RSS in command
That the RSS had shifted from the ‘remote control’ position to assuming direct control of the BJP was already clear with the appointment of Nitin Gadkari as party president. The party’s three-day national meet at Indore, thus, was little more than a ceremonial ratification of that fact. With that, the apparent ideological confusion within [...]
Fresh Tune
BJP presidents are not known for singing in public. They are better known for their serious demeanour and sounding off on lofty matters such as Hindutva and cultural nationalism. So, it was a welcome change to see the new president, the low-profile Nitin Gadkari, humming a tune from Anand, a popular 1970s movie, when he was on stage during the [...]
Vidya Subrahmaniam: Cracks in Hindutva brotherhood
Just when one thought it could not get any worse, it has. Uddhav Thackeray’s “Italian mummy-Italian Rajputra” tirade against Rahul Gandhi and his unceasing threats to Shah Rukh Khan mark a new low in the conduct of a party that has practised violence as if it was a sacred credo. While the Shiv Sena’s young leader bellows and thunders, [...]
A new kind of discordance
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s running battle with the Shiv Sena on the ‘Marathi manoos’ issue underlines the predicament of an organisation that is wedded in equal measure to Hindi and Hindutva. The Sangh Parivar’s formative years resounded to the rousing cry of ‘Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan.’ The slogan pretty much defined the Jan [...]
Isolate Sena
For once, we think the BJP ought to listen to its big brother, the RSS. According to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Mumbai is for all Indians. He finds no merit in the destructive regionalism of the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which wants Mumbai to be the exclusive preserve of Marathi speakers. He has asked RSS cadres to prevent the [...]
Mumbai attack: failures of command
Praveen Swami The official investigation into the Mumbai attacks shows that poor leadership crippled the police on 26/11. Late last year, Mumbai Police Commissioner D. Sivanandan sat across the table with a small group of senior officials to discuss just what had gone wrong with his force on November 26, 2008 — and what needed to be done [...]
Vidya Subrahmaniam: The Samajwadi Party’s identity crisis
Like Amar Singh himself, his official website, thakuramarsingh.com, is frank, bitingly sarcastic and, needless to say, vastly entertaining. The introduction describes him: “Amar Singh is a growing enigma, his force is unstoppable, his will untethered.” Many of the recent blog entries are devoted to his thunderbolt resignation from crucial [...]
The skeletons tumble out
The deemed universities scam is the tip of a humungous iceberg of corruption in the higher education regulation, accreditation and financing system. HRD minister Kapil Sibal must be complimented for appointing a review committee that has brought to light this rot. In the five years that Arjun Singh lorded over the ministry, with his acolytes [...]
Actions tweet louder
If the twitterati were India’s voting class, then Shashi Tharoor would be the Supreme Leader. A few weeks ago, when Tharoor’s tweet on the government’s visa policies generated much fuss among his ministerial colleagues, I had jocularly tweeted, “Maybe, Tharoor should quit politics and join journalism. He would have greater freedom as an [...]
Why book bans don't prevent riots
I would like to propose a new form of labelling for books. Publishers should use any of the following stickers: “Warning: May Offend Religious Sentiments”, “Potentially Blasphemous”, “Only Mildly Sacrilegious”, or perhaps “This Book Has Been Sanitised and Pre-Censored For Your Comfort”. Believers of any faith would be able to [...]