Monday, August 29, 2011

Anna Hazare , Social Activists & Socialites


Anna Hazare , Social Activists & Socialites

 

"Democracy is not alone a form of state and of administration. It is a philosophy of life and an outlook on the world. The authority of the state and its law is derived from general agreement among citizens upon the main postulates of philosophy of life". President Masaryk.

 

 ".....for India did have a civilization to accommodate democracy's impossible dream, its passions and ambitions ....Hinduism would absorb democracy as it had absorbed everything else, and just as everything else has left its mark, so would democracy". -- Bruce Grant, Australian High Commissioner to India (1973-76).

 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Meade

 

"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed" -Steve Biko

 

"In the past 30 years, the "masters of mankind," as Smith called them, have abandoned any sentimental concern for the welfare of their own society, concentrating instead on short-term gain and huge bonuses, the country be damned -- as long as the powerful nanny state remains intact to serve their interests." - Noam Chomsky

 

 

In an Oped in 'The Hindu' of 22 August , "I'd rather not be Anna" ,Arundhati Roy , the most well known publicity seeking social activist says that while his means may be Gandhian , his demands are certainly not .

 

Yes , you will never be or can be an Anna , since you love publicity and fame , which you have garnered by this piece too . Read

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2379704.ece?homepage=true

 

India's corporate controlled print media and TV channels have been covering since two weeks 24/7 the andolan or peaceful struggle led by Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare for enactment of a law for instituting a Jan Lokpal ie Ombudsman against all pervasive cancer like corruption corroding the Indian polity by inviting for debates ,political party spokesmen, mostly lawyers ,who work for big corporate cases and in between hope to be selected as senior government advocates ,counselors  and solicitors . In debates they are just argumentative Indians ie pointless up man ship with no solutions , just yap yap ,underlined by arrogance and haughtiness.

 

Supreme Court Justice Singhvi rightly bemoaned a few years ago that the judicial system in India did not deliver justice but has become a tool for litigation by the rich and powerful to thwart and delay justice. While some members of the legal fraternity on the Bench have been found wanting and even punished, there are few reported cases of criminal activities and punishment of the practicing lawyers . How come!

 

Then these ad agency honchos in debates. I presume that they believe that selling soap , soups or cell phones gives them insight into human beings specially about social causes ,problems and social activities . Are not they the experts who arouse desires we did not even know existed ? .They believe they know India since they can sell cooking oil  .They are expensive parasites on products they sell where their share of loot is disproportionate to those who improve the product or the cost of raw materials .Their arrogant vehemence is acquired while selling fish or other products .

 

Naomi Klein's book 'No Logo' , an international bestseller ,exposes the brand oriented consumer culture and the operations of large corporations ,many of which s unethically exploit workers in the world's poorest countries in pursuit of greater profits. Her next book ' Fences and Windows 'was  a collection of her articles and speeches written on behalf of the anti-globalisation movement.

 

Of course there is the usual quota of journalists ,the usual suspects ,ill informed and info-challenged There are also the equivalent of what in media lingo is described as embedded ( western media now has mostly such puppets and pimps reporting or rather promoting the interests of their corporate bosses who invade Iraq or Libya or bomb Afghanistan and Pakistan)

 

Also some university professors , some social scientists are thrown in mixed with the friends of the channel anchorman and perhaps of the owners of the channels , the fat corporate puppeteers.It would appear to be a sort of incestuous arrangement where these debating groups meet at receptions and cocktails and are regulars at India's celebrity and trivia obsessed corporate TV channels

 

Lets us not forget the  sarkari or  government approved and promoted social activists. They and the state policy makers interact with each other regularly in air conditioned plush offices and at receptions and iftars .Like the victims of Stockholm Syndrome, these sarkari social activists become supporters of the government scheming .As in this case , of defining the role and functions of a ombudsman and neutralizing grass roots social activists to protect the interests of the rulers (In the present case of  upsurge of the masses , it should be clear that a massive majority of Indians support Anna Hazare and his activists )

 

Some of the names of these sarkari activists recognized are Harash Mander, Jai Prakash Narayan ,the same name as of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain .Of course his parents saw the future qualities in their son .In a similar vein ,any Gandhi ie with Mahatma Gandhi surname and even remotely related becomes an expert on all social subjects and custodian of Gandhian legacy and the benefits it accrues. How these Gandhis have milked this surname.

 

Speaking at seminars and committee meetings and squabbling with the likes of Sibals and Ahluwalias ( of no loss in G-2 Spectrum auctions fame ) they have an exaggerated importance of themselves and echo official spokesmen poking fun at Anna and his following in the wake of the fast ( why not go on  fast and see what support they would garner from public ).I heard one of them. one Aruna Roy( who cracked the Civil Service exam ,it is mentioned ) .While insisting that she must have her input in the Ombudsman / Lokpal issue , she appeared by her manner of speech, opinionated ,dictatorial and  vehemently cantankerous , as if the whole platform as official stakeholders and fame as experts is being undermined and taken away by the likes of what they consider upstarts and nuvo arrives like Kejriwals and Kiran Bedis .

 

Of course a corrupt and almost illegal system built over 50 years by the establishment has been challenged by the masses supporting Anna and his activists .The establishment ie ruling parties have  pretended to legislate earlier the Lokpal Bill eight times since 1968 (what credibility they have). It is not going to give up its mafia like control over the wealth and power and the control over the lives of Indian masses , who are daily exploited ,humiliated and tortured.

No wonder the ruling elite is promoting these in house pet like social activists . They are just a red herrings to delay and distort the Lokpal Bill. They will be used to dilute a strong Bill and must be stopped , boycotted and shunned .It will not be easy.  

 

Finally , a permanent fixture at these inane debates is some glam presence ,a good looking journalist , sometimes even an actress passe like  Shabana Azmi ,dancers like Mallika Sarabhai and Sonal Mansingh ( once married to a diplomat ) or even a banker .Yes ,it makes for a pleasing tableau among bearded and scruffy looking and sometimes shrieking and squabbling cantankerous males. It is like Indian films , where the main story is spun around the male hero, but a glamourous heroine and an item girl is added to attract eyeballs.  

 

Revolutions of the people by the people and for the people are not and cannot be planned in details. They happen when its time has come .It needs a spark , as say a suicide in Tunisia in February .It can take unexpected turns and twists .It may not succeed and can be even  aborted .It can be highjacked as happened in Romania , when in 1989 it was taken over by old sidelined communists and finally , mafias owing loyalty to the West are now ruling .A poll 5 years ago showed the much maligned by the West Nicolai Ceausescu as the most important leader in Romanian history. Globalisation and neo liberalism has heaped misery on the masses .As it has all over the world including India .

 

In Iran, Mullahs hijacked the revolution in 1979 in spite of Ayotollah Khomeini and remains incomplete .In Algiers , the freedom fighters after seven years of bloody struggle for independence in 1962 just ended up replacing the ruling French elite . The usurping elite was and remains challenged by the angry masses with religious moorings under young radical leadership .

 

In India , independence came partly as a result of the changed world situation , with UK going bankrupt and US thrusting to replace it , which they have in India and the Indian elite is quite happy as the local proxies of  the Wall Street and Washington ie corporates ,MMS Kohli, Ahluwalias and many such others .

 

Then there is Arundhati Roy , who in the spectrum of activists occupies the space CPM does in politics. I had begun a floppy on Arundhatti sayings ( I have a few on Gen Musharraf ), but after a night in jail, for contempt of court ,( she could have stayed for week , highlighted and agitated for judicial system reform) she got out straight for a media conference, organized basically for hogging publicity .She is like any other Delhi bred go getter who use different tools and methods to occupy political stage to earn fame and wealth. Many diplomats have told me that when these activists , who sit on Dharnas ie sit down strikes , and whose heart pains for the poor , when they travel abroad , they insist on travel by First Class and deluxe hotel stay only .If crossed they threaten and warn ," Do you know who I am ! "

 

The Indian state ,its officials and officially recognized and supported activists are getting panicky and afraid that Anna and his volunteers might make them irrelevant . After the likes of politicians ,Diggy Raja and Manish Tewari with their gutter level discourse ,the despised ruling elite is quite happy promoting these activists .

 

As a student of history of revolutions around the world ,it is my firm belief that to avoid massive bloodshed which will put the fear of God in the heart of the totally corrupt, insensitive and brazen ruling elite across the whole political spectrum, a lasting and fundamental change must come about quickly whether it is Lokpal or electoral , educational and other reforms .

 

Look at the Egyptian revolution ,still underway  but after 6 months the old ruling elite of military fat cats minus a few prominent exploiters like Mubarak family and close cronies ,remains in place .

 This what I had written when the Egyptian revolt began in February ,2011.

 

"Egypt might join France, Russia, Turkey, China and Iran , and emerge as a modern nation from the crucible of a bloody revolution. The people of Hindustan ,are unlikely to do so , where the regime is no less corrupt , but where corruption is decentralised and almost 'legitimised '. Seventy percent of the poor who live on less than a dollar have been conditioned by Brahmanical dharma that it is their Karma for sins in past lives .

 

"The political architecture after Mubarak is not easy to predict but democracy as defined and not as practiced say even in USA and India might not come about any time soon .The Egyptian armed forces are well entrenched since 1952 and remain powerful as in Iran, Turkey, Pakistan , China and military-industry complex in USA.

 

"In Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the West aligned mafias have literally taken over .In Romania , after the spontaneous students revolt in end 1989 , the old dissident Communist group sidelined by Ceausescu took over the 'revolution' and is now ruled by neo-liberalism. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square popular opposition and revolt , military backed Communist party remains entrenched in China. But China was at least making economic progress. Egypt's economy has been  stagnant."

 

Evolution of the Equality before Law or the Rule of law

 

An eye for an eye – Hammurabi

 

Rule of law is a Semitic contribution to human civilization . The 'Eye for an eye 'custom was codified as part of the Hammurabi Code , which formed the basis of law in Semite lands . If eye is not taken for an eye aka guilty not punished then lawlessness will take over .This Semite tribal thesis later became the core of  Judaic ,Christian and Islamic civilizations .In Europe it was further refined.

 

Rule of Law or equality of all before the law evolved further in Europe following the Reformation and the Renaissance.

 

Thus the current rule of law as acknowledged and accepted is basically a European construct on Hamurabi Code ,which evolved over a long period through revolutions and evolutions, along with the concept of a modern state and the nation .It emerged after centuries of wars among the Popes ,Holy Emperors and kings and other religious leaders and barons .And finally ; common people rose and fought for equality for all citizens and rule of law .A King was guillotined in France , Czar assassinated in Russia ,Ottoman Caliph fled Turkey , as did Chiang Kai Sheik in China and the Shah-in-Shah  from Iran and some others  elsewhere too.

 

During modern era the concept of duties of a citizen and of the ruler was further evolved and was codified in Europe helped by development of political , economic , social and ethical thought .It is only then that the concept of a nation and equality before law emerged and slowly took hold. These were then transmitted to colonies in America, Asia and Africa and implemented and accepted with different levels of success

 

India has not gone through any such metamorphosis yet . Nor is it likely any time soon .So do not hold your breath .Yes, there are revolts and rebellions in north East ,in Kashmir and in increasingly large swathes of areas where rights of tribals have been usurped ,reducing them to misery .So they are now coming under Maoist influence and sway.

 

Hindu outlook and Rule of law & Removal of Corruption in India .

 

Just passing a strong Lokpal Act will not solve the problem of corruption or inequality in India .The problems are deep rooted , religious and civilisational.

 

Poet AK Ramanujam said that Indians don't seem to have a sense of absolute .They place everything in some context or the other. And, depending on the context, what the rest of the world would regard as being wrong in the absolute sense, becomes quite all right in India.

 

All this is supported even by our epics , Ramayana and Mahabharata .Like the trickery by the great  noble and transparent  warrior of Ramayana , Lord Rama in killing his opponent Bali while hiding behind a tree or in the Mahabharata war ,the apostle of truth Pandava Yudhister  proclaiming the death of Aswathama (elephant) for military gains are all lauded , accepted and readily employed in daily life , specially by the new political leadership which has emerged from the grass roots from the villages and small towns and are not versed in western concept of  the rule of law .

 

Thus Indians in general have little sense or respect for rule of law. Their concept is very flexible. Show me the man and I will show you the law depending on the situation. There is almost total unanimity in applying rules and laws contextually for personal gains and advantage.

 

Thus India/Hindustan is not a nation in the European sense and even in many other ways .Identity is still caste based not only in India but to quite some extent even in Pakistan and Bangladesh too . Among the followers of Islam , supposedly an egalitarian religion ,the caste has been replaced by Ashraffs (migrants from Arabia, central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan ) and high caste converts , mostly Rajputs and Jats , who are considered superior to converts from lower castes and untouchables .The caste malady exists among Sikhs too as manifested by recurrent resistance by low caste Sikhs against Jat Sikh domination in religious and political institutions . Christians in Kerala have separate caste based churches. Even in the most highly educated state in India , politics remains caste and religion based. Thus education is no panacea .

 

Let me give a few examples .When I made my first call in Cairo in 1962 on my first ambassador Azim Hussien ICS , on my telling him that I am a Rajput , he could not contain himself and smiled and blurted  ,'You know ,I am a Rathore Rajput' .Son of Fazli Hussein , pre-partition chief minister of  Punjab , who ruled the state in coalition with Jat leader Chhotu Ram , Azim Hussein was otherwise very reserved ,taciturn and aloof. While posted in Ankara (1992-96) I visited Bucharest and was invited for dinner by Ambassador Julio Ribeiro , a former police chief of Maharashtra and Punjab . Even before I had a few sips of the whisky, he said ,'You know I am a Chitpavan Brahmin'.

 

A retired Indian Ambassador Surendra Kumar wrote a piece for  Tribune, Chandigarh about the antics of Indian parliamentarians of all castes and parties about caste based census  .He then narrated from personal experience how Indians were not satisfied unless they found out his caste , when he encountered them. These included high caste top civil servants , diplomats and politicians , who were or rose to become vice-presidents and presidents of India .

 

Upward movement in India's caste system ?

 

Eminent Indian sociologist M.N.Srinivas, propounded the theory of Sanskritisation as the process by which castes placed lower in the caste hierarchy seek upward mobility , based on an ethnographical study of the Coorg Community of south Karnataka, India.

Srinivas defined Sanskritisation as a process by which "a 'low' Hindu caste, or tribal or other group, changes its customs, ritual ideology, and way of life in the direction of a high and frequently 'twice-born' caste. Generally such changes are followed by a claim to a higher position in the caste hierarchy than that traditionally conceded to the claimant class by the local community..."

One clear example of Sanskritisation is the acceptance, imitating the practice of twice-born castes, of vegetarianism by people belonging to the so-called low castes, who are traditionally not averse to non-vegetarian food.

 

Looked from another angle , Sanskritisation is but (cultural) 'colonization' of society that entails the imposition of a set of beliefs, social structures and practices (Brahmanism) upon the Hindu society, allowing it to take root progressively and in a top-down (NOT bottom-up) manner by first inducting the upper / ruling classes of the native population.

The British colonialism could be called Anglicization, defining it as a process by which the natives of India sought upward mobility by emulating the ways and manners of the British lords who chose to spend some time in India as part of their global mission to 'spread civilization' (and, incidentally, economic restructuring aka looting their subjects )

We will not discuss Hindu beliefs and relevance or importance of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and all that goes by the name of Hindu scriptures, and therefore in avatars and rebirth, the varnashram dharma or varna-vyavastha either in the sense in which it is explained in Hindu dharma shastras like Manusmriti or in the so-called Vedic sense and the Hindu taboo of not eating beef or the idol-worship and other such controversial matters.

High caste Imperialism

Thus we can also say that while imperialists divided the subject races to rule over them ,Brahmins , since time immemorial have divided the Hindu society, to rule over them as the highest rule making caste. They gave religious sanction and fear of hell and uncounted births as non humans and other untold tortures and miseries , if the non Brahmins wavered from the caste based Dharma and obligations , mostly for the benefit of the higher castes at the cost of those lower down.

In this Brahmin ordained apartheid like systemic cancer since millennia there has not been much weakening since 1947 or even in the equality of the sexes guaranteed by the Constitution. The women in real life remain relegated to the bottom by the religiously enforced grading led by Brahmin fraternity , warriors and nominally ruling caste of Kshatriyas , the trading and agriculture community of Vaishyas and even the Dalits ( who in the countryside still remain untouchables). While for political reasons the reservations in Assemblies and for jobs have distributed benefits unevenly to Dalits and Tribes the Muslims have now ended as the new untouchables as brought out in the prevailing discriminations against them by various studies and reports. Even rich and respectable Muslims are refused flats by Hindu dominated building societies.

But the situation of women remains unenviable .A girl child is still given food the last in the family , so it is with her education ,with female foetusicide ,bride burning for dowry or maltreatment of widows. A few years ago , Shankaracharya of Puri declared that women have no right to learn Sanskrit the language of Hindu Shashtras or read Vedas. A Shankaracharya , mostly a Brahmin ,tries to be like an Ayatollah Khomeini ,a jurist –consult in Shia Iran, to maintain Brahminical control over Hindu society and has been used to deny education to non-Brahmins and women. Brahmins , about five percent of India's population including obscurantist cranks and charlatans  continue to rule the spiritual life and flourish all over India ,with many of them named Ananda (bliss ) spreading swamis ,preachers and priests on religious TV channels . Some have been charged with , molestation ,rapes and other crimes somewhat like Catholic priests all over the world.

 

 K.Gajendra Singh ,29 August, 2011.Mayur Vihar, Delhi

http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2011/08/amb-rtd-k-gajendra-singh-cv-post.html

 

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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Amb (Rtd.) K. Gajendra Singh- CV & Post Retirement Experience

Amb (Rtd.)  K. Gajendra Singh- CV & Post Retirement Experience

 

After 35 years of diplomatic service , half as head of missions in Turkey, Romania, Jordan and  Senegal & 5 concurrent charges of Azerbaijan , Mali, Gambia ,Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde , on retirement in 1996 , Amb Gajendra Singh stayed on at Ankara as an accredited freelance journalist . He shifted to Bucharest in early 1998. His first diplomatic post was as Asst Press Attache in Cairo (1962-64)
 
He spent a year ( 1976) at National Defense College ,New Delhi, established Foreign Service Institute (1987-89) to train diplomats, was Chairman Managing Director of IDPL ,India's top Pharmaceutical company in 1985 and 1986 .While posted at Amman ( 1989-92) he evacuated 140,000 Indian refugees who had come from Kuwait and Iraq. His other posts included Algiers, Ankara and Paris.
 
Scores of his articles in print have appeared in India in major English newspapers Hindustan Times, Asian Age, Pioneer in Delhi , Telegraph, Calcutta etc ( and in a dozen major regional newspapers in India as a syndicated writer ) and abroad in Dubai- Khaleej Times , Gulf Today ,Beirut –Daily Star , and Ankara; Turkish daily News ,Cumhuriyet , Zaman etc 
 
Since August 2002  he has written over 400 in depth articles  mostly for online media ,including 60 for Asia Times on line , Hong Kong and others for South Asian Analysis Group , a New Delhi think tank and Al Jazeerah.info , Informationclearinghouse.info ,Modern Writers website ,Boloji.com, Uruknet.com based in Italy . His articles are used by diplomat and defense training institutes in India , Turkey and Bucharest and by many diplomats ,professors , journalists and business consultants ,think tanks in USA and elsewhere .
 
His articles have been quoted /copied /hosted from by up to 100 websites. These include in USA left-wing web sites like the Z-mag , Salon.com, right-wing web sites like Free Republic, universities at New York, Columbia, California, Colorado, Utah ,Brandeis ,think tanks like Chatham House, CSIS, Washington DC, anti war and alternate websites and news papers like CSM and in other western countries, London Economist regularly (country briefing) and Kurdish , Armenian, Greek and Serbian websites , and in Israel , Turkey , Central , South and East Asia , Africa including most of  the Islamic world from Kyrgyzstan to Nigeria and Indonesia to Morocco. 
 

Asia Times articles have been published in the Chinese edition .His articles have been translated into a dozen languages ; Italian , German, French, Spanish, Greek, Danish , Russian, Arabic, Turkish ,Vietnamese , Cambodian, Bhasa Indonesia etc ( and 10 Indian regional languages).

 

Apart from English and a few Indian languages, Singh also knows French, Turkish and Arabic. His article "Contribution of Turkic Languages in the Evolution and Development of Hindustani Languages" , printed and is hosted by many websites, is considered pioneering research.       
 

Singh  has delivered lectures on Turkey, Caspian basin, Eurasia , Middle East, Military in Politics , Pakistan , Globalisation and Balkans etc at India International Centre ,Institute of Defence and Strategic Analyses ,Foreign Service Institute , Jawaharlal Nehru University ,Indian Council of World affairs ,India Habitat Centre , Rotary Clubs etc in New Delhi and at universities of Aligarh ,Banaras , Kurukshetra and Rohtak , Ahmedabad Management Association , College of Military Engineering Poona, School of Artillery, Deolali, etc , also at the universities of Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent, Andijan etc in 1998 and at cultural centres in Tashkent ,Berlin and Bucharest.

 

He delivered a lecture on Flouting of International Law and Failure of International Institutions along with George Galloway, British MP and Cynthia Mckinny, six times US Congresswoman ,at the Kuala Lumpur International Conference to Criminalize War and War Crimes Tribunal –

28 October to 30 October, 2009.

 

 He has also been an expert commentator on Middle East , Turkey, Islam for Indian Star News and Sahara TV programs when in Delhi. Also on Romanian and Slovenia TV channels.

 

BBC Hindi service interviewed him in Bucharest regularly ( 2003-07) for its Radio news broadcasts on the areas mentioned above.

 

He was on the Editorial Board of The Atlantic Journal of World Affairs ,Delhi and was Editorial adviser with Eurasia Geopolitics website of Eurasia Research Center in California.
 
Amb Singh is Chairman of Foundation for Indo-Turkic Studies, Bucharest and Delhi

 

Monday, August 15, 2011

Under Marathas, Cricket India Meets its Panipat at Lords

Under Marathas, Cricket India Meets its Panipat at Lords

Top by Default India Surrenders like Plassey

"The people of India -- they are the ones whose attention, enthusiasm and love and support drive the great game, and business, of cricket in this country, and around the world." Greg Chappell.

"Cup loses fizz as big teams fall " wrote Scyld Berry in Sunday Telegraph after India was knocked out of 2007 world Cup ,adding "Nobody is going to watch the advertisements designed for the hundreds of millions of Indian viewers aspiring to a mobile phone, a motorbike, a fizzy drink or a refrigerator." ( So if Indian public gets dis-enchanted with Test cricket, the moolah will vanish)

"Two pearls have been dissolved, 27 gold coins have been lost and of the silver and copper the total cannot be cast up". After this cryptic message of total debacle at Panipat, Hindustan's strongman Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao died a broken man.

 

In modern setting , Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar , now head of International Cricket Council (ICC) and his cronies have dominated and controlled the cricket's richest Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for over a decade and now his nominee , another Maratha leader, Vilasrao Deshmukh defeated Dileep Vengsarkar , a former Indian great bat (with 3 centuries at the Lords) . But the ministers have not taken any responsibility for the debacle, nor resigned . Gandhian civil activist Anna Hazare leading a movement against all pervasive corruption in India has openly accused Pawar of corruption. The 26/11 rape of Mumbai took place under Deshmukh , then heading the Maharashtra state government remains a minister in Delhi , in spite of being judicially indicted ; more below.

 

The defeat at 3rd battle of Panipat 130 kms north of Delhi in 1761 ( the earlier two battles at Panipat were equally devastating for the sovereignty of Hindustan and its well being ) between Afghans led by Ahmad Shah Abdali  and the Marathas, under the command of Sadashivrao Bhau, with an army of around 50,000 with over  200,000 non-combatants cost Hindustan dearly .The Maratha forces had not prepared adequately .Leadership was faulty .Abdali's Afghan forces by the end of November 1760, had cut off almost all food supplies into the besieged Maratha camp .Running out of food , an unfit army was forced to fight in order to stave off starvation .The battle was  and raged till evening. It is believed that between 60,000–70,000 were killed in , the numbers of the injured and prisoners taken was very high. The result of the battle was the halting of further Maratha advances in the North, and a destabilization of their territories and Hindustan for nearly 10 years.

 

Like at Panipat, Indian XI carried unfit and injured Zahir Khan and Sehwag among others .

 

Demoralised India's Test cricket is not going to recover from this crushing drubbing any time soon.

 

How the Brits Crow !

 "But with this bowling line up you wonder how the hell India are going to take England wickets without Zaheer Khan. Even more so, you wonder how they got to number one in the world," Geoffrey Boycott 

" England will win this series - they are already the best team in the world and -the coming force in world cricket and unlike India, who have a lot of players in their twilight years, this is a young, vibrant England with more power to add," Ian Botham 

"I am so pleased that England won because they set the perfect template on how you should prepare for and then perform in a very important game of Test cricket .India were exactly the opposite. They just turned up with totally inadequate preparation and expected everything to be alright on the night. Do they not value their status as the best Test team in the world? They did not seem to here," Nasser Hussein , former English Captain in the Daily Mail. 

Wrote Selvey in the Guardian 

"After two such overwhelming wins by England it is clear, rankings or no rankings, where the balance of power lies in the Test match arena. Quite simply, England are an inspirational team, one of the very best that they have fielded for decades, while India, at the moment, are a collection of individuals, some of them giants of the game, but lacking the obvious cohesion and sense of purpose that their opponents carry with them." "England have shown their capacity to fight their way out of a corner on more than one occasion over the past couple of years, while India, as a team, look bereft of that spirit which can overcome adversity," he added.

 

The English exhibit sportsman spirit condescendingly only when they are winning by praising the opposition for their' jolly good show 'and other such otiose observations. They have been chaffing that  all good teams from the subcontinent they once ruled have beaten them .Most money comes to cricket boards around the world from Cricket India's contributions .Most retired cricketers from England and elsewhere are suddenly making big money by writing for Indian media and as commentators , so were carefully polite .

 

But for this reality they would have been as savage as in the past .Not that the Indian jokers controlling and mis-managing cricket have not blundered and let down India,s population of 1.2 billion , since the only major sport India has done well and Indians can take pride is cricket . If humiliated ,the people could turn away even more from Test cricket and stick to IPL .The Test cricket around the world would suffer with much less funds for cricket boards other than India' s. Pawar & Co must be forced to leave ,they could go to another greener pasture having done enough harm to cricket.

 

Comments by former Indian cricketers

 

"BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision", former Indian Captain Nawab of Pataudi 

"I don't want to sound a pessimist but I am actually ( being) fair that players are going to say that it's only a bad dream, just forget it and get on. BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision. Cricket will continue the way it is but I sincerely hope that some sense does come in," Pataudi said. He refused to criticise Virender Sehwag for the unimpressive comeback following a shoulder injury."Even if you look at Tiger Woods, it is difficult to make comeback " 

"There's no point discussing his [Harbhajan Singh] lack of flight or lack of spin or his action because we have been doing that for years," said Bishen Singh Bedi ,former spin legend (Harbhajan   conceded 218 runs for a single wicket at Lord's) 

"What are these highly-paid coaches doing? The results are not showing. What is Fletcher doing?", Farokh Engineer former Indian batsman-wicketkeeper. 

Former captain Sourav Ganguly said ; 

"You can lose Test matches but losing three in a row and not scoring any big total, it is something to be worried about. Is it a one-off affair or the beginning of the demise of the side, we have to see," said Ganguly. 

Another former captain Anil Kumble said that India now need to groom four or five young players to replace veterans like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. 

"You need to spot four-five players and invest on them, to ensure that they carry the responsibility of Indian cricket in future in place of the veterans. We have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir," Kumble said. "They have to be given a long rope. You may not see India to come back at the top in quick time. But we have to ensure that with these youngsters, we remained in top three and climb to top spot after a few years," he said.

 

Frankly were never numero uno like the West Indies team or the Australian team. Indian caliber is number 3 or so .Indian happened to be called top test team , while the famed Australian team after the retirements of Glen Mc Grath , Shane warne , Gillchrist ,Steve Waugh and others and is re-building itself .The English have been building their team since years and has now reached the peak .

 

Because of Cricket India's massive money power , players and cricket writers from other cricketing nations avoided telling the truth .Former Indian players and writers also would not like to point out the weaknesses and come out with the harsh truth .They get paid for writing columns and as commentators .Then there is the overwhelming power of the advertisers in Indian corporate media , specially the celebrity and trivia obsessed so called national channels. It has always amused me how many TV women anchors gush forth while  interviewing Indian film stars and cricketers , almost as if wetting in their panties .

 

Not a single century in his six innings in England for Sachin Tendulkar

 

Indians have this habit of speculating with imagination running riot .Suddenly , all kinds of politicians to earn brownie points with the voters started recommending for Sachin Tendulkar India's highest honour of Bharat Ratna (Pearl of India) even changing the law for this , wishfully hoping that at the Lords itself Sachin would by divine right score a century and complete his century of centuries .That put unnecessary pressure on Sachin .He could not even reach his highest at the Lords , a measly 37 .Not a single century in his six innings in England .A telling commentary on the bowling strength of MCC. 

Some sick joke on 1.2 billion Indians

BCCI  ,a Registered Society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is a private society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act ,with its headquarters at Mumbai .It is the national governing body for all cricket activities in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. It often uses government-owned stadiums across the country at a nominal annual rent. It is a "private club consortium". Basically to become a member of a state-level association, one needs to be introduced by another member and also pay an annual fee. The state-level clubs select their representatives (secretaries) who in turn select the BCCI officials. BCCI are not required to make their balance sheets public. In the past, tax exemptions were granted to BCCI on the grounds as promoting cricket was a charitable activity but for the last three years the IPL has questioned this.  

As a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), it is authorized  to select players, umpires and officials to participate in international events and exercises total control over them. Without its recognition, no competitive cricket involving BCCI-contracted Indian players can be hosted within or outside the country. 

In 2000, Rahul Mehra, a lawyer and cricket lover, initiated a public interest litigation (PIL) against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), demanding transparency and accountability in the way cricket is run in the country. 

The BCCI responded by arguing that it was a private society and that the Indian team was not a national side, but one picked by the BCCI. Therefore, it could not be subjected to a PIL of any sort.

The court quashed this contention, thus establishing that the BCCI is, indeed, answerable to the public. 

BCCI remains  embroiled in the biggest controversy and facing many uncomfortable questions,like the dictatorial power to run a lucrative league such as the IPL? Why aren't rules, rather than the whims of an individual, governing important processes such as franchisee auctioning? What prevented others in the BCCI from taking action? 

In an interview with DNA, Mehra raised many valid points and said that we need to take a hard look at the way office-bearers are elected in the BCCI and the state associations that come under it. But the reforms won't come from within the BCCI; the government has to step in to clean up the act.

Clearly, the BCCI and IPL administrations need reforms. But nobody [within the BCCI] will carry them out because they have their vested interests. It has to be an outside agency. It has to be the sports ministry because the BCCI is performing a public function. The government should say we will derecognise you if you don't toe our line. They could say that we will take away your right to select Team India.

The point is that there has to be political will at the Centre, because obviously this is not going to come from within the BCCI. 

Indian Premier League & Lalit Modi

 

For all his faults Lalit Modi out foxed the British by creating a billion dollar brand 20-20 Indian Premier League (IPL) outmaneuvering the English attempts to create an English League and then to dip into the rich Indian pie . Fat cats and hangers on of BCCI , who now control IPL , badmouth and talk rubbish against Modi are just timeservers ,incompetents and opportunists .They are accomplices in any wrong doing . Undeservedly , they are making hay after the expulsion of Modi with little accountability.

 

Of course in Hindu India , where supporting relatives , friends , caste men ,co-religionists and others is 'Dharma' irrespective of merit , there is no comprehension of the term conflict of interest . The Secretary of BCCI who owns Chennai Super Kings sees no conflict of interest in this tie up .It is a matter of regret that the Supreme Court under its previous leadership , did not allow free competition in cricket and assassinated Indian Cricket League, which was inaugurated before IPL. 20/20 remains a cash cow for politicians and some bureaucrats while the interests of cricket and players suffer .

 

The Supreme Court under the new leadership should rescue cricket from the corrupt , time servers, opportunists , using cricket for personal gains but contributing little to this game ,which has become almost a religion for the Indian masses .

 

Fortunately , after Saurav Ganguly  took over as captain , after Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja ( many escaped ) were banned (but are back ) , match fixing is presumably eliminated .Being from rich family and well educated , he could give it back to the likes of Steve Waugh and other white players on field and in verbal exchanges .Except for his partiality for Parthiev Patel as mascot which kept Mahinder Singh Dhoni away from Team India , he was fair in insisting on team selection on merit and not on the basis of regions and states ( although Bengalis , including members of Parliament foolishly took up Saurav's cause , when he was rightly kept out of the Team India )The current team of selectors led by Srikkant has favoured south Indian cricketers like Badrinath ,( had enough rope ) one Mukul and even his own son for emerging players team sent on a tour of down under . Srikkant should go . 

It is a major misfortune that almost all sports organizations in India are controlled by corrupt politicians or their henchmen, including Cricket .Nothing seems likely to change with the current structure controlled by almost all fitting the definition of  'elected and electable' TYRANTS during ancient Greece political evolution. Ruling dynasties and families ,across the political spectrum ,have created a mafia like corrupt criminal system and structures prior to the revolutions in France, Russia ,Turkey, China and Iran , to name a few prominent examples .But do not hold your breath . We are peaceful non-violent people or rather lacking courage and fervor for sacrifice , every one in his place ordained by the caste system and dharma which has religious sanction. 

Like the cancer of corruption which has deeply eaten into the very fibre and soul of Indian polity, the same unfortunate malady afflicts sports in India , which politicians use to control funds and patronage for personal political and monetary gains .In India , even a peon cannot be transferred without a politician's or his henchman's approval ,so there will be little improvement in sports or in the life of aam aadmi (common man) 

 "-- party (Congress is )  a 'circus' and - that every Congressman wants to connect with this circus ," former minister for sports and Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar.  

For its size and population, India was never a great force to reckon with in military matters outside Indian borders or economic terms in history , nor will it be unless a revolution transforms its polity and an outlook based on merit ,equality before law and accountability.

It is clear that the political elite with the same corrupt practices, favouritism , no accountability which informs India's feudal polity has cricket under its control . When cricket began attracting huge sums ,Sharad Pawar , entered this lucrative game and defeated former ace cricketer Ajit Wadekar ( winner of first ever cricket series abroad in West Indies and England ) and this time ,Pawar, who by virtue of the wealth derived from India's aam aadmis' love for cricket ( 80% of money ) manouvred his nominee Vilashrao Deshmukh since politicians control all levers of power and coercion including police , income tax and other departments .Any one not toeing the politicians dictate is just hounded out with police cases and other litigation. 

Dhoni as Captain

While it is true that MS Dhoni after taking over as captain , first won 20/20 World cup and the Commonwealth Bank series in Australia in 2008 stunning not just the Australians but other skeptics too . Prior to the England tour Dhoni had lost just three Tests as captain but that count has doubled in 3 heavy defeats in a row in England. 

Dhoni ,a raw youth from Ranchi took a lowly job as ticket collector , that is what might he might have been but for the riches that excellence in cricket has bestowed on him .He earns  around 10 million dollars per year from cricket mostly by advertising .While complaining that he could not spend enough time with his family in Ranchi , he inadvertently reportedly admitted that in last year or so he had been to a 5 Star deluxe hotel in Mumbai a hundred times ie spending 300 days or so .It certainly was not all for cricket .Must be for Ads shoots .Why no one grudges him and others the riches from cricket , if he fails to deliver , he might meet the fate of his comrade , perhaps more talented Yuvraj Singh , who aptly summed up his plight in an ad .As long as his bat performs , he lives like a lord otherwise in he is dumped .He knows it , since lack of application and fitness have blighted a superb talent . He who had hit India's current nemesis Stuart Broad for six soaring sixes in one over in 20/20 world championship in 2007 is a pathetic caricature of that broad bat .

 

Comments by Wasim Akram

 

Let me finally give space to Wasim Akram ,former Pakistani captain and ace fast bower on India's crushing defeat at Lord's. He said that it exposed the flaws in BCCI's planning and proved that the world's numero uno Test team was not fully prepared for the tour of England. He felt that India's humiliating 196 runs loss to England at Lord's was because of BCCI's faulty tour itinerary.

"The importance of good governance in cricket can never be over emphasized. Indian cricket has thrived because the BCCI is run quite efficiently. But this game of cricket tends to expose flaws, not only batting or bowling defects but the manner in which our officials plan," Akram told a cricket website.

"There has been quite a debate about India's preparedness for the series in England...the Caribbean tour wasn't the best preparation for England and the massive defeat at Lord's has proved that," he insisted.

Akram referred  to ICC's Tours Programmes and felt that BCCI could have planned Indian team's schedule in a much better way.

"To be world No. 1 is a great feeling, but cricket, like any competitive sport, has no comfort zone. The importance of the ICC calendar and Future Tours Programme is enormous," he said.

"One must remember that BCCI's strength lies in its players and their ability. It's foolish to kill the bird that lays golden eggs. Hence, good governance also means wisdom in deciding a calendar and knowing what is the maximum amount of cricket your top players must play.

"England must have planned their calendar in a manner to ensure that their team would be at its peak when India visited their shores. So playing Sri Lanka at home was the ideal preparation ahead of the India series," said added the 45-year-old.

"Thus, a three-day match versus Somerset was just not enough for an Indian team that was regrouping in England," Akram said.

He continued that India paid the price at Lord's for playing too much cricket.

"It was not surprising when quite a few senior players complained of fatigue or illness after the IPL. I have always said Indians play too much cricket and somewhere down the line, you will pay a price," Akram said.( Those like Gavaskar and others who claim that as professionals Indians should keep on playing all the time are wrong as results show .Yes , more tours mean more money in millions of rupees as commentator to him)

"England's win highlighted what a team that stays and works together can do. The fact that Kevin Pietersen's double century was only one among several bright spots in the English campaign at Lord's only tells how solid England as a unit is."

Akram praised Praveen Kumar and said "I had thought Praveen would struggle in English conditions because of his lack of pace, but he was extremely impressive. Praveen was nippy and is improving day by day," he said. ( Akram should have know better .It were the likes of Alec Bedser with his fast medium once swing bowling who more than matched the Australians in 1950s , who had speedsters like Ray Lindwall and Kieth Miller .

My own assessment at  2nd days lunch at Lords , before the farcical sight of wicketkeeper  Dhoni taking off his pads and bowling almost 10 overs .What stupidity of planning and team selection. 

Time for a Hard Look at Turbanator

By K.Gajendra Singh 22 July 2011

http://tarafits.blogspot.com/2011/07/time-for-hard-look-at-turbanator.html

http://int-history.blogspot.com/2011/07/time-for-hard-look-at-turbanator.html 

In India , once you reach a high level , you stay on even if not performing .Old is gold like our decrepit and corrupt politicians .Take Harbhajan Singh , who achieved 400 wicket target in Tests while in West Indies , where his performance compared to Amit Mishra was much inferior .Or with the West Indian spinner Bishu . Bhajji now threatens to play for 600 wickets target. At the present rate it will take him another 100 Tests .He might have done well in the famous turn around Test in Kolkatta, but thanks to Laxman and Dravid. In the last few years he looks and bowls very ordinary .He talks of doosra but what amount of off spin he extracts .Look at English Swann .After the IPL format he is at best a containing bowler and that too not very successful .Earlier he and Kumble had kept out emergence of other spin bowlers . 

We now play Tests like ODIs .With 7 batsman ,set a target or chase a target successfully .In fact since our 7 are not enough , Bhajji is now the 8th batman , more so in Tests .No wonder we are unlikely to get 20 wickets for a Test win .The Lords test , at lunch break on 2nd day is very much in favour of MCC .And with Zahir Khan out ( Had he really fully recovered) it will be as in the past . Nervousness and frustration for a billion Indians till the end . And possible humiliation self asked for .The only hope is Meerut Praveen Kumar from Jat wrestling family .If he can over come his awe of the Lords and its surroundings and not over swing as he has done so far . 

If 5 batsman with wicketkeeper batsman cannot score enough runs to make a match of a Test , then there is no point in trying to pretend and shout around that we are number 1 Test team. For how long ! Others are waiting to pounce back. Except for his World Cup Final 92 not out and the winning six , Dhoni does not justify himself as a batman . Developed in the backstreets of Ranchi, his batting technique is awful . Helicopter shot in swinging swerving English conditions .Have a heart! .

 

There was a good opportunity to groom Parthiev Patil , only 26 , as 3rd opening bat and wicketkeeper .He has done well in IPL and ODIs in West Indies and should have been given a chance over Mukund . Patel should have been tried in tests in West Indies and if successful taken to England .Dhoni could have then concentrated on his batting and captaincy ( Is he scared that he would then be exposed ). But then with Srikkanth ,and powerful Chennai lobby in cricket , South India dominates .We also took a Badrinath to West Indies thus denying chance to other talented young batsmen .

 

In a very short time the new coach Fletcher has shown his imprint .He looks decrepit and defensive . Recall  Indias' 2nd innings of 3rd and final test in West Indies .185 or so required in over 47 overs .The pitch was quite OK . Defensiveness , an old Indian trait whether in cricket or the battle field is emerging again .Look at our history. If we lose in England and continue with the current policies ,the selectors and Fletchers should go home . 

Situation above at Lunchtime 2nd day , First test at Lords .I am ready for brickbats

 


Gajendra Singh 15 August , 2011.Delhi


 

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Comments;Turkic Language influence on Hindustani Languages

CONTRIBUTION OF TURKIC LANGUAGES IN THE EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENTOF HINDUSTANI LANGUAGES

 

CONTRIBUTION OF TURKIC LANGUAGES IN THE EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENTOF HINDUSTANI LANGUAGES. K.Gajendra Singh. 1. The term Hindustan ... http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/turkish.html

Although the influence of the Turkic languages on Indian languages began in all seriousness from ..... Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc ...
www.boloji.com/history/023.htm

Türk İşbirliği Ve Kalkınma İdaresi Başkanlığı
... Ahmet Mutahir, Avrupa-Orta Asya İlişkileri. Singh K. Gajendra, Türki
Dillerin Hindustani Dillerin Evrimi ve Gelişmesine Katkısı. ...
www.tika.gov.tr/yayinlar_etudler2.asp?ID=5 - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

 

SOME  COMMENTS

 

 -in your excellent paper... your brilliant  historical research--- .

PN Haksar.; Principal Advisor to PM Indira Gandhi,

Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of India, Diplomat etc.

 

Thanks for your scholarly thesis.... I  read with renewed  interest  your  paper  on  the  influence  of  Turkish on our language.......  -  a  lot of erudition has gone into it-- we can discuss it when  you  come  to Delhi.....

S. Khuswant Singh; Historian, writer , journalist, member of Parliament .

 

“I read the article with great interest, since precisely the same thing had been one  of the main discoveries  of  my own earlier research into the  phenomenon of  India ( South Asia ) as a * linguistic area * , culminating in a book (1976) and several articles The “discovery” was that many putative “South Asian “ features turn out, if we only deign to examine their full distributions , to extend beyond the sub-continent, and to be shared with the languages of  Central Asia  in  particular.

 

It seems  you have with very astute observation independently discovered many of the  same shared features  I  noted , plus a few additional ones.

Colin P. Masica, Professor Emeritus , South Asian Languages & Civilizations and Linguistics ,University of Chicago.

 

I  read your paper with great interest... the  most  comprehensive  study of  the South Asian ‘linguistic area’ was done by Prof. Colin Masica, University of Chicago...in his book... you might find another  of his books quite informative...

Prof. Alice Davison  , Dept of Linguistics,   University of Iowa.

 

Thank you.. for  the  very interesting enclosure.. shown to ..Dr Erica Gilson, who ,specialises in Turkish Linguistics and has shown great interest..

Prof.  Bernard  Lewis, Princeton University , New Jersey.

 

... I am very much interested in’”  languages in contact” and how , in  addition to lexical borrowings, languages of different typologies may be affected. As you correctly point out. very little systematic research  has been carried out regarding the relationship between the languages of the sub- continent and the Turkic  languages  ....Perhaps we can pursue the matter jointly..

Prof. Erika H. Gilson, Princeton  University., New  Jersey.

 

Thank you... for the  interesting and  intriguing  paper.....I have very much enjoyed reading your article. You  have  laid out  the  issues with great  clarity, and in a way which helps to remove the current distortions  brought to the  field  of  language  use  in India ...Your specific  comments on similarities between Hindustani and Turkish are also very interesting...

Dr. Rupert Snell , Head of Department of Languages and Cultures of South Asia.

School of Oriental and African  Studies, University of  London.   .

 

I found your article very informative, and I was quite amazed to learn about the Turkic influences on Hindustani, though it makes sense, and I entirely agree with you that linguistic interaction and translation proceeds differently from the imposition of foreign rule...

Gyan  Prakash, Associate Professor, Dept. of History , Princeton University.

 

I find your paper both scholarly  and  interesting( and agree entirely with your  opening remarks regarding the artificiality of the Hindi / Urdu divide ...)

Philip Lutgendorf , Associate Prof. of Hindi and Modern  Indian Studies,    .     .         Iowa University, Iowa..

 

I  am grateful for the off-print of  your fascinating article  in the “Foreign Policy” It  looks  very  impressive. I do hope you will continue to conduct further studies on this highly interesting topic and publish them.

Talat S.  Halman, Chairman, Dept of Near Eastern Languages and Literature

New York  University, New York.

 

..I  read with profit and pleasure ..your article agree that there is a great deal of ignorance about the influence of Turkic languages on the languages of India. I know of  no study which explores this influence in a serious manner and you have  certainly  taken an important step...

Feroz Ahmed, Prof. of History & University Research Professor,

University of Massachusetts,  Boston.

 

--the erudite Ambassador of the Republic of India in Ankara K. Gajendra Singh has prepared a very interesting cultural study on the influence of Turkic languages on Indian languages , suggestive of the linguistic integration in South Asia.

Seyfi Tashan , Director , Foreign Policy Institute, Ankara.

 

...   The  issues  raised. by the  author ....are relevant to scholars and students of linguistics and to those  who wish to work on the  history and grammar of   Hindustani.. serious paper ..on a hitherto little explored area  of linguistic relation ship between Turkish and Hindustani in a Historical perspective.

Prof. Suraj Bhan Singh, Chairman  , Commission for  Scientific and

Technical Commission, Dept of  Education, Govt of India, New Delhi

 

 

Sent and published in the quarterly Journal of The Foreign Policy Institute , Ankara and “Eurasia ” , journal ( in Turkish and English version ) published by TICA ,Turkish Govt. Agency for Cooperation . Permission conveyed to  “ Man and Development “, India .

Reproduced in Turkish Daily News, Ankara , Forum, Azeri Magazine and “Siyasat” , Urdu Daily , Heyderabad, India. Mentioned in “ Spanish language and the World”  by the University of Valladolid,  Spain. Criticised in Turkish fundamentalist media.

The article has been made available on internet by Universities etc in US, Turkey and India since 1995

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, August 1, 2011

Hillary Visited to Promote Corporate Strategic Interests

Hillary Visited to Promote Corporate Strategic Interests

Washington was and remains inimical to Indian interests

"Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks the whip. But the really well-trained dog is the one that turns somersaults when there is no whip-" George Orwell 

"From scholarships and training programmes for officers to promises of Green Cards and jobs for family members, America is doing whatever it takes to build a lobby for itself in India" Rahul Bedi in The Hindu.

"To which business groups is Mukherjee[Pranab] beholden?; Why was [he] chosen over Montek" [Montek Singh Ahluwalia as finance minister] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her WikiLeaked cable

 'India and the US may never be allies' 

In an interview with an Indian website, Strobe Talbott , a former deputy secretary of state in the Clinton administration and now president of the conservative Brookings Institution , Washington, DC think tank , the kind that guided , cajoled Washington into wars into Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya declared ; 

"And, by the way, one reason we may never be or not, in the foreseeable future, is because there is still a huge constituency in support of India's non-aligned status, despite the fact that I would say that non-alignment and the non-aligned movement is very much an artifact of the Cold War."

This was part of build up of US soft diplomacy to cajole and encourage Indian Corporate Counts and PR outlets led by the likes of The Indian Express editor in chief ( who ,in his 2003 Oped described illegal US invasion of Iraq --"– process of change (is)–to modernise and democratize and restructure the Islamic world – into Saudi Arabia and then every other part of the region where militant Islam breeds ---Musharraf is not laughing –does that work to our benefit or detriment? This war will not be about oil but about militant Islam and everybody's future. This is the bigger picture –" Thus spoke Sherlock Holmes to his Doctor Watson readers in his paper .
But then his alter ego Thomas Friedman of New York Times had declared the US criminal enterprise in Iraq as the noblest US mission to promote democracy. Nearly a million and half Iraqis have been killed since 2003 and the country destroyed , even the Mongols would feel proud of .
The Express has another promoter of US interests, one Raja Mohan. He even recommended India join the EU-Nato's so-called  human intervention ie bombing and killing civilians . The West has confiscated about US$ 30 billion of Libyan money , as it had of many billions of Iraq in 2003 and of Iran in 1979. Raja Mohan continues with his pro-US outpourings, is now back at a New Delhi center for US corporate propaganda . Of course he is compensated and occupied some US endowed University chair or another . Why go after only those who enjoyed the hospitality of ISI financed Ghulam Nabi Fai.
Talking of conflict of interest ! It is beyond Indian way of thinking. Look at the shameless drama in Karnataka .India has become a caricature of US caricature of democracy. 

Coming back to the artifact of the Cold War , as if the it did ever stop. It was and is relentlessly pursued by Washington and its allies aka poodles and protectorates . 

"The New American Cold War  

Stephen F. Cohen in an article "The New American Cold War " wrote in 10 July 2006 issue of US magazine ,'The Nation" that " A tacit (and closely related) US denial that Russia has any legitimate national interests outside its own territory, even in ethnically akin or contiguous former republics such as Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia." Late Richard Holbrooke, former US point man for Af-Pak had condemned Russia for promoting a pro-Moscow government in neighboring Ukraine, where Russia has centuries of shared linguistic, marital, religious, economic and security ties and declared ' that far-away Slav nation part of "our core zone of security."

 

"Even more, a presumption that Russia does not have full sovereignty within its own borders, as expressed by constant US interventions in Moscow's internal affairs since 1992 -- included an on-site crusade by swarms of American "advisers," to direct Russia's "transition" from Communism;

 

So has the cold war finished ! If US can treat Russia like that than what to expect from spineless Indians , ever ready to love US presidents deeply and singing praises of British colonialism .These are signs of genetic mutation embedded in a colonised and enslaved mind .

 

So what Talbolt says is that if you are not with us you are against us .Be an ally like Pakistan , Saudi Arabia ,Egypt, Yemen and others .Do not expect much change with those suffering from Washington Consensus Syndrome and controlling Indian foreign policy. What can  79 year old Foreign Minister Krishna contribute .PM wants a dummy Foreign minister who pleases Washington and PMO surrounds itself for foreign policy advice those who kowtow to Washington.

 

The fact is that US and India's strategic interests have rarely coincided fully and are unlikely any time soon , but Washington wants New Delhi to give in. US gifted defense grants and hardware to Pakistan , which has always been used against India and not China or USSR. Washington let Pakistan complete its nuke program .NPT was created primarily as an instrument against India

 

US gifted billions in 1980s and trained terror groups which now attack India at will . David Headley , an FBI double agent was complicit in 2611 rampage in Mumbai . If India had a lawyer with courage and patriotism , a case could be filed in a Mumbai court charging FBI for complicity in 26/11 as a case has been filed against ISI in USA.

 

Let these supporters of Washington or trumpets state  , when has Washington ever taken India's interests into account .The nuclear energy deal ? Has George Bush much else to show except disasters in his foreign policy. Did we get a clean waiver from NSG ? As claimed .Talbot and his ilk and his supporters in India wanted India to buy US fighter aircraft and be tied to Washington's wishes and policies regarding Indian security. India must sign nuclear liability bill ! So what if there are Bhopal or Fukushima like catastrophes.

 

In the name of promoting 'democracy ' murders and criminal acts are perpetrated daily and violation of international and human laws has become a second nature to US and its European poodles with help from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Freedom House and George Soros' Open Society Institute. The NED has four affiliate institutes: The International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) among others.

 

Washington openly allots money in its budget for promoting rebellion , mayhem and even terror acts against governments , which do not surrender to US interests and dictates .

 

Below is an article by Kanwal Sibal , a former Foreign Secretary of India , one of the few patriotic ones in recent years to occupy the office.

 

WHAT IS "STRATEGIC" ABOUT PROMOTING PVT FIRMS?

By Kanwal Sibal

 

The second round of the India-US strategic dialogue has not produced anything especially

noteworthy. The bilateral agenda is "transformational" in scope, as it seeks to overcome

the hurdles and inhibitions of the past, and has spawned 21 Dialogues and Working

Groups on diverse subjects. Progress, however, depends not on the wishes of one side,

but on the capacity of the two sides to establish a mutually beneficial basis of engagement.

 

We have to be careful about terminological hype. Why accelerate the pace of consensus

building on difficult issues by wrapping the exercise in the verbal mantle of a "strategic"

relationship. Many of the economic issues on the agenda relate to market access for

US companies whose only "strategic" interest is profits and shareholder value. What

is specifically strategic in the bilateral demand made on us to introduce more banking,

insurance, retail trade and labour reforms?

 

On terrorism, the US gives us support within the limitations of its valued realtionship with

Pakistan and the new compulsions arising from its entanglement in Afghanistan, from

which it wants to extract itself sufficiently to enable President Obama to go in for his

re-election. Pakistan has heard the American calls for bringing the perpetrators of the

Mumbai carnage to justice often enough to ignore them, and Clinton has acknowledged

in her joint press conference yesterday that there are limitations on what the US and India

can do to make Pakistan perform. What she implies is that despite growing frustration with

Pakistan, the US will not use the leverages at its disposal to compel it to eliminate terrorist

safe-havens on its territory and would not expect India to ratchet up pressure either. The

bilateral Homeland Security dialogue is valuable in building up our capacities to handle the

terrorist threat, but there are big opportunities here as well for US companies specializing

in producing or integrating security equipment.

 

On Afghanistan, we have now endorsed an Afghan-led and Afghan owned inclusive

reconciliation process. With an Afghan government so dependent on US support, and

the "reconciliation" process being so vital for some of US's Nato partners in particular, this

Afghan led and owned process seems a bit of a sham. Does it mean that Pakistan will be

kept out, or the Taliban groups it backs? Hardly likely.

 

On the civil nuclear issue, Secretary Clinton is hoping that India's ratification of the

Convention on Supplementary Compensation by the end of the year will resolve the

problem of liability raised for US companies by our Nuclear Liability Legislation. She has

exhorted us to work with the IAEA to make our legislation compatible with international

practice. This implies a legal watering down of our domestic law on the ground that it

should conform to international law. This doesn't seem a viable prospect.

 

On the issue of transfer of Enrichment and Reprocessing(EPR) technologies to India,

further restricted at last month's NSG meeting in the Netherlands by listing NPT

membership as one of the criteria for eligibility, Clinton skirted the issue by stating that

nothing in the new restrictions detracting form the impact and importance of the India-

US nuclear deal, and reiterated the mantra of US commitment to full civilian cooperation

with India. How the US position against such transfers to India, conveyed to the Congress

at the time of negotiating the nuclear deal, the subsequent G-8 stand, and now the NSG

decision, to both of which the US was a party, can be reconciled with India's expectations

and interpretations is a riddle that remains to be solved. The US position is legally clear

 

but it is using politically comforting formulations so as not to embarrass the Indian partner.

 

On other veritably strategic issues such as high and dual use technology or space matters

the second round showed no advance. On defence, the pending three agreements on

logisitics, inter-operability and geo-spatial cooperation seem to be off the agenda for the

time being, but defence procurement from the US has progressed satisfactorily despite

the rebuff to the US companies in the 126 fighter deal, to which the US seems to have

reconciled itself.

 

All in all the second round produced the results it realistically could.