governance of central universities affords ample scope for abuse
of power in the name of autonomy. Seldom is the issue of corruption
discussed. The regulatory bodies such as AICTE and MCI have been
exposed by the CBI for corruption and the Chairman of Medical
Council of India, Dr Ketan Desai was found to possess one metric
tonne of gold in his house. I know that in certain central universities
jobs are sold at the rate of 30 lakhs a piece. This is because in Southern
Indian universities, particularly in Tamil Nadu the post of Vice
Chancellor is sold for 10 crores and he/she is expected to recoup the
investment through sale of jobs, contracts, building contracts,
canteen contracts, security contracts etc. All these ills can be
prevented at least in Central Universities by means of a common
legislation.
There is also the academic side to this issue. The Common Legislation
will naturally lead to a common Academic Calendar all over India
and even perhaps a common entrance test. Students can migrate to
take courses of their choice in a particular University in which there is
specialized expertise. This kind of horizontal movement which will
enhance the quality of education will flow from a common University
legislation.
The Minister must be lauded for taking this initiative which will
enhance the standing, worth and prestige of Indian Universities.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The President of China visits India: A Diplomatic Breakthrough

2014-09-18 18:33
China and India are the oldest civilizations of Asia and the tortured
history of the twentieth century unfortunately tore the two countries
apart. Jawaharlal Nehru unfortunately mishandled the border issue
in 1962 and provoked the India-China War which led to a
comprehensive defeat for India. Since then there have been a few
incidents in Ladakh and in the Arunachal Pradesh region, but there is
little possibility of war between the two neighbours. It is to the credit
of the new Government headed by Narendra Modi that saw an
opportunity to improve Sino-India ties and he seized the chance and
China also realized that peace with India is in her best interest.
Unfortunately, China is still viewed with suspicion by large chunks
of the population and this is partly due to the fact that little is known
here about that country.
President Xi Jinping arrived in India on 17th September, on the
birthday of the Prime Minister. Setting aside diplomatic protocol the
President's plane landed in Ahmedabad where Narendra Modi
personally welcomed the Head of State. The two seem to have hit it
off well together and they enjoyed a cultural feast on the banks of the
Sabarmati River. This morning the two delegations met in New Delhi
for high level talks, even as the Media was reporting what it termed a
large Chinese incursion. Since the border between the two Asia giants
is not demarcated any movement along the border has the potential
to disturb peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control.
India seems to have retreated a bit from the McMahon Line fixation
that characterized the Nehru era and China too has shown great
diplomatic wisdom in not allowing the border dispute to dictate the
contours of Sino-Indian relations. Geographical features are now
included as part of the elements that will help draw up the boundary
between the two nations.
Twelve agreements covering important areas of mutual interest were
signed on this trip: Educational and Cultural exchanges were of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

course part of the boiler plate of such diplomatic exchanges. More

interestingly, China has agreed to send 500 teachers who will teach
Chinese in India. This will be a huge step toward normalizing
relations with that country. In India there is hardly any expertise on
Chinese language and whatever we read here is based on English
language sources and the analysis is usually by American scholars
who twist the whole narrative to suit the political needs of USA. It is
time that the world realised that China has made huge progress in
Science, technology and Education and India is willing to learn and
benefit from the Chinese experience. China will invest 20 billion US
dollars in Infrastructure projects over the next 5 years and this
investment itself will add 2% points to India's GDP. Narendra Modi
has taken the right decision and I am sure that he will deliver.
The visit of the Chinese Head of State marks a new beginning in
India's relations with her biggest neighbour. Of course, the hangover
of the jaded Nehruvian past is not fully dispelled. Between a good
beginning has been made.
Narendra Modi in the USA: "May the Force be with you"
2014-10-05 15:43
Narendra Modi's trip to the US was a success in every sense of the
term. There was great trepidation amongst the chattering classes in
India about his seeming lack of exposure to the rarefied atmosphere
of high diplomacy and statecraft. However, the wide knowledge and
the intellectual depth at his command enabled Modi to not only make
a success of the trip but also drove home to his audience in US that
India is rapidly moving toward a more aggressive economy. He
rightly emphasized the economic potential of India and did not really
address issues that do not concern India directly. Perhaps he was the
first major Indian statesman who resisted the temptation to play hero
in an otherwise drab pantomime. We have only to recall the manner
in which that absurd man, Jawaharlal Nehru used to strut about on
the international state and was so taken in by the empty adulation of
the Western world that he ignored the domestic scene entirely and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

India had to pay a very heavy prize. Narendra Modi has set out to
remake India in the image of an Asian country and therefore his
priorities lie in the economic sphere and in all the major speeches he
gave in USA he dwelled on what he called the 3 Ds peculiar to India -
Democracy, Demographic Dividend and Demand.
The cartoon on the left illustrates the dismal level from which
Narendra Modi rose. For more than a decade he was denied visa to
enter the USA because a handful of American busybodies like Martha
Nussbaum, Howard Spodeck and others petitioned the US Congress
on Mod's alleged involvement in the 2002 Riots. Even after the
Supreme Court of India gave Modi a "clean chit" these liberal
intellectuals persisted in their offensive and the State Department
obliged them. I wonder why these intellectuals do not show the same
outrage to the atrocities of US allies like Israel. Modi was given the
reception which would be the envy of a rockstar and I must say that
Narendra Modi enjoyed every moment of his 5 days stay in USA. Not
once did he allow his personal predilection to cloud his demeanour.
Narendra Modi touched all the right bases in USA. He paid a floral
tribute at the 9/11 Memorial by laying a yellow rose on a black marble
slab containing the names of those who died on that fateful day. I think
he is the first Indian Prime Minister to honour the 9/11 victims and this
goes to show the sophistication with which he had planned the trip.
The purpose of the visit to the US was to address the UNGA.
Narendra Modi spoke like a true statesman. Speaking after Pakistan's
Prime Minster, Nawaz Sheriff had spent nearly 10 minutes ranting
and raving about India, Modi dismissed Pakistan with just a single
line and went on to spell out his vision for a New World Order in
which India will have its rightful place. He said that the 5 victors of
World War II are the permanent members of the Security Council and
this does not reflect the reality of the 21st Century which Modi said
belonged to Asia. He touched on the crisis created by International
Terrorism and cautioned against using Terror as an instrument of
regime change. As I predicted in an earlier blog, Narendra Modi
refused to be drawn into a debate over ISIS/ISIL.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Indian Community had organized a gala event at Madison

Square. Before a crowd of 20,000 which included more than 20
Congressmen and Senators, Modi spoke about his vision for a new
India. He did not dwell on Indo- US relations except to say that there
were visa issues that bedevilled the relationship between the two
countries and this of course was a reference to the H-1 visa on which
US has put a cap. Though there is no word yet about the lifting of the
cap, it is more or less certain that after Modi's intervention the
number may be increased, and this would certainly help the software
sector in India. He also announced that Indians in USA will be given a
life time visa and obviously this was welcomed with thunderous
applause. Throughout his speech, Modi spoke of his campaign of
Clean India and Make in India and welcomed the Indian community
in USA to participate in the Clean Ganga Initiative which Modi has
launched in Varanasi.
In the leading Foreign Policy Think Tank, Council for Foreign
Relations, Narendra Modi spoke about the economic partnership
between India and USA. He defended India stand in the WTO
negotiations by stating that Food Security is not negotiable but hinted
at flexibility on other issues. India has been promised 41-billion-
dollar investment by American financial institutions and that is
certainly welcome.
The visit culminated with a summit meeting with President Barack
Obama at the White House. Obama was certainly a gracious host and
both the Prime Minster, and he visited the Martin Luther King
Memorial in Washington. Narendra Modi did what no Indian Prime
Minister has ever done before. He handed over DVDs containing the
speeches of the great African- American civil rights leader to the
President. The joint statement issued at the end of the visit was short
on specifics, but it did contain enough to demonstrate the success of
the Meeting. Modi did not commit himself to any strategic
partnership with USA, but stressed the need for technology transfer.
The 5-day visit was a grand success. Modi was able to connect with
the youth even in USA which turned out in large number to greet
 Word Craft and Statecraft

him. I cannot remember any politician who would end his speech
with a line from Star Wars: Let the Force be with you.
The Poll Results in Maharashtra and Haryana: Implications for the
Future
2014-10-20 10:56
It appears that the combination of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah
will indeed succeed in making India, a Congress Mukth Bharath--
India free of the Congress. In Maharashtra the BJP won 123 seats on its
own and in Haryana it won 47. In both these states the BJP has been
able to humble the dominant regional political party which played
the identity card--Siva Sena in Maharashtra and the Indian National
Lok Dal in Haryana. The support garnered by the BJP cut across the
traditional fault lines of Indian polity--backward castes, tribal
communities and Scheduled Castes have all voted for the BJP making
it the most inclusive political force in the country. Further, the
dynastic components of the polity like the Thackeray family in
Maharashtra and the Chautalas in Haryana stand humbled if not
eliminated and this is a trend that began in the 2014 May
Parliamentary Elections which saw the emergence of the BJP as a
truly National force. Identity politics has resulted in the
fragmentation of the political space and the resultant Governments
were plagued with corruption and crime as what India witnessed
during the 10 years of Congress led UPA rule.
In Maharashtra the BJP reluctantly broke its alliance with the regional
party, Siva Sena, over the issue of seat sharing. Surprisingly the Shiv
Sena was unwilling to concede just 3 extra seats over which the two
parties parted company. Even though the Siva Sena put candidates
against the BJP in all the traditional regions of Maharashtra,
Vidharba, Marathwada, and Konkan, the BJP was able to make
dramatic inroads. The separation of Vidharba from Maharashtra is
unlikely to be taken up in the near future as the Siva Sena will oppose
any division of the state. The recent confusion over Telangana may
lead to a rethink on the whole issue. Even though the Siva Sena used,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

as it is wont, extremely fiery and some would even say "gutter"

language, a patch up is on the cards.
The Congress and its ally Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad
Pawar was defeated because of the rampant corruption it indulged
in. The Irrigation scandal in which the prime accused is Ajit Pawar,
the nephew of the Maharatha strongman resulted in the defeat of the
NCP though it has held on to its traditional strongholds of Baramati.
In Haryana, the INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala who is lodged in
jail due to his involvement in the Teacher Recruitment Scam won 20
seats. All the important leaders of the Party were defeated. Om
Prakash Chautala himself came out of jail on bail to campaign,
feigning medical grounds but the results showed that the people
have no sympathy for corrupt politicians and this shows clearly that
the Indian Electorate is changing. Jat identity politics made the BJP
stitch a coalition of other backward castes including the Dalits and
has swept to power.
In Maharashtra the BJP faces a rather grim choice: it has to seek the
support of the Siva Sena to form the Government and given the
acrimony of the recent campaign it would be quite a task to repair the
damage to the 25-year relationship. In a way the passing away of
Gopinath Munde who would have been content to let the Siva Sena
play the dominant partner in Maharashtra opened the door for the
BJP's emergence as an important force.
The two are well and truly set to making India, Congress Mukth
Bharath.
The Prospects of the Congress in Tamil Nadu after the Revolt of G
K Vasan
2014-11-04 11:14
As expected the son of the Late G K Moopen has revolted and the
dynastic fascists have reacted by expelling him from the party. The
main reason for the exit of G K Vasan from the Congress party is the
fact that P Chidambaram and his faction has succeeded in edging out
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the loyalists of Vasan from all key positions. P Chidambaram is in

desperate need of a Rajya Sabha seat and Tamil Nadu does not have
the strength to send him to the Rajya Sabha and he faces stiff
opposition from the erstwhile G K Moopen loyalists. Ironically, both
Jayanthi Natarajan and Chidambaram were members of the Moopen
faction of the erstwhile Tamil Manila Congress. Who can ever forget
the horrifying image of G K Moopen and Jayanthi Natarajan arriving
strategically at the scene of the bomb blast at Sriperembudur which
killed Rajiv Gandhi minutes after the deed was done. The factional
feuds within the Congress has led to a state of paralysis in the Party
and the Congress commands less than 2.2% of the vote base in the
region. When G K Moopen was around the TMC could garner nearly
18% of the vote in alliance with the DMK.
G K Vasan certainly has no illusion of being a credible force in the
minefield of Dravidian politics. However, he has made a careful
assessment of the political situation. With the DMK in terminal
decline and the demos of Karunanidhi will only hasten the eventual
erosion of the DMK and with the possibility of Jayalalithaa not being
able to contest the 2016 State Election, G K Vasan has calculated that
his faction will occupy the middle ground between the two
Dravidian giants. What this calculation overlooks are the fact that the
HJP fighting on its own has increased its vote share from 4% to nearly
8%-- a virtual doubling of the vote in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, G K
Vasan will have to align himself with the BJP as a matter of course: the
logic of the political arithmetic demands this alliance.
Congress politics in Tamil Nadu has been on the decline ever since
Rajaji teamed up with the Dravidian party, the DMK to defeat the
Congress therefore the credit for a Congress Mukth Tamil Nadu
should go to Rajaji. His grandson sitting in New Delhi can wax
eloquently on the future of the Congress, but the fact remains that
Rajahi ensured the permanent and end of the Congress. G K Vasan
cannot change this trend and his departure from the Congress is only
an insurance policy for the future.
Dynastic politics is being rejected all over India. Narendra Modi and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Amit Shah will ensure that even Kashmir will become Congress
Mukth.
2014 in India: A Retrospect
2015-01-04 12:12
2014 will be remembered as a year in which India reinvented itself.
The year began under a spell of gloom as the Congress regime was
floundering under charges of corruption, dynastic fascism and
political instability. The involvement of Robert Vadra in a series of
land scams in states such as Haryana and Rajasthan only showed that
even the First Family of the Congress was deeply implicated in
corruption. The Congress could not mount an effective answer to the
charges and resorted to the usual game of promoting identity politics
and raising the bogey of communalism, an undefined and inherently
self-contradictory concept. Rahul Gandhi tried to lead the Congress
counter charge, but the people of India have moved well beyond the
narrow limits of dynastic politics.
Enter Narendra Modi. As Chief Minister of Gujarat he performed
well that he was repeatedly elected with higher margins than the
previous occasion. He personally led the NDA campaign in the
Parliamentary Election of May 2014 and by addressing thousands of
rallies across the length and breadth of India he drove home the
message that India can hope for a better and a more secure future
provided it abjured dynastic rule and its inherent corruption. He got
a fantastic mandate from the country and formed the Government.
In the six months that Modi has been in power, there has not been any
dramatic new development, but incremental steps have been taken.
His "Make in India" campaign has certainly stimulated investment in
the industrial sector and though the Governor of the Reserve Bank of
India, publicly criticized this policy, the fact is that industrial growth
has picked up. The price rise has been checked and along with price
rise we also find the Government addressing the issue of trimming
the ever-burgeoning subsidies that bedevil the social sector. The
Direct Cash Transfer scheme brought in by the previous regime is
 Word Craft and Statecraft

being streamlined and strengthened. The various Rural Employment

guarantee schemes have spawned monumental corruption and the
Modi Government is taking steps to ensure that the 100 days
employment goes only to the poor and needy.
The mission to Mars has put India in the big league of Space powers
and the successful launch of the GSLV rocket is a huge step in the
direction of developing the indigenous cryogenic engine. Apart from
these the interlinking of rivers will be another huge task along with
the modernization of the Railways by the involvement of Chinese
technology and capital. All in all, there are positives all around.
The liberal press has been flagging the issue of the religious
conversion of Home Coming, Ghar Vapsi as it is called. Narendra
Modi has reined in the hot heads in his party and the issue has dies a
natural death. He refused to issue a statement in Parliament on the
issue, but quietly and effectively dealt with the controversy. The
people of India have begun to look to the future with hope and an
aspirational India has pinned its faith in Narendra Modi.
Kiran Bedi and the Delhi Assembly Polls
2015 - 2015-01-20 10:22
Once again, the same questions and again loud, incoherent noises
passing off as political wisdom. The BJP inducted Dr Kiran Bedi into
the party and is projecting her as the Chief Ministerial face of the
campaign for the Delhi Assemble polls scheduled for February 2015.
The BJP has lost its advantage in terms of the Modi factor and has
therefore "parachuted" Kiran Bedi screamed Arvind Kejriwal. Not to
be outdone, the Congress leader Ajay Makena, yes, the same Ajay
Makena from Hans Raj about whom the dynastic fascist leader, Mani
Shankar Ayer said some unpleasant things a few years back, declared
that there is dearth of local leadership in the Delhi unit of the BJP.
Therefore, both the AAP and the Congress are reading mixed
political signals in this new development. Added to the motives
attributed to the induction of Kiran Bedi is the fading halo around
Narendra Modi which has alarmed the Party. Let us see the validity
of these arguments.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Dr Kiran Bedi is a prize catch as she is a well-known crusader against

Corruption and has shared the limelight along with Anna Hazare
and his acolyte, Arvind Kejriwal. Since APP will again try to rake up
the Lok pal Bill and the response of the BJP to the promise to pass a
strong Lok Pal Bill, it makes sense to have the mascot of the anti-
Corruption movement to confront Kejriwal. None of the other
leaders from Delhi match up to the record and stature of Kiran Bedi.
Dr Harsh Vardhan would have been ideal, but for some strange
reason he is in the dog house for the moment. Satish Upadhyay
cannot take on Arvind Kejriwal one on one and the BJP leadership has
rightly understood this. I must add that even without Kiran Bedi, the
BJP could still sweep the polls in Delhi, but there is a definite edge to
the BJP Campaign now. Second, Delhi has a large Sikh population
which will not vote for the Congress given its abysmal record in 1984
and Kiran Bedi being a Sikh will certainly help bring some of the votes
now that the alliance with the Akali Dal is getting unstuck. Lastly, the
administrative experience of Kiran Bedi cannot match anyone of her
rivals. There is a strong undercurrent of support for Kiran Bedi even
in the Juggi Jonpuri colonies due to her track record of service
through the NGO she heads.
Now the results as I see it. Before the induction of Bedi. BJP would on
its own have won around 35 to 38 seats. Now it will cross 40 though it
will not reach 49 seats it once held in the first assembly. Therefore,
Amit Shah and the BJP central leadership have pulled a coup by
bringing in Kiran Bedi.
Manohar Parrikar and the "Deep Assets": How I K Gujral
compromised India's security
2015-01-24 13:21
The Defence Minister of India, Shri Manohar Parrikar made a
statement recently in which he alluded to "deep assets" which had
been built up over 20 or so years which had been compromised. The
Congress Party went to town condemning this statement and even
accused the Hon'ble Minster of being irresponsible. The statement
 Word Craft and Statecraft

must be viewed in the context of the recent interception on the high

seas of a boat which has been identified as a boat whose mission was
to deliver a consignment of arms and explosives to a module of the
Indian Mujahedeen in Gujarat. The boat was intercepted as the radio
exchanges were monitored over a period of 2 to 3 days and when
confronted by the Coast Guard, the boat and its crew chose to
detonate explosives and destroy the boat, cargo and the men on
board. It is clear from the intercepts that nearly 50 lakhs were being
paid to each of the men on board and this certainly makes it a high-
risk venture. It is against this background that Manohar Parrikar
made his forthright remarks.
Unlike USA, Israel or even Pakistan India has not been able to create
an efficient Intelligence Agency. The recent disclosures made by R K
Yadava in his Mission R&W make shocking reading: we have as R K
Yadava points out an intelligence agency which is badly organized,
working at cross purposes with other agencies like the IB and worse
full of men who are eager to be recruited as double agents. Worse
nearly 6 men have defected to USA and India has not been able to
bring them to book. When the country's leading Intelligence Agency
is facing a crisis of this magnitude, the statement by the Defence
Minister must be taken seriously. There is no scope for bravado.
When I K Gujral became the Prime Minster after the dismissal of Deve
Gowda, the new Prime Minster unleashed volley of measures which
virtually disbanded the operational capability of the R&W in
Pakistan. He wrongly believed, perhaps because he was born in
Pakistan, that it would be possible to have peace with Pakistan. With
this false ideological and emotional motive, Gujral systematically
degraded Indian intelligence assets in Pakistan. A top-secret unit
called CITX was disbanded and all the operatives recalled to India.
India lost its ability to monitor the movement of military units and the
deployment of troops. It had even penetrated the middle level of the
Pakistani military establishment when Inder Kumar Gujral brought
the whole process down.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

As irony would have it I K Gujral was saved from assassination by the

very RAW that he chose to attack.
What Parrikar has said is true and there is no point in making a
political issue of it.
Barack Obama in India: Republic Day, Nuclear Deal and Indo-US
Relations
2015-01-26 15:50
The Republic Day 2015 has quite a few firsts to its credit. For the first
time in 66 years a serving US President was the Chief Guest at this
important public event. And for the first time too significant political
and economic agreements were signed, particularly the agreement
on Civil Nuclear Deal. Let us put all this in perspective. A year ago, no
one in India would have deemed it possible for a US President to be
the Chief Guest on the occasion of the Republic Day. The
commentators here have simplified the whole issue into one of
"chemistry" between the two leaders. Nothing can be more wrong
than this. USA has finally realized that India has changed, and it is no
longer possible to ignore India. The fact that USA was used to equate
Indian concerns with Pakistan's sensitivities was the crux of the
whole relationship, India was usually hyphenated with Pakistan. For
the first time the joint statement issued after the talks made an
unequivocal commitment to end terrorism and in the usual
diplomatic parlance took a firm step towards ensuring that the 26/11
suspects are brought to book. I think this shift in US policy in the most
important outcome of the visit.
The Civil Nuclear deal between India and USA was signed six years
back and there was little progress on the issue because of the
"liability" clause in the Act passed by the Indian Parliament. The
legality of the liability clause can be debated but the fact is that the BJP
insisted that the clause which makes the supplier and not the
operators of the power plants liable for the cost of any accident. The
US power industry was naturally apprehensive about this clause and
Modi was able to talk the US President into using his executive
 Word Craft and Statecraft

powers to iron out the differences. I think this is again a huge shift in
US position. The fact that a Democrat has been able to muster the
political will to make a huge shift in India's favour is a sign that Indo-
US Relations are improving. I am personally in favour of a more even-
handed approach so that the Chinese Government does not get too
highly perturbed over the growing ties between the two countries.
However, the deal was struck within 7 months of Modi coming to
power and this goes to show that in the domain of foreign policy
Narendra Modi has rare gift and talent.
The other important takeaway from the visit of Barack Obama is the
US endorsement of the "Make in India" campaign launched by
Narendra Modi. The long and dreary years of Congress rule staring
with Jawaharlal Nehru saw India adopting a model of development
which was based on the importation of technology in the knocked
down version and the factories reassembled in India. The
Ambassador car is a good example of this. Reassembly of kits,
manufacturing on the basis of expired patents or process innovation
were the hall marks of Indian industrialization. And this charade was
called "thrust toward self-sufficiency". Rightly has India rejected this
model of development and Modi in his Make in India Campaign
seeks transfer of technology, partnership and skill development all of
which were absent in the Nehruvian model. The make in India
campaign figured prominently in the Davos Meet.
The recent comments in China in which the Obama visit was sought
to be downplayed has to be viewed seriously. China has very
perceptively understood that there is a major shift in the very
principles of Indian foreign policy. I am sure that Narendra Modi
during his forthcoming visit to China will reassure China that Indo-
US relations are not directed at China and so far, Narendra Modi has
sent out all the right messages.
The Republic Day began with Narendra Modi paying tribute to the
Indian Army at India Gate which was built by the British to honour
the war dead of India in the Great War, 1914-18.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Aam Admi Party Victory in Delhi, Feb 2015

2015-02-11 10:18
The victory of the AAP in the recently concluded polls came as a
complete shock to many of us. While the victory of the AAP was
predicted the scale of the victory was unprecedented to say the least.
The BJP had won all 7 Lok Sabha seats in the May 2014 General
Election with a vote share of 37.5%. There has been a slight fall in the
vote share, but the BJP won only 3 seats leaving 67 seats to the AAP.
What explains this debacle?
1. It is now clear that the projection of Kiran Bedi as the Chief
Ministerial candidate mid-way through the polls was a flawed
strategy and doubly so because that move was not welcomed by the
grass root workers of the party. Her high-handed conduct alienated
party workers and the net result she lost the Krishna Nagar seat, a
safe constituency of the BJP.
2. The BJP went into the elections without a Manifesto and that meant
that the people of Delhi did not know what to expect from the Party.
The Vision Document released was largely a symbolic statement
huge on rhetoric but short on specifics. Now in retrospect that was a
factor.
3. The BJP was on a roll winning state after state and had become used
to the habit of winning and assumed that Delhi would be a piece of
cake. The AAP has built a good network of supporters in different
localities and had the city well covered. A committed band of
volunteers worked night and day to make the victory possible. The
AAP was able to tap the misguided idealism of the youth who believe
that the AAP brand of politics will augur change in India.
4. The BJP under the State President Shri Satish Upadhyay was
handicapped by the lack of support from the top duo of the Party,
Modi and Shah. Satish Upadhyay himself was denied a ticket to fight
the Polls while defectors like Krishna Tirath were given tickets. The
ticket distribution was faulty and there were far too many para
troopers wafting from above queering the pitch.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

5. The perceived "negative campaign" of the BJP against the much

vaunted financial and ethical probity of the AAP is also touted as a
reason. The fact is that the AAP is guilty of using shady and dubious
finances during the campaign but turned its own misdeeds against
the BJP. The AAP is very good at turning all criticism against its
conduct as a trial between the forces of good and the forces of evil a
kind of eschatology which may lead to short term gains but not long-
lasting results.
6. The BJP has lost and like a mature political party has started
introspecting. The first clear indication of change is the reluctance to
enter the dirty cess pool of Bihar politics. The BPJ will learn its lessons
and get its house in order before the Bihar polls later this year.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, the RSS and the
Myths of Modern India
2015-04-14 14:14
Jawaharlal Nehru whom the Indian liberal worships as the very
epitome of secularism and democracy based his politics on two huge
and monstrous lies both of which stand completely exposed today.
The first was the state sponsored and encouraged propaganda the
Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (the RSS) was behind the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. So sustained and relentless was
the aggressive campaign of vilification that even today there are
"intellectuals" like Bipan Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee and a host of
congress acolytes who carry this false notion like a mark of "secular"
identity. The facts are that Jawaharlal Nehru was well aware of the
dangers posed to Gandhi, especially after he decided to go on a
hunger strike to get from the reluctant regime of Nehru the money
owed by India to Pakistan. Nehru chose to ignore all the warning and
on the fateful day when Gandhi was shot, Nehru must have been
relieved as the nation's attention would now be focused only on
Nehru and not Gandhi.
In fact, Gandhi was reluctant to share the mid night hour with Nehru
and his absence on August 15th, 1947 suggests that Gandhi and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Nehru had parted ways. While it is not clear if Nehru had a hand in
the assassination, what is amply clear that Nehru knowing well that
the RSS was not in any way involved in the crime chose to implicate
the leaders of the nationalist organization in a crime that shocked the
nation. By discrediting the RSS and its opposition to the formation of
Pakistan and Partition, Nehru successfully deflected attention from
his own failure to prevent the Partition and more pertinently by
agreeing to Lord Mountbatten's request for an early date for
Independence, Nehru ensured that an unprepared Nation was faced
with the horrendous reality of violence and ethnic cleansing on both
sides of the border. Nehru's lack of statecraft is clear from this
example. However, he sought to vindicate himself by blaming the
RSS.
With his younger colleague, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, Nehru
maintained less than cordial relations. Netaji was a towering
intellectual with a first-class degree from Cambridge University,
unlike Nehru's "gentle man " pass degree, a successful passage
through the ICS Examinations and Nehru was not a patch on this
great man. In spite of the growing lure of Soviet Style Socialism over
his intellectual horizon, particularly in the 1930's, Nehru was astute
enough not to take his socialism to the point of disrupting his
relationship with Gandhi. In other words, political expediency
ensured that Nehru continued to pay homage to Gandhian ideals,
whereas Bose was man enough to declare his opposition to the
Gandhian methods. Bose escaped from Calcutta to Germany from
where he continued the struggle for India's independence. And after
the collapse of the Quit India Movement of 1942, the English decided
to quit India but at a cost" Partition and Quit. Netaji's contribution to
India's Independence was beyond doubt of outstanding moment and
was also an important element in the legitimization of the new Indian
state which was born in 1947.Had Netaji been alive, Nehru stood no
chance of towering over the Indian Nation like a colossus, of course,
with feet of clay. The disappearance of Netaji was essential to ensure
the survival of Nehru's regime.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

On August 18th, 1945 Netaji escaped to Russia via Manchuria and the
plane crash theory was floated in order to cover up his tracks. Nehru
was quick to declare Netaji dead and tried to appropriate the legacy
of the Indian National Army by covertly suggesting that Netaji could
be tried as a "war criminal" by the Allies due to his alliance with the
Japanese Empire and Germany. There is some evidence to show that
Nehru wrote to Clement Atlee suggesting that Netaji could be tried as
a war criminal. It is against this background that Netaji decided to
fake his death and escape to Soviet Russia. There are credible
witnesses to that fact that he was seen in Russia, perhaps Siberia as
late as 1963. The Mukherjee Commission also rejected the death in an
air crash theory propagated by Nehru and his gang.
The recent revelations that the regime of Nehru used the Intelligence
Bureau to tail the Bose Family and maintained total surveillance on
the Sisir Bose Household comes as no great surprise. Nehru was
mortally afraid of a return of Netaji.
Therefore, the entire politics of Nehru in the post-Independence era
rested on two great lies.
Jayalalitha and her legal travails: Why Justice seems a distant
dream?
2015-05-11 15:01
Two judicial verdicts have caused considerable consternation in India.
The first is the curious case of Salman Khan and the stay granted to his
conviction by the Sessions Court within two hours. The case was filed
more than 13 years ago when Salman Khan allegedly ran over seven
pavement dwellers killing one of them. According to the Police he was
drunk at that time and following the Supreme Court judgement in the
Pereira case, he was sentenced for "culpable homicide" not am
mounting to murder. The fact that the judgment was stayed and the
celebrity actor back home without spending even a single day in prison
for killing a human being is cause for concern and people are asking
questions about the integrity of the judicial process.
In Jayalalithaa's case the matter is different. A vengeful DMK regime
 Word Craft and Statecraft

charged her under various provision relating to what we in India call

Disproportionate Assets. A person should be able to show the source
of income from which he or she has purchase assets. Failure to do so
would amount to acceptance of the charge. The DMK went to town
over the case and hyped the DA case to the tune of 100 crores. In fact,
the whole sordid episode stems from over enthusiasm on the part of
the DMK regimes which tried to exaggerate the value of the assets
seized from J Jayalalitha after her defeat in the 1996 elections. The
judgement of the Trial Court was also strange. Instead of relying of
the value of the assets and its source, Michael Cuhuna, the trial judge,
pronounced her guilty on the basis of a totally extraneous piece of
legislation: The Prevention of Corruption Act. Having assets
disproportionate to known sources of Income does not constitute
corruption, as one can inherit assets, acquire by exchange or gift and
there are other pieces of law governing the acquisition of assets
through these different means. The punishment handed in by the trial
court was extremely harsh: 100 crores fine and 10 years rigorous
imprisonment. The harshness of the verdict and the questionable
legal grounds on which it rested have raised eyebrows in India.
Today the Bangalore High Court has on the appeal of Ms Jayalalithaa
acquitted her of all charges. It is nobody's case that the former Chief
Minister is above board. However, her acquittal has sent thrills of joy
down the spines of her party men and Ms Jayalalithaa is expected to
return as Chief Minister soon. It is becoming difficult to convict VIPs
guilty of major acts of corruption.
Both the case discussed in this blog suggest that corruption and VIP
misdemeanours need to be addressed with greater vigour.
Narendra Modi's Message to Asia; Why the Indian Subcontinent
Must Listen?
2015-05-19 14:36
The conceit Jawaharlal Nehru and his brand of ideologically driven
politics encouraged was the notion that India had a role in
transmitting Western "values" and "institutions" to an Asia that was
 Word Craft and Statecraft

stagnant, despotic and cruel in every sense of the word. His

Discovery of India was little more than a celebration of two thousand
years of Indian humiliation and a wanton denial of the grand
civilizational role that India had played in world history. The denial
of the civilizational ethos of India was not accidental: Nehru's
skewered view of Nation State demanded such an approach. The
nation state and the quest for a "state centric" history has kept
historians of India engaged for nearly six decades and there is little to
show except the rumbustious noise over "secular history" versus
"communal history".Nehru's ghost haunts the Historiography of
modern India like Banco's ghost, a farce turning into a tragedy. There
have been several changes in historiographical approaches, but
Indian historians prefer to embrace the colonial or the post-colonial
perspectives and while the latter with its dense fog of meaningless
jargon finds a receptive audience in Indian academia, the colonial
approaches are still the norm among professional historians.
Manufacturing a "national history" to justify India's transition into a
"modern" "democratic" and "socialist" republic became the sine qua
non for Indian historians. The turgid prose of Upinder Singh's
successful foray into text book market does little to put India on the
map of world civilizations.
During his recent visit to the great nation, China, Narendra Modi as
Prime Minister visited the Tomb of China's first Emperor and her we
have his pictures in the Tomb with the Terracotta warriors.
The message that Narendra Modi was constantly engaged in making
public is that China and India had a common Asian and civilizational
history stretching over 2,500 years. Even the Communist Party
dominated State had to accept the view that Buddhism was a strong
and enduring link between the two countries. Nehru in his utter folly
allowed the problem of Tibet and the border issue inherited from the
infamous Younghusband expedition tomcloud his understanding of
China. Modi's vision of an Asia led by China and India is more
appropriate to the history that links these two countries.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Return of J Jayalalithaa: Requiem to Dravidian Politics

2015-05-23 13:17
A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books J
Jayalalithaatook the oath of office for the fifth time this morning.
Wearing a green Sari with an emerald ring sparkling on her right
index finger she signed the Register. The Governor Rosaiah was
doing his best to look comfortable as her ministers lined up to
genuflect before her in the strict order of ministerial rank. The fact
that she has been acquitted by the Karnataka High Court in the
Disproportionate Asset case made her return possible. Critics have
already smudged her copy book pointing out the seemingly glaring
arithmetical error which resulted in Justice Kumaraswamy
acquitting her on the judicial premise that her assets are within the
permissible margin of error. Her critics seem to be unaware that an
acquittal can be overturned by rectifying the mathematical
calculation. The entire accounting of the assets has to be redone and
that will not make any material change in the judgement. Though the
acquittal will be challenged in the Supreme Court, the chances of it
being set aside are rather slim.
So, J Jayalalithaa has crossed the last legal hurdle before the 2016 State
Assembly Polls. Dravidian style politics is now on its last legs. The
ostentatious display of identity symbols, the cloud display of
personality cult, the obsequiousness toward party leadership and the
immediate family, the wanton disregard to political and cultural
values are all part of the political culture of high Dravidianism. J
Jayalalithaa did not personally endorse any of these aberration, but
had to fall in line with the established code of Dravidian politics. Even
the corruption charges for which she was repeatedly prosecuted at
the behest of Karunanidhi and Subramaniam Swamy was more the
doing of her inner circle consisting of Sashikala and her Kallar
relatives than of her own making.
However, the fact is that in the menagerie of Indian politics, J
Jayalalithaa enjoys the distinction of being the only politician who
 Word Craft and Statecraft

has been disqualified twice for corruption and has got back to power.
It is very unlikely that Karunanidhi's daughter will escape the
punishment as the case against her is water tight with little scope for
legal jugglery. It is hoped that this time around she delivers on her
promise. The closet politician with whom Jayalalithaa can be
compared is Eva Peron. Like Eva, the present Chief Minister of Tamil
Nadu is adored by the masses almost bordering on mass adulation. It
is a foregone conclusion that she will sweep the next election as the
populist schemes launched by her will fetch a rich harvest of votes.
Launched in the name of Amma, or Mother, these schemes all touch
the lives of ordinary citizens. This new dimension of using the state
and its machinery to redistribute resources has been perfected by the
AIADMK and was started by her mentor, MGR. Surprisingly the total
cost of these schemes is around 5,000 crores while the state earns
nearly 30.000 crores by the sale of liquor through the TASMAC
outlets. The immediate task before the present Chief Minister is the
restore the confidence of the international financiers and kick start
the stalled infra structure projects.
Narendra Modi's women Ministers and the moral crisis
confronting the BJP
2015-06-25 12:37
The year-old Modi Government is facing a full blown political crisis
and the Prime Minister cannot blame anyone but himself. Unlike the
Congress which has a long history of ministerial misconduct, the BJP
is new to power and is unable to effectively deal with the situation. In
fact, the ham-handed manner in which the BJP put up its defence of
Vasundhra Raje Scindia and Sushma Swaraj only made matters
worse. The Prime Minister seems to have lost his voice and like
Manmohan Singh before him, has stopped speaking. The last major
event he participated in was the International Yoga Day on June 21st,
when the entire Rajpath came alive with Yoga exercises. The crux of
the problem lies in the fact that the BJP lacks the intellectual ballast
that can sustain its politics and its drive for political power. Whatever
intellectual support it derives is from the Vivekananda Foundation
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and some turncoats who are now singing the BJP tune. Bereft of ideas
and strategies, the BJP can now only hope that the storm passes away.
This is unlikely.
The Ministers appointed are uneducated and do not understand the
global and national issues even as they are imploding in the face of
the Government. Of course, the Prime Minister has to deal with the
material at hand and the worst part of Indian politics is that there is no
place for the detached intellectual observer in the arena of politics.
Smriti Irani, a tele soap opera star, was entrusted with the tough task
of running the Human Resource Development Ministry and she has
done such a poor job that even those who were inclined to give BJP
and Narendra Modi a chance is now questioning the wisdom of
voting for Modi. Smriti Irani speaks good English but her lack of
education is very real, and she hides her inferiority by being brusque
and arrogant. She has failed to make a mark in the field of education
and has created unnecessary controversies, like over Yoga, German,
the Four-Year Degree Program and her silence over Vice Chancellors
who have cheated the Government. She seems to be clueless about
the issues at hand and appointing a self-proclaimed 12thstandard
Pass to such a ministry sent a signal down the line that Modi has scant
respect for education.
The affidavit case has embarrassed the Modi Government no end and
this comes in the wake of the scandals of the other 2 women ministers
of Modi's cabinet. Sushma Swaraj had earned a pride of place in
Indian politics and was even Leader of the Opposition during the
long dark years of the UPA. She was quick to corner the Singh
Government on various issues stemming from the wanton
corruption that went on during those years. She led the Party
creditably and perhaps was smug enough to assume that she was the
natural choice for being named the Prime Ministerial candidate,
However, Narendra Modi pipped her to the post. Though Modi was
not keen on giving her a top post, he was forced, and the woman let
him down badly by using her position to intervene in the
immigration issues surrounding Lalit Modi, a scamster and a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

blackmailer who was primarily responsible for bringing the Kochi

Tusker scandal into the public domain. He is a fugitive from the
Indian law and the Foreign Minister of India cannot give an
assurance to the British Government that any help rendered to this
fugitive will not have a negative impact on India. Maybe the scandal
will not hamper British Indian relations, but it has put a huge
question mark over the future of Sushma Swaraj who is generally
regarded as a performing minister. It has come to light that Swaraj
Kaushal the Minister's husband and her daughter are both involved
with Lalit Modi.
Vasundhara Raje Scindia takes the cake. This lady even files an
affidavit in favour of the fugitive and has now been exposed. Her son,
a BJP MP is neck deep in deals with Lalit Modi. Like Charles Shobraj,
Lalit Modi will spell doom to all the three-womanpoliticians of India.
The BJP has handled this crisis so badly that the credibility of the
Modi Government is dented for sure.
The Vyapam Scam and its political Implications
2015-07-14 03:14
Nearly four years back, I had drawn attention to the Mafia Dom
prevailing in Madhya Pradesh. The state seems to be in the vice like
grip of a criminal gang and the BJP walked into the trap with its eyes
wide open and so the political cost is going to be extremely heavy.
The problem with the BJP rule is that while the Prime Ministers
personal approval rating is still very high, the Party stands
diminished before the eyes of the general public. The real reason for
the sorry state in which the BJP finds itself in, is due to the lack of
intellectual ballast in the kind of politics the party practices. The party
hardly finds space for intellectuals and except for the Vivekananda
Foundation, there is the same motley crowd that gathered around the
Congress is now dancing around the feet of the BJP.
The same scamsters who were in business during the rule of the UPA
are now back in business and BJP Ministers are now being exposed by
the day. Lalit Modi has tarnished the image of the BJP more than any
 Word Craft and Statecraft

single individuate. It took 10 years for the Congress to become

synonymous with corruption. BJP has succeeded in getting the same
notoriety in less than a year. And this is unfortunate because
Narendra Modi still remains the best bet for India. His Party is failing
him. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
was taunted as a rival or an alternative to Narendra Modi. It is true
that in the ten years of his rule the state has witnessed some
improvement in the social and economic indicators. However, the
Vyapam scam is proving to be the nemesis of the Chief Minister.
Vyapam is the acronym for Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal, the
autonomous body responsible for conducting the public service
examinations and the examinations for the Medical seats in the state.
The scam surface in 2009 when more than 100 medical seats were
exposed as being acquired through dubious means. The tentacles of
those in power was so strong that OMR sheets were replace. Bogus
answer sheets were prepared and replaced. All this for a
consideration of course. It appears that enormous amounts of money
changed hands and the Vyapam Board ensured that the person was
selected for the post.
The Chief Minister's wife Sadhna Singh's name figures prominently
in the list of powerful people and perhaps she is the Mantrani
referred to in the Excel Sheets of wrongful recruitment provided by a
whistle blower. A scam of this dimension cannot be run without the
patronage of those at the very top. In fact, the FIR names even the
Governor of the state, Ram Naresh Yadava as an accused. The son of
the Governor was found dead in mysterious circumstances. The
alarming thing about the scam and here the BJP is showing itself to be
different from the Congress is the fact that nearly 50 persons
associated with the Scam have been killed or died in suspicious
circumstances. In the case of the medical student, Namrata Damor
the state police tried to make an obvious case of murder appear as a
case of suicide. The real issue confronting the party is: Is Shiraj Singh
Chouhan involved in the scam? Though no smoking gun has come to
light, all circumstantial evidence points out to the tacit consent, if not
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the active involvement of the Chief Minister. The frequency with

which the various mafia groups are able to escape after committing
heinous crimes points to a steady fall in the standard of
administration. The fact that a senior IPS officer, Narendra Kumar
was killed while performing his duties and the state government
ensured that the killers went scot free suggests that Shiraj Singh is in
cahoots with criminal elements. So, his hand in the Vyapam Scandal
is certain. After dithering for over 2 years he has handed over the case
to the CBI. I am not sure if the "caged parrots" will ensure that the
guilty are brought to book.
Hardik Patel and the Anti Reservation Stir
2015-08-30 22:02
Another political star is rising in Gujarat and this has the potential of
halting the BJP Juggernaut. The Pattidars of Gujarat are essentially an
agricultural community which transformed itself into a trading and
entrepreneurial class in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and
with the onset of Independence the Patel's became a dominant
political class with tremendous social and economic power. In the
Mandalized world of Indian politics and employment opportunities,
the tag of "backwardness" helps in getting jobs, admission in
professional colleges and even in getting services from the
Government. The implementation of the Mandal Report which was
based on the Census of 1931, is best with huge empirical and
theoretical problems.
The criteria on which "backward" status was granted was never
spelled out and dominant landed communities like the Yadavas and
the cluster of Lagrangian castes like the Ahirs, Kurmis and the like
were given backward class status. By giving the dominant caste the
benefit of reservation, the poorer sections of the so called forward
castes were very deeply affected. Given the social churning that has
taken place since Independence, inter marriages have taken place
and the children of such marriages bear the brunt of the Mandal
discrimination as they are largely set aside by the social groups on
 Word Craft and Statecraft

both sides of the families. Even if "honour killings" are rare, the fact is
that inter caste children are doubly discriminated.
The Mandal Reservation has set back the clock as far as social
progress is concerned, and the rise of honour killings is directly
related to the caste resentment engendered by Mandal.Gujarat has
always been at the forefront of the anti-Reservation struggle as the
huge economy of the state could provide employment without too
much ado. However, the Madal Reservation tilted the balance in
favour of the backward castes and the Patel's though constituting
17% of the population were the main targets of Mandal Reservation.
Though politically very powerful, the Patel's began to lose out on the
job front and educational opportunities. It is against this background
that the agitation for Reservation has to be seen. It is certainly not
politically feasible to extend reservation to Patel's and by making that
demand, Hardik is basically drawing attention to the discriminatory
and arbitrary manner in which reservation policy is being
implemented. I think Indian social scientists have played a negative
role in all this when they embraced the post-colonial identity based
terms of Inquiry rather than looking at Indian society from the prism
of political economy.
It is necessary to determine the hard matrix of backwardness and not
hinge definitions to identity. Economic criteria are necessary as India
has changed a great deal in the last 70 years and old theories do not
make sense any more. The violence during the Rally addressed by
this 22-year-old student leader was unfortunate. The Chief Minister
of Gujarat did not handle the issue in a sensible manner partly
because being a Patel she took her community for granted. It is
unlikely that the Patel's will desert the BJP, but the economic issues of
social backwardness cannot be wished away.
The Bihar Elections: Why the BJP will do well?
2015-09-10 23:14
Bihar, like Tamil Nadu, is a state with clearly defined dominant castes
that are concentrated in geographical zones which enables the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

dominant castes to turn local influence into political power in the

form of seats in the Assembly or Lok Sabha. The BJP in the last Lok
Sabha polls swept the state gathering all but 4 of the seats. This in
effect meant that the traditional caste equations had collapsed, and
the development wave of Narendra Modi took everything in its
wake. Old alliances were swept aside and Laloo Prasad Yadava who
tried to send his daughter to the Lok Sabha was completely defeated.
Misa Bharathi lost and lost badly and that too in a Yadava dominated
area. This time around the BJP, though sure of a victory, is having to
fight for every seat. The alliance of SP,RJD and Congress may look
formidable but in reality, there is little strength for this Alliance. With
the SP marching out, the going has gotten tougher for Nitish Kumar
and his JD(U). The BJP has stitched up a loose alliance of intermediate
castes and influential sections of the Dalit castes particularly the
Paswans and the Mahadalits.
The inclusion of Manji in the alliance is undoubtedly a masterstroke
as it creates a very broad spectrum of support for the BJP which can
count on the Brahmins, Rajput and Bhumiar votes to a substantial
degree. The BJP Alliance has now gained traction and Modi's
announcement of a special package for Bihar has made the BJP more
or less secure. The real challenge for the BJP lies in the rural pockets.
Nitish Kumar tried to make this electoral battle into a personal fight
between him and Modi. This strategy has failed because the alliance
with Laloo Prasad Yadava has raised people's fear of the return of the
Jungle Raj. Given this state, it is certain that out of 243 seats the BJP
will win around 157 seats.
Dadri Killing and the Liberal Reaction
2015-10-10 01:55
In Dadri, a suburb of New Delhi, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh
a murder took place. A man suspected of killing a calf and eating its
flesh was set upon by a furious mob and killed. This unfortunate
incident took place when the state was ruled by the Samajwadi Party
and the ruling Party at the Centre, the BJP has nothing to do with the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

event. Yet, Azam Khan, better known for the alacrity with which the
police of UP traced his missing buffaloes, made it a point to politicize
the killing and insinuate that the BJP is general and one particular
leader was responsible for the crime. The fact is that the Law and
Order situation in UP is appalling and no one but the state
Government can be blamed. First Azam Khan wrote a letter to the
United Nations complaining of this incident.
When India is trying to deal with the terror network sponsored by
Pakistan, it is highly condemnable that a politician from the troubled
state of UP should chose to write to the UN.The killing of the man was
unfortunate. However, instead of identifying the real culprits, the
state police sought to give a political spin and pin the blame on the
BJP. Such mindless politicization of essentially criminal acts results in
the real culprits escaping the long arms of the law as the police are
keener to help their political masters by providing fodder for the
internecine wars between the so called "secular" alliance and the
nationalists. Then the cry went out: Modi should speak. It defies logic
to demand a statement from the Prime Minister whenever a petty
crime takes place. Narendra Modi, like the US President made a
routine statementcondemning the killing. Whenever there is a white
on black killing or there are mass shooting deaths in USA, President
Barack Obama comes out with a statement. Do such statements
reduce the number of killing. Apparently not. In the last decade or so
there have been 18 reported instances of mass shootings in USA.
Nobody demands the resignation of the President as if he is
responsible for the crimes.
Here the liberal Media,immediately gets into hyperactive mode and
the Barkha Dutts and the Rajdeep Sardesais and the Karan Thapars
come out of the woodwork to link the BJP with the crime. A few
months back there were a spate of attacks on Christian religious
institutions and the White countries lined up to condemn India as if
the Government was responsible for encouraging the attacks. It
turned out that Bangladesh immigrants were responsible for the
crimes and the liberal media did not report the facts. There is a law in
 Word Craft and Statecraft

place banning Cow Slaughter. Now the liberals encouraged by the

white world are using this law to paint a picture of India as if the ban
on cow slaughter is a symptom of religious fanaticism. We may say
that all over the world the vegan movement is gaining strength and in
India, beef consumption is taken as a sign of how "secular" one is.
Rightly then groups of people, armed and ready to protect Cattle
from being slaughtered are gaining strength all over North India.
Cow Protection Leagues are sprouting all over North India and cattle
transporting trucks are stopped and the cattle freed. There is a law in
place against the illegal killing of cows and that law is not being
enforced. Therefore, people are taking the responsibility of enforcing
the law into their own hands. One unfortunate fallout of the Dadri
killing is that some octogenarian writers have started surrendering
their state awards. Nayantara Sehgal who received the award 2 years
after the biggest killing of Sikhs in 1984 by the goons associated with
the Congress Party has suddenly found the virtue of secularism.
Similarly, another poet, Ashok Vajpayee has given up his award. It is
time for the state to stop giving awards and later such awards become
the basis for propaganda. Writers have a right to dissent, but political
correctness cannot be the basis of dissent.
The Supreme Court of India and the Judgement on NJAC
2015-10-19 00:24
The Indian Constitution envisaged a Parliamentary Democracy in
India and over the years, thanks largely to the unmitigated abuse of
power and corruption of successive Central Governments,
particularly the Congress Party and its Allies, the political system as it
presently states are viewed with suspicion by the rest of the country.
The decline in the legitimacy of the political institutions has led to un
elected elements like the CAG, the EC and quasi autonomous bodies
to relegate a degree of freedom to themselves which was not
envisaged on desirable in a democratic country. The Judiciary has
always been a law unto itself as it does not subject itself to any
scrutiny and of late, the credibility of even the superior judiciary has
 Word Craft and Statecraft

been called into question. A few years back there was a raging
controversy over a Chief Justice, and the matter about his
involvement in certain judgments still lingers on.
The Constitution states quite clearly that the Executive which is
accountable to Parliament must have a major say in the appointment
of justices. It was Indira Gandhi's fascist talk of "committed judiciary"
that alarmed the Judiciary and as the Central Government became
weak under an assortment of non-Congress Government. the
Collegium System evolved which essentially meant that judges
appointed judges. It is this imbalance of giving primacy to the
Judiciary in matters relating to appointments that sought to be
rectified in the National Judicial Appointments Commission which
envisages a role for both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the
Opposition in the selection of the Judges. In every democratic
country the Executive and the Legislature appoint the higher
judiciary. In USA the President nominates and the Senate confirms.
Even the USA does not have a Judiciary which perpetuates itself by
appointing itself and arrogating to itself the right of appointing
judges in the name of Independence of the Judiciary.
The concept of Independent Judiciary does not embrace the notion of
an unaccountable judiciary which is the situation under the
Collegium system. The basic flaws under the judicial collegium
system was rectified by the present law which was passed by the
Parliament unanimously. The Lok Sabha for all the flaws in our
existing Parliamentary system is the representative of the
Sovereignty of India and the Supreme Court cannot and should not
undermine that. It is likely that some amendment will be made and
the role of the Executive in the appointment of Justices will be
restored. By striking down the Constitutional Amendment, the
Supreme Court has undone the basic structure of the Constitution
which makes the Parliament the source of law and the fountainhead
of political will.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Supreme Court and the antics of the BJP in Tamil Nadu: Why
Jallikkattu Ban is lifted?
2016-01-11 11:50
More than seven years ago a blogger and several animal rights
activists welcome the Supreme Court banning the cruel sport of
Jallikkattu, or Bull Taming. The fact that this invented tradition of
bull taming has become the symbol of Tamil pride and identity, is
unfortunate, but true. There is unanimity across all political parties in
Tamil Nadu on this singular issue. There is no unanimity on even
important issues like education, medical infrastructure and social
reform. But all the political parties have united in welcoming the ban
on Jallikkatta being surreptitiously lifted. Seven years back the
Supreme Court of India is an extraordinarily detailed and splendid
judgement had laid out the case against this inhuman sport and
correctly argued that the state had a responsibility to protect animal
rights, this enhanced and expanded vision of Rights entered Indian
Jurisprudence with this important Judgement. I do not believe in
dividing issues on grounds of identity, gender and politics.
Animals have rights and I truly believe that it is socially and morally
repugnant to harm animals for religious or social purposes and I
include the Moslem practice of Bakri Id too in this. The Animal
Welfare Board of India had filed the original writ against Jallikkattu
and the Supreme Court had upheld the ban. It correctly dismissed the
argument that the Sport is part of "tradition". It is a fact that Jallikkattu
does not find mention in any of the ancient and medieval inscriptions
and only in the eighteenth century we find some stray references to
this sport.
So, the argument that is an integral part of Tamil Society falls through
and tradition cannot be invoked to defend the indefensible. I am of
the opinion that the Kallkars and Maravars pastoral groups became
the bulwark of the Telugu dominated Nakaka Kingdoms of the
region. As these groups transited to state societies in the late sixteenth
century a number of new practices were introduced and among
 Word Craft and Statecraft

them, Jallikkattu. Therefore, it is a travesty of historical truth to argue

that this senseless and barbaric ritual is a part of "Dravidian" custom.
The missionaries of the London Mission Society who were primarily
responsible for bringing the word of God to these parts railed against
another primitive custom, hook swinging, and it was banned.
After the victory of the Dravidian parties in 1967 hook swinging has
enjoyed a revival and all the important "talaivars" of the Party enjoy
hook swinging done in their honour. Therefore, given the regressive
social climate spawned by the Dravidian movement, it is no great
wonder that Jallikkattu is also given so much importance. The real
reason for the BJP Minister putting pressure on the Ministry of Forest
and Environment to amend the rules for the use of performing
animals is political: It wants to create a vote bank among the
Mukulothor castes, a cluster of 3 castes, the Maravar, the Kallar and
the Agambadiyar which call themselves Thevar today. In this the BJP
is both wrong and mistaken. In fact, because of this stupid move, the
Nadar vote bank will be lost to the BJP. Though I am quite
sympathetic to the BJP, I condemn this regressive move.
The Death of Rohith Vemula: Post-Colonial Angst and the State
2016-01-21 12:47
The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest
possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man
treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust. In every
field, in studies, in streets, in politics, and in dying and living. On the
night of January 17th, 2016, a young, highly talented student of
Hyderabad Central University killed himself leaving behind a note
from which I have excerpted the lines given above. The death of Rohit
Vemula and the 11 suicides on the Campus of the University and in
none of the earlier cases was there any show of concern.
In 2008, Senthil Kumar a former student of Pondicherry University
who was pursuing his Ph.D. in Physics killed himself. His complaint
was that even after 2 years a Research Supervisor was not allocated to
him. In sheer frustration he killed himself. In that instance there was
 Word Craft and Statecraft

clear and valid grounds for holding the University accountable for
neglecting deliberately or otherwise, its academic function.
However, the Congress was in power then and the whole
controversy was hushed up. I am only pointing out to the fact that
public outrage in India is getting more and more selective with
political parties jumping into the fray and milking the tragedies for
their own narrow partisan political ends. Since the tragedy,HCU has
seen a steady spate of high profile visitors including the heir apparent
of the dynastic fascist party.
As someone associated with Higher Education and one who has
successfully guided three scholars from the SC community for their
Ph D, I think I have something to say. SC people have been
discriminated and there is absolutely no feeling in the University
circles of harming their interests. In fact, I have had to hold special
classes in order to bridge certain shortfall particularly in the skill of
academic writing and all the three Ph.D. scholars are teaching in
Universities and colleges. SC students are sensitive and so one must
not and should not draw attention to their caste in any manner.
Unfortunately, in the identity marinated post-colonial theoretical
formulations that pass off as Social Sciences, Identity is not only
valorised and "foregrounded", but students are socialized to believe
that there can be no justice and their efforts are doomed. The
Academic Community, particularly the post-colonial Social
Scientists are adept at creating a miasma of hopelessness which SC
students find extremely disconcerting and they start embracing
identity based politics in the hope that it would deliver a better world.
Unfortunately, identity politics as we now know only leads to
violence and death and it is unfortunate that Rohit Vemula died and
his suicide note rightly draws attention to the futility of identity
politics: A man reduced to his immediate identity.
The University Administration has mishandled the whole tragic
affair. From published Newspaper accounts it is clear that there was a
scuffle between Rohit and his Ambedkar Student Association and the
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. The issue at hand was the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

alleged namaz offered by Rohit and his friends to Yakub Menmon,

the terrorist who was executed for his role in the Bombay Blasts that
killed 185 people. The constant need to take adversarial positions in
the name of fighting "majoritarianism" is a sine qua non of Campus
politics of the sort HCU is now acquiring a global reputation. By no
stretch of the imagination is protest against the execution of a
convicted terrorist a right of a student. Even so, the University could
have been more circumspect. Since the Vice Chancellor, one Sharma
was laying down office and a new one, Appa Rao was to take charge,
the matter was kept pending. In the meanwhile, the ABVP student
who was allegedly roughed up, underwent a surgery which was
probably related to if not triggered by the result of the assault.
The Union Labour Minster Shri Dattatray was approached and he
wrote a letter in which he drew attention to the protest organized by
ASA against the hanging of Yakub. His letter in no way can be
construed as an interference in the University as he only sought
information about the action taken. If the University had just written
saying that an Inquiry was constituted and the guilty were identified
and punished, the matter would have ended there. Instead, the
University just sat on the letters by not replying and in late September
2015, one Appa Rao, at the behest of Shri Venkaiah Naidu was
appointed. If there is anyone individual to be blamed, it was this man.
Unfortunately, the BJP as a Party and the Central Government are
being dragged into this mess because of the stupidity of this one man,
Appa Rao.
Instead of just saying that the students have been suspended he again
sat on the letters from the Ministry. Meanwhile as is routine MHRD
kept sending letters and each was escalating the level of official
response. Appa Rao constituted yet another Inquiry and decided to
rusticate 5 students including Rohit Vemula. The legitimacy for this
course of action was given by the so called Proctorial Board. Appa
Rao mishandled the situation and has created a huge crisis for the BJP
and the Central Government. When earlier the students were
suspended, now they were thrown out of the hostel and their
 Word Craft and Statecraft

fellowship cut. This ignorant vice chancellor did not allow himself
any escape route and is now dragging the Hon'ble Minister of
Education into the mess he has created.
The student Rohit Vemula identified himself as an SC belonging to
the Malla caste to which his mother belonged. His father was from
another caste. His identity as an SC student is clearly proved by the
certificate he produced and so to evade accountability by bringing in
the caste of his father is both cruel and unnecessary. His father had
deserted the family very early in life and the mother had brought him
up. Now the scholarship is important because every SC student that I
have taught sends a major chunk of the fellowship to the family back
home. Obviously Appa Rao was unaware of the implications of his
decisions and he like most University administrators had a thick skin
and head. It will not help to muddy the waters by now claiming that
Rohit was not an SC.
I do not use the term Dalit and it creates more confusion. SC and ST
are legal and constitutional terms, not Dalit. Dalit identity is a
constructed identity not a natural one as Rohit realized just before his
death. HCU has had a history of discriminating against SC students
and this is clearly established by the fact that out of the 11 suicides
over as many years 10 belonged to the SC category and one Muslim.
Unfortunately, the hegemonic post-colonial discourse in Indian
Universities will rob SC people of the ability to understand and
conceptualize the existential situation they face and even deprive
them of the ability to fight back claiming the legal protection given by
the State. The post-colonial trash bags in the form of social scientists
who promote their individual agenda in Universities are essentially
to be blamed.
JNU Crisis and the "Idea of India" Debate
2016-02-24 14:31
Jawaharlal Nehru University has been in the news for the week-long
student agitation in which the leaders of the JNUSU, Shri Kannaiya
Krishna and others seem to have raised slogans in favour of Afzal
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Guru who was executed for his role in the Parliament Attack. The
electronic media, particularly NDTV and CNN-IBN have been
screaming against the Central Government as though a great atrocity
has happened in the University. No democratically elected
Government can allow a University to glorify terrorists who have
been found guilty by the highest court in the land.
The video of the Press Club meet also shows a few women students
shouting slogans calling for the "barbadi" of India, destruction of
India. Such barbarous attacks are not in any way related the "Idea of
India" or justified under the freedom of expression granted by the
Constitution. JNU over the years has morphed into a training ground
for extremists who carry their anti-India attitude as a badge of
honour. Right from the beginning of the University, successive
Congress regimes have turned the University into a sanctuary for pro
Left and pro Congress academics who jostled their patronage by the
State on the ground that their politics is "secular" and "anti-
communal". When the agitation for the Babri Mosque Issue was
taking place the Department of History, of JNU issued a "fatwa" to the
entire historical community stating that Rama was only a legendary
character and there can be no debate on his historicity. As is often the
case with JNU historians, they tried to rearrange the terms of the
debate to suit their own ideological interests. No one claimed that
Rama was a historical character. The debate was only on a historical
fact: Did a temple exist at the site of the famous Mosque. There is no
doubt now that there was indeed a Mosque and after the destruction
of the domes on December 6th, 1992, archaeological evidence came to
light about the existence of a Vishnu temple at that site. Sir Alexander
Cunningham in his Report had also drawn attention to the presence
of Hindu temple pillars near the famous mosque.
The fact is that JNU has been participating in high decibel
controversies without much regard for the truth or evidence.
Communalism is invoked as a blanket term to justify any kind of
political programme, in much the same manner as the Nazi used the
doctrine of racial purity. Considerations of ethics and politics are all
 Word Craft and Statecraft

brushed aside when an issue is labelled "communal" and the

definition of what constitute communal is known only to the high
priests of JNU. The ethnic cleansing of Pundits and thelarge-scale
destruction of the life and property of Pundits from Kashmir does not
constitute an atrocity in the definition of the Teachers and Students of
JNU. Selective outrage and well calibrated attacks is the hall mark of
JNU. I have not heard of a single protest in JNU relating to the
massacre of the Sikhs organized by the Congress Party in 1984. This
double standard itself exposes the hollowness of JNU claim that it
represents the voice of the Indian youth.
Rahul Gandhi has had some success in instigating the students on
Hyderabad Central University and JNU because these "academic
spaces" to use the post-colonial labels of our fashionable JNU crew are
already pro Congress. During the Emergency which the Congress
regime under Indira Gandhi imposed, there was not a squeak of
protest from JNU. In short, JNU is a pro Congress institution and it is
only indulging in political gimmicky now. Unfortunately, the
Narendra Modi Government for reasons best known to itself is not
acting decisively. The entire Nation is appalled at the anti-national
activities taking place on the Campus. When question, the
"intellectuals" of JNU will use post-colonial labels like, Nation is only
an Imagined Community. Yes, if the nation exists only in the
Imagination, then everyone has the right to re imagine the Nation and
pursue politics that is in tune with their changed perceptions.
However, JNU has been imposing its version of Nationalism on the
entire Nation. In Indian Universities, History Departments are
dominated by JNU trained historians.
These men and women do not allow any debate on crucial aspects of
Indian history as their Manichean division between Secular and
Communal Historiography is inherently anti-intellectual and anti-
free thought. To give an example: No meaningful debate has yet
happened on Partition and the complicity of the Congress in the
tragic events of 1947. Similarly, no meaningful debate has happened
on Nehru's misguided policy toward China which led to the War of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

1962. The freedom stops when searching questions about India's past
is raised. Even on the whole issue of the Arya/ Dravidian Dichotomy
in India, historians like M S S Pandian who taught in the Centre for
Historical Studies conveniently drew sustenance from such divisive
ideologies. It is time to take stock and prevent JNU from Talibanizing
India by imposing its politically charged and divisive Idea of India.
Caste and "Honour Killings" in Tamil Nadu: Dravidian Parties are
encouraging caste violence
2016-03-18 13:35
One of the many myths surrounding Tamil politics is that the
Dravidian Movement launched by the Justice Party and later taken
over by E V Ramaswamy Naikkar was a progressive and socially
inclusive movement. Nothing is further from the truth. Like the Nazi
Movement in Germany, the Dravidian Movement too targeted one
ethnic group, the Brahmins for sustained persecution. During the
course of nearly a century of Dravidian rule, Brahmins have been
virtually eliminated from public life. There is no Brahmin MP elected
after R Venkataraman. Even the election of Dr Subramaniam Swamy
was due to the support of the AIADMK. The domination of the BC
caste which are essentially land owning and socially opposed to SC
assertion is reinforced by the politics of Tamil Nadu which is
controlled by the Dravidian parties whose social base consists of the
Vanniyars, the Mukkolothor, the Yadavas and the like.
The SC communities, the Pariahs and the Pallans do not find space in
this coalition. In fact, the SC leaders tend to adopt the same strategy to
reach out to their constituents as the mainstream Dravidian parties:
adoption of an exaggerated sense of devotion to the imagined
community of Tamils and their pristine past and their great classical
heritage. By espousing the cause of Tamil Language and its alleged
"antiquity" the Dravidian parties succeeded in gaining political
legitimacy and electoral acceptance. The same strategy is being
adopted by the parties which aim at the protection of SC rights and
constitutional status.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The killing of the Dalit man, Shankar who had married a Tevar girl
has sent shock waves all over Tamil Nadu. This killing comes close on
the heels of the murder of Elavarasan who was murdered for
marrying a Vanniyar girl in Dharmapuri nearly 2 years back. Another
Dalit man, Gokulraj was killed for having an "affair" with a Gounder
girl near Tiruchegode in Salem District. After these killings we have
the brutal hacking of Shankar by a five-member gang which attached
the couple after they stepped out of a shopping complex in Tiruppur.
the garment capital of Tamil Nadu. Apparently, the girl's family had
opposed the marriage, but the girl went ahead and married Shankar.
Despite repeated calls to the police no protection was offered to the
young couple.
There have been several instances of Brahmin girls marrying Dalit
boys and also other social groups. It is a matter of record that there has
not been a single instance of "honour' killing in such cases. While the
family may not be very enthusiastic about the marriage, the Brahmin
families show much greater tolerance. It is clear that caste violence is
generally practiced by the Back-ward castes and such acts of violence
are generally not investigated. The Dravidian parties by encouraging
the ideology of caste are in a state of denial as their politics breeds
violence just as the Nazi ideology remained inherently genocidal.
Indian liberals are somehow averring to accepting the link between
caste based political assertion of identity and honour killing in India.
The Assembly Polls and the Political Implications
2016-05-20 12:13
The BJP led NDA Government was assailed by the Opposition on a
number of issues. The Congress led by Rahul Gandhi tried to stir the
youth into rebellion by fomenting trouble in different campuses
following the suicide of Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad Central
University. The rise of anti-national pro secessionist hoodlums like
Kannaiya in JNU stirred the Opposition for some time and men like D
Raja, Sitaram, Karat and others could steal National Television
exposure in which they could froth for hours on end about Modi. The
 Word Craft and Statecraft

fact remains that the Economy is picking up and inflation in low

though unemployment still remains a major concern. The Reserve
Bank of India under Governor Raghuram Rajan is constantly
increasing the interest rates thereby preventing industrial activity
from picking up. Except for these minor glitches there seems to be
order all around.
The just concluded Assembly Elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Assam West Bengal and Pondicherry marks an important shift in
Indian political spectrum. In Kerala, the Left Democratic Front
consisting of the two Communist factions and a clutch of local parties
has come to power. Significantly the vote share of both alliances has
fallen and BJP's O Rajagopalan has won a seat in the Kerala Assembly
for the first time. He is a senior leader of the BJP who served in the
Vajpayee Cabinet. Even in the May 2014 Lok Sabha polls he led in 4
out of 7 assembly segments in Trivandrum and the Congress Party
which fielded Sashi Tharoor who is in the news over the murder of his
wife Sunanda, was able to scrape though only with a surge of support
from the Catholic Church. The vote share of the BJP has crossed 12%
and this means that the final frontier or bastion of anti BJP elements
has been breached.
In neighbouring Tamil Nadu as I predicted in my tweet, AIADMK
swept to power or rather proved the pollsters wrong by bucking the
anti-incumbency wave. The reason for AIADMK's success in spite of
the lack lustre administrative performance is because of the slew of
populist measures undertaken by Jayalalithaa. The so called AMMA
canteens, pharmacies and other such outfits have evoked a huge
response from the electorate. The DMK which is neck deep in
Corruption, with Karunanidhi's daughter having spent time in jail
due to the involvement in the 2G Spectrum Scandal along with A Raja
tried to focus on the alleged corruption of Jayalalithaa. This
diversionary tactic did not yield results and she romped home with a
slightly diminished vote percentage. The triangular fight in Tamil
Nadu certainly helped AIADMK as it split the anti-incumbency vote
and DDMK of Vijay Kanth came a cropper in the election. Stalin
 Word Craft and Statecraft

shrewdly tried to project the old Geezer as the Chief Ministerial

candidate, but the electorate was not impressed with this ploy. The
feud in the dynastic fascist family did not help the DMK either as
Azhagiri the elder son of Karunanidhi tacitly worked for the
AIADMK.
In West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee survived the Sharada Chit Fund
Scam and all the important names involved in the scam have been
returned to the Assembly. This is not to say that the people of West
Bengal do not care for the honesty and integrity of the political class. It
is just that the memory of the 35 years of fascist Left rule is so terrible
that even Mamta's scam tainted regime shines by comparison. The
BJP has increased the vote base in West Bengal and has secured 9
seats. The release of the Netaji Files does not seem to have had a major
impact in the election. The Alliance with the Congress has hurt the
CPM as they now show sighs of terminal decline. Mamta led a
corrupt scam tainted Government but the people of West Bengal
have no choice.
In Assam, the Congress was playing with fire by encouraging illegal
immigration from the neighbouring Bangladesh thereby hoping to
create a captive electoralblock for itself. The BJP campaigned against
this subversion of the Constitution and even the local Assamese
Muslims have voted for the BJP thereby disproving the theory that
Muslims are afraid of voting the BJP. The Congress by fanning the
flames of minority identity politics thought that the Muslim
population of Assam and the marginalized tribal Bodos will vote for
the Party. The fact is that BJP has won the Assembly elections in
Assam and thereby acquiring a foothold in the North East. The BJP
can now look forward to the Assembly elections in UP and Punjab
that are due next year.
"Surgical Strike" Across the LOC: A Shift in the Rules of
Engagement
2016-09-30 10:40
The attack on the Indian Army Base at URI in Kashmir on the night of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

25th-26th September 2016 was a blatant violation of the international

border and an aggressive act of provocation. India was shocked, and
this came at the heels of the attack on Pathankot Army Base and a
marked escalation in terrorist related violence in Kashmir. The fact is
that Kashmir is careening out of control and with the killing of
Byrhan Wani the youth in the valley seem to be completely alienated.
It will be quite a challenge to bring the youth, if not to the mainstream,
at least to lower the hostility they bear toward India. Professor Rattan
Lal Hangloo who gave a Lecture in Pondicherry University stated
clearly that the Government of India had ignored infrastructure and
its development in Kashmir since Independence and that was one of
the main reasons contributing to the problem. Further he stated that
as the Cold War receded, the Pakistani establishment started
directing the demobilized jehadis towards Kashmir and the growing
Islamic terrorism in Pakistan created a climate conducive for
militancy. He seemed to agree with Narendra Modi's call for the
liberation of Baluchistan and India taking a lead in raising the
"atrocities" perpetrated by the Pakistani Army before the court of
global opinion.
The attack was meticulously planned. Satellite imagery of the entire
area was obtained, and the topography studied with the help of local
guides. The soldiers from the Special Operations Unit were made
aware of the lay of the land and the launch pads for terrorist activity
across the lice of control were identified: Bhimber, Hot spring, Kel
and Kepa sectors were the main targets. Around 12:30 the
paratroopers were air dropped over the area and they launched
attacks with laser guided missiles on the terrorist training camps.
Seven camps were totally destroyed, and it is believed that 38
terrorists were killed. The entire operation was over in a couple of
hours and the unit returned to base.
What will the fallout. The strikes were aimed at the domestic
audience which was baying for blood and Narendra Modi has shown
himself before the people of India that he is decisive and will not be
taken in by nuclear blackmail. He shored up domestic support and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

obviously like Obama's raid on Bin Laden which gave him the second
term, this strike will have an impact on the upcoming elections. All
the major powers of the world, including China did not utter a word
against the strike as they are all aware of the fact that Pakistan has
become notorious for the export of violence. This mid night attack
signals a decisive change in the Rules of Engagement.
India has said quite clearly that it is willing to discard the frail
framework of SAARC and deal with its neighbours on bilateral
terms.
Tamil Nadu after Jayalalithaa: Politics of uncertainty and despair
2016-12-07 11:42
December 6th, 2016 witnessed a political funeral in Chennai, the like
of which remains unprecedented. Jayalalithaa was laid to rest on the
sands of Marina Beach along aside her political mentor, M G
Ramachandran. A Brahmin woman being buried and not being
cremated raised eyebrows and the large presence of the Manargudi
Mafia in the ceremonies pertaining to the funeral of the Chief
Minister did not go down well with the public. However, the
treatment given to Deepa, the daughter of the brother of Ms
Jayalalithaa was deplorable. She was made to wait a few hours in the
rain outside Apollo Hospital to catch a glimpse of her aunt and was
turned away by the security. Funerals are very revealing. The present
one has already shown that the ruling dispensation in the AIADMK
does not want to share the space with the family of the late Chief
Minister.
Jayalalithaa was a cinematic icon before she left the arc lights to join
politics under the mentorship of MGR. In the Madurai Conference of
the AIADMK in 1983, MGR symbolically handed the torch to
Jayalalithaa there by indicating that after him the leadership would
pass on to his leading lady. Both had acted in nearly 60 films together
and the chemistry between them sizzled on the screen. In 1984,
Jayalalithaa was elected to the Rajya Sabha and she spent a full term
there. This exposure to National politics stood her in good stead as
 Word Craft and Statecraft

she acquired a national visibility even before she became the leader of
the Party in Tamil Nadu after the death of MGR in December 1987.
Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister for the first time in 1991 when she
swept into power on the wave created by the revulsion towards the
DMK for its alleged proximity to the LTTE. The DMK has not been
able to shake off the perception that it allowed the LTTE to take root in
Tamil Nadu and the massacre in Kodambakkam only reinforced that
opinion. The subsequent death of Durai who was the DGP at the time
of the LTTE killings created an aura of suspicion. Her first term was
marred by large scale corruption and disregard to the political
consequences flowing from her decisions. The sacking of
Government servants who participated in a strike was very
unpopular and it ensured the total defeat of the AIADMK in the Lok
Sabha elections. Being a consummate politician, she made tactical
alliances even with inveterate opponents like Vai Gopalaswami (Vai
Ko) as he is known today, Vijay Kant and others.
In 2011 Jayalalithaa came back to power with a huge majority and in
2016 she was returned to power. And she in the only Tamil politician
after MGR who has managed this feat. This term was marked by
populist schemes like the AMMA branded schemes, AMMA
Canteens, AMMA Cement, Amma Pharmacy, AMMA Water etc.,
These schemes were hugely popular and cemented her alliance with
the electorate in a manner that had not happened before. In 2014, she
was convicted, and I believe wrongly, in a dis proportionate assets
case in the trial court at Bangalore and spent 21 days in jail. Her health
started taking a tailspin since then and Jayalalithaa never recovered
for the treatment meted out to her in Bangalore Jail. It is likely that her
health issues were deliberately neglected by the jail authorities at the
behest of certain political lobbies. In any event having the Chief
Minister of a State being prosecuted by another state government is
hardly constitutional.
Jayalalithaa will be remembered as a politician who had a link with
the electorate a magical bond that transcended caste, religion and
language.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Modi's Financial Gamble: Did Demonetization Succeed or was it a

Failure?
2017-01-07 13:19
On November 8th, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a
slew of measures which amounted to a drastic overhaul of the
existing financial structure: The demonetization of the 500 and 1000-
rupee notes. The legal basis for this policy is certainly questionable as
macroeconomic policy comes squarely under the jurisdiction of the
Reserve Bank of India and the RBI may have been consulted.
However, the suddenness of the policy and effective manner in
which it was implemented took everyone by surprise. What were the
objectives of this measure:
First and foremost, the unaccounted wealth, called Black Money in
India, was becoming alarming huge. Some estimate that the parallel
unaccounted economy was almost as large as the legitimate economy
and was getting interfaced with high crime, political crime. Since
unaccounted wealth was increasing and the tax paying population of
India was extremely small, the Central Government had to find new
sources of revenue. The upcoming Seventh Pay Commission would
impose a huge financial burden on the economy and the One Rank
One Pension introduced by the Modi Government would need a
huge outlay. With tax revenue constant and expenditure increasing,
the Government had necessarily to widen the tax net. The Finance
Ministry under Arun Jaitley had imposed a number of measure,
including amnesty for tax dodgers, but very little black money was
disgorged. With one fell swoop the parallel economy was laid waste,
and this is a huge gain for India.
Second, the infrastructure projects needed investments and the flow
of investment into India by way of foreign investment is not all that
encouraging. A number of important projects like the High-Speed
Railway projects, the Sagar mala poor project, the National Highway
Scheme need funds and one way of freeing funds for infrastructural
investment is to tap into the huge hordes of illegal wealth trapped
 Word Craft and Statecraft

within the country. It has been estimated that more than 250 lakh
crores have now been freed and has flowed into the banking system.
The Government wisely allowed hoarders of black money to deposit
their illegal wealth in the banks and many did so thinking that once
the banks have received the cash, black money is converted to white.
Such financial alchemy was not on Modi's mind. The accounts in
which monies have been deposited will now be investigated and it is
hoped that with the GST rolling out from April this year, the tax base
of the Government will also increase as the Government of India has
to compensate the loss incurred by the states for a period of 5 years.
Therefore, the objective of identifying potential tax payers has also
been met.
There has been some criticism, especially the corrupt and criminal
dynastic fascist party, the Congress about the demonetization policy.
There was a major disruption in the financial sector in the wake of
Modi's demonetization. The cash crunch caused a paralysis in the
economy. Banks were restricted to a maximum payment of 2,000
rupees per individual. ATMs ran out of cash and many, nearly 59% of
the cash machines have not been calibrated to handle the new 500 and
2000 notes. Even till today cash withdrawal is restricted to 24,000 per
account per week. This restriction was sold as an incentive to migrate
to a digital economy with e payments and non-material payments
through credit/debit cards etc. However, the migration to a cashless
economy is proving very difficult as internet access and literacy is
limited.
The long queues at the banks did lead to needless suffering and at
least 140 persons died while standing in bank queues. The opposition
raised a hue and cry over this as though the corrupt dynastic fascists
have ever been interested in the welfare of people. However, the
situation has eased and now the queues in the banks is almost non-
existent.
Will this policy yield the desired political benefits? Though there
were considerable difficulties, the ordinary India who is tired of the
corruption and the venality have applauded the policy of Modi. It is
 Word Craft and Statecraft

no exaggeration to say that demonetization, though of limited

economic success is a resounding political victory.
Tamil Nadu Politics: Sashikala, Paneerselvam and the Ghost of
things past
2017-02-11 14:57
The death of Jayalalithaa has created a real storm in Tamil politics.
The AIADMK with 134 MLAs in the house is poised to split between
the two warring factions:Sashikala and O Paneerselvam. The fact is
that the Party and its higher leadership has lost all credibility will
make the task of politicalrecovery extremely difficult. Added to the
political turmoil unleashed by the death of Jayalalithaa is the mass
protest on the issue of jallikkattu. The crowds of young people who
protested on the beach of Marina were not displaying their love for
the sport of bull taming. They were expressing their anguish at the
sudden and disastrous turn in the politics of Tamil Nadu. In fact, the
restoration of the sport following the promulgation of an Ordinance
by the Chief Minister, O Pannerselvam hardly caused a ripple in
Chennai, the ground zero of the protests.
O Paneerselvam, the acting Chief Minister, was the choice of
Jayalalithaa whenever she had to vacate the position due to frequent
conviction in corruption cases. In fact, in all the cases in which the late
CM was prosecuted, the real beneficiary was Sashikala Natarajan and
her extended family which goes under the sobriquet, Managudi
Mafia. The strangle hold acquired by Sashikala over the party can be
gauged from the fact that 129 MLAs have come out in open support of
her. While O Pannerselvam has the support of a small handful of
MLAs, there is no doubt that the rank and file, the cadres of the
AIADMK are solidly behind him. The corruption cases against
Sashikala are not the only reasons for her unpopularity in the
AIADMK. The real reason is that Jayalalithaa herself had expelled
Sashikala from the Party for anti-party activities and threw her out of
the Pose Garden Residence in 2011 and was admitted back in favour
only after giving an abject letter of apology in which Sashikala shook
 Word Craft and Statecraft

off all ties with her family. Indeed, one of the factors that contributed
to the defeat of the AIADMK in the 1996 election was the excesses
committed during the wedding of Dinakaran, the nephew of
Sasikala. The vulgar display of ill-gotten wealth was so revolting that
AIADMK paid a political price for that mistake. It is rather surprising
that even with this legacy, Sashikala was able to seize control over the
Party and have herself declared the General Secretary of the
AIADMK. In fact, her agreement with Paneerselvam was that he
would not be disturbed in his position as Chief Minister.
The successful manner in which Paneerselvam handles the
Jallikkattu crisis and earlier in overseeing the relief work following
the Vardha Cycle that hit Chennai in December 2016 alarmed the
Sasikala faction. It became clear as daylight that if he is allowed a free
hand, he would get the mandate of the people. From that point
onwards, effort was made to destabilize Paneerselvam. A section of
the senior leaders began asking for the installation of their
"Chinamma" as the Chief Minister. An unlikely rebel was born.
Paneerselvan made a dramatic appearance before the grave of
Jayalalithaa on the Marina Beach and "meditated" near her grave for
40 minutes and announced to the waiting crowd that he had always
been the choice of Jayalalithaa to fill her post whenever vacancy
arose. It is now clear that sensing popular anger at the manner in
which Sasikala had usurped the post of General Secretary of the
AIADMK and her shameless occupation of the pose Garden
residence of Jayalalithaa, Paneerselvan raised the banner of revolt.
The Governor Vidyasagar Rao did not exactly cover himself in glory
by completely neglecting his constitutional duties during the 72 says
Jayalalithaa was kept in Apollo Hospital. Now questions are being
asked about the manner of Jayalalithaa's death and the possible
involvement of Sasikala in it. Apollo has not come out clean and still
there are questions. The rumours that the late Chief Minister was
pushed down the stairs in her residence and was brought dead to the
hospital on September 22 are making rounds, O Paneerselvam raised
this issue in his press conference and speculated about constituting a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Judicial Inquiry. It is now quite obvious that Jayalalithaa's death has

become a controversy due to the mutual recriminations between the
rival factions.
As Paneerselavam hardened his stand and Vidyasagar Rao the
Governor not showing any haste is settling the issues stemming from
the resignation of O Paneerselvam, Sasikala took all her MLAs here in
three luxury buses and sequestered them in an exclusive resort on the
East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram.
I venture to speculate that the corruption cases against Sashikala will
come back to haunt her. Her faction thought that having the position
of Chief Minister will protect her. This is very unlikely. Paneerslevam
though much weakened as he rebelled only after his own position
had become untenable may continue for some time more. Tamil
Nadu is heading for a mid-term poll.
Sasikala Convicted and Punished? Nemesis or Retribution
2017-02-15 10:55
The ancient Greeks believed that the jealous gods are ever vigilant to
catch an ordinary mortal strutting about as though he was a god
himself. Hubris, the quality of immense pride and overweening lust
for power, inevitably led to Nemesis, the very destruction of pride
and a divine retribution for competing with the Gods. This belief
entered western ethical praxis through Christianity with its emphasis
on strict separation between the world of God and the World of
Mortals, at least since the biblical Fall of Man. Hindu religion,
unfortunately, lacks a well-defined ethical universe and
consequently the religion invariably becomes a web of transactions
between human beings and the realm of gods. This lack of an ethical
foundation is the real reason for the huge and egregious instances of
corruption that crops up from time to time. The idea is share the loot
with God and everything is fine. USA has a powerful judiciary and a
strong state which is capable of enforcing a modicum of
accountability on its public/political class. In India, the election of
2014 is the turning point with the State showing zero tolerance
 Word Craft and Statecraft

towards corruption and the Judiciary displaying the strength to

pronounce harsh judgements.
The "Disproportionate Assets" Case against Jayalalithaa and Sasikala
and her extended kin is an instance of the sort of wanton corruption
that thrives in the kleptocracy called the Indian state. While
Jayalalithaa herself came from a well to do background and she
herself had a thriving career as a film star, Sasikala came from a lower
middle class with a deep sense of insecurity and a lust for property
that was not quelled even after 20 years of prosecution for corruption.
She has now been found guilty of amassing wealth using her
proximity to the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa. The later made the
huge mistake of allowing this corrupt semi-literate woman to live in
her house and therefore became a party to all the property deals that
transpired during the first term of Jayalalithaa's Chief Ministership.
The Supreme Court in its unprecedented 570-page Judgement
indicted the late Chief Minister as the Ist accused stating that since her
residence was used for making the deals she ought to have known
what was happening under her own roof. Jayalalithaa herself may
not have been corrupt, but she paid the price for bring this semi-
literate woman called Sasikala into her household and allowing her
the freedom to interfere in official matters. A house maid got
transformed into "chinnamma" and even claimed the mantle of Chief
Ministership as the anointed successor of Jayalalithaa until nemesis
caught up with her in the form of the Supreme Court Judgement.
There are swirling rumours of the possibility of Sasikala being
involved in the death of Jayalalithaa. A doctor at Apollo Hospital has
made the sensational disclosure that the late Chief Minister was
brought to the hospital dead on September 22nd, 2016. If this is the
case, then the members of Jayalalithaa's household and the
authorities of Apollo have a lot of explaining to do. Ignoring her own
dubious role, Sasikala decided to stake her claim to the Chief
Ministership barely a week before the Supreme Court was to
pronounce the verdict. Inducing all her loyalists to seek refuge in a
Holiday Resort at Kuvathur on the East Coast Road, Sasikala
 Word Craft and Statecraft

unleashed a full blown factional war forcing a reluctant Governor to

order a floor test in the Assembly.
With the conviction of Sasikala upheld by the Supreme Court it is
curtains for the political future of this woman. The AIADMK will
sputter on till the mid tern polls are held and it is quite unlikely that
the party will return to power. Hubris led to a huge Nemesis.
The Communist Killings in Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan's
Government must be dismissed
2017-03-04 11:36
When there were riots in Gujarat, after 59 passengers returning from
Varanasi were burnt alive in Godhra, the Media went to town
claiming that the then Chief Minister was responsible for the violence
that followed. The Hindu, a left leaning newspaper carried reports
from the following day onwards about flag marches that had been
organized to check the violence and it was pointed out that several
people were killed in police firing against rioting mobs. Not satisfied
the dynastic fascists and their leftist allies created an international
buzz over Narendra Modi and Hussein Obama obliged them by
putting the Hon'ble Chief Minister on the list of people who were to
be denied US visa. The general opinion that was advocated was that
the Chief Minister by failing to bring the riots under control was
abetting in the violence that followed. It was forgotten that after the
demise of Indira Gandhi, the dynastic fascists went around killing
nearly 4,500 Sikhs in the capital city itself and Rajiv Gandhi justified
the attacks by saying famously that the ground shakes when a big tree
falls.
In Kannur District of Kerala. over the past one year more than 100
Karyakartas of the RSS have been brutally hacked to death and not a
single arrest has taken place. It is clear that the State Government
under the notorious Pinarayi Vijayan is actively encouraging its
essentially social constituency to hunt and kill sympathizers of the
BJP or the RSS. The list of potential victims is vetted by the state
secretariat and a hit squad organized with the active assistance of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

CPM Kannur District Committee. So far more than 100 young men
have been killed and there is not a whimper of protest from the so-
called defenders of freedom and free speech. Their silence is
eloquent. They are only saying that the space for political dissent and
freedom is to be occupied only by the leftists and no one else. Such
one sided and perverse interpretations of freedom are a sure sign of
growing intolerance on the part of the left and creeping fascism,
which does not brook any kind of dissent. The Prabhat Patnaik's of
the world will be quiet when leftist goondas kill political opponents.
It is now time for the Central Government to intervene. The State
Government is using its considerable police force to protect the cadre
of the CPM involved in such systematic killings. Rajnath Singh, the
Home Minister is as usual quiet. Hoping that the problem will just
slip away, and he can take his mind on to more weighty issues like
crafting a political future for his son and grandson. We have faith in
our Prime Minister. We expect him to act.
There is enough evidence on hand to demonstrate that the CPM is
actively colluding with the CPM criminals involved in such killing.
We expect the Prime Ministerto dismiss the CPM Government and
prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan.
BJP Victory in Uttar Pradesh: Implications for 2019
2017-03-12 14:29
The BJP sweep in Uttar Pradesh did not come as a surprise to this
blogger as he had predicted a tally of 300 seats. In reality, the BJP got
well over this number and we have to ask some hard questions which
have serious implications for the General Elections of 2019.
The first question is: Did demonetization play a positive role in
galvanizing the poorer sections of society in favour of the BJP. The
conventional wisdom emanating from the woolly leftist
commentators was that demonetization to prove a disaster and
voters would register their protest in the polling booths. This did not
happen primarily because the political messaging that accompanied
the move was clear: the policy was aimed at unearthing black money
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and was meant to keep the pledge of rooting out corruption and
hordes of hoarded wealth. The Congress and the BSP the most vocal
critics of the Modi initiative have had to bite the dust because they did
not understand the basic purpose of the policy and its political
implications. Even the small trader and daily wage worker soon
adjusted to the new reality of a cashless or less cash economy and
there was no major social unrest following the demonetization
initiative. At the political level it shifted the focus of politics away
from issues of identity to those of class, and employment along with
livelihood.
The demonetization policy was effective in breaking the stranglehold
of caste and power brokers over the electorate. Even in Muslim
majority areas the Party has done extremely well. One obvious and a
clear possibility is the Muslim women have voted in favour of the BJP
given the stand taken by the party on the contentious triple talaq
issue. But this alone does not explain the fact that even in
predominantly Muslim areas like Deaband which has nearly 70%
Muslim electorate, the BJP quite easily won the seat. Here I postulate
a hypothesis that the younger Muslim voters are increasingly getting
alienated from the sort of divisive politics that the traditional parties
practice in the name of "secularism". Tokenism at best and
condescension at worst is the main feature of Indian secularism.
Modi's message, Sab Ke Saath, Sab ka Vikas is not a mere statement of
intent. It is now emerging as a new contract between State and Civil
Society.
In 2019, the BJP will be able to do well. However, by that time, the
state Government may have been in power for more than 2 years and
hence the strong winds of anti-incumbency will be felt. I suggest,
though the BJP hot heads may disagree, that the present mandate is
not for identity based issues like the Ram Mandir and BJP must resist
playing identity politics on the issue except play the occasional tune
to the die-hard mandir addicts. The social coalition consisting of
Brahmins, Rajputs, Trading castes and sections of the OBC and non
Jatav SCs is a fragile and rather short sighted. It would be best not to
 Word Craft and Statecraft

put total faith in the sustainability of this coalition and continue to

build up support.
An interesting feature in these Elections has been the substantial
increase in the vote share of the BJP. Even in Goa where BJP got less
seats than the Congress, the Party has more share of the votes polled
and the same in Manipur. Uttarakhand and Punjab did not come as a
surprise to anyone and I am sure that the BJP was expecting a poor
show. Probably the showing of the AAP may have come as a surprise.
All in all, if this trend continues the BJP will cross 305 to 320 seats in
the Lok Sabha Elections of 2019.
Narendra Modi's Independence Day Address to the Nation
2017-08-17 13:52
On August 15th Narendra Modi addressed the Nation from the
ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, a ritual that was begun by
Jawaharlal Nehru. The speech itself, just over fifty-five minutes long,
was significant for what it said and more significant for want it left
out. Cleverly crafted, the speech hit all the right notes: it addressed
the pluralistic ethos of India and also underscored the need to reach
out to the people of Kashmir. Na Gali se na Goli se, magar gala lagane
se: Not with harsh rhetoric or bullets but with love can the problem of
Kashmir be solved, this is a throwback to the call for Insaniyat made
several years back by Atal Behari Vajpayee.
First; let me state what was left out. There was no word on the
Agrarian Crisis that is sweeping the country. Everyday more than a
dozen farmers are committing suicide all over the country. Modi
chose not to address this vital problem. Job creation has not really
been addressed. During the run up to the 2014 General Election,
Narendra Modi spoke about jobs and development. In this Speech,
three years after coming to power, he remains silent on this vital
question. Jobs have all but disappeared and the jobs that have been
created are just low skill, low paying jobs in the service sector. With
much fanfare Skill India Digital India was launched and the Make in
India programme launched a few years back. Today these initiatives
 Word Craft and Statecraft

remain just pious hopes, nothing has changed on the ground. Quite
wisely, Narendra Modi when he spoke of making a New India wisely
kept these initiatives out of his discourse. He knows that the ground
reality is much different.
On the issue of demonetization, Modi was on firm ground. There is
no doubt that the move has led to a vast increase in the tax base and
revenue of the Government. The discovery of 300,000 lakh crores of
hidden wealth will go a long way in putting an end the menace of
Black Money. There is no doubt that demonetization has been a
success and the promise of a cash less digital economy has not been
realized.
The Government of India under Narendra Modi is neglecting the
whole Higher Education Sector. I agree that the previous
Governments have destroyed the fabric of Indian higher education.
However, the present Government has not taken any concrete steps
to improve the quality and content of education. It rankles Indian
mind that China has atleast 20 Universities in the world's top
Universities and India has none. However, the polices enunciated so
far are not conducive to any great change in this arena. The neglected
sector of Higher Education is being killed.
Modi did not mention the tension at the border. This may be a
deliberate decision in order to play down the differences with China.
Politics over Death in India: Anita and Gauri Lankesh victims of
politics
Tamil Nadu is going through its periodic bout of politically instigated
crisis like the Jallikattu Agitation soon after the killing of Jayalalithaa.
Anita's death is a tragedy and the mercilessly heartless Tamil
politicians are cooking their rice on the funeral pyre of this girl.
The fact is that Tamil politicians find her more useful dead than alive
and so her death must be investigated. We know how people whose
death is convenient for the DMK like DGP Durai and Bash of Emerald
Enterprises were found dead. More recently the guards at
Jayalalitha's house were killed; one by alleged robbers at the Konsdu
 Word Craft and Statecraft

estate and the other on a road accident near Salem. I suspect the
involvement of politicians in her death and are now milking the
tragedy. None of these thugs ever bothered to protest when theDalit
girls were forced to commit suicide due to their inability to pay the
fees on a non-descript college in Villupuram. So, the fact is that
politicians involved in running self-financing medical colleges are
threatened by NEET and hence this Agitation.
Anita seems to have been a bright student who secure 1186 marks in
her Board Examination. However, she was able to get only 86 marks
in the All India entrance examination for admission to Medical
School. She approached the Supreme Court as a petitioner against
NEET on the plea that it discriminated against those who studies in
the State Board Scheme and favoured the CBSE students. The
Supreme Court of India did not find merit in this argument at all and
made NEET the sole basis for admission to the MBBS course. It is also
binding on Minority Institutions.
There is a thriving racket in Medical Education in India and Tamil
Nadu is one state in which politicians are financing their elections
through "capitation fees" extorted from students. A seat in a Medical
College sells for nearly a crore and only the rich and the corrupt can
afford to send their wards to medical schools. The NEET was an
attempt to bring about accountability and transparency in the system
and this process adversely affected the fortunes of the very politicians
who were involved in running the Medical Colleges. A cabal of
medical educators and their political supporters started a movement
against NEET and like the earlier Jallikkattu Agitation so went out of
hand. Students who did not protest when 6 Dalit girls committed
suicide when the College extorted money in the form of special feels
to the tune of a few thousand rupees started agitating for the abolition
of NEET. The hold of the predatory Tamil politicians on the minds of
the students is rather disturbing. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has
directed the state governments to take firm steps to control the
unseemly protests.
Gauri Lankesh was killed two days back and the comments of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Clown Prince of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi and Sitaram, the
former General Secretary of the violent and criminal CPM have
started a war of words in the Indian Media. The politicians hoping to
gain political mileage started the whisper campaign that the BJP was
behind the murder and BJP was quick in its response. The fact is that
the family of the slain journalist who was convicted for publishing
false and slanderous news, has blamed a Naxalite for the killing. It
has become fashionable to blame the RSS for everything. In the earlier
murders of Kalburgi and others the RSS was blamed and in one case it
was determined that property dispute lay at the root of the crime. A
few days back Pankaj Mishra a Hindi journalist was shot for
publishing a story on the corruption of Laloo Prasad Yadava and over
the course of the past two years several journalists have been killed
and there was no outrage. The Media in India seems to be embracing
selective outrage and that is not a good sign for democracy.
Gauri Lankesh inherited her paper from her father who started the
Magazine as a scandal sheet and made a lot of money by practicing
the fine art of blackmail, extortion and mixed it with a social agenda
of anti-brahmanism, Gauri herself was a late advocate of a separate
identity for the Lingayats and this may have created ripples. In any
event the BJP and RSS had nothing to do with her death and it is up to
the state government to investigate and arrest the culprits.
PERSONALITIES
AND
PLACES
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Abhinav Bindra Deserves a Big Hand

2008-08-27 17:22
For the first time ever, the Indian National Anthem was played at the
Olympics, an event in which a resident Indian was given a gold
medal. It was simply great to see the young Abhinav Bindra receiving
the medal without the nakhra we have come to associate with the
likes of Sania Mirza and of course, the cricketers.
The outstanding performance of Abhinav Bindra was due to his own
effort and that of his family. If we had the Indian Government
involved in promoting shooting as a sport the fate would be
disastrous. Just look at Hockey, a sport in which the likes of Dyan
Chand gave the country an enviable reputation.
I think the time has come for the Indian Government at the Center and
the State Governments to let go of sports and concentrate on just law
and order.
The demeanour of Abhinav Bindra was quite a contrast with what we
have come to expect from sporting icons. His comments were
dignified and almost self-deprecating. He did not hold himself as a
model for the rest of the youth and honestly admitted that he "has
been punching holes in paper bags for the last ten years" an obvious
reference to target practice.
Somehow, NDTV was not happy with the victory of Abhinav Bindra-
-it was politically incorrect. A rich boy from a well-to-do family has
won a gold medal. NDTV would prefer an OBC with a non-English
speaking background to have won a medal as that would promote
the fractured political identity that is celebrated in elite circles in India
today. So, when Sushil Kumar won a bronze medal in yes, a sport
from the boon docks of the cow belt of North India, it was just the
opportunity for NDTV to pull out all stops.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Erich Segal: Poet, Historian, Novelist

2010-01-21 15:21
I did not believe my eyes when I read that Erich Segal the author of
Love Story had died in London. I remember reading this wonderful
novel set in Harvard and Radcliffe which touched all the emotional
and political chords of the 1960's USA: a more innocent and less
politically correct time. I was in High School when I read Love Story
and I was struck up the culture and openness of American University
education, and that impression prompted me to go to the US for my
graduate studies. From the first line: What can you say of a girl of 24
who died. That she was young and beautiful and that she loves the
Beatles, Beethoven and me" to the last this novel is a wonderful
depiction of class in urban America. But done is an evocative manner.
Of course, the whole story was just a mushy romance, but the
humanity was genuine.
I am sure that this scholar with a Ph D in Classics who taught Latin
and Greek at Oxford was influenced by the great traditions of
European tragedy particularly Sophocles who was in the fragility of
human existence the inexorable hand of fortune.
Some of the lines from this novel like Bob Dylan's "blow in in the
wind" have become part of American popular culture.
Erich Segal deserves to be remembered as a great scholar and
novelist.
P Sainath and the Farmer Suicide Debate
2011-02-10 21:52
I have always admired the writings of Shri P Sainath, a distinguished
journalist and an internationally acclaimed critic of Indian social and
economic policies. His book Everybody Loves a Good Drought is a
scathing indictment of the policies initiated and implemented at the
block level both by the State and Central Government. He is able to
show that the elected representatives of the people make money out of
the misery people face and the Governments are only colluding with
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the rich and the powerful. We have seen pictures of rotting grain in the
godowns forcing the Supreme Court to order its distribution. Sainath
is a very good speaker and he was in a local University the other day
and I happened to listen his key note address to an International
Seminar on Farmer's Suicides in India. Sainath was perhaps too polite
to point out the irony in the very topic of the seminar.
Being a student of History, an MA from JNU, New Delhi, Sainath
began by pointing out that in Western Maharashtra in the late
nineteenth century, farmers were out protesting against the agrarian
policies that were pursued by the then British Government. Now in
the 21st century they are committing suicide in large numbers.
Sainath is a master both of statistics and rhetoric and he deployed
both with devastating effect. At a time when according to the Census
figures, the farming population is showing signs of decline, the
number of suicides is increasing. Hearing Shri P Sainath remined me
of the great Victorian public figure and chronicler, Digby who wrote a
2-volume book on the Great Famine of 1877-79. Trenchant criticism
without any allowance for intellectual sloppiness.
Sainath blames the Government policies for the present crisis. He
draws attention to the fact that Aurangabad which has the largest
number of Mercedes Benz cars, located in the very heart of darkness
as it were, people are able to get State Bank of India loans for 7% while
farmers get loans for 12.5%, a rate that is unsustainable as far as farm
income is concerned. He also drew attention to the fact that farm
subsidies in the form of electricity, fertilizer and seed, helps only the
rich farmer and the irony is that the farmers with around 10 acres of
land end up killing themselves because the rural credit mechanism
has broken down. Sainath mentioned the tragic incident of a farmer
in Vidharba who killed himself with pesticides bought on loan.
I was very happy that a critic of government policies was invited, and
I hope the students of the University learn something from such
personalities. In India all too often educational institutions play it safe
and invite Sarkari intellectuals who give bland and insipid analysis of
the situation. Sainath, like William Digby is a socially motivated critic
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and he said very poignantly that mothers in Western Maharashtra

want double rations for the mid-day meal program because the child
has starved for two days over the weekend. A very moving
statement.
Liberal critics have termed the farmer suicide and the increasing
numbers as state genocide. Though Sainath did not use this term, it
can be said that the wrong policies forced down the rural economy
has led to such a situation. Sainath says that as India is increasing its
GDP together with the rising income the rate of farmer suicide is also
increasing. Gujarat under Narendra Modi seems to have devised
policies that are more successful as that state has not witnessed the
same rash of suicides. The reasons must be probed, and lessons
drawn.
Kochi, The Queen of the Arabian Sea; My Heart is in Kochi
2012-05-31 12:03
As our plane descended over Kochi, my daughter said "look Papa,
solar panels everywhere. The people of Kochi must be energy
conscious". I looked down and saw shimmering in the sunlight bright
sheets of steel. Later we learned that the roofs of houses in Koch had a
sheltered space for drying clothes during the long monsoon season
which lasts nearly 4 months. The drive from the airport to
Palavivattom where we stayed was thrilling, the road clean and the
traffic manageable.
We stayed in Hotel Rennai Cochin, a well-maintained hotel will all
modern amenities. Of all the cities that I have visited, I think Kochi is
by far the most interesting and though my stay was short, I loved
every minute of it. Cochin has a long history and everywhere the past
creeps up and confronts the visitor. The island on which the port of
Cochin stands was the creation of a natural disaster in the fourteenth
century which reshaped the coastline of Kerala.
The Portuguese were the first to arrive here and in 1661 were driven
out by the Dutch who controlled the valuable spice trade of the
Travancore kingdom for nearly 132 years. On January 8th, 1663 the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Dutch seized Fort Kochi and the Queen of the Arabian Sea had to
compete with other suitors for the attention of the Dutch
Administration. Batavia and Cape Town were preferred by the
Gentleman XVII of the VOC.
In 1741 the Dutch were defeated in the Battle of Calachel and the
English became the dominant power in the Malabar region, though
the power of the English was contested by the rising garrison states of
Travancore and Mysore. The prosperity of the town is reflected in the
many Dutch buildings that festoon Fort Cochin. The "pepper
highway" brought huge profits to the European companies creating
problems for the Mappillas, the Malabar Muslim community, who
slowly faced economic stagnation as a direct consequence of the
monopoly over the pepper trade established by the Dutch, the
Portuguese and finally by the English.
The history of Cochin's encounter with the resurgent Europe is found
everywhere, particularly in Fort Cochin and Bolghotty Island. We
started our tour of Cochin with a visit to the Sacred Heart College,
Thevara, in which I had some official work. The College is well
maintained.
Cochin is famous all over the world for the small community of Jews
who migrated to this port town to escape persecution during the
frequent outbreaks of violence against them in Europe. India can be
proud of the fact that when Europeans were killing Jews as recently as
the German Holocaust in the 1940s, India protected and patronised
the Jewish population. Unfortunately, the silly policies of Nehru did
not enable India to develop good ties with Israel. The Jewish quarter
is replete with history.
The shops alongside the Jewish Synagogue are full of interesting
alcoves where one probably can get genuine antiques if one's pocket is
deep enough. The churches of Cochin are a marvel. One of the oldest
churches in Southern India is in Cochin. The Santa Cruz Basilica which
was constructed by the Portuguese is an architectural marvel.
The seascape around Kochi has now become nerve centre of oil
 Word Craft and Statecraft

terminals, container docks, ship building platforms, naval yard and a

score of other unlovely things. Yet the Arabian Sea around Kochi
retains a grandeur that is best witnessed when one takes the boat ride
around the harbour. Kochi has some incredibly beautiful spots and
the area around the High Court is one such.
The beauty of the buildings, the historical sites of memory, the
grandeur of the sea around Kochi will linger long after one has left
this beautiful city. My daughter, her friend Divya and Sandesh
visited an elephant training camp and here are the pictures:
Like all good things in life our trip to Kochi too came to an end. We a
heavy heart my daughter and I packed our bags and returned to
Pondicherry. But we took back from Kochi memories that will live in
our hearts forever.
Kochi, you are the queen of the Arabian sea.
A trip to Jharkhand: Rohini, a land time forgotten
2013-07-04 09:16
With great trepidation I set off for Jharkhand. I kept telling my hosts
that it is unsafe to travel there and they in turn offered police
protection from the West Bengal border. I politely declined as I felt
safer travelling alone than with a police escort. After all a historian is
not really a threat to the Maoists. I am glad I went as I had some
memorable experiences there. The districts of Dumka and Devghar
constitute the heart of the Santal land and there are well preserved
markers of the heroes, Sido-Kunnhu, the two tribals who fought in
1856 against the creeping rule of the East India Company. I found the
statue of the two in the heart of Dumka.
Jharkhand being on the border between Bengal and Bihar has been
exposed to religious influences which have shaped the identity of the
place. One can say that the geographical features and cultural
attributes contribute to the making of spatial identities and the best
example of this is the Baba Baidynath Dham located in Devaghar.
This temple probably of the medieval period is a celebrated Dham of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Hindu religion and the puranic lore of the place connects the shrine to
the legend of Siva and sati. The heart of sati, the consort of Shiva is
said to have failed in this place and the shrine commemorates that
event. As a tantric shire this place is marked by animal sacrifices and
the crowds there is indeed tremendous. I manged to find my way to
the Linga with the help of a muscular panda.
Rohini, a small "princely" state spawned by the zamindari settlement
in the late eighteenth century has had an interesting history. It was
one of the first to introduce the concept of seed bank in the early
twentieth century when the state of Rohini subsidized the grain that
was distributed to farmers during a particularly severe famine. This
place was also the first major stop in the spiritual journey of
Ramakrishna Parahamsa whose Ashram is still located in Devghar.
The ruins of the old palaces of Rohini bespeak of an age gone by and
here are some of the pictures which evoke a picture of the age that has
disappeared forever. The descendant of the Rohini ruling family is a
sociologist by training and an extremely gracious person. It was quite
an honour to have met him and his two friends, Nandan and
Chowdhury, during my visit to Rohini.
The place, Rohini has earned a footnote for itself in the history of the
Mutiny of 1857. Though the residents of Rohini are all convinced that
1857 was a War of Independence, the fact is that the echoes of the
Barrarkpore incident had almost an immediate echo in Rohini when
three soldiers led by Salamat Ali killed a cavalry officer, Leslie. With
some difficulty Nandan and Choudhury and Srinjeevi were able to
locate the long-forgotten grave of Leslie alongside the Kolkata-
Mughal Sarai Railway line.
1857 and the events around this landmark have fashioned
commemorative practices which are kitschy as they are poignant.
The place in which Salamat Ali and his two compatriots were hanged
has been made into a Shaheed Sthal, a Martyr's Place, which was set
up in memory of 1857. The statues of the three are found in this park.
Rohini is surrounded by hills and the hill ranges provided space for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the early revolutionaries to try out their explosives and also a

secluded place for nationalists and revolutionaries alike to seek
refuge from the British Secret police. In a forested track located near
the outskirts of Rohini is the mid nineteenth century building, the
Grant Bungalow.
The trip to Jharkhand, particularly Devaghar and Rohini was a
memorable one and I met some very good people there and was
struck by the gracious simplicity of the family of the erstwhile rulers
of Rohini.
Bipan Chandra; The Historian of Grand Abstractions
2014-09-02 09:43
One of India's most eminent historians died two days back at the ripe
old age of 86. Bipan Chandra was a tall figure in the galaxy of state
sponsored historians who set about to create a useable and politically
correct version of India's violent and torturing path to temporary
nationhood. As a professional historian he devoted his entire career
to Modern Indian History, a field of inquiry roughly overlapping
with the rise of the Indian National Congress to prominence in the
second decade of the last century. His historiographical oeuvre was
dedicated to a number of what I call Grand Abstractions: Economic
Nationalism, Indian Nationalism, Working Class Consciousness,
Communalism, Protest Movements etc. Unfortunately, the real
history has an uncanny ability to escape from these procrustean beds
and we are left with historical narratives in which these Grand
Abstractions replace the real-life individuals and real-life situations.
The ability to smell human flesh like an ogre in the fairy tale Jack and
the Bean Stalk is the hall mark of the truly great historian.
Unfortunately, Bipan Chandra was content with the march of these
metaphors, grand abstractions, if you will, and there by hangs a tale.
Bipan Chandra belonged to the world that came of age in the decades
around World War II and that event coincided with the more
aggressive phase of the "Indian National Movement". Jawaharlal
Nehru has entered the stage and young men and women of the time
 Word Craft and Statecraft

found the heady mix of nationalism and left-wing socialism

irresistible and Bipan Chandra essentially inherited this ideological
armature. As the leaders of the Indian National Congress blundered
their way towards Partition, Nehru and his acolytes created the
narrative of Communalism as the main force behind the drift toward
Partition. In this narrative there was no place for honest introspection
of what went wrong: Congress decision to dishonour its Pact with the
Muslim League, the decision to walk out of the Governments formed
under the Government of India Act of 1935 and most important of all
the decision to launch the Quit India Movement in 1942. These steps
towards Independence were also giant steps towards Partition and
historians like Bipan Chandra were keen to highlight one side of the
story which inevitable served the political needs of the nascent Indian
national state and the ideological needs of the Indian National
Congress. As a historian he should have drawn attention to the fact
that the Congress Party membership largely excluded the Muslims
and as Perry Anderson has observed, less than 2% of the membership
came from the Muslim populations of United Provinces.
Bipan Chandra was by all accounts a well-respected teacher and his
Ph.D. scholars virtually adored him. This is truly a testimony to the
affection and esteem he commanded in the field. He held several high
positions and was one of the few historians to be honoured with the
Padma Bhushan. His death is a loss and even those who did not agree
with him like this blogger will mourn his loss as all of us like to
quarrel with his intellectual output.
A Trip to Allepey: Venice of the East
2015-02-21 19:49
Alappuzha or Allepey is sometimes called Venice of the East. It was
an important port from where spices were exported to all parts of the
world in the medieval period. To facilitate the movement of spices,
canals were constructed on which the typical long boats of Kerala
used to ply. The beautiful Vembanar Lake, a large water body forms a
breath taking and a scenic backdrop to this beautiful city. I had
reasons to visit this city recently as I was invited by a student of mine
 Word Craft and Statecraft

to deliver the keynote address for a National Seminar in a College

there. We spent three wonderful days and I want to share my
experience with my readers. Here goes:
The Lighthouse
The Spice Warehouse
A House by the Canal
The Rajarajesvari Temple
A Beautiful Lamp
The Mullaly Market
The Sunset on the beach
Saint Joseph's College for Women which is doing a splendid job in
educating girls
The Ambalapuzha Temple
The same Temple
An excellent place to get snacks by the Boat Jetty
The first Protestant Church built in 1816
The Altar of the Church
A view of the canal
Our trip to Allepey was wonderful and will remain in our mind for a
long time. Well worth a visit.
HISTORY
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Is Tamil a Classical Language? The Politics of Caste and Identity

2010-06-28 09:41
In a few days' time the World Classical Tamil Conference will begin
in Coimbatore and everyone particularly the people of Tamil Nadu
seem to be very excited about the whole tamasha. So far no one has
even dared to ask the question: Does Tail, the media tamizh
popularised by the two Dravidian parties has actually impoverished
the Tamil language and has made the native speakers of Tamil adhere
to a very a narrowly defined ethnic and linguistic identity.
The politicised linguistic identity popularised by the Dravidian
movement has led to a situation that even so-called pulavars of Tamil
cannot read a book printed in the Tamil language before the advent of
the pure-Tamil movement launched by Professor Sunadaram Pillai
and others. If you pick up any book printed in the nineteenth century
you will encounter a complete language and none of the scholars of
Tamil who will fully valorise only the so-called Samgam Tamil are
even in a position to read it. How can one be called a scholar in Tamil
language and literature if he/she is unable to read Nalaira Divya
Prabandam and other works which include the Bhakti hymns and the
compositions of the Alvars.
My point is that politicians cannot define the language and use a
politicised linguistic consciousness to propel themselves and their
families to power. The present fixation with Sanga Kala Ilakkiyam is
akin to the Englishmen saying that the only English they will speak is
the English of Chaucer and that all French words will be excised from
the language. It does not take too much imagination to say that in
English as we know it will just fade away. Tamil is now in the danger
of becoming a language whose utility as a vehicle of communication
is now under severe stress.
A classical language is essentially a historical construct. After the
collapse of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD there was
what Sheldon Pollock in his Language of the Gods in the World of
Men has called the venularisation of Europe. Around the same time in
 Word Craft and Statecraft

India too, the regional languages, grammars and literature came to be

developed. As the vernaculars looked back from the stand point of the
humanist Renaissance of the 14ht or 15th century they saw in Latin the
roots of their own language, particularly the written form which the
vernaculars took in the 8th or 9yth century precisely the time from
when regional cultures developed in India. It makes sense to speak of
classical in the context of Europe as Latin was indeed the basis of the
scripts and grammars of all the vernaculars particularly, French and
German. Did such a situation exist in India. The answer is NO.
The antiquity of a language cannot determine its so called classical
status. If the antiquity of a language should be allowed to determine
the classical status, then all the tribal languages of India and the world
must be declared as classical languages. Even the criteria of written
script are being politicised. The introduction of writing began with
Ashoka when he inscribed his edicts all over India to propagator
Buddhism. Literacy may have been introduced in pockets of NW
India after the conquest of Alexander. In fact, all the Tamil Brahmi
inscriptions are dated after Ashoka and even Iravatham Mahadevan
who of late has started singing a different tune has admitted as such
in several of his earlier works.
The Harappan script has not been deciphered and therefore any
reading of the symbols as representing Tamil is sheer fraud. It is not
[possible to Trace the antiquity of Tamil as a script before Asoka. The
shadow boxing that high caste Tamil scholars who were fanatical
saiva siddantists had with Sanskrit with its alleges Brahmanical bias
is responsible for the constant refrain about the antiquity of Tamil.
Even then, Sanskrit words as George Hart himself has shown in his
Poems of Ancient Tamil occupy more than 40% of the Tamil Texts
collected in the sangam anthologies. I must say that the close
similarity between the Bhakti poems belonging to the Palalva Age
and the hymns of the alvars and nayanmars suggest close proximity
in age, a point brought out by Herman Tieken.
It appears that Tamil scholarship has degenerated into medai Tamil
(Platform Tamil). The construction of a Tamil identity based on
 Word Craft and Statecraft

language is part of the process of mobilisation of the backward non

brahmin castes such as the mudaliars and the saiva pillais to achieve
political power. I do not see why they continue to indulge in such
gimmicks even now that they are in power.
In a recent newspaper article Shri Iravatan Mahadevan published
four pieces of evidence to show the antiquity of the Tamil language at
least in its written form. The signet ring bearing the name of a sangam
chief is obviously suspect as it has not been found in an excavated
context. Further, the Amaravathi River basin near Karur has
generated a small-scale industry for the manufacture of "sangam" age
coins which are duly authenticated by a set of "epigraphists" and
"historians" whose ideological motive is to push back the antiquity of
writing and literacy. There is also the impulse to give credence to the
Sangam poetry whose date cannot be determined.
Niaill Ferguson's Civilization: The West and the Rest
2011-05-30 00:01
Niall Ferguson has won for himself the status of a "rock star" among
historians. Like Fernand Braudel, he too takes history not in short
bursts of time but surveys large processes of historical change and
development from a comparative perspective. World historians have
turned their attention to a singular aspect of world history especially
after the onset of Globalization as an economic force backed by multi-
lateral institutions such as the WTO The Great Transformation
attempted to explain just this question. The intellectual arrogance of
Marxism and the dominance of the leftists in the field of History
resulted in other theories doing the rounds including the dressed-up
version of Immanuel Wallerstein, the World Systems Approach with
its circular centre/periphery dichotomy.
Niall Ferguson's Civilization explains the growth of the West in terms
of its inherent historical processes. Competition which enabled
economic production to compete for markets and patent laws that
protected intellectual property rights enabled the western world to
make the transition to economic growth. The wide spread diffusion
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of artisanal skills which kept the labour market wide open, unlike the
closed caste structures in societies such as India meant that there was
close cooperation between those who practiced crafts and those who
theorised about them. The Scientific Revolution together with the
print culture made knowledge widespread in western societies.
Ferguson writes like a true believer. He completely ignores the
horrendous human tragedy that ensued in the wake of Western
advance into the world of the "REST". Can there be a greater human
tragedy than slavery that became the basis of Western economic
dominance. After all, as an economic historian he understands there
are "competitive advantages" due to low labour costs.
Although, Niall Ferguson sings hosannas for Capitalism, this is an
interesting read.
Treasure Trove in the Padmanabhan Temple, Travancore
2011-07-02 02:13
Travancore, a princely state that tried to become a member of the
United Nations after the declaration of Independence in 1947, has
always been an example of good governance thanks to the efforts of
Sir T Madhava Rao, the Prime Minister in the second half of the
nineteenth century. The kings of Travancore devised a novel
legitimizing strategy for their rule. They ruled in the name of the
Deity, Padmanabhan, one of the forms of Vishnu. The kings claimed
to be the deputy of the deity. Such a political theory was obviously
inspired by the political practices of the Vijayanagar Empire. The
wars with the Dutch, the Portuguese and the expanding sultanate of
Mysore especially under Tipu Sultan made the kingdom of
Travancore an early entrant into the subsidiary alliance and the Rajas
of Travancore were firm supporters of the Company like the
Mahratta chieftains, Scindia, Holkar and the Gaikwad.
The good administration together with the prosperity engendered by
the trade and commerce made the kingdom extremely rich. The
discovery of the treasure trove in the Padmanabhan Temple reflects
this.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Two days back i.e. 30th June 2011, the ante chambers near the sanctum
sanctorum of the temple was opened and a veritable treasure trove
was discovered. Nearly 1000 golden chains, bag full of diamonds,
golden plates, fabulous jewellery, and a numismatists' delight in the
form of hundreds of coins dating to the medieval period down to the
rulers of Travancore. The inventory of this treasure trove is being done
under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court. The
Archaeological Survey of India has lost its credibility due to its
partisan role and politicised nature of its functioning. In fact, the
suspicion that many entertain that the ASI and its top brass are
involved in smuggling of antiquities makes us extremely
apprehensive of any cultural property which is in the hands of the ASI.
The temple was the personal property of the ruling family and
therefore the situation in Travancore or Trivandrum is much
different from that of Tamil Nadu where temples became state
property as soon as the Company established itself. The various
instruments of accession signed at the time of Independence are
specific to Government property and excluded religious holdings.
This being the case the ruling family can make a good case for the
restoration of the jewellery to the descendants of the last raja of
Travancore. The precedent in this case is like that of the Nizam of
Hyderabad who was permitted to keep his personal wealth.
The discovery of the treasure trove provides a major opportunity for
historians to study a hug cache of historical antiquities. Numismatists
must take the opportunity to analyse the coins using the methods that
Peter Spafford has outlined in his Money and its Uses in Early
Medieval Europe (Cambridge 2009).
Subash Chandra Bose: His Majesty's Opponent by Sugata Bose
2011-09-19 21:53
Subash Chandra Bose is a tragic figure in Indian history and an
enigmatic personality in Indian historiography. Jawaharlal Nehru,
his rival and a self-appointed heir of Gandhi declared with joyful glee
that Bose had died in a plane crash near Taiwan and thereby ignited a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

controversy which is still reverberating. Nehru relief at the untimely

demise of Subash Chandra Bose was transparently clear and I dare
say that Nehru was the real beneficiary of the death of Subash
Chandra Bose. The plane crash removed from the scene a very
powerful and charismatic figure from the landscape of Indian
politics. And the quick elimination of Gandhiji meant that in the post-
Independence era, Nehru was virtually without a rival. Even Sardar
Patel was constantly humiliated by Nehru in the years following
Independence, that he died a broken man, his dreams shattered by
the barrage of humiliation inflicted by the first Prime Minister.
Incidentally, on the day Gandhi met his untimely death he was
scheduled to meet Nehru and talk to him about the impending
resignation of Sardar Patel from the cabinet.
The political life of Subash Candra Bose is fascinating, and the
eminent historian Dr Sugata Bose has done a splendid job in
contextualizing the career of Bose within the framework of the
national movement. Jawaharlal Nehru being a rumbustious factional
leader had created a pro-left faction within the Congress party. While
public ally deferring to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru astutely
created a ginger group consisting of left wing ideologues like
Kriplani and Jayaprakas Narayan and this left oriented faction was
being pitted against the nationalist such as Bose. One outcome of this
strategy was the marginalization of Subash Chandra Bose within the
Congress Party and even when Bose won the election to the
Presidency of the AICC, the Nehruvian faction prevailed upon
Gandhi to disown Bose. The rest as they say is history.
Bose's decision to leave India and seek the assistance of Japan and
Germany remains a controversial issue in Indian historiography. The
pro-Nehru bran of state sponsored historians like Bipan Chandra and
the like hint that Subash Chandra Bose was a proto fascist and explain
the alliance with Germany in terms of an inherent anti-democratic
streak in the personality of Bose. What they deliberately ignore, and
this point is well argued in Sugata Bose's recent book, is that factional
in-fighting within the Congress aided and promoted by Jawarhar Lal
Nehru had made the exit of Bose from the Congress inevitable.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Sugata Bose has quite rightly pointed out that Bose did not envisage a
long-term alliance with Germany as he was fully aware of the
implications of German Nazi ideology. In fact, Germany hardly gave
any help to Bose except arranging his transport via submarine to
Japan. However, Subhash Chandra Bose's alliance with Imperial
Japan did result in untold suffering when war crimes were
committed by the Japanese forces on the Islands. Subash Chandra
Bose being the head of the Interim Government cannot be absolved
from the blame for the massacres in Port Blair. Sugata Bose
unfortunately does not deal with this painful chapter.
The book under review is very good and scholarly and deserves to be
read by all serious students of modern Indian history.
E J Hobsbawm: A Tribute to a Historian
2012-10-01 21:47
Writing History is not easy and to write the histories that endure is
one of the most difficult intellectual tasks and E J Hobsbawm who
dies in England yesterday epitomised this truth to the fullest extent.
Along with Rodney Hilton, Christopher Hill and a handful of young
activists of the British Communist Party, E J Hobsbawm was the
founder of the Past & Present Society, a historical forum which
pioneered the use of Marxist and Marxian method to the study of the
past. EJ Hobsbawm was also a rigorous advocate of the theoretical
mode of apprehending the past which rejected the naive narrative of
political and military events as the backbone of Historiography.
The rise of the Nation State in the nineteenth century made it
necessary for the newly emerged nations to seek legitimacy for their
existence in the past and following the German historian Ranke, the
professional historians rallied around the war cry of nationalism. The
Marxist historians avoided the allure of nationalism, but fell to the
seductive charms of the Communist World Revolution. E J
Hobsbawm was an early adherent of this ideological label as he
himself says in his extremely lucid autobiography.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Hobsbawm can be called a social historian in the most complete sense

of the term because he believed that events in history can only be
explained when they are placed in the context of society in which the
events are rooted. He is however not a blind follower of the economic
deterministic model for explaining the past. Individuals act out of
choice not necessity, but their choice is largely structured by
circumstances transmitted through time. His best work in which this
method of social history is worked out is his study of Bandits.
This elegant work along with its companion volume, Primitive
Rebels tries to explain social banditry in terms of a society which was
transforming itself from an agrarian or peasant society to one in
which commerce and industry were becoming increasingly salient.
In Labouring Men, Hobsbawm tried to unravel the culture of the
English working class as it was changing from an artisanal class to a
work force in the newly industrializing parts of England even as it
was reeling from the after effects of the enclosure movement.
Hobsbawm historiography was rooted in the joyous optimism which
as he is not tired of pointing out was inherited from his Jewish
mother. There is a purpose to human existence and it is the historian's
sacred duty to document the richness and colour inherent of man's
struggle for survival. This meaning which the study of history
imparts has been virtually thrown away by a whole generation oh
historians who marched under the banner of post colonialism and
literary perspectives.
By diminishing history and making Historiography a variant of
"discourse" and a discourse inflected with power in the Saidian sense,
history stood impoverished and it was left to E J Hobsbawm to soldier
on tirelessly against the demons of deconstruction and relativism.
The death of E J Hobsbawm is a tragic loss to the world of History and
this blogger not a Marxist but a historian, pay my tribute to a great
historian whose work will continue to inspire generations of men and
women who believe that human life has meaning, and History is the
only means available to record it.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

David Cameron's Apology for Jallianwala Bagh Incident: History

and Memory
2013-02-21 07:58
The Prime Minister of Great Britain, the Rt. Hon'ble David Cameron
was extremely gracious, and this is not said in a condescending
manner. He visited the site of the April 19th, 1919 Jallianwala Bagh
Incident and performed the parikrama and knelt down before the
memorial in an apparent gesture of contrition and homage. I think
this gesture was both sincere and a genuine expression of the fact that
the Anglo-Saxons have finally come to the realization that the Empire
over which the 'sun never set" is done and over with. Winston
Churchill, then a liberal MP had condemned the Incident and within
India the incident of 1919 sparked off fumes of outrage which the
Congress party successfully used for its own political ends.
There is a larger question: Why should the present Prime Minister of
Britain, a man who was not even born at that time and who is not in
any way connected to the event apologize for the Incident that
happened nearly 100 years ago. Are we now seeing the Great Powers
of the past making amends for the real and imagined crimes of the
"imperial" rulers? Can we now expect the Commander in Chief of the
British Army to come and apologize for the barbarism of General
James Smith Neill in 1857? While such gestures are useful in terms of
diplomatic and political relations, the historian must necessarily see
things differently.
The Congress Party gave a call for a public meeting at Jallianwala
Bagh to protest against the Rowlett Act and the Governor of Punjab
had declared Martial Law. The day chosen by the Congress was the
day of Baisakhi, a very important public holiday in Punjab when
people go out and gather in open areas to greet people and generally
exchange pleasantries. The cynical use of a public holiday by the
Congress has not drawn the attention of scholars who do not seem to
understand that for its own political purpose the Congress sought to
hijack an innocent and a political gathering for its diabolical scheme
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of provoking a reaction from the Administration which would add

fuel to the fire that had already started in parts of India.
The Congress which was leading the movement was aware of the fact
that the martial law in place would result in bloodshed and with
cynical disregard for the lives of innocent people gave the call for a
meeting in Jallianwala Bagh. What does this decision represent? It
means that the Congress wanted bloodshed so that its political
purpose would be served. While the British Prime Minister has now
been gracious to apologize for the Incident, it is time for the Congress
to own up for its role in the Incident. The history of the freedom
struggle everywhere is full of violence and it is time to lay to rest the
ghosts of the past. 319 people were killed according to the official
Inquiry Report and the real number will never be known.
New Light on India's Relations with Tibet: Weapons supplied to
the Tibetans in the years after Independence in 1947
2013-08-14 09:40
The Indian Government has always pretended to follow a
"principled" policy towards Tibet. One the one hand it recognizes the
fact that Tibet is an integral part of China and on the other provided
space for the Dalai Lama to indulge his fancy for high decibel
diplomacy and publicity and China rightly objects to this dual policy.
Based on perfidy and exercised through duplicity this policy has
stood in the way of realizing the full potential of Indo-Chinese
relations. The two form the very heart of Asian civilizations and there
is at least 2,550 years of peaceful history behind the civilizational ties
between India and China. Unfortunately, successive Congress
regimes have built their foreign policy on instinctive hostility toward
China, rather than exploring the threads that bind these two giant
neighbours together. And in following this policy, the Government of
India starting with the first Prime Minister, Jawarhar Lal Nehru were
essentially following the colonial policy enunciated by the British
Government in order to keep China under constant threat. The
greatest failure of Nehru lies in his wooden headed pursuit of an
 Word Craft and Statecraft

aggressive China policy without taking into consideration the

alternatives. Today as we survey the landscape, we find China
standing at the very doorstep of economic powerhouse and India is
facing a bleak future because of the inherent stasis created by a
corrupt political class and corruption.
Documents recently discovered in the National Archives of India
clearly prove that in the 1940's even as the country was facing the
massive onslaught of the Japanese Empire, the then British
Government was instrumental in supplying arms and ammunition to
the Dalai Lama and his followers in China. The 11-year-old "Dalai
Lama" neither had the wit nor the education to understand what the
English secret services were up to and after Independence Jawahar
Lal Nehru continued the same policy while publicly proclaiming the
homilies of "panch sheel". The Revolutionary Government of China
obviously saw through this grand pantomime. Therefore, the prime
responsibility for the border conflict in 1962 rests with the
Government of India and its misguided policies and perspectives.
The Political Officer looking after Tibet and Sikkim in the waning
years of the Raj, Mr A J Hopkinson put up a note to his superiors
asking for funds to equip a brigade level force in Tibet with 2- and 3-
inch mortars, sten guns, machine guns and Bren machine pistols. The
Memorandum of May 29, 1947 which is found in the national archives
of India (frontline August 23, 2013) contains a reproduction of this
important document. The officials were certain that this policy of
sending arms will be vigorously contested by the Chinese
Government and even Chiak Kai Shek did not acquiesce in this
wrong and anti-Chinese policy. The programme of arming the "peace
loving" monks of Tibet began soon after the Francis Young
74husband expedition to Tibet and picked up momentum after the
Revolution of 1911.
Even after Independence when the departure of the British should
have induced fresh thinking, the policy of arming the Tibetans
continued. In October 1947, Sam Manekshaw, then a Lt Col.
approved the transfer of weapons and 1,484,000 rounds of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

ammunitions to Tibet. it is likely that Britain wanted a foothold in

Tibet in order to exert pressure on China both with regards to
Kowloon and Hong Kong.
Independent India did not have any such strategic objective and why
was Jawaharlal Nehru so utterly foolish and short-sighted.
The absurdities of Indian Archaeology: The Temple of Gloom and
the ASI
2013-10-22 21:24
The Archaeological Survey of India which was established more than
a century and a half ago has earned a name for itself and its history
has been ably documented by the Prime Minister's daughter,
Professor Upinder Singh in a fascinating book, The Discovery of
Ancient India Sir Alexander Cunningham who was the first
archaeologist to uncover the material past of India realized that there
were no written records on which a reconstruction of the historical
archaeology of India could be based and so he turned to the Chinese
pilgrims who visited India in the early medieval period in search of
Buddhist manuscripts.
It was left to another great archaeologist, Sir Aurel Stein to discover the
letters written by some of these early pilgrims in monasteries all along
the famous Silk Road. Archaeological discoveries stimulated an interest
in the past and it was only a short hop step and jump to "nationalism"
underpinned by a robust historical base in which India was imagined in
myriad forms and one of the forms was that of a nation state. History
and Archaeology were inscribed in the very start of the long and
tortuous journey to "nationhood" as articulated by politicians like
Nehru and Jinnah. Apart from the political uses of an "ancient" past to
justify Indian "nationhood" there was also the "medieval|" past to
legitimize the quest for nationhood by the Islamic minorities of the
Gangetic plains. Further, the discovery of the early urban civilizations
in the Indus River Valley led to the appropriation of the early urban
culture to the so called Dravidian cultural strand of India whose most
vehement exponents were the Tamils of the deep south.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

One enterprising IAS officer, Mahadevan, even created cult

following for himself by "reading" certain symbols on the seals of the
Harappan civilization as Tamil characters and this man before he
slipped into dotage even "deciphered" a seal as the representation of
the Tamil god, Muruga. Therefore, Indian Archaeology is full of
twists and turns and one is not totally surprised at the present rather
strange developments.
On the banks of Ganges there is the non-nondescript temple
illustrated above. The temple has been the scene of a most bizarre
treasure hunt. A local god man declared that 1000 tonnes of gold was
hidden in the temple and he claimed that the last king of the region
had appeared in a dream and instructed him to dig out the gold. In
any other part of the civilized world this story would have been
dismissed with the contempt it deserves. Indian Universities like the
infamous Jawahar Lal University which was in the forefront of the so
called Ramajanmabhoomi Controversy have maintained a stony
silence over this alacrity with which the UPA Government
dominated by the Congress party ordered the Archaeological Survey
pf India to excavate in the area suggested by the godman.
The last king of the kingdom was hanged by General James Neill
when his forces reconquered the area with the help of soldiers from
Madras. So, the king is a martyr to "Indian Nationalism". The last
week has seen hectic activity at the site. The Geological Survey of
India used ground penetrating radar and declared to anyone who
cared to listen that there were solid metal objects under the thick
vegetation lending a degree of credence to the story of the god man,
Om Swami as he is styled. A congress member and a Minister in the
Cabinet of Man Mohan Singh instigated the ASI to order an extensive
dig at the site of the temple. The result is that a major historical site has
been vandalized as a consequence of governmental actions and
decisions. No one has ever heard of an archaeological excavation
taking place anywhere in the world on the thin foundation of a senile
god man. The frantic pace of digging has not unearthed a single piece
of copper and the site, a potentially important medieval site has been
utterly devastated.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Government of India bypassed all regulatory agencies governing

the management of archaeological sites. At the whim of a Minister
who happened to be a follower of the senile god man the excavation
was ordered. Not a penny was found as there is no hoard buried
there. Already the same god man has spread stories of another
treasure waiting in a place close by the Unnao, Fatehghar. The
upcoming Parliamentary Elections which is certain to see a landslide
in favour of the Opposition has made the Government of India
undertake this ridiculous excavation as the senile god man enjoys a
strong support among the backward castes of the region. Indian
Government is in the news all for the wrong reason: scams, scandals
and now the mad cap treasure hunt.
The Massacre of the Sikhs by the Congress Party in 1984: Memory
and History, Helium, a Novel
2013-11-10 19:26
Helium, Jaspreet Singh, Bloomsbury, 2013
Violence is a part of History and the Nation States of today prefer to
erase violence, especially collective and concentrated acts of demonic
destruction of life from the pages of History. India is not an exception.
In the West, the Holocaust is passed off as a Nazi aberration with the
ordinary Germans participating only as innocent bystanders and this
version history sits quite comfortably with the ideological and
political realities of the Cold War and post-Cold War geo political
environment. In India too, there has been a denial of violence as a
factor in the collective existence of India.
The "Secular" scholars wax rather eloquently about the "Idea of India"
which they associate with Jawaharlal Nehru ignoring the fact the he
oversaw the largest mass killing in the history of the Indian
subcontinent when the political leadership of the Congress and Lord
Mountbatten decided to bring forward the date of Indian
Independence from 1948 without bothering to prepare for the
enormous tragedy that was to unfold. We may not ever know the
numbers, but a figure of 3 million killed or displaced on both sides of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the border is certainly possible, making the birth of the so called

democratic republic of India one of the most bloodstained in the
twentieth century. Yet the acolytes of Nehru pretend that Nehru and
his Interim Government cannot be blamed.
The "communal factor" and the "communalism" in Indian politics is
one theme that plays itself out in Indian historiography without any
theoretical or empirical understanding. The framing of the political
issues either prior to Partition or Post Partition (I deliberately do not
use the world Independence) as "communal" or "secular" is a game
that began with the Congress when it participated in the 1937
Elections in the United Provinces and other parts of British India
under the Government of India Act of 1935. The Congress did not win
a single seat earmarked for the Muslims though it presented itself as a
"secular" and the only organization that represented all sections of
the Indian population. Instead of introspecting and trying to
comprehend the alienation of the Muslim population the Congress
did what it always does best: it created a bogey man so that it could
use the bogeyman to frighten the Muslims into supporting the
Congress.
From 1937 after the Congress failed to win even a single seat and
when the Muslim League swept all the Muslim seats thereby
exposing the fact that the Congress did not enjoy the support of the
Muslim minority, the Congress leadership particularly Nehru and
his "progressive" faction within the Congress started virulently
attacking the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak
Sangh (RSS) and converted the political discourse on the future of
India as a common homeland for both Muslims and Hindus into one
of conflicting religious identities. The more stridently Nehru
lambasted the so called Hindu organizations whose strength was
very poor amidst the electorate, the more aggressively Jinnah put
forth his case for Pakistan. The fact is that the failure of Congress
leadership and its cynical use of a non-existing threat to garner
support of the Muslim minority resulted in strengthening the march
toward Partition. To this of course, we can add the folly of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

resignation from the Ministries in 1939 and the 1942 Movement. This
rehearsal of history is needed to set the stage for the most horrendous
act of violence committed by the Congress party in November 1984
when it organized the killing of Sikhs in different parts of Northern
India and the capital, New Delhi on a scale that even the Germans
would have found amazing.
The failure to confront the real the structural underpinnings of
violence in modern India, meant that the country could live in denial
and pretend that violence did not exist in India in any organized
sense. The fact is that the Congress party, particularly in Northern
India had begun to use violence as an instrument of political
mobilization even in the pre-partition days. Gyanendra Pandey and
other historians conflate all acts of political violence as "communal
violence" thereby giving the Congress party the benefit of doubt.
In 1984 soon after BBC announced the death of Indira Gandhi at the
hands of Beant Singh and Satwant Singh her two Sikh bodyguards,
the leadership of the Congress party in New Delhi decided to take
vengeance. Rajiv Gandhi famously justified the violence saying,
"When a big tree falls, the earth shakes". For three whole days
rampaging mobs of Congressmen went from house to house looking
for Sikhs. They were armed with a database of names and addresses
in the form of telephone directories and electoral rolls. Wherever Sikh
men were found, the Congressmen cut their beards and hair and
doused them with petrol and burnt them alive. What was worse is
that successive Congress Governments abetted the crime by
destroying evidence and impeding investigation. Not a single man
was convicted though it is well known that H K L Bhagat, Lalith
Maken, Arjun Das, Sajjan Kumar, and Jagdish Tyler were all involved
in the killings. In several of them were even appointed ministers.
The novel, Helium which we are reviewing is a classic inn its own
right. It is a work of fiction, but fiction is only the form because it
explores the dark savagery of 1984. Violence is often the starting point
of great works of literature of which Primo Levi's works come to
mind. Jaspreet Singh too has done just that. He is a memory keeper, a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

conscience keeper, a record keeper and above all a Historian who

uses his novel to memorialize the unthinkable and verbalize the pain
and suffering of countless victims. As one who has also relentlessly
worked to keep the memory of 1984 alive, I salute Jaspreet Singh and
have no hesitation in saying that this is one of the best novels ever
written on a difficult and contentious theme. The acolytes of the
Congress Party and the apologists of 1984 want to deflect blame and
undermine memory by drawing a false parallel with 2002. 1984 like
the holocaust is a unique event. and cannot be that easily
domesticated in categories of ordinary experience.
The story revolves around the son of a Delhi IPS officer who perhaps
under political compulsions looks away when a Sikh Professor at IIT
is killed. Raj carries the burden of the guilt of his father and much later
in life meets Nelly Kaur, the widow of the Professor who has collected
the documentary and visual evidence of the horrors of 1984 in an
archive in Shimla. The memory of dark deeds committed even in the
soft glow of political and ideological consensus can devastate a
human being and this novel explores that aspect in detail.
Lastly: In these so-called post-colonial times when History is a
"discourse" without any contact with a reality, we need novelists like
Jaspreet Singh who use the craft of the historian to document the
horrors of the past as sirens warning the future about the devils
lurking within us. History must be retrieved, recorded and
remembered.
Queen Ketevan's Bones Discovered and Identified; A Cathedral in
Old Goa Held Her Bones
2013-12-23 09:55
Georgia, a tiny Christian kingdom, lying on the border of the
expanding and fiercely Shia Safavid Empire, was conquered by Shah
Abbas I the Safavid ruler and the captured queen was brought in
chains to Isfahan where according to Augustinian sources she was
imprisoned for 11 years. Shah Abbas, I gave her the unenviable choice
between death or life in his harem and the valiant queen chose
 Word Craft and Statecraft

martyrdom. Her son Teymuraz, for whose safety and protection, the
Queen offered herself as hostage to the Safavid emperor, composed a
hagiographical text, The Book and Passion of Queen Ketevan and after
the Independence of Georgia from the Soviet Union Queen Ketevan
has been reinvented as a heroic, national symbol and has become the
symbol of nationhood, a role that the deeply religious and spiritual
Queen Ketevan would have found both repugnant and distasteful.
The horrific torture inflicted on the Queen which include tearing her
eyes out with red hot pincers, cutting parts of her body and breaking
every limb before she ultimately died was witnessed by some
Augustinian friars who secretly took her body for burial to Goa
which was part of the Portuguese empire. The seventeenth century
records speak of the interment of her bones near the window of the
transept of the great Cathedral built by the Augustinian order in Goa,
now a UNESCO world heritage site. Since the Independence of
Georgia, the Archaeological Survey of India has been carrying out
excavations at the site to identify the bones of the queen who was
canonized in the nineteenth century. The Queen was martyred in
1624 and a few years later her bones were taken out of Persia. The
image on the right is a nineteenth century representation of the
Queen. Fortunately, for historians there is a great deal of
contemporary evidence relating to the burial of the queen in the
Cathedral at Goa.
However, it was only from 1989 that Indian archaeologists started
looking in earnest for the bones. The interest taken by the ASI
stemmed from the political and diplomatic pressure put on India but
Georgia. Is it necessary for the bones of the martyred Queen to be
returned to Georgia just to serve the political and ideological needs of
the Government in power there? Edward Shevardnadze was the
politician who initiated the search for the bones. In 1994 a stone
reliquary was found embedded in the wall of the transept and had the
windows survived the closest would have been the second window
and since that discovery there has been a great deal of public interest
over this relic. The Archaeological Survey of India only identified it as
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the bones, perhaps of a woman and it bore unmistakable marks of

great trauma.
The Georgians were convinced that it was the bone of their Great
Queen Ketevan and they carried the relic to Tiblis where it was
received with all the honour due to a Head of State. In the rewriting of
History which will inevitable result when the past gets so heavily
encrusted with the ideological demands of the present, will be
forgotten one inconvenient truth: Queen Ketevan had invited Shah
Abas I to invade and help her son get the throne and wanted the
Safavids to guarantee the security of her son. That however does not
justify or mitigate the horrible death she was bore.
The relics were found in the tower of the Augustinian Cathedral.
In a stunning new development, Indian scientists were able to
confirm the remains of the queen by extracting the mitochondrial
DNA and comparing it with the descendants of the queen in Georgia.
Since mt DNA is passed only along the female line, this confirmation
is almost accurate, and we know that the Queen did not have an
identical twin. The UIB strand in the DNA sequence is not found in
the Indian population but is statistically very pronounced in the
Georgian population.
The identification of this relic is indeed a remarkable instance of how
important the skills of a historian are in the reconstruction of the past.
The Well of Sorrows at Ajnala, Punjab: History Rediscovered,
Martyrdom Reinvented
2014-03-08 14:55
The ghosts of Punjab's bloodied past have the uncanny habit of
raising up at the most inopportune time. History has to be accounted
for and airbrushing inconvenient truths of the past may work in the
short run, but finally History will have the last laugh. Just at the very
moment that the Congress Party in India thought that it had
exorcized the ghosts of the state sponsored pogrom which the party
organized in 1984 after one of their leaders was killed, came the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

revelation that Indira Gandhi has sought the aid of the British
Government in helping her draw up the plans for the attack on the
Holiest of Holy shrines of the Sikhs, the Golden Temple at Amritsar.
The discovery of the letters relating to this episode in India's recent
past is bound to have a decisive impact on the Sikh vote in the Punjab.
The British Prime Minister for reason best known to him came to the
city of Amritsar and apologized for the "Jallianwala Bagh Massacre"
of 1919. One more ghost from the past seemingly laid to rest. Now just
as things were beginning to quieten down, the discovery of the Well
containing the bones of the soldiers who were summarily executed in
1857 has been uncovered not far from Amritsar, a place known as
Ajnala. For some reason the Well was known as Kalion ka Kuan or the
Well of the Blacks and now there is a clamour for the name to be
changed to Shidon ki Kuan or the Well of Martyrs.
The picture given alongside shows some of the bones discovered
during the course of a week-long excavation at the local Gurudwara
in which the well was located. Under nearly ten feet of soil the bones
had been buried. More than 5000 bone fragments, 89 skulls, traces of
clothing, metal coins and other artefacts were uncovered. The
Congress Party ever eager to appropriate the past to its own political
purposes sought through Amrinder Singh to have the place declared
a monument to the Heroes of 1857 a proposal which was rightly shot
down by the Akalis. The Akali position that the Sikhs were not
involved in the Revolt of 1857, of course, raises the even more
historically troubling question about the role of the Sikhs in the
suppression of the Mutiny in 1858 along with the Madras Fusiliers
under General James Smith Neill.
The Sepoys of the 26th Native Infantry who were stationed at Mia Mir
Cantonment near Lahore revolted and headed towards Amritsar.
The Deputy Commissioner of the town, Fredrick Cooper, had his
European and "loyal" troops march against the rebels and a large
number of them were killed. Around 282 men were captured and
later killed, and the bones discovered seem to be the remains of the
rebels. The immediate provocation for the brutal suppression and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

summary execution of the 26th Native Infantry was due to the

murder of their commanding officer, Major Spencer.
The documents given above are from the Parliamentary Papers
pertaining to the Revolt of 1857. The statement of Lt. Governor of the
Province, Sir R Montgomery shows that the British Government was
aware of the illegal and brutal suppression of the rebels and were also
aware of the illegal manner in which the 282 were executed. One
more ghost from the past.
Jacques Le Goff the French Medievalist: A Tribute
2014-04-07 15:15
When the twentieth century looks back on its past and tries to locate
the intellectuals who strove to make sense of the past in a meaningful
way, then the names of Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel, E J Hobsbawm,
Georges Duby and Jacques Le Goff will crop up. With the exception
of Hobsbawm all the others belonged to a school of historical
thought, reflection and method which is generally referred to as the
Annales School. While there is considerable disagreement between
different historians on the themes, approaches and methods of
writing history, all the leading members of the Annales School shared
an ecumenical view of History one that skirted the primacy of the
Nation State as the main motor or engine of History.
Right from the days of Ranke the emergence of the Nation State was
seen as the teleos of history, the end result of the long-drawn struggle
between Church and State and the religious conflicts which split
Christendom in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hegel even
made the Nation State the informing ideal of History and the
historical process. The wonton and savage destruction of a whole
civilization in the battlefields of Somme, Ypres and Flanders during
World War I raised questions in the minds of Historians about the
validity of the nation state as the container of the historical process.
From the ruins of World War, I emerged a new way of looking at the
past. Marc Bloch and his friend and collaborator Lucien Febvre
founded a journal in 1929 in which they espoused a Historiography
 Word Craft and Statecraft

unhinged from the political and ideological demands of the Nation

State. The Annales remained a journal devoted to the study of History
not as a mere narrative of events, the dance of kings, queens and their
courtiers on the stage of History, but as problems posed as questions-
-histoire problematique.
The death of Jacques Le Goff on April 1, 2014 brings an end to one of
the most creative epochs of European medieval historiography. Born
on January 1st, 1924, Jacques Le Goff succeeded Fernand Braudel as
the directeur of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales in
1972 and devoted most of his research energy to the uncovering of the
deep structures of culture and ideology, the carapace within which
society functions. The early Annales historians stresses the role of
agrarian organizations and March Bloch famously demonstrated that
the Open Field system emerged in southern France with the gradual
end of serfdom. Using the maps of the Revolutionary period, Bloch
was able to uncover the earlier patterns of farming and field
organization. Under Jacques Le Goff, the Annales turned its attention
to what the French called mentalites, the structures of thought and
behavior informing social life. In books such as Time Work and
Culture in the Middle Ages, The Birth of Purgatory, The Medieval
Imagination and several such contributions Le Goff vastly extended
the domain of medieval history. Understanding the medieval world
in its totality remained the inspiring ideal of Le Goff.
A great historian is no more. This blogger lives works and teaches in
India, far away from the land of Le Goff. I have read his work with
passion and I write these words as a tribute to a Historian who will
forever remain an inspiration.
Now History has moved into the realm of language and language
games. Le Goff rightly avoided the temptation of making History a
mere language game.
Romila Thapar and her critique of Y Sudershan, Chairman, Indian
Council of Historical Research
2014-07-15 13:38
In his, My Quest for the Middle Ages, Jacques Le Goff the celebrated
 Word Craft and Statecraft

French historian writes: History emerges from the questions posed

by historians. Unfortunately, Indian historiography is so caught in
the trap of personalities that even the most celebrated historians of
India, and Professor Romila Thapar is undoubtedly one in the galaxy,
is not able to come out of that trap. Even since 1969 when India
Gandhi and her regime decided to create a "secular" history for India,
the writing of Indian history has degenerated into a never-ending
game of name calling and label sticking: Communal, Reactionary,
Obscurantist, Ultra Nationalist etc are some of the label bandies
about and a great historian like Romila Thapar is not expected to lend
her authority to this charade.
The fact is that India became a Nation in a historical process that is
both complex and controversial. It was with an air of misguided
triumphalism that Nehru declared in his speech that that at the
"stroke of the mid night hour when the world sleeps India will wake
to life and freedom". India awoke to the most horrendous nightmare
of violence on both sides of the border and the triumphalist rhetoric
of Nehru has become the credo under which two generations of post-
Independence historians wrote history and taught a Nation centric
history to their innocent acolytes in Universities such as JNU and
Delhi University. Anyone who questioned the wisdom of the ruling
paradigm was dismissed as a communal RSS tainted pseudo scholar.
Therefore, sensible questions about Indian's march to freedom were
not asked and it was left to a Western scholar, Perry Anderson to
expose the "communal" politics inherent in the politics of the
Congress party. Therefore, instead of blaming the so called
Communal forces, is it not possible to view the Congress politics
especially after 1939 as being fraught with dangerous consequences
for the future of Indian nation, making Partition a possibility.
Romila Thapar has in a recent issue of India Today (July 21st, 2014)
criticized the appointment of Prof Y Sudershan Rao to the post of
Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. If she
addresses the larger issue, whether the State should be in the trade
and business of funding History, I might say that there is merit in her
 Word Craft and Statecraft

critique. However, her criticism is directed at the present Chairman at

a personal level. She says that he is not "visible" in terms of research.
The fact is that "highly" visible historians converted ICHR into a
bailiwick of historians who in the name of secular" history only
wrote history that upheld the political settlement of 1947. The fact
that India's freedom came with a fatal flaw was conveniently ignored.
The attack mounted by Romila Thapar, Bipan Chandra and Harbans
Mukhia nearly 45 years back in a little pamphlet, Communalism and
the Writing of Indian History is still the battle cry under which these
historians gather the usual suspects.
It is tragic that after six decades of Indian Independence historians
still bicker over the very idea of India. Y Sudershan Rao apparently
has an interest in the textual basis of Indian history and this is
sufficient for the scholar to declare his interest trivial and irrelevant.
In her book, The Past Before Us, Thapar herself has used literary text
for the purpose of reconstructing the different configurations of
historical consciousness in early India. Of course, every historian has
the right to ask the questions he or she chooses to ask, and I do not
think that the questions posed by one set of historians can be
dismissed tout court.
Another criticism launched against the present Chairman is that he
seeks archaeological validation to the epics such as Mahabharata and
Ramayana. In fact, it was during the regime of Nurul Hasan that the
Archaeological Survey of India started a project of identifying and
excavating sites associated with the so-called epics. The discovery of the
Painted Grey Ware Culture and the Northern Black Polished Ware was
taken to represent some sort of archaeological horizon of the cultures
represented by the epics. In any event, these historians remain silent
when regional cultures such as Tamil region start using literary sources
and in this case the historically promiscuous Sangam Texts for the
purpose of historical reconstruction. There is no place for apocalyptic
rhetoric like "turning the clock back" etc when all that is being done is to
appoint the administrative head of a Government of India body.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Indian historiography has come a long way in spite of the

shenanigans of some historians. And the house of History has several
rooms and there is place for everyone in that mansion. I do not know
why there is attempt made to stifle voices of dissent. Of course,
History is a serious endeavour and unless there is attempt at denying
or falsifying the past, no historian should be declared an exile from
the sacred land.
On Paper: A Grand History of an everyday necessity: How Nicholas
Basbanes looks at History?
2014-11-17 12:59
Nicholas Basbabes has a way with words. He writes clearly and
elegantly on one of the humblest objects we see around us, whose use
we take for granted and yet do not realize that without paper the
world would have been that much poorer. In the course of this rather
long, and at time rambling account of the history of paper, Nicholas
Basbanes traces the diffusion of paper from China to Europe as a
result of the Mongol Conquest. Though in Egypt the reed papyrus
was used as a writing surface at least from the time of the pharaohs,
the Romans after the conquest of Egypt introduced papyri to Europe.
The fall of the Roman Empire, the awful revolution as Gibbon called it
separated Egypt from the Western Roman Empire and animal skin,
vellum replaced papyrus as a writing surface.
Basbanes shows that China was the earliest civilization to
manufacture paper using fibre extracted from trees. paper making
was considered an art form and throughout East Asia handmade
paper was used extensively for writing and painting. From China the
technology diffused to the Islamic world and in the medieval period,
Syria and Fatimid Egypt were centres of the production of paper. The
Islamic conquest of Spain brought this new technology to Spain and
thence it spread to the rest of Europe. There is no doubt that paper
and paper making exerted an enormous influence on the cultural
armature of the western world. Without paper one cannot think of the
Gutenberg Revolution, the Printing Press which marked the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

beginning of Western ascendancy over the rest of the world.

Basbanes ignores the role of India. In India we have evidence of the
use of paper as early as the first century BC in the Buddhist text,
Milindapanho, the Questions of King Menander. However, in India
memory (Smrithi) and Voice (Shruthi) were always prized over
writing and therefore we do not have the same sort of wide spread
use of paper as we find in Europe.
The most interesting parts of the book deal with the various events in
History in which paper played a decisive role, the Stamp Act that
launched the American Revolution and the paper around the greased
cartridges that ignited the flames of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny in India.
The author traces the establishment of the paper industry along the
rivers of North America and also stresses the environmental impact
in the form of the depletion of forests. The discovery of cellulose as an
alternative made it possible for the rapid growth of the Cotex product
(the sanitary pad) and the Kleenex tissues which saved thousands of
lives in the trenches of World War I. The cultural impact of the paper
industry was indeed enormous. The author then discusses the more
specialized kinds of paper used in the printing of passports and
currency notes.
The book is based on extensive research and is certainly packed with
useful information.
Harbans Mukia and his Critique of Indian Historiography
2015-10-28 00:31
In the Hindu dated 27th October 2015, Professor Harbans Mukia
published a scathing critique of Indian historiography and with the
hyperbole that comes naturally to the Left Liberals he terms the
present political situation as a threat to "historiography". Is there any
substance to this argument? It has become a fashion to decry the
nationalists in and out of season and even if the nationalists are
absolutely quiet, it appears that the liberals would like a dog fight. For
the past sixty-five years, India has not seen any major shift in the
paradigm within which History is debated: Communal versus
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Secular, Marxist versus the rest. Such contrived debates do little

either to the profession of History or to the tasks that Historians have
to perform in their societies.
As memory keepers, Historians play a vital role in ensuring that the
past does not become a victim of Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. In
India, we have seen a concerted attempt at rewriting the past keeping
the objectives of the Nation State of 1947 in mind and as a consequence
Indian Historiography is truncated and distorted. Can we study
Kushana History without taking the larger context of Eurasia into
consideration. Similarly, can one study the Delhi Sultanate without
taking the Mongol context and how can one study the so called "Slave"
dynasty without looking at the fact that the same Selujek Turks ruled
Persia and Anatolia around the same time. My argument is simple:
Indian historians rushed in to manufacture a so called National Secular
Historiography and enshrined that in the portals of the University and
any attempt to question it was lampooned as "communal" and
"reactionary". Can we forget the manner in which stalwarts of Indian
Historiography like Sir Jadunath Sarkar and R C Majumdar were
deliberately set aside as "Rankean" and "Reactionary?
Mercifully Dipesh Chakravarty has in his Calling of History studied
the towering work of Sarkar. The need to satisfy the left of Centre
regime that came into power with Indira Gandhi in 1971 resulted in a
virtual moratorium on debate in Indian History. The agenda of
Historical Research was now set by the Left which was keen on
looking at social and economic history to the exclusion of Political
History. R S Sharma's highly original intervention in Indian
Feudalism made historians discover feudalism everywhere. The
appropriation of Indian Historiography entirely by the Left made
meaningful debate impossible. For example, at the theoretical level,
one must investigate the notion of feudalism as a metaphor for the
medieval period as a whole. It has become pass to invoke James Mill
and admonish anyone who seeks to ask searching questions as a
blind adherent of the "colonial" school. The Left Liberals captured the
UGC through Professor Satish Chandra, the Ministry of Education
 Word Craft and Statecraft

through Professor Nurul Hassan and the ICHR through Professor R S

Sharma and his students.
While the House of History has many rooms, Indian Historians
stated letting out the rooms only to their chosen tenants and turned
the Mansion of History into a mere apartment block. The fall of the
Congress Government has created the climate for new questions to be
asked and these questions have remained ignored for the past several
decades. For example, is the Arayan/ Dravidian dichotomy a valid
premise for early history of India. Similarly, did Sanskrit as a
language serve only the instruments of religion and power or was
there as Sheldom Pollock points out, there was a Sanskrit
Cosmopolis. These questions remain unanswered in spite of nearly
seventy years of so-called research. The Left Liberals were guilty of
hounding the dissidents to the point of death. Harbans Mukia
himself was a victim of the intolerance of the Left and he should
remember. The manner in which the Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan series
was ridiculed by these scholars goes to prove their intolerance. The
Let Liberals have finally realized that sarkari historiography with a
post-colonial flavour will not wash.
The Ruins of the Augustinian Church
On September 22, 1624, Shah Abbas I, the Safavid ruler of Persia had
Queen Ketevan killed and subjecting her to horrific unspeakable
torture. She died firm in her belief in her faith, and she was canonized
by the Roman Catholic Church in 1824. Her life and, more
importantly, her afterlife is stirring and evokes a sense of awe. Was
her apparent "martyrdom" a political act designed to strengthen her
son's tenuous hold on the throne of Kakheti, one of the warring
principalities of medieval Georgia. Or was it an act of supreme
defiance a la Antigone: whose law is supreme--the Law of one
Conscience or the Dictates of an earthly ruler. We will never know the
answer and probably, the Queen herself may not have been able to
answer this question. The fact is that several centuries after her
terrible death an apotheosis is underway, and the Queen is emerging
as a symbol of Georgian Nation and her death is now being
 Word Craft and Statecraft

appropriated to push forward a national identity.

Medieval Georgia was a shimmering mirage of quarrelling "little
kings and politically ambitious monks and priests. Ketevan herself
seems to have been instrumental in using her family to have the
reigning king of Kakheti, Constantine assassinated, and this led to
her son Teymuraz I am ascending the throne. King Teymuraz I (1589-
1663) wrote a poem on his mother's martyrdom, The Passion of
Queen Ketevan which is generally regarded as a National Epic of
Georgia. His turbulent reign saw the killing of his two sons at the
hands of Shah Abbas I (1587-1629) and the execution of his mother
and in a sudden unexpected efflorescence of poetic inspiration
composed the poem which recounts in great detail and feeling the
treatment meted out to his mother. Interestingly, the tone and
persona adopted by the King-Poet was one of irony and he does not
condemn either the Governor of Shiraz, the Imam Qulin Khan who
carried out the order of the Shah or the Safavid ruler himself. And this
absence of rancour has raised this poem to the ranks on one of the
great poetical compositions of medieval world literature.
The Tower that I have illustrated on the left is the only standing
structure of the Augustinian Church which was constructed in the
early seventeenth century in Goa. The last few years of her life, Queen
Ketevan had two Augustinian friars who acted as her confessors. It is
certain that after her execution these two priests smuggled her relics
to Goa and had them interred in the transept next to the Altar on what
was referred to as the Epistle side of the Altar.
The Augustinian Church and its associated complex of buildings
were regarded as the most magnificent buildings in Goa. They were
constructed atop the Holy Hill, close to the Office of the Grand
Inquisitor who carried out his nefarious work from the Se Cathedral.
After the religious orders were disbanded in Goa, the building was
abandoned and by 1850 it lay in ruin. The Altar was overlaid with
vegetation and the whole building covered with bushes, rubble and
fallen masonry. Locating the Altar, the Transept and the Window to
the right of the Altar was not easy as there was no plan of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

structure. The original building plan and other documents were

destroyed in the Great Fire of Lisbon in 1755 after the Earthquake
which devastated the Kingdom.
Fortunately, a historian called Antonio da Silva Rego had made
detailed record of the tombstones in the Cathedral based on two
earlier chronicles of the Augustinian Church. The complete set of
documents are preserved with great care in the Goa State and Central
Library. The Curator of the Portuguese Collection, Dr Carlos
Fernandes is a man of great erudition and dedication and he shared
the collection with me. In volume XII pg. 92, this chronicler of the
Salazarism regime has faithfully recorded that the bones of "Reino
Ghatiavanda" were located on the second window to the right of the
Altar.
In 1998 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and when Georgia
became independent, the then Government approached the
Government of India for help in locating the bones of Queen Ketevan.
The Archaeological Survey of India, Goa Circle, under Mohammad
Taher conducted the excavations and close to the exact spot
mentioned in the records of Sila Rego were found the bones of a
woman. A long femur was uncovered, and DNA analysis has shown
that the bones belonged to a woman from Central Asia. The exact
DNA is shared by less than one percent of the Indian population and
more than 35% of the Georgian Population. Of course, there can be no
100% identification unless the DNA is matched with that of a living
descendant of the Queen.
 BOOK
REVIEWS
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The World as it is: A Review of Patrick French Biography of V S

Naipaul
2008-06-06 13:13
It is always a difficult task to write the life of a living writer, and that
too the biography of an opinionated and at time infuriatingly
controversial, but highly talented writer, like V S Naipaul. Patrick
French has succeeded in doing just that: A narrative of the life of V S
Naipaul from the sugar cane fields of Trinidad to the height of Nobel
fame and glory.
The World is what it is covers the life of V S Naipaul from the vantage
point of uncovering the man behind the books; it is reverential
without being dishonest, objective without being cynical, critical
without being scandalous. I enjoyed reading the book as I have been
an ardent admirer of V S Naipaul, and in these days of post-colonial
disregard for truth, we have in Naipaul a writer whose commitment
to truth forms the very foundation of his craft.
V S Naipaul's work is framed by what can be called a double
displacement. His maternal grandfather migrated in the late
nineteenth century from Gorakhpur, in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a state
of India, to the West Indies to work as an "indentured worker" on the
sugar plantations. The abolition of slavery in the British Empire
following the highly "Christian" campaign of William Wilberforce in
1834 resulted in a short fall of labour in the West Indies, and the
Empire turned to the Badlands of northern India to harvest hands to
work on the plantations. The savagery with which the mutiny had
been put down had completely torn asunder the agrarian society of
northern India making it necessary for the likes of Naipaul's
grandfather to seek his fortunes elsewhere.
The second displacement happened when Naipaul won his
scholarship to study at Oxford. Reluctantly he became the chronicler
of individuals and people caught in the grip of forces over which they
had little control.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Patrick French is an excellent biographer and had access to the

private papers of Naipaul which are housed in the oil-rich University
of Texas at Austen. It must be said to the credit of Naipaul that he did
not seek to influence the picture drawn by French, and this stems
from Naipaul's own dedication to the craft of words in the service of
truth.
There are a few dark spots in the life of V S Naipaul. His treatment
towards his wife Pat was certainly shabby. The woman did not once
complain about the treatment meted out to her by her husband. The
violence with which Naipaul treated his lover, Margret Gooding who
bore the pain of three abortions in order to save V S Naipaul the
responsibility of fatherhood, makes one wonder whether genius
always pays homage to a tortured soul.
The Slave Ship: A Human History by Marcus Rediker
Barack Obama's speech on race and racism has quite honestly
triggered an avalanche of interest in the whole issue of slavery. I
recently bought Marcus Rediker's The Slave Ship: A Human History
and having read this wonderful book would like to share my
thoughts with the blogger on this site.
Dr Rediker is currently the Professor of History at the University of
Pittsburgh and has taken his PhD from the University of
Pennsylvania. He is a noted maritime historian and has an earlier
work on slavery entitled The Many-headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves,
Commoners, and the hidden history of the Revolutionary Atlantic.
Like Simon Shama, Rediker has been exploring the history of Afro-
Americans in the Revolutionary era.
All these new works on slavery starting with Phillip Curtin's The
Atlantic Trade are essentially commentaries on the famous line of W
E B Dubois, "the slave trade was the most magnificent drama in the
last thousand years of human history". In fact, Rediker takes the
phrase "human history" from this line of Dubois. He deals with the
period stretching from 1700 to 1808 when the slave trade was
regarded as the most profitable commercial venture, yielding returns
 Word Craft and Statecraft

as high as 700 to 1000%. The English Parliament abolished slavery in

English sea going vessels in 1835 under pressure from William
Wilberforce and other abolitionists.
Marcus Rediker is a hardnosed historian and therefore does not
confuse the issue with mushy sentimentalism. In fact, the book
documents very carefully the "historical context" in which the trading
in "human cargo" was carried out. The eighteenth century opened
when Africa was being criss-crossed by Arab traders who followed
the ancient caravan routes to the west coast of Africa. Here too
trading societies which until a few generations back were mere
fishing villages were beginning to see opportunities in state
expansion and trade both fuelled in part by the artillery and
gunpowder that the Europeans, particularly the Portuguese and the
Dutch introduced. Africa in the turn of the eighteenth century was as
Rediker is at pains to argue a mosaic of stateless societies and more
sophisticated war polities in which capture in war meant a life of
servitude.
Slavery was an established institution in Africa and it was not
introduced by the Europeans. In fact, the Europeans only took
advantage of pre-existing relations and structures in order to acquire
slaves. In the 18th century, the raiding and trading parties were
confined to the coast, an area known as the Bight of Biafra. As the
century proceeded the areas of the interior were also coming under
the baleful influence of the slave trade and this expansion in the range
and scope of them trade was driven by the expansion of the
Dahomey, a kingdom created by the wealth of the slave trade.
The narrative is gripping and is full of insight. Marcus Rediker has
drawn on contemporary slave autobiographies and narratives to give
the human dimension to the Atlantic Trade. It must be said that the
African elites and the Arab Muslim merchants were as much part of
the nexus of slave trade and plantation economy and it is worth
emphasizing this point.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Orhan Pamuk and his evocative novels

2008-06-08 15:18
Turkey is located geographically right in the middle of two great
continents, Europe that lies west of the Straits of Bosporus's and the
vast Asian lands to the east. Such a location is not without its obvious
difficulties, a cultural confusion noted right from the days of
Herodotus is only one obvious problem. Turkey aspires to join the
European Union and as such needs to meet certain exacting
standards of human rights, judicial due process, political and
intellectual freedom etc. This bill of political freedoms in an Islamic
country itself is an anomaly. Yet, Turkey in spite of rising time of
Islamic fundamentalism and even al Qaeda inspired terrorism has
proved to be a stable and vibrant society.
The Nobel Prize for literature has gone to a Turkish novelist Orhan
Pamuk who seems to represent both the grand historical past of the
Ottomans and the contemporary angst in his writings. Most critics
would argue that Orhan Pamuk is a post-modernist in that he
experiments with different structures of time and narrative in his
novels. We can even speculate about Pamuk's questioning of the
Turkish identity of present day Turkey. He has won my admiration
for the courage he displayed in publicly calling upon the Turkish
state to acknowledge the Armenian Massacre that took place in the
first decade of the 20th century.
Pamuk unlike western liberals who blame Islam for all the ills of
present day society. He denounces quite vehemently all those who
preach Islamophobia in the name of spreading democracy. I will quote
a passage from his writings to illustrate the point; It is neither Islam
nor even poverty itself that engenders support for terrorists whose
ferocity and ingenuity are unprecedented in human history; it is,
rather, the crushing humiliation that has infected Third World
countries. For this, the west must be held responsible because it has
failed to comprehend the shame and the humiliation that has fallen on
the poorer nations. Hot-headed military operations and war swill only
 Word Craft and Statecraft

take us away from the order of peace. This sentence sums up all that is
wrong with the policy of powerful nations against Islamic countries.
Pamuk has spoken strongly in favour of intellectual and cultural
freedom in Turkey and was even prosecuted for the crime of insulting
"Turkish Identity". He regards the writer's primary objective as being
the unpacking of all that a culture refuses to talk about: a clinical
examination of the sites of silence in any given society. Politics of civil
liberty and unrelenting questioning of the status quo are the credo of
Pamuk's writing. His writing is aimed at the so called public sphere
constituting civil society and he does believe strongly in the
transformative nature of good writing.
The book that I enjoyed the most was one of Pamuk's earliest novels,
My Name is Red. It is set in the dark days of the Ottoman Empire
when Istanbul was the cultural capital of Asia. The novel attempts an
exploration of the subjective world through the experiences of a
range of characters, Stork, Butterfly, Olive and Esther. The
miniaturist and his world are etched out in a manner that suggests
that Pamuk is quite familiar with the mentalities and approach of the
French Analysts.
Simon Schama: Rough Crossings: A Review
2008-06-08 15:28
Historians like to tell stories, true stories that spring from the
materials that have survives from the past. Putting the events
together in a seamless web of narrative involves great intellectual and
physical effort. When you read a really good historical work based on
exhaustive archival research you get the feeling of drifting into
another world altogether. That is why someone said: The past is a
foreign country. The twentieth century has seen many great
historians: Fernand Braudel, Lawrence Stone, Bernard Bailyn,
Theodore Mommsen and Simon Schama. Of these Theodore
Mommsen won the Nobel Prize and remains the only historian so
honoured. He was a historian of the Roman Empire who shifted the
focus of research from the Empire to the Provinces. He wrote in a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

polished and sophisticated style that probably was considered

literary by the Literature Committee of the Alfred Nobel Foundation.
Thomas Mann was also a good writer and his son Golo Mann has
certainly inherited his father's gift for words.
The stories that historians tell about the past are regarded as true
stories because the characters spring from a whole skein of written
and unwritten evidence, not testimony. Unfortunately, is a moment
of self-destruction probably even of self-delusion, historians began
neglecting the basic features of the craft in favour of abstractions like
"models" "causation" "hypotheses" personification of historical
epochs as "feudal" "capitalist" etc. The result was a general
impoverishment of the art of history writing. Then came Hayden
White who even said that history is only a "construct" like any other
discourse. The sad state of affairs did not last long. Historians soon
realised that a discipline that has been around for nearly 3000 years
cannot be swept aside from the intellectual heritage of mankind.
The craft of writing history not only involves a commitment to truth,
no matter how elusive it may be but also the ability to write in a style
free from the vacuous jargon that clutters the pages of several journals.
One historian who has stood apart is Simon Schama. Trained in the
University of Cambridge Simon Schama teaches at Columbia
University. He is the author of Landscape and Memory and
Embarrassment of Riches. He has just published another excellent
book, Rough Crossings. The American War of Independence is
usually seen as a gigantic struggle against oppression and an epic saga
of liberty and freedom. This patriotic interpretation cannot be
cynically set aside for the simple reason that all the participants in that
struggle, Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Franklin were all
influenced by the dominant intellectual ideas of the time that we now
collectively call the Enlightenment. Yet the principle of human
equality was not present in the minds of those patriots and leads to an
obvious paradox: The Americans fought for their freedom and the
Slaves in the US at that time fought on the side of the British. This point
is ably brought out by Simon Schama in this book.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

After the defeat of the English and after the surrender of Cornwallis
many of the slaves who fought on the side of the British escaped to
Nova Scotia in Canada. In fact, conservative English judges who were
called upon to deliver judgement on the status of slaves who escaped
in British ports usually set them free while liberal ideologues were less
forthright in accepting the theory of mono genesis. Simon Schama has
documented in great detail the lives of several slaves who fought and
died in the American War of Independence. It is a tragic fact of history
that the triumph of the rebels meant postponing the freedom of the
African American population. This book is worth reading.
The City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish: A Review
2008-07-13 15:07
Nearly a century back two young scholars from Oxford University, B
P Grenfell and A S Hunt set out to excavate a site on the banks of the
Nile in Egypt at a time when the tensions between the French and the
British over the status of Egypt was particularly acute. Napoleon had
already discovered the antiquities of Egypt and had published them
in 11 volumes and Joseph Champollion had read the Rosetta's stone
thereby unlocking the secrets of Egypt's past.
Just at a time when the pursuit of archaeology was changing from a
mere collection of antiquities, a la Indiana Jones variety, to a more
scientific and systematic analysis of the material remains of the past,
the explorers stumbled upon a small village with a Greek name
Oxyrhynchos, which roughly translates as the City of the Sharp-
Nosed Fish. Here, we discovered a treasure trove of documents
written on papyri and in the dry desert climate the documents
survived for more than two thousand years opening the doors to the
study not only of Egypt's past but also that of Greek, Latin, Arab and
Byzantine literature. For preserved in the desert sands were literally
mountains of documents and in the hands of a dedicated team of
historians these documents have come to life and along with
inscriptions and coins the documents from this site have become the
mainstay of ancient history.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

A fascinating book has recently been published based on a study of

this site. Peter Parsons, a scholar who worked on the site for nearly 50
years has brought out an eminently readable account of the recovery,
decipherment and publication of the papyri found at the site. Called
City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish: Greek Papyri beneath the Egyptian
Sand Reveal a Long-Lost World is a treat to read. This book
demonstrates the dedication with which the early pioneers of the
discipline of studying ancient documents went about their task. River
fever, long bouts of loneliness, physical attacks, a morose work force
and an obstructive Cairo administration were only some of the
difficulties they faced. Even in the first season of excavation such
treasures as a few lost poems of Sappho, odes of Pindar and Horace
were found and this discovery along with a second century collection
entitled Sayings of Jesus spurred the public interest in the project.
Parsons has given us a delightful book.
An Objective Assessment of Nehru - The Indian Ideology
Reviewed
2012-12-01 11:56
Perry Anderson, the author of The Indian Ideology is a well-known
historian and the author of Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism
and the Lineages of the Absolutist State. In this book, which is
reviewed in this blog, Perry Anderson has raised questions which
Indian historians writing history in the service of the nation state
have failed to ask. Worse anyone even attempting a critical analysis of
the Nehruvian Era is dismissed as a "communal" historian, a label
which makes serious historiography well neigh impossible.
The result is that modern Indian historiography is dominated by
myths which are repeated without the slightest fear of being exposed
as myths. The political trauma of 1947 created not one but two
identity based states and while Pakistan is content with its status as
an Islamic confessional state, India under Nehru has pretended to be
a "secular" state and as Perry Anderson has shown the Congress even
at the height of its popularity in the 1930s did not attract more than 3%
of its membership from the Muslim community.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The conceit of the Congress Party that it represented the entire nation
made the party reluctant to seek accommodation with the Muslim
League and contri8buted to the process of India getting fragmented.
In Indian historiography this episode is usually painted as the wily
Jinnah manipulating the Viceroy behind the backs of the Congress
leadership when most of them were in Jail.
The truth lies as Perry Anderson points out in the arrogance of the
Congress leadership which refused to compromise with the League
even when Jinnah showed a keen desire to engage with the Congress.
The second point that Perry Anderson makes which deserves serious
consideration is the fact that the Elections held under the 1935
Government of India Act the Congress did not win even a single
Muslim seat. And when the Congress leadership decided to quit
office in 1939 after the declaration of war, the field was open for the
league to interact with the Muslim masses and further its ends.
Rather than blaming the League, the politics of the Congress needs to
be reassessed.
Another myth exposed by Perry Anderson which stands modern
Indian historiography on its head is the acknowledgement that the
Congress pursued a communal agenda and the violence directed
against Muslims during Partition emanated from Congress men rather
than the favourite whipping boy of the liberals, the RSS. Given the fact
that the Congress was responsible for the biggest massacre of post
Independent India when thugs of the Congress Party killed more than
15,0000 Sikhs in north India and successive Congress regimes have
abetted in the crime by ensuring that the perpetrators are not brought
to justice, the analysis of Perry Anderson is certainly close to the truth.
The historians maintained by the state lie Bipan Chandra and S Gopal
do not seem to understand that the very dynamics of the movement
led by the Congress contributed to the violence of Partition. Perry
Anderson's analysis of the Nehruvian era from 1947 to 1964 is not
only accurate but is also a sophisticated study of Nehru's methods of
statecraft. As Anderson points out Nehru did not run a Government,
he presided over a Court with fourth rate individuals like Krishna
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Menon, O Mathai, B M Kaul etc. The result was the political disaster
in 1962 when India was soundly defeated by China. Anderson rightly
points out that the McMohan Line which Nehru took as sacrosanct
was the result of British chicanery and China showed every
willingness to negotiate. But given the arrogance inherent in the
Nehruvian vision of India, there was no place for negotiation or
diplomacy: Throw the Chinese out was the motto of the so called
forward policy which led to disaster.
In suppressing the Revolt of the Nagas after Independence, Nehru
permitted his Army, armed with the Armed Forces Special Powers
Act to indulge in extra-legal killings and human rights abuses on a
monumental scale and the result is there form all to see. In Kashmir
also, the same policy of using a local collaborator, Sheikh Abdullah
and then discard him when he began to take Plebiscite promised by
Nehru too seriously. All this while quietly promoting his dynasty
which still unfortunately is in power. The Indian Ideology is a great
book and all students of modern Indian history must read this book.
Nehru was a giant with feet of clay and it is time Indians are told the
truth about their recent past.
Pondicherry, in the Life of Pi
2013-02-02 13:43
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a novel set in Pondicherry, at least a
part of it. Recently I read the book and being a historian by inclination
and profession decided to locate the sights and scenes of the novel in
the actual real context. The surreal echoes of the novel in some ways
reflects the very real spiritual ambiance of the city, I had an earlier
opportunity to research the history and built heritage of Pondicherry
when Professor J A K Tareen requested me to do the Pages from
History. Since then I have been interested in the past of this city where
I have lived and worked for more than a quarter of a century, a city I
now consider my home as my child was born here.
The past creeps upon you in Pondicherry the names of the streets, the
town planning with is grid like pattern of streets and residential
 Word Craft and Statecraft

areas, the division of the town into a black town--ville noir-- and a
white town--ville blanche--the churches and temples and above all
the spiritual radiance from the Ashram which houses the graves of
both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Any visitor to this city leaves a
part of his soul behind when he or she leaves.
Life of Pi is also a story of struggle, longing and memory making it a
great piece of contemporary literature. The novel is a first-person
narrative of a boy, Piscine Moiltor Patel, named after a swimming pool
in France. The French presence is still heavy in Pondicherry. The history
of Pondicherry really began when the French East India Company in
the late seventeenth century acquired a piece of land on which it built
Fort Barlong, perhaps the very site of the Government Park which
stands opposite the Governor's Palace in the heart of the White Town.
We know a good deal about the life and conditions in Pondicherry in
the eighteenth century due to the fortuitous survival of the Journal of a
bi lingual trader and merchant of the town, Ananda Ranga Pillai.
In the early centuries of the Christian era, when Rome was the most
powerful empire in the world, the emporia of Podule is mentioned by
the Roman geographer, Pliny. Perhaps it stood close to the placid
waters of the Ariyankuppam River.
Close by the archaeological site of Arikamedu are the remains of the
Jesuit House built in the eighteenth century. Local legend has it that
the bricks used for the construction came from the archaeological site.
The wars between the French East India Company and the English
East India Company, a part of the global struggle for supremacy
played itself out with great fury in Southern India and Pondicherry
bore the brunt of the destruction during the wars. The American War
of Independence and the Anglo-French struggle for supremacy
called the Carnatic Wars by historians are both parts of the same
historical moment. The English defeat in North America made the
East India Company ever more intense in its determination to
conquer India and defeat the French. A contemporary wood cut
illustrates the destruction of the city.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The war memorial erected by the soldier who won the Battle of Buxar,
General Hector Munro in memory of a soldier who was killed in one of
the battle for control over the fortified town of Pondicherry stands near
the entrance to the town. A contemporary report refers to the fall of
Pondicherry and calls the area Red Hills now corrupted as Gori Medu.
Pi must have seen and wondered what this monument represented.
Such memorials re common all over the battle grounds of the English
and the French. In the eighteenth century the town of Pondicherry
acquired the shape that it has today. The map given below illustrates
the town as is would have been at the time of the Napoleonic Wars in
the late eighteenth century. There was a real fear that the alliance
between Tipu Sultan and the France would result in an invasion of
Pondicherry.
There are references to a Jardin de Botanique in historical sources of
the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Pi and Richard Parker lived in
the contemporary Botanical Garden which was established by
Poivore in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. When Victor
Jacque Mont visited the garden in 1829 he saw more than 900 spices of
plants spread over an area of 1.5 arpents. The French were great
gardeners and where ever they went they established gardens which
had both economic and botanical purposes. The French were
interested in introducing new plants from their overseas territories.
Trees with economic and military potential were particularly sought
after. We have evidence of Mahogany, Teak, Rubber and other
economically advantageous plants and trees being introduced.
Richard Parker lived amidst trees which were nearly 200 years old.
The grave of the founder of the Botanical Garden is located within the
Jardin de Botanique. Surely Pi must have played hide and seek there.
Perottet was responsible for bringing hundreds of seeds and planting
them in this veritable Garden of Eden in which Richard Parker lived.
The tall trees in the Jardin de botanique have faces the vagaries of the
monsoons for over 2 centuries.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Pi experimented with different religions and this shocked his family.

At one point he says that he is a Hindu, Muslim and Christian. The
religious atmosphere in Pondicherry is indeed quite eclectic. The
Bussy street Mosque is a famous landmark of Pondicherry. There is
no way of proving it, but local tradition has it that after Hyder Ali dies
in Dindigul his body was smuggled back to Mysore and on the way
prayers were offered in this mosque. The town in which Pi grew up
was filled with beautiful relics from the French past. The Cathedral of
the Immaculate Conception located on Mission Street still retains its
Gallic extravagant beauty.
There is a native belief that the Temple dedicated to Lord Siva stood
at this site. However, there is no archaeological or historical evidence
to link this monument to the temple whose destruction was ordered
by Dupliex and recorded as such by Ananda Ranga Pillai. Beautiful
stained-glass windows are found in all the major churches of
Pondicherry and this one illustrates Jean d'arc.
Much of the architectural heritage of Pondicherry is due to the
interest taken by Napoleon III during the Second Empire (1848-1871).
The nephew of the famous Bonaparte, Napoleon III was interested in
transforming Pondicherry into a vibrant capital of the French Outre
Mer. One striking example is in the Government Parade Ground later
converted into a Park. Now the place is called Bharati Park and
perhaps Fort Louis stood on this exact site. While the place was being
beautified recently a number of interesting historical objects were
uncovered including the remains of an underground staircase.
This monument in typical neo classical style records the legend
surrounding the excavation of the large artificial tank at
Mutrapalayam. The view of the same structure in the late nineteenth
century is given below.
There are frequent references to ports, and harbours in the Life of Pi.
In fact, his father charters a ship, a cargo ship to ferry the animals of
the zoo, including Orange Juice, Richard Parker and the Hyena along
with his family to Canada and the cargo ship sets sail from
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Pondicherry. In the last century Pondicherry was a road stead and

with the opening of the Suez Canal the port of Pondicherry started
exporting ground nuts, oil seeds and cotton goods. A contemporary
photograph gives us a glimpse of the port of Pondicherry. The Port
building itself has become the Le Cafe Cafeteria on the Promenade.
The stretch of the sea shore now known as the Promenade appears
frequently in the Life of Pi. The Ashram Swimming Pool where Pi
learnt to swim is located at the far end of this stretch of the road.
The Light house visible was built in 1838. The story behind the
construction of this Lighthouse is interesting and is recorded in the
Annales Maritimes. Apparently, the large chimney of the Porto Novo
Iron and Steel Works located near Cuddlier was visible to the sailors
and many of the ships mistook the flaring chimney to be a lighthouse
and headed straight to the dangerous shoals and sand bars. To warn
the sailors of the impending danger this light house was constructed
and is now a major landmark of Pondicherry. The custom house is
located close by.
According to the inscription in French the statue of Dupliex was
erected by Governor Bontemps when Napoleon III was in power.
After sending him in chains from Pondicherry, this great patriot was
recognised as a hero of the French Nation hundred years later during
the waning days of the Second Empire. The statue stands on pillars--
spolia-- from Hindu temples and after Independence this statue and
the pedestal were removed. Pondicherry remains to this day a
beautiful city. Though the culture of the place has deteriorated, and
lawlessness is rampant, and the city or Union Territory suffers from
the close nexus between politicians and criminals, tourists like to see
the Land of Pi. Richard Parker, Pondicherry is your real home and we
will bring you back from Mexico.
A Street Cat, Bob: Love and Redemption
2013-09-24 12:34
The little book by James Bowen, A Street Cat named Bob is a
remarkable tale of love, hope and redemption. The author James
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Bowen, a drug addict and in the jargon of British social welfare office,
a substance abuser, finds a large ginger cat near his dwelling. The
adventures of this duo occupy most of the book. The author has fallen
through the cracks of western society and has ended on the streets of
London without a job and little skill, which can translate into
dependable employment. So "busking" for a living is the only career
choice that is available.
The Cat and James set out by tube to Coventry Garden where James
has a designated spot busking, playing music for voluntary
donations. Since panhandling is forbidden by law in most western
counties, busking invites little attention from the law, provided of
course there it is done in a designated place and there is no complaint
of anticancer James earns at best little more than what was essential to
keep his nose out of trouble. Petty theft and drug addiction were
already on his record and James now has a cat to feed and support.
The bond between the two develops into a stable and mutually
enriching relationship and now James Bowen had a purpose to his
life, something he never had earlier. His life settled down to a routine
of busking in London and the petty quarrels and jealousies his
success and the attention paid to Bob his cat evoked amongst the
other derelicts on the streets of London is brought out well.
The love between the two transforms Bob from a drug addict to a
more responsible human being and the book also documents the
reconciliation between James and his mother who after her marriage
to Nick seems to have drifted away from James. The spiritual anchor
of James' life is Bob and he gradually helps him find his feet again.
For most readers, the tale of Bob and James may sound surreal. Can a
street cat make such a huge difference to a person's life? As someone
who has seen and experienced the rougher side of life, I can say that
animals do bring a strange kind of unconditional love to their
relationship with their owners that is really unsettling at times. James
Bowen was down and out in London, barely eking out a bare living
by busking in the posh areas of London, loving from day to day,
taking life one day at a time and when Bob entered his life all that
 Word Craft and Statecraft

changed. He had a purpose to live and that made all the difference.
Life Richard Parker in the Life of Pi, who became Pi's spiritual anchor
in the Pacific Ocean, Bob was to James.
I liked this book immensely and I too am fond of animals and so read
the book with interest. The message of redemption comes out
strongly in the book.
Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century, A Review
2013-10-09 14:13
Calcutta in the Nineteenth Century: An Archival Exploration, Bidisha
Chakravarthy and Sarmistha De, Niyogi Books, New Delhi, 2013.
Calcutta is a fascinating city. Its reputation as a City of Joy may be
farfetched but as a historical site, Calcutta is the most interesting city
of India. If New Delhi is the graveyard of empires, Calcutta has
remained a city of culture, cinema, Durga Puja, Communist factional
rivalries, Naxalite violence and of course, literature and education.
From a sleepy hamlet on the banks of the Hoogly, Calcutta became in
the nineteenth century the capital of the British Empire in India. The
Regulating Act of 1773 vested the Governor General in Council with
supervisory powers over all the three Presidencies and during the
nineteenth century the city began to grow both in size, in population
and in terms of civic and administrative infrastructure. The book
under review examines in detail the transformation of Calcutta into a
major metropolis of modern India and is a contribution to the cultural
and social history of modern India.
The two authors are archivist in the State Archives of West Bengal
and have scoured the archives for interesting bits of information
about the growth and transformation of the city. In modern
historiography of Bengal associated with Barun De, Sumit Sarkar and
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya urban history does not have a place. The
Subaltern perspective adopted by Sumit Sarkar privileged the social
history over cultural history. In this volume the two authors, both
trained as historians have recreated life in Calcutta during the
nineteenth century. In 1911 the capital was shifted to New Delhi and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Calcutta lost the prominence it once had in the previous century.

Human interest stories culled from the archives abound in this
volume. The intervention of the English Administration to prevent
Sati is ably documented in the book using an anecdote. The attempts
made by the erstwhile rulers to ensure a modicum of civic sense in the
city is demonstrated by citing the health regulations enacted by the
municipal authorities the growth of print culture and the attempts
made to regulate the book trade are also studies. As the city grew in
size, the hazards of fire also increased, and we have a short chapter
giving the history of the Fire Service in the city. A city of the size and
reach of Calcutta will certainly have its dark underbelly and the
authors have dredged from the archives some interesting details of
the white slave trade in the city.
The most interesting part of the book are the numerous illustration
drawn from the archival sources and contemporary journals and
newspapers. The lavish use of documents from the Fort St William
Records adds to the attractiveness of the volume. I enjoyed reading
this book and wish I could write something similar about my city,
Pondicherry where I live and teach.
Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture, by Gaiutra Bahadur
2013-12-13 12:00
India after the abolition of Slavery in 1834 became the largest supplier
of involuntary labour called the Indenture System. The historians
who have worked on this theme in the immediate flush of
decolonization found another robust reason to lampoon India: its
oppressive "caste system" and the inherent poverty of India forced
men and women to immigrate and seek fortunes overseas. This
Pollyanna view is enshrined in the scholarly writing and a moral
equivalence is established between the slaving countries like USA,
Britain, France and Portugal with India. The book under review is a
welcome departure from these trends. Hugh Tinker even called
Indenture a "new kind of slavery". Gaiutra Bahadur, the great
granddaughter of a coolie woman from Bihar, Sujaria, has traced the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

history of Indenture in Guyana the erstwhile British Guinea, and she

has done a splendid job.
There is a certain duplicity in the way in which India as a society looks
upon the descendants of the indentured coolies. V S Naipaul, the
great writer is appropriated as a great Indian who has made India
proud despite the horrendous history of indenture. The recognition
given to Pravasi Bharathi, or People of Indian Origin is meant to
celebrate the bond with the great "motherland". However, the
Indians who worked on the tea plantations of Sri Lanka are denied
that recognition and whatever sympathy the Tamils of Sri Lanka
enjoy here in India is reserved for the Jaffna Tamils, the high caste
Tamils. Gaiutra Bahadur's book is refreshing only because it eschews
such contrived identities and is a harrowing narrative of Indenture
from the woman's point of view. Sujaria sailed from Calcutta in 1903
when she was four months pregnant and there is no trace of a man
accompanying her and the author's grandfather is born on board the
HMS Clyde. Sujaria a single woman made good for herself and in the
process accumulated around two husbands including a high caste
Thakur and all the men in her life seemed to have maintained cordial
relations both with her and her children born to different men on the
plantation where she worked.
The labour and its discipline on the Plantation was severe and many
of the labour practices institutionalized in the sugar plantations were
hold overs from the era of slavery, the Peculiar Institution as the
Americans called it; flogging, branding, whipping, jail terms, extra
work etc. Given the harsh condition and also the fact that women
were relatively scarce, coolie women unlike their Indian counterparts
enjoyed a degree of empowerment that came with choice. Sexual
jealousies were rampant and "wife murders" were not that unusual.
The book documents in great detail the several instances of violence
on the Plantations. The book is written well and is a moving
testimony to the horrors of indenture written with rare sensitivity.
The author has even traced the Pass issued to Sujaria and this shows
that the System of Indenture was based on the bureaucratic principle
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of rule of records and classification.

Tranquebar--Whose History? Transnational Cultural Heritage in a
Former Danish Trading Colony in South India, Helle Jorgensen, New
Delhi, Orient Black Swan, 2014
Cultural Encounters in India: The Local Co-workers of the
Tranquebar Mission 18th and 19th Centuries, Heike Liebau, New
Delhi, Social Science Press 2014
The recent changes in historiographical fashion has left its mark on
these two books. The post-colonial obsession with identity, ideology
and self-refashioning has contributed to the gradual erasure of
colonialism as a violent and at times racist attack on the cultures of
non- White peoples. Post-colonial nostalgia and the distance from the
colonial past has made some of the more comfortable Europeans look
back at the past of their societies with a certain degree of pride and
conscious self-awareness. Tranquebar, a small trading post of the
Danish East India Company on the East Coast of India, better known
as the Coromandel coast, has had a checkered past; after the
Napoleonic wars, the Danes essentially lost control over the trading
post leaving a murky legacy of Christian evangelism, Slaving, Textile
Trade and the most celebrated of all, the Printing Press. Print culture
started in Traquebar and though there is some evidence to suggest
that Serampore near Calcutta may have had an earlier start, the
legacy of Tranquebar lives on both in popular memory and in
scholarly texts.
In the first book, Helle Jorgensen looks at the interaction between the
local population of Tranquebar and foreign tourists from Northern
Europe who flood the place. Tranquebar has been the subject of a
major experiment in restoration and conservation of the colonial
buildings and tourists from Europe perceive a connect between their
own subjective selves and the remote outpost of European settlement
in Asia. Remarkably, the author seems to suggest that the presence of
the old style European colonial buildings in the settlement are a boon
to the local people whose economy revolves around catering to those
 Word Craft and Statecraft

tourists. Partly an ethnographic study and partly an extended

reflection on the meaning and significance of heritage and its
conservation, this book completely ignores the Indian perspective.
While India no longer frets and fumes at European colonialism as a
new generation which has come of age in the post-Independence
period does not regard the eighteenth and nineteenth century past
with great trepidation. However, it is utterly condescending to write
as if the local context does not matter at all. Worse, in the name of
heritage and tourism, the past cannot be whitewashed and made
palatable.
The second book is a more substantial contribution and it explores the
relationship between the Lutheran Mission and its leadership in
Tranquebar and the Tamil population it apparently ministered.
Bartholmaus Ziegenbalg, the Protestant missionary is the subject of
an excellent biography by B Singh. He is rightly remembered in India
as the man who introduced Print and thereby brought about a
revolution in the social and cultural history of India. He studies Tamil
and within a couple of years of his stay was able to write psalms and
catechisms or prayer books in simple Tamil for the people living in
the hinterland of Tranquebar. His papers preserved at Halle give us a
picture of a man driven by a deep and abiding faith in religion who
did not forget his European identity throughout his stay in India.
While the contemporary Jesuits went native and adopted Indian
dress and customs, Ziegenbalg was always attired in the frock coat
and top hat. He established a school where children were taught and
even a factory for making paper. The site of this factory is
unfortunately lost. He eventually dies in Tranquebar and is buried in
the cemetery of the Zion Church which he built and consecrated. The
book gives details of the relationship with other Christian missions in
the region such as SPCK. The issue of caste and identity cannot be
wished away as many of the early converts came from the Vellala
peasant background and eventually the other castes joined the
Church raising issues which the Christian Church both Catholic and
Protestant have not resolved until this day.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Both these books are significant contributions to the study of the early
colonial past of Southern India.
The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger: Why it
deserves to be banned?
2014-02-24 14:58
Ever since Edward Said postulated the enduring link between
western/ white scholarship and economic and cultural hegemony
the world has been sensitive to the fact that it is West which can
represent the non-White societies and civilizations and in the process,
make the rest of the world accept the categories of thought and
analytical models as "academic" discourse. I need not state the
obvious" It is not possible for any non-western civilization except
China, to study, dissect, analyse and represent the Western world.
Intellectual products are also representations of domination and
hegemony, except that the Western World pretends that its
constructions and representations of the non-western world stem
from its inherent intellectual strength: objective analysis, historical
method, social sensitivity and the like. Any attempt by the non-
western world to turn these tools of analysis on the west itself is
generally shrugged off as polemical and unworthy of academic
respectability. In short, the non-white world cannot represent itself, it
has to be represented only by white scholars and academics. It does
not matter at all that these academics are pursuing an ideological goal
in which western hegemony is beyond the margins of debate.
It is against this background that where we have to see the book
which has been at the centre of a major controversy in India. Wendy
Doniger who sported the Irish O'Flaherty some years back when I
met her at the campus of the University of Hawaii when I was a
student there, has published a thin volume entitled, The Hindus: An
Alternative History. A little known social organization called Sikha
Bachao Andolan has succeeded in making Penguin Books, her
publisher pulps the volumes of this text and withdraw the book from
circulation. Earlier there was Laine's book on Shivaji which suffered a
similar fate at the hands of the Congress Party and its fringe elements
 Word Craft and Statecraft

in Maharashtra. Stanley Wolpert's Ten Hours to Rama was officially

banned in India though the other books including Wendy's have not
been banned. Therefore, the state cannot be blamed for the
tribulations of this book. In a soft state like India which has been made
even more soft by corruption and mal administration, the state
cannot be relied upon to protect the dignity of the Indian Civilization.
Private groups have to come forward and defend India.
Wendy Doniger writes in an offensive manner about India and its
civilization. What she has written is not History and to call the work
an "alternative history" is just a rhetorical flourish. Revered Indian
heroes and religious icons are subjected to unbridled attack in the
name of academic study. I cannot understand how a woman like
Wendy Doniger can write about Goddess Durga in a demeaning
manner. Being a Jew perhaps a lapsed Jew, Doniger need not revere
Indian Gods and Goddesses but she does not have the right to belittle
them or speak in a tone and tenor that devalues the spiritual value of
these icons. India is an idea that is animated by the images of these
gods and goddesses and Wendy has no right to humiliate a
civilization which has lasted for three thousand years.
Unfortunately, India is not China and no American will take liberties
with China. And India too is changing, and it no longer regards the
Westerner as having an inalienable right to demean his religion,
society and culture.
I am extremely disappointed in the response of some of our
prominent intellectuals who have come out in open defence of the
book and have taken Penguin to task for not standing up to the
organization which succeeded in forcing the publishers to withdraw
the book. I personally bought a copy of this book after the controversy
broke out and am not sure if Penguin Books are really sincere about
their offer to withdraw and pulp the copies of Wendy's book. Will any
Western country including USA tolerate a scurrilous attack on their
civilization in the name of academic freedom? India has a couple of
centuries to go before it can even think of taking on the West on its
own turf. Till then we have to defend our culture.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

A Comma in a Sentence by R Gopalakrishnan: A Review

2014-03-27 14:33
Books written by captains of Industry, Trade and those managing the
commanding heights of India's elite institutions make drab reading
for two reasons. First, there is little reflection of the history and
politics of the time and their navel gazing obsession makes poor
autobiography. Second, there is little insight into the momentous
almost tectonic events that reshaped society right in their own life
time and men write about their lives as if History has had no role to
play. The book under discussion is guilty of both these major
aberrations and I felt disappointed having read what seemed as an
insightful peep into a high caste Brahmin household from the middle
of the nineteenth century till the late twentieth century. Though there
are a string of interesting anecdotes to liven up the narrative, the book
is too obsessed about the "achievements" of the author and there is
little reflection on the life and times behind the individual. I think
Indians write poor autobiographies because they are totally ignorant
of the challenges of History.
The narrative deals with the family of an Iyengar land holding clan
which lived in the Kaveri delta. There is absolutely no awareness
about the historical situation or condition that enabled the Vadakalai
Iyengar family to emerge as powerful landed aristocracy of the
region. Gopalkrishnan's attempt at placing his lineage in an overall
historical context is pathetic. He recounts the (1) Vellore Mutiny and
(2) the 1857 Mutiny as if his ancestors were aware of these events and
were in a position to seize the historical and political import of these
events. I seriously doubt the ability of Ranga to ruminate on these
events in the manner in which Gopalakrishnan has done in his book.
Bogus historical recollections like the ones that he offers are not a
substitute for reflections on men, events and circumstances. In a
traditional Brahmin household, the chronological span of memory
does not extend beyond three generations and even here the memory
is underpinned by the ritual demands placed by the Shraddha ritual.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Instead of inventing fictive conversations which fly in the face of

what we know about the historical knowledge and insight of
brahmins, it would be far better if Gopalakrishnan had stuck to facts.
What was life in the Agrahara like? What were the inner tensions
between different branches of the family? How were marriages
arranged? Did brahmin women in the Agrahara have friendship or
liaisons with men outside the neighbourhood? These questions are
not unimportant, as every Brahmin family has anecdotal information
about girls running away with men and never reunited with their
families ever again. In most cases, as indeed has happened in the case
of my Grandfather's elder sister, there is no mention about the
woman ever again in the household. In short, women who chose to
assert their individual freedom are written out of the family
narrative. I am raising these questions to underscore the partial and
incomplete nature of Gopalakrishnan's narrative.
The book is an unabashed celebration of the life and achievements of
the author. Obviously, the author and his children have done well
and the marker of their status the fact that many of them have
advanced degrees from American Universities. But a more important
question is skirted. Obviously when the author was growing up, the
anti-brahmin, "rationalist" Dravidian Movement was on the rampage
in the Tamil region. Like the Jews in Nazi Germany, the Brahmins
were targeted by the Dravidian Movement in the most senseless
manner. I remember my grandmother telling me that she as a young
girl she was set upon by thugs near the Parthasarthi Temple in
Madras who were obviously motivated by the hateful fascist
ideology of the Dravidian movement. I wonder why it has become
necessary for men like Gopalakrishnan to blank out the horrid
realities of Brahmin life in Tamil country. The migration to USA has
saved many of them but what about those still lift in the Belly of the
Beast.
As an extended portrayal of the life of a corporate boxwallah this
book is adequate. But anyone interested in gaining insight into
Brahmanical life and culture will be disappointed.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Narendra Modi, Prophet Unarmed; A Review of Andy Marino's

Biography
2014-04-18 16:20
Narendra Modi: A Political Biography, Andy Marino, New Delhi,
Harper Collins, 2014
Isaac Deutscher in his trilogy on Trotsky called the first volume,
Prophet Armed and it dealt with the life of Leon Trotsky as a
revolutionary first in the underground movement, it pursues his life
through the tumultuous days of the Revolution and the Civil War
until his expulsion from Soviet Union by Stalin. In the case of
Narendra Modi his most difficult days were before his undoubted
rise to the Prime Minister-ship of India following the victory in the
2014 Parliamentary elections. As a political figure, few have had to
endure the sustained campaign of vilification launched against him
by the Congress party and its allies. Few political figures have had to
endure the relentless scrutiny of both the Indian Judiciary and the
Indian Media for close to a decade. Modi has lived his public life
under the shadow of intense hostility, a poison marinated
environment that would have broken anyone else without that little
detail called character. Narendra Modi has braved the storm, faced
the adversaries both in the political arena as well as in the
international arena and has emerged tougher and fitter. The rise of
Narendra Modi from a small town in Gujarat to the position of the
elected Prime Minister of India is the stuff of legend and all in all his
biography offers an inspiring example to an aspirational and buoyant
India. Long coddled by political dynasties which had perpetuated
their stranglehold on the Indian electorate by a combination of
identity politics and muscle power, the rise of Modi marks a decisive
turning point in India's evolution as a Nation and a Democratic
polity. The book under review offers a fascinating glimpse into the
life of the future PM of India.
The Indian political and "intellectual" class has been intensely hostile
to the Chief Minister of Gujarat and it is difficult to find an objective
biography of Narendra Modi. He has been consistently demonized
 Word Craft and Statecraft

by the elite English Press and electronic media represented by NDTV

and the like that to raise doubts about the "complicity" of Narendra
Modi in the 2002 Riots is to invite derision and accusations of
"communal" bias. The author of this biography, Andy Marino has
written a highly readable and accurate account of the life Narendra
Modi. The author points out that the persona put on by Modi on the
theatre of Indian politics is quite the opposite of his true self: in real
life Narendra Modi in reflective and cautious, with a penchant for
self-doubt. Of course, he is animated by a sense of mission and is able
to communicate his passion to an electrified Nation. The author sees
Modi journey of life from selling tea in a stall near a major bus stand to
his present position as one marked by struggle in which mistakes
could be costly and unforgiving. After having joined the RSS Shaka,
Modi became a protege of Laxman Rao Inamdar and remained loyal
to the ideals of his mentor. During the Emergency when the entire
Opposition was in Jail, Narendra Modi was the link between the
political leadership and the jailed comrades.
Factional politics within the Gujarat unit of the BJP ensured an exile to
New Delhi as a Secretary of the BJP when L K Advani was the
President of the Party. It of course rankles the old Patriarch of the
party that his protege has earned his spurs in national politics and
will soon be the Prime Minister of India.
The author discusses in great detail the Riots of 2002. In the burning of
the bogie containing pilgrims traveling on the Sabarmati Express, the
author has shown that Congressmen like Haji Bilal were involved.
Yet the Congress national leadership behaves as if the Party had
nothing to do with the riots that followed. The author has shown that
even in the attack on Gulgarba Colony in which Eshan Jaffri, the
Congress MP was killed there were Congressmen in the mob. The
involvement of the Congress Party in almost all the major riots all
across India is well known and is documented. In the case of the 1984
Pogrom against the Sikhs the Congress is guilty not only of
complicity in the killings which followed the gunning down of their
leader, but also in the systematic manner in which the crimes of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Congress were suppressed over the years. In the case of the 2002 Riots
in Gujarat, however, the Nanawati Commission and following threat
Commission the Supreme Court appointed and monitored Special
Investigation Team found evidence to suggest that contrary to the
propaganda of the Congress and its allies, Narendra Modi did
everything possible to bring the situation under control.
The book offers an excellent insight into the style of governance of
Narendra Modi. The author points out that the Chief Minister of
Gujarat provides an empowering administration by reducing
corruption. Almost all observers, both Indian and foreign have
pointed out that there is little corruption in Gujarat and consequently
governance and the delivery of services to the people is much better.
Another important point is the wide spread consultation between
stakeholders and the Administration before any major decision is
taken. This sort of Shivir Sammalan as it is called is not the part of the
Congress political culture and is a direct adaptation from the RSS
mode of consultative decision making. Narendra Modi's own
incorruptibility has turned out to be the biggest drawback for the
Congress Party and is also the source of the immense moral energy
that Modi brings on to the political arena.
The book under review is a factual well written and well documented
biography of Narendra Modi as he stands at the cusp of a huge
electoral victory. The Congress party with its dynastic politics and
counter culture is out of tune with the changing India.
"The Case for Books": Reading in the Digital Age
2014-07-03 15:37
Reading has become increasingly dependent on technology. The
book under review by the celebrated historian Professor Robert
Darnton is an interesting analysis of the ways in which the advent of
digital technology has changed the reading practices of people. The
joy of reading the printed book cannot be experienced by one reading
the most thrilling novel on kindle. The sight and smell of a book is a
delightful experience and only those who savour the joy of reading
 Word Craft and Statecraft

can understand what we lose by shifting to the digital mode.

Robert Darnton, the historian who gave us such classics of Cultural
History as The Business of the Enlightenment, The Great Cat
Massacre and other Episodes in French Cultural History, has been a
prolific writer who has published extensively on topics such as
Censorship in the Ancient Regime and the attempts made by the
Bourbons to police the literary world on the eve of the French
Revolution. His approach to the subject essentially derived from the
pioneering work of Lucien Febvre who wrote the Coming of the
Book, an early attempt at book history. Since then, thanks largely to
the efforts of Robert Darnton and Elizabeth Eisenstein, the history of
print and the cultural impact of print has emerged as an important
area of study, Robert Chertier contributed to the field and he brought
"reading practices" to the fore.
In a printed book, the codex, the eye is trained to move from left to
right and the page is taken in as a unit. In the case of the Old Scrolls
which had to be held in the left hand and un-scrolled by the right,
reading was limited to at best a short paragraph or so. The emergence
of Printing made possible a rapid and almost instantaneous
dissemination of texts creating the first pre-digital Information
Revolution. Ann Blair has been writing about how the scholars in the
early modern age coped with the explosion of information brought
about by print technology. In Too Much to Know Blair has
documented the difficult beginning of scholarly apparatus which
culminated in the humanists of the sixteenth century inventing the
Footnote as a central metaphor of critical historiography as Anthony
Grafton has documented in an interesting book.
Robert Darnton, the Librarian of Harvard University, was
responsible for the University participating in the Google project of
digitizing books from all the important libraries of the World. The
Google Book Search which enable historians to search libraries which
they could not dream of even seeing in their wildest dreams, is a
noble attempt at making knowledge to everyone everywhere in the
Globe. The fears that Google is bent on turning public assets into
 Word Craft and Statecraft

private corporate profit has turned out to be unfounded and we are

all beholden to Google Book Search for making some of the rare books
available at the click of the mouse. Robert Darnton has shown in the
book under review the complicated legal issues that had to be
negotiated before the Google Book Search took off. Historians from
countries such as mine will remain grateful to Google Book Search for
making rare books available. India has launched its own version of
Google by launching the Digital Library of India which contains a
number of interesting books.
The Case for Books is an excellent study of the importance of books in
the cultural landscape of the civilized world.
Hindu College, Delhi: A Peoples' Movement: A review
2014-09-28 13:56
Hindu College, Delhi: A Peoples' Movement, Ed Kavita A. Sharma
and W D Mathur, New Delhi: Niyogi Books, 2014
Hindu College is one of the leading Colleges of India and the India
Today invariably puts this educational institution within the top 10 in
the country. Being a student of the College, having studied there
between 1972 - 1977, I found myself attracted to this Coffee Table
Book brought out recently. Though there is a lot of information about
the History of the College and the struggles of Sir Shri Ram with Sir
Maurice Dwyer, I was faintly disappointed upon reading the book. I
left Hindu in 1977 and have not been back since and I still have vivid
memories of the teachers who taught me and one of them was
instrumental in inspiring me to be a Historian. I look back upon my
days there when memory has made the picture of life and experience
more complex. I remember Hindu College as a friendly and
disciplined institution in which teaching was taken very seriously. P
C Sood was the Principal when I joined, and Dr B M Bhatia returned
in 1973 and remained the Principal till I completed my MA in History.
The first two chapters of the book deal with the early history of Hindu
College when it was situated near Kashmiri Gate close to the
bungalow of the Rajput soldier of fortune of the early Raj, James
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Skinner. It seems to have had the unstinting support of the merchants

and traders of Chandni Chowk who put up their capital in order to
establish the College. The editors have done a splendid job in tracing
the early history of the college though there is little about the
development of the College and its transformation into a major
educational institution. I remember that even the Graduation
Ceremony in the College was a very subdued affair.
Two names stand out in my memory as I look back on my life as a
student at Hindu. The teacher who taught me Medieval Indian History
in my IInd Honours, Dr Gita Banerji will forever remain a person who
inspired me to take up the challenging profession of teaching and
research. She was a gifted teacher with a sense of humour. I still
remember her smiling and asking the class whether she can finish her
breakfast, as she opened her bag to fish out a pan. Her classes were
interesting, and she took us to the Hunting Lodge of the Sultanate
located close to the ridge to demonstrate the features of medieval
architecture. I also remember Dr Kotyal as a good and warm-hearted
teacher. D N Gupta and Suchitra Gupta had just joined the College.
Another person I distinctly remember is the Superintendent of the
College Office --Kishenji as we called him. He was a very kind and
patient man. He took care to see that each student received his Hall
Ticket for the University examination. Those were days before the
Computer and all forms had to be processed manually. Kishenji
ensured that all students received their hall tickets and I know of
several students whose examination fees were paid by Kishenji so
that their forms could be submitted on time. I can never forget this
kind and gentle soul who was the very picture of seva in the true
sense of the word.
More than 37 years have passed since I left Hindu and the Coffee
Table book brought my stay in the College back to my memory.
Lost, Stoln or Shredded: The elusive shadows in Art and Literature
2014-10-13 12:29
Lost, Stolen, or Shredded: Stories of Missing Works of Art and
Literature, Rick Gekoski Profile Books, London, 2014
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Rick Gekoski who is a dealer in rare books, manuscripts and art has
written an interesting book which sheds light on the arcane world of
auctions, art transfer and recovery/restitution of cultural property.
With a D Phil from Oxford University, Gekoski certainly knows both
the academic and transactional aspects of this quaint and should I say
with a degree of trepidation, murky arena of literary auctions and
acquisition of papers, letters, manuscripts and memorabilia. This
book offers a fascinating glimpse into the wheeling and dealing that
goes on in the art world. Did you know that the Mona Lisa was once
stolen by an Italian nationalist and then was restored to the Louvre
where it hangs still? This book begins with that episode and in the
course of 15 short, pithy essays the author has brought out unknown
facts behind several famous collections.
The discussion relating to the Urewera Mural that evoked "complex
and contradictory local sensibilities" is a remarkable exercise in
coming to terms with the political identity of dispossessed native
groups in White settler state such as New Zealand and Australia.
Denied right--political and cultural--art became the terrain over
which political identities were created. This essay raises the
disturbing question: Did the genocide of the native population of
these countries lead to the crisis of identity in which even memory
remains as elusive as dreamtime. This particular essay records the
mural and its afterlife in the imagination of the indigenous Tuhoe
society of New Zealand. Sir Winston Churchill is a character who
remains extremely controversial and no wonder his portrait
commissioned by his admirers in the British Parliament generated
disturbing emotions. The destruction of the portrait by Graham
Sutherland by the widow of Churchill is seen as an act of vandalism
by the admirers of the British statesman. Or was it an act of
redemption? Dealers are known to pursue their quest for letters and
documents. The search for a lost poem by James Joyce is certainly
interesting. But I wonder how such quest help us understand the
poetry of Joyce better. There are however more serious matters in this
book.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Do the dead have rights? Gekoski asks this question but does not
provide a straight answer. This question is particularly pertinent
when authors and other powerful cultural icons like poets and
novelists instruct their literary executors to destroy their papers. Do
historians have a right to claim the materials pertaining to the life of
the people they study. Lord Byron whose life by no stretch of the
imagination was an exemplary life in the service of his God, King and
Nation, was a meticulous recorder of his "conquests" and his
publisher burnt the three think volumes of his diaries thereby
depriving the future of ever understanding the mind of this great but
elusive genius. As a historian, I feel that the dead have no right to hold
on to their secrets. After death the truth of their earthly lives must be
told and therefore destruction of private papers, letters and the like
must be strongly discouraged.
This book is an excellent introduction to the abstract questions of art,
its ownership, and the like. Though the author does not address these
questions directly these questions lurk just beneath the surface.
One Part Woman: Perumal Murugan and his novel of
Misrepresentation
2015-02-11 15:09
Tamil literary scene is said to be vibrant and the recent novel by
Perumal Murugan, One Part Woman is touted as an example of a
renaissance in Tamil Literature. Caste is always simmering under the
surface of Tamil society and the Dravidian Movement has made caste
the central icon of Tamil identity and politics which valorises a
politicized linguistic consciousness. The Brahmin was the focus of
much of the venom unleashed by the Dravidian Movement and even
E V Ramaswamy Nayakkar or Periyar as he is fondly called made
Brahmin bashing an acceptable part of Tamil public behaviour.
Today when Brahmins has been driven out of Tamil Nadu and the
intermediate castes which inherited the spoils of the Dravidian
Movement and its politics are busy fighting among themselves and
are united only against the Dalit population. The ugly reality of Tamil
 Word Craft and Statecraft

society today is that caste is the only theme which writers want to
explore. Murugan, a teacher of Tamil at Namakkal has published a
novel which the intermediate landed caste of the Konku region, the
Konku Vellalars, find extremely offensive. The novel, One Part
Woman is set in the Konku region around the town of Tiruchengode,
a taluq headquarters in Salem district.
Konku which consists of the hilly tracts of the Western Ghats was the
last frontier of Tamil society and throughout its long history was bone
of contention between powerful neighbours. The Pandyas, the
Cholas and the Hoysalas all contested for supremacy over this region.
Obviously, the area has a violent and turbulent past which can be
dealt with in a fairly interesting and engaging manner. However, we
do not find this novel doing either.
There has been outrage in Tamil Nadu against this novel. The
writer/novelist in a dramatic Facebook post declared that the
novelist Murugan is dead and only a "stupid teacher" Murugan is
alive. This provided the signal for all the usual suspects of the Tamil
Literary scene, N Ram, A R Venkatachalapathy, Meena, Chandru and
others to rally in support of the author on the ground that his artistic
freedom has been curtailed by the forces of "cultural fascism".
Nothing can be more untrue than this. A conspiracy theory was
floated that because the Vellalar Gounders are running Teaching
shops in the form of cram schools in Namakkal that community is
funding the anti Murugan agitation and the author played along by
pretending to be a martyr to the cause of freedom.
There is a great deal of ethnographic information available about the
Konku region and there is no material which supports the central
theme of the novel that the Ardhanarisvara Temple situated atop a
hillock near Tiruchengode was ever the site of the seedy scene that
Murugan describes. He argues that women visited this temple to
beget children and were impregnated by men who were not their
husbands. Obviously the Konku Vellalar community is up in arms
against the depiction of their women as unchaste and more
pertinently, causing a veil of suspicion to fall on the ancestry of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

community. The Konku Vellalars are divided into 24 territorially

segmented Nadu grouping as suggested by the ethnographic
research of Brenda Beck. Under these circumstances it would be
impossible for such a custom to be even plausible. A false and
contrived social custom is sought to be foisted on to the Konku
Gounder community. There is no historical or ethnographic material
to even remotely suggest the existence of the surrogate impregnation
that Perumal Murugan has described in his book. I do not contest his
right to write rubbish, but let him not say that he has written a piece of
social history in the form of a novel.
The language used in the book is vulgar and tasteless. Kinship is
respected in Tamil society and the elder brother's wife is called anni.
It is not possible for a brother to say in the context of Tamil society'
"Just find out and let me know if my sisters-in-law will take care of
that" (86). The context of this quote is so tasteless and vulgar that I
have refrained from quoting it in full. There are many such instances
of vulgar, tasteless language.
On page 98 Perumal Murugan writes: At the peak of the celebrations
all rules were relaxed. The night bore witness to that.
This book does not deserve the attention it has received. Of course, I
do not say that it should be banned. It is just a piece of trash that
deserves to be ignored.
Tamil A Biography by David Shulman
2017-04-13 13:39
The book under review is an account of the Tamil language situated
in its historical and linguistic context. It is one of the unfortunate
intellectual legacies of the colonial era that many of the discredited
theories pertaining to racial origin, evolution of language, scripted
literacy, religion is all wrapped up in the dense fog of ideology that it
is today impossible to deal with some of these issues dispassionately.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

It takes a peace activist from Israel, the well-known Indologist and

historian, David Shulman to write about these and other issues with
integrity and deep commitment to scholarship.
I have not come across a book that captures the complexity of Tamil
literary and political history as eloquently and with scholastic depth
as the present book. It is quite obvious that the present breed of Tamil
"intellectuals" will rail against the account given by Shulman as he
completely destroys the self-serving myth, perpetuated over two
centuries that Tamil has an origin independent of Sanskrit. Until
Caudwell made "Dravidian" into both a linguistic and racial
characteristic, the term Dravida was used in Tamil literary works
only as a geographical expression.
The nineteenth century which saw the crystallization of racially
charged theories, bequeathed to India a toxic legacy in the form of the
Aryan/Dravidian Dichotomy, the Aryan Invasion Myth, the conflict
between the oldest Tamil language and the upstart Sanskrit
language. All these theories, though discredited have traction due to
the purchase of identity politics in India. Hence, it is essential to read
Shulman very carefully as he has argued effectively that throughout
the medieval period, the Age of the Cholas, Sanskrit enjoyed a
privileged status in the royal court and that status was neither
resented nor did it lead to the sort of shadow boxing we find in the last
century when the "Pure Tamil " movement sought to expurgate
Sanskrit from the Tamil language altogether.
David Shulman, unlike Asko Parpola and others is a recognized
authority on Sanskrit Language and Literature and knows nearly 24
languages including Telugu, Kannada and a host of European and
Asian Languages. His own early foray into Tamil history when he
wrote Tamil Temple Myths marked him as one who uses literary
texts in new and novel ways. The tallapuramam of medieval Tamil
region were studies against the general background of history and
iconography in this work which was followed by King and Clown in
South Indian Myth and Poetry a path breaking work on the textual
construction of South Indian kingship. More recently, Whitney Cox
 Word Craft and Statecraft

has added to the thin corpus of historical investigation in his Politics,

Kingship and Poetry in Medieval South India (Cambridge University
Press, 2016). This line of investigation, a new historicist perspective
that melds the fluid poetry of medieval Tamil compositions to the
firm foundation of historiography.
Tamil A Biography demolishes three fundamental myths of the
dominant political ideology prevalent in Tamil Nadu today and
pervades the entire gamut of academic studies on early Tamil
Language and Literature. As he says, "In modern South India Tamil
has become a major criterion for collective identity, often seen now as
forged in opposition to Sanskrit and an invasive north Indian culture
and ideology". Shulman goes on to show that the Chola royal court
was bilingual with Sanskrit enjoying the same status as Tamil and
there is no sign of any conflict, real or imagined during the four
centuries of Chola rule. The advent of the anti-brahmin movement
meant that the South Indian brahmins were represented as agents of
the alien culture and that was used as a justification for excluding
them form public and cultural life altogether. The scholarship of
David Shulman goes a long way in correcting the distortions of the
past. His discussion of the enduring presence of the Agastya Myth, a
north Indian therefore a putative Aryan as the founder of Tamil
Grammar is both convincing and sound.
The date of the so called Cankam literary works and the presence of
the enigmatic Kalabrahs are two vexed issues in early Tamil literary
history. Following Tieken, Shulman also argues for a late date for the
Cankam works, there is little evidence to show that the puram and
akam varieties of poems were contemporaneous with the Roman
presence in South India and the graffiti marks found on pot shreds
from sites like Arikamedu, Porunthal, Kodumanal and other places
do not help in trading the Cankam literary works. There seems to be a
close association between Bhakti literature and the redacted bardic
poetry of early Tamil region. His discussion of the Sangam tradition
based on the Velvikkudi Copper Plate Inscription is interesting.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The work under review is a classic and will remain a reliable

introduction to Tamil language and literary history.
Big Data Algorithms, Inequality and World History: Two Books,
Two Visions
2017-07-17 10:39
Writing the History of the Global Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The two books reviewed in this blog make interesting reading. the
Weapons of Math Destruction by Dr Cathy O'Neil, a Ph D in
Mathematics from Harvard University is a spell binding account of
the misuse of Statistical Big Data in the world today and the
consequent rise in income inequality which in turn widens the gulf
between the super-rich and those struggling to get along in the world.
She points out that the growing trend towards using sophisticated
algorithms by corporations such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and
the like enable advertisers to target their potential clients with a fair
amount of precision. There is a fascinating description of the US
Educational Ranking system and the calculated manner in which
educational ranking is used to extract Federal Educational Loans on
the promise that a College Education will increase the chances of
getting a secure well-paying job. The author also analyses in great
detail the smart, highly educated army of Data Analysts sporting
fancy degrees from Ivy League Universities who by letting the
Algorithms predict the flow of funds and Capital in the highly
volatile realm of high finance contributed to the subprime crisis that
engulfed USA in 2008. Even Barack Obama intervention helped only
the big companies escape the consequences of their financial
profligacy and his bailout package only shifted the burden onto the
shoulders of an already weakening Middle Class. This book is an eye
opener and for those who believe that technology is a panacea that is
creating a safer and a more democratic world. this is a must-read text.
Writing the History of the Global by Maxine Berg is an imaginative
look at the cross currents of debate in the field of Global
History/World History. The fact that Historiography in the modern
 Word Craft and Statecraft

sense of the term was the outgrowth of the advent of the Nation State
meant that writing the histories of the Nation State was taken to be the
real and vital task of the professional Historian. The Nation State
dictated its own narrative and Historians had to find justification for
their task within the limits set of the Nation State. The contrived
debates in India between the Secularists and their opponents is
essentially a debate between the political conceits of the Nation State
and the Civilizational Ethos of an Old but Wounded Civilization. The
disillusionment with the contrived and false pretensions of the
Nationalist view of History and the Leftist paradigms led to the rise of
the so called Subaltern School. With its marriage of convenience with
the post-colonial/linguistic approaches to the past, the subalterns
lost all credibility leaving behind a wreckage of unreadable prose.
The Global History perspective elaborated in this book is an excellent
alternative to the procrustean bed of Nation State Histories. Trade,
Conquest, Migration have always linked the world and such trend
and developments do not adhere to the limits of the present-day
Nation State.
Frozen Frames by D Vasudeva Rao: Memory and Fulfilment
Frozen Frames: A Life in Fulfilment, D Vasudeva Rao, Chennai: 2017
The author of the book, Frozen Frames: A Life in Fulfilment, has
chosen an apt title. Reflecting on his life, Janus like, two generation
before him and forward to two generations after him, Vasudeva Rao
has charted his professional journey from a professional Chartered
Accountant to a highly challenging and rewarding career in the
world of corporate institutions, global competition and one that saw
the transition of India form a protected licence and quota raj to the
fast-changing reality of a global India. The fact that an individual's
life is caught in the cusp of major historical and systemic forces over
which he/she has little control and the choices that constitute the
frozen frames of memory is the stuff of autobiography and the author
has traversed this territory with ease and great aplomb.
On page 18 the author sets out the ethnic and linguistic identity of his
family in terms of three terms: Marathi, Deshista and Madhva. A
 Word Craft and Statecraft

linguistic, regional and a sectarian (Vaishnava Dwaita) describe the

matrix within which the life can be structured and situated. Reading
Vasudeva Rao's book makes one wonder how the vast tectonic social
transformations in South India, the anti-brahmin Movement, the
triumph of the Justice Party and its later day incarnation, the DMK
led to this small community which numbered around 15,000 in the
Census of 1911, lose its lan and today is in the danger of losing its
identity as it struggles to keep afloat against the rising tide of political,
linguistic and ethnic oppression. He is a Marathi speaker and a
descendent of Gyano Pant who migrated into South India when the
Maratha Empire was at its height. Deshasta, meaning from the Desh
as a contrast to Konkanasta, from the coast was a geographical term
referring to the plains south of the Ghats and stretching into Bijapur.
Madhva, a sectarian affiliation, underscores the importance the
Udupi Mutts have had in shaping the collective identity of this small
but vibrant community marooned on the shoals of time. The author
pays equal attention to all the three aspects of his individual and
social history. As the Maratha empire expanded and as there was
need to collect revenues from fragmented and dispersed land
holdings from which the Confederacy drew its fiscal resources,
Deshesta revenue managers were appointed in different parts of the
empire. Modi remained the language of revenues records until 1834
when it was supplanted by the vernacular.
Vasudeva Rao sketches the social horizon of his own family by an
extended foray into kinship, both affinal and agnatic. Family ties
played an important role in providing security and opportunity. The
Marathi Deshestas who settled in Madras, now Chennai, soon
adopted the regal functions of patronage of culture and music and in
neighbourhoods like Mylapore, Tyagaraja Nagar and Besant Nagar
set up Sabhas for musical performances and theatre groups. The Raj
was not the least interested in the fragments of South Indian culture
that still lingered and Institutions like Music Academy set up by Shri
T V Subba Rao and Vani Mahal played a seminal role in the
preservation of culture and identity. The author has rightly drawn
our attention to these landmark institutions.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The author has held several senior positions in the Corporate sector
and he has given rich and illuminating details of his life,
achievements and personal philosophy. Like the Jews the Deshestas
are modernizing while simultaneously retaining their religious
rituals and performative texts. I enjoyed reading this book and is a
rare document of social history as well.
INTERESTING
FEATURE
PIECES
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Casablanca: An Eternal Classic

2008-06-08 15:41
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in their classic roles in the war
time movie Casablanca played roles that have seldom, if ever been
surpassed. What makes this movie just a great film? The editing is
spotty. For instance, the famous scene in the Railway station at Paris
and when it is raining hard and Richard is dripping wet and by the
time he enters the train in the very next scene his dress is dry. It is
obvious that the director has overlooked this point. The dialogues are
clich ridden. Is that the sound of cannon fire or is it my heart
pounding? The line spoken by Ingrid Bergman is as clich ridden as
most of the other dialogues. Of all the gin joints in all the towns of the
world she walks into mine uttered by Eric Blaine is just mushy
sentimentalism.
Despite the obvious flaws there is something immensely grand about
the movie. I regard the corrupt police officer, Claude Rains who plays
Captain Renault as the real hero of the movie. He admits that he is a
poor, corrupt official but, maintains a warm and exceptionally large-
hearted relationship with everyone. The poor girl from Bulgaria who
does not have the money to bribe herself to an exit visa is helped by
Renault.
In the end, when he could have had Rick arrested for the murder of
the German officer Major Stressor, Renault allows Rick to escape
saying: Major Stressor has been shot: Round up the usual suspects.
Rightly, it is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I wonder why no
novelist has ever thought of a sequel to Casablanca. The most wooden
and by far the faceless character of in the movie is Victor Lazlo. He is
self-righteous, loves a woman who obviously does not love him, and
tries to use his heavy hand to get Rick to part with the letters of transit.
I think it would have been great if Bergman and Bogart had stayed
behind in Casablanca.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Masquerade's Wizard of Oz at Sivakami Petachi Auditorium,

Chennai
2011-05-28 23:06
On Friday, 20th May 2011 my daughter and I watched the Wizard of
Oz. I remember reading the Puffin version of the story to my
daughter when she was a little girl and the checked dress of Dorothy
made quite an impression on her. She even set aside a green Magyar
sleeve frock aside as her Dorothy dress and named a white stray dog
which she persuaded us to adopt as Toto. So, Wizard of Oz was a
must see for both of us. The Chennai Theatre Group called
Masquerade put up an adaptation of this story in Chennai recently. A
simple and innovative set design was the main feature of this
production. The props were kept to a bare minimum and the stage
lighting was excellent. The yellow brick road was realistically done
with a sliver of light on the stage. Obviously Harshavardhan Ganesh
is talented, and it showed.
The costumes were all well designed and suited the character. The
'Cowardly Lion' played by Shankar Chockalingam was dressed in a
yellow suit complete with tail and all. Rahul Murali, the Tinman,
looked metallic with silver grease paint on his face. It was Neetha
Srikanth as the Wicked Witch of the West who took all the honours
for acting. Her performance was electric and there was a certain
menace in her demeanour. She seemed a perfect witch and her
sidekick the cat looked pathetic as he suffered at her hands.
Frank Baum's classic tale set in the corn fields of Kansas is really a
parable dressed up as a fairy tale: a story of self-discovery and
realization. If the yellow brick road is the magic path to self-awareness
offered by religion, a straight path to certitude, the four travellers in
our play find out that all the knowledge they sought was within them.
Thus, the Cowardly Lion discovers that he is brave, the Scarecrow
finds out that he is brainy after all and the Tinman finds out that he has
a heart at the end of the adventure and even Little Dorothy has within
her the ability to return back to her farm in Kansas.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The director has taken some liberty with the text and the innovations
such as the Mylapore Mami, could have been avoided. I am not
opposed to innovation as such but a classic text such as the Wizard of
Oz cannot be amended to suit the taste of a contemporary audience.
The dance movements introduced to represent movement and change
of scene and tempo derived from Michael Jackson's Moonwalk was
stunning. Chennai does have talent in the field of theatre.
I enjoyed the play immensely for two reasons. To a large extent it
recaptured the lost wonder of childhood and the innocence of an era
long gone. Second the screen adaptation and the script were tight and
well organized leaving few loose ends. Mitra Vishvesh as Dorothy
was the icing on the cake. She delivered her lines like a seasoned
professional and she will go a long way in Theatre. After a long time, I
saw a play that I really enjoyed.
The Secret Vatican Archives Revealed
2012-03-04 10:52
The recent decision of the Vatican to reveal the secret documents that
that lain hidden in its extensive secret archives is a welcome step. For
centuries the Vatican has hoarded its documents and this tendency
has of course fuelled speculation that often results in conspiracy
theories doing the rounds. If the Vatican had embraced the principle
of openness and transparency, the sordid sage of the Da Vinci Code
could have been avoided. Speculation enters where there is an
opaque blanket of fog and the only way to dispel it is by exposure to
the searching light of historical scrutiny and this is exactly what the
Pope has done.
The Secret Archives of the Vatican extend over 85 miles of shelves and
the alcoves are stuffed with records going back to the fall of the
Raman Empire. It is sometimes said that the very altar of the
cathedral on Capitol Hill is located on the tomb of Saint Peter. The
velum documents and richly illustrated Bibles are really a treasure
that belongs to the whole world and Vatican is doing us a favour by
putting them on public display.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The secret documents contain records of the Trial of the Knights

Templars when the entire order was proscribed, and the Knights
hunted and burnt at the stake. The record of the Inquisition forms
another interesting category of documents. The excommunication of
the great reformer, Martin Luther, which unleashed the Protestant
movement, or the Lutheran movement is another interesting
historical record. The signed retraction of Galileo who was forced to
withdraw his famous book in which he put forth his heliocentric
theory of the universe in opposition to the theory favoured by the
Catholic Church is another interesting document. During the Second
World War when the Germans were busy exterminating the Jews, the
Holocaust, the Roman Catholic Church remained a silent spectator.
There are also historians like David Gold Hagen who argue that the
Church was an active accomplice in the Holocaust. The secret
archives may shed light on this rather sordid chapter in the history of
the church.
Openness and transparency have never been the guiding principles of
any totalitarian religious movement and the Catholic Church is not an
exception. However, the decision to display the secret archives and to
upload part of the Archives on to the website are certainly welcome.
A solution to the Israeli Palestinian Question
2008-07-24 14:51
The peace in the Middle East seems to be extremely difficult because
both Israel and Palestine are locked in a state of mutual recrimination:
peace with justice means that the existing paradigm for ordering the
relations between the two societies must be reconsidered. The
Ashkenazi elite from eastern Europe and Poland that is essentially
the ruling aristocracy of Israel has dominated the politics of Israel
since 1949 and given its long association with Zionism is unlikely to
support the obvious solution to the problem: A single Palestinian and
Israeli state. A decade back even the so-called liberals in the State of
Israel would have been aghast at this solution but, now civil society
groups in Israel have begun debating the single state solution. The
 Word Craft and Statecraft

great Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe the author of The Ethnic Cleansing
of Palestine has been a long-time advocate of this new shift in Israeli
perception toward Palestinians.
The central feature of this new solution is the recognition of the land
for peace has not provided either security to the State of Israel or
peace to the Palestinians. It is necessary for those affected by the
placement of Israel in the erstwhile land of Palestine to have a chance
to lead a life of hope and a normal life as any signatory to the UN
Charter of Human Rights will testify. An ethnically pure State of
Israel has been of great moment only to the Ashkenazi and the
Mizrahim sections of Israeli society with roots in North Africa, Asia
and the Ottoman Empire, which are now willing to consider the
possibility of the joint Israeli-Palestine state. This solution recognizes
the historical injustice of evicting the Palestinians from the land and
at the same time recognizes that a Jewish homeland, as promised in
the Balfour Declaration is a reality.
The fact that 4.5 million Palestinians are living in conditions of
extreme deprivation is the real cause for terrorism in the region and if
USA is sincere about a viable peace in the region it must address this
issue. For more than two decades the official US position as reflected
in the Camp David accord and later the Oslo Agreement is the two
state solutions. While Israel is in favour of this policy it does
everything to undermine the peace accords by making the living and
working conditions of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank
extremely difficult. These territories are so closely guarded by Israel
for fear of suicide attack that both territories have become huge
camps where life, to put it mildly, is horrible. It is time for USA the
major backer of Israel to put its weight behind a solution as promised
by all American administrations since Richard Nixon.
A Sterile Debate on NDTV Again: Fair or Lovely?
2008-10-04 17:54
Barkha Dutt seems to be bent on displaying her amazing arrogance
before a national audience without shame and without remorse. On
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Sunday, 28th September, there was yet another sterile debate on We

the People regarding the most important issue facing the country: Is
being fair in colour the same as being lovely. The prima dona of
NDTV had rounded up the usual suspects of gaggle of beauty
queens, advertising gurus, business executives and an odd politically
correct dissenter. The issue was whether Indians equate fairness with
beauty and therefore more desirable and sexy at least on the
matrimonial market.
The amazing arrogance of the woman who conducted the show is
reflected in the fact that the members who were asked to comment on
skin tone and its alleged relationship with Indian conceptions of
beauty were all fair skinned and possessed skin tones which ranged
from fair to wheatish and not even one was dark skinned. By
exhibiting such women and making them represent the dark
skinned, Barkha Dutt and her ilk have willy-nilly reinforced the age-
old stereotype that light skin is divine.
NDTV has perfected the art of projecting the most reactionary
political message in the garb of appearing subversive. One more
point. If NDTV thinks that fair is not beautiful or desirable, then why
is it that the stable of Pretty Young Things in Dr Roy's stable are all fair
and perhaps to some eyes even lovely. It is sheer hypocrisy to preach
against colour consciousness and at the same time project only white
and light toned women in the various programmes of NDTV. This
channel is always on the so called liberal side on every debate. How
many Dalit newsreaders, anchors and reporters are working in
NDTV? I am sure except for the janitors and drivers there will be no
Dalit working in NDTV. It is time the sponsors stopped giving money
to this News outlet.
Why Indian Universities cannot be World Class
2008-10-25 15:12
A former chairman of the University Grants Commission is now
decorating the chair of the Prime Minister of India and like any
profligate public institution the UGC believes that by spending huge
 Word Craft and Statecraft

sums of money the quality of education, particularly at the University

or graduate level can be improved. It is ironic that when the whole
world, especially China is spending nearly 700 million US dollars on
just one University, the UGC plans to spend 73 million US dollars on
12 "World Class Universities" as suggested by the Report of the Sam
Pitroda Knowledge Commission. It is not possible for quality to be
purchased at 9 million US dollars apiece and the mandarins of the
UGC like their former Chairman is quite unaware of it. Moreover,
public money is being wasted in creating Centres of Social Exclusion
and Inclusion Policy a hobbyhorse of Sukhdev Thorat, who in these
days of identity politics is enjoying his season under the sun.
The Indian University system is utterly devoid of both vision and
dedication. The officers who essentially run the University with the
Vice Chancellors acting as their patrons are usually corrupt and
almost all University decisions are taken based on percentages. The
UGC spends crores of rupees every year on major and minor projects
and yet the impact factor of Indian research is just 0.01%. The bills and
reports submitted are usually fraudulent and with the cut and paste
option available on computer almost all reports are made to order. It
is usually arranged that the UGC funds third rate research that is an
embarrassment to any civilized institution. I wonder if the former
Chairman of the UGC Dr Man Mohan Singh is aware of the deep-
rooted corruption in the funding of higher education. It is time for the
UGC to stop the charade in the name of funding "quality research"
based entirely on percentages of commissions.
Corruption exists at all levels of the University system. One notorious
former Vice Chancellor who was dismissed for "forgery" even ended
becoming the VC of a Central University and the Chairman of
NAAC. He promptly brought his mistress into the University and
even provided a senior level job for her in the organization he once
headed. We know that under the leadership of such men as the one
referred to above the Universities degenerate in happy hunting
grounds for Vice Chancellors with overactive peckers.
The autonomy granted to the Universities is generally misused for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

persecuting the independent and promoting the courtiers. The UGC

instead of enforcing the minimum standards of public probity in the
University can be trusted to protect every act of nepotism and
corruption. Even the RTI is of no use. Recently, I asked for
information from the Information Officer of the UGC on a
particularly notorious case and in response I was told that the
information cannot be disclosed for "administrative reasons. Again,
there is no point in wasting public funds on such Institutions.
Major Nidal Hasan and the Massacre at Fort Hood
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The horrific incident at Fort Hood, Texas, should come as a wakeup
call to all those in the American academia who promote identity
based politics: Gays, lesbians, minority, sexual preference, etc. etc.
Now the Muslim identity is becoming increasingly problematic in the
USA and I believe that years and years of promoting identity politics
has left the country without the means of even admitting to itself that
the Islamic identity clashes head long with that of a secular nation
state. The US media is already concluding that Major Hassan's crime
does in no way reflect upon the patriotism of the Muslim-American
population.
My point is that the growing alienation of the Muslims from the
mainstream of western collective life is contributing to the sense of
unease and the killings in Fort Hood stems from that feeling of
unease.
Let me at the very outset condemn in the strongest possible manner
the violence against the army men and women at Fort Hood. My
point is not to justify the crime but to say why it happened. Major
Nidal by all accounts was being radicalized and his peers at Walter
Reed had drawn attention to a presentation he made in which he
seems to have justified suicide bombings. If this was indeed the case,
why did the Army not pay any attention? The practice of identity
based sensitivity forced the authorities to turn a blind eye to the
increasing radicalization of one of their own. In a conflict between
 Word Craft and Statecraft

secular law and identity based Faith based customs the Army must
enforce the secular law and in the name of minority rights it cannot
permit the radicalization of its members.
Major Nidal seems to have been harassed for his Muslim beliefs and
humiliated for practicing his religion. By the same token, if an army
man or woman is humiliated the authorities concerned must make a
full and complete inquiry and set right the fraying human relations.
This is absolutely essential in a heterogeneous army. Finally, it would
be a good idea not to deploy Muslims in the Army to serve in Iraq and
Afghanistan as they would have to fight fellow Muslims. Secularists
may not understand this, but practicing Muslims put faith above
politics and the State.
China outdid itself in the Olympic Games: The Congress Party
Heaps Shame on India
2010-09-28 15:47
It is often said that India and China are rivals both in terms of
economic power and soft power. While India has shown impressive
growth rate of 8.2 % per annum, its political class is under the
delusion that it can rival China in organizational ability and
projection of the image of an emerging world power. If China can
host the Olympics and make a spectacular spectacle before the whole
world, India can host the Common Wealth Games and earn some
brownie points for itself. Unlike China, India has a fractured political
system that inhibits the delivery of any large-scale goals and
objectives. The entire political system, particularly the dynastic
fascist Congress Party is mired in crime and corruption and India
unlike China is termed a "soft power" because of its inability to
deliver any of its commitments both legal and constitutional. Vested
interests have eroded the very edifice of Indian polity.
The Olympic Games in China were so well handled that nearly three
months before the games were to begin the venues were finished and
all facilities were ready, and the world was awe struck at the majesty
and impressive display of soft power that China put on. Now contrast
this with India.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Indian way of doing things is to create a multiplicity of agencies

and offices to do the same job and the consequent dilution of both
power and responsibility facilitates large scale kickbacks and
corruption. Suresh Kalmadi, a low brow politician from the ruling
Congress Party was put in charge of the Common Wealth Games and
the India Olympic Committee was also give line responsibilities, thus
both agencies took an intense dislike for each other from day one and
both completed with each other to undermine the strengths and
objectives of the other. More than two billion US dollars (35,000
thousand crores) have been spent and the way public money was
squandered would even put some African kleptocracies to shame. I
am not surprised as the Congress is a Party of crime, corruption and
dynasty. Even though the whole country was aware of the venality
with which this Kalmadi fellow administered the games, he was not
pulled up because he enjoyed the support of the big-wigs in the party.
The games village and other venues have an unfinished look about
them and are not of the standard expected of a country hoping to
claim the 21st century as its own. Apart from corruption, the absolute
lack of taste on the party of the organizer was evident when one
Bhanot who glories in the title Secretary General of the Common
Wealth Games, gave a banal press conference where he justified the
shoddy work in the most brazen style. The Prime Minister, Dr
Manmohan Singh cannot escape responsibility because he was aware
of the deplorable state of affairs, but showed no interest in rectifying
the situation. The Sports Minister, a former Chief Election
Commissioner Dr M S Gill was busy strutting his hour on the stage
instead of ensuring that the country's nose is not ground in the dust.
The Games village is in a shabby state and even a snake has been
found in one of the buildings. Many teams are now pulling out and
world class athletes are pulling out of the games.
It is better that India puts its own house in order before taking on such
grand projects. The people of India must realize that if they elect the
Congress they will reap humiliation and crime.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Sri Lanka after Vellupillai Prabhakaran

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The military victory announced by the President of Sri Lanka over the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam marks the end of 25 years of one of
the most brutal and ruthless insurgent movements of the 20th
century. Unfortunately, many of the western powers such as UK, the
EU, even USA before 9/11 identified the LTTE as a genuine liberation
movement and extended both political and diplomatic support. The
large Tamil Diaspora spread out all over the world, in its short-
sighted pursuit of identity politics supported the LTTE with money
and material. It appears that it was the self-serving Tamil Diaspora
spread out over Canada, England and Sweden that largely supported
the organization with aimed at complete control over the lives and
destiny of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka.
The LTTE founded by Vellupillai Prabhakaran in 1972 waged a brutal
war of extreme violence against the Sri Lankan state. In its pursuit of
ethnic cleansing of Northern Sri Lanka, it brutally attacked the
Buddhist/Sinhala population and terrorized the Muslim population
to quit the Northern Jaffna Peninsula. The world condemned the
ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Serbia, but it did not bother to
condemn what the Tigers did in the name of Tamil pride. The LTTE
ruthlessly and brutally killed several key Tamil intellectuals and
politicians so that the slot of Tamil leadership could be occupied by
Prabhakaran. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's leaders of the PLOTE
and EPRLF were systematically eliminated by LTTE assassins. In fact,
the LTTE pioneered the dubious tactic of suicide bombing long before
it became stock in trade of Islamic militancy. The murder of the
former president of Sri Lanka, Premadasa, the killing of Rajiv Gandhi
and the attempted assassination of Chandhrika Kumaratunga were
all carried out by suicide bombers. In addition, politicians of every
shade of moderate opinion both Tamil and Sinhala were killed by the
LTTE. Laxman Kadirgaman, Gamini Dessanayake, Lalith
Athulathmudali were just some of the politicians killed on the orders
of Prabhakaran.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The LTTE could not have become such a major terrorist organization
without the overt and covert support of the Indian Government. In
1983, when Mrs Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India, the
Government of India permitted the setting up of 16 training camps
for the LTTE cadres in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu, M G Ramachandran even referred to the
LTTE terrorists as tambis, or younger brothers. No wonder then that
the LTTE took full advantage of the situation and openly carried
weapons even in the streets of Chennai and there have been several
instances of LTTE men clashing with their rivals. The famous
shootout with Uma Masesvaran who was later killed by the LTTE is
still recalled with horror. In 1985 a bomb placed by the LTTE in
Chennai airport exploded killing 65 people. Despite the repeated acts
of violence carried out on Indian soil, the Government of India
continued to support the LTTE.
In 1991, the LTTE carried out the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in full
public view using a human bomb, Dhanu. The LTTE justified the
assassination of the former Prime Minister because he had sent the
Indian Peace Keeping Force to Jaffna in order to implement the Indo-
Sri Lankan accord. If this accord which formed the basis of the 17th
amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution had been implemented
the Tamil problem would have been solved as the Sinhalese for the
first time agreed to the devolution of powers to the Tamil provinces of
the North and the East. The LTTE did not want peace and set about
killing Indian soldiers and more than 2,500 Indian soldiers lost their
lives in that costly misadventure. Alienating India was a costly
mistake as the Sri Lankan government quickly converted the disquiet
that India felt into indifference to what was happening in Sri Lanka.
The defeat of the LTTE makes the job of the Sri Linkman government
more difficult as it must now work very hard to win the hearts and
minds of the Tamil population. The President has made a noble
beginning by saying that all Sri Lankans will be treated with dignity
and equality in an inclusive state. The death of Prabhakaran has
opened a window of opportunity in Sri Lanka and the Government
 Word Craft and Statecraft

must act. The last few days the saw widespread suffering in the war
front as the LTTE held the civilian population as a human shield.
Rajapakshe went ahead with his task of crushing the LTTE and in so
doing the cost in human terms was huge and so a good beginning has
to be made to win over the Tamil population and the distinct lack of
triumphalism in Rajapakshe's speech in Parliament today is a sign of
statesmanship
Had the Chilean Mining Disaster Happened in India?
2010-10-26 10:18
The Government of Chile, especially the President and the Mining
Minister have won the admiration of the world for the dedication
with which both carried on with the task of rescuing the 39 trapped
miners. No histrionics, no loud self-congratulations, no obscene back
tracking and leg pulling. The two behaved with such grace and
dignity that I think the crass, corrupt criminal tribe of Indian politicos
can learn a lesson or two from what happened in Chile.
This set me thinking. What would have happened if the same had
happened in India. The first thing which would have been set afloat
are charges and counter charges of corruption. The mining
equipment was secured on the basis of a bribe, the newspapers would
scream. The CBI and CVC both would have entered the fray. Never
mind the men trapped underground are not in any way helped by
such obscene newspaper and journalistic hype.
Then we have the pretty face, perky Barkha Dutt who would land on
the scene "in a sense" and thrust her perky tits and mike in front of the
rescuers and ask them the inanest questions, forgetting that there are
real human beings involved, she would launch on a calculated tirade
against the "callousness of the Indian Establishment" and in the
process of humouring this b***h precious time would be lost. I cannot
forget or forgive her coverage of the Kargil War which was done in a
lop sides manner. Or can we forget the manner in which NDTV
covered the Mumbai Terror attacks of 26/11when the live, streaming
images helped the terrorists holed up in the Taj.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Then will be the turn of the tele intellectuals from JNU to grab the
eyeballs of nations. One nattily dressed sociologist will be trotted out
and he will fill the air waves with "post-colonial" nonsense. The
Indian State does not care for the marginalised he will thunder and
the rest of us zombies will nod in silent admiration at this great
wisdom displayed by this Professor of Sociology of JNU and his elite
tribe. If the mining disaster had happened in a tribal area then New
Delhi's resident Naxalite, Arundhati Roy will be at her eloquent best.
In the medley of charges and counter charges, allegations and
posturing the men will be forgotten and will die.
Thus, India will sacrifice precious human lives in order to pass the
buck.
Lobby Girl Journalism of Barkha Dutt and NDTV: Professional
Misconduct in evidence
2010-11-29 14:10
I have always been extremely critical of the kind of phony journalism
represented by Barkha Dutt and her ilk who are patronised by NDTV.
I have already written about the manner in which Barkha Dutt was
awarded the Padma Shri by the UPA government and I am sure that
the award was for favours rendered to powerful people in the UPA.
The fashionably strident line taken against the BJP itself is a dead
giveaway. The BJP is not given the same sort of kid glove treatment
that the Congress and the Gandhi Dynasty receive.
The BJP will have to be portrayed as a wayward party unfit to govern
and all the crimes of the Congress including the 1984 massacre of the
Sikhs in New Delhi pushed under the carpet. Such lop sided
journalism is not what is expected in a country that claims to have a
free press. The stranglehold of the corporate interests over NDTV is
evident from the fact that its coverage of the Spectrum 2-g scandal
was much muted and while politics takes a large share of the time of
NDTV, it hardly cares to scrutinise the corporate houses that are
probably funding NDTV. I always wonder how NDTV can pay its
stable of beauties masquerading as Journalists when for the past 20
 Word Craft and Statecraft

years of its existence the TV has been in the red. How does the channel
manage its everyday expenses and maintain a staff of white elephants
including its "Group Editor" who probably can have a successful
career as a corporate lobbyist?
The context of the telephonic conversation between Niira Radia and
Barkha Dutt is very clear. There is a stalemate over the choice of
candidates for the cabinet especially since T R Baalu's name is
unacceptable to the Prime Minister. Barkha Dutt offers to talk to them
meaning the Congress and lobby the Congress to get A Raja the post
of Telecom Minister. I do know that the vernacular media is deeply
embedded in the power structures at the state level. Now it appears
that even the so-called English Press which had always fancied itself
to be above the "mofussil wallah" is also part and parcel of the
embedded "free press". Barkha Dutt's defence that she tweeted is also
riven with contradictions. She cannot now claim that she was going
along in order to extract information from Niira Radia when in reality
Niira is using Barkha Dutt as a conduit to pass on information to the
Congress.
Journalists cannot use their privileged position in order to pedal
influence. Instead of reporting the story, Barkha Dutt and NDTV has
become part of the story, "in a sense" to use the popular phrase that
Barkha drops every now and then. Such an act of professional
misconduct would have resulted in the career of any journalist in the
western world ending. But, Barkha Dutt's and the call girl journalism
of NDTV will certainly survive this and other scandals.
When she hosts the popular programme, 'We the People' we must ask
what supreme arrogance she has to speak for the people of India. She
packages the Congress point of view and manufactures a spurious
consensus for the Congress. I hope the buck does not stop at the table
of Barkha Dutt but, it stops at the table of an honest, decent and law-
abiding journalist who exposes corruption in high places without
fear or favour.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

WikiLeaks and the Freedom of Expression

2010-12-08 10:13
One of the fundamental values that USA and the West propounded in
its sustained campaign against the erstwhile USSR was the fact that
dissent and freedom of expression is regarded as sacrosanct in
Western society. Now the fact that the Chinese dissident who was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year is regarded as a hero by large
sections of world public opinion is a tribute to the propaganda
machinery that worked overtime to impress upon the world that
dissent is not tolerated in the People's Republic of China and all
totalitarian regimes stifle dissent using state power and the
administrative machinery.
Now compare the plight of Julian Assange the whistle blower who
has exposed many US diplomatic cables on his website. I do not think
that the US foreign policy has been in any way undermined by the
disclosures made by WikiLeaks. On the contrary, the world has only
learnt to appreciate US statecraft in a difficult period in international,
affairs. The fact that the Sunnis of Saudi Arabia are edging the USA to
bomb the Iranians does not come as a surprise to anyone as the Saudis
are known for their duplicity and perfidy. The fact that Saudis are
financing terror networks wedded to the Sunni cause is again no
great revelation and we were aware of this all through. Yes, the fact
that the Yemenis are willing to lie to their Parliament about the USA
bombing and taking "credit" for using the air force against their own
people came as a big surprise even by the street-smart logic of the
Middle East. So far it was Israel which was held up as the sole reason
for all the unrest in the region. WikiLeaks has abundantly exposed
the fact that the Sunni regimes of the region are also contributing in
no small measure to the destabilisation in the Middle East. Cynicism
is OK provided it is backed by realpolitik.
Julian Assange has exposed the cables from the field and no more.
Like the Pentagon Papers he has put into public domain certain facts
and those facts in no way compromise the safety or security of USA.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The US right wing aided by some Democrats like Joe Lieberman want
to impose limits on whistle blowing using the outdated Espionage
Act which does not cover the situation being discussed. The US
Government has issued a directive that federal staff cannot even see
the WikiLeaks site and some Universities have even blocked access to
the site. When the Chinese do such uncivilised things, the cry goes up
that dissent is not tolerated. Why practice double standards in such
fundamental matters as freedom of expression. The USA has
mounted a worldwide campaign to cut off funding for the site. In
what matter is this different from what the Chinese Government did
vis a vis Google. Sweden has even filed a case of sexual, assault on
Julian Assange. It seems for the USA public enemy number UNO is
not OSAMA but Assange.
K P S Gill is not S P S Rathore: Do not Humiliate a Hero
2010-01-07 11:01
K P S Gill, the former DGP of Police in the strife ridden state of the
Punjab at the height of the "Khalistan" terrorism was the man
responsible for defeating the menace of terrorism in the region: the
security won by this brave and fearless policeman was squandered
away by the dynastic fascist Party called the Congress, which
launched the pogrom of massacre against the Sikhs after the demise
of Indira Gandhi. I agree that his behaviour in the Governor's party
when he intentionally patted the bottom of Mrs Rupam Bajaj IAS and
the acting Chief Secretary of the state was in bad taste. But that act in
and of itself does not constitute molestation or even an attempt to
"outrage" the modesty of the lady. The very fact that the objectionable
action took place in full public view shows that the intent was only
misguided bravado and nothing more. KPS Gill did not bring his
influence and stature to either suppress the facts or evade
accountability for his misguided act. He was punished, and he has
appealed. The fact that Mrs Rupam Bajaj was not a 14-year-old
school-girl but a senior IAS officer has to be borne in mind and
moreover the system did not fail her. The governor acted
immediately.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

This is not the case with Ruchika. She was molested, and false cases
foisted on her younger brother in order to further traumatise and
humiliate the family of the victim. Moreover, she committed suicide
as she was just too young to bear the terrible consequences of the
predator S P S Rathore IPS. Anyone suggesting a moral equivalence
between K P S Gill and S P S Rathore is trivialising the death of the
young child and molestation of a young impressionable child is an
altogether different proposition than patting the bottom of a Chief
Secretary. Certainly, KPS Gill was in the wrong but to somehow
suggest that he too is in the same category as that criminal S P S
Rathore is altogether misplaced.
K P S Gill ruthlessly hunted the terrorists who has made normal life
impossible in the Punjab and has earned the Nation's gratitude. He
cannot now be thrown to the wolves just because all the insects are
coming out of the woodwork.
Dr Srinivas Siras and the Aligarh Muslim University
2010-04-08 13:15
The suicide or murder of Dr Srinivas Siras, a Reader in Marathi at
Aligarh Muslim University, shows how intolerant and fascist the
higher university system has become. Suspending a teacher based on
a video probably shot with the connivance of the AMU
Administration particularly the Proctor's office shows very clearly
that Dr Siras was targeted by the Administration. The Deli High
Court has already decriminalised homosexuality and therefore there
is nothing illegal or contrary to law to have consensual sex with a
person of the same gender.
In any event the fact that Dr Siras has a different sexual orientation is
no reason for placing him under suspension. The University must
form a high-level inquiry to find out who had participated in the sting
operation and whether the Local Intelligence Unit of the Vice
Chancellor had any hand in it. It is so shocking that a man can be
driven to his death in a so-called University by goons who have a free
run of central universities all across the land. I am myself familiar
 Word Craft and Statecraft

with the criminal deed of A. Gnanam and his Registrar S G Bhat when
the former was the VC of Pondicherry University and the later the
Registrar. In fact, the man even forged his daughter's attendance
certificate and got her enrolled in the Dentist Council of India. The
Ministry of Human Resources Development cannot plead ignorance
because I myself sent the documents to the Visitor.
Kapil Sibal came to my University the other day and delivered a
splendid convocation address. Though I have little patience for
congressmen, I must admit that Kapil Sibal's address was both
scholarly and inspiring. I wish he takes time off to see the horrible
service conditions of teacher's in Central Universities. Unlike
bureaucrats, teachers do not have a CAT and must approach the civil
courts and hence the Universities convert all disputes and grievances
into disciplinary cases by misusing the so-called autonomy. The
murder/suicide of Dr Siras proves my point. I am shocked at the
incident and I pray that his soul finds eternal peace.
Unrestrained Killing in Iraq
2010-04-29 11:06
The US war effort in Iraq is undermined by the very savagery of its
sometimes-unrestrained killing. Of course, in a war zone the forces
are at liberty to shoot and shoot to kill if need be, but it appears that
gratuitous acts of great violence are being carried out without any
tactical advantage or objective.
On July 12, 2007 an employee of Reuters, Baghdad, Namir Noor-
Eldeem who was all of 22 years old was killed by a deadly burst of 30-
millimetre M230 chain guns mounted on AH-64D Apache
helicopters which have become the backbone of the US military for
decades now. Sometimes called the Black Hawk because of its
predatory Shillotte, a war machine is etched in American
consciousness due to another unfortunate incident in Somalia several
years back. Namir Noor and his colleague were killed on the spot
even though both were neither terrorist nor were they armed. In fact,
both men took extreme precaution not to send wrong signals as the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

site of their killing has witnessed sectarian strife. What is shocking is

that the US military did not even acknowledge that such an act had
taken place and tried to cover up for the error in judgement. It is not
any one's case that the pilots were seeking out innocent targets and
were getting their kicks by killing innocents. We are saying that the
US military in its field operations has given far too much leeway to its
soldiers and all damage justified under the label "collateral damage".
This incident would have been forgotten but for a happenstance. The
video footage of this particular attack was loaded on to a little-known
site called Wiki leaks. It is obvious that someone from within the US
military establishment has had the courage to leak the footage either
to embarrass the military or to assuage the conscience. Either way the
damaging video soon became one of the most watched videos even
on you-tube where it is presently hosted.
The video has to be watched for one to understand the absolute cold
bloodiness of the soldiers in the helicopter. The gunmen in the
helicopter opened fire on the small group of unarmed men and killed
all of them. Not content at this massacre they waited for the relief van
to pull up and in the video one hears a voice with a mid-western
accent: Come on, let us shoot. When the US military was done with its
deed, eight men and children lay dead and not one was armed or
even remotely associated with insurgency. This is only to bring home
the horror of what is unfolding in Iraq.
Israel and the tragedy in Gaza: Why humanitarian aid must be
allowed?
2010-06-05 17:56
Israel enjoys a high degree of goodwill in many parts of the world and
even professional critics of Israel have found much to admire in the
manner in which the State of Israel conducts its no nonsense foreign
policy. The world opinion be damned. As long of USA is not overly
critical Israel does not seem to care. The latest outrage committed on
the high sea seems to have taken even the Obama Administration by
surprise and Hilary Clinton has joined the rest of the world in
 Word Craft and Statecraft

condemning Israel's action in using military might against a flotilla

carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The world has come to recognise
that the economic blockade imposed by Israel is causing untold
misery to the people of the Palestinian territory. If by following this
policy Israel hopes to undermine the support base of the HAMAS, the
policy is clearly not succeeding. In fact, the blockade has only
increased the level of public acceptability of HAMAS.
The economic blockade has failed in its expressly stated purpose but
has succeeded in imposing collective punishment on the people of
Gaza for electing the Hamas. Israel has used unacceptable level of
force in dealing with the flotilla carrying, after all humanitarian aid to
the people of Gaza. The boat did not carry any military equipment or
even machinery. It only carried tents, blankets, medicines, school text
books, toys, and food and relief material. Israel could have allowed
the passage of the aid flotilla instead of brutally attacking and causing
the death of 10 aid workers. Video footage shows the Israeli
paratroopers rappelling on to the deck of the vessels and opening fire.
Israel's claim that they were attracted first it carries no conviction as
the aid flotilla was on international waters when the incident
happened.
I do agree that Israel has a very difficult security environment and
also reluctantly have to concede that the security wall, often called
apartheid wall has given security to the civilians as there have been
far fewer suicide bombings now than before. By saying this we
should not be encouraging Israel with its hard statecraft, though it is
enviably successful. The War launched against the residents of Gaza
in 2008-2009 resulted, for the first time in the 65-year history of Israel
in a with drawl without achieving any major strategic objective. The
rockets attacks have stopped but for how long remains open to
question. The degradation of the Hamas and its military capability
has clearly not been achieved. Under these circumstances Israel could
have been more circumspect. There is yet another issue causing
international disquiet. This is to do with Israel's nuclear programme.
The Barack Obama administration is obsessed over Iran's nuclear
 Word Craft and Statecraft

material even though Iran has complied will all its obligations under
the NPT to which Iran is a signatory. The nuclear material exchange
agreement signed with Turkey and other countries effectively puts
Iran's spent fuel under international scrutiny. Israel on the other hand
in not a signatory to the NPT and has been carrying out a covert
nuclear arms program for the past 3 to 4 decades in a facility in the
NEGEV desert. The revelations of Mordechai Vanunu the Israeli
expert have proved to the whole world the existence of the nuclear
program. US experts believe that Israel possesses around 100
warheads just a screw driver away from deployment. Under these
circumstances peace in the Middle East will look a dismal prospect.
Israel must respond to the consistent US call for a return to the Road
Map and the process agreed with the quartet.
Salman Taseer's Killing in Kasaabistan
2011-01-09 06:00
Think the holy land of Pakistan can be rechristened, at least by those
living in India as Kasaabistan. After all the holy warrior who killed 186
people on 26/11/2008 came from there. I have decided to call Pakistan
as Kasaabistan and I would urge all like mined people to rename
Pakistan as Kasaabistan. They are obviously proud of his heroics in
India that they are unable or unwilling to bring the perpetrators of that
horrific crime to justice. In fact, the gunning down of the Governor of
Punjab, Salman Taseer has been hailed as an act of a Gazi by the
Kasaabistan press and I would like to reflect on that killing.
The civil society in Kasaabistan has disintegrated under the twin
pressures of religious militancy and political and ethnic tension. If
you remember what I had written when Benazir Bhutto was killed, I
had said then and I repeat now that civilian rule will only make things
worse in the country. The politicians do not enjoy any credibility in
Kasaabistan and hence the Army must step in. Even now the country
is run by the military with Mr 10% and his gang from the PPP acting
as frontmen. It is in India's interest to help the country along the path
of total civil and economic chaos. Unfortunately, the Indian
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Government has no long-term plan except to provide some guns and

training to Baluchi terrorist who have turned to India not out of love
for India but out of hatred for the mohajirs and Punjabis who actually
run Kasaabistan.
The country was founded on the premise of religious identity and so
for the Indian media to go looking for secular liberals in Kasaabistan
is an absurdity. Salman Taseer was the darling of the Indian media.
He courted and abandoned an Indian woman who very bravely went
on to bear his child. How did Salman Taseer treat the young man
when he tried to meet up with him in Rawalpindi. Read Stranger to
History and find out for yourself.
I do not think that a country like Kasaabistasn can call itself a civilised
society with men armed with guns killing each other and women in
burqas blowing themselves up as suicide bombers. If religion
dominates their thinking they will remain barbarous and violent and
we should help them achieve extinction. Sooner the better.
Pondicherry University Convocation
2011-04-23 04:43
I love the song and ceremony of convocations. Last year I wrote about
my meeting with Dr Javed Akthar, the noted poet and lyricist who
was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University with which I
am associated with in a very senior capacity. The Vice Chancellor,
Professor J A K Tareen is a good administrator and I can say with the
authority of one who has attended almost all convocations, that our
University puts up a good show and the meticulous planning of the
VC is there for all to see. Today the 21st Convocation of the University
was held, and I had to attend dressed like a penguin. Though Mani
Shankar Ayer has made some radical noises about the utility of the
black academic robes and his other Iyer colleague in the UPA cabinet
Jai Ram Ramesh has even gone to the extent of pulling off his robes
while addressing the Convocation at IIT Delhi, I think the robes do
add a touch of the drama and enhances the moment. After all
convocations are but theatre.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Vice Chancellor began by saying that the University has grown
300% during the course of the last 4 years. I agree that the Vice
Chancellor has done a great deal to enhance the standing and stature
of the University. I was associated with the Coffee Table Book and can
say that when it finally makes its appearance the visibility of the
University would be indeed great.
Dr K M Cherian, the famous heart surgeon was awarded the D.Sc.
(honoris Causa) and I think he did deserve the honour. He has
virtually given the gift of life to countless people and he did give a
soul stirring speech on success.
Montek Singh Aluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission was the chief guest and he too received an Honorary
degree. Educated at St Stephen's College, Delhi and at Oxford
University, Montek made an unabashed plea for liberalisation. He
indicated that until the onset of liberalisation in 1991-92 India was
growing at the rate of 3.5% annually with a population growth of
around 2.5%. This rate of growth, cynically called the Hindu Rate of
Growth was certainly a recipe for stagnation. During the past 2
decades India was growing at the rate 0f 9 to 10% and Montek was at
pains to point out that at this rate of growth, India will emerge as a
leading economic power house in the decades to come. Indian policy
elites do not like comparisons with China and Montek Singh was
honest enough to admit that by all parameters China was far ahead of
India. India, he could have added is held back by a Corrupt political
system headed by the likes that are presently in power.
The convocation went off well and I thought that I should put up my
blog about it.
Obama's War in Libya: Why the Stakes are High?
2011-04-24 23:35
Libya was the last major territory to be seized by the Roman empire
and the first to escape from its clutches along with Parthia. The
Libyans fought long and hard against the Italians when they
conquered the desert land in the 1930's. The fact is that Col Qaddaffi
 Word Craft and Statecraft

who was recently rehabilitated in the affections of Western powers

after spending more than 30 years as an international paraiah is not a
military and political pushover. Despite the Lokerbee bombing he
was able to get the main conspirator freed from a Scottish prison
during the Labour regime because of the vast oil revenues that he
holds.
The USA together with France has imposed a no-fly zone over Libya.
Under the pretext of enforcing a no-fly zone NATO jets are bombing
Libyan government and civilian positions. A no-fly zone would only
mean that if case the Libyan air force attempts to land in rebel held
areas, then NATO can enforce compliance of the UN resolution 1973.
The Obama Administration and Sarkozy's France have chosen to
interpret this resolution as a mandate to intervene and impose regime
change in Libya: regime change is not implied in the UN resolution. On
the first day of bombing US rained 110 Tomahawk missiles on Libya
and US B-52 bombers dropped 45 1000 kilo bombs in the first day itself.
Was such a massive attack justified? Is this not a savage and brutal act
of war against unarmed civilians? Already in Iraq and Afghanistan, US
intervention has caused untold suffering and there is no count of the
casualties. What makes the matter even worse is that the war heads
carried depleted uranium warheads making these attacks a nuclear
attack on civilian target violating all law of civilised warfare.
The US, UK and France are keen to see the oil rich region around
Bengazi is brought under direct rebel control. Like Chablis in Iraq, the
US has propped up a quisling called Khalifa Heftir, a "CIA asset" of
many years. It seems that the USA will not learn a lesson from its own
recent history. The town of Sirte, the tribal area from which Col
Qaddaffi come has borne the brunt of the bombing and there is just no
military or political justification for this. The ragtag rebel troops are
being financed by the Saudis and the brutal Saudi regime is being
hailed as an exemplar of democracy. Even the US Admiral James
Stavridis has admitted in Congress that the rebels are being infiltrated
by Al Qaeda elements. It appears that the US policy is to strengthen the
forces that are bent on destabilising the region. Though the Libyan
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Government assets of nearly 45 billion US $ have been frozen by the

Western Governments, the so-called "interim transitional national
council" has been permitted to access these funds which are being used
to finance the NATO bombing of Libya. So, we have Libyan money
being used to kill Libyans in their own land.
The policy of Obama is bound to fail. USA cannot afford another long
tern engagement in the deserts of Libya and the longer the war and
Resistance continues the easier it would be for Col Qaddaffi to cling
on to power.
One really likes the Col and he is an unsavoury sort of fellow. A
megalomaniac with vision of grandeur extending throughout North
Africa. It appears that Al-Jazeera is extremely influential; in the Arabic
world just as I pointed out in an earlier blog. However, this channel is
successful against secular dictators and is making no headway in
countries like Saudi Arabia in which repression is a way of life.
Col Gadaffi is unlikely to give in to the US backed EU enforced no-fly
zone. Bengazi is right now on the verge of falling to Col Gadaffi's
troops and since the US has ruled out ground troops, the no-fly zone
will only lead to civilian casualties which will turn the world opinion
against the intervention. The only gainer from this ill-advised move is
al qaeda which will now have yet another cause to trumpet. With all
his failings, the Col like Saddam Hussain had kept Islamic terrorism
firmly under control and his weakening will only result in North
Africa becoming another war zone. Already the civilian casualties
have started increasing and the hospitals have started showing signs
of overstretch.
The intervention in Libya is ill timed and will further erode US
credibility in the Arab world.
Osama Bin Laden and his Killing: Legal or a Lawless Act
2011-05-05 21:54
Early this morning the US Special Forces acting on a tipoff launched
an attack on a villa near Abbotsbad, town 150 kilometres from the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

capital. The US attack was successful and without the loss of life the
master mind on 9/11 was killed. It would have been foolish to take
him prisoner as that would have encouraged hostages' situations. So,
he was killed, and no one can fault the US forces for this successful
attack. I must say that there will be a sense of closure for a national
trauma and my thoughts go out to those who lost their loved ones on
that day in September 2001.
The death of Osama bin Laden will certainly weaken the al-qaeda
network and I am sure the Special Forces will continue the hunt for
other key elements. Unexpectedly this victory has given Obama's
presidential reflection bid a big boost and I am sure he will cash in for
what it is worth.
The situation in Pakistan will deteriorate and it may be time to call the
Army out to lead. The Zardar Government has helped the US to carry
out drone attacks and men like Raymond Davis on whom I have
written are really the unsung heroes. But for such men this operation
would not have been a success.
First things first. USA gave an accurate and truthful account of the
mid night encounter in which Osama bin Laden was killed. Had the
same event happened in my part of the world, the Government
would have lied saying that the man was armed and was using
women as human shield. A rifle or M-16 would have been placed next
to him to make it appear that the truth has been said. I appreciate the
Obama Administration and the Navy Seal VI unit for resisting the
temptation to score brownie points. Second, as I have often said the
Pakistani Administration was abetting in the crime of shielding
Osama. The fact that he was found within meters of the Military Base
at Abbotabad shows that the ISI and the Army knew of the high value
asset located there. It is quite possible that the Pakistanis surrendered
Osama bin Laden to the US for some concessions in Afghanistan. The
truth will eventually come out. For the moment let us assume that the
civilian administration knew little of value. The CIA, NSA, the
Department of Defence handed the entire Operation Gerimono is a
professional manner, and they deserve a big round of applause.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

There has been a controversy over the burial--some would even say,
hasty and thoughtless--of the body of Osama bin Laden. The fact is
that a tomb or burial site anywhere in South Asia would become a
magnet for would be jehadis and a cult would have grown around it.
A lieux de memoire is uncalled for and an anonymous burial was the
need of the hour. The body of the terrorist could have been burnt and
disposed of. Instead the Arabian Sea has been polluted with this
corpse. The Obama Administration did what it thought best, and it
need not have revealed the facts about the disposal of the body. A
picture of the dead Osama should have been published in order to
quell the nay sayers and the inevitable conspiracy mongers. Why
there was such haste is disposing off the remains of Osama bin Laden.
USS Carl Vince and its identity ought not to have been revealed.
The hunt for Osama bin Laden was long and wearisome. Countless
false leads and deliberately misleading clues were sifted in order to
establish the identity of al-Kuwait the courier whose existence was
first revealed by Khalili, a Git Mo detainee. In fact, the success of the
operation shows that the policy of questioning the detainees in a
thorough manner was not off the mark. The CIA did a good job in
tracking down the fugitive. I do not know why the lack of internet
connectivity was troubling. The man was using a data card and it is
just possible that WI FI connectivity was there. As for telephone who
has land lines in these days of mobile phones. I just do not think that
these were important clues that led to the identification of Osama bin
Laden. I would like one of the 22 seals who participated in this
encounter to write the history of this extraordinary event which in the
words of a great historian of ages past, an event likely to be
remembered for eons to come.
On 29th April 2011, President Barack Obama signed an executive
order that authorised the Navy Seals VI unit to seek and kill Osama
bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the targets in USA.
Are we to believe that the US president has the authority to order the
execution of those deemed inimical to the US. Is this argument that
USA can violate the sovereignty of a state, enter its territory, carry out
 Word Craft and Statecraft

a clandestine operation, pick up the evidence and leave, all actions

done in accordance to domestic or international law. No court of law
has ever convicted the target of the May 1st attack and therefore what
is the legal basis of Obama's actions. I have no problem at all with the
killing of terrorists, but I am raising a larger issue: the legal and
constitutional validity of the presidential order of April 29th, 2011.
The nearest example that comes to my mind is the infamous case of
Adolf Eichmann who was captured by the Israelis in Brazil and
brought to Jerusalem for trial and execution. In this case, the
Government of Israel acted according to the testimony of several who
gave evidence in the Nuremberg trials. Eichmann was indicted for
crimes against humanity and there were ample eyewitness accounts
of his direct involvement in the crimes at several camps in Europe.
Further there was also the domestic legislation in the new state of
Israel that made the capture and trial of German war criminals a
responsibility of the Government of Israel and international law went
along with this extended interpretation of the doctrine of eminent
domain over German war crimes claimed by Israel. I want to know
whether there is any provision in US law that enables or authorises
the US president to carry out attacks on targets chosen by the US. I am
not going into the merits of this particular case. I am raising a larger
legal issue. Of course, the USA can come out and declare that they
violated the sovereignty of Pakistan as they believe that the situation
in that country makes it a "terrorist state" and hence the USA is not
obligated to be constrained by the principles of international law.
Pakistan has become a haven for terrorists of every kind and
therefore it is not a state in the true sense of the world. It does not have
full control over its territory. Sayed Hafiz, a known terrorist is
moving about freely in the country. Dawood Ibrahim a known
criminal is being protected by the ISI. Since Pakistan does not have
control over its territory and it's so called civilian government has no
monopoly over the use of force within the borders, USA can make a
strong case for the violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan. As far as
Osama bin Laden is concerned, though there is no evidence that can
 Word Craft and Statecraft

stand up in a trial court, the law of national self-defence does permit

nations to defend themselves.
There is now controversy over the killing of the man. I had raised this
issue in my very first blog on this subject. The Obama Administration
made things difficult for itself by giving contradictory version of the
sequence of events leading to the killing of Osama. First, they said
that he fired at the raiding assault party and Leon Panetta stood by
this version. Then they said quite truthfully that that he was not
armed. This has not gone well. USA should have stood by one
version. Then they said that he used a woman as a human shield and
then they back tracked. Now both these contradictions are fuelling
speculations about the way Osama was killed. There is even one
theory doing the rounds that Osama bin Laden was killed in cold
blood. I do not subscribe to this version.
Finally, the pictures. The most gruesome image was of the fall of the
Twin Towers. How is it that USA is not revealing the pictures of the
dead Osama bin Laden? Is there something in the pictures?
Ramachandra Guha's "New Political Gurus: A Critique
2011-06-18 19:40
The prolific Indian intellectual, Ramachandra Guha has published an
article entitled "India's New Political Gurus" in the latest issue of
Newsweek (June 20th, 2011). The main purpose of this rather pointed
intervention in the Indian debate over corruption and the role of the
so called civil society activism spawned by the like of Dr Kiran Bedi
and Anna Hazare is to belittle and trivialise the common Indian
before the elite Newsweek reading audience of the world. As a
historian, at least having some academic training in social and
environmental history, one can expect Dr Ramachandra Guha to
show a modicum of integrity in his analysis. However, what he
comes up with is only a tendentious piece of reportage for an
American audience which is both fail in its approach and apologetic
in its tone.
The likes of Baba Ramdev have entered the political space only
 Word Craft and Statecraft

because during the last 60 years since Independence the politicians

have rendered Indian democracy into a dynastic fascist regime it is
today. The Congress party started this trend in the years following
the split in 1969 and today the party is only an appendage of the
Gandhi-Nehru family. What Ramachandra Guha hides from the rest
of the world that it was the Nehru dynasty that started practicing
massive corruption on a scale that essentially made India into a third
world kleptocracy. The Nagarwala case, the Oil import scandals of
the 1980's the Bofors Scandal and of course the present season of 2G
Spectrum Scandal and a host of other scandals are all the creations of
the Congress Party with support from their allies like the DMK.
Ramachandra Guha completely distorts the context when he cleverly
shields the Congress Party from any blame for the scandals. I was
really shocked when in his massive 800 odd page book India Since
Gandhi we do not find any discussion on the criminal pogrom of
massacre organised by the Congress Party in the days following the
execution of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. So, Dr
Ramachandra Guha is extremely economical with the truth.
The emergence of men like Baba Ramdev upsets western educated
aristocrats like Ramachandra Guha because they represent the India
that is struggling to keep afloat unlike the middle class that battened
itself with the pickings of liberalisation and its concomitant
corruption. Baba Ramdev articulated his stand against the monstrous
corruption in India using the rhetoric of India religion and
mythology--a rhetoric that Nohandas Gandhi had perfected.
Comparing Corruption to demons from the rich repertoire of India
mythology and making people aware of their inherent human and
constitutional rights using the idiom of morality and religion is what
every televangelist in the USA does. When Baba Ramdev articulates a
similar argument, the Ramachandra Guhas of the world must paint
them in dark colours of superstition and reaction.
The regime in power very cleverly manipulated the rather simple-
minded Baba Ramdev and tried to create a very public split in the
ranks of the growing anti-corruption movement in India. The other
 Word Craft and Statecraft

crusade against corruption, Anna Hazare is more to the taste of

Ramchandra Guha. He has gathered around him some media
friendly faces like Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi and this crew is
projected as the very backbone of the crusade against corruption. In
fact, Baba Ramdev is the one whose movement will go forward and
Anna Hazare and his crew are now busy debating whether the Prime
Minister should be brought under the aegis of the Lok Pal Bill. Baba
Ramdev has rightly identified foreign bank accounts of Indians as the
major source of unaccounted wealth and wants the Government to
nationalise the ill-gotten wealth stashed abroad by the corrupt Indian
politicians. In a recent raid on the "ashram" of the Afro headed "saint"
Satyanarayana Raju, more than 100 kilos of gold bars and 400 kilos of
silver were found. There is enough black money within India for the
Government to seize and Baba Ramdev is being very reasonable
when he demands the return of this wealth.
Ramachandra Guha did not make any attempt to hide his glee at the
brutal crackdown on the unarmed men, women and children on the
night of June 4th, 2011 when the regime of ManMohan Singh sent its
police to attack the grounds where the peaceful demonstration was
taking place. The brutal crackdown against Baba Ramdev drew the
attention of the Indian Supreme Court to the unlawful act and
Ramachandra Guha does not mention the criminal actions of the
regime in power.
Guha calls Baba Ramdev "reactionary". I think by using the language
of the Congress Party to stigmatise all its opponents as "communal"
reactionary, "anti national" etc Ramchandra Guha has shown himself
to be a publicist of a corrupt, criminal regime.
Slut Walk in India
2011-06-21 23:31
The proposition that India is a dangerous country for women cannot
be gainsaid. The number of cases of violence against women in states
such as Haryana, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are increasing. In
Mayawati's Uttar Pradesh alone over the past month or so more than
 Word Craft and Statecraft

a dozen case of rape have been reported and in the Lakhimpur

incident it appears that even the police were involved. In Delhi
women, particularly the young ones find it difficult to lead a life free
from sexual harassment. So, I agree that public attention must be
directed toward the menace of sexual predation. Having said this, we
must examine the motivation behind the "Slut Walk" which is being
organised by a few women in the national capital. Yesterday on TV
channel, Headlines Today, I watched the debate on this issue and
would like to respond to it.
I wish the women behind the Slut Walk take up real issues that
pertain to the conditions of the girl child in India today instead of
making a splash in the name of post-colonial ideologies of gender and
identity. One remarkable way of depoliticising any society is to police
the terms of the debate within which a society negotiates with its
constituent elements. Post-colonial forms of individual choice based
on sexual preference, gender, and identity skit the issue of social
change by taking the problems of society out of the realm or domain
of organised politics and placing them squarely within the
framework of individual choice and identity. Unfortunately, the
vaporisation of post-colonial theories in our so-called Institutions of
higher education has resulted in the elite women of Indian society
mimicking western feminism and thy simply ignore the reality that
confronts the girl child in this hell called India.
The women who have organised the Slut Walk claim to represent
Indian women. I am certain that they are not aware of the real
conditions faced by women in India and are resorting to sensational
methods which only skit the real issue and trivialize the abominable
conditions faced by the girl child. Are these women aware of the fact
that India ranks among the highest in terms of maternal mortality?
What are they doing to create public awareness about it? Are they
aware that in India dowry deaths have become so common that it
does not make news anymore? Slut Walks of the sort that these pyts
(young things) are organising will make things even worse for the girl
child. Are these women aware of the declining sex ration and female
 Word Craft and Statecraft

fetishist that is rampant in north Indian societies? How will the Slut
Walk help in making even women aware of the horrid reality of
female foeticide that is taking place all over India. By asserting their
individual right over collective destiny, the organisers of Slut Walk
are playing havoc with the future of the girl child in India because of
the conspiracy of silence over the real issues facing the girl child in
India. I wish that the articulate and obviously educated young
women take the plight of their less fortunate sisters more seriously.
The fact that India remains a dangerous country for women should
make us sit up and take notice. But Slut Walks will not make India
safe for young girls. The solution lies in what Dr B R Ambedkar said--
educate, organise and agitate. Tamasha like slut walks are mere
spectacles.
Gulam Nabi Fai, Indian Intellectuals and National Security
2011-07-23 09:50
The involvement of Indian "intellectuals" in the seminar circuit
operated by Dr Gulam Nabi Fai who was also the Director of the
American-Kashmir Council does not come as a surprise to me at all.
When I see the tele intellectuals from JNU sitting in the NDTV studio
with their poster girl Barkha Dutt making the most outlandish
statements I only feel that India can never be a world class power with
a brain trust that can be hired for an economy class ticket to USA.
What is disgusting that this breed of parasites has colonised the UGC,
the media, the National Advisory Council, NGOs and the like and a
younger generation is being trained to follow in the illustrious
footsteps of such "intellectuals". These intellectuals do not read but
trade in opinion and pass of political positions in the garb of academic
research.
The post-colonial theoretical armature that these intellectuals invoke
elided the boundaries between truth and fiction, between opinion
and judgement, between theoretical position and practice. What is
most disconcerting being that these intellectuals profess unalloyed
liberal views in public and rant with full vigour at "reactionary hindu
 Word Craft and Statecraft

extremism", froth at the mouth at the mention of Hon'ble Narendra

Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and let their hearts bleed for
criminals of every kind who happen to belong to the "right " caste are
silent when it comes to real issues? For instance, these tele
intellectuals have written volumes on the 1992 event in Ayodhya, but
hardly have a word on the criminal pogrom of the Congress Party in
1984. They are the first to hold candle light vigil for "terrorists" killed
in police actions but do not have a word of succour for the victims of
terrorism. On the one hand they seek the freedom to criticise the
Nation's state from every platform available but are the first to hold
their grubby palms for trinkets and grants from the state. It is these
kinds of intellectuals who has sold the country to Pakistan and the
"liberal" anti-national rants are also given the legitimacy of post-
colonial social science. The coming of the Sage Corporation into India
has led to the erosion of the independent social science thinking India
had for quite a long time.
While I am not a great admirer of the nation state, I can say with a
great deal of pride that what I have written and published is based on
my wide reading and honest understanding. In short, I represent the
dying breed of independent historians and thinkers among the
Slumdog post-colonial tele intellectuals. The UGC also rewards
intellectuals for being anti national. If one stretches out one's hand for
alms from the likes of Gulam Nabi Fai, the prestige value of such
beggars in the Indian Universities goes up. He/she is circulating in
the rarefied air of high policy and, so he/she must be rewarded and
promoted. It is a shame that the Government of India has appointed
on the Kashmir interlocutor council Dilip Padgoankar who was a
guest of Gulam Nabi Fai.
JNU is full of robust tele intellectuals who have battened themselves
on the pickings from Fai. The culture of mediocrity and
showmanship which is encouraged in Indian Universities is
responsible for the sorry state of affairs. These tele intellectuals do not
have the time or the energy to teach as they are found lobbying with
their political friends for research money and trips. The net result is a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

total lack of a national perspective in our educational and research

institutions. Moreover, the Indian academics have learnt to be mimic
men and have prospered.
The Norwegian Massacre: Is it Christian Terrorism?
2011-07-28 00:07
Norway has always regarded itself as the conscience of the civilized
world. The self-appointed custodian of "western values" was always
quick to defend every terrorist group in the world the latest being the
LTTE, the terrorist group which was responsible for killing more than
50,000 civilians. Norway was one of the prominent EU countries
which followed a split policy on terrorism: condemn the state if it tries
to defend the territorial integrity of the country, but always defend
sundry terrorist and anarchist groups in the name of human rights.
Norway had no qualms about signing up for the War on Terror
crafted by the US under the leadership of Bush and Blair. Always
following an aggressive policy of promoting Western geo -strategic
interests, Norway maintained the "high moral" ground by adopting a
hectoring tone when it came to countries like Sri Lanka which faced
one of the worst terrorist groups in the world with cyanide capsules
and human bombs.
The Western media always labels political acts of violence anywhere
in the world with a religious tag. Thus, we have the well-known
category of Islamic terrorism. Given this fact can we call the massacre
of 94 young people on the island of Uteoya by Anders Behring Breivik
as an act of Christian terrorism just as the world seems to recognize
the existence of Islamic terrorism. There is an eerie similarity in the
planning and execution of the plot with Timothy McVeigh's
Oklahoma Federal Building bombing nearly a decade back. McVeigh
too was inspired by fundamentalist Christian values and he too used
ammonium nitrate as the explosive charge for the bomb.
The suggestion that there is a Christian terrorism is just as wrong as
the assertion that there is Islamic terrorism. The Moslem countries
have certain grievances which must be addressed, and they are all of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

a political nature, By giving a religious complexion to protest and its

attendant violence the Western world is basically evading its own
responsibility is generating the grievances that lead to violence.
Norway with its ruling labour Party has followed a policy of giving
shelter to groups that will be labelled terrorist by any definition.
The man who killed 94 young people and blew up the Prime
Minister's office in downtown Oslo was a home-grown terrorist and I
am sure that Norway will be more circumspect while condemning
other state for protecting the territorial integrity of the state.
Is Indian Independence worth the blood, tears, toil and sweat?
2011-08-13 21:26
The celebration of Independence Day has become a hollow ritual. The
tricolour which once inspire a whole generation has become the
symbol of a corrupt, fascist dynasty which runs the Congress party.
The speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort has the contrived
quality of a ritual whose day has passed. Does the idea of India
inspire any hope?
The rampant corruption of which the 2G Spectrum Scam and the
CWG scam are but the most egregious examples will have their
impact on the electorate in the next general elections. The Indian
people are not concerned with political corruption if it is within
manageable limits. What has now happened it that the people have
realised that the sole purpose of politics is to gain power and pelf and
use both to cultivate a "vote bank" as the Congress party has done
over the past 40 years. Is this the Freedom for which so many
countless martyrs laid down their lives? Had they known that within
a few decades of Independence India will fall prey to dynastic
fascism, I am sure many would have wondered if freedom is worth
the candle.
The Indian politician, like the post-colonial intellectual was the first
to realise the absolute goldmine in the form if "identity politics".
Starting first with language which led to the division of India along
linguistic lines, then caste identities were politicised by V P Singh and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

his cohorts which in turn led to caste blocks becoming the vote banks
of politicians like Mulayam Singh Yadava and Laloo Prasad Yadava.
The absolute criminalisation of the political system can be seen in
those parts of India where political parties representing caste blocks
rule the roost. I, of course have Karunanidh's rest while regime in
Tamil Nadu and Mayawati's regime in Uttar Pradesh in mind. Is this
the freedom the martyrs fought and died for?
Apart from the criminalisation of Indian politics due to the strangle
hold of identity politics there are other disconcerting aspects. The
electoral process has lost its neutral character. P Chidambaram's
declaration as the victor in the Sivagangai Parliamentary elections in
2009 is itself proof of how the rich and the powerful are able to
subvert the system. And this man is now the "Home Minister" of
India a position once occupied by Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri
and Hon'ble L K Advani. Is this the freedom the martyrs of India died
for?
The Indian state is crumbling from the weight of its own monstrous
crimes. The entire tribal belt is under the sway of the Naxalites and
given the disgust the people of India feel toward the political system,
it is only a short step toward an alliance between the disgruntled
elements and the violent Naxalites. Civil society activists like Anna
Hazare will be co-opted into this corrupt political system, leaving the
field wide open for Baba Ramdev.
We have to see whether the India that we know will survive another
25 years. The four-southern state together with Gujarat and
Maharashtra already account for nearly 45% of India's GDP. Regional
disparities will lead to the undermining of the political fabric.
Unfortunately, the whole political system is obsessed with its
dynastic fixation and has no time to think of the problems of India. Is
this the India for which the martyrs died?
China has shown that a country can progress in spite of centuries of
social and economic stagnation. The Universities in China like Beijing
University have risen to the very top of the list of global universities
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and India is struggling at the rock bottom. Is this the Freedom the
martyrs died for? I think when historians look back on the post-
Independence period of India's past they will not hesitate to conclude
that a glorious dream was betrayed by dynastic fascism and
corruption.
Why Anna Hazare is Wrong? Corruption will not End with the Lok
Pal Bill!
2011-08-22 02:50
Like a sleeping mahavishnu, Anna Hazare appears daily before the
nation's reading public. His statements, earthy and pointedly
simplistic, has the country enthralled. The media hype surrounding
this 74-year-old wonderkid from the boondocks of Maharashtra, is
such that even to question his rhetorical and theatrical stunts is to
invite the wrath of the hyper active middle class and its acolytes in the
electronic media. The whole nation is watching with bated breath his
antics and such is the power of the media that many people believe
that corruption will just vanish the moment the Lok Pal Bill as drafted
by Anna and his Team is passed. Nothing is further from the truth.
Anna's middle-class movement with its noisy assemblage of
journalists, social wannabes, fashion designers, corporate lobbyists
are now masquerading as the conscience of the nation. This very class
is responsible along with the criminal politicians for the total collapse
of the moral fabric of Indian society and, yet this class pretends to be
an agent of change. Corruption could not have grown to this
monstrous proportion without the active connivance of the very class
that has now come out in open support of Anna Hazare. In fact, Anna
Hazare is not challenging dynastic fascism he is only reinforcing it
when he declared this afternoon that he will negotiate only with
Rahul Gandhi or with the Prime Minister. Is this not an open
endorsement of dynasty and we all know that the Gandhi Dynasty is
the beneficiary of the corruption. While he has no faith in parliament,
this faith from Maharashtra reposes full confidence in the dynasty.
Corruption will not end in India even if Anna Hazare and his five
 Word Craft and Statecraft

magicians are appointed Lok Pals will sky high powers of

investigation and prosecution. This is because the electoral system
has become the fountainhead of all that is wrong in the Indian variant
of democracy. One change that Anna Hazare could have asked for
but did not is to insist on the audit of the accounts of the political
parties. Since politics runs on black money, the system that generates
black money is left virtually untouched by Saint Anna Hazare and his
five apostles. This condition of subjecting the political parties to the
audit process will go a long way in cleaning up the political system.
Instead the 4 wise men and 1 wise woman want s Lok Pal who will get
into the picture after the deed is done. There is nothing to prevent the
Lok Pal and his fellow members of becoming one more layer in a
corrupt pie.
I approve of Anna Hazare total disdain for politicians because India is
singularly unfortunate in having full time criminals as part time
members of Parliament. Team Anna's draft does not address the issue
of wanton criminalisation of the political process. If the bill is passed,
as I think it will, then will corruption vanish from India. The answer is
a resounding NO.
Teacher's Day at Pondicherry University
2011-09-05 05:11
Pondicherry University, one of the most dynamic of Central
Universities in the country celebrated the Teacher's Day in a grand
manner. The Vice Chancellor, Professor J A K Tareen has given back
to the Faculty of the University the dignity that was denied to it be by
individuals who cannot be named. His vision of making the
university a leading centre for higher learning is being realised and
he repeatedly speaks of the low ranking Indian institutions of higher
learning get in International surveys such as the London Times list
and the Shanghai list. His remedy is to increase the student base of the
University, thereby moving from what can be called fishing in a
"small pond" for "crabs and fishes" to an ocean where "whales and
sharks" are the quarry--the potential Nobel Prize winners. There is an
 Word Craft and Statecraft

implacable logic in this analogy and I hope that this grand vision
unfolded in this University is realised.
The Chief Guest was Professor M Ananda Krishnan, Chairman of the
Board of Governors, IIT, Kanpur. His pep talk suited the occasion and
he boldly said that the reason for the declining standard of education
was he rampant political interference. He pointedly said that if Sir S
Radhakrishnan were to revisit the Universities with which he was
associated with like BHU, Andhra University and Madras University
he would be shocked at the falling standards. Identity politics
coupled with political interference were the two single most
important factors for the lack of credible universities in India.
Pondicherry University remains an exception primarily because the
Vice Chancellor remains committed to making the University a
world class institution.
The Best Teacher Awards were presented to the outstanding Faculty
members. The teachers were evaluated based on 20 parameters and
the those who scored more than 4.5 on the 5.0 scale were selected for
the awards. It was an honour to receive this prestigious award.
The phenomenal growth of the University has led to the University
being ranked at # 16 in a recent survey done by the weekly magazine
India Today. Anyone who has been associated with the institution as
an old-timer (those who joined at the very inception of the University
and not those who wafted in with the gentle breeze) will say with
conviction that what they see on the Campus is a total transformation
of the academic culture and administrative practices.
I wish the University, its Vice Chancellor, Professor J A K Tareen and
the students the very best.
Libya Another War for Oil; The Consequences Will Be Disaster
2011-09-09 22:40
NATO forces aided by France and USA have succeeded in defeating
the Libyan armed forces militarily and driving the legitimate
government into exile. This repeats the pattern of diplomacy that we
 Word Craft and Statecraft

have been seeing right from the time the Soviet Union collapsed and
USA became the single pole around which the international order
revolved. This development marks a reversal of the two principles
that had been the basis of Western statecraft from 1648 when the
Treaty of Westphalia was signed. The two principals were: respect for
the legitimacy of states and their territorial integrity and second non-
interference in their internal affairs. These principles were the lessons
drawn from the wars between the Dutch, the French and other
European powers (Jeremy Black in his History of Diplomacy) has a
very good account of this.
In Kosovo, Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan and now in Libya the West has
invoked two multinational bodies to provide legitimacy for its
unilateral intervention. First, the International Court of Criminal
Justice and second the United Nations Security Council. Some
support was also garnered from the Arab League and African Union.
It is interesting to note that the Arab League encouraged the NATO to
go ahead with the no-fly zone thereby undermining the capability of
the Libyans to protect the territorial integrity of their state. The use of
the International Court of Criminal Justice in a one-sided manner is
yet another innovation. In any civil war especially one in which
foreign support is palpable there will be retaliation. The rebels too
committed atrocities in Benghazi for which no retribution is
forthcoming. This one-sided invocation of International Court of
Criminal Justice, a victor's court to which the defeated are brought in
chains, will lead to the establishment of alternate and competing
tribunals ion which Bush, Blair and now Obama and Sarkozy may be
arraigned as "war criminals".
The NATO forces gave blanket support to the rebels and in the run up
to the takeover of Tripoli NATO launched a relentless air
bombardment of Tripoli which did not have an air defence system
causing large scale deaths and the so called free embedded media and
journalists ignored the deaths of civilians in Tripoli while
exaggerating the toll in Benghazi. Surprisingly, the USA has made a
hero of Belhadj, a notorious al qaeda operative who was sent to Libya
 Word Craft and Statecraft

via the "extraordinary rendition" route made famous by President

Bush and Libya kept him in prison. Now Belhadj has joined hands
with NATO and he is on the same page of the Americans as far as
Libya is concerned. The US policy has only led to Libya coming under
the influence of the al-Qaeda network and along with Somalia will be
the hub of terrorist activity.
One definite consequence of the ill-advised invasion is the promotion
of "identity politics" and USA will have to bear the brunt of this short-
sighted policy. Like in Iraq where USA promoted the Shiaas at the
expense of the Sunnis, here in Libya the USA is encouraging the
Berbers against the Turgs. Large number of Turgs have been killed
and the Western media is complicit in not reporting human rights
violation of the Berbers. And as is the case in Iraq the final issue is Oil.
Libya has Africa's largest known deposit of Oil and with Saudi
Arabia being drained of its reserves by 2025, the Western oil
companies can exploit Libya along with Iraq for another 30 to 40
years. This is the truth.
The verdict on the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case: Appalling
failure of Prosecution
2011-10-17 00:38
The journalist Shivani Bhatnagar was killed in New Delhi in a secure
high-rise apartment in January 1999. An IPS officer who was on
secondment to I K Gujrals' office was the prime suspect. R K Sharma,
a Tyagi by caste and an IPS officer seems to have engaged three Tyagi
killers from Meerut and Western UP to have Shivani Bhatnagar
killed. The Lower courts found all four of them accused guilty and
sentenced them to life imprisonment. The appellate court has
acquitted three out of the four except the actual killer another Sharma
called Pradeep Sharma. The hon'ble judges have stated that the
quality of the evidence presented was poor and that though they had
suspicions, they gave the three accused the benefit of doubt. I think
such lapses are becoming very common and the common man who
has already lost Faith in the political and administrative leadership is
 Word Craft and Statecraft

rapidly losing faith in the judiciary as well. If this trend is not checked
it will only lead to private justice and we are already seeing signs of
private justice. I think failure on the part of the police to get known
killers convicted by deliberate misconduct will lead to private justice
and that would be quite bad.
The two prosecutors who got the convictions at the lower court were
removed from handling this case, The Delhi Police must answer the
question why they were removed. I think there were powerful
political interests at work. Second, the motive behind the killing was
widely publicised at the time and now it is said that the motive has
not been established. If that is so how did the appellate bench find
Pradeep Sharma guilty and confirmed the life sentence. Why did the
appellate court disregard the cell phone records of R K Sharma who
was in constant touch with the gang of killers. Why is that evidence
not germane to the case.
The inordinate delay in pronouncing the judgement without
assigning any reasons is yet another factor that points to judicial
misconduct. Unfortunately, the nation has to suffer the corrupt
politicians, criminal police officers, colluding bureaucrats, mediocre
journalists, conniving RTI activists, compromised judges, and the list
can go on. The solution to all this does not lie in a Lok Pal Bill or a Joke
Pal Bill. It lies in the ability of decent citizens to punish the guilty and
establish a Republic of Virtue in India.
Delhi University Ramayana Controversy; Intolerance Versus
Intellectual Foppery
2011-10-19 09:29
I think it was al-Beruni who remarked that the Indians have no sense
of history and the historians of India particularly the Delhi University
and JNU species are bending backwards to prove him right. The
removal of one short essay by A K Ramnujam from the history
syllabus has become a cause celebre for the faithful to rally around the
flag; never mind that the flag is moth eaten and shows all signs of
having been dragged through a lot of dirt and muck. The inane
 Word Craft and Statecraft

shenanigans of our historians would be entertaining, if only it were

not so tragic in the consequences. Soon after Indira Gandhi came to
power in 1967 the coterie of like-minded historians got into
the business of creating "progressive "history. They grandly
marched under the banner of a small
pahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifmphlet written by three
historians who remain till this day the icons of "progressive"
historiography. The little pamphlet called Communalism and the
Writing of Indian History became the manifesto of a whole new
generation of historians who invaded and colonized the portals of
Indian Universities. The UGC under the chairmanship of Satish
Chandra and the Ministry of Education under Dr Nurul Hassan were
all suborned to the cause of what this self-appointed group pf
historians called secular history.
The first target of this cabal was a multi volume history of India called
the Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan Series. They launched a frontal attack on
this series calling the approach "communal". Like Stalin's henchman,
Beria, this cabal discovered thought crimes and a mere fatwa from this
cabal was enough to send tall historians like R C Majumdar and H C
Raychaudhuri scurrying for cover. Guilt by association made
independent thinking impossible in the field of history. Now the so-
called progressive historians term the removal of one small paper by A
K Ramnujum as an instance of intolerance. I should now ask why did
they have the entire series of books virtually banned from the
curriculum of Departments of History all over the country. I grant that
the BVB series does not qualify to rank as great works of history.
However, it represented an honest attempt to make sense of India's
tangled past and it passed the one test this group demands from
historiography. It did not blame Babur for the Ayodhya issue. It is
ironical that a multi volume work termed as "communal" by this cabal
of "progressive" historians does not blame Babur for the destruction of
the Ayodhya temple. Like any political issue which moves with the ebb
and tide of politics the issue of communalism is also a political football
and the progressive historians can frame any issue as "communal"
depending on the politics of the hour.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The example that I have given shows very clearly that the progressive
historians are guilty of practicing academic goondaism of the worst
kind when they had the BVB series banned from the field of historical
discourse. Even on social issues the cabal of "progressive" historians
are extremely primitive in their social attitudes. Is there a single Dalit
Professor in the Department of History in JNU? Are Dalits banned
from the corridors of JNU? Even in Hyderabad Central University
and in Delhi University this cabal of progressive historians have
betrayed the Indian constitution by not encouraging the oppressed
and suppressed people. Chandra Bahn has stated this in a number of
different places. So, let this group of state sponsored historians who
are intolerant, narrow minded and offensive not talk about academic
freedom. They do not deserve the freedom to ban writings they
disagree with and defend only the opinions that they are comfortable
with. History as a discipline demands an atmosphere where
divergent views can be debated. This cabal has snuffed out debate in
India by practicing selective outrage.
The essay in question can by no stretch of the imagination be
regarded as a major contribution to the understanding of Ramayana.
It does have shock value and little else. The one reason why the so-
called progressives are coming out of the woodwork in order to
condemn the University is to create a wild controversy and with a
crumbling UPA government in power they can cause a diversion. No
great academic or historiographical principle is involved. The
historians have themselves betrayed their profession and like
prostitutes in a whorehouse cannot say that they value chastity.
USA, France, and NATO are Guilty of Crimes Against Peace IB
Libya
2011-11-08 22:12
The world has now seen the horrific images of the head of a Moslem
state Libya, Muammar Qaddafi being killed in cold blood and his
body, against Islamic customs desecrated and turned into a public
spectacle for all the NATO armed "freedom fighters" to gawk over.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Americans and the French under Sarkozy have behaved in the
most disgusting and disgraceful manner and it only goes to show that
the White countries of the world have scant respect for the dignity
and lives of non-white people. It matters little that Barack Hussein
Obama, an African-American with a Kenyan father behaved in the
same manner as George W Bush. I am surprised that big counties like
India and China did not raise their voice against this unilateral
intervention in Libya. UN Security Council has created a new concept
in International Law by which in the name of humanitarian
intervention the NATO can take any measure to dismember
sovereign states. The Westphalia order is now dead as a door nail.
The irony is not lost on students of history. One hundred years ago--
October 24th, 1911, the Italian colonial army captured and killed in
the very town of Sirte, Mustapha ben Ahmed the patriot and anti-
colonial fighter. Qadaffi was captured and shot on 24th October 2011
along with 53 of his men and NAT has to explain the circumstances
surrounding the brutal killing of Col Qaddaffi. Is this some kind of
humanitarian intervention? The post mortem shows that both
Qaddafi and his son were shot at point blank range. As usual
American academics have the freedom to run with the hare and hunt
with the hound and one academic by name Joanne Mariner has
confirmed the revenge killing. I wonder why this woman does not
come not and condemn her government for this kind of barbarity.
Academics in the USA can criticize all they want, and this only
reinforces the picture of a corporate state permitting its intellectuals"
the freedom to think if not to act. Freedom of the American academic
does not carry any responsibility and hence it is cheap and in the post
-colonial theoretical armature, mere ideology. Like the German-Nazi
regime, the NATO war machine has to be dismantled. Unfortunately,
Col Qaddafi invited destruction upon himself by agreeing to give up
the ABC weapons program in return for a short honeymoon with the
West. He was feted in Paris and New York not that long ago.
NATO carried out 40,000 bombing missions over Tripoli and Sirte and
the death of civilians in these raids was countless. Even US embedded
 Word Craft and Statecraft

journalists who trumpet his/her master's voice have drawn attention

to the countless nameless dead in the cities captured from pro-qadaffi
loyalists. Benghazi the rebel stronghold was protected by the no-fly
zone. The disproportionate nature of the Ariel bombardment itself
shows the intent of NATO in launching the attacks. The French aircraft
Rafale and the Eurofighter have both demonstrated their worth at the
expense of the non-white people of Libya.
Like in Iraq the real price will now be paid by the people of Libya. For
all his faults, the socio-economic development in Libya was
impressive in terms of health care and education. And the real prize is
of course Oil and the west is assured another 50 years of Libyan oil.
China Vs India; Time Magazine Debate
2011-11-16 00:02
In the latest issue of Time, a debate is featured, Which Economy Will
Rule the World? This debate sputters intermittently in the pages of
news magazines. While China receives a bad press because of the
perceived threat to Western economic hegemony, India escapes
scrutiny as it hides behind the facade of dynastic fascism bolstered by
periodic elections, as if India is an exemplar of a flourishing
democratic state. Between India and China, I can say with all
authority at my command that China, though a one-Party state, the
social indicators are all in favour of China. The country has been able
to build world class educational institutions, provide clean water,
housing and education along with health care to its citizens. The
standard of living of an ordinary Chinese citizen is quite a few times
better than it is in India. Even on the so-called human rights point of
view China is quite a few notches higher.
The Chinese policy of land acquisition makes it possible for those
displaces to acquire stakes in the industry/ or enterprise that is
established on their land. In India, as the example from Mayawati's
UP and West Bengal show land is acquired by the state Governments
in order to cater to the needs of private developers. India has a lot to
learn from China.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Unfortunately, since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress

regimes have encouraged rivalry with China. India and China have
shared 2000 years of peaceful coexistence which was disrupted by the
foolish and perverted policies of Nehru. India should not have
interfered in the internal affairs of Tibet. The policy of provoking the
Chinese over Tibet turned out to be counterproductive as it did not
serve the national interests of India. Even now, India is allowing itself
to be used by the Western powers against China and this policy is not
in India's interest.
China has pursued the policy of economic growth by stimulating the
domestic demand and by developing a niche market for its products
abroad. I remember when my daughter was a small child she used to
play with little antique models of cars and all of them were made
abroad in China. Today the Haier, a Chinese Company has entered
the consumer electronic market and already in India the washing
machines made by this Company enjoys a very good reputation.
China makes quality products for less than third the price.
Also, China has emerged as a pioneer in fast trains. It is now possible
to travel from Beijing to Lesha is 24 hours and this is a technological
FEAT that China can be legitimately be proud of. India on the other
hand is still stuck in the nineteenth century and fast trains in India
travel at 9- to 100 km per hour, a far cry from the speeds in China.
India claims that it is a leading software power. Even here internet
usage in China is higher and China has emerged as a global player in
the hardware market. The world's fastest computer with 3 trillion
tetra flops was made by China.
India is held back by a corrupt and criminal political class
represented by the Congress party. Dynastic fascism has led to
corruption on a scale that is now threatening to tear the country apart.
A criminal political class aided and abetted by the bureaucracy is
riding rough shod over the civil society. While judicial activism has
brought some relief to the people, there is no rule of law. Politicians
still commit crimes with impunity and in spite of some high-profile
politicians cooling their heels in Tihar jail, there is no rule of law in
 Word Craft and Statecraft

India. In China politicians are executed for corruption and I would

like to see this law in India as well. I personally feel that China has
surpassed India in every sphere and there is no point is talking about
competition between the two. China is superior in every aspect.
Political Turmoil in Pakistan: Military coup is in India's interest
2012-01-13 08:47
More often than not, it is assumed that a democratic regime will help
better Indo-Pakistani relations, and this remains a myth of South
Block. Let us not forget that the political parties in Pakistan whip up
passions against "infidel" India for their political gains and it was
Benazir Bhutto, as Prime Minister who instigated the "intifada" in
Kashmir. Somehow Indian policy makers tend to forget recent
history as they mouth platitudes about the return of democracy in
Pakistan. The November 26th Attack also took place in a time of
"democracy" in Pakistan. If possible, India should work for the
disintegration of Pakistan by encouraging the Pashtuns to merge
with their ethnic group in Afghanistan and make the Durand Line the
basis of the 4th reorganization of the subcontinent. However, Indians
neither have the intelligence nor the political leadership for
undertaking such a task. Lord Curzon's vision for a secure India alone
will make for a better policy.
The recent unrest in Pakistan stemming from the so-called memo gate
scandal spells disaster for Pakistan. Political turmoil has begun, and
the ethnic fault lines will get accentuated as time goes by. India
should actively help in bringing down the civilian government as the
military has a more pragmatic approach and is susceptible to US
pressure. For starters, the Pakistani military establishment does not
have any vested interest in stirring up sentiments against the infidels
towards the east, and it knows that in a conventional war, even with
the Chinese actively aiding Pakistan India will eventually emerge
triumphant, not because the Indian Army is brave and well trained,
but because India has more resources in terms of men and material.
General Kayani, like President Parvez Musharraf has not made a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

single provocative statement so far. The tottering regime of Zardari

and Gelani will fall in a few days' time and there will be a military
government behind a civilian facade. India should recognise and
ensure that the peace process is further strengthened during this
period. Military takeovers are good for India.
Salman Rushdie and the Manufactured Controversy in Jaipur
2012-01-23 20:33
Indian controversies have a surreal quality about them. In almost all
major public debates involving "cultural" issues the same suspects
dance around in the arena. Shoba De, Javed Akthar, Dipankar Gupta
and we can round a few more of the usual suspects. M F Hussain's
right to artistic freedom in not questioned by anyone, but surely that
right does not include the right to insult "hindu gods and goddesses".
The so-called liberals and secularists were out in strength defending
the "right" of Hussain to cast scorn on hindu icons, but they are
strangely silent when Salman Rushdie's artistic and literary freedom
is concerned. In other words, Indian secularism can be constructed as
a right of the citizen to insult one religion but does not include the
right to critique any other. In fact, the Salman Rushdie Affair has once
again drawn attention to the absolute hypocrisy that exists in India.
Personally, speaking I feel that there is no difference between the M F
Hussain Controversy and the one over Salman Rushdie: both of then
interpreted artistic freedom to mean the right to attack religion,
Rushdie chose to target his own and Hussain chose to denigrate
Hindu religion and therefore both stand on the same footing. The
Congress Party, facing as it does a tough fight in Uttar Pradesh chose
to side with the Deoband School and decided to somehow ensure that
Salman Rushdie does not visit India during the Jaipur Literary
Festival. It created a non- existent SIMI plot to frighten Salman
Rushdie from not attending. It is also likely that the whole sordid
affair was created in order to hype the Jaipur Literary Festival and
bestow international notoriety on it by bringing in Salman Rushdie.
Western nations which speak of "freedom of expression: have
 Word Craft and Statecraft

demonstrated their commitment to this ideal by the way in which

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks was persecuted by the
ruling establishment. There is no need to panic over the future of
freedom in India for the simple reason Indians do not read and
consequently do not think and hence there is no possibility of
freedom in India losing its sheen. The Indian middle class, a
parasitical and venal class that it is, just does not read, write or think
and therefore there is no real threat to freedom of expression.
Only when the written word becomes subversive will there be a
threat to freedom of expression. Indian writers adopt the safe option
of either taking the stance of unrealistic radicalism like Roy or resort
to magic realism like Rushdie and there can be nothing subversive in
either. So, here is really no threat to freedom in India.
When writers start articulating the problems of the people and infuse
them with the desire to change and make them aware of the reality of
their social and political existence will the Indian state resort to
punitive measures. Domesticated radicals do not pose any real threat
and Rushdie can ignite street protests, but no change is possible.
The Horrors of the Norwegian Child Protection Service
2012-01-31 17:22
Norway is in the news all for the wrong reasons. First it was the news
of the horrific massacre of 76 young people committed by the
Christian fundamentalist. The world has neither forgotten nor
forgive Norway for the financial and diplomatic support extended to
sundry terrorist groups all over the world in the name of identity
politics. And now comes the screaming headlines about the "Child
Protection Service". I think Norway is guilty of two basic infractions
of the European charter. First, it has violated the principle that
children have a right to develop their identity and the primary source
of that are the parents. Second, child care is a sensitive issue and there
are vast cultural differences in the way in which child care is
delivered in different parts of the world. Norway's definition of child
welfare is far different that the notions of child welfare in other parts
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of the world. As long as there is no evidence of outright violence

against the child or gross neglect, the state does not have the Right to
interfere.
The Norwegian Child Support Service seems to be targeting only
non-Nordic i.e. specifically non-white, Asian, Turkish and Indian
parents. It is well known that the demographic profile of all
Scandinavian countries is changing and that the immigrant
population is rapidly increasing. Is this the reason why non-White
parents are being targeted in Norway? The integrity of family life is
being deliberately undermined by the Child Support Service, when
children are forcibly removed from the protection and care of their
parents. Rich parents are seldom harassed by the CPS.
The CPS hands over the children to foster parents who are paid 40,000
euros per year for the upkeep of the ward under their "care". Many
Norwegians have taken to living off this money and some of the
foster parents have even been found guilty of using the children for
child pornography for which there is a huge market in Scandinavian
Europe. The allocation for the children farmed out to foster parents
has resulted in the biggest growth industry of Norway: the Child
Protection Industry. I find the attitude that children are the property
of the state highly repulsive and smacks of fascism and Norway is
well known in history for playing host to various right-wing
ideologies.
The case which was highlighted in the Indian press was particularly
disturbing. The 2 children of the Bhattacharya couple were removed
because they did not have "appropriate toys" and because the mother
fed the children by "hand". What is the Norwegian definition of
"appropriate toy" and are not toys also culture specific. In India
children sleep along with their parents almost until they leave home
to get married. Does that constitute "child abuse". The worst part of
this horrible system is that there is no appeal against the arbitrary and
heartless system. The Bhattacharya couple had to seek the
intervention of the Indian Government at the highest level in order to
get their children back and as a "face saving " measure the uncle of the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

children will be given custody. In one notorious case a boy who was
given to a foster parent arranged by the CPS has accused his "father;
of sexually abusing him and other girls under his care.
Now the courts are trying this case in Oslo. I think Norway if it has to
be treated as a civilised country needs to respect the right of children
to their identity and childhood. The Gestapo mind set so strong in the
CPS cannot be allowed to dictate such matters.
Irfan's Crime, Teachers are an Endangered Species in India
2012-02-12 09:24
Adjectives fail when we try to describe the brutal killing of a teacher
in front of her whole class by a student. In Chennai, Tamil Nadu three
days back a 14-year-old student called Irfan killed his Hindi teacher
Ms Uma Maheshwari, 39, mother of 2 young girls in front of the entire
class. Unfortunately, since the boy age is only 14 chances are that
given the lax state of justice in India, he will escape punishment and
his family is well off so perhaps, as was the case in the Jessica Lal and
Priyadrashini Matoo case, justice may not prevail without strong
public pressure. Already the Press is making every effort to project
Irfan as a "child" whose "right" were violated by the Hindi Teacher
when she pulled him up for not studying. In Deccan Chronicle there
is even an article saying that his future must be protected even after
the crime the he has done. Who is to speak for the two young
daughters who have lost their mother. Sometimes I feel that criminals
cannot be brought to justice, Justice must be brought to them. I wrote
this line in an earlier blog on S P S Rathore IPS.
I hope Irfan is punished because the crime he committed in public
and the pre-meditated manner in which he perpetrated the crime
bespeak of a "hate crime'. Given the sad state of affairs in India, I
would not be surprised if the Press rants and raves and when the
furore dies down, Irfan quietly walks the street again. Tamil Nadu
has a history of letting off well connected criminals. I remember that
John Davis, the man who liked some Ponarrasu, came out of prison
waving a Bible.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

There is need to rethink the manner in which Teachers are treated in

India. School/ College and University teaching require special skills
and little effort is made to impart pedagogic skills. I do not mean to
suggest that the run of the mill B. Ed degrees offered by B Ed
institutions are the solution. Jiddu Krishnamurthy is perhaps the
only Philosopher in India who has spent a lifetime thinking about this
very issue. Teachers need to be sensitized to the Jiddu
Krishnamurthy methods of teaching. Classroom teaching must be
liberating not oppressive and this can be achieved only when the
teachers are trained in teaching minus the competitive spirit.
Unfortunately, in most schools the number of students in the class
exceed the optimum strength of 30 and therefore smaller classes is the
need of the hour.
I must say that teenagers are under formed personalities and their
self-worth and image is easily upset and hence they need to be
handled firmly but with tact. I studied in Don Bosco, Egmore several
decades back and I remember with horror a Hindi teacher who used
to send notes to the parents for every little thing. Another Teacher
called Subba Rao who was always dressed in white pyjama and jibba
was just the opposite and I learned Hindi quite well from him. I am
not blaming anyone, but just pleading for more wholesome methods
of teaching.
Irfan's family seems to be one of the upwardly mobile families that
has become wealth over the past few years and hence it has the
"craze" for "convent" education. Families undermine traditional
values by encouraging instant gratification. Instead of spending time
with the boy and encouraging him in his studies, the parents have
apparently spoiled him by giving him a daily pocket money of Rs 100.
Parents must share the blame for this crime as they have failed in the
primary responsibility of bringing up a well behaved and well-
mannered child. I think parents who allow their children all kinds of
freedom must treat this case as a wake-up call.
Language teaching is an art and we must be making effort to teach
languages effectively. In USA, for instance in the 2nd semester a
 Word Craft and Statecraft

student learns to read, write and to some extent speak an Indian

language. Of course, I am talking about University students, but I
want to say that there are methods available for efficient means of
language acquisition and we need to introspect seriously over them.
It would be a pity if the crime of Irfan and the death of Ms Uma
Maheshwari is forgotten.
Israel Attacked in New Delhi, Some Questions and Pakistan
2012-02-17 10:14
Yesterday a bomb ripped through the car in which an Israeli embassy
staffer Ms Yahushua Koren, the wife of the defence attach, was
travelling. The explosive used was similar to the one used in Georgia
and the bomb was probably just little bigger than a human fist.
Surprisingly, the attack took place less than 50 meters from the
residence of the Prime Minister, Man Mohan Singh. Ms Koren
suffered serious spinal injuries but the efforts of the doctors in one of
New Delhi's Hospitals saved her life. Now questions are being asked
about the motives for the attack and the perpetrators of this terrorist
attack. One theory doing the rounds is that this was a revenge for the
killing of five Iranian nuclear scientists whose cars were blown using
a similar device. Another suspect is the Hezbollah of Lebanon. None
of these theories seem to make any sense.
Iran is facing international furore over its nuclear plans and will
certainly not want to draw attention to itself in these circumstances.
Iran generally prefers to let things quieten down rather than stir
things up. Its nuclear plans are likely to come to fruition in the course
of the next few months and this is hardly the time for any brazen act of
bravado. Iran does not use assassination as a tool. Israel, on the other
hand has had a long history of using violence against its known and
imagined enemies. Further, Iran will not like to jeopardise its
relationship with India by staging an attack on Israel on Indian soil.
India is the only major country which is opposing sanctions and Iran
needs the support of India on this vital matter. Further, Iran and India
have virtually clinched the pipeline deal and therefore will not risk
 Word Craft and Statecraft

antagonising India. Though, India is opposed to Iran's nuclear

ambitions, it is firmly opposed to any coercive measures to bring Iran
to heel. With so much at stake, we cannot blame Iran for the attack in
New Delhi.
As for the Lebanese Shia Hezbollah, it would be a mistake to regard it
as a surrogate of Iran. While Iran does have influence over the body,
the Lebanese have to worry about their own problems and Iran's
nuclear ambitions are certainly not one of them. The only country
which has the means and the ability to strike in this manner is
Pakistan. The ISI has been training terrorists for a long time and the
USA has been warning Pakistan over the overt and covert support it
extends to terrorists all over the world. Pakistan being a
predominantly Sunni country has been systematically slaughtering
the Shiaas who are concentrated on the Western part of the country.
The ISI will certainly like the world to believe that Iran is behind the
attack and thereby motivate Israel to launch a strike against Iran.
Israel will certainly find out the truth, unlike the Indian Intelligence
which is non-existent. The MOSSAD is the world's best secret service
and I am sure that it will soon track down and eliminate those
responsible for this attack.
The Murder of Gigapedia: The World of Students and Teachers
Must Protest
2012-03-03 20:53
Elizabeth Eisenstein in her study entitled The Printing Press as an
Agent of Change argued that it was the availability of knowledge
across class lines that paved the way for the great changes that we
now associate with the Industrial Revolution and the Scientific
Revolution. The printed book was empowering because it broke the
monopoly of the clerical and the warrior groups to literacy and in the
eighteenth century we see the sons and grandsons of artisans and
peasants emerge as scientists and inventors. Just think of James Watt
and George Stephenson.
Unfortunately, in the poorer parts of the world which became the site
 Word Craft and Statecraft

aggressive colonisation, the advent of the Internet in the first decade

of the 20th century was in many ways the beginning of the print or
knowledge revolution which Europe witnessed in the eighteenth
century. It is this historic change that is being undermined and
subverted by the hopelessly criminal act of the US Congress in
forcing knowledge sharing sites like Gigapedia to shut down. Non-
White researchers and students who do not have access to world class
libraries like New York Public Library, Harvard University Library
or the Library of Congress were avid and dedicated users of
Gigapedia and up to date knowledge was available at the click of a
mouse. The forced shut down of sites like Gigapedia is a direct assault
on the right of every human being to education and cultural
improvement, rights enshrined in the UNESCO charter and several
international conventions and treaties.
The Gigapedia was not a piracy site. It was only a file sharing site that
was not doing business when it allowed students and teachers from
the non-white parts of the world to read and store books and journals.
It did not make its vast collection of books into a monopoly. On the
contrary, it allowed access in a truly democratic manner to all without
any restriction. Even Microsoft which funded the Gutenberg
Collection is slowly making access more and more difficult and every
day the number of books available for free download is actually
decreasing. Gigapedia, like Wikipedia has supporters all over the
world and we must educate, organise and agitate over the efforts to
curtail our right to knowledge.
The corporate interests of USA and Europe are making efforts to
curtail our freedoms and the assault on Julian Assange and the
Wikileaks is just one of the more egregious of such attempts.
Gigapedia was not in the business of exposing corporate secrets or
scandals. It only provided a platform for interested scholars and
researchers to interact. The Book Reviews on the site were more
impressive than those found in NYRB or the Times Literary
Supplement. We were getting access to the best minds this globe had
to offer and we all stand impoverished as a few smug white men in
 Word Craft and Statecraft

burlap suits sitting in the US Congress decide that our quest from
knowledge can be equated to the corporate greed for profits. Like the
battle against Slavery, this battle too has to be won and I know that
our side will win. Welcome to the fight as Lazlo says in Casablanca.
I teach in an Indian University and my area of teaching includes
Global History and Historiography. Every semester I used to burn
CDs with all the important books downloaded in the pdf format and
gave the CDs to the students. In our University nearly 60% of the
students' population owns a Laptop or desk top computer and there
are nearly 800 to 1000n systems on Campus including an all-night
reading room with Computers which run on the Linux Operating
System. Gigapedia was heaven to us as we could now make are
students globally competitive. That dream lies cruelly shattered due
to the mistaken priorities of the US political class. Both the Democrats
and Republicans are united on this one issue.
I appeal to all those engaged in Teaching, Research and connected
with the industry of education to take up the cause of saving
knowledge sharing sites like Gigapedia or library.nu.
The Massacre of Afghans by Staff Sgt Robert Bales: USA and
Human Rights
2012-03-18 07:43
Staff Sgt Robert Bales of the 3rd Stryker Brigade on his 4th tour of
duty left his military base, loaded his kit and set off for the village of
Panjawi in Kandhahar province of Afghanistan and went on a killing
spree that will cost the US quite a lot of political goodwill and
credibility. On several past occasions I have drawn attention to the
systematic rampage of US military personnel in Iraq and even when
the killers were identified as was the case in the Mahoumadiya
incident, the culprits were acquitted after a perfunctory trial in which
the pretence of "human rights" and the US military's commitment to
civilised values is paraded before the whole world. Of course, the
order to kill does not come from the top political or military
leadership, but the lack of systemic checks and controls make it easy
 Word Craft and Statecraft

for such rampages to take place. It now transpires that Staff Sgt
Robert Bales was involved in a firefight in Iraq in which 250 Iraqi
civilians were killed without the loss of a single US soldier. He
received a military decoration for his heroism. No wonder.
Afghanistan is largely out of US control/ President Karzai
commands neither loyalty nor respect among the people. He
surrounds himself with hired American Security Guards and the
burning of the Koran, the desecration of Afghan bodies by US
soldiers and now this killing spree by Staff Sgt Bales, a decorated war
hero, only add to his cup of woes. Barack Obama's policy of counter
insurgency has become unstuck and is unlikely to lead to any great
US success. Pakistan is on the boil and there is also growing
resentment against the US drone attacks on Pakistani targets. The
NATO attack on Pakistani military base in which 29 Pakistani
soldiers were killed is still simmering. All in all, the US is getting
deeper and deeper in a mess from which retreat may be well neigh
impossible.
Already there is an attempt to shield the soldier who was responsible
for the massacre. He suffered a head injury and therefore had
diminished competence. If this is so why was he not discharged on
the grounds of psychological impairment. The foreclosure of his
house upset him, according to one report. Millions of Americans have
suffered due to the absolute depravity of the Wall Street thugs and
they do not go on a killing spree. Another pointed out that this soldier
actually enjoyed killing civilians as he was very proud of his
"heroism" in which 250 Iraqis were killed during the course of just one
hour of fighting. When soldiers are dehumanized in this manner you
can expect consequences. US diplomats go around the world
preaching "human rights" and issue threats to heads of state who are
involved in deadly conflicts with known terrorist groups. Is not the
US military responsible for the actions of this man? By what law
should this Staff Sgt Robert Bales be prosecuted: as a war crime he
should face The Hague. The US has created a kangaroo court where
Black and Slavic "war criminals" are arraigned. Staff Sgt Robert Bales
 Word Craft and Statecraft

was secretly removed from Afghanistan and he is now in Fort

Leavenworth.
The US like the old Anglo-Saxon countries is asserting the right of
extra territoriality and unfortunately the rest of the world seems to
acquiesce in this. It is time for people of the world to say that even in
normal rules of engagement during conflict, civilian life must be
protected. Robert Bales may not be acting on the explicit instructions
from his superiors and that may well be a defence, but that fact must
be established in a credible non-partisan manner. US military cannot
protect its own by sitting in judgement and then announce to the
whole world that the US is a champion of human rights. The conduct
of US military in Iraq and Afghanistan has already made such
assertion laughable and sooner Barack Obama realises it the better for
the world.
The Agni Missile Will Degrade Indian Security
2012-04-19 14:06
The early morning launch of the Agni V missile from the Wheeler
Rocket Launching base has been hailed as a great strategic
breakthrough by self-styled "defence experts" and "security
analysts". The regime in power has a stable of "tele intellectuals" who
will justify each mistake of the Congress dominated UPA regime. Not
one of them asks the question: How does the possession of the
intermediate range intercontinental ballistic missile capability help
or enhance Indian security. I think for purely ideological reasons
some self-styled experts like Bharat Karnad who want India to
embrace the US strategic doctrine vis-a-vis China are hailing the
launch as a major security boost. Nothing can be more far from the
truth than the delusion that ICSMs help India deter China. The
regime sponsored "strategists" want to use the non-existent threat
from China to drive India into the deadly embrace of the USA.
The range of the missile is around 5000 kms which means that much
of China is actually not in the range of the missile. This missile is only
an empty gesture of provocation by projecting China as threat. China
 Word Craft and Statecraft

does show its disdain from time to time and that is an expected
reaction from a great power which no longer sees India as a rival or
even as a threat but only as hired gun slinger for the USA. By taking
the US strategic doctrine, which posits China as a threat, India is
making a grave mistake because the interests of the US and India do
not converge. USA will always use Pakistan as its proxy and it is not
worth the while for India to treat China as an adversary. India's
difficulties with China are purely bilateral and there is no need for
India to jump on to the American divide to settle its bilateral issues
with China. On the contrary, China has shown great statesmanship in
dealing with India and by using the Tibetan Independence issue to
annoy China, India is not doing its national security or interests any
good.
China does not need missiles to punish India. And India does not
have the political strength to use its missiles against Chia. In fact, the
USA will put pressure on India to "show restraint" and India will as
usual make virtue of necessity. So, in what way does this 5000-km
rage missile contribute to Indian security. Against Iran, India is again
making a grave mistake by taking the American argument that
Iranian nuclear ambitions are a threat to the region. Iran is only
reacting to Israel and it is a well-known fact that Israel has nuclear
capability. Any regional peace plan must recognise the Israeli
capability as well.
China will soon emerge as the world's largest economy and India has
a lot to learn from the Chinese experience. Even in human rights I
think China has a better track record than some Indian states. Chinese
universities have become the cynosure of the world and India cannot
hope to catch up for decades to come. Instead of just aping the US let
India rethink its strategic options.
Twenty Second Convocation of Pondicherry University
2012-05-19 14:37
Today the 22nd Convocation of Pondicherry University, a major
central university of India, was held and as is always the case the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

event was choreographed to perfection. The University has seen a

fantastic progress during the course of the past few years particularly
during the administration of Professor J A K Tareen the current Vice
Chancellor. I had to attend the Convocation in the usual academic
robes and I most impressed with the convocation address of her
excellency Nirupama Rao, India's Ambassador to the United States.
The D Litt (Honoris Causa) was conferred on two distinguished
individuals: Justice M N Venkatachaliah and Her Excellency
Nirupama Rao. Both have achieved a high degree of recognised
stature in their respective field of endeavour. As Chief Justice of India
M N Venkatachaliah was instrumental in shaping jurisprudence in a
fundamental way and he also presided over the Commission set up to
Review the Working of the Indian Constitution. He gave an erudite
speech in which he effortlessly flitted from quantum physics to
literature to history and he spoke of the convergence of different
streams of science during the present century which will enhance the
life span of people.
Her Excellency Nirupama Rao spoke with a clipped accent of one
well trained in the corridors of power. Her Address was inspiring as
my young daughter who attended the Convocation was most
impressed with her speech. Being a serving ambassador, she could
not touch on aspects of Indian foreign policy which are controversial.
However, she did recognize the vital importance of maintaining
friendly relations with China.
I personally believe that India must do more to improve relations
with China and must not make the blunder of coming under the
influence of the USA which regards China as a threat. India can learn
a great deal from China and I wish the speaker who was an envoy in
China had spoken of this as well. The number of students in the
University has increased 7-fold and this year 85 Ph.D. degrees were
awarded, and the picture captures one of then receiving her degree
from Nirupama Rao.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Kerala, Violence, Piracy and the Past

2012-05-24 11:51
The killing of two fishermen by Italian marines on the High Seas has
led to a diplomatic row between India and Italy. Despite the Congress
dominated UPA Government giving contradictory evidence, the
judicial process is still on track. The recent killing of T P
Chandrasekaran has brought home to large sections of the Indian
public that God's Own Country is rife with violence and Kerala with
the highest rate of suicide and literacy must reflect on its own past to
understand the reality it faces.
The so-called Communist faction dominated politics has given the
state a thin veneer of sophistication which is wearing thin every
passing day. Kerala historians eager to please their party bosses
create a history which ignores the reality of Kerala's past. Thus, the
very questioning of the senseless acts of violence indulged by the
Mappillas of Malabar during their frequent outrages will be branded
by the so called progressive historians of Kerala as a
reactionary/communal interpretation. Indian historiography is still
stuck in the prehistory or Jurassic park of polemic and abuse rather
than seasoned discourse.
I think al-Biruni was absolutely right when he said that Indians do not
have a sense of history. The killing of the two fishermen ought to
provide a moment of reflection: Is the Malabar Coast piracy prone
and what reputation does the coast of Malabar enjoy in existing
historical sources. The Malabar region and the seas adjoining Calicut
have the reputation of being the most pirate infested throughout
history. K N Panikkar and other Pannikkars following him do not
want to admit that piracy was an important aspect of the Malabar
economy throughout history.
Since Kerala did not have a highly developed Governmental
institution we can say that piracy operated in tandem with landed
and merchant groups especially during the late medieval period
when the price of pepper rose in the international market. Some even
 Word Craft and Statecraft

glorify piracy as resistance to the Portuguese naval power. During

the so-called "Sangam Age" which is only a literary culture, Kerala is
said to have had extensive trade with the rest of the world,
particularly the Roman world. The Roman Empire had extended up
to Egypt and Alexandria became an entrepot for Indian exports.
Pliny the Elder whose statement about the gold being drained by
India because of Roman thirst for luxuries from the Orient is known
to every school boy, also lamented that Malabar was full of pirates.
The records from the Cairo Genizah, the Jewish depository for paper
containing the name of Jaw eh, has a document that record the plight
of a Jewish trader who was robbed twice on the way to India and
back. Both times he blames the pirates of Malabar. Marco Polo very
eloquently records the presence of pirates in Malabar and cautions
people from going there. From Maghreb, we have the famous Ibn
Battuta who said that Malabari pirates were rife in the coastal region
of Calicut where he landed. Ibn Battuta was attacked by 12 warships
and the envoy to Vijayanagar from Muscovy, Nikitin also
complained of pirates in the seas around Calicut and Kochi.
From the Portuguese period onwards, we get the chronicles of
Barbosa and Tompires which speak of pirates harassing the
Portuguese shipping. Of course, by this time Portugal had acquired
virtual stranglehold on the pepper trade and the Mappila traders
were reduced in economic status as a consequence. It is in this set of
changed circumstances that the statecraft of Zainuddin al Malbari
must be viewed. He wanted a grand alliance of all India kings against
Portugal. Instead of fabricating progressive history it would be far
better if historians of Kerala start looking at Piracy as a factor that
shaped the social and economic life of people of Malabar.
President Barack Obama's Play Station War
2012-06-09 19:33
In most parts of the world children learn the alphabet by association
letter A with "Apple" or something innocent. In parts of the world
children learn the alphabet by reciting A is for AK-47 and D is for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

"Drone". USA has emerged as the world largest and most determined
practitioner of "play station warfare" in which operators sitting in
gaming consoles in Fairfax, Virginia, determine who should live and
who should die in parts of the non-white world--particularly
Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan.
While George W Bush started using drones to target al-Qaeda
operatives, it was the present President Barack Obama who expanded
the scope and intensity of drone attacks. Not a week passes without a
drone attack and in each strike scores of civilians are killed, and USA
has no answer for the large-scale destruction of human lives it is
causing in parts of the non-White world. The rhetoric of Islamic
Terrorism is sometimes deployed to obscure the fact that the victims of
the drone attacks are non-white, non-combatants for the most part.
Now there are people who argue that drone attacks are a variant of
"targeted assassinations" and Israel is known to have used this method.
In the case of Israel, we can say that there are mitigating circumstances
and even targeted assassinations are launched only after the identity of
the chosen victim has been firmly identified. In the case of Israel there
has been only one case of mistaken identity so far and Israel uses its
field operatives to carry out the strikes. To the best of my knowledge
Israel has not used drones though it drops bomb on Gaza whenever its
air force needs target practice. So, I am making out a distinction
between targeted killings ordered by the State and massive, extensive
and non-discriminatory killing by drones.
The US constitution does not empower its Commander-in-chief to
order the killing of human beings on the presumption that they are
"Islamic terrorists". In fact, pre-emptive attack is explicitly outlawed
by International law. So far nearly 3,000 persons have been killed by
drone attacks and over 80% of the victims were civilian non-
combatants. USA has a term for such causalities" Collateral damage.
USA has been less than honest in its public statements about the
causalities of drone warfare. All males from 1 year to 100 years are
counted as "terrorists" and by this ingenious calculation declares to
the rest of the world that its drones have largely killed terrorists.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

In fact, if USA kills terrorists by the truck load no one will complain,
least of all this blogger. However, the vast majority of those killed
happen to be combatants. In fact, George W Bush was far more
circumspect in his use of drones and he ordered for 8 years less than a
dozen strikes. Now Barack Obama has extended the definition of
drone warfare to include suspicious pattern of activity. This
expansion in the definition of the policy has resulted in several social
gatherings being targeted.
The mountain people of Waziristan and Afghanistan being a
rumbustious lot often fire their weapons in the air as a sign of social
acceptance. This kind of exuberance has often led to the wedding
celebrations being targeted. The result large scale death and a
devastated society. And Barack Obama had criticised precisely the
drone strikes of President Bush during his campaign and now it
appears that Obama is Bush on steroids as David Miller observed.
Drone warfare has extended the powers of the US president to every
part of the world and no one is safe. The lack of accountability in the
execution of drone warfare is another disturbing feature. A group of
middle level NIA operatives prepare a list of potential targets and
there is absolutely no Congressional or political scrutiny over the
entire process.
I request the US Congress to hold special hearings on Drone Warfare
and let the Obama Administration explain to the American people
the guidelines based on which targets are detected and the political
oversight, if any on the actual process of carrying out the attacks. The
drone warfare has turned into a publicity bonanza for the al-Qaeda
and its affiliates because with each strike the number of potential
recruits keeps rising.
Pakistan's Supreme Court Sets a Very Bad Precedent
2012-06-22 07:30
Pakistan at best is a state trying to imitate the protocols of democracy
with all the external trappings: it has a written constitution, a bi-
cameral legislature, a senate, a cabinet and a supreme court. In the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

history of Pakistan, the Judiciary has at best played a passive role and
has not stood up to the Army which is breathing down the necks of
people. During the 1970s we saw the ugly spectacle of Shri Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto being sentenced to death and hanged on their most flimsy
of grounds. The Pakistani Judiciary was hand in glove with Zia-ul-
Haq's regime and carried out a judicial assassination.
Till this day there are doubts about the legality of the process and
until the Supreme Court overturns the Bhutto judgement it cannot be
called "supreme". President Asaf Ali Zardari, the beneficiary of his
wife's brutal killing is known to be corrupt and like our criminal
politicians has stashed away money in Swiss banks. There is no doubt
about that. However, as President of Pakistan he does enjoy
immunity from prosecution and this principle of immunity is a well-
known aspect of political and legal theory.
In fact, the history of this principle goes back to the English Civil War
when Cromwell decided to have Charles I executed for treason, high
crimes and misdemeanours. "Cut off his head with the crown on it"
Cromwell is said to have remarked when his attention was drawn to
the "immunity" enjoyed by the Crown. Now the Prime Minister of
Pakistan is responsible to Parliament and not to the Supreme Court.
The chief Justice of Pakistan, Iktihar Choudhary is no stranger to
factional and institutional squabbles.
The same PPP which today has fallen victim to the judicial coup of the
chief Justice supported the agitation for their reinstatement of this
Judge when he was sacked by the former Presidency otherwise and
sagacious Parvez Musharraf, the best Presidency Pakistan has ever
had. Now the PPP must be rueing its own stupidity when it is hoist on
its own petard. Of course, action must be taken to bring back the ill-
gotten wealth and Pakistan could learn a lesson or two from India.
Here we have a Mahatma called Baba Ramdev who is inspiring the
people to fight corruption. In Pakistan the mad mullahs who run the
country will not let any civil society movement take root. So, you will
only have army coups, judicial coups and palace coups in Pakistan.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The removal of the Prime Minister Yousaf Ali Gelani will certainly
weaken the roots of an already withering Democracy. The USA is
launching drone strikes by the dozens against targets in Pakistan
killing a large number of militants and scores of civilians. This
judicial coup will only make matters worse for the political class.
Indian Techie Turns Girl Killer in The Us; The Pawan Kumar
Episode
2012-06-28 19:02
The Indian outsourcing Industry has already become a hot subject of
debate in the American presidential elections. Obama keeps
screaming that the Indians are taking away jobs from Americans and
US companies are getting tax breaks for shipping "jobs" overseas. I do
not know whether there is truth in this argument, but I do know that
the Indian "software" industry is becoming too intense a space for
some of the young people from backward social and economic classes
to handle. Let me explain.
Companies like the famous Infosys, Cognizant, TCS among others
are all doing bit jobs for the US service sector; and of course, it earns
India nearly 169 billion US dollars every year. Young Indians straight
out of college, most of them first generation educated from small
towns study courses tailor made for this sector: in Indian Universities
we offer courses like MCA (Masters in Computer Applications) MS in
Information Technology and B.Tech. Electrical and Electronic
Engineering. All these courses are all body shop courses tailor made
to qualify young Indians to work in the only growth sector in the
Indian economy viz. the service sector more specifically the software
sector.
The young men and women who enter the job market find
themselves in secure jobs and they earn by Indian standards lots of
money: cars, fast track life, pubs, night life are all part and parcel of
the social life of a young Indian. In conservative India where
marriages are still "arranged" with parents' consent, the software
professionals are pioneers in "living together" and recently their
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Domestic Violence Bill was amended by the Indian parliament to

ensure a semblance of legality to such live in relationships should
they fracture and end in domestic abuse and violence.
I am saying all this to drive home the argument that the ready and
steady cash together with the target oriented stressed filled lives has
resulted in "software' professionals both men and women taking
drugs and alcohol as stress busters. Add to this is the attraction of
foreign travel and assignments. In my younger days we could dream
of seeing the USA only if we went there for the Ph D program as I did.
Nowadays "software" professionals travel quite easily to several
locations during the year.
Stressed work atmosphere, fairly comfortable disposable income,
limited education (by education I do not mean a degree from self-
financing institutions) and first generation upward mobility
particularly from this SC segment of the Indian population and the
Backward sections has resulted in creating a personality which is
driven by violence. Software professionals kill in the most brutal and
calculated manner.
An employee of Infosys killed his wife when she was expecting their
first child, another killed his wife and hid her body in a freezer for
nearly seven months another drove his car to the outskirts of Mysore
and tried to burn his wife's body in the car itself. Such examples can
be multiplied. Young semi-literate Indian men possessing MCA and
such technical qualifications fill the high-tech cubicles of the software
segment.
From this benighted class we have one particular individual: Pawan
Kumar Anjaiah an employee of Cognizant one of the several body
shops of the Indian software industry. He was sent to New Jersey in
March 2012 from Bangalore, Karnataka. Yes, the very place that gave
a new verb to American English "Bangalored" meaning losing the job
because of outsourcing. This young man seems to have come from the
typical lower middle class which is upwardly mobile and has the
right caste credentials to get Education loans, bank guarantees and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

socially engineered admission to Engineering Colleges. This man met

a young American woman Danielle Melham who was a teacher in a
school and the mother of a 4-year old boy.
Apparently, he was either infatuated with her or caught the wrong
signals from this woman. Pawan Kumar took her to a motel in
Delaware and killed her in the most brutal manner. Her body bearing
more than 30 stab injuries. This man bought a large meat cleaver from
the local department store in the morning which clearly proves his
intention to kill. He took her to the motel killed her and fled.
The CCTV both in the Motel and in the Department Store caught his
picture and soon the US law enforcement was on his trail. In India he
would have called up a politically powerful MP from his OBC caste
and the police would just have ignored the crime. Probably he was
used to this tradition of law enforcement. In any case when he heard
from the local Television channel that the police had tracked him
down he killed himself by consuming sleeping pills.
This is the real story. The Indian media, as usual tried to black out the
fact that Pawn was a criminal who had killed a woman. The media
tried to make it appear as if an innocent Indian who had met an
unfortunate death in the USA was being hounded by the authorities
even after death. I am writing this blog to educate all my readers
about the truth. My suggestions: US Embassy must do the
background check on software professionals. This particular boy has
had a reputation of violence even in his college days. Companies
sending their employees overseas must teach them the fundamentals
of US culture. Americans interact in a different manner and semi-
literate Indians might get the wrong cues.
Lyndoh Commission and Elections to Student Councils in India
Universities
2012-07-16 22:52
The Supreme Court has asked Indian Universities to conduct elections
for student unions in all universities by the 31st of August. The Lyndoh
Commission Report has been taken as the foundational text for the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

conduct of the elections. This move on the part of the Supreme Court is
a retrograde step and needs to be contested. Politics in India is not only
criminalised but depends to a large extent on money power. Though a
limit of Rs 5,000 has been set for the election expenses, I am sure that
each candidate will spend a few hundred times that amount. Political
parties will now claw their way into the portals of Indian universities
and that will affect the academic culture of the institution. Political
parties bring with them decrepit ideologies. I can imagine SFI goons
behaving as if they own the Campus intimidating everyone who
disagrees with them. I think it will be a black day for Indian
universities when elections are conducted.
The Lyndoh Commission has also spelled out the modalities of
holding the election: direct election or indirect election. Obviously
indirect elections are better because to a certain extent it
circumscribes the legitimacy of the student leadership. In the
University where I teach the Vice Chancellor, an extremely able and
talented administrator and a noted geophysicist, decided to have 50%
reservation for women. Our University is therefore more progressive
than even the Indian Parliament which has not passed the Women's
Reservation Bill.
Of course, women will be easier to handle than men and will not take
to the streets at the drop of the proverbial hat. Indirect election also
provides ways and means to check the recalcitrant elements among
the student community. The deadline set by the Supreme Court
expires on the 31st of August and the elections are to be held before
that date. The more political among the faculty are pressing for
proportional representation because the Schools with more students
should have more representatives on the student Council. Perhaps
these worthies are unaware that in the US Constitution each state has
only two members and the rationale for that is to avoid the tyranny of
the brute majority. Like in the Mandal castes, the proportional
representation can be easily manipulated.
Despite my fervent appeal not to admit proportional representation,
the Vice Chancellor thought that it was "democratic". Since the ration
 Word Craft and Statecraft

between the number of elected representative vis a vis the total

population of the electorate will fluctuate based on student intake,
proportional representation is inherently undemocratic and like in
the Indian case open to misuse. The invasion of the political parties in
a most unwholesome step and the Supreme Court has taken a giant
step backward without quite understanding the ground realities.
This will increase campus violence and the learning atmosphere will
be affected.
Aseem Trivedi Cartoons: An Essay
2012-09-11 08:49
Indian politicians are getting touch and sensitive about cartoons. I
think when a political order is in a state of absolute free fall, the
decaying order becomes hypersensitive to the caricature in cartoons.
The MPs and MLAs now know that the citizens of India are filled with
contempt and anger for the egregious plunder they have indulged in
over the years.
Actually, more than corruption which is there in all political systems,
it is the politicians like Laloo Prasad Yadav and D P Yadava, Jagdish
Tyler and other such criminals who masquerade as "peoples"
representatives which stokes the anger of people on his carpel. P
Chidambaram, the Finance Minister, was defeated in the Sivagnagai
Parliamentary Constituency but goes around with the emblem of the
Republic emblazoned on his car. Rightly there is anger because the
Constitution of India does not envisage a Kleptocratic state. Dr B R
Ambedkar and his team worked out a Constitution which would be
the basis of a civilized political order underpinned by Rule of Law.
We now have the rule of outlaws and some of them like Phoolan Devi
even were elected to parliament and I am sure that Tamil Badu would
have elected Veerapan, had he not been encountered. Now the
Cartoons. I have shown them with this blog not because the cartoon is
of a high artistic value but because they succeeded eminently in doing
what Shri Aseem Trivedi set out to do: provoke anger and contempt.
There is nothing remotely seditious about the cartoons and to invoke
the outdated Anti Sedition Law is outrageous.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The arrest and imprisonment of Shri Trivedi only shows that the
corrupt political class is hitting back using the instruments of the state
and when this happens we know that the end is in sight. A discredited
political order tottering at the weight of its own monstrous inequities
is struggling to regain the ground that is slipping from under its feet
and in this I do not see any difference between the Congress and the
BJP.
I was surprised at the response of both Kiran Bedi and Arvind
Kejriwal who in an oblique manner justified the arrest and
imprisonment of Shri Asseem Trivedi. I see this issue as one that
frames an informed citizen's right to critique the politics of his land.
He has not offended any religious or identity group and his
depictions are not scandalous.
I have a complaint. I personally dislike the use of animals as symbols
of evil. In one of the cartoons the lions of the Republic are replaced by
jackals. I like Juno the Jackal of Karadi Tales and I made him the hero
of a whole series of stories on which my daughter grew up and I
strongly condemn the use of the animal is this disgusting way. The
lions could have easily been replaced by a Gandhi topi wearing
kletocrat and it would have been OK. Otherwise these cartoons do
make a powerful impact on the viewer. I appeal to the authorities
through my Blog to release Shri Trivedi.
India-China war; 50 years on an assessment
2012-10-18 15:21
Fifty years ago, almost to date Jawaharlal Nehru led India to a
military disaster whose effects are still felt today. For a month from
October 18th, 1962 till the middle of November the troops of the
Peoples Liberation Army, China pounded India into defeat and
inexplicably retreated to their positions, beyond the MacMohan Line.
The military defeat of India has been studied in the Henderson
Brooks Report which for some reason has not been made public.
However, facts have emerged in recent years which clearly show that
it was Jawaharlal Nehru and his then defence minister Krishna
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Menon who were primarily responsible for the disaster. 1962 lives in
popular imagination, but the ghost of that stunning defeat have not
been exorcized.
The great Athenian historian, Thucydides wrote in his History of
then Peloponnesian War the states go to war because of (1) honour,
(2) fear and (3) interest. This triad of motives still forms the basis on
which interstate conflict can be studied. China and India have had
two thousand years of peaceful coexistence which Nehru in his
misbegotten ambition to overawe China and its revolutionary
leadership almost destroyed. The two sectors in which India and
China had serious disputes was the Aksai Chin Sector and the Twang
Sector. In both these sectors the Chinese leadership indicated a
willingness to negotiate, but it was the intransigence of Nehru and his
factotum, Krishna Menon, which came in the way. The fact is that the
alignments on the MacMohan Line pertaining to these two sectors
were drawn up at a time when China was already being defeated in
the Opium Wars and after the Western intervention following the
Taiping Rebellion and more damagingly the surveys were
undertaken after the Boxer Rebellion, particularly in the Ladakh
region adjoining the Aksai Chin.
The British era maps as A G Noorani has shown in his book India-
China Boundary Problem: History and Diplomacy were very faulty
and often showed Indian claims as lying in China and Chinese claims
as falling on the Indian side of the Line. As Lord Curzon and
following him many have remarked that frontiers do not become
boundaries. China was able to negotiate successfully with all the
seven countries with which it had serious territorial disputes and
there are questions only with regard to the Sino-Indian frontier. This
fact clearly demonstrates that the Indian leadership was at fault.
Instead of negotiating with Chou en Lai who repeatedly called on
Nehru, the then Prime Minister and his Defence Minister" Krishna
Menon advocated what they called a Forward Policy. The Indian
Army was not in favour of the forward policy as they knew that the
lay of the land favoured the Chinese and that the Indian Army did not
 Word Craft and Statecraft

have the means to tackle the Chinese. Without any preparation or

even a strategy the political leadership forced the Indian Army to
fight a battle/war it knew it could not fight. The result was absolute
chaos. China cannot be blamed for the failure of the Indian political
leadership. The issue of the unresolved Boundary Dispute got
further entangled by Indian involvement. much against Indian
national interest in the Tibetan Issue. Anyone who knows the history
of China will say that Tibet had always been a part of China.
From the late nineteenth century, and more specifically from the time
of Lord Curzon the Indian Government tried to make Tibet a client
state by detaching it the suzerainty of China and almost succeeded.
China which was very sensitive to the "unequal treaties" repudiated
these agreements and India being an Asian country which had got
freedom from colonialism must have encouraged China to assert its
rights. Nehru unfortunately chose to uphold the colonial legacy and
that mind set resulted in tension over the issue of Tibet. China was
driven to war by the wrong and contradictory polices of the Indian
Government as articulated by Jawaharlal Nehru.
The General and His Moll: Petraeus Has Been Honourable
2012-11-10 23:43
The title that I have given may appear that I am scandalized at the
news of the extra marital affair which made the highly decorated five-
star general resign his post at the Congress Party protected him in
spite of evidence of his sexual encounter. On the contrary, I see his
public behavior through the lens of my experience here in India and I
can say that by resigning his position and publicly acknowledging his
liaison with Ms Paula Broadwell, General Petraeus has shown that he
has that little detail called character. So, let me get this out of the way.
This is not a blog about the hypocritical behaviour of Americans and
their easy virtues.
In fact, this incident actually makes people think about the
seriousness with which the American establishment took this
particular act of indiscretion. In India we have politicians who are
 Word Craft and Statecraft

caught in every kind of scandal and with their peckers in several

different situations. The Congressman, Abhishek Manu Singhvi was
caught with his pant down with a woman who was giving him his
Clinton moment and no action was taken against him and he is doing
the rounds as the Congress spokesman. The brazenness with which
the entire scandal was pushed aside and the manner in which the
Congress Party protected him speaks of the uncivilised nature of
Indian politics and society. Such acts will not go unpunished in USA
and rightly so. Then we have the N D Tewari case in which his natural
son had to go the Court to obtain a legal injunction to get DNA sample
to establish his biological father.
There have been credible reports of Jawaharlal Nehru indulging in
several scandalous affairs without any fear of public exposure and
humiliation. In the USA public officials are expected to uphold
certain values and they cannot escape the consequences of their
action by saying that the scandals pertained to their private life. I
think India can learn a lesson from this episode. Now to the General
and his moll. From what I gather from the newspapers Ms Paula
Broadwell entered General Petraeus' life in the form of a biographer
and she has penned a biography that almost verges on hagiography.
As a biographer she seems to have had unlimited access to the general
(pun not intended). Her husband seems to have discovered the affair
with the general and unlike most husbands who would be furious
this man wrote a letter to the agony column of the New York Times
wherein he states very baldly that an important executive of the
American Government is having a physical relationship with his wife
and he asked for advice. Surprisingly, the FBI got wind of the affair
and confronted the general about it.
Can this happen in India? Here the CBI lies, cheats, fabricates and
hides evidence in order to protect the criminals who are at the helm of
affairs in India, particularly under the Congress Party. What a
contrast to the situation in the USA. Rather than feeling that the USA
has shown itself to be moral calamity, this incident actually reinforces
the notion that there are objective values in public life even in these
 Word Craft and Statecraft

difficult post-modern times. The General did not deny the charge and
gracefully resigned. Now comes the more difficult question. Did
anyone bother about the fate of Ms Paula Broadwell. Is she also
destined to the notoriety to which the characterless man called Bill
Clinton consigned with some far younger woman fifteen years back.
The Dreamer; A Beautiful Production, The Study, Kalapet
2012-12-21 10:56
The season of joy is infectious. The birth of the Lord and Saviour
brings forth the best in people. The celebration of the birth of Christ in
The Study, Kalapet was done in a spectacular manner. The theme
chosen was the story of Joseph who is sold into slavery by his brothers
and with his innate talent of interpreting dreams he wins the
confidence of the Pharaoh and becomes the Chief Grain Officer of the
Kingdom of Egypt. As is always the case with stories from the Old
Testament, there is a twist in the tail. The brothers who sold Joseph
into slavery come in search of food and in a magnificent gesture of
reconciliation, Joseph forgives his brothers and is helped by him to
overcome the distress.
Seven years of plenty and seven of famine as predicted by Joseph was
the fulfilment of the will of God. In the season of love, the story of
Joseph sends the right message. The theme sketched above was
enacted by the students of the Study, a school in Kalapet,
Pondicherry. The School was established by the renowned heart
surgeon Dr K M Cherian who was awarded a D Sc Honoris Causa by
Pondicherry University in 2010 in recognition of the great work done
in the field of surgery. He attended the function along with his
granddaughter, Shirin. His message was a very inspiring one and I
am sure that the students would have been inspired.
The Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry University, Professor J A K
Tareen and Mrs Tareen attended the function. As always, Professor J
A K Tareen gave a very gracious speech which touched everyone's
heart. His presence added to the occasion. The Principal sang an
extremely difficult series of movements and she did a splendid job of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

it. I enjoyed the Dreamer and congratulate the school and its students
for a job well come.
Crimes Against Women in India; Anger on the Streets
2012-12-22 21:49
India is fast becoming a country where women are no longer safe. As
the father of a young teenager I am concerned about the sort of society
in which young girls will enter. In the work place sexual harassment
of women has become almost routine and women mostly either quit
their jobs or deal with it using administrative procedure which are
usually ineffective. In the domestic sphere violence against women
has acquired social sanction in that even the police are reluctant to
register cases against the guilty party and even the rare case that come
up for trial usually ends in an acquittal as the legal process is so
cumbersome and weighed against the victim that the woman just
gives up.
As India is becoming more open to a neo liberal economy, women
have started entering the job market and they face exploitation and
worse. In Bangalore, women who are software professionals
returning home from the Company car have been raped and
murdered and the sentence given is so negligible that the message
goes out loud and clear that violence against women is not a priority.
The statistics for what in India is called "dowry deaths" is just
appalling. Every minute a woman is being burnt alive for dowry and
the conviction rate for such murders is extremely low and the law is
not being enforced. The surprising sociological fact is that groups
which did not have "dowry" as part of their social customs have now
started demanding dowry and this new development is leading to a
lot of social problems. In New Delhi, a Congress politician killed
herself and her 2-year-old daughter due to harassment by the in-laws
for dowry. It took a full week for the police to even register the case.
Such is the apathy even in the capital.
There have been a series of extremely horrific attacks on women over
the past few months and each is worse than the previous. Women and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

girls from schools, colleges and universities are out protesting,

demanding security. Given the fact that a corrupt, criminal, dynastic
fascist regime is clinging to power in New Delhi we do not expect any
change. The fact is that the political climate is so uncertain that
criminals feel emboldened to commit crimes as they know that the
Congress Party is there to protect them.
All the serious cases have happened only in Congress ruled states:
New Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. However isolated cases have
been reported from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, another
Congress ruled state. The governance is so bad that people have lost
faith in the ability and the competence of the governments to enforce
the law. There have been more than 600 cases of rape reported so far,
this year and this figure is nowhere close to the actual figure because
rape is usually not reported due to the stigma associated with it. The
worst and the most barbaric attack happened in New Delhi when a
young woman and her friend were attacked, and the girl was raped
on a moving bus on the Outer Ring Road, New Delhi.
The girl was gang raped and stabbed with beer bottles and iron rods
and thrown out of the bus. The barbarity of this attack finally shocked
the nation and the six residents of a slum in Delhi were arrested. The
false veneer of political correctness has led the print and the electronic
media to cover the crimes committed by the slum dwellers of New
Delhi with a politically correct gloss. The barbarity of the most recent
attack finally led to the exposure of the fact that most of the violent
crimes were the handiwork of men living in the slums which
surround the city.
The requirement of registering these migrants and finger printing
them is resisted by the fashionable liberal left whose daughters go to
work and schools in cars and do not use public transport. The liberal
left is high on rhetoric and low in actual concern for the
underprivileged. Finally, the message has sunk home. The politicians
are not interested in undertaking any steps to bring about even a
modicum of security. The MPs used the protests against rape as an
opportunity to be photographed and appear as if they are concerned.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The fact is that the vast majority of Indian's MPs are actually criminals
awaiting trial for violent crimes like murder, rape, rioting etc.
I hope that the Indian people decide not to vote for criminals and if
they send criminals to Parliament then their daughters are not safe. I
hope the thick-skulled Indians learn this lesson before it is too late.
For the past eight years we have seen unending corruption,
mismanagement of Indian resources, unending acts of terrorism and
now appalling acts of violence against women. The demand is now
being made for the introduction of death sentence for rapists. The
scandal is that the former President, a lawyer by profession and a
woman Pratibha Patil altered the death sentence on 20 rapists who
killed their victims. Such is the sad reality of the enforcement of law. It
is difficult enough to secure conviction in Indian courts and this
woman comes along and commutes the sentence. What justice can
one expect if a woman like Pratibha Patil is made President by a
criminal organization like the Congress.
Professor Martha C Nussbaum's tirade against Hon'ble Narendra
Modi
2012-12-24 23:52
We have always known that American academics are servitors of the
state and Martha has just demonstrated the truth of the statement by
releasing a statement criticizing Hon'ble Narendra Modi, the newly
re-elected Chief Minister of Gujarat, saying that his election is a "blot"
on Gujarat. As a recent convert to Judaism, Martha perhaps does not
want to even refer to the atrocities against the Palestinians by her
coreligionists armed and supported by the weapons supplied by her
very own US of A. Of course, she does not have a word of criticism
against USA for the genocide it has done in Iraq on the patently
fraudulent WMD argument.
I feel that Professor Noam Chomsky, and I differ from him on
political issues, has intellectual honesty and integrity which this
distinguished Professor of Ethics sorely lacks. Martha Nussbaum, a
white woman with a highly privileged upbringing in New York and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

an exclusive education in the Classics with a doctorate from Harvard,

is no mean academic. She is a distinguished scholar in her own right
and I am not questioning her scholarship. I am questioning her
academic integrity in pointing out some blatant falsehoods in her
tirade against the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
A philosopher cannot be selective in his or her gaze. If Martha is
concerned about the plight of Muslims in Gujarat and I do not doubt
her interest, then she must take a public stand against the
humiliations imposed on people travelling to the USA having
moslem names. Of course, as a convert to Judaism she has no real
interest in Muslims or their plight. Her concern is in the Aristotelian
sense purely rhetorical: Liberal ideology demands an anti Modi
posture and Martha adopts it. Further, the US lawmakers too have
written to their Secretary of State and so Martha joins in the chorus of
clowns, whistling in the dark about the Hon'ble Chief Minister.
I am surprised at the passionate intensity with which these liberal anti
India Modi baiters jump almost at cue. We will not find the Martha of
the world talking about American war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan
and more recently the drone attacks on civilians all over the world.
But she is filled with rage at Modi and what for? The 2002 Riots have
been investigated by the highest judiciary of the land. Martha is
supposed to be a Professor of Law and as such I expect her to have
respect for judicial process. But No. If Modi is found innocent, then
the judges are at fault. What Martha wants is a Wild West type of
hanging judge who will play to the gallery. I do not know what kind
of law you have learnt or teach. In my understanding this is not law: it
is inquisition and a liberal inquisition always portrays itself in the
raiment's of moral superiority. We in India know far too much about
the USA and its black deeds to be taken in by the pretences of the
Martha's of the world.
A philosopher is not an ideologue. He or she searches after truth,
elusive though it may be. Martha Nussbaum has not bothered to keep
abreast of the developments on the judicial front. Her source perhaps
is Teesta Setelvad who was convicted for perjury in the Best Bakery
 Word Craft and Statecraft

case for bribing the witness. The Courts have not found an iota of
evidence against the Hon'ble Narendra Modi. But as Karl Popper
stated so many decades back, ideologues are not interested in truth or
facts. They are only interested in projecting lies, half-truths and
distortions which are repeated so many times that they end up
appearing as truth to the non-discerning mind. Martha has been
saying things that are purely speculative to put it mildly or she is
lying in the interest of her ideological allies.
Martha Nussbaum has done splendid work in the field of Human
Capability building and if she applies her own theories to Gujarat she
will find that (1) the quality of life has improved over the past 10 years
(2) schools dropout rate has gone down and girl children enrolment
in very high in Gujarat (3) health care even for heart and kidney
ailments is available to the poor and needy.
Unlike USA where the unseemly debate over health care is still
raging. at least the Hon'ble Narendra Modi has done one better that
Barack Obama, and in a democracy the will of the people must be
respected. Even in Muslim areas the Hon'ble Chief Minister has
registered resounding victories. Professor Martha Nussbaum has
gone completely off the deep end on this issue. Many of us who
respected her views and taught her ideas will now rethink our
positions. A woman who is so blatantly racist in making damning
comments about a tall national leader on the basis of propaganda and
lies does not need to be taken seriously. Her position on Narendra
Modi is akin to the Holocaust deniers- refuse historical facts which
are empirically verifiable for woolly ideologically charged rhetoric.
Martha, you have shown yourself to be a cheap white supremist who
does not dare criticize his or her own country for all its crimes but
become fashionably outrages at a non-existent crime. If you are all
that concerned, Martha, why do you keep quiet on why are you quiet
about the human rights record of Israel? Is it because you are a recent
convert to Judaism? Really how does one convert to Judaist and what
the Congress Party did in 1984 when its workers killed more than
15,000 Sikhs all over northern India.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack, the American Law

Enforcement and the Media: Lessons for India
2013-04-20 12:37
The President of the US, Barack Obama vowed in the memorial
service that justice will be done to the victims of the Boston Attack.
And just four days later one of the terrorists is dead and his brother
Zzhovar Tsarneav has been arrested. Can we in India ever imagine a
terrorist attack being brought to such a speedy and resolute end. I say
it is very near impossible because at every step of the way
Congressmen like Dig Vijaya Singha and others will advocate politics
based on the identity of the perpetrators of the terrorist attack and
Indian law enforcement has become the joke of the country and even
in those rare cases where the terrorists have been convicted and
sentenced to death identity politics is ensuring that the sentence is
reduced or "commuted" to life imprisonment. India can learn quite a
few lessons in becoming a hard state from the example of the USA.
Right from the moment the bombs went off the Boston,
Massachusetts and Federal; Law enforcement agencies like the
Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco Bureau (AFT), the Boston city police
and the FBI acted in clear concert with each other without making
politics over jurisdiction. In India whenever there is a terrorist attack
the first casualty is investigation because "Law and Order" is a state
subject. Of course, when the silly constitution of India was drafted it
lifted whole passages from the Government of India Act of 1935
which instituted Dyarchy and at that time terrorism either as a
national or international issue did not plague India or for that matter
most of the Asian world.
Now the state is unwilling to concede to the CBI because under
successive congress regime the Central Bureau of Investigation has
become a political tool to harass and intimidate opponents and the
most recent being the Coalgate issue which is supposed to be
monitored by the Supreme Court of India directly. Yet the CBI
allowed the Outlaw Minister Ashwini Kumar to whet the report so
 Word Craft and Statecraft

that the involvement of the Prime Minster and others can be

obfuscated. I call Ashwini Kumar an Outlaw Minister because he is
being found guilty of misconduct in a court for bribing the witness
and, yet he is the Law Minister of the UPA. Just imagine what
credibility this fellow has.
In USA, on the other hand, the case was recognized as a potential
federal case and all niggling issues over jurisdiction set aside till the
man hunt was over. This is the first lesson: Investigation should be
done by an Independent body which is not controlled by the executive
as most Indian ministers are rapists and criminals. The participation of
the public in the investigation was exemplary. The call from the FBI
and the police to post video and cell phone footage of the race was
rewarded immediately as the two brothers were spotted walking with
absolute nonchalance toward the spot where they detonated the
bombs. No attempt was made to sensationalize the crime.
I remember Barkha Dutt and her "heroics" during the Kargil war and
more recently during the November 26, 2008 terror attacks on
Mumbai. Her coverage of the 26/11 attack provided advanced
information to the terrorists holed up in the Taj Hotel who could see
on their television screens the landing of the Black Cat Forces thanks
to Barkha Dutt. Many policemen lost their lives due to the senseless
acts of this Padma Shri of the UPA government.
Then came the statement of the mad dog of the Congress Party Dig
Vijaya Singha that Hemant Kharkhare was not killed by the Pakistani
terrorists built by "Saffron" terrorists. This code word is now used in
India to deflect attention from Jehadi terrorism. Even the flak jackets
used by the India special forces was substandard because the
dynastic fascists took commissions and sub-standard flak jackets
were supplied. I was amazed at the professional manner in which the
police took charge of the crime scene and imposed the lock down of
Boston, Waterfront and Cambridge.
The American police Identified, Isolated and Killed the prime
suspect. If this happens in India the first thing which the tongues of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

our so called "experts" and Tele intellectuals from JNU will holler is
that it is "fake" encounter" and then all kinds of silly conspiracy
theories will do the rounds in the electronic media. Dig Vijaya Singha
did not even spare the Bhatala House encounter in which a policeman
was killed. I think it is time policing became professional in India and
freed from line control of the political class.
In UP, a young honest and perhaps earnest police officer called Zia-ul-
Haq was killed by the criminals associated with Raja Bhaiya a thug
turned politician of the Samajwadi Party. Till now that fellow has not
been even questioned let alone arrested. In USA a young officer was
killed on the campus of MIT and within hours the terrorist was killed.
This is the right way to enforce justice. The people of Boston behaved in
an exemplary manner and I salute the Federal State and County police.
The Four-Year Degree Program of Delhi University: Why the Fuss?
2013-04-29 11:44
Indian academics need some issue to scream their throats off. A few
years back it was the Ayodhya question, then it was the Godhra issue
and now the four-year degree programme. I am amazed at the
tenacity with which they enter the public domain and start screaming
about issue over which they have just not applied their limited minds.
I cannot say that they oppose innovative schemes just for the sake of
sounding the bugle of war. Rather it is an identity issue.
To be taken seriously as an "academic' one must reinforce his/her
credentials by staking out positions which are then amplified as they
move from one opinion maker to another. Soon we have a cacophony
of noises and the real issue gets submerged. Unfortunately, these
opinion makers and academics have very close links with the ruling
establishment and any voice of dissent is branded "afforization".
Thus, India has intellectuals whose only claim on public indulgence
is the capacity to stray from one noisy issue to another without
waiting to think of the consequences.
The same is true of the 4-year degree programme introduced by the
University of Delhi. These public intellectuals who rail against this
 Word Craft and Statecraft

new innovation are well aware of the fact that all over the world the
undergraduate degree is of 4 years duration. India is not able to make
the cut to the Shanghai list or the Times list only because there is a
serious disconnect between undergraduate and graduate
programmes. Even in USA the undergraduate degree is of 4 years
length. Indians wanting to go to the USA for their post graduate
education are now expected to have an MA degree which is
recognized as the equivalent of the 4-year degree course. Delhi
University is only falling in line with global norms. The cacophony
has already started.
This morning's Hindu published from Chennai carried a centre page
article by a tele intellectual from that bastion of intellectual and social
snobbery, JNU, in which the author has stated that the 4-year
undergraduate programme is an error both in letter and spirit. She
finds fault with the courses termed bridge courses which have been
introduced in order to make the students competitive on the job front.
It is highly elitist to say that the University should be concerned only
with knowledge and not the job market. These privileged academics
unlike those of us struggling in less well-endowed universities do not
have to bother about the first-generation learners and their concern
for the education of "Dalits" is just that, notional and theoretical. The
courses suggested and introduced by the University will go a long
way in helping the students get jobs in an ever-shrinking job market
especially after the introduction of the Mandal reservations for the
OBCs who are both politically and economically well off.
The major criticism seems to be that procedures were not followed. If
the Academic Council and the due procedures were to be followed no
innovation can ever be introduced as vested interests will organize
themselves with such vigour that the Vice Chancellor will look
foolish. I think the University of Delhi has done the student
community a great favour and the UGC must ensure that the rest of
the country follows suit.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

IPL Match Fixing and the Game of Cricket: Beyond A Boundary, by

C L R James
2013-05-17 14:02
The recent expose has of course, shocked everyone. Each time a juicy
scandal breaks out and the heart wrenching dirges that are sung
about betrayal reminds me of the famous line in Casablanca when the
police officer says, "I am shocked that gambling in going on here"
even as he pockets his earnings. Sreesanth has been caught largely
because he is an outsider and a marginal member of the Indian test
team. In fact, right from the time of Kapil Dev Indian cricket has been
bedevilled by allegations of match fixing and Mohammad
Azaruddin the Hon'ble member of the Congress Party and an MP to
boot from Rampur, UP was even convicted of match fixing.
Unfortunately, the man went on to become an MP and thus prove to
the whole country that even if you are caught in a scandal the political
class is above common consideration of decency, loyalty to country
and dignity.
In fact, Indian cricket is a mirror of contemporary India in which
fixers of every kind, colour and shape thrive. Just see the shenanigans
of the Congress Party over the Coalgate Scandal and the involvement
of the Law Minister in the whole affair. Cricket has had a rich and
colourful history. Ranjit Singh documented his life in cricket in the
Jubilee Book of Cricket. India unfortunately has not produced a
single historian who has been able to write the history of the game as a
reflection of social, political and cultural trends. The last great
cricketer which India had was Gundappa Vishwanath, a stylish
batsman who displayed both verve and style on the wicket. Now we
have corrupt clowns masquerading as national icons and the decline
began, yes, with Sachin Tendulkar. The clamour for giving him a
"Bharat Ratna" is indeed obscene.
Beyond a Boundary by C L R James is one of the best books on cricket
that I have ever read. I have read Neville Cardus and the like, but
James is able to interweave the history of cricket in the West Indies
 Word Craft and Statecraft

with social history. The racist society of Jamaica and Trinidad did not
allow the blacks, the descendants of slaves who worked on the sugar
plantations any venue for social mobility. C L R James write the
history of west Indian cricket as a social history of the blacks trying to
assert their identity in the face of intense institutional racism and
marginalization. Obviously with such a history, you are not going to
see match fixing and like. Every lover of cricket must read this book.
America's Secret War: Mazzetti throws light on CIA Operations
2013-06-20 12:07
One of the many myths surrounding USA is that it is a great power, a
bulwark of liberty in a sea of tyranny. This self-serving ideologically
laced self-representation of USA has made people, especially
historians and analysts, ignore certain important aspects of the
political and institutional conduct of US. In India, the tele
intellectuals of JNU and other leading Universities are only too
willing to buy American self-ratiocination as the hegemonic weight
of post-colonial theories seriously impedes our intellectuals from
seeing reality from behind the fog of illusions created by American
propaganda. India has to learn lessons from the USA, if it wants to be
a hard state. Unfortunately, the cold comfort of being a soft state
gingerly side stepping all important political and security questions
is too attractive a prospect for our "intellectuals" to lose. So, they
continue to mouth the platitudes taught to them by American
establishment.
A case in point is the controversy over Martha Nussbaum. There are
enough morally obnoxious events happening in the USA for this white
woman to fret and fume over. But she will issue "fawas" against
Narendra Modi and her shrill rhetoric is magnified by Indian
intellectuals ever eager to be seen on the same page as the Gucci and
Benetton of the American academia. It is in this context that Mark
Mazetti's The Way of the Knife is an eyeopener. This book deals with the
policies and strategies pursued by the USA in its war against Islamic
fundamentalism. What is so striking is the close coordination between
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the Military and the civilian leadership especially in the fields of

espionage and "special operations" US speak for targeted assassinations.
Right from the Administration of George W Bush the CIA was involved
in an active chase for Islamic militants in Iraq, Somalia, the Horn of
Africa and Afghanistan. The hunt had started even before 9/11. The
CIA and its method of working is given in some detail.
In India we have seen the absolute incompetence of IB and RAW to
achieve any national goal. RAW operatives must read this book to get
a first-hand account of the ethos prevailing in the intelligence
community in USA. First of all, the Americans rightly think that
Intelligence is not the domain for policemen and detectives.
Somehow there is a false notion prevailing in India that political and
strategic intelligence can be left to policemen. This is like leaving
open heart surgery to the chief nurse in the cardiac ward. It is high
time India understood that Intelligence is a highly specialized field of
expertise and policemen are just not adequate for the job. Another
point worth noting is the integrity with which field operatives do
their job. They do not white wash reports or tailor them for the
political leaders.
The only instance when this was done was during the WMD crisis
when the CIA operatives or either the outsources espionage hacks
filled exaggerated reports. In India the RAW and the IB put up
reports with both eyes firmly fixed on the next promotion or the
needs of their bosses. Americans usually claim that their Government
follows Rule of Law. By and large one can agree with this statement at
a very general level just as I will say with utter confidence that in
India we have rule of outlaws like Laloo, Mulayam, Karunanidhi and
slum dog politicians like them. However, when dealing with grey
areas the US Government outsources its policy of inflicting violence.
Blackwater is a case in point, whenever dirty work of killing people or
whisking them away for "serious interrogation" read Git Mo
treatment, then Blackwater fills the bill. The American tax payer pays
heavily so that his President and his Cabinet can deny "criminal
culpability" for the actions Black Water carries out. Even in an Outlaw
 Word Craft and Statecraft

State like India, this kind of deniability is not possible. The political
opposition will not allow the Government to get away with callous,
calculated murder as is done in the USA and Mark Mazzetti has
documented several instances of such dubious behavior.
The book makes fascinating reading and is written in a racy, page
turner sort of style which makes the book more interesting than John
Le Carr's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. However, the author like all
Americans is a bit squeamish when it comes to drone warfare. He
hints that there are questions about the legality of such attacks but
does not explicitly state that US policy is illegal. However, the author
has provided enough instances to show that the much-vaunted drone
warfare has caused huge causalities. In Somalia and in Afghanistan
drone attacks has led to more than 5,000 deaths and the body count is
rising. I like the book and I recommend this book to all those
interested in US policies in our part of the Globe.
Rock Art Exhibition in Pondicherry
2013-07-26 16:42
The Indira Gandhi Nation Center for the Arts in association with
Pondicherry University organized an exhibition of Rock Art on the
campus of the University. Rock Art seems to be a fascinating area of
research and the University has a well-known scholar in the field of
Rock art in Andhra Pradesh. The exhibition was inaugurated by the
Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry University, Prof (Mrs) Chandra
Krishnamurthy. She spoke eloquently about the importance of rack
art as an aspect of Indian cultural heritage. The exhibition on Rock
painting contained select pieces from all over India. The discovery of
the Bhimbetka caves by Dr Wakankar in 1957 put India on the world
map of rock art studies and the 450 sites associated with the Bhibetka
complex of sites are inscribed as World Heritage sites by UNESCO.
The inauguration of the Rock Art Exhibition by the Vice Chancellor
and the Director of the French Institute of Pondicherry, Prof. Pierre
Gerard was followed by an extensive collection of impressive pieces
of rock paintings from all over the world.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

This is an abstract representation of a figure from Central India. Done

with natural pigments, the ochre coloured art works are usually
regraded as being earlier than rock art in white colour.
Stick figures in serried ranks shows that the Palaeolithic age when
rock art was crated there was a rudimentary sense of social
organization. A group like the one illustrated above implies some
sort of hierarchy and social organization.
The early rock art which is found in India depicts only animals. We do
not get any representations of flora in them. Were animals depicted as
a part of ritual to increase the hunt by praying to the goddess of
fertility. This question is naturally raised when we look at the social
purpose behind rock art.
The Vice Chancellor going around the hall which displayed the
photographs of rock paintings. Pondicherry University is fortunate
to have a very enlightened Vice Chancellor who is not only interested
in the academic wellbeing of the University, but is also helping the
University scale new heights.
The INGCA also conducted a painting competition as part of the
exhibition and the children of Kendriya Vidyalaya participated in the
competition.
Barack Obama, the Syrian Chemical Attack and the Dogs of War
2013-09-01 09:09
"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war". This line from Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar is appropriate today as the American President, Barack
Obama sells his idea of war against Syria to the world. The American
establishment has lost all credibility in the Middle East after using the
contrived charge of weapons of mass destruction to depose and later
hang Saddam Hussein. It is well known that it was USA that supplied
Iraq with chemical weapons during the long war with Iran during the
1980s and suddenly USA became so upright and self-righteous that it
found "chemical weapons an obscenity" in the purple prose of John
Kerry. In fact, many of us who supported John Kerry when he ran
 Word Craft and Statecraft

against George Bush were both disappointed and let deceived by this
change in tone. Now he is serving Barack Obama and, so he has to
speak the language that his master wants to hear.
It is well known that USA and France are both very keen to intervene in
the civil war that is underway in Syria. The two countries have
perfected the recipe for regime change: arm a rabble, let it loose against
the Government, shout that a humanitarian crisis is at hand, get the
Arab League to issue a statement in favour of intervention and then tilt
the balance of power in favour of the rebels by transferring
sophisticated arms and prevent effective counter measures by a no-fly
zone. This recipe first cooked up in the Balkan crisis let to the division
of Yugoslavia into its constituent parts and was effectively deployed in
Iraq, Libya. In both these countries the legitimate rulers or
governments were forcibly removed, and the Presidents were killed in
the most brutal manner. Unfortunately, the world does not seem to
recognize the pattern of the statecraft of the two White countries.
In Syria the last bastion of Baath resurgence in the Middle East, the
Assad Government has played a role in transforming a pastoral
society into a fairly successful non-confessional state and this grates
the countries like Saudi Arabia which do not want a successful non-
confessional society close to its border and USA does not want any
social and political stability in the region. Right from the inception of
the civil war USA has made, in defiance of international law, noises in
support of the rebels and has been arming the rebels with
sophisticated weapons. When Barack Obama declared quite
gratuitously the use of "chemical weapons would be a red line" he
was only encouraging the rebels to use chemical weapons so that a
pretext for intervention can be created. The Russian and the UN team
have found no evidence to support the contention that the
Government forces used the weapons and there is documentary
evidence to show that the rebels have used the weapons in the past
and Obama conveniently forgot this fact. China and Russia have both
decided not to support the USA in its criminal aggression against
Syria.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

History shows that USA used chemical weapons in Vietnam and the
people of that country are still suffering from then aftereffects. USA
collected all the data of the use of chlorine gas from the Bhopal Gas
Tragedy in 1984. The less said about the use of nuclear bombs the
better. The world does not see USA as a state committed to peace.
The American Media, Barack Obama and the debate on Syrian and
Chemical Weapons
2013-09-06 23:40
The latest issue of Time (September 9, 2013) has a cover story
dedicated to The Unhappy Warrior. Yes, it is Barack Obama, the
Nobel Prize Winner and now a strong advocate of War in Syria. What
is so alarming about the US debate both on the print media and in
Congress is that the issue is narrowly focused on the apparent use of
Sarin Gas in a suburb of Damascus on August 21, 2013. The American
Government has been saying that the Syrian Government forces used
the chemical weapons and are making a strong case for bombing
Syria. Nobody seems to ask the basic question that Damascus is the
capital and no matter how rotten the regime is, the Capital is
generally spared the agony of chemical weapons because the military
and political elites live there. Further, even in Syria there is a foreign
Press Corps and no Government will commit a "black deed" so
nakedly in front of the International media. This fact seems to be
getting lost in the drumbeat of war struck by Obama and his regime
in Washington.
President Barack Obama in fact suggested more than a year back that
the use of "Chemical weapons will be a red line" and it will have
consequences. The US media is faulting the President for "waiting so
long". The fact that President Putin has openly suggested in the Press
Conference at the close of the G-20 Summit in Saint Peters burgh that
the chemical weapons were used by the rebels to create the pretext for
American Intervention. This argument puts a totally different spin on
the policy of the American President. Rather than a humanitarian
gesture, US in a cold-blooded manner set the stage for a barbaric
 Word Craft and Statecraft

assault on the civilian population of Damascus so that a "moral" legal

and political justification may be created for US intervention. The
USA hoped that the revulsion of the world would be so deep that
everyone including the UN Security Council will fall in line. The best
laid plans of men and mice go awry and that is exactly what
happened.
The US has a plaint Intelligence Community and an embedded press
which laps up everything their regime throws at them. The
Intelligence produced by the US is extremely weak and consists of
you tube footage of children gasping for breath in a Damascus
Hospital. Are we to understand from this footage that the Syrian
Government ordered the use of the chemical weapons or the exact
opposite: the rebels used the gas to tease the Americans in taking a
hard stand and the US regime fell into the trap laid for them by the
rebels. It seems that the US has not learnt the lessons from the Iraq
War: The Iraqi quislings like Chablis fed the US false information and
instigated the US to wage war. Much the same has happened in Syria.
The Syrian Government is fighting a Civil War in which the USA is
deeply implicated. The rebels have advanced till Damascus and are
threatening the Capital. The Government of Assad will fall if the
rebels take control of Damascus. Anbar Province is also reeling under
the impact of the insurgents. The collapse of Syria is in the interest of
Israel as the last major Baathist Government which opposed the
formation of Israel would have folded. As Ben Gurion once said If the
Arab world in on fire, it suits Israel" and that statement is about to
come true. The war against Syria is not about chemical attack and the
Americans know that their allies carried out the attack. It is about
reshaping the map of the Middle East in favour of Israel and its
security.
The Americans are fooling themselves if they believe that the Assad
Government carried out the attack. It is a Big Lie" and like all big lies
this too has its uses. Iran will not stand idly by if Syria is attacked and
will hurl Hezbollah against Israel. The Israeli Army lost the war
against Hezbollah and now the Military arm is stronger than ever.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The only thing US can do is to stir up Wahhabi-Sunni

fundamentalism and al qaeda is waiting for just such an opportunity.
It seems USA is bent on its own destruction.
Twenty Third Convocation of Pondicherry University
2013-09-25 13:20
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee who is also the Visitor
of Pondicherry University delivered a most erudite and inspiring
Convocation Address on the occasion of the 23rd Convocation. He
combines the grace and simplicity of an enlightened mind with the
penetrating insight of a good administrator. His long tears in politics
has made him understand the reality of the Indian educational
scenario and he pointed it out in his address.
After the usual preliminaries he went straight to the point. He
lamented that not a single Indian University finds a place in the high
table of education. As a student of History, he pointed out that for
several centuries Universities like Taxila and Nalanda kept the lamp
of education burning not only in India, but more pertinently
attracted students from all over the world. He said that it should be
the goal of Indian higher education to bring back the lost glory. India,
the President said has nearly 645 Universities and more than 2000
colleges. He seemed to suggest that while the numbers are
encouraging, the quality is depressing.
I was struck by the clarity of his thought and the eloquence at his
command. If India has more politicians and statesmen like him the
country would be well served. However, the sad reality faces him as
he returns to New Delhi. The Ordinance setting aside the Supreme
Court judgement on convicted politicians will be sitting on his table.
I have heard many Presidents address the Convocation in the
University and I rate A P J Abdul Kalam and Shri Pranab Mukherjee
among the most memorable speakers that I have heard.
The President is keen on improving the quality of higher education and
his commitment is palpable. However, education should also embrace
the humanities and cannot be restricted to the technology stream.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

China and India: Why India must reset the Sino-India Relations?
2013-10-18 10:32
In history we will seldom find an instance of two civilizations that
existed peacefully and enriched each other getting enmeshed in
seemingly intractable problems as is the case between the two Asian
giants, China and India. Though I have not been to China, I can say
with some certainty that China has progressed both intellectually and
economically well beyond what has been achieved in India. With
Chinese Universities making the cut both in the Shanghai and Times
list and the visibility that Chinese academics have acquired on the
world stage, I can say with a degree of vehemence that China offers
valuable lessons and India in the most short-sighted manner is
ignoring the hard-earned lessons that China has to offer. The
objective of inclusive growth with economic transformation has been
achieved in China and India is still struggling. Though there has been
some reduction in the level of absolute poverty, India's social sector is
still weak and when it comes to the girl child, India's record to say the
least is just horrendous. In India the Press makes a big issue of the One
Child norm in China and hold this up as an instance of authoritarian
rule.
The fact is that after the Emergency, India just abandoned family
planning as a growth strategy, and India's burgeoning population is
only adding to the problem. While coercion is not required, public
education is certainly possible. India neglected to do this. In terms of
health, China has a better coverage of health services and Indian
hospitals are struggling to keep up with the demand. The
privatization of health services through the Insurance schemes has
only added to the woes of the average India. India can learn lesson
from China and instead of rushing to the Americans, India has a good
example at its very doorstep.
The Indian intellectuals make much of India's democracy and
nothing can be more erroneous than this. India democracy has
essentially degenerated into the rule of criminals who threaten and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

extort the votes from the electorate. Massive use of money power and
muscle power has made Indian democracy a laughing stock of the
world. The Supreme Court of India had to intervene to ensure that
criminals who are convicted cannot continue in office. Even after this
the ruling Congress Party sought to overturn the judgement by
making changes in the law through a Presidential Ordinance. The
reluctance of the President to sign the document saved the day for
India. As far as I can make out, China too has problems stemming
from politicians using their clout to make money. The Rule of Law
that exists in China ensures that such politicians do not get immunity
for their actions and this is a lesson that India can learn.
The construction of high speed railway is an area in which China is
the world leader and can be justly proud of her achievement. In India,
even the Rajdhani Express rarely crosses 150 kms an hour and so
Indian Railways can use the technology developed in China to
improve its services. The New Delhi-Beijing Railway link in within
the reach from a technological point of view, but we need the Indian
leaders to rethink their policy toward China. Unfortunately, Indian
political class particularly the Congress has bought into the American
doctrine that China needs to be contained and India in an effective
partner. The Indian political leadership needs to be educated on the
implications of this absurd doctrine.
The Americans are using India to irritate China and unfortunately,
Indian political class is unwilling or unable to see the reality. The sale
of the two nuclear reactors to Pakistan by China is the direct fallout of
the policy of civil nuclear cooperation with the USA. The fact is that
until this day the USA has not sold a single reactor to India and China
has already signed a deal with Pakistan. Indian Civil- Nuclear Deal
with the USA was touted as a great diplomatic victory for Man
Mohan Singh, the prime Minister, while the sad reality is that India
gave up its military programme without any tangible gains in return.
The Nuclear deal has become a symbol of India's embrace of the US
strategic doctrine which hopes to put diplomatic pressure on China
on every possible front. It is not in India's interest to fall into this trap.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The issues between India and China are not strategic differences or
even rivalry on an ideological level. Both Asian civilizations have had
a similar past and history has shown that China has always regraded
India as a great civilization whose message was that of the Great
Buddha. Instead of building up on the historical foundations of
Indian and Chinese civilizations, India from the time of Nehru
undertook to confront China on every issue. The 1962 War in which
India was soundly beaten should have been a wake-up call to India
and should have resulted in a rethink of the policy. Instead a myth of
"great betrayal" was created and India became a prisoner of a self-
created delusion. Tibet had always been a part of China and it was the
British under Lord Curzon who sought to make it a part of the circle
of states surrounding the Indian territories of British held India. It is
amazing how Nehru did not recognize the historical bonds between
China and Tibet and continued to follow the colonial policy while
pretending to be the elder statesman of Asia.
Even as Manmohan Singh makes a visit to China, I think India can
learn two things from China (1) reform higher education and (2)
Railway Construction. In both these areas China has an edge and I
hope the Indian leaders show wisdom is learning from the experience
of China.
International Seminar on India-US Cooperation: A Defining
Partnership of the 21st Century
2013-11-07 19:00
I am not much of a seminarist. I find the academic pretensions a trifle
too irritating and I am particularly wary of those that deal with the
problems of today as if history and the past have had no role in
creating the problems and feel that in the study of International
Relations, the academic discipline of History must play a vital role.
There are two reasons for saying this: India does not have an
indigenous tradition of Historiography and therefore has no
tradition of diplomacy and statecraft. The last theory of statecraft that
emanated from India was Kautilya's Mandala Theory of Kingship
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and Statecraft which goes back to the Mauryan period. Unlike the
great civilization of China, India did not practice the craft of writing
History. The second reason is more practical. India got its political
freedom in 1947 when three great empires disintegrated" the British
Empire, the Japanese co prosperity sphere and the French Empire.
The disintegration of these large imperial entities was accompanied
by the rise of two ideologically antagonistic empires: the American
and the Soviet empires. USA was able to co-opt the defeated
Europeans into a NATO military alliance and the Soviets created the
Warsaw Pact as a counterbalance. In a discussion on the emerging
challenges before the India in the 21st Century, particularly with
regard to its relationship with USA, the only world hegemon in the
contemporary scenario, I expect these historical trends to be debated
so that we understand the historical context of India's diplomacy vis a
vis USA. I do not want to use the word Statecraft because there is no
long-term planning or goals in the conduct of Indian foreign policy.
In an International Seminar in a University situated in Pondicherry
these perspectives were raised only by me, a historian and not a
"political scientist".
The Seminar was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry
University Dr. Chandra Krishnamurthy who in her Presidential
Address dealt with the major themes of the Seminar. The former Vice
Chancellor of the University Dr V T Patil gave a sound overview of
the challenges facing India and went on to add rather gratuitously
that China will be a major threat to India. This hostility toward China
which is the signature of the India political and academic community
is what I would like to challenge. Almost all the speakers including
Professor Vijaya Lakshmi from JNU maintained that China is a major
threat to India. This kind of ideological framing of an important issue
before the Nation without an iota of critical application of mind does
enormous damage to Indian foreign policy with regard to China with
which India has had 2,000 years of peaceful coexistence.
I met Mr D S Rajan a China expert who seemed more forthright on
China said that the shadow of 1962 has not lifted. The Indian foreign
 Word Craft and Statecraft

policy experts play up the threat from China in order to justify India's
deadly embrace of the strategic vision of USA which wants to use
India as cannon fodder against China. The Seminar was organized by
Professor N K Jha and his colleagues in the Department of Politics
and International Studies. The observation which I made repeatedly
was that China is not a threat to India and USA will not abandon its
special relationship with Pakistan in order to build better ties with
India. Nobody even mentioned that USA did not allow access to the
American terrorist David Coleman Headley who was one of the
masterminds of the 26/11/2008 massacre in Mumbai.
As George Santayana said those who forget History are condemned
to relive it.
Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal and the Quality of Indian Journalism
2013-11-23 13:55
Regular readers of the Indian press would certainly recognize the
name, Tehelka. Rabidly pro-western in it political and editorial
stance and vehemently pro Congress in its ideological orientation,
Tehelka acquired a degree of notoriety when it launched what is
called a sting operation against Bangaru Laxman, the President of the
BJP, a party which is contesting the Congress all over the country.
Though the President of the BJP was not holding any public office,
nor was he in any fiduciary sense in a capacity to influence decisions
in the defence ministry during the NDA rule, the sting operation
caught the President accepting one hundred thousand rupees from
the Tehelka journalist who secretly filmed this. The Congress went to
town proclaiming the "corruption and venality" of the BJP led
Government. Never mind that there was no bribe paid and it was
perfectly legal to accept party contributions, the BJP abandoned any
defence of the President and he was sentenced to a jail term which he
served.
Tehelka is a new kind of ideologically driven, headline grabbing
electronic journalistic venture. It specializes in uncovering scams,
scandals and other goings on in BJP ruled on BJP friendly states.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Tarun Tejpal the aging Editor and his second in command a woman
called Shoma Choudhary are well known faces in the country's
English news channels and whenever they appear they very
predictably give of the Congress spiel and refuse to subject the drivel
they espouse to any critical scrutiny. Even though it was known that
the sting operation against the President of the BJP was illegal the
successive Congress regimes continued to prosecute the Dalit
President of the BJP. On almost all major controversies such as the
Gujarat Riots of 2002 and the more recent episode of a woman who
perhaps came under police surveillance in Gujarat for extra legal
reasons, Tarun and his cohort Shoma were at their shrillest on
television channels like NDTV another Congress friendly news
channel.
Tehelka seems to be a front for many illegal companies which are
funding this news organization. Though the ostensible owner of
Tehelka is a Bengali MP from Mamta Banerjee's TMC, Tarun Tejpal
and his family are the demure owners as nearly 19% of the shares are
owned by Tejpal, giving him effective control over the day to day
functioning of the news organizations. The holding companies of
Tehelka even managed to get unsecured loans to the tune of 1,400
crores which invited the strong sanction of the regulator, SEBI. The
balance sheet of Tehelka and its associated companies are not
available for public scrutiny and this itself shows that the Company
was involved in many shady and dubious, perhaps even illegal
activities. It may even turn out that some of the illegal wealth of
Congress politicians may be parked in Tehelka.
Tarun Tejpal is in the news for attempting to rape a female employee
of his when the International Film Festival was held in Goa recently.
Apparently, he cornered her in the life of the five-star hotel where he
and his staff were staying and abused her sexually. When the girl
complained to the "Managing Editor" a woman called Shoma
Choudhary also from Kolkata, she made it appear as if the whole
affair was consensual and that the woman was making a fuss over
nothing. Tejpal magnanimously offered to take leave from the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

editorial duties and both the man and his woman felt that the ends of
justice had been met. In India, there is growing intolerance toward
sexual harassment and exploitation and the words of Nancy Powel
mean nothing as she is not aware of the reality of India today. The
outrage against Tarun Tejpal and his "Managing Editor" Shoma
Choudhary resulted in the Goa police registering a case of rape
against Tejpal. The management of Tehelka is putting a lot of
pressure on the young girl not to cooperate with the Police in its
investigation and this is the way the flag bearer" of the so called
secular liberalism behaves in India.
The Congress is trying to shield its journalistic hit man with all the
power at its command. The Minister of the Congress regime whom
we jocularly refer to as the Dr Goebbels of the Regime, the Minister
for Mis information and Propaganda, the voluble Manish Tewari has
not said a word about this incident in public. Obviously, the regime
would like the uproar to quieten and then offer him some plum
assignments like membership of the Prasar Bharati Board. The
amended Rape laws that have been passed allow for prosecution
even if the woman does not file a written complaint. So, the ends of
justice may yet be met.
This episode only shows that blackmailing journalists like Tarun
Tejpal are predatory sexual perverts and like Rathore and Kanda
need to be in jail.
The Devyani Khobragade Affair; What should be an Indian's
response?
2013-12-18 09:30
The Americans seem to have overreached themselves. In a relatively
minor matter in which there are conflicting interpretations of the
Vienna Convention, USA chose to behave in a most disgusting and
barbaric manner. A young woman diplomat of India, posted as the
Deputy Consul General at New York was arrested while she was
dropping her daughter at school, handcuffed, taken to a police station
where a cavity search was carried out, the young woman stripped
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and longed in prison along with drug addicts and hookers. The way
in which USA treated this woman diplomat even by American
standards is appalling and this scandal has escalated into a full blown
diplomatic row between the two countries.
Let us get the facts first. The Indian Government has a policy of
allowing its diplomats to engage a "housemaid" or help from India
and the person so engages is given a passport and usually a part of the
wage is credited into an Indian account so that the family back in
India can be supported. The earlier generation of Indian diplomats
used to take their sisters, mothers and other relatives as servants and
there was no problem, However, in recent years there has been a
decline in the practice of relatives doubling as "servants" and
diplomats engage domestic help from India and the Government
allows some semi-official recognition to this practice which I agree is
open to abuse. The young diplomat in question Dr Devyani
Khobragade engaged a woman, Sangeeta Richards and took her to
USA as a domestic help in 2012. In November 2012 this woman
Sangeeta disappeared and has remained an illegal alien in the USA
ever since. The diplomat reported the matter to her Government and
a case was registered by the Government of India and the
Metropolitan Magistrate of Delhi issued a non bailable warrant
against Sangeeta Richard. There is a valid extradition treaty between
India and USA and hence this country expected USA to trace
Sangeeta and return her to face Indian law.
When matters were at this stage, USA acted unilaterally. Instead of
locating the illegal alien on US soil, Dr Devyani Khobragade was
picked up and subjected to the barbaric treatment, that I have
described in my first paragraph. What are the charges against the
diplomat. She is accused of not paying her domestic help the
minimum American wage. This is a surprising and disingenuous
charge because the American Embassy in New Delhi which issued
the visa to Sangeeta knew that the Indian diplomat cannot afford to
pay the wage required as that would exceed the salary of the
diplomat. Moreover, there is also the payment of a certain percentage
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of the salary in India to support the child and husband of Sangeeta.

The matter came to light when the woman applied for the notorious
Green Card.
Has Dr Devyani Khobragade broken any law. The terms and
condition of the contract between her and Sangeeta is set out in detail
in the visa application and so no rule was broken. Even if there was a
minor infraction certainly strip searching a young Indian woman and
cavity search are certainly egregious instances of calculated
barbarism. What is particularly galling the role of two NRIs (Non-
Resident Indians), Preet Brar and Nisha Desai. The first has made it
his business to prosecute Indians icons in the USA and by doing so is
trying to establish his credentials in the USA that he is loyal. A loyalty
test that requires such obnoxious practices like what was done to the
young lady is cheap and vulgar to say the least, but Indians like Preet
Brar are expected to comply. The other individual is the Assistant
Secretary of State for South Asia appointed by Hussein Obama. And
as an Indian woman at least in terms of origins she has to prove to her
master that she does not give any favour to Indians. In fact, no special
favour is expected or required. India expects the Geneva Convention
on Consular Officers to be followed. The inverse racism of these two
Indians aggravated the situation and India is outraged. I strongly
condemn the USA for the humiliation it imposed on our diplomat, a
mother, a woman and an Indian.
Now I will come to the other side of the story. India has not been
sending representatives who can project India's culture and interests
in a meaningful way. The reason why India got all exited over this
affair is not outrage over the way an Indian woman diplomat was
treated but the underlying identity politics involved. Meira Kumar,
the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Sunil Shinde the Police Minister of
India refused to meet a visiting Congressional Delegation citing the
treatment meted out to the woman. The victim happens to be a "Dalit"
and Dalit identity politics came into play. Not just that the way in
which the husband and child of Sangeeta were treated in India does
not do credit to Indian claim that there is rule of law just as the US
 Word Craft and Statecraft

behaviours discredits the notion that USA has rule of law. India has
retaliated by withdrawing all facilities granted to the US diplomats
and there is every reason to believe that homosexual American
diplomats who brought a live-in companion on diplomatic visa will
be expelled, The woman happened to be a Dalit and so politically can
play the Dalit card. However there have been several instances of US
misbehaviour with visiting Indian dignitaries" George Fernandes
and A P J Abdul Kalam were strip searched and both these men found
the experience so humiliating that they kept quiet. Strobe Tablott
brought out the facts in his book. I am one of those who believes that
there is no need for the special relationship with USA.
To make matters worse the father of this diplomat, Uttam
Khobragade got a flat for himself in the Adarsh Society which was set
up to build houses for Kargil soldiers and martyrs. So karmic justice
finally works its miracles.
Obama and his Crimean Misadventure: Russian has genuine
interests in the region
2014-03-23 09:17
The Western powers have once more started behaving like cold
warriors, provoking Russia and hiding their aggression in a cloak of
Democracy and Human Rights, a sanctimonious combination of
realpolitik and ideological assertion. Nothing typifies this new
conduct of the European Union and USA than the crisis over Russian
involvement in the Ukraine and the subsequent merger of Crimea with
the Russian Federation. People who rail against Russia seem to have
forgotten recent history. It was in the Siege of Sebastopol that Florence
Nightingale earned her name and it was the same Crimean war that
provided the occasion for bad poetry as well: we are all familiar with
the Charge of the Light Brigade by England's poet laureate, Lord
Tennyson. I am only recalling these facts to underscore the historical
context of the recent events. Russia has had a presence in the Crimean
Peninsula right from the waning years of the Ottoman Empire and the
West always tried to thwart the legitimate interests of Russia. Now
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Vladimir Putin has succeeded and revered the long-imposed isolation

of Crimea from Russia. In fact, during the Soviet Era, Crimea was
handed over to Ukraine for only administrative convenience.
Barack Obama, of course, has stated that the West will not recognize
the "annexation" of Crimea. Russia held a Referendum in which 96%
of the people of the region voted for merger with Russia. Further,
where was International Law that Obama and his allies talk now,
when they bomber Serbia, imposed the UDI on Kosovo, and shat
about the armed invasion of Iraq in defiance of the international
community as represented by the UN. Russia has now followed the
example of USA and her allies. There is yet another serious problem.
When the Soviet leader Gorbachev allowed the unification of East
and West Germany, he was given a solemn assurance by the US
President that NATO will not be expanded to cover Eastern Europe.
The collapse of USSR and the rise of USA as an imperial, post-Soviet
power meant that the temptation to ring the erstwhile territories of
USSR with military bases was too strong to be ignored and the
expansion of the NATO into the territories of the Warsaw Pact
nations is really at the heart of the problem.
The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych who was duly elected,
and a legitimate ruler was overthrown by street mobs of rampaging
neo-Nazis armed and encouraged by the European Union. The
overthrow of a legitimate government by rioters is always a cause of
concern but not for Obama and his Merry men. Snipers who killed
nearly 100 people during the course of the anti-Yanukovych protests
are now hailed as great freedom fighters. Russia should have
intervened militarily and stopped the mayhem on the street of Kiev,
but Putin held his horses. In all fairness, Russia cannot allow its
security to be permanently jeopardised by Ukraine and the EU. Yet,
Vladimir Putin showed remarkable statesmanship and restraint. The
fear of Ukraine joining NATO is all too real to be ignored and the
European Union is following the Nazi policy of expansion by
invoking the rhetoric of Democracy and Human Rights, rhetoric that
hides the war crimes of USA in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Ukraine during world war II set a horrible example of collaboration

with the Nazis and the same forces are being harnessed now to
legitimize Western intervention. More than one million Jews were
killed in Ukraine during the War and men like Stephan Bandera were
really Nazis not nationalists. The Russian leadership is aware of the
potential for Ukraine to divide on its east-west axis with the Russian
majority eastern part joining the Russian federation and the western
part becoming a rump member of the NATO. Given this volatile
scenario, Vladimir Putin took steps to protect the vital national
interests of Russia. The merger of Crimea with Russia and the
eventual breakup of the independent state of Ukraine can be blamed
on the misguided policy of the EU of encouraging the neo-Nazi
nationalists.
Obama and the European Union has imposed 'sanctions" on Russian
leaders. The world should also impose sanctions on American
politicians for the crimes that country is committing in different parts
of the world.
The Intelligence Bureau Report on Indian NGOs and its
implications
2014-06-14 12:35
The Intelligence Bureau of the Government of India at the behest of
the previous regime investigated the activities of nearly 50,000 NGOs
and has submitted its Report. The contents are shocking and demand
immediate attention. It is well known that Indian academics thrive
under foreign patronage and the advent of post-colonial theories and
perspective have given added strength to the perception that India is
best studied at the fault lines of Indian society--language, caste,
identity and religion. This perception is quite in contrast to the
methods adopted to study Western society which are predicated
upon the efficacy of individual choice, rationality, and humanitarian
world view. Mehrotra, a noted philosopher has critiqued this
approach in his book Breaking India in which he has drawn attention
to the political and strategic implications of these post-colonial
 Word Craft and Statecraft

perspectives. Unfortunately, the Indian academic and intellectual

community has completely surrendered its independence of thought
to Western models of social and political action that any critique of
the dominant paradigm is dismissed as "communal'" reactionary" or
"obscurantist" tendencies. It is left to the Intelligence Bureau to draw
attention to the dangers posed by Western research on India,
especially those that excavate at the fault lines of Indian society.
Indian democracy is really a wayward experiment in callous
nationalism and anarchy. Under the garb of research on social
sciences and environment western interests both economic and
political have been able to insinuate themselves into the academic
and political agenda of the country. It is worth noting that the
National Security Agency in the USA ran unhindered a programme
of maximum surveillance in the country without any obstruction
except for some ritual protests from the civil libertarians whose
protests only reinforce the notion of freedom in the USA. In India, on
the other hand human rights groups have been quite successful in
ensuring the release of Naxalites who have been waging war against
the Indian state and has claimed more than 50,000 lives in the past
decade or so. The uproar over the Vinay Sen arrest shows that there is
concerted effort to shield the ideologues of the Naxalite movement
and the prime movers are all well entrenched in the Indian University
system. This sort of blatant misuse of academic rights and freedom is
not possible in USA or for that matter any Western democratic
country.
The large-scale immigration of Bangladeshis from Bangladesh into
Assam is causing social and political tension and despite legislation
empowering the Government of India to detect and deport illegal
migrants, the Government of India is unable to implement the law
due to the propaganda of human rights NGOs whose only aim is to
ensure that there is enough tension in the region. In the Garo Hills
which has India's largest deposit of Uranium the environment based
NGOs are ensuring that India does not mine the uranium and the
country is forced to depend on the Nuclear Supply Group for its stock
 Word Craft and Statecraft

of uranium. Unfortunately, these pro-active NGOs are very

successful in their disruptive activities in India and they are not that
effective in Western countries.
The funding received by the NGOs in violation of Indian law is a
cause of serious concern. The Report makes it clear that during the
course of the past decade or so more than one lakh crore rupees was
received by Indian NGOs and with liberalization it has become
possible for NGOs to maintain foreign accounts and operate them
from India. Dr Uday Kumar, an alumnus of the University of Hawaii,
Manoa, (this blogger took his Ph D in History from the same
University) has received more than 40,000 US dollars and his
obstructive agitation over the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam
has become notorious in India and abroad. It is certain that NGOs are
receiving funds for launching agitation and propaganda against the
energy security policy of India.
Greenpeace, a well-known NGO whose ship the Rainbow Warrior
was bomber by French Intelligence Agency a few decades back have
been involved in a slew of measures against the development of the
economic infrastructure in the country. Any development results in
displacement and that cannot be an excuse for the status quo. By
attempting to organize the workforce involved in the Infrastructure
projects in the country, the Greenpeace is aiming to sabotage the
rather halting steps India is taking toward development especially in
the road and power sector. It is worth noting that all these NGOs
which have been studies receive their funds from USA and Western
countries.
What is to be done:
1. All NGO funding must be routed through a National Agency
which will disburse and monitor the use of foreign funds.
2. All political and agitational activities must be severely discouraged
and if foreign funds are linked to agitational and political activities then
the NGO must be proceeded against as per law. The corruption within
the Indian system has made NGOs as lawless as the political parties.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

3. Indian Government must set up an Organization to study the

activities of the NGOs and
4. The audited statements must be submitted to the dedicated
Organization and India must also monitor the flow of foreign funds.
The situation is alarming, and action must be taken.
A Tale of Two Vice Chancellors: Kalyani Mathivanan and Dinesh
Singh are poor representatives of academic leadership
2014-06-27 15:10
Indian higher education is poor and the fact that not a single Indian
University finds a place in the top 500 universities of the world is but a
reflection of the abiding poverty that resides in the ports of our
universities. I once had as the Vice Chancellor of the University
where I teach a man who was dismissed for forgery and after he took
charge he indulged in every crime that I used to refer to him as
Chancellor of Vices. His virtues, if any were hidden from public view
but his vices and women were put on full public display and the
whole University Administration was made an accomplice to his
misdeeds. He even sold the red sand from the University campus
when the East Coast Road was constructed, and he demanded a cut
from every contract and a commission for every job/ appointment.
With such singular characters around, I sometimes wonder that it is a
miracle that Higher Education has survived, albeit is a shrunken
form. To cut a long story short the quality of men and women who
run our Universities is poor and their intellectual apparatus in
serious state of disrepair.
Two Vice Chancellors have been in the news for all the wrong reason
and their "achievements" illustrate the lowest level to which
Universities in India have shrunk: Madurai-Kamraj University and
University of Delhi. Dr Kalyani Mathivanan, the Vice Chancellor of
Madurai-Kamraj University hails from a very powerful political
family in that she is the daughter in law of Shri Nedunchezian a
former Education Minister in Tamil Nadu. Without any academic
background this lady was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Madurai-Kamraj University. She was only a Senior Lecturer in the

Department of English in a private college in Chennai before her
appointment as VC. The Madras High Court has struck down her
appointment on the ground that she is unqualified to hold the post as
she did not fulfil the UGC mandated 10 year's experience as
Professor. This is not the first incompetent Vice Chancellor but the
first to be told so by a judicial pronouncement and this judgement sets
a precedent. There are Vice Chancellors in several universities who
are equally incompetent but Dr Kalyani Mathivanan has earned the
dubious distinction of having her appointment set aside.
Unfortunately, the appointment of Vice Chancellors is made on the
basis of extra academic considerations and I hope that the new
Government of Hon'ble Narendra Modi sets a good example.
The case of Dr Dinesh Singh is different. He sought to reform Indian
undergraduate education by introducing the Four Year
Undergraduate Programme (FYUP). Even though he could bull doze
his way in the Academic Council of the University and the Executive
Council there was opposition to the FYUP right from the inception of
the programme. The UGC did not utter a word in protest then. After
the new Government came to power the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Parishad (ABVP) took up the matter and forced a roll back. For nearly
10 days there was chaos in Delhi University. The UGC did succeed in
its effort of rolling back the FYUP. This raises a larger issue: Can
political parties impose their decisions on the Universities thereby
undermining the so-called autonomy of the Universities?
The real reason why Universities are in a state of absolute disrepair is
because the Governments appoint third rate politicians who use their
positions to enrich themselves and govern the Institutions with total
disregard for rule, procedures or even basic decency. I hope lessons
are learnt from these two sordid incidents.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Israel and its Violence in Gaza; The World Cannot Watch the
Unrelenting Violence Against the Palestinians
2014-07-14 14:45
The State of Israel owes its origin to the crimes of the Europeans, the
Germans who massacred around 6 million Jews during the last two
years of the Second World War. Of course, this horrendous crime had
to be expiated and the Americans and the British made the
Palestinians pay for the crimes of their fellow white men. Israel is fast
losing the sympathy it has rightly won for its several outstanding
achievements: its civic programme, its educational institutions, its
fairly successful practice of democracy. However, in its treatment of
the displaced Palestinians, Israel is showing its true colours. Even
John Kerry, the US Secretary of State in an unguarded moment called
Israel an Apartheid State. one in which racial discrimination is legally
enforced. The Arabs living in the territories are treated as second class
citizens with limited access to education, employment or health.
The Right-Wing parties like the Likud are further aggravating the
situation by opposing the two-state solution. The cycles of violence
unleashed by Israel as retaliation for the kidnapping and killing of
three Jewish teenagers from one of the settlements that has sprung up
in the occupied territories is both disproportionate and beyond the
limits of civilized state conduct. Without unleashing such fire power
against the people of the Gaza Strip, Israel could have dealt with the
crisis in a more balanced manner. In any event, the Israelis too
extracted their revenge when they killed a young boy, by beating him
and burying him alive. The silence from the Nobel Peace Prize
Winner, the President of USA, Barack Obama is disquieting. Both
Obama and Kerry are not willing to even condemn the aerial attacks
on Palestinian civilians.
The Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel and the Israeli media
justifies the full-blooded attack on unarmed civilians by saying that
Hamas deserves to be punished for firing rockets. It must be stated
that Hamas rockets have not caused a single casualty in Israel while
 Word Craft and Statecraft

in the current round of bloodletting, the Israelis have killed 166

Palestinians and wounded more than 1000 civilians. It appears that
the motive behind this state sponsored massacre is to weaken the
resolve of the Palestinians in the Gaza strip who are supporters of the
Hamas. Therefore, the killing of civilians is part of a strategy pursued
by Israel and if the Bosnian Serbs can be tried for killing Muslims
during the Balkan Crisis of the 1990s. by the same logic the Israeli
political leadership is also culpable.
The Arab League, the organization of autocratic Oil Rich state which
legitimized the invasion of Iraq and Libya are keeping quiet. Saudi
Arabia which is usually very eloquent on issues dealing with Muslim
affairs is keeping a deathly silence over this entire issue. It appears
that the Arab world has decided to allow Israel to solve the
Palestinian Question like Hitler solved or attempted to solve the
Jewish Question. The UN has lost its legitimacy before the entire
world due to its inability to prevent USA from invading Iraq in 2003
and most people now believe that UN is just a facade behind which
the white nations hide to carry out their atrocities on non-white
people. Unfortunately, the discourse on Palestine centres around the
Muslim identity of the people forgetting the fact that a considerable
number of them are Christians.
In 2009 when Israel invaded Gaza Strip it killed more than hundred
people and wounded around 1,500. With this kind of violence
unfolding can the World be silent.
Israel's Attack on Gaza
2014-07-31 17:56
Israel has shocked the world with the savage violence it has
unleashed against the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, a thin
sliver of land with an area of 365 square kilometres. Nearly 2 million
people crowd that strip making it one of the most densely populated
areas of the world. And Israel has been bombing the civilian sectors of
the Gaza Strip for the past three weeks without any let-up. The death
toll has crossed 1200 already and is climbing. The fact that Barack
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Obama, the Nobel Prize Winner has not said a word condemning the
barbaric conduct of Israel is eloquent. The death toll among children
is horrendous as Israeli air force has struck schools, hospitals, UN
compound, shopping complexes and residential areas. The
justification given by the Israelis for the savage attack is
disingenuous: The rockets fired by HAMAS has not killed a single
Israeli civilian and in retaliation the Israeli Air Force that the IDF have
killed more than thousand civilians. The objective seems to be to
terrorize the entire population of Gaza into absolute subjection.
The people living in Gaza are facing a whole range of problems
created by the blockade imposed by Israel and shortages of food, fuel
and medicines have become part and parcel of life in Gaza. Hospitals
such as Kamal Adwan, European Hospital and al-Shifa Hospital
have been bombed so badly that the buildings have been reduced to
rubble and these were the institutions in which the wounded in the
earlier attack were being treated. The UN Compound in which
women and children took refuge has been attacked killing nearly 20
refugees. The most amazing aspect of this savage war is that the
Palestinians continue to go about their daily chores paying little heed
to the Israeli war machine. The UN has become a silent spectator and I
am afraid that the UN is also headed the League of Nations way. F16s
presented by the US to Israel have been used in these attacks and USA
under Obama has not expressed even the proforma concern at the
loss of civilian life. Israel has perfected its regime of terrorization:
Operation Protective Eagle as this wave of attack is called was
preceded by Operation Pillar of Defence in 2012, Operation Cast Lead
in 2009, Operation Hot Winter in 2008, Operation Autumn Clouds in
2006, Operation Summer Rains in 2006, Operation Days of Penitence
in 2004 and finally Operation Rainbow again in 2004.
In all these operations, Israel has targeted civilians in direct violation
of International Law. A case can be made against Israel for potential
arraignment in the International Court of Criminal Justice at The
Hague. The violent and disproportionate attack on civilian non-
combatants constitute war crime and it is time for the International
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Community to gather evidence and bring up the case before the

UNHRC. The death of a few civilians during the closing days of the
Sri Lankan Civil War has come before the world tribunal. However,
all the European countries who are baying for the blood of Rajapaksa
are now ominously silent when it come to the crime of Israel. The
Arab nations which should be supporting the Palestinians have all
but abandoned the residents of Gaza. Egypt and Jordan wary of the
influence of HAMAS are eagerly encouraging the depredations of
Israel. The tragedy is that rather than degrading the HAMAS, Israel
by its savage attack is helping the regime strengthen itself. The rocket
fired by HAMAS are nothing more than fire crackers and Israel uses
the rocket attacks as the pretext for savaging Gaza from time to time.
What Israel is doing is making the people of Gaza suffer collectively
for the actions of HAMAS.
India under Narendra Modi has followed a rather tepid policy with
regard to the crimes committed by Israel. The BJP has always enjoyed
a stable relationship with Israel whenever it is in power. Many of us
believe that Israel is an example worth emulating especially in the
manner in which it deals with terrorism. However, the recent attack
on Gaza should disabuse Indians of the notion that Israel is a peace-
loving country willing to extend the hand of friendship to the
Palestinians. Each time the world moves toward a two-state solution,
Israel scuttles the issue by its festival of gore and bombings. It is time
for the world to say No to Israel just as it did with South Africa.
Police Brutality in USA: It is Time USA Sets its Own House in
Order
2014-08-16 15:26
Horror stories emanating from USA do not shock us anymore. We
have come to expect drive by shootings, mall massacres, school yard
killings and the like. In India we have our own share of horrors so
there is no comparison. However, the Police in India despite the
occasional instance of violence is much better behaved than in USA.
The cases of "fake encounters" that spring up from time to time are
 Word Craft and Statecraft

due to the inherent flaws in the judicial system with its dependence
on procedure and witnesses, that sometime the Law and Order
Machinery takes recourse to eliminating the violent criminals. It
stands to reason that no one would like to give evidence in a court of
law about the violent acts committed by a dreaded gangster. The
police in India are now armed only with a fiberglass truncheons and
are issued weapons only on the direct order of the Superintendent of
Police and he too can issue weapons only on the instructions of the
District Collector. I am not saying that the police are totally under the
control of the civil district administration, but I can state with some
authority that it would be impossible for the Police to get away with
the kind of violence which was visited upon the town of Ferguson,
Missouri, USA.
Darren Wilson, a white policeman shot and killed Michael Brown a
young black man who was apparently walking with his friend
Johnson. The attack seems to have been unprovoked as Michael
Brown raised his hand the moment Darren Wilson asked him to
surrender. The police officer kept firing at the young unarmed youth
and he died after being hit by three bullets on his chest. It is surprising
that the policeman shot the youth on his chest when in most parts of
the world the police are asked to shoot at the leg to prevent the
fugitive from escaping. In this particular instance, the young man
was not a fugitive and was unarmed.
The pictures that I have placed on the side of this blog may appear to
be a picture from a war zone. Men in body armour, armed with 5.56
mm short barrelled rifles which are both automatic and semi-
automatic depending on the configuration used, and with a few
pouched of ammunition around their waist.
We can also see a sniper armed with a telescope keeping an eye from a
building. All these men have the authority to kill and the American
establishment does not order judicial probes as do our government. I
remember that a great scholar of South east Asian Archaeology, Dr
Roxanne Brown was killed in prison solely on the unfounded
suspicion of being involved in an art case. I am giving these examples
 Word Craft and Statecraft

only to show that despite the situation in India with its crude theatrics
and corrupt officialdom, something like what happened in Ferguson,
USA is well near impossible.
Arming the police with military equipment is against any principle of
civilian governance. The police can carry weapons, but its use must
be strictly controlled. In USA the police carry arms and can open fire
in self-defence. If self-defence is claimed, there is no argument
because it is assumed that everyone is armed and dangerous. The
police are expected to open fire first and then engage. This kind of
training has led to the unavoidable tragedy in Missouri.
Like their counterparts in India, the US police are not above inventing
a "narrative" to justify the deed. In the case of the killing of Michael
Brown, the Ferguson Police Department has released video footage
to suggest that Brown was involved in a hold up in a convenience
store. What did he allegedly steal: a few cigars. In any event, the
Officer Wilson was unaware of the hold up when he shot the young
man dead.
It is time for USA to make its police force a civilian force and not use it
as a Military auxiliary unit.
Is Obama fanning the Jehadi resurgence: ISIS and USA?
2014-08-27 15:34
Even as John Foley, the American journalist was being beheaded by
the Syrian jehadi militants, the world woke up to the startling fact that
several of the militants' associates with the ISIS are white men from
USA, UK, Scandinavia and even Russia. USA has been doing
everything in its power to help the jehadi forces gather strength and
move towards establishing their stranglehold over Sunni Arab states.
The refrain that is being heard from Washington that ISIS is beyond
anything "we have ever seen" suggests that USA is aware of the
dangers inherent in letting ISIS have a free run and, yet Obama and
John Kerry his Secretary of State were willing to use American air
force against the Assad forces who have been fighting ISIS for the past
two years. In parts of Syria and Iraq which have been overrun by ISIS,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the level of brutality that has been unleashed is unspeakable: stoning

of women, mutilation of limbs, mass executions and forced
conversion of people like the Yazidis.
The ISIS emerged as a part of the Free Syrian Army which was
encouraged, trained and funded by USA. The Arab states like Qatar
and Saudi Arabia are funding the jehadis in the hope that the radical
Islamists would not encourage subversion of their own regimes
which are intrinsically un-Islamic. USA did not understand the
ground realities and started attacking al Assad and pursued the same
policy that had led to the collapse of Iraq and the unravelling of the
fabric of Iraqi society. Under Saddam Hussein women and other
ethnic and religious minorities were safe and to a substantial degree
acquired skills and education. By deliberately discounting the
progressive nature of the Baathist regimes, the US Administration
successfully demonised secular and modernizing leaders like
Saddam Hussein and Assad. In Afghanistan too, the US followed the
same policy when it encouraged the Mujahedeen which later
spawned the al-qaeda. Ronal Reagan famously equated the
warlords of the Northern Alliance with the founding fathers of the
American Republic.
In the case of Syria, the ISIS is able to inflict heavy losses on the forces
of Assad because the fighters affiliated with the ISIS have modern
equipment which they seized from the retreating Iraqi Army. In
many instances the Iraqi Army, trained and equipped by USA just
abandoned their weapons and deserted. The few who stood their
ground as in Mosul were caught and executed by the victorious ISIS.
Under these circumstances Obama has no choice but to seek the
support of al-Assad and Iran. Unfortunately, USA is still pursuing a
self-defeating policy of non-engagement with these two powerful
regional forces. In Libya, the French succeeded in arming a group that
overthrew Col Qadaffi and the mildly progressive Libya has now
descended into civil war and inter-tribal conflict. One of the many
victims of the Libya conflict was of course the US Ambassador at
Benghazi.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The leader of the Syrian dominated ISIS the self-proclaimed Caliph,

Abu-Bakr al Baghdadi was once a prisoner of the USA, a subject of the
many illegal acts of kidnapping done by CIA under the label,
extraordinary rendition. The whole of northern Syria has fallen to
ISIS and unless Iran, USA and Syria act in concert ISIS will soon reach
the Mediterranean Sea.
Should India join Obama in his war against ISIS?
2014-09-25 14:12
It has been reported that during Narendra Modi's visit to USA, the
President of US Barack Obama will request India's participation in
the war against ISIS, a war in which India does not have any
particular interest or desire. Sir Harold Nicholson in his great work
entitled Diplomacy wrote: Do not waste your time in trying to
discover what is at the back of the Oriental's mind; there may, for all
you know be nothing at the back: concentrate all your attention upon
making quite certain that he is left with no doubt whatsoever in
regard to what is at the back of your mind (p. 111). I think if President
Barack Obama feels that the Prime Minister of India is going to waltz
into a war of USA's making, he is quite mistaken. The stranglehold of
post-colonial gibberish which passes off as wisdom has inured Indian
academics and policy makers to the inherent racism in USA's global
policies.
The war which is unfolding in Syria and Iraq stems from the criminal,
illegal and wanton act of naked aggression launched by USA against
Iraq in 2003. The sustained violence unleashed by USA in Iraq and the
self-conscious promotion of identity politics has led to the present
situation in which the Sunnis feeling alienated from the Iraqi regime
started striking back. USA made the mistake of believing that all
those opposing US occupations of Iraq are al qaeda cohorts. As events
have shown ISIS is a branch of the extreme Islamist ideology which
has deep roots in the late eighteenth century off shoot of Islam, the
Wahabi cult. Charles Allen in his outstanding book God's Terrorists
has shown that the Saud tribe of the Arabian desert used the austere
 Word Craft and Statecraft

desert religion of Wahhabism to capture power in Arabia and the

Ottoman conquest of the region kept the more extreme forms of this
religion under check. However, the British during World War I once
again patronised the Wahabis and used them against the Ottoman
Empire. The transformation of Wahhabism from a desert cult to a
political ideology was the contribution of the British secret service
especially T E Lawrence whose exploits are celebrated in Lean's
Lawrence of Arabia. Against this historical background we have to
see if it is at all possible for USA to succeed in reining in the ISIS.
USA started destabilizing Syria the last bastion of Baathist
modernizing regimes in the region very early after the attack on Iraq.
It is well known that both under Saddam Hussein in Iraq and under
the Assad regime in Syria religious fanaticism has been kept in check,
women's rights secured, public health widespread and education
accessible to all. Religious minorities like Orthodox Christians were
safe and there was a degree of what Ibn Khaldun called assabiya in
these countries. USA put its own thirst for oil ahead of the social
needs and progress of the region and started arming groups with
sophisticated weapons and training. ISIS is an off shoot of the Free
Syrian Army which has had a strong presence in northeast Hasakeh
province of Syria. Now when the group has started beheading
Americans, USA turns around and starts calling it names. Till less
than four months back their Secretary of State was threatening to
bomb Syrian Army positions, a strategy which would have
immensely helped ISIS. The wisdom and sagacity of Vladimir Putin
prevented this unholy mess from unfolding. In short, USA has made
it a habit to arm and train militants and use the Arab League to
provide a semblance of legitimacy for unleashing provocative actions
as it did both in Iraq and Libya.
The American Administration is now in a quandary of its own
making. It cannot fight ISIS alone and is recruiting countries like
Jordan, UAE and Saudi Arabia to extend support for its bombing
campaign and the world knows that it is these countries which
financed the ISIS in the first place. Turkey is rather ambivalent, and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the restive Kurdish population of Iraq and neighbouring parts of

Turkey may use the mayhem of American intervention to carve out
an independent state. USA still wants to arm and equip the Free
Syrian Army even after events have shown that ISIS owes its origin to
that very formation. At the same time USA wants to keep the option
of overthrowing the last bastion of decency in the region, the regime
of Syria. Iran is also an interested actor and is extracting a huge price
for its cooperation, the tacit acceptance of its nuclear ambitions.
Given the complexity of the situation, it is not in Indian interest to join
hands with USA in its war against ISIS. India has now begun to
insulate the country even from al qaeda by starting negotiations with
Afghanistan and there is no need for India to pull American chestnuts
out of the fire.
Ferguson, Bob McCulloch, Obama and the Hypocrisy over Race in
USA
2014-11-25 11:28
The election of Barack Hussein Obama was hailed as a great step
toward racial equality in USA. However, many are now willing to say
that the symbol of a black President in USA is only making racism
more sinister as it can now hide behind the back of Obama. When
USA preaches with aggressive tone the doctrine of human rights,
social justice and equal opportunity, a ritual which is compounded
from time to time by the release of Human Rights Reports by the
American Congress, the world has every legitimate reason to hold
USA accountable to the same standards it so eloquently proclaims.
The American media picks up the signal and magnifies it across the
world. The complicity of the mainstream US media in propagating
the case a false case as it turned out, against Iraq and Saddam Hussein
leading to the invasion and the consequent death of nearly half a
million Iraqis has not been highlighted in countries like India whose
Liberals still believe that USA is a model of legal and constitutional
propriety. I remember Kancha Illiah even advocating American style
civil rights in India and blaming India for neglecting the Dalits and
holding USA as a model that can be practiced in India.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Prosecutor of St Louis, Missouri Mr Bob McCulloch held a Press

Conference today in which he said that the Grand Jury found that the
Police Office Mr Darren Wilson had not broken the law by gunning
down an unarmed black youth, Mr Michael Brown. The purpose of
the Grand Jury procedure was to determine whether the white Police
Officer was justified in the use of deadly force. The Jury consisting of
9 whites and 3 African Americans found Wilson had justifiable cause
to use deadly force as Brown came advancing towards the Officer in a
seemingly aggressive manner. The fact that goes unreported and the
American Media ignores is this" If a Black Police Officer had shot and
killed a white youth in the same circumstances would the verdict of
the Jury been different. There is no doubt that had the situation been
different and the victim been white the reaction both of the Media and
the Public would have been different. Barack Obama instead of
expressing outrage at the travesty of justice in Ferguson, only made
matters worse by spouting inane pieties about Rule of Law and tried
to turn public outrage felt among the Blacks into private mourning
and grief by quoting Brown's father. If Obama has any honesty in him
he should have quoted Brown's Mother who was out protesting the
verdict.
The African American population live in a racist society in which the
white Liberals no longer practice the obscene kind of racism
associated with segregation and the like. However, the veneer of
racial equality that is generated by the Media breaks down when we
subject it to close analysis. USA is too deeply entrenched in racial
attitudes and the Ferguson verdict only highlights the failure of the
American state to treat the "children of a lesser God" as equals.
The Massacre of the Innocents at Peshawar, Pakistan
2014-12-18 10:32
The massacre at the Army Public School located near the Cantonment
at Peshawar has shocked the world and India is aghast at what
happened. A two-minute silence was observed in educational
institutions all along the length and breadth of the country. Cynics
might say that this is only a ritual for public consumption. However,
 Word Craft and Statecraft

as a teacher and as a parent I, an ordinary citizen, felt the pain and

anguish of the ordinary Pakistani man and woman. To dismiss the
gesture as a mere choreographed display of hypocritical concern will
not help anyone. Unfortunately, there are sick elements in the
Pakistani civil society who have gone to town blaming India for the
massacre and this propaganda is only to serve the purpose of
diverting attention from the real perpetrators of this outrage. The
longer Pakistan lingers in the twilight zone of denial the longer tit will
suffer. India cannot do such an act not because it is an innocent
country of lambs, but because such attacks do not serve India's
interests in the region.
The Pakistani Taliban has taken responsibility for the attack which
killed 132 children and 9 teachers. The motive behind the attack is
said to be the ongoing Army operations against the Taliban which is
going on in the North-West Province, the Kim country. Apparently,
the Taliban hoped to weaken the resolve of the Pakistani Army in
hunting down the militants in the mountain territory. However, they
seem to have seriously miscalculated the Pakistani Army corrupt and
criminal force that it is, will not forgive a blatant attack on its own
raison d'etre. I think a turning point has been reached, the tipping
point which will see dramatic changes on the ground. I wish the
Army well in its hunt.
Is India responsible for what is going on in Pakistan? I have no doubt
that some financial and perhaps military support is being given to
some secessionist groups in the Baluchi region. However, beyond
that India's responsibility lies in the fact that at the time of Partition
the Pakthtoons who were led by the Frontier Gandhi were staunchly
against Partition and the silly criminal man called Nehru sold them
short and therein lie the roots of the problem. Nehru who wanted his
seat of power by all means possible just allowed the Pakhtoons to be
swallowed by the Pakistani state in the same manner that Baltistan
too was taken over. Had there been an exchange of population, then
the demographic character of Pakistan would have changed and the
Muhajirs would have been in the majority. Since the demand for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Pakistan essentially came from this section, they would have

defended the nation by not leaning on Islamic fundamentalism as the
ideological glue to hold the disparate nation together.
India has to answer the question raised above.
Conversions, the Taj Mahal and "Secularism" in India
2014-12-11 10:26
India is back doing what it does best. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs
of secularism if I am paraphrasing the words of the great Bard of
Avon. In Agra, the city famed for the Taj Mahal a group of 57 families
decided to leave their Islamic faith and embraced a syndicated
version of the Hindu faith. There is no ban in the political statement
called the Constitution on religious conversion and so the contrived
outrage against the "reconversion" to a syndicated edition of
Hinduism ought not to engage anyone's mind. However, things are
not so simple here in India. Busybodies get on the scene and the
climate gets charged with all kinds of real and imagined assaults on
"secularism". Religion according to the Indian political document
that these busybodies like to quote is only a matter of personal choice
and, so it cannot concern anyone.
A huge amount of misinformation has been put out by those
professing to stand up for "secularism". The BPL cards cannot have
been given as an inducement for conversion because the state
government is in the hands of the Samajwadi Party which is
politically opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Holding the
Central Government responsible for the incident in Agra is
disingenuous because the Ration Cards and BPL cards can only be
given by the State Government. The 57 families abandoned Islam
because they found their livelihood effected by the sort of high
voltage campaign that is being carried out by the likes of Azam Khan
and his ilk. The Government of India under Narendra Modi has
economic development of India and the infusion of technology as its
main raison d'etre. It is certainly not interested in identity issues. The
defeated political entities like the Janata Dal (U), the Congress party
 Word Craft and Statecraft

and the Samajwadi party have all based their politics on religious and
caste identities and therefore are at the present noise on the issue of
these 57 families choosing a faith of their own conviction. Economic
inducement was neither give nor taken. So, there is no illegality here.
Azam Khan a "minister" in the Samajwadi Government at Lucknow
issued a statement recently in which he demanded the takeover of the
Taj Mahal by the Waqf Board of which he is the Chairman. What he
does not stat is that Waqf property to the tune of several thousand
crores has already been swindled and this Khan shows no interest in
reclaiming that. A national monument under the protection of the
Archaeological Survey of India is now being targeted. Further, the
Queen for whom the Taj was built was Shia and the Mughals
themselves were probably secret adherents of the Shia faith. This is
important because the Safavids rulers who helped Humayun
reconquer the territories of Babur from the Afghans would have
provided military and material support only after ensuring that the
Mughals are on their side in the geo political situation as the Persia
was sandwiched between the Ottomans and the Mughals. By
deliberately insinuating the discredited theories of P N Oak the so-
called secularists are only providing cover to the like of Azam Khan.
The reconversion movement in Agra must be seen in the context of the
communal politics injected into the region by Azam Khan and his tribe.
The False protests on Conversions in India: An investigation
2014-12-25 14:25
The Indian Press is making a lot of noise on "Conversions" in parts of
North India. Though the BJP has no role in the policy of bringing back
to the Hindu faith those who were "converted" to other faiths over the
course of the past several centuries, the Opposition, particularly the
Congress has been disrupting the Parliament demanding a Statement
from the Hon'ble Prime Minister. The Television Anchors are having
a whale of a time, thundering about the "religious freedoms"
enshrined in the document of political settlement issued in 1950. Let
us examine the truth of what is happening.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Christianity emerged in Asia at a time when the Roman Empire was

at the height of its power and strength. As St Augustine writes in his
City of God the birth of the Saviour in a corner of the Roman Empire
made the religion aspire for a universality that other religions,
particularly the many gods and semi divine characters of the Roman
public religion lacked. To be a Christian in the Roman world as Peter
Brown and other historians have pointed out was to reject the
political entity called the Roman Empire, the earthly city of
Augustine and this life was only a transition to the Heavenly City
where the Lord reigns forever. Constantine in 324 made Christianity
the official religion and thereby a persecuted faith became the official
religion. Conversion the context of Christianity was a change in
world view, the understanding of life, nature and of course the
relationship with God who sent his Son as our Saviour. The Passion of
Christ and His Resurrection on the third day is the proof of God's
intervention in history. The acceptance of the three central premises
of Christianity is Conversion, the transformation, the inward
illumination.
In India, however, the conversion" has usually been on the basis of
identity. Lower castes were induced to "convert" by economic and
other inducements and though there have been several instances of
sincere and well thought out "conversions" most of the converts
regarded Christianity as yet another caste of Hinduism. And in the
blatant embrace of identity politics due to the numerical democracy
which is followed in India, conversion only meant creation of
minority pockets for electoral gain. There is nothing religious and
spiritual about this. The storm over conversion is misplaced and most
of the converts do not understand even the elementary aspects of the
faith they were induced to join for identity reasons.
The Church in India did little to help the entrants from the lower
castes. In Tamil Nadu that I know well, high caste parish priests do
not perform the sacraments for the lower castes particularly the
"pariah" Christians. In Villupuram the untouchable Christians have
even complained that the Church graveyard is segregated. I am not
 Word Craft and Statecraft

giving a litany of complaints to undermine the faith. I am only saying

that conversion is a personal and inward transformation and public
embrace of Christianity does little to change the ground realities.
The controversy over "conversions" or Ghar Vapsi, Home Coming as
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad calls it is totally misplaced and the agents
of vote blocks alone are affected not the poor.
Je suis Charlie Hebdo: The Indiscreet charms of Islamic Terrorism
2015-01-08 11:30
The attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo the satirical
magazine which won international notoriety for publishing offensive
cartoons pertaining to Mohammad, the founder of Islam. Two or
three heavily armed men stormed into the building by forcing the
woman at the gate to enter the access code of the high security
building and fired 37 rounds of ammunition from Ak 47 rifles before
making their escape they shot dead a critically injured policeman.
The attack was well planned and meticulously executed can be
gleaned from the flawless getaway, escape from the scene into the
woods surrounding the Parisian countryside. The French President,
Francois Hollande declared that the killers would be hunted down
and that the attack on the journalists was an attack on French Laws
which guaranteed "freedom of expression". The French, American
and Western media have framed the attack in terms of the opposition
between the liberal West, which has the civilized approach to life and
liberty and the barbaric totalitarian jihadists who kill in the name of
religion. This way of framing the issue privileges the superiority of
the West which is allegedly governed by "laws" and not "men".
Charlie Hebdo was known all over the world for its irreverence and
indeed hostile caricature of non-White/ Western cultures, religions
and personalities. It may be pointed out that when one of the early
satirical magazine, a predecessor of the contemporary, Charlie
Hebdo, published a spoof on Charles de Gaulle way back in 1970, it
was banned, and all copies of the magazine forfeited and destroyed.
It is therefore clear that the French claim that they respect Freedom of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

expression rings hollow. As long as the target of attack is not

European or White then it is OK. This seems to the limits set to
freedom of expression in France. Can the right to offend be subsumed
under the right to freedom of expression.
The western world has seen the disenchantment of the sacred and in
most parts of the world people do regard certain personalities, beliefs
and symbols sacred and beyond ridicule. Unfortunately, in India
where political discourse is derivative and based on the pretentions
of the western world there is a tendency to equate the freedom of
expression with the right to offend. Nothing can be more
disingenuous than this argument. In the west only political and
national symbols command allegiance of the people. In India we have
a whole menagerie of animals, hosts of symbols, a horde of
personalities all of which clamour for attention and respect and
notional symbols of a recent transition to nationhood are at best
second or third tier allegiances. Hence, there is no use of equating the
freedom of expression with the right to offend. Reasonable freedom
can exist only within the limits of mutual respect and the attack on
Charlie Hebdo only demonstrates that the boundary between
freedom and respect has been irrevocably broken or breached.
There is a lesson in this tragedy for France. Even since Nicholas
Sarkozy became the President of France it has followed a policy of
intervention in the Islamic countries and in this there is a pattern of
continuity between what was happening under the rights regime and
the present pseudo socialist one. The attack on Libya, Tunisia and the
provocations in Syria all anger the Islamic societies and added to that
is the cultural arrogance of caricature.
BBC, The Nirbhaya Documentary and Indian Public Opinion
2015-03-07 14:33
The Western World or the White world pretends that it is upholding a
higher civilizational standard than the non- Western world of which
India and China are the most illustrious icons. On what basis are such
claims made. The fact that less than 65 years back, Germany killed 13
 Word Craft and Statecraft

million people in the Concentration Camps, a record of barbarism

that still remains unsurpassed, is generally ignored as that country is
officially part of the so-called West. The rising tide of racial
discrimination in most European countries is again set aside and in
UK, the internal surveillance of the Muslim population is reaching
alarming proportions. In USA almost every week a man, usually a
non-white and generally derelict person is being killed by the trigger
happy internal militia. Since the subject is rape, the percentage of
women in USA and Europe who are raped is extremely high. In MIT,
a campus survey found that 60% of the female students had
complained of unacceptable sexual behaviour on Campus. I am
repeating all these facts not to cover up the enormous tragedy that
shocked and traumatized the entire nation. India set up the JP Verma
Commission and tightened the laws and there is growing awareness
of the issue of gender violence. Can the same be said of USA and
Europe.
The BBC has produced and broadcast a documentary entitled, India's
Daughter, which is based on a series of interviews with the killers of
Nirbhaya. The dead victim of the tragedy is made to relive the trauma
once again by the shamelessly titillating exposure given to one of the
rapists who is under the sentence of death. It appears from the way in
which the documentary has been edited, that the main purpose is to
shift the focus of the debate from rape to the death penalty in general
and that of the impending execution of the rapist killer in particular. I
cannot understand how the UPA Government was so insensitive that
it allowed the BBC to film the interviews with the killer and that to in
Tihar Jail located in the Capital. Will the Indian Media get access to
any prisoner awaiting execution in USA? One example will suffice:
The American Government did not permit the Indian Law
reinforcement personnel to interview David Headley Coleman even
though he stands accused in an Indian Court for having planned and
organized the 26/11 Massacre in Mumbai. That being the case, how is
it that the BBC enjoys privileges that it is not entitled to. How was the
filming allowed without the script being whetted?
 Word Craft and Statecraft

India's Daughter projects India is an extremely bad light and that is

precisely the purpose of the documentary? It seeks to portray India as
a land of barbarians in which women are not safe and it needs the
skills of a white film maker to hold a mirror to reflect the ugly face of
India. India exploded in anger at what happened in Delhi in
December 2012 and does not need a white woman to tell us or inform
us of the ugly reality which stares us in the face. The arrogance of the
BBC which justified the broadcast is unconscionable: it serves a real
purpose of informing the world says BBC. Indian law which
prohibits the name of the victim from being made public was
deliberately and insensitively violated and the Government of India
is well within its right to ban BBC from India for this one serious act. I
think, the country must adopt a zero tolerance to such provocations.
India law cannot be violated by foreign media. We do not need to give
extra territorial rights to BBC and their correspondents. India should
force the BBC to ether publicly apologize for the violation of Indian
law or be forced to quit India.
Nirbhaya is a symbol of the kind of unspeakable brutality which no
civilized society can tolerate. The BBC has no right to rape the victim
again and again. Shame on BBC. It now turns out that the rapist
Mukesh Singh was paid by BBC for this interview. In other words,
BBC made commercial profit out this immense tragedy and paid the
killer too.
Red Sander Smuggling and the tensions between Tamil Nadu and
Andhra Pradesh
2015-04-11 13:12
The gunning down of 20 Red Sander smugglers in the forests
surrounding the famed Tirupati Temple in Chittoor District of
Andhra Pradesh has created a stir and politicians in Tamil Nadu have
raised the issue of human rights violations and have accused the
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandra Babu Naidu of wanton
killing. The record of Tamil Nadu Government on the human rights
front is rather bleak. Recently the Minister for Agriculture Thiru
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Krishnamurthy was arrested for abetting the suicide, of the Chief

Engineer of the Department who was forced to sign papers
appointing men as drivers in the Department from whom the
Minister had taken bribes ranging from 3 to 5 lakhs. The record of the
earlier DMK Government is no better. Who has forgotten the suicide
of Bash, an accused in the 2G Scam and earlier the killing of DG of
Police Mr Durai. The Dravidian Movement and its political offshoots
has led to the growth of corrupt, fascist forces and both the DMK and
the AIADMK are both tadpoles from the same cess pool. Such being
the case the sudden concern for the rights of the tribal on the part of
the Tamil politicians is not sincere.
Since 1967 the tribal areas of North Arcot District, the Jahwadi Hills
have been neglected. There have been no schemes for the upliftment
of the tribal. Even elementary schools are lacking in the area. As far as
health facilities are concerned even the Primary Health Centres are
not present. The entire social welfare budget of Tamil Nadu is spent
on the landed backward castes who already dominate the political
and administrative structures of the state. The tribal population has
only the choice of choosing the path of ethnocide or eternal poverty
and marginalization. Against this background, the sudden love of
our Tamil politicians for the tribals is both ingenuous and
hypocritical.
Red Sander is a valuable timber which is found in the Seshachalam
forests and is listed as an endangered tree and whose cutting is
forbidden by law. There is a huge demand for the products from this
tree in East Asia for making furniture and also in the construction
industry. The tribals who are kept in a state of abject poverty as a
calculated policy of the backward caste dominated regime, are
induced by politician to venture out into the forests and cut down the
trees. It takes just 30 minutes for an experienced tribal to cut down the
tree and debark it and make it ready for transport. The forest guards
are usually paid to ignore the entire timber smuggling. More than 20
men who were appointed as forest guards were killed by the timber
Mafia and hence the AP Government decided to appoint a special
 Word Craft and Statecraft

task force. We must remember that the mass killer Veerappan was
also a timber smuggler, except that he chose the less lucrative sandal
wood trees to cut. He too enjoyed patronage on both sides of the
border: The DMK regime in Tamil Nadu and the Congress regime in
Karnataka. The AP Government decided to act before the menace
became too great for the state to handle. The YSR Congress, like its
parent organization is a crime syndicate and its local leaders are
political front for the smugglers.
The killing of 20 tribals is indeed extremely sad and deserves to be
investigated. The fact is that in the past the smugglers have killed
forest guards and even in this case the Special Task Force was
attacked with bows and axes and the firing was resorted to in self-
defence. Of course, excessive force was used. However, the primary
responsibility rests with the Government of Tamil Nadu which has
not done anything for the welfare of the tribals and force them to
make a living thus.
Mecca as an International City: Time to ask for "Vatican" status
2015-09-25 01:25
The horrific tragedies that have taken place in the Holy City of Mecca
has led people all over the world to ask the question: Are the Saudi
authorities at all capable of dealing with the huge crowds that come
on the annual pilgrimage, the Haj rituals. In a space of less than two
weeks, three horrible accidents have happened at Mecca and our
hearts are full of grief. However, it is time to think of the status of
Mecca. Mecca belongs to the entire Muslim fraternity and not to
Saudi Arabia. The Saudi kingdom which legitimizes its brazen
dependence on Wahhabi Islam, has taken charge of the two holy
cities and the key component of the Saudi kingship is the fact that the
Kingdom is the "protector of the holy cities". It is obvious that the
Saudi authorities are doing a poor job. The stoning of Satan, a ritual at
Mina draws a crowd of nearly 2 million and unfortunately, the Saudi
authorities seem to have not learnt any lessons from the mistakes of
the past. Each Haj season there are accidents due to the inefficiency of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the Saudi crowd management techniques. India manages the Khumb

Mela which draws huge crowds of more than 3 to 4 million without
major mishaps. Crowd management is needed.
It is also surprising that cranes with heavy booms were at the site of
the pilgrimage. The collapse of a single crane cause nearly 400 deaths.
Of course, the belief that a death in Mecca assures a safe passage to
Heaven is not very comforting to the bereaved families. The inability
of the Saudi authorities to provide for the security of the pilgrimage
necessitates a rethink on the status of the Holy City. Mecca is holy to
both the Sunnis and the Shias and the Iranian authorities have always
been critical of the manner in which the Saudis manage the
pilgrimage. A few years back there was an unfortunate tragedy at
Mecca when Iranians dressed as pilgrims fired in the Grand Mosque
killing nearly 300 pilgrims. Given the importance the site has for
people of Islamic faith and the frequency with which accidents are
happening it is necessary to liberate Mecca from the clutches of
Wahabi Islam. Like Vatican, Mecca can be made into a Sate under the
control of all the important denominations of Islam and this body
should undertake to regulate the Pilgrimage. I think this is the best
solution for the ever-recurring problem.
Killing of the Old and the Aged in Tamil Nadu: Talaikuthal, a
savage tradition
2015-11-21 02:57
Tamil Nadu is generally regarded as a progressive state with an
"empowered" population, thanks to the Dravidian Movement. It is
customary in Tamil Nadu to credit the Dravidian Movement for all
progressive measures such as nationalization of Temple property,
abolition of hereditary priesthood in Hindu Temples, stranglehold of
the dominant agrarian castes over the political structure of the state,
and the use of Tamil as the official language. Few people, especially
the so-called liberals and the progressives, do not realize that the
Dravidian Movement brought in a highly intolerant society which
was anti Hindu and anti-Brahmin, in much the same way as the Nazi
 Word Craft and Statecraft

movement in Germany was ant Semitic. The exclusion of Brahmins

from the civil society and cultural life of Tamil Nadu has resulted in a
debasement of the very fabric of Tamil society.
Today anti-Dalit atrocities are particularly rampant in Tamil Nadu
and the landed agrarian castes which are essentially the dominant
backward castes are seldom punished for the human rights violations
that they carry out. Indeed, human rights hardly exists in Tamil Nadu
given the preponderance of political and administrative power
enjoyed by the backward castes. This week's news magazine called
The Week (Nov 22, 2015) has exposed an ugly social practice that
prevails in Tamil Nadu and it is time that the Central Government
took note of this custom and instituted steps to prevent it. I have
always wondered why there are no old people in Tamil Nadu. The
state is no country for the old and the infirm. The Week has exposed a
horrible practice of talaikutal which prevails in Tamil Nadu.
According to the news magazine, the old are put to death in Tamil
Nadu by the members of their immediate family, especially if they do
not have independent means of financial support. A leisurely bath is
administered and after that some poison is given in milk or tea and
the old person is killed. This practice of talaikuthal seems to have
social sanction as there are no investigations if an old person dies. The
magazine highlighted the case of a 92-year-old woman from the
village of Reddiapatti who was put to death by administering a lethal
injection after the more traditional methods failed. Nowadays,
pesticides and sleeping pills are used to kill the aged and the infirm. It
has been reported that the village quacks willingly participate in such
socially accepted and sanctioned senicide.
When the English East India Company was battling the scourge of
female infanticide in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, they
empowered the Collectors to imprison anyone suspected of being
involved in the killing of female babies, As a step to contain and
discourage the practice of female infanticide the East India Company
officers were required to register the pregnancy of women in their
jurisdiction and monitor the birth of the child and if the child
 Word Craft and Statecraft

happened to be a girl child ensure its survival. In a similar manner the

old must be registered in Tamil Nadu and if the death happens to be
suspicious police investigation must be launched. Tamil Nadu is fast
losing its reputation of being a progressive state.
Donald Trump and his Muslim exclusion comment: Why this fuss?
2015-12-09 22:38
Donald Trump, the Republican Presidential candidate, seems to have
outrage the liberal public opinion with his comment that people from
Muslim countries should be barred from entering the USA until
America leadership figure out "what the hell is happening". This
comment during the course of an election rally ought not to have
created such a huge international controversy. What he says for
getting votes from his constituents is of concern only to the US
citizens, I am commenting on this statement only to expose the
hypocrisy of his opponents. USA has practiced racially profiled
exclusion ever since the establishment of the first settlements in New
England. There was racially sanctioned slavery for over 300 years and
even the Civil War was fought not to liberate the slaves but to defend
the Union and the abolition of slavery as a war aim was proclaimed
only as a strategic move in order to make the plantation
workers/slaves rise in revolt. Generations of White historians have
interpreted American History keeping the ideological objectives of
USA in mind. During the cold war period USA was the leader of the
"free world" as though the rest of the world was "unfree".
Now the rhetoric of social inclusion is dominant and, yet no one
seems concerned that USA follows a policy of excluding the Spanish
speaking Mexican from their territories and except for cheap labour
the Spanish speaking people are not valued for anything else. No
outrage over the proposed legislation which would identify illegal
immigrants and repatriate them back to their home countries,
breaking up families exactly like the slave laws once did. My purpose
is not to suggest that USA is some kind of a demon. It is only to put
some perspective on Trump's remarks.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

USA has a system in which the Federal Government is the only

empowered agency to regulate entry into the US and the adherence to
International Law is questionable. We need only to recollect the
instances of the "extra ordinary rendition", the attempted
assassination of foreign leaders, the trumped-up charges against
Saddam Hussein and armed intervention in Libya are only some of
the more egregious examples of US banditry. To top all this USA had
the gall to put our Hon'ble Prime Minster on the exclusion list and
ever one kept quiet. What Donald Trump has said comes from the
same mindset that led to all the instances I have cited above.
Historically too USA has imprisoned its own population in
concentration camps on mere suspicion during World War II and still
no reparations have been given to the interned population of Hawaii
and California. It is sheer madness to condemn Donald Trump. If he
is elected, he has every right to exclude whole populations on the
grounds of national security and USA has been following this policy.
The Chennai Floods, Water Management and the wisdom of the
Madras Presidency Administrators: The Buckingham Canal
2015-12-12 04:23
The recent devastation caused by the phenomenal floods in the city of
Madras caused large-scale loss of life and property. The entire city
was almost submerged by the surging waters and parts of the city,
particularly along the watercourses were significantly inundated. To
make matters worse nearly 34,000 cu secs of water was released from
the Chennambbakam Tank without prior warning as the storage
capacity of the tank was reaching the high-water mark. There was a
fear of the tank breaching and so water was released, and the nearby
Puzhal Tank breached leading to flooding in Madipakkam and
Pallikaranai. Only people living in high rise buildings were
comparatively safe as the ground floor was completely submerged in
large swathes of the city. Out of the nearly 3000 water bodies
documented in the City of Chennai, more than half have been
encroached by builders and the rapid unplanned urbanization of
 Word Craft and Statecraft

Chennai has led to the decline of the environment and the recent
floods had demonstrated that Chennai was living on borrowed time.
It must be clear to everyone that had the Buckingham Canal been
allowed to function the large-scale floods could have been avoided.
The rulers of Independent India deliberately neglected the
Buckingham Canal because they were enamoured of dams which
were considered the "temples of modern India". The blind rush
towards industrialization resulted in the Buckingham canal being
neglected and the 786-km canal has all but disappeared. Even in the
2001 Tsunami the vestige of the one-kilometre wide canal which
stretched from Markanam to Kakinada in the East Godavari District
absorbed the shock of the waves and thereby protected part of the
coastline. The worst damage was in the areas south of the canal.
The history of the canal began in 1817 when a 11-kilometre canal was
constructed from Madras to Ennore. Gradually the canal was extended
to Pullicat and during the devastating famine of 1877-79 the canal was
constructed as famine relief work. Historical documents show that in
the late 19th century rice was sent from Godavari region to Madras
along the canal. As the cost of transportation by water was always
cheaper, Madras as Chennai was then known, received its grain due to
the canal. The canal was a life line for the people of the region.
Independence meant that the administrative jurisdiction of the canal
was fragmented and the whole project was allowed to decay. The
canal was joined to the Adyar River and thereby a natural system of
drainage came into existence. Had the Adyar River been dredged,
and the flow of water kept without major impediment, the damage in
the recent floods could have been avoided. The Buckingham Canal
took nearly a century of effort and Independent India as a nation run
by corrupt people without wisdom allowed this great feat of
engineering to decay.
Massacre of the Innocents: Killing Animals in Zoos, a crime
2016-05-31 11:25
See the majestic animal. Can anyone imagine such an animal to die for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the negligence of humans. A harrowing tragedy took place in

Cincinnati Zoo a few days back when this magnificent creature was
shot, six bullets pumped into his back. He was there only because
human beings captured him from the rain forests of Africa, shipped
him to America where he spent 17 years of his life behind the bars of a
Zoo. No fault of his. Just to entertain gawking crowds of men, women
and children. Zoo were set up to entertain humans and are symbols of
the enslavement of animals to the will of man and in this the incident
in Cincinnati Zoo is not different from the horrors of the Atlantic
Slave Trade. In a similar incident in Chile two African lions were
killed because a demented man bent on committing suicide entered
their cage and the lions seem to have attacked him.
The fact is that the Zoo used unreasonable force to kill the animals
when the lions could very easily have been tranquilized and even if
that was not possible, who are we to determine that the life of a
demented man is more valuable than that of animals. The fact is that
lions are an endangered species while human beings are not. So,
when the choice is between a mad man and endangered animals I
think we should choose the side of animals. The two lions, like the
Gorilla called Hambare who was killed did not do any harm and it
was the wilful negligence of the parents which resulted in the 3-year-
old boy falling into the moat. There have been credible reports that
the gorilla did not harm the boy at all and was only attempting to
rescue the child from the water. Gorillas are fairly good swimmers.
In order to justify the wanton act of killing the magnificent animal the
Zoo put out a false statement that the boy/child was seriously
injured. The fact is that the child was sent home immediately after a
routine examination. The two incidents need to be probed more
deeply in order to highlight certain disturbing features in human
interactions with animals. Norway and Japan violate International
Law by hunting whales and Japan even has made a national
entertainment of trapping and clubbing dolphins to death. A cruel
sport that deserves to be condemned.
China has the barbaric Yulin festival when animals are trapped and
 Word Craft and Statecraft

cruelly clubbed to death. Robert Darnton describes the scene in his

Great Cat Massacre. Reading cultural meaning in such horrendous
acts of inhuman barbarity is wrong. The most tragic part of the
Cincinnati episode is that fact that the public seems to support the
putting down of the large harmless animal.
From Orientalism to Academic Hindu phobia: The strange career of
the American Approach to Indian Studies
2016-06-12 18:26
American scholars are an intense serious lot. They take their state,
their Government, their politics and their society far more seriously
than the average Indian scholar. While I disagree with many of them,
I retain a lurking sense of admiration for the integrity that they
display in their research. I graduated with a Ph.D. in History from one
of the leading Public/State Universities in the US and had the good
fortune to be trained by a Historian who is rated as one of the leading
scholars of the last century. Having said this, I must reflect on the
recent controversy stirred by Rajiv Malhotra in his various
publications particularly his highly polemical book, The Battle for
Sanskrit.
An attack on Sheldon Pollock for his rather asinine political views is
one thing, but a concerted attempt at delegitimizing his valuable
contribution to early Indian History is an entirely different issue. I
too find the collective petitions by YS based academics on the Hon'ble
Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi extremely patronizing and
an affront to India's dignity. The political process in India is of
concern only to Indians and the American scholars like Martha
Nussbaum, Wendy Diniger, Sheldon Pollock and a host of Jewish
American scholars are all quiet when it comes to US crimes in
different parts of the world. I have not come across the same sort of
rant by these scholars on Israel's attack on Palestinians, on the illegal
War in Iraq and Syria, the large-scale use of drone in slaughtering
non-white non-combatants all over the world.
My litany can go one. I am putting these facts across only to draw
 Word Craft and Statecraft

attention to the fact that US academics are often servitors of power

and are quite willing to extend their expertise into sensitive areas of
national security and espionage. The posture of moral outage
adopted by these scholars is misplaced and we will find it more
convincing if the Marthas, the Wendys and others direct their ire at
US racialist policies in different parts of the world. Having said this, I
would like to highlight the contribution of one scholar who is the
subject of Rajiv Malhotra's attack, Sheldon Pollock.
In the Battle for Sanskrit Rajiv Malhotra, an NRI settled in USA has
thundered against Sheldon Pollock and has tried to link Language of
the Gods in the World of Men to a whole host of politically sensitive
questions. He accuses Pollock of arguing that India is the spiritual
home of Nazism. This is quite absurd and nowhere does Pollock
make that claim except to suggest that the notion of Aryan was
introduced into Europe through the Western Indological
scholarship. Pollock is too sophisticated a historian to make such a
crude argument: Arya on well born is not the same as Aryan and
therefore India is in no way responsible for the horrors of the
Holocaust. By making this sort of claim, Malhotra undermines his
otherwise well researched work. If his argument is that US academics
are uncomfortable with the idea of a strong, vibrant India then he is
not wrong. It has to do with US strategic and geo political interests.
Is Pollock saying that Sanskrit is irredeemably a language of
oppression and exclusion. The answer to this question is far more
nuanced than what Malhotra admits. True, like Latin, Sanskrit too
was associated with a courtly culture marinated in oppression, caste
purity, rituals of power etc. A language is only an instrument and
does not carry the burden of sin associated with the speakers of the
language. English is the language of slave traders, conquerors and
the like but that does not make us reluctant to use it. Nowhere does
Pollock make an explicit link between language and social structure.
However, a profound question lies at the heart of the book under
discussion. Why did Sanskrit re-emerge in the sixth century as the
language of prasastis, public eulogies and courtly literature at the
 Word Craft and Statecraft

same moment in time when vernacular cultures became more

assertive. This question is important and an analysis of the mutual
relationship between marga and desi is an interesting exercise.
Now is raising critical questions a form of Hindu phobia. I have left
out Wendy Doniger from my discussion as I find her work stupid and
trashy. Her publishers rightly decided to pulp her work. However,
even she has a piece of research that is actually quite good, a study of
the problem of evil in Indian thought. If we reject her approach, we
are left only with David Shulman and his work. I personally feel that
while US scholars are rather politically motivated in the way they, at
the instigation of Indian Left Liberals started bad mouthing the
Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, it would be wrong to throw the baby
with the bath water. American scholarship is awe inspiring in many
significant ways and if US scholars need to retain their legitimacy, it
would behove them not to fall victim to the political machinations of
third rate Indian scholars in Universities such as Delhi, JNU and
others.
Clinton, Trump and the Circus of American Presidential Politics
2016-06-22 11:18
The American elections are phenomena well worth watching.
Without being unduly judgemental one can say that the campaign is
both entertaining as well as infuriating at times. Here we, in India are
used to semi-literate foul tongued politicians like Mani Shankar
Ayer, Manish Tewai, Laloo Prasad Yadava, Nithesh Kumar,
Katheria, Kejriwal and others. So, the comparison can only be of
degree and quality. The Congress breed of dynastic fascists have their
own brand of invective to hurl against their opponents. The BJP
retaliates by launching a tirade against corruption, "Italian Mafia" etc.
We are used to foul language, insensitive remarks and downright
abuse. So, what is so surprising that we should even write about the
endless stream of abuse and insults spewing out in torrents from the
mouths of the two important Presidential candidates, Donald Trump
and Hilary Clinton.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Presidential campaign started with Mr Trump declaring to the

world in general that "Crooked Hilary" is not to be trusted. He raised
serious questions about her "ethics" as if ethics has ever been a factor
in US politics. The immediate provocation for this rather large charge
against Hilary is the ongoing FBI investigation into the use of a
private server during the time she occupied, without honour or
distinction, the office of the Secretary of State, as the Foreign Minister
of US is often termed. Just before leaving office she deleted more than
30,000 emails stating that they were private in nature. Later it was
disclosed that she raised more than 100 million dollars for the Clinton
Foundation from donors in the Middle East even as she served as the
Foreign Minister. Just imagine what would have happened if an
Indian Minister had done the same. Salman, the Foreign Minister
under the discredited UPA regime is still facing flak for the scandal
over his Trust.
Hilary Clinton was not fazed. She breezed through the crisis and the
American Media has been extremely kind to her by not raising any
awkward question. I always marvel at the utter absence of an
adversarial press in US. In India, Freedom of the Press is measure by
the adversarial position it takes vis a vis the NDA Government. BJP
bashing in general and Narendra Modi trolling in particular have
become the bench marks of a free press here in India. Hilary Clinton
was not questioned with the same passionate intensity with which
Mr Donald Trump is question, over Trump University, for instance.
Hilary Clinton thunders against the failed business projects of Trump
but does not take any questions over the character, or better still, the
lack of it in Mr Bill Clinton. The Monica Lewinsky Scandal which
almost brought the Presidency of Bill Clinton down making him the
only President in over a century to be impeached is not brought out to
embarrass Hilary Clinton. Imagine the same thing happening here.
Impossible. Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowda's son still faces questions
over his long-term relationship with the starlet, Sandhya.
The two candidates revile each other in a manner that would make
bazar women, exemplars of perfect behaviour. Of course, I do not
 Word Craft and Statecraft

mean any disrespect to bazar women who are certainly better

behaved than these two. Crooked Hilary has become the given name
of Hilary Rodham Clinton and that has to be said with a vicious
smirk. And Clinton cannot be out done: Trump will bankrupt USA
like his casinos.
The Press does not badger Hilary over her false statement made over
the attack on the American Ambassador in Libya, but hounds Mr
Trump for his Tax Returns and he wards off the searching prying
questions by saying that he is under audit, a statement that is at best
half true. On the Orlando tragedy Trump has been quite honest even
at the cost of political correctness. He has blamed Islamic terrorism
for the attack, while Hilary taking her cue from Hussein Obama soft
pedals the whole Islamic aspect of the tragedy. Trump has been
consistently being saying that immigration from terrorism infested
countries needs to be put on hold. And that is certainly a step that
cannot be faulted and to make him sound like a dangerous
demagogue for stating the obvious is certainly disingenuous.
The American elections are fun to watch. Certainly, we hope that the
Americans do not vote for another term in which the failed policies of
Obama will continue.
Caste
2016-07-05 10:43
On June 24th, 2016, a young, educated girl hailing from a middle class
brahmin family was brutally murdered in front of a large crowd on
the platform of Nungambakkam Railway station. Shockingly not a
single one of the onlookers stirred to help her even as a young man
took out a billhook (aruval) from the back that he was carrying and
struck three times at her face, neck and upper part of her body. The
brutality of the crime was in fact a rerun of a typical ISIS operation:
brutal, cruel, quick and in full public display.
While the killing of Nirbhaya in December 2012 was an event that
brought together a large proportion of civil society and political
parties to bring about change in the legal system, this barbaric attack
 Word Craft and Statecraft

was largely ignored. Does the fact that the victim of this brutal crime
happens to be a brahmin girl and the accused a Dalit have anything to
do with the cynical indifference with which this crime has been
viewed. I have always said that the position of the brahmins in Tamil
society today happens to be akin to that of the Jews in Germany
during the Nazi era.
The Dravidian Movement, especially the anti-brahmin Self Respect
Movement made brahmin bashing, brahmin persecution, brahmin
marginalization and exclusion an inherent part of South Indian
public life. Like the Jews in Germany, brahmins were excluded from
university positions and public office and like the victim of this
monstrous attack, they had to take up employment in the software
industry or immigrate to USA in order to escape the vicious and
untrammelled assaults on person and dignity. The public media both
the Press and the Electronic media is conditioned to highlight Dalit
atrocities and ignore similar attacks on brahmins. Indeed, the
condition of both the Dalits and brahmins are more or less identical in
post-colonial Tamil Nadu ad scholars like the late M S S Pandian and
others have sought to give legitimacy to upper caste domination by
invoking the discredited theories of Caudwell and others.
The attacker, Thiru P Ramkumar is a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in
Meenakshipuram near Tirunelveli in the deep South. He had
apparently been stalking the victim since May 2016 and the Tamil
movies generally portray stalking as an innocent trivial assertion of
male interest. The gross infringement of the rights of the girl/woman
is not taken into consideration and the Police generally ignore
complaints of such behaviour. Since the attacker happens to be a
Dalit, public discourse has suddenly gone silent and it is likely that in
the days and months the crime will get politicized in the manner in
which the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. And Dalit political parties like the
CVK and the PT and also sections of the Dravidian parties will also
start a chorus in favour of the killer. Who can forget the fact that the
killer of the Madurai corporator, a Dalit woman was pardoned by
Karunanidhi when he was in power. Crime in Tamil Nadu walks
 Word Craft and Statecraft

hand in hand with political parties.

The world has to awaken to the plight of the brahmins in Tamil Nadu.
Their human rights are being violated on a daily basis and while
attacks on Dalits are highlighted by the Media, political correctness
prevents it from highlighting crimes against brahmins.
From Orlando to Dallas and Back: Race, Religion and Violence in
America Today
2016-07-09 12:22
Anyone reading the Newspaper today will conclude that an
apocalyptic race war is unfolding in USA. Of course, this is an
exaggeration. However, the events at they are unfolding before our
eyes thanks largely to cell phone footage and all-day TV coverage is
bringing home, as never before, the fact that the election of Barack
Hussein Obama has made the situation far worse for the African
American (I do not like the term black). And Obama standing on the
steps of Air Force one at Warsaw Airport, made things worse with a
grin that cynically conveyed to the world that he has successfully
created a chasm in American society that will last generations. White
America could seriously consider itself cleansed of the original sin of
Atlantic Slavery by electing an African American as President. The
fact is that on both the shooting at Orlando and at Dallas, the
President felt that the issue was Gun Control and tried to score
political points at the expense of Mr Donald Trump. That has now
horribly backfired.
The shootings at Saint Paul, Minnesota and Falcon Heights are eerily
similar. Anton Sterling was shown struggling with a white Police
Officer who pulled out a gun from his right and shot the man thrice.
In the case of Philando Castile the live video streaming of his
encounter with the police officer who shot the young man was both
graphic and disturbing. In Orlando, a Moslem immigrant from
Afghanistan shot 49 people in a Night Club and the motive as
determined by the AFT and the FBI is domestic radicalization. Mr
Miach Xavier Johnson who is allegedly the sniper who killed 5 police
 Word Craft and Statecraft

officer in Dallas was a decorated veteran of the US Army and had

served in Afghanistan. One conclusion is obvious: America's
senseless wars both in Iraq and Afghanistan are now causing hurt in
USA, just as I predicted in a blog I wrote on the Iraq engagement way
back in 2005.
Gun Control is a dog whistle for Liberal posturing and does not
address the real issues at all. The fact is that African Americans males
are incarcerated at a rate hugely disproportionate to their population
should be a cause of concern to liberal American scholars whose edgy
conscience is hyper active when it comes to India and its myriad
social and political issues should reflect and introspect on what is
taking place in their own backyard. Kancha Illiah and his breed of pro
white Social Scientists even advocated an American model of social
engagement for the so-called Dalit problems in India. Fortunately,
this did not happen, and India is working out its own solutions. The
African American male is seen as a "criminal" and the whites are on
the defensive from the world go. The accent, the dress, the social
habits and attitudes are all anathema to the dominant whites and the
Latino population is imbibing the dominant attitudes. Given the
racial democracy that exists in USA, the Democratic Party has
perfected the art of crafting a salad bowl of racial and ethnic interest
which invariably tip the scales in its favour. Mr Trump has
condemned the violence his statement in measured and civil tone
addresses the issue in a more honest manner.
The Police Force across USA behaves like an army of occupation and
its training is akin to the Military. The tactics used are all military
tactics and are actually unsuited for democratic policing. There has
been an utter failure on the part of the Department of Justice to
prosecute even a single police officer for the use of deadly force and
this failure undermines the confidence in the Police. And in Dallas the
Police even used an IED to kill the sniper and this itself shows how
deep-rooted militarization of the police force has become.
USA must retrain its police to act with restraint and behave in a
responsible democratic manner. Policing a citizenry is far different
 Word Craft and Statecraft

from policing a hostile, enemy territory. It will be interesting to

compare figures of the use of deadly force by the police during the
two decades prior to the Iraq War and the years after. It is my
contention that the Police has become too militarized in its training
and that has to change, and its weaponry needs to be drawn down.
Kiran Bedi in Pondicherry University
2016-08-24 16:10
The Auditorium was packed, and I have not seen such a crowd of
students eagerly waiting for a guest like the one that awaited the Lt
Governor of Pondicherry, Dr Kiran Bedi. The moment she walked
into the Auditorium one could feel the energy she exuded, and it
would be no exaggeration to say that she is blessed with a charisma
which is natural not cultivated. She connects very well with the
younger generation, a talent that the late A P J Abdul Kalam
possessed in ample measure. Maybe there is a future President in Dr
Kiran Bedi and we must thank Narendra Modi for having appointed
her here. The popularity of Kiran Bedi in Pondicherry is eclipsing the
politicians and the Congressmen are livid. She has a very genuine
and seemingly natural manner of communicating very complex
ideas and I was really impressed by her message and the effective
manner in which she delivered it.
The Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Anisa Basheer Khan
had invited her to declare open the building housing the Electron
Microscope which the University purchased during the tenure of
Professor J a K Tareen and the costly equipment was lying in crates
for more than 5 years. The officiating VC was prompt in securing
funds for the building and Dr Kiran Bedi was invited to open it. She
took the opportunity to address the students and her message was
simple and straight forward. She said that the students were
"visualize" their future and must be dedicated to that goal. This she
said was the mantra of her life. A few lessons from her own life were
recalled driving home the fact that religious identities are not
important and she herself came from a mixed Sikh Hindu
 Word Craft and Statecraft

background and was educated in a Catholic school. In many ways Dr

Kiran represents the inherent diversity of India.
The speech given by Dr Kiran Bedi was rich in detail about her life
both as the first woman police officer, as a tennis player and as a
public figure. Indeed, when I was a student in the University of Delhi
way back in the 1970s, she had earned a place for herself in Delhi
folklore by the courage with which she faced the political class. There
is a famous incident in which she and her sub Inspector Naresh
Yadava towed away the car of the then Prime Minister, Indira
Gandhi. In those pre-Mandal days India was more civilized and the
young Superintendent of Chanakya Puri did not come to grief. Her
life was full of challenges and she faced them with fortitude. She has
had her moments of frustration as the days following the Lathi charge
on the layers at Tis Hazari Court. There is no doubt in my mind that
she is a brave woman with a deeply ingrained sense of public service.
The picture I have place on the left shows the eager crowd waiting for
her. The only time I have seen such a huge crowd was when Dr a P J
Abdul Kalam visited the Campus several years ago and on the day
when the team from MHRD arrived early in August 2015 to study the
situation on Campus in the waning days of Chandra Krishnamurthi's
regime. Kiran Bedi connected with the students and her message
resonated when she said that they must remain focused on their
goals. She said that when she was preparing for the UPSC
examinations she used to study/work at least 17 hours a day. And
she made a forceful plea for gender equality. Later, she met the senior
faculty in a separate meeting in the EC Hall of the University. She
took questions from several of the Deans and Heads assembled there.
The day was also celebrated as Sanskrit Day and the well know
scholar Dr Kutumbha Shastri, the former Vice Chancellor of
Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan gave an address in which he highlighted
the contemporary relevance of Sanskrit. He rightly drew the
attention of them fact that there is great deal of scientific literature
available in the language. The presence of Dr Kiran Bedi added lustre
 Word Craft and Statecraft

to the gathering. I hope that she continues in public service for years
to come. Undoubtedly, Kiran Bedi is an inspiration for the youth.
Kiran Bedi launches the Swachh Pakwada in Pondicherry
University
2016-09-29 10:35
Kiran Bedi, VC and Chief Secretary, The Lt Governor returned to
Pondicherry University on the afternoon of September 26th with the
Chief Secretary of the state in tow. This time the agenda was to work
out the modalities of the Swachh Pakwada and the strategies through
which the student community can be linked to the overall
Government achene to create awareness about ODF. After reviewing
the minutes of the earlier meeting, the Lt Governor Dr Kiran Bedi
quickly got down to business. She is delivering the Convocation
Address in Pondicherry University on October 4th and has decided
to use the occasion to speak of the hazards of OD in Pondicherry. In
Kalapet, there is a slum near the beach called Thidir Nagar and here
the residents use the beach as one large open-air toilet. Changing the
habits of people is not easy and it would require all the skills of an
energetic Lt Governor and a whole army of students to change the
entrenched mind set.
The Lt Governor has created a large number of BGOs and her
association with India Against Corruption which had our revered
Baba Ramdev as its leading light in recent history. She insisted on the
creation of a WhatsApp group with the Dean School of
Communication as the Administrator. We had given the telephone
numbers of all the participants and we hope that a reasonable number
will join the group. The students of Pondicherry University will be
provided transport by the Government and taken to the place where
they will work.
The idea is good, and I hope that it succeeds.
 Word Craft and Statecraft

The Revolt of the "Deplorables": Trump's Electoral Victory

Analysed
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Hilary Clinton famously describes Donald Trump's supporters as a
"basket of deplorables". A few years back, in more politically incorrect
and honest times the phrase may have been a lot more colourful" Poor
White Trash. Surprisingly Trump's supporters took that label as a badge
of honour and wore it on their bumper stickers and hats. Unfortunately,
the irony was lost on Hilary Clinton and her self-righteous crew. Donald
Trump triumphed not only against the Democratic Party nominee,
Hilary Clinton but also against a whole slew of vested interests and
institutions arrayed against him. He fought against his own party
establishment which did not take kindly to an interloper gate crashing
into the Nomination process. He fought against 16 other rivals and
except for the elegant and honourable Dr Ben Carson, none of his rivals
wholeheartedly endorse or support his candidature.
Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, was constantly carping about the rise
of Donald J Trump. He fought against the White dominated
corporate media which projected such a negative image of him, that
Donal Trump appeared a caricature to the rest of the world. His
statements were viciously torn apart and the debate was more on the
language and rhetoric rather than the substance of what he said. The
Media in the USA, both Print and Electronic, has not covered itself in
glory as the rest of the world sees it as a handmaiden of American
political and strategic interests. The complicity of the US media in the
Iraq WMD scandal to a large extent dented the image of USA as
having a free and fearless press. Negative propaganda, character
assassination, innuendo, exaggerated and distorted projection of
Donald Trump's alleged character flaws were all dished out and we
were expected to lap this up as wisdom from the high table. It is here
that the Revolt of the Deplorables is important.
Hilary Clinton took American Exceptionalism as given. Her public
utterances revolved around the messianic goal of USA to transform
 Word Craft and Statecraft

the whole world after its own image. It is less important to her that the
rest of the world does not want to be a split image of USA. Her own
incompetence in the chosen arena of foreign policy was apparent in
the monumental mishandling of the Libyan Crisis. A prosperous,
stable and fairly progressive state was brought to the brink of
barbarism by USA and its surrogates operating under the shadow of
the Arab League. Her use of the private Email server even as she
worked as Secretary of State violated American Law and in all
probability Obama will protect her by issuing a Presidential pardon
before he leaves office. Her association with Clinton Foundation and
the contribution raised from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Middle
Easter tyrant states shows that she was not above board as all the
monies raised were when she was heading Foggy Bottom. A clear
case of conflict of interest. Yet the media kept quiet and even when the
FBI director told the Press that she was under investigation, the
corporate media framed the issue as though the Secret Police was
interfering with the democratic process. At the end of the day the
"deplorables' saw through all this and did not endorse her.
Donal Trump on the other hand was faced with an uphill task. He was
caricatured from the very start. His business deals were paraded in
public as though he had made money the wrong way and his
reluctance to open his tax returns to scrutiny was made out as a
sinister confirmation of fraud. The rather sad and unpleasant episode
of Trump University was given a great deal of play. The Whitewater
scandal and the large number of people who were killed
investigating Hilary and Bill Clinton was not talked about. Even the
sexual escapades of Bill, Clinton's husband, were ignored. Worse, the
fact that WikiLeaks clearly exposed the underhand manner in which
the candidature of Bernie Sanders was subverted, was not discussed
in the press at all. It is now clear as daylight that had Bernie Sanders
won the nomination, there was a possibility of victory. Covert
means were used to undermine the democratic process and Julian
Assange had exposed the entire tranche of emails from the DNC.
All the problems afflicting the Clinton campaign were laid at the door
 Word Craft and Statecraft

step of Russia. Instead of asking Hilary Clinton why she was

cheating, the Press went after Putin as if he was the cause of the
problem. Shooting the messenger has always been the medicine of
failed tyrants.
Why did Donald Trump win? The USA of today is tired of wars and
foreign adventurism. US intervention in the Middle East has resulted
in the destruction of an entire region and more than a million deaths
can be attributed directly to US invasion of the region. Trump did
address the issue of Islamic Terrorism and he wants to insulate USA
from the backlash of American Invasion. Maybe his methods and
strategies have not been articulated in a meaningful way but to brand
his approach as Islamophobic is suicidal. Islamic Terrorism is a fact of
life and USA cannot ignore the elephant in the room. Hillary Clinton's
astute use of Identity Politics also came a cropper. Dividing the entire
population into demographic groups, ethnic groups, colour coded
groups may have been OK thirty years ago. But now with the decline
in US economy and the growing ill effects of globalization on the
American Working class, the Economy is in shambles.
Donald Trump was able to connect with the American people
because he had his finger on the pulse of America. Jobs, Security and
Social Welfare were the main concerns.
Deep State and Democracy: Something wrong in the way US
Democracy is functioning
2017-02-18 14:46
One of the fundamental attributes of a mature democracy is the
civilian control over the Military and Intelligence Services. In USA, it
is quite clear that President Donald Trump is the elected President.
However, what is surprising is that within less than a month of his
assumption of the Office of President, he is being dragged into an
unholy mess in which the Media, the Academia and the Intelligence
Community all seem to be working in tandem. His popularity or
unpopularity is not the issue. The viciousness with which he is being
attacked and the studies and coordinated manner in which he is
 Word Craft and Statecraft

being undermined in less than a month in Office leads me to suspect

that there is something more than mere political posturing.
Donald Trump is certainly an obnoxious man. But that does not
disqualify him from holding an elected post. President Barack
Obama, had poetry on his lips and blood on his hands and the
American public was quite excited over him. Perhaps, the fact of
being black and sophisticated had something to do with his
popularity. Obama was ruthless in his pursuit of the American
objectives or where they American objectives. He sustained the Sunni
USA Alliance against Iran even though he made a fairly good deal to
restrict Iran's nuclear ambitions. He created the ISIS and set it loose
against the last progressive state in the Middle East, Syria and turned
a blind eye to the atrocities against the Christian and other sectarian
populations in Syria. His policy of undermining the fledgling
Democracy in Egypt was sold to his subject population by
demonising the Muslim Brotherhood and this organization is
certainly less of a problem than ISIS. Obama came to India as a guest
of the Prime Minister of India, and had the temerity to say some
scathing things about Narendra Modi and his Government. Trump
has not had the time even to put together his policy platform and all
hell is breaking loose.
Russia is not at war with USA and so having conversations over any
diplomatic or strategic issue with Russia is not a crime and certainly
not any act of treason. Robert Flynn the National Security Advisor,
the alleged involvement of Russia in the hacking of the Democratic
Party Server is a ruse to create a cloud of illegitimacy over the election
of Trump. In fact, what the hacked emails of Podesta brought to light
was the systematic rigging of the primaries against Bernie Sanders
who if nominated would have defeated Donald Trump. Instead,
foreign involvement in the political affairs of USA has become the
war cry which is being used to hammer the Presidency of Trump. The
American Media went along with the Bush Administration when he
used it to create a cloud of suspicion over the Weapons of Mass
Destruction allegedly held by Saddam Hussein. We in India were
 Word Craft and Statecraft

clear that it was a just a ploy. But the Deep State created such a
miasma of war and terror over this issue that questioning the
narrative from the White House and the theatrics of Colin Powell was
considered un American and suspicious. Something similar is
happening now. The Deep State is unhappy with Trump and is trying
to create hurdles for him and his policies.
Trump has said that he would like to have Russian support in the war
against ISIS and why is the Deep State afraid of this. It is now quite
certain that ISIS cannot be defeated militarily. It has to be dealt with
politically by forging an alliance of likeminded countries. USA and its
Deep State is willing to allow terrorism to flourish and American
security threatened all over the world than to take the logical step
toward stability. The ban against immigration from 7 countries is not
a Muslim ban as there are 40 Muslim countries and this policy was
initiated by Barack Obama. Further, it was Barack Obama's policy of
wanton and sustained bombing that led to the collapse of these
countries. Trump rightly want this "American Carnage" to stop. Why
is the Deep State not allowing the American Carnage to be checked if
not totally halted?
There are wheels within wheels. One need not be a conspiracy
advocate to connect the dots. Obama's record of ruthless and wanton
bloodshed is not questioned at all and the cries for revoking the Nobel
Peace Prize are still muted. Trump has incurred the hostility of the
nebulous and faceless cluster of financial, strategic, academic and
military interests whose face, at least in public is the elected
President. Trump is the first American President who has confronted
what Eisenhower had long feared, "the Military Industrial Complex".
At this rate I suspect that he will not be allowed to complete his terms
and physical removal is also a possibility as the Intelligence
Community has gone rogue.
G Parthasarathy and Kasturirangan at Pondicherry University
2017-04-01 11:45
The School of Social Sciences and International Studies of
Pondicherry University invited two remarkable high achievers for
 Word Craft and Statecraft

talks at the University. Both, Ambassador G Parthasarathy and

Professor Kasturi Rangan, former Chairman, Indian Space Research
Organization spoke passionately about the areas of their expertise
and inspired the University community.
G Parthasarathy addressing the students of Pondicherry University
G Parthasarathy is a seasoned diplomat and is not given to vacuous
niceties that do not address the outstanding issues plaguing the two
countries, India and Pakistan. He did not seem particularly
concerned that the SAARC unity would be a casualty of the estranged
relationship between India and Pakistan. Instead he argued that the
BIMSTEC grouping could be used to the advantage of India. On Sri
Lanka, the diplomat was forthright. He categorically maintained that
Indian fishermen with deep sea fishing nets are entering the
territorial waters of Sri Lanka and are depleting the marine resources.
His address was printed and distributed to the audience. He is a firm
advocate of a rethink on the No First Use Policy of India with regard
to nuclear weapons. He seemed to suggest that China has helped
Pakistan build Plutonium weapons which can be deployed as tactical
battle field weapons. It was really amazing to hear G Parthasarathy, a
civil engineer by training speak so authoritatively about Indian
foreign and security policies. Unlike academics from Indian
Universities who spout half-digested inanities marinated in the
jargon of post-colonial theories, Parthasarathy presented his
arguments in a logical manner.
Professor Kasturi Rangan was another visitor who was invited by the
CSA Studies, School of Social Sciences and International Studies
Pondicherry University to address the students. He spoke for nearly
an hour and the J N Auditorium was packed to capacity. He began by
tracing the history of Indian Space Programme from Tumba, the
Equatorial Rocket Launching Station when India first began sending
rockets to measure the atmosphere. The launch of 104 satellites in a
single launch makes India a leader in Space technology. He spelt out
the uses of such advanced technology by laying emphasis on the
inherent real-time data that such technologies transmit to the ground
 Word Craft and Statecraft

station. In hydrology, remote sensing, terrestrial mapping, resource

planning are all areas in which satellites have their utility. I drew
attention to the racist cartoon in New York Times which questioned
the utility of such technology to poorer societies.
It was a rich experience listening to these great men.
Donald Trump Attacks Syria: War on False Pretext
2017-04-12 11:51
Donald Trump was elected President on the promise that he would
put America first, make America great again was the rallying cry
which united a vast swathe of supporters from white factory
workers, to Latinos, to marginalized groups in US society. Almost all
sections which saw their incomes fall their aspiration erode voted for
Trump. The white privileged professional groups in the Academia,
Media, Financial Institutions and in the Intelligence Organizations
were solidly behind Hillary Clinton. Right from the start there was an
attempt to delegitimize the election of Trump by suggesting overtly
in the beginning and then it became an avalanche of allegations that
Russia under Putin had hijacked the Elections. Specifically, the
allegation was that Russia had hacked into the servers of the
Democratic Party and accessed emails which embarrassed and
compromised the candidature of Clinton. The assumption behind the
campaign was that had the misdeed of the leadership of the DNC
colluding illegally with Hillary Clinton not been exposed, Trump
would have been defeated. It is shocking that a sizable section of the
US media maintains this self-serving lie.
After his election there was a sustained campaign of weaning away a
good number of pledged delegates from the Electoral College and
transfer their votes to Clinton. In the final count, it was Hilary
delegates who drifted into the Trump camp. Be that as it may, Trump
in his flamboyantly eloquent Inaugural Speech promised an end to
the "American Carnage". In response to a white correspondent who
asked about the "killer" Putin, Trump honestly replied that "we are
not exactly innocent". The honesty and forthrightness that had
 Word Craft and Statecraft

marked Trump's initial foray into the rarefied realm of diplomacy

was met with utter derision by the White Liberal Media. Calls for his
impeachment over the so-called links with Russia were getting
strident. Some like Fareed Zakharia of the CNN were openly
sceptical about the stability of the Trump regime and the defeat of the
repeal of Obamacare seem to imply the imminent demise of the
Trump Presidency. To top it all, the Intelligence community was
openly hostile and there was some speculation of the CIA doing a
Kennedy on Trump. The President stood up to all these challenges
well and earned the respect of all who felt that Trump no longer stood
for American exceptionalism and leadership over a unipolar world.
The hard-earned respect that Trump had earned was dissipated
when he ordered his cruise missiles to strike Syria as retaliation for an
alleged "gas attack". The US media was quick to blame the Assad
Government. It must be said that similar allegations were made in
2013 by John Kerry and the UN had certified that Syria did not
possess chemical weapons. By making an issue of the chemical
weapons and by stating publicly that the use of chemical weapons
would draw a quick retaliation from the US, American policy seemed
to encourage its loyal rebels to create a pretext for intervention. It is
now apparent that the Free Syrian Army is being trained and
financed by USA and a faction of the Free Syrian Army which is
linked to ISIS is known to have stockpiles of chemical weapons.
Strangely the US fights ISISI in Iraq and is supporting ISIS in Syria.
The contradiction in this policy is clear to the whole world except to
the Deep State that runs the US. It is clear that an influential section of
the Media and the Intelligence Community is pushing USA in the
direction of war.
It must be said to the credit of Donald Trump that he valiantly
resisted yielding to the pressures from the Deep State and now it is
clear as daylight that he has bought peace without honour by
launching a savage attack just to appear "Presidential".