That's all, Your Honour! : May 22-28

Back to blogging after a hectic 2 months of travelling :)

1. The trial of David Headley began in a Chicago court this week. For those who are not sure about who this guy is, an old blogpost explaining the obvious case of David Headley. David Headley has been revealing a lot of stuff, that is news to the world, but not to us in India. He has detailed how ISI and LeT were actively involved in planning and executing the 26/11 attacks. Evidence was also presented, detailing cash flows, which again confirmed ISI's hand in these attacks. David Headley also informed the court that he was inspired into Jihad by Hafiz Saeed - the same Hafiz Saeed whom Pakistan refuses to arrest and even tells us that he is involved in charity work! Our Prime Minister has again reiterated his willingness to continue talking to Pakistan, whilst acknowledging that there is nothing new in Headley's revelations! He even has sagely advice for Pakistan - "It goes without saying that we must use every possible opportunity to talk to Pakistan and convince them that terror as an instrument of state policy is simply not acceptable to people in the civilised world as a whole." If a country needs "convincing" that terror is undesirable in this world, pray what exactly will you "discuss" with that country?

2. The "nataka" in Karnataka seems to be never ending. A recent Supreme Court judgement found the Speaker's action in disqualifying 11 BJP and 5 Independent MLAs wrong. This prompted the most hyper active governor in India to recommend President's rule in the state! This, despite the fact that these 11 disqualified BJP MLAs have decided to come back to the party and support the Chief Minister. Somehow, our hyperactive governor still found reason to recommend President's rule in the state! He met the Prime Minister on a Saturday and recommended President's rule next day. It is impossible to believe that this topic did not come up for discussion between both these eminences. Anyways, the central government has rejected the Governor's report. Despite the Governor's many such irresponsible actions, the Home Minister enlightens us that the governor is just doing his "job"!

3. UPA has completed 7 years in power. Actually, 2 years in their second stint. They name this UPA 2.0 and they kind of want us to believe that UPA 1.0 never existed. So we are talking about two years in power for UPA. And in these two years, the countrymen have been made to see and hear scam numbers that they cannot even imagine in their wildest of their dreams. With excellent support from the English TV media, the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi have managed to come out squeaky clean in this whole process. Even the 2G scam is now being made to look like something the DMK did without the knowledge of any other coalition partner. Mere rhetoric from the Prime Minister and Sonia that "we will root out corruption" hogs headlines, as if we are to trust them. Leaving Corruption aside, there has not been even one single big reform that this government has carried out. Mere status quo is being maintained. When UPA 2.0 took over, we were all told that since the Left parties don't have control on the government like the UPA1.0, there will be big ticket reforms. And after 2 years, the PM still talks about the "need" for reforms. His speeches sound like as if he has nothing to do with governance in the country! However, the government seems to be not worried too much, given that the opposition is yet to pick up any strength amongst the masses. Since there is no alternative, UPA2.0 thinks UPA3.0 is a mere formality! That's all, your honour!

Trysts with MSM - Part 17: When Rahul Gandhi became a "martyr"

MSM stands for Main Stream Media

So there was this farmers agitation in UP. As has been the trend across many parts of the country, farmers and poor people are fighting it out for their land. Governments are coming up SEZs etc etc on fertile lands, and naturally there is outrage.

As has happened in many states, police resorted to firing in UP too. Unfortunately, four farmers were killed in this firing. Now, if it is UP and there is a disaster, will Rahul Gandhi be far behind? It has become too routine for him to show up occasionally in UP, demeaning the Mayawati government.

And as always, he comes up with a gem. He says, he is "ashamed of being an Indian" by looking at the problems farmers are facing in UP. Never mind that farmers have been killed in Congress ruled states! The english TV media never dared to question this. They just went gaga over the fact that Rahul went on a bike to join the protesting farmers. They were thrilled that their paymaster was participating in a dharna.

Uttar Pradesh arrested Rahul Gandhi. And all hell broke lose. No, not at the place where he was arrested, but in English TV studios! NDTV CEO had this to say, to fellow tweeter i_panchajanya :

@i_panchajanya the point, which no doubt you are dumb to get, is that this whole drama makes rahul gandhi a hero and martyr.

You read it right, folks. Arresting Rahul Gandhi will make him a martyr. The definition of martyr is this : A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a belief or cause

Not long ago, I was given a lesson on English 101 by this same Vikram Chandra. And today, he thinks that a mere arrest (that is just formal in nature) will make Rahul Gandhi a martyr. This is the depth to which our media can plunge.

I took the liberty to ask him this:

@vikramchandra Maybe I am "dumb" but could you mind explaining how Rahul became a "martyr"?

And he replies back:

@ssudhirkumar now, Rahul becomes the person "arrested for farmers". Which of the two do you think he would prefer?

Confused - I ask him back:

@vikramchandra so how does that make him "martyr"? plus why is the media not asking why he was silent when the same thing happened in AP?

And ofcourse, not reply after this.

Many politicians across the country court arrest, and they are immediately released on bail. This is a routine drama. What new did Rahul Gandhi do? More importantly, where on earth was Rahul Gandhi when the EXACT same situation happened, not once but twice, in Andhra Pradesh (which is ruled by Congress party, for which he is the general secretary)? Why does the media just forget these important facts while praising him to levels not seen or imagined before? Or maybe I am asking too much ...