The night that united us all

THE TIMES OF INDIA
31 March, 2011

Tarun Vijay

Never a cricket buff, but I dashed to Delhi cancelling a stay in Hong Kong, with my other MP friends and watched in my room the Mohali match. The roads in Delhi wore a silence usually seen during a curfew.

Even to get up for a hurried lunch or answer a phone call looked like a crime. Glued to the screen we prayed that Sachin stays longer , so did the rest of the nation crossing all boundaries of faith, colour and class. With Munaf and Zaheer shining in glory and Nehra, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Harbhajan making a combined assault on the rival team, it was a victory well deserved by the tricoloured India. Delhi broke into a burst of joy and sounds of Diwali crackers, with Connaught Place witnessing an unusual riot of colours and the cars zooming fast with overjoyous youths inside fluttering the tricolour and shouting India-India. The "curfewed" streets turned into life, bursting with mass happiness till midnight. I know a few friends who forgot to go to the mosque for evening prayers and remained seated before the television, not being able to afford to lose a single second of the excitement, and "dua" for India.

The moments of a spirited game and the united prayers for our victory brought the core Indian sense of unity alive so beautifully.

I love this India. Incredibly Indian and essentially united.

The India that politicians fail to recognize and appreciate was this India that saw all news channels, their anchors and reporters, entertainment gods and goddesses, seculars and non-seculars, fundamentalists, leaders of all colours and even the weird varieties of large-hearted, small-hearted crowds come together and celebrate India’s victory together.

This was the India which stood like one solid rock during the Kargil war and which says unitedly no to the scandals defacing our name and honour.

This India is woven together by the youth, who shun all hatred of any ideological variety, and at the same time want to score a victory. If Pakistan was not the harbinger of all terrorism and hatred against India, if it had not committed the unpardonable sins of sponsoring bloodshed and economic terrorism through the circulation of fake currency, if it had not indulged in cross-border mischiefs resulting in the killings of thousands of innocent Indians, the match between India and Pakistan would have remained as exciting as when we play Australia or Sri Lanka.

The very fact that youths thronged and leaders of all shades converged in Mohali, the Prime Minister found time to be there the whole day with his Pakistani counterpart, millions watched it in every city of the country and whoever Indian was abroad saw it in his land, wishing the tricolour victory, made this event more than a mere six-hour game.

It wasn’t just a game of 11 players versus another 11. It was a nation's yearning to see that we win over the evildoer. It was a democratic India’s spirited answer to the evil assaulter that it must behave and be friendly. India fights a war with Pakistan whenever we meet them even at the pavilion. Hence the patriotic fervour for victory. Hence the loud noises of "Vande Mataram" seeing the last Pakistani player packing up.

Turning such sports events into a diplomatic symbolism of peace sounded good for a media bite but its consequence was just the bubbles of meaningless courtesies. If such tactics worked, then peace should have reined on our borders after Zia-ul Haq visited Jaipur to watch cricket. Hardly anyone who came to see the match at Mohali had a heart for such a diplomacy. It simply ignored the hard facts. Cricket is not like soldiering the nation. Pakistan remains deeply entrenched in terror acts against India. Our soldiers are asked to shed their blood to keep the Pakistani state’s mafia army in check and to have their stooges sent as infiltrator mujahideen restrained. When a sports event is turned into a political gesture of peace with an unrepentant and uncooperative neighbour, it affects the morale of the patriotic people, including the security forces.

Mohali united us all because the fight was on and none shared the idea that we should lose to make Pakistan happy, as that would help forge a stronger friendship.

The battle cry and the victory essentially bring everyone together. It's not warmongering; none of us want an avoidable war. But the wicked must be trounced. That spirit gets expressed during Dussehra. Ram won over Ravana, hence the celebration.

The night we celebrated Team India’s victory together, crossing the boundaries of religion, caste, creed and ideological differences, has this lesson for the political leaders.

Tarun Vijay invites China leaders to Uttarakhand- to invest and develop hydro power

25 March, 2011

Mr Tarun Vijay, MP Rajya Sabha has been invited by the China government to study its power projects and infrastructure development. He has met several Chinese leaders of the China Communist Party and visited Olympics village, Tiananmen Square. He is in a high level MP delegation with Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Gen Secy, BJP, Shri Uddasi, MP, Dr Vivekananda, MP, and Mr Hamidullah Syed, MP (Congress).

Mr Tarun Vijay said that he has invited the Chinese Communist Party leaders to come to Uttarakhand for party to party discussions, taking the cooperation further after the visit of BJP president Mr Gadkari to China recently and also to help our state develop hydro power and infrastructure development. He will visit Shanghai also and meet Indian entrepreneurs, specially from Uttarakhand state.

Tarun Vijay at Tiananmen Square

Tarun Vijay with China's officials at Olympic village, Beijing

Media Clippings

सच से डरे हुए शासक

24/March/2011

Nishank budget pro- poor, -Tarun Vijay's comments on Uttarakhand budget

Press release

Nishank budget pro- poor, empowers women, will accelerate industrial growth

Tarun Vijay lauds the budgetary provisions as progressive, inspite of centre’s step motherly treatment -

22nd March 2011-BJP MP and national Spokesperson, BJP Shri Tarun Vijay said that Nishank Government has presented a pro-poor and Aam Admi oriented budget, which has many firsts to its credit at all India level. Lauding the bdget Shri Vijay said ythat services sector has been allotted 7056.77 crore, an increase of 26.26 % in comparison to the last year. Education gets 3607.28 crores , to realize the Gadkari dream of making the state as world’s knowledge hub. Also Nishank has announced a laptop to every student a gift who scores 80% and more marks in intermediate exams, which is a first in the country. Tribal sub plan gets 227.71 crores and women’s empowerment projects get an appreciable 1417.75 crores under various schemes spread in 26 departments. Scheduled caste development schemes have got 873.17 crores and infrastructure development in road building sector has received 521.97 crores. Establishing mini secretariats in all Adarsh vilages will be a boon for rural people, which again is a first in India.

To give a fillip to tourist sector small restaurants vat rate has been reduced to 4 % from 13 %. Amongst the many first of Nishank government, the resolution to ensure that not a single person goes to sleep empty stomach, has received nation wide acclaim. Under Atal Food Plan 295 crores have been allocated to help poor and the needy. Nishank has also promised and made provisions in budget to establish the very first Women’s Engineering College in any Himalaya region state in Uttarakhand.

--

Tarun Vijay

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
National Spokesperson, BJP

Member, Parliamentary Standing Committe on External Affairs
Hon. Director, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation
(centre for civilisational values and policy research)
11 Ashok Road, New Delhi 110001
tel. no.-011-23382569,23382234.
website and blog-
www.tarunvijay.org
tarun-vijay.blogspot.com

Media Reports

Men of straw

THE TIMES OF INDIA
22 March, 2011

Tarun Vijay

Face it squarely. All should have welcomed handing over the cases related to any kind of terror to NIA. Who cares? Anyone belonging to any colour, if found violating the Constitution should be brought to book. The best statement on it came from RSS stalwart and an icon of serving the destitute and the disadvantaged, Bhayyaji Joshi, who assured all help to the government to have such cases investigated. But the state power had some other ideas.

Was the real intention of a government that lies to the nation on WikiLeaks cables and survives, as Arun Jaitley put it aptly, on a political sin, honest?

This government facilitates traitors as simply as that. And punishes patriots in the hope that it would get some Muslim votes.

Look how a secessionist Geelani is facilitated in Delhi, given a platform to demand India's second partition and then allowed to stay on at the expense of Indians to participate in Pakistan Day, at the house of Pakistan's high commissioner in Delhi.

Afzal’s hanging is delayed deliberately to ensure Muslim votes. WikiLeaks cables, sent to Washington by American diplomats, corroborate what every sane Indian believes.

So is the case of handing over cases involving one set of people. The government of Lilliputians wants to prove something that must fetch it some Muslim votes.

They never tried to send the cases of ULFA, or NSCN, or Geelani-Arundhati Roy, or stone pelters of the valley who attacked the security personnel, to NIA. Never pursued the wealth looters who stashed their black money in Swiss banks.

That would have not fetched them what they wanted.

They treated Gujarat as an enemy country, mocked at its investment claims, as if money poring into Gujarat was meant for Pakistan. And now MP is on their list of assaults for obvious reasons.

One of their leaders shows a chestful of currency notes to a foreign diplomat. Nothing happens and the Prime Minister of the nation tries to obfuscate the issue.

Even Berlusconi appears more honest than our ruling elite.

A news story emanating from Srinagar, sent by a national news agency, said that there is an “allegation” that a Hindu temple has been ransacked and taken over by a mafia and a Hindu organization has demanded a CBI probe into that. Oh, too obliged that someone thought that this is news worth any notice. A brief mention, no name of the organization that demanded a probe, no name of the place where the temple was "allegedly" desecrated and no name of the leader of the Hindus who took up the cause, braving bullets.

Replace the term "Hindu temple" with the name of any other faith's place of worship and see the difference.

It pays to be a non-Hindu in this Hindu-majority nation.

Who is responsible for this sorry state of affairs where taking up a Hindu cause needs enveloping it in a secular parlance?

Where even the supposedly Hindu nationalists are shy of saying the word “Hindu” and a government, administration and the media empires led by those who still wear a Hindu name, feel hesitant to come out in support of justice and fair play, lest they should be “misunderstood” as being communal?

In a situation when temples are desecrated without creating a whimper in the capital and the Prime Minister gleefully hands over small apartments to Hindu refugees in their own independent country without saying a single word of assurance that they would someday go back home and a political opposition, barring a few exceptions keeps mum on the main player of all sinful activities that is tearing apart the society and its core, thanks should be given to a Assange and a Leftist editor, to keep the salt of democracy intact. In such times choosing to publish the cables means braving grave risk to his media empire when most of the brave hearts in media have turned “durbaris”.

Frankly, it may not be the case that the state power has chosen Hindus as its target –every patriot, every honest pursuer of policy and programmes feels let down today. A great nation that boasted of being the knowledge hub of the universe has become a billboard of the most corrupt land, while China has surpassed even the US in manufacturing.

We are nowhere near its economic prowess and military might. From shielding the corrupt and lying to Parliament, all such charges which were unimaginable till recently are flying on the face of our Prime Minister.

The aura is gone and men of straw seem to be holding a fort of sand.

This situation demands self-introspection by the Hindu leaders too. They have turned into mere observers and protesters. The UPA began its journey with the removal of the Savarkar plaque from Port Blair memorial and continued with assaults of the bridge that Rama built, keeping eyes wide shut on Kashmiri Hindus while pursuing a brazenly discriminatory appeasement policy for non-Hindus. If Hindus find themselves at such a receiving end, the blame must be borne by the leaders who claim they are Hindus. The entire babalog fraternity, and the so-called sirens, they are very rich and influential individually but a great failure collectively. They enjoy a power-packed list of devotees. Performing miracles. Running huge chains of colleges and “gau shalas”.

Just ask them what was the last issue they won for the Hindus? Driven by jealousies, hatred for each other, a killing spirit that survives on “unchecked” eavesdropping, and an uncanny intolerance of the intellectual inputs , the Hindus seem to be failing the Hindu cause once again, post-Ayodhya movement.

They chose not to answer the inconvenient issues of caste-based discriminations, keeping a silence on incidences like Mirchpur. They never addressed the issue why in India none of the so-called mainstream newspapers has been able to have a single scheduled caste editor or why no scheduled caste leadership is finding its way up the ladder in administration, industry and in any policy-framing group, in spite of being in a majority within the Hindu population of the country? Ironically except the RSS, none is besieged of the issue.

There are Hindus in the Congress and the DMK and the SP, the BSP too. Where is the concern for any Hindu cause among them?

When an MLA from Pakistan fled to India to protect his religious freedom, who spoke for him? Who supports the issue of taking on the main player of all that’s wrong in politics today? Why the eerie silence? The nation will, one day discuss the most horrendous case of backstabbing in our political life. Targeting Hindus is like targeting the last bastion of liberty and plurality. And it’s not being done by Arabs or Turks, but by India-born Hindus.

The temples and the gods are the same who were there when Karachi, Rawalpindi and Kabul were deserted. The men who had to flee those places leaving behind their gods unattended find their partners in today’s leadership that goes on sermonising on religious channels every morning. Just bubbles.

The same way, our honorable Prime Minister has failed the nation like a failed father. He has missed the bus of courage and forgotten that individuals are smaller than national interest and that history is necessarily very ruthless.

10 THINGS TO EMULATE FROM JAPAN

Vijay Simha, Tehelka
1. THE CALM
Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.
2.THE DIGNITY
Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.
3. THE ABILITY
The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.
4. THE GRACE
People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.
5. THE ORDER
No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.
6. THE SACRIFICE
Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?
7. THE TENDERNESS
Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.
8. THE TRAINING
The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.
9. THE MEDIA
They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.
10.THE CONSCIENCE
When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.



--

My column in Jansatta today , Sunday, 20th March 2011

Separate Tribal Civil Service Cadre Demanded-Tarun Vijay

Media Clippings
16/03/2011

Separate Tribal Civil Service Cadre Demanded-Tarun Vijay

Press Release

Separate Tribal Civil Service Cadre Demanded

Raising the issue of India's 8% tribal population infected by more than 95% of terrorism, displacement, lowest education rate and highest HIV-AIDS prevalence, Shri Tarun Vijay, MP, BJP demanded a separate Civil Services Cadre for tribal areas on the pattern of UT Cadre so that only those officers who have an understanding and sensitivity towards tribals are posted in such areas which include as vast an area as from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh to Leh and Kargil to J&K.

Shri Tarun Vijay said in his special mention in Rajya Sabha today that, ' Tribals constitute 8.2% of India. In the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland, more than 90% of the population is tribal. Central Indian states have the country's largest tribes, roughly 75% of the total tribal population live there. But country's 95% terrorism is occurring only in tribal pockets from the North-east to Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh. They have the highest incidents of terrorism, the lowest literacy rates, and the lowest development infrastructure. They are the brightest sportspersons, bravest soldiers, brilliant professionals yet have the highest rate of terrorism. 19 out of 34 organizations banned by Home Ministry are active in tribal region alone.

He said that the gap between the literacy rates of STs and the general population continues almost at the same level of 17-18% for the last three decades. Almost 65% women are illiterate. Drop-out rate is 79% from formal education. Around 91% tribal still live in rural area. The percentage of tribal's living below poverty line is 47.3% in rural and 33.3% in urban areas.

Shri Tarun Viljay said that children and women are most affected due to such disturbances. More than 25 lakh tribals devastated due to dams, mines, industrial towns, wild life sanctuaries, and national parks are still waiting to be rehabilitated. I demand a separate Tribal Civil Service Cadre be established for those IAS and IPS officers who are willing to serve in these areas and have an understanding about their problems. Secondly a National Tribal Development and Protection Authority should be constituted to oversee, monitor and sanction development projects in tribal areas to check the devastating effect of blind 'development' through mining, big dams , deculturisation due to foreign plots,and urbanization.'

Released by
J.P. Pokhriyal
Tel. No. - 9312716888

Tarun Vijay in Parliament

Tarun Vijay raises the 'Zanskar region' (Ladakh) issue in the Parliament.



Tarun Vijay demanding for action against the Pak-fake currency racket running in India.




Tarun Vijay concerned over national security and its lapses



Tarun Vijay requests Bharat Ratna for Uncle Pai(Shri Anant Pai) as a tribut.

Tarun Vijay's maiden speech on the motion of thanks on the President's address in the Parliament.

Prayer for Tsunami hit Japan

14th March, 2011

Join Prayers for Japan Sunday evening New Delhi at Japanese Embassy

Japan was severely hit by an earthquake and Tsunami on 11th March 2011.

We share the grief of, and express our solidarity with, our Japanese brothers and sisters.

A Prayer Meeting will be held at lawns , opposite Japanese Embassy, 50 G Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi at 5 .30 pm on Sunday, 13th March 2011. We, the friends of Japan, will light a candle to pray for the departed souls in the Tsunami-hit land and show our solidarity with those who are courageously helping to provide relief, rehabilitation and to rebuild the devastated land.

All friends who wish to share the grief of our Japanese friends are invited to join the Prayer Meeting.

The Ambassador of Japan to India would also join us to light a candle.

We request you to kindly spread the word about the Prayer Meeting.

Tarun Vijay, MP, BJP. Justice Rama Jois(retd), MP, BJP,Shruti Choudhry, MP, Congress, Sanjoy Takam, MP, Congress, Vijay Bahadur Singh, MP, BSP,Ranjitsinh Vijaysinh Mohite Patil, MP, Rashtravadi Congress , Rajesh Kalra, Chief Editor, Times Internet,Ambassador Arjun Asrani (former Ambassador to Japan),Ven. Lama Lobzang, HH V Anand Swami ji, Aamir Husain, renowned theatre personality, Vijay Handa, Principal Advisor, Indigo Airlines and friends

RSVP
9811854458

Terrorism Forces Cost Escalation in Udham Pur- Srinagar Rail Line Project- mamata banerjee replies to Tarun Vijay

Terrorism Forces Cost Escalation in Udham Pur- Srinagar Rail Line Project

Mamata Banerjee admits in Rajya Sabha while replying Tarun Vijay's Question.

11th March, 2011 - Railway Minister Km. Mamata Banerjee admitted in Rajya Sabha today that the cost of Udhampur - Srinagar - Baramulla Rail Line Project has escalated to Rs. 19565 crores because of various factors including enhancement in security provisions due to adverse law and order situation. She said that the initial cost of the project was assessed at Rs. 4550 crore in 2002. Mr. Tarun Vijay had asked that whether the Railways had started constructing Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) Project at Katra-Qazigund section with August 2007 as a target. Km. Mamata Banerjee said that Qazigund-Baramulla (119 km) section has already been completed and commissioned while Qazigund-Banihal (19 km) section and Udhampur-Katra (25 km) section are targeted for completion in 2012-13.

Expressing dismay and dissatisfaction at the replies given by Km. Mamata Banerjee Mr. Tarun Vijay said that she has avoided answering inconvenient questions but she had to admit that terrorism has contributed in the atrocious cost escalation of the project. Mr. Tarun Vijay said that UPA Government is not only known for shielding the biggest wealth looters of India but is also making poor and common people of India pay through their noses the huge cost escalations in such projects which are results of Government's failure to curb terrorism causing delays. He said that terrorism has not only bled the nation but has also affected badly the poor and struggling masses of the country who are deprived of the development due to 'adverse law and order situation' as Government has accepted.

CVC issue: BJP, Left ask PM to take action against the guilty

PTI-2011-03-08 18:50:00 Last Updated: 2011-03-08 19:53:52

New Delhi: BJP and Left parties on Tuesday voiced dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's clarification on the appointment of CVC, demanding that his acceptance of responsibility should be taken forward by taking against the guilty.

"We had asked the Prime Minister to introspect on the CVC issue.... He has accepted that it was an error of judgement. He has also said his Minister of State had not presented all the facts," BJP Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in Parliament House complex.

Another party spokesperson Tarun Vijay described Singh's statement in Parliament as "pathetic and naive".

"Perhaps, the Prime Minister was trying to gain sympathy on the issue.... But he could not answer why only one name was suggested by him," Vijay said.

He insisted that the Prime Minister accepting that he was not aware of all the facts does not absolve him of his "fault".

"Is this the way the Prime Minister's Office is being run?" Vijay said.

CPM leader Brinda Karat also expressed dissatisfaction at the statement made by Singh.

National security at stake due to purchase of old aircraft:BJP

New Delhi, Mar 1 (PTI) A demand for disclosing the names of ministers and officials involved in procurement of six phased-out aircraft from the US for Indian Navy was made in the Rajya Sabha today through a Special Mention.
These 35-40 year old helicopters were procured at a cost of Rs 182.14 crore when they "were on the verge of completing their air frame life," Tarun Vijay (BJP) said.
"The procurements were made putting national security at stake...the aircraft were meant for training to cadets putting their lives at risk too," he said demanding immediate disclosure of the names of the persons involved in the deal.
These helicopters were delivered with many defects resulting in their non-availability leading to delay in training and operationalisation of the squadrons, Vijay said, adding the Defence Ministry has already received a rap from CAG on it.

Injustices against border area Zanskar makes a special mention in parliament by Tarun Vijay MP

Mr Tarun Vijay , MP made a special mention regarding the lethergic and discriminatory government policies towards Zanskar (Ladakh) and said that its unfortunate that a highly strategic road linking Zanskar with manali is not being completed inspite of Army's defence needs. He said its ironical that Zanskar people wait for the winters so that Zanskar river is frozen and they are able to walk over the frozen zanskar to reach Leh. Otherwise during summers, they take five to six days and cros the various indomitable passes, while on frozen Zanskar in minus 24 to minus 38 degree C temperature they reach in two days.
His special mention on Zanskar got wide support from various parties.

He said that Zanskar is the only sub Division in India, which lies at a distance of 240 KMs from its District Headquarter. Zanskar remains isolated from rest of the world for more than six months in a year.
Following the Kargil war in 1999, when the Vajpayee Govt. constituted a committee to probe into the matter as to why Indian Army had suffered heavy losses and casualties during the Kargil war and suggest remedial measures. The committee recommended the Govt. to have a fair weather defence alternative road, which links Ladakh with the rest of the country via Zanskar to Manali. As such Nimoo- Padum- Darcha road was sanctioned as this road goes along the safest alignment along the gorge of Zanskar River. Still the pace of work on this project is going on at a snail’s pace. Since the starting of construction work on this road, the executing agency Border Road Organization could hardly construct a stretch of 122 km on the 168 km long Nimoo Padum road in 10 years.

Mr Tarun said that he demands the construction of an all weather road along gorges of Zanskar River since be completed soon in a year and separate district status may kindly be granted in favour of Zanskar sub division.

Our 'King's Speech'

THE TIMES OF INDIA
08 March, 2011

Tarun Vijay

If you haven't seen "King's Speech", the movie that won four Oscars, please do so, whenver you can get a chance. It's a great story of a head of state who would go to any length to prove worthy to his subjects' expectations. He was not the Prime Minister, and could have chosen to live a comfortable royal life without caring what his people thought about him. He was not supposedly accountable for his day-to-day affairs and it was up to him to decide whether he would overcome the disability he had or just live with it ignoring sentiments of masses. The story revolves around his disability of stammering. At the beginning of war, he was supposed to address the nation. People naturally think he is the source of strength to them and so he decides that he just can't afford to make people, his nation's citizens, lose faith in him.

And surely, he does everything possible to rise in the public eye. And in the eyes of his family.

Watching the entire movie, I was sad and reflected on the kings and queens we have, in a supposedly democratic country, who give a damn to standing truthful in the public esteem and hardly ever care to value people's expectations from them.

The man, our own king, being the chief executive officer of the government, admitted in Jammu last week that he takes full responsibility for the Thomas's appointment as CVC.

That's it? Period?

Just count some of these issues: 2G, CWG, Adarsh, Antrix-Devas deal, non-availability of artillery guns, faulty purchase of the US's old helicopters, government unwilling to bring back black money stashed in Swiss banks, curtains on dear Italian Ottavio Quattrocci's case after his London bank account was unfrozen officially, perhaps in "honour" of the India's law-enforcement agencies. All this has happened before the vigilant eyes of our king. Why did he keep a silence? If he is the epitome of all honesty, impeccable integrity, virtuous nobility and above all a disarming humility, where are the principles of good governance and the accountability of the kingship upheld, in this case of the office of India's CEO? India has witnessed the gravest cases of corruption. The loot of India's wealth is admitted by event the government. Should the mere admittance of such cases and putting behind bars a few small operators make the matter end? Who is the main culprit and who has been supposedly misguiding the Prime Minister or putting pressure on him to keep his eyes wide shut on all the wrong-doings around him? I have said many times that I love the man and trust him, but then shouldn't he be concerned to keep the dignity and image of his high and exalted office intact in the eyes of people who would like to see a king above all suspicion and also hard on wrong-doers? Serving two terms is no big deal, Lal Bahadur Shastri served less than a quartet of it, but he still remains the most revered Prime Minister we ever had. It's not the period, but the quality of governance and the actual life of the man that counts more. Manmohan Singh must act sternly and save the grace before the grace acts harshly on him.


Why no action was even contemplated to be taken till the opposition and the vigilant media made noises? And for God's sake, what is the position and stand of Mrs Sonia Gandhi in all these wrong doings? Has she descended on our land from Mars or Venus? Why is she, the source of all power and "tyag", "tapasya" and "balidan" left without being asked a single question? Have you ever seen a more terrified and "hesitant out of some unknown fear" media and the political leadership?

In stark contrast to what we are meekly witnessing in our great democracy, three recent examples would do well to keep us informed about how sham our polity and "courageous" media is and how mature and accountable democracies, whether in governance or in academic circles behave.

The first example is related to Japan's foreign minister Seiji Maehara, who stepped down after it was told to him that the three thousand dollars he received, spread over five years from a 72-year-old restaurant owner naturalised Japanese citizen of Korean origin, were illegal. The restaurant owner didn't get any benefit by giving Seiji Maehara a "grand" sum of about 1.5 lakh Indian rupees. Still the foreign minister was shown the door.

The second case is about German defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg's resignation. He was the most popular "star" leader, everybody believed he would be the next chancellor after Merkel. But he was found to have plagiarized his university doctorate thesis in 2006, when he had not even entered active politics. Once the facts were known, he was not only stripped of his PhD, but was asked to resign.

The third case is about corruption in the divine area of British academics, London School of Economics, which is alleged to have accepted 1.5 million pounds in "donation" from the son of Libya's discredited dictator Gaddafi, who had his PhD approved and awarded by LSE. Not only this, LSE also benefitted from a 2.2-million-pound contract with Libya in the name of training its civil servants. Immediately after the revelations found media attention, LSE's director, Howard Davies, was made to resign pending an inquiry into the entire episode.

Nothing is happening that puts a smile on our faces. In Kashmir, the last hope of Kasmiri Hindus going back to their homes in safety and honour further diminished when the nation's Prime Minister handed over newly built flats to the refugees. He didn't say a single word to assure that they would be sent back home soon. A leader of the nation chooses the day to hand over flats to those who have been rendered refugees in their own motherland, in an independent nation, celebrating republic days and independence days. Whose republic and whose independence? Did a media so lethargic to Hindu pains notice the irony?


That's the difference between the speech of a king, which made the best director and actor of our times recreate the saga once more after seven decades and the speech of another king that made us feel further low and hopeless.

नैतिक सत्ता की गिरती प्रतिष्ठा

07-March-2011

उजड़ने से उजड़ने तक

06-March-2011

Fake currency issue raised in Rajya Sabha by Tarun Vijay (BJP) PTI 8th March 2011

Tarun Vijay said Pakistan has let loose economic terrorism on India by helping those involved in fake currency circulation. Noting that there has been 250 per cent increase in counterfeit currencies in the country, he said terrorist forces were being strengthened by these operations. He said according to intelligence report an official printing press in Baluchistan was being used for printing of fake notes, which were routed to India via Nepal by the terrorist networks including LeT. Vijay said India should take up the issue with Pakistan.