Retire the Gandhis!

My family had a history of alignment with the Congress party pre-and post-independence, and had given one national president of the party before India’s independence. I was in the student wing of Congress party during the tumultuous Naxalite period and during the birth of the later left front government. The student-wing of the party was no different from now, with leaders biting at each other and bickering constantly. I cut myself off from all political activities and moved on with my life.

Congress was synonymous with nationalism and fighting the colonial British empire. More than a political party it was a movement, of the people, by the people for the people. Nehru was the first Prime Minister and had to carry the load of poverty that the British left our nation with. His Panchsheel lay in tatters by the betrayal of the Chinese in the Aksai Chin and peace doves butchered by the Pakistanis who attacked and occupied a part of Kashmir.

Indira Gandhi was mentored by her father Nehru, and I would dare say, she did not fare badly, save going overboard and imposing emergency. It was during her period India shed her stigma as a former poor colony of England and became assertive. We became a nuclear power and liberated Bangladesh, punishing Pakistan for its misadventure in POK, where it hurt it the most.

Rajiv Gandhi saw his fate changed overnight and the reluctant pilot was pulled and crowned as the PM in the aftermath of Indira’s Killing. He was disappointing, inexperienced and his tenure was criticised for rampant corruption. He died in tragic circumstances from a suicide bomb attack.

Sonia was in the line, but reportedly her citizenship came as an impediment, opting the party to choose a non-politician, a bureaucrat and non-elder Congressman Man Mohan Singh as the PM, who continued for 10 years. During these years, he showed his total obedience to Sonia, who had become the Congress Party’s president.

Sonia ji had matured over the years and perhaps enjoyed the power from her office rather than in the parliament. Priyanka her daughter married Robert Vadra and opted out of action over Vadra’s questionable land deals, which could take long to sort out. That left Rahul, who carries the Gandhi title.

Rahul has been a happy-go-lucky guy, benefitting on his position purely from the family heirloom. His performance during his three times tenure in the parliament has been anything but noteworthy.  His periodical unannounced vanishing acts overseas is a matter of serious concern and will go against his assumption of any higher position other than the president-ship of Congress party.

Coming to the President-ship of the Congress party, it is not a secret that Sonia ji could be suffering from some ailment, serious at that. Other than carrying a Gandhi name, Rahul I consider much inferior to present many strong leaders in the party, a few of whom I had the interacted with or worked with. The party is in distress because of high corruption and poor leadership, confined to Gandhi clan and has become a family affair. The forthcoming election for the party president could automatically elect Rahul, but cannot end the woes of the party any soon.

The party one day will get courageous and strong, to retire the Gandhi clan gracefully, duly acknowledging their family’s long contribution, while promoting leaders like it had in the yesteryears to provide a credible opposition, if not a government.

Sampath Kumar

Intrepidé voixR

The war cries from Gujarat!

Come elections and the fragile peace between political opponents vanishes in a whiff, in the absence of sheer impossibility of fulfilling grandiose poll promises, resulting in cooking of new but poor ideas to win the polls.

The information technology has come to assist the polls in a big way, if not resulting in the winning of elections, at least in mining vast booth-wise demographic data. Though such access was earlier limited to large national parties, today most parties can use these to their advantage.

The flip side is that the caste equations have never been more visible and religious groups never compartmentalized as now, to either garner support or to discard altogether, depending on the gods of their respective faiths. In a history of sorts, the Archbishop of Gujarat has also pitched in, seeking faithful Christians to pray for shunning the ‘Nationalist forces,’ whatever he may have meant by it. The leaders of the Muslim minorities like Oiwasi are giving out shrieking and vitriolic bytes in regular intervals to ensure safety of their committed share of votes from any erosion.

Hinduism has shot up more relevant than ever and gods present in temples in every corner of electoral battle fields being wooed like never. The reason sadly has been steep division of the voters, slicing them wide into religious polarities. With the majority voters being Hindus, therefore it is no secret that temples face the maximum footfalls and pretentious devotion from politicians of all hues and colours.

It is also not therefore a surprise that the scion of the Congress party Rahul Gandhi is seen in many temples in the last few days, than he may have ever visited in his life time. He visited the famous Shiva temple at Somnath yesterday. A rattled BJP immediately, to negate even any small loss from the Hindu votes have started questioning Rahul’s religious antecedents. Reproachful criticisms of Rahul’s apparent Catholicity as against his great-grandfather a Muslim, grandfather a non-believer and father a Parsee have met with equally laughable retort from a Congress spokesman that Rahul is a ‘janeu-dhari,’ a sacred thread-wearing Brahmin.

I guess most of India, like me, have no allegiance to religious undertones, while choosing law-makers. The polarization of people, like at present, seems to have been engineered to a great success, to the detriment of nation. A few temples, like Puri Jaggannath, follow entry for ‘Hindus only,’ as a strict code, while I have seen Jaffer Shariff as a minister for Railways visiting Tirupati Balaji temple, a few years ago, despite such same stipulations. Rahul’s entry into a more tolerant Shiva temple, as against stringent Vaishnav temples should not have caused a stir.

I am surprised at the Congress party, which used to act as an inclusive party to shun its secularist robes to present a pro-Hindutva face, just to win the electoral battle of Gujarat!

I would have been happier if they would have continued to be secular and lose the elections. At least their principled stand would not have floundered.

It is not strange that BJP aka Modi is under pressure due to reprisals over Demo and GST, and from a credible and concerted attack of the rejuvenated temple-hopping Rahul Gandhi, which seem to break the committed Hindu votes. For the opposition too, it seems a do-or-die situation, with Rahul soon to be coroneted as the leader of the wobbly main opposition party.

It seems gods too are confused as I!

Sampath Kumar

Intrepidé voix

 

 

26th Nov 2008, Mumbai

Nine years ago, this day, arrived on the sly a group of Pakistani terrorists, taking the porous sea route to launch one of the most reprehensible terror attack on innocent civilians in Mumbai. Loaded with ammunitions to destroy thousands, they spread out to as many as nine different places in the city, lobbing grenades and indiscriminately shooting at anyone in sight.

They terrorists were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba from Pakistan, and the dreadful attacks continued for four days until 29^th November 2008. Chatrapati Shivaji Rail Terminus and Taj Mahal Hotel bore the brunt of the attacks.

A captured terrorist, Ajmal Kasab’s trial began on 6^th May 2009 and on 3^rd May 2010 he was convicted on 86 charges and sentenced to death and was hanged on 21 Nov 2012 at Yerawada Jail, in Pune, after his appeals and Mercy petition to the President were rejected. Another operative David Headley, who was a co-conspirator and visited Mumbai on earlier recce to facilitate the attacks was sentenced in the US for 35 years’ imprisonment.

There were stories of valour and courage as well. The chaperone in Nariman House, a Jewish Centre in Colaba risked her life and saved a Jewish child as did several policemen who braved the bullets in saving others and many laying their lives in the process. A part of the Taj Mahal hotel was aflame, but many staff discarded threat to their lives and were busy saving their guests.

Mumbai itself. like a phoenix arose with a renewed vigour and spirit and so did India. Proof of direct involvement of Pakistan through their handlers, in the attack were provided and the brain behind the attack, Hafiz Sayeed is still free, after a sham house arrest for a short while in Pakistan.

164 people were killed, including Indian civilians and service personnel, while 9 attackers were killed. The attacks invited worldwide condemnations and Pakistan joined the ignominious league of bastard nations.

Sampath Kumar

Interpidé voix

 

A nation at fault!

Are we faltering as a nation and its future? Every time with the approach of elections we see explosive conditions polarising communities over any and issue. This time too, with Gujarat and Himachal elections, various pretexts have been enlivened to be exploited and pursued to support each party’s hidden manifestations.

The timing of attacks on Padmavati is an example. There are no two Padmavatis and the fact that the story line was on the enigmatic Chittor queen was not unknown. All protesting parties should have sought the storyline from the producers of the film well in advance, rather than to cause the issue to magnify as a slight to the great Rajput queen. The censor board is being pushed into greater irrelevance as anyone can move court to stall a film, theatres showing the film could be ransacked and the artists trolled and threatened. The lawlessness could not have been worse.

The Patidar circus, performed by its leader Hardik Patel, who has been propped up both by BJP and the Congress. One end the nation wants to propel itself in the global map, on the other, its people fighting to be declared backward and quotas reserved. The Jats are quite now and will, I am sure, rise before 2019. Rajasthan’s reservation has been cancelled by the courts and Telengana is bending backwards to appease its minority vote bank by granting more than permissible quantum of quotas. What would have been Hardik’s movement, if both BJP and Congress, in the national interest decided to shun any overtures from the Patidar movement?

We have taught our children their caste. Save in urban cities, where caste could be irrelevant with economic and social status leading precedence over the former, the rural India is steeped in castes and khaps. Meritorious students must compete with below average students who still score high or get preference, be it in admission in educational institutions or while being employed. With the result, India has questionable quality of leaders in all fields. The centuries of oppression and exclusion should be addressed in the primary levels of education only.

The fun is the large palette called India. Despite pinpricks of such kind, the nation moves ahead. It could have been faster had we tried to erase irritants, intolerance and braved to put merit above anything else.

I shudder to think, what fanatical designs are on the drawing table for the 2019 elections!

Sampath Kumar

Interpidé voix

 

Indira Gandhi – a century later!

Called an iron lady, and cursed as ‘that Bi*ch who suckered us’ by Nixon the then President of the US, Indira Gandhi as a leader displayed a courage betting any super power. She was born on 19 November 1917.

There can be endless debates over her often-authoritarian ways, imposition of emergency but they get eclipsed with her decisive win over Bangladesh war despite provocations by the US Seventh fleet, and her graceful withdrawal after liberating the war-torn country.

India was a hotbed of espionage activities of several foreign powers, but she kept it completely under wraps when ‘ India detonated the first nuclear device at Pokhran code named ‘Smiling Buddha’ on 18 May 1974, ironically on Buddha Jayanti day.

I watched her mesmeric, in one of her speeches in Paris in fluent French to a spell bound audience, who considered India as a Russian puppet and were preparing their discomforting questions, only to be deftly handled by a highly-seasoned statesman.

She died from the bullets sprayed into her body by her bodyguards, meant to protect her with their lives instead on 31 October 1984.

History is a matter of records, to be altered and amended severally to suit the successive regimes and it is no surprise that from deification she is vilified as well. Regardless, she lived and died as a great leader and catapulted India to heights, which neither her father Nehru and son Rajiv, both former Prime Ministers could achieve.

Sampath Kumar
Intrepidé voix

Rosogollas and more!

I should not be bracketed with those senseless and harsh people in the opposition for questioning the timing of the announcement of ultimate glory for Bengal: the geographical index (GI) recognition to our and ours alone Rosogolla, the sweet of Bengal. The longish, boorish fight ended with Odisha with the acceptance of the arguments placed on West Bengal’s side, saving our sleep and peace, and a possible feeling of guilt, each time we stuff in a juicy rosogolla in our mouth wondering if it is truly ours or theirs.

I can her someone whispering from the coastal town of Puri; ‘come next election, watch us Kalingas, we do not forget insults so easily. After all the sweet was holy and was the prime offering to Lord Jaggannath, which itself should have ceased all arguments, either for or against the topic. Bengal being Bengal, nothing better was expected,’ they lament.

I mentioned about the timing, did I. Yes, CM just is back from her London visit after succeeding in obtaining a ‘blue’ plaque for Sister Nivedita’s home in London. No, my friends from the opposition, the blue is not forced and has nothing to do with our honourable CM’s personal taste of colours, but is a honorific conferred on heritage structures in England. Wow, that’s an idea! All heritage structures in Bengal too should sport the bright or garish blue and white plaques in much larger size.

Laxmi Mittal, an erstwhile Calcuttan has promised to attend the Bengal Summit, which is heart warming. He’s, I her and out and out steel baron and will he be able to invest in a steel mill, when Jindal seemingly wrapped up his project for logistical difficulties in procuring coal and iron-ore? Any magic can happen, as Mittal had even hired the Victoria lawns to throw a party for his child’s wedding against all norms!

For all those who were waiting for loud fire-crackers from Mukul Roy, I guess, as a responsible citizen he stands to honour the decibel limits of 65 Db set by the pollution control board. The crackers are also damp in the intermittent showers that are only helping the mosquitoes to spread the unmentionable ‘unknown’ fever, causing uninterrupted deaths of young and old alike.

I saw in the TV, senior municipal corporation officials dipping their hands in bleaching powder and spreading it on the drains and narrow paths. How touching the scene was, reminiscent to people spreading puffed rice while accompanying a dead body to the crematorium. I made the mistake of imitating the act, dipping my hand into bleaching powder and spreading it near my house ignoring the warnings on the TV, which clearly stated that ‘these acts are performed by professionals under controlled conditions,’ much like those acts by film heroes. Result: my hands were burnt and had to be washed many times and ointments applied for days to heal. I know you are wondering what could have happened to the municipal corporation officials’ hands? Well under L1 tender the quality of the bleaching powder spread seems to be the main fodder for those ‘unknown’ larvae, which seem to thrive and grow speedily as if pumped with steroids.

For the moment, let’s all relish in another great achievement of Bengal, to savour Rosogolla in the name of Lord jaggannath!

Sampath Kumar

Interpidé Voix

Ryan Murder case!

Close in the heels of a strong reprimand to the CBI and recent acquittal of the accused Talwars on the charges of the murder of their daughter Aarushi and their servant Hemraj, another botch-up by the investigative agencies have come to light in the murder case of an eight-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, a student of Ryan International School, Gurgaon. A throat-slit body of the kid was found in the toilet and the police claimed to have had a quick ‘break’ in the case arresting the 42-year-old school bus conductor Ashok Kumar, thereby virtually closing the matter.

 

Now comes the revelation that the bloodstained knife was planted on Kumar, who apparently, under coercive methods of the police, admitted to the murder that he never committed. This after a public outcry and the case handed over to the CBI.

 

What could have caused the poor man to admit and apparently head for the hangman’s rope or at least a life sentence in jail? One: he like millions are in perpetual penury, causing a fear psychosis on power wielded by the police and politicians. Second: his illiteracy (our nation should hang its head in shame for this malady even after 70 years of independence), three: his innocence in trusting the cops who must’ve also assured him of release soon in higher court appeals in the long-winding labyrinth of courts.

 

The present accused, the student of Class XI, who has again confessed to the crime, throws up a completely different ethos, a pressure of a kind hitherto unknown and unexperienced; the irrepressible pressure from studies, often throwing bold but weak students taking to gory crimes such, and the weaker to end their lives with ‘Blue-whale,’ syndromes. The arrested student, was merely looking for a way to thwart a Parent-teacher meeting, where he would have been exposed and could have faced the wrath of his parents, and to scuttle the ensuing school exams in which he may have failed.

 

Be that as it may, what prompts the police to wrap-up the case on mere premise that the conductor could have been the murder? Delhi police, unlike their Mumbai counterparts, are famous for the notoriety and their yielding to political pressures, often deliberately misleading the investigations by either tampering with the evidence or their destruction for hefty considerations.

 

Notwithstanding the fact that the present accused was visible in the CCTV footage and was the first to report the murder to the school authorities, none apparently bothered to question the boy, merely because the media was already blaring with the ‘fish-eye’ photos of the innocent conductor, giving all gory details, highlighting sodomisation being the cause of murder. The world, including me, hated the conductor and I feel ashamed of myself now.

 

The Director General of Police dismisses their lapses saying, “koi Baat nahin,” no big deal. He will laugh his way along with his rowdy police force without the requirement for an explanation and with usual perks and pensions upon retirement. Why the police who had planted the knife on the conductor were not immediately arrested and why the entire earlier investigative team not suspended? Well that’s not the way the police force responsibly behaves in India. Why not the media being taken to task in planting stories, which were farthest from truth and endangering the life of a poor innocent man? They needed TRPs and had to be ahead of other channels.

 

Ashok Kumar, whom his village knows as the murderer may not be able to wipe-off the stigma all throughout his life. His news of acquittal may not travel as speedily as his conviction. He will continue to be poor, but that doesn’t matter, as he was born as such and will die as such. My heart goes out to the parents of Praduman!

 

Shame!

 

Sampath Kumar

Interpidé voix

Kichidi of a different kind!

Ever since Kichidi came into limelight recently and Baba Ramdev stirring a 918 kgs of the gruel taking the humble poor man’s food into Guinness record, while laughing all the way to his bank with another Billion dollar plus contract with the government, strange things have indeed been happening in the political scenario in India.

Mamata contributed first to the political kichidi by not only wiping away her aversion to even taking the name of Shiv Sena, which she considered as a Hindutva party and inimical to her minority plank, fundamental for her political survival. Not only she took the name of the recalcitrant outfit, but met the Sena Chief and remarked the meeting to be ‘good.’

The second kichidi was cooked by Mukul Roy, who until he was grilled by the CBI on Narada scam, was lambasting BJP and Modi. It looked a bit out of place when he sported lotus bearing saffron shawl and sang paeans of his new ‘Captain’ Dilip Ghosh today.

Not to be outdone, our PM, of all the places, went to Gopalapuram to check on ailing Karunanidhi, the DMK Supremo, much to the flummoxed state BJP president Tamizisai Selvi. DMK rank and file, which has been considering Modi and BJP as their prime foes too were outwitted, as was Rahul Gandhi.

It may be too early to say if these acts are mere political manoeuvres or well-crafted statesmanship, breaching the barriers of petty political gains.

CM Yogi of Uttar Pradesh has his own style of kichidi to stir. While the Gorakhpur hospital, which shot into notoriety for hundreds of infants’ deaths has announced setting up of ‘Gau-shalas’ in every district of the state, ven as 75 more children died in the last 5 days. I worship the revered Gau-mata like most Hindus do, but believe there are more compelling issues like health, sanitation and education to be addressed with as much zeal.

Subramaniam Swamy, the mouthpiece of BJP too has been stirring kichidi in his own inimitable style, shrieking on all the TV channels deriding Aadhar, much to the chagrin of his party colleagues. The Shot gun periodically wakes up to cry that BJP is a one-man party and two men Army and that Advani ji and Murli Manohar Joshi have been side lined by Modi, before slumping back into deep slumber.

Kichidi in the political vessel, post Guinness, has never been tastier!

Sampath Kumar

Interpidé voix

Padmavati!

Padmavati, the film on Chittor Rani Padmini is facing the wrath of a few. It began with an attack at Chittorgarh, when the entire set was vandalised and burnt and the director of the movie, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was beaten up, causing losses in crores.

The complaint was that the story of Padmavati was distorted to include romantic scenes between Padmavati and Allaudin Khilji, the Sultan of Delhi, which the protestors claim never happened. Despite the deification of Padmavati, a section of the historians claim that there is little evidence to prove the beautiful queen’s very existence, which was immortalised by Malik Jayasi in his epic poem sometimes 2 centuries later. The film producers strongly deny that there is any scene that is unsubstantiated and causing hurt to the Hindu queen’s sacred memory. Padmavati is believed to have committed ‘Jauhar,’ self-immolation, along with 800 other women, to save themselves from the wrath of the invaders.

Be history as it may, the protests now have taken a new dimension with one union minister entering the scene, deriding the producers, with BJP, the ruling party in Delhi and Rajasthan, demanding that the film be banned. Used to the wrath of fury of one or other fringe brigades, the producer has intelligently insured the film for Rs.160 crores, covering against riots, damages, protests etc.

Gone or the days, when a film can be bravely invested in and shot. Such tantrums of protests and intolerance was limited to party like Shiv Sena, but soon were taken up by other parties as a means of fund generation through intimidation and muscle flexing. There is always someone, or some party, which disagrees with the plot, the story line or the film title etc. SRK’s Billu barber was attacked by a community and the recalcitrant MNS Sena chief got into the picture to “settle’ the issue for a consideration. Karnataka fringe elements stalled the release of Bahubali 2 to make a kill before the release, on some flimsy grounds.

It’s a shame that a censor board is not enough and the film releases are further fraught with dangers of disruption from one or another. Then there is an idiosyncratic judiciary that considers itself to be all prevailing. I wonder why the courts have not recovered a single rupee from the protestors for any illegal disruption of screenings of films in any part of the country until this day.

If history has been distorted, the censor board should withhold its certification, until changes are suitably incorporated. A few overzealous film directors should be penalized, who are chivalrous in making a quick buck out of topics controversial, or causing disruptions to the fragile peaceful fabric of our society through their films. Censor board itself has lost its credibility, acting as the mouthpiece of the party in governance. Once the certification is through, films should be shown without any hindrance or fear.

It seems, the patience of the society is often tested, frequently provoked with the sole objective of creating disturbances in the country. A strong government and a responsible judiciary could have contained this much earlier.

Lastly, history is written always by the victorious and never by the vanquished, rewritten later and as often, as it best suits the subsequent rulers. We are watching the symptoms today!

Sampath Kumar

Intrepidé voix

Kichidi or Kichudi?

Move over all the miseries and ills ailing the nation. Our nation has a new crucial problem, unheard of until even a few minutes ago, which could deepen the divide between spicy south and the dicey north.

Come rain or storm, be it in the slushy bazars, or while deftly defending the splashes from the passing vehicles on the pot-holed roads, all that men in south had to do was to fold their ‘veshti’ up, the white open-ended lungi and wrap it, often exposing a blue and white stripe pyjama cloth underwear.  The quite cultural invasion has succeeded in making men guiltily shun veshtis even during weddings, which they earlier wore with a macho élan and aplomb, now replaced by kurtas and paijamas.

Similar is the fate of our young girls, earlier clad in Pavadai and Dhavani and looking like chirpy joyous birds in spring time. Salwar Kameez has replaced all pavadai dhavanis, the latter left to be seen only in pseudo rural themed Kollywood movies.

Madarasis became ebullient and took to travelling all over India only after hearing of the appearance of Dosas, Idlys and Uppumas even in far off states like J& K and Gujarat, notwithstanding that the sambhar was a watered-down version, chutney needing a soup spoon to slurp in, idlys requiring knife and hammer to slice and dosas missing their 56 inches without the chilli powder. Places with misspelt menu boards proclaiming dosas and idlys were hunted down by never compromising southies.

What made Kichidi to be ever considered as a National Food, boils an average Tamil. “Can it match the flavour of Sambhar and rice?” they fume, the Telugus joining in hurried endorsement, vigorously nodding their head sideways like they shake in the north. See, even the shaking of the head in the affirmative or in disagreement is different south of Vindhyas. My Malayalee friends suggests it can be only rice and fish curry that can be acceptable. A Kannadiga butts in to further add to the turmoil, “It’s our Bisibela bhath,’ thrusting into me a mouthful as I get knocked-off, fire emanating from all my exits.

I return to Bengal heavy hearted, wondering if my favourite dishes will fade into oblivion like the tick-ticking telegraph. Didi would have nothing of it, my inner mind assuages. If kichidi is national, Bengal will never be far off, it whispers as I try to catch a sleep during the flight.  ‘Jal-muri and Teley Bhaja,’ (puffed rice and fried vegetables) will be Bengal’s National food, roars Didi, as the plane also lands with a thud waking me up.

I must have had an awfully tiring time and my survey has not yielded any conclusive results. Perhaps I must seek approval from my ministry to go to Brazil and other juicy destinations to check how they tackle such complex problems!

As I tiptoe late into my home, my sleepy wife advises me to heat and eat up the kichidi from the kitchen.

Sampath Kumar

Intrepide voix