Lessons From Sadananda Gowda's Exit

Over the past few days, it became clear to Karnataka people that they would be having their third Chief Minister from BJP, that too in the very first term of the party's first ever government in South India.

"It's him" Gowda pointing to Shettar. {Source: IndianExpress}

We anticipated multiple reactions from all around India. The media portrayed it as more of BS Yeddyurappa's strong arm tactic. Most anti-BJP social media folks agreed with the media and went a step further mocking BJP. Congress party came up with a statement that BJP changes Karnataka CMs like cloths.. Funny that a party that had 14 CM swearing in ceremonies in Maharashtra in the past 30 years (ruling for 25 years), a party that had at least 12 CMs (including rebels) in Goa in 20 years, a party that had many cases of 3 or more CMs per term in Karnataka, AP, Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan etc., had to come up with utterly silly comment :)

In any case.. the focus of my blog entry is not media, not Congress and not those who don't like BJP. I personally believe that since both  Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar are of similar Sangh background, their administration and viewpoints towards the greater cause of Karnataka and India wouldn't be much different.  But this blog is for those who strongly support Sangh ideology and BJP, but confused over this particular phase of leadership change in Karnataka. It's for those who have had a varied opinion about this change of baton from Sadananda Gowda to Jagadish Shettar. It's for those who are questioning 'internal democracy', 'party with a difference', 'clean admin versus approval for corruption' and other topics, without knowing clearly what really happened with Sadananda Gowda.

I am not going to get into the topic of if this change in CM position is a good thing or bad thing. If you want a recap of what happened during the first BJP CM change in Karnataka from BS Yeddyurappa to Sadananda Gowda, check this out. If you have a bit more time to figure out where the infamous Reddy brothers featured in the whole episode, who were their "true" political business partners, you can check this out. This time, I am mostly focusing on why Sadananda Gowda lost his CM chair. Read on. Feel free to comment later if you have a different opinion.

“Give a man power and you will reveal his true character”, said Abraham Lincoln over 150 years back. We can modify it a bit in the current context. "Give a man CM chair and he will reveal his true colour".

And how did Mr.Gowda reveal his true colour? Here we go:-

1. Cozy up with the Opposition:

If I have to list the first reason why Sadananda Gowda became unpopular within BJP, it is his cozy up with BJP's nemesis in Karnataka, the Deve Gowda family's JDS party. 

DG with SG: {Source: Siliconcitynews}

Sadananda Gowda who was very vocal against Deve Gowda family in 2009, by comparing Deve Gowda to a Lashkar e Toiba Terrorist, was now going overboard to please the JDS party with the appointment Justice Chandrashekaraiah as the Upa Lokayukta. You can read through more on why this particular Justice was not liked by almost everyone else in BJP.

It's OK to have a pragmatic non-confrontational approach to governance, but not going overboard, that too in important nominations such as Upa Lokayukta position going against your own party.

Lesson learnt: Thou Shall Not Cozy Up With Opposition For Personal "Insurance".

2. Clearly going against his mentor and vocal in-party supporter, BS Yeddyurappa:

BSY "crowning" DVS in 2011.{Source: Daijiworld}

Anyone who followed the events of 2011 in Karnataka, would know two things:- a) that Santosh Hegde was very biased against BJP's first CM Yeddyurappa. b) and BSY strongly backed Sadananda Gowda as the next CM, surprising many caste 'observers'. But then came a very monumental event.Karnataka High Court not only provided relief for the targeted Yeddyurappa, but also threw out the entire chapter 22 of Santosh Hedge's mining report, which was the very reason for BSY's resignation in 2011. Understandably Hedge was "disappointed". But for an incumbent BJP CM, this was a huge statement in favour of the party. It essentially junked the entire media-Congress-JDS-Governor-Lokayukta attack on BJP on "illegal mining". But instead of celebrating this historic event when a retired Supreme Court Justice's report was junked at High Court, or at least keeping quiet in a dignified manner, our Sadananda Gowda remarked:   "There are still eight other cases pending against him!!". By any standard, this was a horrible back stab by Gowda to his erstwhile CM. Can you imagine any other party's CM going so overboard against his earlier CM? Sir, YOU touched Yeddyurappa's feet and took up the CM's position, and now went THIS overboard being opportunistic due to the feeling of chair insecurity? Naturally Yeddyurappa decided not want to "embarrass" Gowda and didn't campaign in Udupi Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha by election. 

Lesson learnt: Thou Shall Not Back-stab Thy Mentor or Supporter.

3. To project GIM 2012 a success, looked down upon GIM 2010:

Yeddyurappa had worked very hard with his able minister Murugesh Nirani in 2010 to conduct the biggest ever Global Investors Meet (GIM) in the state. He had succeeded in attracting Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) of over Rs.4,00,000,00,00,000. By any standard, that was a huge success. Close to a million jobs were to be created due to the investment promises. But then the illegal mining issue hit the roof. Mining ban was enforced by BSY govt under pressure. Since more than half of the investment proposals were related to steel, iron, mining etc., a lot of these remained promises. But even giving a big discount to that problem, quite a number of projects took off and are still in various stages of execution.

DVS at GIM 2012 with NRNM.{Source:  Hindubusinessonline}

Fast forward to 2012. Sadananda Gowda facing immense internal no-confidence-in-him issues, wanted to project 2012 GIM a much better event. The same Murugesh Nirani was with him this time. And sure they rocked! GIM 2012 attracted a whopping Rs.7,60,000,00,00,000 MoUs in 2 days! That must have been the biggest 2 day investment proposal ever in India, outside of Narendra Modi's Gujarat.

To a neautral observer, both GIMs were effective and in the best interest of the state. But how did Sadananda Gowda sum up "his" GIM in the backdrop of "his earlier CM's" GIM? "Yeddyurappa's GIM was an embarrassment!!". Is it Mr.CM? Your own party's government's GIM just 2 years suddenly became an embarrassment for you?

Lesson learnt: Thou Shall Not Take a Dig at Thy Own Government's Achievements.

4. Losing his own Lok Sabha seat in by election:

Earlier in 2012, BJP lost the Udupi - Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha by election. It was not a huge defeat, but enough to shake their apple cart wherein they had won 90% of by elections since May of 2008. It may be too harsh to blame Sadananda Gowda for just one major by election loss, but there were two key reasons why this played out against him.

One is his ability to lead from the front. For those unfamiliar with Karnataka geography and caste equations, here is a quick course. Effectively the state is divided into three parts from political angle. The coastal & Malenadu (Western Ghats) region, the north and the south. The caste and other demography characteristics of each region differ drastically. The south for instance is dominated by the Vokkaliga (Gowda) community, who form around 16-18% of the state. You can see in green colour below the districts where the predominantly one caste party, the JDS, won, riding on this Gowda voting bloc during the 2010-11 Panchayat elections. Bengaluru city also falls in the south, and has its own characteristic which is not necessary to elaborate here. The north is dominated by Lingayats (Veera Shaivas). In over 14 districts, their might decides who forms the next government, which is substantial. Lingayats totally account for 1/5th of Karnataka, if not more. Even in the districts in grey colour above, they were almost fully behind BJP. The coast/ghats area is diverse, and a mix of many castes/communities. This is where BJP started its south India wave 25 years back, and since then has been a strong BJP base. The reason this demography was explained is to drive an important point. Without North Karnataka, which is BJP's strongest base today, there is no future for BJP in the state. Compared to North, coast/ghat areas (Gowda is from here) have smaller number of seats. Since BJP is not strong in the south of the state, it has to project a leader who has mass base in the north. Gowda did not stand up to that challenge, when he lost his own seat in the coast!

The second reason is kind of entwined in the above paragraph. When North Karnataka's Lingayats are 3 to 4 times more important for BJP's survival, compared to south, there is no way BJP can antagonize that voting bloc by continuing with a not-so-strong mass leader, who lost his own seat. If you already gathered it from the second point of this blog, you would have noticed that it was S Gowda's stupid utterance after Hegde report quashing at HC, that probably cost BJP this Udupi seat. These things play out big within the party and the high command would have noticed it too.

Lesson learnt: Thou Shall Not Lose Thy Own Seat. Winning Elections is a Must. 

5. Proclaiming that (Only) Vokkaligas made me a CM:

This by far was the most stupid game played by Sadananda Gowda.BJP's R Ashoka, himself a Vokkaliga, pulled out a massive 'Guru Vandana' program of Gowda community political leaders after nearly 16-18 years. Putting Congress, JDS and BJP's Gowda community leaders on the same stage, handling all ego clashes, was not easy at all. 

DVS facilitating Balagangadhara Swami. {Source: Pics4News}

Going to a meet organized by his own community/caste is not a big deal. All politicians do. Taking care of the community's Guru is always a good thing for a leader. But what Sadananda Gowda did was horrible. To either overcome his own insecurity within the party when the powerful Lingayats are going against him, or to cement a much stronger bond with his caste audience in the case of danger to his seat, he played stupid caste politics.

In front of a huge gathering, he said that he got the opportunity to become the CM only due to the efforts and blessings of the community. That irresponsible "credit" given to one caste, openly, probably sealed his exit right there.

Lesson learnt: Thou Shall Not Play Caste Appeasement Politics for Personal Survival.
 
6. Not hitting hard on SM Krishna, Dharam Singh and HD Kumaraswamy, when he had a chance:

Golden rule of politics. You hit hard when you have the power and the opposition is in the back foot. Did Gowda follow that when he had the power? It doesn't seem like.

Dharam, Krishna & HDK. {Source: OneIndia}

When the Supreme Court (SC) appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) came to Sadananda Gowda for details of illegal mining by the former three CMs of Karnataka, Gowda reportedly gave very casual response with dilute details. For any observer in Karnataka, it was obvious that illegal mining did NOT start in 2008 when BJP came to power. There was a long list of irregularities right from 2000 when SM Krishna of Congress was the CM. The same irregularities became worse during Congress' Dharam Singh's CM tenure and JDS' HD Kumaraswamy's tenure. For details, refer to many reports from 2000-2008 period, which includes nearly one year of President's rule by Sonia Gandhi & Manmohan Singh, via Governor Rameshwar Thakur. Every regime gave dubious licenses and every regime has tons of allegations.

When BJP, which is slammed by all these parties for "illegal mining", had its best chance to nail the former CMs, that too when a SC appointed team is knocking on its door for hard details, it was shocking that DVS went very mild and slow. In fact, this angered so many activists that one screamed "DVS is shielding Krishna, HDK, as they belong to his community!"   

Lesson learnt: Thou Shall Not Lose An Opportunity To Hit Thy Real Political Opponents .

So in summary:- 

I believe that Sadananda Gowda scripted himself an exit before completing even one year. He definitely was a clean administrator. A smiling nice gentleman in most cases. A person who did work hard to clear any 'corruption' image stuck to BJP's first ever south Indian government. But he made crucial mistakes, some of which are listed above.  My guess is that he felt insecure that he might lose his CM seat, and also got greedy to secure himself a longer run, when the party script was not exactly that. He had a clear role to play when his former leader got into trouble, but he tried too hard to script a change to that role, without taking party and MLAs into confidence.

These are some crucial lessons for Jagadish Shettar and any future Chief Minister in India, on how not to lose CM chair by playing your cards too quickly, and too erratically.

Your comments are welcome.All viewpoints are encouraged, when expressed in non-abusive lingo.

"Wake Up BJP" : An Open Letter to Nitin Gadkari

To,

Nitin Gadkari
National President, Bharatiya Janata Party
13, Teen Murti Lane, New Delhi - 110011
Cell: +91 9821080522
Tel: 91 - 11- 23011027
Fax: 91 - 11- 23013027
Email: nitingadkari@email.com

www.nitingadkari.org  

From,

The Friends of BJP on Social Networks.

Dear Nitin Gadkari ji,
  Namaskaar. This is a friendly letter from the social media friends of Bharatiya Janata party. We hope you are having a few minutes to read this important letter from people, who might still be fairly low on the hierarchy of voices that might be reaching you.

Why are we writing this to you? Because in simple terms, we genuinely care for the ideology Sangh Parivar stands for, the bright future India deserves, and most importantly, to give a fresh set of ideas to a party that claims to represent the "Bharatiyata", the core of India.

So what is in this letter that you don't hear from top level think tanks and strategists surrounding you? We think there's a lot. The suggestions might sound ordinary at times, but this is unpaid and unforced section of Young India speaking to you. A country where almost 2/3rd of the population is below the age of 35, their opinion is what is showing up in most of this letter. It would be your final judgment of course to take it or leave it, but just remember...these are the people who can make or break a large part of internet literate segment of 2014 voters of BJP.

So here we start, in no particular order:

1> Counter Attack: Turn back the clock a couple of months. Every news channel was on BJP's 'porngate' episode. Congress was conducting road show after road show, totally taking this negative publicity of BJP to masses. But what did BJP do when the infamous Abhishek Manu Singhvi CD came out? Yes, there were some restrictions he cleverly managed from court. But the entire social media knew what was happening. This was 100 times more serious a issue for the nation considering who and where parts. Did BJP take this in a big way to the masses? Did they conduct road shows? Did they make sure this is a big topic for news debates or editorials? In terms of intensity, BJP failed miserably we should say. Even for a seemingly fake case like Gujarat assembly porn watch, far more damage was done by anti-BJP forces at ground level. So sir, just eloquent parliament speeches can only go so far. BJP as a party is squandering serious opportunities like Rajbala's death during Ramdev's camp's midnight crackdown, AMS tape, ND Tiwari paternity case and Maderna case. No one is suggesting to hit below the belt or send un-parliamentary messages. But at least counter attack decently to get the core issue to the potential voters.

2> Scams and Propaganda: 2004-2012 must have been India's worst scam period. Majority of these scams are undoubtedly due to Congress party's misrule and their hapless "coalition dharma". Social media is well versed with details of CWG, President's land issues, 2G, Bofors, Coal gate, Karnataka Wakf Scam, Andhra Pradesh scams involving YSR family, Land grabbing in a number of Congress ruled states, Haryana land scam involving a reputed dynasty foundation, Mining frauds involving non-BJP ruled states and much more. How effective has been BJP here? When Congress has succeeded in equating Mining Scam = BJP, due to sustained propaganda, where is the PR arm of BJP? How much of the RTI support group muscle has BJP used till date? In states like Karnataka, where you have your own government, how many went to prison for Wakf Scam kind of massive loot? Yes, most people know that Congress is involved in these big scams, but where are the resignations? How many tainted CMs like Sheila Dikshit or their Ministers at state levels have quit? How many central ministers went on jail due to BJP's sustained efforts? Minuscule we must say. Yes, sir, as a principal opposition party, you can do a LOT better!

3> Media Management: If you have not grabbed this info by now, sir, electronic media for most part is termed as "paid media" in social media discussions. It's almost a synonym today. Such is the poor image and credibility of India's TV channels. One of the key reason being their rabid anti-Hindu propaganda and in particular anti-Sangh or anti-BJP propaganda. You can go through Karnataka Bhagavad Gita episode, UP's Sushma Swaraj and Mayawati "heartless" episode, or Delhi court's Mohan Bhagwat's Karkare episode. Media has been ruthless and loud in defaming BJP at every given opportunity. Most of the times, they get caught on social media like Twitter, Blogs and Facebook. But has BJP used that info? If yes, how effectively? When Karnataka Bhagavad Gita Abhiyana was projected as a state sponsored episode, why didn't BJP seek legal course against a prominent media house to prevent such recurrences in the future? When a TV program insulted 5 crore Gujaratis as "traditionally effete people" showing Narendra Modi's visuals, where was the noise from BJP? When Sushma Swaraj was misinterpreted, why didn't BJP seek a public apology from another media house? When lies are propagated that 2002 was India's worst minority dead-body count, why is BJP not talking about the unfortunate Nellie massacre from 1983 to give the truth to people?

Not countering the negative and baseless propaganda is hurting BJP, and also not projecting the pro-BJP news items. For example, many Christian candidates winning in Goa under Manohar Parrikar's leadership should have been a serious topic of discussion when it involves a "Hindutva" party per media created image. How come your strategists, friendly aspects in media and foot soldiers didn't take that to millions of homes?  When Karnataka chose its latest CM via secret ballot, that could have been projected as a US style primary, instead of what media projected as "puppet" selection. Where is the credit for superbly implementing Bengaluru Metro? How about Narmada canal wonders? How many even remember today driving on Golden Quadrilateral that it was Vajpayee's government that did wonders? Where are the positives from Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh etc.? Web based Yuvai TV is a good initiative by some energetic individuals, but you have miles to run before you can catch-up anywhere closer to the grip anti-BJP ideology has on Indian print and electronic media. The media which gave serious negative publicity to one unverified Varun Gandhi speech, never did even 1% of that damage to Congress for a veteran Congress leader Kagodu Thimmappa's "cut Hindutva hands" hate speech.

Sir, in short, you need huge efforts on media management side. Own media houses, manage current media houses and work on creating a pro-Sangh alliance of broadcasting outlets. This is easier said than done, but you might not be gauging the ripple effect of negative publicity, day-in and day-out.

4> Image Makeover: Sorry to say this Mr.Gadkari, many in the young India we interact with, perceive BJP today mostly as a "B team of Congress". Per social media, the true opposition in India today are: a) Supreme Court. b) Social Media. c) Subramanian Swamy. The "3S Opposition" to be put it that way:) That's a serious problem you need to work on. Congress talks of secularism, you also do it now. Congress talks of socialistic populism, you also talk the same. Congress talks half-heartedly about Lokpal & other watch dogs, and you also do the same. Congress is a High Command driven decision making system, and you are also the same now. Congress talks of reservation, and you do that too. Congress talks of growth and you too do that. We understand that many of these are political compulsions. But where is the difference for a casual observer? The difference was evident 22 years back, but not anymore! You should be able to convey to a 22 year old voter, "what is BJP" and "how is is different from Congress" in 5 to 10 sentences. Can you do it sir?

More importantly, not just saying why BJP is "different". But living by that policy at all states that BJP is ruling, is far more important. If you stand for Lokpal, implement good Lokayukta policies across your ruled states. If you stand by for anti-cow-slaughter, then legally push the Governors who are becoming impediment for the same.

5> Projection of a PM Candidate: BJP is a democratic party, so there is always an opening for dissent or healthy competition. This is a great difference compared to a dynasty centric sycophantic setup on the Congress side. But since we have less than 18 months for campaigning to start for 2014 elections, you need to project your PM candidate soon. Project candidates for all key positions like Home, Law, Deputy PM (if any), Party Office bearers openly and clearly. Clarity is most important here, in spite of the inherent risks involved in projecting earlier. There's always a chance of polarization of the voters, but without a projection, BJP will be playing into the hands of Congress and media's negative speculations. We wish to inform you that the popular names for top positions on the social media are Narendra Modi and Subramanian Swamy for quite some time. Those two are more popular with young Indians than any of your Delhi based senior leadership. You can run online polls or surveys to feel the pulse better yourself.

6> Standing for Party Loyalists: Bangaru Laxman was in news, albeit negatively, last week. We are not suggesting to protect any corrupt or wrong-doer. But many voices on social network suggested that he was unfairly trapped, when he had no decision making capability as a minister or anything... worse, he seemingly offered a receipt too. Where was BJP's defence for him? Did you see how Congress stood behind P Chidambaram and SM Krishna when they have much worse charges? Did you forget that "Dalit" card is very powerful in India? To take this topic a step further, lots of people in young India feel that BJP has resorted to use and throw policy over the past few years. Kalyan Singh, BS Yeddyurappa, Uma Bharati, Vasundhara Raje, BC Khanduri are some examples of mass leaders who are either sidelined or under-utilized by BJP today. What we, on the social network feel, is that your party pays too much attention to what pro-Congress media plays out about your leaders. As a result, you are quick to succumb to media pressure or Congress propaganda. What you might not be realizing sir is that, you are getting trapped in their strategy to strip BJP off its mass leaders, the people who can win states on their shoulders. Yes, there will be charges against them, but you need to balance the "party with a difference" tag with "Indian rules that everyone else plays with". Hope you get our message. One of the loudest criticism of BJP's top 4 or 5 leaders today at Delhi, is that, they hardly can win any states with their strategy or charm or mass appeal. Don't get us wrong for this criticism. Ponder upon, why people are saying that.

By the way, if your party was sleeping, Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson, was shown with up to $19 billion as assets by an influential Business Insider magazine. This is against just a crore or two of declared assets by the same person. Some quick maths indicate that that amount may be almost a crore TIMES bigger than Bangaru Laxman's amount in question. Yes, one crore times nearly sir.. Hope you ponder more on a huge missed opportunity!

7> Legal Muscle:  Who doesn't know Subramanian Swamy? Of course everyone knows this one man show, in the name of Janata party from Tamil Nadu. But here is the scoop. Have you wondered how a party, with zero MLAs and zero MPs in India, is almost bringing the mighty Congress empire to its knees via legal muscle? On the other side, BJP, a party with celebrity lawyers, has not done anything substantial to get this government on its knees. Be it CWG, or 2G or any scam worth its name, BJP lawyers are not fighting to give a fatal blow to any key minister of Congress. In fact, hush-hush talk on social media suggests that some key lawyers might even have worked in favour of some accused on the Congress roaster. Serious problem sir.. Take a deep breath and analyze the situation as well as the perception.

8> "Bharatiya" issues: We know that BJP is strongly for Kashmir pandits's return rights, hanging of anti-nationals like Kasab & Afzal, deportation of Bangladeshi infiltrators, bringing North East people to mainstream, among other sensitive but important topics. But sir, you can do far better. RSS has the world's largest grass root presence. Millions of volunteers are available to take the Bharatiyata message to lakhs of villages through them. In spite of them, if BJP is not able to educate an average Indian about the massive security & integration risks, resulting out of votebank politics. A simple example. Till earlier this year, most of us didn't even know about the plight of Hindu refugees from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Now when we hear the separatist views highlighted on English channels, we see the hypocrisy of sidelining the SC/ST Hindu plight in Jammu's refugee camps. Please work on the Bharatiya issues aggressively taking sincere help from the cadres.

9> Alliance in Key States: Many of us view the same sentiments here. There are over 240 Lok Sabha seats in TN, AP, WB,  Kerala,  Odisa and UP. That's just under 30 seats to half way of Indian parliament's lower house. Where are the allies of BJP here? If an election is held today, will BJP be able to win even 20% of these crucial seats? Without them, how can you dream of 2014? Congress has almost given 2014 to BJP on platter via a corrupt and inept regime. We are sure you have serious strategists working with you on this topic, but we just thought, we inform you nearly 2 years before the next scheduled election, as we see very little on the ground in these states.

10> Not wasting time: If you ever open a Twitter account and seek opinion on how to improve BJP's chances, we guarantee, this topic will come up. This particular topic is from those who are frustrated with BJP's recent attempts to portray itself as secular. The message from them to you is that you should focus on your Core Ideology. India is secular because Hindus are mostly secular. That's the truth. Take more advice from the super successful undercurrent of Indian society, the RSS. For many people like us, BJP is just one major project of the Sangh Parivar, among the 1,60,000 Bharatiya projects they have! Don't feel bad, but that's how young India that we interact with perceives your party. So don't ever cut the umbilical chord with the ideological nerve center.

BJP needs to first convince 82% of Indians, who are Hindus of all segments and castes, that it is their best hope. That's a huge challenge considering 64 years of systematic division of Hindu votes into innumerable caste and language vote categories. If you can manage to unite them, rest will fall in place. Your portrayal of Rama Rajya or Hindu Rashtra has been severely distorted as "Hindus Only" India by your detractors. We know that's not the case, but you have to do a stellar job selling that to your potential voters. We know on social media that Congress is severely "Minority first" ideology right from Khilafat movement days 92 years back. There's nothing surprising at all to a careful observers. But it's a joke that they can stand in public and term BJP as communal and claim themselves as Secular. This is even after Shah Bano or UP Muslim communal reservation speeches. This is where BJP failed big time. Correction time now! Primarily being pro-Hindu or standing for Hindu human rights, does NOT mean, being anti-Muslim or anti-Minority. Every country has major parties catering to the majority's wishes and aspirations. Opposing minority appeasement like massive (and un-Islamic) Hajj subsidy, is not opposing minority rights. Narendra Modi's all-inclusive development is just one example you can use with facts and figures, minus any rhetoric.

11> Engaging with Digital World: Social media may be in its infancy in India, but sir, let us assure you, it has already cut some major victories. Radia tapes were discussed by mainstream media due to social media pressure. Various riots were even reported because of social media trends. Numerous shady scams and shady acts like AMS CD, came out due to buzz on social media. BJP needs to use this nascent opportunity, like the successful Subramanian Swamy, via Tweeple conferences and weekly online chats to feel the pulse. This can also be used immensely to perpetuate the superb development efforts of various BJP state governments. We might be a few million on web today, and no way comparable to the 100s of millions in rural India, but the trend from here can only be one-directional. More strength to social media and we hope you become an early conqueror of this open space. As a first step, you can also instruct your IT cells to get key digests of social media's political topics, and circulate the gist among the decision makers of the party. We assure you, there's immense information out on Twitter, blogs and Facebook, that you can win any issue in a debate tomorrow! Encourage all your key leaders and parliamentarians to be on social media, and truly engage with the people when time permits. Most importantly, listen to BJP supporters and sympathizers, when they criticize your policies, instead of blocking them to shut their voice.


We hope you read till here, and more importantly realized WHY we are writing this open letter to you. Now please act precisely and in a timely fashion. You know it and we know it... the ONLY party in India today, that can win 3 digit Lok Sabha seats other than Congress, is BJP. Don't let down the folks opposing Congress..for India's sake!

- Signing off with a loud "Vande Mataram"
Your Social Media Friends.

PS: Read comments below for more from online friends on the same topic.

Jammu and Kashmir: Injustices and Myths

The first image that comes to most minds when they hear the 'K' word for Kashmir, is the lack of peace. Depending upon which side of the opinion fence they are sitting, they will also visualize injustice, refugees, myths, oppression, terrorism and so on. There are plenty of movies made, documentaries presented, numerous propaganda material over the internet and innumerable government material in India, Pakistan, China, Britain, US and other countries, not to mention the UN Security Council.

This blog is not to focus in depth the issues that most people are already talking about. The attempt of this blog is to list some of the "not so famous" injustices and a few myths involving Jammu and Kashmir state. Most of the information is collected from people with first hand knowledge of Jammu region and Kashmir valley or those who have spent a good deal of time methodically researching the related material. All kind of comments, corrections and opinions are welcome, as long as they are not obscene or attacking a commentator writing comment.

So here we go without any further delay, listing 9 Injustices:

1. Injustice to refugees in general: There are close to 19,00,000 refugees in Jammu region of the state, among a population of 55,00,000. That's close to 35% of the population in some kind of refugee status or shelter. Very few people actually talk about them.

A refuge camp for displaced Kashmiris. {Source: kashmir-information}

Out of these 19,00,000 refugees, 4,00,000 are the Hindu Pandits cleansed from Kashmir valley since 1990, 4,00,000 are descendants of non Jammu and Kashmir state refugees who came from Pakistan during the bloody 1947 partition, and 10,00,000 are the descendants of Jammu and Kashmir state refugees who are technically "internally" displaced as they came from Kashmir parts which are now under China or Pakistan's occupation. These technically internal refugees ran to Jammu region of India during 1947 when Pakistani raiders and communal elements forced out the non-Muslim population. The last group of refugees are the 1,00,000 people of Jammu hills who moved to safer places due to recent waves of terrorism. It's also natural that many of these either already sending their children to Delhi, Mumbai or other cities for job, or planning to send, considering the pathetic living conditions in refugee camps or settlements.

Islamic Terrorism caused Kashmir Refugees. {Source: thekashmir}

Very few people ever talk about these refugees, their victim-hood and the pathetic conditions in which most are living.  

2. Injustice to Other Backward Castes (OBC): Jammu and Kashmir is probably the only state in India where there is no reservation for OBCs.The state constitution is silent on OBCs and so is the state administration. There is no count also done like in other Indian states. It's surprising that the champions of backward castes in India are silent when it comes to Jammu and Kashmir OBCs.

3. Injustice to Scheduled Tribes (STs):  Anywhere from 10-18% of Jammu and Kashmir population is STs. A 10 year old Government of India census data shows 10.9%, but actual numbers today may be higher per those with first hand knowledge. Out of the refugees in Jammu, who moved from Pakistan, nearly 75% are SCs or STs. Indian constitution guarantees affirmative action and political reservation for SC/STs. But in Jammu and Kashmir, this is not the case! Contrast this with Uttar Pradesh, where less than 1% of the population is ST, but they have political reservation. These refugee STs have no voting rights, no property, no admission to colleges. No human rights for them? If they had any clue of how badly they would be treated in Jammu and Kashmir, who knows, they would have migrated to some other state in India during 1947-48 carnage that happened in the Pakistan region. For instance, nearly 48,000 Hindus and Sikhs got killed just around Mirpur and Muzaffarabad areas of Jammu and Kashmir within Pakistan now. These people are descendants of those who ran away just to save their lives, with least botheration about legal implications of their intended settlement area.

Even for Scheduled Castes of Jammu and Kashmir, there was no political reservation as recently as 2007 in the state. It took a Supreme Court ruling to tell the government in Srinagar to correct this grave mistake. We need to wait and see how this is really implemented.

4. Injustice to grass-root governance (Panchayati Raj): Jammu and Kashmir has seen probably the lowest number of grass root elections, or Panchayat elections in India. They were held in 1964, 1971 and 1978, before being resumed in 2011. They might have been held in 1959 too, but we are not sure. Every other state in India sees Panchayat elections once every 5 years, so this has historically been a big blow to democracy at grass root level. Local governance is always the best governance. 

5. Injustice to Jammu and Ladakh Regions: Jammu and Ladakh continue to be given second-class treatment in Jammu and Kashmir state. Even though Jammu has 27,000 sq.km of area and 32,00,000 voters, it gets only 37 seats' representation in the State assembly. But Kashmir valley that has 15,000 sq.km of area with 28,00,000 voters, gets 44 seats, plus potential 2 nominations! In Jammu region, 15-20% of land, government jobs and businesses are owned by Kashmir valley Muslims. But the reverse is not found in the Kashmir valley. Sparingly populated Ladakh on the other hand has always expressed interest to become a separate state or Union territory in India. It's area of 59,000 sq.km is much bigger than states like Manipur and Nagaland. But its voices are ignored and it is lumped with Kashmir valley and being treated as second class within the state.
 

Jammu, the land of temples. {Source: Destination360}

It is not fashionable to present Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists or Muslims of these two regions in TV debates, so most people don't even know their real problems.

Except Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is half Kashmiri and half Jammuite, no other Chief Minister of the state has hailed from  Jammu or Ladakh regions in nearly 6 decades!

Ladakh region does not have any university with access to professional education. It had only one degree college till a few years back. When you look at the 59,000 sq.km of rugged, hilly area, you can imagine how much access the sparsely populated districts had to higher education.

6. Injustice to villagers close to international border: The villagers within 20-30 KM of Pakistan border face repeated refugee status. They were evacuated for reasons understandable, during 1948, 1965, 1971 and 1999 wars with Pakistan. These 2 to 3,00,000 people will have to wait for years to get back to their villages after the war. Some times it could take up to 7 years after a war to de-mine their fields. There is very little help for their lives that get periodically uprooted.


7. Injustice to 1947-48 Refugees from today's Pakistan area:
Lakhs of refugees don't have state subject certificates. This means, they can't buy property, can't get government jobs or cast their vote in Jammu and Kashmir elections! And.. these are third or fourth generation citizens of India who were unfortunately uprooted from their grand fathers' villages/towns, which are today in Pakistan. How many places on this planet can you show people who are born and brought up in the state, but not treated as state subjects when it comes to jobs, voting or residency?

Check this video for details of what we are talking about:

Who will listen to the problems of the refugees, who were mostly Hindus migrating from Sialkot which is in today's Pakistan (and as a coincidence, from where Indian PM Manmohan Singh's family migrated from too, but luckily to a different state) to Jammu and Kashmir after partition? Their unfulfilled promises and betrayal is very well captured in these videos.

No one talks for these mostly Scheduled Caste (SC - Dalit) victims:

62 years of human rights violation and still going on:

It is very apparent that the second class treatment is meted out to these, because they are non Muslims.For instance, a small group of Muslims who moved in from Tibet in late 1950s were given Jammu and Kashmir state subject status and citizenship, and were settled in Hariparbat area of Srinagar. These 8 to 10,000 Tibetans had no connection what-so-ever with Jammu and Kashmir, but still given special privilege, most likey due to their religion.  

8. Injustice to Kashmiris being ruled by Pakistan and/or China: The areas under Pakistan's control are Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan. China controls the Aksai Chin and some parts of Gilgit. Neither Pakistan, nor China, ever had any accession legal document signed in favour of them by Jammu and Kashmir's administration at the time of 1947-48. So their entire occupation is illegal and understandably, the Kashmiris living under their rule totally oppose their rule. In fact, in 1994, Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld the Muzaffarabad High Court decision that Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan) are NOT a part of Pakistan, but a part of State of Jammu and Kashmir. If one opens Pakistan's constitution, it technically rules out PoK (termed as Azad Kashmir in Pakistan) and Northern Areas as parts of Pakistan.

PoK essentially contains Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Rawlakot, Neelam, Kotli, Poonch (Pak part) and Bagh areas, which are more linked culturally & ethnically to Jammu region. Their language is similar to Dogri, Pahadi and Punjabi. Kashmiri speaking people are very limited or non-existent in most of these areas today. Baltistan was a western district of Ladakh before illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1948.

The police chief, state chief, the intelligence chiefs of PoK are selected by the Pakistan federal government. Kashmiris have no say on these important selections. So much for "azadi" of freedom/self-determination! Nothing exposes the hypocrisy of Pakistan in claiming "azad" or "free" status for these illegally occupied areas, than the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, declaring PoK as NOT FREE at all, in 2008!

Unlike India, there is no Article 370 kind of exclusive rights to Jammu and Kashmir state subjects in Pakistan. A huge difference!

Listen to a leader of NSF, from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir talking about how badly they are treated in Pakistan: 

Truth about PoK: Video depicts the problems of Kashmiris under Pakistan's control like those in Muzaffarabad, who struggle for jobs & human rights. Their alienation is well depicted here. In fact 70% are daily wage labourers and 75% are food-insecure.Unlike the pampered Kashmiris of Srinagar in India, these unfortunate Kashmiris stuck in Pakistan have 35-40% below poverty population as this video explains:

To make all these worse, a part of Hunza-Gilgit called Raskam and the Shaksgam Valley of Baltistan region, was ceded by Pakistan to the China in 1963. This illegally ceded area of Jammu and Kashmir, measuring 1000s of sq.km, is also known as the Trans-Karakoram Tract. This was a complete betrayal on the people of Jammu and Kashmir as without any consent from them or government of India which legally has accession of the entire state, a large chunk was illegally given to China by Pakistan. China holds the areas ceded by Pakistan on Trans Karakoram track and also an uninhabited part towards the east called Aksai Chin. Here is some information on China's discreet hold on Pakistan's Northern Borderlands today.

"a simmering rebellion against Pakistani rule and the influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army."

9. Injustice to Indians as a whole - The Article 370: No constitutional article has spawned so much debate in India since 1950s as the infamous Article 370 from 1954. Originally, this was supposed to be a procedural mechanism or an interim arrangement during war time and also during a time when UN was involved. Just a few lines drafted in here by Jawaharlal Nehru and Gopalaswami Iyengar has caused immense damage to Kashmiris as well as non-Kashmiri Indians. Neither of them were constitutional experts, legal experts or constitution authors. In gist, this article was supposed to say - "Jammu and Kashmir constitution would be extended with Jammu and Kashmir Assembly's consultation, concurrence and recommendation". But the way it was drafted was not legal, as the key legal authority was Maharajah Hari Singh, the ruler of the princely Jammu and Kashmir kingdom. If there is ONE blunder that has sustained lots of dimensions to this "problem", it is Article 370. No wonder almost everyone we have talked to, say this article must go. It is good to hear that at least recently a 99 year lease proposal is extended to everyone in India to invest in land in Jammu and Kashmir for job creation purpose. This is a good step in removing alienation of Kashmiris from rest of India, which was made up of 600 odd such kingdoms or provinces in 1947.

Here is a thought provoking analysis of why Article 370 is the REAL Kashmir Problem.

Article 370 is frankly neither a Hindu-Muslim thing, nor a Congress-BJP kind of political thing. It's pure discrimination legalized to benefit mostly a very small minority of Muslims of India who happen to be Kashmiris.Even the rest of Indian Muslims, whose number is easily 18-20 times bigger than Jammu and Kashmir's Muslim population, don't benefit from this illogical clause in the constitution.

Here is a view, of course backed by solid facts, demonstrating a highly pampering aspect of this exclusivity granted to a small percentage of Indian population, via Article 370. It is also worth noting that Article 370 has been used to keep many progressive laws out of Jammu and Kashmir.

Let's also examine a couple of myths that you will hear the moment you talk of Kashmir.

Myth 1: Accession, Autonomy and Plebiscite:

This is a very involved topic. This itself will need a long blog post to do justice to all parts. But since this keeps coming in all Kashmir related discussions, let's provide a few real scholarly links which would quench the knowledge thirst of any serious reader. For starters, 26th October 1947 was the date when Jammu and Kashmir princely state's maharajah, Hari Singh, signed a legal accession document to bring the state as a part of India.

a) V.K. Krishna Menon's marathon speech at UN lasting over 8 hours, on 23rd January 1957 is the ultimate place to figure all answers to misconceptions being floated in the plebiscite aspect.

• Part 1:  http://www.un.int/india/ind29.pdf
• Part 2:  http://www.un.int/india/ind31.pdf
• Part 3:  http://www.un.int/india/ind30.pdf

b) A book by Jagmohan, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir during the most turbulent times - My Frozen Turbulence

c) The Origins of a Dispute book by Prem Shankar Jha.

d) The Secular Agenda book by Arun Shourie.

e) Speech by Mahomedali Currim Chagla at the United Nations Security Council on 5th and 10th February 1964, exposing the Plebiscite hollow argument from Pakistan.

f) Autonomy: Nuts and Bolts of Operational  Reality.

g) Vision of India and Kashmir's place in that vision.

h) Kashmir: Illusion and Reality

Myth 2: Kashmir Valley Muslim Victimization:

This is "Kashmir" that media talks about. {Source: Kaulonline.com}

Two maps would illustrate most of the things we want to convey on this  important sub topic. Here is the tiny valley that everyone focus on as "Kashmir problem".

However, the image below is the reality of Jammu and Kashmir entire state, including the parts illegally occupied by Pakistan and China.

Entire Jammu and Kashmir {Source: Kaulonline.com}

Thus "Kashmir" that media portrays is about 7% in area of undivided Jammu and Kashmir, or about 15% of Jammu and Kashmir state within India today. Ladakh, about 59,000 sq.km in area, which is 58% Buddhist, plus has a Muslim region of Kargil, has no "problem". Jammu, about 27,000 sq.km in area, which is about 70% Hindu ha no "problem". So essentially, 86,000 sq.km of Jammu and Kashmir which is under Indian control today, has no alienation or "problem".

Now over to some poverty analysis: Anywhere from 32 to 40% of India as a whole is BPL or Below Poverty Line today. That's a massive number of people as well as percentage in a 1.2 billion country. During the last comprehensive listing of states, Jammu and Kashmir was shown as having just around 5% BPL population. Even if you adjust to the ever changing BPL criteria, the total BPL population in the entire state would be in single digits, far smaller than most of India. And here is the most interesting thing. Almost all this BPL is in Jammu and Ladakh region, and not in the Kashmir valley. So the so called "oppressed" valley is better off in terms of income levels, than most parts, if not all parts of India! Those familiar with Srinagar and surrounding areas tell about the quality of rice in public distribution system, the quality of houses, heating system during winter etc. No wonder when 100s die in rest of north Indian states closer during each cold wave during winters, no major casualties get reported from the Kashmir valley.

Coming  to jobs. There are around 4,00,000 government jobs in Kashmir valley alone! That is about 6 to 7% of the entire valley's population employed the government. I don't think there can be another state or division in India where you can find such a high number of population on government pay roll! Let's not get into who might have taken over the 60,000 odd government jobs that Kashmiri Pandits were in, before they were kicked out of the valley by gun totting Jihadis squad.

Land: Jammu and Kashmir was probably the first state in India that reformed land, essentially giving lands to the tiller in late 1940s. Most of the large land owning Kashmiri Pandits lost huge amounts of land overnight.If one looks into the land ownership in Kashmir valley today, almost everything would be owned by Muslims.

If one is serious to learn about learning statistics of how Muslims, particularly Kashmir valley Muslims, are dominating every segment of Jammu and Kashmir administration, check out this highly informative link. 

So plenty of government jobs, plenty of government package/investments, complete land ownership, lack of poverty compared to rest of India, must tell us that the whole Kashmiri Muslim victimization campaign is quite shaky.

To Conclude:

Let the governments in Srinagar and New Delhi look into the injustices listed seriously, and work to resolve them. Because if there is any "problem" in Jammu and Kashmir today, that is mostly created and nurtured by these two cities. Constantly pampering to a minority even within Jammu and Kashmir state is not the answer, but a holistic approach to correct the injustices is a good step forward.

Further Reading/Viewing Material:

The links provided below by online friends cover a wide variety of topics touched above, as well as those involving security, geography, speech extracts, administration and challenges. They are from a wide variety of authentic sources, and presented in no particular order.

1. Government acts blind as terrorist roams free: http://kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com/2007/09/aaj-tak-governmnet-acts-blind-as.html - This and the next few links shared by @rainaamit on Twitter:
2. Targeting Minorities in Jammu and Kashmir: http://iref.homestead.com/Kashmir90.html
3. The Amarnath Controversy; An In-Depth Analysis: http://viewfromafar.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/the-amarnath-controversy-an-in-depth-analysis.htm
4. List of Hindu Temples destroyed by Islamic Terrorists: http://ikashmir.net/templesdestroyed/7.html
5. The Wandhama massacre: http://ikashmir.net/slides/wandhama/index.html
6. The recent atrocities on Christians of Jammu and Kashmir. Mission Schools have done tremendous work and their contribution to education is unparalleled in valley. But off late fatwas or calls against Christian schools in Kashmir, are being issued. http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-fatwa-against-christian-schools-in-kashmir-2767664.html?HT4=  
7. Yasin Malik, now a prominent "voice" in Jammu and Kashmir, admits killing 4 Indian Airforce Personnel - Link shared by @ShKa89 on Twitter.
8. Interview with Bitta Karate, now roaming freely but after killing dozens of Kashmir Pandits in cold blood. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH6gaY9XoKE
9. Kashmir Issue - Arun Jaitley's perspective in 2010: Arun Jaitley talks about the current situation and the Government of India's poor handling of the situation. We included this link as it covers most of the short-comings of the government's handling of the Kashmir issue from a political perspective.This and the next few links shared by @pvaidyaraj on Twitter.
10. The 2007 Wadhwa committee report on PoK and Refugees: :http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20071130/837873.html
11. The brutal ethnic cleansing of nearly 10,00,000 Kashmiri Hindus, and the world remained silent -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crx2nLhDOK0
12. Ethnic Cleansing of Hindu Pandits in Kashmir (Part 1) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oSIQRF_AHM and Part 2 -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz1V3D-uOok
13. This video portrays the suffering and victim-hood of Hindus and Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir under the ugly dance of violent Jihad - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2yH2N03ElU
14. V.K. Krishna Menon's marathon speech at UN lasting over 8 hours, on 23rd January 1957. Part 1 here. http://www.un.int/india/ind29.pdf - Shared by @KPGanesh on Twitter. 
15. The ugly world of Kashmir’s online Muslim rebels - http://islamicterrorism.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/the-ugly-world-of-kashmirs-online-muslim-rebels/ - This and the next few links shared by @amsrjn on Twitter.
16. What ails Kashmir? The Sunni idea of ‘azadi’: http://www.livemint.com/2010/08/06210254/What-ails-Kashmir-The-Sunni-i.html
17. Let's not defame the armed forces: http://www.indiarightsonline.com/Sabrang/ethnic6.nsf/57dee6b2022683e5e5257713005d1e4a/5833cff60efdadc0e52577cc00205532?OpenDocument
18. Whose man is that soldier fighting in Kashmir? : http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/whose-man-is-that-soldier-fighting-in-kashmir
19. Omar must know Army is not the enemy: http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/TheSiegeWithin/entry/omar-must-know-army-is-not-the-enemy
20. Kashmir’s Azadi talk — a  lesson in how to destroy the idea of India.: http://pragmatic.nationalinterest.in/2010/09/01/my-kashmir-rant/
21. Kashmiri Shia mourn India patriot: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7965451.stm
22. An entire picture album is presented here of the "peaceful" protestors of Kashmir valley : https://picasaweb.google.com/105095674193217400420/JammuKashmirLadakh
23. Kashmir's economic trauma: 60,000 job lost in 10 weeks:  http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/kashmirs-economic-trauma-60-000-job-losses-in-10-weeks-47444?cp
24. Khaki enemy? 60000 Kashmiris apply for 3000 police jobs: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-07/india/28240251_1_police-jobs-s-m-sahai-igp-kashmir
25. Fourth Estate or Part of Anti-India movement?: http://www.earlytimes.in/earlytimes1/newsdet.aspx?q=58647 
26. The List of Hindu Temples converted to mosque in Kashmir : http://www.scribd.com/doc/20581346/The-List-of-Hindu-Temples-Converted-to-Mosque-in-Kashmir
27. Kashmir Is Too Small For Azadi: http://kaulonline.com/blog/2010/09/kashmir-is-too-small-for-azadi/
28. Second exodus from Kashmir - now, it's the Muslims: http://www.sify.com/news/second-exodus-from-kashmir-now-it-s-the-muslims-news-national-kjxj4cgfdah.html
29. Home and Away: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/334408.aspx
30. Half stories, half truths about Kashmir: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/PradeepMagazine/Half-stories-half-truths-about-Kashmir/Article1-618673.aspx - Shared by @thearvinddhar on Twitter who also helped review the draft to a greater extend.

Special thanks to all those named and those who didn't wish to be named, while contributing to this blog and also reviewing the details.

Sins of Congress in 2011

Now that we are done with New Year 2012 euphoria, how about spending some time to recollect some of the top sins of Congress party in the past year 2011?

One of my online friend joked.. even Rajnikanth wouldn't be able to count the sins of Congress. Another one cautioned that listing sins of Congress is like counting till infinity! But still, a *brave* voice inside me says, don't listen to naysayers.. try it once.

So here I go with the top 10 sins, more like, listing of the top-10 SIN sections as there is so much info shared by my Twitter friends. Feel free to add more in the comments section.

Sin #1: The Midnight crackdown at Ramlila and subsequent death of Rajbala: 

Refer to my earlier blog regarding Baba Ramdev and the UPA Government Face Off. All details of the outrageous midnight crackdown, for which almost no one got punished in 2011, is pictorially recalled.

Picture showing Rajbala, after the midnight crackdown

Similar sins: 

Here are three videos from 2011.

• - A group of three Congress ministers kicking an unarmed black flag waving protester at Phulpur, UP.

- Digvijay Singh, a veteran Congress leader, allegedly kicking a man for showing shoe at a press conference, on camera!

- Firing and killing of Jaitapur civilian protestors in Maharashtra.

Sin #2: Murder of democracy in Rajya Sabha, during Lokpal bill "debate" and vote:

In what most people who watched live on TV described, Congress manipulated and blatantly avoided an inevitable losing vote in the parliament in December 2011. CNN-IBN in fact showed right from 10.50 PM onwards, till midnight, exactly how Congress manipulated & used Lalu Prasad's party as a pawn in this murder of democracy at midnight. Utterly shameful sin considering that they had back-stabbed Anna Hazare team on a stronger Lokpal  bill called Janlokpal earlier.


Read more here:  http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-ensures-no-voting-for-lokpal-rs-adjourned/216174-37-64.html

In a cynical and blatant display of political manipulation, the UPA government ensured that there was no voting on the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha. As predicted, members of the Rashtriya Janata Party and Samwajwadi Party created utter chaos in the House during the reply of the government to the debate, which was being made by Minister of State (PMO) V Narayanswamy. 

Similar sins: 

• After initially promising multi-brand retail FDI, the government went back on its words and put it on "hold". Corporates fumed!
• While allthe drama happens, investors lost Rs.20,00,000,00,00,000 in the stock market and Rupee turned out to the worst performing currency in Asia, price inflation bothered common man for most of the year, including a series of fuel price rises.
• A tainted CVC appointment justified, in spite of BJP voicing its distrust in this CVC prior to the appointment.
• This after 2010, when Manmohan Singh was embarrassed and slammed by Court during A Raja prosecution case.
• The same Congress govt arrested MPs who exposed cash for votes scam from 2008 as whistle blowers, but never dared to act against those who benefited from this hand over of cash.

Sin #3: Harassing Subramanian Swamy for his crusade against 2G scam culprits, including an alleged attack on his house:

The year was hostile towards Subarmanian Swamy. Not just attack on his house which he told in multiple interviews as a handwork of Congress guys, he also got FIRs, notices and much more. The reason blamed was his article in DNA newspaper, but it was clear for a neutral observer that him putting Team Sonia in dock for 2G scam had a lot to do with the reaction.

Similar sin: 

• Filing FIR against him and moving ahead with it, while not acting upon the prosecution request he filed with the PM, against UPA chairperson.  
• Even for Congress' ally and a leader of the partner party in 2G scam, Karunanidhi, was not allowed to be prosecuted by a governor controlled by UPA regime.

Sin #4: Retaining Chidambaram as the Home Minister, inspite of a mountain of evidences/cases against him:

2011 was a very bad year for Chidambaram. His "best friend" Swamy kept on hounding him from court case to court case. He was blamed for Ramlila maidan midnight crackdown. He was blamed for many other things, including his shaky 2009 election. But he remains the Home Minister of India still.. shamefully..

So who did 2G scam? One or more? {source: OnIndia}

Read here: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/chidambarams-role-in-2g-scam-what-swamy-told-the-court/20111217.htm

The key aspect which Team Sonia is not able to convince Indians is that Chidambaram did not "help" Raja in 2G scam. 

Similar and Related sins: 

• Kapil Sibal's "Zero Loss" theory on 2G scam.
• Allowing SM Krishna to be the External Minister, in spite of an FIR against him in Karnataka for alleged role in illegal mining, when he was the Chief Minister. And protecting a guy who read a Portuguese foreign minister's speech at UN, shaming India!
• Remember, the same Team Sonia had claimed Raja also as innocent!
• Only Raja blamed, while Chidambaram saved. No one grilled the government as to why a key 2G scam witness Sadiq Batcha died?
• While Congress is busy protecting a tainted Krishna and Chidambaram,China is slowly moving into Indian areas. 11000 troops deployed in Gilgit which belongs to India, intrude into Ladakh and openly challenging India on Arunchal Pradesh.
• Bugging Finance Ministry with 'chewing gum'?
• Utterly shameful usage of the term 'Saffron terror'!

Sin #5: Letting Rahul Gandhi get away with his claims of human ash and rapes at Bhatta Parsaul in UP:

 Earlier in 2011, Rahul Gandhi openly told the country and the PM that "people have been killed, people have been raped" at Bhatta Parsaul. See the video right next here to hear him say that.

It didn't take much time for National Human Rights Commission to come out and clarify that his statements were essentially lies.

Rahul Gandhi revealed that farmers told him about rape and murder during the protest. Ruling out Rahul Gandhi's claims, NHRC states that farmers hadn't lost their lives in numbers.

The 800-page interim report submitted by NHRC also ruled out the rape in the notorious Lakhimpur Kheri police station rape case.

Some of us are still wondering as to how he could mislead the country about 70 feet ash, when the press is openly pooh-poohing his claims!

And this "credible" guy could be a PM of India one day!

Similar sins: 

• Not just that infamous concoction in Bhatta Parsaul, Rahul Gandhi had his share of sins further more. He retorted to an insulting beggar comment in UP which backfired badly.
• He said he's "ashamed to be an Indian", which got plenty of flaks too. 
• The same guy even went to the arrogant extent of 99% terror prevention comment, when the country was mourning a fresh terror attack's victims, while his government feeds biryani to Afzal and Kasab, and giving away 10000 acres of land to Bangladesh instead of tackling illegal immigration!
• To ice the cake, Wikileaks revealed his low IQ when it comes to differentiating imaginary 'saffron terror' versus the menacing Jihadi terror. Wikileaks also exposed his failure as an MP. Navjot Sidhu went to an animated extent of asking Rahul Baba to go back to school.. LoL!

Sin #6: Indecision on Telangana, spoiling the economy of Hyderabad and career of students for almost the entire year:

The way Congress handled Telangana in 2011 was utterly shameful. The Andhra Pradesh state which elected the maximum number of Congress MPs in 2009, felt fully betrayed. The entire year, bandhs, violence and burning of public property continued. Hyderabad's booming economy suffered severe hit due to this indecision of Congress government for years now. The worst affected are the students who are used by politicians and are losing valuable years of their student career.

Telengana protestors burning Sonia Gandhi poster. {Source: Rediff}

Read more about Congress' dilly-dolling here: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_opposition-parties-in-andhra-slam-congress-over-telangana_1621764

Similar sins: 

• The same party also plays divisional politics in other spots too. Chidambaram's Mullaperiyar divisionary statement was so stupid that he had to withdraw it.
• Unconstitutional Muslim quota being talked in UP, breaking communities based on religion.
• Sonia Gandhi led Communal Violence Bill has been slammed as communal and unconstitutional too.

Sin #7: Saving Sheila Dikshit, the most corrupt Chief Minister of India, in spite of Shunglu Report, Lokayukta slamming, Ramlila crackdown fiasco, Batla House accusation and CAG report: 

Picture tells everything! {source: The Hindu}

It's a no-brainer to say that protecting a super corrupt Sheila Dikshit was one of the most unpardonable and hypocritical sins of Congress in 2011. Why? I had a lengthy blog already which would give you lots of facts and figures. Go through that please here: http://kiranasis.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-twitter-screamed-sack-sheila.html

Similar sins at state levels: 

• Blamed Kalmadi for everything in CWG scam, while saving Sheila. Even CAG squarely blamed Sheila Dikshit. 
• Misuse of CBI and making it a puppet organization.
• Misuse of Governor positions in Karnataka and Gujarat.
• Not punishing Omar Abdullah for Tiranga Yatra scuttling, while letting Pakistan flag in Lal Chowk!
• Goa Mining Scam Report was ignored and the tainted CM Kamat saved.
• Rajasthan CM saved even after massive hospital deaths and Banwari Devi Murder case.
• Abuse of CBI and tax authorities against Jagan Reddy, while never acting against the same YSR family when they were with Congress!
• Poschim Bongo's Mamata saved, in spite of big number of children dying in the hospitals, and no visible punishment for 2010 Deganga rioters who were linked to ally TMC.
• In Haryana, CM Hooda was saved in spite of clear violation of rules dealing with Rajiv Gandhi Trusts's land deal.
• 100s of crores lost due to the lengthy Manipur blockade, but no punishment to the Congress government there.

Sin #8: Not informing the nation of 1.2 billion people, who is paying for their government's head's foreign trips and surgery:

Why this hush hush about foreign trips? {Source: SamayLive}

India must be the only democracy, where the head of the government, in this case UPA coalition chief, gives no details to the fellow countrymen about her foreign trips or expenses for the trips/surgeries! Even the CIC told the PMO, but in vain.
Read more here: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sonias-foreign-trips/803085/

It is anybody's guess as to why the Congress' nucleus, Gandhi family, does not care about Indians when it comes to their foreign trips.. It seems, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, both MPs, have not even informed their work place, the parliament, about any of their trips since June 2004!

Why this secrecy?

Similar sins: 

• While we worry about secrecy of government chief's foreign trips, RTI, which was a boon for informing citizen about government action, is turning out to be a murder trap for activists.
• The same Sonia/Manmohan government went to the extent of almost letting Pakistan off the hook for 26/11 and other terror attacks. Why?
• The same government which is so secretive about Sonia's trips, gives crores of public ads for tainted former PMs, giving credit for everything good in India to them.. Not telling what should be told, while telling things which no one cares!

Sin #9: Systematically maligning Anna Hazare, Sri Sri Ravishankar and anyone else who spoke against corruption: 

Anna getting Rajiv "Samaj Seva" award from Digvijay

 Once upon a time, Digvijay Singh had presented Anna Hazare with the Rajiv Gandhi "Samaj Seva" Puraskar for his outstanding service to the society. Of course, that was long before Anna had started his anti-corruption war directly against Team Sonia.  In 2011, a virulent campaign was launched against Anna Hazare, calling him an RSS Agent and an Army Deserter. Giving company to Digvijay Singh, the usual rabble-rouser Manish Tewari went one step further calling Anna, "corrupt from head to toe"! The sickening attack on Anna Hazare was well coordinated by multiple angles of Congress machinery in 2011.


Similar sins: 

• The same Diggy who constantly attacked Anna, also called a dreaded 9/11 terrorist Osama bin Laden as Osama Ji! Some "balance" here.
• Congress party's apparent mole with Team Anna, Agnivesh was exposed talking to Kapil Sibal about a sabotage deal.
• They didn't even leave Sri Sri Ravi Shankar..

The message was clear in 2011. You talk about Congress' corruption and we will come after you.


And the Final Top-10 Sin: Attempts to curb freedom of speech over internet, by Kapil Sibal:

Protest against Kapil Sibal. {Source The Hindu}

No need to talk anything more about Kapil Sibal's highly ridiculed attempt to censor social media, than the picture accompanying here. By the way, I heard Congress even acted against these placard holders! 

Read more here: http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/article2709388.ece

Similar sins: 

• As expected in 2011, Congress attacked WikiLeaks, dismissed the damaging exposure in late 2010.
• On the highly controversial Radia Tapes which exposed media honchos and industrialists along with politicians, no action was taken beyond the initial court hearing. 
• Remember in 2010, a techie from Hyderabad was arrested for exposing Electronic Voting Machine fraud? Nothing happened beyond then. EVMs are still in use, in spite of voices in the courts that they are being abused.

There is more.. lot more.. but this is enough for one blog.

How long will this saga of sins continue? Maybe the biggest sin of BJP, Communists and regional parties, is their inability to pin Congress down in 2011, in spite of such massive failures.

Critical Analysis of Sonia Gandhi's Communal Violence Bill

You might have seen a lot of reviews in 2011 about Sonia Gandhi led NAC's supposedly draconian Communal Violence Bill (CVB). I have seen a few too. But over the weekend, I got a chance to read a very short, yet concise book containing some serious critique of CVB. The book is titled "Hole in the bucket" and written by  Prof. Rakesh Sinha, Director of India Policy Foundation. I felt a need to blog after reading this book, as it is to the point, minus any detailed commentary, and exposes the grave situation India's secular society would have, if this draconian bill becomes law.

Read the salient points and feel free to pick up a copy of the book itself for further reference. Also, you are most welcome to educate or correct any point raised here, if you have a different view point. I am merely highlighting the points from the book, which I see are slamming CVB, for being highly discriminatory and dangerous for the long term stability of Indian multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multicultural society. If any section reference or legal question comes through, I would suggest to contact the India Policy Foundation at indiapolicy@gmail.com, http://www.indiapolicyfoundation.org or +91-11-2652-4018.

Before reading the salient points from the book, if you wish to read all 56 pages of the CVB, here is the Communal Violence Bill 2011 from NAC's website: http://nac.nic.in/pdf/pctvb.pdf

Now over to some key points from this 30 page book:

Book: Hole in The Bucket

1. The concept of Minority is flawed: In 1940s, two famous leaders, Tajamul Husain (Muslim) and HC Mukherjee (Christian) opposed the majority and minority concepts based on the forms of worship, in the Constituent Assembly of India.
2. Sonia Gandhi's Communal violence bill is unconstitutional per Professor Sinha. It provides two criminal laws, two legal systems and two punishments in India.
3. The essence of the book is to expose that NAC and Sonia's CVB's agenda is to treat Muslims and Christians above Hindus in the eye of security laws. SC/ST & Linguistic minorities are merely added to hide the real agenda.
4. R.Venkata Narayanan is quoted to have said, Sonia Gandhi's CVB will be a "Hindu Apartheid Law"! That's a strong statement exposing the discriminatory nature of this bill.
5. The book goes back in time to show how Hitler's Germany had biased view of a particular community. In Hitler's Germany, Jews were held responsible for ALL acts of violence. Now Sonia's CVB may do the same over Hindus :(
6. If missionaries try fraudulent or forced conversions, Sonia's CVB is NOT applicable to the violence between tribals & Christians.One wonders why is that scenario left out?
7. Sonia's CVB Article 3(F) will allow to charge a Hindu landlord of "depriving place of living", if he just tries to vacate his Muslim tenant! That can be disastrous in basic society transactions such as renting a place.
8. Sonia's CVB Clause 114 A thru E term a rape of a 2 minority women as "Mass rape". But 2 Hindu women raped is not mass rape! This to me sounds the most bizarre view of a serious crime such as rape, by communalizing it in the view of law.
9. If Sonia's CVB becomes law, a Christian or a Muslim from the "Group", can criticize sati system, but if a Hindu criticizes burqa system, it becomes "hate disinformation". For more information of who belongs to the "Group", refer to the PDF mentioned above.
10. Prof. Sinha highlights that Hitler's 1933 Nazi law viewed police & bureaucracy as pro-Jew. Sonia's 2011 CVB views police & bureaucracy as pro-Hindu. I say what a coincidence in the thought process!
11. Sonia's CVB Section 12: If police hit a minority (not Hindu) during terror investigation, it's "torture" and severe punishment for police prescribed. But if a Hindu is hit, there is no special provision to punish the guilty police.
12. Sonia's CVB Section 120 makes it almost impossible for state administrations to demolish illegal Muslim or Christian religious structures. That's a serious flaw.
13. Sonia's CVB Section 18 (I): Police MUST act against "daily activities" of Hindu organizations, if complained by minorities. The first thought that came to my mind.. RSS shakhas anyone? :)
14. The book says, Hitler and Mussolini rewarded bureaucracy if they were "efficient" (translation: targeted Jews in the first case). Prof. Sinha feels, Sonia's CVB replaces Jews with Hindus, which makes it a very dangerous bill.
15. Prof. Sinha tracks back to 1930, when Muslim League's baseless allegations against police & bureaucracy were common. This eventually led to the disastrous partition of India in 1947. If in 2011, Sonia's CVB replicates the situation for a similar bias, what next?
16. The book lists the top 3 sources of baseless allegation against India's administration & police: a) Radiance. 2) Milli Gazette and 3) Communalism Combat (Teesta Setalvad & Javed Anand)
17. Prof. Sinha categorically states that in the past 5 years, both Ranganath Mishra and Sachar Committee reports have not been able to cite even ONE instance of institutional bias against minorities of India. Hence the rabble rousers are to be ignored.
18. Muslim scholars like AAA Faizi and Humayun Kabir have termed "institutional bias against minorities" in India as imaginary.
19. The most important take away from this book is that while pretending to prevent "state sponsored riots", Sonia Gandhi's NAC is pushing "state sponsored communalism" via this draconian anti-Hindu CVB.
20. Sonia's CVB section 18:122, ALL members of a Hindu org may get ten years jail term, if just ONE member names someone in organization as criminal! Setup precisely to discourage people from becoming board members of Hindu organizations.
21. Sonia's CVB Sec 21 calls for a seven member national authority for final word, which is outside the RTI purview. The craziest part is that this authority must have four minorities & ALL decisions will be taken via majority vote. So essentially, this whole "above the common law" authority is designed be controlled by Muslims and Christians. To top it, this national authority must select its chairman and Vice Chairman from the minority groups. And here it the googly.. anyone with "bias" against minority shown anytime in their career till date, however minor it may be like talking against Muslim reservation just once, is barred! Needless to say, this pretty much negates any sane voice from either minority or majority community to make decisions.:)

Let's stop at these 21 points. These are enough to give you a glimpse of how discriminatory and anti-Hindu agenda driven, this CVB 2011 is. After reading the "Hole in the Bucket", examining Prevention of Communal & Targeted Violence Bill, I feel that even India breaking Jinnah wouldn't have thought as 'communally', as this Sonia Gandhi's NAC!

Feel free to read the book. Again, you are most welcome to educate me and the readers of this blog, if these points are not interpreted properly. You have to provide a proper interpretation or example though, without getting into unnecessary diversions or fights.