Some of them are bound to be alike.
Meanwhile George Bush declares Nelson Mandela dead killed by none other than Saddam Hussein.
I heard somebody say, ‘Where’s Mandela? Well, Mandela’s dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.
Long live Mandelas.
]]>Barkha Dutt writes a fine piece in Hindustan Times on the recent assault of Taslima Nasreen titled The Secular Silence. She writes:
As far as I’m concerned, Qureshi or Akbaruddin Owaisi (the Hyderabad MLA who led the attack on Taslima) are no different from Praveen Togadia or Bal Thackeray. All of them represent the dangerous politics of intolerance and bigotry. The fact that some of them have popular support doesn’t give them legitimacy; it makes them even more frightening and insidious. And to treat them differently is to embolden intolerance on either side.
I Agree. I have long argued that intolerance has no color. Or we can argue that intolerance can have any shade. Green, saffron and red. Intolerance begets intolerance. People like Qureshi and Owaisi feed on the hatred preached by Togadia and Thackeray and vice-versa.
Dutt also argues in favor of a public debate on whether Indian government should grant (or reject) asylum to Nasreen. As far as I am concerned, GOI should make this decision based on principles. Policy, may be. But certainly domestic political compulsions shouldn’t be a factor in this case. For too long we have let the mob sit onto judgement on the fate of individuals. It has to stop. Now.All the Indian Muslims (Hyderabadis included) I have talked to have expressed deep sense of regret at this incidence. I also wrote about this in Indian Muslims.
]]>Dilip wonders why Manohar Joshi has suddenly lost track of his statements regarding Srikrishna Commission Report. Joshi is also on the record saying that he would prefer to resign than take any action against Bal Thackeray or Shiv Sainiks. Meanwhile, the victims await justice.
]]>]]>Teachers of a primary school in Bhandara district of Maharshtra sprinkled cow’s urine in the school premises and on students
They did this because the previous headmistress was a Dalit and they wanted to purify the school and the children of the lower castes.
garche hai in dinoN mulk-e-dakan meN qadr-e-suKhan
kaun jaaye “Zauq” par dillii kii galiiyaaN chhoR kar
Even though poetry is patronized in Deccan (Hyderabad) these days
Still who would want to leave the lanes of Delhi, Zauq?
Thanks to Neha I found this catchy number Dilli by Rabbi Shergill from the upcoming movie Delhi Heights. Grab the complete album here, it is worth a try.
]]>Next Day After Exams + Do Or Die Contest For India = Did I Say Awesome?
Sri Lanka has just made things easier for India. By defeating Bangladesh by a huge margin of 198 runs, they have relegated Bangladeshi net runrate to -2.002. India on the other hand have a net runrate +2.507. So, India just need to win the Sri Lanka match as it will be difficult for Bangladesh to surpass Indian runrate. India can breathe a sigh of relief now in terms of net runrate.
Friday match will be a cracker of a contest and my exams finish on Thursday night. Go India!
Update: Cricinfo plays out the numbers game here.
Update: It is all over for India at this World Cup.
]]>Down – Out = Team India
So much has already been written on India’s defeat to Bangladesh. I just want to wish all the best to Team India for their game against Bermuda tomorrow and then against Sri Lanka on Friday. Let us accept it, Bangladesh played out of their skins and now they have the ability to defeat any team on their day. We need to support the Indian team during moments such as these. I hope and pray that they will bounce back. Go India!
]]>Religious Leaders + Votebank Politics + Zero Perspective = Disaster
IMHO there is just one good solution for everyone demanding head of Taslima Nasreen: force them to read all her crappy books. No, seriously.
]]>Noting that Nasreen had made “derogatory references against Prophet Mohammad in her writings,” Tauqeer said: “We demand that the government ban her entry into the country. If it is not done, anyone who beheads her will be given a reward of Rs 5 lakh,” he said.
Dynastic Policitics + BJP = No Surprise
It is no surprise that there is just one Muslim in the list of 316 BJP candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. No serious rapprochement between Indian Muslims and BJP is possible till BJP cuts off its ideological ties with the hate ideology of the Hindutva groups. It is also not a surprise that the party with a difference is having a pre-poll alliance with Apna Dal, a through-and-through casteist party of Kurmis in UP. Political exigencies of BJP calls for such an alliance. And also not surprising is the inclusion of the son of party chief Rajnath Singh as one of the candidates. After BJP inducted Varun Gandhi, its criticism of Congress on dynastic politics became a sham.
So much for the party with a difference!
]]>Big Change + Zilch Information = WTF
One of the news websites I frequent regularly is that of Hindustan Times. They had the best domain name they could have asked for: hindustantimes.com. Today I noticed that they have switched to hindustantimes.in. All their links point to the new website address. If you type hindustantimes.com their servers will re-direct you to the new name. Alexa traffic graph confirms this:
Apparently everything is working fine but I don’t understand the reasons behind this change. Why fix it if it ain’t broke?
Update: Apparently they are testing a beta version of their new website here.
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