M.J. Akbar in Khaleej Times:
“In the general elections of 2004 Lalu Prasad Yadav used to tow around a maulvi when in campaign mode… He was a lookalike of Osama bin Laden. He even handed out autographs signed “Osama….
“Did Sonia Gandhi, an ally of Lalu Yadav, question him or even raise the subject? Not a word. Votes were more important, even if they came in the name of Osama bin Laden. Did the subject arise when Mrs Gandhi offered Lalu Yadav a prominent place in Dr Manmohan Singh‘s Cabinet? No.
“In the Assembly elections that soon followed the general elections he had switched over – or, to be more precise, had been purchased by – Ram Vilas Paswan. Did the Congress ask questions this time around? Not a chance.
“Votes, votes, votes: that was the only morality.
“It was all dismissed as a joke, and the laughter was doubtless very hearty in the comfortable drawing rooms of Lutyens‘ Delhi.
“The joke has soured on the killing fields of Malegaon, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and a roster of cities that could enter the list of dread. The dead do not laugh even when there is a comedian as rich in range as Lalu Yadav.
“The innocents have been killed and maimed by terrorists who have Osama bin Laden as their inspiration.”
Read the full column: Band aid for cancer
hang barli siva, queshne!!!
i completely agree with this line of attack. it is very very important to understand that in the name of disrobing the chaddis, the secular world lost all sense and balance about reality. that only underscored the point chaddis were making.
in a perverse way indian politics is full of chaddis. the entire worldview is shaped by chaddis. chaddis have a direct view. the rest only have a reactionary view which, since the world is warped, is complimentary to the chaddi’s worldview and not in contrast.
if there is some secularism that anybody believes in, i want to see somebody really stand for it.
have the balls to crank secularism and create a legal basis to take out the hindu right. and stick to that basis. eventually reality will dawn and truth prevail. what IS and what needs to be done will become apparent – beyond all the encomiums and euphemisms and wordplay.
hmm… international $$$ is still an issue, but i am willing to live with ‘satyam eva jayate’ only that which is true prevails. as good a theory as any other.
i will say this. 90% chaddis and 100% langoTis(pseudochaddis) have no clue what they are talking about. they have very coarse broadstroke understanding. ditto long flowing langas on the other side.
i know i sound like i have understood it all. not really. but i know enough to say what i have said.
90% chaddis and 90% langas clueless.
M.J. Akbar’s article comes as a whiff of fresh air. When Laloo and paswan have a osama look alike to campagin for elections that is secularism. The left , congress and their allies are a bunch of hypocrities – including their so called intellectuals like arundathi roy, the mainstream media. These people have perveted any rational discourse on things like secularism. We have the most idiotic set of people defining and propogating these ideas.
Am truly surprised to see this come from MJ Akbar. If this has come straight from his heart, not out of pique, he has won my respect.
The Theory of secularism does not exist in this Country in our Constitution. It is the same Divide and Rule policy re-hashed and re-discovered by our Politicians.
Hindu Un-Divided Law
Muslim Law
Christian Law
Go to Goa then u tend to see Portuguese variants in marriage.
To further the divide there comes another post-independence Divide and Rule concept
Division of state based on Linguistic basis
Caste oriented Divisions
Imposition of Hindi on South Indian states and ANTI-HINDI protagonists in South India.
Cow belt Politicians have added another dimension to this by electing Criminals in Parliament.
The fundamental question is whether secularism is only based on Religion ?
What are the other variants of anti-secular divisions super imposed on our Constitution ?
Country lacks of Primary Health Care, Food,Shelter and Education Institutions for the masses. It is all the elitist or the cream section of the Society which becoming richer and richer at the cost of poor.
Billionares galore in this Country, however the stark reality is these Billinares have further corrupted the system by not being the Change agents, but adding chaos in a impoverished Country.
Legacy continues. Remember you are all a number as far as Govt is concerned. These numbers will be forgotten in due course.
50 killed 100 injured…
10000 killed in anti-sikh riots in Delhi…Forgotten by Judiciary
1000 killed in Mumbai riots …forgotten by judiciary
100’s killed in Gujarat by Godhra riots….forgotten…
5 Jawans killed in Pakistan border….Forgotten…Track 2 diplomacy is ON….
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
These dots above represent a Billion Indians who happened to become Indians by accident because the Brit’s left India.
The rest is History.
Lalu and Paswan move with an ‘Osama’, Mulayam Yadav call SIMI secular, Laloo as Rail Minister orders a fresh inquiry into the Godhra coach burning incident to give respectability to his charge that a Muslim mob did not burn the coach and that the riots that followed were pre-planned by the BJP and Modi. Shivraj Patil says if you want Indian Sarabjit to be spared death in Pakistan, we have to pardon Indian Afzal Guru in India.
With such sort of leadership which is interested in only votes, innocents will continue to be killed and terror will continue to grow. And then, when the crisis reaches an unacceptable level, one more Operation Blus Star or worse will have to be launched, settiing in motion another set of irrarional reactions.
Till then, brace yourself to see many more innocent citizens killed by terrorists.
This is not one off. Lalu unilaterally constituted Banerjee Committee (later commission) which tried to pass the buck on the Godhra victims, not who burnt the train, threw stones so passengers don;t come out.
High Court stopped the report from being tabled in Parliament. UPA DONOT HAVE GUTS TO EVEN APPROACH SUPREME COURT.
CPIM who lectures us everyday on “freespeech” banned Taslima just before Panchayat election. Later threw her out of the state.
“Secularism” now means rallying Muslims religiously and diving Hindus along caste for short term political power.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, its creating pan-indian Muslim identity, more radicalism WHICH WILL SOON GO OUT OF HANDS OF “SECULARS”. And legitimized Hindu rubble rousing. And above all, social tolerance had broken down like never before.
When you want to stay in power all equations are OK. Then when people die like this in bomb attacks they say always say an UNSEEN hand. And the Union Home Minister says that BJP ruling shuld raise their police forces as if these states are not integral part s of India. Hell with the dual policy!
The BJP’s politicians are not far behind the Laloo’s, Paswan’s and others in Cong-I. Have a look at these revealing snaps and the article. Everything is too obvious!
http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=87321
“Lohia survived by inventing anti-Congressism. His brilliant analysis recognised caste as the fault line, but his heirs made that into a recipe for casteist vote bank politics. They too abandoned any criticism of the Congress or analysis of India’s ills and became routinely secular. That meant Mullahs for Muslims and brickbats for the Hindus. Casteism is secular as long as it also seeks Muslim vote.
This is very much at the heart of the present malaise. When a terrorist attack happens the powers that be are speechless lest they offend their Muslim clients.”
Quoted from “A fragile polity, a broken nation” by Meghnad Desai (Indian Express)
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/343914.html
Tathagatta,
While I generally ignore your rabble rousing posts, what you said here was band on target in my view:
“BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, its creating pan-indian Muslim identity, more radicalism WHICH WILL SOON GO OUT OF HANDS OF “SECULARS”. And legitimized Hindu rubble rousing. And above all, social tolerance had broken down like never before.”
Guess you meant rabble rousing. And about the likes of Lalu who are dragging our whole country down with their short sightedness, you are right, in their hands, it is just bigotry of another kind.
PM Gowda wept, fainted when I confronted him over fodder case: Lalu
NEW DELHI, AUGUST 3
Lalu Prasad Yadav has said that H D Deve Gowda, when he was Prime Minister in 1997, began “weeping and fainted” after Prasad, who was then Bihar Chief Minister, confronted him for “telling the CBI to file a chargesheet” against him in the fodder scam case.
Disclosing this in an interview with Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, on NDTV 24×7’s Walk the Talk programme Lalu Prasad said Deve Gowda wept “because he had made a mistake” in directing the CBI to move against him.
“He (Deve Gowda) issued a statement from the PMO. I asked him to first talk, discuss and if the case is proved then punish me. Don’t push me to the middle of nowhere, I told him. He told Joginder Singh, the then Director of CBI to file a chargesheet against me… I went to him at his 7, Race Course Road residence and told him ‘Why are you hanging me? I will not be able to work in Bihar’. He was rude and I was also hyper. We said a lot of bad things to each other. He started weeping and fainted.”
Lalu Prasad, Railway minister in the current UPA government, said it was his “mistake” to make Deve Gowda the Prime Minister of the country. “I made him the Prime Minister and paid for it. By choosing him, I made a mistake.”
http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/344375.html
Wonder who is worse off:
Lalu for associating himself with Osama.
or
Osama for being associated with Lalu.
P Mohan>>When a terrorist attack happens the powers that be are speechless lest they offend their Muslim clients.
Worse than Lalu’s Laden act was passing of a resolution by CPIM and CONG in Kerala Assembly demanding release of Madani, prime accused of Coimbatore massacre that killed 65 people. No where in free world these types of things will ever take place.
Every (in)action related to security, safety, governance is taken after considering whether its going to affect Muslim Vote. The purpose of the law, legislation, long term interest of the country INCLUDING MUSLIMS THEMSELVES are secondary. Supreme Court’s repeated verdict (as in case of IMDT, Assam) does make little/no sense to political parties if it affects Muslim Vote.
Multipurpose Indentity Card was launched by NDA, was killed by UPA.
Border fencing in Eastern border got big allocation during Advani’s tenure as Home minister. However, ITS ON RECORD, BUDDHA BHATTACHARYA ASKED CENTER TO STOP FENCING WITH BANGLADESH PRIOR TO PANCHAYAT ELECTION. UPA obliged.
Its this approach- win by any means, even if it means allying with jehadis, caring little for country, common man, including average muslims, that is bleeding the country.
Till recently, CPIM used to boast that West Bengal is “oasis of peace” !! No more they say that! Now, everybody knows West Bengal is used as a corridor by jeadis and it is sitting on a volcano. JEHADIS HAVE ABILITY TO DESTROY CALCUTTA MANY TIMES, BUT DO NOT WANT TO CREATE TROUBLE NOW AS THEY ARE USING IT AS A SAFE PASSAGE. Ditto in KErala, where Madani had to be courted for vote.
When these things take place, Indian media, intellectuals keep mum. That emboldens political parties.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200808051340.htm
Sangma slams Congress (and CPIM) on Bangladeshis influx.
Even the tribal populace as well as Christians came in support of the BJP’s stand on the issue, the former Lok Sabha Speaker said.
A massive mass movement is brewing in Assam, whole of NE which will impact West bengal as well. As we have seen in Jammu boiling in recent times.
I come from a south bengal town- where you will find illegal bangladeshi at every nook and corner. As a rickshaw puller, or petty thief.
Left front never say anything because it will affect “muslim” vote.
Is anybody asking to throw out INDIAN MUSLIMS? Why in the name of secularism, illegal bangladeshis are allowed in India? Don’t we have enough poor in India?
DG’s tears =Crocodiles tears. Weeping for what? Because the then Bihar CM ate the fodder or CBI filed the chargesheet? In the name of secular philosophy they encouraged caste politics everywhere.
Breaking news: Delhi High Court lifts ban on SIMI.
It shows how pathetically Congress approached to the court. Fully unprepared.
@ Rao,
Anti-BJP rants, anti-Hindu rants are common in websites like mangalorean.com and daijiworld.com for the obvious reason – their biggest audience are Coastal Muslims and Christians settled in Gulf countries!! :)
what is the point from the mangalorean link? that Hindu priests at Udipi and Dharmastala are equal to Osama bin Laden? let me guess where you get trained on your secularism concepts.
Confusing and under researched article. The humor, satire and cancer analogy is very ill directed.
For MJ Akbar to write such a column, the center must be really doing something wrong.
@Tathagata M – The aftershocks of such appeasement policies are already being felt as events in Jammu have shown. It might not be long before similar things start happening in other states.
This is nothing new from MJ Akbar . He has always been unsparing in his criticism of extremist and radical Islamicists.
@Rao,
What does the link prove?
Don’t tell me you equating the monks with Osama….no…don’t tell me that…I will fall off the chair
why do you publish akbar. he may write well but he is left with no credibility whatsoever. his is a case of sour grapes. he is concoting arguments each week to deride upa leaders so that the nda takes note and makes him an RS member from one of their states. he has also lost his magic touch with journalism. if you saw ‘covert’ you would know.