The spectre of Barack Obama hangs heavy over young Indian politicians. Can they talk as well? Can they be as spontaneous? Can they inspire as many? Can they strike a chord as well as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee without sounding too smart and supercilious?
Or will they just turn out to be a chip off the old block?
During the two-day special session to discuss the trust motion, only Omar Abdullah among the genuinely young pols held his own. Squeezed for time and drowned by the din, the National Conference president called the left bluff on secularism and the right bluff on communalism, refused to view the Indo-US nuclear deal through the Muslim prism, and voted for the motion.
“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice….”
churumuri 
Would the Congress ever project him as a PM candidate?
I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two.
Then why the hell do you want those
Neanderthal(sorry I didn’t mean to offend Neanderthal folks!) stupid personal laws!?LikeLike
Wow when Modi uses rhetoric and populism to win votes he is called a demagogue. When Omar Abdullah does it it’s a spontaneous and inspiring. Certainly what is sauce for drake is not for soup on Chrumuri.
The calls some situations ‘ full of sound and fury and no significance’- Both Modi and Omar Abdullah exemplify that.
The undeniable however is that the other pup Rahul Gandhi has no sound and fury and is still without significance;)
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Sorry it’s not sauce for duck and not the rubbish Ive said earlier.
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Omar Abdullah, contradicts himself.
He says he will not change parties and he did support NDA in the last term and now UPA. If he is elected MP next term he will conviniently go with the coalition that is going to form the govt. For sure.
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Obama, on his day can sell ice to the eskimoes. But when not in his elements, and it’s quite a few times, his drone is a surefire way to redress your insomnia ! His calls for ‘Change in Washington’ is oft repeated with little freshness and is starting to sound like Kerry’s ‘When I was in Vietnam’.
The middle east trips were a welcome change, but can’t believe I’m saying this, Hillary’s exit put a damper on this race..
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Omar Abdullah has hopped from NDA to UPA so has his father.
His speech of retaining a moral High ground stating that he is a Indian can be proved only if he retains the Pandits back in his state. It was during his Father’s tenure all the Pandits in Kashmir were terrorised.
All the Homes of the Kashmiri Pandits were burnt when Farooq Abdullah was the CM of Kashmir. Now they are living in makeshift camps in Delhi. Indians are treated as refugees in their own land.
He has proved that he is one of the hypocrites breeding in the Parliament.
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I simply cannot understand what is the point of Churumuri in publishing videos of sheer insanity, political and personal TRP enhancing etc while hitting out at the media in various other posts.
Whoever who posted this for Churumuri might want to read this excellent post by Siddharth Varadarajan for EPW.
Click to access 12423.pdf
If this goes on I’m afraid that I would have to dump churumuri from my rss feeds. So much for the sharp comments, crappy posts etc.
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I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. Big deal, so are about another 150 million Muslims in India. Darn! I will say that about every Muslim Indian. So then why would you deny the right to puja to Hindu yatris at Amarnath? Sounds phoney for sure! Because you belive that the Valley of Kashmir is for Muslims only not Hindus. Be truthful Omar.
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Stop using this Obama rhetoric. He has nothing to offer other communism and ‘hope’…He winning just because he is black and the ‘guilt’ laden whites wants to appease themselves.
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For one, OA can talk…and he can talk well. That’s half the battle won in politics!
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Churmuri is becoming one of my fav blogs. but i dont like the way Congress is being shown as being better than the BJP.
Both the BJP and the Congress are 2 sides of the same fake coin and one should not back away from expressing this truth.
People like Rahul Gandhi and Omar Adbullah are nothing but cash-n-carry politicians and the whole world knows this.
Instead of debating which politician is the best/worst , Churmuri should focus on issues affecting the comman man and refrain from taking sides to remain as a neutral critic.
Whether it is the Congress or the BJP or the Left or the regional parties or the independents, nobody has been able to improve the system since independence and the situation does not look like it will change in the near future.
So let us accept the fact that these politicians are just the same kind of people in different skins [ parties] and their one and only goal is to make enough money to win the next elections.
In short: Stop praising any politician, if you want to be in my bookmarks.
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Most people slamming Omar here are barking up the wrong tree. He was one of the most articulate ministers in NDA govt. One of the few thinking politicians we have.
Consistency is the virtue of an Donkey. If he has changed stances it isn’t such a bad thing as long as he doesn’t repeat what he calls a mistake.
Someone asked what’s the difference between Modi & Omar. The difference is Modi has a fascist streak in him, and trys to punish the press, Muslims or who ever is his pet hate figure on that particular day. If you have noticed the demeaner of Omar in his various interviews, he is as good a listener as he is a speaker, and while he stands for Autonomy of Kashmir (A policy advocated by his father & Grandfather) he is one of the few Muslim leaders in Kashmir who is openly pro-Indian.
We can disagree with Omar’s stand on autonomy, but there is no doubt that he is one of the best young politicians we have.
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No doubt he is a good speaker (and he is “young”) but the comparison with Barack Obama is misplaced because Barack Obama came up from the grassroots while Omar Abdullah got his seat, popularity and looks by being the grandson of “Kashmir’s Nehru”, and Farooq Abdullah’s son. If his ancestry were not thus, he would probably have been drawing a six figure salary in a large MNC somewhere in the world… like most Indians of talent and ability.
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Churumuri is right in highlighting the good part of the speech. But, there is another part in OA’s speech where he said, Kashmiris will NEVER give land for Amarnathji Pilgrimage. This is not highlighted by National media and this creating massive demonstration in Jammu.
If OA were interested in “poverty, hunger…” alone, he would not have said what he said on Amarnathji Land issue in the same speech.
Time has come Indian media starts behaving like real watchdog- be able to appreciate the good and condemn/highlight the bad part as well.
Please go thro’ the following newitem from a local daily of Jammu:
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/08july24/news.htm#1
“Protesters on rampage; ransack mortuary, take away body
Youth sacrifices life over land row”
“Identified as Kuldeep Kumar Dogra of Talab Tillo, the youth who joined the hunger strike launched by the Sangarsh Samiti in front of Brahman Sabha this afternoon fell unconscious while delivering a speech in protest against Omar Abdullah’s statement this afternoon.
Commenting on Omar’s remarks, the youth said that NC chief had stated in Lok Sabha yesterday that Kashmiris will die instead of transferring the land to SASB and “I would show Mr Abdullah how the people of Jammu too can sacrifice their lives to get back the land”.”
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By the way, why no media carried picture of Pappu Yadav and Sonia Gandhi discussion in the Lok Sabha?
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deej are all kids. da real man sayj
bhoosh haTao duniya bachao
bhajpa haTao desh bachao
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tarlesubba : Fact remains, Lalu Prasad is single most reason for almost wholesome destruction of governance, economy of Bihar.
He destroyed the state for 15 years. Practically looted it.
He may be wearing a development mask today, but its more propaganda than belief.
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bEING knowledgeable enough, it becomes quite easy to talk about energy security, poverty,Development but he still has a long way to go before he could be called as young and wise politician and that deserves to be nominated for prime minister’s position …
“well begun,half done”—no doubt, ki he started off his speech quite well, but the moment he talked about the amarnath land-his typical politicians attitude became apparent…
he was blaming left parties for communalism then, what the hell was he doing up there ???
wasn’t that tactic he used, could be regarded as communalism—the
—pROTESTS at jammu have already started, and god knows when and where the things would stop —
bETTER you mind your tongue,MR.ABDULLAH !
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Blew away the entire nation? That must be a lot of dust rising up in air, so what’s the scene after it settled?
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ONe of teh best speeches we have ever seen yes and the face of Advani was worth looking at :D
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Its pretty silly games that dhimmedia plays
Left-Liberal Dhimmedia in India tries to shamelessely mimic their Amerikan counterparts by transposing the liberal discourse there without any relevance to our local context.You often witness the spectacle in Undie TV – likes of Barkha Dutt indulging in studio theatrics on matters like transgender rights/same sex marriage/homosexuality
Obama is now the toast of the Amerikan left-liberal establishment courtesy the tearjerkers/sob stories that he delivers admittedely with great rhetorical flourish
Dhimmedia counterparts in India wants to desperately invent a Desi version of Obama.Ideally Maya should have fitted the bill but their uppercaste/upperclass bias combined with Maya’s lack of sophistication/no phoren degree /damage potential to their favourite Congress party renders her a persona non granta to the Dhimmedia
Rahul baba is their natural choice but sheer mediocrity and incompetence that he epitomises despite their desperate effort to prop him up makes things little difficult for Dhimmedia to go the complete distance in ‘Rahul as Indian Obama’ project.He badly floundered in Lok Sabha despite adopting the Obama template .But they have not given upon on him.The other Congress gennext gasbags cannot be given too much prominence as Rahul Baba will be dwarfed.Even otherwise they have no worthwhile achievements
Hence the search has now led them to Omar Abdullah.
Suave,sophisticated,phoren educated and ofcourse belonging to the community that is alleged to be discriminated by the evil Yindoos makes him a good bet.It also helps Dhimmedia to whitewash the state sponsored genocide perperated by Islamist in Kashmir.A tame apology by Omar is enough for Dhimmedia to paint him in glorious light
Rahul Baba-Omar duo will now be modelled on Nehru-Abdullah .
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OA is the grandson of Sheik Abdulla and same blood courses and we know how SA played poitics
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Omar Abdullah’s Deadly Speech
Not sure if Omar’s speech ‘teared away the nation’ but sure has contributed to the suicide of a young man in Jammu.
A suicide note found on Dogra, who committed suicide in Jammu today said he was upset about Omar Abdullah’s remarks in parliament Tuesday that Kashmiris would die but never give up their forest land.
Perhaps Omar speech is better titled as a speech which took away a Kashmiri’s life.
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I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the cynic and conspiracy theorist to lead his life. Where will he stop reading between the lines – is there nothing that can be taken at face value for him?
Sure, Omar Abdullah is a politician, and a politician knows how to extract the best out of any position, but I don’t see how that can take away from the fact that his was the best speech on offer!
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@ Harkol: All I was syaing was both Modi and Omar Abdullah use sound and fury rather than any significant substance when they talk and one gets labelled a demagogue and the other as inspiring. I was only pointing out to the inconsistency. I think both are just professional politicians.
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run with the fox, hunt with the hounds – a perfect description for that perfidious omar and his dad the hulking farooq….a speech that sounded dangerously demagogue — like — “let us muslims hold the yatra/be in majority or else…” wtf!!!
and churumuri is fast joining the ranks of the left leaning dhimmis for whom “balance” in coverage means slamming anything “right of centre” on any given day…grow up losers!!
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Tall claims by this debonair son of a dobonair dad. If this dork was that interested in alleviating poverty in his muslime community, he should forthwith stop taking grants from the Union government and generate revenue of their own in his state. But freeloading is a disease that has no cure, and will continue unabated by this kashmiri muslime thugs.
Omar Abdullah was the minority poster boy of the NDA government, who was given the plum post of state minister in external affairs to appease the arab jockeys of the middle east and to garner muslime votes domestically,even though he did not have any relevant experience. But that did not work so well.
So the father and son duo now have crossed over to the UPA camp and know which side they should be on to get maximum personal benefits. If this guy says kashmiris will die before giving the land of Amarnath, so be it, let us despatch them to the hourehouse of allah, which they so much covet. And while we are at it, let us also pack of all the kashmiri muslimes from the other states back to kashmir and close down all kashmiri emporiums aka terrorist sleeper cells.
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Amarnath Shrine board is a private setup and it has not honoured the committment it made to the gujjar nomad muslim who found the cave in the first place in 1930; that is to give 30% of its earnings.
Governor sinha is the chairman of the board and his PA is the secretary and they use their office to grant this forest land to themselves.
Amarnath pilgrims require rest, sanitation, health fascilities and it should be the responsbility of the J&K government as in Kumb mela.
Omar abdullah is a politician and he defenitely spoke well and no doubt about that and he will switch sides as everyone does in J&K including that greates t of turn coats Sardar riyasat Karan singh; just like his father Hari singh who was playing games with Britishers.
Lalu yadav,Omar abdullah, that Naga MP from Manipur and Yerran naidu of TDP spoke well compared to all those seasoned netas.
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Capt Johann,
>>Governor sinha is the chairman of the board and his PA is the secretary and they use their office to grant this forest land to themselves.
>>
The grant of land was endorsed by the state cabinet, so what seems to be the problem here?
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captainjohann,
what is that you are smoking & drinking?
I for one say we shld requisition for land for a Church there, something on the lines of say an ‘Infant Jesus Church’ if anybody objects we could spin it by saying this is all for religious amity Amarnath for Hindus, Infant Jesus for christians and anyways muslims are more in number in Kashmir naturally they would gain brownie points if they allow that…………… what say Captain?
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Lets not get swayed by the content of Omar Abdullah’s speech. It resembles the rhetoric of a seasoned politician. But surely, the style of his speech was exemplary. He was given just 2 minutes to speak incidentally.
Omar Abdullah is an excellent communicator, no doubt.
Not many in the parliament can match his oratory skills.
For comparison, listening to Rahul Gandhi stutter for 5 minutes on just the name “Kalavathy” was a pain. More painful was trying to find an “intelliegnt” connection in his speech , among nuclear energy, farmer’s suicide and poverty.
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Politicians, whether it be anMLA, MP or for that matter any ordinary politician will speak thousand things, he praises an unworthy person, rebukes and condemns a thorough gentleman. There is nothing new in it. Let us not give too much of importance to the sayings of OM or the honesty of Lalu. Time will reveal their true colours. Jai Bharathmaatha.
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Vitlan,
You need to smoke and drink some yourself. Would love to see what you would write then.
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AG,
The same thing what you have written.
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>>Amarnath Shrine board is a private setup
SASB is a setup mandated by State sanctified by Law of the land.
The Temporary structures that are to be setup was approved by the State Cabinet and the Supreme Court of India.
One cannot expect that Govt will setup separate Hajj terminals, Hajj Houses, more funding in all states while it will succumb to jehadis demand and will revoke 40 acres of land.
Religions must be treated equally.
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>>gujjar nomad muslim who found the cave in the first place in 1930; that is to give 30% of its earnings.
This white lie. Swami Vivekanand visited Amarnath Shrine along with Sister Nivedita and others in late 1890s. Amarnath Shrine is referred in the Puranas and probably some 3-4K year old.
By raising money to be given to the Gujjar Muslim , earlier raising environmental issues and so on and so forth, people like you are feeding Islamists and Jehadis who have an open goal to establish a hardline Islamic state quite contrary to indigeneous Indian syncreatic Islam.
If jehadis, islamists continue to get support , its quite natural Hindutva is going to take a strong root in J&K as well as India and crush that, if not already.
Social tolerance is going to be first casualty and radicalization of Hindus will be hastened.
Gone are those days brother when a leader of Shyamaparasad Mookerjee’s stature could be killed in cold blood in Kashmir Jail while people of India will barely protest.
Time has changed indeed.
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@ CaptainJohan
In Muslim Majority Kashmir, Hindus are ransacked and eliminated out of existence. The Historical Amarnath Temple Trust does not get the allotted land passed by the Cabinet.
Now in a so called secular country, it is a pipedream to be a Hindu. While terrorism explodes through Baptish Church funding in North Eastern part of the Country. The situation in Kashmir is no different. The majority community in both the states have made Hindus virtually non existent.
Hindus have be trying to uphold the secular virtues but the laws created for Moslems and Christians are different from that of the Hindus. They can do anything according to their whims and fancies.
Now its time to get a overhaul of the constitution and get History take its course.
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Should he not started by saying “I am an India and then a Muslim”, atleast for the speach sake?
Ofcourse he is a very good orator and may be a good politician to an extent, but i didn’t like the way he tried to defend the fuss they made about Amarnath land. As i understand govt. was planning to give it to board for constructing some facilities there, not to Pak.govt. Nobody objects when they pour tax payer’s money, year after year, for Haj…
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