Minus "kahan hai asali aajaadi..." rhetoric, this is what Anna and his team is saying:

1. Corruption is omnipresent in India at all levels of judiciary, bureaucracy and politics. Therefore, politicians have a vested interest in not acting decisively against corruption.
2. Democratic institutions have become ineffective and do not truly represent people. So it is not possible for a clean individual to fight elections and bring a real change through constitutional means.
3. A strong lokpal bill, and only the version proposed by his team is the only effective way to deal with corruption. This version according to him, enjoys a widespread support of the civil society and would eliminate corruption to large extent.
4. If the government and parliament does not agree to his version he would go on a fast unto death with the intention of inviting people to come out against the government on streets so that the normal civil order is disturbed. This he thinks would put "moral pressure" on the government to accept his version of the lokpal bill.

I have many disagreements with Anna's version of lokpal. But the point that I am making is not about the constitutional balance or even the practicality of Anna's lokpal. For an enlightening discussion on these issue, you can read the official minutes of meetings of the Joint Drafting Committee that took place between Anna's team and the group of ministers (http://www.persmin.nic.in/Lokpal_JDC.asp). I am not even going to raise questions about the political color or potential political beneficiaries of his movement. Instead I just want to point out a few moral contradictions in his approach as I see it.

1. It is the moral bankruptcy and utter hypocrisy of the society to blame a select few for corruption and not look within. Corruption has become our national character and no one is absolved of the responsibility. An average middle class urban indian not only give bribes but is the primary beneficiary of bribes. Anna is doing a disservice to the people by not telling them that. Gandhi said "be the change that you want to see in the world". Satyagrah and fasting for Gandhi were the tool more for self-purification rather than for political struggle.
2. I can't put it better than George F. Kennan, a well known scholar-diplomat "When you attempt to alter the workings of the system by means of violence or civil disobedience, this, it seems to me, can have only one of two implications; either you do not believe in democracy at all and consider that society ought to be governed by enlightened minorities such as the one to which you, of course, belong; or you consider that the present system is so imperfect that it is not truly representative, that it no longer serves adequately as a vehicle for the will of the majority, and that this leaves to the unsatisfied no adequate means of self-expression other than the primitive one of calling attention to themselves and their emotions by mass demonstrations and mass defiance of established authority." I don't know what to make of it when Anna says that he believes in Indian democracy and the constitutional right of the parliament to make laws except when it comes to lokpal.
3. Abetment of suicide is a criminal offense under IPC 306. Anna openly declares to break this and the other laws. He also complaints about the government not following the law by not allowing him to protest peacefully. I am sorry, but if you intend break the law, you loose the moral right to say that Government should follow the law that you are going to break. A citizen cannot demand that the state obey the constitution and the laws and at the same time assert a right to disobey the law.

If the support of a few thousand protesters and a self-proclaimed just cause is going to be the criteria, then Anna is setting a dangerous precedence. We can soon expect to see Chandrashekhar Rao fasting for Telangana again, Kashmiris demanding aazadi, Rajnikath fan club demanding Bharat Ratna for their god and countless more.

Disclaimer: The view expressed by the author are of the 10 Janpath and not his own. The author has just "Manmohan Singh"ed the article. Therefore, the author would be responsible for all the spank, but the praise, if any, should be directed towards Sonia ji and Rahul baba. This is also clarified that the author believes in the divine right of the Gandhi family to rule India and has already received an undisclosed amount from KGB/ISI in his swiss bank account. So that the enlightened readers could directly move on to the logical arguments, if any, in their comments.

After getting picked for yet another “random” search at one of the busiest airports in America, it seems so ironic that I watched “My Name Is Khan” a few hours ago with an American friend. I would have become a billionaire till now, if they had the same criteria of random selection for lucky draws and lotteries here.

Anyhow, as the dust settled on the Shiv Sena – SRK battlefield, there no question about who bite the dust and who prevailed. But we are still left with some questions that are important and worth pondering over. First, why did we have this controversy at the first place, and second, who was justified and who was not?

First things first, many of us think that the cause of this yet another useless controversy was Shahrukh’s statement supporting Pakistani players for IPL. Some of us might consider Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India as the real cause. In my view, the real reason was this question of who actually controls Mumbai. As Bheekhu Mathre yells in Satya, “Mumbai ka king kaun…?” this was a self-gratifying war cry from toothless cub of an ailing tiger.

This wasn’t a war between Shahrukh Khan and Shiv Sena as it appear on the surface. Interestingly, this started as a war between Shiv Sena and MNS and ended as a battle between Shiv Sena and Congress. Since MNS surfaced on the political map of Maharashtra, both Uddhav and Raj Thakrey are competing in a dangerous rat race. Race to pick up issues “concerning” marathi manus. MNS scored some points by beating up north Indian taxi drivers, by forcing Karan Johar to apologize for using the name Bombay instead of Mumbai his last movie and many more. As a result, MNS was rewarded in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. On the other hand, Shiv Sena was wiped off from Mumbai-Thane region, one of their traditional strongholds. This was Shiv Sena’s desperate attempt to reclaim their territory and influence over the marathi vote bank. Both these parties who claim to champion the cause of Maharashtra and marathis have no vision or constructive plan for the state’s development. All they have is Taliban-style destructive agenda and goonda forces on the ground to implement it. Burn the valentines day cards, beat couples at Chaupati, don’t let this movie release, boycott Australian players, dig the cricket pitch at Kotla, issue derogatory and inflammatory speeches is all they know.

Congress, later on had to jump in as Rahul baba was dragged into the whole issue and Shiv Sena threatened to not let the Congress yuvraj visit Mumbai. How can the Maharahtra congress government tolerate any attack on its first family. Their crack down on Shiv Sena would also mean stronger MNS and as marathi votes split further, benefit to the Congress in long run. So the underlying reasons were purely political.

Lets come to our second question of who was right. I don’t think we need a Karan Johar movie to remind us that there is no difference between a Hindu and a Muslim. The only difference that counts, is that is between a good person and a bad person. Even if some of us disagree with Karan on this or some of us agree with the government of India’s discrete suggestion to IPL franchises not to recruit Pakistani players to keep up the pressure on Pakistan Government; there should be no compromise on an individual’s freedom of expression in a democratic country. Who is Shiv Sena to decide who should say what, who is patriotic and who is not, who should watch a particular movie and who should not. Look at this statement from Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut calling all the people who went watch My name Is Khan despite Shiv Sena is diktats as Kasab-lovers:

“These are Kasab-lovers and Pakistan-lovers. They will definitely go, but the country is with us. The Congress has created a mini-Pakistan in India and will shower flowers on a ‘Khan.’ The andolan is 100 per cent successful. The film was only released under Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s pressure. At least 150 men were guarding the theatres with AK-47s. If so many stood guard at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus during 26/11, we could have prevented the attack. If a terror strike were to take place now, who would be responsible?”

And guess what, a terror strike did take place, in Pune just days later. According to recent media reports, police is suspecting the hand of a ultra Hindu nationalist group Abhinav Bharat. The organisation is led by Himani Savarkar — daughter of Gopal Godse, brother of Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram.

In the end, people of Mumbai did decide who is indeed King of Mumbai. It is the aam janta of Mumbai. Aam janta or mango people as Saif puts it in Love Aajkal, that has very little to do with politic, that wants to ride the local train without fearing a bomb blast, that wants to enjoy a good game of cricket and yes, wants Pakistan to loose, that wants to watch a good movie on a weekend with the family, that do not want the inconvenience of additional search each time on the airport because their last name is Khan or they have a brown skin. This aam junta is same everywhere. Be it Mumbai, Delhi, Karachi or New York.

I thought, I would end this post with this sher from Nida Fazli:

Insaan mein haivaan yahaan bhi hai vahaan bhi

Allah nigah-baan yahaan bhi hai vahaan bhi

Bhartiya Janata Party scored a historic win on Sunday in Karnataka and is all set to form its first govt. south of Vindhyachal. This victory has made it clear that that BJP is no longer just a north Indian cow-belt party but has a pan-India appeal. BJP has been the only party that has been able to challenge congress in a real sense in the last 60 years. It is good for democracy and for people of India to have a real choice.

Karnataka has been a traditional congress bastion that stood by it even after emergency. Congress took it for granted and people of Karnataka have chosen to reject to be taken for granted any more. It is a positive mandate for Mr. Yeddyurappa and for the party that talks about development and a mandate against petty politics played by parties like JDS and Congress. My best wishes for Mr Yeddyurappa. I, like many other people hope that he would be able to provide a good administration and would put Karnataka back on the development track.

Congress once again blamed the defeat on the division of the secular vote. Come on Sonia ji! There was nothing like communal vs. secular in Karnataka. BJP in fact, did very well in Muslim majority seats like last time and simply walked over congress in reserved (SC/ST) seats. This should be an eye opener for Congress. People are sick of your secular talk. It is time to deliver something on the issues that actually concern people. It was a divided house in congress with no clear leadership. Mr. SM Krishna was forced in at the last moment and did not receive much cooperation from other conrgress leaders like Veerappa Moily, Dharam Singh, Mallikarjuna Karge and Siddharamiah. Isnt it wiered that congress blames local leaders for defeats and praise leadership of Sonia ji and mass appeal of Rahul baba for victories.

But it was not really that bad for congress as it was able to maintain its vote share and number of seats. But it was a real defeat for the Gowda’s. JDS has been routed badly even in their traditional strongholds like south Karnataka. Their lingayat vote also seems to be slipping away. The ‘great betrayal’ cost them very dearly and helped BJP in the form of sympathy vote. But it would be naive to write off Mr Gowda as he is a mass based leader and a seasoned politician.

Congress has lost yet another election and BJP seems to be on a winning spree. If it would continue till general elections in 2009 is any body's guess. It’s too early to call, but anti-incumbency coupled with issues of price-rise and internal security would haunt Congress and UPA in the coming elections. Another thing to keep in mind is that the up coming state elections are in Rajasthan, MP and Chhatisgarh, the states ruled by BJP. So it would be hard for them to maintain the winning streak as anti-incumbency is very hard to tackle in India now-a-days. “Dilli abhi door hai” as they say. And as Iqbaal puts it

Sitaaron se aage jahaan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtihaan aur bhi hain

Hindutva or fanatic Hindu nationalism is not a new phenomenon in India. It was always present in some form or the other during the freedom struggle and even before that. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the primary organization that promotes this ideology, has been quite active for a long time. Lately, Hindu extremism saw rejuvenation in the late 80’s and came to the center stage of Indian political landscape in the 90’s. And from there on, we have seen it reaching new proportions.

This re-emergence of Hindtuva started primarily after the demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya in Dec’ 92. After subsequent events, we have seen dramatic rise of communal tension and as a result of that more and more riots. Hindu-Muslim riots have always happened in India and unfortunately the “secular” police and state have most of the times helped Hindus to kill Muslims. Also, using religion as a tool to win election has never been a taboo for any community. So what is new in Moditva?

Moditva – Hindutva practiced with the help of organized terrorism and supported by large scale manipulation of democratic process.

What happened in Gujarat in 2002 was blatant state terrorism being inflicted upon its own innocent civilians. There can be no excuse to justify it in any way. It’s much worse than Muslim terrorism as organizations such as Lashkar-e-Toiba or SIMI are banned and no longer part of the society or political process. They are criminals and terrorists by definition. But Hindu extremist organizations such as RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, BJP are very much part of the society and are intact using society and political process to unleash terrorism. And we as civil society are watching the show helplessly. All our constitutional safe-guards have largely failed. Hindu extremism is growing and sadly getting more and more acceptability in the society.

It really frightens me to the core when I think about Muslim youth in India hearing venomous speeches by people like Praveen Togadiya and Narendra Modi. How much anger they would have felt, while watching the news about Gujarat massacre! How disillusioned they must be feeling, when India as a country failed to bring those responsible, to justice and people of Gujarat reelected the man who we all know, was the main culprit for massacring thousands of fellow Muslims.

I am amused by the amount of restrain shown by the Muslim community in India. At the same time, the thought troubles me a lot, when I think of the day when all this rage would spill over. And, it would be more unfortunate if that doesn’t happen. The legitimate grievances of an oppressed community should be expressed in some form or the other. In the end, I would like to say that India has to be an egalitarian society and a secular country not only because we want to be but because we would crease to exist if we don’t.

What an irony that the proponents of “Akhand Bharat” are working so hard to validate two-nation theory and make Jinnah’s doubts a reality!

PS
There is no real irony here as the two-nation theory was first proposed by Sangh Parivar's ideologue Savarkar in a session of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1937 - three years before the Muslim League's Pakistan resolution in Lahore. Thanks to a friend for pointing this out.

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

How true is this statement by Salman Rushdie! I have neither read Lajja nor Dwikhandito. I am also aware that that these works of art might offend some Muslims or other people in general. If that is so, we should protest in peaceful and civilized manner like grown up gentlemen. A work of art or a book is just a version of the world by its writer's perspective. Truth is one but everyone sees that truth differently. If you don't like someones views, come up with your own version, argue and show the world how your perspective is better. That is how a progressive and open civil society should work.

But the actual point here wasn't the views expressed by Taslima Nasreen in her books that she even took back after those planned demonstrations. The point is that how these communal forces (read CPIM and Congress) used these religious sentiments to divert media attention from a public movement in Nandigram and then in Kolkata. The real tragedy is that Muslims allowed them to manipulate their religious sentiments and we as a "secular" civil society watched the show helplessly. Worse, those who did this, are now claiming to be the champions of Muslim cause. This, according to me, is a complete and collective failure of the system and society.

Both her books have been in print for long and she too has been living in India for a some years now. So what happened suddenly? Answer is Nandigram (see The Ugly Face of Communism in India). When people started protesting in Kolkata against violence in Nandigram and media stated reporting it in a big way, CPI/CPIM staged these protests against Taslima Nasreen and drove her out of Kolkata. Our central government wasn't war behind. She calls the place she was kept in as "the chamber of torture and death" and has accused government officials and our revered foreign affairs minister and second in command after PM, Mr. Pranabh Mukharjee of mental harassment. GOI made mockery of even basic spirit of human values by not even allowing Mrs Nasreen to see a doctor by citing security reasons. And this ultimately forced Mrs Naseen to take the step that they wanted.

Incident after incident, governments in India are bowing to communal elements and our constitutional institutions have failed to up held the secular spirit that our forefathers enriched in the constitution. Be it Gujrat riots or this latest episode, we are just serving the interest of extremist elements of different communities. We are undermining moderate voices. This not secularism, not even schudo secularism, this is blatant communalism, religious extremism, right on the face. The interesting thing is that we just change our sides based on our interests and our cowardice. Sometimes we align ourselves with Advani and co to bring down Babri mosque and never take any action and at some other time we harass, torture and throw out a liberal writer out of the country.

You took the right decision to leave India, Mrs Nasreen. India is no longer an open and progressive society. We are now becoming a model failed state that doesn't follow its own laws but is governed by diktats of fundamentalist of every religion and cast. She herself described the situation after leaving India as:

"A person who couldn't be scared by fundamentalists has been defeated by cold-blooded state terrorism inflicted by the Indian government. My terrible experience has shattered all my notions about a secular, democratic India.”

So has mine! Sadly, I no longer consider India a secular country after watching and analyzing the political developments in last 15-20 years. Right from Shah Bano case to Babri demolition, and from Gujrat massacre to Taslima's exile. It is a shame for all those who call themselves secular and liberal but don't have the guts to take a stand to defend it. Shame on you CPIM, shame on you UPA and shame on you India for being such a spineless communal state.

In the end, instead of Ghalib, I would like to quote actor Nana Patekar's dialog that captures my rage and frustration more appropriately:

Saala ek machhar aadmi ko hijra bana deta hai.

Before I start with my analysis of the current situation in Pakistan's political landscape, let me applaud the role of General Musharaf, international community specially USA, all constitutional institutions, media and the people of Pakistan in conducting free and fair elections.

No single party has got clear majority in any of the assemblies (national or state), but PPP and PML(N) are being seen as the winners. PPP as the single largest party is expected for form the govt at the center with support of Nawaz Sharif. Musharraf's future seems bleak at this point as PML(Q), the 'King's Party' or 'Qatil League' has been routed badly in the elections everywhere except in some the rural areas where jagirdaris are quite strong and party symbols matter less.

Nawaz Sharif is playing the role of a king maker here. Unlike Zardari, he is a seasoned politician and is looking at his long term prospects. This assembly, as most people are rightly predicting isn't going to last long. Its risky to predict but two years should be long enough. Nawaz Sharif has already his eyes set on two-third majority in the next election which doesn't seems an unlikely scenario given the fact that PPP would have no Benazir Bhutto next time and nor the sympathy wave, coupled with the anti-incumbecy factor that would go against them. He would need it to make constitutional amendment to enable him to become PM for a third time.

The current direction of born-again jamhuriat looks so similar to what it was in its previous incarnations. The current state of affairs in terms of democracy can be analysed by the fact most people have voted on anti Musharraf plank or due the sympathy factor generated due Mohtarma's assassination. The ruling coalition to-be doesn't seem to have any real political agenda except for a few largely useless and symbolic issues like restoration of judges and removing Mush. Then what? Do they have any plan or capability to tackle with religious extremism? Would they be able to really deliver on the issues concerning common man rather than just playing divisive politics. Would the be able to provide a clean and effective administration instead of increasing their Swiss bank balances? Answers to all these questions seems no. Also, we have a very good understanding of the administrative capabilities and habits of Zardari (Mr 10%) and Nawaz Sharif (Mian Zakhmi Sher-e-Punjab). Mr Zardari's true colors have also begin to be seen now. After earlier proposing Makdoom Fahim's name, he now seems desperate to become PM himself. Nawaz Sharif too is hell bent on taking political revenge and is simply heading towards a path where a confrontation with Musharaf and possibally with Army seems inevitable.

Even at a time when Pakistan is on the crossroads and suicide bombings have become a daily feature, they are after power and political revenge. The real fight in Pakistan should not be between Musharaf and Nawaz Sharif, nor between Army and civilian control, it has to be between moderates and extremists. People have already given their verdict and religious parties have lost badly. Now for the sake of Pakistan's existence at least, they should get together, work with each other to rebuild democratic institutions and to defeat backward looking forces for the good of Pakistan and the world.

So much has changed in Pakistan in the last few years yet everything looks the same. In the words of Ghalib:

फिर उसी बेवफ़ा पे मरते हैं
फिर वही ज़िंदगी हमारी है

William Shakespeare rightly said:

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Benazir Bhutto certainly belonged to the third category. She was elected as PPP chairperson at the age of 25 after her father was executed by Zia-ul-Haq in 1979 with the kind permission of Washington. She soon became the first elected Muslim woman prime minister. Her two stints as prime minster were utterly corrupt, became unpopular and were aborted by the intervetion of president and the army. During her rule, she and her husband Asif Ali Zardari, another feudal lord from Sindh, created new records of corruption and amassed huge wealth. She still has four cases pending against her in different European courts. These cases are in addition to the ones that were dropped by Musharraf again on behest of US. Zardari got her brother, Murtaza Bhutto killed in a police encounter, when she was in power. She obviously never took any action. But Zardari spent 8 years in prison as convict, after her government was dismissed by President Leghari (a PPP veteran) on the charges of corruption and misuse of power. After striking a deal with US and Musharraf she returned to Pakistan to again capture power and loot public money in the name of democracy. Yes, she was moderate and was against Islamic extremism, but never took any concrete steps to curb it. She was too busy in earning money. She was a charismatic leader and was not afraid at all of the greatness that was thrust upon her due to her maiden name Bhutto. In fact, she misused the name of her father to the fullest and discarded his socialist agenda. Made promises and delivered nothing. After her sad demise, her 19 years old son Bilawal has been crowned PPP chairperson to continue the legacy of the Bhutto 'royal' family in the name of democracy.


What an irony, all the women and young leaders that the democracies in south Asia have produced are result of the dynasty politics and the feudal mindset of the public at large!

Two time former prime minister and one of the most popular leader of Pakistan, Mrs Benazir Butto was assassinated on Thursday evening by a suicide bomber, after she was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi. Blood-soaked history of the subcontinent haunting back and plunging Pakistan deeper into the crisis, its worst after the 1971 debacle.

But the blame doesn't lie with the history alone. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari and her party, Pakistan Peoples Party has directly blamed Gen Musharraf and the goverment for the act. The list of the suspects and the persons who might benefit from her leaving the political scene, is too long. But I think, Musharraf is unlikely to have ordered her killing. There are definitely some elements in the ruling party and the government, who could be behind the murder, along with Islamic extremist militants. She herself named the omnipotent and omnipresent intelligent agencies ISI and IB as the elements who should be held responsible if something happens to her, in the letter to Musharraf after the first assassination attempt on her life at the welcome rally in Karachi, a few months back. Musharraf and the government would have to be responsible for serious laps in security of a prominent leader who was most likely to be the next prime minister and was well known to be at the highest risk along with the president himself. The vehicle that she was travelling was not bullet proof. Can you believe that? She repeatedly complained that the jammers provided for her security were faulty. Yet no action was taken. She was shot on the head and neck just from a few feet. There was no security cordon. She was left to bleed in her car for 10 mins as people expected another blast. Where were the security personal at that time? Should not they have rescued her? And lastly, why was the scene of crime cleaned away so quickly? Was the administration afraid of its own role being known in the investigations or was it trying to save someone else?

Another important question is what to expect next in Pakistan? Well, you are never sure about the turn of events in Pakistan. Most people would have never expected what has happened yesterday. So wait and watch! One thing is sure, that Pakistan is heading towards chaos and uncertainty. Nobody, including Musharraf and America seems to be in control and nobody seems to have a credible plan. The blame for this uncertainty obviously lies on US and president Bush. Musharraf was at least firmly in control when US administration decided to clip his wings. I don't think US top leadership has any idea of the ground situation in Pakistan or how things work there. The much touted 'free and fair' elections are also in deep trouble. Nawaz Sharif has already decided to boycott them. And even if they are held in January, they would be meaningless at best. My heart goes out for the family of Mrs Bhutto and the people of Pakistan. I have no hope that the politicians or army would come together in this situation of despair and try to save their country from the threat of terrorism and extremism by forgetting their political differences and greed for power. But, I wish and hope, that the people of Pakistan would stay firm and determined as a positive force and come out as the saviours of their nation as they have done in the past.

Communist movement hasn't achieved anything spectacular in its long history in India. However, it has earned a bad name due to its anti-national and anti-democracy polices at several occasions especially among the educated middle class. I have been a supporter of left parties for some years now largely due to my closeness to socialist ideology and partially due to my disenchantment from BJP and Congress. I seriously had begun to look at the left as a viable political alternative at the national level. I am not sure anymore. There are a couple of reasons:

Nuclear Deal: Without going into the technicalities, let us first try to look what this deal is all about. India neither being among the five recognized nuclear powers nor a signatory to the NPT is isolated in the world with regard to the corporation in the nuclear energy sector. India needs nuclear energy for its rising domestic power demand and more importantly the high table at world level. America wants to counter rising Chinese threat and sees India as a strategic partener. So, the deal is simple. USA would agree to supply India the nuclear technology and material for civilian use and India in tern would separate its civilian nuclear program (for peaceful use) from the military use program. This would be done in a phased manner and an international agency IAEA would keep a check on the civilian nuclear facilities only. There would be no interference in the military research program. Moreover, US would lobby hard to get NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) to cooperate with India on nuclear energy. This can be done as India has an impeccable record in nuclear nonproliferation and in following international treaties. During the long and tough negotiations, India got almost everything it wanted. Pakistan demanded a similar deal but was bluntly refused. China and Pakistan both lobbied hard to see this deal dead. Unlike the past, India clinched the deal successfully. This deal, I think, has been one of the most important achievements of Indian foreign policy till date.

Now what is the issue? First, there is a perception that Indian foreign policy is losing its independence and we are aligning too much with the US. Second, American Hyde Act, that says that deal might be scrapped if India conducts another nuclear test. Ideally speaking first concern is a big issue, but foreign policies are never decided on ideals. India made that mistake (thanks to Nehru and leaders that followed him except may be Indira) and that’s the reason we have more enemies than friends. You like it or not, aligning with US is a wise thing to do as long as we keep our national interests above everything and don’t let Americans use us. The second issue is simply unavoidable. You can not keep a check on the domestic laws of a sovereign country and if India conducts a nuclear test, of course, USA or any other country should have a right to decide if they want to continue the nuclear corporation or not.

After everything has been finalized, Left parties wakeup and start raising these issues. Raising issues is a good thing in a democracy but they have halted the deal which is against Indian interests. Let us try to put things in perspective and try to think whose interests are they serving?

Who would benefit if this deal doesn’t go through? Pakistan and yes CHINA. The ghosts of Indo-China war are again visiting! Most of the left leaders (including Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet) supported China wholeheartedly during India's war with China over boundary dispute in 1962. They even shamelessly declared that Chinese President is India's president. These people celebrated when China tested a nuclear bomb touting it as "People’s Bomb" and opposed fervently when India exploded nuclear devices in 1974 and again in 1998. China seems to have achieved through their agents here what they could not achieve directly. These are serious issues. So, comrades, tell the people of India, why you favor Chinese interests over Indian? Who are your paymasters and why you should not be banned for anti-national activities?

Nandigram: Its simply unbelievable that a communist government is taking away two-crop arable land from farmers forcibly to establish SEZ for a private capitalist. Left front oppose the same neo-liberal polices at the center. But because Chinese "Communist" government is doing it, they would also emulate it.

Moreover, when local people opposed this move and tried to protest, the government used force and 14 farmer lost their lives in police action. Now, CPIM gondas (they call them "carders"), are trying to "take over" Nandigram and police and administration is simply looking the other way(dejavu of Gujrat). These gondas are killing poors, indulging in large scale rapes to punish poors for raising their voice to save their lands. Media is not being allowed inside nandigram and its simply Stalin-style handling of dissident voices.

That's what they have been doing in West Bengal. It is "Our way or highway". If you dont agree with us you cant live in here. Most of it is due to the lack of credible political alternative (dont suggest Mamta "Drama Queen" Benerjee). And on top of that they are not ready to debate it in the paliaments, saying it is a state subject. These are the very people who debated violence after Ghodhra in Gujrat. So why cant we debate Nandigram? They are not even ready to debate the issue on TV. WB Transport minister backed out of the debate on NDTV at the last moment. Central government is seeing the whole thing helplessly and our Dehli-Mumbai "Sting Operation" media is happy by just debating the issue in air condition newsrooms. But anywys, this is not at all democracy. This is the fascist attitude that has been common among all communist governments be it in china or Russia. The situation has taken a communal flavour as most of the people affected are Muslims and Dalits. Its unfortunate what happened in Kolkata on Wednesday. But more than that, CPIM government, instead of resolving Nandigram issue has escorted Taslima Nasreen away from WB.

Poor people are killing poor people. We can debate these issues latter but please bring peace in Nandigram and now in Kolkata first.

There are rumors that Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, the second in command in the Pakistan Army after Musharraf has staged a counter-coup against him and Musharraf is under house arrest. Although Pakistan Govt has denied it and Gen Kiani is known to be a close confident of Mush, prospects of a counter-coup in the near future can not be dismissed altogether. If something of this sort happens, the situation would be further complicated and the result could be total chaos. Even after imposition of emergency, Musarraf doesnt seem to be in control and that, contrary to my earlier observation (Emergency Declared in Pakistan), the event has in fact increased the political uncertainty. As it is said, that situation in Pakistan is affected primarily by three factors, America, Army and Allah! And you got have two of these factors are your side to rule. E.g. Musharraf had support of America and Army, Gen Zia got Army and Allah. Even though Mullahs were against Mush (अमरीका का जो यार है... गद्दार है...गद्दार है...), he was able to hold on to power. So continuous American support would be crucial for his survival. But America seems to have learnt a bit from its past mistake and hasn't put all its eggs in Musharraf's basket this time. They have placed a balancing power, Benazir Bhutto, right there in Pakistan. But as there are conflicting signals from almost every significant player, the uncertainty continues. Whatever happen, its gonna be very interesting watching events in Pakistan in coming days!

"Army is out on the streets. TV/Radio have been taken over. All private TV stations have been shut down. And mobile and internet disconnected. A general appears on the National TV."

Not again! But this time its a bit different. Actually under the guise of democracy, Pakistan was already under army rule. Musharraf was ruling the country single handedly. But now he has formally assumed powers that he was already enjoying anyways. I see this as a positive step and a proactive measure for the good of Pakistan and the world at large. Musharraf has done a lot for Pakistan in the last few years than anybody else could have done. He is a sincere and liberal leader and world community has a lot of stake in him. There seems to be no other better option. Pakistan was heading towards political uncertainty and lets face it, there was no chance for a real democracy even after the proposed elections. And Bhutto and Sharif are both worse than Mush. Judiciary and Islamic fundamentalists were only doing harm to the country.

Interestingly, just a day before, US issued a statement that they wont support any move to impose emergency or martial law in Pakistan. Bush, I think knew about all this and has hand in glove with Musharraf. The most awkward situation is that of Benazir Bhutto "न खुदा ही मिल न विसाल-ए-सनम". She has again started taking about alliance with Nawaz Sharif for resorting the democracy. Democracy has again died a premature death and this is a sad news for the genuine supporters of democracy in Pakistan and the world. In the words of Ghalib:

कहूँ किस से मैं के क्या है, शब-ए-ग़म बुरी बला है,
मुझे क्या बुरा था मरना अगर एक बार होता|