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Top lies spread by Mainstream Media – February 2015

Gaurav
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Top lies spread by Mainstream Media – February 2015

1. 1st February 2015: Scroll.in – Censor board forces singer to bleep out word ‘Bombay’ from music video

This story cannot be called a pure “lie”, but it was heavily misleading on multiple issues. It claimed that a singer was forced to mute the word “Bombay” from his song.

The news came out, well after the New Censor Board headed by Pahlaj Nihalani, had taken over. BUT, this story never clarified that this decision was of the earlier board. The concerned singer posted the Censor Board certificate just 12 hours after the story was published by Scroll. The certificate was dated 05/12/2014, which means the decision was taken by the Leela Samson headed Censor board, yet the Scroll piece tried to insinuate that otherwise. And as we had reported earlier, the usual suspects spun it to make it an anti-Modi event. Couldn’t Scroll ask the singer for the censor certificate first?

Secondly, as mentioned in our post above, Bollywood Director Vivek Agnihotri revealed to us that the move of muting “Bombay” is a well settled stand. Yet the Scroll piece attempted to highlight this as a new event, thus further leading the outrage industry to believe this was done by the new Censor board. Unfortunately, reporting the full facts of a story has become too hard for our Media.

2. 1st February 2015: Times of India – PM, many MPs haven’t spent a rupee from MPLAD fund

In this article, Times of India claimed that MPs from many states, including Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, had not spent a single rupee from their MPLAD fund. It said “It is much the same in poll-bound Delhi, where all 7 MPs, all from BJP, have not found use for the Rs 2.5 crore released to them as first installment”. To contest this claim, MP from New Delhi constituency, Meenakshi Lekhi had to use Facebook. In her post, she claimed that Times of India did not even approach her before running the story and she gave a detailed timeline of how the money was received and utilised by her. Lekhi made her stand clear, wonder how many other MPs have been wrongly maligned by Times of India.

3. 2nd February 2015: NDTV – AIB Roast Runs Into Trouble With Maharashtra Government

While we had reported that a the AIB roast might be probed because of 2 complaints filed by a Hindu group and a Christian group, NDTV was carrying a different news. It said that “The Maharashtra government has decided to investigate” the Roast and that the Minister for Cultural Affairs Vinod Tawde, called the “the vulgarity of the show a crime”. The report quoted Tawde as saying “Such vulgarity is a crime and based on facts which will emerge, the government will file a case against them,“. Based on this report, many users on social media got the impression that the Maharashtra Government was taking suo moto action against the vulgarity and obscenity in the show. Finally when the Minister himself clarified on twitter with the following tweet, it was clear that the only Government action was to check if all the appropriate certificates had been taken:

4. 12th February 2015: Reddit – The #Gujarat model of #CleanChits

Reddit, which has a sizeable number of readers, tweeted this tweet on 12th:


As can be seen, the tweet claimed that Satish Verma is an accused in a fake encounter case, and an investigator in an another. This causes a conflict of Interest because he is investigation a fake encounter case involving PP Pandey, who again is investigating Verma’s case. Eventually a twitter user @centerofright to set the record straight. He tweeted an excerpt of the SIT report which clearly said Satish Verma was mistakenly listed as an accused, when he was actually a witness. Reddit then tweeted another tweet clarifying the situation, but, did not delete the wrong tweet which is still being Retweeted and read by innocent readers. 

5. 13th February 2015: All Media Outlets – Holy Child Auxilium School vandalized

We have added a Times of India story link as an example. We have already reported about this separately here. While Media gleefully used words like “attacked” and “vandalized”, the Principal of this school came out in the open and made this statement “This is not a case of vandalism, no religious articles have been touched”. Its a shame that Media chose to communalize an incident which even the aggrieved party clearly said had nothing to do with any communal angle.

6. 14th February 2015: India Today and others – Women Journalists more suited for off-field roles: Rathore

Many other News sites also reported this, but we have included India Today as an example. The report said that Minister for Information & broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had said “women in media would be better off pursuing off-field roles“. This was immediately used by the usual suspects on Social Media to show Rathore as a Male chauvinist who belongs to the “Sanghi” patriarchal mindset. Rathore quickly tweeted that his comments had been totally misinterpreted falsely:


To India Today’s credit, they immediately apologised and later took down the article, although some other media sites continued to report it. Later, the Economic Times posted Rathore’s comments in full, which made it clear he wasn’t guilty of promoting gender bias. 

7. 18th February 2015: All Media – Modi’s Rs 10 lakh suit

The cost of Modi’s suit was yet another thing no-one in the media got right. While some claimed it cost Rs 10 lakhs, some media houses gave a wide range of Rs 80000 to Rs 5 lakh. We wrote a detailed post on this, where the person who gifted the suit, rubbished all astronomical figures being quoted by Media. 

8. 27th February 2015: Times of India – PMO blocks access to information on ministers’ assets

A technical glitch was reported as “a blow to transparency” by an over-enthusiastic and possibly motivated Times of India journalist. We have written a detailed story on this, which was later blown up on Twitter as a major sign of fascism by Modi Government. Eventually the official handle of the PMO had to clarify the position, which the Times of India reporter could have confirmed with just a phone call to the department. 

RK Pachauri, the new Tejpal?

Nupur J Sharma
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RK Pachauri, the new Tejpal?

As soon as I heard news of RK Pachauri being involved  in a sexual harassment case, my first thought was… “Ah. And another Tejpal emerges”. Little did I know, until I started looking further, how excruciatingly true that thought really was. From their Modus operandi, to their excuses, they are just two criminal peas in a sickening perverted pod.

How they chose their victims:

Both Tejpal and Pachauri had an extremely similar Modus Operandi when it came to choosing their victims. Tejpal had known his victim since childhood. He was a parental figure for the victim (Who was his daughter’s close friend) and Tejpal had also offered the victim her first job.

Pachauri on the other hand, offered his victim a job when she had just quit her previous one and was unemployed. By virtue of being older by a lifetime, and also an accomplished professional in his stream, the victim was in complete awe of Pachauri as she mentioned in her FIR.

The facts point to a clear modus operandi. Their choice of victim was dependant on the intensity of faith that the victim had on them. By virtue of being older and also close friends with the victims professionally and personally, a strong fiduciary relationship existed between them that the perpetrators thought as easy to exploit. Coupled with the fiduciary relationship, what they sought to exploit was the “You owe me sentiment”. They had both helped their respective victims professionally. The “reciprocal lust” that was expected was perhaps considered interest on the investment that both the perpetrators had made.

When the iron of friendship is hot enough to strike:

In both the cases, when you go through the entire victims statement (also the sanctimonious letter Tarun wrote to his victim after the assault) it becomes evident that the assault always starts with a seemingly innocent flirtatious comment or nonchalant body contact. In Pachauri’s case, the victim states that soon the friendship turned into repeated hugs, kisses, and requests of physical contact.

The first Assault

By now the victim feels the complete weight of the professional favors that their bosses have done for them in both cases. The friendship, personal and professional, is important enough to politely ignore advances, however uncomfortable they make the victim.

In Tejpal’s case when he first tried to assault his victim in the lift, she tried her best to talk sense into Tejpal by reminding him of the nature of relationship they share. She appealed to his better judgment reminding him of their professional conduct, the fact that she was friends with his daughter, even the friendship they shared among themselves. Since Tejpal obviously thinks that there’s nothing wrong in pushing the limits of relationships according to his “bodily urges” he continues violating her.  Sensing that the victim holds their bond in fondness, he tries to justify his assault by saying “It’s alright to be in love with more than one person,” When the “love” fails to convince his victim to allow herself to be molested, he turns to exploiting their professional bond by saying “Well, this is the easiest way for you to keep your job.” Hoping, that if not love, at least the fear of a potentially illustrious career coming to an end would convince his victim to be molested.

In Pachauri’s case, in my honest opinion, the manipulation was even worse. The entire time, Pachauri kept justifying his molestation and harassment by sending disgusting messages and emails convincing his victim that it was indeed “love”.

Sample this:

On September 8, 2013, at 2.32 pm Pachauri messages: “I shall try to suppress my human feelings, and live with a sad restraint on my words and actions. Never to make you uncomfortable or stressed on my account.”

After his victim refuses to consider his carnal desires as “love” and admits that it makes him uncomfortable he tries again

Pachauri’s SMS on October 1, 2013, at 10.06 pm: “That is an unkind cut. And you need not feel responsible about sending me a message when you reach home. I am sorry for my actions. I shall be very very restrained now. I am not a cheap philanderer as you are trying to convey.”

Pachauri’s SMS six minutes later: “And just to prove to you how much I love you, I shall go on a fast after the cricket match tomorrow. I will break the fast only when you tell me that you believe I love you with sincerity and unfathomable depth.”

When the woman has finally had enough… the moral high ground and the “how could you”

In Tejpal’s case, when the victim finally told his daughter (and her close friend) what her father was really upto, Tejpal’s response, as stated by the victim herself was:

Tejpal: “How could you tell XXX (Tejpal’s daughter) what happened?”

Victim: “Tarun, I told you XXX and I are close and what you did wasn’t okay, I had to tell her,”

Tejpal: “She’s my daughter. Do you even understand what the word means? Just get away from me, I’m so f*** ing pissed off with you right now.”

In Pachauri’s case he tries to make his victim feel guilty by repeatedly sending her messages and email proclaiming love and also blaming her for her lack of “faith” in someone who has done so much for him. Sample this:

Email on Nov 14, 2013: “Dearest meri jaan, you came to me at the loss of your earlier job as a measure of desperation. In the context of your injury, what faith have you shown in me? You have been going to the gym against my explicit advise. Even you must know that even if I don’t marry you, I am yours for life.”

What they are trying to accomplish here is simple. Guilt the women into silence. Appeal, in their own twisted way, to the very conscience of the women that they have tried to manipulate and taint with their liberal views on love, sex, and relationships.

Finally, the “I didn’t do it”

Not all women have the courage to ward off the kind of manipulation these perpetrators use. To their credit, these women did. And when they finally decided to speak up, there wasn’t anything left for Tejpal and Pachauri to do other than deny the “allegations” with their wild conspiracy theories.

Tejpal of course first admitted to his crime by calling it a “lapse of judgment” and wrote a sanctimonious letter of apology (if we can call it that) to his victim. Later, when the intellectual realized that his pretty little hands that have held a pen, won’t be able to endure the life of a prisoner he decided to retract and deny all allegations with slandering, character assassinating and intimidating the victim to coming up with wild theories of how it was a grand political vendetta by the BJP.

Pachauri saw Tejpal’s ridiculousness and raised the bar to the absolute bizarre. He is now claiming that his phone, SMSs, WhatsApp and his Email were hacked by some unknown person to commit these heinous crimes. I wonder if he will later claim in court that some doppelganger kissed, hugged, “grabbed body” inappropriately and lifted his female employees in his arms as well.

The “Liberal” silence that ensues..

Tejpal’s and Pachauri’s stories take two different routes converging towards the same destination. In Tejpal’s case, the Liberal, intellectual and the journalist community came out all guns blazing to protect Tejpal. We heard statements like “He was set up”, “It is actually Tejpal who was sexually harassed” and some statements that downright assassinate the victim’s character and I wouldn’t want to dignify by repeating.  In contrast, there has been an eerie silence about the Pachauri case. Not a peep. Where the liberal communities contrasting behavior converges, is that in essence, in both cases they have stood by and done NOTHING to stop the evil.

To substantiate, sample this:

Vinod Mehta in his book says “All I know is that Tarun was known to use his official position to hit on interns and juniors for both consensual and presumably non consensual carnal favors…. But since no formal complaint was bought to my notice, we did not have a crisis in the office.”

The liberal community today, in essence has shifted from sympathizing with the victim, to liberally finding the good in the criminal. Their sympathies, acceptance, human rights, apathy and voice is all exclusively reserved for the poor rapist/molester who has been misguided into ruining a woman’s life. This apathy towards the real victim, is unfortunately as disturbing as the actual crime itself.

Mother Teresa – as we don’t know her

Gaurav
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Mother Teresa – as we don’t know her

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, is Mother Teresa’s real name. I haven’t looked it up from Wikipedia, I know it by heart, because in school, I was required to learn it by rote.

Yes, most of us know whatever we know of Mother Teresa from our school textbooks. And as is the case with most textbook heroes, we know only the good stuff.

But why has she come into the spotlight now? Because as per media reports RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, has said “Conversion was Mother Teresa’s top goal”.

At the outset, let me clearly say I haven’t seen enough evidence to conclude that she actively indulged in religious conversions per se.

Much of the outrage on Social Media, has been because this criticism has come from a “Communal Sanghi”. But what if I tell you, even some American and British people are sceptical about her work?

What I produce below, is essentially some important bits from this video, an extract of a show called “Penn & Teller: Bullshit!”.

As the name suggests, this is a show which is dedicated to Bullshit detection from all over the world (I recommend you watch it), and to prove their secular credentials, let me tell you they spare no-one. In fact in the same episode in which they spoke on Mother Teresa, they talked about some uncomfortable facts from Mahatma Gandhi’s life too.

Coming to Mother Teresa, Penn & Teller (P & T), speak to Christopher Hitchens, author of the book “The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice”,  Dr Arup Chatterjee author of “Mother Teresa, the final verdict” and an actual nun who used to work with Mother Teresa.

The first common misconception among people is that Teresa “cured” or “helped cure” the sick and diseased. This is denied by both the authors concerned. Her “Home for the Dying“, “had no doctors saving lives, but it was a place for victims to suffer and die, by the rules of the catholic church“.

This is supported by the ex-nun, who says, “Mother Teresa has created a cult of suffering“. This is even borne out by Mother Teresa’s own statement, which endorses suffering:

“There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering”

Dr Chatterjee further states that “Mother Teresa’s order was to not provide proper beds, but just little hammocks. There is a communal toilet where people have to defecate in presence of each other and the inmates are not allowed visits from their friends and relatives“.

They also show a video clip, where Mother Teresa says, “We see Christ in the broken body, and we touch him, and that touch comes from that deep faith, that Christ cannot deceive.”Dr Chatterjee also remarks that “It was her obsession with suffering, and her obsession that people need to suffer, in order to come close to Jesus“.

From all this, two things are clear; Religion played a major role in her work, and she did not necessarily work to remove suffering, as is generally portrayed.

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Some may argue that taking care of millions of such people would need money, and since she couldn’t afford it, she didn’t provide for healing her “patients”. But Mother Teresa did raise a lot of money from donations.

The video mentions she raised some of her money, from people with dubious records, but I don’t subscribe to that. Money can come from the biggest criminals, as long as it is being put to good use. But most of the money she received, “was mostly spent on religious activities and not on the poor. More than 50% of her organizations all over the world were Nunneries or Brothers’ homes.”

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She continued to receive large amounts of money, which she spent on opening new convents and increasing missionary work, while her Home for the Dying continued to be in the same state, with no upgradation.

It is hard to find out exactly how much money her trusts earned and spent, because “Missionaries of Charity, is the only Indian Charitable Institution, which does not publish accounts for the public, and much of the Foreign money is kept in the Vatican bank”.

From this, it is clear that her Organization had lots of money, but it was mostly spent on Religious activities and not charitable causes.

So in summary, as per the video, Mother Teresa opened homes for the dying, where she did not treat them, let them suffer, because she believed it would bring them closer to Christ, and all this in-spite of having enough money to help them, which she preferred spending on Nunneries and Brothers’ homes around the world.

Let’s just say the video is a hit-job, and over exaggerates most of the stuff, even then, the stuff is not what we learnt in school. It would be fair to say, Mother Teresa, could have done some good work, but many people suffered too, and most of her work was driven by religion and not by love for the needy.

P.S. If you think I too am a Communal Sanghi, watch the video. It is far far more uncharitable to others than to her.

P.P.S I get no joy out of this. I had seen this video many years back (I am a big fan of P & T). I only mentioned this now because I realised many people did not know the other side.

The North-East Focus of Modi Government which MSM didn’t focus on

Ullas
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The North-East Focus of Modi Government which MSM didn’t focus on

Prime Minister Modi was in Itanagar last week to celebrate the Arunachal Pradesh’s Statehood day. His government’s continued focus in the North-East region was further buttressed by this visit. Having declared early in his tenure that the NE region will get a higher priority in terms of development, the onus remains on him to deliver on this promise. That this would come with enormous hurdles was a foregone conclusion – not only due to continued periods of previous Central government inaction, but also due to complicated foreign policy terrains.

Apart from few instances in the newspapers, the mainstream television media has completely ignored this focus by the Modi government.

Here I try to highlight the key decisions that are likely to have a big positive impact in the North-East development. Not only the decisions that are financially beneficial to the region, but also the symbolic decisions are also mentioned. Remember, these are the decisions made in the first 9+ months of his tenure.

  • Approval of implementation of “the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan” for the NE region, with a planned expenditure of Rs. 5,336.18 Cr. This is to give increased reliability in 2G connectivity, by providing optical fiber networks.
  • Approval of “the Comprehensive Scheme for Strengthening of Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Systems (CSST&DS)” in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs.4,754.42 Cr. Prior to this, only 5 of the 20 districts or Arunachal Pradesh had transmission network. This project will expand to cover all of Arunachal.
  • Approval of “North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP)” for strengthening of the Intra-State Transmission and Distribution System at an estimated cost of Rs.5,111.33 Cr. The project is planned to be completed in 48 months. This is in-line with the poll promise of 365 days of power in the region.
  • Announced that the Center will provide Rs. 28,000 Cr for laying 14 new railway lines in NE region and to establish the region as a touristic destination.
  • Approval for the setting up of Food Processing Units in NE region at a cost of Rs 16,840 Cr. This project is to improve the shelf life of horticulture products from the region.
  • Approval of construction of Airport hangars in the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBI), Guwahati. This is envisaged to meet the Airport’s increased demands of growing air traffic in the region.
  • Moving away from the comforts of Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi, the Modi government for the first time organized the All India Conference of DGPs and IGPs in Guwahati.
  • A minister from the Central government has been regularly visiting the region. In fact, in early January, it was decided that at least one Union minister will visit the region (including Sikkim) every fortnight. Chemical Minister Ananth Kumar has been given the responsibility to coordinate and to ensure the regular visit of ministers. Detailed list of ministers traveling to the region can be seen here.
  • At the risk of angering his vote base, PM Modi had implicitly endorsed the UPA decision of redrawing the India-Bangladesh border. Though the final act needs to play out here, it is now his responsibility to take this to ratification.
  • To boost organic farming in the region, announced setting up of six new agriculture colleges in the region, with the aim of making the region “the capital of organic farming”.

Notwithstanding the above decisions, there are some areas where the Modi government has to act more decisively.

  • PM Modi needs to decisively convey a message one way or the other regarding the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur. During his visit to the region late last year, there was silence regarding the issue.
  • PM Modi had mentioned that he would like to create an economic corridor between India, Myanmar and South-East Asian countries. If implemented, this would give an impetus to the NE region. However, with the continued unrest in Myanmar, it will be a challenge to get this up and running.
  • The Arunachal Pradesh-China border issue will need a quick resolution. This will ensure unwanted distraction and enhance Arunachal as a tourist destination in the long term.
  • Establishing closer ties between India and Bangladesh will also go a long way in promoting peace and development in the NE region.

PM Modi’s focus on trade and economy to improve ties with the eastern neighbors, if fructified, will lead to a positive outcome for the region. Not only will it lead to upward economic mobility, but it will also create new opportunities in the insurgency torn areas of NE region. In this regard, PM Modi’s participation in the Sainthood commemoration event in Delhi a few days back, assumes significance (if the news reaches them). With the areas dominated by tribals, who are converted Christians, a sense of re-assurance will help them identify with the government’s intentions and participate in the growth story.

Even with these decisions and initiatives, the complete integration of the NE region is going to be a hard-lift during PM Modi’s first tenure. Various complexities have historically plagued the region viz., insurgencies, tensions in the region with many ethnicities, unresolved international borders and more importantly, as a notorious journalist put it – “the tyranny of distance” from the confines of New Delhi. How PM Modi will manoeuvre through these issues will determine his legacy in the region.

Source: Most government information available at: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/mainpage.aspx

Why #CorporateEspionage leaks the real agendas of some

Rahul Raj
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Why #CorporateEspionage leaks the real agendas of some

In our previous article on the Corporate Espionage case, OpIndia.com team mentioned the chain of events through which the Government trapped the moles inside ministries. To most, it is pretty clear that the Government has done a good job in nabbing such criminals who were profiteering by stealing sensitive documents. But, as usual, there are some among us, who refuse to give this Government credit, even where it is due. There are multiple reasons for this, but first let us look at the reactions.

Vrinda Gopinath, in Outlook magazine has written a piece called “Chasing The Wrong Story”, in which she has slandered the seriousness by calling it a ‘Hysterical Reporting by Incompetent and Ignorant Media’. She also raises a serious question, asking whether “the Modi Government faking a mammoth expose to send a message to the people that he’s tough on his corporate friends”. One would believe, this deep sense of distrust towards a “Modi Government” stems from the inherent anti-Modi stance most of media has, but there is another angle to it.

She concludes her piece saying, “And since when has anyone been arrested for buying stolen goods? Journalist Saikia has only bought the official papers for his website, he must be released immediately.” And there is lies the motive behind her piece. This deep love and affection for a fellow journalist, has prompted her to deem the entire operation as a sham. And it is for this reason, we believe, it will be hard for any media publication to be objective in reporting this, because they can never concede that some of them are rotten to the core.

The blog Scroll.in decided to give it another kooky spin. It quoted a Times of India report which claimed NSA Ajit Doval was behind this operation, and gave it a spin that India should be less worried about leaks and must be more worried because NSA was involved. The blog says it is beyond the purview of the NSA to be involved in such matters, and he should restrict himself to “overseeing the defence of India from external and internal threats“. This is much like saying “oh a DIG caught some murderers? The Sub-Inspector should have caught them!” And conveniently ignoring that murders took place.

The blog also states that the NSA should not be involved, because the leaks do not “constitute a threat to national security”. It is indeed amazing how a person with a laptop has already deduced that this matter has nothing to do with National Security, thereby giving a semi-clean chit to those involved (including their colleagues). This reminds us of the time Praveen Swami tried to downplay the #TerrorBoat incident saying they are just “smugglers”. Such false assumptions go a long way in fixing the narrative. We wonder if the people at scroll.in have any dues to any corporates who could be involved in this.

When the espionage news was broken, Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Delhi Police. This although Delhi Police only played a role in finally executing the crackdown, but the entire trap was set up by Kejriwal’s political rivals.


However, think tanks of AAP didn’t leave a chance to opportunistically claim the credit. Rupa Subramanya tweeted:


The article mentioned in her tweet doesn’t write a single word of appreciation for the police, in fact it criticizes the event as a plot by the government to convey an impression that they are not overly supportive of the corporate conglomerate headed by the richest man in India, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani. The former AAP media advisor also states that all this has been done by Modi only to avoid public criticism from his deity Arvind Kejriwal, that BJP is soft on corporates. It is indeed stunning that some people cannot even dream positively about Modi.

Another amazing reaction came from another AAP leader, Saurabh Bhardwaj, on a news debate on ABP news. He claimed that BJP was actually selling such classified information to corporates. And since such saleable material was stolen without the price being paid, BJP was furious and had hence caught such thugs who stole their merchandise!. We would advise Shri Bhardwaj to take up writing fiction as a full time hobby!

The direction of all this is clear: to discredit the Government in this. What differs are the motives. While some journalists will call it a sham operation, to protect their journalist friends, some others will try to give a clean chit to the corporates to whom they owe their allegiance. Political leaders like Kejriwal will find it hard to admit that Modi, an “Ambani Agent” is going after an “Ambani Agent” and hence will give it some other spin. While AAP sympathisers like Thakurta will give credit to AAP for invoking fear in Modi’s mind. And then, all these will be united by their single-minded hate for Modi.

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Truth about Amma’s fan who crucified himself to support her

OpIndia Staff
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Truth about Amma’s fan who crucified himself to support her

Earlier today, social media was abuzz with pictures and videos of a man who was being crucified to a cross by his own aides. The man was identified as a Jayalalithaa supporter Shihan Hussaini, who took this extreme step, demanding that Amma (as Jayalalithaa is popularly known) is made Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu again.

Shihan Hussaini
ANI photo showing Hussaini getting crucified

Tamil Nadu has often seen such extreme reactions by supporters of various politicians, but it appears like we need to take these events with a pinch of salt.

What might appear “devotion” and “passion” for the leader to our naked eyes could as well be a publicity stunt by that passionate fan.

And this could well be the case in this particular incident.

OpIndia.com wishes to inform its readers that apart from being a Jayalalithaa supporter, Shihan Hussaini is a stunt performer and a martial artist, who holds “world record” in endurance stunts according to his own claims.

He is also present on Twitter as @shihanhussaini, and he calls himself a “Sensationalist” in his Twitter bio. And he surely created a lot of sensationalism today.

We think that today’s event appears to be a publicity stunt, because Hussaini had announced this “crucifixion” on Twitter last week itself.


He even tweeted pictures of preparations for his crucifixion, claiming he was “excited” about it and even spent some time in coffee shop “thinking” about it:


Interestingly, nowhere he claimed on his Twitter feed that he was doing it for Amma to get her back as the Chief Minister of Tamli Nadu. While it’s true that he comes up as an Amma supporter on Twitter, it is also true that he keeps doing such things as part of his endurance stunts, which is his profession.

The latest stunt before this crucifixion, as updated on his Twitter feed, was “10 blocks of ice stacked on top of each other with a butt of the forehead”. Thankfully, he didn’t claim that he was doing it for Amma!


It is clear that Shihan Hussaini is a talented “sensationalist” and an “endurance stuntman” and he deserves applaud and recognition for that, not as a fanatic who is willing to do such extreme things for a political leader.

We hope that Hussaini, realizing his responsibilities as an artists, clarifies that he is a professional and such stunts are a part of his professional life. In absence of such a clarification, some other crazy Amma supporter may try to match this stunt and meet a fatal fate.

Anna returns. Three mistakes of UPA govt that Modi Sarkar must not repeat

Editorial Desk
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Anna returns. Three mistakes of UPA govt that Modi Sarkar must not repeat

Anna Hazare is back in Delhi for a new agitation at Jantar Mantar. This time he has called upon farmers to protest against some provisions of the Land Acquisition Ordinance, which he believes to be anti-farmer.

Last time too, in 2011, it was around the same time of the year amid celebrations of Cricket World Cup victories, when he launched the Jan Lokpal agitation that launched the political careers of Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi and crashed the image of the UPA government.

It sounds like history is repeating itself. And if it repeats in exactly the same way, it will be disastrous for the image and future of Modi government. But the new government can learn from the mistakes of the old government and make sure that history doesn’t repeat.

Here are three things that Modi government must not do when dealing with Anna Hazare’s agitation:

1. Arrogance: This is what drowned Congress. Everyone remembers how Manish Tewari had gone for a brazen attack without showing any humility or respect for Anna Hazare. Indian electorates are known to punish people who have only arrogance to offer as a quality. The new government must avoid an arrogant tone and language while dealing with Anna.

2. Personal Attacks: Congress had accused Anna of being corrupt based on some irregularities related to his NGO’s account books. That didn’t impress people, and it was seen as cheap personal attack on a poor old man. Now some BJP supporters too are raising similar issues on social media. If the party takes it up officially, it will prove to be counterproductive and disastrous.

3. Engagement: Surprise! Yes, it will be a mistake to “officially” engage with Anna Hazare. Congress erred by sending senior Cabinet Ministers to work closely with Anna and the issue of Jan Lokpal. This gave legitimacy to Team Anna and put them on the same pedestal as the Union Cabinet. Modi government must not do it. They may send someone like Kiran Bedi, who is not part of the government, to unofficially engage with Anna, but not officially engage with him or his new team.

One may suggest Modi government to altogether ignore the agitation as Anna may not be able to garner the same kind of public support this year, but an outright rejection of Anna will also not help. Apart from that, the media will definitely help Anna, which could build up public support. So ignoring or rejecting him will not help.

It should be noted that Modi government is already thinking about modifying some parts of the ordinance as some RSS affiliated organizations – like Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, and Swadeshi Jagran Manch – have expressed reservations about them and want some changes in the ordinance to protect interests of farmers.

The government could finalize a list of modifications based on such demands and their internal calculations, and then show it as if Anna’s demands have also been met. That will keep Anna happy and stop history from repeating.

Bure Din starts for Vadra? Tax raids on offices after name struck off at Airports

OpIndia Staff
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Bure Din starts for Vadra? Tax raids on offices after name struck off at Airports

It appears like ‘acchhe din’ of Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi are about to end. Vadra, who enjoyed royal treatment during the UPA government, and who appeared to have gone off the radar under the Modi government as well, is now facing the heat.

The Income Tax department has started tightening the noose around Vadra related to his deals in Rajasthan, for which probe was ordered last year after BJP came back to power in the state.

On Friday, Service Tax department raided the premises of Siwal Infra Limited, a local company in Bikaner that has been project contractor for Vadra. The raids were led by Central Service Tax Commissioner Sandeep Shrivastava, and the offices and residences of the director of the firm.

Robert Vadra
Time to worry?

In another incident, Income Tax inspector Amit Kumar from New Delhi has been reported to have scanned all records of lands purchased and sold by companies owned by Robert Vadra in Rajasthan.

Amit Kumar scanned the land transitions done by Skylight Hospitality Private Limited and Skylight Reality Private Limited – the companies that are owned by Vadra and are under scanner both in Rajasthan and in Haryana.

And these incidents of tax raids were followed up by “bad news” for Vadra from Airports. Even though the Home Ministry has not explicitly ordered it, many Airports in India are reported to have begun striking off Robert Vadra’s name as one of the dignitaries exempted from frisking at the airports.

Action against Robert Vadra has been one of the top demands by many BJP supporters, and analysts feel that now Modi government has decided to take some action.

However, analysts also believe that it will not be easy for the Modi government as Vadra is mostly the “beneficiary” and not an executor of illegal deals. It will not be easy to prove him a co-conspirator. In such a scenario, only irregularities related to taxes or accounting can nail him, rather than illegality of deals, which will nail bureaucrats and former Congress governments.

Are these raids related to taxes attempt to nail Vadra? Has his ‘bure din’ started?

Reactions of Pakistani cricket fans who were eagerly praying for the second “MAUKA” in India vs SA match

OpIndia Staff
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Reactions of Pakistani cricket fans who were eagerly praying for the second “MAUKA” in India vs SA match

When the India vs South Africa match started, people in Pakistan were ready with their 20 years old cracker packets and lots of hopes:


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Sadly, the Indian batting team gave them some serious disappointments:


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Even the unconditional love for “Jaanu” Dhawan couldn’t stop him from scoring a century:


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//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAs India moved close to the victory, some Pakistani cricket fans started blaming their fate, and others started blaming cricket:


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The match concluded with more disappointments and heartbreaks in Pakistan:


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The Only Indian who got some claps and cheers after the match was none other than Rega Jha:

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Sagarika Ghose & Amartya Sen: The Interview That Wasn’t

India Speaks
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Sagarika Ghose & Amartya Sen: The Interview That Wasn’t

Sagarika Ghose’s recent interview of Prof Amartya Sen on Times of India was yet another example of how Indian media’s incompetence has become a bigger risk to the health of Indians than cholesterol. The sense of acute frustration and rage one experiences while witnessing Sagarika Ghose treating Prof Amartya Sen with kid gloves is enough to initiate multiple cases of spontaneous human combustion.

The only coping mechanism one can employ to deal with such acute exasperation is to rely on imagination. This is exactly what I have done here by dreaming of a parallel universe where the same interview happens. But there instead of playing the role of the patron saint of victimhood, Amartya Sen comes to the interview as a forthright individual eager to help Sagarika out with her questions. One could argue that why doesn’t instead Sagarika Ghose ask probing questions in this parallel universe scenario. My answer is that even imagination needs to work within some realistic boundaries.

So let’s see how the interview would have gone. The same questions from the original interview have been repeated.

What explains AAP’s big win in Delhi?

Interesting start Sagarika! I thought you are going to grill me about my chancellorship of Nalanda University. Perhaps you want to first ask me about things which I am comfortable with so that you can get some false sense of complacency going and then Wham! I like that. No wonder you are one of India’s most feared journalist.

Coming back to your question, I am not a political commentator so it is difficult to correctly theorize on why AAP won so big but it is evident that Kejriwal is a fantastic communicator. He had a better message than the BJP, he worked harder than the BJP and he communicated better than the BJP.

There’s disappointment with Modi’s government?

Sagarika, please do not put words in my mouth. And why are you presuming there is disappointment with the Modi Government? In the last five state elections, BJP has been trounced in a staggering one of them. So I don’t think there is enough evidence to suggest people are disappointed.

Is pro-poor, Left politics re-emerging?

No questions on Nalanda yet? Great! I am really enjoying this. But I will still answer your question.

Being an economist, I do not have the luxury which you journalists have of drawing conclusions based on a ridiculous sample size of events. If Left politics is re-emerging then why is Prakash Karat seen most of the time wandering about in Palika Bazar? I would like to reiterate that please do not come to such major conclusions based on one election in one city. Tomorrow if BSP wins a by-poll in UP, will you say that people have now begun to support the building of statues?

Has it brought back subsidy politics?

Nothing on Nalanda yet? Ok. This has got to be my lucky day.

Can I skip answering this question because you are continuing to assume that everything has changed because AAP has won in Delhi? In real life where the rest of us exist and operate, we form opinions only after we have sufficient evidence. If I comment on the consequences of the AAP victory so early then there is a good chance I may look like an idiot later. I know that is not a risk you face anymore but professionals like me need to be careful with what we say and why we say it.

Your assessment of Modi’s government 

It depends on their assessment of my performance as the Nalanda Chancellor. Hahaha…

I apologize for such a frivolous answer. It was just a desperate attempt by me to bring you back to the topic which is of relevance today. But something tells it is not going to work.

You can’t see yourself voting for BJP?

Didn’t I just request you not to put words in my mouth? A cynical reader may assume by now that you are desperately trying to make me criticize the government and the prime minister. Please don’t let people start feeling that you have an axe to grind with the current regime. I often partner with the Indian Government in an official capacity and it would be terribly unprofessional of me to publicly discuss my private opinions on political parties.

Are you worried about the minorities?

Ok. How is this question relevant AT ALL? Even if you had asked me whether I am worried about the Pakistan cricket’s team’s performance or whether MSG should have a sequel, it would have been more relevant to what is happening today.

Sagarika, it is not my place to advise but you may want to be more prudent with your line of questioning. Some misguided Internet Hindus may use these interviews to accuse you of trying to forcefully create a false narrative that minorities are currently under threat. It will be like the time when without rhyme or reason, you said the media is being muzzled. Right on cue, New York Times soon followed with an editorial about how the media is under threat from a Modi administration. If you insist on continuing to play such games, please do so but I would like to excuse myself from the role of being a pawn in it.

Was the government behind your quitting as Nalanda University VC?

Finally!! A question on Nalanda!

A journalist right out of journalism school would have asked why did I quit but you jumped to the assumption that it could be the government. Perhaps you want to save time so that you can ask important questions like where did the 2700 crore investment go or why do we see no infrastructure on the ground at Rajgir or why are there only fifteen students or why do the existing buildings look so shabby?

To answer your question, the Government has not fired me. I resigned because the Government has not taken a decision yet to extend my tenure. And that could possibly be because they are waiting for some paper work from the Nalanda Board.

They wanted you out?

Well, there is no official statement on that and if I said yes, I will fail to back it with evidence. So the right answer is I do not know whether they want me out. And I am surprised you didn’t ask any of the important questions even after I helped out by spelling out each and every one of them. At least ask me about why President Kalam dropped out the Nalanda project or the concerns raised by the Finance Ministry about how the 2700 crore was spent? You seem to be skirting the main issues in the manner I try to avoid any Nalanda related event at Rajgir.

Are you deeply pained?

Well, no one likes to lose such a wonderful salary. So that’s a little painful.

I am now convinced that you have no intention of asking absolutely anything of relevance. May be I can redirect your question to the Indian public because if there is anyone who might be pained it’s the Indian public. If you ask whether the Indian people are deeply pained, I would say yes. They are deeply disappointed that so much money and so much hope was entrusted on one of the most revered sons of India and all they got in return was a puny two-storied shabby building and a lot of self-righteous drama on prime time TV.  An apt metaphor would be those tacky T-Shirts saying “My girlfriend went to New York and All I got is this T-Shirt” except here the Indian public paid 2700 crore for me to come to Nalanda and there is less than a T-Shirt to show in the end.

Is academic freedom in danger?

You have not phrased your question accurately. It is not academic freedom which is in danger. It’s the freedom to take public funds and the Indian Government for granted that is in danger. And after 67 years of liberal elites attending government funded conferences in five star hotels and pontificating on what is good for the Indian poor, may be its time to bring some accountability into the picture. May be its time to ignore what prizes or awards people like me have won in the past & instead hold me responsible for all the promises I made to revitalize India’s future.

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