KPs Never Going Back

This is a sequel to the post “Kashmir Forever Gone” writen in October 2021.

The one lesson that most politicians and govt Heads never learn is that Evil can never be appeased. The more you appease it, the more evil it becomes. Pakistan lost the 1971 war and were thrashed like no other big army in history. Then new PM Zulfiqar Bhutto had vowed a “1000 year Holy Jihad”. Their political and military leaders knew well that a conventional war with India can never be won. And although terrorism became bigger after the 1971 war it was still in its infancy. Before 1971, terrorists like Maqbool Bhat and Amanullah Khan created groups to carry out terrorist attacks and even hijacked a plane. Terrorism dramatically grew with the planned, systematic genocide of Kashmiri Hindus (or KPs) and their forced exodus started in late 1989.

In January 1990 this culminated into mass-murder, rapes and executions. The KPs had no option but to leave the valley and seek refuge in parts of Jammu or other parts of India. Nobody has paid a price for this most gruesome genocides in Independent India. Govt after govt left the KPs in lurch with no justice, no rehabilitation and no compensation whatsoever. These horrific incidents were blacked out by govts and media. It is only after the internet penetrated widely in India that stories of the Kashmir Hindu genocide started spreading. For 30 years all govts at the Centre did nothing but appease the terrorists and the civilians in Kashmir supporting them. The Congress, the BJP all danced with criminal parties like the PDP or NC. Not one serious attempt was made to deliver justice to the KPs but all attempts were made to win the so-called hearts and minds of the Hindu-haters and India-haters. These are fools that have deceived Hindus. You cannot win hearts and minds of evil:

You cannot deal with evil with words and appeasement. You can only tame evil with a big stick even if your words are soft. Since the movie “The Kashmir Files” was released, the BJP is exploting it politically for obvious reasons. And the Congress and others are dodging their crimes as usual. Neither PM Narendra Modi nor any senior minister has promised any action except prancing around and claiming “Truth Truth Truth” as if they waited for a movie to tell the truth about the Kashmir Hindu genocide:

And, believe it or not, in talking about the KPs Modi also drags in MK Gandhi and claims he also suffered because of late recognition of his legacy. This is as stupid as it can get. Gandhi has been on our currency notes since a 1000 years, every town and city in India has a “Gandhi Road”, there are many suburbs named Gandhinagar, capital of Gujarat is Gandhinagar, a movie on “Gandhi” was sponsored by IndiraG govt as a propaganda exercise and MKG legacy didn’t get timely recognition? This delusion is what a PM is obsessed with. We cannot expect justice for KPs from such foolish minds. For years the BJP in its manifestos and other announcements as govt has been promising this and that for KPs but nothing has really come about:

Of course, there are morons among BJP members as also its #BhajanMandli who grandly claim Article 370 was junked to rehabilitate KPs. These uneducated groups simply don’t get that 370 junking has nothing to with KPs or any community whatsoever. If justice and rehab of KPs had to be done, it could have been done without any junking of 370 too. In fact, some resettlement had started in 2010 after a PM scheme to give employment to KP refugees. This started in 2010 and had small results but slowed down after BJP and Modi came to power. So, this fallacy that only BJP can save KPs or do justice to them is a fraudulent claim by all the footsies and headies of BJP:

BJP minister G Kishan Reddy gave the above numbers in the Parliament. Kishan Reddy also grandly announced 50000 temples in Kashmir destroyed by evil goons will be restored. NOT ONE TEMPLE has been restored except a stray one and that too by the Army and not by any govt. Modi also poured 80000 crores of Hindu money to feed and nurture stone-pelters and India-haters (the amount not fully used). Not ONE RUPEE has been spent on legal justice for the KPs or any compensation for their property losses or lives lost. NOT ONE RUPEE. Junking 370 is good for India. However, it has no connection to rehab of KPs or anyone else. Junking 370 has helped restore citizenship to backward class migrants from Pakistan and their descendants who were consigned to labour jobs without any Rights. That’s another good thing. But junking 370 is not a balm for KPs as is being regularl peddled.

Modi and the sidekicks of his Cabinet often make grand claims. They claimed that they brought justice for the Sikhs who suffered in 1984 in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The ModiSarkar created an SIT to reopen some old cases against certain individuals of Congress. One or two have been convicted as well. However, the Sikh suffering of 1984 is older than the KP genocide. So, why is it that Modi has such an obsession only with Sikhs and nothing for Kashmiri Hindus? And he trolls the Opposition “eco-system” over the “Kashmir Files” movie. Modi consistently crawls for Sikhs – Kartarpur, Farm Laws, claims Ravidas guides his policies, dresses up as a Sikh often, runs to Gurudwaras at the drop of a hat:

Why? Why this excessive sucking up to Sikhs? Maybe he wants to be a Sikh and retire to a Gurudwara (as Modi stated during the Punjab campaign) but why should he not show the same sense of justice for Hindus? Modi did not act even after the Supreme Court ruthlessly declined to open investigations into many known cases of KP mass-murder. Had it been Sikhs or Muslims, Modi would have probably rushed to create an SIT to pacify them at least for Lipstick-sake:

Modi has been consistently insensitive to wanton killings of Hindus all through his tenure so far. Some of the worst killings have happened in BJP-ruled states. But he is quick to shed tears for Shabana or Muslim Karyakartas in Kashmir or Muslim deaths from an accident in Saudi Arabia. While Modi uses “The Kashmir Files” as political lipstick, I don’t think he really bothers about any justice for them or any compensation for what they lost. This is other TRUTH that people must recognise.

Terrorism continues in Kashmir and almost every day our Jawans or civilians are killed. Even migrants from Bihar or other states who tried to seek a livelihood in the valley have been killed. There has been another migration of sorts from the valley again by labour from other states who moved there. It is shameful that a giant country with a million-strong army, with all the technology at hand is unable to carry out house to house combing and completely and ruthlessly clean up the terrorists from Kashmir. Appeasement of Muslims and sucking up to them is not going to bring peace in Kashmir. Even if some semblance of peace is established, it won’t be enough for any KP to return.

The KPs driven out of Kashmir have now settled across India and many of them have settled abroad. They do not have the confidence in any govt in India to ever return to their homeland. They are never going back. Modi may scream and shout all he wants but he has really done nothing to get them justice and fair compensation for their losses. They may not get their homes back but punishing the killers and getting compensation for what they lost is the least GOI can do. If you can pour 80000 crores on an ungrateful group, you can certainly reasonably compensate KPs who lost everything. KPs will not be stupid to sacrifice their present homes and life to go back to an assured HELL!

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I-Day Special: Terror Threat Through Parliament

On August 10 about 250 Hindus visiting India from Pakistan, with valid visas, were stranded at Wagah Border. They weren’t allowed through because the Pakistani govt barred them entering India for ‘security’ clearance. Some of these people wished to settle in India for good. Violence, rape, forced conversions; murders have forced Hindus to flee from many Pakistani provinces. They were finally let in as pilgrims after many hours of detention. The same night Arnab Goswami, in a discussion on this incident on TimesNow, asked Zafar Hilaly, former Pak diplomat about treatment of Hindus in Pakistan and why they were being held up and why Hindus were fleeing. The instant answer from Hilaly was India doesn’t have a great record of how it treats its muslims either. Arnab’s question was different. With all due respects Mr.Hilaly we don’t see muslims fleeing from to India to Pakistan or Bangladesh as refugees, do you? We will come to the second part of Arnab’s debate on the Assam violence in a few.

There is one place in India which enjoys absolute freedom of speech. One can say anything about any issue, any person, entity, country or religion. Absurd insults and abuses can be hurled at anyone, including the nation. Even threats of violence and terrorism can be held out.That’s in our parliament. MPs enjoy immunity from prosecution for anything they say or express in the house. At the most something unacceptable may be expunged from records. The same freedom of speech should be available to all citizens everywhere but it’s not. On August 8 the discussion in the house was on the Assam violence and relief camps. One member made the most threatening speech in recent parliamentary history. He spoke about the condition of muslims in relief camps, on his disagreement with the nature of illegal immigration from Bangladesh and held out the following threat:

Frame this statement in your minds.

This is what Prakash Singh wrote in an article in the New Indian Express on August 1 about the illegal immigration and threat to social harmony as also security.

The SC of India, in a judgment delivered on July 12, 2005, while declaring the provisions of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 as ultra vires of the Constitution, observed that ‘there can be no manner of doubt that the State of Assam is facing ‘external aggression and internal disturbance’ on account of the large scale illegal migration of Bangladeshi nationals’. The apex court went on to say that ‘the Bangladeshi nationals who have illegally crossed the border and have trespassed into Assam or are living in other parts of the country have no legal right of any kind to remain in India and they are liable to be deported’. The warnings of the task force and the group of ministers were ignored by the government. The directions of the Supreme Court were not complied with. That was not all. Earlier, Lt. Gen.(retd) S K Sinha, then governor of Assam, in a communication to the President of India sent on November 8, 1998, warned that ‘as a result of population movement from Bangladesh, the spectre looms large of the indigenous people of Assam being reduced to a minority in their home state’ and that ‘this silent invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss of the geostrategically vital districts of Lower Assam’.

Many in the social media have already written extensively about the illegal immigration and the altered demography of Assam (MSM will however hide such truths). However, Assam may just be an eye-opener while this silent and currently invisible alteration may be happening in other states too. For a few years now, this pattern of altered demography through muslim immigrants has been felt in other countries too. For a few years an extract, reportedly from Peter Hammond’s book “Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat”,  has been on the net and also doing the rounds on email. Controversial it is, but whether this is accurate and whether agreeable or not, it is certainly worth a read, and to understand Assam and other Indian states where non-muslims face the heat (the stories are many where entire towns and villages have become completely muslim-majority and Islamic) Extracts, from the Examiner, are provided below and percentages against countries indicate their muslim population:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. (This is the case in: United States --0.6% Australia --1.5% Canada --1.9% China --1.8% Italy --1.5% Norway --1.8%)

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. (This is happening in: Denmark -- 2% Germany -- 3.7% United Kingdom --2.7% Spain --4% Thailand --4.6%)

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats….. (Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in: Guyana --10% India -- 13.4% Israel --16% Kenya -- 10% Russia --15%)

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in: Bangladesh --83% Egypt --90%  Iran --98%  Pakistan --97%  (Remember Kashmir?)

This goes on till 100% population is muslim and there is peace, except for violence within the muslim community. You can read the full article at Examiner or anywhere on the internet (It is easy to search). On August 11, thousands of muslims gathered at Azad Maidan in Mumbai to protest killings and conditions of muslims in Assam and Burma (in Burma?) and before you knew the gathering had turned violent. Two people were killed, 45 policemen injured, buses and media vans burnt and even some private vehicles smashed and burned. It is in the light of this form of agitation and mindless violence that the statement of Asaduddin Owaisi (AO) needs to be measured. Other than Times Now all other news channels just brushed his threatening statement under the carpet. The demography alteration followed by govt appeasement and then frequent agitations coupled with violence is something the communist media blacks out when it comes to muslims. In contrast, the tiniest incident concerning a Hindu or other religious group is magnified beyond reasonable proportions by the same media.

And what instigated the violence at Azad Maidan? Oh it was spontaneous by some motivated and hot-headed youths. Sure! You see, there are frequent gatherings and protests at Azad Maidan. So that ground has permanent kiosks that sell petrol, kerosene, rocks, stones and lathis, just in case someone wanted to indulge in “spontaneous” violence! Laughable! Trains, buses and traffic were disrupted for hours from 3pm when this mob went violent. To protest deaths in Assam (and, of course, Burma) two people had to die in Mumbai.

AO calls it the Third Wave of radicalisation of muslim youth. First being after Babri in 1992 and the second being after the Gujarat riots of 2002. This is an outright lie as both Arnab and panellist Mahesh Jethmalani pointed out to AO. The ethnic cleansing of Kashmir of 1989-90 happened before Babri. SIMI existed before Babri. Al Ummah, which has been responsible for terror attacks in South India, has been around before Babri. The Nellie massacre in Assam in 1983 happened before Babri. So AO’s argument that radicalisation of muslims started with Babri is utter nonsense. This same nonsense, along with that of Gujarat, is also peddled by many intellectuals and journalists in the entire communist mainstream media as the cause of many terror attacks. There may have been revenge attacks but radicalisation in muslims doesn’t seem to really need a cause. During the discussion Arnab and also Ajit Doval, former IB officer, also pointed out to AO that Hafiz Saeed, the LeT head, had in 1996 openly targeted the radicalisation of 1% of muslims in India. And that was before Gujarat.

Kashmiri Hindus are refugees in India itself, driven out violently by muslims in the valley. The ethnic cleansing of Kashmir is also matched by ethnic cleansing in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Hindus, Sikhs, Christians have been systematically slaughtered in both countries. This is the same danger of ethnic cleansing that many districts of Assam face from illegal immigrants. Original inhabitants, Tribals, Bodos and other communities are naturally alarmed and in the mood to revolt over illegal muslim immigrants running over their lands, their culture and their economy. AO argues that many muslim illegal immigrants from Bangladesh may also be Hindus. Quite possible! And it is no big secret that it is impossible for Hindus to live in these Islamic republics where their population has consistently diminished, they have been targets of violence, rape, murders and forced conversions. Their temples have been regularly destroyed. Why shouldn’t Hindus, even illegals, be allowed to settle in India? They are victims of persecution unlike muslims from Bangladesh or Pakistan. AO has to acknowledge this distinction and so too other politicians.

And to argue for these illegal immigrants some in the media resort to the most illogical and stupid arguments and comparisons. Champion among them has to be Barkha Dutt (See tweet) who talks about Indians who are illegal immigrants in other countries. Sure, there are. But they aren’t destroying properties, not threatening original inhabitants with violence and religious conversions, they do not pick up swords for every disappointment. They aren’t destroying Christian churches or mosques. They aren’t demanding special rights and laws for themselves. It’s amazing that media celebs can’t seem to see the simple difference. Even in Europe (and in the US) most of the social strife and violence comes from the muslim immigrants who refuse to respect the original inhabitants, their culture and their way of life as they grow in population. When I say media is the biggest danger to our democracy this is exactly what I mean. They suppress the truth and then insult it by “Miss India” type statements, comparisons and solutions.

I previously quoted the theory: “When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats”. Owaisi’s statement in parliament is exactly the lawlessness and threat that this theory describes given India’s muslim population is well over 13%. Sandeepweb justifiably calls it the on-going Jihad in Assam. In other places in India this demography Jihad may not be all too visible right now. The protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai by muslims was called by some Raza Academy but once the violent incidents happened they washed their hands of any responsibility. If you read NDTV’s report about the protest you won’t know who was protesting. Even the image used is of dead vehicle. This is how media completely blacks identity of muslims when they indulge in wanton violence.

 

Danish cartoons on Mohammad? Violence in India! War in Iraq? Violence in India! Rohingya muslims in Burma? Violence in India! War in Afghanistan? Violence in India! Osama Bin Laden killed? Violence in India! Offend Islam? Chop off arms in Kerala! And then Mr.Asaduddin Owaisi, after his intemperate language and open threat, repeatedly calls himself a proud Indian. Mahesh Jethmalani rightly called his speech “A call to arms, instigation and sowing seeds of civil war”. About AO’s defence, Jethmalani called it a Mark Anthony type speech which turns the mob against honourable Brutus.

Had Owaisi made the same speech outside parliament he could have been prosecuted for sowing communal disharmony, instigation and motivating public violence and threatening terror against the nation. That is not mere imagination, one can easily attribute the violence at Azad Maidan to his extremely provocative threat. And mind you, there is no reason to believe the Mumbai crowd did not have a good sprinkling of Illegal Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. On the eve of another Independence Day India is probably the only country where a MP brazenly threatens radicalisation of muslims and by implication terror attacks and violence against Indians. The threat may not be an empty one.

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Seema Mustafa V Subramanian Swamy

Subramanian Swamy in his true insightful but provocative style has written an article in DNA July 14: ‘How to wipe out Islamic Terror’. Much of the article is on Islamic terrorism and how it threatens Hindus in India. In response Seema Mustafa, a noted journalist, has responded with another article in DNA July 19 titled ‘Dr Subramanian Swamy has inflamed passions through blatant falsehoods’. I have read only a few of Mustafa’s articles which have come across as good, sensible pieces of journalism. This particular piece of hers in response to Swamy stands out in some ways. Falsehoods she says. Okay, so before I come back to her article let’s try and understand what Swamy has said.

Swamy’s strongly worded article revolves around 5 goals that he attributes to the Islamists or the ‘unfinished’ Islamic business for India if you like. I believe these being central to his article would constitute the falsehoods that Seema Mustafa is talking about.

Goal 1 (Falsehood 1) : Overawe India on Kashmir.

I need not go into the history of Pak-funding of militants, frequent incursions, Kargil war and all that. They never happened. Lakhs of Hindu Pandits displaced violently from their homes and are refugees in their own country. Falsehood, never happened. SmitaPrakash, another prominent journalist writes chillingly about how teenagers and youths were paid money in the stone pelting exercise. Oops, falsehood again! Geelani and company go around the country  with inflammatory speeches. Falsehood! Again! Hoisting Pakistani flags at Lal Chowk on Republic Day. Falsehood, never happened. There you go, Mustafa disproves Swamy’s goal no.1

Goal 2 (Falsehood 2): Blast temples, kill Hindu devotees.

Blasts at Varanasi this year. Oops, that wasn’t a temple, that was some Sulabh Sauchalay. Daring attack on Akshardham in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) in 2002. Again Akshardham is hardly a Hindu temple. Sai Baba temple blast in 2002. Misreported. Sankat Mochan temple blast. What a lie! All these are falsehoods because Muslims and Christians may have died in these temple blasts too. There might be more and I guess all of those are falsehoods too. Mustafa exposes Swamy’s lie on this one too.

Goal 3 (Falsehood 3): Turn India into Darul Islam.

That’s a blatant lie by Swamy. This statement by the Imam Bukhari of Delhi was falsely reported by media all over. “We were rulers here for 800 years. Inshaallah, we shall return to powerhere once again”" and threatens “this country is in for another partition,so let us be prepared for nation- wide riots and violence. ” I would recommend readers to go through the post ‘Life,Liberty and the pursuit of Sharia’. Swamy is a liar. It is not just India, this particular falsehood is for the whole world and not just India. Mustafa, once again, brilliantly exposes the falsehood.

Goal 4 (Falsehood 4): Change India’s demography by illegal immigration, conversion, and refusal to adopt family planning.

Read my post ‘Make Mumbai aseparate state’. There isn’t still a handle on the number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan or other places in Mumbai, Assam, Bengal and other places. The vote-bank hugging ‘secular’ government simply loves this. And when was the last time you ever heard of population control, family planning etc.? Those terms died in the late seventies. Mustafa doesn’t have much to say on this so her silence proves it to be an absolute falsehood. Bravo!

Goal 5 (Falsehood5): Denigrate Hinduism through vulgar writings and preaching in mosques, madrassas, and churches to create loss of self-respect amongst Hindus and make them fit for capitulation.

Well, I suppose at all mosques and madrasas they are only preaching love for humanity. I guess the FBI in the USA is stupid to be keeping a close vigil on all major mosques. The UK does it now too. Some mosques in Germany have even been shut down. It is only in India that Swamy is stupid to peddle this lie. Once again Seema Mustafa has nothing to say on this. So once again her silence on this proves it to be a falsehood. We would never get to know what goes on in mosques and madrasas because our ‘secular’ government considers that too important a sentiment to offend.

So now that Seema Mustafa has clearly established the falsehoods in Swamy’s article let’s see what she actually had to say in her piece. Much or almost all of her article is an ad hominem attack on Swamy and is basically an opinion piece. It neither confronts the basic premise of Swamy’s central arguments nor does it offer a solid, logical and factual rebuttal of his contentions. Needless to mention, Swamy’s article also contains quite a bit of his opinions and his solutions to the goals are basically his opinions, some of which are also impractical. But a response basically requires disproving the theories stated in an article. To that end, Swamy’s article contains nothing but commonly known facts which he outlines in the 5 goals. None of that is a big secret to anyone, anywhere in the world.

“Swamy’s article has drawn absolutely excellent responses from the people of this country, mostly non-Muslims, to put him and his exhortations in their place” says Seema. Oh yeah? How do you know? Did you carry out a survey? Did you research all the respondents in all forms of media? This is the typical defence of the secularist. Everyone says so, so it must be balderdash. Since when is that childish logic the foundation of mature debate?

“The Hindus, he keeps insisting, are the targets. But when blasts take place in crowded market places in Mumbai or any other part of India, the targets are the people of India, Dr Swamy. Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs and Christians and Parsis and Jains and Brahmins and Dalits and all those who are at the spot die because the bomb cannot differentiate among religions and castes. India, as we have grown up to understand it, is a secular, democratic country belonging to all who are its citizens” writes Mustafa. First note how cleverly and significantly she segregates Hindus, Brahmins, Dalits as three distinct entities. Isn’t that a common secular strategy? That’s the first line of attack of secularists. Separate Hindus into different groups.Wouldn't it be funny to suggest bombs kill Shias, Sunnis, Protestants and Catholics? Well, only in case of Hindus the bombs know the segregation I suppose..

There is a saying in Goa: “If you throw a stone it will invariably land on a bar”. But, of course, there is a tiny chance it can also land on a church. Same is true for people dying from bomb blasts I suppose. The bombs aimed at Hindus invariably land on other religious groups.

Yeah, bombs don’t know who they kill – brilliant. I don’t walk backwards ‘cuz I don’t have eyes in my ass! But those who plant bombs do know who their intended target is. I suppose those who planted bombs at Zaveri Bazar didn’t know there might be Muslims and Christians in the area. Of course, they also didn’t know that bazar is a predominantly Hindu and Jain bazar or a majority are Gujaratis. Of course, secularists conveniently forget that people have been dragged out of buses in Kashmir, Hindus have been sorted out and lined up separately and killed. So when terrorists have the opportunity they would indeed choose their specific targets. It’s only when it is not possible or inevitable that some collateral damage has to be accepted. How intelligent would it be to suggest that the 9/11 attack wasn’t Islamic terror because Muslims also died in those towers? Yeah, sure, we are so convinced of this line being churned out by politicians, now we have to be reminded repeatedly by journalists, that’s all.

Does anyone remember the Israeli raid on Entebbe airport in 1976. An Air-France airline was hijacked by terrorists and landed at Entebbe airport in Uganda. The terrorists allowed all to go except Jews. Does that explain that when the chance is available terrorists do choose who they wish to target or kill?  I can believe politicians can make silly statements but can’t believe journalists too expect people to be so naïve.

Seema suggests Swamy may even face charges of hate speech or some law-violation. Well, I suppose he has no right to air his views some of which are based on facts but the likes of Digvijay Singh delight our secularists. I have yet to see one really strong piece in any major media outlet that questions the utterances of that man. Never mind that either. Let’s see some more brilliance from Mustafa.

“It (India) is home to all religions, and it is a vibrant democracy that thrives on plurality and diversity. The terrorists, al-Qaeda, Lashkar or the Aseemanands…” Hahahhaha! That really takes the cake! You win Seema! Aseemanand, whose arrest is full of controversy and still not convicted of anything, is sweepingly bracketed with Al-qaeeda and LeT. So fools like me finally realise now, through the wisdom of the likes of Seema Mustafa, that Aseemanand is as big a threat to India and Hindus as are Al-Qaeeda and LeT. I guess that is what RG meant by 99% terror stopped!

There, the falsehoods of Subramanian Swamy stand thoroughly exposed. On behalf of Seema Mustafa should I say, ‘QED’?

Radia Tapes - Barkha's Response - An open letter to Barkha Dutt...

Dear Barkha,

I read your response (here) to the Radia tapes and allegations against you. Trust me, I can understand the deep anguish and hurt that you are going through. No one would want to be in your situation. Honestly responding, as you have done, is the right thing to do. And I sincerely hope you will come through this.

On the evening of November 18^th, I was among the first to re-post the Radia tapes on this blog when the Open Magazine site had crashed. I had posted the tapes (in one single file) along with the transcript without passing any judgement on them. It is nice of you to come out with your current response and to hear that there are lessons you have learned. I have been (in various articles on this blog) seeking nothing more than an expression of regret over your bad judgement in who you were dealing with. That said, let me also respond to some of the statements in your latest response. (Your statements are in Red Ital):

... I am astonished, angered and hurt to see the baseless allegations against me in sections of the media this week... The edited conversations .......have been headlined to suggest that I misused my role as a journalist to "lobby" for A. Raja, a man I have never met.

I don’t think anywhere in the media or in my own blog there was a suggestion that you lobbied for Raja. The inference was whether you were acting as a “power broker” for the Congress or participating in the alliance formation between the Congress and the DMK. If you were not, fine.

I can understand the anger and anguish that such a misrepresentation can create........Despite this, much of the commentary has been strangely selective in its focus. And quite often, vindictively personal. Consider, for example, that online it is being dubbed "BarkhaGate."

This is the age of Twitter and Facebook. Therefore a word like “barkhagate” is easier to twitter the essence of what is being communicated. After all, you yourself chose to respond to the tapes first on Twitter. Didn’t you? And yes, I do agree calling it Barkhagate is excessive and personal when there were other journalists involved too. (I would have personally liked to have called it ‘Veer-Gati’) BTW 'Barkhagate' was used way back in January 2009 during the Chaitanya Kunte episode here, so its not really a new term.

Ironically, the one sentence being used to damn me, "Oh God, What should I tell them", is in fact two separate sentences, neither of which are related to A Raja or the telecom portfolio at all......The excerpt, "What should I tell them," was in response to her repeatedly saying to me over several different phone calls, that if I happened to talk to anyone in the Congress, I should ask them to talk the DMK chief directly.

Well, it is natural for a magazine or a TV show to pick out the most sensational line from any conversation, speech or event. This should hardly come as a surprise to a seasoned journalist like you. Are you suggesting you and NDTV have never used this ploy? So picking on that particular line and calling it misrepresentation doesn’t really sell. I also don’t think people like me are going by such sensationalist headlines. We watch them all year round. Don’t we?

As a matter of record, I never passed on any message to any Congress leader....

The tapes sound as if you were willing to act upon what you said. Still, since you have clarified this I will accept it and believe that you did no favours or pass on any message to the Congress. That rests.

Anyone who has bothered to read the entire transcript of these conversations instead of just the headline, would notice that the conversation is essentially a journalist soliciting information from one of the many people plugged in - something all journalists do as part of newsgathering.

I have indeed bothered to listen to those tapes over and over again before I posted the files on this blog. And I have to disagree...and I have stated elsewhere too, that on these tapes it is the journalists who appear to be a source for the lobbyist than the other way around. Still, this is hardly incriminating or anything serious and shouldn’t bother you in the least. Journalists talk to even scumbags so no problems with that. Even Arundhati Roy is a journalist with her real and ‘imaginary’ sources so there is no problem with that either.

The only "benefit" I ever got from talking to Nira Radia was information; information I used to feed the news. ....It is important to remember that at this point, in May 2009, none of us were aware of the present investigation against Nira Radia. Like most other journalists in India, I knew Nira Radia professionally as the main PR person for the Tata Group.  

And not Mukesh Ambani group? That sounds a bit like a ‘babe in the woods’ explanation but I will still accept it. Though its hard to imagine a journalist (of your stature, influence and access) wouldn’t be aware of what all a PR person like Nira Radia would be up to.

Strangely, when I complained to the editor of Open magazine about the smear campaign against me, he sent me a text saying , there was "not much remarkable" in my conversations and went on to even say that, "there is one bit in the strap where the word go-between is used that I don't like myself." I have to wonder then, with anger, why he did not pause before using such a defamatory description.
Now, this is where I have to wonder if you really realise the strength of what you have stated above, if it is truly intended. Let me state some points and ask you some questions too:

1.      These tapes are only the climax of a long held belief by many that you and NDTV are not impartial or unbiased, which is why the strong and widespread reaction against you. That NDTV is a Congress puppet. Much of this started with your reporting on the Gujarat riots. I need not go into details. If NDTV does have leanings toward any political party it would be honourable to be open about it. There is nothing wrong in a media house having its own political leanings.

2.      Do you have any idea how a person like Narendra Modi must have lived when you, Rajdeep and all the media threw wild, baseless allegations at him with no evidence whatsoever? Do you realise that you allowed liars like Teesta Setalvad to freely propagate their lies on your channels and shows? There are even accusations that you and Rajdeep were funded to present  biased stories. Are you aware of that?

3.      You and the media have labelled Modi as a perpetrator of genocide, holocaust and what not. Your friend and frequent guest on your channel and then editor of the newspaper (HT) you write for – Veer Sanghvi called and continues to call Narendra Modi a “mass murderer”. Do you agree with Sanghvi? Did you ever  chastise Sanghvi for this atrocious character assassination? Wait, haven’t you yourself indulged in extraordinary character-assassination of Modi?

4.      Did you not threaten a small time blogger called Chaitanya Kunte for his blog criticising you? Now that you are faced with a mainstream magazine why isn’t NDTV going ahead with any legal action?

5.      Do you still hold bloggers in contempt or are you willing to rethink your opinions?

6.      I am sure you are aware that you are possibly the only celebrity journalist to have hate pages on Facebook. Why do you think there are pages like “Take Barkha off the air” and “Barkha for worst senior journalist on the planet”? Why? Are these people (more than 10000 of them) simply vindictive towards you? Did you not see the writing on the ‘walls’ of Facebook?

7.      There are many pages on the net that describe you as “anti-Hindu”. You will, of course, strongly deny that. But is that impression gathered by people who are idiots? Is there only saffron terror and no Islamic Terror? Swapan Das Gupta states he jokingly calls you "voice of Hurriyat"! Is that true? Is that why NDTV never has a program on Kashmiri Pandits and their plight? Were the tapes of Varun Gandhi 100% verified before being put on air?

8.      Do you realise that being in the centre of this avoidable controversy affects the morale of your co-workers and journalists at NDTV? That you singularly possess the potential to bring that company down by actions attributed to you. Should journalists possess such power? And this doesn’t apply to you alone, it also applies to Rajdeep and Arnab. If you people talk about “politics of identity” being undesirable then why is it so desirable for TV news channels?

9.      Finally, do you realise that the very people who released these tapes to a journal might be a political party itself? The ones who are likely to be in possession of such tapes are the ones who run the government. I don’t think Open Magazine is really your enemy here. Those guys just did what NDTV or any other journal/channel would have done too.

Are there learnings in this for me? Yes, of course there are.....The takeaway from this debate for me pertains to the everyday practice of journalism..... This controversy has made me look at the need to re-draw the lines much more carefully.... There is also another learning. I have always operated by a code of ethics that holds me as accountable to the public.......The selective and malicious nature of some of the commentary against me has reinforced my awareness of how responsible we ought to be before we level an allegation against another.

If what you have stated above is true then I for one would congratulate you. I have criticised you frequently and will continue to do so. That is because I also happen to watch your programs just as frequently. We do not see you as corrupt and do not doubt your integrity, at least I do not. It is up to senior journalists like you to bring back credibility to our media. I hope you will work towards that. For a public figure like you, you can just see this as a temporary setback and move on. People do not hold grudges and are not vindictive, they simply want trustworthy reporting and journalism.

Best Wishes

Ravinar