Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Hello India, Welcome to the Club of Religious Governance!

Let us face it, the Indian parliament election of 2014 has clearly enrolled India among the countries ruled by their religious  majority  where all other religions have only a minority status.

The Bharathiya Janata Party, a party widely perceived to be  based on Hindu Ideology and agenda of Hindutwa has won a landslide victory in the election of 2014, the results of which were announced today. The party has won a clear majority Of 283 seats and their National Democratic Alliance a total of 337 seats.

It would hardly be of concern if the massive majority was spread across the country because landslides in politics are nothing to write home about.

It is the localisation of the un opposed power of the BJP, as is clear from the CNN IBN graphic which changes the nature of governance of India.
With Narendra Modi's Victory, India chooses to go back to the Power of One http://ibnlive.in.com/home_america.html

There are no representation of opposition in several  states in India, which comprise a large chunk of the Indian population concentrated on an equally large part of the Indian land mass. It is as if India has been physically divided again.

Friday, May 16, 2014
Posted by Unknown

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

The North South Divide of India Narendra Modi Can Bring Back.

Everyone agrees that the self appointed next Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is a fragmenting character. Did the US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell see the writings on the wall and decided to throw in the towel because Washington won’t see?

Can the United States and the rest of the world, already beleaguered by a divisive and aggressive Putin in Europe, deal with a North South divide of a strong India, a guarantee against aggressive China, on top of all other kinds of splintering Narendra Modi seems to have abetted so far?

To list out the divisions Modi has achieved so far, critics can point out his hype of Gujarat Model Development, his professed Urban support base, his orchestrated cyber follower base, the blind admiration of young techies he has mustered and numerous other factors which the rest of India lack, as Modi’s own versus the rest of India which divide the  fabric of India in some undesirable way.

 “Give me three hundred seats and I will empower the nation”  Narendra Modi , who has so far been refused a US visa on account of his role in 2002 religious riots in Gujarat, has stated in a pre election speech.

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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