CHIDAMBARAM ELCTORAL FRAUD CATCHES UP WITH HIM; HE MUST GO

In several of my blogs on this site I have predicted that the law will surely catch up with the "Home Minister" of India, Thiru P Chidambaram. I have in my several earlier blogs drawn attention to his misguided policies, his involvement in the 2G Spectrum Scam and his ridiculous handling of the Tlengana issue and of course, the declining law and order situation in India. His war on the tribal population of India called Green Hunt has already drawn flak from all sides. This vehti clad, Harvard returned Cettiyar from Tamil Nadu is supposed to look menacing with a pose of gun toting commandos following him. I saw on a Delhi-Chennai flight recently and believe me the man looks every inch a clown. And now the stritures from the court. Te case filed against P Chidambaram is simple and straightforward. In Sivangangai in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, Shri Raja Kanappan was in the lead in all the rounds of counting. At one stage.in the eleventh round of counting Kanappan had a lead of 35,000 votes. With this margin it is statistically impossible for one to make up, catch up and then lead. This statistical impossiblity was achieved by P Chidambaram when invalid votes were gathered together and counted as votes in favor of the Home Minister. P Chidambaram is an embarassment to thr doddering UPA regime and he has become a liability to the Government and Party. The involvement of his son in the Aircle-Maxis deal has been talked about and though Chidambaram may say "God Forgive them for they know not what they are doing" it is clear as daylight that the Fater-Son Duo are in it together. Karti is an AICC member and in the dynastic fascist Party called the Congress only familynties matter and no wonder the secular congress party attracts men like Chidambaram. The High Court rejected the petition of P Chidambaram and has ordered him to stand trial for electoral mal practices. Any self respecting politician would have resighned after having had his name stained in such a manner. The Home MInister Petition seeking discharge from the case has been rejected and all that Chidambaram says is that the verdict is a"setback" to the petitioner. In Tamil Nadu there is an earthy proverb which goes somewhat like this: A man falls is the worst muck possible and has filth all over him, gets up and declares to anyone who cares to listen that his moustouche is free of muck. Such is the defence of this dothi zero from Harvard. I think P Chidambaram must be sacked by the President even if Man Mohan singh does not have the courage to reccomend his dismissal. I have laready written several essays on the inevitability of P Chidambaram from this scam tainted Government. The politics of the Congress Party revolves around a dynasty and constant jostlimg between and within that faction ridden pafrty provide ther basis for survival in that Party. I cannot imagine even the communist parties--and they are straight from the Jurrasic Park--keeping a man like Chidambaram who is not an asset politically, intellectually or as is the case here electorally. Yet this man sits in the North Block as the Home Minister of India. With Home Ministers like Chidambaram who needs the Mumbai terrorists.

THE AMBEDKAR PANDIT NEHRU CARTOON

The cartoon illustrated above has created an uproar in Parliament with MPs cutting across party lines condemning the cartoon which was first published in 1949 in Shankaar's Weekly. The cartoon shows Pandit Nehru with a whip in his hand standing behind Dr B R Ambedkar who was then the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution. The purpose of the cartoon was to draw attention to the long and inordinate delay in the drafting of the Constitution. Of course another more contemporary reading of the cartoon is possible in these post-colonial times. A high caste man like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru whip in hand is threatening the Dalit leader, Dr B R Ambedkar. I must say that Dr B R Ambedkar stood miles above Jawarlal Nehru in intellectual stature and showing Ambedkar sitting on a snail with Nehru behind him holding a whip can be construed today as demeaning depiction though this was not the intention of the cartoon when it was published more than six decades back. I can understand our illiterate MPs shouting in Parliament as they were interested in diverting the attention from more important issues. However, the Indian public intellectual and academics do not come off too well in the episode either. A few years back when Arjun Singh was the Education Minister the NCERT books prepared during the NDA Administration were "detoxified" meaning that an ideologically tinged view of history and politics was introduced in the writing of the textbooks. Excecutive intervention was sought by the like of Yogender Yadava, Romila Thapar and K N Panikar to rid the textbooks of what they in their personal opinion considered "saffron" version of history. Having allowed the state to intervene in the process of textbook creATION, NOW THEY CANNOT CRY FOUL. Kapil Sibal immediately announced the removal of the offending cartoon and constituted another sarkari committee to whet the remaining textbooks. The Indian academic must learn that he or she cannot be selective in dealing with the students and the curriculum. Having allowed the Government to intervene in the process of textbook writing and using political muscle to mandate a point of view that is closely related to the Congress perception of politics and society, the affected academics cannot now declare that academic freedom is being curtailed. Academic freedom was lost the day the govenrment starts appointing its henchmen to write textbooks and makes men like Yogender Yadava the demi god of a dsicipline.

CAN CHIDAMBARAM GET AWAY BY QUOTING CHRIST: A CASE OF THE DEVIL QUOTING THE SCRIPTURE

P Chidambaram the "Home Minister" of India has become the source of acute embarassment to an already tottering regime. His Anti Terrrism Centrer failed to take off, not becaust the State Governments did not think that there was a need for a counter terrorism center, but because of the absolute lack of credibility enjoyed by P Chidambaram. At the barest minimum, the Home Minister of India is a tall political personality like Vallbhahi Patel or even L K Advani. Two former Home Minister of India have even become Prime Ministers: Guzrilal Nanda and Charan Singh. P Chidambaram lacks political stature as he was defeated in the last Lok Sabha elections from Sivagangai constituency and got the certificate through fraud. The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu refuses to engage with P Chidambaram as a political figure primarily due to the legitimacy of his election. The UPA regime has devalued the position of the Home MInister by appointing politcal zeroes to that position. Shivaraj Patil who was defeated fro Latur was made Home Minister and his sartorial elegance was the only thing that this man is remembered for. Chidambaram does not even have satorial elegznce. His Tamil style veshti and tight fitting shirt makes him look ridiculous and with gun toting cammandos follwing him he does not enen appear menacing,a s he ought to' Chidambaram is in the news all for the wrong reasons. His December 9th statement ignited the fire in Telengana nd it is raging since. His particiapation in the 2 G Spectrum Scandal has become well known and the March 25th Note only reinforces public perception that P Chidambatram is certainly guilty of wrong doing. If Dr Subramaniam Swamy has been making wild and baseless allegatins as claimed by Chidambaram then let him sue the harvard educated lawyer in Court. The fact that Chidambaram duck a toe to toe confrontation with Swamy itself shows that there is something amiss in the S[ectrum deal and the Government has not been able to come clean on that issue. The BJP being the principle opposition party can raise the issue of Spectrum, the Arilcel_Maxis deal in which the son of Chidambaram also figures. In parliament Chidambaram said: God forgive them for they know not what they are doing. These words uttered by our Lord and Saviour as he suffered for our sins on the Cross uttered the moment before life fled are extremely significant for a Christian. The criminal party called Congress whc=ich pratices fake secularism has made it its right to insult religious beliefs. How can this fellow called Chidambaram, a Home Minister be may be by default, equate himself with our Lord and Saviour. He has insulted Christian beleifs by quoting the immortal words of Christ in defence of him misconduct with regard to the Spectrum Scandal. All Christian organisations must condemn the implied equvalence between this dhoti clam Hravard lawyer and our Lord and Saviour. I say to Chidambaram indulge in your sky high corruption but do not drag the blameless name of Christ and do not take the name of our Saviour in vain.

THE KILLING OF CPM ACTIVIST IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY: KERALA POLITICS IS TURNING VIOLENT

Shri T P Chandrasekharan, an activists of the CPM and a follower of V S Achutanandan, the former Chief Misister of Kerala was brutally killed near Calicut yesterday. The life and death of this 51 year old Party activist illustrates the perils of Indiasn political life. By all accounts this man was a committed party worker who joined the Student Federation of India and rose through the ranks. Extremely popular with grass roots workers, this activist had built up a following for himself in the Communist stronghol;d of Onchiyam. In the recent polls his Revolutionary Marxist Party won the Panchayat polls and this seems to have alarmed the faction led by Pinyari Vijayan. Even the Congress Home Minister of Kerala T Radhkrishnan has hinted at the involvement of the Pinyari Vijayan faction in the killing. The CPM and the Muslim League both practice the politics of violence in Kerala with great abandon. Who can ever forget the brutasl killing of Balkrishna, the schoolmaster who was killed in front of his students in the classroom about a decade back. The highly politisised nature of Kerala society has led to a situation in whcih political violence has become the tool for maintaining control over the cadres. The frequent hartals and strikes have given Kerala the reputation of being a state on the brink of anarchy. I cannot understand why politics cannot be conducted in a civilised manner in Kerala. I must say that Tamil Nadu too is given to violence. Shri T P Chnadrasekaaran was travelling on his two wheeler when 3 or 4 men armed with country bombs and sharp weapons waylaind him and hacked him to death. One more loyal party worker was sacrificed on the red altar and I am sure that within days there will be a retaliatory killing and the spiral of violence will spin out of control like what is happening in Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh. Political parties which patronise criminals like the Congress party, the Communist factions and other parties must be banned from the Indian political scene.

UGC's API SCORE ARE A FRAUD: INDIAN EDUCATION IS BEING UNDERMINED

The UGC is the nodal body that regulates Higher Education in India by manipulating the fund flow. The mandate of the UGC does not exceed beyond dsibursement of grants and settlement of University accounts and yet over the years has inveigled itself into every aspect of University life in India. Even the Ministry of Higher Education defers to the UGC on matters relating to finance, policy, academic appointments, service conditions of teachers and scores of other issues. The result is unmitigated chaos in the field of higher education. An imaginative and energetic Vice Chancellor can ceratinly work creatively within the confines of the UGC system, but by and large the gargantuan bureaucracy of the UGC is so stifiling that VC's just give up.

The fate of teachers caught in the jaws of the UGC is far worse. The UGC is very good at devicing policies that are self defeating. For example a few years back they relaxed the NET requrement for just 6 months obviously to help some interested persons. The NET which is a nation wide eligiblity test seems to have lost somne of its sheen as certain selct centers seem to generate extremely good results. The shift to OMR based assessment from this May exam seems to be a step in the right direction but whether it would test a candidate's understanding of thge theorectical aspects of the discipline is open to question. The concerns of state universities are not addressed at all. Now that the NAAC assessment has become more or less mandatory for getting UGC funding, it is time to make the process of decision making more transparent. The NAAC had an extrmely notorious criminal as its chairman about a decade back and it is time to have people in palce who can lead higher education.
The UGC recently introduced the API scoring system for assessing teachers in institutions of higher education. In no other part of the world do we have such a barbaric scheme of assessing intelletual workers. Instead of encouraging quality teachiung, which the need of the hour, the API scores are apportioned for (a) attending conferences/seminas (b) taking part in consultacy (c) participating in public private initiatives (d) publications and (e) extra mural activities. If scores are givrn for participation in National and Internatiional seminars, there is a strong temptation for teachers to neglect class room teachiung in order to acquire a "participation certificate" usually by proxy. We reached a situation in which faculty members are rewared for everything except teaching which I assume to be the fundamental job of faculty members. Publications are a whole new ball game. Papers canibalised fromn the  term papers and seminar papers are endlessly recycled and faculty members get points for this chartade. India does not rank anywhere in terms of knowledge generation and by encouraging "publication" at the cost of teaching the UGC has embarked on a self defeating policy.

Univrsities in India are at the cross roads. Under imaginative leadership such as the one in the University where I teach, the institutions can change for the better. In most Universities education has become purely notional.

Bangaru Laxman and the Thehelka Scam: Th as it is illegale Conviction will be overthrown

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Bangaru Laxman, the Dalit face of the BJP, was trapped by a Congress friendly mediam outfit called Thelka accepting cash to the tune of Rs 100,000 for favouring an entity called Westland. It turns out that there was no such defence deal and that ther whole episode caught on camera was only play acting. Corruptiuon as defined by the law involves giving a bribe to a public servant for obtaining tangible gains. When there was no deal and the reporters were only pretending to be defence contractors then no publiic interest was affected in the whole fictitious transaction. In fact if Bangaru Laxman can be convicted then the 2 journalists involved must also be proscecuted for induling in bribery of a public funtionary. I think the whole episode reeks of entrapment and Bangaru Laxman, though not innocent certainly cannot be called the only guilty party. It appears that the quantum of punishment was set high so as to deny him bail. I feel such vicious political proscecution will undermine peoples faith in the judiciary which must be seen to be above board. Now contrast this to the Bofors case. In that case, it has been established above any reasonable doubt that bibes were givnen in the form of " winding up charges' to the tune of 64 crores. It is known from investigation from Sweden, India, Switzerland and other parts of the world that the money trail led to Quatrrochi, an Italian known to be close to the resident non-Indian first Dynasty of India, the Gandhis. Yet, the CBI being a piable politicasl tool did not conduct any reasonable and sustained investigation so much so that after 25 years not a single conviction has taken place. Furtehr even in the 1984 anti Sikh riots organised by the cngress party, the CBI has been able to file the charge sheet against Sajjan Kumar only last month. This shows that the CBI operates on the basis of political pressure. When there is a real and tangible case of corruption then the CBI and the Courts are unable to act. However when there is no case of corruption based on public interest as is the case with the bangaru Laxman episode the CBI and the coutrs are quick to convict. Bangaru Laxman incriminated himself and self incrimination is not admissible evidence. Furtehr, the Courts must be sure that public interest was affected by the act of bribe taking. In this case no public ionterest was affected as there was no defence deal. Henc there was no corruption. Entrapment is not a judicially permissible method of evidence gathering. Laxman at best was guilty of an indiscretion and I wonder why the Thelka "journalists" are not brought into the judicial priocess as "bribe givers". In this case we have judicial overreach. Thelka thinks that the Abhishek Manu Singvi CD is not evidence of misconduct as they want to protect the image of their paymasters, the Congress, while pioor Bangaru Laxman is found guilty. I venture to say that this judgement will be set aside during the appeal. Why is it that only dalit and tribal politicians are convicted. We have Raja, Madhu Koda, now Bangaru Laxman all of whom belong either to the SC or ST category. A Karunanidhi or Sonia Gandhi seem to be above the reach of law.

Seedy Congressmen, CDs and the slime of Indian dynastic Politics

Congressmen are known to be corpulent, corrupt and criminal and yet our countrymen will continue to vote for them. A fee days back Mahipal Sigh and Manders both Congressmen from the same state of Rajasthan to which late L M Singvi's son Abhshek Manu Singhvi belongs were in the news for the wrong reasons. A seedy CD was tbhe reason. When the 3 BJP MLAs from Karnataka were caught peehin at what appeared to be salicious scenes, the Congressmen went to town demanding action against the 3 politicians. They were not caught with their pants down like this congrssman called Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The BJP, factiona ridden and likje a striken monster unable to think is as usual letting slip this important scandal. I think bnecause Singhvi is personally close to Hon'ble Arun Jaitley, the BJP is not attacking the Congress over the issue. Even the articulate spokeswoman, Nirmala, is unusually quiet over this scandal. I think the BJP must move a resolution to have Manu Singvi's membership of the Rajya Sabha terminated and should not take the heat offt his scandal.n fact with Hon'ble Narendar Modi vindicated, the BJP can draw huge electoral gains by attacking the congressmen on the conduct front. Unlike the other infamous Congressman, N D Tewari whose sexapades were caught in full camera glare, there is still no word from the seedy Congressman about what he was doing with the married lady lawyer. The rumour that a position on the bench was being talked about as the return for the favour bestowed makes this scandal a political dynamite and the BJP cannot let the heat off even for a moment. Therefore this particular scandal involving a seedy Congressman and a CD is far owrse than the N D Tewari affaire. A full investigation is needed. Manu Singhvi's driver of 25 years has been made to take the rap for the seedy CD. Nothing can be far from the truth. That man is just too old and too much of a loyal naukar in the north Indian sense of the term to do anything so siister. Why does the police not book a case against him on the basis of Manu Singvi's statement in the Court which enable him to an injunction against the distribution of the seedy CD. Unfortunately for this seedy Congressman, the internet does not obej Court injunctions as US web sites carry the offending CD and can easily be viewed by anyone interested in the criminality of the dynastic fascists who are ruining this country. The BJP must bring a privilege motion against this man and have him expelled from the Rajya Sabha. This courtier is known to be close to the dynasty hence he must be scalped.

Agni Missile does little to enhance Indian security

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The early morning launch of the Agni V missile from the Wheeler Rocket Launcing base has been hailed as a great strategic breakthrough by self styled "defence experts" and "secuity analysts". The reginme in power has a stable of "tele intellectuals" who will justify each and every mistake of the Congress dominated UPA regime. Not one of them asks the question: How does the possession of the intermediate range inter continental ballistic missile capability help or enhance Indian security. I think for purely ideological reasons some self styled experts like Bharat Karnad who want India to embrace the US strategic doctrine vis a vis China are hailing the launch as a major security boost. Nothing can be more far from the truth than the delusion that ICSMs help India deter China. The reginme sponsored "strategists" want to use the non existent threat from China to drive India into the deadly embrace of the USA. The range of the missile is around 5000 kms which means that much of China is actually not in the range of the missile. This missile is only an empty gesture of provocation by projecting China as threat. China does show its disdain from time to time and that is an expected reaction from a great power which no longer sees India as a rival or even as a threat but only as hired gun slinger for the USA. By taking the US strategic doctrine which posits China as a threat, India is making a grave mistake because the interests of the US and India do not converge. USA will always use Pakistan as its proxy and it is not worth the while for India to treat China as an adversary. India's difficulties with China are purely bilateral and there is no need for India to jump on to the American divide in order to settle its bilateral issues with China. On the contrary, China has shown great statesmanship in dealing with India and by using the Tibetan Independence issue to annoy China, India is not doing its national security or interests any good. China does not need missiles to punish India. And India does not have the political strangth to use its missiles against Chia. In fact the USA will [put pressure on India to "show restarit" and India will as ususal make virtue of neccisity. So in what way does this 5000km rage missile contibute to Indian security. Against Iran, India is again making a grave mistake by taking the American argument that Iranian nuclear ambitions are a threat to the region. Iran is only reacting to Israel and it is a well known fact that Israel has nuclear capability. Any regional peace plan must recognise the Israeli capability as well. China will soon emerge as the world's largest economy and India has a lot to learn from the Chinese experience. Even in human rights I think China has a better track record than some Indian states. Chinese universities have become the cynosure of the world and India cannot hope to catch up for decades to come. Instead of just aping the US let India rethink its strategic options.

The importance of being Shah Rukh Khan

The United States has a policy of subjecting all foreign nationals with suspicious sounding names to a very close body scan, check. I do not endorse this policy and so I choose not to travel to the USA. I was educated there and have had a few invitations to lecture in some rather good Universities. Not Yale, of course. Shah Rukh Khan who made a film about the US preoccupation with security called My Name is Khan make it a habit to travel to the US and he gets hauled up at the Airport and he makes the whole country i. e. India believe that the prestige of India is damaged because of the security check he undergoes. The US State Department issues a perfunctory "apology" and the matter forgotten until the next episode of Shah Rukh Kan at the US airport. I think this third rate India actor should realize that he neither represents Muslims nor India and the US immigration officials are only doing their job and if he has any issues with it he can just refuse to travel to the USA and cause such a huge embarrassment to the country. He is only a private citizen and when the Government of India bends backward to assuage his ruffled sensitivities, the country is outraged.Shah Rukh Khan can stay at home and smoke his cigarettes and keep out of trouble both for himself and the country. I think it is high time India said that Shah Rukh Khans of the world are not representatives of India and if Airport authorities detain him for questioning, then they are only doing the job for which they are paid. India has evolved a VIP culture and USA is still by and large free from that taint. In India Shah Rukh Khan can strut about and Indians will applaud him. Fortunately Americans are not enamored of the VIP culture.

Hon'ble Narendar Modi Stands Vindicated

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Since 2002, the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendar Modi, has been battling charges ranging from criminal conspiracy, rioting, instigation to violence, abetment to murder and a host of imagined atrocities he is supposed to have committed. In the entire history of India no Chief Minister has had such a tough agni pariksha, a trial by fire. And the Hon'ble Chief Minister has come out unscathed. Witnesses were tutored, statements were fabricated, evidence manufactured, police officers dragooned into the campaign, but all these conspiracies fell by the wayside. The Special Investigation Team appointed by the Court has stated that there is not a shadow of doubt about the innocence of Hon'ble Narendar Modi. My question is quite simple: Sonia Gandhi called him a "merchant of death" (moth ka saugagar). Where was she when 15,000 Sikhs were massacred on the streets of New Delhi when her late husband Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Congress goons ( in fact every Congressman is indeed a goon) went from street to street armed with the electoral rolls and pulled out Sikh men and mercilessly killed them. I have another question: Why did the Congress shield all the criminals involved and even appointed the ring leaders to important cabinet positions. Why was the investigation so shoddy that not a single convictions has been secured in spite of major Commissions of Inquiry. I think the answer is also simple: Congress is a violent dynasty obsessed party and it protected its goons and I am somewhat surprised that Atal Behari Vajpeyee did not reopen this issue when they had the opportunity.

Hon'ble Narendar Modi has repeatedly won the elections in Gujarat and even the Muslim population of Gujarat seems to have reposed its trust in him. The Congress brand of identity politics has lost ground in Gujarat and therefore under the compulsions of electoral politics the party tries to keep hounding him and Modi always bounces back looking smarter than ever before. When the Courts have found no evidence to even summmon Hon'ble Narendar Mosi I am somewhat shocked to see that Congress courtiers always bring up the alleged complicity of Modi in the post Godhra riots. As for as the Congress MP who was killed in the Housing Society incident, it is well known that he had a terrible reputation and his own enemies in the so called Congress party may have used the riots to have his butchered and Congressmen are known to indulge in factional fighting.

Teesta Setavad has been convicted of perjury in the Best Bakery Case in which she was found guilt of influencing the testimony of the witness. With sucgh a record the Bar Council of India should have debarred her but she still soldiers on spewing venom against the Chief Minister from Evey Television channel. The Hob'ble Chief Minister has been proven innocent and it is absolutely criminal pon the part of anyone to claim that he is implicated in the post Goshra riots. I agree that the Hon'b;le Chief Minsister has unconventional methods of dealing with organised crime, but his methods of course are effective. Gujarat has emerged as the fastest growing state in India, and the infrastructure and power situation are the envy of the nation. The rapid strides made in the field of solar energy makes Gujarat a pioneer and you have just to take a look at the mess in Rajasthan to understand where Gujarat stands in this field. Law and Order are of course on track and there are no major incidents of atrocities on tribal and SCs in the state. The Congress brand of politics hinged on the manufacture of communal violence and the state had paid a heavy price for that. Since Modi came to power, the Congress brand of street fascism has been checked and we have no one but the Hon'ble Chief Minister to thank for that. In spite of all this, Modi carries the Cross of Godhra and it will take him some more effort to wipe the stains off. Already the judicial verdicts have given an immense boost to his national standing and I hope that the faction ridden BJP closes ranks around the Hon'ble Chief Minister.

One last point. Gujarat is perhaps the only state where the Chief Minister is not corrupt, his ministers and officers are afraid of corruption and there is a modicum of moral authority.

India is a soft state and hence cannot carry out the death sentence

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

India became a soft state the day Nehru in his utter stupidity sated on the day Gandhi was shot that his assassin was a "hindu". This silly but devilishly perverse statement of Nehru introduced an element of ;communal ism: in the judicial process of India. Forever more the religious identity of the perpetrator of the crime became a mitigating factor in the execution of the judicial sentence. Shri Nathuram Godse was killed by Independent India solely because Nehu had decided that his Hindu identity made him far more culpable of the crime than anyother identity. Nearly 60 laong years later India is still to overcome the Nehruvian trap that makes the judician sentence hostage to the religious or ethnic identity of the convict. Among the many horrible things that Nehru was guilty of this is perhaps the worst.

Cut to the present. Nehru's grandson (given the dynastic fascism inherent in India the dynsty too pays for the crimes of the patriarch) was killed by a group of radical Tamils who were probably close to a faction within the Tamil nadu Congress. I cannot imagine how all the bigwigs of the party arrived only after the deed was done. They seem to have had prior information of the killing and hence carefully avoided shadowing him. The 3 killers of Rajiv Gandhi cannot be hanged because their ethnic identity as Tamil protects them. It is ironic that the grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi was primarily responsible for introducing the principle that a crime became serious or less serious depending on the identity of the criminal. The very parties that arranged to have Rajiv Gandhi eliminated are now sharing power in New Delhi and along with power they also share pelf and so the killers cannot be executed even though the Supreme Court has upheld the verdict and the President of India has rejected the mercy petition.

Now take he case of Rajoana, the convicted killer of Beant Singh, sometime chief minister of Punjab. The fact that the Congress Party organised the largest massacre of innocent citizens soon after the untimely death of Indira Gandhi has to be borne in mind while deciding the fate of this man. He has said that the sole motive for killing the Congress Chief Minister was to extract revenge for the 1984 anti Sikh Massacre in which Congress Party and its goons killed nearly15,000 Sikhs in New Delhi alone. This criminal organisation went on to appoint the ring leaders like Jagdsish Tytler and H K L Bhagat ministers in the Union Cabinet. So much for the so called secularism of the Congress Party. (The day the Congress Party is declared an illegal organisation and banned will be the day India can stand proud). Shri Rajoana did not plead for mercy from the criminals who carried out the worst atrocity in the history of Independent India. Quite rightly the death sentence cannot be carried out.

Do you think Kasaab will be hanged. I do not think so. The UPA may not give him their Bharat Ratna but I do not think the soft state like India can carry out this sentence either. Bad precedents have been set and the net result is that every political assasination is now hostage to a powerful identity based group in the political process. The Tamils think that Rajiv Gandhis killers represnt their "racial" pride, the Sikhs think that Shri Rajaona waged war for the self respect of the "panth" and I will not be surprised if Kasaab too like Afzal Guru finds supporters.

SHOULD GENERAL V K SINGH BE SACKED

The Chief of the Indian Army, General V K Sngh is acting in a highly irresponsible manner when he makes allegations against the civilian leadership on a daily basis. This is not to say that the bureaucracy is not withoutits fault. For too long the top brass has had to siddle up to the officers of the Defence Ministry in order to protect their interests and in the process the whole structure of civil-mlitary relations has come unstuck. Further, ever since the Bofors deal, corruption on a gigantic scale has been taking place in the procurement of equipment and aircraft for the Indian Armed Forces. Unfortunately, the Defence Ministry has institutionalised corruption and even A K Anthony who is said to be fairly straightforward is unwilling or unable to do anything about it. It is time to have a rethink on the whole question of procedure for defence procurement. Even serving Army, Navy and Airforce officers act as agents for defence suppliers thereby muddying the waters, General V K Singh knows about al this but chose tokeep quiet until the very last leg of his term as Chief of the Arny Staff. His eloquence at this statge is not to be viewed as a patriot out to do good to his country, but rather as a frustrated man venting his spleen at all and sundry. If he is happy bringing out a scandal a day let him do so. The question is: What did he do as Army Chief to stem the rot. The answer to the question is simple: He did nothing. He was part and parcel of a corrupt organisation though he himself may have been very circumspect.

General V K Singh has exceeded all limits in his tirade against the civilian leadership. We know that the MOD is stuffed with agents, crooks, double dealing criminals and what not. We do not need General Singh to tell us that. After losing his battle on the age issue with the Government he has opened up not just a second front but a whole series of skirmishes with the Government. The BJP which has jumped into the fray with alacrity should ponder over the conseqiences of Sinhg's actions. I think supporting V K Singh may not be in the political interest of the BJP though it certainly embarasses the Government

The Government of India, rocked as it is by a blizzard of scandals does not have the moral authority to dao anything and the man refuses to go quietly. He must be shown the door otherwise the civil-military relations will be dameged beyond repait. The actions of General Singh in writing to the Prime Minister, bypassing the chain of command, raking up old scandals whose only purpose is to create confusion constitute misconduct and indiscipline and the Govenment must reduce Singh in rank and turn him out.

THE AFGHAN MASSACRE: SOME QUESTIONS ON US HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

Staff Sgt Robert Bales of the 3rd Stryker Brigade on his 4th tour of duty left his military base, loaded his kit and set off for the village of Panjawi in Kandhahar province of Afghanistan and went on a killing spree that will cost the US quite a lot of political goodwill and credibility. On several past occasions I have drawn attention to the systematic rampage of US military personnel in Iraq and even when the killers were identified as was the case in the Mahoumadiya incident, the culprits were acquitted after a perfunctory trial in which the pretence of "human rights" and the US military's commitment to civilised values is paraded before the whole world. Of course the order to kill does not come from the top political or military leadership, but the lack of systemic checks and controls make it easy for such rampages to take place. It now transpires that Staff Sgt Robert Bales was involved in a firefight in Iraq in which 250 Iraqi civilians were killed without the loss of a single US soldier. He received a military decoration for his heroism. No wonder.

Afghanistan is largely out of US control/ President Karzai commands neither loyalty nor respect among the people. He surrounds himself with hired American Security Guards and the burning of the Koran, the desecration of Afghan bodies by US soldiers and now this killing spree by Staff Sgt Bales, a decorated war hero, only add to his cup of woes. Barack Obama's policy of counter insurgency has become unstuck and is unlikely to lead to any great US success. Pakistan is on the boil and there is also growing resentment against the US drone attacks on Pakistani targets. The NATO attack on Pakistani military base in which 29 Pakistani soldiers were killed is still simmering. All in all the US is getting deeper and deeper in a mess from which retreat may be well neigh impossible.

Already there is an attempt to shield the soldier who was responsible for the massacre. He suffered a head injury and therefore had diminished competence. If this is so why was he not discharged on the grounds of psychological impairment. The foreclosure of his house upset him, according to one report. Millions of Americans have suffered due to the absolute depravity of the Wall Street thugs and they do not go on a killing spree. Another pointed out that this soldier actually enjoyed killing civilians as he was very proud of his "heroism" in which 250 Iraqis were killed during the course of just one hour of fighting. When soldiers are dehumanized in this manner you can expect consequences.US diplomats go round the world preaching "human rights" and issue threats to heads of state who are involved in deadly conflicts with known terrorist groups. Is not the US military responsible for the actions of this man. By what law should this Staff Sgt Robert Bales be prececuted: as a war crime he should face the Hague. The US has created a kangaroo court whenre Black and Slavic "war criminals" are araigned. Staff Sgt Rober Bales was secretly removed from Afghanistan and he is now in Fort Leavenworth. The US like the old Anglo-Saxon countries is asserting the right of extra territoriality and unfortunately the rest of the world seems to acquiesce in this. It is time for people of the world to say that even in normal rules of engagement during conflict, civilian life must be protected. Robert Bales may not be acting on the explicit instructions from his superiors and that may well be a defence, but that fact has to be established in a credible non partisan manner. US military cannot protect its own by sitting in judgement and then announce to the whole world that the US is a champion of human rights. The conduct of US military in Iraq and Afghanistan has already made such assertion laughable and sonner Barack Obama realises it the better for the world.

THE UNION BUDGET IS A NON STARTER; MANY POLITICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES

The political crisis that has overtaken the UPA II is largely of its own making. The dynastic fascist party, the Congress, seems to forget that it not not the master of its own house and therefore behaves as though it has an absolute majority like the bad old days. It has learnt the very difficult art of making policy announcements only to sheepishly retract them later. The FDI in Retail sector and the National Counter Terrorism Center both ran into rough weather and the Center looked very sheepish. Now we have the fiasco of the Railway Budget with Mamta claiming a new constitutional provision. A minister from her party must seek approval from the party supremo to present the budget. The Railway Budget itself is a relic of the early days of Independence and we need toive up this senseless practice of having a separate budget for the Railways: it gives the Railway minister a false and illusory sense of his importance. Lalu Prasad Yadava as a Railway Minister made a mockery of the budget and the fellow even fooled the Harvard Business School.



Dinesh Trivedi has no legal or constitutional constraint to consult his Party supremo over the budget. He is accountable to the Lok Sabha for the budget and the Budget is a Cabinet document. If Mamata has any problems with the budget she should withdraw form the UPA and vote against the regime in power. But like every Congress politician, she too has learnt the fine art of barking and not biting. She wants to threaten the regime by attacking her own minister, but not the Government on whose behalf Dinesh Trivedi has presented the Budget. The present regime headed by ManMohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi set a wrong constitutional and political precedent when they succumbed to the old DMK gangster from Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi, when he forced the UPA regime to sack his nephew Dayanidhi Maran from the Cabinet ehen there was a feud between the sons and daughters of the several wives of that old fossil from Chennai. Since Man Mohan Singh created a bad precedent both constitutionally and politically by sacking Dayanidhi Maran, he is now hoist on his own petard. Had that Karunanidhi not done that act of having his nephew sacked, then the 2G scandal may not have happened and one of his daughters, Kanimozhi, may not have been caught in the biggest scandal of Independent India. Serves that old bandicoot right. The Minister for Railways is accountable to the Lok Sabha and Shri Man Mohan Singh must have the courage to tell the cotton sari Didi from Kolkotta that she cannot demand the sacking of a Minister on purely partisan grounds. As usual the Regine will prevaricate and in a day or two Trivedi will be shown the door and the same budget will be passed without anymore storms in Bengali tea cups.

The Union Budget is caught between two diametrically opposite objectives. It want to slightly bridge the growing fiscal deficit and at the same time raise resources by way of taxes without incurring the wrath of the allies who will face the wrath of the people in the next elections in a few months from now. The Budget does little to enhance growth and stimulate the economy. In fact the Budget will add to the inflationary pressure that already exists. Inflation will push up interest rates and hence the overall growth of the economy will around 5 to 6 % only. Social spending must be curtailed and the badger does little in that direction. The move to amend the foreign transactions taxation provision retrospectively from 1962 is legally questionable but that is the only way the Government can come out of the Vodofone mess. I think this provision must be passed on the grounds of necessity and I hope the Courts concur.

The budget remains a flawed document and in all probability will be tha last budget of this regime. The sooner it goes the better.

MAFIA CULTURE IN INDIA; WHY INDIA CAN AND WILL DO NOTHING ABOUT IT

The BJP always claims that it is more civilised than the Congress Party with its dynastic fascism and courtier culture. Many may be inclined to wonder after the recent train of events. Like the Congress Party, the BJP is riven with factionalism and the appointment of the National President, a man virtually unknown in the rest of India was a big mistake and the party is paying the price for this. I blame the leaders like Susma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for dividing the Party on favtional lines. Every bJP Government in India ia as corrupt and criminalised as the Congress Government and we wonder as we approach the next election: What is the alternative for India. Instead of introspecting and understanding the loss of its support base and the rapid erosion of its popularity, BJP is as usual indulging in gimmicks. With the exception of Gujarat all other BJP ruled states are as bad as the Congress rule, in some respects even worse.

Shivraj Chaouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, promised good governance and what he did was to hand over the state to various mafia groups who seem to enjoy the protection of the BJP big wigs. The routine murder of RTI activists and more recently the brutal killing of Shri Narendar Kumar an IPS officer by the timber Mafia is a brute reminder that the BJP ruled states are as bad as Congress ruled ones. What is worse, the government made an attempt to pass off the brutal killing as a mere accident. If police officers are killed so brutally while performing their duty then we have cause to be worried. Each time such events occur we in the media refer to the killers using a broad generalisation"mafia". We are unable to pin down the names behind the abstraction called the "mafia".The biggest mafia groups in the country are the political parties themselves and unless the Election Commission of India is empowered to audit their accounts nothing serious will happen.

Just think of the endless lists of mafias we read in the newspapers: Tendu leaf mafia, timber mafia, coal mafia, oil mafia, tanker mafia, NRGEA mafia, railway mafia, defence contractor mafia, infrastructure corridor mafia, dalit mafia, OBC mafia, muslim mafia, jat mafia, labour union mafia, land mafia. I can go on and on. The point is made. In India after successive Congress regimes the MAFIA have inherited the land. And the people van do nothing about it. It is time to make attack on public servants a serious offence. The police have lost all credibility due to the absolute spinelessness with which they fawn at the feet of the illiterate ministers and it is time the police took law into their own hands and protected themselves. If the police kill criminals then the wind call goes off that it is a"fake encounter" like the cry against the Tamil Nadu Police when they gunned down Veerappan. HumanRights's activists have nothing to lose and hence they court cheap popularity by indulging in inane rhetoric. If criminals are armed the police must be empowered to shoot to kill as is done is Western democracies like UK, France and USA. Even the Bhattala House event in which a police officer was killed is termed "fake encouter" by the like of Digvijaya Singha.

In 280 districts of India, some kind of mafia is operating and the Home minister is unable to do anything because his own political legitimacy is in question. Unless organised crime is dealt not as a mere law and order problem but as a serious political issue more honest officers will die. In Tamil Nadu when Kanimozhi's father was misruling the state 6 Thasildars were killed by the "sand mining" mafia. After a meagre compensation nothing more was done. Even Jayalalithaa has done nothing which only goes to show how deep rooted the rot is.

BJP kept Yeddurappa and his mining mafia, the Bellary Reddy Brothers, in power and the result is that in Karnataka the BJP will not be re elected ever again. It is time the politicians realise that the purpose of politics is service not crime and the people of India must not vote for criminals.

CHINA VS INDIA: THE TIME DEBATE

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

In the latest issue of Time is featured a debate, Which Economy will Rule the World? This debate sputters intermittently in the pages of News Magazines. While China receives a bad press because of the perceived threst to Western economic hegemony, India escapes scrutiny aas it hides behind the facade of dynastic fascism bolstered by periodic elections, as if India is an exemplar of a flourishing democratic state. Between India and China, I can say with all authority at my command that China, though a one Party state, the social indicators are all in favour of China. The country has been able to built world class educational institutions, provide clean water, housing and education along withnhealth care to its citizens. The standard of living oof an ordinary Chinese citizen is quite a few trimes better than it is in India. Even on the so-called human rights point of view China is quite a few notches higher. The Chinese policy of land acqusition makes it possible for those displaces to acquire stakes in the industry/ or enterprise that is established on their land. In India, as the example from Mayawati's UP and West Bengal show land is acquired by the state Governments in order to cater to the needs of private developers. India has a lot to leatrn from China.
Unfortunately since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress regimes have encouraged rivalry with China. India and China have shared 2000 years of peaceful coexistence which was disrupted by the foolish and perverted policies of Nehru. India should not have interfered in the internal affairs of Tibet. The policy of provoking the Chinese over Tibet turned out to be counterproductive as it did not serve the national interests of India. Even now, India is allowing itself to be used by the Western powers against China and this policy is not in India's interest.
China has pursued the policy of economic growth by stimulating the domestic demand and by developing a niche market for its products abroad. I remember when my daughter was a small child she used to play with little antique models of cars and all of them were made abroad in China. Today the Haier, a Chinese Company has entered the consumer electtronic market and already in Infdia the washing machines made by this Company enjoys a very good reputation. And China makes quality products for less than third the price.
China has emerges as a pioneer in fast trains. It is now possible to travel from Bejing to Lasha is 24 hours and this is a technologicaL FEAT that China can be legitimately be proud of. India on the other hand is still stuck in the nineteenth century and fast trins in India trave at 9- to 100 km per hour, a far cry from the sppeds in China. India claims that it is aleading soft ware power. Even here internet usage in China is higher and China has emerges as a global player in the hard ware market. The world's fastest computer with 3 trillion tetra flops was made by China.
India is held back by a corrupt and criminal political class represented by the Congress party. Dynastic fascism has led to corruption on a scale that is now threatening to tear the country apart. A criminal political class aided and abetted by the bureaucracy is riding rough shod over the civil society. While judicial activism has brought some relief to the people, there is no rule of law. Politicians still commit crimes with impunity and in spite of some high profile politicians cooling their heels in Tihar jail, there is no rule of law in India. In China politicians are executed for corruption and I would like to see this law in India as well.
I personally feel that China has surpassed India in every sphere and there is no point is taliking about competition between the two. CHINA is superior in every aspect.

A TRIBUTE TO A SPECIAL WOMAN ON WOMAN'S DAY

I cannot say for certain when she came into my life. I cannot even say whether I mean anything to her more than a dear friend. But her presence in my life has enriched me and made me a positive and committed human being. As I look back on the women in my life somehow my entire life seems to arranged such that our meeting was inevitable. The rough patches in my life, and there were several, all seemed stepping stones leading me to her. Like a breath of fresh mountain air, she cleansed my soul of many many horrible thoughts and she taught me the absolute virtue of leaving to God the judgement of our deeds and those who have tresspassed against me. By teaching me the simple but profound lesson of bhakthi she opened my mind to the endless vistas of spiritual awareness and I am richer for it. She taught me to take lefe as it came along and not demand of it what it cannot and will not offer. She taught me to accept the reality of my life with utter equanimity. And, yes, I am a better human being for that.

She taught me the virtue of simplicity. To lead a life without rancour and self hatred. She taught me to forgive and move on because her presence in my life makes this life so beautiful. She brought healing when the wounds were raw and putrid. She taught me to hold on to the values that make life worthliving and she brought God back into my life. For this I remain eternally grateful to her. She keeps me in her life with grace and dignity and this very act make my life secure and keeps me from falling off the deep end. My heart is heavy when I think of her. But life goes on. Memory has built a shrine for her in my heart and there she resides in all her glory. She is mine in memory and will always be. I have not been a light presence in her life and yet not once has shown her impatience to me. She treated me with grace and I worship this goddess of truth, beauty and love. Sometimes I am angry at what has happened. But then I look back and grasp in my minds' eye the enormity of her presence in my life. And I think to myself that it was destiny that brought me to her and her to me and I cannot escape destiny. This is a wonderful world and on Woman's Day I thank the Almight for having made the paths of our life cross.

2012 Assembly Elections and their Implications for UPA II

he results of the 2012 Assembly Elections are finally out and just as I predicted the Congress was soundly routed in all states except Manipur. The defeat of the Congress in the politically significant states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will have a bearing on the survival of the U PA regime in New Delhi. The dual headed hydra--Sonia and ManMohan--never the best of constitutional arrangement has been decisively rejected by the people. Even in Uttarkahnad the difference between the Congress and the BJP is only one seat and so the Congress cannot crow about its victory. Pretty Face, Rahul Gandhi, has been shown to be an electoral non-starter and with an encore performance as in Bihar, the significance of the "dynasty" in the politics of Northern India stands considerably diminished. I cannot say that the electorate has dealt a death blow to dynastic fascim as Akilesh Yadava, the son of Mulayam Singh Yadava has been given a mandate to rule and his only claim to fame is that he is the son of Mulayam Singh Yadava. Until the people of India learn to disregard birth and lineage and start voting on the basis of the merits of the candidates on offer, India cannot be regarded as a mature democracy.

Rahul Gandhi behaved as if he has the right of birth to high office. The result has been a know-out blow to the pretensions of the Congress "yuvaraja". The coutriers that his young yuvaraja had gathered, the likes of Salman Kurshid, Digvijaya Singh, Beni Prasad Verma and others, all stand exposed. The Congress played the worst kind of identityu politics when they raised the bogey of "reservations " for Muslims knowing well that it will polorise the voters. The voters of UP have right;ly rejected identity politics based on religion. The defeat of Mayawati shows that even identiry politics based on caste was rejected by the UP voter. Rahuls behavior on the campaign trail was erratic to say the least. Throwing garlands back to the crowd something his grandmother used to do, did not go down well with the voters. He is just too young for this kind of patronizing conduct. Tearing up paper in public and other such gestures was not liked by the people. Above all his comment that people of UP are beggars who work in Mumbai has cost the Congress dear. I belong to Gorakhpur and do not like my people to be so characterized.

The victory of the Samajwadi Party will unleash the forces of caste goondaism in UP. The 5 years of Dalit rule has made people of UP politically aware and conscious and they will not take kindly to Yadava hegemony. I think there will be an increase in the social temperature in UP because of the victory of the Yadava dominated SP. The Muslims have returned to the SP this time round and so we can expect a great deal of communal violence in UP as a consequence of SP victory. I think the victory of the SP will soon be regretted by the people of UP. And the prospects for the survival of UPA II have sharply decreased as a result. The performance of the Congress is so bad that in the next Lok Sabha elections if we are to extrapolate from these results, Congress will win less than n6 seats.

The BJP fared very poorly though there has been a slight increase in the voting percentage. I think the choice of candidates was faulty because of factionalism Uma Baharathi tried her best and failed. I think the Party must craft a social coalition based on a unity between upper castes, backward Rajputs and dalits. Only such an orientation will help the BJP in the next General Election. In Punjab as I predicted the Akalis and the BJP have won. The Congress stands humiliated. I do not know how the Congress could even hope to get Sikh votes after its criminal massacre of Sikhs in 1984. I hold the Congress Party responsible for this massacre and I think its leaders need to be punished. Anyway Punjab has redeemed itself by rejecting the Congress.

Political instability will now increase and I think India is headed for a poll in 2013.

The secrets of the Vatican Archives

The recent decision of the Vatican to reveal the secret documents that that lain hidden in its extensive secret achives is a welcome step. For centuries the Vatican has hoarded its documents and this tendency has of course fueled speculation that often results in conspiracy theories doing the rounds. If the Vatican had embraced the principle of openess and transparency, the sordid sage of the Da Vinci Code could have been avaided. Speculation enters where there is an opaque blanket of fog and the only way to dispel it is by exposure to the searching light of historical scrutiny and thia is exactly what the Pope has done.The Secret Archives of the Vatican extend over 85 miles of shelves and the alcoves are stuffed with records going back to the fall of the Raman Empire. It is sometimes said that the very altar of the cathedral on Capitol Hill is located on the tomb of Saint Peter. The velum documents and richly illustrated Bibles are really a treasure that belongs to the whole world and Vatican is doing us a favor by putting them on public displayThe secret documents contain records of the Trial of the Knights Templars when the entire order was proscribed and the Knights hunted and burnt at the stake. The record of the Inquisition form another interesting category of documents. The excommunication of the great reformer, Martin Luther, which unleashed the Protestant movement or the Lutheran movement is another interesting historical record. The signed retreaction of Galileo who was forced to withdraw his famous book in which he put forth his heliocentric theory of the universe in opposition to the theory favored by the Catholic Church is another interesting document. During the Second World War when the Germans were busy exterminating the Jews,the Holocaust, the Roman Catholic Church remained a silent spectator. There are also historians like David Goldhagen who argue that the Church was an active accomplce in the Holocaust. The secret archives may shed light on this rather sordid chapter in the history of the church.Openess and transparecy have never been the guiding principles of any totalitarian religious movement and the Catholic Church is not an exception. However the decision to display the secret archives and to upload part of the Archives on to the WEb site are certainly welcome.
Among the more tragic documents is the letter written by Jean'darc as she awaited her fate at the hands of the English.

The Murder of Gigapedia: The world stands impoverished

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Elizebeth Eisenstein in her study entitled The Printing Press as an Agent of Change argued that it was the availability of knowledge across class lines that paved the way for the great changes that we now associate with the Industrial Revolution and the Scientific Revolution. The printed book was empowering because it broke the monopoly of the clerical and the warrior groups to literacy and in the eighteenth century we see the sons and grandsons of artisans and peasants emerge as scientists and inventors. Just think of James Watt and George Stephenson. Unfortunately in the poorer parts of the world which became the site aggressive colonisation, the advent of the Internet in the first decade of the 20th century was in many ways the beginning of the print or knowledge revolution which Europe witnessed in the eighteenth century. It is this historic change that is being undermined and subverted by the hopelessly criminal act of the US Congress in forcing knowledge sharing sites like Gigapedia to shut down. Non White researchers and students who do not have access to world class libraries like New York Public Library, Harvard University Library or the Library of Congress were avid and dedicated users of Gigapedia and up to date knowledge was available at the click of a mouse. The forced shut down of sites like Gigapedia is a direct assault on the right of every human being to education and cultural improvement, rights enshrined in the UNESCO charter and several international conventions and treaties.

The Gigapedia was not a piracy site. It was only a file sharing site that was not doing business when it allowed students and teachers from the non white parts of the world to read and store books and journals. It did not make its vast collection of books into a monopoly. On the contrary, it allowed access in a truly democratic manner to all without any restriction. Even Microsoft which funded the Gutenberg Collection is slowly making access more and more difficult and everyday the number of books available for free download is actually decreasing. Gigapedia, like Wikipedia has supporters all over the world and we must educate,organise and agitate over the efforts to curtail our right to knowledge. The corporate interests of USA and Europe are making efforts to curtail our freedoms and the assault on Julian Assange and the Wikileaks is just one of the more egregious of such attempts. Gigapedia was not in the business of exposing corporate secrets or scandals. It only provided a platform for interested scholars and researchers to interact. The Book Reviews on the site were more impressive than those found in NYRB or the Times Literary Supplement. We were getting access to the best minds this globe had to offer and we all stand impoverished as a few smug white men in burlap suits sitting in the US Congress decide that our quest from knowledge can be equated to the corporate greed for profits. Like the battle against Slavery, this battle too has to be won and I know that our side will win. Welcome to the fight as Lazlo says in Casablanca.

I teach in an Indian University and my area of teaching includes Global History and Historiography. Every semester I used to burn CDs with all the important books downloaded in the pdf format and gave the cds to the students. In our University nearly 60% of the stdent population owns a Laptop or desk top computer and there are nearly 800 to 1000n systems on Campus including an all night reading room with Computers which run on the Linux Operating System. Gigapedia was heaven to us as we could now make are students globally competitive. That dream lies cruelly shattered due to the mistaken priorities of the US political class. And both the Democrats and Republicans are united on this one issue.

I appeal to all those engaged in Teaching, Research and connected with the industry of education to take up the cause of saving knowledge sharing sites like Gigapedia or library.nu.