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Media indulges in malicious reporting of Parrikar’s speech on Aamir Khan

Gaurav
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Media indulges in malicious reporting of Parrikar’s speech on Aamir Khan

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was recently in Pune, for the release of the Marathi version of a book written by journalist-author Nitin Gokhale on Siachen. At the function, Parrikar gave a speech, which became the talking point for media houses

Most media reports claimed Parrikar blasted Aamir Khan for unpatriotic comments:

Parrikar blasts actor Aamir Khan for ‘unpatriotic’ comments last year

Parrikar says Aamir Khan’s remark ‘arrogant’

Manohar Parrikar Rakes Up Aamir Khan’s Controversial Remark, Dubs It ‘Arrogant’

Indian Express had a markedly different headline:

Parrikar takes swipe at actor (Aamir): those who speak like this must be taught lesson

The Indian Express claimed Parrikar said:

…anyone speaking against the country must be “taught a lesson” in the same way that an “actor” and an “online trading company” were taught.

“Some of our people are very smart, I know. There was a team which was working on this. They were telling people you order and return it… The company should learn a lesson, they had to pull his advertisement”

Some leftists journalist quickly latched on to the juicy parts to create a narrative. An abusive journalist tweeted this:


A journalist formerly with India Today used the quotes from the Indian Express story:


Sagarika Ghose too harped on the words “Our Team”


So did Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar really say this? The video of that portion of the speech is out for all to see, and it is clear as daylight. A transcript of that part is presented below:

How does someone dare to talk about ill of this country, wrong about Bharat Mata. I am not referring to Srinagar (incident), I am talking about Delhi (incident). How does anyone have guts to speak against the nation? How does he have the courage to speak like this? I am not talking about any university any organisation (audience laughs and claps). When anyone speaks like this, he has to be taught a lesson of his life. And people have done that, with people power…

One actor did this mistake, saying that his wife wants to go abroad and stay there, (audience laughs) It was an arrogant statement, However poor my family is, or however small my house is, I have to love my house and always aim to make a big bungalow out of it, through a right procedure. But you can’t feel ashamed of yourself.

Some things we take it the public in a wrong manner. I remember a story, once a boy was going to school. How, we sometimes (unclear) wrong things. How we have to often correct these things at home only.

When this actor did this, the company for which he was advertising, was an online trading company. Many people broke relations with that their company. Many people quit from the lease, and some over smart people ordered goods and sent them back. There was a team, which I know, which was working on this. They were telling people you order and return it, this company should learn a lesson. That to pull out his advertisement.

Nowhere in this portion of the speech does Parrikar say “our people”. He only says that many people used a legal means of boycotting an organisation, and that he knew of a team of people who was also working on this. Even the organiser of the event tweeted saying that he never heard Parrikar say “our people”:


This completely goes against the narrative created by some media houses and some leftist journalists that BJP’s or Parrikar’s “own people” were behind the Snapdeal movement. This also reveals that most media houses did not even report that Parrikar spoke about the Delhi sloganeering as well as Aamir Khan, and hence not all his comments were attributed to Aamir Khan.

Hence, it may even be argued by some that the “taught a lesson” comment, was a sly reference to JNU, which he comically tried to deny. In fact, this was the exact interpretation of NDTV itself:

According to Mr Parrikar, when the actor made the statement last year, many people had protested against his remark and even uninstalled the mobile application of an online shopping site he was associated with, while the firm had also pulled out the advertisement featuring him.

In an oblique reference to the alleged anti-national sloganeering at JNU earlier this year, Mr Parrikar said those who speak against the nation need to be taught a lesson by people of this country.

The main question then to ask his, from where did the Indian Express report cook up the lines “our people”, which in turn led many to believe that BJP or the Defence Minister had spear headed this campaign, and thus, had the tacit or otherwise endorsement of BJP of the Defence Minister. Was there some other bit of the video which is yet unreleased? Or was this a figment of the Indian Express’s imagination, since no other media reported the “our people” line?

After Arnab’s veiled attack, a desperate Barkha begs and fights for support online

OpIndia Staff
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After Arnab’s veiled attack, a desperate Barkha begs and fights for support online

Just a few days back, in his customary fashion of being loud and over the top, Arnab Goswami launched a monologue against a set of “pseudo-liberals”. He did not name anyone, but asked questions of those “who have been trying to echo the Pakistani line, in the guise of backing Kashmiris”, those “who are using the killing of a terrorist, trying to project Burhan Wani, as an innocent son of an headmaster”, those “who give away operational details, of the movement, the logistical details of the armed forces when they are taking on terrorists”, those “who backed those who chanted Bharat ki Barbaadi in JNU”.

Barkha Dutt of NDTV ticked all the boxes and the informed viewers of Arnab’s show would have guessed the target. Barkha’s initial response came as a desperate spin, claiming that Arnab had asked for media to be “gagged”:


It took time, but people from her own fraternity and others began calling out her bluff:


Barkha tried to shift the goal-post but was caught again:


Eventually, though, Barkha was caught in her own trap. She admitted that the closest thing Arnab had said to “gagging the press”, was last year, when he had asked for censorship of Leslee Udwin’s documentary.


So, is Arnab’s alleged call for censoring a documentary equal to a call for gagging the media? This was Barkha Dutt’s first claim when she sparked off the controversy:


By that logic, did Barkha Dutt also indulge in “gagging” of the social media, when she sued a blogger Chaitanya Kunte, forced him to shut shop and disappear? Further, if the call for “gagging the media” was made last year, why did Barkha Dutt suddenly get so perturbed? Is it to deflect attention from Hafiz Saeed’s endorsement?

Or is she afraid of a “trial”? Why would an honest journalist be afraid of a trial by a judicial process, in her own country? Unless the said journalist is not honest, or doesn’t trust the judiciary…

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Barkha Dutt also claimed that she “didn’t give a toss” for Arnab’s opinion. Ironically this was claimed in a verbose Facebook post. But as we see now, Barkha did indeed get deeply affected by Arnab’s barbs.

Since then, Barkha has over 50 tweets dedicated to this issue, a blog on NDTV, and incessant re-plugging of the her Facebook and blog posts. And inspite of all this, it appears Barkha wants more support. She has now feuded with many journalists, in public, on social media, asking for more support.

First, she pontificated to CNN IBN anchor Bhupendra Chaubey, on how she expected him to cover her spat with Arnab, and how she expected his support:

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Then Barkha had a fight with ANI News editor Smita Prakash. While Prakash was trying to argue that the debate on Chaubey’s show was tilted towards Barkha, Barkha had a problem that there was even a debate! She expected complete and utter support!


So the great host of the great debate show “The Buck Stops Here”, does not even want a debate on her acts. Barkha in fact hadn’t even seen the concerned show and yet was hyper-ventilating online:


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Next she moved on to Rajdeep Sardesai. She hinted that by choosing to remain silent, Rajdeep was complicit in the attacks on her. Rajdeep had written a post on this issue, titled: “Why I will not speak on the Arnab-Barkha ‘war'”

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Rajdeep claimed that even without saying much, he had said a lot, but Barkha did not seem pleased:


Even non-journalists, were not spared by Barkha. Chetan Bhagat committed the great sin of asking whether he could like Arnab and Barkha both, but of course Barkha arm-twisted him into choosing her.


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This is the same Barkha Dutt, who accuses Right Wing leaders of summoning “twitter armies” whenever there is an argument, when in fact it is mostly ordinary user jumping in using their own free will. While, Barkha is admonishing, sermonising and egging other journalists to come and support her unequivocally, just because she thinks she is right.

Even as we report this, Barkha Dutt is still fixated on this issue, inspite of proclaiming that “she doesn’t give a toss” for Arnab. Clearly, Arnab Goswami has become one of the few journalists to break the code of Omerta, of silence, when it comes to questioning those within the media. And on this occasion, even without naming Barkha Dutt, he has managed to disturb her to an extent that she has been reduced to publicly fighting and begging for support from those within her fraternity.

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Why Barkha Dutt is attacking Arnab Goswami? The reasons go beyond TRPs

Rahul Roushan
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Why Barkha Dutt is attacking Arnab Goswami? The reasons go beyond TRPs

Controversial television journalist Barkha Dutt is on a mission these days. The Consulting Editor of NDTV, whose conversations with corporate and political lobbyist Niira Radia were leaked in 2010, is lobbying with fellow journalists to bring down Arnab Goswami, the always angry Editor-in-Chief of Times Now.

While one may think that it’s the TRPs – the metric to measure how popular a TV channel or a news show is – that is driving this jealousy as Arnab has garnered all TRPs, the reasons go much beyond that.

A sequence of events has led to the current hysterical state of Barkha Dutt, starting with the Indian Army killing Hizbul terrorist Burhan Wani in Kashmir. The immediate reaction of Barkha to this big news was this:


This tweet itself brought criticism to Barkha as people pointed out that not only she skipped the word “terrorist” to define Burhan (instead calling him ‘commander’, as if he held some legitimate post), but painted him as a guy whose father was someone indulged in noble job of teaching and whose primary interest and involvement was within social media.

Deliberately or inadvertently, Barkha appeared to have indulged in harmful distortion. It was soon discovered that Burhan’s father was no ordinary school headmaster, but someone who held jihadist views. While Burhan’s activities went beyond social media and he played active role in many killings and threatened to carry out terror attacks.

Following Burhan’s killing, there were violent protests in Kashmir by separatists against security forces, and there were casualties on both sides. Once again, many felt that Barkha Dutt was soft on separatists in her reporting from the ground zero.

Barkha was, however, almost unperturbed by these criticisms. Until Hafiz Saeed spoke. In a TV interview, the mastermind of Mumbai Terror Attacks thanked Barkha Dutt and Congress leaders for their “good work” in Kashmir.

A note of thanks and recognition from a terrorist is the last thing someone would want. Also, what comprises “good work” in the scheme of things of a terrorist is a further troublesome idea. Barkha knew that this was something she needed to get off from her back.

And she found an alibi in Arnab.

Arnab didn’t really ask for any gag on media – something Barkha is claiming in her current tirade against him, and thus making it a case of press freedom (and giving cue to others to cry Emergency?). Yes, Arnab did ask some in the media to be exposed, investigated, and tried for their links with those in Pakistan who plot downfall of India.

What’s wrong with that? He didn’t name anyone. And it’s absolutely fair to demand that those in cahoots with the enemies of the nation should be investigated and tried. And if they happen to be in media, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be tried.

Remember that the same Arnab had gone ballistic against a Hindi journalist named Ved Pratap Vaidik, who had met Hafiz Saeed two years ago. Vaidik had claimed that he was a journalist and thus his meeting with Hafiz should be seen in different context, but Arnab was not ready to buy that argument.

So Arnab’s stand on this issue is consistent. He is not willing to give any concessions to anyone claiming to be a journalist as far as hobnobbing with the enemies of the state is concerned. And this time he didn’t really name anyone, but Barkha thought it was about her.

Barkha made it all about her (but under guise of defending press freedom) because she desperately wanted to get the Hafiz Saeed’s endorsement forgotten by the public. And the best way to do was to start a bigger controversy – make big statements like being ashamed of being in the same industry as Arnab Goswami and virtually calling him a “chamcha” (sycophant).

This appears to be working. People are no longer talking about why Hafiz Saeed thinks Barkha Dutt or Congress leaders do “good work” in Kashmir, but now it’s all about “good journalism” that Arnab Goswami is not supposed to be doing.

Apart from taking the focus off Hafiz Saeed’s statement, the attack on Arnab by Barkha and her friends serve another purpose – to show the journalists and media persons about who the real daddy is.

Those broadly subscribing to the left-liberal ideology have had a mafia like control on media for long. Arnab is someone who is not a typical left-liberal. Arnab is no right-winger as well, but he is definitely no Adarsh Liberal. He himself underlines that fact by terming the others as “Lutyens Media”.

And thus someone like Arnab ruling the media scene hurts the other side. They need excuses to attack him and to cut him to size, so that others get the message – if we didn’t leave Arnab, who are you? It is a signal to those in junior and middle level positions in journalism – be with us, or you’d be taught a lesson just like we are teaching Arnab a lesson.

So there won’t be easy end to this battle, as this goes beyond TRPs and personal egos of two former colleagues. Perhaps next in line will be a leaked letter or “sources” based story that many journalists in Times Group have written to the top management complaining about Arnab’s attack on press freedom, and that top management is upset with Arnab, and so on.

The nation wants to know what Arnab has thought about it, and how will he deal with this organized attack on him. Right now it seems that he doesn’t give a toss about it.

Barkha Dutt, you are not a terror sympathiser

Nitin Rivaldo
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Barkha Dutt, you are not a terror sympathiser

Times Now Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami opened a can of worms yesterday. He did not name anyone, but he made his target clear. He was on the aggressive, attacking “pseudo-liberals”, some of whom are within the media. He attacked those “who have been trying to echo the Pakistani line, in the guise of backing Kashmiris”, those “who are using the killing of a terrorist, trying to project Burhan Wani, as an innocent son of an headmaster”, those “who give away operational details, of the movement, the logistical details of the armed forces when they are taking on terrorists”, those “who backed those who chanted Bharat ki Barbaadi in JNU”.

Arnab did not name anyone, but Barkha Dutt, you made it clear that all fo the above applied to you, by reacting the way you did. Not only did your reaction make it clear, that he was targetting you, but on the one hand, you claimed that “you dont give a toss for his opinion” and on the other hand, wrote a lengthy Facebook post, and re-tweeted news stories covering that post through-out the day. Clearly, Barkha, you did give a toss and were deeply affected by Arnab’s attack.


You cry that Arnab has asked for a “gag” on some sections of the media, but all we could see is Arnab asking against people who break laws. Is that a crime?

You bask in the glory of your Facebook post having reached  1 million plus reach, but you fail to answer or acknowledge the comments on your Facebook post, which are from ordinary Indians, not from nameless, faceless trolls. These are the top comments on your post Barkha, and it is time for you to introspect why such comments have so much support from the unwashed masses:

Top Comments on Barkha's post
Top Comments on Barkha’s post

Barkha, you are not a terror sympathiser. You are someone whom terrorists like Hafeez Sayeed sympathise with. Why do you ask? Is it because both of you somehow seem to argue for the same causes, especially when it comes to Kashmir?

You are not an ISI agent. ISI collects information for their own country. You leak hostage locations during 26/11. You leak information for another country! You maintain a stoic silence for years, and then claim “it was a mistake” and try to blame the entire media for committing the same mistake and also put the onus on the Government for not warning you!

You are not a Pro Pakistan dove. You are a dove that will sell every domestic Jihadi as a victim. And blame the victim for his fate. A wanted terrorist of a known terror outfit is the “son of a headmaster” for you. Just look at how you blamed Kashmiri Pandit’s for the genocide. Even Pakistan has a concept of good Taliban & bad Taliban. But for you, every domestic Jihadi is a good Taliban, because in your book he is a victim wronged by us. It’s not Arnab’s comments that have stung you. It’s the endorsement from Hafiz Saeed. You are in the good books of the bad people!

I just wonder if you were reporting about Direct Action day by Jinnah in 1946. How would u have done it:

“What provoked a peaceful, patriot like Jinnah into coming up with two nation theory? Some say it was Gandhi who provoked Jinnah into announcing direct action day by Non-Violence & Fasting. Or was it the Kashmiri Pandit (Nehru) who monopolised all posts leaving Jinnah with no option but the Partition?”

I wonder how would u have covered Sardar Patel’s efforts of unifying India?:

“Why is this Xenophobic, Hyper-nationalistic Sardar Patel sending tanks into Nizam’s Hyderabad? Isn’t Patriotism the last refuge of a scoundrel? Is it not an Indian occupation of Hyderabad? Won’t this create many more Jinnah’s? Won’t this alienate the future generations?”

Be ashamed of the troughs you have fallen to in search of those crests Barkha! I hope I will not be another Chaitanya Kunte for expressing my rage.

Culture of abuse and misogyny in Indian politics: A Reality Check

nehasri
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Culture of abuse and misogyny in Indian politics: A Reality Check

It is no secret that a culture of verbal abuse and misogyny prevails in Indian politics, rather shamelessly so. We, the voters, have learnt to live with it.Women from across the political spectrum are subjected to the crass misogyny that passes for discourse in Indian politics, from Mamata Banerjee to Smriti Irani, there is hardly a woman politician who hasn’t been targeted.

For some, its overt, in the form of public abuse by other leaders, mostly opposition but sometimes even from their own party, while for others, its covert, in the form of sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances and sometimes even requests for sexual favours. If you are a woman who wants a career in politics, you have to deal with this, is the underlying message. Of course women aren’t the only targets and men are subjected to verbal abuse as well. If one was to receive a paisa for every abuse hurled their way, I suspect PM Narendra Modi would be the richest man in the world, but lets not digress.

In the recent past, two prominent cases of sexist verbal abuse in Indian politics have come to light. First was, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani being subjected to everything from vulgar innuendos by Assam Congress leader to plain-old-sexist/body-shaming statements by journalists and media houses [Telegraph editorial headlines (1 and 2), controversial journalist known for her sexism in the Twitterverse, Rajyasree’s new low] Second incident was the shameful comment by UP BJP Vice-President Dayashankar Singh on Dalit leader Mayawati, calling her worse than a prostitute, for which he was expelled from the party and is now facing arrest.

What is notably perplexing is the impunity with which politicians do it, and the confusing morality of those who defend it when the offender is one of their own or the target is on the opposition side. Take the case of Smriti Irani here, when Telegraph came out with the obviously sexist headlines against her, most journalists who fancy themselves as feminists, remained silent. Priyanka Chaturvedi, controversial Congress spokesperson and recently self-anointed crusader for online misogyny, went one step further and defended the Telegraph headlines as “not-sexist” (even though such an article would never have been written for a male politician). It is notable that this is not out of character for Priyanka Chaturvedi to endorse sexism against women who don’t agree with her politics as not too long ago, she found the term “Hate Hags” for women supporters of Modi, as “perfect”

You’d think that’s the limit, but you’d be wrong. Self-styled feminist, Barkha Dutt went even further. Smriti, she argued, has never stood by other victims of sexism and therefore, she herself is to be blamed and shamed for the fate that had befallen her. Even though Barkha is known for her subtle  use of conjunctions & innuendos to do the blaming and shaming (e.g. Curious use of “but” to subtly say Charlie Hebdo had it coming ), this author didn’t expect this from her.

This isn’t the first foray of journalists, who fancy themselves as feminists, into defending misogyny. Not only have they defended molesters and paedophiles, just because they happened to be part of the coterie, they’ve even launched full-frontal attacks on the rape-victims. Outlook magazine and Telegraph seem to be competing amongst each other to see who can hit the misogynistic abyss sooner, but the sexism dripping from even seemingly innocuous pieces, often by female writers like Saba Naqvi, is quite too transparent I’m afraid.

Now lets take a look at the recent case, when prominent Dalit leader Mayawati was abused. Not only did all prominent news channels devote their primetime to debating the sexist comments of the ex-BJP VP, newspapers made their front page headlines. There were nationwide protests organized by BSP, a very heated Parliament debate which led to an apology from the Home Minister, and the offender, Dayashankar Singh was expelled from the party and a FIR registered against him.

All of this was perfectly justified, until BSP leaders took to the streets of Lucknow and started abusing the wife and 12-year old daughter of Dayashankar Singh in extremely disgusting language. In Rajya Sabha, Mayawati, gave a very eloquent speech about need for decency in public life. “It is a battle of ideas, where one should never stoop down to disgusting levels”, she said. Decency would dictate that, having gone through what she did, Mayawati would condemn the attacks by her party members, but lo and behold, she instead defended the attacks on Dayashankar’s female relatives!

Misogynist statements from BSP aren’t anything new. Founder of BSP, Kanshi Ram, had once used the same language against the owner of Dainik Jagran when the paper published an unfavorable news against BSP. What is unacceptable is that despite being a woman, BSP Supremo chose to defend the same misogyny when it was directed at someone other than herself. It was only when Dayashankar Singh’s wife stood her ground, and fought for her daughter, with the BJP backing her, did BSP call off the nationwide protests they had initiated on the remarks.

When it comes to treating women as easy targets, no party has their hands clean. There have been several cases where BJP leaders have used some extremely despicable language to attack their opponents and have been pulled up for the same. Often rightly so. However, some leaders, like Madhya Pradesh Minister Babulal Gaur despite being repeat offenders, haven’t been punished. But are the “non-Right Wing” politicians “better” in this regard as they claim to be? Hardly.

After listening to the grandstanding by quite a few non-RW leaders on primetime debates about the culture of abuse in Right-Wing, on several occasions, this author decided to search instances of “non-Right Wing” politicians resorting to abuse.

Please note, due to the sheer volume of the results of this seemingly innocuous query, I’ve limited my search to:

  • only major parties, national or regional
  • only MLAs, MPs or prominent leaders
  • only verbal abuse (have not covered accusations of rape, murder, sexual harassment etc).
  • have included results where targets are female

This by no means is a complete list since this author was only able to search what was electronically available in the two languages known to her, English and Hindi. This author is sure there are instances that were covered in regional media but never made their way to English ones. If you think we’ve missed something, please feel free to tweet the references to me (@neha_aks) or use the comments section below. So here is what we found.

Ironically, many of the leaders who feature in this list, claim to be defenders of women’s rights and give long sermons about decency in public life, but fail to lead by example:

  1. Smriti Irani is illegitimate wife of Narendra Modi: Assam Cong leader Nilamoni Sen Deka hits a new low in Indian politics.
  2. UP Congress leader and ex-President Rita Bahuguna Joshi asks what price do people need to pay to rape Mayawati, since she pays Rs 25,000 as compensation to rape victims
  3. When AAP activist was molested by AAP leader, Party Chief and Delhi CM told her to “compromise”. The activist later killed herself
  4. CPM leader from Kerala declared on Facebook that some women in Congress, strip for male colleagues to get election tickets
  5. Congress Kerala unit’s official Twitter handle shames a victim because she filed a case against Kerala ex-CM Oommen Chandy for sexual harassment. Calls her, “Woman with loose morality”. The tweet has been deleted, screenshot available here.
  6. TN Congress Chief EVKS Elangovan uses a vulgar remark linking TN CM Jayalalitha and PM Modi.
  7. Journalist-cum-Congress leader Amaresh Mishra, who used to attend national TV debates as Congress representative from UP, was so abusive towards supporters of other political parties on Twitter, that his twitter account got suspended. He was later arrested for threatening to kill Narendra Modi. Some specimen of his tweets are storified here.
  8.  Congress spokesperson who became a crusader against online misogyny, Priyanka Chaturvedi, found the term “hate hags” coined by Outlook magazine for women supporters of Modi, a perfect term to describe vocal women who disagreed with her politics. This tweet too has been deleted, however, a screenshot can be found here.
  9. Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal said he would ask his “boys” to go and rape CPM women members.
  10. Congress leader, ex-CM of Delhi and UP CM hopeful Sheila Dixit reacted to a journalist’s rape and murder by saying, “women should not be too adventurous”.
  11. Samajwadi leader Mulayam Singh Yadav declared that since “rural women are ugly, they won’t benefit from Women’s Reservation Bill”.
  12. National President of JD-U and veteran MP Sharad Yadav said that ‘South (Indian) women are drak but they are beautiful as their bodies are well developed.. we don’t see it here.. they know dance”. He repeatedly refused to apologize for his remarks, claiming they weren’t racist or sexist.
  13. When discussing Bill on stalking, National President of JDU and veteran MP Sharad Yadav said, “Who among us here have not followed women?”
  14. When Mayawati accused Mulayam’s men for a failed rape attempt, Mulayam defended himself with “Is she so pretty that any would want to rape her?”
  15. Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav made a personal jibe at Mayawati saying he doesn’t know if he should call her Mrs or Miss.
  16. Lohiyaite JDU leader Ali Anwar said, “Good Smriti Irani has been made Textiles Minister, it will help her cover her body.”
  17. Another Lohiyaite, Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav questions Mayawati’s character, her relationship with Kanshi Ram, and calls her mad.
  18. Sexist AAP leader, Kumar Vishwas, on Sania Mirza: “She wasn’t able to play any field properly, so decided to try out in another. We’re sad that she collected fame from India but husband from Pakistan.”
  19. Congress leader Vyalar Ravi, when questioned about molestation charges against PJ Kurien, asked the reporter if she had a similar experience (molestation) with Kurien.
  20. TMC leader Abdul Rezzak Mollah calls Rupa Ganguly, a real-life Draupadi. Says he knows the length of the cigarette she smokes and who she lives with.
  21. CPM MP Anil Basu: She (Mamata Banerjee) should have been pulled by hair, dragged home to Kalighat & given a lesson for blocking a national highway.
  22. CPM’s Subhas Chakraborty on Mamata’s Maa-Maat-Manush slogan: “She is an infertile woman; what does she know about Maa?”
  23. CPM’s Anil Biswas used the phrase “Jomero Aruchi” for Mamata which means “even the devil won’t touch her.
  24. CPM’s Anil Basu on Mamata Banerjee: “Which bhatar (male patron) is funding her?” while making a reference to Sonagachi sex workers.
  25. TRS Chief KCR said he would drag Sonia Gandhi “to the bazaar” if Telangana was not created.
  26. CPM leader Anisur Rehman asks Mamata what her fee would be considering she gave Rs 20,000 to rape victim.
  27. AAP Leader and Cabinet Minister of Delhi, Kapil Misra made a vulgar innuendo about Modi & Smriti Irani. Now deleted. Screenshot can be found here.
  28. BSP’s Naseemuddin Siddiqui wanted expelled BJP VP Dayashankar Singh’s wife and daughter be “presented” (vulgar innuendo).
  29. Congress leader and ex-Union minister of women and child development, Renuka Chowdhary, calls female Cabinet minister in Modi Govt, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, “kachra” (garbage).

And just as a side note, here are some times when even the male politicians had to face puerile language:

  1. Racist TN Congress chief EVKS Elangovan mocks PM Modi’s dark looks and is bowled over by the fair beauty of the Gandhis.
  2. Dalit man alleged senior Congress leader & Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken abused and threatened to kill his son if he came anywhere near AICC.
  3. Dayashankar Singh is an ‘illegitimate child’, says BSP MLA Usha Choudhary.
  4. BSP Chandigarh Unit chief Jannat Jahan announces reward of Rs 50 lakh for Daya Shankar Singh’s tongue.
  5. Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia makes Modi the target of his directed abuse, comments on his personal life, calls him a failed husband.
  6. “Suave” Congress leader and ex-Cabinet Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar declared Modi is a snake, scorpion and a dirty man.
  7. Congress MP Soma Ganda Patel uses a casteist slur against OBC Narendra Modi who is of Ghanchi caste against OBC Narendra Modi who is of Ghanchi caste
  8. Ghulam Nabi Azad, a Congress leader and former union minister, uses casteist slur against Modi, calls him “Gangu Teli”.
  9. Then Union Minister and Senior Cong leader Beni Prasad Verma declares Modi is a man-eater (aadamkhor).
  10. Congress senior leader Beni Prasad Verma calls Modi a “RSS goon” and Rajnath Singh his “slave”.
  11. Repeat offender Beni Prasad Verma, calls Modi an “animal who needs to be controlled with a whip”.
  12. Veteran Kerala CPI(M) leader VS Achuthanandan calls Narendra Modi a “slaughterer”.
  13. Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia compares PM Modi to medieval tyrant Aurangzeb: (His party has since started considering Aurangzeb a secular icon, but we’re going to assume he didn’t mean it as a compliment)
  14. NC leader and alliance partner of Indira Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah, calls Narendra Modi, a “dictator”.
  15. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, calls Modi, “Maut ka saudagar” (merchant of death).
  16. Suave Cong MP Tharoor calls Modi  “bleeder” (incorrect usage of the term) & therefore clarified meaning as “someone who bleeds the nation”.
  17. UP Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiwal declared that “cricket victories are like old wives, not as fun as they used to be.”
  18. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee threatens Amit Shah & makes obscene references about bamboos and backsides.

The impotent dreams and shackled desires; memories of pre liberalization era

Mahesh Jagga
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The impotent dreams and shackled desires; memories of pre liberalization era

The year was 1975. As I, a 10 year old, diminutive & under nourished kid, clutching a princely sum of 80 Paise in my sweaty palm, walked into the coal depot to buy the family’s monthly quota of cooking coal, the depot owner looked at me with all the scorn & contempt and commented, “God knows how these beggars get wind of coal’s arrival. They land up before supplies are unloaded.” Ridiculed & derided, as I wanted my world to just disappear, or wanted to die of shame there and then, if I knew that this shame would later be termed as simplicity, I would have felt a lot better.

ration shop
Illustrative picture

In the same year, when the corner grocery store owner commented, “Whole family is educated but you come again with your 30 Paise to buy 100 grams of lentils.” I could have told him that it is not poverty that makes it difficult to afford buying lentils for entire month but austerity, as eloquently explained by Mukul Kesavan now, I could have felt better.

Or around the same time, dragging myself back home from the ration shop (Yes, they were called ration shops, back then, not the respectable ‘Fair Price Shops’ as they are called now), carrying only 1.6 kg of sugar, much less than monthly ration of 3.5 kg for the family of five, as the shop owner had, with all his imperial airs, declared that the sugar quota for the month had been cut, thinking how to face my mother back home, words like simplicity or austerity were not in any dictionary I had come across.

Or in 1978, when my brother succeeded in clearing written tests for State Civil Services and when during the interview, he was told that the bribe for clearing the interview would be Rs 1.5 lakhs, we realized in despair that our house, our only house, could fetch only around Rs. 40000. This, despite knowing  that the only way families could get out of the economic rut and join the company of haves was to have a government job, a powerful position at that. Then, we had to let go the opportunity of a lifetime, relegating a bright young man to a life of struggle & hardships. We did not know that we were doing it so that we could feel nostalgic about it around 40 years later.

Shall I continue with more examples of austerity as to why we did not buy a scooter even if we could afford it in 1980 or get a phone line till 1993? Simplicity & austerity?

No Mr. Kesavan, the pre reform era was not a period we remember for austerity, simplicity or with any kind of nostalgia.

We, and 99.999% of Indians, associate this period with the despairing rut of economic imprisonment, impotence of our dreams, subjugation to poverty and of servitude to the corrupt ruling elite.

We also remember this period for a clear distinction between haves and have not’s.

Typically haves were those who were born to or related to ruling party, controlling all the licenses, deciding who gets to eat, drink and wear what, making tonnes of money skimming off the supplies and quotas and are now romanticizing about Wrigley, Seiko or Parkers and the have not’s were those whose life was wasted running around ration shops, firewood depots., licensing authorities (even bicycles & radios needed licenses) and waiting for the day when one member of the family would get the most coveted position in the world; a job in with government, any department, any position.

Now, as I write this, with a Mont Blanc, bought from my own, honestly earned, tax paid income, I can say it with authority that for you, reforms might have been an event that brought you all that you coveted, from foreign lands, but for millions of us Indians, they changed our life, extracted us from sub human, extreme poverty, gave us imagination to dream, created an economic environment to realize those dreams and thinking beyond daily survival.

And we cannot continue with the charade of selling poverty as virtue, shortages as austerity, shackled dreams as simplicity and horrible, tormenting tribulations as nostalgia.

We have had too much of our history, contemporary and medieval, coloured by romanticized  outlook, directed by those with silver spoons and Khadi pothras, written by the court chroniclers, sung by the loyal bards. We should not make the same mistake again, history should not repeat itself and the court chroniclers should not be allowed to write this chapter of history from their standpoint only.

When the story of liberalization is written, it needs to be dominated by the life changing experiences of ordinary Indians.

Social media trashes MSM for softening and spinning attack at Ansbach in Germany

OpIndia Staff
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Social media trashes MSM for softening and spinning attack at Ansbach in Germany

One person was killed and at least 10 people were injured in what is reported to be a suicide-bomb attack at Ansbach in Germany. According to Bavarian authorities, a Syrian man who had been denied asylum blew himself up after being turned away from a music festival in southern Germany. He detonated an explosive device in his backpack, the contents of which would have been sufficient to kill and injure many more people.

While the exact motives of the attack and exact details are yet to emerge clearly, Mainstream media outlets had begun the spin that bordered on ridiculousness.

Reuters reported the story as: “Bomb-carrying Syrian dies outside German music festival; 12 wounded”

BBC too used a similar tone for one of its reports:

BBC Headline

Immediately social media users began rebuking the two media houses, and other media channels which used the same report as their source:


 


 


 


 

“You are gay, well educated, and still support Modi?” people ask me, and these are my reasons

Guest Author
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“You are gay, well educated, and still support Modi?” people ask me, and these are my reasons

I am a Hindu Bengali, well-educated man working in the West for over 10 years, and I’m gay.

I wanted to highlight these aspects of my profile upfront, because apparently these make me a classic left-wing. One who has been fed on West Bengal’s version of Marxism/socialism that espouses equality of power and wealth for all. One who celebrates Durga Puja with vigour (whole year’s wardrobe bought in a few days’ frenzy, long holidays in the middle of the term, among other peculiarities) while co-existing with a large Muslim community. One who has been educated to hold the principles of secularism, socialism and freedom with high regard. Life in the West strengthens such a belief system.

And to add to that, being from a sexual minority makes one cherish such principles even more.

So when I tell people that I am rooting for Narendra Modi, they are surprised (if not shocked)! After all Modi is supposed to be from that Right-Wing ecosystem that is said to be majoritarian in every way.

I don’t blame them for their assumptions. In fact, in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, my vote was for Mamata and I had wanted BJP to fall short of majority. I had feared that a BJP majority of its own would unleash a reign of terror in the form of mandatory Hindi, cow-worship, temple-construction, etc.

I haven’t had much exposure to the R-W ecosystem. When in high-school, I knew some guys from a RSS-run school; they were smart and didn’t come across as weird. We also had a politician in our home-town who campaigned for “swadeshi-bachao, videshi-bhagao”. This made real sense to me as a concept; although in practice we didn’t alter our grocery list.

But my most enduring and probably defining impression of the R-W ecosystem was due to the Babri Masjid demolition. My mother and I were travelling back home by train from a relative’s house in UP on 3rd December. I saw many saffron-clad men waiting in stations for trains in the opposite direction. Then after a few days until a very long time thereafter, there was constant TV and newspaper coverage on the incident and the ensuing riots. There was no ambiguity in the coverage that the R-W ecosystem was to blame for the mayhem. My young mind associated that blame to the saffron-clad men in the stations. Thus, I carried a negative image of the R-W ecosystem. Till 2014 elections.

So why am I rooting for Modi now?

First of all, I deliberately presented a selective profile of myself above to fit the classic L-W profile. I will now dig a level deeper into the simplistic statements I made above.

I am no supporter of West Bengal’s version of Marxism as I have no doubts that the CPI(M) led politics devastated the local economy. This is a topic in itself, but it is sufficient to say that job prospects in the 80s and 90s were horrible.  The tax-benefits offered to the IT industry brought in the big employers like Infosys, TCS, IBM, etc. This saved the likes of me with a technical education and fluency in English. But I would say this represented a small minority of the young job-seekers as the government had banished English education in the early 80s, thus rendering most young Bengalis unemployable.

I also have doubts if the practised secularism was really not a vote-catching ploy. It is true that the Muslims in West Bengal were emancipated, but from the early 90s there was a rising discomfort among the locals that the government was letting in Bangladeshis to strengthen its voter-base.

And regarding my education, I am lucky to have done MBA at IIM Ahmedabad. This place skilled me in thinking of solutions to new problems in a structured way. It was only after graduating from IIM-A that I slowly started making my own conclusions about various events from the presented facts, rather than taking anything at face-value. (Other factors like age, location, varied colleagues may also have contributed.) This helped in unlearning a lot of bunkum that is taught to us at a young age.

Currently I am in a civil-union with a man for over 4 years, living in a European capital city. Same-sex marriage is also legal here. In fact, living together without any union is also legal and allows the same benefits as a civil-union. It is refreshing to have the choice as an adult and not being judged.

Secondly, it is important to realise that while people support a leader they do not necessarily agree with every policy of the leader.

I am rooting for Modi because I want him to succeed in making India a 20$ trillion economy. I am sure this needs no elaboration that if the ensuing wealth creation is spread-out and not captured by a few individuals, this will lift a huge number of people out of poverty and create a bigger and richer middle class.

It is true that all previous Prime Ministers have also talked about reducing/eradicating poverty, but I find the current target of a completely different league. By announcing a number, Modi has made this target a measurable one. This makes it simpler for people to judge whether he reached his target or not – it is a simple binary.

Also importantly, he keeps on repeating this number at every major event. This shows that he is not shying away from this target and is not hesitant to be judged against this target. This is exactly how it works in the corporate world. A CEO would announce his company’s targets (dividends, profits, cost savings. etc.) for the next few years to the shareholders and would expect to be fired by the same shareholders if unable to meet those targets. To me, this sort of professionalism is a major change that Modi has brought.

I see this target-setting approach being percolated to the ground level – to the names of villages that remain to be electrified, to the locations from where untreated sewage is discharged into Ganga, to the districts that still have open-defecation, etc. all with a set deadline.

To be honest, Modi had me when he mentioned his goal of “Swachchh Bharat” by Oct 2019 at his inauguration speech in Varanasi on 14 May 2014 after winning the elections. Imagine the day for him. He had just won a huge mandate which was in many ways personal. He had run a campaign in his own name and had staked his political reputation. He could have thanked the people (which he did) and made some grand but hollow statements (like ‘making India great again’) and exulted in the adulation. But he chose to remind the people how Indian cities and towns were overflowing with garbage, how Indians appreciate the cleanliness when they travel abroad, and asked the people to promise to support him in making India clean in 5 years. I found that remarkable and the sign of a person who is familiar with the India beyond official bungalows.

With respect to the conventional wisdom about R-W’s views about society, I haven’t heard Prime Minister Modi say anything that is remotely Hindu supremacist. In fact, in a speech in Lok Sabha where he quoted many ancient texts to define his “Idea of India”, he explicitly mentioned atheism as a way of life equally important as various religions. It is true, that campaigner Modi, during Bihar elections, made some awful comments. I hope that was a one-off mistake. There are accusations of communal passions being flamed by stealth or its cow-vigilantism turning into dalit discrimination. I don’t know how much of it is true and if Modi is personally involved, but this identity based politics is an unfortunate reality in a limited-resource country with a history of identity-based discrimination. It won’t be fair to pin it all on Modi.

Still, I would put the government at a higher pedestal and expect that if and when any member of the government is involved in such politics (through words or actions), he/she is shown the door immediately. This will be Modi demonstrating that he lives by his “Sabka Saath” motto, and will only enhance his stature.

The aspect that I am disappointed with most is the one that affects me personally. Modi has never spoken a word about gay rights (whether in India or abroad). Congress, Trinamul Congress, AAP have officially favoured removal of Sec 377. Even Sonia Gandhi made an anguished statement after the Supreme Court ruling. RSS also seems to be in favour, although it continues to call homosexuality unnatural. Arun Jaitley in his personal capacity has time and again also favoured removing Sec 377. However, BJP Lok Sabha members voted against Shashi Tharoor’s proposal to introduce a private member’s bill. And they did it twice, which means the party does not want to officially disclose its position one way or the other. This is hugely disappointing especially if this has Modi’s sanction. But as I said before, a supporter does not necessarily agree with every policy of the leader. This is an aspect where Modi has disappointed me with his silence.

But I am hopeful. In the 2014 election campaign, he surprisingly called toilets more important than temples. Although it is possible that Modi stays silent on this topic throughout this term, I am hoping he will make a well-considered call on this topic sooner. After all, this is an even greater demonstration of his motto of “Sabka Saath” especially because the LGBTQ community can hardly make a sizeable vote-bank. If all else fails, there is a tiny hope of public opinion turning the tide.

Growing prosperity is said to make people more aware of human rights. I know that India has much ground to cover – what with cases of dalits having to use a separate well, parents killing own children for marrying outside community, hardly any respect for manual labour, etc.; sexual rights probably would be the last on anyone’s mind. Still, a richer and wider middle-class could surprise everyone. This is where economy matter. This is where creating wealth matters.

So in the meantime, I will continue to root for Modi in his quest to make India a 20$ trillion economy while hoping for him to keep to his motto of “Sabka Saath”.

(Note: I choose to stay anonymous as I am being open about my political views and am unsure about the blow-back on myself and my family back in India.)

Is Kejriwal sparking “no-mobile” controversy because he was ignored in the Inter-State council meet?

OpIndia Staff
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Is Kejriwal sparking “no-mobile” controversy because he was ignored in the Inter-State council meet?

Arvind Kejriwal loves controversies more than controversies love him. On 16th July 2016, when PM Modi chaired the 11th meeting of Inter-State council in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal was also present, but he couldn’t make headlines apart from being part of a joke on social media: “Narenda Modi ignored Arvind Kejriwal”

4 days after being completely sidelined in the event, Arvind Kejriwal has ignited a fresh controversy. At the launch of a book ‘Arvind Kejriwal and The Aam Aadmi Party — AnInside Look’ authored by his batchmate from IIT Kharagpur, Arvind Kejriwal told reporters that:

They made few a Chief Ministers, including me, to leave our phones outside. It was very strange. They kept phones of a few Chief Ministers outside while others were allowed to take their phones inside. I raised the issue in my speech as well. I asked the Prime Minister whether a few Chief Ministers pose security threats to him

Arvind Kejriwal, who missed to grab attention in the Inter-State council, finally managed to get into headlines. Many media houses, including Janta Ka Reporter – the alleged mouth piece of AAP — portrayed Arvind Kejriwal as a victim who was purposefully forced not to carry the phone.

Modi-Kejriwal

The insinuation was soon rejected by celebrities and journalists who have been to PM meetings earlier. Some of them also talked about security protocols which allows invitees to carry electronic gadgets only under special circumstances



OpIndia also talked to many individuals who were invited to meet the PM in the past. They all confirmed that mobile phones were not allowed when they met the PM.

It is noteworthy that neither Arvind Kejriwal nor the media is mentioning that the meeting was held in Rashtrapati Bhavan and not at PM’s residence. Rules and regulations for the building are not set by PMO, but by the President Office.

It is interesting to see that Arvind Kejriwal wisely kept his remarks in subjectivity by claiming “a few Chief Ministers, including me had to leave our phones outside”. Unlike his usual style, he didn’t mention names of CMs who were allowed to carry mobile phones without any interruptions. Moreover, only last year when AAP organized National Council Meeting, mobile phones were not allowed. Were his own party people posing a security threat to him? Arvind, who likes to call him an Aam Aadmi, should ponder why is he so uneasy when he is kept under similar rules. 

Six excuses given by Congress and friends to save ‘sleeping’ Rahul Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Six excuses given by Congress and friends to save ‘sleeping’ Rahul Gandhi

The life of a “youth icon” can be hard. Work hard(ly), party harder, and the result is catching up with sleep at any possible time. Of course Rahul Gandhi is no youth icon anymore, being on the wrong side of 40 years, so the above doesn’t apply to him. But such debates may arise because if media is to be believed, Rahul Gandhi was caught sleeping in the Lok Sabha.

Almost exactly 2 years back as well, the crown prince was caught dozing off in the Lok Sabha, in the midst of a debate. One would imagine he would have realised he needs to wake up and smell the coffee but apparently he has been caught napping again.

This time the media claimed to have caught him “sleeping” during a debate in the Lok Sabha on the issue of atrocities on Dalits. Ironically the same Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Una, the place where Dalits were allegedly thrashed, to show “solidarity” with them.

Untitled
“sleeping”

While the video of Rahul “sleeping” was itself not enough to pronounce him guilty, members and supporters of the Congress party were seen getting all tongue tied in explaining what Rahul Gandhi was doing. By the end of the day, we had six different explanations for what Rahul Gandhi was doing:

1. Congress leader Renuka Chaudhary: “How can anyone sleep in so much noise? When we go in to the cold atmosphere of the Lok Sabha from so much heat outside, we close our eyes to provide relief to our burning eyes, so that some moisture soothes the eyes”


2. Vadra family member Tehseen Poonawala: “Rahul is into meditation and using a breathing and listening technique”


3. Congress leader Oscar Fernandes: “If an MP gets tired he would like to relax. Nobody does this deliberately”


4. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi: “Rahul wasn’t sleeping, seeing a cell phone isn’t a crime”

A M Singhvi
A M Singhvi

5. Congress leader Renuka Chaudhary (again): “Rahul wasnt sleeping, his eyes were downcast, he was looking down at something in his lap”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvHnJRHVEAQ]

6. Congress sypathiser appearing often on TV debates, Sanjay Hegde: No problem in sleeping, even I sleep in courts


And a bonus, from some guy who is said to be a “Political analyst”:


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While only Rahul Gandhi knows what he was really doing, his sycophantic fans and followers have made it even tougher for him to explain.

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