interesting question.
re. the organizer, somebody had posted a link, in particular lauding sandhya jain's cogent article.
as for swamy, he's a survivor, and he's well connected with the indian bureaucracy. so he knows a lot of stuff that the bureaucrats won't reveal in public. this makes him a useful partner so far as his interests and yours coincide, which other politicians recognize.
swamy has a dream (so do arjun singh, laloo and other assorted pols) of becoming prime minister. so he/they will do whatever they think will get them there.
it's interesting how these harvard-educated guys like swamy are all angling for office. i know someone who has spent practically his entire working life in the us, but has kept his indian passport in the hopes of landing a rajya sabha slot sometime. he, quite rationally, is a congress type, because he figures that's what will get him in.
swamy, on the other hand -- him ditching 'secularism' is a bit of a mystery to me too -- because usually it's a lot easier to latch on to the mammaries of the welfare state if you are a nehruvian. maybe he actually believes in hindutva. who knows?
rajeev
On 8/16/06, Arvind S
Rajeev,
I am sure you will be interested in the current special on terrorism on the Organiser weekly.
Also as someone that knows the politics of the South way better than I do (I am from the Bimaru states), could you explain why Subramanian Swamy is all of a sudden the very defintion of the "Rabid Hindu". I always thought the guy was a Giant-Amma-Cutout hugging, Chandrashekhar serving "Secularist". What pray, explains Swamies new found stripes?
Looking forward to your reply
regardsArvind
12 comments:
>>..The influx of urdu into Hindi is because of that, after all, centuries of...
I agree with you DS, esp. when the states in northern India had to bear the brunt of invasion.
Regarding Nooyi or for that matter other luminaries, call me selfish or whatever...I need to see what they can do for India...instead of just parading their so-called sickular virtues...so as to be beholden in the eyes of their white-masters.
All these successful personalities want to have their cake and eat it too...esp. when they talk about how India inculcated into them the luv for education and all that blah-blah stuff and then immediately doing the u-turn as to how it was so suffocating to succeed if they had ever remained in India...as if people who didn't chose to move out are failures....these guys remind me of that classic quote:
They are more Catholic then pope!
:)
Here is my two paise worth
1- S Swamy is opportunistic no doubt - but I think this could be a precursor to something big that we do not understand yet - the consolidation of the Hindu "Vote Bank" . I know it is unlikely - given how we Hindus like to shoot ourselves in the balls! (refer the opinion poll that gives UPA 300 + seats if elections are held today).... but the fact that Swamy is playing to the Hindu gallery implies that such a gallery may be forming in the first place. Perhaps the old Hindu model of "crabs in a bucket" is being replaced by the "human pyramid of Janmaashtmi bursting the Dahi-Handi " - hope grows fond in the expatriate heart!
2- Northern people are more afflicted with the "Inshallah" because Urdu as a mask of Islamic conquest has had more time to work out it's idea there. This is absolutely true.
If you look at the school curricula in Punjab as late as 1945 (my own father's experience) they were taught Urdu and even Persian! My father cannot read / write Devanagri but he can read write Urdu natively. He even has to read the Bhagvat Gita in Urdu - laughable as that sounds but it is true. Do a search for a poem titled "Zafarnama" and read what it is about (no it has nothing to do with Bahadur Shah Zafar - please make the attempt) - more importantly read the language it is written in
Hence the sickening tendency of the likes of Gulzar and Porn-peddler Singh to lionise Ghalib, Zauq, Iqbal et al. I used to try to read Ghalib too - until the day I found out what Ghalib himself had to say about Urdu, it's origins and how it was beneath his dignity to compose in that filthy clap-trap!!!!
But this is the working of the colonised mind my brothers - it takes shit from the conqueror and thinks it is gold!!
Here is a person (Swamy) writing a good straight article on how Hindu civilisation is being threatened, and the first response of Rajeev is 'how come, wasn't he a secular'? Are we really concerned? Why is it at all necessary to worry about WHO wrote the article as long as WHAT is written is relevant and true?
iamfordemocracy - WHO wrote, and WHY he wrote is also relevant because
.. Why even committed secularist are jumping ship?
.. is it because the tide is turning?
.. or is because the only space left for Swamy to occupy in Tamil Nadu is the Hinutva plank? - remember this is the place of the "Dravida" movement - He has written not one, but two - look at this one -
Why is he turning saffron is very important. We need to investigate his motives....remember even Advani used to be a Hindu once upon a time.
sorry forgot to provide link to Swamies previous article
Ghostwriter, "Tide is turning" is more of a wishful thinking. Really? I will think that way only when I see someone (meaning, some media channel or mediaman) forcing Sonia Gandhi to explain her stand on conversions publicly. Do you think that is possible in near future?
DarkStorm said>>>>>> Siva, isnt this article good enough ?
Where is it? I don’t see any article here.
DarkStorm said>>>>>> Mira nair is southIndian BTW, she said that in an interview. LIke Arundhati Roy is. And shobha warrier is. And karunanidhi is.
Isn’t that bitch Arundhati Roy is from Waste Bengal? Besides this lunatic bitch claims that she is a “mobile republic.” What a stupid juvenile mind she has?
I have read some of the items Shobha Warrier wrote and I did not see anything psedosecular in it. May be she did write some crap which I haven’t read.
iamfordemocracy - "Tide is turning" is more of a wishful thinking.
I know it may be wisful thinking. That is why I tempered it all with the "Hope grows fond in the expatriate heart" bit .
But just to take you on up on the challenge - read Sandhya Jain's columns in the Pioneer where she has repeatedly challenged the bar-maid to explain her stand on christian conversions - and in fact heaped labels (not abuses) at her. And now you will say that Sandhya Jain does not represent the Indian press, right?
I disagree that the content and questions in the popular Indian press are a good benchmark to judge if Hindu society is consolidating politically. The ELM is just too far removed from reality. It comprises of course all the Jhola-wallahs who live on borrowed ideas and are intellectualy too intimidated to speak what they truly believe. This is the same reason that explains why educated Muslims in India will never be the harbinger of reform in their community(Muslim Indians or Indian Muslims whatever you choose to call them).
Islamic reformation if it happens, will happen outside India and will slowly be imported into the so-called "mainstream". Today this alleged "synthesised culture" is the rage so they parrot it; tomorrow the "Islamic excesses" will be fashionable they will parrot that too.
Remember - as a general rule folks that work in the Indian ELM do so because they were not smart enough to pass Engineering or Management entrance exams. Do not wait for the dullards to show you the way!
San asked>>>> I'm not sure why Pak is helping Sri Lanka against LTTE
That is because LTTE is one of the most anti Islamic groups in the world. They never trust Muslims and sometime back they cleansed themselves off Islamic cancer by driving all the Muslims from the areas under their control. That is the reason Pak is against LTTE.
I know there is some rumor, which Rajeev has also repeated here, that LTTE is in fact run by Christians and their supreme Prabhakaran is a Christian himself. I have no idea whether it is true or not, but vast majority of Sri Lankan Tamils, around 90% just like Tamil Nadu’s demography, are Hindus.
Whether LTTE is a Hindu organization or not is surely debatable but it is definitely anti Islam.
Read this news item to understand better.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HH16Df02.html
BANGALORE - A new target - Pakistan - seems to be on the radar of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Initial investigations into the powerful explosion that occurred in Colombo on Monday indicate that the Pakistani high commissioner in Colombo was the target.
The explosion took place near the official residence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse as a convoy accompanying a Pakistani High Commission vehicle drove past. The high commissioner, Bashir Wali Mohamed, traveling in the convoy, escaped unhurt, but soldiers accompanying him were less lucky. Four were among those killed in the blast.
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion, but suspicion points in the direction of the LTTE.
The explosion in the Sri Lankan capital comes amid a sharp surge in fighting between the LTTE and government forces in the island's north and east. It came on a day when the Sri Lankan air force bombed an orphanage in the Tamil-dominated, LTTE-controlled district of Mullaitivu in Northern Province, killing 43 children and injuring about 60 others.
The attack in Colombo was apparently not unexpected. Over the past week, police captured at least two large consignments of weapons and explosives near Colombo pointing to imminent attacks in the capital.
A Tamil source with access to the LTTE told Asia Times Online that while the attack was carried out by the Tigers, it was not aimed at the Pakistani high commissioner. "The target of the explosion was the army convoy," he said.
But the general perception among Sri Lankan and even Indian circles is that the target of the attack was indeed the high commissioner. The Sri Lankan government has issued a statement to that effect.
Pakistan is one of the main suppliers of military equipment to the Sri Lankan government. Defense cooperation between Sri Lanka and Pakistan has been growing rapidly in recent years. The attack is a signal of Tiger displeasure with the close relationship between the governments of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Defense cooperation between the two governments is said to have expanded considerably, especially since early this year. According to a report in Jane's Defense Weekly, Sri Lanka asked Pakistan to facilitate the purchase of military equipment worth about US$60 million. While the army's shopping list is said to cost about $20 million, the requirements of the air force have been pegged at $38.1 million.
Sri Lanka has apparently requested that its shopping list be given "utmost priority" given the deteriorating security situation. "The army's extensive wish list includes 10 Baktar Shikan anti-tank guided-missile weapon systems, 300 standard/tandem warheads and two training simulators," according to the Jane's report.
In a letter to Bashir Wali, the Sri Lankan chief of the defense staff, D W K Sandagiri, had apparently requested that Pakistan send a technical team to Colombo to survey T-55 tanks and C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, as the country was in an urgent need of spare parts for its tanks and aircraft.
Unlike India, which is in favor of a negotiated settlement that ensures the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka while meeting the aspirations and securing the rights of its Tamil minority, Pakistan is not particularly opposed to a military solution, nor is it concerned about securing the rights of minorities in the island.
India opposes Sri Lanka's aerial bombing of Tamil civilians, and is annoyed with the government's irresolute pursuit of a political settlement. It is therefore reluctant, unlike Pakistan, to provide the government lethal weapons.
Pakistan-Sri Lanka military cooperation is not new. But with India reluctant to sign a Defense Cooperation Agreement with Sri Lanka and unwilling to supply it with the kind of weapons it is looking for, Colombo has turned increasingly to Pakistan. There are segments of opinion in Sri Lanka that are in fact in favor of the government finalizing a defense cooperation agreement with Islamabad.
A former Sri Lankan diplomat K Godage called on the government last year to "sign a defense-cooperation agreement with them [Pakistan], for they are prepared to formalize the current defense arrangements we have with that country". He also suggested "signing a similar agreement with China, merely to formalize the defense procurement arrangements, we have with that country".
Sri Lanka and Pakistan have enjoyed cordial relations. Certain segments of society in Sri Lanka, especially among the Sinhalese majority, view Pakistan (and China) as more reliable than "big brother India". A former diplomat told Asia Times Online last year that, unlike India, which during the 1980s was arming and training the Tamil militants, China and Pakistan never backed the militants at any time since the start of the insurgency.
Others in Colombo also recall that Islamabad and China have always come to Sri Lanka's rescue in times of serious crisis - when India was seen to have dithered. In 2000, when Jaffna was on the verge of falling to the LTTE, China was "among the first to respond to the Sri Lankan government's appeal for emergency military supplies".
The Hindustan Times' Colombo correspondent, P K Balachandran, writes that "it was with the help of the multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRLs) supplied by Pakistan that the Sri Lankan army was able to drive the LTTE out of Jaffna" in 2000. And the MBRLs are now back to haunt the Tigers. "In the ongoing war," writes Balachandran, the MBRLs supplied by Pakistan are tormenting the LTTE in both the northern and eastern fronts."
Another possible reason for the Tigers targeting the Pakistani high commissioner is his reported "support, moral or otherwise" to Muslims in the island's explosive Eastern Province. Bashir Wali is a former director of the Intelligence Bureau. He is said to have made statements extending support to the Muslims in Eastern Province, which has rattled and angered the LTTE.
Eastern Province - once predominantly Tamil - is today a volatile mix of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim populations. Some of the worst inter-ethnic massacres and fighting in Sri Lanka's two-decade-long civil war has taken place in the east, and it is here that the 2002 ceasefire - which exists only on paper today - has been the most tenuous.
Relations between the LTTE and the Muslims have been troubled. Tamils, especially the Tigers, have always been suspicious of the loyalties of the Muslim community. In 1980, the Muslims were provided with arms by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force, ostensibly to protect them against the LTTE. It only served to deepen the Tamil-Muslim divide. In recent years, reports have surfaced from time to time of armed militias like the Osama Group and the Muttur Jetty Group having emerged in the east. These outfits, consisting of a dozen or so members, are said to be anti-LTTE.
Given the LTTE's already fragile hold over the population in the east - with the exit of its eastern commander "Colonel" Karuna this control has weakened even more - it is not surprising that the LTTE is wary of anyone seen to be meddling in Eastern Province. Bashir Wali's alleged support to Muslims in the east would no doubt have raised the hackles of the Tigers.
Bashir Wali's tenure in Colombo is said to be ending. Informed sources in Colombo told Asia Times Online that Muslims in the eastern town of Muttur, near Trincomalee, were thinking of petitioning the Pakistani government to extend Bashir Wali's tenure as high commissioner in Colombo.
The LTTE attack on the Pakistani envoy in Colombo on Monday was a signal to Islamabad that it doesn't approve of Pakistan providing weaponry to the Lankan government and that it would not it tolerate Pakistan messing around in what it considers as its turf.
Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
San,
Also read this
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200608060350.htm
LTTE killing civilians, says Sri Lanka Govt.
Colombo, Aug. 6 (Xinhua): Sri Lanka Government on Saturday accused the LTTE of killing over 100 civilians including women and children for supporting the security forces in the Muslim-dominated town of Muttur in the eastern province.
A statement from the National Security Media Center said that while the displaced Muslim were fleeing Muttur, "Tigers blocked them at Pachchanoor area and killed over hundred including women, youth and children during the night on Friday."
These civilians had been supporting the troops before the LTTE began pounding Muttur town with mortar and shells in the early hours of Wednesday.
There was no immediate response from the LTTE to the allegation.
The LTTE and the Muslim have a long history of animosity with a large number of Muslims being chased out of the main Tamil town of Jaffna by the Tigers in 1990 during the height of their armed separatist struggle to create a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.
The clashes in Muttur since Wednesday drove the Muslim population to the safety of neighboring Kantalai town, where some 15,000 refugees are being accomodated in makeshift relief camps on Saturday.
Subramanian Swamy is one of most devious politicians in India. Few years back, I have seens his articles criticising RSS and he used to back up his claim saying that he used to go to Bal Shakha. I think he is spreading his bet. He is sure that BJP would return to power. I think it would be wise for sangh parivar to keep him at arms length
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