Lydia Polgreen: The Student-Led Protests Aren’t Perfect. That Doesn’t Mean
They’re Not Right. “These young people seek a worthy cause: to end what may
be t...
Kolkata, a New Island In The Gulag Archipelago?
It is curious that in the age of the cyberspace, innocuous images in print, with arguably difficult to decipher messages, can create political storms. The cover of Economist Magazine purportedly depicting a bleak future for an Independent Scotland raised political temper, with its regional leader Alex Salmond warning:
“Economist Magazine Will 'Rue The Day' It Mocked Scotland”
There are some parallels in the resurgence of nationalist feelings in the British Isles and the Indiansubcontinent, which has seen recent electoral victories of regional parties, which is questioning the unity and integrity of the nations, which is being seriously flagged by the media.
While such expose by the media result in venting of emotions by political leaders like Alex Salmond in Europe, In India it is turning more sinister with the media choosing to be a silent observer and taking a subservient role.
Recently Mamta Banerjee, the regional leader of India's West Bengal, has gone totally bizerk by ordering and later defending the arrest of a professor of the prestigious Jadavpur University merely for circulating a collage of images poking some innocent fun at her autocratic handling of the nation's Railway Ministry.
The allusion is Mamta colluded in a 'cloak and dagger' plot with a subservient political colleague to sack an able and US educated administrator who wanted to seriously salvage the biggest employer in India facing financial melt down.
In fact the whole episode is funnier than the collage which is being described by the media as a 'cartoon' for some strange reason. A professor of Chemistry found some innocent distraction by putting together a collage of pictures of the three politicians with some captions, comparing the episode as reminiscent of a forgotten movie by the famous Bengalee director Satyajit Ray.
However when he merely circulated his artistic creation to his neighbours by E mail, it took a serious turn and became a cyber crime in the fiefdom of Mamta Banerjee, leading to the political harassment and torture of the professor by her supporters and his arrest by police on dubious charges of cyber crime.
The action of Mamta and her coterie smacks of the Cultural Revolution in China and the rule by the "Gang Of Four" during which several such 'purging' incidents were reported on a daily basis.
It is not the first time Mamta Banerjee has ridden rough should over freedom of expression. A few weeks back her government banned some prominent English Language news papers for being critical of her government.
The event caused uproar in the country about her autocratic behaviour, but surprisingly several news papers came out with editorials which gave up the fight fearing litigation with a mercurial and unpredictable female leader.
Though the media by and large reported the "cartoon" event, none of them has dared to put the controversial cartoon itself on their pages, fearing political and financial repercussions to their publications.
The very fact that an e mail message circulated only to one's neighbours should be reported to the police and the ruling government smacks of political snooping reminiscent of Hitler's Gestapo and Stalin's Gulag.
For West Bengal, the land of India's only Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and for its capital Kolkota, which prides as the political and cultural capital of India, these recent actions of the government of Mamta Banerjee, India's Giant Communist Killer, pose the question if they like to be a new island in the Archipelago of suppression of freedom of expression and democracy.
“Economist Magazine Will 'Rue The Day' It Mocked Scotland”
While such expose by the media result in venting of emotions by political leaders like Alex Salmond in Europe, In India it is turning more sinister with the media choosing to be a silent observer and taking a subservient role.
Recently Mamta Banerjee, the regional leader of India's West Bengal, has gone totally bizerk by ordering and later defending the arrest of a professor of the prestigious Jadavpur University merely for circulating a collage of images poking some innocent fun at her autocratic handling of the nation's Railway Ministry.
The allusion is Mamta colluded in a 'cloak and dagger' plot with a subservient political colleague to sack an able and US educated administrator who wanted to seriously salvage the biggest employer in India facing financial melt down.
In fact the whole episode is funnier than the collage which is being described by the media as a 'cartoon' for some strange reason. A professor of Chemistry found some innocent distraction by putting together a collage of pictures of the three politicians with some captions, comparing the episode as reminiscent of a forgotten movie by the famous Bengalee director Satyajit Ray.
However when he merely circulated his artistic creation to his neighbours by E mail, it took a serious turn and became a cyber crime in the fiefdom of Mamta Banerjee, leading to the political harassment and torture of the professor by her supporters and his arrest by police on dubious charges of cyber crime.
The action of Mamta and her coterie smacks of the Cultural Revolution in China and the rule by the "Gang Of Four" during which several such 'purging' incidents were reported on a daily basis.
It is not the first time Mamta Banerjee has ridden rough should over freedom of expression. A few weeks back her government banned some prominent English Language news papers for being critical of her government.
The event caused uproar in the country about her autocratic behaviour, but surprisingly several news papers came out with editorials which gave up the fight fearing litigation with a mercurial and unpredictable female leader.
Though the media by and large reported the "cartoon" event, none of them has dared to put the controversial cartoon itself on their pages, fearing political and financial repercussions to their publications.
The very fact that an e mail message circulated only to one's neighbours should be reported to the police and the ruling government smacks of political snooping reminiscent of Hitler's Gestapo and Stalin's Gulag.
For West Bengal, the land of India's only Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore and for its capital Kolkota, which prides as the political and cultural capital of India, these recent actions of the government of Mamta Banerjee, India's Giant Communist Killer, pose the question if they like to be a new island in the Archipelago of suppression of freedom of expression and democracy.
Why Enrica Lexie Is Growing Messier Like The Italian Pasta By The Hour?
Don’t get this wrong. Enrica
Lexie sounds like the latest juicy revelation in the saga of former Italian
Prime Minister Berlusconi,
but it is merely the name of an Italian
vessel embroiled
in a legal and diplomatic tussle
between Italy
and India .
Initially catching little attention
of the western media, the row is now assuming some serious European dimension,
with Italian soldiers demonstrating in Rome
against the detention and legal action against two of their colleagues.
At the heart of the stand off and
‘argy bargy’ is the death of two unarmed Indian fishermen who were apparently
shot down by the two Italian soldiers who were on a anti piracy mission on
board the ship.
The arguments
and notoriously slow legal proceeding in India
has taken a toll, with the two soldiers locked up in an Indian prison and the
ship detained in the Indian port of Kochi
What has been most surprising is
the appalling way both countries have handled the sensitive issue, each one not
without its own hidden compulsions, and public stance each country was obliged
to take.
For the new Italian Prime
minister Mario
Monti , there were more compelling matters to attend with the EU
economic crisis and the economy of Italy itself on the verge of a crisis
situation like that of Greece. However the way the Italians
have come out with out convincing and straight forward explanation of what
happened has not helped the matter and enabled the Indians to react helpfully
to solve the issue.
Besides, the Italian
authorities have also failed to grasp the political compulsions under which the
Indian government had to act in this matter.
For a start, Kerala,
which is the last place people still believe in communism has a party which
lost the recent election with slim margin and has an interest to politicise
every issue in order to win a crucial local election held in March. The ruling
congress party with slim majority and allegations of corruption with the
central government which they lead couldn’t afford to let the legal path take
its own course.
That Kerala
has a sizable Catholic population didn’t help, with Kerala Bishops facing
accusation of taking up for a Catholic foreign country.
Although, never mentioned
publicly, the most sensitive reason for the stiff Indian stance is nothing but
the Italian origin of Sonia
Gandhi, presiding over the Congress Party, currently ruling India
and several states including Kerala as the major coalition partner.
In the current upheaval based on
huge ‘perceived’ corruption with the central government, any effort to resolve
the issue quickly would be perceived as an “order” from Sonia to favour Italy
against the interests of India .
This gives little hope of the
Italian authorities finding a quick resolution of the issue. However the fact
that the by election is now over without serious damage to the image of the
congress party and with a convincing win give everyone some elbow room. There
is also the need to solve the issue before another by election now scheduled
for May.
What can be counted upon is the
good humour and awareness of political sensitivities of the enlightened
judiciary of the ‘God’s own country’ who is adept at playing the judicial game
to everyone’s satisfaction.
Article first published as Why
Enrica Lexie Is Getting Messier Like Italian Berlusconi Affair By The Day?
on Technorati.
Why Can't They Make Them Anymore? Things Those Work!
If you are like me, nothing can spoil your day like a piece
of sliced bread that is not toasted on its top edge. It is so annoying it is
enough to spoil even your weekend when a toaster like contraption can
bring scents to even gaming!
In the 21st century, when we are even capable of discovering
presence of billions of inhabitable
planets and water on mars, why can't we have a toaster which can toast
bread on its full surface? It is in fact a scandal completely demeaning man's
biggest discovery, the sliced bread.
In fact we used to have toasters which toasted all sorts of
bread with out a whimper.That was until we started to get our toasters made in China!
It all started when our toaster suddenly burned out when a piece of crumb caught between the wires and we had to get a new one, made inChina . The problem is that you can't get even a toaster taken for
granted these days if it is made in China .
It is true that they have something about the size of things in China ,
but when they make stuff for Europe , they need to
consider the European sizes!
It all started when our toaster suddenly burned out when a piece of crumb caught between the wires and we had to get a new one, made in
No one ever had to measure their sliced bread, which no one
said is food that we shouldn't love or eat, but I decided to measure mine
to get to the bottom>Iit is a perfect 110 X 135mm, like any common size on
the shelves of supermarkets. Of course there are a few smaller ones and a few
bigger ones, which we had no trouble ever with our old toaster and I never ever
had to include repairing my toaster in things I need to do before I die.
It is one thing if a Chinese made toaster is not up to the
mark and can't do the job even on a piece of bread of standard size. However it
is totally different and unpardonable when even a new one with a very reputed UK
brand, which we bought in full confidence to replace the Chinese one won't
toast the bread all around. It is a real shame, it is scandelous!
It is not clear who to blame for this fiasco. Obviously the
Tories are not going to accept the blame on top of every other mess from granny
tax to petrol scare they are charged with. It is amazing, how a reputed company can goof up on simple
things like these. It is very clear no one tested the toaster by putting a
slice and toasting it. In any case no one tasted how the toast came out. So
much for customer satisfaction which is forgotten and doesn't matter any more
as purchasingdecisions are made on the web these days.
Obviously, the toaster must have undergone every test of
safety including placing it along with the debris of Titanic to see if it will
stand water because Insurance pay out is something companies have to worry
about.
As for my toast, why should giving up the simple joy of a
nicely and fully toasted Wharburton's smooth white bread or start my day
cursing a toaster which is not man enough? Time to throw out the toaster and
look for something proper, surely there ought to be others. Still it is amazing
anyone had to blog about something so simple and mundane you shouldn't have to
give a second thought about.
Article first published as Why Can't Things Just Work as They are Supposed to Anymore? on Technorati
Article first published as Why Can't Things Just Work as They are Supposed to Anymore? on Technorati
What Can a Billion People Do With a Frustrated Army Chief?
When an army chief gets cross
there is nothing much you can do, as the Indians are learning the
hard way. In neighbouring Pakistan
If in the chaotic and non
decisive India
no one seems to know what to do, it’s because the saga of the Army General B K
Singh, who is about to retire is a complex one.
First there was this issue
regarding his real age arising out of two different dates entered in the
military records. Unbelievable it is, no one really knew or could decide how
old the commander of the vast army protecting 1.3 billion Indians was until the
Supreme Court turned down a case he filed against the government.
The row which did go on for the
better part of last year between the General and the government which ended up
in court and in a serious loss of face for both parties, gave the general
impression that India
Then there was this ‘bomb’
of a bribe of $3.5 Million the general was offered by another retired general
for favouring purchase of substandard trucks for the military. Totally out of
expected conduct of an army chief, Mr Singh revealed the offer for the bribe to
a national daily which promptly chose to publish it without blinking an eye.
This caused great shock inside
and outside the country and an uproar and commotion in the parliament which
demanded explanation as to why no action was taken by the general or the
defence minister to whom the matter was promptly reported.
But what has happened today, by
the leak of an official letter the general had written to the Prime Minister
listing the pathetic state of lack of modern equipment and vulnerability of
Indian defences has created unprecedented political upheaval and expression of
anguish and strong demand for sacking of the general.
However, the Indian government,
which is playing hosts to a meeting of the BRICS
will be greatly embarrassed to take any action against the general right away.
Even though all three events look
to be related and involving General Singh, the reality is stemming from the
fall out from the 2G scam the Indians political parties chose to politicize out
of proportion for partisan gains, resulting in total inaction by the government
machinery, especially in the ministry of defence, which is wary of accusation
of corruption.
After all General B K Singh may
be doing the country a great service in bringing home the realities of dealing
with defence budgets, expenditure, need for secrecy and integrity of human
beings, all mutually opposing factors in real life.
Indians, who generally think they
have nothing to learn from anyone else, have to learn the virtue of moderation
if they need to feel secure under the protection of a great army!
Article first published as What
Can a Billion People Do With a Frustrated Army Chief? on Technorati.
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