Showing posts with label DYNASTIC FASCISM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DYNASTIC FASCISM. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

National Herald Frauds: An Expose


A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

National Herald Frauds
Author Shree Iyer
California USA, Jan 2021

The book authored by Shree Iyer, an engineer turned
entrepreneur, makes  an interesting read but it is cast not as a narrative account of the Scandal but rather as a series of short pithy reports on the National Herald Frauds (in plural). This is a case brought out by the BJP MP and a leading light of the political firmament of India, Dr Subramanian Swamy.http://creative.sulekha.com/subramanian-swamy-and-indian-politics-why-india-needs-a-ruthless-hunter_553763_blog. Nearly 10 years back we have drawn attention to the great work done by Dr Swamy in his ruthless hunt against Crime and Corruption in the field of Indian politics. He exposed the 2G Scandal which involved the leading figures in the Dynastic Fascist DMK Party and he followed it with the expose on the National Herald Frauds. The Congress interim President her son and several of her Congress colleagues have been enlarged on bail for serious fraud as a consequence of Dr Swamy's relentless quest for truth. It is unfortunate that the case is not getting the attention it deserves and prosecution has virtually stalled, perhaps at the behest of the Congress itself.

What are the National Herald Frauds? The Associated Journals of India was launched by Jawaharlal Nehru, the second Prime Minister of India, in 1938 as a public limited Company to run the propaganda arm of the Congress Party, the National Herald. Interestingly, the shareholders of the public limited Company were not given any opportunity of being consulted over the transfer of the properties of the Associated Journals of India to a new organization which was floated in 2012 called Young Indian. Over the many years of Congress rule, the Associated Journals of India had acquired several tracts of prime real estate in almost all the major urban centers of India, including Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Chandigarh. An interesting feature of the transaction lay in the fact that the directors of the Associated Journals of India were almost identical with the dominant controlling interests of the Young Indian. The total worth of the properties acquired by the Associated Journals of India was 2000 crores and all these extensive valuable real estate was now transferred to the Young Indian, the new shell company created to transfer  the property. 

The cartoon illustrated on the left provides an insight into the mechanics of this fraud. The same set of persons operating in their capacity as directors or shareholders of the AJI transferred the properties belonging to the National Herald holding Company to the shell company created to receive the properties on behalf of the Young Indian and interestingly enough both were identical. In other  words a set of public servants had colluded to defraud a public limited Company of its property. The debts of the Associated Journals of India were taken over by the Young Indian for mere 90 crores.

Dr Subramanian Swamy the relentless Crusader against Corruption and Dynastic Fascism filed a private complaint against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and several other worthies of the Congress Party in the High Court of Delhi in February 2013.  The charges against these worthies included cheating and criminal conspiracy to grab 2000 crores of land and assets. When the Mother-Son duo were asked to appear before the Court of Law the entire Congress Party went into convulsions. The Party tried all kinds of underhand measures and strategies to have the case either stayed or thrown out. But the relentless Dr Swamy has prevailed so far. The Income Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance in a 105 page document has shown that the entire transaction was indeed a sham. Attempts to portray the prosecution in the National Herald Scam as political vendetta has drawn a blank even from the Dynastic Fascist friendly English Press which includes the Hindu, Times of India and Hindustan Times. And the Central Government under the Prime Minister the Hon ble Narendra Modi has kept itself out of the limelight so as to deflect the charge of vendetta.

The Case is now in the courts and legal opinion is unanimous that it will end in convictions. But does that mean the end of political corruption in India. Perhaps not. But India needs a ruthless honest hunter like Dr Swamy to make its politicians understand that the Law Governs the Country and not Outlaws.

I like this book in spite of its unusual format,



Thursday, January 31, 2019

"Rahutatva": Ideology and Political Discourse in India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

Rahul Gandhi, the fifth generation Crown Prince of the dynastic fascist political party the Congress is propounding a new political philosophy in India and we can call it Rahutatva or the Political Ideology of Rahul. Like any political ideology this too is pragmatic in that it seeks to  explain complex interplay of politics by emphasizing certain discrete elements for the sake of coherence and simplicity. As an ideological system Rahutatva pits itself against an agenda of inclusive and all round development or vikas by invoking identity, religion and through the systematic instigation of caste and other such atavistic elements. Rahutatva is reductionist in its approach because it empathizes form more than content, rhetoric rather than reality, and is a discursive formula for endless rehash of certain pet themes.  And Rahutatva is like all ideological systems immune to the basic test of verifiability or truth. In fact Rahutatava abhors truth and it is immune to criticism as mere pronouncement as in the case of any self contained ideological system, enough to validate it.

Since the entry of Rahul Gandhi into the political arena we have seen a series of statements that have unfortunately started framinf the political discourse. Unfortunately Rahutatva is never critiqued as a whole. Parts of it have already proven to be false but that does not invalidate the whole structure of discourse beause the target has now shifted. The introduction of GST, a difficult and politically dangerous move was undertaken by Narandar Modi as the country needed to shift to a tax regime that is more transparent and generates more revenue. The Central Government and the State Governments have both expressed satisfaction over revenue sharing and the prices have not increased as a consequence. However Rahutatva demands that GST be declared a failure and oppressive and even though revenue figures show proof to the contrary, the negative propaganda must circulate as opposition to GST has taken an ideological turn.

Similarly the Demonetization is now being demonized as a highly oppressive attack on the fiscal structure of the country. True there were some major glitches in the implementation. However, the fact that tax compliance has increased 4 times, shows that the shock adminstered has had the desired impact. Also the corporate raiders and carpetbaggers like Mallya, Nirav Modi and others were projected as the favored  corporates of Modi. The fact is all of them got their huge bank loans only during the time when the Congress was dominating the Government and there is documentary proof of the collusion of the then Finance Minister with these corporate raiders. And Modi has succeeded in bringing them to justice and the Insolvency Act has enabled successful prosecution of these  criminals. Rahutatva must deny facts and the reality and with the help of certain sections of the media generates a discourse which is disengaged from the ground reality. Perhaps Post Modernist disregard for truth is at work here.

The Rafale Aircraft deal is another good example of Rahutatva at work. The Supreme Court has given its verdict on this bill and has said that due diligence and process were followed. Rahutatva disregards the wisdom of the Supreme Court as it is not interested in facts that contradict the premise of the discourse. Politics demands that truth and reality be set aside. This attitude toward Politics is not just nihilistic. It is Fascist in that there is no engagement with raw empirical facts. Like Dr Goebbels, propaganda substitutes for argument and facts. The recent controversy over the visit of the Clown Prince of the Congress Party to Shri Manohar Pariker is a case in point. Pariker was a former Defence Minister and now the Chief Minister of Goa and is dangerously ill. Using a courtesy visit to inquire after the health of the ailing CM, Rahul Gandhi true to his basic adherence to Rahutatve spun this visit into the Rafale Controversy by declaring that Manohar Pariker has provided an expalnation to him that he had nothing to do with the deal. Manohar issues a strong letter of rebuttal in which he called out the lies uttered by the man who seems to be incapable of telling the truth even by accident/

I have give a few example of what I call Rahutatva: a discursive rhetorical strategy in which truth is dispensed with and propaganda is the subsitute for evidence and argument. This is the essence of Rahutatva and is fascism in action. 

Saturday, November 3, 2018

Politics over Sardar Patel's Legacy

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books


The Patel Statue
There is no gainsaying the fact that History is being re visited today in India. Since Independence the State has propagated a version of history which, while serving the needs of the politically dominant party, the Indian National Congress and its central dynasty.has left a large number of gaping holes in the Narrative. Foremost is the question whether the Indian National Congress did enough to prevent Partition and its huge cost in terms of human life and suffering. Second, if Partition was inevitable as the "historians" of Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Leftist acolytes argue, can they tar all those who opposed Partition as "communal" elements "reactionaries" "obscurantists" and the list is endless. One reason for the lack of diversity in contemporary Historiography of India is the fact that the historical profession has been prevented from reassessing the role of the Indian National Congress in the Struggle for Indian Independence. The recent attempts on the part of the Modi Government to draw attention to the contribution of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabha Bhai Patel are step in the right direction.

First the Statue. One of the many canards that are being spread by the mainstream media is that Modi seeks to "appropriate" the legacy of Sardar Patel. It is unclear hos the mere dedication of a National Monument is appropriation of a legacy. Also there are those in the Congress party who say that since the Patels are restive and are no longer the backbone of the BJP in Gujarat, Modi is seeking to assuage Patel Asmita or Pride. Reducing Patel to a mere icon of caste identity is to distort and undermine the stature of Patel. But then who has ever accused the Indian National Congress and the Dynastic Fascists of caring for people's sentiments or historical accuracy.  The fact is the Nrendra Modi proposed the Memorial to Sardar Patel in 2010 long before he became Prime Minister and in 2010 there was no sign of Modi emerging as the Prime Minister of India. By distorting the very chronology there is attempt to politicize the Monument. Construction began in 2013 and this was also before Modi became the Prime Minister. Projecting History backwards in a teleological arrangement is the favorite tactic of the JNU bran of Historiography and of course, give it a political spin to make that distortion resonate with "progressive" opinion.

Then the cost. The cost of the memorial works out to be 2854 crores. A huge sum of money. The justification for this spectacular Monument lies in the manner in which Patel was treated. A fact that is little recognized in modern Historiography of India is that Patel was chosen by 12 out of 15 Provincial Congress Committees to head the Congress in 1946 and would have become Prime Minister in the Interim Government. Nehru forced Gandhi to seek the resignation of Patel. A repeat of the Bose fiasco all over and given the enormous respect Patel had for Gandhi he stepped aside and let Nehru become the Prime Minister. This singular fact is hidden from History. Further, as the first Home Minister of Independent India, Patel welded the fractious assemblage of princely states into a united country using a subtle blend of tact and force. Junagadh and Hyderabad are good examples of Patel's strategic thinking. The only state/riyasat that was out of Patel's purview was Kashmir which was handled by Nehru directly and it continues to fester till this day. Patle wrote a letter to Nehru about the designs of China and this too Nehru ignored. Further, Nehru the patrician educated in the White Man's land treated Patel with open hostility and took delight in publically humiliating the great statesman. This factor contributed to the early death of Patel in 1950 and Nehru went on to live for 14 long years after the exit of India's saviour. Given this History, there is need to rehabilitate the Memory of this great Statesman. Nehru awraded himself the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna and many in India seek to have that honour revoked. Sardar was honoured on in 1991 during a brief respite from the pestilence called dynastic rule.

Netaji Subash Chandra Bose remains an enigmatic personality in Indian History. He created the Indian National Army out of the prisoners of war captured by the Japanese in Singapore and turned them into a major force to liberate India. There is no doubt, as Clement Atlee said that it was the Indian National Army that finally convinced the British to leave India after the War. And again Netaji was forgotten. In fact Nehru even conspired with the Soviets to have Netaji declared a "war criminal". The alacrity with which Nehru declared that Netaji had died in the plane crash in August 1945 shows that Nehru was not interested in Netaji returning back to India. The return of Netaji would have meant the end of Nehru's dream of founding a Dynasty and keeping the Office of Prime Minister within his family. Modi rightly acknowledged Netaji's contribution by raising the National Flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort. Finally the fact that Netaji established the First Government of a  Free Independent and United India has been recognized.

Thus there is a great deal of scope for a revision of the dominant hegemonic discourse on modern Indian History. The congress centric narrative rests on distortions evasions and hagiography. It is time to change that and Narendar Modi has begun the task.


Friday, September 13, 2013

Narendra Modi, the BJP and the 2014 Elections: The Storm Ahead

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

As expected the BJP Parliamentary Board met this morning and declared Shri Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. The Congress party which reposes faith in dynastic fascism as its only political principle in all probability  rally around  Rahul Gandhi derisively called Amul Baby in India. It will be an unequal match as Tahul Gandhi does not have either the experience or the national stature to stand up to Narendra Modi and in the forthcoming election all seasoned political observers see a tectonic shift in favour of the NDA led by the BJP.

The issues that will dominate the Elections of 2014 are serious ones and some of the issues are listed below:

1 There has been unprecedented levels of corruption and mis governance during the 10 years of the UPA whose PM was the teflon coated Dr Man Mohan Singh. The disappearance of the files relating to the allocation of coal blocks in the coal gate scandal has put the spotlight on the Prime Minister. Indians are used to corruption and in our everyday lives have to deal with it at some level, but under the Congress the scale and magnitude of corruption has broken all limits and the common man in yearning for a change. Narendra Modi has the image of a clean and efficient politician and is not tainted by a singly scandal.

2 There has been a virtual melt down of the Indian economy. The growth rate has plunged to 3.5% and this is the lowest in nearly tywo decades. The Current Account Deficit is narly 7 % of the GDP and is increasing. The trade gap is widening and in spite of the fall in the value of the rupee exports are not picking up. The high rate of unemployment had made the youth restive and it is the young voter who is expected to vote en masse for Narendra Modi. The Congress has offered no explanation for the decline in the economy except blaming the policies of Pranab Mukherjee the former Finance Minister and now President of INdia. Corrective measure have not been taken for bringing the economy back on track. In fact the situation is getting worse with the inflationary pressure exerted by the rise in petrol and fuel.

3 The populist measures taken by the UPA under the influence of a bunch of civil society activists close to Mrs Sonia Gandhi has imposed an enormous strain on the economy and has made corruption a rural phenomenon. The Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has spawned huge corruption and the Comptroller and Auditor General has drawn attention to the lapses in the Government schemes

4 The foreign policy scenario is not bright. India has declined before the eyes of the World. There was a time when the voice of India was heard. Today India is silent on all major issues confronting the world. This decline is due . bad statecraft and muddled priorities. The incursions of the Chinese Army have to be addressed in a bilateral forum through discussions. The News papers are full of alarming Reports of the presence of Chinese soldiers deep into Indian territory. I am sure this issue can be settled through dialogue, but the weak UPA Government lacks the credibility to undertake such a dialogue. In the case of Pakistan, India has been craven. Inspite of the fact that the Government of India being aware that Pakistani soldiers killed 5 Indian soldiers in a brutal manner, the UPA regime sought to pass the buck by saying that terrorists dressed in Pakistan Army uniform did this dastardly act. The UPA lost what little respect people had  after this display of cowardice.

Against the declining fortunes of the UPA, Narendra Modi has to craft a winning strategy. His personality and image alone will not see the NDA through because the UPA will throw the 2002 Riots in Gujarat against Modi in onder to garner the votes of the Muslims. This strategy will come unstuck in the big state of Uttar Pradesh, but may have some purchase in other parts. Though the Supreme Court of India has not found anything to prove the involvement of Modi in the riots, the 2002 Riots are still there in public perception. NDA must respond by bringing up the Sikh Massacre of 1984 when Indira Gandhi died. The factionalism within the BJP with the senior leader L K Advani sulking in the shadows after the announcement of the candidature of Hon'ble Narendra Modi may be unsettling in the short run.

The BJP has its work cut out for it and the sooner Narendra Modi establishes an organization which can translate his vision into a reality the bettor it would be.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Durga Shakti Nagpal: An IAS officer suspended for doing her job

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books

In several of my blogs I have drawn attention to the criminalization of politics in India, particularly in the state of Uttar Prasesh which has elected a Samajwadi party as its single largest party. Mulayam Singh Yadava, the strong man of the party appointed his son Akilesh Yadava as the Chief Minister and this young man presides over a government in which  crimnals with serious crimes to their names were appointed Ministers. The case in point is the Rajput criminal, Raja Bhaiya who is known to be a thug operating in eastern UP, the bad lands of the state. There is a story, I wish it were not true, that this man feeds his enemies to crocodiles reared in a pond in his extensive "kotti" or bunglow. The Samajwadi party like its predecessor in power the Bahujan Samaj  Party under Mawawati is steeped in caste warfare and criome. The social base of the Yadava dominated Samajwadi Party is of courase the Yadavas, the Muslims, the Mallas and the intermediate caste. The poximity to the national capital has made NOIDA or Gautham Buddha Nagar an important centre for the booming real estate mafia. It may be woth recalling that Neera Yadava, the former Chairman of the NOIDA Development Authority an IAS officer is presently under conviction for crimes of bribery and misuse of power when she was in charge of the land development in the same district in which Ms Durga Shakti Nagpal was posted as Senoior Divisional Magistrate.

This young woman was palced under ssuspension two days back for having shown the courage in taking on the sand mafia. The term sand mafia may appear ridiculous to a western audience. However, given the building boom in New Delhi and Noida, river sand which is mixed with cement in order to make building concrete is in huge demand. The sand mafia was using sand dumpers to excavate sand from the dry river bed of the Yamuna and was selling it at a huge profit to the real estate dealers. The nexus between party members of the Samajwadi Party, the local power elites consisting of the usual Thyagis and Yadavas, and the real estate developers was so strong that when this young woman stated seizing the sand dumpers and confiscating the sand, the yelps from the yadava criminals soon reached Lucknow. Akileh Yadava, the son of Mulayam Singh immediately ordered the suspension of the woman who showed some courage. What is really surprising is that a week back I wrote in a comment in Times of India that this woman is taking on criminals and she is asking for trouble. And exactly as I predicted Durga Nagpal was suspended.

In western countries the officialdom is not takken to task for carrying out the law and implementing policy. The young woman was following the instruction of the Supreme Court of India which has laid down a strict policy of government regulation of sand mining because of its environmental hazards. Durga Nagpal perhaps thought that having the Supreme Court verdict on her side would strengthen her position. However, Akilesh Yadava's government resorted to a crude ruse inorder to have the officer placed under suspension. Citing law and order problems, the criminals of the Samajwadi party tries to give an "identity" colour to the issue by saying that Muslims were being targetted. This line was contradicted even by the local police. Thus, when people elect criminals to power one can expect anything and the suspension of Durga Nagpal shows the depths to which civil administration has sunk in India. In the neighboring state of Haryana, another IAS officer, Khemka who exposed the shady real estate deals of Robert Vadra, the son in law of Soniaji, faces similar problems.

The IAS Officers rallied to the support of the officer and even put out a feeble statment. However, the rot in Indian politics is so deep that honesty does not pay and hopefully in the next elections people of India will show more intelligence in their voting parrern.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Naxalite Violence in Chatiisghar: Is the Congress Party responsible for the cycle of violence

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books The Naxalite Movement has created a state within a state in India and with the eroding legitimacy of the Indian state based on the 1947 Settlement it is time to ask the fundamental question: Is the Indian political class of which the criminal organization called the Congress party is the preeminent example the main and fundamental cause for the cycle of violence. During the course of the last 60 years the dynastic fascists have ruined India by foisting a corrupt political culture in which courtiers masquerade as politicians. Every institution of the land, the Parliament, the steel frame of the bureaucracy, the constitutional bodies like the CVC and investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI have been perverted to serve the cause of the dynastic fascists. The Indi9an constitution does not advocate a dynastic sate and the criminal CONGRESS PARTY HAS CONVERTED THE POLITICAL PROCESS into manipulated endorsement of dynastic rule. Unfortunately the other political parties like the BJP and the Communists play along without realizing the fact that dynastic fascism is the root cause of political and administrative corruption in India. The present regime of ManMohan Singh is floundering in the ocean of corruption on a monumental scale of which the Coal Allocation Scandal and the @G Spectrum Scandal have caused a loss of nearly 15% of the GDP.If India did not have this parasitical political class it would be a very rich country indeed. It is against this background that the violence against the Congressman unleashed by the Maoists in Chatiisghar has to be viewed. The Congress Party always speaks in two voices on all major issues and hence there is no consensus in India on any issue. All criminology parties will unite in the name of fighting communslism without understanding that the bogey of ":communalism" was created by Nehru in order to defelct attention from the Congress complicity in enforcing the Partition of the Country and since then the artificial fears of "majority" rule has been cleverly used to fragment Indian electorate into pliable voting blocks. The BJP unfortunately plays along with the Congress without realizing that the political futre of India lies only in the demise and extinction of political forces like the Congress. In Punjab the Congress sided with the Sikh militants and lent support to Bhindrenwale, in Sri Lanka the Congress Government of Indira Gandhi armed and trained the LTTE and in Assam, the Congress is in direct cahoots with the ULFA and uses the militancy in order to intimidate the other parties including the BJP. Therefore for the Congress leadership to say that the attack on the "Parivarthan Yatra" is an attack on the "democratic process" is both false and disingenuous. The Congress has been using Dig Vijaya Singha to discredit any attempt at reigning in jehadi inspired terrorism. Now when it has to face the consequences of its own misguiged policies to cries out as if "Democracy" is in danger. The dynastic fascists re the biggest threat to democracy in India not the Naxalite Movement. Unfortunately, establishment figures like Ramachandra Guha fail to emphasis the obvious link between Congress double speak and the culture of violence unleashed by that party. Now the people are responding in kind. Another example of the double speak is the patronage given to the anti naxalite militia, the Salwa Jadum founded by Mahendra Karma who was killed in the attack recently. The petition of Ramachandra Guha made the Supreme Court oder the disbanding of the Salwa Jadum while the Naxalite movement did not get any adverese notice from the Court. The ideologues like Arunditti Roy and Ramchandra Guha denounced in very strong language the violence of the Salwa Jadum but were certainly not too vehemnet in teir criticism of the Naxalite. In fact Arunditti Roy even calls them "Gandhians with Guns". In fact the Congress patronage of the Salwa Judam made this anti naxalite movement into a major force in the so called anti naxalite movement. The Congress trumpeted its Operation Green HUnt" after the Dantewada Incident but as is always the case with the Congress it lacks both the skill and the expertise to do anything excet corruption. Operation Green Hunt degenerated into a tribal killing movement and this engendered more support for the anti Congress Naxalite Movement. If the Naxalite target the Congress and other criminal political forces the p[eople of India will not give a whit. It was Karma, a Congressman who created and launched the anti tribal militia and the naxalites took him out in a ruthless amnner. Jairam Ramesh the "intellectual" face of the dynastic fascists publically humiliated Mahendra Karma in the rally signalling the Congress no longer found Karma useful and therefore expendable. The result the brutal killing of this Congress tribal political leader. The Congress Party itself is responsible for the killing not the state Government under Dr Raman Singh. The Home Ministry guidelines are very clear that in Naxalite liberated areas the conventional political parties should not move in large convoys. The convoy of nearly 40 cars was struck by well trained and armed militants. As was the case with the Rajiv Gandhi rally in which Rajiv Gandhi was eliminated by his political rivals the LTTE, in which the participation of Congress insiders is still suspected. in the case of the present attack the route of the convoy was changed at the last moment and this led to the attack. In other words the congress men themselves were responsible for the brutality. Had the route not been changed then the attack may not have taken pl;ace. Do we care about what happened. I think the Indian nation does not care for the fate of its politicians. V C Shukla was the Information and Broadcasting Minister during the Emergency and that says it all. The BJP must not go overt board in condemning the attack as the Congressmen invited the attack on themselves.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

The vulgarity of dynastic fascism: Why dynastic politics harms India

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar has said something so terribly obscene even by the standards of Indian politicians that I am forced to write about it. The drought in Maharashtra is due to wrong water derangement policies and rampant corruption in the Irrigation Department. In fact the department has figured recently in a huge scam andf of course given the fact that a UPA ally is involved nothing came out of the exposure. In fact Indian politicians are not afraid of indulging in high level corruption because they know that they can get away. The Hindu this morning revealed that Rajiv Gandhoi way back in 1975 even before he entered politics was the middle man who negotiated a deal for a feet of aircraft for India. Wikileaks must be complimented once again for this exposure. Then came Bofors and not a single conviction. The same is true of the anti -Sikh Riots of 1984: the Congress hushed up the entire episode under the convenient blanket. Ajit Pawar says that he cannot fill the dam by "urinating " in them. When the people of Maharashtra are facing the most severe crisis caused by the drought his remarks only reveals a dynastic fascist mind set that has only contempt for the people of India. Do you think that the people of India i. e the voters will punish such politicians when they come up for reelection. I do not think so. Indians do not have a powerful public memory and vote on the basis of extremely short term considerations. Had the Indian voter been intelligent and discerning he would not have voted the UPA to power by defeating the BJP led NDA Government. Of course, the first past the winning post electoral system that India is saddled with makes it possible for undesirable elements to gather the plurality of votes. Rahul Gandhi made yet another of his stupid meaningl;ess remarks that has rightly earned him the title Amul Baby. He says that India is a "bee hive". Does this stupid fellow even understand the implications of his remark. In a bee hive you have a parasitical queen bee and an army of drones and workers who gather "honey". The Congress Party is gathering honey for a "queen bee" and the drones i.e the chidambarams, the C P Joshis, the ManMohan Singhs, the Kapil Sibals etc gather honey. How apt this metaphor is. Even a stupid man like Rahul can come up with amazingly accurate analogies. If Indian reward dynastic fascism they are only putting the seal of approval on a culture of violence, corruption, criminality and rape. I hope the Indian voter has more sense in 2014.

Friday, November 30, 2012

AN Objective Assessment of Nehru" The Indian Ideology Reviewed

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books
Perry Anderson, the author of The Indian Ideology i8s a well known historian and the author of Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism and the Lineages of the Absolutist State. In this book reviewed in this blog, Perry Anderson has raised questions which Indian historians writing history in nthe service of the nation state have failed to ask. Worse anyone even attempting a critical analysis of the Nehruvian Era is dismissed as a "communal" historian,a label which makes serious historiography well neigh impossible. The result is that modern Indian historiography is dominated by myths which are repeated without the slightest fear of being exposed as myths. The political trauma of 1947 created not one but two identity based states and while Pakistan is content with its status as an Islamic confessional state, India under Nehru has pretended to be a "secular" state and as Perry Anderson has shown the Congress even at the height of its popularity in the 1930s did not attract more than 3% of its membership from the Muslim community. The conceit of the Congress Party that it represented the entire nation made the party reluctant to seek accommodation with the Muslim League and contri8buted to the process of India getting fragmented. In Indian historiography this episode is usually painted as the wily Jinnah manipulating the Viceroy behind the backs of the Congress leadership when most of them were in Jail. The truth lies as Perry Anderson points out in the arrogance of the Congress leadership which refused to compromise with the League even when Jinnah showed a keen desire to engage with the Congress. The second point that Perry Anderson makes which deserves serious consideration is the fact that the Elections held under the 1935 Government of India Act the Congress did not win even a single Muslim seat. And when the Congress leadership decided to quit office in 1939 after the declaration of war, the field was open for the league to interact with the Muslim masses and further its ends. Rather than blaming the League, the politics of the Congress needs to be reassessed. Another myth exposed by Perry Anderson which stands modern Indian historiography on its head is the acknowledgement that the Congress pursued a communal agenda and the violence directed against Muslims during Partition emanated from Congress men rather than the favorite whipping boy of the liberals, the RSS. Given the fact that the Congress was responsible for the biggest massacre of post Independent India when thugs of the Congress Party killed more than 15,0000 Sikhs in north India and successive Congress regimes have abetted in the crime by ensuring that the perpetrators are not brought to justice, the analysis of Perry Anderson is certainly close to the truth. The historians maintained by the state lie Bipan Chandra and S Gopal do not seem to understand that the very dynamics of the movement led by the Congress contributed to the violence of Partition. Perry Anderson's analysis of the Nehruvian era from 1947 to 1964 is not only accurate but is also a sophisticated study of Nehru's methods of statecraft. As Anderson points out Nehru did not run a Government, he presided over a Court with fourth rate individuals like Krishna Menon, O Mathai, B M Kaul etc. The result was the political disaster in 1962 when India was soundly defeated by China. Anderson rightly points out that the McMohan Line which Nehru took as sacrosanct was the result of British chicanery and China showed every willingness to negotiate. But given the arrogance inherent in the Nehruvian vision of India, there was no place for negotiation or diplomacy: Throw the Chinese out was the motto of the so called forward policy which led to disaster. In suppressing the Revolt of the Nagas after Independence, Nehru permitted his Army, armed with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to indulge in extra legal killings and human rights abuses on a monumental scale and the result is there form all to see. And in Kashmir also the same policy of using a local collaborator, Sheikh Abdullah and then discard him when he began to take Plebiscite promised by Nehru too seriously. Amd all this while quiety promoting his dynasty which still unfortunately is in power. The Indian Ideoly is a great book and all students of modern Indian history must read this book. Nehru was a giant with feet of clay and it is time Indians are told the truth about their recent past.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

AAM ADMI to MANGO PEOPLE: ROBERT VADRA AND HIS LANGUAGE OF CONTEMPT

A look at the world of politics, statecraft, diplomacy and books On his facebook, Shri Robert Vadra, Soni-ji's damad had talked about India being a banana republic of mango people. The mango people that Shri Vadra refers to is of course the subversive reference to the very slogan under which his Mother in Law fought the election: AAM ADMI KA HAATH CONGRESS KE SAAT. It is a story as old as the hills that those who enjoy wealth and luxury without straining themselves have contempt for those who earn their honest bread and keep. The "Msngo People" of India may be stupid for having voted the Congress but they are by and large hardworking and decent, something that cannot be said of the average Congressman. Vadra, a small time operator from Maradabad made it to the big league of movers and shakers by virtue of his marriage or put it more crudely by being the damad of the dynasty in power. Having got political power he wants to enjoy it like the Bourbons of France after the Restoration in 1815. His reference to Indians as "mango people" does not smack of elitism because Vadra knows that his background is anything but elitist. He has neither education nor the skills required to make him earn an honest livelihood,and his entry in politics during the last Assembly Elections backfired and was the main cause for the miserable failure of the Congress party. India does not have a hereditary aristocracy and the likes of Vadra with political clout along with the Rahuls, the Vikas. the Akileshes, the Marans and the Karunanidhis become the aristocracy of power. They perform an important role: they translate political power into money and wealth. The main reason why corruption has increased many time over is because of dynastic fascism of the sort favoured by the Congress and mindlessly of the so called "secular" parties. Only the Communist factions and the BJP are not touched by this tendency. In fact Patrick French inhis recent book has shown that the vast majority of the MPs in the current Lok Sabha are sons, daughters and grandchildren of politicians. In other words the pool of talent from which politicians are recruited is decided in the bed room and that is the reason for the phenomenal increase in corruption. Dynastic politics breeds monumental corruption and the recent spate of scams is proof of this statement. The other fruit that figures in Vadra's eloquent comment is Banana.The term banana republic came into being when the great pioneers of human rights and democracy,USA, started intervening militarily in the affairs of South American counties in order to safe guard the interests of the UNited Fruit Comapny. They routinely intervened in the internal affairs of Latin and South American countries and got rid of the authoritarian leaders whom they had propped up in the first place and replaced them with men of their own choice who they felt would do the bidding of the UFC. These kleptocracies were all tied to US banking and financial interests and so the term banana republic came to represent the corruption and filth spewed by US backed regimes. India has already become a banana repulic as there is a total break down of law and order and the only hope that remains is the judicial intervention. The Coal Gate Scam and 2G Spectrum Scasm both are symtomatic of crony capitalism of the worst kind. And why not Vadra. He gets a loan without interest from DLF to buy its own property ans such sweetheart deals are possible only in BANANA REPUBLICS WITH MANGO PEOPLE.