aditya kumar's weblog

Now that the BJP finds itself in a state of turmoil, lets talk about Kandahar.

Why was Jaswant Singh made the fall guy all these years? The BJP always portrayed Advani as a “Strong” leader and by taking the blame for the Kandahar episode, Advani would not have been the perfect candidate. There was a need to be as spotless as the white kurta he generally wears. Kandahar would not have allowed that. So, very conveniently, the PM candidate said on national television that he was not in the know about the decision that was taken in that cabinet meeting. People of this country were asked to believe that the then home minister was oblivious to the fact that Jaswant Singh would escort the terrorists to Kandahar in return for the passengers on IC-814.

My question is this — did they have a choice?

Answer — Yes and No.

In Kandahar, with the Taliban surrounding the aircraft, there was no choice. There should have been no choice. There is no leader in India who would have decided otherwise. Risking the life of 200 passengers was a gamble that could have proved too costly. My opinion is that the NDA government did the obvious.

But what Advani is really afraid of is this — There was a lax from New Delhi when the aircraft was allowed to take off from Amritsar where it had landed for a refuel. Imagine the pilot’s dismay then. Amritsar was IC-814’s last and only hope. Amritsar was the only point in the whole drama where India could have had a win-win situation. And that is where New Delhi goofed up. The leadership in the capital did not approve of an action then. And Advani is scared of owning even a single bit of it.

And this same guy, he wants to become the Prime Minister.

Chandan Mitra, editor of The Pioneer, member of the Rajya Sabha and a BJP supporter, in an interview to rediff.com here, says, among many other things, “We failed to really reach out to the blogging community and the social networking groups”.

Of course, there is nothing to suggest that BJP thinks that this is THE reason for losing the LS elections but what surprises me that this is even mentioned as a reason. I mean, is this guy serious? Does he actually think that influencing bloggers will help his party to an extent that he even mentions this at this stage? You don’t talk about influencing bloggers and networking groups when you end up at 120 seats. If this is the rethinking and post-poll thought process in the BJP camp, well, the less said the better.

Oh and by the way, it was BJP that had sent their “young workers” dressed in suits to various management schools across India. The idea was to, well, “reach out” to these young lads. This whole exercise was called “Advani @ Campus”.

Varun Gandhi may have won at Pilbhit but actually BJP paid a very heavy price for it. They never condemned what he said and never fully disowned it. Instead they asked for a forensic check on the CD. All in all, what was the party’s stand on it? None. They did not know how to handle the situation. That is where they lost more votes than they gained. Now compare it to what Congress did with Sajjan Kumar and Tytler.

And does someone actually care what Advani’s personal ambitions are? By saying it repeatedly that it was his heart’s desire to become the PM, he gave an impression that he is bigger than the party. I think this is a problem with BJP — they have always portrayed individuals bigger than the party or the ideologies they stand for. And while we are talking about ideologies, one should remember that BJP has been facing a never ending dilemma of how much degree of Hindutva they should toy with.

Meanwhile, I wait for the day when our politics rises above all this. For all its worth, it’s really disappointing.

When Varun Gandhi made that speech at Pilibhit, Indian Politics hit a new low. Its a shame that the great-grandson of the late Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, architect of the modern day democracy that India is, has even uttered those words. It goes on to show how politics of hate is ruling the country, irrespective of what party is at helm at the center. That we listen to the crap that politicians like him have to offer is a sign how immature a society we are. Muslims in every nook and corner of the country will disapprove him for his speech as it was anti-muslim but only the (mostly) urban and rational Hindu will condemn it whole-heartedly — and how many would that be? The rest will glorify him and that is very unreasonable and disturbing.

Then there is the Charlie Chaplin statue that has evoked extreme sentiments in Karnataka. Why is the statue not allowed to be erected? Because the comedian was a Christian. Karnataka has started to scare me now. I mean, when were we so intolerant that we decided on our heroes based on their religion? Why does religion decide so many things for us now? Okay, I think there is a little mistake here. The people who decide things based on religion, the netas, leaders, politicians, the sevaks — birds of the same flock these, are not us. They go about doing this because they think they have a certain moral authority which I think comes because of the political power that they possess. The first thing that we, as people who disapprove of these birds of the same flock, can do is stop accommodating them within the realm of us. Stop letting them within the range of we. And then we take away what gives them, what they think is the moral authority that they have. We vote these people out.

A month after the Mumbai attack, we limp on. We search for love and peace. One guy in Brigade road, Bangalore, gives free hugs to strangers. Some find peace in sending greeting cards.

Pakistani terrorists attack India. India ups the rhetoric. Pakistan deploys most of its army on the India border. India still talks diplomacy. Pakistan continues the troop build-up and checks if its nuclear bombs are in place. India talks more, says no war. Pakistan says no war too, but the Army is still out there aiming at us. I am just wondering, who should be calling the shots here. And who is.

Meanwhile the politicians hit back with two very disturbing comments. And probably the only thing more disturbing than the comments are the two people who these comments come from. Here and here. Farooq’s comment is particularly disturbing because he is one man who never misses an opportunity to give some credit, to pat the back of the guys across the border. Playing both sides — an old habit of his.

All these years I didn’t vote. Somewhere, somehow, I am partly responsible for all this. Now, I can’t wait.

I do not know how would I have reacted if I was in Bombay during (any of) the terror strikes. There would be a mix of reactions and feelings in my head and I wouldn’t quite know how I would be dealing with the situation. Would I be writing about it? Would I switch off my television, disgusted of whatever I see? Would I have prolonged discussions about it with people I can talk sense with? How would it be?

But I do have a certain idea of how I would not want to be. I would not be like Narendra Modi. I would not go there with my bunch of security guards around me and I definitely won’t talk to the press. All this while hostages and the commandos fight it out only a few meters away. I promise you that I won’t try to score a political point out of it, for deep inside I would know how shallow my words would be then, as they have always been and I would just not have courage to do it, no matter what. Perhaps I would fear that my doing it would show to the world how oblivious I am to the intensity of the situation.

I would also hate to be in the (then) CM’s shoes. After being ashamed of my deputy’s comments while trying to mellow down the mood of the public by telling that this was just a choti si baat in a bada sa shehar ( a small incident in a big city), what I would definitely say no to would be my son’s demand of accompanying me while I go (with my personal commandos of course) and inspect of what is left after the massacre. And even in the hypothetical case that I take him with me I swear to you that I would keep his friends out. No matter how good (or bad) a director you are, this is a ticket I can’t get you Mr Verma. I am Sorry.

Nor would I be like this man, who, I am sure, has quite earned the irk of of a few cosmetic companies apart from the womenfolk. It must be obvious that anyone condemning the lipstick should be prepared to be left “red-faced”. The ghosts would definitely come back to haunt when Mr Naqvi gets elected to some office in the Government (It may happen, who knows) and have a couple of women superiors to report to.

Lastly, I would hate to be this other CM and earn the wrath of the proud father of a brave soldier. I wonder, how much, if I may use the apt word, shitty, one can be to call a press conference and say it all, quite calmly, that “not even a dog would have glanced that way”.

Perhaps the most surprising impact of the Mumbai terror attacks has been the wrath earned by our politicians from the junta. It had been long impending. Today no politician can roam on the streets of Bombay or Delhi as a free man.

These are the leaders we elect and put on high places. Be scared because they come from you and me. Be worried because it is no one’s but our failure. All these years, we have failed to deliver one strong leader we can look up to.

These lines were captured on TV, while a mumbaikar took a printout and held on them:

Mr Terrorist: I am still alive, what more can you do?
Mr Politician: I am alive despite you.

I AM A MUMBAIKAR.

Its a pity that these come from the streets of Bombay, the pulse of what is the World’s largest democracy. What a shame.

How does the state honor the passing away of country’s greatest soldier?

By declaring a state funeral.

Sounds alright. Just that the President of the Indian Republic, The Vice-President, The Prime Minister, The Defence Minister and The Three chiefs of the Armed forces won’t be able to make it.

Carry it on, somebody send someone to represent the absentees, won’t you? Nobody’s noticing.

Oh and in the rare case, if there is hue and cry, we can always sign the condolence book and keep it at India gate. Of course, the Defence Minister and the three chiefs will sign it first!

In my opinion, this was the only profound way to dishonor the passing away of India’s greatest soldier.

Is it worth it afterall, being a soldier in this country, I wonder.

“The right way is”, he continued, “to figure out the lesser culprit of all — and vote”.

Teaching a language gives the teacher a whole big playground of subjects to play with. “This is a pen”, “That is a clock” or moving on to a little more complex syntax, “We should all vote”. Complex still — “Who will you vote for?”. That is how this small lecture on politics started, as our Kannada teacher made sure that he put his point through, the responsible citizens that we are, we all should vote.

Not for the first time though. The three sessions he has taken, in a classroom used for teaching Bsc Nursing students that transforms itself into a Kannada school on Sundays, politics is one topic that our teacher seems to enjoy as much as, if not more, teaching Kannada.

The short, stocky, balding man who prides himself for being an ambassador of pure Kannada could very well take pride in the thorough understanding he possesses of state politics. Intellectualism comes in all forms, and sometimes in the least obvious ways.

So while the little man stresses on finding the lesser sinner of all and voting for him, he also mentions one important fact that could well turn out to be the sentiment of the common man — A coalition government just won’t do.

During the coffee break as I stare, silently amused by reading the words “Female Toilet” and wondering if there is a “Male Toilet” I could ‘meet up’ somewhere nearby, our teacher comes up to me and asks if I have my name in the voting list. And then we carry it on to why S.M.Krishna lost and why Kummaraswamy should not come back again.

A few perfectly valid reasons later I am left wondering where did our country go wrong in the last 60 years. For the things that make the common man so “common” deserve much more than the Krishnas, Kumaraswamys and even the Advanis that our political machinery has regularly churned out.