Coming Out Swinging

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is often described, not entirely without reason, as a somewhat passive and non-confrontational leader — an accidental politician, with the real strings being pulled, behind the scenes, by Sonia Gandhi. (Manmohan may wear the Pagri, but Sonia wears the pants, as it were.)

However, in the speech he gave yesterday in the Indian Parliament before the Confidence Vote (which the UPA government won, by about 20 votes), Manmohan Singh showed no signs of meekness or passivity. Indeed, his take-down of BJP leader L.K. Advani is rhetorically ferocious. I was impressed:

“The Leader of Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and India’s sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come.

As for Shri Advani’s various charges, I do not wish to waste the time of the House in rebutting them. All I can say is that before leveling charges of incompetence on others, Shri Advani should do some introspection. Can our nation forgive a Home Minister who slept when the terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament? Can our nation forgive a person who single handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of the Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed? To atone for his sins, he suddenly decided to visit Pakistan and there he discovered new virtues in Mr. Jinnah. Alas, his own party and his mentors in the RSS disowned him on this issue. Can our nation approve the conduct of a Home Minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their General Secretary. (link)

Unfortunately, I gather the din was too great for the speech to actually be heard. But hey, at least he tried to say it.

In terms of content, the only thing that seems off key here is the reference to Advani’s “ripe old age” — I’m not sure that a 75 year old man can really get away with that comment! (Advani, for reference, is even older — about 81.)

The rest of the speech (read it here in its entirety) is more focused on substantively defending the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and the general policies of the current government. It is, by comparison to the above, a bit dull… but necessary.

In the interest of opposing dullness, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the second remarkable thing that happened in the chaotic Parliamentary session yesterday:

bjp lok sabha.jpg

3 BJP MPs disrupted the session when they pulled wads of Rupees out of a bag, and claimed they had been paid to abstain from voting. (A video clip of the event can be seen here.)

The allegations are going to be investigated, of course, but my instinct is that it smells like a stunt. The three MPs say they met Amar Singh, who told them “we can’t give you very much money to abstain, because we have the votes to sustain the government.” That sounds like B.S. (why would the SP bother with bribes if the vote was already secure?). And the story of how they were actually physically given the money is also a bit questionable (see this report). Finally, they claim they have video proving the bribe took place — but where is that video? Why didn’t they leak that to the media as well?

Of course, if it comes out that there’s hard evidence supporting the claims of vote-buying, the currently fragile UPA government probably really will fall. And the government falls because they really did buy votes and abstentions this nakedly, I for one won’t be particularly sorry about it.

In the meanwhile, 8 BJP MPs have been expelled from the party for defying leadership, when they either abstained from voting or voted cross-party for the bill. And the Samajwadi Party has filed a procedural complaint (“breach of privilege”) against the 3 BJP MPs who pulled the stunt.

160 thoughts on “Coming Out Swinging

  1. I thought the best and probably most important part of the speech was this section:

    The essence of the matter is that the agreements that we negotiate with USA, Russia, France and other nuclear countries will enable us to enter into international trade for civilian use without any interference with our strategic nuclear programme. The strategic programme will continue to be developed at an autonomous pace determined solely by our own security perceptions. We have not and we will not accept any outside interference or monitoring or supervision of our strategic programme. Our strategic autonomy will never be compromised. We are willing to look at possible amendments to our Atomic Energy Act to reinforce our solemn commitment that our strategic autonomy will never be compromised. I confirm that there is nothing in these agreements which prevents us from further nuclear tests if warranted by our national security concerns. All that we are committed to is a voluntary moratorium on further testing. Thus the nuclear agreements will not in any way affect our strategic autonomy. The cooperation that the international community is now willing to extend to us for trade in nuclear materials, technologies and equipment for civilian use will be available to us without signing the NPT or the CTBT.
  2. The strategic programme will continue to be developed at an autonomous pace determined solely by our own security perceptions. We have not and we will not accept any outside interference or monitoring or supervision of our strategic programme. Our strategic autonomy will never be compromised. We are willing to look at possible amendments to our Atomic Energy Act to reinforce our solemn commitment that our strategic autonomy will never be compromised.

    If the “strategic programme” is being run by the folks that gave India it’s civilian nuclear program (power generation) only 1.5 warheads would detonate out of the 20 delivered by the missiles.

  3. 52 · amaun said

    If the “strategic programme” is being run by the folks that gave India it’s civilian nuclear program (power generation) only 1.5 warheads would detonate out of the 20 delivered by the missiles.

    You should check out the website maintained by Nuclear Power corp of India. There are quite a few plants that have decent capacity and availability factors. Since the nuclear embargo of 1974 Indian scientists and engineers haven’t done too badly. TAPS-1 & 2, entirely US designed and installed, have been run independently by India for decades. Apart from that India has moving ahead on fast breeder technology as well, an area that will not be subject to any inspection. There is currently no civilian nuclear program such as India’s that is entirely self-reliant and possibly even self-sufficient. Without access to an international supply web India hasn’t done too badly in operating ~5000 MW of capacity. Kush – if you are reading this – would you like to add something?

  4. Indian parliamentary procedure does not provide for ratification of treaties. So in this case it is the Left Loons who withdrew support to the UPA precipitating the confidence vote. No opposition – especially the party that leads – worth its salt would support the ruling alliance at a time like this. It’s the way a multi party legislature works.

    Jyotsana brings up a serious problem with the Indian Constitution– what kind of national parliament has no power to ratify treaties that the government enters into? Whose idea was that?

    Amardeep, after all this checking of IP addresses, doesn’t it seem to you now that opinion is likely divided not only in Desh but among the diaspora as well?

    Sorry, but I’m not seeing Prakash Karat as a cartoon figure. I still think the Hyde Act will be a problem going forward.

  5. Kush – if you are reading this – would you like to add something?

    I will more later in the day.

    Indian nuclear program uptil now have been a mixed bag – they did develop it entirely on their own, and that is very commendable**, however, without continual supply of enriched uranium, and access to world wide technology, they had hit a serious wall. As for thorium-based (fast breeder reactor) energy solutions, it is something needs around 30-40 years of more research to be viable.

    Personally, this confidence motion victory is a personal vindication of PM Singh, as he did stake a lot of his reputation on it. However, let’s hope, that till May 2009, some real reforms are initiated by the present government, and this opportunity is not wasted. Right now, in Indian politics there are roughly three fronts – Congress led, BJP led, and now BSP led – and in some sense it is not a bad thing, it will keep all of them (or that is the hope) on their toes. Regarding the drama, and all the charges in last few weeks – it comes with the territory.

    Now India is entering in a very complex and difficult phase with no turning back – as the country’s economic power grows, inflation is inevitable, and a by-product. The challenge is to maintain the growth rate to outrun inflation, and also keep the inflation in check, and it is not going to be easy. Hope, there will be a group of leaders (in power, or in opposition) who can keep a long view, and steady vision. We’ll see. So far, India has recently progressed, inspite of its leaders, and governance.


    ** Even though it is a very tiny percentage (I think, it is 2-3 %), in India, they do provide some electricity through nuclear power. They could easily up it to 10% or so with new technology that comes with Indo-US nuclear deal. As a whole, there is lot India has to do for stable, and enough electricity generation to maintain 8-9 % growth rate. Every option and source helps.

  6. Jyotsana brings up a serious problem with the Indian Constitution– what kind of national parliament has no power to ratify treaties that the government enters into? Whose idea was that?

    That is done for a good reason – you do not want your government’s key governance with rest of the world – held hostage to populist mood swings. A government will have no credibility, if for every binding agreement (be it Indo-US nuclear deal, Simla Pact, treaties with USSR in 1971, etc.) has to be on its knees in front of the Parliament.

    I think Guha goes into it, and discussion during the Constituent Assembly in his book “India after Gandhi” in the chapter on constitution.

  7. There is currently no civilian nuclear program such as India’s that is entirely self-reliant and possibly even self-sufficient.

    WTF! Sounds like a Nehruvian excuse.

  8. That is done for a good reason – you do not want your government’s key governance with rest of the world – held hostage to populist mood swings. A government will have no credibility, if for every binding agreement (be it Indo-US nuclear deal, Simla Pact, treaties with USSR in 1971, etc.) has to be on its knees in front of the Parliament.

    And yet, Kush, you don’t object to the fact that this same agreement will have to pass muster and be ratified– or not– by both houses of the U.S.Congress, especially when most of us on this blog are supporting the populist mood swing right here, and while many of us posting comments here feel that the current executive’s conduct has been lacking precisely because he and his coterie have been manipulating Congress. How’s that?

  9. Faggan Singh Kulaste, one of the BJP MP alleging bribes has a chequered history. Calling his moves a stunt is right. For once CNN-IBN did the right thing, and handed over the tapes to govt instead of airing them.

  10. I miss P.A. Sangma

    He would’ve been amazing to have as the speaker during another farce like this.

  11. And yet, Kush, you don’t object to the fact that this same agreement will have to pass muster and be ratified– or not– by both houses of the U.S.Congress, especially when most of us on this blog are supporting the populist mood swing right here, and while many of us posting comments here feel that the current executive’s conduct has been lacking precisely because he and his coterie have been manipulating Congress. How’s that?

    The way, American Federal Government is setup, and functions………it is perhaps, the most powerful entity in the democratic world.

    The President of US, and it’s executive branch will find a way to bypass legislators, and/ or populist mood swings, if it has to.

    Some examples:

    a) League of Nations, and President Woodrow Wilson’s role.

    b) CTBT itself, US legislators never ratified it, yet US government imposes (preaches) CTBT on other countries.

    c) Henry Kissinger in 1972, requested Iran and Turkey to loan US fighter planes, and spare parts to Pakistan so that US Congress and Senate had no interference.

    d) US President (be it Republican or Democrat), when it comes to foriegn policy, runs his show with little interefence or knows to manipulate the system. Classic examples are carte blanche powers given to US President after Pearl Harbor (I think it is the US Wars Act) or after Tet offensive (in Vietnam War), and after 9/ 11. US Congress, and Senate can be very compliant, when the US President wants it to be.

    By the way nature, a Parliamentary democracy seeks/ and is controlled by its lower House (be it UK, or India) far more than the Presidential system, as it should be in a democracy. But you want them for every decision by the Indian Government put through a populist ringer, that is a recipe for disaster of enormous dimensions. This said, the government in a parliamentary system seeks their credibility through elections, and bye-elections, and debate in the Parliament. Personally, what Communists in India did was well within their right, they called the bluff, and lost it – It is time to move on.

    Most important: US legislators are not direct part of Executive so up and down vote is necessary for their role, but in a Parliamentary democracy, MP (Members of Parliament) are part of the executive as Ministers, and all, so you have to give them some confidence in their functioning.

  12. Thanks Jyotsana for taking the time to dwell at length on the insanity and frustration that’s Indian politics. Amrita many Indian are voicing exactly the same sentiments (past elections have proven that Indian electorate isn’t as naive as it’s assumed to be nor are “populist mood swings� as populist as they are made out to be).

    It’s amusing how on this forum if someone criticizes the Congress they’re branded BJP supporters (India doesn’t work like the US) or people are always concerned about who came from across which border some 60 years back. Thankfully in India such nitty-gritty doesn’t overwhelm us.

    For people wondering what’s wrong with the Indian economy how about the fact that the world’s third largest food producer has 50 percent of the world’s hungry or that the nation with the fastest growing number of millionaires and billionaires stands at 126 (out of 177) in the Human Development Report. If growing inequality isn’t your preferred statistic. How about poverty in India has decreased according to the government because we haven’t brought up our poverty line (40 cents/day) to match the International Poverty Line (2 dollars/day). In August 2007 UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food noted that 80 per cent of the Indian population was surviving on less than two dollars/day and child malnutrition levels were higher than that in most nations of Sub Saharan Africa You may still very well say but that isn’t the economy stupid (magically making it all disappear under the term ‘inevitable part of development’).

    So how about simply asking people in urban India enjoying the economic boom (despite the inflation) how much they pay their domestic maid and then comparing it with how much they spend in a month. The resulting (in)difference is “Westoxification” (Dr Dipankar Gupta’s term) a lethal consequence of “development’ and lack of compassion. Will the nuclear deal benefit Kalawati (star of Rahul Gandhi’s speech) only time will tell but the fact that the real Kalawati hasn’t eaten in two days (check Times of India) is high time we acknowledged?

  13. Amrita,

    If you honestly, think that Indian Constitution should make ratification of treaties as an amendment.

    Then, maybe, it is the time for on the ground populist movement in India, to force MPs to amend the constitution. Maybe, a SMS campaign.

    That is something, I will support (and many others too) but it will hold only after it has amended the constition.

  14. Okay, Kushji, you admire the U.S. Federal Govt., and nothing wrong with that, but the idea of having three separate but equal branches of government is NOT to set up ways and means for the executive branch to bypass the legislative branch and the judiciary. By the measures you cite, there’s still something lacking in the division of power in India where the Indian Parliament’s authority is not now suspended because of a national crisis or a war– the Parliament is simply not empowered to make decisions regarding contracts that the Govt enters into with another nation or nations, and minority parties, even those propping up the coalition government, cannot assert objections without resorting to toppling the government– something not quite right with that setup.

    The CPI(M) didn’t just try to call Congress Party’s bluff and fail, apparently they spurred the Congress Party into a shocking and highly visible display of ongoing corruption! Please observe that condikedar, one of our own mutinous horde, already posted the Washington Post’s report on that scandal in the News tab, which I reproduce here

  15. Kush @63., that is exactly what I think, and I’m delighted that you would support just such a constitutional amendment!

  16. anvita, I do hope there will be a groundswell of public opinion that pushes forward such an amendment– high time! Personally, I don’t think of populism as pejorative. If there weren’t wisdom in it, the world would still be seeing a predominance of monarchies.

  17. 63 · Kush Tandon said

    Maybe, a SMS campaign.

    When you say SMS, do you mean a text message campaign? I don’t see how that is populist in the Indian context (and I’m not even Prema/Vyasa/Kaka). I know your tony dhobi has a cellphone, but mine doesn’t.

  18. “Coming Out Swinging….”

    “However, in the speech he gave yesterday in the Indian Parliament before the Confidence Vote …Manmohan Singh showed no signs of meekness or passivity.”

    I’d be very careful in providing such a gushing endorsement to any politician in India under any circumstances!

  19. When you say SMS, do you mean a text message campaign? I don’t see how that is populist in the Indian context

    SMS (text messaging) is used in developing countries like India, Palestine far more than US.

    It is used for political activism, and advertising non-stop. Indian cell (mobile) phone are inundated with advertisements.

    Recent example of political activism is the opening of Jessical Lall case via SMS campaign.

    Right now, India has 277.9 million mobile phone subscribers, with 8.2 million added in May. Maybe, your dhobi gota mobile phone in May.

  20. 69 · Kush Tandon said

    Right now, India has 277.9 million mobile phone subscribers, with 8.2 million added in May. Maybe, your dhobi gota mobile phone in May.

    Fair enough, but what percentage of the population owns a cell phone? It’s not clear whether your number are double-counting multiple connections that small businesses and middle class families have. I’m well aware of India’s excellent wireless infrastructure, but it’s a fallacy to assume that text-messaging ‘activists’ represent the majority of the country.

    For more context on where I’m coming from see Anvita’s comment #62 on the poverty stats. India’s shining, but it’s no Sirius.

    As far as Jessica Lal is concerned, several commentators in the desh have observed that while many crimes against women go unpunished, crimes against young, relatively wealthy, and glamorous women receive disproportionate sympathy. Of course, middle class people will text for Jessica Lal. I see no large-scale SMS campaigns for dead farmers though. Maybe there is/will be one for Arushi Talwar.

  21. 69 · Kush Tandon said

    advertising non-stop

    Also, the very fact that texting is used for constant niche advertising might alert you to the relative purchasing power of Indian cell phone subscribers wrt rest of the population.

  22. 54 · Amrita said

    Jyotsana brings up a serious problem with the Indian Constitution– what kind of national parliament has no power to ratify treaties that the government enters into? Whose idea was that?

    I would imagine Nehru’s and/or Patel’s. Did not want smaller parties in the parliament (at independence) to stop the government’s external policies. BTW, what is the convention/constitution in Britain on this issue? Most of the Indian constitution follows British practices, with some concessions to the US version in matters of form (not substance). Thus we have official secrets act; schedule nine; and a largely decorative (except for ousting state governments) office of the president.

  23. 44 · ptr_vivek said

    How is it that you make a statement like that without bothering to substantiate it and still consider yourself to have a mental age of over 15? At 15 everyone I knew was familiar with what both generalizations and citations were…

    Whatever.

    Hypotheticals, meta-statements. 15 year olds’ debating tactics.

    Here are two statements Amardeep made: The allegations are going to be investigated, of course, but my instinct is that it smells like a stunt.

    1. If you have any understanding of Indian politics then it would be clear that this allegation will not be seriously investigated, so long this government is in power, but will be kept on book and used later on as a bargaining chip (against Amar Singh, e.g.). This is not specific to the UPA government. If the opposition had won, they would have done the same.

    2. It does not smell like a stunt (in that the accusation is false) to most who has more understanding of Indian politics than Amardeep displays.

    These are the substantive issues. The rest is talk.

  24. 74 · corporate serf said

    . It does not smell like a stunt (in that the accusation is false) to most who has more understanding of Indian politics than Amardeep displays.

    I think that to have an “understanding” of anything there need to be certain underlying logical patterns or rationale. I would always vote for the BJP over the Congress, we need a Uniform Civil Code above most other things, so that at least we start being a democracy in the real sense. But this whole process with the opportunistic power-hungry alliances, that cannot even be accorded the respect of a term like “real politik”, involved the BJP insulting the values of the Indian Constitution rather than being a validation of them. I’m glad they lost not only because of the procedure but the eventuality of Advani being the PM would not have been beneficial to India in terms of domestic security and the threat of terrorism. An even more ghastly prospect would’ve been Mayawati as the representative of India, and lets leave it at that.

    I think this should be yet another reality check towards forming more India-centric Policy groups that will actually accquire a standing among the Indian Diaspora and might have a say in such processes instead of concentrating resources on less relevant policy situations.

  25. 67 · MFA said

    63 · Kush Tandon said
    Maybe, a SMS campaign.
    When you say SMS, do you mean a text message campaign? I don’t see how that is populist in the Indian context (and I’m not even Prema/Vyasa/Kaka). I know your tony dhobi has a cellphone, but mine doesn’t.

    They have dhobis in Williamsburg Brooklyn?

    1. louiecypher: They have dhobis in Williamsburg Brooklyn?

    Thank you louiecypher

    Inspired by your joke I typed in Dhobi into Google Maps for businesses in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and this was the No. 1 result

    Now I want Indian food and Devon is 40 minutes away…I hate you!

  26. I don’t like Advani’s politics but it is interesting to see how there is no empathy at all for someone who lost everything during Partition. Meanwhile there is no shortage of progressive tears to be found at SM for the po’ stateless Palestinians.

    I have a lot of sympathy for the Hindu Pakistan born immigrants in India. I wish the Indian government would stop the apartheid treatment of people like Advani, stop stealing their land by building settlements over their villages and cities and sucking the life out of them with oppressive check points. Maybe one day they will all get Indian passports so they are not stateless anymore.

  27. 80 · Pagal_Aadmi_for_debauchery said

    I don’t like Advani’s politics but it is interesting to see how there is no empathy at all for someone who lost everything during Partition. Meanwhile there is no shortage of progressive tears to be found at SM for the po’ stateless Palestinians. I have a lot of sympathy for the Hindu Pakistan born immigrants in India. I wish the Indian government would stop the apartheid treatment of people like Advani, stop stealing their land by building settlements over their villages and cities and sucking the life out of them with oppressive check points. Maybe one day they will all get Indian passports so they are not stateless anymore.

    Pagal: Fuck you. I see you being flip about atrocities committed against Hindus and even denying the targeted killing of Hindus in East Pakistan in ’71.

  28. Pagal: I see that being Muslim means never having to say you are sorry. Must be nice being surrounded by nominal Hindus & whites who treat you like a pet, your own community isn’t particularly accepting

  29. I see that being Muslim means never having to say you are sorry.

    louiecypher, is being a Muslim worse than being an MFA? Or better? Just curious.

  30. Pagal: Fuck you. I see you being flip about atrocities committed against Hindus and even denying the targeted killing of Hindus in East Pakistan in ’71.

    How am I being flip? You were wondering about why dont the Pro-Palestinian people on SM sympathize with the treatment of migrant Hindus from Pakistan to India. As I stated earlier, I do sympathize with these stateless people who are living in little Bantustans in India and oppressed by the Indian government. Your brilliant analogy was quite apt.

    And no, I dont want to f*** you so quit begging for it.

  31. Pagal: Referring to Hindus who had to flee as “migrants” rather than refugees or the victims of ethnic cleansing is flippant. Suggesting that a passport has any worth when your family has been murdered is also flippant. You seem fairly bright, I’m sure you’ll figure out autocopulation.

  32. 80 · Pagal_Aadmi_for_debauchery said

    Hindu Pakistan born immigrants in India

    I’m sure that for over 99% of them when they were born, the place wasn’t Pakistan.

  33. Pagal: Referring to Hindus who had to flee as “migrants” rather than refugees or the victims of ethnic cleansing is flippant. Suggesting that a passport has any worth when your family has been murdered is also flippant. You seem fairly bright, I’m sure you’ll figure out autocopulation.

    Thankfully no Muslims were killed in Indian Punjab on route to Pakistan or some lefties might have suggested that killings occured on both sides.

  34. So Manmohand Zing mentions Babri Gujarat, (lets call it BG for easier recall next time) and skip any mention of the ethnic cleansing of Pandits, or the recent chaos over the Amarnath Shrine. Oh wait – they were protests over environmental concerns. While Gujarat was holocaust of peace loving muzzies.

    Manmohan Singh also did not criticize Pol Pot for the killings in Cambodia while he criticized Advani for destroying the Masjid (between, the proudest day in Indian history, EVER!) Incidentally the Maj-jid was named after Babar who was evil but no mention of that, hello? This crazed Sardar obviously has double standards.

  35. There was something desperate about this whole confidence vote business, not sure why the Congress went ahead with it, and the Left allied with the BJP. Things were running along nicely with disagreements and committees and stuff, then it was almost as if they got spooked at something. Not sure what that was. Why did so many people cross the floor, even risking expulsion? And how was that organized? If you know the murky waters of Delhi lobbying, that means some really big monsters were stirring in the depths. Watch who gets the contracts.

  36. Amar Singh’s track record – not to mention the general rule-of-thumb about loose-end Parliamentarians in high-pressure votes — is plenty of reason to suspect that bribes were being given to MPs. But the stunt the BJP MPs pulled wasn’t worth the film it was captured on. You didn’t mention that they waited until the end of the session to storm into the well, and prior to that, they made no complaints to either the Speaker or the police about bribery. Wads of cash? Everybody has a wad of cash. This was pure showboating, and sadly, they didnt even go as far as to unbind the notes and flick them decadently over the Congress or SP MPs… now, that would be some grandstanding worthy of the Parliament of India!

  37. Amar Singh’s track record – not to mention the general rule-of-thumb about loose-end Parliamentarians in high-pressure votes — is plenty of reason to suspect that bribes were being given to MPs. But the stunt the BJP MPs pulled wasn’t worth the film it was captured on. You didn’t mention that they waited until the end of the session to storm into the well, and prior to that, they made no complaints to either the Speaker or the police about bribery. Wads of cash? Everybody has a wad of cash. This was pure showboating, and sadly, they didnt even go as far as to unbind the notes and flick them decadently over the Congress or SP MPs… now, that would be some grandstanding worthy of the Parliament of India!

    I think the BJP MPs act was well staged and believe would have a good imapct. The debate was telecast live throughout India. It makes no sense to file the complaint and go the traditional route when you have a big audience watching the show. It is pretty much common knowledge that bribes are given and taken. Infact for the JMM leader Shibu Soren who came back to favor with the Congress, it would be like an “action replay” of what happened during the Narasimha Rao trust vote in the 90s. He just came out of jail from the murder charges (He was alleged to have murdered his seceratary over sharing the money he got during that trust vote). 🙂

  38. Amrita, I was referring to populist opinion as projected by mainstream English media in India (TOI, HT et al the major news source for most bloggers outside India). Many people in India have been/are voicing concerns about the “Westminister” model (including surprisingly even TOI).

    The main issue is that the entire political class failed the nation. Left, right and centre. We know horse-trading; CBI cases, appointment of senior bureaucrats etc. have always been the deal but never has everything been so blatant and without an iota of shame (not even a sheepish grin).

    Rampant criminalization of politics bothers us the most. Getting convicted MPs out of jail to vote!!! (And lets not even get started on contempt of Parliament.) All this highlights a serious lack of leadership.

    The fact is Mr. Singh isn’t considered a leader in India. He hasn’t won any Lok Sabha elections-lost South Delhi in 1999 (isn’t it the very demographic that’s supposed to be his biggest admirer- the Indian upper/middle class), nominated to Rajya Sabha from Assam(???). How he got nominated is an entirely different story on subverting the Constitution for political ends but to be fair many others sail in the same boat.

    But as the saying goes “andhere nagari chaupat raja” so if anyone is really concerned about criminalization of Indian politics and shamed by its recent display by all political parties (and I emphasize all) – please spread the word about need for democratic reforms in India.

    Or at least check this http://www.adrindia.org/about/about.asp (Don’t make assumptions just because it’s based in Ahmedabad- check their achievements)

    An edited excerpt from their press release dated July 10th, 2008:

    The coming general elections to the Lok Sabha (2009) don’t forecast a bright future if the composition of the Lok Sabha 2004 at present is any indication. There are 120 MPs with criminal cases against them out of 543, or 22.1%. Among the major parties, the BJP has 29 MPs with a criminal record, the Indian National Congress (INC) 24, the SP 11, RJD 8, CPM 7, BSP 7, NCP 5 and CPI 2.

    The number of cases of serious crimes is 333, with several MPs having multiple cases. If we look at violent crimes like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, kidnapping, theft and extortion, rape, other violent crimes like assault using dangerous weapons or causing grievous hurt, the Samajwadi Party (SP) leads with 80 cases, followed by BSP 43, BJP 17, INC 16, RJD 9, CPM 5, CPI 1, NCP 2. Other crimes like cheating, fraud, forgery, giving false oaths to public officials and so on have BSP 23, RJD 22, INC 21, BJP 11, SP 11 and CPM 6.

    And please this isn’t about whether the Congress is better than the BJP. Everybody knows they are all “ek hi thali ke chatte batte” (something to chew on for Hindi illiterates). Ask any small group that gathers around the pan shop every evening in any random small town of India.

    Have a good weekend.

  39. 63 · Kush Tandon said

    Maybe, a SMS campaign.
    
    When you say SMS, do you mean a text message campaign? I don’t see how that is populist in the Indian context (and I’m not even Prema/Vyasa/Kaka). I know your tony dhobi has a cellphone, but mine doesn’t.

    Maybe not populist in itself (and I suspect more dhobis have cellphones than one might imagine), but maybe a spur or a spark or a backup for a popular movement for an amendment? I’m for a texting campaign– what else can we do?

    I would imagine Nehru’s and/or Patel’s. Did not want smaller parties in the parliament (at independence) to stop the government’s external policies. BTW, what is the convention/constitution in Britain on this issue? Most of the Indian constitution follows British practices, with some concessions to the US version in matters of form (not substance). Thus we have official secrets act; schedule nine; and a largely decorative (except for ousting state governments) office of the president.

    Now that’s elitist, don’t you think, corporate serf? And also out of date. Might as well find out, will finish reading Guha.

    Seriously, an SMS campaign is worth doing!

  40. 93 · SM Intern said

    Personal attacks get you banned. One warning.

    Oh, but louiecypher is fair and balanced! Look, he gave Pagal props here too:

    86 · louiecypher said

    You seem fairly bright, I’m sure you’ll figure out autocopulation.

    And here, he fancies himself the Erich Segal of communal hate.

    82 · louiecypher said

    Pagal: I see that being Muslim means never having to say you are sorry. Must be nice being surrounded by nominal Hindus & whites who treat you like a pet
  41. 95 · Amrita said

    what else can we do?

    ROCK THE VOTE! (Remember the time Delhi didn’t vote from MMS? Vote with integrity — which I’m sure you do, but most people that I know in India, who are fairly representative of the middle class (upper and lower) are not very thoughtful about government. I don’t mean to be condescending — this is something I’ve observed since when I was fairly young.)

  42. 13· louiecypher said

    I don’t like Advani’s politics but it is interesting to see how there is no empathy at all for someone who lost everything during Partition. Meanwhile there is no shortage of progressive tears to be found at SM for the po’ stateless Palestinians.

    It is interesting to see you compare apples to, like, planets. Or, in language you may comprehend: Apples = temporarily stateless migrants post-partition; Planets = erased homeland/60+ years later utterly stateless “po’ Palestinins.” Apples = right of entry/return to adopted (albeit refashioned) country; Planets = no freaking right of return, yo, (+ will get cluster bombed in refugee camps in Lebanon, while, yeah, you got it, stateless). At least a cursory glance at history may be in order?

    In case, this is still unclear: FYI, there is no Palestine. Palestine does not exist. India, Pakistan, Kashmir, Bangladesh, on the other hand? Yeee-up. There lies the difference.

  43. That should read ‘for MMS.’ Manmohan Singh lost the 1999 Lok Sabha election from the South Delhi constituency. South Delhi is considered the most affluent part of Delhi. Even though Manmohan Singh was widely considered a very (probably more) capable candidate, he lost because Congress was perceived to be anti-Hindu or at least overly-sympathetic to minorities. His defeat was quite a shock to many. Louiecypher — you will be interested to know that South Delhi is home to erstwhile ‘refugee’ colonies, established post-partition for displaced Hindus. (Misguided) sympathy for Advani and the BJP is alive and well. There may be reasons to vote for BJP, but doing so out of a sense of paranoid Hindu victimization is not one of them.