I really wonder on what grounds are Lalus and Mulayams protesting against the Women’s Bill. Their argument, is unconvincing and shaky. Even ideally, if for a moment, we think that poor Dalit women were to be indeed elected I’d damned if our highest governing bodies were to be made up of women who are absolutely illiterate and work as maids or do some such menial jobs. I really do not have anything against them but they do not have the aptitude or ability for this job, not as of now at least. As for my maid, I’m thankful to God if she completes my household chores satisfactorily, leave aside managing the country.

Posted on March 10th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: bill, BJP, Congress, Dalit, Left, quota, reservation, women. Comments: 11

RJD and SP have withdrawn support and their Rajya Sabha MPs have openly said that they will do anything implying physical disruption to stop the bill from being passed. After initial hesitation JD(U) has come around to supporting it thanks to Nitish Kumar. While there is no doubt that Lalu and Mulayam Singh do have a right to protest and they may have some logic in their argument as well but frankly speaking, their protests have very little to do with logic or their good wishes for women of Muslim community or Dalits for that matter, whose cause they seem to be espousing.

Posted on March 8th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: bill, BJP, BSP, Congress, reservation, RJD, SP, women. Comments: 4

There is yet another facet to this whole debate. While Muslim fundamentalists are quite vocal about their feelings whenever they are offended by something or someone like Taslima Nasreen, they have not spoken about this issue at all. We may say- “How the hell are they bothered? It doesn’t really affect them”. Yes, it doesn’t concern them directly. But hypothetically, if some prominent Muslims like Vice President Hamid Ansari or may be columnist like MJ Akbar or even any Muslim organization were to say that it is incorrect on the part of Hussain to have hurt the feelings of Hindus in such a manner, wouldn’t it go a long way in building bridges between the two communities? I think it would. I’m not really sure of Hamid Ansari but MJ Akbar very well can. Lets see if he does. As for Muslim organizations, well, your guess is as good as mine. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity which can be gainfully exploited to serve a bigger purpose.

Posted on March 5th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: feelings, fundamentalists, Hussain, Judiciary, paintings. Comments: 12

On the face of it any secular person would exonerate MF Hussain from any wrongdoing whatsoever. It would really cringe our hearts if an artist of his caliber were to be prosecuted or harassed in any manner, least of all by Hindu fundamentalists. But thats just on the face of it. If you look deep inside there is indeed a lot for Hindus to really feel bad about the insensitivities on the part of the painter. I would call them insensitivities but you guys are your own judges. So take your pick after reading the post.

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 under India calling. Tags: Hindu, MF Hussain, Nasreen, nude deity, painting, Tasleema. Comments: 25

Well, its over and done with. Salman Bashir came to India, met Nirupama Rao, addressed a press conference and went back. No joint statement but just polite handshakes, some smiles and thats it. Well, the meeting achieved what it was supposed to achieve, nothing. Nothing new came out of the meeting. No fresh ideas, no change from respective pre-stated positions, in fact nothing at all to write home about. What we heard were the same old statements emanating from both sides with India harping that terror must stop and Pakistan saying Kashmir first. To be candid it was expected. No body expects anything anymore to come out of Indo-Pak talks, especially this one coming as it did after Mumbai was attacked fourteen months ago. Nonetheless, aim achieved. Yes, aim achieved.

Posted on February 27th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: attack, Hafiz Saeed, JuD, Manmohan, options, talks, Terror, terrorist. Comments: 3

I saw one God yesterday. He plays for the Indian cricket team and goes by the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for lesser mortals like you and me. To expect me to do justice to such a genius in one small post would itself be injustice to both Sachin and me. And in any case Gods don’t need us to praise them. If anything it is the other way round. We are the ones who need Gods. You can very well imagine what Indian cricket would’ve been without this one God.

Posted on February 25th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: century, Cricket, Double hundred, God, Sachin, team. Comments: 3

It is quite ironical that while we expect Pakistan to act against LeT, JeM and other such terrorist organisations operating from Pakistan to create terror in India our own political leaders are reluctant to act against Maoists who are nothing but terrorists, in my view. They may have a just cause or they may basically be Hindus but their methods are wrong. If killing innocent villagers, govt officials/ policemen and detonating bombs is not terrorism, what is? If this is indeed terror why is our response to these activities any different than what it is against LeT, JeM, HUJI and others? Is it because Maoists are not exactly demanding a separate country, yet? Or is it because they are also fulfilling some political objectives of certain politicians?

Posted on February 21st, 2010 under India calling. Tags: attack, BJP, Congress, maoists, Naxal, Silda, terrorist, threat. Comments: 7

After the blast in Pune Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said that once we had made an offer of talks it is quite possible that terrorists are trying to scuttle it away by creating more trouble between the two countries and this has to be factored in in any decision that we may take now. And that decision has indeed been taken- TALKS WILL GO ON AS PLANNED. What Manish Tiwari and the Congress is yet to factor in is that Pakistan continues to allow its territory to be used by terrorists to scuttle these talks away. All this talk of non state actors is nothing but hogwash which is not going down down well either with India or with international community as such. Also, while India says that terror will be the focal point of talks Pakistan says that no talks will be complete without discussing issues of Kashmir and water, water having been added as a major issue just recently. Also, P Chidambaram had recently made a statement that PoK is very much a part of India. As is obvious there is no meeting ground for these talks between the two countries.

Posted on February 17th, 2010 under India calling. Tags: blast, intelligence, LeT, Pak, peace, Pune, support, talks, Terror. Comments: 11

Is there anything called the ‘good Taliban’? The answer to that question will depend upon whom are you asking this question from. If you ask Indians, well, all Taliban is bad. If you ask Pakis, most of them are good. If you ask an Afghan- on second thoughts, don’t. What Afghans think doesn’t really matter, unfortunately. If you happen to ask Americans, their answer will also depend upon when is the question being asked. Till some time back the entire Taliban, possibly along with their kids, women and cattle, was bad for Americans. But times have changed and they now say that some of them are indeed good. But this is not their final position on the matter either. Don’t be surprised if they revert back to their earlier position depending upon where their offer of talks with the so called ‘good Taliban’ leads to.

Posted on February 13th, 2010 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: Af-Pak, Afghanistan, good taliban, India, Kiyani, NATO, offer, talks. Comments: 8