Over the last 20 years a strange narrative has arisen over India’s unity.  This narrative revolves around an increasingly fanciful and jingoistic notion of Indian patriotism.  Carriers of this message of pan-Indian identities tell us that the diversity of India is an impediment, more than an asset.  A superior ‘Indian’ culture is asserted, and a mythical mother India is venerated.  Who are we kidding?

India as a political and cohesive unit never existed before 1947.  At best, India is an experiment of ‘unity in diversity’.  That this country, despite its differences of Religion, Language, Region, Philosophies and so on remains united Continue reading →

In a worrisome and all too familiar repetition of history, Salman Rushdie has been threatened for the supposed insults contained in his book, ‘The Satanic verses’.  The annual Jaipur Literary Festival, which for all intents and purposes appears to be a peaceful congregation of writers and lovers of literature, domestic and international, is at the center of the current controversy. Salman Rushdie was supposed to be attending the literary festival, I presume for harmless book discussions and book signings, and this, of course, was reason enough for various Islamic groups in the country to reach a state of panic and anger. Continue reading →

It is with a sense of curiosity, more than anything else, that I ventured to visit the 9/11 memorial last week.  I was in New York City for work, and proceeded to head to the memorial one evening.  I’ve followed the controversy around the rebuilding of the world trade center complex.  After 9/11, some argued that the terrorists should not be allowed the satisfaction of having changed lower Manhattan, and that a fitting response would be to rebuild the twin-towers, exactly as they were.  Others felt that “Ground Zero” was hallowed ground, and was essentially the resting place of the thousands of people who perished on that fateful day in September, 2001, and should be treated with the dignity and respect that it deserves.

I was interested to know what kind of compromise NYC authorities, the 9/11 families, and the people of New York City Continue reading →

A problem which has been seething for decades has now come to a potential flash point. It has been hard to miss the articles and links to videos which paint a picture of unimaginable disaster and loss of life.  Truth be told, I did not jump to conclusions or assumptions, a sensitive and serious issue like this does not lend itself to reflexive and random opinionated views.  Uninformed opinions are the last thing any one needs to hear about this issue.  I would encourage people on both sides of this issue to read up as much as they can about the issue at hand, and eschew anyone who seeks to demonize the other side.

More importantly, to the extent possible, the issue must not be framed as a Kerala vs Tamil Nadu clash, but as a problem confronting our fellow Indian citizens – some, whose livelihoods depend on the continued functioning of the dam, and others whose very lives are at risk (will get to the veracity of both claims later on in the article).  However, I’ve already read several articles where I’ve seen choice adjectives being used to describe Tamilians and Malayalis.  This is counter-productive Continue reading →

I came across this article today, and it is disturbing on multiple levels.  First, the fact that there are still temples where ‘Dalits’ are not allowed to enter, and second, the fact that several people in the area were apparently in despair that the ‘Dalits’ were allowed to enter the temple.

The above article is just one example of the caste insanity that is pervasive in Indian society.  Now, some would argue that these are just incidents isolated to rural India.  Such a view is just a method commonly adopted by city dwellers to avoid the unsettling issue of caste-based discrimination.  Denial is a common defense mechanism against the ugliness of the caste system.

The Indian Government, the Media, and citizens in general Continue reading →

To some, Subramanian Swamy is a good Samaritan.  Indeed, it would be easy to assume likewise given all the litigation he files in courts across India.  But on closer analysis of his world-view, words, and actions, the following conclusion is inescapable – he is a right-wing Hindu extremist, who holds views that are both scary and absurd.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m even giving importance to Swamy, after all, his political party, the Janata Party, has no power to speak of, anywhere in India.  However, I think it’s a useful and illustrative exercise as Subramanian Swamy provides a clear distillation of the views held by hard-core Hindutva elements in the country.

I could probably end this article right here, by quoting Continue reading →

1.  Evidently, Anna Hazare has called off his fast.  As part of the high drama that played out on Saturday (August 27th), the Parliament passed a ‘sense of the house’ resolution.  Now, Team Anna is passing this off as some kind of huge victory, maybe it is, time will tell.  I suspect that leaders in Parliament, across all political parties, were glad to put the whole episode behind them, any way they could.  It remains unclear to me, however, if this resolution is somehow binding on parliament.  It appears to be Continue reading →

In a moment of enthusiasm, confusion, or diabolical intent, I’m not sure, Kiran Bedi said the following at Ramlila Grounds, where Anna Hazare and co are continuing their protests:

“Anna is India and India is Anna”

Now, I’m not sure if Kiran Bedi is aware of the history of such language.  For those of us who’ve been arguing that the Jan Lokpal movement has authoritarian and dictatorial tendencies, and a cult of personality around Anna Hazare, this just proves our point.

In the 20th century, of course, the most well known use of this phrase (equating a state to a person, and vice versa) was by Nazis in reference to Adolf Hitler.  Continue reading →

Fear not my friends, cross-dressing contortionist and escape artist, Baba Ramdev, and cult leader Sri Sri RaviShankar have now joined the freak show.  Apparently, Baba Ramdev met President Prathiba Patil and requested that Anna be allowed to fast.  Can someone explain to me how Baba Ramdev manages to meet with the President of India? Meanwhile, Sri Sri Ravishankar who seems to be an attention monger at best, got a piece of the action by turning up at Tihar Jail, for the purpose of well…I’m not sure.  Not to be left out, communist and development blocker Medha Patkar seems to be turning up wherever the cameras are.

Anyway, the ridiculous side shows aside, it appears that negotiations have been fruitful and Anna will be allowed to fast for 15 days at the Ramlila grounds.  Now, I do think that the imprisonment of Hazare and his gang at Tihar, and allowing Continue reading →

I wrote a post earlier explaining why I thought the Jan Lokpal bill as suggested by Anna Hazare and other members of the Uncivil society (burning documents and hunger strikes don’t seem to very civil to me) is a disaster.  You can find that post here.

In any event, the whole Anna Hazare fiasco appears to be reaching a breaking point.  The Government seems to have finally decided, and rightly so, that it should not and will not succumb to the blackmail and threats of a few unelected citizens, who magically Continue reading →