Rahul Gandhi - Failure Analysis To Improve Learning

Failure analysis to improve learning is not a bad idea at all. That is what Rahul Gandhi is currently doing in the family backyards of Amethi and Rae Bareli. He is finally forced to listen to people who count. People on the ground! And they aren’t making music for his ears. I actually couldn’t find a good antonym for ‘Evolution’. ‘Devolution’ doesn’t exactly fit as an antonym. So the best I could come up with as a sequel to a previous post titled ‘Evolving the Gandhi’ was ‘Dissolving the Gandhi’. That one was about how NDTV wanted us to believe RG had evolved and was decimating every opponent in UP. This one is a lot more humble because it’s not nice to rub salt into wounds. So has the man learned anything? Well, first of all the Narcissist seems to be without his sycophant in chief, Digvijay Singh, for a while. If that riddance is permanent then it’s definitely is a good start. But has the narc himself changed any?

“It was a thoughtful, mature speech by young leader Rahul Gandhi. If you closed your eyes and listen to the voice, one could hear echoes of Rajiv Gandhi speaking 25 years ago..”. That was none other than Psychophant Chidambaram during the plenary session of the Congress in December 2010. And no, there’s no spelling error in the name. Any intelligent man would be seriously offended by such sycophancy, but RG either didn’t mind or let it pass. Then the titles of Yuvraj, Prince and all that probably led RG to believe all the nonsense being spread by a media fed and doctored by the ‘spinsters’ around him. Arrogance was further on display when a group of villagers from Ralegan Sidhi, Anna Hazare’s hometown, were led to believe that they were invited by RG for a meeting in Delhi. Sure, they turned up in Delhi in October 2011, only to be told no such meeting was scheduled and were sent back. That was an opportunity to build bridges with Anna but dealt with undiplomatically.

The list of extraordinarily silly utterances by RG  will make a very long list. There is a departure from the past though. For once, RG stepped up and stated he accepted responsibility for the thrashing in UP. What after that? Has he stopped uttering gibberish? Hardly! In a meeting in Delhi to analyse the UP disaster, to an angry member claiming Congress paid a price for ignoring upper castes, he proclaimed “I am a Brahmin too”. That gaffe was enough for another round of jokes on the social network and even in the MSM. That done, last week of April, he rushes off to Satara district in Maharashtra to visit drought-hit farmers and has lunch with some. Seriously, at age 41 do you have to visit every stricken area to understand problems? Droughts have been a permanent problem in India at some place or the other. And what do farmers have to say about his visit? “He has come, his father had come, Indira Gandhi had come but nothing has ever happened”. And Prithviraj Chavan, the CM of Maharashtra, tags along with RG on his trip like a small-time assistant.

Symbolic theatre like dressing up as a muslim or a tribal or eating at Dalit homes do not entice or impress voters anymore. It may have worked for RG’s grandmother and father but doesn’t work anymore. Even his greatest promoters in the media like Barkha Dutt of NDTV or Vinod Sharma of Hindustan Times have shut up after his moronic display and the UP results. Oh and where are the ones who cooed “She is so charming, so natural, should be in politics”! Well, that was about Priyanka Vadra who has simply disappeared from the scene after the elections for peaceful resort locations. Let’s see if she surfaces during the monsoon. In what should now be the most serious confrontation with truth for RG has to be his current visit to Amethi. For meetings to analyse the UP debacle RG had come prepared to give the little people a pasting but instead had to face a barrage of unexpected angry retorts from his own Congress workers.  All this came in response to Rahul's repeated warnings about taking action against erring party workers during the March election. Here are excerpts from Rediff.com

"Rahulji, you may fix the responsibility on us, but don't absolve yourself of the larger responsibility for the debacle." … According to an insider, one of the party workers in Salon, where the party nominee lost miserably, went to the extent of accusing Rahul of depending solely on "middlemen". He even sought to ask Rahul, can you recognise and name five workers who were closely involved with the electioneering process," to which Rahul confessed apologetically, "sorry". "How is it that your own party leader Pramod Tiwari managed to do so much for his constituency in the neighbourhood," asked another worker, leaving Rahul completely stunned. (That, in reference to lack of any development work in Amethi).

"What we needed urgently was ruthless surgery by plugging the loopholes and by restructuring the party well before the crucial Lok Sabha elections in 2014," observed Binda Prasad, the head of Chatoh Block in Salon assembly constituency. "It is high time our top leaders prepare themselves to listen to harsh truths if they sincerely want the party to stand up on its feet again," he added.

While accusing every other party of playing communal politics the UP election proved once and for all that the Congress is the most communal party in India and is hell bent on dividing the nation on religious and communal and caste lines. While he was visiting drought-prone Satara, RG’s mother was surprisingly charming the Lingayat community in Karnataka. If RG really wants to accept responsibility for anything he has to first act on something. First, learn about India and Indians. I mean seriously learn. People are not fools. Secondly, sack nation-dividers like Salman Khurshid, Beni Prasad Verma, Sriprakash Jaiswal who campaigned on communal lines. And, of course, he has to permanently get rid of muck-spewing Digvijay Singh. That’s asking for too much. His latest aide is a Jenny-come-lately called Meenakshi  Natarajan ,Congress MP, who wants to gag the media and wants a regulatory body with sweeping powers to ban and punish media. Hardly the wisdom learned from failures in choosing aides I would say.

Manish Tewari, in a debate last night on presidential candidates, suggested that in a nation of youth someone younger may be a better choice than APJ Kalam. Dr. Subramanian Swamy who was also on the debate pointed out to Mr.Head-To-Toe that it’s not how old you are but whether you are able to “inspire the youth” that matters. For a so-called ‘youth-icon’ Rahul Gandhi has failed miserably to inspire any confidence in anyone, young or old. Apart from a terrible poverty of knowledge RG is also handicapped by an equally severe poverty of ideas. Unfortunate, I would say, for a man who had so many opportunities. Another lesson RG must learn - whatever the media hypes, the opposite is usually the result. Failure analysis to improve learning is a good exercise, except that it has a flip side – the acronym is FAIL!

Rahul Gandhi - The King Of Comedy

The following lines from the movie ‘The American President’ are some of my most favourite when it comes to describing gullible people:

An aide remarks in very harsh terms:  “…Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand”. To which the President responds: “We've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference”.

Justice Markandeya Katju, the PCI chief, had remarked that 90% of people in India are backward, lack education and it’s the media’s job to bring up the right issues. That is really tall expectations from a media that relishes the backwardness of people as much as politicians do, none more so than Rahul Gandhi the latest troubadour from the dynasty. P. Chidambaram, the man in a cess pool of troubles, remarked sometime back that when RG spoke “he brought back memories of a young Rajiv Gandhi”. Why not? After all, since his early promise Rajiv Gandhi had turned out to be as much a gas bag and mired in scandals except for his dreams for India. Rahul Gandhi shares his penchant for dreams – a dream Lokpal, a dream of uniting two Indias, a dream of this and a dream of that. Not everyone is lucky to have so many wet dreams. In all his utterances I have yet to see one piece of intelligence on any issue. Unless, of course, you missed his comic genius. It all began on November 14, when RG started his election campaign in UP. Let’s sample some of his utterances:

1.   At all rallies: “There is a magic elephant in Lucknow that eats up all the funds provided by Congress”.

2.   At Deoband: “I am blind to caste and religion. I see everyone as Hindustani... If one Hindustani tries to harm another, I promise I will come in between. Please remember that I am the grandson of Indira Gandhi”. Which is why he will promote reservations for minorities and ask why others didn’t do it so far!

3.   On the Babu Singh Kushwaha issue: "We refused to induct any corrupt politicians in the party". Why would he? Aren’t there enough in his own party?

4.   On Lokpal Bill: "They(BJP leaders) were smiling in the Lok Sabha and said Lokpal is not their dream but ours--Manmohan Singhji, Rahul Gandhiji and Sonia Gandhiji's. "I agree. A strong Lokpal is our dream. Just wait and watch, we will bring a Constitutional Lokpal and defeat them". Maybe he forgot he is in the ruling party, with allies!

 

      5. At Balia: "Mulayam Singh once said to me that 'do whatever you want, the Muslims will only vote for me.' If you have the courage put a promise of 18 percent reservation in your manifesto'.

      "Mulayam has been the CM thrice and Mayawati four times. But not once they spoke about reservation (for Muslims) when they were chief ministers, not once did they mention reservation”.

      6. Everywhere: “..But today your leaders don't come to you but fly on helicopters. . And until they understand the sufferings of the people the state cannot progress”.

7.   "They won't talk to you. They won't come amidst you. They won't shake hands with you. They won't come to your house or have food. They will not drink water from your well. They sit in AC rooms. They won't talk about farmers… And when I come to your houses, have your food, I am ridiculed. They ask what happened to Rahul Gandhi. I see strength in you, in rural villages”.

8.   "UPiites have built roads in Maharashtra, they work in Kerala, they help the farmers in Punjab...but they do not have roads, electricity or water in their villages. Who built the Delhi Metro? Who is working in Ladakh?”

9.  You sell your potatoes for Re.1 a Kg. but potato chips are sold for Rs.20/- a packet.

10. The best of them all: For how long will you beg in Maharashtra or work as labourers in Punjab? When asked if he meant it metaphorically RG went on to say that he really meant “beggars” and he also found most of the beggars in Delhi were from UP.

And I am not going to even talk about RG’s previous gems like “Politics is in your pants” or “99% terror averted”. Well, it will surely be criminal of me if I left out “Mao brought development to China”!

Not surprisingly only some in the media have just about woken up to this man with no knowledge, intelligence or any understanding of the nation whatsoever. Imagine, an intellectual like Pratap Bhanu Mehta actually wrote to RG about “Tomorrow’s responsibilities”. Bravo! Much of the real discovery of RG started only after the November 14 Phulpur rally and his “beggar” comment for the media, at least some of them. TOI reports ‘Terai shocker for Rahul Gandhi’. WSJ: ‘More Signs of Rahul Gandhi’s Populism’. M.D. Nalapat: ‘Past is Rahul future in UP’. Venky Vembu: ‘Rahul Gandhi, the gawky, poor little ‘Richie Rich’ politician’. Swapan Dasgupta: “A look at the man who would be India’s King”. The list could go on and on. But I wonder why so many in the mainstream media couldn’t see the comedian for what he is all these years.

The one pic RG wouldnt want farmers or beggars to see

So much for discovering Rahul Gandhi! One has to wonder why it took so long for some in the media to write about the comic genius of RG.  It is really hard to argue with anything he says simply because it’s all so profound. Of course, if you have a hard time understanding the sense behind what he says there’s always a battery of Congress spokespersons ready to explain what exactly he meant. They’re not the only one though. NDTV seems to be the only channel that seems to know all of RG’s travel plans. From travelling on the metro to sudden and secret visits to UP or elsewhere and even his considered views on FDI in retail. Oh, that’s another beauty. The retail-FDI plan got dumped by parliament but RG believe that policy would have been heaven-sent for farmers. So once again he managed to explain that to farmers. And today, January 11, he handed a box of chocolates to a young muslim kid as a token of the sign that Congress will deliver for the muslims. Didn’t mom tell the kid in a movie that “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get”? I guess if that served Gump well, it should do the same for others too.

UP - A Muslim Labarotory

 In all the days of his campaign RG has not once been able to outline what his programmes are or what he and his party would do for the state he is campaigning in. Nothing! So in absence of any substance he falls back upon the old and trusted methods instituted by his parents, grandparents and great grandparents; subsidies, doles and, of course, quotas. And from the old school book of Indira Gandhi he even digs out the “Garibi Hatao” slogan. Not having drawn good crowds in many places he now campaigns exclusively in UP towns where muslims are a majority. His cronies desperately try to prove him right in everything he says, like the “game changer” plan but even that came a cropper in parliament. The best part of the whole show is the media which now discusses the ‘minority’ quota as an issue as against the evil of ‘quota’ itself. 

The other trick that he’s learnt from his family is ‘dressing up’, particularly with hats, skull caps with minorities and tribals, something his grandmother excelled in and yet remains a man unwilling to take up any responsibility whatsoever. I am reminded of Govinda in the movie 'Raja Babu', in which he liked taking his pictures in all kinds of costumes of dresses while being a village bumpkin. Along with Digvijay and Khurshid, RG has now turned Uttar Pradesh into a 'Muslim Laboratory'.

Thanks to the Congress policies minorities have come to mean just ‘muslims’ and their demands get more and more outrageous with time. The latest report says a group of muslims burnt an effigy of RG at Azamgarh. This is the town that RG’s mentor Digvijay visited to assure families of those killed in the Batla House encounter would be delivered justice. A professor from the localcollege of the town says:  “He (Digvijaya) had come here two years ago and promised a judicial inquiry, but changed his statement while talking to the media outside the village. The Congress talks of minority reservation, but we are not fools... We are not the only minority..” What the report doesn’t say is that the statement implies the muslims probably want to be recognised as a ‘separate minority’ and not clubbed with all minorities.

Rahul Gandhi's comedy in May 2011 with the ashes and dead bodies has been chronicled under #RahulFacts and his November 14 stupidity chronicled under #YoRahulSoDumb. (Both compiled by @KiranKS). The messages are indicators enough to establish him as the new Laloo.

Atanu Dey, a seasoned observer of Indian issues, sums up RG pretty neatly in a post: “Rahul Gandhi has the “ticket” to become the prime minister. His accomplishment can be summarized in two words: lucky sperm. Other than that, hardly anything else qualifies him — not education, not deep insight, not intelligence (an area he is noted to be particularly lacking in), not some breathtaking deed, . . . To not put too fine a point on it, his accomplishments amount to zilch, zero, shunya, nada. It’s his identity as the great grandson of Nehru, the grandson of Indira Gandhi nee Nehru, the son of Rajiv Gandhi & the Italian mama Antonia Maino aka Sonia Gandhi, that totally sums him up and explains his appeal to a significant number of Indian voters”. They drink the sand, because they cannot tell the difference.

That’s right, “lucky sperm” is the only explanation one can have for a bimbo who believes it’s prime-minister or nothing. I gave up understanding RG long ago and dedicated a song to him: “What a fool believes, wise man doesn’t bother to reason away” and now I just sit back and have a good laugh at the jokes he cracks. Stand-up comedy has become popular on TV only in the last few years with a lot of those laughter shows. You don’t need a special show when RG starts talking or rolling up his sleeves after every sentence. The King of comedy has truly arrived.

Defamation: ITC V Suhel Seth

Defamation, Slander, Libel are serious issues. However, most cases that are filed in courts are the frivolous ones while the really serious instances of wilful defamation and slander are ignored. Usually, politicians and tall celebrities ignore slander and defamation for the simple reason that the public doesn’t believe what is being said about them. That really is the key to defamation: People must generally believe what is said, it must affect someone’s reputation negatively, it must result in some kind of verifiable damage or loss. That is usually not the case when people or entities are sued.

Some recent instances one can cite is the frequency with which Digvijay Singh has called Baba Ramdev a ‘thug’ alleging the Yoga guru sells spurious medicines. That is a clear case of slander which Ramdev has not acted upon. The most vicious case of slander and defamation in recent times has to be Vir Sanghvi calling Narendra Modi a “mass murderer”. This was repeated by Rajdeep Sardesai in an HT summit in 2007. Both could have been in very serious trouble had Modi chosen to sue but he let it pass. In yet another instance, tainted cop Sanjiv Bhatt slandered Modi by calling him a “common criminal” on TV. This again is a case of slander. And yet again, Modi has chosen to let it pass. But the extraordinary case of defamation filed by ITC against marketing and advertising guru Suhel Seth surely falls into the category of absurd. Read the full report in the Economic Times titled  “ITC sues Suhel Seth for Rs 200 crore overTweets”. Yes, tweets are also a form of publishing and subject to the same defamation laws applicable to any other media. We’ll come to this case in a while. But before that let’s look at the most bizarre case of defamation – one that concerns Larry Flynt, founder of the porn magazine Hustler and religious leader Jerry Falwell. In a parody of Campari ads about the “…first time”, Hustler carried a parody about Falwell.

While Hustler magazine has always been known for its explicit pictures of nude women and for what many consider crude humour, the Protestant minister Jerry Falwell objected to the parody ad the magazine printed in 1983 targeted at him, in which Falwell related having an incestuous encounter….. The real ads were tongue-in-cheek interviews with celebrities talking about their "first time". The ads, which played off the double entendre in the headline (“X talks about his first time”), initially appeared to discuss the star’s first sexual experience before revealing that the discussion actually concerned the subject's first time drinking Campari. Falwell sued Hustler and Larry Flynt but the US Supreme court finally dismissed the case under First Amendment rights and the fact that the public would have known it’s a parody and wouldn’t have believed the satire was true and therefore Falwell didn’t really suffer any damage. It’s true the US free speech law is more or less absolute unlike Indian laws.

So how exactly has Suhel defamed ITC? Here are some tweets that the news report states ITC has claimed as defamatory:

"YC Deveshwar of ITC has had a sterling track-record of avoiding retirement at all costs...he could also be offered to the Maosits (sic) but then...." Okay, so that is a snide remark by an ex-Advertising consultant to ITC, which Suhel Seth is. Is Deveshwar avoiding retirement? In the opinion of Suhel probably and that’s his opinion. “He could also be offered to the Maoists…” Really? Now what sane person would mistake this sarcastic remark as being one that is really intended and meant by Suhel? Would people seriously believe that is what Suhel desires? Hardly so!

"YC Deveshwar of ITC has just been nominated CHAIRMAN ETERNUS (sic)...forget Emeritus..." Hahahha! I hadn’t read this before because I don’t follow Suhel Seth on twitter, but I do find it humourous. Eternus? And that is defamatory? The report says Suhel has even deleted some of his tweets but I can’t see how this play of words is defamatory. Suhel has also stated that his account was hacked but that is a defence that is unlikely to be accepted by courts. However, I don’t believe that argument is even needed.

'Yogi Devesh will teach the insider trading course at Tihar School of Business'. LOL! As Suhel mentions this particular tweet neither mentions Deveshwar (ITC chairman) nor has any reference to ITC. So the mere self-righteous assumption that this tweet refers to the petitioner is a long shot. Even if it did, Tihar is now so much in the news for all the wrong reasons that there is hardly regular user of twitter who hasn’t cracked a joke or two about it.

It is quite possible that Suhel Seth is quite peeved as a businessman in losing the large account of a company like ITC and maybe making some statements in anger. However, I feel ITC should have just sent him a polite letter to refrain rather than filing a suit straightaway. If this were to be the practice all cartoonists and satirists would be facing defamatory cases almost everyday.

The most important thing in defamation is the question whether people or public would believe the statements being made against a person to be real. Have people stopped associating with Deveshwar or ITC because of Suhel's tweets? Have the share prices of ITC dropped because of these tweets? In this case it doesn’t appear to be so and one hopes the case will be mutually settled instead of a court trial. What ITC must also realise is that by filing the suit they have made even more people aware of the tweets of Suhel, which is far worse because many, including me, hadn’t heard about these before the legal action came about.  

A previous case of Barkha Dutt legally handling an unknown blogger made him and his post all the more famous and widely read. Criticism, mild insults, ridicule and sarcasm should be taken in one’s stride or at best responded to in kind. Why bring courts into it… especially for a whopping amount of 200 Crores? Where’s our sense of humour? Locked up in Tihar?

Rahul Gandhi - Withdrawal Symptoms

“He has leadership and it is evolving. Rahul does not need to grab power." Digvijaya, in an interview to Headlines Today Executive Editor Rahul Kanwal. Kanwal didn’t ask Digvijay an important question about his comment on RG. A few months ago, on Rahul Gandhi’s birthday in June, Digvijay Singh had declared “I think it is time Rahul becomes the Prime Minister”. Secondly, no one has accused RG of trying to grab power. So why the defence by Digvijay? Even if his cronies, like Digvijay don’t tell him, I am quite certain RG is aware of the many nicknames he has earned. Here are a few: Pappu, Babloo, Amul Baby, Buddhu, RahulRetard, OwlGandhi, ClownPrince and the list could go on. I doubt any ‘evolving leader’ has earned so many titles in a short time. Sure, simply dismiss those people as ones who just hate RG. The carefully crafted media plan and that of the Congress slaves of the dynasty is slowly coming undone. Ever since the mounds of ash and dead bodies of Bhatta Parsaul Rahul Gandhi is, in reality, running from his own shadow. And if Rahul Gandhi does have his ‘own mind’ why does someone like Digvijay have to speak for him so often? Far from ‘Rahul evolving’ there is evidence of withdrawal symptoms. 

The SpiceGirls, a girl-band of the UK, churned out hit after hit during 1996-97 and had become a rage. Britain, devoid of any great accomplishments in recent history, used marketing as a tool to promote personalities. Even David Beckham the footballer fumbled at major events prompting some commentators to bestow him the title “Anna Kournikova of football”. But Beckham did have talent and great performances to back him. What about the SpiceGirls? Well, the first time they went on stage live the crowds discovered the girls couldn’t really sing all that well. They came crashing. They were just studio-creations and not real singers. The media marketing blitz came crashing too. I would liken Rahul Gandhi to the case of SpiceGirls or AnnaKournikova, too much hype by the media and his supporters but lacking in real substance. Rahul Gandhi is, very much, the Anna Kournikova of Indian politics.

 

Ever since his dramatic Bhatta Parsaul discoveries of mounds of ash and dead bodies RG went into hiding for a while, only to resurface during Anna Hazare’s fast in August 2011. (Lately, Congress channel NDTV is desperate to prove he was right.)While the Anna agitation was proving to be a thorn our evolving leader rushes off to meet victims of police firing near Pune. Not a bad idea but the only response he has to Anna’s agitation is a written speech during zero hour in the parliament. He sought constitutional status for the Lokpal. That’s not all, he patted himself by calling it a “game-changer”. That was humility! Hahaha! Having seen the goof up the Congress ministers, like Salman Khurshid, somehow now want to shore up the ‘great vision' of RG in turning the Lokpal into a constitutional authority.

If at 41 RG is still evolving then I have to wonder when he will mature. There have been at least six or seven people who have been prime ministers or presidents around RG’s age, including his own father. For the record, William Pitt (The younger) was the youngest PM of the UK at age 24. Not just that, Pitt went on to be PM for 17 years. What does it say about a man about whom someone like Renuka Chaudhary, Congress spokesperson, had to say that “he is not a parrot”! He runs around schools and colleges and talks to students where cameras and media are banned. He suddenly dashes off to trouble spots like Bharatpur to sympathise with riot victims, sometimes wearing a skull cap.And the only channel that seems to be allowed to cover him is NDTV. His Bharatpur visit was shown on NDTV in grainy mobile videos. Later his stunt on a Delhi metro train and taxi ride was also reported on NDTV. So he even gets to pick the media he likes and is friendly to him. Evolving connectivity, I suppose!

Someone mentioned RG had a drug addiction problem and Tehelka even defended it. Yes, people do make mistakes. But it’s how they handle responsibility that counts. And what exactly is RG’s responsibility. Failed in Bihar, failed in Tamil Nadu, did he own up to any responsibility? Bihar is all the more shocking where his campaign leadership not only resulted in a severe loss but more or less wiped out his party. And reading written down speeches (God knows who writes those) without having to do a Q&A after it is a reflection of a person who does not have the slightest conviction in what he’s talking about.

Following the Anna agitation and Team Anna’s promised campaign against Congress in the Hisar bypoll one would have expected a leader to stand up and fight. What does RG do? He rushes off to Jhansi, for heaven knows why, and meets up with a Dalit family for dinner. You have an election battle that is being rated as a decisive bypoll and RG is nowhere to be seen. It’s not a shame to lose an election battle. It’s a shame to not even put up a fight by the so called evolving leader. And Hisar isn’t very far from Delhi either.The fear of failure is a serious withdrawal symptom in any supposed leader, even 'evolving' ones.

TOI in an article states (Oct 24): “It has now emerged that Rahul was at least partly responsible for the PM's insistence that Union ministers' spouses and children should also disclose their assets”. That is nice, it’s not as if RG does not have good intentions, it is just that he doesn’t have the talent or the courage to take issues head on. And whenever he speaks impromptu he betrays a severe lack of knowledge and intelligence. The more his gaffes are exposed the more he shrinks into a shell. The letter about family disclosing assets should have been extended further to include his own – Robert Vadra. The phenomenal rise in the reported wealth of Vadra surely does not seem to be mere business acumen.

If the Bhatta Parsaul comedy wasn’t enough, RG had to face some more sordid moments in front of cameras. His visit to the RML hospital after the Delhi HC blast on September 7 gave him a taste of something he had never experienced before – heckling and booing. Even though he might have been genuinely concerned for victims of the blast he has been so cocooned that he doesn’t learn how angry people are at his party. His own silly statements of RSS=SIMI etc., tutored by his mentor, reflect his thoughtlessness on issues of terrorism and suffering. Prior to the Delhi blast his "99% terror attacks averted" statement after the Mumbai blast was another instance of stupidity and bad timing, if not ill-intentioned.

Last week RG also gave a speech on globalisation. This was at an event at ‘Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies’. The speech sounds like a cross between Arundhati Roy and Aruna Roy. “There was only one India 60 years ago and it was poor. That India was completely unconnected, both internally and externally. But India today has changed and is changing as we speak” said Gandhi. This reflects very poor understanding of history itself. There were rich people, very rich people, even 60 years ago as there were poor. There were zamindars, nizams, businessmen. The thought and longing from freedom from the British connected many Indians. If there is one party to be held responsible for damaging the aspirations of a free India it has to be the Congress. Why? Because for most part it was Congress that was dividing the nation at every single opportunity. The two Indias, which is RG’s pet theory, is a creation of his own party. What does it say about a two bit man-child who runs off to some European location to celebrate his birthday? If anyone has to introspect it has to be the Congress and not the people. In July 2011 RG is reported to have stated that “UP is being run by Dalals”. Hmm! Who’s running the Congress?

One of the funny reports about RG’s speech last week comes from SunetraChoudhury. “To find out this somewhat inane fact (Blackberry addiction), I, along with journalists representing all major news organisations, had to pass through an obstacle course that included arriving more than an hour before the event, being separated from all our own communication devices, and then sitting through long, academic lectures. Yes, us foolish hacks did all this to hear the elusive Gandhi express his views on some of the urgent issues facing the nation, but all we got was a balcony view of Gandhi toying with his phone and sneaking glances at it while others were speaking……The argument that his supporters and Congressmen make is that it is real India that matters and its voters are the ones that the UPA government needs to engage with. So does that mean the people who came from Ralegan Siddhi weren’t from the real India? Is that why the villagers, who announced their intention to meet Gandhi days before, were humiliated till the last minute? Gandhi’s office simply said that no appointment had been granted to them so there was no question of an audience. But don’t they get the ridiculousness of asking villagers to get an appointment?” Withdrawal!

The ridiculous incident with the Sarpanch and villagers of Ralegan Siddhi says it all about his connection with rural India. As far as I can see the behavioral patterns of RG are not of one who has evolved as a leader or whose understanding of issues has evolved into a direction or vision. He only seems to have developed serious withdrawal symptoms from real issues and is happy to read out speeches written by others. Maybe his mother’s illness has some influence on that. But clearly this is a man who cannot face any challenges and is unfit for any leadership role. If there was a title I would bestow upon him it would probably be Miss ‘Hit and Run’. A man who cannot honestly reform his own corrupt party can hardly be expected to handle a nation or international issues. He was heckled and faced protests in own constituency of Amethi during a recent visit. That done, he can now withdraw to a Dalit dinner in some corner of one of the Indias.

Internet Rattles Communal Digvijay

Politics is probably one domain where non-performance can be rewarded with promotions. The distance between Bhopal, capital of MP, and Indore, the main commercial city of MP is just about 190Kms. In the ten years that he was CM of MP, Digivijay Singh, couldn’t get even a decent two-lane road between these two most important cities of MP built. This was a stage post-reforms when infrastructure had become a top priority in most parts of the country. The journey between the two cities then used to take anything from 6 to 7 hours. In neighbouring Gujarat you could cover the distance in 3 hours flat. I do not know the current status of that highway but the former CM of MP is now on the national stage for Congress charged with the task of invoking the fear of RSS and other Hindu organisations under the garb of ‘Saffron Terror’. Pushed out of the limelight by the Anna Hazare campaign DS finally comes with a blog equating corruption to Communalism. This time instead of rabble rousing in the TV media  he has written a post on the Times website: Communalism is as dangerous as corruption. This time the rant is against the Internet warriors or should I say, Internet Hindus. So let’s try and understand his latest rant (quotes in blue). (Thanks to @KittuKrithika who sent in the feed)

If you were expecting him to be discussing both corruption and communalism in his article then you’re going to be disappointed. The word corruption appears only twice in the whole post. Corruption appears once in the title and then again in a repetition of the title towards the end. Such is the deception of the whole piece. Understandable, because not once in many years has DS ever spoken about the rampant corruption in and by the party he belongs to.

The internet technology has now gathered momentum and now made the virtual world, at times more powerful and overpowering than the real one. Obviously, politicians in India so far used to the cut and thrust and real world politics in India also can't ignore the opinion manipulating possibilities of the tools of virtual media. Read carefully what he says – “manipulating possibilities”! Millions of people on the net are out to manipulate opinion? That many views and opinions are circulated on the net are not really his problem it appears. The problem is that there is now alternative media for millions who have found their voice which is usually never heard in the mainstream. There is a mild admission that politicians have probably not managed to manipulate this virtual media as they have been able to do with the paid and servantile mainstream media. If indeed any media holds “manipulating” potential as DS states then the politicians would be the first one to use it to great effect. Unfortunately, he has yet to come to terms with the greater independence of the net.

An empowered middle class enjoying the fruits of economic liberalization has become extremely politically conscious which I feel is quite a healthy sign . But this new found political articulation is sometimes ill-tempered and in several cases extremely partisan and crosses the limits of decent public discourse. There are many great writers on the net. Many are far superior to our regular mainstream journalists. Where ill-temper is concerned there is little chance anyone on earth can use language more foul than some of our politicians. And what is wrong with being partisan? As a Congress member DS is not exactly the greatest symbol of bi-partisan discourse, is he? In all fairness the ones on the internet are actually far more bi-partisan and if there are extreme and unfair views or campaigns the internet users criticise those heavily too. DS may not believe how well self-regulated internet is.

I say this from personal experience. As, I have lately been on the receiving end of the abusive hate mail whenever I have expressed my forthright views on Right Wing Terror. In such situations, the articulate middle class has its right to dissent against the views of politicians, but should be tolerant enough to listen to the views that they may not agree to without being abusive. Forthright views are quite different from malicious campaigns. Calling a protester a ‘thug’ or calling a chief minister ‘maut ka saudagar’ are not exactly forthright views presented in a civil manner. Come to think of it, our politicians have moved a privilege motion against Kiran Bedi and Om Puri for mimicking them and ridiculing them. Even if the duo’s acts were in bad taste they weren’t half as vulgar as the language or actions that politicians employ. Yet, they cannot stomach such minor ridicule.

I have always felt fanatic religious or ethnic fundamentalism is the root cause of global terror. Irrespective of the religion they may profess, the perpetrators of this ideology of fanatic fundamentalism breed hatred and appropriate a self -righteous authority to impose their beliefs on others and then unleash violence against the non-believers. History is full of such examples. This is like Moses talking. It is anybody’s guess which religious groups have sought to impose their beliefs on others through swords and terrorism.

India is a country of tolerance……We can't allow the idea of "Vasudev Kutumbhakam" so closely identified with our history and our culture to be snatched away by these rabid fanatic fundamentalists whether they are Muslims or Hindus. Simply amazing! This is the first time I’ve heard DS using a Hindu phrase to recollect our history. I'd have thought he would have invoked 'Osamaji'! It is simply a tragic realisation for us Indians that we have gone a step too far beyond tolerance. We have gone to the extreme of tolerating the intolerant. That is the cause of so much churning in our society. Imagine, which democracy will tolerate a party that has institutionalised corruption and managed to alienate the majority community for most of the last 65 years. Which democracy will tolerate a foreigner holding the power strings? Which democracy will have PMs being imposed on them rather than through elections?

I have faced the ire equally of both rabid fanatic Hindus and Muslims when I went to Azamgarh and when I went to Barak Valley in Assam. They are the faces of the same coin. They feed on each other in a mutually sustainable way. Some times when I see that within minutes of my statement, even in some remote corner of the country against right wing terror, there is a flood of abusive comments against me. I have doubts on their authenticity. Are they sponsored? Have the perpetrators of hate and terror been able to organize themselves through cells/ groups that run these ‘virtual campaigns' through assumed identities to brow beat any one into silence who dares to expose their acts of violence? Really sweetheart? If I were the TOI I would have asked DS to put up 10 mails/letters from Hindu and Muslim people to support this frivolous statement. If there are any mails it would largely be from Hindus who have been targeted over and over again through DS’s foul comments. When DS stepped up after the 13/7 Mumbai blast and indicated Saffron hand in the blasts cannot be ruled out despite the govt’s position not to speculate, what was the authenticity or reason for such statements? What is the authenticity that dead men had spoken to DS? Sometimes it’s better to ask silly questions to one self rather than throwing them out in the open to unknown commoners.

But I would urge upon all those who believe in universal brotherhood who believe in liberal modern secular India to react with the same zeal against these communal fascists who through wireless technology …..To me communalism is as dangerous as corruption. We don’t have to look too far as we have in our neighborhood the example of almost a failed state of Pakistan….Let us get together and not allow the fascist communal fanatics to capture the mind and thoughts of the people of this great country through the use of the 'virtual world '. First, corruption is within your house DS! And that would be easier to confront than any other problem. Second, the more often you use the term ‘communal fascists’ for some net users it betrays your thorough lack of understanding of the power of the net or wireless technology. The net has all kinds, including the likes of DS. There are communalists, fascists, Nazis, islamists, mujahideens and believe me, even Congress fanatics.

The internet is not the greatest threat to this country. The greatest threat is pretty much the current state of Congress which is thoroughly soaked in corruption, nepotism, and communalism (Remember wikileaks?) Maybe DS should also read the article ‘Communal games of secular Congress’. No wonder the internet has rattled the mainstream media and now it has rattled saffron baiter Digivijay Singh himself. I thought I’d never see this day. Celebrate!