M.S. PRABHAKARA in The Hindu:
“A recurring theme in much of the analysis of the recent political drama in Karnataka is that the ‘dirty politicians’ have brought disgrace to the glorious history and heritage of the State and its people, bringing them down to the level of Bihar, the very nadir of ‘dirty politics’….
“Such assumptions about the exceptional nobility of the character and sensibility of the Kannada people necessarily have to have as an extreme contrary contrast the despised other. This, conveniently, is Bihar. Unlike those nasty others, we in Karnataka have always taken the high road of political morality and virtue….
“Has contemporary Karnataka any claims on this imagined heritage of loyalty and fair play towards the vulnerable? In actual fact, Karnataka’s politics has always had its seamy side going back even to the halcyon days of the princely state of Mysore, now viewed nostalgically as having been immaculate, uncontaminated by ‘dirty politics’.
“With such an authentic and unbroken tradition of political skulduggery and very little social conscience, why is Bihar so frequently cited in deploring Karnataka’s seamy political drama? Perhaps peninsular arrogance and contempt for anything north of the Vindhyas, once seen as the exclusive vice of the Tamil but now assimilated by the more prosperous and successful Kannadigas, may be the explanation.”
Read the full article here: Our own exceptionalism
churumuri 
There is an obvious difference between palace intrigue and the “Gowdaraj” we witnessed that the author has missed out.
It is the cynicism with which the elected rulers have chosen to make a mockery of the people’s choice. This was originally a “feature” of caste and faction ridden UP and Bihar, and the smaller NE states and Goa, but not something Karnataka had ever witnessed.
Sorry, but we are not used to being laughed at by the rest of the nation.
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I found this stanza disgusting.
“Such assumptions about the exceptional nobility of the character and sensibility of the Kannada people necessarily have to have as an extreme contrary contrast the despised other. This, conveniently, is Bihar. Unlike those nasty others, we in Karnataka have always taken the high road of political morality and virtue….”
So now the people of Karnataka are the same as politicians? When can any one in this world say that politics is the act of the virtuous? Is there something called political morality. Politics is about opportunism and is about the absence of ethics. In India, it becomes a bottomless un-ethical well. So, what is the author trying to corellate?
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The main objective of this article is to tell us, the KANNADIGAS, that you are not sacrosanct as you claim. You are worse then other people. I am seeing little Tamil tone in this article. Anyway there is no justification for all these political baffonery in the state. Still I dont agree with defaming the entire people of the state for this.
Secondly,support,no support,withdrawl,betral everything has happened. But did we see any violence. No. That is Karnataka and the Kannadigas.
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Yes a point well said Mr.Krishna Kumar. Inspite of media and BJP going to town screaming that Lingayats have been betrayed by JDS no case of violence between the two communities(lingayats and vokkaligas) has been reported… If it was in north india then large scale violence would have broken.. but this is karnataka and kannadigas are more mature than rest of the Indians… this proves that karnataka will never degrade to the level of bihar and the future and the author should write about more pressing issues than making a non issue a issue
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But hang on. didnt we see violence when Rajkumar died? Generalisation, in general, is stupid.
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People of karnataka are too lethargic to react to any kind of situation whether it is good or bad..Majority of the people are stupid, uneducated and worst of all ‘extremly laid back’..
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Aadre ee Hindu papernavru dont publish even one positive article about karnataka yaake? And avara baredroo kooda naavu mathe churumuri ishtondu thale kediskobaeku yaake (naayi …… swarga …..)
That aside, there is always a benchmark reference for everything. And there are no two ways that Bihar, UP and the likes is the benchmark for political skullduggery. No need to explain that, I am sure. (now, now dont bring up isolated incidents to bring other states up to the benchmark please) And not enough reason to go write an article about the entire Karnataka community. So, when an avowedly non-kannadiga paper like the Hindu writes something like this, negative reactions to the article are only expected.
CURIOUS – a general statement like Generalisation is stupid is not only general but is general enough to qualify as stupid!! Unlike in Bihar and in the recent Rajasthan caste clashes (dont remember the two castes involved), the Rajkumar related violence was not against anybody in particular – it was more stage managed by a few anti-HDK politicians to bring disrepute to HDK. As usual, the English media highlighted the violence beyond proportion. So shall we without further curiosity kill this cat.
YO!
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See, how the people from U.P., Bihar including Mayavati reacted to the few offensive lines from a song in the movie ‘Aaja Nachle’. Even a big shot (and highly influential) like Yash Chopra had to bow down and cut the objective lines. Such is the power in the north. I agree that kannadigas are too laid back and very tolerant. Dr. Raj and others in the film industry fought for the delay in releasing non-kannada films by few weeks. What happened? Hindi movie ‘OSO’ was released on the same day as any other place in the country and ran to packed house in Bangalore and Mysore. Raj’s ‘samaadi’ is still in pathetic condition and yes, we kannadigas accept things as they are.
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Like others pointed out – the author errs in tarring politicians and the people of the state in the same brush. It is a known fact is that the behavior of the political class in every state leaves much to be desired and there is no point pointing out the virtues of one vs the other. In a way this goes with being a vibrant democracy in such a complex nation.
As far as the people go, it is only natural that the people of every state or country for that matter feel a sense of pride in their own value systems however flawed they might be. I do not think there is anything to feel apologetic about this.
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Let me narrate an incident that happened to me with Chindu officials. One morning 2 guys come to my house in Bangalore, saying they are from The Hindu papers’, Bangalore office. They ask me which newspaper I read. I tell them. Then they ask why not switch to Hindu because it has more number of sheets etc etc.
Then I tell them I do not want anything to do with a newspaper which
1. Espouses the cause of China.
2. Touts the communist line of thinking
Then they say No, it is not true, we are a balanced and well respected paper in TN.
I ask them, how come even in the bangalore edition of Hindu I happen to see pages and pages of tender notification from TN government and why do they think I should pay for it and there is no importance given to state or bangalore city news.
They say no we have …hear this..2 sheets exclusively meant for State and city news.
I ask them of how many sheets,
They mumble about 20 sheets on weekdays and hurriedly exit.
This in a nutshell is the mentality of the Chindu towards our state and its people. It is hightime this paper is boycotted by Bangaloreans and the state people at large.
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Kannadigas are certainly better than the rest. Doesn’t Yeddyurappa remind us that we are from the land of Punyakoti and Basava? Doesn’t he also say that if we were to speak with people in a country far away from India, they will look down on us because we are now known as vachana bhrashtas?
We are definitely civilized. Our politicians have looted the state to the tune of billions of rupees, but there is no possibility of humiliating them by initiating criminal proceedings against them.
We are kind to our own. Just one family has damaged Karnataka than all the tyrants in the history of the state put together, yet there is so little outrage expressed against the members of that family. Its patriarch is said to use “avaachya” words at his press conferences and not one paper seems to have refused to feed his ego. His hubristic claims are for us to see everyday.
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aaha.. as if The Hindu is a saacha ! It is the dirtiest newspaper with all the characteristics of a prostitute!
It doesnt has any moral right to criticise / publish any criticism of present politicians.
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Mayura speaks well. I have been to the Hindu offices in Madras and marvelled at the autocracy of the establishment. There is total disregard for young citizens and no sense of etiquette when dealing with guests, visitors or even their own staff. I am not sure how things are now, since these observations of mine are from 1999. It remains a conservative publication which is strongly Tamil Nadu-centric. Only in Karnataka can they be allowed to flourish.
Free Karnataka!
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I understand that ‘The Hindu’ speaks for its people. Why should we expect ‘Hindu’ to support us? When it comes to quality there is a big differeence between Deccan Herald and other major newspapers. Instead of complaining about ‘The Hindu’ start your own publication. The problem with karnataka is that there is a big shortage of talented and dedicated people.
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Kuthuhala my friend, the shortage of talented people lies partly in the fact that the usurpers from outside the state namely Biharis and Kongas are fast-talking and aggressive – much more than the average kanadiga. Take the example of a quiet well-bred, intelligent Kannadiga who is vying for a post with a brash, smooth talking business-savvy Bihari…who do you think will get in? But of course, the Bihari! Annoying as he may be, he talks! The Kannadiga thought the superior candidate will not put up a fight and will seek opportunities elsewhere.
But yes, Karnatka should have its own version of “The Hindu.” and I too don’t think it’s Deccan Herald.
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Sir Vibudhi,
Deccan Herald used to be a OK news paper during the days of Guruswamy/Nettakallappa. Once the Tilak Kumar/Hari Kumar duo took over the management, it has steadily turned more communist oriented and sucks up to the congress big time.
My friends at Deccan Herald tell me the Kannadigas working there are systematically harassed by Tamil employees. BTW the publisher used to be one Padmanabhan a Tamil.
Vijaya Karnataka, though a Kannada newspaper showed some promise as long as Vijay Sankeshwar was owning it, but is now following DHs path after the take over by TOI.
I believe Rajiv Chandrashekar of BPL is trying to take over DH/Majavani. That will effectively neutralise any pro kannada media in the state.
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As I see, the Hindu is mainly patronized by Tamils living in Karnataka. Hindu writes only for them. Not to you and me.The same people have given to it the tag of balance news paper, intellectual news paper etc. There is no English news paper for kannadigas. If it has it should be oublished from outside Bangalore. “Namma Bengalooru Nammadallari”.
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hey Mr. curious riots after the death of Rajkumar were between people speaking two different languages as their mother tongue… but in bihar and UP clashes between two castes take place on regular basis… in karnataka even though they take place its few and far in between…. at least in karnataka we have a culture of respecting our fellow kannadiga brothers and sisters which is absent elsewhere esp in north
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You chauvinists are beyond redemption. I hate to call myself a kannadiga
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Aadre kannadigaru manage maado kannadigaru read mado olle english paper illa yaake?
For those who don’t know about the Hindu’s misdeeds, they can read the blog cnbcnn (Chennai based communist national newspaper).
Had there been such newspapers, people like Curious would have understood ground realities and not brushed all comments with the paint of chauvinism. People like Curious have illusions about being “liberals” and demonstrate such illusions by this chauvism brushing. Being liberal would entail also trying to understand the other view point. Readers of the Hindu live in an ivory tower of their own.
Alla, ee jana saying anything positive about kannada, chauvinism antha finalize maadibidthaarella. Namma bagge positive statements is chauvinism, other people avara bagge positive statements is a statement of pride. Wah.
Fact of the matter is, such “liberals” (pseudo-liberals)are well-educated and well-traveled with no sense of ground realities. The so-called chauvinists on this blog, I can sense, are well-educated, well-traveled and have their roots firmly in the ground while at the same time use their wings when the need to fly arises.
Yo!
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I dont think that DH owners are looking to sell out now. Good and bad thing is there are three brothers and difficult for them to agree on something like selling a family heirloom.
Vijaya karnataka is still pro-kannada. but with toi at the helm, they can change the stance any time.
Yo!
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“@Curious ”
Hating leads Chauvinism, so don’t hate yourself. fell free to call yourself as a Canadigga. We damn care abt that or you.
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I agree that the political scenario was highly dramatic in the recent times. But it is not as dirty as that in Tamil Nadu. By the way, when do you call the political situation dirty? only when parties change their partners?
then all the three big parties of Tamil Nadu have been doing this since ages. Why is The Hindu not criticizing DMK?
And mind you, though our politicos have behaved in an extremely poor manner, they didnt go to the extent of attacking any media house, which DMK is doing constantly in Tamil Nadu. Perhaps even when DMK attacks The indu office, the paper will surely take a stand not against the party – after all The Hindu’s family has a close tie up with TiRuKa’s family!
Now this is what I called dirty politics, or rather dirty journalism. Shame shame Ram!
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