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THE WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE `35November 19, 2012

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Krishna PrasadEXECUTIVE EDITOR Bishwadeep MoitraBUSINESS EDITOR Sunit Arora

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Uttam Sengupta, S.N.M. AbdiPOLITICAL EDITOR Saba Naqvi

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Toral Varia Deshpande (Delhi)SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS

Pragya Singh, Chandrani Banerjee,Amba Batra Bakshi

PRINCIPAL CORRESPONDENT: Panini AnandSENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Neha Bhatt

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from AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi-110 029

Published for the week of November 13-19, 2012

Released on November 12, 2012Total no. of pages 72 + Covers

www.outlookindia.com

Volume LII, No. 46

OUTLOOK 19 November 2012 1

In this issue...

What they said to us

HARYANA GOVT OFFICIAL, on Vadra land dealings

“Permission is given to sell land in unconsolidatedareas only in urgent cases, not for commercial pusposes.”

44

Why do votaries of the Hindutvabrigade—mostly upper-caste, NRI andmale—spew so much venom online atthe mere mention of one of their icons?Exclusive excerpts from Ram Guha’snew book Partisan Patriots.

Hate Mail HeroesCOVER STORY

14 A Sinking FeelingNitin Gadkari finds himself stranded withcolleagues making an issue of his taint charges

12 MUSLIM PAPER Deccan Age Ahoy16 CONGRESS In a Tailspin

18 A Matter of TrustThe Gandhi family faces a direct attack on itsrole in the affairs of Associated Journals,a limited company that used to run NationalHerald. How serious are the charges, andwill they stick? Meanwhile, in Haryana,government officials say there’s enoughreason to further probe Robert Vadra’squestionable land dealings in the state.

24 E-COMMERCE Dotcom Diwali

32 President Obama Again The swords were crossed as early as in 2010.Two years of bitter accusations, name-callingand massive expenses culminated on the oneday. A devastating mauling of the Republicansbelied a photo-finish on the popular vote.Many doubted Obama’s moxie; but yes, he can.

40 COLUMN Hu Shisheng

F O R E I G N

B U S I N E S S

C U R R E N T A F F A I R S

2 LETTERS 6 POLSCAPE 66 BOOKS 68 FINE LIVING 70 GLITTERATI 72 DIARY

REGULARS

Cover Design: Bishwadeep Moitra, Photograph: Sanjay Rawat

58 Belly-Ho! Belly dancing becomes all the rage inbig- and small-town India

10 COLUMN Amitabha Bagchi64 TELEVISION 15 Years of CID

F E A T U R E S

MUSLIMSMEDIA

remained illusory so far. While many att-empts didn’t go beyond the drawingboard, the few that made it to a print-rundidn’t survive more than a few months,accentuating the challenges to launchinga community-specific daily for India’sMuslims. However, this hasn’t deterreda group of Andhra Pradesh Muslimsfrom reviving the idea with a new dailycalled Deccan Age, which they promiseto launch on January 1, 2014.

While there are many Muslim-specific dailies in Indian languageslike Urdu and Malayalam, it’s thelure of having one in English—thelanguage of many decision-mak-ers—that has proved elusive. Thereare English journals for Muslims,like the Radiance Viewsweekly, thefortnightly Milli Gazette and themonthly Islamic Voice. But there’s

no daily. Hoping to break this jinx, theHyderabad-based Deccan Age was reg-istered in September 2010.

Explaining why they decided to takethe risk, Sheikh Abdur Rahman, a free-lance journalist who is promoting Dec-can Age, says there is no Muslim mouth-piece even now to express the commu-nity’s concerns. “We hope to be the pro-fessionals who will voice the problems ofMuslims and other backward sections tothe government and to the people,” hesays. While the paper will have non-Muslim employees and cover issues rel-ated to other marginalised groups, whatis controversial is that the managementwill be completely Muslim. “We wantour control, otherwise it is going to bejust like any other paper,” he adds.

If all goes according to plan, the paper

promises to be a major player nationallywith 15 editions, correspondents in nei-ghbouring countries and a targeted cir-culation of 20 lakh copies (which is com-parable to some of the major English dai-lies). Asked where the money will comefrom, all Rahman is willing to disclose isthat he is backed by some “NRIs”. He alsorefutes all accusations that his paper willhave a communal tinge. “I think we sho-uld see it more as a voice of a commun-ity that is isolated, neglected and margi-nalised. Muslims too are paying theirtaxes but not getting their share,” he says.

However, having some knowledgeabout the people promoting Deccan Age,Zafar-Islam Khan, editor of the Delhi-based Milli Gazette, says he is scepticalabout the paper’s success. “I don’t thinkthey have the necessary skills or profes-sionalism to deliver a good product. Anyreader, Muslim or non-Muslim, wouldwant to have a readable paper in theirhands.” Even if Deccan Age proves himwrong, they will have to work out itsfinances. For, The Milli Gazette, widelyread and now in print for 13 years, too isfloundering on this count. “I may soon beshutting it down completely,” Khanadds. “We are producing a good paperand have many admirers but liking usalone is not sufficient.” With few ads anda limited circulation, the fortnightly haseven failed to attract Muslim financers.“While there are not many big Muslimcorporate groups, even the few that existdo not support us for they are afraid theywill be labelled communal,” Khan says.

Meanwhile, a lot of what Rahman andhis backers intend to do is alreadybeing done by websites that specialisein covering Muslim-related news, suchas Two Circles, Ummeed and IndianMuslim Observer, and that too at far

lower costs. Is it the wrong timethen to come up with the idea of aseparate “Muslim English newspa-per”? Despite his own journal’simpending closure, Khan stillargues otherwise. “It is needed, butit has to be done by professionalswho have the necessary expertiseto make it a success.” Wise counselfor the promoters of Deccan Age? 4

by Debarshi Dasgupta

LAUNCHING an Englishdaily that specialises incovering Muslim affairs is

an idea many have broached,even attempted. But it has

Green Colour PaperAn English daily for Muslims is planned

Thinking ink No Muslim daily in English

Professionals willbe hired to run thenewspaper. But themanagement willcompletely remainwith Muslims.

19 November 2012 OUTLOOK12

TRIBHUVAN TIWARI

CONGRESSTHE GANDHIS

19 November 2012 OUTLOOK14

family in the national imagination.Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated, the widowcomes forth, becomes a reluctant politi-cian, is initially thwarted, then rises tolead the party back to power. Her son,meanwhile, continues to prepare for hisduty and dynastic calling. A daughterwaits in the wings....

But suddenly, in the last two months

by Anuradha Raman

THE Dynasty is today under savage attack, is the end nigh?Discounting the happenings of the past couple of months,the last big corruption scandal to hit the Gandhis was

Bofors in 1989. Since then there has been tragedy, drama, but all of it has only been fodder to the deification process of the

As scandals reach the Gandhi family door, is the First Family’s halo

Valori DellaFamiglia

OUTLOOK 19 November 2012 15

dirt has flown, scandals have outed, sul-lying the picture and raising questionsagain about the first family of India.First came the Robert Vadra deals thatleft a derisive Indian public asking howPriyanka’s husband got rich so quickly(well, with a little help from friends,like a Congress CM and one of the nat-ion’s top builders). Now questions are

being raised about the manner inwhich the Congress party transferred`90 crore to a private trust managed bySonia Gandhi, Rahul and members oftheir close inner circle. The chargeswere raised by known family baiter,Janata Party president SubramanianSwamy, who has in the past made wildallegations against the Nehru-Gandhis.But this time round there was enoughmeat in it for the party to issue a qual-ified mea culpa, but then it was all inthe good cause of reviving NationalHerald, a defunct newspaper with along association to the party. The scan-dal is complex (see box), and there areissues for the income tax and legalauthorities to examine.

The question now is: is the dynastylosing its halo? Assistant professor ofpolitical science at Delhi UniversityAvinash Mishra says perception isimportant in this age of technology.“Till now, the image of the Gandhis(Sonia and her children) was that of acharitable family giving donations tojust causes. This image comes in conf-lict with the picture of a Robert Vadrahaving many houses and properties tohis name. And now the Congress pres-ident herself faces charges of financialimproprieties. For me, this is a hugeloss to the credibility of the Congressand more so to the Gandhis.”

But in an age when there is such awelter of charges and scandals hittingpoliticians, business houses and cor-porates across the nation, does anyonenotice who’s being accused? Is the dintoo loud for the details to be absorbed?The good news for the Congress isthat the principal opposition, the BJP,is battling its own demons. But intimes like these, when the accuser andthe accused jostle for space in TV stu-dios, does the silence on the part ofGandhis help or harm their image?

Sociologist Dipankar Gupta says thecore defining feature of the Congress isthe family and the party will rally aro-und them. “Just as the BJP has Hindu-tva and the CPI(M) anti-Americanism,the Congress has the Gandhis,” he says,

finally waning?

Sonia, Manmohan, Rahul at Dussehracelebrations in Ramlila maidan, Delhi

Photograph: JITENDER GUPTA

BJPTHE RSS STAND

19 November 2012 OUTLOOK18

by Prarthna Gahilote

HOURS before the BJP’score group met at theparty’s Ashoka Road

headquarters in Delhi onNovember 6, the RSS swunginto action. A little after 2 pm, sarsangh-chalak Mohanrao Bhagwat did whatmight amount to the exceptional. Hepicked up the phone to speak to seniorBJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jait-ley and Rajnath Singh. The message toeach was brief and clear: ‘Support NitinGadkari. You have no other option.’

That small matter done with, anotherphone call was made to the party pres-ident himself, detailing the Sangh’s str-ategy and spelling out the chief’s direc-tives for Gadkari. Sources say Bhagwathas turned this fight into a personal cru-sade. A contention seemingly justifiedby his handling of veteran leader L.K.Advani, who reportedly made it under-stood that he would not attend the coregroup meeting unless he was given anassurance that Gadkari would not begiven a second term as president. Thismessage reached the Sangh, which sawit as another bid by Advani to seizepower in the party. That led to Bhagwatcalling the others, but leaving out Adv-ani, who didn’t attend the core groupmeeting. Three days later, on his birth-day, Advani was quoted as saying he didnot have prime ministerial ambitions.

The RSS is making it clear that Gadkariwill be allowed to finish his first term,although the question about a secondterm is still being debated. Says an RSS

leader: “Gadkari will not just completehis term, but the option of him gettinga second term is also quite open. TheRSS will only want him to step down ifclinching proof of corruption in his bus-iness deals comes up in the next onemonth.” “For now, the Sangh believesthat Gadkari’s alleged business irregu-larities do not amount to corruption; hehasn’t used his political position to ben-efit his business ventures and he hasn’tsiphoned off party funds.” A sign of howseriously the Sangh views this latestattack on their boy from Nagpur was

evinced by chartered accountant andright-wing ideologue S. Gurumurthy,who has a mesmeric hold on the RSS

leadership, giving Gadkari a clean chit. The senior men in Nagpur also cont-

inue to view the present situation as a

direct challenge to their authority. As asenior pracharak tells Outlook, “Call itwhat you want. Gadkari was our choiceand any attack on him is an attack on theRSS. That is not allowed.” The RSS topleadership believes that there has been

SaffronSuccotash!The RSS supremo goes to bat for his boy Gadkari

The RSS looks to have shielded Nitin Gadkari from, among others, L.K. AdvaniSANJAY RAWAT

a sustained campaign by BJP leaders inDelhi to discredit the Sangh’s choiceof party presidents. “An attempt hasbeen made to prove that the Sangh’spolitical experiments in the past, bothwith making Rajnath Singh and Gad-kari party presidents, have been fail-ures. It is evident now that the BJP isan arm of the Sangh and they will haveto listen to the RSS. After all, the rebel-lion in the party, which you saw, wasboth engineered and motivated.”

Many in the BJP agree that certainlobbies within the party have muchto gain by destabilising Gadk-ari’s position. Mahesh Jet-hmalani quitting the nati-onal executive in protestagainst Gadkari’s stay-ing as party presidentwould seem to vindi-cate that supposition. Asenior BJP leader explai-ned the incident thus, “Theresignation and the threat ofmore to come happened onlyafter RSS general secretaryBhaiyyaji Joshi held a pressconference in Chennai tosupport Gadkari. It had noth-ing to do with Gadkari’s fauxpas on Swami Vivekananda.”

BJP insiders point to othersubplots in the family drama.While the leadership issue isstill unresolved, it is believed

that Advani tried to step into the mix.As someone who has challenged theRSS in the past (and has refused to dep-art from the scene despite the manyattempts and overtures sent his way),he first showed support for Gadkari—in essence, an attempt to mend brid-ges with the RSS, then when he saw anopportunity for himself, he sent outsignals that he was now ready to takeup the president’s role once again.

Then there is the problem of Naren-dra Modi foisting trouble through BJP

MP Ram Jethmalani, who has an oldassociation with the Gujarat CM. Aparty leader queried if father and sonwere Modi’s stalking horses in theparty or simply mavericks acting oftheir own accord. “Many in the BJP areasking about the Jethmalanis who areopen advocates of Modi,” asks a leaderadding, “A majority of the second rungleaders in the BJP say that Modi is theonly one who can get them anywhereclose to power in 2014.” It is clear thatthe RSS is preparing for a time when itwill also have to face off against Modi.

Everyone else has bit parts in theshow. For instance, it is said Sushma

Swaraj spoke out in Gadkari’sfavour to earn goodwill fromthe RSS. “Sushmaji does nothave an RSS background and

that was seen as workingagainst her,” says an insi-der. Besides which she is

viewed as competitionto Jaitley, who has agood working relatio-nship with Modi, anABVP background anda valuable skill set asa lawyer who under-stands policy issues. A curious situation

has developed. Miffed over itsMaharashtrian Brahmin can-didate Gadkari landing in asoup, the Sangh is suspiciousabout the three leaders fromthe parivar. Modi, Advani andJaitley are being viewed withsuspicion since each is seen ashaving the potential to actindependently. Such is life in

the great saffron family. 4

● In defense of Nitin Gadkari, RSS sar-sanghchalak Mohanrao Bhagwat calledsenior BJP leaders ahead of a core meet

● Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Raj-nath Singh were called. Most conspic-uously, L.K. Advani was not.

● Advani had threatened to skip themeet unless given assurance that Gad-kari would not be given a second term

● The RSS has maintained that Gadkariwould finish his first term, thoughwould moot issue of a second term

● Sangh views attack on Gadkari as asustained campaign by BJP to discreditits choice of party president

● Advani, Jaitley and Narendra Modiare seen as possible perpetrators

Fissures in the family

OUTLOOK 19 November 2012 19

Maverick? MP Ram Jethmalani

JITENDER GUPTA