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Venky Vembu -
When television news anchor Rahul Kanwal got through to Srinivasan and asked him about Meiyappan’s arrest, the BCCI president reacted with thuggish belligerence: 'Shut up, just shut up. I will fix the whole lot of you.' It’s amusing, of course, that “fixing” appears to be uppermost on Srinivasan’s mind even at this stage.This IPL series has shown up the carnival to be a can of worms and India’s cricket administration to be rotten at its core. As a first step towards fixing it over the long haul, Srinivasan and his political patron and IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla should be made to resign, and the Chennai Super Kings team disqualified. |
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Venky Vembu -
The UPA 2 government was conceived in corruption – and never really recovered from that taint. Right from the day the election results came in, the back-channel negotiations began for the reappointment of A Raja as Telecom Minister to advance the interests of certain telecom majors (in return for illegal gratification). It was an enterprise which set the stage for India’s biggest corruption scandal and virtually set the political tone for the rest of the four years. As subsequent exposes have established, Manmohan Singh and other key Ministers knew full well that mischief was afoot, but pointedly looked the other way. That was the beginning of the slide, and the UPA government in general – and Manmohan Singh in particular – was mortally wounded from that episode. But rather than press ahead with remedial action, the government slid further into the cesspool of corruption. |
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Swaminathan SA Aiyar -
There was for years an old "social contract" between politicians and business. This provided for complex rules and regulations that made it impossible to do business honestly in many fields. But it was possible to do business dishonestly, through pay-offs . Some called this "efficient corruption" : politicians took money and delivered clearances. However, the anti-corruption mood of the courts, and new fears of getting caught (like Pawan Bansal) have ended "efficient corruption" . Politicians may still take money but not deliver on clearances , what some call "inefficient corruption" that freezes investment and growth. The old social contract has broken down. |
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Anuradha Dutt -
Nothing epitomises Congress's oligarchic culture, hinging on a power cabal that centres in a ‘High Command', than disgraced former Union Minister for Law and Justice Ashwani Kumar's parting statement in his own defence while demitting office. “Whatever the PM and the party High Command thought fit, as a loyal foot soldier, I have done, and I am proud of the fact that I have been a loyal foot soldier of the party”. There is no word about his loyalty to the nation, which, for patriotic Indians, should have precedence over party, Prime Minister and high command. But not in the Congress's scheme of things, which, in the final reckoning, is a matter of perpetuating the Nehru-Gandhi family's hegemony. |
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Prof Udaditya Bharali -
Manmohan Singh's continuing as an MP from Assam for more than two decades has not served any purpose. Instead it has only demeaned the democratic system. He is in no way associated with the society in Assam. Most people in Assam had never heard of him till he was first sent to Rajya Sabha in 1991. Moreover, the manner in which he proved his residential status in Assam way back in 1991 was not proper. He has not lived even for 22 days in his rented house in Guwahati in the past 22 years. |
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Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan -
Sibal’s go ahead for conciliation is significant especially in view of the fact that the main company in this case — Hutchinson Telecommunications International Ltd — is his son Amit Sibal’s client. This is amazing. One Law Minister resigns over corruption charges. The other person takes over and within a day, starts working in favour of the private firm. Was part of this Rs 2,000 crore given to Kapil Sibal? |
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Venky Vembu -
Manmohan Singh should take heed of the smoke signals that are being put out by Sonia Gandhi’s loyal supporters, insinuating that it was he – and he alone – who wanted to shield Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. The message is this: when it comes to ring-fencing Sonia Gandhi from the taint of corruption that overruns the UPA government, everyone - even the Prime Minister – is expendable. In propitiating the Mother Goddess, there are no ‘holy cows’, and everyone is potentially a sacrificial lamb that is ripe for slaughter. So, watch your back, Dr Manmohan Singh. The word is out that you too are a bali ka bakra, who can be sacrificed at the appropriate time. Can you already hear the swish of the executioner’s knife? |
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R Jagannathan -
A fundamental contradiction lay at the heart of every UPA crisis – the separation of power from responsibility, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh having the responsibility but not the power, and Congress President Sonia Gandhi having the power but not the responsibility. Sonia Gandhi‘s decisive blow against Bansal and Kumar shows where the real power lies, and ends the charade. Manmohan Singh has been shown his place. The assumption that the two share a deep relationship of trust was always partially untrue, for the real relationship was between Feudal Baroness and Loyal Regent. |
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Kishore Trivedi -
The groans of frustration and fear in the Congress camp are only growing louder by the day. Wherever Modi goes, whatever Modi does, haunts the Congress. If he addresses India Today Summit, they tweet mindlessly against it. If he is in Kolkata, their fear becomes palpable. If he goes to Kerala or meets a Minister there, the party panics! There is nothing that Modi does these days that does not send the Congress panicking. |
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Bishwajit Bhattacharya -
Things can't get any worse. Whether or not two law officers committed perjury before the highest court can be the subject of an interesting debate. What is beyond debate, however, is that the duo has, jointly and severally, discredited the institution of Law Officer of the Government of India. What compounds the deception before the Court is that only the law officer making a public allegation against the other has been eased out. From the highest standards of ethics set by highest law officers such as M C Setalvad, C K Daphtary, Soli Sorabjee and Ashok Desai, where have we sunk today? From advocacy to servility? |
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Rajeev Dhawan -
Four things emerge from Vahanvati's tenure as Attorney General: (i) He is more a hitman for the government than its conscience keeper. (ii) He has interfered with and compromised the CBI's investigative independence and undermined the rule of law. (iii) He has subverted the spirit of the Supreme Court's decision that the independence of the 2G investigation be zealously guarded. (iv) He is a very charming person but may have mortgaged his conscience to the government for the post or future prospects. |
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Vinod Mehta -
How is it possible for the officers from the coal ministry and the PMO, who attended the dubious meeting, to have done so without seeking the PM’s permission? Dr Singh has been damaged before by previous allegations which hint at misgivings about his integrity. For me, it is no pleasure to attack Dr Manmohan Singh. Alas, things have come to such a pass that probing questions have now become unavoidable. The worst—and I hope untrue—conclusion to draw from Coalgate, 2G, etc is that the man is in love with being prime minister. And will do anything to stay put. |
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Shobhaa De -
The problem in India is nobody dares to nail netas. Who has the guts to nab even one of the Big Boys? An Arvind Kejriwal can name names and get members of his team to bring up issues and personalities on television. But Arvind has zero clout. And no resources to fight the powerful. He may have public support. But that’s never enough. Going after even a chhota-mota player, forget the Prime Minister, requires enormous will and more importantly, pots of serious money. |
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Arun Kumar Singh -
Surely India can take advantage of China’s “over stretched” military machine and convey a tough message — that aggression does not pay — by undertaking a series of tit-for-tat incursions into Chinese territory. It could also cut off supply lines to the Chinese intruders and make their position untenable. In 1987, a massive Chinese incursion into Sumdorong valley (Arunachal Pradesh) was stopped dead in its tracks, without a single shot being fired by the Indian Army, by moving troops to tactically advantageous positions. Today, the “problem” in replicating the “Sumdorong manoeuvre” appears to be the installation of one more “hurdle” — the NSA, presently a post held by a retired diplomat of good standing, has taken over the task of rendering professional military advice to the government on military and nuclear matters. A failure to react to the present Ladakh incursion screams of lack of resolve and will result in loss of territory and a repetition of similar Chinese actions elsewhere. |
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Brahma Chellaney -
India’s leadership fails to distinguish between caution and pusillanimity: the former helps to avert problems, but the latter conveys weakness and invites more aggression. India today risks becoming the proverbial frog in the slowly warming pot, as described by the US scholar John Garver: “A Chinese fable tells of how a frog in a pot of lukewarm water feels quite comfortable and safe. He does not notice as the water temperature slowly rises until, at last, the frog dies and is thoroughly cooked. This homily, wen shui zhu qingwa in Chinese, describes fairly well China’s strategy for growing its influence in South Asia in the face of a deeply suspicious India: move forward slowly and carefully, rouse minimal suspicion, and don’t cause an attempt at escape by the intended victim.” |
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Ravi Shankar -
Nitish is India’s most communal politician. At a time when the Supreme Court is cracking down on red beacons on cars, Bihar’s maulanas are saying cheese; the chief minister has been generous in giving away red lights—a symbol of power in India—to the maulanas. Clerics head Bihar’s Minority Commission, Wakf Board, Haj Committee and Madrasa Board. Since 2005, he has authored an animal farm that exceeds Orwellian premonition by balancing the interests of the Shias and the Sunnis, the Deobandis, the Barelvis and the Tablighis—a feat neither Lalu Prasad Yadav nor the Congress could achieve. By accusing Modi of playing the bull in the minority manger, Nitish has successfully claimed the rabble-rousing space of the secularist and camouflaged his divisive politics as the country’s great polariser. |
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Amjad Ali Khan -
I'm jobless here in Delhi. I'm not on any government's committee and there's no encouragement from the government at all. But the world is supporting me. I miss Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. When Atal Bihariji (Vajpayee) was there, he invited me to be on the Padma award committee. When Narasimha Rao was the prime minister, he had invited Princess Diana for dinner and my wife and I were among the invitees. I would like to advise cultural departments, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry or the ICCR, but they don't need my help. Instead I was invited by Stanford University last summer to teach. Nobody in India invites me to teach at any university. |
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Zafar Sareshwala -
A transformation is necessary among Muslims. Since the polity has become bipolar, it (choice for Muslims) has to be between the Congress-led UPA and the BJP-led NDA. I am completely disillusioned with the Congress and am opposed to separate identity politics for or of the Muslims. I tell my religious leaders and groups, don’t be a political handle of a particular political dispensation. Have Muslims given their vote and support to the Congress in inheritance? Why exclude the BJP? My appeal to them is simple: that if they have issues with Modi they should talk to him. |
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Arun Prakash -
For a politico-bureaucratic establishment that has stubbornly refused to acknowledge, by word or deed, the sterling contribution of the soldier to India's freedom struggle, its post-Partition consolidation and to combating the repeated assaults on its territorial integrity, the construction of a national war memorial at a central location in the Capital would be a belated but welcome gesture. It would bolster the pride and morale of not just a million and a half Indian men and women bearing arms, but also of the large fraternity of veterans who "gave their today for our tomorrow". |
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Tavleen Singh -
As soon as the explosions occurred, the President of the United States went on nationwide television to reassure people that he felt their pain and that the perpetrators would be hunted down and punished wherever they were. Why does this never happen in India? Why do our leaders vanish as soon as something terrible happens? When did you last hear one of them say a reassuring word after something bad happened? These are questions we must ask ourselves just as we must ask ourselves why as the world's largest democratic country we have not been able to put in place the sort of systems that went into immediate action after the cowardly, senseless bombings in Boston. |
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Tarek Fatah -
India is the only country offering a future in terms of what the nation state would be and how to accommodate languages, races and religions with all the difficulties that go with that. As a Muslim, I found it fascinating that this is the only place in the world where Muslims exert influence without fear. If Muslim women cannot go to a mosque and sit in the front row, it is not a Hindu problem. If Muslim men don't treat female relations with equal dignity, why are they complaining that others aren't doing so? I put harsher responsibility on Indian Muslims because they are free, living in a democratic society. If they want to know what it's like to live under Islamic rule, they can see what`s happening in Pakistan. |
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Pratap Bhanu Mehta -
Rajiv Gandhi's regime, in a short span, took more anti-secular decisions than any government had in living memory, achieving the rare feat of making every community feel targeted. The Congress's legendary inaction for four days during the Mumbai riots, documented by the Srikrishna Commission, is up there in the abdication of rajdharma. And how can we certify that Narayan Rane or Chhagan Bhujbal's change of heart was more genuine than that of any other lapsed secularist who professes now to be secular? Why does the fact that NDA allies did not pressure Vajpayee more forcefully to act against Modi not count against them on the secular question? |
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Walter Russell Mead -
And meanwhile everything in Europe gets worse. As we’ve said before, with the exception of communism itself, the euro has been the biggest economic catastrophe to befall the continent (and the world) since the 1930s. Politicians in Europe thought they were living in a post-historical period in which mistakes didn’t really matter all that much. They were horribly wrong, and the wreck of the euro is blighting lives and embittering spirits on a truly staggering scale. |
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Balbir Punj -
The much-maligned 'Hindu rate of growth' was in fact the result of a socialist economic model, adopted when Soviet-style socialism ruled the Congress thinking. Under this model, the country suffered the same types of scarcities, from sugar to scooters, as the people of the Soviet Union did. At that time, a procession of Marxist economists, from P C Mahalanobis to Raj Krishna and K N Raj, formed the blue-eyed boys of the Nehruvian era. This 'Hindu rate of growth' only ended when P V Narasimha Rao showed the guts to jettison the Nehruvian mindset, selecting Manmohan Singh from the bureaucracy to perform vital economic surgery. It is no coincidence that the end of the Nehruvian mindset in India followed the Russian people driving the Communist Party out of the Kremlin. |
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Tavleen Singh -
Secularism is no longer a word in the Indian political context, it is a weapon. A weapon that has been used very successfully against 'communal forces' many, many times. And, who are these communal forces? Anyone who allies with the Bharatiya Janata Party or dares to question the secular credentials of the Congress party is a communalist. Having said this, I need to add that if you change your political allegiances and even if you once belonged to a communal party like the Shiv Sena, you become secular as soon as you join Congress. It is an absurd debate and fortunately many, many Indians have seen through it long ago. But it could once more distract us from India's real problems. The most important of these problems is bad governance that is why when communal Mr. Modi talks about 'su-shasan' he draws an increasingly large audience. |
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Verbatim |
 When television news anchor Rahul Kanwal got through to Srinivasan and asked him about Meiyappan’s arrest, the BCCI president reacted with thuggish belligerence: 'Shut up, just shut up. I will fix the whole lot of you.' It’s amusing, of course, that “fixing” appears to be uppermost on Srinivasan’s mind even at this stage.This IPL series has shown up the carnival to be a can of worms and India’s cricket administration to be rotten at its core. As a first step towards fixing it over the long haul, Srinivasan and his political patron and IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla should be made to resign, and the Chennai Super Kings team disqualified.
Venky Vembu |
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Split with Nitish will only boost BJP in Bihar -
K Balakrishnan, LensOnNews
WITH THE BJP seemingly decided on projecting Narendra Modi as its PM candidate and its close ally Nitish Kumar of JD(U) equally firm in his opposition to the idea, a split in the NDA alliance looks inevitable; most observers think it’s not a question of if, but when. |
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