we the state - issue 4 vol 2

7/27/2019 We The State - Issue 4 Vol 2

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/we-the-state-issue-4-vol-2 1/12

We OCTOBER 21 TO OCTOBER 27, 2013 POSTAL REGD. MP/BHOPAL/4-323/2013-15

RNI NO. MPENG\2012\46415

Online edition available at wethestate.com and wethestate.blogspot.in

Ragini Dwivedi Reveals Her CrushRagini Dwivedi Reveals Her Crush

...Car toon by K G OJHAkgojha@redif fmail.com

Cracks in faction-ridden

Cong come out in open

Ho w W E lo o k it !

BHOPAL

Cracks in the faction-ridden state Con-

gress, which is desperately trying to

put up a united face ahead of assembly

election, have come out in the open over tick-

et distribution.

A meeting of Congress MPs from Malwa re-

gion was called recently to take stock of

preparations for Rahul Gandhi's proposed

meeting in Indore on October 24. During the

meeting, MPs spent more time on preparing a

strategy to stop Jyotiraditya Scindia- KamalNath combine from walking away with most

of tickets in the state assembly elections,

sources said. Party MPs Meenakshi Natrajan,

Arun Yadav, Gajendra Singh Rajukhedi and

Premchand Guddu were present at the meet-

ing. The four reportedly took the line that

when Scindia and Kamal Nath are not mem-

bers of the screening committee how could

they participate in its meeting. Obviously,

fearing that the two would try to influence the

decision of the committee on tickets distribu-

tion, the four reportedly talked to Sajjan Singh

Verma and Uday Pratap Singh to get their sup-

port for the campaign against screening com-

mittee functioning, said a leader in the know

of development. Their action reportedly had

the backing AICC general secretary Digvijaya

Singh, who was at Hoshangabad on Wednes-

day and later came to Bhopal.

Before leaving Bhopal, Digvijaya told media

that those who are not members of the screen-

ing committee should not attend its meeting.

The group of MPs shot off a letter to Con-

gress president, Sonia Gandhi apprising her

of Scindia and Kamalnath "high-jacking" tick-

et distribution exercise in MP and holding the

party in charge in the state Mohan Prakash

responsible for it.

They also sought time with Sonia Gandhi on

Friday and four of them were in Delhi. How-

ever, they could not meet her. "I have not gone

to Delhi. I don't know the MPs who want to

meet Sonia Gandhi regarding the screening

committee meetings," Sajjan Singh told me-

dia. Party sources said Digvijaya Singh

through this move was targeting Mohan

Prakash rather than Scindia or Kamalnath.

For it was he who cut him to size after takingover as in charge general secretary of the Con-

gress in the state in place of V K Hari Prasad.

Vol-02. Issue-4. Bhopal. Monday Page-12. Price-`5/-

he State

Aspirants rely on blackmagic for party ticket



WE THE STATECapital2 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Aspirants rely on black magic for party ticketBHOPAL

Ahead of the Assembly elections in

Madhya Pradesh, leaders are engaged

in practicing hypnosis. Some of the

leaders are taking shelter of black mag-

ic and sorcery for getting tickets from

their respective parties while those who

are sure of ticket are trying the unnat-

ural practices for winning the elections.

The period between Dussehra and Di-

pawali is considered as the best time for

these practices.Leaders of major politi-

cal parties are engaged in practicing

hypnosis soon after the election exami-

nation date was declared. Some of the

leaders are even practicing the unnatu-

ral means for weakening their oppo-

nents.

Experts of the field are of the view

that the ongoing period as the golden

period for these unnatural practices.That is why leaders are engaged to per-

form rituals from Mass hypnosis to Ra-

jyog pujan for getting power beside oth-

er unnatural practices.

A youth legislator from the State capi-

tal is doing Tantra Sadhna in his con-

stituency. He reaches the temple daily

after it doors are closed at midnight and

performs Tantra Sadhna with complete

rituals. A Minister of the State Cabinet

has oraganised Paath (recitation) in Da-

tia while another senior Minister of the

State Cabinet has organised Jap (chant)

in the Mahakal temple at Ujjain while a

senior leader from the State went to

Salkanpur last days with his wife and

perform special pujan of Goddess.

A national office bearer of the BJP

routed special prayers at the famous

Pitambara Peeth of Datia just three

days back. A Minister from Indore is

routing special prayers at the famous

Chamunda Goddess temple of Dewas

and another legislator from Indore is

routing special prayers at the Bijasantemple of Indore for getting party tick-

et.

From Congress side a senior leader

said to be in the run for chief minister’srace has routed special prayers at a tem-

ple in Gwalior.

According to sources most of the min-

isters, legislators and those seekingtickets are engaged in prayers of God-

dess and hypnosis to get things done as

per their wish.

BJP workers to have greatersay in candidate selectionBHOPAL

Amid the flood of support for

chief minister Shivraj Singh

Chauhan, there is a strong un-

der-current of rebellion within the rul-

ing BJP. With approaching assembly

elections, anti -incumbency and fear of

workers' unrest is staring the BJP in the

face.

As a way-out, the state unit of the par-

ty has hammered out a three-tier scruti-

ny procedure from grassroots to the top-

brass to involve party workers in the se-

lection of "winnable" candidates for

who they are willing to campaign. Situ-

ation is such that no leader or sitting

MLA can take his candidature for grant-

ed.

Even sitting ministers will have to un-dergo the process to be able to get a tick-

et from the constituency of their choice.

Reason: workers from Sheoni-Malwa in

Hoshangabad and Pathariya in Damoh,

constituencies of forest minister Sartaj

Singh and minister for agriculture de-

velopment Ramkrishna Kusmariya,

have protested for a change of candi-

dates in the BJP office.

Ministers of the government are also

aware that a huge alteration in tickets

distribution is essential for the party to

make its hat-trick in Madhya Pradesh.

Nine times legislator and veteran min-

ister for urban development Babulal

Gaur has opined on record that the par-

ty needs to change candidates in at least60 of the 230 seats to ensure its return.

Minister for industries and commerce

Kailash Vijayavargiya too maintained

change of face in 50 to 60 seats.

BJP national vice-president Prabhat

Jha explained: "A drastic change of can-

didates is in the process. However, in

2008 too, the party had changed as many

as 53 candidates though more as a fall-

out of the delimitation of constituen-

cies rather than agitation within the or-

ganisation."

The selection of candidates is being

primarily worked on by chief minister

Chauhan, party president Narendra

Singh Tomar and organisational gener-

al secretary Arvind Menon. Without

mentioning the names of probable can-

didates, the BJP is approaching workers

at the levels of district office-bearers,

divisional heads and coordinators,

grassroots and even former BJP state of-

fice-bearers with some questions like:

"How many BJP persons can win the

polls from your constituency? And who

is the best candidate amongst them?"

"Candidates will be sieved like tea

leaves on a strainer," said a top BJPleader. "Only the finest will get through

this selection method. The candidate fi-

nally selected will be the choice of

grassroots workers, district level func-

tionaries and divisional committees.

Once the names have been finalized,

everyone will have to come forward and

help in campaigning because the candi-

date has been selected by popular

choice. This will beat the sudden insur-

gency through the ranks before the

polls."

It will take one more week for the pri-

mary selection of candidates. Most

seats are likely to have two names

through one-third seats will have single

candidates when the list is sent beforethe state election campaign committee.

The committee will then use its powers

and approve the final list of candidates

from the names chosen by party work-

ers. The last step would be to send this

list to the BJP national campaign com-

mittee which will put its stamp of au-

thorization.

Rahul’s healing touch forRatangarh stampede survivors

BHOPAL

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi

was stunned during his recent visit toMadhya Pradesh after a victim of the

October 13 Ratangarh temple stampede in

Datia narrated her ordeal and alleged how

police threw her into the river during the

stampede.

Some of the victims claimed that doctors

and officers of district administration were

trying to discharge them forcefully. A visibly

agitated Gandhi expressed his unhappiness

over the complaints and asked the doctors to

take steps for better treatment.

Rahul reached Datia district hospital and

met five victims and their relatives, who

were injured in the stampede. During his

nearly 10-minute visit to district hospital,

Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Jyotiraditya

Scindia and other Congress leaders, inquired

about the condition of t hose undergoing

treatment in the general and emergency

wards from their families and doctors. He

promised the victims and their families all

possible help.

A few victims told him that they haven't re-

ceived the promised treatment yet. Gandhi

was originally scheduled to reach here at 9.30

am. It was re-scheduled to 2.45 pm, but due to

a last minute change in his plans, he reached

Datia district hospital at around 5.30 am from

Gwalior. After spending around a few min-utes in the general ward there, he went to the

emergency room where he spoke to patients

and their relatives.

"I was pushed into the river by the police,

and I suffered injuries in my back and shoul-

ders," Sirku Bai, 60, resident of Datia told

Rahul, who then asked doctors to refer her to

Gwalior for further treatment.

Another survivor Bhagwan Singh com-

plained of inadequate medical facilities at

the hospital. Gandhi directed doctors to en-

sure that none of the victims faced any prob-

lems during medical treatment.

Total of 46 of those injured in the tragedy

have been admitted in the hospital at Datia

while others are undergoing treatment in

Gwalior. There were also a few who got them

re-admitted a few hours before Gandhi's

scheduled visit. He also met medicos and in-

quired about the facilities besides status of

the victims. The state government recently

constituted a judicial commission to probe

the stampede at Ratangarh in Datia district,

which claimed the lives of 120 people from

the state and neighbouring UP.



WE THE STATEEditorial3 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

ASTROLOGY

23-10-2013- Wednesday - Kartik

Mah Krishnapaksh- Chaturthi

Positive direction - South and

West

Bad time - 12:08 pm to 1:36

pmGood time - 6:16 am to 9:12 am

and 3:04 pm to 6:00 pm

24-10-2013-Thursday - Kartik Mah

Krishnapaksh-Panchami

Positive direction - West and

South

Bad time - 1:36 pm to 3:04 pm

Good time - 6:16 am to 7:44 am

and 10:47 am to 1:35 pm and 4:32

pm to 6:00 pm

25-10-2013- Friday - Kartik Mah

Krishnapaksh-Shashthi

Positive direction-West and South

Bad time - 10:40 am to12:08 pm

Good time - 6:16 am to 10:39

am and 12:09 pm to 1:36 pm and

4:32 pm to 6:00 pm

26-10-2013- Saturday - Kartik

Mah Krishnapaksh-Saptami

Positive direction -West and NorthBad time - 9:12 am to 10:40 am


and 12:08 pm to 4:32 pm

27-10-2013- Sunday - Kartik Mah

Krishnapaksh-Ashtami

Positive direction- West and North


Good time - 7:44 am to 12:08pm and 1:44 pm to 3:04 pm

28-10-2013- Monday - Kartik Mah

Krishnapaksh-Navami

Positive direction-East and North

Bad time - 7:44 am to 9:12 am


and 9:13 am to 10:40 am and 1:36

pm to 6:00 pm

29-10-2013- Tuesday - Kartik Mah

Krishnapaksh-Dashmi

Positive direction- East and North


Good time - 9:12 am to 1:40 pm

Vastu tips for electrical and

By AACHARYA SARVESH

E-Mail: [email protected]

Mobile: 9826609192

VASTU TIPS FOR ELECTRICAL

AND ELECTRONIC APPLIANCES

• Always place Cooler or A.C in

West or North direction of your

room.

• Geyser and other electrical

appliances like heater and

switchboard should be installed

in South-East corner of

bathroom.

• Avoid placing computer in frontof your bed as it will act as a

mirror and can release negative

rays in your room.

• Vastu recommends South-East

direction for placing Television

in the room.

Congress finally wakes up to Modi’s appealI

t was after a series of very success-

ful Modi rallies in Hyderabad,

Jaipur, Rewari and Delhi that the

Congress has deemed it necessary to

even acknowledge his appeal.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gand-

hi’s assertion at a public meeting in Ut-

tar Pradesh that the next regime will be

a government of the youth and the poor

is reassuring to Congress workers in a

modest way. Caught in the throes of

mounting anti-incumbency caused by

political and economic mismanage-

ment, supporters of the UPA have been

grappling with uncertainty over what

the incumbent administration’s 2014

poll plank will be. Rahul hasn’t provid-

ed all the answers, but at least he has

clearly indicated that a Bharat versus

India theme, garnished with the 1970s’

Indira Gandhi-style populism will be a

key feature of the Congress’ poll plank.

Clearly, the foot soldiers of the Con-gress are in dire need of some direction

in the face of a concerted Narendra

Modi offensive that seems to be gather-

ing more and more momentum and

even threatening to sweep away every-

thing in its path. For many months, the

Congress has been in a state of strategic

confusion and even a measure of clari-

fication has been welcomed by all those

who feel threatened by a Modi victory.

The reasons why the Congress has

been tardy in responding to a formida-

ble challenge are worth exploring. For a

start, the Congress always felt that the

status of Modi in the BJP and the NDA

would always be ambiguous. It relied on

assessments by experts and insiders

that Modi wouldn’t ever be acceptable to

the Sangh fraternity.

There was also a section of the Con-

gress that genuinely believed that

Modi’s appeal was limited to a fringe in

the BJP and that his mere entry into the

national arena would lead to an auto-

matic swelling of the anti-Modi ranks.

Whatever the reasons, the Congress was

caught unawares by the rapidity of po-

litical developments. The Congress per-

sisted in viewing Modi as a mere re-

gional player with limited or no appealoutside Gujarat. This may explain why

a disproportionate number of Congress

leaders from Gujarat were wheeled out

for TV appearances to counter Modi

supporters. Modi, it was felt, didn’t de-

serve the big guns blazing against him.

It was after a series of very successful

rallies in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Rewari

and Delhi that the Congress deemed it

necessary to even acknowledge that

they were being confronted by a force

with a rock star appeal. No wonder Fi-

nance Minister P Chidambaram has

been propelled into launching a frontal

attack on a man who was earlier deemed

too insignificant to even merit acknowl-

edgment by the top leadership.

This strategic miscalculation by the

Congress has induced a sense of panic

in the party. This dread of Modi has

forced the Congress to devote a major

chunk of its campaign into a high-cost

publicity campaign aimed at ‘exposing’

the Gujarat chief minister as a poor ad-

ministrator, a man who devours Mus-

lims and who may lead us into a nuclear

war. Projecting Modi as the devil incar-

nate will form a big part of the Con-

gress’ campaign plank for 2014.

Whether such an approach works ornot, such an approach will inevitably

make Modi the main figure of the elec-

tion. This may unite the anti-Modi

forces into forging a grand alliance, but

there is an associated risk of popularis-

ing Modi to an audience that had either

never heard of him or not known too

much about him till a month ago.

That the Congress may be willing to

take that risk is indicative. It suggests

that the party is loath to focus too much

attention on its 10-year record of gover-

nance, and even unwilling to showcase

its own leadership too much. This is un-

derstandable. For all his other charms,

Rahul has shown himself to be notori-

ously erratic and temperamental. In the

course of a fortnight, he has under-

mined the prime minister to the point

of mockery, been unmindful of the Con-

gress allies and rubbed potential allies

such as Mayawati and Mulayam Singh

Yadav up the wrong way. And there is

still another six months of intense cam-

paigning left.

PM can’t assert himself in family-owned party

The people of India were unreasonable

in expecting the Prime Minister to

suddenly assert himself and resign

after Rahul Gandhi's scathing statements. It

is not possible to acquire a backbone

overnight.

Millions of fellow citizens must have won-

dered why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

swallowed the insult heaped on him by the

Congress’s crown prince and meekly with-

drew the ordinance to protect criminal politi-

cians. As Singh announced his continuance

in office despite the humiliation, many

would have seen this as a basic flaw in hischaracter because by clinging to his chair he

had compromised the dignity of the office of

Prime Minister.

Those who demand such lofty standards

from Singh and others in his Cabinet seem to

forget the basic premise on which the Nehru-

Gandhis, who have a proprietorial hold over

the Congress, conduct their politics and run

the party. Since the days of Jawaharlal

Nehru, there is a simple rule at work. When-

ever a policy or an idea is well implemented

by a Congress Government, whether at the

Centre or in a State, all credit must be laid at

the door of the party’s first family. Axiomat-

ically, when things go wrong, someone in the

Government or the party must take the

blame.

This principle is at work all the time. Con-

gress president Sonia Gandhi and the core

group that oversees political matters cleared

the amendments to the election law. The

Prime Minister and members of the Union

Cabinet were merely to execute the decision.

This exercise went on from August 22 until

the end of September when the ordinance

was sent to the President for his signature.

After remaining a silent spectator for fiveweeks, Rahul Gandhi suddenly surfaced to

say that the ordinance was ”complete non-

sense” and must be thrown away. This late re-

alisation came in the wake of public anger

over the Government’s desperate attempts to

protect criminal-politicians and President

Pranab Mukherjee’s reluctance to mechani-

cally sign on the dotted line.

Following Gandhi’s outburst, the Prime

Minister timidly announced withdrawal of

the ordinance, allowed his name to be sullied

and ensured that Gandhi and the party’s first

family came out looking good. By doing so,

Singh was reiterating his commitment to the

first principle of governance as far as the

Nehru-Gandhis are concerned. Only those

who understand this principle and complete-

ly adhere to it can secure key positions in the

party and the Government.

This started during Jawaharlal Nehru’s

time when sycophants in the Congress al-

ways insulated him from criticism and

blamed others for bad policies or deci-

sions.(share your views at editor@wethes-

tate.com)



WE THE STATEPolitics4 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Kailash deliberatelycourting controversy?

BHOPAL: State Industry Minister Kailash

Vijayvargiya who has the knack of courting

controversy for his off-the-cuff remarks, ap-

peared to have gone deliberately on a colli-

sion course with the Election Commission of

India.

Sources in the BJP said that fearing defeat

in the Assembly elections Vijayvargiya did

not wish to contest the Assembly elections

but was eyeing for the Indore Lok Sabha seat.

The recent behaviour of the Minister has

also given air to the speculations that fearing

defeat from the Mhow Assembly constituen-

cy he wanted that something like that

happen that Election Commission disqualify

him from contesting this assembly election.

So that his reputation also remained main-

tained and as per the strategy he would be-

come contender for the Indore Lok Sabha

seat.

Political circles in the state are agog with

this strategy of Vijayvargiya. As per his

strategy first he openly distributed money

among a section of people in a religious func-

tion at Mhow and subsequent complaint of that was done with the Election Commission

(EC) by the Congress party.

Vijayvargiya does not stop after this and

struck again in a function and said that he

did not believe in the Election Commission

and its election code of conduct.

Taking serious note of Vijayvargiya’s re-

marks against the EC, the State Congress

spokesperson Narendra Saluja brought Vi-

jayvargiya’s statements into the notice of

EC, seeking a disciplinary action against

him. EC also called for the report of his be-

haviour from the Indore collector.

Meanwhile the EC has served notice to

Kailash Vijayvargiya for alleged violation of

model code of conduct.

However, after receiving notice from Elec-

tion Commission of India for violating elec-

tion code of conduct and passing contemptu-

ous remarks against the Commission, Vijay-

vargiya sulked and said he shouldn't have

passed such a remark against EC.

"I will reply to the notice but I shouldn't

have said what I said about the Election Com-

mission," he said.

Cong rattled by Madani’s warning to ‘secular’ parties

It's not difficult to understand why Con-

gress leaders are rattled by Maulana

Mahmood Madani's warning that so-

called secular parties can no longer get Mus-

lim votes by invoking the fear of an individ-

ual. The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind chief has

said in direct language what many others

have been hinting at for some time now: Stop

scaring the Muslims by projecting Narendra

Modi as a demon who is out to devour them,and tell the minority community what you

have done for their welfare.

The Congress has been milking the Muslim

community by creating and then playing on

fears that the BJP's prime ministerial candi-

date spells doom for the Muslims of the coun-

try and must, therefore, be shut out. That

strategy has worked to an extent but it's past

the shelf-life now. Although Madani did not

endorse the Gujarat Chief Minister, his state-

ment has led to predictable reactions from

Congress leaders, who have questioned the

Jamiat chief's “sudden love” for Modi. In-

stead of condemning the Maulana, the Con-

gress must introspect on his observations,

which are rooted in reality. The party has

done precious little for the minorities in its

decades of rule since independence. Had it

been otherwise, the Muslims would not be

nurturing the grievance of being left out of

the mainstream or not being empowered

enough.

The social indicators of the minority com-

munity are far from robust in most of the

States that the Congress rules — or for that

matter other so-called secular parties do.

Various Government panels have suggested

a plethora of measures to uplift the commu-

nity. Why would have all these b een

necessary if the ‘secular' parties had truly

addressed the needs of the Muslims? The fact

is that such parties have used the Muslims as

vote-banks by raising the bogey of commu-

nalism.

But the community has begun to seethrough their game and is no longer willing

to be taken for granted. An indication of this

is Gujarat where, despite vile propaganda

that the Congress has indulged in, a large

number of Muslims have in recent months

voted for the BJP led by Modi. The Congress

fears that Madani’s blunt call could upset its

applecart in the coming Lok Sabha election

where it hopes to secure the minority votes

in crucial States such as Uttar Pradesh,

though it also believes that the Maulana has

limited appeal among the Muslim voters.

Caught on the wrong foot, the Congress is

now seeking to discredit the Maulana by

slyly pointing out (without wanting to go on

record) that the cleric and others of his ilk

are trying to remain politically relevant in

an election season. They have also indicated

that Madani’s remarks are part of his dis-

pleasure with the Congress because the

party seems to have nudged close to his r ival,

the Barelvi sect. The first accusation is

amusing, since parties like the Congress

(and the Samajwadi Party) have never hesi-

tated to use Muslim clerics to achieve politi-

cal goals. Instead of drawing inferences from

alleged internal tussles within Muslim reli-

gious organisations, the Congress must look

back at how it has exploited such differences

to suit its goals. Besides, Madani has made an

extremely relevant observation that must not

be seen merely from the prism of religion:

Political parties must refrain from seeking

negative votes and instead talk of deliver-

ables. This is as valid for any other political

party — Left, Right or Centre — as it is to the

Congress.

Both BJP & Cong can’t ignore AAP in DelhiN

ot many gave Arvind Kejri-

wal a fighting chance when

he began a career in elec-

toral politics virtually from scratch.

The circumstances surrounding the

founding of the Aam Aadmi Party

were less than propitious; the party

came into being as an act of despera-

tion that followed the collapse of the

Anna Hazare led Janlokpal move-

ment. Much to the unconcealed glee

of the political establishment, Kejri-

wal entered their arena and was con-

sidered by most to have written his

obituary from public life.

Things have not gone exactly to

script. While the AAP might not

quite be the frontrunner in terms of

electoral victory, it is certainly a sig-

nificant force, with both the Con-

gress and the BJP having no choice

but to take it seriously. For Sheila

Dikshit, the AAP plays the role of crystallising and sharpening the un-

ease that voters feel with a three-time gov-

ernment that seems to have lost its way in its

most recent term while for the BJP, riven by

internal dissent and diminished by the lack

of stature of its leaders, it is the AAP that

that seems to be coming between an outright

victory and a hung assembly.

Arvind Kejriwal and his team have man-

aged to shift gears quite dramatically. The

Janlokpal movement was essentially a media

driven enterprise. Cameras preyed on every

word uttered by Team Anna, something that

arguably magnified the power of the move-

ment as well as ensured its eventual demise.

The media induced hangover continued in

the early days of the AAP, with Kejriwal’s at-

tempt to unearth a scam a week. This method

had two problems- it was exceedingly

difficult to dig up meaningful new dirt all the

time and secondly, scams generated ratings

but not ground level electoral support. The

promise of the AAP is to offer a new way of

practising politics and giving fresh meaning

to the idea of democracy. The AAP is certain-

ly delivering on some fronts. Its method of

funding is unique, depending as it does on

supporters quite literally putting their mon-

ey. The low-cost form of campaigning re-

stores to democratic practice the idea of

treating each voter as an individual. The idea

that members of the legislature are represen-

tatives of people more than their rulers is

one that finds expression in the methods

used by the party. The campaign consists of

several volunteers, who are

part of the team not as profes-

sional political workers but

amateurs fired by the idea of a

new kind of governance. The

process of selecting candi-

dates too shows a desire to go

beyond the usual considera-

tions that govern the choices

made by traditional political

parties.

On the other hand, not every-

thing about the AAP is neces-

sarily new or easily

defensible. The advertising

campaign is crude and

borders on the vicious. Impor-

tantly, it is less than scrupu-

lously honest, making sweep-

ing generalisations about op-

ponents. The campaign is in-

creasingly centred around Ke-

jriwal, and the AAP some-times seems to be less a mass

movement than a cult around an individual.

Also, while it is exceedingly clear as to what

the AAP stands against, it is far from clear as

to what it supports. A single point agenda is

fine for a protest movement, but for a

political party, particularly new one, it can

become limiting.

Overall, the AAP is what it appears to be- a

brave new force with its heart in the right

place that is trying out an experiment in par-

ticipative democracy. As with the Janlokpal

movement, the real issue is not whether

Arvind Kejriwal has all the r ight answers or

whether the AAP is in fact the party that will

bring about change. It is best seen as an ex-

periment in democracy, flawed in some ways,

but alive and real in its intent.



WE THE STATEFeature5 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Smile, for your problems are smaller!SWECHCHHA OJHA

E-mail: [email protected]

I

f you are worried about small things, be

happy because you do not have bigger

things to worry about! Imagine if you

had a lot of big problems in your personal

life, at your workplace or in your family,

would you even care about how the dress

you wear at the party tonight matches with

two other girls at the same party, or how

your living room curtains do not match with

the sofa, how your spouse doesn’t have time

on weekends and keeps forgetting birthdays

and anniversaries or how there is less salt in

dinner tonight? I don’t think so.

Isn’t it a reason to be happy that you have

the option to be upset at or particular about

smaller things in life because you don’t have

to worry about bigger ones? Isn’t it a big rea-

son to smile that you have less reasons to

frown about? As soon as big things happenand bigger worries arrive in your life, you

will get to know how small things cease to

matter all at once and are replaced by wor-

ries that do not leave your mind free enough

to think about small things at all. Now the

curtains, the school homework, the dress,

the looks, the broken nails, the old car, the

laptop that is not working since last evening,

the rain that wouldn’t stop and keep you

from reaching office in time or the friend

who always keeps you waiting for an hour

before turning up for the movie, all these do

not matter as soon as a very loved one of

yours has a disease to fight, you have a low

salary to fit up with the increasing expens-

es, the failure in career that you have to han-

dle, the new flat that you have to look for

when you are asked to leave your home, the

job interviews that constantly keep telling

you that you do not fit their eligibility crite-ria, the failure to understand how to deal

with people and relationships, all those big

things, all those extreme situations that do

not leave us the stamina to fight for very

small things are the ones that keep explain-

ing to us that the smaller problems that we

used to think were too big weren’t actually

real problems at all! And the small things

give us the chance to understand that we are

lucky to have smaller things to worry about

rather than the bigger ones.

When we go around the world and see how

many people are lying around without any

good clothes, food or anything that is too

common for us that we don’t even notice

their existence or even understand how im-

portant they are for the life we are living. If

we think of the problems the people on the

road face, we can easily compare our own

problems with them and understand howsmall they are in comparison with other

people’s problems. And one is not even re-

quired to see other people’s problems, just

think about the bigger problems you have

had to face in your past yourself! Aren’t the

little things you’re thinking as problems

now are way too smaller than those earlier

ones to be even called problems? Isn’t it eas-

ier to resolve things if we think of them as

smaller issues than we actually make them

appear to ourselves? We always worry about

small things and that worry gives the small-

est of things bigger shadows and scare us

just like a nightmare on a dark night! Why

do we need to torture ourselves by worrying

about things that do not need that much of

our attention? Why do we make small things

look like beg issues and make our life hard-

er than it actually is? Why do we not save all

the energy, stamina, thoughts and ideas for

bigger things that may come up from

nowhere when we are least expecting them

and all entangled in our pretty little prob-

lems!

It’s all in our own control, how bigger we

make a problem and how harder or easier

we make our life is all our own decision. We

have a pretty short life and it is our own de-

cision whether we make it full of problems

grudges and frowns or fill it with lights,

flowers, smiles and prosperity by letting

small things be small and leaving the bigger

ones on their own in order to come on their

own time and let them teach you how to dealwith them as they are and make you a better

and strong person. So leave things on their

own to grow in their own time, at their own

pace, and do not let smaller things grow a

shadow bigger than their reality! Face thing

just as they are and stop making things look

bigger than they are. And be happy that you

are able to worry for smaller things and do

not still know what actual problems are. Be

thankful to god and pray for these smaller

problems to always stay with you so that

there is no place for the bigger ones. Keep

smiling, keep loving! Bonne journée!

Shamed and scarred: Stories of ‘legal’ abortions in IndiaA

newly-constructed three–storied

building stood behind the mesh of

electric wires hanging from a half-

bent pole in Nangloi. The exterior was tinted

silver glass fitted into copper panels. A yellow

board declared the name of the doctor, boast-

ing several international degrees and medals

in gynaecolog y. The receptionist asked her to

sit in the waiting room. “There were three

other women there, all in their twenties,” she

recalls. She saw the doctor after half an hour.

“He saw my mangalsutra and asked me ‘Are

you really married?’, to which I had to confi-

dently reply in the affirmative. I made up astory about how my husband is travelling and

that’s why he couldn’t accompany me.” An ul-

trasound and a pelvic examination later, the

doctor confirmed that she had an incomplete

abortion because of pills she had taken be-

fore, and that infection had set in. He recom-

mended surgical evacuation. “He said the

only option to get rid of it was through some

vacuum aspiration method which would cost

Rs. 10,000.”

She got Rs. 3,500 per month as pocket money,

which included travel to college. Her friend

Gayatri lent her Rs. 2,000, and another friend

from college contributed Rs. 2,000. “I was still

short by Rs. 2,500. I lied to my father. I told

him my friend urgently needed money to pay

the security (deposit) at her paying guest ac-

commodation.” Her name is Mitra. She was

20 years old, in her second year of co llege.

Two weeks earlier, she had found out that she

was pregnant. Mitra’s boyfriend had stopped

taking her calls after she told him the preg-

nancy test was positive. Mitra had heard of

acquaintances and friends undergoing abor-

tions and had researched abortion pills on-

line. Armed with that knowledge, Mitra went

to a pharmacy and bought Cytotec, an abor-

tion-inducing drug sold for Rs. 32. Misopros-

tol—the generic name of Cytotec—cannot be

legally sold without a doctor’s prescription,

but it can be easily bought over the counter, as

was done by Mitra. She dutifully followed the

instructions to keep the tablets under her

tongue for 30 minutes. Mitra started bleeding

within two hours. Over the next two days, she

missed college due to heavy bleeding and nau-

sea, and later experienced morning sickness.

She thought that it was an after-effect. She

couldn’t sleep on her right side as it hurt. A

week had now passed. Her friend spoke to

some girls in her PG accommodation and sug-

gested the clinic in Nangloi. “I was let off af-

ter half an hour in the operation theatre. For

the next two hours, I was hallucinating,” she

says. A month later, she got a call from a

courier company to confirm her address.

Within an hour, a police officer with two

women constables landed up at her house in

Noida. The Nangloi doctor had been arrested

a week earlier under the Pre-Conception and

Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT)

Act for conducting sex-selective abortions.

Mitra’s number was found on the doctor’s

phone. Mitra was not allowed to go back to

college. Her father didn’t speak to her for a

month, till she started experiencing heavy ab-

dominal pain and excessive vaginal bleeding.

A proper diagnosis revealed an infection in

her fallopian tubes: damage caused by the ir-

responsible surgical procedure performed by

the Nangloi doctor. Mitra will never be able to

conceive. She was forced to switch to the

school of correspondence courses in Delhi

University. She and her younger sister are

hardly let out alone. …….. In India, a woman

dies every two hours because she’s had an un-

safe abortion, according to estimates by Ipas,

an international organisation that works

with the National Rural Health Mission to re-

duce maternal deaths due to unsafe abor-

tions. In August, health minister Ghulam

Nabi Azad said data on the number of unsaf e

abortions in India was unavailable in the

Central Health Management and Information

System of the National Rural Health Mission.

According to government data for 2008-09,

however, a total of 11.06 million abortions

were recorded that year. Abortion was made

legal in India by the Medical Termination of

Pregnancy (MTP) Act, which was passed by

Parliament in 1971 and came into effect in

1972. The Act permits abortion if the doctorbelieves “in good faith” that “…the continu-

ance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to

the life of the pregnant woman or of grave in-

jury to her physical or mental health; or there

is a substantial risk that if the child were

born, it would suffer from such physical or

mental abnormalities as to be seriously hand-

icapped”. As a result of this focus on mater-

nal health, the onus still lies on the woman to

explain or prove how it will harm her physi-

cally or mentally. It is almost implied that

married women must state contraceptive fail-

ure and single women must state coercion or

rape as a reason for pregnancy. Merely stating

that it is an unwanted pregnancy is not

enough. Then, in 2004, the government en-

dorsed guidelines on the appropriate use of

Mifepristone and Misoprostol for self-in-

duced abortion. However, the government has

not yet introduced drugs for abortion in pub-

lic clinics and hospitals. On the face of it,

abortion is legal in India—unlike in a num-

ber of Western countries—but women have

hardly any control over their reproductive fu-

ture.



WE THE STATERegion6 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

BJP MLAs face workers’ ire in ChhattisgarhRAIPUR

T

he ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh is fac-

ing a rough weather in deciding its

candidates for the first phase of

polling due to massive resentment among

partymen against sitting legislators. This

even as the scramble for tribal votes intensi-

fy.

Polling for the first phase would be held in

12 assembly constituencies of the Bastar re-

gion.

Initially the BJP maintained that it was not

seeking any applications from prospective

aspirants for the 90 assembly constituencies

but later the party deputed a team of ob-

servers to sense the mood of party workers

in every assembly segment. It opened a Pan-

dora's box with BJP workers, led by a large

number of ticket seekers, coming out in open

against sitting legislators.

BJP in tribal Bastar region- where it hadwon majority of the 12 seats in the last two

polls in 2003 and 2008-is facing a piquant sit-

uation this time, ruling party c ircles said.

For the BJP, politics in tribal B astar had al-

ways revolved around veteran leader Bali-

ram Kashyap - a former minister during un-

divided Madhya Pradesh and a four-time

member of the Lok Sabha. After his death

two years ago, his kin who are also involved

in active politics in the region finds them-

selves struggling to fit in into the political

space vacated by the senior Kashyap.

In August this year, the 'prince' of the erst-while royal family of Bastar Kamal Chandra

Bhanjdeo joined BJP. Being the initial days

of new high-profile entrant into the party, the

already established party leaders, including

legislators, are still facing adjustment prob-

lems, worrying how politics of Bastar would

shape up in the coming years. It's learnt that

BJP is also treading with caution as far as

distribution of tickets in Bastar region is

concerned.

In announcing the list of candidates for the

first phase of polls on November 11, Con-

gress has taken the lead over the ruling par-

ty. "Our list of candidates is totally balanced

and overall it was welcomed. There is no re-

sentment at any level", said state Congress

spokesman Shailesh Nitin Trivedi.

The state BJP, however, sought to downplay

the Congress decision to field Alka Mudali-

yar, wife of slain Congress legislator Uday

Mudaliyar who was killed in May 25 Maoist

ambush in Bastar, against chief minister Ra-

man Singh in Rajnandgaon saying "Singh

had nursed the constituency well and have adirect connect with voters. I don't think that

emotional card will work against him". Dur-

ing the last few days, BJP workers from vari-

ous constituencies including some ministers

and other senior legislators were mounting

pressure on the party for replacing their sit-

ting legislators. In the state capital, a group

of party men demanded fielding a new face

from Dharsiva, being represented by senior

legislator Devji Bhai Patel. Patel's supporters

too went to party office to show their

strength. Besides, there has been a strong op-

position against nearly two dozen out of the

50 sitting BJP legislators-indicating towards

the strong anti-incumbency factor prevailing

in the state.

Chief minister Raman Singh said "Winning

prospects is the only criteria for tickets". He

indicated that the party might replace about

10 to 15 candidates to introduce new faces.

Meanwhile, party sources indicated that

some of the legislators could be denied ticket

and would be fielded in the Lok Sabha polls

as part of a strategy while few sitting MPscould get tickets to contest the assembly.

Tech-savvy tribal youths take tosocial media to trigger a change

INDORE: Cut off for years of neglect, a

group of educated and tech-savvy tribal

youths have taken to social media in a big

way to trigger a change at the hustings. Un-

shackled by considerations of winnability,

they are trying hard to set an agenda for the

larger good of t heir lot. Disgusted with the

present crop of politicians for their failure to

highlight issues related to tribals, educated

youths have put social networking sites to

good use - campaigning for educated candi-dates from tribal areas. And yes, the social

sites are proving a potent tool.

Incidentally, it is the same group, which

had organized "Facebook Adivasi Yuva Sakti

Millan Samaroh" at Barwani in May this

year. Then, thousands of tribals from across

the country gathered there to discuss press-

ing issues and chalk out an action plan.

Five months later, taking it to the next lev-

el, they have started a campaign on social

networking sites to demand fielding of de-

serving educated candidates in the state go-

ing to assembly polls next month. They real-

ize the importance of numerical strength in

a state where tribals constitute 22 per cent of

population and 47 out of 230 assembly con-

stituencies are reserved for them. They know

well, political parties give ticket to tribal not

as a favour but of sheer compulsion

Dr Hiralal Alawa, senior resident doctor at

neurology department of All India Institute

of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is the man who

conceptualized and kick-started the drive.

Till now, they have managed to get response

from nearly 8,000 educated tribal youth and

every day they receive 30 to 40 requests on so-

cial networking site.

Hiralal, who hails from tribal district of

Barwani, said after holding discussion with

educated tribal youths and analysing the

ground situation, they have realized that

tickets for assembly and parliamentary elec-

tion were given to illiterate tribals or candi-

dates, who were ignorant of real problems

confronting them.

"Despite having so many tribal MLAs and

MPs, genuine issues were never raised. If

you see the number of question asked by

these tribal leaders in assembly and Parlia-

ment, the number is almost nil," Hiralal said,

adding educated tribal youth should be g iven

political representation in the election so

that they can raise issues related to them at

the highest level.

Hiralal said internet and social networking

sites, in particular, have changed the sce-

nario. Today, most of educated tribal youths

are using mobile and internet and it has pro-vided us an opportunity to come together by

using social networking site, he said.

Laxman Maravi, 35, who is working after

doing ITI and a resident of Mandla district,

said candidates for assembly election should

be local, aware of local problems and should

be educated. "Even six decades after the in-

dependence, tribal areas have not seen light

of development. My village is 97km from dis-

trict headquarters and we have to travel

20km to reach road," Maravi said. Like Hi-

ralal, he strongly feels tribals' problem could

be solved by educated representatives.

Anil Gond, 29-year-old, said since the inde-

pendence tribals have been losers and have

gained nothing. They have to struggle for

small things. "Our anger is against the sys-

tem and not directed at any particular party.

Now, we want to change all that. Education is

important for uplift so we want that our c an-

didate should be educated who understands

the importance of quality education," Gond,

a science graduate from the Anuppur, said,

adding a large number of tribals are still de-

prived of quality education.

Akhilesh’s claims of a clean govt prove hollow

Communal riots, jailbreaks, kidnap-

ping, gun battles in courts and the

crippling power shortage are all tak-

ing their toll of UP’s economy The re-induc-

tion of controversial Uttar Pradesh politi-

cian Raghuraj Pratap Singh — better known

as Raja Bhaiya —as a cabinet minister in the

Akhilesh Yadav government symbolises the

rot that has set into the country’s most popu-

lous state under a young chief minister, who

raised public expectations sky high when he

stormed to power 19 months ago, only to dash

them.

The foreign-edu-

cated engineer-

turned-politician

Akhilesh was wel-

comed as a breath

of fresh air by the

people of the state

when the Sama-

jwadi Party rode

to power, rejecting

the authoritarian

rule of Mayawati.

People at large be-lieved that he

would break new ground and mark a clear

break from the inglorious path that

Mayawati and her predecessor Mulayam

Singh Yadav treaded.

The Samajwadi Party has always been

known to play vote-bank politics by appeas-

ing Muslims. Now, it has gone a step further

by seeking out Thakur votes, by re-inducting

Raja Bhaiya into the cabinet. Considering

that Raja Bhaiya has as many as 45 criminal

cases against him, there could not have been

a better example of cynical disregard for

public yearning to see better law and order

under the Akhilesh regime. All the claims of

the Samajwadi Party at the time of the last

elections of a clean government and an as-

sault on crime have been proved utterly hol-

low.

Indeed, law and order has become hostage

to political bosses, as had happened during

Mulayam Singh’s rule and with developmen-

tal works in doldrums, the tide is turning

against Akhilesh and could jeopardise the

Samajwadi Party’s performance in the gen-

eral elections due in the middle of next year.

Young Akhilesh is aware of the extent to

which the support for his party is eroding,

but does not have the gumption to tell his fa-

ther Mulayam and his henchmen that they

are harming the party grievously by playing

the politics of strong-arm tactics.

The state of deteriorating law and order is

manifest in how a senior minister has been

accused of kidnapping a chief medical offi-

cer; six gun battles have taken place inside

courts; there have been more than 12 attacks

on police stations and policemen; three jail-

breaks have been attempted; and seven com-

munal riots have left more than 12 dead

across the state. The situation is getting

worse instead of getting better.

Adding to the government’s woes is the se-

rious power situation and its crippling effect

on the state’s economy.

A new dimension was added to the

Akhilesh government’s use of minority Mus-

lims as a vote-bank and his patronage to land

mafias, when IAS officer Durga Shakti Nag-

pal, who was crusading against illegal min-

ing of sand in the Gautam Buddha Nagar,was suspended on the pretext that she had

got the boundary wall of an unauthorised

mosque in Greater Noida demolished, caus-

ing tension that jeopardised communal

peace in the area.

The serious mishandling of the Muzaffar-

nagar riots by the Akhilesh Yadav govern-

ment , in which at least 43 people were killed

and nearly 100 injured, has distanced the

Samajwadi Party from the very Muslims

who it sought to polarise in its favour. The

purported role of senior leader Azam Khan

in pressurising the policemen to prevent

them from controlling the rioters has

brought disrepute to the party as a whole.

The Congress Party, which is allied with

the Samajwadi Party at the Centre, did every-

thing to puncture Akhilesh’s credibility for

its own ends. Fearing that the mis-gover-

nance would prove a liability for the party in

the Lok Sabha elections due next year, father

Mulayam is now making it a point to pass on

the blame on to his son, to nurture the fiction

that the party would be different in the Lok

Sabha. But such gimmickry fools few.



I am the heroine of 'Krrish 3':

Priyanka ChopraMumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) Actress Priyanka Chopra in-

sists she is the heroine of 'Krrish 3', which also

stars Kangana Ranaut.

Kangana had initially turned down the film as she was con-

cerned about sharing screen space with Priyanka. Earlier,

Jacqueline Fernandez, Chitrangada Singh, had similar con-

cerns and they rejected the film.

"A lot of girls rejected that role. It is really stupid to do it as it

is an amazing role," Priyanka said.

7 Glamour WE THE STATEBHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Hrithik Roshan Uses Shahrukh Khan'sStrategy To Woo Tamil Audience

Bollywood in the recent years

is trying hard to increase its

base all across the world.

Mainly, filmmakers have set their

eyes on expanding a strong

market within the country. The

first among them, seems to be,

is none other than Tamil

Nadu, a place where Hindi

films hardly worked at Box

Office. It was superstar

Shahrukh Khan, who took ini-

tiative to reach the Kollywood au-

dience through his Ra.One. Soon a

few other stars followed him. The

latest person to use the thisstrategy is none other

than Hrithik

Roshan. Hrithik

Roshan, who is

gearing up for

his next release

Krrish 3, seems

to be following

the footsteps of

Shahrukh

Khan. He is

leaving no

stone un-

turned to pub-

licise the Hin-

di movie. The

Hindi actor re-cently confessed

that he has high-

est respect for nam-

ma Rajinikanth.

Hrithik went on to say

that the superstar is

like his mentor. It has to

be noted that the junior

Roshan had worked with the Endhi-

ran actor in Hindi movie Bhagwaan

Dada way back in 1986. "There are

so many. But I do want to work with

Rajini sir. I've worked in a

film with him years

ago as a child artist.

It would be an hon-

our if I could work

with him now,"

Hrithik said recently.

Sandalwood actress Ragini Dwivedi, who created a huge buzz, by saying that

she will be doing an item number in Bollywood movie, is making a news

again. The actress has revealed her crush's name in the micro blogging site.

After hearing the news, Ragini's fans thought it would be Kannada actor Loose

Madha aka Yogesh. But later, they were shocked by seeing the photo of a guy, who

does not belong to any of Indian film industry. It is reported that Ragini Dwivedihas posted the photo of the Hollywood star Gerard Butler on her social network-

ing and said that she is having a crush on him. She had also asked her followers,

do they know him. Ragini has also said that she fell in love with the actor at

first sight. This has left Ragini's fans with the broken heart and they gave

a mere response for the post by asking her, why she is going behind a for-

eign guy, when she can find many handsome hunks in India. Mean-

while, Ragini will be flying to Mumbai to shoot an item number for

the Bollywood movie Rambo Rajkumar, which stars Shahid

Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.

Ragini Dwivedi Reveals Her Crush

When Amitabh Bachchan was slapped by a monkey Man vs monkey. Monkey wins.

Sounds like a film plot? This is-

n't Rise Of The Planet Of The

Apes. It's much closer home -

Haridwar, in fact, was the set-

ting for a superstar-simian face-

off and the superstar in ques-

tion was no less a person than

Amitabh Bachchan.

Amitabh Bachchan's latest

Facebook memoir dates back to

the late '70s when Big B was

shootingGangi Ki Saugandh, co-

starring Rekha, Pran and Am- jad Khan, in Haridwar. The

shoot involved skin-of-teeth

horseback heroics and an un-

scripted close encounter with a gang of hard-

case langoors.

This is Mr Bachchan's retelling:

A picture that takes me back to the days of

shooting for Ganga ki Saugandh. This is on

the road as we drive to Laxman Jhula, near

Haridwar, over the sacred Ganges, where we

were shooting a sequence. For the first time

and perhaps the last, I was asked to gallop on

horseback on the bridge itself. It is a very del-

icately built construction at a height of ap-

prox a 100 feet above the river, of thin ropes

and some iron and just about enough width

to take single filed devotees on foot. Sultan

Ahmed, the director wanted reality, and

when the local army group that was with us

assisting in the shoot, declined to allow any

from their group to ride on, considering it to

be too dangerous, he asked me to do it live ..

which ... yes I did ..! They were wild days then

and such heroics were the order of the day !

But back to the picture. This a moment

while driving back to our rest house in

Haridwar. On the road are these monkeys

called 'langoors' ... they have almost white

faces and grey skin texture, very long tails

which possess the strength of an elephant,

loitering about in search of food. When a car

stops, they actually come alongside and vir-

tually beg for food to be given to them. I got

off the car and fed several of them with gram

and bananas, as can be seen by one of them

reaching out. An almost domestic like script

followed soon after this photograph. The oth-

er two or three 'langoors' by the side, noticing

that my attention was dedicated to this one

fellow, angered, jumped up and slapped me

on my face .. human like .. demanding that at-

tention be paid to him also ...

I cannot remember if it was a female ... !!!

ha ha ah ..

That person by my side is my make up man

Deepak Sawant .. he has served me for over 35

years ! And is still with me !!



WE THE STATEMust Read8 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Why Prince Charming Rahul Gandhi can’t win votes for Congress

‘Princeling Anointed’, said a Eco-

nomic and Political Weekly head-

line alluding to Rahul Gandhi‘s

promotion in the Congress as the party’s Vice

President. In the headline itself, the editorial

published in February this year summarizes

what ails Rahul’s political career and with it

the Congress’ poll prospects in 2014. The no-

tion that Rahul Gandhi has inherited his po-

sition in the political hierarchy of India as a

family heirloom and hence does not rightly

deserve to call the shots in the party which

aspires to run the Indian government for one

more term, constantly shadows all his efforts

to lead the Congress from the front in poll

campaigns. An Economic Times survey, con-

ducted in association with Nielsen, goes on to

strengthen the belief that Rahul is hardly an

answer to Congress’ woes in the upcoming

state and general elections. The survey

which covered more than 8,000 rural and ur-

ban respondents in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

reveals that a greater percentage of peopleseem to find Narendra Modi a more fitting

Prime Ministerial candidate than Rahul

Gandhi. The results show that in Bihar

alone, Narendra Modi gets a whopping 58

percent votes for becoming the PM and Rahul

Gandhi is stuck at 40 percent. An Economic

Times article, putting the Rahul-Modi battle

in yet another (of many) perspectives, says:

“While only 9 per cent respondents in Uttar

Pradesh found Gandhi a suitable candidate

for the prime minister’s post compared with

Modi’s 50 per cent, his rating was marginally

better in Bihar where 19 per cent backed the

Congress scion’s suit ability. But Gandhi

trails Modi in every category of voters —

gender, age groups and rural-urban. Modi, 62,

also has more traction among the young and

first-time voters, despite being 19 years older

than Gandhi.” One would wonder, what then,

except UPA’s miserable track record in the

past four years, that has eclipsed Gandhi.

Rahul’s political career might have been

lacklustre, but it is not exactly blotted with

allegations of corruption, misbehaviour or

violence. Unlike say a Salman Khurshid, the

young Gandhi doesn’t come across as having

a huge chip of elitism on his shoulder – you

wouldn’t hear him dropping names of uni-

versities he attended abroad. Unlike a Shashi

Tharoor from his own party, his personal life

is as controversy-free and insipid as his poll

competition, 62-year-old Narendra Modi.

Also, on a good day, he does try making theright noises about governance and the politi-

cal system in the country.

However, despite what seems like a perfect-

ly acceptable resume for a successful politi-

cian in India – right to the white kurta paja-

mas – Rahul’s potential is undercut by agamut of factors. And it starts with his se-

vere drought of charisma – no, not of the

dimpled youth type, but of the abrasive,

adrenaline-charged, decidedly masculine

variant that seems to strike a chord with the

masses at large. Aggression, which mirrors

the ferocity of dissent and frustration sim-

mering in people, seems to be the key to suc-

cessful poll campaigning this year – some-

thing that Narendra Modi has cashed in

abundantly. From taking down the Prime

Minister to deriding the Gandhis’ dynastic

approach to politics, Modi has made just the

sounds that the crowd loves to hear. Rahul on

his part has tried to replicate the same let’s-

clean-the-system chorus, but his claims have

been rendered hollow by the fact that he be-

longs to the first family of the party that runs

the government. While Rahul might drip hu-

mility in public rallies, his speeches point at

a sharp departure from the realities of con-

temporary politics. For example in Thurs-

day’s speech, while addressing a largely ru-

ral audience in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh,

Rahul said, “There are more people who go

hungry in Madhya Pradesh than in Africa.”

He made the rather questionable claim be-

fore an audience who is supposed to benefit

from the Food Security Scheme without

much realising that Africa’s long history of

malnutrition might be something that his au-

dience is neither aware of, nor cares for.

What such declarations effectively does isfirstly alienate the rural voter by talking to

them in a rhetoric that doesn’t interest them.

Then, he turns away the voter with interest

in such trivia with such misleading, point-

lessly hyperbolic information that only un-

derlines the immaturity of Rahul’s politicalidiom. At its best, Rahul’s speeches sound

like a spirited drawing room debate over a

cup of coffee – high on idealism, low of prac-

ticality. Then again, his overzealous attempts

to connect with the masses always runs the

risk of coming across as phony. To rid the

baggage of dynasty, Rahul’s bends twice over

to assure his voters that he is one of them. In

the Gwalior speech on Thursday and in sev-

eral other previous speeches, Rahul con-

stantly tries creating a ‘them-and-us’ binary.

When he speaks, he tries to speak in the voice

of the ‘other’ – the ones left out in the malls-

highways development scramble. “What is

the development they are talking about?

They want you to look at shiny cars and AC

rooms on a hungry stomach. We want you to

live a dignified life on the other hand,” R ahul

said. He almost makes the ‘shiny cars’ sound

like some evil of a world he and his audience

doesn’t belong to. However, even a poor farm

labourer will be sharply aware of the fact

that after the speech Rahul too will go back to

the same AC-luxury car life. Therefore, while

the leader-voter breach is a reality in all po-

litical narratives in India, in Rahul’s case it

becomes doubly obvious. The accusations of

incompetence against Rahul again is solely

based on the Congress’ performance in the

government over the past nine years. While

Modi has a fairly successful state adminis-

tration to flaunt, even though that is no clear

evidence of his talent to run multicultural,multi-ethnic country like India, Rahul hasn’t

even held a mildly important portfolio in the

government. Add to that the memory of his

initial reluctance to get involved in active

politics, and Rahul comes across as a politi-

cian by accident, not choice. To add to his

woes are his party colleagues, including

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh‘s constant

reference of him as the Congress’ PM candi-

date in the upcoming polls. Though neither

of the Gandhis have come forward and made

any such claims, the rumours to that effect

have made Rahul seem like a politician with

zero administrative acumen or experience

aspiring to run the country at one go. Does he

seem like a convincing alternative to Naren-

dra Modi who has been voted into power as a

state’s CM for three terms in a row, despite

the riots in 2002? No. A administrator with no

experience versus an administrator who has

floundered once is hardly much of a stiff

contest. The EPW article succinctly sums up

the sentiments against Rahul and the Con-

gress: Rahul Gandhi’s mediocre political ca-

reer seems to have been no stumbling block

to becoming the Congress’ leader-in-waiting.This says a lot about the state of India’s

grand old party. The average Congress ac-

tivist is expected to spread the glory of the

first family; the second-rung of leaders is ex-

pected to implement what the first family

and its lieutenants decide, and the lieu-

tenants are chosen to serve the first family on

the basis of their loyalty to the Nehru-Gand-

his. And as the twin speeches in Madhya

Pradesh, parts of them almost identical,

showed, Rahul at times might come across as

an enthusiastic youth leader but he is far

from becoming an astute politician. One has

to refer to the difference in the BJP and

Rahul’s response to mishaps in BJP-ruled

and Congress-ruled states. From the commu-

nal riots in Assam to the flash floods in Ut-

tarakhand, the BJP hammered the Congress

government on lack of preparedness, shoddy

administration and weak relief system re-

lentlessly. Rahul, on the other hand decided

to bring up a fairly philosophical concern

over respecting the dead while admonishing

the MP government for two stampedes in five

years. He made no mention of administrative

failures, no mention of security lapses – he

said that the MP government doesn’t know

how to ‘respect the dead’.

What does a voter understand of him from

such a declaration – that he is more con-

cerned about secondary realities in his coun-

try. If he has failed to point out the adminis-

trative failures, he must himself have littleknowledge or understanding of the same.

And that doesn’t a great national leader

make.

Modi targetsUPA over

Unnao digging,

rakes upblackmoney

issue

CHENNAI

Raking up the issue of black-

money, BJP’s Prime Ministerial

candidate Narendra Modi today

targeted the government for being un-

able to bring back the money stashed

by Indian “thieves and looters” in for-

eign banks. He raised the issue while

mocking at the excavation being con-

ducted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh

after a saint said he had dreamt about

1000 tonnes of gold being underneath

at a place there.

“The whole world is laughing at us

over this bizarre exercise. Somebody

dreamt and the government has

launched an excavation…The money

hidden by thieves and looters of India

in foreign banks is much more than

1000 tonnes of gold. If you (govern-

ment) bring back that money, you won’t

have to do digging for gold (in Unnao),”

Modi said here while attacking the gov-

ernment. Addressing a gathering here,

the BJP leader said a “cyclone of

change” has gripped the nation. He re-

ferred to the cyclone ‘Phailin‘ which re-

cently hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

and said it did not make much impact

as the “cyclone for change” is already

underway in the country. He said “peo-

ple are dreaming of Congress-free In-dia” and Tamil Nadu, where BJP has

little presence, is also part of this wave.

“In north India, nobody believes that

even in Tamil Nadu there is a wave of

change,” he said and referred to his big

rally in Trichy a few weeks back to but-

tress his point.



WE THE STATECommerce9 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Entry of Foreign Airlines Will Benefit Travelers

The entry of foreign airlines into

India will be a boon for passen-

gers, but it creates potential

problems for the health of the domes-tic industry.

Three foreign carriers have an-

nounced plans to begin operations in

India. The increased competition will

help drive down fares, analysts say.

“It will give more traveling choices,

dense network, competitive fares and

improved service standards,” said

Kapil Kaul, chief executive for South

Asia at CAPA-Centre for Aviation, an

aviation consultancy.

Singapore Airlines Ltd.C6L.SG

+0.58%, AirAsia BhD5099.KU +3.97%and Etihad Airways plan to start oper-

ations in India, in partnership with lo-

cal companies.

AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s largest car-

rier by fleet size, plans to launch a

budget airlinein India.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad received ap-

proval from the Indian cabinet for its

plan to buy a 24% stake in Jet Airways

(India) Ltd.

Singapore Airlines is making its

third attempt to start an airline in In-

dia with Tata Sons.

The current rush of airlines entering

India follows the lifting of investment

restrictions by the government in Sep-

tember last year. Foreign airlines pre-

viously were barred from investing in

Indian carriers, because the govern-

ment feared that local companies

would be taken over by foreigners.

The investments come as the domes-

tic industry is picking up. More Indi-

ans are flying and airlines are able to

charge higher fares.

The rise in fares is mostly driven by

reduced capacity. The grounding since

last October of Kingfisher Airlines

Ltd., due to a cash crunch, led to a sud-

den shortage in plane seats.

While the entry of more competitorswill be good for consumers, it may be

bad for the overall health of the do-

mestic industry.

Most airlines struggle to remain prof-

itable, plagued by high operating costs.

Prices of jet fuel account for around

40% of an Indian carrier’s operating

costs, and are more than a third higher

than in Dubai or Singapore.

Airports fees at most of the major air-

ports are higher than their foreign

counterparts. The sector is also highly

capital intensive, with plane orders

typically costing billions of dollars.

To keep costs low, AirAsia India will

have its base in the southern metropo-

lis of Chennai, with additional hubs in

Kochi and Bangalore. The airline plans

to avoid popular (and profitable), but

expensive routes to Delhi and Mumbai.

Keeping costs down will be an essen-

tial component of staying profitable in

India.

“The (aviation) companies are prone

to becoming distressed assets due to

their cost structure related inefficien-

cies driven by taxation and regulatory

issues, high financial leverage and

chronic cash flow generation issues,”

India Ratings & Research Pvt., former-

ly known as Fitch Ratings India, saidin a recent report. High taxes on jet

fuel in India erode operating margins

by around 12%-18%.

The entry of new competitors could

spark a price war, which will be good

for travelers in the short term,

but worrisome for the long term health

of the domestic industry, the report

said.

Tough Times? Not for India’s Millionaires

Despite slowing economic growth

and a plunging rupee, Mother In-

dia gave birth to more than

20,000 new dollar millionaires in the last

year, outpacing most countries in the

number of new people who now need

seven figures to count their wealth.

While the country recorded its slowest

growth in a decade last year, it still ex-

panded 5%. That helped lift stock and

property prices and push 24,000 more

people into the coveted millionaire cate-

gory, according to figures released in

Credit Suisse Group report this week.

India continues to remain one of the

fastest-growing major economies in the

world. Over the last year the country’s

main stock market index has risen closeto 10% whileproperty prices remained

high – helping swell the ranks of the

wealthy. India had a total of 182,000 mil-

lionaires in 2013. Last year’s Credit Su-

isse report pegged the number at

158,000. Over the next five years India

could add another 120,000 millionaires,

Credit Suisse predicted.

As of the middle of 2013 the report

said India was also home to 1,760 indi-

viduals with wealth of more than $50

million and 770 individuals worth than

$100 million.

India added more millionaires than

most Asian countries, including Singa-

pore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong

Kong. While it trailed China, whichadded a whopping 159,000 millionaires

in the last year, India did better than the

other BRIC countries—Russia and

Brazil, both of which saw declines.

The rising number of new rich in In-

dia is good news for high-end luxury

product makers who are increasingly

betting on emerging markets to further

their fortunes.Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Daimler AG’s

Mercedes-Benz, Prada SpA., Compagnie

Financiere Richemont SA and other are

all expanding their operations to tap

this growth. Rolls-Royce is adding two

new dealerships in India in this year

alone.

“As the world’s largest democracy with

a strong federal structure and vibrantmarkets, India wealth has seen rapid

growth since the year 2000,” said Toral

Munshi, head of India equity research

for wealth management at Credit Su-

isse. “Wealth per adult has risen by

135% from $2,000 in 2000 to $4,700 in

2013, at an average rate of 8%.”

This isn’t to say India is bursting with

billionaires. Credit Suisse said a mea-ger 0.4% of India’s population has a net

worth — the value of homes, stocks and

other investments minus debts and oth-

er liabilities–of more than $100,000.

With the country’s huge population,

that translates into 2.8 million people.

Still, 94% of India’s population of 1.26

billion people still has less than $10,000.



World10 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013 WE THE STATE

Pakistan: Suicide bomber kills 8, including Khyber province ministerPAKISTAN

A suicide bomber shot his way into the

residence of a provincial government

minister in northwestern Pakistan,

killing the official and seven others in

an explosion, police said. The blast on

Wednesday near the town of Dera Is-

mail Khan also wounded more than 30

people, senior police officer Mohammad

Jan said. The minister of law for Khy-

ber Pakhtunkhwa province, Israullah

Gandapur, was meeting with people at

his house to celebrate the Muslim Eid

holiday when the bomber struck, Jan

said.

The attacker first shot dead the guard

at the house before blowing himself up

inside the guest room of the minister’s

residence, the officer said.

The minister died on the way to the

hospital. The suicide bomber got very

close to the minister before the blast andcarried about 8 kilograms (17 pounds)

of explosives on his body, Jan said.

Hameedullah Khan, an aide to the slain

minister, said about 50 people were in

the room at the time of the explosion.

“Some were enjoying tea and sweets,

others were meeting and greeting,”

Khan said.

“I was meeting with the minister’s

brother Ikramullah when suddenly

there was a big bang followed by smoke,

(the) explosive’s smell and noise of cry-

ing people.” Khan said the blast

knocked him senseless until he saw the

minister lying in a pool of blood with

others. Khan suffered minor injuries.

The minister’s brother, also wounded in

the blast, was in stable condition, Khan

said. No one claimed responsibility for

the attack, but suspicion likely will fall

on the Pakistani Taliban and their al-

lies. The Taliban repeatedly have tar-

geted government officials and security

personnel, as well as civilians. Ganda-

pur was elected to the provincial assem-

bly in May as an independent. He later

joined the ruling provincial party led by

former cricket star Imran Khan and be-

came law minister.

He oversaw the office tasked with

drafting provincial laws. Khan has been

a strong proponent of peace talks with

the Taliban, but several officials from

his party have been killed in attacks

since the May election.

US Senate votes 81-18 to avert debt default, end shutdownWASHINGTON

The Senate passed legislation

Wednesday night to avert a US

debt default and end a govern-

ment shutdown, a bipartisan deal set

along President Barack Obama’s strict

terms that left Republican little to

show for the epic political drama that

threatened to rattle the world economy.The 81-18 vote sent the measure to the

House of Representatives, which was

expected to pass it late in the evening.

Obama pledged to sign it “immediate-

ly” after the House vote. The bill would

reopen the government through Jan.

15 and permit the Treasury to borrow

normally through Feb. 7 or perhaps a

month longer. It includes nothing for

Republicans demanding to eradicate

or scale back Obama’s signature health

care overhaul. Congress faces a dead-

line of 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to raise

the government’s borrowing authority

or risk a default on its obligations.

“We fought the good fight. We just did-

n’t win,” conceded House SpeakerJohn Boehner as lawmakers lined up

to vote on the bill. At the White House,

Obama hailed the Senate’s vote, saying

that once the measure reaches his

desk, “I will sign it immediately. We’ll

begin reopening our government im-

mediately and we can begin to lift this

cloud of uncertainty from our busi-

nesses and the American people.” The

stock market surged earlier Wednes-

day at the prospect of an end to the cri-

sis that had threatened to shake confi-

dence in the US economy overseas.

More than two million federal workers

— those who had remained on the job

and those who had been furloughed —

would be paid under the agreement.

Boehner and the rest of the top Repub-lican leadership told their rank and

file they would vote for the measure.

But he vowed Republicans were not

giving up on the fight to bring down

U.S. debt and cripple “Obamacare,” as

the president’s signature health care

overhaul is known. “Our drive to stop

the train wreck that is the president’s

health care law will continue,” Boehn-

er said in a statement. Harry Reid, the

Democratic Senate majority leader,

thanked Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Re-

publican minority leader, for working

with him to end what had become one

of the nastiest partisan battles in re-

cent Washington history. “This is a

time for reconciliation,” Reid said. Along line of polls charted a steep de-

cline in public approval for Republi-

cans in the course of what Republican

Sen. John McCain pronounced a

“shameful episode” in US history. The

deal would end the bitter standoff for

now, giving both parties time to cool

off and come up with a broader budget

plan or risk repeating the damaging

cycle again in the new year. The crisis

began on Oct. 1 with a partial shut-

down of the federal government after

House Republicans refused to accept a

temporary funding measure unless

Obama agreed to defund or delay his

health care law, known as “Oba-

macare.” It escalated when House Re-

publicans also refused to move onneeded approval for raising the

amount of money the Treasury can

borrow to pay U.S. bills, raising the

specter of a catastrophic default. Oba-

ma vowed repeatedly not to pay a “ran-

som” in order to get Congress to pass

normally routine legislation. The

hard-right tea party faction of House

Republicans, urged on by conservative

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, had seen both

deadlines as weapons that could be

used to gut Obama’s Affordable Care

Act, designed to provide tens of mil-

lions of uninsured Americans with

coverage. The Democrats remained

united against any Republican threat

to Obama’s signature program, and Re-publicans in the House could not

muster enough votes to pass their own

plan to end the impasse. McConnell

said the time had come to back away

for now from Republican efforts to un-

dermine “Obamacare.” But the feisty

minority boss said Republicans had

not given up on erasing it from the leg-

islative books. Passage in the House

will depend heavily on minority De-

mocrats to support it. The risky move

was seen as imperiling the House lead-

ership, but Boehner was apparently

ready to do it and end the crisis that

has badly damaged Republican ap-

proval among voters. Looking forward,

lawmakers were also concerned voters

would punish them in next year’s con-gressional elections. Polls show the

public more inclined to blame Republi-

cans. Republican Sen. Lindsey Gra-

ham said the party had hurt its cause

through the long and dangerous stand-

off. “This package is just a joke com-

pared to what we could have gotten if

we had a more reasonable approach,”

he said. Meanwhile, President Barack

Obama thanked the Democratic and

Republican leaders in the Senate for

passing the deal to end the partial gov-

ernment shutdown and avert a default.

Obama says now it’s time to win back

the trust of Americans that’s been lost

during the crisis. Obama spoke at the

White House minutes after the Senatepassed the measure. The bill calls for

opening the government through Jan.

15 and extending the nation’s borrow-

ing authority through February 7.

Obama says once these issues are re-

solved, he wants to move forward this

year on immigration, farm legislation

and a larger budget deal.



WE THE STATESports11 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Virat Kohli’s innings against Australia last night was anything

but manic. It was a record-breaking knock – faster than Viren-

der Sehwag’s 60-ball blitz by the proverbial mile – but he was

never rash. Yes, he hit 8 fours and 7 sixes in the innings but at no point

was he desperate; at no point was he just throwing his bat at the ball

in the hope of getting the desired result. It didn’t even seen forced…

rather the innings had an eerie

calm about it, a clarity of thought

that can only come from having

done something

like this over

and over

again. Of In-

dia’s top ten

chases – five

have come since

Kohli made his

debut and he hasplayed a key role in four of

them. That isn’t a coinci-

dence. It shows

that he has

a tem-

plate

– dif-

fer-

ent

from

Dhoni

and it

works.

Dhoni is still king when it comes to

chasing down a big total and aver-

ages 73.80 in Indian wins but Kohli’s

average of 67.79 (in Indian victo-

ries) is pretty great too. Dhoni’s

manner of working is to take it to

the end, get the opposition bowlers

nervous and then attack… he knows his nerves

will stand the test. Kohli, on the other

hand, breaks them down much earlier

– he doesn’t wait for the situation to

change, he changes it himself.

“Yesterday, I didn’t go into the nets.

I was hitting the ball well and feeling

good about my game. I just wanted to rest

and come into the game fresh,” said Kohli

after the match yesterday. “Then I hit a

four and a six in the Faulkner over. It felt

good and I just took it from there.” Kohli’s

greatest strength is his consistency – with-

out that an average of 50.92 (after 155 ODIs)

is impossible to achieve. Most batsmen

have specific areas that they like to hit

the ball in – that’s what they mean when

they say ‘it was right in the slot’ but in Kohli’scase there is no specific area. He isn’t troubled

by a particular ball, he has no apparent

weakness, he is fit and can

play shots all

around the

ground. So

when he gets

going, every-

thing is in the

slot. A look at

his wagon wheel

from yesterday re-

veals that only 7 runs came be-

hind the wicket – a sign that he was looking to play al-

most everything with a straight bat – none of those

dabs and nibbles for him. He also scored a total of 46

runs on the on-side and 54 runs on the off-side. The

numbers basically show that it didn’t matter where the

bowlers bowled… it was disappearing all the same with

effortless ease.

Record-breaking Kohli shows whyIndia’s future is in good hands

Pele launchesbook, breaks down

Sao Paulo, Oct 17: Brazilian football leg-

end Pele broke down as he recalled his

celebrated career during the launch of

a new book. The 500-page limited edition

book of the player widely regarded as the

greatest ever weighs 15 kg and has a recom-

mended retail price of $1,700, reports Xin-

hua. "This really makes me well up. It is a

legacy I left for Brazil," Pele said here

Wednesday. Titled "1283" , the number of

goals Pele scored, the book comprises 1283

texts. "It makes me think of all the people

who loved and helped me during my career,

my family, friends, the fans," the 72-year-old

three-time World Cup winner added. A spe-

cial edition of the book featuring a signed

image of Pele has also gone on sale for $2,600.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni breaks an Indian jinx at Mohali, but in vain

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni

slammed his ninth century in ODIs when

he reached his hundred off 107 balls in

the third of seven-match series against Aus-

tralia in Mohali on Saturd ay. Captain Cool

conquered pain and a hostile piece of pace

bowling to steady a rocking Indian ship.

Dhoni strained his ankle while running a

quick single with Virat Kohli in the 14th over

and needed medical attention. But the strong

man that Dhoni is, the captain ignored pain

and in his typical fashion mixed caution with

aggression to keep the scoreboard ticking. He

became the first Indian to score a century atPunjab Cricket Association in Mohali. (High-

lights)

Dhoni came in to bat when India were down

to 76 for four after Suresh Raina (17) and Yu-

vraj Singh (0) got out on successive

deliveries. He then added 72 runs with Virat

Kohli (68) to lend some solidity. After Kohli's

departure, Dhoni was then joined by R Ash-

win (28 off 35 balls), who played a key role as

the duo put on 76 runs for the seventh wicket.

Dhoni's ninth century was laced with nine

fours and two sixes. He reached his hundred

with a glorious boundary. This is his second

century against Australia. He scored 121 off

124 balls in his first one on October 28, 2009 at

Nagpur that India won by 99 runs. (Score-

card)

Dhoni started relatively slowly but

launched into a massive counter-attack in the

death overs. He finally finished with 139 not

out off 121 balls. The innings comprised of 12

fours and 5 sixes. Dhoni's bold hitting to-

wards the end upset the line and length of

the Aussie bowlers and India finished at

303/9 in 50 overs. Australia, who had bowled

with discipline till Dhoni's onslaught, simply

had no answer to his rampaging strokeplay. It

was vintage Dhoni all the way as he

displayed his favourite helicopter shot to dis-

patch the ball into the stands. (Match Report)

Dhoni's 139 not out is the third highest at

No. 6 in ODIs behind former India captainKapil Dev and ex-Australia all-rounder An-

drew Strauss. Kapil hit 175 against Zimbab-

we at Tunbridge Wells in 1983 while Symonds

scored 143 not out against Pakistan at Johan-

nesburg in 2003, both knocks coming in

World Cups. Kapil had walked into bat when

his side was nine for four, whereas Symonds

was in at 86 for four.

The 32-year-old right-hander scored his last

century against Pakistan in December last

year at Chennai - his second home. He hit 113

not out off 125 balls with seven fours and

three sixes, coming in a losing cause.

This is not the first time Dhoni has scored a

hundred under pressure for his team. His

most brutal innings came against Sri Lanka

in 2005 when he smashed 183 not out. He con-

tinues to be India's man in crunch periods

and is one of the best finishers in the game.

Clearly a skipper who leads by example by

deeds more than words.

However, his innings would go in vain as

James Faulkner and Adam Voges took Aus-

tralia to a 4-wicket victory with 3 balls to

spare.



WE THE STATENation12 BHOPAL October 21 to October 27, 2013

Owned Printed and Published by M.M.Baig. Printed at lucky, 267, Pragati Nagar, Shahanshah Garden, Bhopal (MP) and published from H.No.101, A-SECTOR INDRAPURI BHEL, WARD NO.63 DIST BHOPAL-462021, M.P.

Tele/FAX 0755-4292545,Mob.09425029901 [email protected] RNI No. MPENG\2012\46415 Editor: M.M. BAIG -Responsible for selection of News & Articles under PRB Act, Subject to Bhopal jurisdiction

India PM Urged to Boycott Sri Lanka MeetingW

hen over 50 world leaders ar-

rive in SriLankamid-Novem-

ber for the Commonwealth

summit, one prominent premier may

be absent.

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh is facing intense pressure from

politicians representing his country’s

Tamil community to boycott the meet-

ing in protest at the Sri Lankan admin-

istration’s alleged failures to address

human rights abuses committed

against its own Tamil minority.

Much of the criticism relates to Sri

Lanka’s long-running civil war that

ended in 2009 with thedefeat of thesep-

aratist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ee-

lam and was accompanied, particular-

lyin its final months, bythe deathsand

displacement of thousands of Tamils.

A U.N. panel in 2011 said that over

40,000 people, mainly civiliansfrom theisland nation’s ethnic Tamils, died in

the military’s final offensive which, ac-

cording to the United Nations, included

shelling in no-fire zones where Tamils

hadbeenencouraged to take refugeand

the bombing of hospitals on the front-

lines.

“What happened wasnothingshortof

genocide of Sri Lankan Tamils,” said

T.R. Baalu,a seniorleader of theDravi-

da Munnetra Kazhagam party from

Tamil Nadu state. “If the world can

come together to take Syria to task,

why is Sri Lanka being given special

treatment?”

Critics of Sri Lanka’s human rights

record also cite a growing list of con-tinuing allegedatrocities, including ac-

cusations of the persecution of ac-

tivists and journalists and the margin-

alization of Tamils. The U.N. Human

Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay re-

centlysaid SriLanka“is showing signs

of heading in an increasingly authori-

tarian direction.”Mr. Baalu said he had, during a meet-

ing earlier this week, “strongly urged”

Mr. Singh to boycott the summit. Mr.

Singh said he would decide after “con-

sidering all relevantfactors,”including

the sentiments of the party and the

Tamil people, an Indian news agency

Press Trust of India reported.

On Thursday, Mr. Singh’s office and

India’s ForeignMinistrysaid the prime

minister had not yet decided whether

he would attend the three-day summit

that takes place once every two years

and be gins on Nov. 15 this year.

Tamil leaders are not alone in their

protest. Last week, , Canadian Prime

MinisterStephen Harper said he wouldnot attend the meeting, although Cana-

da would be represented. “The absence

of accountability for the serious viola-

tions of human rights and internation-

al humanitarian standards during and

afterthe civil war is unacceptable,” Mr.

Harper said.

A U.K. parliamentary committee also

criticized the country’s policy toward

Sri Lanka, saying it should have taken

a more “principled” stand in light of

the “continuing serious human rights

abuses.” The report said the UK should

have made itsparticipation in thesum-

mit conditional on improvements in

human rights.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia di-

rector of Human Rights Watch,said the

decision to hold themeeting in SriLan-

ka sent a signal to its leadership that

the country’s “human rights record

will be ignored.”

“Whether the prime minister goes or

does not go, it is important for Sri Lan-

ka to hear that there is continuing con-

cern over its human rights violations,”Ms. Ganguly said.

India’s Tamil parties have long pres-

sured the Indian government to take

bolder steps to protect Sri Lanka’s

Tamil population. The DMK has de-

manded an independent inquiry into

alleged abuses in the final months of

the war rather than relying on a gov-

ernment-sponsored commission “head-

ed by the same people who want to pro-

tect the perpetrators of the crimes,”

Mr. Baalu said. He blamed the Indian

government for being weak in its re-

sponse on behalf of the Tamil commu-

nity.

“The government has not done any-

thingto rescue Sri Lankan Tamils,” Mr.Baalu said. “There are always diplo-

matic considerations, but sometimes

humanrights considerationsmust take

precedence.” Indiahas voted in favor of

two U.N. resolutions that criticized Sri

Lanka’s inaction on bringing to justice

those responsible for the human rights

violations during the war. In doing do,

New Delhi broke from its long-held po-

sition against interfering in another

country’s domestic affairs. But the

Tamil partiessay the resolutions didn’t

go far enough.

In March, the DMK, which was part

of the Congress-led government, with-

drew its support from the ruling coali-

tion. It demanded that the government

introduce stronger language in a U.N.

resolution condemning Sri Lanka,

specifically calling for the inclusion of

the word “genocide.”

The summit will carry on whether or

notMr. Singh attends, butrightsorgan-

izations have now turned their atten-

tion to the issue of the two-year chair-

manship of the Commonwealth, whichis set to go to Sri Lankan President

Mahinda Rajapaksa after the meeting.

Amnesty International’s India office

hasurgedMr. Singh to demandthat Mr.

Rajapaksa be denied the Common-

wealth chair, usually granted to the

country that hosts the meeting. Other

organizations too are pushing leaders

to reconsider.

“It’s bad enough that the Common-

wealth has allowed a government ac-

cused of massiverights abuses and war

crimes to host its summit,” said Brad

Adams executive director of Human

Rights Watch’s Asia division. “But to

effectively put the Commonwealth in

the hands of an unrepentant govern-ment that doesn’t meet the Common-

wealth’s official values on democracy

or human rightswouldbe theheight of

hypocris y.”

Asaram Bapu admits

'touching' Surat-based womanThe self-styled godman Asaram Bapu on

Wednesday confessed to have 'touched' the

woman who has complained of being sexually

assaulted by him. According to reports, fearing the

lie-detector test, Asaram Bapu told the interrogating

team of Ahmedabad police that he had 'touched' the

girl in his personal room at the ashram but he was

giving her mantra deeksha. Asaram also said that he

used to call the woman frequently to his cottage, but

denied sexually assaulting her. He admitted that he

knew the woman very well as she was staying in his

Ahmedabad ashram. As the complainant refused to

face Asaram, they both had to sit with back towards

each other, within the hearing range, at the Gujarat

ATS headquarters. It has been reported that police

asked 40 questions to both of them related to sexualassault complaint. The cross- interrogation, which

has been "videographed", started at 11.30am on

Wednesday and continued till 8 pm. The 33-year-old

victim, who is married stays in Surat and was

brought to Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Police sources

said that Asaram's face turned pale with fear, the mo-

ment he saw the victim, approaching towards him.

During interrogation, the woman revealed at least 17

newnames, whowillbe nowquestioned by thepolice.

She also disclosed names of two female attendants-

NirmalaaliasDhel andMeeraaliasBagl, whoused to

'trap'or 'arrange' womenfor Asaram. Shealsoalleged

that Asaram's daughter Bharti and his wife Laxmi,

used to send girls to him at his room. However,

Asaram maintained that his daughter and wife were

"innocent". Some reports said that Asaram even

screamed and cried during interrogation and told po-

lice, "I am fed up withyour questions". On Wednesday,

another potency test wasalso conducted on septuage-narian Asaram. The victim's younger sister has ac-

cused Asaram's 41-year-old son Narayan Sai, who is

still missing, of raping her in Surat.

we the state - issue 4 vol 2

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