Mathew Idiculla, a young friend with an avid interest in law and public policy, just launched his blog with a post where he draws our attention to the significance of Jan 26. Here are excerpts from his post:
It is in a funny way we treat important dates. August 15 is a day of celebration. It gave us independence … What does January 26 mean to us. Few people see beyond the unabashed display of arms and the President’s speech because we do not go into what it really stood for. The need to understand the history behind 26 January comes from the fact that only the past makes 26 January 26 January.
26 January, unlike popular belief, stood for Independence. … [On] 26 January, 1930 was the day India promulgated the declaration of Independence or the pledge of Purna Swaraj. On that day we declared ourselves an independent country, no longer under the clutches of the imperialists. The Declaration began “We believe that it is the incredible right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom to enjoy the fruits of their soil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth… if any government deprives a people of these and oppress them, the people have a further right to alter or abolish it”
It was the first time the Indian National Congress had declared complete independence and it was Gandhi who drafted it. The declaration said- “We believe therefore, that India must server the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence… We hold it to be a crime against man and God to submit any longer to a rule that has caused this fourfold disaster to our country.” The Home Rule movement and the Nehru Report (under Motilal Nehru) had earlier advocated only for a dominion status of India within the British Empire. In December 1928, Mahatma Gandhi proposed a resolution that called for the British to grant dominion status to India within two years, which was later reduced to one year, failing which the Congress would demand for complete independence.
So after one year of British apathy, at the midnight of December 31, 1929 at a massive public gathering in Lahore, Jawaharlal Nehru declared “Purna Swaraj” or complete independence from the British and asked the people to observe January 26 as Independence Day. The Tricolour flag of India was hoisted by Nehru on the banks of the river Ravi in Lahore and later Nehru and his colleagues danced around the flag post. On January 26, 1930, the declaration of purna swaraj was publicly issued and people all over the country celebrated India‘s Independence day and this day was celebrated every following year.
…
On the eve of August 15, Nehru began his celebrated speech “Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.” Sadly not many understand what it means. The tryst with destiny was the pledge India had taken long years ago- on the 26th of January 1930. However the pledge taken in Lahore, couldn’t be redeemed in full measure due to Partition. So the 26th of January is in no way subsidiary to the “independence” day. In fact even after August 15th, India was only a dominion which had not formally relinquished all ties with the British.
26 January also gives us an opportunity to introspect whether we have lived upto the values of the pledge. The declaration of January 26 says “The British Government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally and spiritually” It further speaks on how a normal Indian is heavily taxed, how the village industry has been destroyed, how customs and imported British goods are undesirable. It also spoke of how “The rights of free expression of opinion and free association have been denied to us” and how “the system of education has torn us from our moorings and our training has made us bug the very chains that bind us”.
Where have we reached 80 years after this declaration? Has the injustices decreased or has it been reaffirmed more so in the recent years? Its important to take one hard look at ourselves and the nation and try to reach an answer conscientiously. The extreme contradictions in the country does not paint a rosy picture, hence we must deliberate- where we have reached, which direction we are now heading and where we must be ideally heading.
… It was on November 26, 1949 that the Constitution was formally enacted, not on January 26, 1950. 26/11 stood for the spirit of the Constitution not the burning Taj. August 15th stood for partition, tragedy and the dominion status not independence or celebration. January 26 represented freedom, the promise of independence and the formation of the nation-state, and not just the Constitution and parade.
Hence January 26 is a day to celebrate. … Perhaps its time to recognize the freedoms January 26 stood for. It’s time to analyse whether we have redeemed the pledge we undertook 80 years back. It’s time to resolve to take more actions in furtherance of the vision of January 26 …
On 28th of December 2009 the Indian National Congress began a year of celebrations to mark its 125th anniversary. The party started commemorating the occasion from the 28th of December at the local level in order to make people remember all the struggles of the party in the last 125 years . Here’s a timeline of the Congress party from 1885 to 2009 .
Compiled by Ruhi Tewari & Santosh K Joy
Photographs by Bloomberg, AFP, Hindustan Times
-By Sanjay Jha
Arnab Goswami has started a new trend in broadcast journalism; a reality TV show of a fish market, a slugfest given to the highest decibels. If you saw his TV program on rising food prices on Times Now on January 14th 2010 featuring Brinda Karat , Ravi Shankar Prasad and Manish Tiwari , you would know what I mean. It was an astronomical flop-show. Ms Karat , as is the problem with several leftist spokespeople when speaking on aam aadmi issues , seemed unstoppable and after a point insufferable. Tiwari understandably retaliated with sufficient vigor, while Prasad prepared himself for a vitriolic assault. The paradox is that many news anchors live in a fool’s paradise that if they have guests squabbling like a bunch of soft-heads on a verbal laxative overdose they have hit the jackpot. Secretly, they believe they created real ripples, got the juices going et al. Utter garbage! They forget that their real audience switches channels rather quickly; the cycle is usually as follows, after the initial amusement at the silliness, there is heightened exasperation which culminates with a frustrated sigh. Switch! People rarely return to watch the parody. For Times Now this is now SOP. Firstly, Goswami invites heavy-weight guests. That too in fairly large numbers. Then he chooses to conveniently lose control; I have a sneaky feeling that his helpless loss of words is a deliberate tactic meant to make a viewer feel that Times Now really “ heats it up”. Not working Mr Goswami. It is as cold as a frozen turkey in a Polish subway .
On Face the Nation ( CNN-IBN) Sagarika Ghose landed up in a similar soup with Mani Shankar Aiyer and Lord Meghnad Desai, with Chandan Mitra for the third angle on the same old issue—Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy , provoked by the media’s favorite whiplash boy Shashi Tharoor. . Aiyer tore viciously into the Lord’s flaky assessment of Nehru even as Mitra made some wobbly points of no relevance. But Mani surprisingly failed to make two crucial points in Nehru’s defense ; India’s first Prime Minister and one of the greatest statesmen the world has ever seen was a man who lived his active political life between two World Wars, when the concept of a big western empires still dominating large sections of the world was not unforeseeable and the risk of new power blocs creating a Third World war could not be ruled out either. India became independent even as war trials commenced and the whole world was still recovering from it’s devastating aftermath. It naturally impacted his entire political philosophy and approach to international relations. Nehru championed for regional and world peace post-1947 because he was convinced that if India led the Non –aligned movement and other peace initiatives with other smaller countries in their fold they would create a suitable buffer for reducing military conflict which actually neither India nor it’s trenchant neighbors could really afford given the massive challenge of human poverty they all faced , including Pakistan and China. The Indo-China War was more a tactical lapse in managing brewing tension as opposed to a strategic blunder. Nehru believed that after experiencing the horrors of western domination China itself would be more accommodating of it’s neighbors in matters which could be solved through mutual negotiations. That the Chinese aggressively pursued the military option is not a reflection on Nehru’s leadership but on China’s obsession with all things land that still surfaces sporadically even today.
Secondly, Mani could have categorically stated that instead of just pinpointing India one should look at how geopolitical relationships have changed so dramatically world-wide post the end of the Cold War, an inevitable aspect of evolution, change and progress. What is the big deal about India’s calibrated closeness to the USA in a unipolar world dominated by Washington ? Wasn’t Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being the first official state guest of Barack Obama at the White House a statement on India’s rising graph and it’s ability to suitably navigate with all the superpowers? Also now that McDonald’s has fought stroganoff for the Russian palate and soon there will be more Starbucks in China than in the US a manifestation of how economic equations now drive political relationships in a more mature free-trade globally integrated world the real big shift ? Aren’t we being antiquated in criticizing a foreign policy valid during it’s time of 1960s, naturally outdated with it’s passage. It is pragmatic politics. It has nothing at all to do with a dumping of the Nehruvian policy.
That Sagarika asked Mani for a public apology for making a personal dig at Desai was equally uncalled for , as there was nothing so unparliamentary or vilifying that Mani really said . Instead, for borrowing blatantly the title from Nehru’s masterpiece The Discovery of India and smartly calling his new book The Rediscovery of India perhaps Lord Meghnad Desai owes both Mani and the Congress an apology .
- By Sanjay Jha
It started with a standard innocuous private decision of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to stay in a five-star hotel pending the refurbishment of his allotted government bungalow. Suddenly all hell broke loose as if a dreaded terrorist had just sneaked into Central Hall of the Indian Parliament for a quick cappuccino. Besides being publicly chastised for his errant ways the man who almost became the Secretary General of the United Nations was thereafter followed with relentless energy especially in his now celebrated Twitter. Tharoor can rightfully claim an equity stake from Twitter promoters should India emerge as it’s new bastion as the MOS for External Affairs has done wonders for the brand.
Ever since the initial brouhaha Tharoor’s every tweet has been conveniently hyped, twisted and turned to give the erudite gentleman an image of being the Grand Old Party’s problem child. Tharoor’s repeated insistence that he was merely exciting a debate on his Twitter was met with circumspection if not cynicism. I think the general media believes that Tharoor is just seeking cheap publicity , so why not give it to him with a convoluted slant ? The Times of India’s front-page Sunday buffet and Monday’s continued platter reveals a chronically obsessed media that is clearly twiddling it’s thumbs “ majorly” – the latter being a particularly popular term with many from TOI albeit I am still to find it in either the Chambers or Oxford dictionary as of 11.58 am on January 11th 2010.
I think the Indian media has taken a selective near-animus against Tharoor because Tharoor is just not the conventional politician that you can happily quiz without doing your own homework properly. Politicians like Mani Shankar Aiyer ( he was brilliant in CNN-IBNs Devil’s Advocate swapping seats with Karan Thapar) , Kapil Sibal, Jairam Ramesh, Arun Jaitley, Abhishek Singhvi are invariably a constant pleasure to hear irrespective of whether you agree with them or otherwise. Tharoor brings with him the added flavors of being tongue-in-cheek, globally recognized, author of several books with interests ranging from Bollywood, cricket, culture, politics to international relations, internet savvy, articulate and always thinking out of the box irrespective of the consequent risks in the sensitive area of inner party protocol that he occasionally takes. Yet ironically, more than the Congress party it is our old fashioned media mind-set that finds Tharoor an iconoclast. I wonder if he gives some of our stalwarts an inferiority complex?
Perhaps the fact that Tharoor also has a dapper personality and a charming presence also hurts.
Time(s) to grow up a wee bit!
- By Sanjay Jha
Hi, but was on a much needed vacation hence the long hiatus.
New Year’s began with characteristic color; Vidhu Vinod Chopra , producer of 3 Idiots slamming the media by telling them to stuff it when the latter questioned him on the controversial issue of credits for author Chetan Bhagat. As bedlam broke out, Aamir Khan restrained the irascible Chopra from giving a further demo of his inflammatory temper, while Raju Hirani put on the veneer of Gandhigiri to restore order. But probably Chopra, Khan and Hirani should have gone back to their own scene from the film when Sharman Joshi squeezes out a toothpaste and tells Madhavan to try and put that back in the tube , words once spoken cannot be taken back. Bhagat wasted no time in hitting back with a square punch on the jaw and before long the whole world knew that all was far from well. So let us cut the long chase and summarize in brief , firstly, the two main characters in this petty conflict and then more.
Chetan Bhagat obviously on Cloud 9 after his first pop-fiction book Five Point Someone became an apparent bestseller , was probably too carried away when Raju Hirani, celebrated director of the classic Munnabhai series expressed interest in his work. My feeling is that Chetan, a good old yuppie, was clearly overwhelmed by that event and began visualizing an instant enhancement in his author “ valuations” and a new-found Page 3 celebrity image to really sensibly negotiate commercial terms on a pragmatic basis. Why on earth did he sell full copyrights for a measly Rs 1 lakh is the missing link that no one has looked into with adequate depth, though Bhagat has confessed that Chopra virtually frightened him into meek surrender. Either way, bottomline is that Bhagat sold cheap for obviously other perceived benefits. Frankly, it did get him columnist space and a lot of free media visibility.
I rate Vinod Chopra as one of India’s finest directors ever; Parinda was a masterpiece of unmatched proportions, and his Khamosh is one of the cleverest whodunits I have ever seen in Indian cinema. And albeit many critics trashed Mission Kashmir, I still rate Sanjay Dutt’s portrayal of a broken-hearted cop seeking redemption as one of his best. Then why do most find the genius Chopra insufferable? The answer is simple— he is now more a money-guzzling shark-like producer than a creative story-teller.
Chopra is clearly made fortunes, and in a fickle as flame industry the maxim is hard-line; the mightier party wins, there is no negotiation with the weak. After a point, success does not just get into your head , it also gets into your bottoms, it’s a systemic spread. Chopra’s hubris in throwing peanuts at an intimidated Bhagat manifests Bollywood’s power-play with naïve outsiders. This time it has boomeranged.
In short, it is the same old story; while Chopra quotes the work contract verbatim on his website, Bhagat talks about the spirit of it’s implementation. There is life beyond a lawyer’s lavishness.
Technically, Chopra is right BUT only up to a point. Bhagat has got paid as per agreed terms and his name featured in the rolling credits as was explicitly stated. So far so good. But Bhagat’s grouse is that while he was earlier given the false impression that 3 Idiots was just an inspirational take-off on the book , the truth is that the box-office monster of a film is in fact a “faithful adaptation” of the book , according to those who have read it. But once rights are sold , it is the producer’s prerogative what he does with it, right? .
The crucial aspect is; did Bhagat get an approved copy of the script ? If he did, Bhagat can go fly a kite in IIM, Bangalore. But did Chopra get Bhagat’s acquiescence recorded if it indeed was made available to him ? If not ( as seems the case) , he is not as tight in contract execution as is being speculated. So is somebody lying? I think the categorical answer is YES. Either way, Chopra is adequately covered by the contract since Bhagat failed to ensure it’s inclusion. Legally, therefore Bhagat is standing on a banana peel in a quick-sand.
Thus, I believe the trigger point that made Bhagat into a Bhagat Singh was the rather disparaging manner in which the 3 Idiots team kept insinuating that the screenplay was a mere 2-5% of the book content because, honestly , that was a darned lie. For any author , good, bad or ugly the copyright is his soul. Bhagat is actually reacting today to perhaps his earlier mortification at being condescendingly coerced into selling cheap and the repulsive relegation of his work . It is his repressed angst erupting like a volcano, and something else.
Neither Chopra ,Bhagat nor trade pundits in their wildest dreams expected 3 Idiots to become such a huge money-spinner . The stakes have altered completely overnight. Bhagat is expectedly morose at the missed opportunity of profuse fame; the season of highly televised film awards which will commence shortly wherein he could have been the cynosure of all eyes, the Prasoon Joshi- kind –of- intellectual breed, a new poster boy of Bollywood. That is why the sudden rush for “ Story” credits. Ideally, he should have covered that flank in his written contract. But he has every right to even now belatedly challenge a blatant misrepresentation by the 3 Idiots camp. He has a right to fame, celebrity-hood, money, power et al that he now so stubbornly pursues. He is deftly exploiting “ grey areas “ as legally he has a lost case.
Chopra, Hirani and Khan have displayed a typical ruthless , contumelious Bollywood streak, they methodically trample the susceptible weaker-party. But this time they were dealing with a smart young man seeking justly his moment in the sun who could match a sarcastic sound byte with an equally sardonic one. It is a fair and square battle.
Chopra should ideally incorporate Bhagat amongst the title-holders for “ story” credits (along with Joshi and Hirani) . They can then walk on the stage together, sing each other’s praises till we blush crimson, all three ( idiots?) suitably compensated and send the appropriate filmy message—all is well!
PS: The pussy cat gingerly came out of the bag in this entire acrimonious drama . Our man Aamir Khan is truly not the Mr Perfectionist he claims to be . Firstly , he never really read the book on which his film and script was based . Sacrilege indeed! And secondly, Mr Khan actually chided media for asking questions without reading Bhagat’s fiction when he himself was guilty of the same. But after Rs 100 crores and counting, I guess all is finally well !
Happy New Year!
Sonia Gandhi is considered the Indian of The Decade by the Times of India -Crest edition ! here’s why…
- By Sanjay Jha
The last week has been a never-ending barrage of controversial news; Telangana, David Headley, Copenhagen and climate change , liberally interspersed with the sexual marathons of Tiger Woods’s putts , butts and long drives, and of course, cricket. With news coverage becoming increasingly commodity-like amidst this constant jamboree , certain features stood out.
I thought Barkha Dutt’s quick-fire interview with KSR from TRS established beyond doubt that the Congress made a political miscalculation in giving the sharp fellow an early VRS. It has created an absolutely unthinkable chaos in Andhra Pradesh, totally inconceivable till just a while ago when YSR was AKR ( Andhra ka Raja). Full credit to Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Manish Tiwari of the Congress for a valiant effort at sustainability even as the odds mounted with every passing faux pas.
I think Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is one of our most erudite, articulate and market-friendly politicians with an acidic wit and biting sarcasm. It is good to have a savvy negotiator who knows his onions and potatoes as India’s representative at Copenhagen. It made for amusing viewing , however, as Jairam walked the red-carpet being serenaded by TV microphones on both sides , yet speaking with remarkable equanimity and choosing carefully crafted language to avoid skirting another controversy. The Ayatollah will be pleased.
CNN-IBN has managed to make it’s 9 pm bulletin fairly well-paced with multiple news in proportionate distribution to the importance of the event. It works although with due respects to Rajdeep Sardesai’s regular co-hosts , it is a program that Sardesai is better equipped to make a signature program solo. Unlike Arnab Goswami of Times Now who hogs the complete program with his telltale bulldozing , Rajdeep for all his fire and brimstone is an accommodating senior partner to his visibly impressed colleagues.
The Haagen-Dazs ice-cream ad campaign manifests the chronic bug that bites all “ creative types” ; let’s be different. Frankly, the “ international passport holders” line is neither stimulating, funny nor wacky, it is unalloyed rubbish for which the multinational giant must have paid a whopping sum after midnight-oil burning brainstorming (?) sessions. They have been correctly chastised. First round to apna Amul and vegetarian Baskin Robbins! Maybe American businessmen need to learn from the mistakes of their noble counterparts like KFC, for example, who blundered their way into Indian sensibilities. Both the creative team and General Mills who approved the infantile text have chocolate chip with mint on their faces.
Which brings me to the ridiculous installment of titillating details on the sexual excesses, pun intended, of the most famous face of golf, Tiger Woods. Woods has no skeletons in the cupboards, he has them in abundant flesh in hour glass figures of varying age-groups. Since sex sells 24×7x365 we had Headlines Today promoting it as a tacky Whimpering Tiger and Crouching Dragons ( with silhouettes of skimpy women resembling Sherlyn Chopra look-alikes) . It was not just grossly exaggerated but pointedly stupid; just what does Wood’s manic obsession for just-in-time-demand for instant gratification have to do with an average Indian whose life is stretched daily to merely eke a survival? Just why do Indian TV channels blindly follow the US media has me flummoxed. I can imagine Headlines Today coming up with some pedestrian golf joke when the 18th woman surfaces with her nocturnal tale. Expect the worst.
Anyway, they say that golf and sex are the only two things that you can enjoy without being good at either of them. Clearly from the salacious sound bytes from his grocery-list of surreptitious conquests and 14 Grand Slam titles, Woods was good at both of them. But it is about time we left the legendary master of the green grass alone in his trying moments of self-discovery. Letting people be is part of responsible journalism.
- By Sanjay Jha
Has it ever struck you, common man, that we in India have stopped questioning some very basic issues which should occur to us with logical and biological precision on auto mode? Let me explain:
1) We all know that the Liberhan Report on Ayodhya demolition was leaked to the Indian Express and NDTV who naturally expectedly propagated the same with kinetic vigour. Shouldn’t the government, parliament , media, opposition parties, public etc find out who actually did it? Where? Why? When? What for? Why not the HT, Dainik Bhaskar or TOI? Why not CNN-IBN , Aaj Tak or Times Now? Who benefited by the planned expose ? What was the real motive? How can one pretend to be callously indifferent on an issue that has since resulted in unprecedented disruption of parliamentary proceedings post-leak ?
The Indian Express , in fact, categorically stated that it was “Home Ministry sources”. If so, they do know who was the surreptitious bureaucrat. Did it have the Home Minister’s blessings? Were various parties working in coherence?
In fact, all it takes is a subpoena from the court to get to the bottom of the fact. But who is going to bell the cat?
I think the “ leak” deserves a serious investigation as it is fast becoming standard operating procedure in our country.
Even the Ram Pradhan report on 26/11 has been allegedly “ leaked”. Why ? Are there deals between certain media houses and the purported conspirators? Does anyone care to find out? Till today we have no idea about what really transpired in the cash-for-votes scam in parliament where the BJP was rumoredly hand-in-glove with CNN-IBN; I think the public has a right to that disclosure. RTI anyone? PIL maybe?
2) All the TV channels , in particular, have failed to focus on the key element of the entire debate ; why is the ATR so remarkably insipid ? I hope the Congress is not relying on some old-fogy advice that by taking serious action in the ATR it will bring Ayodhya center-stage and give BJP an electoral plank on a silver platter to queer the pitch in the upcoming UP assembly elections and may be even 2014. It may be a fallacious assumption and a glaring lapse ; remember the raison d’etre of BJPs existence is the Ayodhya temple objective anyway. The BJP will continue to raise the temple issue at sporadic intervals to keep it’s vote-bank in a tight grasp and to accumulate sundry disaffected elements in its fold on the emotive issue. In fact, I believe that by allowing the ATR to look so squeamish the Congress has allowed the BJP to ridicule the Liberhan Report, and worse, focus all the damaging repercussions on to their own PV Narasimha Rao. I was astonished to see Salman Khurshid painstakingly state that Atal Behari Vajpayee is not “technically indicted” by the Report. That was Chandan Mitra’s job and not his. Worse, the BJP public relations machinery found a bonanza to whip in the over-the-top Beni Prasad Verma. Look at the consequent irony; the highlight of the parliamentary debate which should have been the universal condemnation of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP for the disruptive Babri demolition instead had India’s Prime Minister apologizing to the BJP for the indiscretions of a Congress MP. In simple terms, we have seen a catastrophic collapse of the Congress in failing to check-mate the BJP for it’s blatant disregard of India’s secular character.
3) On Telengana, frankly, the Congress has blown away a tactical political opportunity to seize initiative by being characteristically reactive . Frankly, the writing was always on the wall since 2004 when it was publicly stated by the Congress-TRS ( who fought the elections together ) that they supported the formation of Telangana state. By allowing one man’s fast unto death to catapult the government to it’s knees so dramatically reflects poorly on our great Indian democracy no matter how legitimate the demand. Once gain, Congress continues to lose extraordinary ground on account of it’s abysmal low-levels of pro-activity.
It must be getting chilly cold in Delhi for Congress spokespeople at the moment.
- By Sanjay Jha
( In defense of Lieberhan Report )
I am focusing this piece on what seems to have become recently the central controversial issue of the Justice Lieberhan Report on the Babri Masjid demolition at Ayodhya in 1992 ( courtesy BJP media cell’s skilful handling and the Congress’s surprising pussy-footing strategy on the subject ) —- former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s indictment and being held equally guilty as others in saffron colors in that illustrious congregation , which unfortunately obfuscates the major principal finding—- BJP and the Sangh Parivar’s daylight flouting of civil procedures and proven criminal misconduct for settling disputes in a matter of humongous national sensitivity.
Frankly, I think we are completely overdoing this sanctimonious bit about Vajpayee’s indictment by the rightfully much maligned for it’s almost- posthumous- appearance Justice Lieberhan Report. In fact, I have been quite flabbergasted with my good old friends in the Congress party ( Salman Khurshid appearing almost unnecessarily apologetic about it ) completely missing the vital point of what Lieberhan is explicitly stating : the buck stops at the top, period ! As it should. It happens in all walks of life; sports, business , adventure trails, voyages , everywhere— the captain of the ship stands up in honorable duty to accept consequences for his team’s inadequacies or violations. In fact, it applies more stringently in politics perhaps than anywhere else. President Harry Truman, anyone? This is the germane issue, not the technical error of not being given a suitable “ notice”. That is nothing but bunkum.
Vajpayee was the supreme leader of the BJP and in a matter of such enormous gravity how can the numero uno simply wash his hands away and walk away scot-free? It is actually as simple as that. It is akin , in fact, to LK Advani’s preposterous statement on his supposed ignorance of the hostage drama during the Kandahar hijacking. The bottomline is Vajpayee either deliberately slept through the insane demolition , conveniently looked away or was too intimidated to take on his fiery colleagues. Either way he is a silent accessory , an established conspirator to the sacrilege that followed. I think all these private drawing room quotes about his supposed anguish is utter balderdash; why didn’t he resign from the BJP is protest against such a blasphemous act ? It again sounds like Advani’s “ saddest day of his life” claptrap. If we castigate Lieberhan for flimsy technical errors, then how can we on the other hand give credence to personal ex-pressions of clearly fabricated angst heard by party colleagues and some media-men in close proximity?
The BJP are past-masters at diabolical double speak and can manipulate statements with insouciant confidence ; note Vajpayee’s passionate outbursts on video clips where he used his masterful oratory to outstanding provocation. . He was not called a mask by his own party stalwart Govindacharya for nothing. My case rests: Vajpayee is clearly and certainly guilty of willful inaction and of adroitly passing the buck. Let me give you further corroborative evidence.
If you need proof ask yourselves where was this supreme leader when Gujarat burnt in Y 2002; was he not the Prime Minister leading a billion people of India ? And unlike PV Narasimha Rao who was at least dealing with a dubious opposition party Chief Minister with pre-mediated designs in Kalyan Singh , it was Vajpayee’s own party-man Narendra Modi who was orchestrating a deadly carnage. Once again Vajpayee remained extraordinarily quiet for a considerable period; then suddenly in quintessential Vajpayee style , after incalculable damage was done he made a grand entry and cried copious tears. Trust me, no one believed him. In fact, you do not have to be a discerning political analyst to assess Vajpayee’s trademark style of functioning; he always ran with the hare and hunted with the hounds.
Now come on, guys, I think the BJP is a party which is so rehearsed in theatrical street-side entertainment you cannot take them seriously. Gujarat like Ayodhya was once again described as a “ spontaneous reaction”. The party has stock –phrases ready for public consumption on the condescending assumption that we are all gullible fools. Talk of hubris!
I think the BJP is hurting bad because Lieberhan has brilliantly boomeranged them by calling Atal Ji— “ the pseudo-moderate ”. He has hit the bull’s eye by paying them back in their own coin , and exposed Vajpayee for what he truly is. Just because the latter is now out of public life does not mean that we have to appear skewed in evaluating his distinct and cataclysmic failures.
The RSS and the BJP have no regrets whatsoever about the Babri demolition, a BJP CM was held guilty of contempt of court by the Supreme Court none the less, and even today they are not willing to categorically state that they will abide by a dispassionate neutral Supreme court-verdict. The fact that the Ayodhya destruction fractured India permanently and sowed seeds of Islamic extremism culminating right up to 26/11 is something that neither Vajpayee, Advani, BJP or the Sangh Parivar can ever disown. We have all paid a colossal price for their shenanigans. The BJP has always promoted it’s rabble-rouser poster-boys like Kalyan Singh, Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi flagrantly in our faces. It smacks of a pathological disregard for dialogue, discussion and debate to resolve issues. In the circumstances, a technical error and Rs 8 crore expenses incurred by Lieberhan over 17 years looks like trivial change.
In fact, Lieberhan has just disproved the popular legal phrase that justice delayed is justice denied. Justice delayed , in the case of Ayodhya, still remains justice delivered.
- By Sanjay Jha
Last week was expectedly about 26/11 remembrance and the excess coverage given the monstrous nature of that calamity could even be grudgingly understood. I think we should not make media-bashing a cavalier past-time , a close runner-up to political thrashing. So here goes.
Headlines Today reconstructed the Metro-Cama hospital exchange where the trapped trio of the famous senior police officers ( Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte ) whose sudden death that night in the early hours of the terrorist attacks was the first indication that things had indeed gone horribly wrong. Using CCTV footage, audio extracts of Pakistan master-minds and juxtaposed with real-life events that unfolded that night HT seemed to make a strong counsel for Rakesh Maria , the senior cop who has got enmeshed in controversial assessments in Vinita Kamte’s book. Sure, there are plentiful loose ends, and expect this plot to have sustainable value , as years after John F Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe’s death , fresh disclosures keep cropping up at intermittent intervals.
CNN-IBN brought in some sweet, poignant stories of human relationships formed during times when one was hearing bullets whiz past and life itself seemed ready for a risky gamble. Rajdeep Sardesai got PC on the Trident roof-top near the swimming pool , and the Home Minister answered with his customary cucumber cold confidence.
On The Big Fight –NDTV one could empathise with Vikram Chandra as he literally begged BJPs Chari and some die-hard VHP spokesman if they would accept the Supreme Court verdict on the disputed Ram Janambhoomi site. The Sangh Parivar are artful dodgers and have made doublespeak their inherent trait for public utterances. But their charade fooled no one. Expect Ayodhya to make a quiet return.
On NDTVs Left Right and Centre ex-Congressman Natwar Singh was hell bent on proving his new credentials, so ambivalence ruled , but he brightened up transitorily every time the Congress blushed on ex-PM Narasimha Rao’s deafening ineptitude in handling the Ayodhya crisis. Manish Tiwari , Congress spokesman, is emerging as the new aggressive face of the grand old party who is a personification of rebuttals and rebounds. Even the canny Ravi Shankar Prasad seems rattled by Tiwari’s ricocheting attacks.
Arnab Goswami on Times Now made an exaggerated hullabaloo on India’s vote on the Iran nuclear issue as if that was the biggest foreign relations event since the end of Cold War. Even as his guests sensibly reasoned with him and Goswami seemed caught with his pants half-way down, he dramatically switched to climate change with equal vigour. Goswami’s strategy is hound, harangue and harass everyone till they all say “ You are the second most important man in India after the PM” I hope poor Dilip Padgaonkar is listening because he looked perceptibly flustered and ill-at-ease during the show.
I thought Sonia Singh Verma has a winner in NDTVs Your Call going by the omnipresent Amar Singh’s interview. Singh who is fast replacing the Taj Mahal as UP’s most visible brand was his usual affable self, but what was surprising was his drastically mellow self and a hint of impending spirituality, the scuffle in Parliament notwithstanding. Now it is Mulayam Singh’s call, I guess.
On The Buck Stops Here , I thought Barkha Dutt hugely charmed by the Dalai Lama’s looming aura almost wanted to pull at his broad cheeks as the Tibetan monk , a picture of prodigious concentration gesticulated with carefree abandon and laughed merrily at his wisecracks.
