Pondicherry: The land of PI and Richard Parker: A Historical Exploration of the landscape

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a novel set in Pondicherry, at least a part of it. Recently I read the book and being a historian by inclination and profession decided to locate the sights and scenes of the novel in the actual real context. The surreal echoes of the novel in some ways reflects the very real spiritual ambiance of the city, I had an earlier opportunity to research the history and built heritage of Pondicherry when Professor J A K Tareen requested me to do the Pages from History. Since then I have been interested in the past of this city where I have lived and worked for more than a quarter of a century, a city I now consider my home as my child was born here. The past creeps upon you in Pondicherry" the names of the streets, the town planning with is grid like pattern of streets and residential areas, the division of the town into a black town--ville noir-- and a white town--ville blanche--the churches and temples and above all the spiritual radiance from the Ashram which houses the graves of both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Any visitor to this city leaves a part of his soul behind when he or she leaves.Life of Pi is also a story of struggle, longing and memory making it a great piece of contemporary literature. The novel is a first person narrative of a boy,Piscine Moiltor Patel, named after a swimming pool in France. The French presence is still heavy in Pondicherry, The history of Pondicherry really began when the French East India Company in the late seventeenth century acquired a piece of land on which it buit Fort Barlong, perhaps the very site of the Government Park which stands opposite the Governor's Palace in the heart of the White Town. We know a good deal about the life and conditions in Pondicherry in the eighteenth centry due to the fortuitous survival of the Journal of a bi lingual trader and merchant of the town, Ananda Ranga Pillai. In the early centuries of the Christian era, when Rome was the most powerful empire in the world, the emporia of Podule is mentioned by the Roman geographer, Pliny. Perhps it sttod close to the placid waters of the Ariyankuppam River.

Close by the archaeological site of Arikamedu are the remains of the Jesuit House built in the eighteenth century. Local legend has it that the bricks used for the construction came from the archaeologica

The wars between the French East India Company and thhe English East India Company, a part of the global struggle for supremacy played itself out with great fury in Southern India and Pondicherry bore the brunt of the destruction during the wars. The American War of Independence and the Anglo-French struggle for supremacy called the Carnatic Wars by historians are both parts of the same historical moment. The English defeat in North America made the East India Company ever more intense in its determination to conquer India and defeat the French. A contemporary wood cut illustrates the destruction of the city.

he war memorial erected by the soldier who won the Battle of Buxar, General Hector Munro in memory of a soldier who was killed in one of the battle for control over the fortified town of Pondicharry stands near the entrance to the town. A contemporary report refers to the fall of Pondicherry and calls the area Red Hills now corrupted as Gori Medu.

i must have seen and wondered what this monument represented. Such memorials re common all over the battle grounds of the English and the French. In the eighteenth century the town of Pondicherry acquired the shape that it has today. The map given below illustrates the town as is would have been at the time of the Napoleonic Wars in the late eighteenth century. There was a real fear that the alliance between Tippu Sultan and the France would result in ann invasion of Pondicherry. There are references to a Jardin de Botanique in historical souces of the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Pi and Richard Parker lived in the contemporary Botanical Garden which was established by Poivore in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. When Victor Jacquemont visited the garden in 1829 he saw more than 900 spices of plants spread over an area of 1.5 arpents. The French were great gardeners and where ever they went they established gardens which had both economic and botanical purposes. The French were interested in introducing new plants from their overseas territories. Trees with economic and military potential were particularly sought after. We have evidence of Mahogany, Teak, Rubber and other economically advantageous plants and trees being introduced. Richard Parker lived amidst trees which were nearly 200 years old. Some pictures of Richard Parkers's home.

he grave of the founder of the Botanical Garden is located within the Jardin de Botanique. Surely Pi must have played hide and seek there. Perottet was responsible for bringing hundreds of seeds and planting them in this veritable Garden of Rden in which Richard Parker lived. The tall tress in the Jardin de botanique have faces the vagaries of the monsoons for over 2 centuries.

Pi experimented with different religions and this shocked his family. At one point he says that he is a Hindu, Muslim and Christian. The religious atmosphere in Pondicherry is indeed quite eclectic. The Bussy street Mosque is a famous landmark of Pondicherry. There is no way of proving it, but local tradition has it that after Hyder Ali dies in Dindigul his body was smuggled back to Mysore and on the way prayers were offered in this mosque. The town in which Pi grew up was filled with beautiful relics from the French past. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception located on Mission Street still retains its Gallic extravagant beauty.

There is a native belief that the Temple dedicated to Lord Siva stood at this site. However there is no archaeological or historical evidence to link this monument to the temple whose destruction was ordered by Dupliex and recorded as such by Ananda Ranga Pillai. Beautiful stained glass windows are found in all the major churches of Pondicherry and this one illustrates Jean d'arc. Much of the architectural heritage of Pondicherry is due to the interest taken by Napoleon III during the Second Empire (1848-1871). The nephew of the famous Bonaparte, Napoleon III was interested in transforming Pondicherry into a vibrant capital of the French Outre Mer. One striking example is in the Government Parade Ground later converted into a Park. Now the place is called Bharati Park and perhaps Fort Louis stood on this exact site. While the palce was being beautified recently a number of interesting historical objects were uncovered including the remains of an underground staircase.

This monument in typical neo classical style records the legend surrounding the excavation of the large artificial tank at Mutrapalayam. The view of the same structure in the late noineteenth century is given below.

here are frequent references to ports, and harbours in the Life of Pi. In fact his father charters a ship, a cargo ship to ferry the animals of the zoo, including Orange Juice, Richard Parker and the Hyena along with his family to Canada and the cargo ship sets sail from Pondicherry. In the last century Pondicherry was a road stead and with the opening of the Suez Canal the port of Pondicherry started exporting ground nuts, oil seeds and cotton goods. A contemporary photograph gives us a glimpse of the port of Pondicherry. The Port building itself has become the Le Cafe Cafeteria on the Promenade.

The stretch of the sea shore now known as the Promenade appears frequently in the Life of Pi. The Asram Swimming Pool whre Pi learnt to swim is located at the far end of this stretch of the road.

he Light house visible was built in 1838. The story behid the construction of this Lighthouse is interesting and is recorded in the Annales Martimes. Apparently the large chiney of the Porto Novo Iron ans Steel Works located near Cuddalore was visible to the sailors and many of the ships mistook the flaring chimney to be a lighthouse and headed straight to the dangerous shoals and sand bars. To warn the sailors of the impending danger this light house was constructed and is now a major landmark of Pondicherry. The custom house is located close by

Accoding to the inscription in French the statue of Dupliex was reected by Governor BonTemps when Napoleon III was in power. After sending him in chains from Pondicherry, this great patriot was recognised as a hero of the French Nation hundered years later during the waning days of the Second Empire. The statue stands on pillars--spolia-- from Hindu temples and after Independence this statue and the pedestal were removed. Pondicherry remains to this day a beautiful city. Though the culture of the place has deteriorated and lawlessness is rampant and the city or Union Territory suffers from the close nexus between politicians and criminals, tourists like to see the LAND OF PI. Richard Parker Pondicherry is your real home and we will bring you back from Mexico. The statue shown above ignited a furious controversy in the 1770's when Richard Parker and Pi perhaps lived in Pondicherry. As a site of memory the statue of a white man standing on a pedestal of hindu gods was found to be offensive" to local sensibilities, a century after it was erected. The statue was removed and exiled to the far end of the beach. If Richard Parker and Pi were to return they would find this familiar landmark gone.

Asis Nandy and Corruption in India: Is Corruption caste sensitive in India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Asis Nandy is the infant terrible of Indian political journalism. From time to time he stirs up the hornet's nest and there is considerable speculation for some time. India today has become both caste conscious and status conscious and there is no neat fir between the two. In the past political power was in the hands of the educated elite which had some values. Post Independence brought mass democracy to India and with the vote came the temptations of power. The Other Backward Classes ot the OBCs as they are derisively referred to in India are the most powerful political grouping in India and they have administrative, political and muscle power. If we look at the list of the mega corrupt in India we find that they are usually of the OBC variety. Laloo Prasad Yadava has become the symbol of corruption due to his involvement in the Fodder Scam. For the benefit of my readers who may not know let me describe what the fodder scam is. Money meant for animal welfare was swindled to an alarming extent and Laloo and his political cronies were directly the beneficiaries of the scandal. The corruption and mal administration made Laloo lose the election. Other OBC politicians like Kalmadi, Mulayam Singh Yadava, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Sharad Pawar are all involved in corruption and there corrupt deals are common knowledge. Even the BJP has had its share of corrupt OBC politicians: Nitin Gadkari is the most recent. There is nothing wrong in what Asis Nandy has said. The OBCs in the IAS are notorious for their corruption. The recent conviction of the IAS officer Neera Yadava the former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh is a case in point. OBC officers have accumulated tonnes of gold which has beeb recovered in raids ususally conducted by other OBCs and so perhaps like the Kula ring reciprocity and exchange govern these transactions. What Asis Nandy has said is usually spoken in hushed tones in the privacy of ones home. People are afraid of the "goonda" support enjoyed by the OBCs and hence even the press keeps quiet. In Tamil Nadu the backward caste have been in power since 1967 and the state is a cultural desert with atrocities against dalits increasing by the day. Asis Nandy has provoked outrage by his remarks because in these days of Indentity sensitivity which borders on political correctness one does not talk about OBC corruption. The dalits are not on the same scale for the simple reason there is more value formation in the dalit society and also there is fear of being scapegoated by powerful OBC officers. In the medival scam of the dalit queen bee in UP all the officers involved were OBCs. Asis Nandy has not said anything objectionable. He has spoken the truth.

Rahul Gandhi's Coronation: The Triumph of Dynastic Fascism in India

One of the promises of Indian freedom movement was the transformation of India from a society of privilege based on birth to a society of "opportunity" albeit not equal opportunity for all. The Congress Party by nakedly promoting dynastic rule has broken this historical contract between the people and the Constitution. With the sole exception of North Korea,no other country has established a dynastic rule in the name of democracy and this truth itself highlights the absolute hollowness of Indian claims to being the world's largest democracy. The usual justification given is that other countries like the USA have dynasties: the Kennedys and the Bushes etc. What the apologists for dynastic fascism do not realize is that there are dynasties within the Republican and the Democratic parties, the Congress in India is the only dynasty which possesses a political party and its members are not politicians serving a public cause but courtiers fawning and grovelling at the feet of the Dynasty. The very presence of the Congress and its Dynasty on the political landscape is an affront to the dignity of India and its people. The hidden cost of dynastic rule is borne by the people of India. Political accountability for actions done by public personalities is just not there. Even the very idea of public accountability is alien to the political culture fostered by the dynastic fascist, Congress party. Congressmen are routinely accused of rapes and murders and because of the clout of the factions aligned to the ruling family are able to escape the long arms of the law. In Rajastan a leading Congressman and a Minister in the cabinet had his concubine killed and her body disposed off using another Congress MLA. In Himachal Pradesh a Congress MLA who was recently elected in on the run having been accused of the rape and murder of a young girl. Congress Ministers even from pre Independence days are notorious for raking in the moolah and Jawaharlal Nehru's Planning Raj made it possible for ministers to indulge in unlimited corruption in the name of "socialism" and "Party Funds". Since there is no legal requirement in India for the audit of Party Funds, there is the practice of parking ill-gotten wealth in party coffers and hence the temptation to covert political parties into family possessions. The Congress Party was responsible for this horrible tradition is followed by all regional allies of the Congress. The DMK in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has already undergone the transition to full blown dynastic rule as the 2 sons of the old bandicoot called Kaunanidhi are engages in a full fledged war of succession. We hope the two sons fight to the finish. Dynastic fascism of the sort encouraged by the Congress has undermined rule of law. The mass killings of Sikhs in 1984 after the death of one of their leaders is a direct fall out of the dynastic politics. The son of the dead leader was named her successor and local party leaders like Jagdish Tytler, HKL Bhagat, Lalit Makken and Sajjan Kumar organised mass killings of innocent Sikhs in the name of the Party and the ruling dynasty in order to prove the loyalty to the new crown price. The Crown Price famously said: When a big tree falls the earth shakes. Retribution caught up with this man when he himself was mercilessly eliminated a few years later. The elevation of Rahul Gandhi to the Vice Presidency of the Congress Party in in line with the dynastic fascist ideology of the Congress Party. The fact is that the people of India are sick and tired of the corruption, criminality and monumental mis governance of the ruling party and its allies. The BJP is caught in its own internal factional squabbles and unless the Hon'ble Narendar Modi is given the reins of the Party it is unlikely that the party will do well in the next elections. The regional parties are emerging stronger and that is the unfortunate fallout of the opportunistic politics of dynasty, corruption and crime.

Civil Society Activism and Crime Against Women in India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The death of the gang rape victim in a hospital in Singapore has led to an upsurge of emotion in New Delhi and other parts of urban India. Candle light vigils, black ribbon marches, placards displaying solidarity with the victim, named Nirbhaya or fearless by the doctors of Safdrajang Hospital in recognition of her valiant battle to live, which she ultimately lost. The anger against the criminal political class is palpable but unlike the Arab Spring which was ignited by the fiery protest of a street vendor and spread the the rest of the Arab world from Tunisia, these protests will not do much to change the system. The one man one vote and first past the winning post system of elections has atomized Indian society that the aggregate vote is actually controlled by the political parties which are not afraid of such protests because they are actually a mass of individual protests within a spontaneous field of reaction. The political parties particularly the dynastic fascists know that the tempo of protest cannot be sustained until the next election. Is there a way out? The liberal intelligentsia has been claiming that the rape of the Delhi girl and the sustained brutality to which her body was subjected is a symptom of the "rage" of the underclass Marinate this argument with a critic of the neo liberal economuc agenda and you have that thundering darling of the West, Arunditti Roy coming up with the argument that rape of the Delhi girl was only a protest against "poverty" and "marginalization".What this argument fails to consider and hence dangerous if it starts attracting attention is that it is an overt endorsement of crime against women. Perhaps the novelist in Roy does not quote comprehend the implications of her own argument. Another point is that most of the perpetrators of such crimes,and I am going only by anecdotal evidence, are from the OBC castes. The politically correct media will not highlight this fact, but it is germane to the discussion. In fact all the six arrested rapists of the Delhi girl were from the slums of Delhi and were from castes which historically have been violent. The bad old days of the British Raj they were called "criminal tribes and castes". I am only suggesting that in the name of woolly liberalism we should not loose sight of ground realities and forget history. The liberals in the Indian establishment seem to be advocating a jurisprudence predicated upon caste hierarchy. If the criminals are from the lower castes then their ctrimes can be ignored and if the victim is a dalit then the crime become all the more serious. Such relativism of crime has led to political interference making it impossible for the police to tackle the crime. There is another factor. Too uch civil society activism on frivolous issues spear headed by Arvind Kejriwal has led to the dilution of civil society as a force in Indian public life.

Martha Nussbaum's Tirade Against Narendar Modi

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books We have always known that American academics are servitors of the state and Martha has just demonstrated the truth of the statement by releasing a statement criticizing Hon'ble Narendar Modi, the newly reelected Chief Minister of Gujarat, saying that his election is a "blot" on Gujarat. As a recent convert to Judaism, Martha perhaps does not want to even refer to the atrocities against the Palestinians by her coreligionists armed and supported by the weapons supplied by her very own US of A. Of course she does not have a word of criticism against USA for the genocide it has done in Iraq on the patently fraudulent WMD argument. I feel that Professor Noam Chomsky, and I differ from him on political issues, has intellectual honesty and integrity which this distinguished Professor of Ethics sorely lacks. Martha Nussbaum, a white woman with a highly privileged upbringing in Hew York and an exclusive education in the Classics with a doctorate from Harvard, is no mean academic. She is a distinguished scholar in her own right and I am not questioning her scholarship. I am questioning her academic integrity in pointing out some blatant falsehoods in her tirade against the Chief Minister of Gujarat. A philosopher cannot be selective in his or her gaze. If Martha is concerned about the plight of Muslims in Gujarat and I do not doubt her interest, then she must take a public stand against the humiliations imposed on people travelling to the USA having moslem names. Of course as a convert to Judaism she has no real interest in Muslims or their plight. Her concern is in the Aristotelian sense purely rhetorical: Liberal ideology demands an anti Modi posture and Martha adopts it. Further, the US lawmakers too have written to their Secretary of State and so Martha joins in the chorus of clowns,whistling in the dark about the Hon'ble Chief Minister. I am surprised at the passionate intensity with which these liberal anti India Modi baiters jump almost at cue. We will not find the Martha of the world talking about American war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently the drone attacks on civilians all over the world. But she is filled with rage at Modi and what for? The 2002 Riots have been investigated by the highest judiciary of the land. Martha is supposed to be a Professor of Law and as such I expect her to have respect for judicial process. But No. If Modi is found innocent then the judges are at fault. What Martha wants is a Wild West type of hanging judge who will play to the gallery. I do not know what kind of law youn have learnt ot r teach. In my understanding this is not law: it is inquisition and a liberal inquisition always portrays itself in the rainments of moral superiority. And we in India know far too much about the USA and its black deeds to be taken in by the pretenses of the Marthas of the world. A philosopher is not an ideologue. He or she searches after truth, elusive though it may be. Martha Nussbaum has not bothered to keep abreast of the developments on the judicial front. Her source perhps is Teesta Setelvad who was convicted for perjury in the Best Bakery case for bribing the witness. The Courts have not found an iota of evidence against the Hon'ble Narendar Modi. But as Karl Popper stated so many decades back, ideologues are not interested in truth or facts. They are only interested in projecting lies, half truths and distortions which are repeated so many times that they end up appearing as truth to the non discerning mind. Martha has been saying things that are purely speculative to put it mildly or she is lying in the interest of her ideological allies. Martha Nussbaum has done splendid work inthe field of Human Capability building and if she applies her own theories to Gujarat she will find that (1) the quality of life has improved over the past 10 years (2) schools drop out rate has gone down and girl children enrollment in very high in Gujarat (3) health care even for heart and kidney ailments is availble to the poor and needy. Unlike USA where the unseemly debate over health care is still raging. at least the Hon'ble Narendar MOdi has done one better that Barack Obama, And in a democracy the will of the people must be respected. Even in Muslim areas the Hon'ble Chief Minister has registered resounding victories. Professor Martha Nussbaum has gone completely off the deep end on this issue. Many of us who respected her views and taught her ideas will now rethink our positions. A woman who is so blatantly racist in making damning comments about a tall national leader on the basis of propaganda and lies does not need to be taken seriously. Her position on Narendar Modi is akin to the Holocaust deniers- refuse historical facts which are empirically verifiable for woolly ideologically charged rhetoric. Martha you have shown yourself to be a cheap white supremist who does not dare criticize his or her own countey for all its crimes but become fashionably outrages at a non existent crime. If you are all that concerned, Martha, why do you keep quiet on Why are you quiet about the human rights record of Israel? Is it because you are a recent convvert to Judaism? Really how does one convert to Judais mwhat the Congress Party did in 1984 when its workerrs killed more than 15,000 Sikhs all over northern India.

CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA; THE STREET PROTESTS

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books India is fast becoming a country where women are no longer safe. As the father of a young teenager I am concerned about the sort of society in which young girls will enter. In the work place sexual harassment of women has become almost routine and women mostly either quit their jobs or deal with it using administrative procedure which are usually ineffective. In the domestic sphere violence against women has acquired social sanction in that even the police are reluctant to register cases against the guilty party and even the rare case that come up for trial usually ends in an acquittal as the legal process is so cumbersome and weighed against the victim that the woman just gives up. As India is becoming more open to a neo liberal economy, women have started entering the job market and they face exploitation and worse. In Banglore women soft ware professionals returning home in the Company car have been raped and murdered and the sentence given is so negligible that the message goes out loud and clear that violence against women is not a priority. The statistics for what in India is called "dowry deaths" is just appalling. Every minute a woman is being burnt alive for dowry and the conviction rate for such murders is extremely low and the law is not being enforced. The surprising sociological fact is that groups which did not have "dowry" as part of their social customs have now started demanding dowry and this new development is leading to a lot of social problems. In New Delhi, a Congress politician killed herself and her 2 year old daughter due to harassment by the in-laws for dowry. It took a full week for the police to even register the case. Such is the apathy even in the capital. There have been a series of extremely horrific attacks on women over the past few months and each is worse than the previous. Women and girls from schools, colleges and universities are out protesting, demanding security. Given the fact that a corrupt, criminal dynastic fascist regime is clinging to power in New Delhi we do not expect any change. The fact is that the political climate is so uncertain that criminals feel emboldened to commit crimes as they know that the Congress Party is there to protect them. All the serious cases hace happened only in Congress ruled states: New Delhi, Haryana and Rajastan. However isolated cases have been reported from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Munbai, another Congress ruled state. The governance is so bad that people have lost faith in the ability and the competence of the governments to enforce the law. There have been more than 600 cases of rape reported so far this year and this figure is nowhere close to the actual figure because rape is usually not reported due to the stigma associated with it. The worst and the most barbaric attack happened in New Delhi when a young woman and her fried were attacked and the girl raped onm a moving bus on the Outer Ring Road, New Delhi. The girl was gang raped and stabbed with beer bottles and iron rods and thrown out of the bus. The barbarity of this attack finally shocked the nation and the 6 residents of a slum in Delhi were arrested. The false veneer of political correctness has led the print and the electronic media to cover the crimes committed by the slum dwellers of New Delhi with a politically correct gloss. The barbarity of the most recent attack finally led to the exposure of the fact that most of the violent crimes were the handiwork of men living in the slums which surround the city. The requirement of registering these migrants and finger printing them is resisted by the fashionable liberal left whose daughters go the work and schools in cars and do not use public transport. The liberal left is high on rhetoric and low in actual concern for the underprivileged. Finally the message has sunk home. The politicians are not interested in undertaking any steps to bring about even a modicum of security. The MPs used the protests against rape aa an opportunity to be photographed and appear as if they are concerned. The fact is that the vast majority of Indian's MPs are actually criminals awaiting trail for violent crimes like murder, rape, rioting ect. I hope that the Indian people decide not to vote for criminals and f they send criminals to Parliament then their daughters are not safe. I hope the thick skulled Indians learn this lesson before it is too late. For the past 8 years we have seen unending corruption, mismanagement of Indian resources, unending acts of terrorism and now appalling acts of violence against women. The demand is now being made for the introduction of death sentence for rapists. The scandal is that the former President, a lawyer by profession and a woman one Prathiba Patil commuted the death sentence on 20 rapists who killed their victims. Such is the sad reality of the enforcement of law. It is difficult enough to secure conviction in Indian courts and this woman caomes along and commutes the sentence. What justice can one expect if a woman like Prathiba Patil is made President by a crimainal organization like the Congress.

The Dreamer: A great production by the Study, Kalapet

The season of joy is infectious. The birth of the Lord and Saviour brings forth the best in people. The clebration of the birth of Christ in The Study, Kalapet was done in a spectacular manner. The theme chosen was the stoy of Joseph who is sold into slavery by his brothers and with his inate talent of interpretting dreams he wins the confidence of the Pharoah and becomes the Chief Grain Officer of the Kingdom of Egypt. As is always the case with stories from the Old Testament, there is a twist in the tail. The brothers who solf Joseph into slavery come in search of food and in a magnificent gesture of reconciliation, Joseph forgives his brothers and is helped by him to overcome the s distress. Seven years of Plenty and seven of famine as predicted by Joseph was the fulfillment of the will of God. In the season of love, the story of Joseph sends the right message. The theme sketched above was enacted by the students of the Study, a school in Kalapet, Pondicherry. The School was established by the renowned heart surgeon Dr K M Cherian who was awarded a D Sc Honoris Causa by Pondicherry University in 2010 in recognition of the great work done in the field of surgery. He attended the function along with hisgrand daughter, Shirin. His message was a very inspiring one and I am sure that the students would have been inspired.The Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry UNiversity, Professor J A K Tareen and MRs Tareen attended the function. As always, Professor J A K Tareen gave a very gracious speech which touched everyone's heart. His presence added to the ocassion. The Principal sang an extremely difficult series of movements and she did a splendid job of it. I enjoyed the Dreamer and congratulate the school and its students for a job well come. A few visuals of the Dreamer:

A student with the Vice Chacellor of Pondicherry University, Prof. J A K Tareen and Mrs Tareen

Dr K M Cherian addressing the gathering

Thet trial of Joseph

A song sequence

The Principal

The Dance Sequence The music was superrb and the constumes well designed. The Dreamer was a treat and a perfect choice for the season of our Lord.

The Indian Ideology by Perry Anderson Reviewed

Perry Anderson, the author of The Indian Ideology i8s a well known historian and the author of Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism and the Lineages of the Absolutist State. In this book reviewed in this blog, Perry Anderson has raised questions which Indian historians writing history in nthe service of the nation state have failed to ask. Worse anyone even attempting a critical analysis of the Nehruvian Era is dismissed as a "communal" historian,a label which makes serious historiography well neigh impossible. The result is that modern Indian historiography is dominated by myths which are repeated without the slightest fear of being exposed as myths. The political trauma of 1947 created not one but two identity based states and while Pakistan is content with its status as an Islamic confessional state, India under Nehru has pretended to be a "secular" state and as Perry Anderson has shown the Congress even at the height of its popularity in the 1930s did not attract more than 3% of its membership from the Muslim community. The conceit of the Congress Party that it represented the entire nation made the party reluctant to seek accommodation with the Muslim League and contri8buted to the process of India getting fragmented. In Indian historiography this episode is usually painted as the wily Jinnah manipulating the Viceroy behind the backs of the Congress leadership when most of them were in Jail. The truth lies as Perry Anderson points out in the arrogance of the Congress leadership which refused to compromise with the League even when Jinnah showed a keen desire to engage with the Congress. The second point that Perry Anderson makes which deserves serious consideration is the fact that the Elections held under the 1935 Government of India Act the Congress did not win even a single Muslim seat. And when the Congress leadership decided to quit office in 1939 after the declaration of war, the field was open for the league to interact with the Muslim masses and further its ends. Rather than blaming the League, the politics of the Congress needs to be reassessed. Another myth exposed by Perry Anderson which stands modern Indian historiography on its head is the acknowledgement that the Congress pursued a communal agenda and the violence directed against Muslims during Partition emanated from Congress men rather than the favorite whipping boy of the liberals, the RSS. Given the fact that the Congress was responsible for the biggest massacre of post Independent India when thugs of the Congress Party killed more than 15,0000 Sikhs in north India and successive Congress regimes have abetted in the crime by ensuring that the perpetrators are not brought to justice, the analysis of Perry Anderson is certainly close to the truth. The historians maintained by the state lie Bipan Chandra and S Gopal do not seem to understand that the very dynamics of the movement led by the Congress contributed to the violence of Partition. Perry Anderson's analysis of the Nehruvian era from 1947 to 1964 is not only accurate but is also a sophisticated study of Nehru's methods of statecraft. As Anderson points out Nehru did not run a Government, he presided over a Court with fourth rate individuals like Krishna Menon, O Mathai, B M Kaul etc. The result was the political disaster in 1962 when India was soundly defeated by China. Anderson rightly points out that the McMohan Line which Nehru took as sacrosanct was the result of British chicanery and China showed every willingness to negotiate. But given the arrogance inherent in the Nehruvian vision of India, there was no place for negotiation or diplomacy: Throw the Chinese out was the motto of the so called forward policy which led to disaster. In suppressing the Revolt of the Nagas after Independence, Nehru permitted his Army, armed with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to indulge in extra legal killings and human rights abuses on a monumental scale and the result is there form all to see. And in Kashmir also the same policy of using a local collaborator, Sheikh Abdullah and then discard him when he began to take Plebiscite promised by Nehru too seriously. Amd all this while quiety promoting his dynasty which still unfortunately is in power. The Indian Ideoly is a great book and all students of modern Indian history must read this book. Nehru was a giant with feet of clay and it is time Indians are told the truth about their recent past.

THE GENERAL AND HIS MOLL; THE PAULA BROADWELL STORY

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and book The title that I have given may appear that I am scandalized at the news of the extra marital affair which made the highly decorated five star general resign his post at t the Congress Party protected him inspite of evidence of his sexualhe CIA. On the contrary, I see his public behavior through the lens of my experience here in India and I can say that by resigning his position and publically acknowledging his liason with Ms Paula Broadwell, General Petraeus has shown that he has that little detail called character. So let me get this out of the way. This is not a blog about the hypocritical behaviour of Americans and their easy virutes. In fact, this incident actually makes people think about the seriousness with which the American establishment took this particular act of indiscretion. In India we have politicians who are caught in every kind of scandla and with their peckers in several different situations. That Congressman, Abhishek Manu Singvi was caught with his pant down with a woman who was giving him his Clinton moment and no action was taken against him and he is doing the rounds as the Congress spokesman. The brazenness with which the entire scandal was pushed aside and the manner in which thr Congress Party protected him speaks of the uncivilised nature of Indian politics and society. It is clear that such acts will not go unpunished in USA and rightly so. Then we have the N D Tewari case in which his natural son had to go the Court to obtain a legal injunction to get DNA sample in order to establish his biological father. There have been credible reports of Jawaharlal Nehru ingulging in several scandalous affairs without any fear of public exposure and humiliation. In the USA it is clear that public officials are expected to uphols certain values and they cannot escape the consequences of their action by saying that the scandals pertained to their private life. I think India can learn a lesson from this episode. Now to the General and his moll. From what I gather from the newspapers Ms Paula Broadwell entered General Petraeus' life in the form of a biographer asnd she has penned a biography that almost verges on hagiography. As a biographer she seems to have had unlimited access to the general (pun not intended). Her husband seems to have discovered the affair with the general and unlike most husbands who would be furious this man wrote a letter to the agony column of the New York Times wherein he states very baldly that an important executive of the American Government is having a physical relationship with his wife and he asked for advice. Surprisingly, the FBI got wind of the affair and confronted the general about it. Can this happen in India, Here the CBI lies, cheats, fabricates and hides evidence in order yoprotect the criminals who are at the helm of affairs in India, particularly under the Congress Party. What a contrast to the situation in the USA. Rather than feeling that the USA has shown itself to be moral calamity, this incident actually reinforces the notion that there are objective vlues in public life even in these difficult post modern times. The General did not deny the charge and gracefully resigned. Now comes the more difficult question. Did anyone bother about the fate of Ms Paula Broadwell. Is she also destined to the notoriety to which that characterless man called Bill Clinton consigned a far younger woman fifteen years back.

THE CABINET RESHUFFLE IN INDIA: THE FARCE OF GOVERNANCE

The cabinet reshuffle that was announced this morning reminds me of the famous line that a hopeless and desperate measure can be compared with rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic. The Congress party over the past 10 years has presided over scandals of monumental proportions and in spite of Parliamentary inquiries nothing tangible has emerged. The Joint Parliamentary Committee which was to probe the 2G Spectrum Scandal was stymied right from the start by the recalcitrant attitude of the Congress party and this faced the main opposition party to quit the panel. The Coal Allocation Scandal has cost the national exchequer more the 6 billion US dollars and there is no visible sign of the scandal going away soon. To make matters worse, the Son in law of Sonia Gandhi seems to have built a real estate empire using funds from sources which are clearly illegal and dubious. Against this backdrop, the chances of the Congress doing well in the 2014 General Election are rather slim. However, the BJP is caught in its own internecine factional squabbles and this has left the party weak and in disarray. Except in Gujarat where the Party can boast of good governance, the BJP ruled states are all mired in corruption and mal administration with Karnataka being the most egregious example. Now ManMohan Singh has reshuffled his pack and as we know from history, the Prime Minister even in a coalition government has the choice of whom to appoint in his hand. In India since the Prime Minister is a nominee of the Dynasty, he enjoys no such constitutional freedom. He took orders from the Dynasty's Crown Price--Rahul Gandhi-- and all changes were made according to the whims and wishes of the Crown Price. So much for Democracy. Dynastic Fascism has reached such a level that even the pretense of constitutional propriety has been given up. The Newspapers were full of Reports to the effect that Rahul "thought" that such and such a person was to be inducted and such and such a person was to be shown the door. The net result being an elaborate exercise in futility. The fact that a corporate house, Reliance which is an important multi national company in the OIl and Petroleum Sector has succeeded in getting rid of Jaipal Reddy who was relieved of the portfolio< Oil and Natural Gas". The Supreme Court has also given its verdict against Reliance and yet the Governmant chooses to dismiss a minister rather than enforce rule of law. and there is also the mysterious matter of the death of Rajasekar Reddy who also incurred the wrath of this Company. I think Man Mohan Singh has sent out a wrong political message. Ministers involved in scams have been retained. Salman Kurshisd who is involved in a public spat with Kejriwal has been promoted and given a more important portfolio. Maken the Sports Minister at the time of the Common Wealth Games which were mired in financial scandals has been given the status of a Cabinet Minister. I think all those who deserved to be sacked have been rewarded and instead of helping to improve the image of the Government, this reshuffle will only strengthen peoples' opinion that it should go. or as Oliver Cromwell said, Go. In God's name Go.

AN Alfred Hitchcock Episode in Real Life: AN Eagle kills a man who destroyed its nest

A strange incident was reported from Mumbai in the Times of India. The link provided will take you to the story. A worker, Raju, while working on the 14th Floor of Spectra building in Andheri, Mumbai chanced upon the nest of an eagle. He destroyed the nest and broke the eggs even as the eagle flew sullenly overhead. He thought that the eagle will not return. The story/report in the Times of India states that the following morning the eagle returned as the man, Raju, was painting the outer walls of the building. The eagle attaked him so viciously that Raju fell to his death 14 floors below. The incident brought home to me the enormity of the situation. The eagle, a bird and most of us think of animals and birds as being incapable of rational thought. The eagle remembered the attack, planned its revenge and when the man was vulnerable attacked him with full fury. I have always loved animals and though I am sorry for the death of the man, I feel that we should learn to treat animals and birds with dignity that is due to them.

E J HOBSBAWM: A TRIBUTE

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Writing History is not easy and to write the histories that endure is one of the most difficult intellectual tasks and E J Hobsbawm who dies in England yesterday epitomised this truth to the fullest extent. Along with Rodney Hilton, Christopher Hill and a handful of young activists of the British Communist Party, E J Hobsnawm was the founder of the Past&Present Society, a historical forum which pioneered the use of Marxist and Marxian method to the study of the past. EJ Howsbawm was also a rigorous advocate of the theoretical mode of apprehending the past which rejected the naive narrative of political and military events as the backbone of Historiography. The rise of the Nation State in the nineteenth century made it necessary for the newly emerged nations to seek legitimacy for their existence in the past and following the German historian Ranke, the professional historians rallied around the war cry of nationalism. The Marxist historians avoided the allure of nationalism, but fell to the seductive charms of the Communist World Revolution. E J Hobsbawm was an early adherent of this ideological label as he himself says in his extremely lucid autobiography. Hobsbawm can be called a social historian in the most complete sense of the term because he believed that events in history can only be explained when they are placed in the context of society in which the events are rooted. He is however not a blind follower of the economic deterministic model for explaining the past. Individuals act out of choice not necessity,but their choice is largely structured by circumstances transmitted through time. His best work in which this method of social history is worked out is his study of Bandits. This elegant work along with its companion volume, Primitive Rebels tries to explain social banditry in terms of a society which was transforming itself from an agrarian or peasant society to one in which commerce and industry were becoming increasingly salient. In Labouring Men, Hobsbawm tried to unravel the culture of the English working class as it was changing from an artisanal class to a work force in the newly industriaslizing parts of England even as it was reeling from the after effects of the enclosure movement. Hobsbawm historiography was rooted in the joyous optimism which as he is not tired of pointing out was inherited from his Jewish mother. There is a purpose to human existence and it is the historian's sacred duty to document the richness and clour inherent of man's struggle for survival. This meaning which the study of history imparts has been virtually thrown away by a whole generation oh historians who marched under the banner of post colonialism and literary perspectives. By diminishing history and making Historiography a variant of "discourse" and a discourse inflected with power in the Saidian sense, history stood impoverished and it was left to E J Hobsbawm to soldier on tirelessly against the demons of deconstruction and relativism. The death of E J Hobsbawm is a tragic loss to the world of History and this blogger not a Marxist but a historian, pay my tribute to a great historian whose work will continue to inspire generations of men and women who believe that human life has meaning and History is the only means available to record it. Among his most readable works was his Trilogy: The Age of Revolution, The Age of Capital and the Age of Extremes. In these three books Hobsbawm sought to explain the contours of world history as being the product of vast changes in all spheres of activity including the economic. Explaining the wars and violence of the last century demands of the historian skills which only the greatest possess and Hobsbawm along with Fernand Braudel were undoubtedly the most outstanding historians.

The Aseem Trvedi Cartoon: Intolerance and the State

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Indian politicians are getting touch and sensitive about cartoons. I think when a political order is in a state of absolute free fall, the decaying order becomes hypersensitive to the caricature in cartoons. The MPs and MLAs now know that the citizens of India are filled with contempt and anger for the egregious plunder they have indulged in over the years. Actually more tham corruption which is there in all political systems, it is the politicians like Laloo Prasad Yadave and D P Yadava, Jagdish Tytler and other such criminals who masquerade as "peoples" representatives which stokes the anger of peo on his carple. P Chidambaram, the Finance Minister, was defeated in the Sivagnagai Parliamentary Constituency but goes arpound with the emblem of the Republic emblazoned on his car. Rightly there is anger because the Constitution of India does not envisage a Kletocratic state. Dr B R Ambedkar and his team worked out a Constitution which would be the basis of a civilized political order underpinned by Rule of Law. We now have the rule of outlaws and some of them like Poolan Devi even were elected to parliament and I am sure that Tamil Badu would have elected Veerapan, had he not been encountered. Now the Cartoons. I have shown them with this blog not because the cartoon are of a high artistic value but because they succeeded eminently in doing what Shri Aseem Trivedi set out to do: provoke anger and contempt. There is nothing remotely seditious about the cartoons and to invoke the outdated Anti Sedition Law is outrageous. The arrest and imprisonment of Shri Trivedi only shows that the corrupt political class is hitting back using the instruments of the state and when this happens we know that the end is in sight. A discredited political order tottering at the weight of its own monstrous inequities is struggling to regain the ground that is slipping from under its feet and in this I do not see any difference between the Congress and the BJP. I was surprised at the response of both Kiran Bedi and Arvind Khejriwal who in an oblique manner justified the arrest and imprisonment of Shrri Asseem Trivedi. I see this issue as one that frames an informed citizen's right to critique the politics of his land. He has not offended any religious or identity group and his depictions are not scandalous. I have a complaint. I personally dislike the use of animals as symbols of evil. In ome of the cartoons the lions of the Republic are replaced by jackals. I like Juno the Jackal of Karadi Tales and I made him the hero of a whole series of stories on which my daughter grew up and I strongly condemn the use of the animal is this disgusting way. The lions could have easily been replaced by a Gandhi topi wearing kletocrat and it would have been OK. Otherwise these cartoons do make a powerful impact on the viewer. I appeal to the authorities through my Blog to release Shri Trivedi. Even as I blog the news has trickled that Shri Aseem Trivedi has been released. I think he should continue his condemnation of a political system that reeks of crime, corruption and dynastic fascism.

THE COAL SCAM IN INDIA: A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT LOOTS THE COUNTRY

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The 2 G Spectrum scan is still hanging like a cloud around the Congress led UPA Government and it has already claimed the heads of 2 central minister--Dayanidhi Maran and A Raja--both of whom belonged to a regional political party, the DMK. In Indian politics there is no such thing as a single author scam. It is very obvious that the highest summits of the political system which includes Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh had a hand in the scam but were clever enough to ensure that lesser mortal took the rap for it. Th coal scam is almost identical in its modus operandi, and the Congress Government is trying its best to wriggles out of the ever tightening noose around its neck. With 2 scandals with a net loss of nearly 20% of the GDP of the country, there will be a lot of froth flying thick everywhere. The problem with the UPA Government like the Bourbons of France is that they forget nothing and they learn nothing. From the 2 G Spectrum Scandal they must have learn that the auction route is the best way of allocating scare resources and ensure a hefty return to the state exchequer. However since political gratification is the objective, the UPA allocated 57 coal blocks in an arbitrary and non transparent. In the 2G Specrum Scam, A Raja could be sent to jail as he was a minister from a regional party and a dalit to boot. In the case of the Coal Scam the ministry was headed by the Prime Minister himself who retained the ministry under his direct charge. Now that the scandal has surfaced the Congress Party is trying its best to protect the Prime Minister and others who were involved in the decision making process. India has large reserves of coal and the state exchequer would have got nearly 15 billion US dollars had the auction route been taken. Instead prime coal mines were allocated to private parties which included Tata Power, Tata Steel,Essar Power Generation,Jindal Steel and many other power generating companies or steel plants. The criteria on which this allocation was made has not been spelled out. In the case of the 2 G Spectrum at least there was a fig leaf of objectivity in that the allocation was done on the basis of the first come first served basis. Even this lame defence is not available for the coal scam. As per the norms and procedure of the Government of India, the file for such major decisions has to be signed by the cabinet minister and only then it becomes operational. In the case of the Coal Scam the files were all signed by the Prime Minister in his capacity as the Coal Minister and hence he cannot now evade responsibility or accountability. The mines which were allotted to private parties are the most lucrative ones since they are all open mines and do not require too heavy an investment in infrastructure. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India in his Report submitted to Parliament has clearly stated that gross irregularities in procedure had taken plce causing a net loss of 1.86 lakh crores ruppees to the treasury of the people of INdia. The kind of Governance we have in India under the uPA aims at enriching the private players at the cost of the Government and obviously huge kick backs play a role in the formulation of such skewered policies. The principle opposition party the BJP has raised the issue in the highest democratic forum of the country, the LOK SABHA. Instead of answering the questions raised, the Prime Minster is indulg ing in cheap gimmicks when he stated in his defence that this was done to favor the opposition ruled states. It is only an accident that the coal rich states are presently under the BJP and the Congress is not known to have concern for anyone or institution except its "royal" dynasty. The coal ministry bureaucrats suggested public auction as the best method for pricing the coal blocks but it was blocked by the Prime Minster, just as was done in the case of the 2G Spectrum pricing. The effort now currently underway to amde the NDA responsible for the policy is untenable because the policy change was initiated only after the UPA GOvernment was formed in 2004. The Scandals which have undermined the present government will have their impact in the next election. The anti corruption movement led by Baba Ramdev is likely to create enough impact to tilt the balance in favor of the bJP in the next election. The 2014 elections can only be lost by the BJP due to political mismanagement and factionalism.

Ethnic Violence in Assam: Why the Congress is Responsible;e

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Ethnic violence on a large scale has broken out in the North Eastern state of Assam, India. This state has witnessed frequent outbreaks of violence between indigenous tribal groups, the Bodos on the one hand and migrants from Bangla desh, Bengali Muslims on the other. The stast government which is controlled by the Congress Party which also is the dominant faction in the UPA, the coalition in power, has abetted in the illegal settlement of Bangla Deshis in the bordering districts, particularly Khokrajar District, as the Muslims tend to vote for the Congress Party. By playing on the fears of the illegal migrants and by pandering to identity politics of the worst kind the Congress has been able to remain in power. Tarun Gogoi, the presnt Chief Minister, was recently reelected to power. The indigenous tribal population is under increasing pressure and tribal lands are falling into the hands of the migrant population and Bodos feel threatened and vulnerable. The State Government is usually intervenes on the side of the migrant population. The border between India and Bangla Desh is extremely porous and large scale illegal immigration is taking place. The Central Government which signed an Accord with the All Assam Students Union which led an agitation against the illegal immigrants, some 20 years back, committed itself to the detection, deletion, and detention of illegal; immigrants from Bangla Desh. However, given the fact that India is a soft state, the Accord was not ever implemented and the situation has further escalated. The more militant among the Muslim migrants from Bangla Desh who receive arms and training from Pakistan have begun a campaign of terror against the Bodos. This is not to say that the Bodos are a peaceable lot. However, the Bodos are being symptomatically attacked and driven from their land and consequently more than 250,000 Bodos have been displaced from their villages and are living in refugee camps. Over the past 3 to 4 weeks a silent tragedy has been unfo9lding in Assam. Bodos are being evicted from their settlements and the Central Government is both unable and unwilling to do anything about it. The State Government as I said earlier is alo9s under the Congress and the Party relies on the votes of the illegal migrants and hence the state government is also quiet. Ethnic cleansing over large swathes of Bodo land has been taking place over the past 40 to 50 years and now the Bodos living in the very heartland of Bodoland, Khokrajar District, are being terrorized. Post Colonial states as V S Naipaul keeps reminding us ever so often are half made societies and are tethering on the brink of chaos. I think the people of Assam are paying dearly for their foolishness in voting the Congress Party to power ans Assam now is awash in blood and only the Congress is responsible for the violence and bloodshed.

When a Government loses Legitimacy: Corrupt Governments are illegitimata

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Parliamentary Democracy is predicated upon a very delicate balance between public perception and the illusion of permanent power. Since the tenure of a President is fixed for a certain period of time by the Constitution, there cannot be too many question marks over the legitimacy of a President. This is not the case in a Parliamentary form of Government and more so in the case of India where the fist past the winning post system is in place. In the electoral battlefield, candidate resort to violence, intimidation,bribery, impersonation and other mal practices are employed in spite of the best efforts of the Election Commission. Ultimately candidates sit in the LOK SABHA with less than 15% of the valid votes polled. In the case of Mr P Chidambaram, the present Finance Minister of the Government of India, he was actually defeated and got the certificate of election by fraud and in all probability his election will be struck down. The legitimacy of the parliamentary process is already in doubt and so there is no harm in speaking of "illegitimacy" of the Government. In the Lok Sabha debate on the violence in Assam, Shri L K Advani a stems frosenior leader of the Opposition referred to the UPA-II as an "illegitimate government" and the sustained outrage of the Congress benches aided and instigated by Sonia Gandhi led to Advani withdrawing the remarks. While it was gracious of Shri L K Advani to withdraw the remarks, I would like to ask if his remarks were actually true and if there is truth in his remark why did he withdraw the remark. I think Shri L K Advani is making noises which may get his headlines but he is not helping in the gigantic task of getting rid of the two headed hydra--Sonia and Singh--who are ruling the country. The increase in the level of terrorism in India itself raises doubts the ability of the two headed hydra to govern. The ruthless Mumbai Attack of 26th November 2009 took place during the watch of the present government and India has made no progress in getting cooperation from Pakistan. Though Kasaab has been sentenced to death, a soft state like India is unlikely to have the political will to carry out the sentence. The Government has had no success in controlling domestic terrorism. Naxalite violence has only increased and CRPF soldiers are being killed by the dozens. In Dantewada incident alone 80 soldiers were killed. The main reason for the doubts on the legitimcy of the Government stems from the large scale corruption indulged in by the present regime. In the allocation of spectrun scandal, popularly known as the 2G scandal more than 8 to 10 billion US dollars were lost to the country and to make matters worse a senior minister Kapil Sibal even justified the loss saying that it was a zero loss to government.THis matter is pending before the Supreme Court of INdia. In the allocation of coal blocks for mining huge bribe were paid and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has documented the loss to the exchequer. Then there are a host of smaller scams like the Adrash Scandal. The involvement of Congress politicians in serious crimes is another cause for concern. And the dynstic obsession of the Congress party which projects the higly inexperience and volatile Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Minister of India raise question about the legitimacy of the regime in power. L K Advani was certainly right in condemning the regime as illegitimate.

Has ManMohan Singh underachieved or overachieved on the misgovernance front

The American News Magazine, Time, at least in its Asian Edition has shown the Prime Minister on the Front cover and has called him an "under achiever." Compared to Barack Obama who has been raining drones on the hapless people of Pakistan, Man Mohan Singh cannot be accused of war crimes and that is saying much. The Americans have neither the political or intellectual right to judge the Prime Minister of India when their own Government is carrying out a merciless war of extermination in Afghanistan. Having said the obvious truth, let me move on to Man Mohan Singh. The most remarkable feature about Man Mohan Singh is that he if featureless. By temperament he is a faceless bureaucrat and the dynastic fascist party has kept him there to keep the seat warm. A Prime minster without authority will be a liability to the political system and that is what has happened. He has to look behind his shoulders to keep his seat and hence the constitutional office he holds gets undermined everyday. In Prime Minister ManMohan Singh we have the strange situation of a political personage having to bear the responsibility for decisions he has neither made nor approved. Being a trained economist, Man Mohan Singh is certainly aware of the looming economic disaster, but he was not given the authority to do anything. Hence even the 6% growth is an "over achievement" and the PM must be complimented on it. In the political realm too, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh does not en joy any clout. Left to himself he would jettison liabilities like Chidambaram. But he is forced to keep this man as "Home Minister" in spite of court cases and proven instances of high crimes and misdemeanors. When factional loyalties count more than service to the country or intellectual ability, you have the present scenario in which the Home Minister is the concerted target of the Opposition and the result is Man Mohan Singh is left holding the can. The Prime Minister does not have a free hand in deciding any major policy issue. And this suits the dynastic fascists well and they keep Man Mohan Singh in office. Man Mohan Singh is known to be personally honest, but the institutions under him turn out to be irredeemably corrupt. In the Narashima Rao Adminsitration, Man Mohan Singh as Finance Minister allowed the Harshad Mehta Scam to take place, but even the JPC which conducted the Inquiry was not allowed to call him as witness. Even now as Prime minister, Man Mohan Singh has allowed the 2G Spectrum Scam to take place right under his nose and yet the Prime Minister is being defended. The point is that Man Mohan Singh is not allowed to be the honest :darwan" or gatekeeper. Some crooks close to the ruling party/family are allowed to plunder the very garden this honest "darwan" is said to guard. The 2G Spectrum Scandal took place only because, the Prime Minister was not allowed to enforce the very decisions he took. Against this background, the very fact of survival is an achievement. The Time Magazine is against Man Mohan Singh because he allowed Mamta Banerjee to oppose FDI in the retail sector. Walmart was all set to invad3e India until the Calcutta Didi force the regime of Man Mohan Singh to slide back on the issue. Even with regard to Pakistan, Man Mohan Singh is playing politics. Pakistan has not yielded on a singlr issue and yet the regime of Mna Mohan Singh wants to improve relations with Kasaabistan. Apart from corruption and man administration, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh has not achieved anything and in both these he is certainly an Over achiever.

Techie Killer from Cognizant; The Delaware murder and the Indian Techie

The Indian outsourcing Industry has already become a hot subject of debate in the American presidential elections. Obama keeps screaming that the Indians are taking away jobs from Americans and US companies are getting tax breaks for shipping "jobs" overseas. I do not know whether there is truth in this argument but I do know that the Indian "soft ware" industry is becoming too intense a space for some of the young people from backward social and economic classes to handle. Let me explain. Companies like the famous INFOSYS, Cognizant, TCS among others are all doing bit jobs for the US service sector; and of course it earns India nearly 169 billion US dollars every year. Young Indians straight out of college, most of them first generation educated from small towns study courses tailor msde for this sector: in Indian Universities we offer courses like MCA (Masters in Computer Applications) MS in Information Technology and B Tech Electrical and Electronic Engineering. All these courses are all body shop courses tailor made to qualify young Indians to work in the only growth sector in the Indian economy viz. the service sector more specifically the soft ware sector. The young men and women who enter the job market find themselves in secure jobs and they earn by Indian standards lots of money:cars, fast track life, pubs, night life are all part and parcel of the social life of a young Indian. In conservative India where marriages are still "arranged" with parents consent, the soft ware professionals are pioneers in "living together" and recently the Domestic Violence Bill was amended by the Indian parliament to ensure a semblance of legality to such live in relationships should they fracture and end in domestic abuse and violence. I am saying all this to drive home the argument that the ready and steady cash together with the target oriented stressed filled lives has resulted in "soft ware' professionals both men and women taking drugs and alcohol as stress busters. Add to this is the attraction of foreign travel and assignments. In my younger days we could dream of seeing the USA only if we went there for the Ph D program as I did. Nowadays "software" professionals travel quite easily to several locations during the course of the year. Stressed work atmosphere, fairly comfortable disposable income, limited education (by education I do not mean a degree from self financing institutions) and first generation up ward mobility particularly from the SC segment of the Indian population and the Backward sections has resulted in creating a personality which is driven vy violence. Software professionals kill in the most brutal and calculated manner. An employee of INFOSYS killed his wife when she was expecting their first child, another killed his wife and hid her body in a freezer for nearly 7 months another drove his car to the outskirts of Mysore and tried to burn his wifes body in the car itself. Such examples can be multiplied. Young semi-literate Indian men possessing MCA and such technical qualifications fill the high tech cubicles of the soft ware segment. From this benighted class we have one particular individual: Pawan Kumar Anjaiah an employee of Cognizant one of the several body shops of the Indian software industry. He was sent to New Jersey in March 2012 from Bangalore, Karnataka. Yes the very place that gave a new verb to American English "banglored" meaning losing the job because of out sourcing. This young man seems to have come from the typical lower middle class which is upwardly mobile has the right caste credentials to get Education loans, bank guarantees and socially engineered admission to Engineering Colleges. This man men a young American woman Danielle Melhalm who was a teacher in a school and the mother of a 4 year old boy. Apparently he was either infatuated with her or caught the wrong signals from this man. Pawan Kumar took her to a motel in Delaware and killed her in the most brutal manner. Her body bearing more than 30 stab injuries. This man bought s large meat cleaver from the local department store in the morning which clearly proves his intention to kill. He took her to the motel killed her and fled. The CCTV both in the Motel and in the Department Store caught his picture and soon the US law enforcement was on his trail. In India he would have called up a politically powerful MP from his OBC caste and the police would just ignore the crime. Probably he was used to this tradition of law enforcement. In any case when he heard from the local Television channel that the police had tracked him down he killed himself by consuming sleeping pills. This is the real story. The Indian media, as usual tried to black out the fact that Pawn was a criminal who had killed a woman. The media tried to make it appear as if an innocent Indian who had met an unfortunate death in the USA was being hounded by the authorities even after death. I am writing this blog to educate all my readers about the truth. My suggestions: US Embassy must do the background check on soft ware professionals. This particular boy has had a reputation of violence even in his college days. Companies sending their employees overseas must teach them the fundamentals of US culture. Americans interact in a different manner and semi-literate Indians might get the wrong cues.

The Judicial Coup in Pakistan

Pakistan at best is a state trying to imitate the protocols of democracy with all the external trappings: it has a written constitution, a bi-cameral legislature, a senate, a cabinet and a supreme court. In the history of Pakistan the Judiciary has at best played a passive role and has not stood up to the Army which is breathing down the necks of people. During the 1970s we saw the ugly spectacle of Shri Zulfikar Ali Bhutto being sentenced to death and hanged on ther most flimsy of grounds. The Pakistani Judiciary was nand in glove with Zia-ul-Naq's regime and carried out a judicial assasination. Till this day there are doubts about the legality of the process and until the Supreme Court overturns the Bhutto judgement it cannot be called "supreme". President Asaf Ali Zardari, the beneficiary of his wife's brutal killing is known to be corrupt and like our criminal politicians has stashed away money in Swiss banks. There is no doubt about that. However as President of Pakistan he does enjoy immunity from procecution and this principle of immunity is a well known aspect of political and legal theory. In fact the history of this principle goes back to the English Civil War when Cromwell decided to have Charles I executed for treason, high crimes and misdemenours. "Cut off his head with the crown on it" Cromwell is said to have remarked when his attention was drawn to the "immunity" enjoyed by the Crown. Now thew Prime Minister of Pakistan is responsible to Parliament and not to the Supreme Court. The chief Justice of Pakistan, Iktihar Choudhary is no stranger to factional and institutional squabbles. The same PPP which today has fallen victim to the judicial coup of the chief Justice supported the agitation for ther reinstatement of this Judge when he was sacked by the former Presideny thr wise and sagacious Parvez Musharaf, the best Presideny Pakistan has ever had. Now the PPP must be rueing its own stupidity when it is hoist on its own petard. Of course, action must be taken to bring back the ill gotten wealth and Pakistan could learn a lesson or two from India. Here we have a Mahatma called Baba Ramdev who is inspiring the people to fight corruption. In Pakistan the mad mullahs who run the country will not let any civil society movement take root. So you will only have army coups, judicial coups and palace coups in Pakistan. The removal of the Prime Minister Yousaf Ali Gelani will certainly weaken the roots of an already withering Democracy. The USA is launching drone strikes by the dozens against targets in Pakistan killing a large number of militants and scores of civilians. This judicial coup will only make matters worse for the political class.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN INDIA THE CONGRESS HAS LOST THE PLOT

The main reason which prompts the Congress Party to snap at the feet of Pranab Mukerjee is its obsession with dynastic fascism: when Indira Gandhi was eliminated by two Sikhs, Pranab Mukerjee was her Finance mInister and held the number 2 position in the Cabinet. He went up to Zail Singh and advanced his name for the Prime Ministership on the sould constitutional principle of precedent. When Indira Gandhi's father kicked the bucket, the number 2 in the Cabiner Shri Guzrilal Nanda was sworn in and the same thing happened when Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri met his untimely end in Tashkent. So Pranab Mukerjee was not upstaging anyone whern he advanced his name for the post of Prime Minister. However, the Gnani being a "loyal" courtier as indeed every Congressman is, had other ideas. He immediately had Rajiv Gandhi sworn in even though no election was held by the CPP the decide on the successor to Indira Gandhi. Such high drama preceded the appointment of Rajiv Gandhi. Result as expected: Pranab Mukerjee was dropped from the Cabinet and had to use all his Bengali wiles to inveighl himself back into the corridors of power. This is the record of the most distinguished Hon'ble Pranab Mukerjee. However, I must say that unlike most Congressmen Pranabda is well behaved, sober and articulate. In the last Presidential election the name of Pranab made the rounds but the Congress shot down the proposal by saying that the "services" of this man were needed in the Government. Translation: it is safer to have Pranab Mukerjee in the Cabinet than outside, a clear indication that the Dynasty does not support the most distinguished Congressman. This time around the ooalition of the Congress is extrmely weak and in all likelihood will fare very poorly in the next election. The Crown Prince of the Congress Party is like my Prince ( my pet cat is called Prince) not too good at anything and wants things to fall into his hands without any effort. Under his leadership the Congress is headed for a massive defeat. What keeps the hopes of the Courtiers in the party alive is that with a pliable President a wafer thin majority can be managed as the fake secular forces can come together to craft a coalition of convenience as it did in 2009. The massive fraud and corruption of the UPA regime would mean that it is headed for a total rout. Pranab Mukerjee will make a text book President and will go by the letter and spirit of the constitution and will not allow identity politics or politics of personal likes and dislikes to dictate his agenda. This aspect of his personality will not make him the first choice of the congress Party. Hence Mamta Banerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadava are actually doing the Dynasty a favor when they say that pranabda is not no their list of probable candidates for the post of President. Sonia Gandhi has put paid to the presidential ambitions of Pranabda by using mata and Mulayam to spike his chances. Hence there is no set back to the plans of the congress Party. This is exactly the scenario the Dynasty wants as it does not trust Pranab Mukerjee. A P J Abdul Kalam will make a good President. However the two Dravidian parties in his home state have yet to endorse his candidature. I think Hon'ble J Jayalalithaa, the Chief Minister, may be persuaded to support him which means that the corruption and violence infested DMK will not. However, P A Sangama has entered the field and his exit could be negotiated by offering him the Vice Presidency. Jaswant Singh, a Rajput aristorcrat has not the whit of a chance and he should just gracefully retire from the race. It will not be politically correct to offer the Vice Presidency to a Rajput at this stage The Mandal darkness still shrouds India.