Flag jousting and Indo-Pak 'peace'

The Pakistani flag is hoisted on New Year's Eve in India. At the tahsildar's office at Sindgi town in Bijapur, Karnataka.

Was there any news about it in the media immediately after?

There was damage due to violence. The police have arrested six people from the Sri Ram Sene youth wing.

Why was there silence, even if the idea was to spark off "communal tension" and a few Muslims could have been arrested? Why did that not happen?

The reports are coming in now, after things are under control. Does the BJP muzzle such news? How did the violence go unnoticed when the Sene and Bajrang Dal even gave a call for a bandh?

Not unexpected is the reaction that the BJP and RSS have nothing to do with this organisation. Remember how the BJP would distance itself from the RSS and continues to do so for opportunistic reasons, when the moderate mask wants to hide an aggressive face?

How different are the ministers in Karnataka telling women on the dress code to follow to prevent rape from the Sri Ram Sene group that goes on a rampage against westernised women?

It would be foolish to let it pass that such "miscreants" managed this and it came to light only after the BJP government took action.

You might wonder why they did it at all. One word: elections. The make-up van clears all blemishes.

As for the news, a trickle will now become a storm, and only storms have news value.

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In other news Shashi Tharoor thinks Indo-Pak peace can happen only if we deal with the messy stuff first. Now, people like us have been saying so for gadha (donkey's) years. Mr. Tharoor will hobnob with Them at soirees, though.

One more observation: Pakistani liberals will really cry for peace with India despite their dictatorial government policies. Indian professional liberals will toe democratic government lines.

People like us just speak without waiting for taalis or gaalis.