Arnab Aftermath

The arrest of Arnab Goswami has left the channel in tatters. For any organisation, it is dangerous to place all its eggs in one basket. In the aftermath of his arrest, the other anchors and journalists of Republic are just campaigning for sympathy and help from wherever it can come. So far, a lot of sympathy has come but real help hasn’t come from any powerful source. However, these anchors and journalists have carried on in great fighting spirit and kept the channel going with much reduced news content. Most often they have been inserting old monologues of Arnab to keep his fans and the public enthused. Arnab’s arrest is fundamentally, legally and morally wrong. The case of “abetment to suicide” is simply nonsensical and does not hold water.

 

Since 2016 Arnab turned a different corner and became a Modi poodle. Thus, Modi supporters forgot his past and applauded all his monkeyness regardless of how bizarre they were. Arnab has a record of being obnoxious, hounding those he doesn’t like and being a witch-hunter himself. Today, he has become the target of a witch hunt. To refresh your memory, I recommend you read Arnabgate, Arnabgete-2, Arnaboxious – The Witchunter and Arnab’s Hoax. In the period from 2012 to 2016 Arnab hounded many BJP leaders, anything in saffron, innocent citizens and his journalism was simply trash. All this for cheap popularity and desperation for TRPs. Not one single witchhunt by Arnab has ever reached a conclusion. Even his recent targets in the case of Sushant Singh or the Palghar Sadhus haven’t reached anywhere despite the SSR case being handed over to CBI as many demanded. Most of Arnab’s claims are full of holes, often lies and outright theatrical nonsense.

The big mistake Arnab made was abusing Sonia Gandhi for no particular reason or rhyme in April 2020 and that started all his problems. There are many fools, liars and extremely brainless morons who claim Arnab was hounded by Sonia and Congress and many FIRs were filed in Congress-states because he called her by her original name “Antonia Maino”. I wonder how such fools are birthed; especially even those from the BJP and some of them senior leaders. Arnab’s attack on Sonia over Palghar was brazen, abusive and totally uncalled for. This video on his Hindi channel is simply shocking how any journalist could concoct such abusive nonsense against anyone without a shred of evidence. Listen to what Arnab said about Sonia on April 20, 2020 (58 seconds):

In summary, Arnab said “Italy-waali Sonia, Rome se aayi hui Italy-waali Sonia Gandhi, she wouldn’t have been silent if a Maulvi or Padre would have been killed, today she is silent and I think in her heart she is happy, she is happy that Sadhus were killed under her govt and she will send report to Italy that where I (Sonia) have formed govt I (Sonia) am killing Hindu Sadhus and from there she will great praises and wah-wah that you did very well”. Does anyone think this level of public abuse without a reason is journalism? Can Arnab accuse Sonia of wanting Sadhus killed, feeling happy, reporting to Italy and getting certificates from there? They must have their stupid heads checked if they think FIRs were filed against Arnab for merely calling her “Antonia Maino”. That’s how lies are peddled by Republic and their idiotic supporters from BJP.

So, let’s get rid of this notion that Arnab is an innocent journalist without any prejudice and just doing his job seeking the truth. There is not one iota of truth in the above video but just wild, mindless abuse of Sonia just for cheap popularity with Modi-supporters. This is not journalism. Naturally, the Congress retaliated with FIRs and will now how hunt him forever through their ally Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar. If that wasn’t enough, Arnab repeatedly abused Uddhav in the SSR episodes, along with excessive abuse of the Mumbai CP Parambir Singh. In another wild diatribe Arnab outraged against UT, implied his son Aditya was involved in the Disha case. The manner of finger-pointing and the style of threatening tone towards UT, AT and Shiv Sena is certainly not going to be taken lightly by a party known for strong-arm tactics on the streets. Watch this video (45 secs):

You and I, as ordinary people, might get away with a little bit of ranting and abuse at CMs, Ministers and even the PM but a professional journalist holding a mic and running a TV channel cannot afford to use similar language or wanton accusations and threats. In his quest for targeting UT as the main mouthpiece of BJP and Modi Arnab had clearly gone overboard in his wild accusations and abuse. This is an undeniable fact. Even in May 2020 when there was a mild migrant violence in Bandra, Arnab linked it to communal violence and accused the UT govt. So, it is not one single event or incident but a string of moronic incidents that let to final arrest of Arnab.

After the April show where Arnab excessively abused Sonia, the Maharashtra HM Anil Deshmukh announced the reopening of the Anvay Nayak suicide case in May 2020 in which Arnab was earlier investigated and the case was closed. Arnab ignored that event and didn’t take any preventive measures despite knowing a vindictive govt is out to get him. He didn’t seek any anticipatory bail nor did he seek to temporarily move out of Mumbai which would have been a good idea for him. He thought himself a “Big Dada” and an “Untouchable” like Sonia and that nobody would dare to arrest him. His arrogance would prove wrong. Arnab was just lucky that the Bombay HC Stayed all the FIRs in this case.

As usual, during and after the arrest a series of theatre and drama acts followed. Arnab and his journalists went the whole hog claiming to be victims and indulging in excessive lies about being assaulted, tortured and beaten up during and after the arrest. The public and Arnab’s coolies in the BJP naturally lapped it up without once batting an eyelid that these were lies even when the full video of the arrest was available to them. Nothing in the videos suggest any assault. In fact, there are bogus claims that the cops that went to arrest Arnab carried “assault rifles” like AK-47. Here’s the full video of 8.30 minutes. It is long but you may watch if you wish to:

Surprisingly, the cops were rather kind to him and none of them carried any AK-47s. Those cops carrying rifles were on the streets on protective duty and not in Arnab’s house. It is normal for cops to be heavily armed and secure the perimeter before a major arrest to avoid sudden protests or violence on the streets. (Sudden protests happened near Alibaug PS). Secondly, cops tried to pull Arnab out but he pushed back and went inside the house so they had to follow. Arnab sinks on the couch and claims “Assault” and asks why they were surrounding him. Stupid question. It’s what cops do when they come to arrest someone.

Finally, when the cops forcibly lifted Arnab from the couch (which police are entitled to do if arrest is resisted) he resisted arrest, wrestled with the cops, stupidly shouted “Assault Assault” and again flopped on to a couch. It was almost like the heroine shouting “Bachao Bachao” when the goons try to kidnap her in a movie. The cops again lifted him and took him out of the house. Even while getting him into the van, Arnab was resisting and trying to make a public speech to his journalists before being shoved into the van. Arnab claimed his son was assaulted by the cops. Nonsense! His son may have been in the way during the “wrestling” and may have got pushed and that doesn’t amount to assault. His wife and son now have FIRs against them for obstructing the police in the arrest. The Alibaug CJM also did not accept any nonsense of “assault”:

There were no visible signs of Arnab being assaulted and later he only showed a minor injury (looking like a scratch) on his right arm which didn’t happen at his house. We don’t know how it happened. Therefore, instead of concentrating on proper legal action to get Arnab out of custody his entire bunch of morons of Republic, his family and his supporters concentrated on “assault, torture”, victimhood and sympathy-hunting crap which got them nowhere:

His lawyers were overconfident and went straight to the HC instead of seeking bail on the same day at Alibaug. Arnab’s lawyers filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus and an appeal for interim relief in the Bombay HC. They wanted the entire case and arrest declared unlawful and the accused to be released on that ground. It backfired in the HC despite the best legal brains. If they had sought bail in the Alibaug courts on November 4 itself Arnab would have at least been out of jail and fighting a better legal battle instead of shouting more victimhood from police vans. At the time of writing he has already spent 7 nights in jail over a bogus case. This is the same guy who wanted Rhea Chakraborty arrested in the SSR case for murder and stealing 15 crores without the slightest evidence. Karma seems to have got to Arnab.

Regardless of all that transpired, Arnab is now seeking bail from the Alibaug sessions court and also appealed the HC ruling in SC. A bail application does not go into the merits of the case and nor does the judge do that. Bail is decided mostly on the basis of the nature of the case, past record of the accused, whether he will tamper with evidence or run away from the law. Arnab doesn’t pose any such threat and should get bail in the normal course. That he had had to spend a week in jail is simply unfortunate and bad handling by his lawyers. The case of abetment to suicide is also garbage and will not hold in any court of law.

There are many clamouring “Democracy is dead or is in danger”. This is how democracy has been in India for decades. Arnab is a privileged man who is getting all the attention and can afford all the best lawyers money can buy. There are 4.5 lakh undertrials in Indian jails, some for over a year, mostly without a lawyer, no hearing and no help. Kamlesh Tiwari was helplessly locked up for a year and it took an SC intervention to get him bail only to get murdered. Some want GOI to intervene and somehow get Arnab released. That is simply not possible as the cases are now in multiple courts and no govt can interfere in such cases.

The problem with Arnab is that he started believing his own nonsense of being some kind of superman. In his competitive arrogance he abused even his own community calling them “Lutyens cabal” or “Lutyens Lobby”. So, even many from the journalist community don’t care about his situation. Arnab became the mouthpiece of Modi and BJP in trashing Uddhav, Sonia and other Opposition leaders. He forgot that he’s a journalist and not a political opponent. Even the BJP and other political opponents of Sonia and UT don’t trash or abuse them so much. Arnab became the main “Opposition Party” to these Sickulars. 

Arnab will get bail soon and everyone hopes he stays in good health and continues his work but life will not be the same again. The UT govt will not stop hounding him and his channel that is a certainty. Yesterday, their Asst VP Ghanshyam Singh was arrested in the TRP scam case. How Arnab conducts his journalism now remains to be seen. He certainly cannot wildly abuse Sonia like he did in the Palghar case. He has to evolve a new strategy and better tactics to lampoon these Sickulars and he should stop abusing his own community so often. Arnab is on his own from now on and all the BJP street support in India or the dances from California or Chicago doesn’t mean a damn thing.

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Uncontrolled Jihadism

The US elections are once again in a tangle after the 2000 episode with Al Gore. However, unlike 2000, the 2020 election is sprinkled “liberally” with Jihadis, Islamists, Antifa goons, Commies and other such anti-democracy outfits stamping their assertion in these elections. Recent events in France involving the beheading of innocent people has also brought forth a new resolve from Emmanuel Macron to fight the Jihadis. The French President has started the fight in right earnest by deporting a good number of potential Islamic terrorists and suspects. No one has to die for a cartoon or for a vile speech. This terrorism has long haunted France and one hopes they combat it till the terrorists are thrown out from everywhere in France. Macron, otherwise considered a soft Liberal, made sure the entire world knows his stand on the murder of Samuel Paty with this tweet in no uncertain terms:

In sharp contrast, India is seeing consistent rise in uncontrolled Jihadism all across the country. Ever since Narendra Modi became the PM, his quest for improving his image from the taint of 2002 and hatred by Muslims is costing India a lot. Modi has gone out of his way to appease Muslims in India, appease Middle East leaders and has still not been able to shake the contempt that Muslims and Sickulars hold for him. Unlike AB Vajpayee, Modi is hated by almost every political party even if it has been an NDA allay at some point. The Shiv Sena now spares no effort to mock and insult Modi (UdhavT throws insults and asks BJP to eat Gobar and drink GauMutra and keep their mouths shut). 

All the hatred for Modi is making Hindus pay a price because Modi has been wrongly identified as a Hindutva leader which he himself never claims and nor has been so. Unlike Macron, Modi only sheds tears for Muslim victims of violence. He sheds tears for Akhlaq, Tabrez or Shabana Azim in an accident or Muslim BJP workers in JK. Modi doesn’t shed one tear for Kamlesh Tiwari, Palghar Sadhus or BJP workers killed in Bengal. His moronic Bhajan Mandli claims this is because “Federal Structure”. Seriously? The FAKE “Federal structure” prevents the PM from mourning or condoling extreme crimes against Hindus? This idiotic excuse is now starting to annoy Hindus. Modi lamented the deaths of victims at the church in Nice. He was late on Samuel Paty. But for some reason he seems to hate Hindus who are killed for the same reasons as Paty. The murder of Kamlesh Tiwari is more horrendous because he was a marked man and there was a known threat to him.

Systematically and consistently, Modi has tried to please the Muslims with his pronouncements on Islam, Quran, Mohammad or any aspect of Islamic or Muslim life. Imagine, a man who had never before 2014 ever put out a greeting on Eid-e-Milad or Mohammad’s birthday or “alleged” teachings does so regularly since 2014. It makes you wonder if this guy reads Kalma every day like his colleague Piyush Goyal:

A PM greeting Muslims on these days is not unfair or unusual but Modi has gone overboard to please Muslims despite consistently given the signal that he is scared to offend them or tell them the truth about their riots, bad behaviour, violence or murders. 

In the 2^nd term alone, since Modi became PM again Eid riots happened in Delhi. A temple was vandalized. Hindu girls and boys have been slaughtered by Muslim men on the streets or their home for Love-Jihad or being rejected. Shaheen Bagh nonsense was allowed to continue because they are Muslims. Markaz nonsense was allowed because they are Muslims. Delhi riots was a consequence of Shaheen Bagh. Thookiyas with weapons in their homes were untouched by Delhi Police. Bangalore riots followed. In the latest incident a young college girl, Nikita Tomar, was murdered in broad daylight by one Tauseef for rejecting his Love-Jihad attempts. Modi’s incompetence and not even warning govts to act on such violence or commenting on them emboldens such Jihadism.

The nightmare in Bengal for the Hindu workers of BJP is never-ending. Almost everyday some Hindu is killed like sacrificial goat and the BJP or Modi or Amit Shah don’t have even one word to utter on these killings. It’s now a known fact that BJP enjoys these killings so that they can use them as “Electoral Flesh” during their election campaigns. This is a monstrous blood-bath that the party is tolerating and sacrificing innocents. And BJP Bengal puts out the image of the dead guy like a “Daily news bulletin” in their tweets. One can see a tweet almost every day of some Hindu being killed. Then, Amit Shah, recently went to Bengal and grandly did some campaign work and told media that BJP will get 200+ seats in the next Bengal elections. The moronery of this man beats his fat size. And he goes to a place where hundreds of his workers are killed and eats food with tribals as if in celebration of some festival. The image he wants to convey smacks of a reckless person who went for the 13^th day feast of a dead man whose family was in mourning. There is a sinister disconnect:

From the killings in Bengal which is now commonly being referred to as an “Islamic State” or “Jihadi State” to young Love-Jihad men from the Muslim community, the killings, such as that of Nikita Tomar are so brazen and public that you would think these are streets of Somalia. At the other end, the same Muslims come out in large numbers whenever there is a problem in France or Denmark to protest and riot. This time too they protested over Macron (with large crowds during Covid) for no reason other than mindless nonsense but fortunately there wasn’t any violence as is normally the case. Cowards like Shivraj Chauhan or Amit Shah or BS Yeduriyappa are not willing or able to stop their violence, riots or illegal protests. They simply watch this uncontrolled Jihadism and the intimidation of other citizens of the State. Such is the brazen behaviour of their Mullahs that open threats of beheading for criticising Islam on TV is now commonplace as much as their Fatwas for beheading have become common. This one on TV is equally chilling but now routine in India (video 27 secs):

 

The way this “orchestrated” Jihadism operates is very surreptitious and often cloaked in niceties. Recently, two Muslims desecrated a temple in Mathura by doing namaz on its grounds. Some Mullahs came out in their support claiming they were only showing their “Bhakti” towards the Hindu Gods in the temple. Sure, moronic bhakti by namaz instead of praying to the Gods in the temple. Then there is unprovoked violence here and there and, in some cases, temples are vandalized or Hindu festivals (like Durga puja) stoned. When incidents like in France happen, many Jihadinis will come mouthing dialogues like “If one innocent is killed, the whole mankind is killed” because Mohammad said so. There will be the usual media-dancers like Arfa Khanum, Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi, Barkha Dutt, Shahid Siddiqui etc. who will then condemn the incidents but offer veiled defence of the terrorists and find wrong equivalence with some imaginary Hindutva nonsense.

 All this, while their lectures from Deoband and Madrassas will continue spewing hate-speeches and indoctrination of more radical Muslim kids. At the other end of the spectrum, govts (especially BJP govts are ministers) are more than eager to ban crackers on Diwali, trample on Hindu festivals as if some Middle East Mullah has ordered them to do so. Odisha govt has even banned the traditional earthen diyas. The assault on Hindu culture and practices is not an accident but an orchestrated action and Modi cannot shirk responsibility for it.

Amidst all of this, PM Modi grandly quotes his speech claiming “Building a New India free from the problematic old practices”. Wonder what New India he is building when outdated 1922 laws are invoked, wanton murder of Hindus on the streets, general lawlessness in Bengal/Maharashtra, Mass Muslim protests during Covid and uncontrolled Jihadism. The brunt of the failures of ModiSarkar are being borne by law-abiding Hindus. Every morning you wake up with a dream of “New India” but the dread of another assault somewhere on Hindus. 

 

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Affairs Of The Heart

I always travel light. In the third week February 2020 I got off a train with just my light backpack and started climbing the stairs of the foot-over-bridge (FOB) to get to the exit on the first platform. I climbed a few stairs and felt a stinging pain in my chest and a sudden loss of breath and couldn’t climb at the normal speed. I paused for a minute and then climbed the stairs one step at a time while clinging to the railing. This wasn’t like me at all. Normally, I would race up the steps. I finally got to the top of the stairs and the bridge and even as I panted, I thought the walk down the stairs at the other end would be more peaceful. It was nothing like that. Climbing down was just as painful and when I finally got to the platform, I sat down on a chair in the waiting area for about ten minutes. Having rested a bit and caught my breath again, I walked out of the station and took an auto to the hotel.

At the hotel, I flopped on the bed and rested for an hour or so before I got to my morning routines. I dropped all my plans and business meetings and decided to go see a doctor considering this was urgent business. I asked around and found a doctor. It was a clinic with lots of patients being given the same medicines and when the patient complained too much the doc asked his assistant tot give an injection. This was Arvind Kejriwal’s magic clinic. To all the patients the doc advised medicines in numbers. “Give her 64, 86 and 24” and his assistant, in a white jacket, knew what to do. I was wondering if he was really a doctor. Anyway, since my situation was terrible, I had to take the chance. When my turn came, I told the doc what my problem was. He checked my blood pressure and asked the assistant to give some medicines. He charged me 50 rupees and nothing more. I told him blood pressure was not my problem and that it was chest pain and congestion. But it didn’t seem to make any difference to him.

The medicines he gave cost another 300 rupees and I came back wondering if I should take any of it. The next two days I just rested in bed and felt slightly better as long as I didn’t walk or climb stairs. In the meantime, the Corona virus was gently making news while Donald Trump made a two-day visit to India. As soon as Trump departed, I flew back home not wasting more time in Delhi. Back home I again had a problem even walking 100-200 feet. I met my regular doc and told him the problem. He asked me to see my physician for a full check-up. A day later I met the physician and he put me through the ECG and all. He then told me that I had suffered a heart attack during the last few days. A heart-attack? I told him I didn’t feel anything and didn’t clutch my chest and fall to the bed or the ground like they do in Bollywood movies. He laughed and said I didn’t feel the symptoms as my sugar was too high. But in all seriousness, he wrote down his report, some urgent medicines and told me I should urgently see a cardiologist right away without wasting another minute. Urgently as in that evening itself.

It was 8pm in the evening. Where would I go searching for a cardiologist at that hour. I came back home and looked up the hospitals around me. There are plenty of hospitals around me – big ones and good ones. I found one, talked to him and fixed up a meeting for 10am the next day. When I met him, he asked me to narrate the whole story of what happened again. He then decided I needed an ECHO test to assess the condition of my heart. That test is like a sonography of the heart and it didn’t show great results. And that my Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction (LVEF) was as low as 30% as against a normal of 60% in a healthy heart. So, I had a coronary artery disease and would next need an “Angiography” to determine the course of action. I asked the doctor “what if I do nothing” and stick to the oral medicines. He repeated that they won’t know the nature and extent of damage till the angiography.

I had to tell my family and my dearest one to tell was my daughter. But she was abroad and I didn’t want to tell her on the phone or the WA. This was the first week of March and she was returning in a couple of weeks anyway. In between, I was discussing a program with a school and for that I had to travel to Coimbatore. So, while my daughter returned in the second week of March, I went off to Coimbatore for a couple of days in the third week. I returned on the 21^st of March and the very next day all flights were shut down due to Covid. A couple of days later, a nation-wide Lockdown was implemented. So, there was total curfew and no movement. This was after a day of Ghanti Bajao and Taali Bajao by Narendra Modi. Life was thrown out of gear and there was no chance to meet anyone or go to any hospital. The Covid threat became so big that hospitals became the most dangerous places to visit. Shops were closed, including medical shops. I was lucky to find one and stock up on my medicines.

I quietly pondered the options available. I had started a project in school leadership in January 2020 and then pursued another school project. However, the lockdown put an end to all economic activities so that was another crisis looming. There was no sales and money was only flowing out. It was indeed a very peculiar situation. I did not tell any of my family members about this heart thing as I didn’t want to alarm them at the time of Covid. I finally told my daughter over WA as she was staying elsewhere. While she was shocked to hear about it, she took it well in her stride. As the lockdowns eased a bit, I said I would like to get a second opinion on all of it before we moved any further. Thus, through my regular doc’s reference I found another cardiologist. My daughter started regularly driving me to this second cardiologist for evaluation and tests and so on. And she pushed me to take the angiography with the same doctor who worked at a major hospital. But as fortune would have it, the doctor was struck with Covid and went out of action.

So we went back to the previous cardiologist at the hospital and had the angiography done. My young daughter took me everywhere for the tests and took notes of whatever the doc said. The angiography showed a lot of blockages. So, the doc recommended another test called the viability test to see whether I should go for an angioplasty or bypass (CABG). This viability test is some kind of nuclear test. They inject you with some radioactive chemical which shows up on the machine that scans you. Its like the regular scanning tunnel. And the tests showed a bypass is viable. The final thing was to do a Covid test as the surgeon and hospital recommended to us wanted a negative report. I took one on September 28 and put out this tweet for the benefit of my friends online:

 

At first, I was hesitant telling my young daughter about my heart condition and all that wondering whether she will be able to handle it. Far from my thoughts, she played a mature role in taking me for check-ups, driving me around and pushing me to see the doctors. She was not one bit hassled but handled the whole thing with an unflappable sense of going about business. If there were any emotions, she kept them well under check. The hospital had a nice room, with remote-controlled bed and a TV on the wall and on the day I got admitted I was watching movies on my laptop. But the occupation of the room was short-lived as on the next day, October 1, I was taken into the OT early morning and operated upon. My daughter and her mom waited anxiously as they would. The hospital did not allow any other family or friends in the waiting area of the floor. Any multiple bypass surgery does have its risks but that’s what surgeries are all about. I wouldn’t have known a damn thing as I was unconscious and under general anesthesia. It is agonizing for those waiting rather than the patient.

After the surgery, my daughter requested a video-conference with me and though I was unconscious, the surgeon did a quick VC so that she could take a look at me. I did not wake up till the second day after surgery and that too with catheters in my mouth, drains on my body, plastic and wire stuff down my throat through my chest. The first few hours were the worst waking hours. But while I went through those hours patiently, I asked to see my daughter. The nurses refused to allow anyone into the ICU. I threatened to jump off the bed and go out. They finally laughed and got my daughter, all dressed up in green like a hospital staff, to see me. I felt relief and told her I am ok. She gave me my spectacles and after that I went back to sleep again. I was in the ICU 5 days before being released back into a room. One by one the drains and the tapes and the things stuck into my body were being taken out as I slowly recovered in the first stages. That was the end of the adventure.

I was in the room for 3 days after being released from the ICU. My daughter was with me most of the time. We chatted and laughed over lot of things and watched movies together. From pushing me to see doctors, to tests, to getting admitted to the hospital to the surgery, to managing the high expenses – my daughter was a revelation in courage and patience. I reminded her of what I had written a long time ago in one of my posts – “Character does not develop in a crisis; it merely reveals itself”. While I was my normal stoic, undeterred self throughout the 7 months of adventure, my daughter showed character in a crisis that would make any father proud. And I draw the greatest satisfaction and happiness from that. I may have a new lease of life but the medical condition helped discover something more heart than a surgery. That even in a crisis there is someone with character and that is a redeeming fact of life.

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