The kind of people that were at the helm...

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference.

Normally, regular tripe needs to be ignored. However, if that regular tripe is dished out by folks who have held high positions in the government, it exposes the concerning state of affairs under this UPA regime.

We are talking about this latest tripe that Mr. Harish Khare, former press advisor to the Prime Minister of India, dished out. In this article titled "The Murthys and the Maoists", he seeks to draw a comparison between ... well, never mind - it's very difficult to decipher what he wants to say.

There are some things that are clearly evident though. Topmost amongst them is his contempt towards Mr. Narayana Murthy. Why? Because apparently Mr. Murthy demanded to be seated next to the Prime Minister in a dinner he hosted! Hawww - how cheap of Mr. Murthy to even dream of sitting beside the Prime Minister! 

But that's not his major grouse. Since Mr. Murthy dared to advise the government publicly on some matter a few months ago, Mr. Khare gets angry and points out to the nepotism that Mr. Murthy himself resorted to. Merely because Mr. Murthy suggested something to this government on a public platform, he ceases to exists as a private businessman. 

Earlier too, Mr. Khare has demonstrated extreme intolerance to people's movements that questioned the functioning of this UPA regime. In the exalted world of Harish Khare, the citizens and leaders from various fields rather shut up and suffer than demand/suggest/advise the awesome duo of Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh. You think I am exaggerating? Sample this:

That (heyday of civil society triumphalism two years ago) was the time when India’s corporate leaders thought they had the ethical credentials to write open letters to the Prime Minister and preach virtues of good governance.

You know - you need to have "ethical credentials" to write an open letter to this Prime Minister! Such is the contempt with which the former advisor to the PM of this country, holds for feedback! 

And then suddenly and bizarrely, Mr. Khare moves on to praise Rahul Gandhi! Congress Vice President's Rahul Gandhi's trip to Chattisgarh after the murderous massacre of 27 Congress leaders is apparently a "commendable journey of political solidarity." It would have been political solidarity if Rahul Gandhi makes a similar visit when people from other parties are killed! And then Mr. Khare wonders if this attack "has helped Mr. Gandhi re-set his ideological compass."  He goes on to dedicate another paragraph to explain to us the greatness of Rahul. 

It has been proven beyond doubt that that the only thing that reigns supreme in Rahul Gandhi's thought process is confusion! Yet, without any provocation, commentators like Mr. Khare lose no opportunity to praise the congress leadership! 

You must be wondering by now - but where did Maoism come into picture when we are talking about Mr. Murthy? That's where the genius of Mr. Harish Khare stumps you. Mr. Murthy, and by extension, the corporate world, is very demanding of the government. The Maoists are also very demanding. Let's ignore that the only difference is that Corporate India provides employments and Maoists murder people - both of them make stringent demands on the government, that's it! 

The ilk of Mr. Harish Khare can't even summon the decency to call murderers as murderers. 

"The May 25 attack was the boldest ideological challenge that the Maoists have posed to the country’s political leadership."

The heinous killing of 27 political leaders is apparently the "boldest ideological challenge". This line is in the same article in which Mr. Murthy is derided for wanting to sit next to the Prime Minister. This is the depths to which the commentators can plunge to. 

His contempt towards criticism does not end here. Apparently, "the country has periodically been treated to a mock controversy over whether Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council was usurping the government’s space and prerogatives, .."

Mock controversy? Sonia Gandhi's NAC is beyond reproach, huh? Now we cannot even peacefully criticize the NAC for usurping the government's space! Sample another line:

The UPA’s approach has been to let the corporate marauders run amok while salving its democratic conscience with a slew of pro-poor, aam aadmi -centric initiatives. 

Corporate marauders? Why does this ilk have so much contempt to people who provide employment to the people of India? Why do they talk of this as a crime? What possible damage has Mr. Murthy done to the economy of this country that Mr. Harish Khare reserves such words for him? The more we try to understand this thought process, the more confused we get. Is this really the quality of people that this Prime Minister has "allowed himself" to be surrounded by? 

PS: Notice how Mr. Khare uses the phrase "allowed himself to be persuaded" three times to describe various decisions of the PM, Mr. Murthy and Rahul Gandhi. He could have merely said "agreed", but then that would make matters too simple I guess!