Karunanidhi – A failed politician, administrator and leader

Five decades in politics - Chief Minister of a state for fifth term - Leader of the biggest party in Tamil Nadu – Karunanidhi should be proud of his achievements personally. But he has nothing to be proud of as a politician, administrator and a leader.

As politician he has lost credibility long back in aligning with caste parties. His non-inclusive approach has made Tamil Nadu a worst state in social justice.

As an administrator he failed miserably. After being chief minister for the five terms he couldn’t improve the livelihood for his state citizens. Tamilians depend or Re1 Kg (5 cents) rice whereas other states like Punjab are well-off. I

As a leader he couldn’t improve neither the prospect of his party nor people. His flip-flops in LTTE issue for the past two decades costed lakhs of Tamil lives in Sri Lanka.

The octogenarian who should have been the most popular leader of Tamil, but is at the cross roads as the worst leader of Tamils if not a traitor.

Ulema Train - Laloo's Green Engine

Mullahs protest Azamgarh terror arrests, courtesy UPA
By Anand Mishra 'Abhay'

Green Engine: Aazami Train: Pro-Pakistan Passengers

On January 29, people were rather curious to see a railway train being pulled by a 'Green Engine', compartments packed with skull capped youngmen lead by bearded mullahs. Later it was revealed that this special train was going to Delhi to hold a protest rally against the law and order maintaining forces who had killed two Indian mujahideens in an encounter at Batla House in Jamia Nagar, Delhi. Perhaps to paint the engine green for this 'Ulema Express' was to show Railway Minister's sympathy with those mujahideens. From any point of view this scene was totally anti-national and pro-Pakistan. To pamper such traitorous rallies is not only a pity but a shame for the government and the Railway Ministry lead by a person who is more of a clown than a minister. What a paradox! On one side the government honours those who sacrificed their life to make the nation secure and on the other hand the same government facilitates those who are openly patronising traitors. Just see the humour, while late Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma sacrificed his life for the cause of the nation, a demand for an inquiry to create doubts about his bonafides is being shamelessly supported by the government. Is it not a dishonour to 'Shaurya Chakra' awarded to that police officer of repute for his integrity and dutifulness?

A correspondent of Hindi daily Amar Ujala who had boarded this train at Lucknow who was dropped at Kanpur. His narration speaks much more than published in his paper. The special passengers were well trained and disciplined. The correspondent was questioned how he managed to board this special train. But a monitor like leader saved him from further questioning ordering him to hang a travelling pass of 'Ulema Express' around his neck. The correspondent saw that cautions were given by whistle. A long whistle meant to reach one's seat as the train is going to move, two short whistles meant that there is some unknown outsider inside the train, three whistles meant stop walking to and fro from one compartment to another. A loud speaker was also being used for instructions. The correspondent was entertained by a piece of Gur (jaggery) and mineral water. A youngman named Suhel questioned the correspondent: "Look at this train, are we terrorists? We are terrorised by Israel (i.e. ATS)." Passengers were talking to one another but no one was allowed to talk to that correspondent. Even CRP personnel on duty were not allowed to board the train. Any how they managed to enter the train in under to perform their duty.

A statement of Shabana Azmi a shrewd communalist in her very marrow has warned the government that the anger of innocent Muslims can prove very dangerous, just to hide the fact that Azamgarh and the area around has become a den of ISI agents and pro-Pakistani elements.

One should ask what sort of government is this? Does it deserve to be called a government. Perhaps India is the only country where the government has forgotten to govern. It's main concern is to garner maximum number of Muslim votes and for that it can go to any limit. Has this government not become a curse for the country and the nation? The pity is that while anti-national forces especially Islamic ones are openly and boldly threatening our very existence, the nationalist and patriotic forces are awefully busy in infighting and that too without an iota of shame. May the Almighty save us from the coming dangers whose black shadows have started casting since long.

(http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=277&page=22)

CNN-IBN dare to say MNS is Maharashtra’s shame?

Hilarious pub-editorials and pop culture

Renuka Chowdhury has been reported to have condemned "the attack". What has she been doing all these five years to the TV channels that have been guilty of the utmost vulgarity?

This journalist who has been around in the media world for some sixty-five years must confess that he has read nothing more hilarious than some of the editorials in the English language press over the pub incident in Mangalore. It merely shows how ignorant the media is about the traumatic changes that have been taking place in Indian society in just about the last one decade and how people are striving to come to terms with them. The pub attacks has nothing to do with either the RSS or VHP or BJP or even Hinduism, no matter what our silly secularists may say. It has nothing to do with 'Hindu fundamentalism' or 'moral vigilantism' or 'assault on civil right's or 'civil liberties', as newspapers like The Hindu (January 28), The Times of India (January 28) or The Indian Express (January 28) or the People's Union for Civil Liberties have said. Even the so-called Sri Ram Sena is totally irrelevant.

To understand what has happened one has to live, as P Sainath, probably the most knowledgeable journalist of his times did, in rural India to know how the minds of villagers work, what offends them and what enthuses them. The trouble with our media stalwarts is that their minds are urban-centred. Widely travelled, they are knowledgeable about pubs in London, nightclubs in European cities and availability of various and questionable forms of entertainment in Europe and the United States. Mangalore is not Paris. It is one of the most sophisticated towns in India but is surrounded by villages which profess different culture.

Thanks to the setting-up of class universities in the districts of South Kanara and Udupi the urban centres are hosting students from over fifty countries whose presence and demands are becoming cause for concern. There is palpable tension in the surrounding villages. The villagers feel threatened. Incidentally, I am speaking with authority since I live in a place surrounded by villages which I visit regularly to address children in primary classes, students in secondary and higher elementary schools and in high schools. Parents invite me to their homes and they speak freely to me. Most of them have TV sets and a large section among them express their anger at what they have to witness, day in and day out. These are not politically motivated people or people fed with fundamentalist doctrines. One suspects that they have more respect for women then our civil rights and other organisations claim to have. The women especially hate to see urban women smoking because they feel that their own daughters might get affected by this new culture that is thrust on them. They have nothing to do with the Sri Ram Sena. And for long they have been seething with anger because they have no way to protest. Our city-based editors and their dedicated secular flock have no time to live amongst the villagers and understand their concerns. And that maddens them even more.

To say, as did CNN-IBN that what happened in Mangalore is a mater of shame to Karnataka is pure nonsense. There is nothing that either Mangalore or Karnataka has to be ashamed about. What India has to be ashamed about are our TV channels which broadcast programmes of questionable relevance. CNN-IBN will not dare to say that Maharashtra's shame is the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. If it did so the MNS goons will probably break up the CNN-IBN studios. The kind of filthy stuff which we have to witness in our TV channelsis a mater of national shame.

Of course, the Congress will try to get mileage from the Mangalore pub issue and a sycophantic press will support it. But the Congress Party obviously does not know the public mind. The BJP is doing extremely well in Karnataka and cannot easily be shaken. As The Indian Express in a moment of revelation put it, "Such incidents in an election year are fodder for political parties and some have grabbed it gladly." Renuka Chowdhury has been reported to have condemned "the attack". What has she been doing all these five years to the TV channels that have been guilty of the utmost vulgarity? One has even less respect for former Chief Minister of Karnataka, president of Janata Dal (Secular) (whatever that means) who wants the current Home Minister of Karnataka, VS Acharya to "own moral responsibility of the chaotic situation prevailing in the coastal districts and resign".

What, pray, was Kumaraswamy was doing all those years when he was the Chief Minister of Karnataka? There is no chaos in the coastal districts, as he claims. Their problem has arisen from circumstances beyond their control. Perhaps the BJP government should amend existing rules to ensure that women are barred from entering places where liquor is served, whatever the civil rights people may have to say on the subject. Rural India has yet to get accustomed to the changing cultural scene. It takes time. It takes patience.

We have come a long way from the thirties of the 20th century when the Congress was opposed to drinking and had prohibition on its agenda. What, one wonders, would Mahatma Gandhi (if people like Renuka Chowdhury know who is) have said watching girls passing drinks to customers in a pub, late at night. Perhaps Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and all those posing as defending human rights would like to say something on the subject. The arrogance of the Indian media when it itself needs to answer many questions concerning media morality and ethics is best ignored.

There are many questions one would like to ask the media, similar to the ones that The Times of India (January 28) has raised. The tragedy is that our media has no time to study the hows, whys and wherefores of an event before making judgment. News gathering is one-sided. It is easy to get some society women to condemn the violence in the Mangalore pub. "Intolerance is spreading deep and fast in our country", laments The India Express.

It speaks of a "warped sense of Indian tradition and ethos". The Express must send a team to Mangalore to talk to people from various walks of life, especially people from the surrounding villages. The Express might then learn that its own "warped" sense of righteousness needs looking into. All societies changes. But acceptance of change comes easy when it is gradual. When change occurs overnight, as it were, then it gives way to violence. In judging violence one must be wary of overstepping one's limits. By its reckless criticism, the media has lost its right to sit on judgment. It has to be made answerable to the people. For far too long has the public been silent about the multiple shortcomings of the media. It needs to be tamed.

(http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=277&page=19)

Mahatma Gandhi vs Rahul Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi would have resorted to satyagraha against pubs
By Justice (Retd) Dr M Rama Jois

If Ram Sainiks honestly believed that going of boys and girls to pubs resulted in their moral and material abandonment, which is injurious to national interest, the method of opposing it should have been in conformity with the approved moral and civilised behaviour. Their indulging in indecent and violent attack against pub-goers including women is condemnable and constitutes an offence punishable.

The recent physical and spoken assault on women going to pubs in Mangalore by those calling themselves Sri Ram Sainiks has been highly unjust and indecent and has very rightly come in for severe condemnations far and wide in the country. This is the evidence of sanctity attached to womanhood and the highest esteem in which the women are held in Bharatiya culture. As defined in Times of India (31-1-09), pub culture decoded the term stands for women drinking and socialising with men in public places, the desire behind this is obviously carnal between males and females who are not husband and wife. If Ram Sainiks honestly believed that going of boys and girls to pubs resulted in their moral and material abandonment, which is injurious to national interest, the method of opposing it should have been in conformity with the approved moral and civilised behaviour. Their indulging in indecent and violent attack against pub-goers including women is condemnable and constitutes an offence punishable. The Government of Karnataka has rightly arrested them and initiated criminal proceedings against them.

It is for this reason, Mahatma Gandhi declared that the means through which an end is to be achieved should be just and fair. It is on this principle, Mahatma Gandhi adopted the path of non-violence in the freedom struggle against unjust foreign rule. It is because he succeeded in this unique method adopted in human history, he became Mahatma and came to be respected by the whole world in view of the great faith Mahatma Gandhi had in non-violent methods. The firm belief of Mahatma Gandhi in morality and good character is evidenced by the firm stand he had taken against consumption of intoxicated liquors. In his book entitled My Picture of Free India written on the eve of achieving political independence, he unequivocally declared as follows:-

"I hold drinking spirituous liquors in India to be more criminal than the petty thefts which I see starving men and women committing and for which they are prosecuted and punished… I advocate the summary punishment of those who manufacture the fiery liquid and those even who persist in drinking it notwithstanding repeated warnings. I do not hesitate forcibly to prevent my children from rushing into fire or deep waters. Rushing to red water is far more dangerous than rushing to a raging furnace or flooded stream. The latter destroys only the body, the former destroys both body and soul."

This view of Mahatma Gandhi indicates that he was very firm on preventing youths falling into the injurious habit of consumption of intoxicating liquors or drugs. By and large youths go to pubs to satisfy their sensual desires without realising that it is sure to result in moral and material abandonment and they will become unfit to bear the family or social responsibilities. Therefore, it is not correct to call it pub culture, as it is a vice and not a virtue. It is therefore clear that if Mahatma Gandhi were to be alive, he would have resorted to satyagraha in protest against youths going to pubs but in a peaceful and civilised manner as it is well known that as part of struggle for freedom, Mahatma Gandhi had directed Congressmen to boycott liquor shops and even resort to picketing liquor shops. In view of this forceful idea of Mahatma Gandhi, Article 47 was incorporated in the Constitution directing the Union and the States to make law prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Moreover, Article 39(c) mandates the Union and the States to take necessary steps to protect children and youth against their moral and material abandonment. In accordance with the views of Mahatma Gandhi and the directive of Article 47, law prohibiting manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor was enacted in Karnataka after independence. It was in force till 1957.

The Congress Party which claims to be the followers of Mahatma Gandhi repealed the law prohibiting manufacture and sale of liquors in 1957 in Karnataka. Smt. Yashodharamma Dasappa, a true Gandhian and brave woman, resigned her ministership protesting against such a step. In spite of this, loyalty to liquor proved to be more powerful than to Mahatma Gandhi and the Constitution. Liquor shops are permitted to be opened in all commercial as well as residential localities like hotels and restaurants. It is significant and surprising that large number of liquor shops are allowed on Mahatma Gandhi Road and its vicinity. Pubs belong to the same category. Developing the habit of going to pubs by youth is sure to result in their moral and material abandonment. Under the Constitution, the State has been under a duty to ensure protection against such moral and material abandonment. I am certain that if Mahatma Gandhi were to be alive, he would have launched a powerful satyagraha and picketing against pubs. If Sri Ram Sainiks honestly felt so and wanted to protest it to protect youths in national interest, they should have resorted to non-violent satyagraha and picketing. But instead of doing so, the indecent attack made on women is most condemnable and onslaught on the most cherished value of womanhood in our culture. Such a situation is the direct result of failure to implement Articles 47 and 39 of the Constitution. The wide and expanding pub activities and the importance attached to sensual desires by large number of youths indicate what Swami Vivekananda stated a century ago, which has become true. He had said:

"Shall India die? Then from the world all spirituality will be extinct, all moral perfection will be extinct, all sweet-souled sympathy for religion will be extinct, all ideality will be extinct, and in its place will reign the duality of lust and luxury as the male and female deities, with money as its priest fraud, force and competition as its ceremonies, and the human soul as its sacrifice."

The situation is alarming. Substantial number of youths are falling to bad and immoral carnal desires resulting in their moral and material abandonment, which is highly injurious to the future of our nation, because youths are inflammable material like petrol, if enlightened and regulated they constitute enormous source of energy for the nation, but if ignited, they would be disastrous like forest fire. This is a matter for serious consideration by all right-thinking persons.

(The writer is a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and former Governor of Jharkhand and Bihar. He can be contacted at "Sri. Shaila", No. 870/C, 5th Block, Rajajinagar, Bangalore–560 010.)

British Cricketers Auctioned in India

The adage world comes the full cycle very well applies to the British. They were the ones who traded humans as slaves to Europe and America. Now their players are traded by the once slave nation – India in the name of cricket

The trade amount is a big difference. Slaves, then were traded for few hundred dollars. But Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen were sold for $1.55 million each to become the most expensive players in the Indian Premier League (IPL)

Perhaps the cycle is too fast. All it takes, sixty years for a slave country to enslave Englishmen in the name of sport