Enough of ‘Bhaigiri’
The arrest of S Sreesanth and two others in a ‘spot fixing’ scandal during the sixth edition of the Indian Premier Cricket League has taken the nation by surprise and disgust. It is alleged that they were working for a betting syndicate operating from Dubai (1). This betting syndicate has been active for a long time now and it is said that the dreaded gangster Dawood Ibrahim is behind it. It maybe recalled that in the 1980′s and 90′s there was a cricket tournament held in Sharjah where betting became so rampant that the tournament had to be stopped. Even then it was Dawood Ibrahim and his gang who were supposed to be behind the betting racket. I may add here that betting in India is illegal and all such bookies and cartels that operate do it clandestinely. The other day a 13 year old was kidnapped by his cousins for ransom as they had lost money in IPL betting. They killed the boy when they did not get the money.
Dawood Ibrahim (2) was born in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra and after petty crimes in Mumbai took over the underworld reigns of the Mumbai docks from Karim Lala. Rest as they say is history. The man left India after organizing the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts in which more than 300 died and hundreds were injured. He was 3rd on the Forbes most wanted list of 2011. Interpol has issued a red corner notice for Dawood Ibrahim. The man, it is said, is holed up in posh Karachi enclave of Clifton. His brother Anees Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel are his close aides. Dawood is called ‘Bhai (brother)’ by those who know him. It is almost a cult and many smaller goons love to be called ‘bhai’ by others perpetuating what is called ‘bhaigiri‘. The man is said to be involved in all nefarious activities including contract killing, smuggling of arms and drugs, terrorism and of course illegal betting. He is supposed to have huge investments in real estate and films. In fact Bollywood movies find finances from the so called D-Company. Interestingly, many Bollywood films find inspiration from the characters in the underworld that finances them. A trip to Dubai is almost a ritual for any budding starlet. It seems they go looking for the proverbial casting couch. Sanjay Dutt, the famous Bollywood star has been convicted for his links with the D-Company and helping them during the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.
Every terror attack that India suffers is directly or indirectly attributed to Dawood and his gang. The dreaded Riyaz Bhatkal of Indian Mujaheddin is said to have found refuge with Dawood Ibrahim. Dawood and his men have such hold over the film industry that it is a given that one cannot survive without hobnobbing with the underworld. One so called superstar is said to be Dawood’s point man in Mumbai. It is said that IPL’s Kolkota Knight Riders team is at least partly owned by the D Company. Slush money is floating around in the IPL and this must be stopped.
Dawood Ibrahim is also known to be close to the ISI. He is said to be financing the Taliban with active connivance of the ISI. It is support from Pakistan establishment which allows him a free hand to foment trouble in India and serve strategic interests of Pakistan in the badlands of the Af-Pak region. Dawood Ibrahim is an asset that the Pakistan establishment is unwilling to barter. They deny his existence in Pakistan although it is well known that he lives in Karachi. Indian intelligence agencies keep a close watch on his movements and are in the know of his activities. He has married his daughter to the son of famous Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad. Dawood’s sister lives in Mumbai and is said to be looking after his operations in the city. It is amazing how this is going on.
Dawood’s links with the Pakistani establishment are so close that Indian political leadership, it is alleged, took his help in making sure that arms supplies from Islamabad to the LTTE were halted prior to the 2009 war in Nothern Sri Lanka where Prabhakaran and his family were killed. The man has impressive clout and the best of sleuths cannot hope to lay their hands on the man.
Dawood Ibrahim and his gang have been a thorn in the side of India for long. They have rubbed India the wrong way time and time again. This is not to exonerate Sreesanth and the others involved in spot fixing. But if we have to go to the root of the problem and fix it, we will have to look at things in perspective. Lalit Modi is forced into exile in London as he feels unsafe in India. He claims that it is the threat from the underworld that forces him to live in London. It is a shame that the Indian state cannot assure an Indian citizen safety while a foreign nation does. For so many ills that ail this nation we keep hearing that the D- Company is behind it. In fact, it is said that the 26/11 attacks were financed by the D-Company.
Dawood Ibrahim and his gang have become a nuisance that needs to be taken care of. We cannot allow a bunch of thugs take a country as big as India to ransom. This ‘bhaigiri’ is a joke that has gone too far. India is strong enough to take care of goons such as Dawood Ibrahim and his lackeys of chiknas and langdas. It is a matter of political will. UPA II is tottering and have little chance of coming back to power karnataka win not withstanding. Obama got Osama bin Laden and won a second term. UPAII has done well to hang Afzal Guroo and Kasab. Imagine if they could get Dawood Ibrahim and his lackey’s Chota Shakeel and others, the tide could swing in their favor. As I said it is a matter of political will. India has the resources to smoke louts such as Dawood out of their shells in any part of the world. Did not the Israelis liquidate Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh of Hamas in Dubai?
References:
(1) IPL fixing: Sreesanth arrested,Dawood Ibrahim link suspected : One India News http://news.oneindia.in/2013/05/16/ipl-fixing-sreesabth-arrested-dawood-ibrahim-suspected-1217956.html
(2) Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawood_Ibrahim
Related articles
- IPL bets through Dawood’s Dubai (neerajverma2011.wordpress.com)
- India’s own goal on Dawood Ibrahim? (thehindu.com)
Railgate and the question no one is asking
Pawan Kumar Bansal, the Railway Minister is in hot waters. He has been allegedly found giving top posts in the railways for monetary benefits. The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested his nephew Vijay Singla for accepting bribe of Rs 2 crores from one Mahesh Kumar – a top bureaucrat in the Indian Railways. Mahesh Kumar was promised a place in the Railway Board – the highest decision making body in the organization. The ‘deal’ was supposedly for Rs 10 crores. Sandeep Goyal, Narayan Rao Manjunath (Bangalore-based railway contractor), Ajay Garg, Rahul Yadav, Samir Sandhir and Sushil Daga are the other six accused in the bribery scandal, all close to Pawan Kumar Bansal. (1)
It is indeed strange that there are two cases as of now where the CBI is in the eye of the storm and both are diametrically opposite. One is where the CBI is accused to have shown its proposed report to the Law Minister and the Attorney General over the Coalgate (discrepancy in allocating coal blocks). The CBI was instructed pointedly by the Supreme Court to keep its findings to itself.Yet when Law Minister Ashwani Kumar asked the CBI chief Ranjit Sinha to come for discussions regarding Coalgate the CBI director acquiesced. While initially it was said that the Law Minister wanted to check the grammatical mistakes it later was made clear that there were substantial changes made in the report at the behest of the Law Minister. There were people from the PMO too present during the meeting. Later Ranjit Sinha accepted that CBI was a part of the government only to retract the statement later. He also gave an affidavit where he accepted that changes were made in the report to be presented to the Supreme Court.
The breach of trust by the CBI director shows how totally they are subjugated by the government in power – so much so that they do not think twice before committing an obvious contempt of court, and in this case against the Apex Court.
Now look at the complete opposite behavior of the CBI. They not only raid the house of the nephew of the sitting Railway Minister, Vijay Singla in Chandigarh, they arrest him too along with others supposedly involved in the Railgate. This has never happened in the history of Independent India that a Cabinet Minister has so directly been charged by the CBI. They go on to raid the house of his nephew and recover Rs 90 lakhs. Singla and his family, it seems had come to know of the raids and took a long time to open the door for the CBI sleuths but the fact remains that these are the same officers working under the same Ranjit Sinha who would take all the reports over to the Law Ministers office when the case was directly under Supreme Court supervision. The contradiction cannot be more glaring.
Railgate has embarrassed the government no ends and this is one scam they could have well done without especially when the {Parliament is in session. Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and their aides were in a huddle as to how to deal with the situation. They have decided to ‘brazen it out’ as the media is repeatedly harking. They will let both the Law Minister and the Railways Minster to continue. Notice that the CBI Director retains his job and nothing has happened to him. The question that anyone will ask is – who is running this government? Is there a parallel government in place? Did Ranjit Sinha know about the fact that Pawan Kumar Bansal was under his organization’s radar and that his movements and that of his family members and aides was being monitored? If it was so, then why did he knot tell his political masters. If he can show sensitive files to the Law Minister, surely he could have informed about this to the PMO to whom he reports. Did Mr. Narayansamy, the minister in the PMO know about this? Somebody tipped off the Bansals and they were almost ready for the raids. Was it Ranjit Sinha who tipped off the PMO who in turn informed the Railway Mi8nister? It seems that some sleuth informed the CBI Director’s office who in turn, like a faithful servant informed his political bosses.
It is not the tipping off that is important but the fact that the same spineless CBI that caters to every whim and fancy of the government in power had the temerity to move against the Railway Minister. This is most intriguing. The government suddenly becomes helpless and does not know how to react to this onslaught. Could it be that there are people over and above this government that are really running the show? Is a section of the CBI reporting to the National Advisory Council? If it is so then this is a very alarming situation. Because this means that CBI Director is not in complete control of the organization. Further it means that the Prime Minister is not in control. There are forces over and above the administration in New Delhi. These are faceless people with lots of authority and no accountability. Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh seem helpless against these forces.
There is an investigative agency recently floated on the lines of the American FBI called the National Investigative Agency. The Italian Marines will be investigated by this nodal agency. They had gone to the Apex Court with the plea that their case may not be investigated by the NIA. It seems that Italian government is not sure they will get justice if the NIA investigated the case of the Marines. The NIA has also arrested a father-son duo from Vadodra in the Ajmer blast case.(2) The government was very keen to give sweeping powers to the NIA to search and investigate across the nation without informing the state governments. This was resented by the state governments and they refused to play ball. The government has not taken a decision on this but this will come up sooner rather than later. NIA is an attempt at turning India into a police state.
It is clear that Manmohan Singh is not in control at the Center. It appeared during UPA I that Sonia Gandhi called the shots. The most alarming conclusion that one draws from the Railgate is that even Sonia Gandhi is not in control. While it is commendable that graft at the highest level is being unearthed, it is most unnerving the kind of conclusions one is forced to draw from the developments and the way the nation is being run. The people this nation voted to power are not in control and the administration has been hijacked by some unknown faces. Or are they known to us but we are not told. People like Aruna Roy, Prashant Bhushan and others?
References:
1. Railgate may bring CBI to Bansal’s door : DNA http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1830743/report-railgate-may-bring-cbi-to-bansal-s-door
2. Ajmer blast case: NIA arrests father-son duo from Vadodara: Zee News http://zeenews.india.com/news/gujarat/ajmer-blast-case-nia-arrests-father-son-duo-from-vadodara_846542.html
Riots, Minorityism and Justice
The recent judgement of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots where Congressman Sajjan Kumar has been acquitted has the Sikh community fuming. Their grouse is that when against the same evidence others were convicted how come Sajjan Kumar was acquitted. They further complain that while the 2002 Gujarat riots saw an SIT constituted under the supervision of the Supreme Court nothing of the sort has happened even after almost 30 years in the case of the anti-Sikh riots. Their questions are legitimate as is their sense of having been wronged. The problem is that the Sikhs fail to understand some basic facts.
In the past few decades Sikhs have been encouraged to assert a distinct identity away from their Hindu moorings. The Punjab problem’s Genesis was such separatist thoughts egged on by our friends from across the border. They have been told that they are minorities in India. This is a fallacy that they must get out of their system. The ascendance of Manmohan Singh and his acceptance by the Indian masses as their own has made the Sikhs think but other major minorities do not waste any chance in hammering the ‘fact’ that Manmohan Singh is from a minority community. This helps them in two ways. One, this keeps the Sikhs alienated and away from their mother Hindu faith and any division among the Hindus is always a help. Secondly, they feel they have a chance at the top post because if one ‘minority’ leader can be the prime minister then why not from another.
Sikhs are barking up the wrong tree. They must realize that they are never going to get justice. For don’t they know that Hindus are second class citizens in this land that is India. Don’t they know that India has the unique distinction where the majority community is hunted down and killed and murdered and raped in their own country and they are refugees in their own land. I am talking about Kashmiri Pandits. Have the Pamdits got justice? It was in early 1990′s that the carnage against the Pandits started. Has anyone been charge sheeted.? Has any FIR been registered? Yasin Malik and his JKLF henchmen roam around freely and even visit Pakistan hobnobbing with the 26/11 perpetrators. Has the state helped the Pandits? Do they have any hope of reclaiming their houses and properties? Compared to the Pandits, there has been some headway in the 1984 riots. That is not to say that Sikhs should be satisfied and halt all efforts to get the culprits to book. This is just to reinforce that the Brihad Hindu Samaj of which they are a part can never get justice in this land that is Hindustan. We are second class citizens and that must never be forgotten. One simple question. Would the government be as placid as it was if Sarabjit was not a Hindu/Sikh but a Moslem? They would have moved Hell and high-water to get the man back and all and sundry would have jostled to get the credit.
Every party including the BJP is ready to bend backwards to get the votes of the Moslems. It is indeed amazing how far parties will go to get the votes of the Moslems. And they have inserted a critical word in the Constitution that makes it mandatory for any party to posture overtly that they are pro-minorities. And that word is ‘secular’. We are a certified ‘secular’ state. While other secular states of the West have a state religion we Indians have no such luxury. Britain is a secular state but their state religion is Christianity as also the US. The Left influence is so pronounced here in India that the very mention of Hindus is as if there has been a sacrilege.
The other vocal anti-majority ‘minority’ are the Christians of this country. They try to latch on to the major minority of India that are the Moslems as they see Hindus as their ‘enemies’. It suits them to mouth invectives and vitriolic against the Hindus along with the Moslems just to run down the Hindus. They also believe that their Evangelical aims will be better served if they side with the Moslems. This is opportunism at its worst. They forget that no political party will side with them if it comes to a choice between the two – for their numbers are just too small. The case of a Christian professor whose hand was chopped off by some Moslem miscreants still haunts the consciousness of the people of Kerala.
There is another religion that has ascended on the Indian horizon ever since Independence. They threw the Communists in jails en masse post Independence. They have generated riots ever since encouraging the Moslems to target the Hindus. And now their scion has openly stated that either you are with us or against us. And if you are against us, then we shall do all we can to hunt you down. I am talking about Congress party and its absolutist tendencies. Sajjan Kumar was a part of this political outfit that is almost a faith by itself. I am not at all surprised that he was let-off. The faithful will be protected as long as they are loyal to the Gods that are the Gandhi’s. I agree that this borders on fascism but then what do you do. Rahul Gandhi told an American diplomat that the real danger to India was from Hindu fundamentalism! Don’t forget that the political aide of Sonia Gandhi is one Ahmed Patel whose name cropped up repeatedly for engineering riots in Ahmedabad in the 1980′s and ’90′s. Minorityism prevails and the silent Hindu majority suffers silently. There are riots and murders of Hindus regularly in Assam and parts of Bengal that have become Moslem majority regions with unabated influx from Bangladesh. Center is a moot spectator for they are loathe to upturn the minority apple-cart.
The 2002 Gujarat riots were taken up most assiduously by this same pro-Moslem constituency. It was just a stroke of luck for these secular fundamentalists that this happened in a BJP ruled state. For had there been conflict between the faithful of the Congress hue and that of the only minority that are the Moslem the secular fundamentalists would have had no option but to brush it under the carpet for the faithful of the Congress would have prevailed over the faithful that call out to Allah. So all hell broke loose unmindful of the fact that the victims of Malliyana and Moradabad had never got justice as the faithful of the Congress hue had prevailed as indeed they would. Still wondering why the Sikhs and Hindus killed in the 1984 carnage never got justice? Law, justice and human rights are only for the minorities. Rest just do not matter and on that conviction they are trying to erect the edifice of the proposed, diabolical anti-Communal Violence Bill.
Related articles
- Sikh group offers a million dollars for Sajjan Kumar’s conviction (ibnlive.in.com)
- Who ordered the anti-Sikh riots? (snshenoy.wordpress.com)
- Delhi protests against Sajjan Kumar’s acquittal continue (thehindu.com)
Diffused Communism – A Greater Threat?
I read an article in the Times of India which was really an obituary of the Communist parties in India. The writer can be excused for posturing that Communism is on the wane in India if not totally extinct. Were it not for Manik Sarkar Communists would have no government in any state of India. Mamta Banerjee defeated Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in West Bengal and Achutanandan lost narrowly to the Congress in Kerala. On the face of it one can say that Communism is dying in India. But is it really?
The truth of the matter is that while Communists governments may have been ousted Communists have never been as strong as they are now. They are everywhere where it matters. Education has been taken over by them. They have a say in all policy matters big and small. They may not be in the government but they are influencing this government in every possible way. The much discussed and riled ‘inaction’ of this government is largely due to the Left influence. The absolute paralysis of this government can be directly attributed to the influence of the Left. The NAC, (National Advisory Council) which many are calling be disbanded is largely Left oriented.
Education has long been the bastion of the Left. Now they have taken it over completely. The lack of policy as regards Higher Education Bill is because of the influence of the Left. They know they will be rendered inconsequential were the Higher Education Bill passed and foreign universities of repute to enter India. One thought that with Pallam Raju and Shashi Tharoor at the helm, the Higher Education Bill would be passed by the parliament, but nothing of the sort has happened. This is one avenue of job creation and that tag of jobless growth would have been partially addressed. Not to be.
The influence pf the Left is so pronounced that their armed cadres hold sway in almost 200 districts out of the 700 odd. They are armed to the teeth and have support from our neighbors. They are Maoist extremists and see the Shining Path of Peru as their ideal. They have killed and maimed thousands of our police and para military personnel. It is a low intensity war being waged against India and our Communist brothers are waging this war. Remarkably, the Communist Brotherhood in politics, media and intelligentsia is unashamed and rather pompous in their discourse. They pose as if they are oblivious of the mayhem created by the Maoists or the Naxals as they are sometimes called. They have the gall to talk down to other parties as if they have some moral high ground. An indulgent Left pronounced media never asks them the question that they should.
The Maoists and the Naxals now have another political outfit in mainstream of Indian politics and they are the Aam Admi arty (AAP). The Communists have an underground wing that is fighting the Indian state militarily. Then they have the ‘legitimate’ political outfits that try to gain political space within the democratic contours of the Indian political landscape. Never does the overground Communist Brotherhood criticize the Maoists terrorists. Its a two pronged attack on the Indian state and their ultimate goal is to turn India Red.
The Red Brotherhood gets its teeth from their ability to influence the media.They have infiltrated in the media big time. One can’t be a rightist and be a journalist. Swapandas Gupto is a rare exception, but even he has to succumb to the pressures of the Left and sound Liberal from time to time. Media has played a big role in propping up the Left goons who pose as martyrs for the cause of the poor and the downtrodden. They are legislating bills giving all sorts of rights to the people when they already have them enshrined in the Constitution. They have pressurized the government to spend billions of dollars in doles that is the NAREGA. This sieve like scheme is a drain on the exchequer. They are hell bent on spending on ‘social’ causes like Hugo Chavez did in Venezuela. Such massive public spending has meant that the state has had to increase taxes. The rupee has fallen and the country is facing a massive fiscal and current account deficit. We are almost junk in status as per the rating agencies so we are forced to borrow at higher interest rates. Does that faze the Leftists? Absolutely not.
On the one hand the Communists are forcing the government to increase public spending and on the other they are ensuring that no project is cleared by the government. More that rupees 7.5 lac crores worth of projects re pending approval. The excuses are many. The biggest culprit is the Environment Ministry. When Jayanti Natrajan took over from Jairam Ramesh one thought things would move. But they have not. The Left lobby is just not allowing anyone to function. Tatas cannot expand their steel plant nor can Pasco set up their because of lack of approvals. And then the ghost of corruption looms large. Anyone deciding anything thinks twice as there can be a corruption inquiry. The bureaucracy has come to a grinding halt. This when the Lokpal Bill has not been passed by the parliament. his country has stopped functioning, thanks to our Left brothers.
Not content with stopping all development, the Left has used various government departments to hound the industry. Vodafone was slapped with a retrospective tax. P. Chidambram has said with his articulate suave demeanor that the matter will be resolved through ‘conciliation’. Nokia was served a notice by tax authorities as have been others. These run into thousands of crores. Business has migrated abroad and manufacturers have become traders. It is an amazing situation. These are clearly not the best of times for Indian business. A country that should easily grow in double digits is crawling at 5% with an inflation of at least 10% if not more.
Our foreign policy is also being dictated by the Left. One recent example is the weak kneed approach vis-a-vis our Maldivian policy. We refused to back Nausheed. The guy is in grave danger and our interests will be harmed if he is not treated fairly. We are talking to the Chinese about American pullout from Afghanistan! It is laughable what we are doing. The interoperability clause with the US is gathering dust. The Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Deal is as good as dead. We are bot the allies of the West. We are just a pedestrian nation that counts or little. We claim to be cross with Pakistan after every outrage but then ‘tone it down’ and resume ‘normal relations’.
It is with some good reason that this nation seems to be looking for a change. The aspirations of the common Indian are sky high and the resolve of our Red Brigade steely to crush all such dreams. The country will choose the right path. One sure sign is their rejection of Reds politically. People must understand what is going on in the country and how the nation is being hijacked. And when the scion of The Family claims that India is not a nation but ‘energy’ one begins to wonder as to where we are really headed. This hydra headed monster that is Communism which appears in different garbs needs to be demolished decisively for the nation to achieve its potential and for Girish the carpenter from Gorakhpur to be at ease with a job letter in his pocket as he heads for cities yonder and not live in the darkness of uncertainty about finding a job.
Congress vs The Family – Talents Stunted
Digvijay Singh, the irrepressible Congressman, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradeash and now a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi, says that the two power houses formula of the Congress has failed. He was alluding to the PM and the party president as two different personalities as an administrative and political model and its inability to deliver. He was in effect suggesting that the political leadership and the administrative leadership can’t be so divorced. He was sucking up to his 40 something political master Rahul Gandhi and suggesting that he should be the prime minister of the country. Lately, it seems Rahul has shown an inkling to take the top post. Except that the term for this government is at its fag end and it would be unwise to take up the mantle as the government is at its weakest and may fall anytime. If Rahul is the PM at this time inadvertently he will be the fall guy and that will be such a blow for The Family.
It is people like Digvijay Singh who make the party that is the Congress weaker. They perpetuate the mai-baap culture. Remarkably, Digvijay Singh claims to be from a Royal family. For a royalty to suck up to modern day blue-blood princes is indeed the nadir. But then we have seen all and sundry stoop to the lowest in front of The Family. One exalted politician of some stature who also sired a son out of wedlock is reported to carry the slippers of Sanjay Gandhi. I understand that he was rewarded by being made the CM of Uttar Pradesh. Forget about The Family, the steno turned PA of Indira Gandhi – RK Dhawan was an institution by himself and leaders big and small genuflected before him. He was privy to some Family secrets and became so powerful that he still is in some of the Committees of the Congress party.
The apologists for The Family say that such autocratic, centralized power helps in unity of command and the party is therefore a meaner fighting machine. This is in direct conflict with the basic democratic ethos of any party and in our case the country too, as most of these 65 years since Independence it is the Congress that has ruled. If there is no inner party democracy, then the national democratic structure also takes a hit. It is also true that Congress is perhaps one party that has abundance of talent. Were it not for The Family, there could be scores of prime ministerial candidates who could do a reasonably good job. Post Independence there have been three outstanding prime ministers – Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narsimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Shastri and Rao were from the Congress. While Pandit Nehru was grooming Indu or Indira Gandhi, I wonder whether he was contemplating perpetuating a dynasty. Indira did bifurcate East Pakistan from the West and that was the crowning glory of a woman who was icy cold and steely in her resolve and did not budge an inch. She also had a instinct for politics. But her enduring legacy was institutionalization of graft and her propensity to scoff at entrepreneurship. India degenerated under her not withstanding her loud exhortations of garibi hatao (remove poverty).
Rajiv Gandhi was a breath of fresh air and did have some good ideas. But he was given the mantle way too early by Providence. He would have made an excellent PM the next time round but again the cruel hand of Fate took away a man who was on the cusp of making a fantastic leader of an India raring to go. The old man Narsimha Rao then did what was to be done and with Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister, opened the economy and unleashed the potential of a billion Indians. Shastri made India self sufficient in food, Rao gave India the vision and the ability to dream. Both were not from The Family and did marvelously well. Whenever there has been a void in the Congress and someone from within the ranks has come up, he has done well.
Manmohan S8ingh has the administration but not the mandate. He is fighting with both his hands behind his back and trying to fight the forces who have a leverage with The Family. But the question is that why do people of dubious credentials have a leverage with The Family. Whatever one may say about Indira Gandhi, she had a sense of purpose and few could have an unnatural hold over her (barring one Dhirendra Bramhachari). With The Family as we find today, we see that there is an avaricious streak. The damad-in-law has his hand in the till, as per media reports. Forbes reported that Sonia Gandhi is the third richest woman in the world with more than $18.1 billion as her personal fortune. Where did this money come from, if what is reported by the magazine is true. It may be pointed out that The Family has not contested the magazines report nor have they sued them. The Augusta-Westland maze of payoffs mentions The Family having been paid Rs 200 crores. UPAII has been such a disaster because of the corruption charges and rampant graft in every department. Rampant corruption is because of the loot at the top – which means The Family. I wonder whether there would have been such audacious pilferage of money had there been a PM who was a man of his own and not a plant of The Family.
Sharad Pawar has said on record that Rahul Gandhi is unfit to be the PM. The man is a veteran and knows the ins and outs of Indian politics. If Mr Pawar has such opinion of the scion of The Family he must be having some reason for saying so. Remember, Pawar left the Congress and floated his own fledgling Nationalist Congress Party when Sonia was being propped as the Prime Minister. If he says something like this for Rahul Gandhi he must be having some compelling reasons for saying so.
There are scores of Congressmen who deserve 7, Race Course Road. It is a tragedy that while Rahul Gandhi talks of increasing the grass-root base of the party and have inner party elections, he himself is never ready for scrutiny. It is the Indian democracy that is the loser. There are talents out there that deserve much more. Sadly they are content with what The Family throws at them as tit-bits. And those close to The Family ensure that wings are clipped such that no one dare challenge the writ of The Family. Sycophants refuse to stand up. And I am not talking about Manmohan Singh.
Related articles
- Digvijay Singh : Rahul Gandhi never said no to being PM (indiavision.com)
- Rahul Gandhi never said no to Prime Minister’s post: Digvijay Singh (gulfnews.com)
- The new jingle: ‘Only Rahul’ (snshenoy.wordpress.com)
Afzal Guroo hanging and the Ghost of Modi
The nation woke to the news of Afzal Guroo having been hanged in Tihar Jail on the 9th of February, 2013 at 8am in the morning. The man had been convicted of helping Pakistan terrorists in the parliament attacks of 2001. His mercy petition was lying with the president for long. Pratibha Patil did not sign the annulment of the mercy petition. Apparently Pranab Mukherjee did. The question is, when did President Mukherjee sign the annulment? Be as it may, one thing is very clear – this was a card that the Congress had kept for dire situations and they thought it fit to play this card at this juncture. The question is why?
That Afzal Guroo was t be hanged was a foregone conclusion. No government worth its salt could have suggested to the president that his mercy petition be accepted. It was matter of finding an opportune time. Ajmal Amir Kasab had been hanged for perpetrating the 26/11 carnage. But that did not register with the nation as a show of resolve of the Congress government to fight terror. What prompted the government to go ahead with the hanging of Afzal Guroo can be discussed and debated without any respite as is our wont’ Suffice to say that the government is finding itself cornered on all fronts, whether it is price rise, economic slowdown, the falling rupee or development issues or security of women. It is also seen as soft on terror and wanting to appease the Muslims for votes. Gujarat election results made Congress sit up. They realized that inaction on the terror front was making this government look indecisive and the majority Hindu community was polarizing against the Congress. The worst nightmare of the Congress Party is a polarization of the Hindus. That is one scenario that means doomsday for the Congress. They wanted to show that they can be tough on terror and that their commitment to nation’s fight against terror is second to none.
The one party that is almost speechless is the Bharatiya Janata Party. They never imagined that the Congress would take such a decision. To Congress’s credit it must be said that P. Chidambaram had indicated soon after Kasab hanging that others will follow. Most did not give much importance to what Mr. Chidambaram said then. I have always said that those who are discounting Congress from the race to Indraprastha are doing so at their own peril. The grand old party is foxy and has maturity that most other parties lack, including the Bharatiya Janata Party. Hanging of Afzal Guroo at this juncture when the elections are an year away is a master stroke politically both domestic and international. India needed to send the message to the world community that India was not soft on terror. The beheading of Indian soldier by Pakistan special forces was another catalyst to this decision. Pakistan has been quietly warned that India does not tolerate nonsense. The suspension of the Indo-Pak talks after the beheading of our soldier was in that light and perhaps in retrospect one can say that in anticipation of the hanging of Afzal Guroo. Capital punishment at this stage when the elections are an year away is also convenient politically as an year is a long time in politics. It will not have a drastic affect on Muslim voters like it would have had had the government done this a month or so before the general elections. Yet, this will give a leverage to the Congress with the majority Hindu voters in mildly reminding them that their resolve to keep the nation safe is second to none. As I said, this decision has the hallmark of impeccable timing. I do not know who decides on matters such as these – whether it is a person or a group, which can mean the Cabinet Committee on Security. Whosoever it is can take a bow for an impeccably timed decision.
I have never discounted the Congress from the race to the upcoming 2014 elections. It may yet be that the BJP lead NDA might come to power. The issues that dog the nation are many. The lack of decisiveness on matters economic is now the challenge for the Congress. They must realize that listening too much to the liberal lobby in the South and North Block is veritable hara-kiri. The decisiveness shown in the hanging of Afzal Guroo must percolate down to other matters facing the nation. The economy needs to be rectified and jobs created. Too much reliance on NAREGA and Aadhar to ward off the challenge from the BJP will not suffice.
The loss in Gujarat has Congress worked up. The surveys by various agencies clearly showed the surging popularity of Narendra Modi. The man is a maverick and eve his worst critics accept that the man can single-handedly oust the Congress. His tough image on the lines of Sardar Patel has gone down well with the youth of a very young India, where more than 35% of the population is below 35 years of age. His recent speech at Sriram College of Commerce was a watered of sorts. His Vibrant Gujarat conclave at Rajkot was a thundering success. Foreign companies are queuing up to invest in Gujarat. Modi has shown how things can be done in his state of Gujarat. The man is keen to replicate the Gujarat model of development in the whole of the nation. The bad news for the Congress is that the nation can’t wait either. Besides Modi ensures safety of his citizens which is a remarkable achievement. Women in Gujarat voted for Modi in large numbers as they felt safe under his rule. The man has a machismo that is hard to deny. Hanging of Afzal Guroo is Congress’s answer to Modi’s tough image. Whether they will succeed in capturing the imagination of the youth of this country whose votes will be decisive in 2014 remains to be seen. But the decision to hang Afzal Guroo must be seen in this light.
It is not all positive for Congress either. They run the risk of diluting their hold on the Muslim voters. It will be foolish for any one to believe that the Muslims will forget this in 2014. Muslim leaders have often said that Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin (ek hi sikkay ke do pehlu hain). They will say that again with much more vigor. I see regional parties gain from Muslim voters come 2014. Whether it is the Samajwadi Party in UP, Trinamool Congress in Bengal or Haji Ajmal in Assam or NCP in Maharashtra – all will set to gain from the loss that will be Congress’s. Congress has taken a calculated risk. They reckon that the Muslims will still vote for them as they won’t vote for Modi. In Lok Sabha elections people tend to vote for national parties. That is at the back of Congress’s calculations. It could boomerang. For if the Modi juggernaut carries on and gathers steam, Muslim’s might vote for the BJP and ensure a decisive victory while taking credit for it and asking for their pound of flesh. Remember, more than 30% Muslims are supposed to have voted for Modi in the recent Gujarat elections. Muslims might desert Congress and claim they did so to teach them a lesson while jumping on to the Modi bandwagon realizing the inevitability of a Modi victory.
The hanging of Afzal Guroo has put the cat among the pigeons. Congress’s only hope to capitalize on this development is if they can make some genuine breakthroughs on the economic front. Gor one, they must stop hounding foreign investors and bring in some substantial foreign investments. If they can set the economy right then they can reap the benefits of this bold decision. On the international front they have sent a tough message to Pakistan and in the months to come they can resume dialogue from a position of strength. Congress will have to show fortitude to be able to cash in on the Afzal Guroo hanging.
Congress may have taken this step with a view to check the onward march of Modi but they will be surprised by the inadvertent help that they might get from within the right wing outfit, for there is a very vocal segment that does not want Modi be declared as the PM candidate. If that happens, as it well might, citing alliance compulsions, then the road to another term might get very easy for the Congress.
One last conjecture before I pen down. what if Congress led UOA had hanged Afzal Guroo before the Gujarat elections – would Modi have still won? Congress did not take that risk and well, this can be argued any which way. But the question hangs in the air.
