Congress Must Die

It was a long time ago, in May 2013, I wrote “For India to Progress, Congress Must Dissolve”. Perhaps I wasn’t quite accurate. Dissolve into what? In the past the Congress party has only produced clones of itself in the form of power-hungry individuals – NCP, Samajwadi Party, TMC and so on. The clones haven’t been very different from the mother-party in terms of mismanagement and scams. It’s come to be a given that no political party can survive without corruption for funding itself and seek and stay in power. The current outcome in the Agusta Westland Chopper-scam and bribery through an Italian Court’s judgement doesn’t surprise anyone at all. Subramaniam Swamy has been on a crusade against Congress corruption, particularly by the fake Gandhis and some ministers. And now as a Rajya Sabha member he brings more teeth to the campaign against the corrupt.

What is it about these fake Gandhis that they are so soaked in corruption, power-lust, destruction of democracy and democratic institutions? It runs in the family it seems. When asked about corruption, Indira Gandhi grandly stated that “Corruption was a universal phenomenon” thereby justifying the corrupt acts of her party. During the years of Emergency, Rajiv Gandhi was reported to have collected bribes from Boeing for aircraft purchases by Indian Airlines:

They Nehru-Gandhis have systematically divided this country on caste and community while claiming to be champions of the poor. In the 50 plus years they have decimated every other hero of India into dustbins as if theirs is the only family that ever worked for the country – that too with crimes like throttling free speech, Emergency, anti-Hindu laws, the discriminatory RTE crap, Reservations, massive loot of public companies. It never stops at anything. And if RajivG had his swan-song with Bofors his widow SoniaG has gone miles ahead in terms of corruption and loot of India through her Congress-UPA govt. From 2G to Agusta would make a very long epic movie on the crimes of Congress and their main leaders.

Under SoniaG there is hardly any doubt anymore that the party and ministers like P. Chidambaram allowed terrorists a free hand to eliminate Narendra Modi from the political scene. They concocted bogus cases against Hindus in Samjhauta blast, Malegaon. To appease their Muslim vote-bank they even coined stupid terms like “Saffron terror”. And the guy behind the Ishrat Conspiracy had the audacity to state he didn’t sign the affidavit that implied she wasn’t a LeT operative when a mountain of evidence confirmed she was:

Also, Little PC, his wife and the Littler Karti are also named in multiple financial crimes which are investigation by the ED and CBI. Post-Emergency Indira Gandhi was indicted by the Justice Shah Commission and was arrested. Typical of Drama-Queens IndiraG refused to go to Tihar unless she was hand-cuffed. We then had a “Khichdi” of a govt (as IndiraG referred to it) and when she was out she used all her political skills to dismantle the Janata Party govt through greedy folks like Charan Singh, Chandrashekhar and others. She came back to power in 1980 and the Justice Shah report was consigned to dustbin. All was forgiven. The agitation against the report and arrest of IndiraG were not different from what we see today over the Agusta scam. Ruckus in parliament, agitation on the streets (Particularly against S. Swamy). All this to defend SoniaG and the “family”. There’s just one problem.

SoniaG managed to pull down the Vajpayee-govt once but it came back to power. We now have a govt that cannot be pulled down even if Sonia purchases all the MPs that money or positions can buy. So the whining turns to what? A foot-soldier named Oscar Fernandes invokes imaginary “sacrifices” made by the Gandhis. I consider it laughable in the face of Himalayan corruption and loot of this country:

The Congress foot-soldiers, the party’s other cronies and some of their media slaves are asking one question like a box of parrots:

“The BJP govt has been in power for 2 years, why didn’t they investigate the Agusta case all this while”?

Well, little darlings, the thing is that if the BJP govt had indeed speeded up the inquiry and held Sonia & Co. guilty and prosecutable – what would you have said? These same jokers would have screamed “Vendetta Politics, Vendetta Politics”. Right? So, now that an Italian court (the mother country of Sonia) has indicted these folks they aren’t able to rant “vendetta”. The only natural course is to run to media like SoniaG did, like Ahmed Patel is doing for a few days. Whining, whining, whining! That the BJP is trying to malign SoniaG and the Congress. In reality, most BJP supporters are complaining the GOI isn’t doing enough to lock the corrupt away. This, of course, is followed up by uncouth, uncivilised behaviour both inside and outside the parliament:

Congi goons are targeting Swamy personally as if he was the Italian judge that indicted the bunch of Congis of having received bribes. If the Italian govt convicted some of bribe-giving, it stands to reason some people did receive bribes. As simple as that and this was long suspected so nobody is surprised and I am sure internally even the Congis wouldn’t be surprised. But if they don’t save the Queen, the party is dead. Progressively, from IndiraG to RajivG to SoniaG on matters concerning India and the corruption has only exponentially grown (the only Congress exception being PV Narasimha Rao). With SoniaG there was also a massive anti-Hindu operation that is unforgiveable. She allowed a free-run to missionaries within and outside India for their Conversion-factory to operate. Laws like 66A (later struck down by SC) were made to punish any criticism of the Gandhis. She formed a coterie called NAC that nearly passed the CVB Bill that would have held any Hindu guilty over communal riots without evidence.

So what does SoniaG hope for? That by some miracle she and her Sickular, anti-Hindu allies will somehow return to power in 2019 and wash all the crimes away. They will manipulate and destroy all cases against Congis just like PC did with the Ishrat case. This must not happen! If the Congress under these Gandhis ever returns to power the death of India is assured in multiple terms. They had more or less managed to destroy the economy, the social structure, Hindu traditions and heritage and loot of national wealth unimaginable by any standards.

In a Noodle-poll (I call it that because these are quick polls with no scientific basis except public sentiments perhaps one-sided) Kanchan Gupta asks if Agusta and other crimes of Congress and Sonia will go the Bofors way. Here are the results:

People do feel that Agusta and other Congi crimes will go the same way and with good reasons. They have even lost faith in the Judiciary which now hears PILs on Lord Ram and such stupidity. There isn’t one institution that the Congress hasn’t corrupted apart from the financial loot. We must ask ourselves the question – What kind of exceptional moronery propelled us to vote for a govt led by a foreigner who has done nothing for India even as the “Bahu” of Indira Gandhi? Tavleen Singh asked that question to a stupefied Karan Thapar on IndiaToday a few days ago. The answer is – NOTHING! She has only sunk this country and the fools who defend her are nothing but worth comparing to “Mafia-wives”. Only such Mafia-wives put the "Family" above country. The hour is too late for such slaves. The sooner they learn it the better. DUMP HER!

We do criticise ModiSarkar and I do so very severely at times. That is because we demand performance from an Indian and ZERO from a foreigner with deep connections abroad which are mostly opaque. I don’t care if Sonia goes to jail or not and that doesn’t enthuse me. If anything, she should be allowed to leave this country and return home as a bargain if push comes to shove. If she and Congress ever return to power, I guarantee – The destruction of our economy and social structure would gain greater momentum. This party cannot be trusted anymore. There can be no dissolution and no denominations of it in whatever form. CONGRESS MUST DIE!

Come Fly With Us

On the Wharton-WIEF episode this is what I wrote a few days ago: “One of the things about USA that I admire is that they consider even one American being attacked as an act against the country. Reprisal is assured. Any American attacked anywhere in the world is taken very seriously by the US govt. In contrast, the Indian GOI values Indian lives very casually”. The anti-national elements thrill and cheer when an Indian is “snubbed” by other countries or institutes abroad because of their political ideologies. To the Congress and the Communists India or Indians never came first. So it’s hardly surprising that Italy has now refused to return the two Marines charged with two fishermen off the coast of Kerala. I don’t blame the Italians one bit. On the contrary I applaud their govt for standing by their citizens' right through the whole incident and events after.

It’s funny to think Ram Singh, the accused in the Delhi Gangrape case, decided to commit suicide in Tihar jail. And though there isn’t a final confirmation if it was suicide or murder Ram Singh could have used some innovative excuses. He could have asked to visit his wife or family for Holi or Shivratri and then disappeared. After all, another rape-accused, Bitty Mohanty, did jump parole and disappear for seven years. Till a few months back Durai Dayanidhi, son of a top politician and accused in the granite scam in Tamil Nadu, was absconding for many months till a court allowed him bail. In the Gopal Kanda case (Geetika Sharma suicide) another accused, Chanshivroop Singh has jumped bail and fled to the US. The sob story can go on and on.

In the famous murder case of Gulshan Kumar of T-Series tapes the Mumbai police had named musician Nadeem (of Nadeem-Shravan fame) as a suspect while he was abroad. Nadeem, who was in the UK then, decided never to come back to India and face trial and still lives in the UK. You would think it is quite silly of the police who want to nab a suspect but would announce his name so he can happily stay away from interrogation or trial. Any sensible Police unit would have stayed quiet till the suspect returned and then announced and arrested him. Nadeem, on learning he was named a suspect, stayed on in the UK and his asylum case went right up to the House of Lords who refused to extradite him. Back then the House of Lords was like a Supreme Court and the UK now has a separate Supreme Court. The rule for Indian police is to first be foolish and then play out a long-drawn extradition exercise. It’s a very repetitive story, isn’t it?

Other countries make it extremely difficult for us to get a criminal back to India for a trial. And I’m talking about an “Indian” criminal not a Honduran or a foreigner from Burkina Faso. But what happens if there is a rare case of someone being actually extradited? Remember Abu Salem? His wife was hired for Reality shows. Salem himself wanted to contest elections from Azamgarh (he would have won too). The Portuguese even demanded that Salem be returned for improper treatment of the accused. The late Jagjit Singh Chauhan, master-mind of the Khalistan terror movement was given asylum abroad. And our media never forgets to do favours to those absconding. MF Hussain who was wanted by Indian courts absconded and finally went into exile and died. The Indian media hailed him as a hero who was hounded out. No matter what the cause, a person running from Indian courts is a fugitive and must be treated as such. Media glorifies criminals and fugitives.

Lalit K Modi, the former IPL boss, is wanted in India for questioning. He is happily in the UK and frequently appears on TV shows as a panellist. Really nice! How did we get here? Firstly, it wouldn’t be wrong to say our govt has turned this into a Banana republic that many have chosen to call it. The Italian Marines were first sent home for Christmas and returned. They were allowed to go home again to vote. To vote? How absurd can this get? Most Armed-forces personnel are allowed to vote through post from where ever they are located. This could have been considered for the Italians too but no our govt wanted to be generous.

It now raises the suspicion why the Italians backed out. Of course, I maintain that I applaud the Italian govt for standing up for their Marines. They had disputed the legality of the shooting incident right from the start. It’s the Indian govt that has shamed itself and the nation. There will be whispers and then a general connection made that there may have been some backdoor deals with the Italians. This comes at a time when the Italians are investigating the Agusta Westland Chopper scam and many inconvenient names from India may have popped out. So is this a deal with the Italians to protect such names? Time will tell (or maybe time will bury this scam too).

What we do know is that far from being a super-power or any close to it, we have truly become the laughing stock of the world. When it’s terror we play “dossier-dossier” with Pakistan. I’m convinced we will do the same with Italy as we have been doing with Pakistan, with the Bofors players, with Nadeem and many such cases. The Indian govt has a permanent label on its head “come fly with us”.

PS: On a different note, I had a chat with Prasanna Vishwanathan of CRI last week. Those who didn’t get the link through Twitter/FB can hear it on Youtube.
 

Chopper Scam & The Credit Squeeze

In about 24 hours most news channels will probably go into another fit of “Gujarat 2002” and “Malnutrition in Gujarat”. February 27 is the date of the Godhra train burning and consequent events. It will be the day out for the Ministry of Apologies. However, there is change happening in the murky underbelly of TV news business. There is at least something to cheer for viewers. There has been, for some time now, a growing rivalry. In the previous post I had mentioned how TM Veeraraghav gloated his channel CNN-IBN was more “mature” in covering the recent Hyderabad blasts. Something’s been bugging both NDTV and CNN-IBN for quite a while. Yes, you guessed it right; it’s Justice Arnab. Call him Arnaboxious or the ‘Dented & Painted’ rapper, Arnab has indeed become a cult. Whether you like his style or not one thing that separates Arnab from the other crooks is that his integrity hasn’t been compromised as far as I know.

In the past year we have heard some gentle whispers and ridicule coming from members of the Colonial Cousins NDTV and CNN-IBN about Times Now but it’s now more pronounced and more open. A few months back Jonathan Shainin’s Caravan magazine was found ‘bitchin’ in the back row’ about Arnab. Now the bigger celebs are joining in. Some do it subtly, some just bitch about it openly. It had to start all over again with the Chopper scam which has been lately in the news. Around March 2012 TimesNow had made a lot of noise about the Chopper scam and brought attention to it. It was then buried by the GOI until it came back like the ghost who walks. Arnab & Co. were naturally claiming TimesNow exposed it first. He started screaming the same claim all over again of having exposed the Chopper scam this month. That seems to have upset some media celebs. The fun gets better.    

One of the measures of how popular a news channel is with people is how few awards it has received. For the establishment circles of Delhi the outrageous Arnab is the son they never wanted. If you look up Arnab’s background and even his present location he doesn’t have the Delhi DNA and that makes him a pariah. It started when I noticed a tweet from Barkha Dutt on February 15 congratulating Manu Pubby of Indian Express for breaking the “big chopper scam story”. Pubby broke that story? It sounded like J. Gopikrishnan breaking the 2G scam story in The Pioneer. But I had never heard about Pubby and the greatest expose I had heard from IE in recent times was Shekhar Gupta’s Raisina Hill story. That one is still probably in the courts with some defamation cases. So how come I missed such a breaking story by a journalist in IE? Mind you, I’m writing this without the slightest intention of robbing any credit from Pubby or his standing as a reporter. He gracefully thanked Barkha for the tweet. As far as I could recall it was still Arnab and Times Now who really brought attention to the Chopper scam story in March 2012. 

So may be Barkha was merely setting the records right, wasn’t she? Of course! So I tweeted the Bhai-Behen duo (remember IE is a vendor for NDTV with the ‘Walk the talk’ shows) was robbing credit from TN for the Chopper scam reports. In all of this Pubby, as it turned out, was quite modest and removed from these battles. But Barkha wasn’t the first to gently do the credit squeeze. We all know all reports, documents, appointments, resignations, parliament bills, purchase orders, faxes and small chits of intelligence papers pass through Arnab before they reach anyone else. And he never fails to flash those documents at all his panellists and viewers. This is what upsets Rajdeep Sardesai too.

Now Rajdeep, who runs the unofficial Ministry Of Apologies, is usually too busy with seeking apologies from people and probably has no time to look at documents. So he was alarmed that someone was using the documents which were already in the public domain being claimed as “exclusive”. See, documents in public domain can’t be claimed as exclusive, but Salman Rushdie interview appearing simultaneously on NDTV and CNN-IBN can be exclusive. Those are rules from the Ministry of Apologies. So what annoyed Rajdeep? I guess it’s that he just about laid his hands on some telephone conversations between the CBI lawyer and a 2G accused and was showing it as the “Biggest expose of the year” when the Chopper scam broke again. In less than 24 hours Rajdeep’s biggest expose was a distant memory and Arnab was screaming and shoving papers down people’s throats with the Chopper scam all over again. And yes, Arnab continued to claim TN had exposed it first.

Here’s an important question for Rajdeep. If all the documents were in the public domain why didn’t he make any noise about the Chopper scam all this time? In my previous post I mentioned about 800 terror cells operating in this country. Even that is in the public domain. Why isn’t Rajdeep making any noise about that? Okay, let’s forget these. There was this enormous land related issue with Robert Vadra and Rajdeep was largely defending him when Arvind Kejriwal made a lot of noise about it. Actually, the Vadra land dealings were in the news months ago in Economic Times. Why didn’t Rajdeep scream about it? I will you what Rajdeep, since the Cash4Votes burial nobody even expects CNN-IBN to expose anything. People expect CNN-IBN to expose as much as they expect Poonam Pandey to cover. Despite genuine efforts of Bhupendra Chaubey to frequently break news or new grounds CNN-IBN has mostly been just a parrot, just like its colonial cousin NDTV.

So since Barkha and Rajdeep tweeted I looked up the whole story and Manu Pubby had also provided some links to the “breaking Chopper scam story” that Barkha congratulated him for. In response to his tweet I had mentioned that merely reporting events do not amount to an expose. What indeed was reported by IE was that the Italian authorities had opened up an inquiry in the whole deal in February 2012. This wasn’t an investigative report or breaking story of any sort. It was just a report of some event in Italy relating to the Chopper deal. What should be extremely alarming to Rajdeep and Barkha is that they were silent then. Defence Minister AK Antony even ordered an inquiry into VVIP Chopper on February 25, 2012. This was reported as a consequence of the report by IE. (Antony orders probe into VVIP copter deal). So where were NDTV and CNN-IBN on this inquiry? Where was Times Now on this inquiry? Where was GOI on this inquiry? All of them quietly buried it! No one even mentions whether Antony had actually ordered an inquiry or if it was just hogwash. If Antony had ordered an inquiry in February 2012 why didn’t IE, NDTV and CNN-IBN follow up on that inquiry? Any answers Rajdeep? Was that not in the public domain? The answer is simple, the parrots just don’t care.

After my exchanges with Manu Pubby he put up a message for me elsewhere. He was humble enough to admit he never claimed credit for any scam-breaking or expose. In fact all the news channels FAILED in their job. They didn’t ask AK Antony even once what happened to the inquiry he ordered in February last year. It’s only now when the CEO of Finmeccanica was arrested in Italy that the GOI is again chanting “no one will be spared, inquiry….” Blah blah. That’s how your news channels fail you over and over again. And then the petty ones are worried about credits. That Arnab and Times Now have been No.1 for five years and still at the top is upsetting both CNN-IBN and NDTV. So every once in a while the celebs from both channels make some petty ‘jilted-lover’ comments.

Akash Banerjee was with Headlines Today till recently before he quit the TV business and joined radio. In response to the bitchy Caravan article this is what he wrote in December 2012:

What the Caravan’s profile misses out totally is the phenomenal rise of Times Now to the numero uno position from what was considered to be a joke of a channel when it launched. Not only was the mix of news / views / business / entertainment programming a disaster in waiting, the inordinate delay in getting satellite unlinking rights made Times Now a laughing stock in journalistic and political circuits. Times When? Times Then? Times Never? were the daily jibes we cub reporters had to face. When Times Now finally launched (with a massive thud) a NDTV reporter mocked me, ‘This is the channel you hatch after nine months of pregnancy!’ he said. (Ironically both the reporter and the channel in question are not doing so well now)

Akash Banerjee should know. He was with TN before he joined Headlines Today. TN may not be right in claiming exclusives or the Chopper scam specialists. But the contempt coming from NDTV or CNN-IBN is neither surprising nor new. Arnab is now the new legend. He is mimicked in Comedy Central promos, there are video mash ups about him, “dented and painted” have been turned into rap songs. I doubt trying to squeeze credits out of Arnab would do any good for Rajdeep or Barkha. Even the GOI trusts the social media more than their channels.