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Why was the 2014 Indian parliament election anything but free and fair and ignored by western media?

Why did the western media totally ignore the just concluded month and a half long Indian exercise of electing the members of their 16th parliament?

Despite the Indian media tom toming it as the biggest democratic exercise to decide the future of one billion Indians, it was the conflict in Ukraine and the abduction of Nigerian girls which grabbed the headlines in the world.

Despite being projected to become the number one economy in the world in the near future, is there a reflection of the real status of India among the world nations in this apathy? If there is, no one but the Indians themselves are to be blamed.

Somehow the perception about the Indians among the rest of the world, built over several decades, is not something Indians abroad can write home about. Every Indian who ventures out on a holiday outside India returns home with that feeling, a feeling of animosity and dislike and bearing a secret grudge about the countries they went visiting.  The problem is, most Indians won't even admit to it.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Posted by Unknown

How Rahul Gandhi, Amul Baby of India Has Become the David Of Indian Politics.

All of a sudden, the story of David and Goliath has once again been enacted in Delhi, which 1.3 billion Indians proudly call the seat of their democracy.
It is believed that the original purpose of the story was to show the identity of David, the champion of the God of Israel, as the true king of Israel, who could kill Goliath, the representative of paganism with the help of God.
Rahul Gandhi, often ridiculed by his political opposition and the Indian press as "Amul (a brand of milk in India) Baby" for his un assuming and low key leadership, seems to have done nothing less by his openness and courageous stand against a piece of legislation which would have continued to protect criminals who get elected as representatives.
Rahul Gandhi has surprised India and the world with a few spontaneous but thunderous words dispelling all notions of lack of leadership and trouncing a the painstakingly created image of Narendra Modi of the BJP as a political Goliath and the only person worthy to be the prime minister of India.

The return of the fragrance of jasmine of India.

“I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow. I shall continue to serve till my last breath and when I die every drop of my blood will strengthen India and keep a united India alive.” Indira Gandhi.
No one had called Indira Gandhi the jasmine of India.  But just when the ideal of a United India which she nurtured, toiled a lifetime and eventually gave her life for  seems to be falling apart, there is  some refreshing fragrance of hope emanating from Indira’s own flesh and blood.

It is as if Indira Gandhi, who had made millions feel immensely proud to be Indian while she was alive, has cast a spell on her grant daughter Priyanka Gandhi. A magical yet mesmerising spell which even Priyanka seems to be unaware of, something only those who lived in the times of Indira can discern.

Such is the simplicity of a few words she spoke recently, manner and mannerism with which she has delivered them, the confidence she has exuded while delivering them and the immense destructive power with which they have destroyed the fake facade she had hit them with, all reminiscent of her grant mother, that one may be excused to indulge in spells and charms and nostalgic glory of India.

Thursday, May 01, 2014
Posted by Unknown

Why Does Its Manifesto Make Not Just the BJP but Everyone Else Too So Nervous?

BJP has finally released a Manifesto on the election day. The Congress party and others have questioned the delay and BJP has come with enough plausible explanations which have been ridiculed by various opponents.

As one congress leader put it, If the BJP can’t take out a Manifesto in time how are they going to manage the country’s affairs?

But  the real reason for the BJP to be so defensive and nervous about publishing its manifesto well before the start of the election instead of putting it off till the last moment is in the Manifesto itself.

Perhaps the simplest of explanation is that with the reference to Ayodhya and Article 370, the BJP Manifesto resembles the proverbial Wolf in Sheep’s clothing.

The BJP was not sure if, for the one billion voters of India, it will look anything but a dressed up version of the old wolf they have shunned twice. The party obviously didn’t want to scare them away by the inevitable media exposure, scrutiny and debate the Manifesto would have generated in the crucial weeks before the election.

Monday, April 07, 2014
Posted by Unknown

Why Does John Kerry Let the Devyani Imbroglio to Explode in to His Benghazi?


With the recent Chinese belligerence over air and naval supremacy, the US secretary of state John Kerry has a lot of tofu on his platter. Then, it is really baffling why the US state department is letting a bizarre brawl between an Indian diplomat, her Indian maid and an Indian Attorney of a new York district turn in to a Benghazi like crisis.

The looming diplomatic crisis is not between any two countries. It is between, as many Americans claim, the oldest and the biggest democratic nations in the world. For any other country, the diplomatic mission to the USA is the most important, whether some countries admit or not. For the USA, the diplomatic mission from India, the biggest democracy, is bound to be vital for the whole idea of the democratic system.

Then why humiliate the acting head of the Indian mission to the USA, who happens to be a lady, for a six months old dispute with her Indian maid, by public arrest and, reportedly, with cavity search under police custody? Surely, there were better ways to deal with the issue, which has actually sent out a message of utter humiliation to a country of 1.3 billion people. Devyani Khobragade, a medical doctor turned diplomat and acting head of the Indian mission, had this to say about the incident although disputed by US authorities.

While I was going through it, although I must admit that I broke down many times as the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping and cavity searches, swabbing, hold up with common criminals and drug addicts were all being imposed upon me despite my incessant assertions of immunity, I got the strength to regain composure and remain dignified thinking that I must represent all of my colleagues and my country with confidence and pride.

The predictable reaction from the Indian government has not just opened up an immense sore in the forty years old amity the USA has been trying to build up with a country with a huge population next door to China but has exposed the US mission in Delhi and other Indian cities to Benghazi like vulnerability, in country where terrorist were easily able to strike at the parliament and other famous targets. The treatment of Devyani by the US government has also lead to unprecedented public anger and outrage in India, in the Indian media and social networks which seems to beescalating with the lukewarm reaction from the US government to solve the issue.

Make no mistake, it is not an election issue.

Despite the general impression that the Indian outrage is to do with the impending election, and both the ruling UPA and the main opposition BJP have political stake in taking a tough stance against the US on account of national pride, the issue is more fundamental and hurting the Indian psyche.
In reality not many people in India are familiar with "cavity search" or understand what it involves. That is until Devyani has let the nation know .
In a country not familiar with people hiding drugs and weapons in body cavities where no police procedure exists for searching of such niches, even strip searching of a woman have connotation to the barbaric denuding of mythological characters, the whole things have only one meaning. Barbaric and utterly humiliating.

Don't Kill the messenger

That, such treatment was meted out to a country in which a large majority look at American capitalism and hegemony with suspicion despite an educated section believe in building bridges and cooperation with the US, hasn't gone well at all, no matter any amount of rationalising and justification.
USA being a nation living on Nike shoes to a million other things made with cheap labour from China and sweat shops from Bangladesh and India, and out sourcing work to India at quarter of the rates, the argument about the wages to an Indian made appear nothing but a farce.

The US has touched the Indian Caste Nerve.

To make things worse for John Kerry and the US, Devyani Khobragade happens to belong to a schedule caste, a factor with extremely sensitive socio political implications in India and something which its most outspoken leader, Mayavathi, has already taken on herself to fight for.
The US State department may be adept at dealing with diplomatic crisis, but certainly not equipped for Indian caste system which many astute Indian leaders find hard to tackle.

Born an Indian, always an Indian.

The US Attorney General, Preet Bharara may have political ambitions and a need to prove himself by following Giuliani and Christie by acting tough. But for 1.3 billion Indians, he is just another one of them, no matter what he does in New York, the villain of the piece and someone who is out to harm India.

The timing couldn't be worse.

Unfortunately the whole episode of humiliation of one of their folk in a friendly foreign country has coincided with the painful anniversary of the mass rape and murder of a girl, which has shaken the conscience of the country and many abroad.

John Kerry and the State Department undoubtedly has a crisis of unprecedented gravity at their hands which seems to be escalating by the day. An effort to assess correctly and not underestimate the Indian sensitivities is the need of the day.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Posted by Unknown

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