The problem with these educated politicians is that they think they are being clever and don’t realise that those quotes they bark out could bite them.
Why is everyone so chuffed about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Shakespearean reference? This came about at the final session of the 83rd AICC plenary when he said he was ready to face questions by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum probe:
“I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to hide from the public at large and as a proof of my bona fides, I intend to write to chairman of the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) that I shall be happy to appear before the PAC if it chooses to ask me to do so. I sincerely believe that like Caesar’s wife, the Prime Minister should be above suspicion.”
Aye, aye, sire. Forsooth thou forgeteth the dark shadow of seduction. Caesar Sonia had already laid the ground by emphasising Dr (Pompeia) Singh’s strengths, but King Julius had divorced his wife despite her not being implicated because “Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion”. He did not want her to be paraded before a committee. He struck before that and pre-empted any doubts and stood up for probity, instead of getting the linen washed in public to prove there were no stains.
To mix my Bard a bit, the PM ought to have chosen Macbeth’s wife and merely uttered, “Out, damned spot”. For, the blood may be illusory but the swift murder of integrity haunts.
There is still time for the Ides of March and the elections.
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Et tu Brute?
And while we are at it, is Digvijay stabbing the Congress in the back with his kindness? I am afraid that even though I agree with his views on the RSS and saffron terror, he may land in big trouble for pushing it:
"The RSS in the garb of its nationalist ideology is targetting Muslims the same way Nazis targetted Jews in the 1930s.”
It is obvious to anybody that he could not possibly be literal. The RSS and the rest of the Hindutva parties have often expressed their admiration for Hitler; they use the swastika as their symbol and they also have the same form of salute. They believe in the supremacy of culture as seen from the majoritarian point of view and their dream is a Ram Rajya.
However, it is a known fact that the Jews are touchy about their suffering under the Nazis and also very possessive about it. Immediately after Digvijay’s statement, an Israel embassy spokesperson said:
“Without entering the political debate, no comparison can be made with the Nazi Holocaust in which six million Jews were massacred solely because they were Jewish.”
Of course, the numbers and the manner of those killings were horrendous. But, I do not see why the reference should cause the embassy such a problem. Is it because the people compared here happen to be Muslim and they have a huge baggage with regards to Palestine, which is now seen as a Muslim issue? Why this need to hold on to their tragedy as though such cruelty inflicted on them is to be patented?
With this overt protest, the Congress party could be in a spot. It is not dealing with Holocaust memories or the Israeli embassy or even Israel; it is dealing with the United States of America. Deep shit. Don’t forget that following the Mumbai attack of 26/11 in which the Jewish Chabad House was one of the targets, by an ‘Islamist’ group it may be emphasised, we have become extremely cautious. Had you ever seen Jews distributing sweets on Hanukah before, that too outside the Gateway of India? This year you did. It is the Obama-Israel-Manmohan triangle that will be at work. We have to consider the nuclear deal, the fight against terror and the global economy.
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't."
(From Hamlet)
" The RSS and the rest of the Hindutva parties have often expressed their admiration for Hitler; they use the swastika as their symbol and they also have the same form of salute."
ReplyDeleteFV,
Ignoring the RSS for a moment, I hope you know that the Swastika is a traditional Hindu symbol long before hitler existed. Down south, this is a standard rangoli pattern in villages where such patterns are drawn during religious festivals - the motivation for drawing this is not drawn from the Nazi movement at all. The nazis were inspired by the Indian symbol, not the other way around. Max Mueller and his peers and their research on India and came up with the "Aryan Race theory" that provided the motivation for Hitler to use that "Aryan" symbol and the Swastika.
Whether the RSS is turning to violence and terror is an open question, though the malegaon case is a pointer that such radicalization is taking place. However, other than the Malegaon case, the rest of them do not stand up to scrutiny currently, including the bogus theory of Karkare being targeted in a coordinated attack by the LeT and hindu terrorists.
That theory is just silly on so many levels to anyone who has paid attention to the LeT's behaviour, and the fact that LeT is known to fake phone calls during terrorist attacks (there was one during the IC 814 hijacking to Kandahar).
If we assume that hindu terrorist groups were involved in the death of Karkare, then they must have colluded with the LeT. Why? It is not at all possible to turn on the TV, find terrorists in the city, and immediately put a plan into action to take down karkare by putting him in harm's way with the Cama hospital phone call.
MAybe such things are easy on TV, but there is no chance of coming up with a plan in real time, independently, without the active cooperation of the 26/11 terrorists, who were the ones who killed Karkare. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a conspiracy freak because in the real world, events take time to plan and execute since Murphy's law rules all the time.
If the alleged hindu terrorists did not come up with this plan when they saw a terrorist attack in progress, it only leaves the possibility of collusion between the LeT and hindu terrorist groups. So how likely is that?
-Al
Anon:
ReplyDeleteI repeat: look at the figures of those killed in riots in India with the connivance of the establishment.
We are not talking about whose religion is better or bigger, but what those who use religion do. Muslims have issues, but let us not use that to deny that saffron terror exists, has exited.
Al:
The Hindus use the 'Om' symbol; the Swastika is flipped to the other side.
Re. saffron terror, I am pointing out the riots as well, as stated above.
Re. Karkare, it is not a case of Hindutva elements colluding with the LeT (although I had stated back then about the Indian Mujahideen). There are far too many loopholes in his death, and the fact that he was receiving threats for investigating the Malegaon case is important.
I have written enough about it...it is all here.
No one is condoning the attacks or who did it, but this is the first time that the saffron terror issue has gained some momentum. I will not let it be put on the back-burner only because someone believes that Kasab came to act in Hindi films. The manner in which his trial went on was like Hindi film.
"No one is condoning the attacks or who did it, but this is the first time that the saffron terror issue has gained some momentum."
ReplyDeleteFV, that is all well and good as long as the ball is not dropped on higher-priority threats. A threat is higher-priority if the people behind the threat are better organized and armed and funded than other concurrent threats. Poor judgement in assessing the danger posed by these threats is only going to make things worse.
This "momentum" of going after some section of society without sufficient cause can all go the wrong way and destroy the fabric of civil society in India, but clearly the powers that be are okay with that. No skin off my nose either way.
Let us recall the "momentum" to go after Indian muslims for India's troubles in the recent past in India until better sense prevailed. It did not help the nation fix its terrorist problem, nor did it calm down communal tensions -- it only perpetuated and magnified distrust and hate among communities, that was exploited by our despicable political class for decades. So "be careful what you wish for" is an apt phrase for this situation. That's all.
FV,
ReplyDeleteYes. I have read the posts you refer to, but as usual just another opinion... :)
"The Hindus use the 'Om' symbol; the Swastika is flipped to the other side. "
Om is one of the symbols used, certainly, but there are many. Even "Om" is written in the local language mostly, but you already knew that.
Also, re: malegaon, the information that he was proceeding with the Malegaon case and policemen follow their hunches and sources, though if they are competent they do not go around announcing the details of the case to the whole wide world (unless releasing such information will help with the case, which was/is not when it comes to the Indian Police, and the Maha. ATS in particular).
Anyway, I guess my point is that Karkare going after a hindu group was widely reported and known, and could have been used as an input while planning 26/11. I have been following the thought process of the Pak. Army/ISI and this kind of evil (And worse, completely self-defeating) plan is exactly up their alley, and the LeT is now known officially as the unofficial terror wing of the ISI, which started focussed on J&K and then spread to the rest of India, where their sleeper cells abound.
Of course, one needs to keep in mind that once the "Group X is evil" idea is pushed beyond its limits, for politicking or moralizing or whatever purpose, people in Group X will have nothing to lose by actually becoming evil, and the idea becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But Hey, politics is so dirty, why not add to it....what can possibly go wrong?
Thanks, Al. I shall try and be productive in the new year and slay fewer lions :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great ho-ho-ho...hmm...time.
"The RSS and the rest of the Hindutva parties have often expressed their admiration for Hitler; they use the swastika as their symbol and they also have the same form of salute."
ReplyDeleteThis is so careless that the only thing that saves it from becoming a slur is its ridiculousness.
I am sure you know these,
1. Swastika = May you be well in Sanskrit.
2. The Swastika used by Hindus is the same clockwise Swastika used by the Nazis.
3. Admiration for Hitler forms no part of RSS ideology.
The Christians committed all sorts of atrocities on the Jews by giving them the label “Killers of Christ”. Hitler is not an exception but a culmination of the 2000-year long oppression of the Jews by the Christians. Quick. Who said that? MS Golwalkar! Isn't it funny that when "progressives" trawl through the much quoted pamphlet, they forget this quote?
One more
Our passionate adherence to democracy and freedom is based on the spiritual recognition of the Divinity of man. We are not only not communal but we are nationalists and democrats. The Anti-Fascist Front must extend from the English Channel to the Bay of Bengal. That's the Hindu Mahasabha's Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee (father of Somnath Chatterjee).
Again,
if the Zionists’ dreams were realised, if Palestine became a Jewish State, it would gladden us almost as much as our Jewish friends. That's Veer Savarkar in 1923.
On the other hand there was one Nazi sympathizer and collaborator who survived WW2 and lived well dying in 1974. Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husayni of Jerusalem.
Farzana, the Nazi association is not to be tossed around casually. Hindus in India are a divided lot, and many of us don't care what's happening to another Hindu as long as we are doing OK. But once in a while these things have a nasty way of flaring up and lead to abominable acts. The ethnic cleansing of Hindus from the Kashmir Valley with Nazi-like efficiency happened in 1989. That's the first time India behaved like two nations. We heard a lot about how the arrogant Pandits had it coming. Think back to those days, they are still with us.
Roadrunner
Roadrunner:
ReplyDeleteBefore we get to the Swastika, could you please explain this 'careless' comment?
The ethnic cleansing of Hindus from the Kashmir Valley with Nazi-like efficiency happened in 1989. That's the first time India behaved like two nations. We heard a lot about how the arrogant Pandits had it coming. Think back to those days, they are still with us.
Please provide me with date about the Nazi-like efficiency, the numbers of pandits that left, where they are now, who essentially sat in government offices of J&K, who gives them a stipend and why? Since they were ethnically cleansed, could you tell us how they have survived? How do you explain their ethnic movement, the Panun Kashmir? Have you heard about Jagmohan? When you are done, then go back five years and think about the anti-Sikh riots. In Delhi. Capital city. Pogrom. Did India not feel divided then? Does it not feel divided when there is insurgency in the NE?
I can see where all this is coming from...given the tone of your comment.
What are you trying to say about the Nazi-RSS link? Have you never heard any RSS person applaud the Nazis? Quoting a few stray statements does not change the reality. If it wasn't Hitler, then it would be Mussolini or Stalin.
And taking up for the Zionist cause in Palestine is a hoot. What DID you expect? Of course you have a Muslim Nazi sympathiser, and it is possible. I am not in denial.
This is not about Hindus but Hindutva parties. If your sympathies are with the latter, then your comment makes a whole lot of sense. If they are not, then get over it already.