we the state - issue 4 vol 2
TRANSCRIPT
7/27/2019 We The State - Issue 4 Vol 2
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We OCTOBER 21 TO OCTOBER 27, 2013 POSTAL REGD. MP/BHOPAL/4-323/2013-15
RNI NO. MPENG\2012\46415
Online edition available at wethestate.com and wethestate.blogspot.in
Ragini Dwivedi Reveals Her CrushRagini Dwivedi Reveals Her Crush
...Car toon by K G OJHAkgojha@redif fmail.com
Cracks in faction-ridden
Cong come out in open
Ho w W E lo o k it !
BHOPAL
Cracks in the faction-ridden state Con-
gress, which is desperately trying to
put up a united face ahead of assembly
election, have come out in the open over tick-
et distribution.
A meeting of Congress MPs from Malwa re-
gion was called recently to take stock of
preparations for Rahul Gandhi's proposed
meeting in Indore on October 24. During the
meeting, MPs spent more time on preparing a
strategy to stop Jyotiraditya Scindia- KamalNath combine from walking away with most
of tickets in the state assembly elections,
sources said. Party MPs Meenakshi Natrajan,
Arun Yadav, Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi and
Premchand Guddu were present at the meet-
ing. The four reportedly took the line that
when Scindia and Kamal Nath are not mem-
bers of the screening committee how could
they participate in its meeting. Obviously,
fearing that the two would try to influence the
decision of the committee on tickets distribu-
tion, the four reportedly talked to Sajjan Singh
Verma and Uday Pratap Singh to get their sup-
port for the campaign against screening com-
mittee functioning, said a leader in the know
of development. Their action reportedly had
the backing AICC general secretary Digvijaya
Singh, who was at Hoshangabad on Wednes-
day and later came to Bhopal.
Before leaving Bhopal, Digvijaya told media
that those who are not members of the screen-
ing committee should not attend its meeting.
The group of MPs shot off a letter to Con-
gress president, Sonia Gandhi apprising her
of Scindia and Kamalnath "high-jacking" tick-
et distribution exercise in MP and holding the
party in charge in the state Mohan Prakash
responsible for it.
They also sought time with Sonia Gandhi on
Friday and four of them were in Delhi. How-
ever, they could not meet her. "I have not gone
to Delhi. I don't know the MPs who want to
meet Sonia Gandhi regarding the screening
committee meetings," Sajjan Singh told me-
dia. Party sources said Digvijaya Singh
through this move was targeting Mohan
Prakash rather than Scindia or Kamalnath.
For it was he who cut him to size after takingover as in charge general secretary of the Con-
gress in the state in place of V K Hari Prasad.
Vol-02. Issue-4. Bhopal. Monday Page-12. Price-`5/-
he State
Aspirants rely on blackmagic for party ticket
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WE THE STATECapital2 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Aspirants rely on black magic for party ticketBHOPAL
Ahead of the Assembly elections in
Madhya Pradesh, leaders are engaged
in practicing hypnosis. Some of the
leaders are taking shelter of black mag-
ic and sorcery for getting tickets from
their respective parties while those who
are sure of ticket are trying the unnat-
ural practices for winning the elections.
The period between Dussehra and Di-
pawali is considered as the best time for
these practices.Leaders of major politi-
cal parties are engaged in practicing
hypnosis soon after the election exami-
nation date was declared. Some of the
leaders are even practicing the unnatu-
ral means for weakening their oppo-
nents.
Experts of the field are of the view
that the ongoing period as the golden
period for these unnatural practices.That is why leaders are engaged to per-
form rituals from Mass hypnosis to Ra-
jyog pujan for getting power beside oth-
er unnatural practices.
A youth legislator from the State capi-
tal is doing Tantra Sadhna in his con-
stituency. He reaches the temple daily
after it doors are closed at midnight and
performs Tantra Sadhna with complete
rituals. A Minister of the State Cabinet
has oraganised Paath (recitation) in Da-
tia while another senior Minister of the
State Cabinet has organised Jap (chant)
in the Mahakal temple at Ujjain while a
senior leader from the State went to
Salkanpur last days with his wife and
perform special pujan of Goddess.
A national office bearer of the BJP
routed special prayers at the famous
Pitambara Peeth of Datia just three
days back. A Minister from Indore is
routing special prayers at the famous
Chamunda Goddess temple of Dewas
and another legislator from Indore is
routing special prayers at the Bijasantemple of Indore for getting party tick-
et.
From Congress side a senior leader
said to be in the run for chief minister’srace has routed special prayers at a tem-
ple in Gwalior.
According to sources most of the min-
isters, legislators and those seekingtickets are engaged in prayers of God-
dess and hypnosis to get things done as
per their wish.
BJP workers to have greatersay in candidate selectionBHOPAL
Amid the flood of support for
chief minister Shivraj Singh
Chauhan, there is a strong un-
der-current of rebellion within the rul-
ing BJP. With approaching assembly
elections, anti -incumbency and fear of
workers' unrest is staring the BJP in the
face.
As a way-out, the state unit of the par-
ty has hammered out a three-tier scruti-
ny procedure from grassroots to the top-
brass to involve party workers in the se-
lection of "winnable" candidates for
who they are willing to campaign. Situ-
ation is such that no leader or sitting
MLA can take his candidature for grant-
ed.
Even sitting ministers will have to un-dergo the process to be able to get a tick-
et from the constituency of their choice.
Reason: workers from Sheoni-Malwa in
Hoshangabad and Pathariya in Damoh,
constituencies of forest minister Sartaj
Singh and minister for agriculture de-
velopment Ramkrishna Kusmariya,
have protested for a change of candi-
dates in the BJP office.
Ministers of the government are also
aware that a huge alteration in tickets
distribution is essential for the party to
make its hat-trick in Madhya Pradesh.
Nine times legislator and veteran min-
ister for urban development Babulal
Gaur has opined on record that the par-
ty needs to change candidates in at least60 of the 230 seats to ensure its return.
Minister for industries and commerce
Kailash Vijayavargiya too maintained
change of face in 50 to 60 seats.
BJP national vice-president Prabhat
Jha explained: "A drastic change of can-
didates is in the process. However, in
2008 too, the party had changed as many
as 53 candidates though more as a fall-
out of the delimitation of constituen-
cies rather than agitation within the or-
ganisation."
The selection of candidates is being
primarily worked on by chief minister
Chauhan, party president Narendra
Singh Tomar and organisational gener-
al secretary Arvind Menon. Without
mentioning the names of probable can-
didates, the BJP is approaching workers
at the levels of district office-bearers,
divisional heads and coordinators,
grassroots and even former BJP state of-
fice-bearers with some questions like:
"How many BJP persons can win the
polls from your constituency? And who
is the best candidate amongst them?"
"Candidates will be sieved like tea
leaves on a strainer," said a top BJPleader. "Only the finest will get through
this selection method. The candidate fi-
nally selected will be the choice of
grassroots workers, district level func-
tionaries and divisional committees.
Once the names have been finalized,
everyone will have to come forward and
help in campaigning because the candi-
date has been selected by popular
choice. This will beat the sudden insur-
gency through the ranks before the
polls."
It will take one more week for the pri-
mary selection of candidates. Most
seats are likely to have two names
through one-third seats will have single
candidates when the list is sent beforethe state election campaign committee.
The committee will then use its powers
and approve the final list of candidates
from the names chosen by party work-
ers. The last step would be to send this
list to the BJP national campaign com-
mittee which will put its stamp of au-
thorization.
Rahul’s healing touch forRatangarh stampede survivors
BHOPAL
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi
was stunned during his recent visit toMadhya Pradesh after a victim of the
October 13 Ratangarh temple stampede in
Datia narrated her ordeal and alleged how
police threw her into the river during the
stampede.
Some of the victims claimed that doctors
and officers of district administration were
trying to discharge them forcefully. A visibly
agitated Gandhi expressed his unhappiness
over the complaints and asked the doctors to
take steps for better treatment.
Rahul reached Datia district hospital and
met five victims and their relatives, who
were injured in the stampede. During his
nearly 10-minute visit to district hospital,
Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Jyotiraditya
Scindia and other Congress leaders, inquired
about the condition of t hose undergoing
treatment in the general and emergency
wards from their families and doctors. He
promised the victims and their families all
possible help.
A few victims told him that they haven't re-
ceived the promised treatment yet. Gandhi
was originally scheduled to reach here at 9.30
am. It was re-scheduled to 2.45 pm, but due to
a last minute change in his plans, he reached
Datia district hospital at around 5.30 am from
Gwalior. After spending around a few min-utes in the general ward there, he went to the
emergency room where he spoke to patients
and their relatives.
"I was pushed into the river by the police,
and I suffered injuries in my back and shoul-
ders," Sirku Bai, 60, resident of Datia told
Rahul, who then asked doctors to refer her to
Gwalior for further treatment.
Another survivor Bhagwan Singh com-
plained of inadequate medical facilities at
the hospital. Gandhi directed doctors to en-
sure that none of the victims faced any prob-
lems during medical treatment.
Total of 46 of those injured in the tragedy
have been admitted in the hospital at Datia
while others are undergoing treatment in
Gwalior. There were also a few who got them
re-admitted a few hours before Gandhi's
scheduled visit. He also met medicos and in-
quired about the facilities besides status of
the victims. The state government recently
constituted a judicial commission to probe
the stampede at Ratangarh in Datia district,
which claimed the lives of 120 people from
the state and neighbouring UP.
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WE THE STATEEditorial3 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
ASTROLOGY
23-10-2013- Wednesday - Kartik
Mah Krishnapaksh- Chaturthi
Positive direction - South and
West
Bad time - 12:08 pm to 1:36
pmGood time - 6:16 am to 9:12 am
and 3:04 pm to 6:00 pm
24-10-2013-Thursday - Kartik Mah
Krishnapaksh-Panchami
Positive direction - West and
South
Bad time - 1:36 pm to 3:04 pm
Good time - 6:16 am to 7:44 am
and 10:47 am to 1:35 pm and 4:32
pm to 6:00 pm
25-10-2013- Friday - Kartik Mah
Krishnapaksh-Shashthi
Positive direction-West and South
Bad time - 10:40 am to12:08 pm
Good time - 6:16 am to 10:39
am and 12:09 pm to 1:36 pm and
4:32 pm to 6:00 pm
26-10-2013- Saturday - Kartik
Mah Krishnapaksh-Saptami
Positive direction -West and NorthBad time - 9:12 am to 10:40 am
Good time - 7:44 am to 9:11 am
and 12:08 pm to 4:32 pm
27-10-2013- Sunday - Kartik Mah
Krishnapaksh-Ashtami
Positive direction- West and North
Bad time - 4:32 pm to 6:00 pm
Good time - 7:44 am to 12:08pm and 1:44 pm to 3:04 pm
28-10-2013- Monday - Kartik Mah
Krishnapaksh-Navami
Positive direction-East and North
Bad time - 7:44 am to 9:12 am
Good time - 6:16 am to 7:43 am
and 9:13 am to 10:40 am and 1:36
pm to 6:00 pm
29-10-2013- Tuesday - Kartik Mah
Krishnapaksh-Dashmi
Positive direction- East and North
Bad time - 3:04 pm to 4:32 pm
Good time - 9:12 am to 1:40 pm
Vastu tips for electrical and
By AACHARYA SARVESH
E-Mail: [email protected]
Mobile: 9826609192
VASTU TIPS FOR ELECTRICAL
AND ELECTRONIC APPLIANCES
• Always place Cooler or A.C in
West or North direction of your
room.
• Geyser and other electrical
appliances like heater and
switchboard should be installed
in South-East corner of
bathroom.
• Avoid placing computer in frontof your bed as it will act as a
mirror and can release negative
rays in your room.
• Vastu recommends South-East
direction for placing Television
in the room.
Congress finally wakes up to Modi’s appealI
t was after a series of very success-
ful Modi rallies in Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Rewari and Delhi that the
Congress has deemed it necessary to
even acknowledge his appeal.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gand-
hi’s assertion at a public meeting in Ut-
tar Pradesh that the next regime will be
a government of the youth and the poor
is reassuring to Congress workers in a
modest way. Caught in the throes of
mounting anti-incumbency caused by
political and economic mismanage-
ment, supporters of the UPA have been
grappling with uncertainty over what
the incumbent administration’s 2014
poll plank will be. Rahul hasn’t provid-
ed all the answers, but at least he has
clearly indicated that a Bharat versus
India theme, garnished with the 1970s’
Indira Gandhi-style populism will be a
key feature of the Congress’ poll plank.
Clearly, the foot soldiers of the Con-gress are in dire need of some direction
in the face of a concerted Narendra
Modi offensive that seems to be gather-
ing more and more momentum and
even threatening to sweep away every-
thing in its path. For many months, the
Congress has been in a state of strategic
confusion and even a measure of clari-
fication has been welcomed by all those
who feel threatened by a Modi victory.
The reasons why the Congress has
been tardy in responding to a formida-
ble challenge are worth exploring. For a
start, the Congress always felt that the
status of Modi in the BJP and the NDA
would always be ambiguous. It relied on
assessments by experts and insiders
that Modi wouldn’t ever be acceptable to
the Sangh fraternity.
There was also a section of the Con-
gress that genuinely believed that
Modi’s appeal was limited to a fringe in
the BJP and that his mere entry into the
national arena would lead to an auto-
matic swelling of the anti-Modi ranks.
Whatever the reasons, the Congress was
caught unawares by the rapidity of po-
litical developments. The Congress per-
sisted in viewing Modi as a mere re-
gional player with limited or no appealoutside Gujarat. This may explain why
a disproportionate number of Congress
leaders from Gujarat were wheeled out
for TV appearances to counter Modi
supporters. Modi, it was felt, didn’t de-
serve the big guns blazing against him.
It was after a series of very successful
rallies in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Rewari
and Delhi that the Congress deemed it
necessary to even acknowledge that
they were being confronted by a force
with a rock star appeal. No wonder Fi-
nance Minister P Chidambaram has
been propelled into launching a frontal
attack on a man who was earlier deemed
too insignificant to even merit acknowl-
edgment by the top leadership.
This strategic miscalculation by the
Congress has induced a sense of panic
in the party. This dread of Modi has
forced the Congress to devote a major
chunk of its campaign into a high-cost
publicity campaign aimed at ‘exposing’
the Gujarat chief minister as a poor ad-
ministrator, a man who devours Mus-
lims and who may lead us into a nuclear
war. Projecting Modi as the devil incar-
nate will form a big part of the Con-
gress’ campaign plank for 2014.
Whether such an approach works ornot, such an approach will inevitably
make Modi the main figure of the elec-
tion. This may unite the anti-Modi
forces into forging a grand alliance, but
there is an associated risk of popularis-
ing Modi to an audience that had either
never heard of him or not known too
much about him till a month ago.
That the Congress may be willing to
take that risk is indicative. It suggests
that the party is loath to focus too much
attention on its 10-year record of gover-
nance, and even unwilling to showcase
its own leadership too much. This is un-
derstandable. For all his other charms,
Rahul has shown himself to be notori-
ously erratic and temperamental. In the
course of a fortnight, he has under-
mined the prime minister to the point
of mockery, been unmindful of the Con-
gress allies and rubbed potential allies
such as Mayawati and Mulayam Singh
Yadav up the wrong way. And there is
still another six months of intense cam-
paigning left.
PM can’t assert himself in family-owned party
The people of India were unreasonable
in expecting the Prime Minister to
suddenly assert himself and resign
after Rahul Gandhi's scathing statements. It
is not possible to acquire a backbone
overnight.
Millions of fellow citizens must have won-
dered why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
swallowed the insult heaped on him by the
Congress’s crown prince and meekly with-
drew the ordinance to protect criminal politi-
cians. As Singh announced his continuance
in office despite the humiliation, many
would have seen this as a basic flaw in hischaracter because by clinging to his chair he
had compromised the dignity of the office of
Prime Minister.
Those who demand such lofty standards
from Singh and others in his Cabinet seem to
forget the basic premise on which the Nehru-
Gandhis, who have a proprietorial hold over
the Congress, conduct their politics and run
the party. Since the days of Jawaharlal
Nehru, there is a simple rule at work. When-
ever a policy or an idea is well implemented
by a Congress Government, whether at the
Centre or in a State, all credit must be laid at
the door of the party’s first family. Axiomat-
ically, when things go wrong, someone in the
Government or the party must take the
blame.
This principle is at work all the time. Con-
gress president Sonia Gandhi and the core
group that oversees political matters cleared
the amendments to the election law. The
Prime Minister and members of the Union
Cabinet were merely to execute the decision.
This exercise went on from August 22 until
the end of September when the ordinance
was sent to the President for his signature.
After remaining a silent spectator for fiveweeks, Rahul Gandhi suddenly surfaced to
say that the ordinance was ”complete non-
sense” and must be thrown away. This late re-
alisation came in the wake of public anger
over the Government’s desperate attempts to
protect criminal-politicians and President
Pranab Mukherjee’s reluctance to mechani-
cally sign on the dotted line.
Following Gandhi’s outburst, the Prime
Minister timidly announced withdrawal of
the ordinance, allowed his name to be sullied
and ensured that Gandhi and the party’s first
family came out looking good. By doing so,
Singh was reiterating his commitment to the
first principle of governance as far as the
Nehru-Gandhis are concerned. Only those
who understand this principle and complete-
ly adhere to it can secure key positions in the
party and the Government.
This started during Jawaharlal Nehru’s
time when sycophants in the Congress al-
ways insulated him from criticism and
blamed others for bad policies or deci-
sions.(share your views at editor@wethes-
tate.com)
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WE THE STATEPolitics4 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Kailash deliberatelycourting controversy?
BHOPAL: State Industry Minister Kailash
Vijayvargiya who has the knack of courting
controversy for his off-the-cuff remarks, ap-
peared to have gone deliberately on a colli-
sion course with the Election Commission of
India.
Sources in the BJP said that fearing defeat
in the Assembly elections Vijayvargiya did
not wish to contest the Assembly elections
but was eyeing for the Indore Lok Sabha seat.
The recent behaviour of the Minister has
also given air to the speculations that fearing
defeat from the Mhow Assembly constituen-
cy he wanted that something like that
happen that Election Commission disqualify
him from contesting this assembly election.
So that his reputation also remained main-
tained and as per the strategy he would be-
come contender for the Indore Lok Sabha
seat.
Political circles in the state are agog with
this strategy of Vijayvargiya. As per his
strategy first he openly distributed money
among a section of people in a religious func-
tion at Mhow and subsequent complaint of that was done with the Election Commission
(EC) by the Congress party.
Vijayvargiya does not stop after this and
struck again in a function and said that he
did not believe in the Election Commission
and its election code of conduct.
Taking serious note of Vijayvargiya’s re-
marks against the EC, the State Congress
spokesperson Narendra Saluja brought Vi-
jayvargiya’s statements into the notice of
EC, seeking a disciplinary action against
him. EC also called for the report of his be-
haviour from the Indore collector.
Meanwhile the EC has served notice to
Kailash Vijayvargiya for alleged violation of
model code of conduct.
However, after receiving notice from Elec-
tion Commission of India for violating elec-
tion code of conduct and passing contemptu-
ous remarks against the Commission, Vijay-
vargiya sulked and said he shouldn't have
passed such a remark against EC.
"I will reply to the notice but I shouldn't
have said what I said about the Election Com-
mission," he said.
Cong rattled by Madani’s warning to ‘secular’ parties
It's not difficult to understand why Con-
gress leaders are rattled by Maulana
Mahmood Madani's warning that so-
called secular parties can no longer get Mus-
lim votes by invoking the fear of an individ-
ual. The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind chief has
said in direct language what many others
have been hinting at for some time now: Stop
scaring the Muslims by projecting Narendra
Modi as a demon who is out to devour them,and tell the minority community what you
have done for their welfare.
The Congress has been milking the Muslim
community by creating and then playing on
fears that the BJP's prime ministerial candi-
date spells doom for the Muslims of the coun-
try and must, therefore, be shut out. That
strategy has worked to an extent but it's past
the shelf-life now. Although Madani did not
endorse the Gujarat Chief Minister, his state-
ment has led to predictable reactions from
Congress leaders, who have questioned the
Jamiat chief's “sudden love” for Modi. In-
stead of condemning the Maulana, the Con-
gress must introspect on his observations,
which are rooted in reality. The party has
done precious little for the minorities in its
decades of rule since independence. Had it
been otherwise, the Muslims would not be
nurturing the grievance of being left out of
the mainstream or not being empowered
enough.
The social indicators of the minority com-
munity are far from robust in most of the
States that the Congress rules — or for that
matter other so-called secular parties do.
Various Government panels have suggested
a plethora of measures to uplift the commu-
nity. Why would have all these b een
necessary if the ‘secular' parties had truly
addressed the needs of the Muslims? The fact
is that such parties have used the Muslims as
vote-banks by raising the bogey of commu-
nalism.
But the community has begun to seethrough their game and is no longer willing
to be taken for granted. An indication of this
is Gujarat where, despite vile propaganda
that the Congress has indulged in, a large
number of Muslims have in recent months
voted for the BJP led by Modi. The Congress
fears that Madani’s blunt call could upset its
applecart in the coming Lok Sabha election
where it hopes to secure the minority votes
in crucial States such as Uttar Pradesh,
though it also believes that the Maulana has
limited appeal among the Muslim voters.
Caught on the wrong foot, the Congress is
now seeking to discredit the Maulana by
slyly pointing out (without wanting to go on
record) that the cleric and others of his ilk
are trying to remain politically relevant in
an election season. They have also indicated
that Madani’s remarks are part of his dis-
pleasure with the Congress because the
party seems to have nudged close to his r ival,
the Barelvi sect. The first accusation is
amusing, since parties like the Congress
(and the Samajwadi Party) have never hesi-
tated to use Muslim clerics to achieve politi-
cal goals. Instead of drawing inferences from
alleged internal tussles within Muslim reli-
gious organisations, the Congress must look
back at how it has exploited such differences
to suit its goals. Besides, Madani has made an
extremely relevant observation that must not
be seen merely from the prism of religion:
Political parties must refrain from seeking
negative votes and instead talk of deliver-
ables. This is as valid for any other political
party — Left, Right or Centre — as it is to the
Congress.
Both BJP & Cong can’t ignore AAP in DelhiN
ot many gave Arvind Kejri-
wal a fighting chance when
he began a career in elec-
toral politics virtually from scratch.
The circumstances surrounding the
founding of the Aam Aadmi Party
were less than propitious; the party
came into being as an act of despera-
tion that followed the collapse of the
Anna Hazare led Janlokpal move-
ment. Much to the unconcealed glee
of the political establishment, Kejri-
wal entered their arena and was con-
sidered by most to have written his
obituary from public life.
Things have not gone exactly to
script. While the AAP might not
quite be the frontrunner in terms of
electoral victory, it is certainly a sig-
nificant force, with both the Con-
gress and the BJP having no choice
but to take it seriously. For Sheila
Dikshit, the AAP plays the role of crystallising and sharpening the un-
ease that voters feel with a three-time gov-
ernment that seems to have lost its way in its
most recent term while for the BJP, riven by
internal dissent and diminished by the lack
of stature of its leaders, it is the AAP that
that seems to be coming between an outright
victory and a hung assembly.
Arvind Kejriwal and his team have man-
aged to shift gears quite dramatically. The
Janlokpal movement was essentially a media
driven enterprise. Cameras preyed on every
word uttered by Team Anna, something that
arguably magnified the power of the move-
ment as well as ensured its eventual demise.
The media induced hangover continued in
the early days of the AAP, with Kejriwal’s at-
tempt to unearth a scam a week. This method
had two problems- it was exceedingly
difficult to dig up meaningful new dirt all the
time and secondly, scams generated ratings
but not ground level electoral support. The
promise of the AAP is to offer a new way of
practising politics and giving fresh meaning
to the idea of democracy. The AAP is certain-
ly delivering on some fronts. Its method of
funding is unique, depending as it does on
supporters quite literally putting their mon-
ey. The low-cost form of campaigning re-
stores to democratic practice the idea of
treating each voter as an individual. The idea
that members of the legislature are represen-
tatives of people more than their rulers is
one that finds expression in the methods
used by the party. The campaign consists of
several volunteers, who are
part of the team not as profes-
sional political workers but
amateurs fired by the idea of a
new kind of governance. The
process of selecting candi-
dates too shows a desire to go
beyond the usual considera-
tions that govern the choices
made by traditional political
parties.
On the other hand, not every-
thing about the AAP is neces-
sarily new or easily
defensible. The advertising
campaign is crude and
borders on the vicious. Impor-
tantly, it is less than scrupu-
lously honest, making sweep-
ing generalisations about op-
ponents. The campaign is in-
creasingly centred around Ke-
jriwal, and the AAP some-times seems to be less a mass
movement than a cult around an individual.
Also, while it is exceedingly clear as to what
the AAP stands against, it is far from clear as
to what it supports. A single point agenda is
fine for a protest movement, but for a
political party, particularly new one, it can
become limiting.
Overall, the AAP is what it appears to be- a
brave new force with its heart in the right
place that is trying out an experiment in par-
ticipative democracy. As with the Janlokpal
movement, the real issue is not whether
Arvind Kejriwal has all the r ight answers or
whether the AAP is in fact the party that will
bring about change. It is best seen as an ex-
periment in democracy, flawed in some ways,
but alive and real in its intent.
7/27/2019 We The State - Issue 4 Vol 2
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WE THE STATEFeature5 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Smile, for your problems are smaller!SWECHCHHA OJHA
E-mail: [email protected]
I
f you are worried about small things, be
happy because you do not have bigger
things to worry about! Imagine if you
had a lot of big problems in your personal
life, at your workplace or in your family,
would you even care about how the dress
you wear at the party tonight matches with
two other girls at the same party, or how
your living room curtains do not match with
the sofa, how your spouse doesn’t have time
on weekends and keeps forgetting birthdays
and anniversaries or how there is less salt in
dinner tonight? I don’t think so.
Isn’t it a reason to be happy that you have
the option to be upset at or particular about
smaller things in life because you don’t have
to worry about bigger ones? Isn’t it a big rea-
son to smile that you have less reasons to
frown about? As soon as big things happenand bigger worries arrive in your life, you
will get to know how small things cease to
matter all at once and are replaced by wor-
ries that do not leave your mind free enough
to think about small things at all. Now the
curtains, the school homework, the dress,
the looks, the broken nails, the old car, the
laptop that is not working since last evening,
the rain that wouldn’t stop and keep you
from reaching office in time or the friend
who always keeps you waiting for an hour
before turning up for the movie, all these do
not matter as soon as a very loved one of
yours has a disease to fight, you have a low
salary to fit up with the increasing expens-
es, the failure in career that you have to han-
dle, the new flat that you have to look for
when you are asked to leave your home, the
job interviews that constantly keep telling
you that you do not fit their eligibility crite-ria, the failure to understand how to deal
with people and relationships, all those big
things, all those extreme situations that do
not leave us the stamina to fight for very
small things are the ones that keep explain-
ing to us that the smaller problems that we
used to think were too big weren’t actually
real problems at all! And the small things
give us the chance to understand that we are
lucky to have smaller things to worry about
rather than the bigger ones.
When we go around the world and see how
many people are lying around without any
good clothes, food or anything that is too
common for us that we don’t even notice
their existence or even understand how im-
portant they are for the life we are living. If
we think of the problems the people on the
road face, we can easily compare our own
problems with them and understand howsmall they are in comparison with other
people’s problems. And one is not even re-
quired to see other people’s problems, just
think about the bigger problems you have
had to face in your past yourself! Aren’t the
little things you’re thinking as problems
now are way too smaller than those earlier
ones to be even called problems? Isn’t it eas-
ier to resolve things if we think of them as
smaller issues than we actually make them
appear to ourselves? We always worry about
small things and that worry gives the small-
est of things bigger shadows and scare us
just like a nightmare on a dark night! Why
do we need to torture ourselves by worrying
about things that do not need that much of
our attention? Why do we make small things
look like beg issues and make our life hard-
er than it actually is? Why do we not save all
the energy, stamina, thoughts and ideas for
bigger things that may come up from
nowhere when we are least expecting them
and all entangled in our pretty little prob-
lems!
It’s all in our own control, how bigger we
make a problem and how harder or easier
we make our life is all our own decision. We
have a pretty short life and it is our own de-
cision whether we make it full of problems
grudges and frowns or fill it with lights,
flowers, smiles and prosperity by letting
small things be small and leaving the bigger
ones on their own in order to come on their
own time and let them teach you how to dealwith them as they are and make you a better
and strong person. So leave things on their
own to grow in their own time, at their own
pace, and do not let smaller things grow a
shadow bigger than their reality! Face thing
just as they are and stop making things look
bigger than they are. And be happy that you
are able to worry for smaller things and do
not still know what actual problems are. Be
thankful to god and pray for these smaller
problems to always stay with you so that
there is no place for the bigger ones. Keep
smiling, keep loving! Bonne journée!
Shamed and scarred: Stories of ‘legal’ abortions in IndiaA
newly-constructed three–storied
building stood behind the mesh of
electric wires hanging from a half-
bent pole in Nangloi. The exterior was tinted
silver glass fitted into copper panels. A yellow
board declared the name of the doctor, boast-
ing several international degrees and medals
in gynaecolog y. The receptionist asked her to
sit in the waiting room. “There were three
other women there, all in their twenties,” she
recalls. She saw the doctor after half an hour.
“He saw my mangalsutra and asked me ‘Are
you really married?’, to which I had to confi-
dently reply in the affirmative. I made up astory about how my husband is travelling and
that’s why he couldn’t accompany me.” An ul-
trasound and a pelvic examination later, the
doctor confirmed that she had an incomplete
abortion because of pills she had taken be-
fore, and that infection had set in. He recom-
mended surgical evacuation. “He said the
only option to get rid of it was through some
vacuum aspiration method which would cost
Rs. 10,000.”
She got Rs. 3,500 per month as pocket money,
which included travel to college. Her friend
Gayatri lent her Rs. 2,000, and another friend
from college contributed Rs. 2,000. “I was still
short by Rs. 2,500. I lied to my father. I told
him my friend urgently needed money to pay
the security (deposit) at her paying guest ac-
commodation.” Her name is Mitra. She was
20 years old, in her second year of co llege.
Two weeks earlier, she had found out that she
was pregnant. Mitra’s boyfriend had stopped
taking her calls after she told him the preg-
nancy test was positive. Mitra had heard of
acquaintances and friends undergoing abor-
tions and had researched abortion pills on-
line. Armed with that knowledge, Mitra went
to a pharmacy and bought Cytotec, an abor-
tion-inducing drug sold for Rs. 32. Misopros-
tol—the generic name of Cytotec—cannot be
legally sold without a doctor’s prescription,
but it can be easily bought over the counter, as
was done by Mitra. She dutifully followed the
instructions to keep the tablets under her
tongue for 30 minutes. Mitra started bleeding
within two hours. Over the next two days, she
missed college due to heavy bleeding and nau-
sea, and later experienced morning sickness.
She thought that it was an after-effect. She
couldn’t sleep on her right side as it hurt. A
week had now passed. Her friend spoke to
some girls in her PG accommodation and sug-
gested the clinic in Nangloi. “I was let off af-
ter half an hour in the operation theatre. For
the next two hours, I was hallucinating,” she
says. A month later, she got a call from a
courier company to confirm her address.
Within an hour, a police officer with two
women constables landed up at her house in
Noida. The Nangloi doctor had been arrested
a week earlier under the Pre-Conception and
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT)
Act for conducting sex-selective abortions.
Mitra’s number was found on the doctor’s
phone. Mitra was not allowed to go back to
college. Her father didn’t speak to her for a
month, till she started experiencing heavy ab-
dominal pain and excessive vaginal bleeding.
A proper diagnosis revealed an infection in
her fallopian tubes: damage caused by the ir-
responsible surgical procedure performed by
the Nangloi doctor. Mitra will never be able to
conceive. She was forced to switch to the
school of correspondence courses in Delhi
University. She and her younger sister are
hardly let out alone. …….. In India, a woman
dies every two hours because she’s had an un-
safe abortion, according to estimates by Ipas,
an international organisation that works
with the National Rural Health Mission to re-
duce maternal deaths due to unsafe abor-
tions. In August, health minister Ghulam
Nabi Azad said data on the number of unsaf e
abortions in India was unavailable in the
Central Health Management and Information
System of the National Rural Health Mission.
According to government data for 2008-09,
however, a total of 11.06 million abortions
were recorded that year. Abortion was made
legal in India by the Medical Termination of
Pregnancy (MTP) Act, which was passed by
Parliament in 1971 and came into effect in
1972. The Act permits abortion if the doctorbelieves “in good faith” that “…the continu-
ance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to
the life of the pregnant woman or of grave in-
jury to her physical or mental health; or there
is a substantial risk that if the child were
born, it would suffer from such physical or
mental abnormalities as to be seriously hand-
icapped”. As a result of this focus on mater-
nal health, the onus still lies on the woman to
explain or prove how it will harm her physi-
cally or mentally. It is almost implied that
married women must state contraceptive fail-
ure and single women must state coercion or
rape as a reason for pregnancy. Merely stating
that it is an unwanted pregnancy is not
enough. Then, in 2004, the government en-
dorsed guidelines on the appropriate use of
Mifepristone and Misoprostol for self-in-
duced abortion. However, the government has
not yet introduced drugs for abortion in pub-
lic clinics and hospitals. On the face of it,
abortion is legal in India—unlike in a num-
ber of Western countries—but women have
hardly any control over their reproductive fu-
ture.
7/27/2019 We The State - Issue 4 Vol 2
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WE THE STATERegion6 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
BJP MLAs face workers’ ire in ChhattisgarhRAIPUR
T
he ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh is fac-
ing a rough weather in deciding its
candidates for the first phase of
polling due to massive resentment among
partymen against sitting legislators. This
even as the scramble for tribal votes intensi-
fy.
Polling for the first phase would be held in
12 assembly constituencies of the Bastar re-
gion.
Initially the BJP maintained that it was not
seeking any applications from prospective
aspirants for the 90 assembly constituencies
but later the party deputed a team of ob-
servers to sense the mood of party workers
in every assembly segment. It opened a Pan-
dora's box with BJP workers, led by a large
number of ticket seekers, coming out in open
against sitting legislators.
BJP in tribal Bastar region- where it hadwon majority of the 12 seats in the last two
polls in 2003 and 2008-is facing a piquant sit-
uation this time, ruling party c ircles said.
For the BJP, politics in tribal B astar had al-
ways revolved around veteran leader Bali-
ram Kashyap - a former minister during un-
divided Madhya Pradesh and a four-time
member of the Lok Sabha. After his death
two years ago, his kin who are also involved
in active politics in the region finds them-
selves struggling to fit in into the political
space vacated by the senior Kashyap.
In August this year, the 'prince' of the erst-while royal family of Bastar Kamal Chandra
Bhanjdeo joined BJP. Being the initial days
of new high-profile entrant into the party, the
already established party leaders, including
legislators, are still facing adjustment prob-
lems, worrying how politics of Bastar would
shape up in the coming years. It's learnt that
BJP is also treading with caution as far as
distribution of tickets in Bastar region is
concerned.
In announcing the list of candidates for the
first phase of polls on November 11, Con-
gress has taken the lead over the ruling par-
ty. "Our list of candidates is totally balanced
and overall it was welcomed. There is no re-
sentment at any level", said state Congress
spokesman Shailesh Nitin Trivedi.
The state BJP, however, sought to downplay
the Congress decision to field Alka Mudali-
yar, wife of slain Congress legislator Uday
Mudaliyar who was killed in May 25 Maoist
ambush in Bastar, against chief minister Ra-
man Singh in Rajnandgaon saying "Singh
had nursed the constituency well and have adirect connect with voters. I don't think that
emotional card will work against him". Dur-
ing the last few days, BJP workers from vari-
ous constituencies including some ministers
and other senior legislators were mounting
pressure on the party for replacing their sit-
ting legislators. In the state capital, a group
of party men demanded fielding a new face
from Dharsiva, being represented by senior
legislator Devji Bhai Patel. Patel's supporters
too went to party office to show their
strength. Besides, there has been a strong op-
position against nearly two dozen out of the
50 sitting BJP legislators-indicating towards
the strong anti-incumbency factor prevailing
in the state.
Chief minister Raman Singh said "Winning
prospects is the only criteria for tickets". He
indicated that the party might replace about
10 to 15 candidates to introduce new faces.
Meanwhile, party sources indicated that
some of the legislators could be denied ticket
and would be fielded in the Lok Sabha polls
as part of a strategy while few sitting MPscould get tickets to contest the assembly.
Tech-savvy tribal youths take tosocial media to trigger a change
INDORE: Cut off for years of neglect, a
group of educated and tech-savvy tribal
youths have taken to social media in a big
way to trigger a change at the hustings. Un-
shackled by considerations of winnability,
they are trying hard to set an agenda for the
larger good of t heir lot. Disgusted with the
present crop of politicians for their failure to
highlight issues related to tribals, educated
youths have put social networking sites to
good use - campaigning for educated candi-dates from tribal areas. And yes, the social
sites are proving a potent tool.
Incidentally, it is the same group, which
had organized "Facebook Adivasi Yuva Sakti
Millan Samaroh" at Barwani in May this
year. Then, thousands of tribals from across
the country gathered there to discuss press-
ing issues and chalk out an action plan.
Five months later, taking it to the next lev-
el, they have started a campaign on social
networking sites to demand fielding of de-
serving educated candidates in the state go-
ing to assembly polls next month. They real-
ize the importance of numerical strength in
a state where tribals constitute 22 per cent of
population and 47 out of 230 assembly con-
stituencies are reserved for them. They know
well, political parties give ticket to tribal not
as a favour but of sheer compulsion
Dr Hiralal Alawa, senior resident doctor at
neurology department of All India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is the man who
conceptualized and kick-started the drive.
Till now, they have managed to get response
from nearly 8,000 educated tribal youth and
every day they receive 30 to 40 requests on so-
cial networking site.
Hiralal, who hails from tribal district of
Barwani, said after holding discussion with
educated tribal youths and analysing the
ground situation, they have realized that
tickets for assembly and parliamentary elec-
tion were given to illiterate tribals or candi-
dates, who were ignorant of real problems
confronting them.
"Despite having so many tribal MLAs and
MPs, genuine issues were never raised. If
you see the number of question asked by
these tribal leaders in assembly and Parlia-
ment, the number is almost nil," Hiralal said,
adding educated tribal youth should be g iven
political representation in the election so
that they can raise issues related to them at
the highest level.
Hiralal said internet and social networking
sites, in particular, have changed the sce-
nario. Today, most of educated tribal youths
are using mobile and internet and it has pro-vided us an opportunity to come together by
using social networking site, he said.
Laxman Maravi, 35, who is working after
doing ITI and a resident of Mandla district,
said candidates for assembly election should
be local, aware of local problems and should
be educated. "Even six decades after the in-
dependence, tribal areas have not seen light
of development. My village is 97km from dis-
trict headquarters and we have to travel
20km to reach road," Maravi said. Like Hi-
ralal, he strongly feels tribals' problem could
be solved by educated representatives.
Anil Gond, 29-year-old, said since the inde-
pendence tribals have been losers and have
gained nothing. They have to struggle for
small things. "Our anger is against the sys-
tem and not directed at any particular party.
Now, we want to change all that. Education is
important for uplift so we want that our c an-
didate should be educated who understands
the importance of quality education," Gond,
a science graduate from the Anuppur, said,
adding a large number of tribals are still de-
prived of quality education.
Akhilesh’s claims of a clean govt prove hollow
Communal riots, jailbreaks, kidnap-
ping, gun battles in courts and the
crippling power shortage are all tak-
ing their toll of UP’s economy The re-induc-
tion of controversial Uttar Pradesh politi-
cian Raghuraj Pratap Singh — better known
as Raja Bhaiya —as a cabinet minister in the
Akhilesh Yadav government symbolises the
rot that has set into the country’s most popu-
lous state under a young chief minister, who
raised public expectations sky high when he
stormed to power 19 months ago, only to dash
them.
The foreign-edu-
cated engineer-
turned-politician
Akhilesh was wel-
comed as a breath
of fresh air by the
people of the state
when the Sama-
jwadi Party rode
to power, rejecting
the authoritarian
rule of Mayawati.
People at large be-lieved that he
would break new ground and mark a clear
break from the inglorious path that
Mayawati and her predecessor Mulayam
Singh Yadav treaded.
The Samajwadi Party has always been
known to play vote-bank politics by appeas-
ing Muslims. Now, it has gone a step further
by seeking out Thakur votes, by re-inducting
Raja Bhaiya into the cabinet. Considering
that Raja Bhaiya has as many as 45 criminal
cases against him, there could not have been
a better example of cynical disregard for
public yearning to see better law and order
under the Akhilesh regime. All the claims of
the Samajwadi Party at the time of the last
elections of a clean government and an as-
sault on crime have been proved utterly hol-
low.
Indeed, law and order has become hostage
to political bosses, as had happened during
Mulayam Singh’s rule and with developmen-
tal works in doldrums, the tide is turning
against Akhilesh and could jeopardise the
Samajwadi Party’s performance in the gen-
eral elections due in the middle of next year.
Young Akhilesh is aware of the extent to
which the support for his party is eroding,
but does not have the gumption to tell his fa-
ther Mulayam and his henchmen that they
are harming the party grievously by playing
the politics of strong-arm tactics.
The state of deteriorating law and order is
manifest in how a senior minister has been
accused of kidnapping a chief medical offi-
cer; six gun battles have taken place inside
courts; there have been more than 12 attacks
on police stations and policemen; three jail-
breaks have been attempted; and seven com-
munal riots have left more than 12 dead
across the state. The situation is getting
worse instead of getting better.
Adding to the government’s woes is the se-
rious power situation and its crippling effect
on the state’s economy.
A new dimension was added to the
Akhilesh government’s use of minority Mus-
lims as a vote-bank and his patronage to land
mafias, when IAS officer Durga Shakti Nag-
pal, who was crusading against illegal min-
ing of sand in the Gautam Buddha Nagar,was suspended on the pretext that she had
got the boundary wall of an unauthorised
mosque in Greater Noida demolished, caus-
ing tension that jeopardised communal
peace in the area.
The serious mishandling of the Muzaffar-
nagar riots by the Akhilesh Yadav govern-
ment , in which at least 43 people were killed
and nearly 100 injured, has distanced the
Samajwadi Party from the very Muslims
who it sought to polarise in its favour. The
purported role of senior leader Azam Khan
in pressurising the policemen to prevent
them from controlling the rioters has
brought disrepute to the party as a whole.
The Congress Party, which is allied with
the Samajwadi Party at the Centre, did every-
thing to puncture Akhilesh’s credibility for
its own ends. Fearing that the mis-gover-
nance would prove a liability for the party in
the Lok Sabha elections due next year, father
Mulayam is now making it a point to pass on
the blame on to his son, to nurture the fiction
that the party would be different in the Lok
Sabha. But such gimmickry fools few.
7/27/2019 We The State - Issue 4 Vol 2
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I am the heroine of 'Krrish 3':
Priyanka ChopraMumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) Actress Priyanka Chopra in-
sists she is the heroine of 'Krrish 3', which also
stars Kangana Ranaut.
Kangana had initially turned down the film as she was con-
cerned about sharing screen space with Priyanka. Earlier,
Jacqueline Fernandez, Chitrangada Singh, had similar con-
cerns and they rejected the film.
"A lot of girls rejected that role. It is really stupid to do it as it
is an amazing role," Priyanka said.
7 Glamour WE THE STATEBHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Hrithik Roshan Uses Shahrukh Khan'sStrategy To Woo Tamil Audience
Bollywood in the recent years
is trying hard to increase its
base all across the world.
Mainly, filmmakers have set their
eyes on expanding a strong
market within the country. The
first among them, seems to be,
is none other than Tamil
Nadu, a place where Hindi
films hardly worked at Box
Office. It was superstar
Shahrukh Khan, who took ini-
tiative to reach the Kollywood au-
dience through his Ra.One. Soon a
few other stars followed him. The
latest person to use the thisstrategy is none other
than Hrithik
Roshan. Hrithik
Roshan, who is
gearing up for
his next release
Krrish 3, seems
to be following
the footsteps of
Shahrukh
Khan. He is
leaving no
stone un-
turned to pub-
licise the Hin-
di movie. The
Hindi actor re-cently confessed
that he has high-
est respect for nam-
ma Rajinikanth.
Hrithik went on to say
that the superstar is
like his mentor. It has to
be noted that the junior
Roshan had worked with the Endhi-
ran actor in Hindi movie Bhagwaan
Dada way back in 1986. "There are
so many. But I do want to work with
Rajini sir. I've worked in a
film with him years
ago as a child artist.
It would be an hon-
our if I could work
with him now,"
Hrithik said recently.
Sandalwood actress Ragini Dwivedi, who created a huge buzz, by saying that
she will be doing an item number in Bollywood movie, is making a news
again. The actress has revealed her crush's name in the micro blogging site.
After hearing the news, Ragini's fans thought it would be Kannada actor Loose
Madha aka Yogesh. But later, they were shocked by seeing the photo of a guy, who
does not belong to any of Indian film industry. It is reported that Ragini Dwivedihas posted the photo of the Hollywood star Gerard Butler on her social network-
ing and said that she is having a crush on him. She had also asked her followers,
do they know him. Ragini has also said that she fell in love with the actor at
first sight. This has left Ragini's fans with the broken heart and they gave
a mere response for the post by asking her, why she is going behind a for-
eign guy, when she can find many handsome hunks in India. Mean-
while, Ragini will be flying to Mumbai to shoot an item number for
the Bollywood movie Rambo Rajkumar, which stars Shahid
Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.
Ragini Dwivedi Reveals Her Crush
When Amitabh Bachchan was slapped by a monkey Man vs monkey. Monkey wins.
Sounds like a film plot? This is-
n't Rise Of The Planet Of The
Apes. It's much closer home -
Haridwar, in fact, was the set-
ting for a superstar-simian face-
off and the superstar in ques-
tion was no less a person than
Amitabh Bachchan.
Amitabh Bachchan's latest
Facebook memoir dates back to
the late '70s when Big B was
shootingGangi Ki Saugandh, co-
starring Rekha, Pran and Am- jad Khan, in Haridwar. The
shoot involved skin-of-teeth
horseback heroics and an un-
scripted close encounter with a gang of hard-
case langoors.
This is Mr Bachchan's retelling:
A picture that takes me back to the days of
shooting for Ganga ki Saugandh. This is on
the road as we drive to Laxman Jhula, near
Haridwar, over the sacred Ganges, where we
were shooting a sequence. For the first time
and perhaps the last, I was asked to gallop on
horseback on the bridge itself. It is a very del-
icately built construction at a height of ap-
prox a 100 feet above the river, of thin ropes
and some iron and just about enough width
to take single filed devotees on foot. Sultan
Ahmed, the director wanted reality, and
when the local army group that was with us
assisting in the shoot, declined to allow any
from their group to ride on, considering it to
be too dangerous, he asked me to do it live ..
which ... yes I did ..! They were wild days then
and such heroics were the order of the day !
But back to the picture. This a moment
while driving back to our rest house in
Haridwar. On the road are these monkeys
called 'langoors' ... they have almost white
faces and grey skin texture, very long tails
which possess the strength of an elephant,
loitering about in search of food. When a car
stops, they actually come alongside and vir-
tually beg for food to be given to them. I got
off the car and fed several of them with gram
and bananas, as can be seen by one of them
reaching out. An almost domestic like script
followed soon after this photograph. The oth-
er two or three 'langoors' by the side, noticing
that my attention was dedicated to this one
fellow, angered, jumped up and slapped me
on my face .. human like .. demanding that at-
tention be paid to him also ...
I cannot remember if it was a female ... !!!
ha ha ah ..
That person by my side is my make up man
Deepak Sawant .. he has served me for over 35
years ! And is still with me !!
7/27/2019 We The State - Issue 4 Vol 2
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WE THE STATEMust Read8 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Why Prince Charming Rahul Gandhi can’t win votes for Congress
‘Princeling Anointed’, said a Eco-
nomic and Political Weekly head-
line alluding to Rahul Gandhi‘s
promotion in the Congress as the party’s Vice
President. In the headline itself, the editorial
published in February this year summarizes
what ails Rahul’s political career and with it
the Congress’ poll prospects in 2014. The no-
tion that Rahul Gandhi has inherited his po-
sition in the political hierarchy of India as a
family heirloom and hence does not rightly
deserve to call the shots in the party which
aspires to run the Indian government for one
more term, constantly shadows all his efforts
to lead the Congress from the front in poll
campaigns. An Economic Times survey, con-
ducted in association with Nielsen, goes on to
strengthen the belief that Rahul is hardly an
answer to Congress’ woes in the upcoming
state and general elections. The survey
which covered more than 8,000 rural and ur-
ban respondents in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
reveals that a greater percentage of peopleseem to find Narendra Modi a more fitting
Prime Ministerial candidate than Rahul
Gandhi. The results show that in Bihar
alone, Narendra Modi gets a whopping 58
percent votes for becoming the PM and Rahul
Gandhi is stuck at 40 percent. An Economic
Times article, putting the Rahul-Modi battle
in yet another (of many) perspectives, says:
“While only 9 per cent respondents in Uttar
Pradesh found Gandhi a suitable candidate
for the prime minister’s post compared with
Modi’s 50 per cent, his rating was marginally
better in Bihar where 19 per cent backed the
Congress scion’s suit ability. But Gandhi
trails Modi in every category of voters —
gender, age groups and rural-urban. Modi, 62,
also has more traction among the young and
first-time voters, despite being 19 years older
than Gandhi.” One would wonder, what then,
except UPA’s miserable track record in the
past four years, that has eclipsed Gandhi.
Rahul’s political career might have been
lacklustre, but it is not exactly blotted with
allegations of corruption, misbehaviour or
violence. Unlike say a Salman Khurshid, the
young Gandhi doesn’t come across as having
a huge chip of elitism on his shoulder – you
wouldn’t hear him dropping names of uni-
versities he attended abroad. Unlike a Shashi
Tharoor from his own party, his personal life
is as controversy-free and insipid as his poll
competition, 62-year-old Narendra Modi.
Also, on a good day, he does try making theright noises about governance and the politi-
cal system in the country.
However, despite what seems like a perfect-
ly acceptable resume for a successful politi-
cian in India – right to the white kurta paja-
mas – Rahul’s potential is undercut by agamut of factors. And it starts with his se-
vere drought of charisma – no, not of the
dimpled youth type, but of the abrasive,
adrenaline-charged, decidedly masculine
variant that seems to strike a chord with the
masses at large. Aggression, which mirrors
the ferocity of dissent and frustration sim-
mering in people, seems to be the key to suc-
cessful poll campaigning this year – some-
thing that Narendra Modi has cashed in
abundantly. From taking down the Prime
Minister to deriding the Gandhis’ dynastic
approach to politics, Modi has made just the
sounds that the crowd loves to hear. Rahul on
his part has tried to replicate the same let’s-
clean-the-system chorus, but his claims have
been rendered hollow by the fact that he be-
longs to the first family of the party that runs
the government. While Rahul might drip hu-
mility in public rallies, his speeches point at
a sharp departure from the realities of con-
temporary politics. For example in Thurs-
day’s speech, while addressing a largely ru-
ral audience in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh,
Rahul said, “There are more people who go
hungry in Madhya Pradesh than in Africa.”
He made the rather questionable claim be-
fore an audience who is supposed to benefit
from the Food Security Scheme without
much realising that Africa’s long history of
malnutrition might be something that his au-
dience is neither aware of, nor cares for.
What such declarations effectively does isfirstly alienate the rural voter by talking to
them in a rhetoric that doesn’t interest them.
Then, he turns away the voter with interest
in such trivia with such misleading, point-
lessly hyperbolic information that only un-
derlines the immaturity of Rahul’s politicalidiom. At its best, Rahul’s speeches sound
like a spirited drawing room debate over a
cup of coffee – high on idealism, low of prac-
ticality. Then again, his overzealous attempts
to connect with the masses always runs the
risk of coming across as phony. To rid the
baggage of dynasty, Rahul’s bends twice over
to assure his voters that he is one of them. In
the Gwalior speech on Thursday and in sev-
eral other previous speeches, Rahul con-
stantly tries creating a ‘them-and-us’ binary.
When he speaks, he tries to speak in the voice
of the ‘other’ – the ones left out in the malls-
highways development scramble. “What is
the development they are talking about?
They want you to look at shiny cars and AC
rooms on a hungry stomach. We want you to
live a dignified life on the other hand,” R ahul
said. He almost makes the ‘shiny cars’ sound
like some evil of a world he and his audience
doesn’t belong to. However, even a poor farm
labourer will be sharply aware of the fact
that after the speech Rahul too will go back to
the same AC-luxury car life. Therefore, while
the leader-voter breach is a reality in all po-
litical narratives in India, in Rahul’s case it
becomes doubly obvious. The accusations of
incompetence against Rahul again is solely
based on the Congress’ performance in the
government over the past nine years. While
Modi has a fairly successful state adminis-
tration to flaunt, even though that is no clear
evidence of his talent to run multicultural,multi-ethnic country like India, Rahul hasn’t
even held a mildly important portfolio in the
government. Add to that the memory of his
initial reluctance to get involved in active
politics, and Rahul comes across as a politi-
cian by accident, not choice. To add to his
woes are his party colleagues, including
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‘s constant
reference of him as the Congress’ PM candi-
date in the upcoming polls. Though neither
of the Gandhis have come forward and made
any such claims, the rumours to that effect
have made Rahul seem like a politician with
zero administrative acumen or experience
aspiring to run the country at one go. Does he
seem like a convincing alternative to Naren-
dra Modi who has been voted into power as a
state’s CM for three terms in a row, despite
the riots in 2002? No. A administrator with no
experience versus an administrator who has
floundered once is hardly much of a stiff
contest. The EPW article succinctly sums up
the sentiments against Rahul and the Con-
gress: Rahul Gandhi’s mediocre political ca-
reer seems to have been no stumbling block
to becoming the Congress’ leader-in-waiting.This says a lot about the state of India’s
grand old party. The average Congress ac-
tivist is expected to spread the glory of the
first family; the second-rung of leaders is ex-
pected to implement what the first family
and its lieutenants decide, and the lieu-
tenants are chosen to serve the first family on
the basis of their loyalty to the Nehru-Gand-
his. And as the twin speeches in Madhya
Pradesh, parts of them almost identical,
showed, Rahul at times might come across as
an enthusiastic youth leader but he is far
from becoming an astute politician. One has
to refer to the difference in the BJP and
Rahul’s response to mishaps in BJP-ruled
and Congress-ruled states. From the commu-
nal riots in Assam to the flash floods in Ut-
tarakhand, the BJP hammered the Congress
government on lack of preparedness, shoddy
administration and weak relief system re-
lentlessly. Rahul, on the other hand decided
to bring up a fairly philosophical concern
over respecting the dead while admonishing
the MP government for two stampedes in five
years. He made no mention of administrative
failures, no mention of security lapses – he
said that the MP government doesn’t know
how to ‘respect the dead’.
What does a voter understand of him from
such a declaration – that he is more con-
cerned about secondary realities in his coun-
try. If he has failed to point out the adminis-
trative failures, he must himself have littleknowledge or understanding of the same.
And that doesn’t a great national leader
make.
Modi targetsUPA over
Unnao digging,
rakes upblackmoney
issue
CHENNAI
Raking up the issue of black-
money, BJP’s Prime Ministerial
candidate Narendra Modi today
targeted the government for being un-
able to bring back the money stashed
by Indian “thieves and looters” in for-
eign banks. He raised the issue while
mocking at the excavation being con-
ducted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh
after a saint said he had dreamt about
1000 tonnes of gold being underneath
at a place there.
“The whole world is laughing at us
over this bizarre exercise. Somebody
dreamt and the government has
launched an excavation…The money
hidden by thieves and looters of India
in foreign banks is much more than
1000 tonnes of gold. If you (govern-
ment) bring back that money, you won’t
have to do digging for gold (in Unnao),”
Modi said here while attacking the gov-
ernment. Addressing a gathering here,
the BJP leader said a “cyclone of
change” has gripped the nation. He re-
ferred to the cyclone ‘Phailin‘ which re-
cently hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh
and said it did not make much impact
as the “cyclone for change” is already
underway in the country. He said “peo-
ple are dreaming of Congress-free In-dia” and Tamil Nadu, where BJP has
little presence, is also part of this wave.
“In north India, nobody believes that
even in Tamil Nadu there is a wave of
change,” he said and referred to his big
rally in Trichy a few weeks back to but-
tress his point.
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WE THE STATECommerce9 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Entry of Foreign Airlines Will Benefit Travelers
The entry of foreign airlines into
India will be a boon for passen-
gers, but it creates potential
problems for the health of the domes-tic industry.
Three foreign carriers have an-
nounced plans to begin operations in
India. The increased competition will
help drive down fares, analysts say.
“It will give more traveling choices,
dense network, competitive fares and
improved service standards,” said
Kapil Kaul, chief executive for South
Asia at CAPA-Centre for Aviation, an
aviation consultancy.
Singapore Airlines Ltd.C6L.SG
+0.58%, AirAsia BhD5099.KU +3.97%and Etihad Airways plan to start oper-
ations in India, in partnership with lo-
cal companies.
AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s largest car-
rier by fleet size, plans to launch a
budget airlinein India.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad received ap-
proval from the Indian cabinet for its
plan to buy a 24% stake in Jet Airways
(India) Ltd.
Singapore Airlines is making its
third attempt to start an airline in In-
dia with Tata Sons.
The current rush of airlines entering
India follows the lifting of investment
restrictions by the government in Sep-
tember last year. Foreign airlines pre-
viously were barred from investing in
Indian carriers, because the govern-
ment feared that local companies
would be taken over by foreigners.
The investments come as the domes-
tic industry is picking up. More Indi-
ans are flying and airlines are able to
charge higher fares.
The rise in fares is mostly driven by
reduced capacity. The grounding since
last October of Kingfisher Airlines
Ltd., due to a cash crunch, led to a sud-
den shortage in plane seats.
While the entry of more competitorswill be good for consumers, it may be
bad for the overall health of the do-
mestic industry.
Most airlines struggle to remain prof-
itable, plagued by high operating costs.
Prices of jet fuel account for around
40% of an Indian carrier’s operating
costs, and are more than a third higher
than in Dubai or Singapore.
Airports fees at most of the major air-
ports are higher than their foreign
counterparts. The sector is also highly
capital intensive, with plane orders
typically costing billions of dollars.
To keep costs low, AirAsia India will
have its base in the southern metropo-
lis of Chennai, with additional hubs in
Kochi and Bangalore. The airline plans
to avoid popular (and profitable), but
expensive routes to Delhi and Mumbai.
Keeping costs down will be an essen-
tial component of staying profitable in
India.
“The (aviation) companies are prone
to becoming distressed assets due to
their cost structure related inefficien-
cies driven by taxation and regulatory
issues, high financial leverage and
chronic cash flow generation issues,”
India Ratings & Research Pvt., former-
ly known as Fitch Ratings India, saidin a recent report. High taxes on jet
fuel in India erode operating margins
by around 12%-18%.
The entry of new competitors could
spark a price war, which will be good
for travelers in the short term,
but worrisome for the long term health
of the domestic industry, the report
said.
Tough Times? Not for India’s Millionaires
Despite slowing economic growth
and a plunging rupee, Mother In-
dia gave birth to more than
20,000 new dollar millionaires in the last
year, outpacing most countries in the
number of new people who now need
seven figures to count their wealth.
While the country recorded its slowest
growth in a decade last year, it still ex-
panded 5%. That helped lift stock and
property prices and push 24,000 more
people into the coveted millionaire cate-
gory, according to figures released in
Credit Suisse Group report this week.
India continues to remain one of the
fastest-growing major economies in the
world. Over the last year the country’s
main stock market index has risen closeto 10% whileproperty prices remained
high – helping swell the ranks of the
wealthy. India had a total of 182,000 mil-
lionaires in 2013. Last year’s Credit Su-
isse report pegged the number at
158,000. Over the next five years India
could add another 120,000 millionaires,
Credit Suisse predicted.
As of the middle of 2013 the report
said India was also home to 1,760 indi-
viduals with wealth of more than $50
million and 770 individuals worth than
$100 million.
India added more millionaires than
most Asian countries, including Singa-
pore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong
Kong. While it trailed China, whichadded a whopping 159,000 millionaires
in the last year, India did better than the
other BRIC countries—Russia and
Brazil, both of which saw declines.
The rising number of new rich in In-
dia is good news for high-end luxury
product makers who are increasingly
betting on emerging markets to further
their fortunes.Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Daimler AG’s
Mercedes-Benz, Prada SpA., Compagnie
Financiere Richemont SA and other are
all expanding their operations to tap
this growth. Rolls-Royce is adding two
new dealerships in India in this year
alone.
“As the world’s largest democracy with
a strong federal structure and vibrantmarkets, India wealth has seen rapid
growth since the year 2000,” said Toral
Munshi, head of India equity research
for wealth management at Credit Su-
isse. “Wealth per adult has risen by
135% from $2,000 in 2000 to $4,700 in
2013, at an average rate of 8%.”
This isn’t to say India is bursting with
billionaires. Credit Suisse said a mea-ger 0.4% of India’s population has a net
worth — the value of homes, stocks and
other investments minus debts and oth-
er liabilities–of more than $100,000.
With the country’s huge population,
that translates into 2.8 million people.
Still, 94% of India’s population of 1.26
billion people still has less than $10,000.
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World10 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013 WE THE STATE
Pakistan: Suicide bomber kills 8, including Khyber province ministerPAKISTAN
A suicide bomber shot his way into the
residence of a provincial government
minister in northwestern Pakistan,
killing the official and seven others in
an explosion, police said. The blast on
Wednesday near the town of Dera Is-
mail Khan also wounded more than 30
people, senior police officer Mohammad
Jan said. The minister of law for Khy-
ber Pakhtunkhwa province, Israullah
Gandapur, was meeting with people at
his house to celebrate the Muslim Eid
holiday when the bomber struck, Jan
said.
The attacker first shot dead the guard
at the house before blowing himself up
inside the guest room of the minister’s
residence, the officer said.
The minister died on the way to the
hospital. The suicide bomber got very
close to the minister before the blast andcarried about 8 kilograms (17 pounds)
of explosives on his body, Jan said.
Hameedullah Khan, an aide to the slain
minister, said about 50 people were in
the room at the time of the explosion.
“Some were enjoying tea and sweets,
others were meeting and greeting,”
Khan said.
“I was meeting with the minister’s
brother Ikramullah when suddenly
there was a big bang followed by smoke,
(the) explosive’s smell and noise of cry-
ing people.” Khan said the blast
knocked him senseless until he saw the
minister lying in a pool of blood with
others. Khan suffered minor injuries.
The minister’s brother, also wounded in
the blast, was in stable condition, Khan
said. No one claimed responsibility for
the attack, but suspicion likely will fall
on the Pakistani Taliban and their al-
lies. The Taliban repeatedly have tar-
geted government officials and security
personnel, as well as civilians. Ganda-
pur was elected to the provincial assem-
bly in May as an independent. He later
joined the ruling provincial party led by
former cricket star Imran Khan and be-
came law minister.
He oversaw the office tasked with
drafting provincial laws. Khan has been
a strong proponent of peace talks with
the Taliban, but several officials from
his party have been killed in attacks
since the May election.
US Senate votes 81-18 to avert debt default, end shutdownWASHINGTON
The Senate passed legislation
Wednesday night to avert a US
debt default and end a govern-
ment shutdown, a bipartisan deal set
along President Barack Obama’s strict
terms that left Republican little to
show for the epic political drama that
threatened to rattle the world economy.The 81-18 vote sent the measure to the
House of Representatives, which was
expected to pass it late in the evening.
Obama pledged to sign it “immediate-
ly” after the House vote. The bill would
reopen the government through Jan.
15 and permit the Treasury to borrow
normally through Feb. 7 or perhaps a
month longer. It includes nothing for
Republicans demanding to eradicate
or scale back Obama’s signature health
care overhaul. Congress faces a dead-
line of 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to raise
the government’s borrowing authority
or risk a default on its obligations.
“We fought the good fight. We just did-
n’t win,” conceded House SpeakerJohn Boehner as lawmakers lined up
to vote on the bill. At the White House,
Obama hailed the Senate’s vote, saying
that once the measure reaches his
desk, “I will sign it immediately. We’ll
begin reopening our government im-
mediately and we can begin to lift this
cloud of uncertainty from our busi-
nesses and the American people.” The
stock market surged earlier Wednes-
day at the prospect of an end to the cri-
sis that had threatened to shake confi-
dence in the US economy overseas.
More than two million federal workers
— those who had remained on the job
and those who had been furloughed —
would be paid under the agreement.
Boehner and the rest of the top Repub-lican leadership told their rank and
file they would vote for the measure.
But he vowed Republicans were not
giving up on the fight to bring down
U.S. debt and cripple “Obamacare,” as
the president’s signature health care
overhaul is known. “Our drive to stop
the train wreck that is the president’s
health care law will continue,” Boehn-
er said in a statement. Harry Reid, the
Democratic Senate majority leader,
thanked Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Re-
publican minority leader, for working
with him to end what had become one
of the nastiest partisan battles in re-
cent Washington history. “This is a
time for reconciliation,” Reid said. Along line of polls charted a steep de-
cline in public approval for Republi-
cans in the course of what Republican
Sen. John McCain pronounced a
“shameful episode” in US history. The
deal would end the bitter standoff for
now, giving both parties time to cool
off and come up with a broader budget
plan or risk repeating the damaging
cycle again in the new year. The crisis
began on Oct. 1 with a partial shut-
down of the federal government after
House Republicans refused to accept a
temporary funding measure unless
Obama agreed to defund or delay his
health care law, known as “Oba-
macare.” It escalated when House Re-
publicans also refused to move onneeded approval for raising the
amount of money the Treasury can
borrow to pay U.S. bills, raising the
specter of a catastrophic default. Oba-
ma vowed repeatedly not to pay a “ran-
som” in order to get Congress to pass
normally routine legislation. The
hard-right tea party faction of House
Republicans, urged on by conservative
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, had seen both
deadlines as weapons that could be
used to gut Obama’s Affordable Care
Act, designed to provide tens of mil-
lions of uninsured Americans with
coverage. The Democrats remained
united against any Republican threat
to Obama’s signature program, and Re-publicans in the House could not
muster enough votes to pass their own
plan to end the impasse. McConnell
said the time had come to back away
for now from Republican efforts to un-
dermine “Obamacare.” But the feisty
minority boss said Republicans had
not given up on erasing it from the leg-
islative books. Passage in the House
will depend heavily on minority De-
mocrats to support it. The risky move
was seen as imperiling the House lead-
ership, but Boehner was apparently
ready to do it and end the crisis that
has badly damaged Republican ap-
proval among voters. Looking forward,
lawmakers were also concerned voters
would punish them in next year’s con-gressional elections. Polls show the
public more inclined to blame Republi-
cans. Republican Sen. Lindsey Gra-
ham said the party had hurt its cause
through the long and dangerous stand-
off. “This package is just a joke com-
pared to what we could have gotten if
we had a more reasonable approach,”
he said. Meanwhile, President Barack
Obama thanked the Democratic and
Republican leaders in the Senate for
passing the deal to end the partial gov-
ernment shutdown and avert a default.
Obama says now it’s time to win back
the trust of Americans that’s been lost
during the crisis. Obama spoke at the
White House minutes after the Senatepassed the measure. The bill calls for
opening the government through Jan.
15 and extending the nation’s borrow-
ing authority through February 7.
Obama says once these issues are re-
solved, he wants to move forward this
year on immigration, farm legislation
and a larger budget deal.
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WE THE STATESports11 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
Virat Kohli’s innings against Australia last night was anything
but manic. It was a record-breaking knock – faster than Viren-
der Sehwag’s 60-ball blitz by the proverbial mile – but he was
never rash. Yes, he hit 8 fours and 7 sixes in the innings but at no point
was he desperate; at no point was he just throwing his bat at the ball
in the hope of getting the desired result. It didn’t even seen forced…
rather the innings had an eerie
calm about it, a clarity of thought
that can only come from having
done something
like this over
and over
again. Of In-
dia’s top ten
chases – five
have come since
Kohli made his
debut and he hasplayed a key role in four of
them. That isn’t a coinci-
dence. It shows
that he has
a tem-
plate
– dif-
fer-
ent
from
Dhoni
and it
works.
Dhoni is still king when it comes to
chasing down a big total and aver-
ages 73.80 in Indian wins but Kohli’s
average of 67.79 (in Indian victo-
ries) is pretty great too. Dhoni’s
manner of working is to take it to
the end, get the opposition bowlers
nervous and then attack… he knows his nerves
will stand the test. Kohli, on the other
hand, breaks them down much earlier
– he doesn’t wait for the situation to
change, he changes it himself.
“Yesterday, I didn’t go into the nets.
I was hitting the ball well and feeling
good about my game. I just wanted to rest
and come into the game fresh,” said Kohli
after the match yesterday. “Then I hit a
four and a six in the Faulkner over. It felt
good and I just took it from there.” Kohli’s
greatest strength is his consistency – with-
out that an average of 50.92 (after 155 ODIs)
is impossible to achieve. Most batsmen
have specific areas that they like to hit
the ball in – that’s what they mean when
they say ‘it was right in the slot’ but in Kohli’scase there is no specific area. He isn’t troubled
by a particular ball, he has no apparent
weakness, he is fit and can
play shots all
around the
ground. So
when he gets
going, every-
thing is in the
slot. A look at
his wagon wheel
from yesterday re-
veals that only 7 runs came be-
hind the wicket – a sign that he was looking to play al-
most everything with a straight bat – none of those
dabs and nibbles for him. He also scored a total of 46
runs on the on-side and 54 runs on the off-side. The
numbers basically show that it didn’t matter where the
bowlers bowled… it was disappearing all the same with
effortless ease.
Record-breaking Kohli shows whyIndia’s future is in good hands
Pele launchesbook, breaks down
Sao Paulo, Oct 17: Brazilian football leg-
end Pele broke down as he recalled his
celebrated career during the launch of
a new book. The 500-page limited edition
book of the player widely regarded as the
greatest ever weighs 15 kg and has a recom-
mended retail price of $1,700, reports Xin-
hua. "This really makes me well up. It is a
legacy I left for Brazil," Pele said here
Wednesday. Titled "1283" , the number of
goals Pele scored, the book comprises 1283
texts. "It makes me think of all the people
who loved and helped me during my career,
my family, friends, the fans," the 72-year-old
three-time World Cup winner added. A spe-
cial edition of the book featuring a signed
image of Pele has also gone on sale for $2,600.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni breaks an Indian jinx at Mohali, but in vain
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
slammed his ninth century in ODIs when
he reached his hundred off 107 balls in
the third of seven-match series against Aus-
tralia in Mohali on Saturd ay. Captain Cool
conquered pain and a hostile piece of pace
bowling to steady a rocking Indian ship.
Dhoni strained his ankle while running a
quick single with Virat Kohli in the 14th over
and needed medical attention. But the strong
man that Dhoni is, the captain ignored pain
and in his typical fashion mixed caution with
aggression to keep the scoreboard ticking. He
became the first Indian to score a century atPunjab Cricket Association in Mohali. (High-
lights)
Dhoni came in to bat when India were down
to 76 for four after Suresh Raina (17) and Yu-
vraj Singh (0) got out on successive
deliveries. He then added 72 runs with Virat
Kohli (68) to lend some solidity. After Kohli's
departure, Dhoni was then joined by R Ash-
win (28 off 35 balls), who played a key role as
the duo put on 76 runs for the seventh wicket.
Dhoni's ninth century was laced with nine
fours and two sixes. He reached his hundred
with a glorious boundary. This is his second
century against Australia. He scored 121 off
124 balls in his first one on October 28, 2009 at
Nagpur that India won by 99 runs. (Score-
card)
Dhoni started relatively slowly but
launched into a massive counter-attack in the
death overs. He finally finished with 139 not
out off 121 balls. The innings comprised of 12
fours and 5 sixes. Dhoni's bold hitting to-
wards the end upset the line and length of
the Aussie bowlers and India finished at
303/9 in 50 overs. Australia, who had bowled
with discipline till Dhoni's onslaught, simply
had no answer to his rampaging strokeplay. It
was vintage Dhoni all the way as he
displayed his favourite helicopter shot to dis-
patch the ball into the stands. (Match Report)
Dhoni's 139 not out is the third highest at
No. 6 in ODIs behind former India captainKapil Dev and ex-Australia all-rounder An-
drew Strauss. Kapil hit 175 against Zimbab-
we at Tunbridge Wells in 1983 while Symonds
scored 143 not out against Pakistan at Johan-
nesburg in 2003, both knocks coming in
World Cups. Kapil had walked into bat when
his side was nine for four, whereas Symonds
was in at 86 for four.
The 32-year-old right-hander scored his last
century against Pakistan in December last
year at Chennai - his second home. He hit 113
not out off 125 balls with seven fours and
three sixes, coming in a losing cause.
This is not the first time Dhoni has scored a
hundred under pressure for his team. His
most brutal innings came against Sri Lanka
in 2005 when he smashed 183 not out. He con-
tinues to be India's man in crunch periods
and is one of the best finishers in the game.
Clearly a skipper who leads by example by
deeds more than words.
However, his innings would go in vain as
James Faulkner and Adam Voges took Aus-
tralia to a 4-wicket victory with 3 balls to
spare.
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WE THE STATENation12 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013
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India PM Urged to Boycott Sri Lanka MeetingW
hen over 50 world leaders ar-
rive in SriLankamid-Novem-
ber for the Commonwealth
summit, one prominent premier may
be absent.
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh is facing intense pressure from
politicians representing his country’s
Tamil community to boycott the meet-
ing in protest at the Sri Lankan admin-
istration’s alleged failures to address
human rights abuses committed
against its own Tamil minority.
Much of the criticism relates to Sri
Lanka’s long-running civil war that
ended in 2009 with thedefeat of thesep-
aratist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ee-
lam and was accompanied, particular-
lyin its final months, bythe deathsand
displacement of thousands of Tamils.
A U.N. panel in 2011 said that over
40,000 people, mainly civiliansfrom theisland nation’s ethnic Tamils, died in
the military’s final offensive which, ac-
cording to the United Nations, included
shelling in no-fire zones where Tamils
hadbeenencouraged to take refugeand
the bombing of hospitals on the front-
lines.
“What happened wasnothingshortof
genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils,” said
T.R. Baalu,a seniorleader of theDravi-
da Munnetra Kazhagam party from
Tamil Nadu state. “If the world can
come together to take Syria to task,
why is Sri Lanka being given special
treatment?”
Critics of Sri Lanka’s human rights
record also cite a growing list of con-tinuing allegedatrocities, including ac-
cusations of the persecution of ac-
tivists and journalists and the margin-
alization of Tamils. The U.N. Human
Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay re-
centlysaid SriLanka“is showing signs
of heading in an increasingly authori-
tarian direction.”Mr. Baalu said he had, during a meet-
ing earlier this week, “strongly urged”
Mr. Singh to boycott the summit. Mr.
Singh said he would decide after “con-
sidering all relevantfactors,”including
the sentiments of the party and the
Tamil people, an Indian news agency
Press Trust of India reported.
On Thursday, Mr. Singh’s office and
India’s ForeignMinistrysaid the prime
minister had not yet decided whether
he would attend the three-day summit
that takes place once every two years
and be gins on Nov. 15 this year.
Tamil leaders are not alone in their
protest. Last week, , Canadian Prime
MinisterStephen Harper said he wouldnot attend the meeting, although Cana-
da would be represented. “The absence
of accountability for the serious viola-
tions of human rights and internation-
al humanitarian standards during and
afterthe civil war is unacceptable,” Mr.
Harper said.
A U.K. parliamentary committee also
criticized the country’s policy toward
Sri Lanka, saying it should have taken
a more “principled” stand in light of
the “continuing serious human rights
abuses.” The report said the UK should
have made itsparticipation in thesum-
mit conditional on improvements in
human rights.
Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia di-
rector of Human Rights Watch,said the
decision to hold themeeting in SriLan-
ka sent a signal to its leadership that
the country’s “human rights record
will be ignored.”
“Whether the prime minister goes or
does not go, it is important for Sri Lan-
ka to hear that there is continuing con-
cern over its human rights violations,”Ms. Ganguly said.
India’s Tamil parties have long pres-
sured the Indian government to take
bolder steps to protect Sri Lanka’s
Tamil population. The DMK has de-
manded an independent inquiry into
alleged abuses in the final months of
the war rather than relying on a gov-
ernment-sponsored commission “head-
ed by the same people who want to pro-
tect the perpetrators of the crimes,”
Mr. Baalu said. He blamed the Indian
government for being weak in its re-
sponse on behalf of the Tamil commu-
nity.
“The government has not done any-
thingto rescue Sri Lankan Tamils,” Mr.Baalu said. “There are always diplo-
matic considerations, but sometimes
humanrights considerationsmust take
precedence.” Indiahas voted in favor of
two U.N. resolutions that criticized Sri
Lanka’s inaction on bringing to justice
those responsible for the human rights
violations during the war. In doing do,
New Delhi broke from its long-held po-
sition against interfering in another
country’s domestic affairs. But the
Tamil partiessay the resolutions didn’t
go far enough.
In March, the DMK, which was part
of the Congress-led government, with-
drew its support from the ruling coali-
tion. It demanded that the government
introduce stronger language in a U.N.
resolution condemning Sri Lanka,
specifically calling for the inclusion of
the word “genocide.”
The summit will carry on whether or
notMr. Singh attends, butrightsorgan-
izations have now turned their atten-
tion to the issue of the two-year chair-
manship of the Commonwealth, whichis set to go to Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa after the meeting.
Amnesty International’s India office
hasurgedMr. Singh to demandthat Mr.
Rajapaksa be denied the Common-
wealth chair, usually granted to the
country that hosts the meeting. Other
organizations too are pushing leaders
to reconsider.
“It’s bad enough that the Common-
wealth has allowed a government ac-
cused of massiverights abuses and war
crimes to host its summit,” said Brad
Adams executive director of Human
Rights Watch’s Asia division. “But to
effectively put the Commonwealth in
the hands of an unrepentant govern-ment that doesn’t meet the Common-
wealth’s official values on democracy
or human rightswouldbe theheight of
hypocris y.”
Asaram Bapu admits
'touching' Surat-based womanThe self-styled godman Asaram Bapu on
Wednesday confessed to have 'touched' the
woman who has complained of being sexually
assaulted by him. According to reports, fearing the
lie-detector test, Asaram Bapu told the interrogating
team of Ahmedabad police that he had 'touched' the
girl in his personal room at the ashram but he was
giving her mantra deeksha. Asaram also said that he
used to call the woman frequently to his cottage, but
denied sexually assaulting her. He admitted that he
knew the woman very well as she was staying in his
Ahmedabad ashram. As the complainant refused to
face Asaram, they both had to sit with back towards
each other, within the hearing range, at the Gujarat
ATS headquarters. It has been reported that police
asked 40 questions to both of them related to sexualassault complaint. The cross- interrogation, which
has been "videographed", started at 11.30am on
Wednesday and continued till 8 pm. The 33-year-old
victim, who is married stays in Surat and was
brought to Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Police sources
said that Asaram's face turned pale with fear, the mo-
ment he saw the victim, approaching towards him.
During interrogation, the woman revealed at least 17
newnames, whowillbe nowquestioned by thepolice.
She also disclosed names of two female attendants-
NirmalaaliasDhel andMeeraaliasBagl, whoused to
'trap'or 'arrange' womenfor Asaram. Shealsoalleged
that Asaram's daughter Bharti and his wife Laxmi,
used to send girls to him at his room. However,
Asaram maintained that his daughter and wife were
"innocent". Some reports said that Asaram even
screamed and cried during interrogation and told po-
lice, "I am fed up withyour questions". On Wednesday,
another potency test wasalso conducted on septuage-narian Asaram. The victim's younger sister has ac-
cused Asaram's 41-year-old son Narayan Sai, who is
still missing, of raping her in Surat.