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Did Vice President Hamid Ansari really insult the Indian flag on Republic Day?

OpIndia Staff
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Did Vice President Hamid Ansari really insult the Indian flag on Republic Day?

Twitter was abuzz today sharing a photo from the Republic Day celebrations that showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, and President Pranab Mukherjee saluting the Indian national flag on the occasion of Republic Day during celebrations at Rajpath.

However, there were two dignitaries in the same picture who were not saluting the flag – the Chief Guest and President of USA Barack Obama, and the Vice President of India Hamid Ansari:

Republic Day salutes
The photo that triggered the controversy

This immediately led to many Twitter users questioning the decision of Hamid Ansari of not saluting the flag. Obviously Barack Obama was well within his rights not to do so, for he is not an Indian citizen.

Some users concluded that Ansari might have deliberately done so because saluting a national flag is against strict interpretation of Islamic teachings, which argues for Ummah – one common nation of Muslims – and doesn’t support the modern concept of nation-states.

These users argued that the Vice President of India believed in such strict interpretation, because on earlier occasions he had refused to take “aarti” during Dussehra celebrations and refused to sing Vande Mataram.

However, OpIndia.com couldn’t verify either of these claims beyond the realm of doubt. We couldn’t find any news item in the mainstream media (MSM) that confirms these incidents.

One could rightly argue that MSM deliberately didn’t report such incidents to “protect the idea of secularism”. OpIndia.com believes that MSM could as well do that, however, there are enough reasons to believe that these claims could be unfounded.

For example, look at the following picture of Dussehra celebrations from 2008. It is taken from the official PIB (Press Information Bureau) website and it clearly shows Hamid Ansari performing aarti during Ramleela:

Dussehra Aarti by Hamid Ansari
Hamid Ansari performing ‘Aarti’ during the Dussehra celebrations on October 09, 2008.

We don’t know why Hamid Ansari would suddenly change his views and become a radical Muslim a couple of years later. It can’t be ruled out, but there has to be something that suggests that this is a possibility. We couldn’t find anything that suggests so.

Similarly the claim about him refusing to sing Vande Mataram is also not backed by strong evidence. Though the website IndiaFacts quotes him saying so, it doesn’t provide the date, details, or the context of the statement.

In absence of those details, we are again forced to look at other pieces of information. We would like our readers to recall the infamous decision of Hamid Ansari, when he suddenly announced adjournment of Rajya Sabha during the Lokpal debate – a decision that remains a blot on his duties as Chairman of the Upper House of the Parliament.

On that night, Ansari had signaled to play Vande Mataram after announcing adjournment of the house. He is seen standing up for the song in the video clips that were broadcast on all major TV news networks.

OpIndia.com readers can see one such clip below. Ansari is seen standing for Vande Mataram at 1.40 minutes and afterwards in the clip:

Again, we will need strong evidence on why Ansari would have become a radical Muslim recently and start believing that nationalism as a concept was anti-Islamic – something many radical Muslims believe in.

Since we can’t accuse Ansari of being a radical Muslim with enough credible evidences, we have to give him the benefit of doubt in the case of not saluting the Indian flag during the Republic Day celebrations today.

Please note that it is not compulsory for a civilian to salute the flag. Section VI of the Flag Code of India clearly states the following:

All persons present should face the Flag and stand at attention. Those present in uniform should render the appropriate salute.

Since the Vice President was not in uniform, even the law didn’t require him to salute. The President, by virtue of him being the Commander in Chief, is required to salute. The Prime Minister and the Defense Minister are not required to salute by any law or protocol due to absence of any ‘uniform’, but in this case, it could be their personal choice and deemed appropriate.

Hindus officially less than 80% of Indian population, or are they even less?

OpIndia Staff
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Hindus officially less than 80% of Indian population, or are they even less?

NEW DELHI: A report published in The Indian Express today has re-ignited the debate around population of Hindus in India.

It is speculated that Hindu population, which was around 85% of total population of India when India got independence in 1947, had fallen below 80% in 2011. Now these figures are getting confirmed.

As per the Indian Express report, the Hindu population in India was around 78.35% in the 2011 census, which is “the sharpest dip in a decade since Independence”.

The figures have not been released officially yet, but are expected to be announced soon by the government. Interestingly, this will come at a time when many self-proclaimed Hindu leaders have been calling on Hindu mothers to produce more babies to arrest this dip in population.

While the rhetoric on population will continue, it is worth examining if even this number – 78.35% – truly captures the strength of Hindu population in India.

A couple of years back, R Jagannathan, the editor of the publishing divisions of Network18, had argued that in absence of “pointed questions” in the census, Hindu population is often overestimated and inflated in official records.

In his article, he argued that if one is to factor in religious conversions, alienation of SCs, Dravidian movements of South India, Naxal movements in mainstream India, infiltrations across the border, and urban atheists who don’t consider themselves Hindus even culturally, Hindus could be barely 50% of the Indian population!

Mr. Jagannathan’s estimates are based on broad assumptions, which he had to make as the census risks clubbing together those people, who wouldn’t otherwise assertively identify themselves as Hindus, as belonging to the Hindu religion.

And he is not wrong. For example, look at the form (links to a pdf file; relevant picture below) that was used by the census officials in 2011:

A snapshot from Census 2011 form
The form that was used in the last census to calculate religion-wise break up of population

The form didn’t have “no religion” or “atheism” as an option at all. A respondent had to actively insist that he wishes to be indicated so in the official records. Very few urban atheists would have done that.

A not-so-aware supporter of Dravidian parties may not insist on such an option, failing which the census official would indicate the respondent as “Hindu” due to his or her “Hindu sounding” name. Similar thing can happen with not-so-aware Naxal supporting classes and Ambedkarites, who don’t consider themselves Hindus, thus inflating the “actual” Hindu population.

Apart from that, please note that SCs are to be counted only as Hindus. Since the neo-converts to Christianity or Islam don’t want to lose the reservation benefits, they are often asked by evangelists to wrongly claim their religion as Hinduism so that they get the benefits of reservation.

The scale of conversions in North East and in many areas of Andhra Pradesh has been gigantic. It is estimated that nearly 30 per cent of Coastal Andhra is now Christian, while some states in North East are entirely Christian.

It should be noted that the converts in North East list themselves as Christians in census because STs can belong to any religion (see picture) and continue to get reservations, but the SC converts, mostly in the mainstream India, wrongly list themselves as Hindus, thus over representing the actual strength of Hindus in India.

This is the reason many Christian organizations have been demanding reservations for “Dalit Christians”. Once this is allowed, the neo-converts would come out of this pretense and make themselves counted as non-Hindus.

It is indeed ironical that at one hand many of these “Idea of India” activists insist that Dalits and Tribals are not Hindus, and at the same time keep on repeating the myth that “India has over 80% Hindus”, dismissing any claim of Hindu population falling as “fear mongering”.

While the calls for Hindus producing more children are stupid and irrational, the latest census figures and the above issues should lead to a debate on what is the true strength of Hindu population in India. It doesn’t help anyone, definitely not the Hindus, if their population is over represented.

OpIndia.com believes that in the year 2021, when the next census takes place, the government of that time should give more options to people in the “Religion” column, so that people, who have Hindu sounding names but don’t feel like calling themselves Hindus, are not forced to choose “Hinduism” as their religion by themselves or by the census officials.

And maybe after the next census we will find that Hindus are just 50% of the Indian population. Or maybe 1-2% less than that? We will be country of “minorities”!

NDTV reviews Baby, concludes that movies on Terrorism can decrease your IQ

Rahul Raj
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NDTV reviews Baby, concludes that movies on Terrorism can decrease your IQ

If you are done with your breakfast and are still waiting to burst after something really funny, please go through the NDTV review of Baby.

Somewhere between the texts served like garbage, when you read that “Baby is a dreary drama that meanders from one action sequence to another without making the audience any wiser”, go to the movie reviews home page of NDTV, read that Dolly Ki Doli is being given a better rating than Baby by the same movie-reviewer – confirming the fact that Dolly is Doli is making the audience wiser than what Baby could do – bang your head on a table and go to sleep.

Snapshot of ratings given by NDTV movie-reviewer
Snapshot of ratings given by NDTV movie-reviewer

The reviewer is so confused whether the movie is good or not that at one place he quotes:

“It might have been hailed as just another innocuous, smartly-packaged, competently shot espionage thriller if only the politics at its heart not been so dangerously dodgy.”

And then he ends his movie review with:

“Baby is a superficial cinematic condensation of the shrill television images, newspaper headlines and communally-charged political posturing that we are subjected to day in and day out. Who needs more?”

For me, the most amusing part of this movie-review was the part where I read, “What makes Baby doubly problematic is that it presents the story as a reflection of reality, and not just as a piece of fiction.” All my life, I was told that cinema also reflects the reality of societies. Now after reading this, I feel a deep identity crisis.

The reviewer also expresses his discomfort from the fact that Baby has umpteen references to 26/11, the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, and to other actual figures and incidents that have made the headlines in recent times. He explains his anguish through a Shakespearean-Newtonian-Aristotelian socio-philosophical statement:

“There are Baby unabashedly reinforces the mainstream media’s worst stereotypes and constantly plays on the collective fears of a populace that is only too willing to find and hang scapegoats for the troubles of our contentious times.”

Please note how references to events that have actually taken place in the real world is concluded as reinforcing “stereotypes”. Perhaps the ideal thing is to close our eyes and imagine the world to be a better place. Pity that the Director of Baby didn’t do that.

Maybe the Director, Neeraj Pandey, who has created marvels like The Wednesday and Special 26, should take a lesson or two from the reviewer and learn to make movies that pass the “political correctness” test and earn 5 stars from reviewers. But no, he appears to be making movies to earn accolades from viewers, not reviewers. Very bad!

But not just the Director, the NDTV movie critic has some lessons for the new Censor Board too. The “secular” pretending movie critic kills color-coding of religions, freedom of cinema makers, and the will of directors to go beyond Kick, HNY, Humshakals, et al, when he writes, “Baby also has one blazing confrontation scene that might particularly thrill the new saffron-tinged censor board.”

Looks like the reviewer is intensely missing the old anti-saffron tinged Censor Board led by Leela Samson, which would have refused to clear Baby and upheld the “Idea of India”, which must triumph free speech and creative freedom.

When Firstpost ejaculated prematurely over Ramdev

Gaurav
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When Firstpost ejaculated prematurely over Ramdev

A certain Sandipan Sharma wrote an article for Firstpost where he argued that a Padma award to Baba Ramdev was wrong because he had a business empire built on “blind faith”.

I became aware of existence of this article after I read ‏@bhak_sala‘s post on OpIndia.com where he rightfully defended Yoga. Curious to know what was written originally, I went through the article on Firstpost.

And I am not sure whether the followers of Baba Ramdev are “blind” or the author is.

The author starts off his smart, well-researched, well-thought, unbiased article with this line:

A casual reading of his website can make you believe Ramdev is a rare mix of Patanjali, Freud, Sushruta, Vatsyayana, Kautilya and an embodiment of all the marketing wisdom of the world.

Note the term “website”. He hasn’t mentioned which website he’s referring to, but we’ll come to that later. It is clear that this “website of Ramdev” has helped the author form his opinions.

He claims that Baba Ramdev has cures for “psychological, sexual, emotional” problems AND *wait for it* “premature ejaculation”.

This time, we are provided with a link of this miracle drug for premature ejaculation. It takes us to this page on a website called “www.swamibabaramdevmedicines.com”. There are no other links in the article that lead to any other website related to Baba Ramdev, so I assume that this entire article and the intro line, are based on the above website.

If this is so, I am very sorry to say, the author has prematurely ejaculated his blind faith in anti-Ramdev propaganda, because THIS IS NOT RAMDEV’S WEBSITE!

rm

If only he had used his scroll wheel and come to the bottom of the website, he would have seen the above disclaimer, which clearly says the website has no connection with Baba Ramdev!

Even last year, The Hindu claimed that Ramdev had found a cure for Ebola, based on information from this very same fraud website. This had found mention in my post “Top 10 lies spread by the Indian media in 2014”.

I really wonder at this stage, are these mistakes by incompetent dolts sitting in AC offices who go about doing their work as if they can never be wrong? Or are these deliberate attempts at misinformation mixed with a set agenda? You know, the Goebel’s strategy to repeat a lie till it becomes the truth?

Surely there are many more points to take on Baba Ramdev, like his views on homosexuality, but using such cheap tricks to deceive readers is pretty stupid, in fact, it is unethical, if at all there is any concept of “ethics” in journalism.

The next part of his article deals with how Baba Ramdev has a successful business. He almost makes it sound like making money from stuff that helps people is criminal. SHAME ON YOU ALL YOU HOSPITALS, DOCTORS, PHARMA COMPANIES.

Here again he mentions that Baba Ramdev has remedies for “growth of hair and various other parts of human anatomy”. No links this time, but pretty sure Sri Sri Sandipan checked these products here & here. Both these links are from the same website as mentioned above.

Further, the author says:

For, most of what Ramdev sells or promotes, like the benefit of yoga, was already there. But, like a shrewd curator of heritage, Ramdev just packaged it and turned all the daadi-naani nuskhas into profitable products.

Well, again, some of these “daadi-naani nuskhas” are from fraud websites. Coming to the other part, I don’t know under which law it is illegal to “package” stuff which already existed and sell it? I guess Flipkart is doing all sorts of illicit activities then.

And yeah, Firstpost also does the same. Packages stuffs that already exists and publishes it! They call it “curation”, and we at OpIndia.com too do the same inspired by them. Sandipan must be wishing that OpIndia.com, if not Firstpost, should be shut down?

Next comes some more hilarious, no-links, only “sources”, anonymous bullshit:

One of his disciples, for instance, brushes his teeth daily with petrol to get rid of paan masala stains. “They shine like pearls,” the gentleman, who is a senior journalist, says triumphantly

Till the last paragraph we were told that Ramdev was manufacturing mumbo-jumbo medicines and selling them to disciples. Now, the author also claims Ramdev is an authorised seller for Petrol! After all, if this person is brushing his teeth with petrol, it must be helping Ramdev earn money in some way? When I last checked, Ramdev baba has nothing to gain from higher sale of Petrol, although Ambani does, so I guess Ramdev is also an Ambani agent?

But seriously, I don’t know who this “senior journalist” is. I also couldn’t find any links where Ramdev has actually prescribed this.

Sandipan then goes on to say that Ramdev’s medicines (not sure which medicines he is referring to, from the fraud website or the real one) don’t need testing and or follow other regulations:

Ramdev’s products wouldn’t have been such best-sellers if they were to come under the purview of drug controllers or their trials had been mandatory. Trials, tests and approvals cost millions. Many companies go bankrupt if a medicine they have invested in fails to clear regulatory hurdles. Also, popping his prescriptions is safe. Unlike medicines, they do not come with written warnings of reactions and side effects.

For this, I finally reveal, the world’s biggest secret. This secret has been guarded for centuries by a secret society, from the time India had Vedic Planes with monkeys flying them while solving calculus with a gel pen in their tails. The main mission of the society is to hide this piece of information from Journalists so that they keep repeating the same mistake for Yugas. This vital piece of information is: the link to RAMDEV’S official website.

Besides this society, only google knows this link, you just have to prove to Google you are a Virat Hindu and it will share the link with you. Ramdev Baba’s official site is “www.divyayoga.com.”

It contains all the audited financials etc. of his trust and also mentions here, all his R & D facilities. A quick glance shows all the detailed testing carried out by Ramdev’s organizations. Whether the medicines are effective is debatable, but indicating that there are no tests conducted is pure slander.

To be clear here, I am no Ramdev fan. I appreciate that he has brought Yoga to the masses, and I know a lot of people who have benefited from the same.

I have no clue whether his medicines are effective, but there are agencies to test this, and if in 10 years of UPA rule, in which Ramdev flourished, no evidence of fake medicines was found then I guess we should leave it at that.

And yes, Mr. Sandipan’s article could indeed be a case of “premature ejaculation” because the news of Ramdev getting Padma award in not even confirmed, as this press release by the PIB says. But why wait when you are feeling orgasmic to write something?

There are many valid points to criticise Ramdev, his salwar kameez escape leaving behind his supporters at mercy of Delhi police, his views on homosexuality, his alleged tax frauds, etc. but using a fake website and building a fake propaganda is not the right method.

As for Firstpost, I hope they First Research, Then Post, rather than the other way round.

P.S. I couldn’t find any medicines on Ramdev Baba’s official website which claim to cure the ailments mentioned in Mr Sandipan’s post.

Ashutosh driving personal agenda against IBN7 with help from AAP?

OpIndia Staff
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Ashutosh driving personal agenda against IBN7 with help from AAP?

It was always rumored in the Delhi media circles that Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, and Ashutosh were asked leave their jobs due to non-performance, but all of them successfully turned their professional failures into stories of personal virtues and values.

This theory is getting credence due to developments in the last few days. The latest being sacking of a senior journalist named Pankaj Shrivastava, apparently because he opposed alleged anti-AAP policy of IBN7. This issue was raised by AAP leader Ashutosh on social media as well as in a press conference.

Rajdeep Sardesai and Ashutosh
Non-performers or martyrs?

According to reports, Pankaj Shrivastava belonged to a coterie of journalists led by the then Managing Editor of IBN7 Ashutosh, who later joined AAP in January 2014.

This coterie was deriving salaries worth lakhs of rupees per month while the financial health of the channel nosedived. It should be noted that Network18, of which IBN7 is a part of, was forced to layoff journalists on more than two occasions to improve the financial health of the media group.

These layoffs happened before Network18 was acquired by Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited. Most of the journalists who lost their jobs belonged to the middle or lower ranks in seniority.

However, journalists like Ashutosh or Pankaj Shrivastava, many of whom support “socialist” ideas on social forums, didn’t say a word then. In fact, they didn’t even offer to take salary cuts to save jobs of a few junior employees.

In fact, Pankaj Shrivastava is reported to have been a fulltime member of CPI(ML) in his younger days, but he didn’t even join the token protest by IBN7 employees who were asked to leave by the then management. He happily continued to draw salaries worth lakhs of rupees per month.

However, when he was asked to leave the channel earlier this week, all his “revolutionary” ideas and ideals came back to him. He immediately found support from his old mate Ashutosh, who tried to link Pankaj’s sacking to politics.

Ashutosh tweeted these to paint Pankaj as some martyr:


However, the truth is something else. According to this report published on Bhadas4Media, Pankaj Shrivastava’s performance was “zero”. It quotes an employee of IBN7, who claims that Pankaj used to visit office only to do “timepass”, which left the management with no choice but to fire him.

It should be noted that Bhadas4Media is run by a journalist named Yashwant Singh, who himself is left-leaning and consistently anti-BJP in his earlier articles on the website. The reports about Pankaj Shrivastava’s sacking have been written by Yashwant Singh himself; thus any claim that the website Bhadas4Media is also BJP or Ambani funded is not valid.

The reports on the website claim that new management, controlled by Reliance, had given six months to old employees drawing huge salaries to perform or perish, and Pankaj appears to fall in the latter category.

But with help of AAP leader Ashutosh, Pankaj is trying to prove that he is a martyr. Not only Ashutosh, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal is also reported to be helping Pankaj in advertising his claim that he was sacked for supporting AAP in IBN7.

While it is natural that AAP will make it a political issue when Delhi assembly elections are near, what is notable is how a journalist is using his contacts and colleagues to hide his professional incompetency and non-performance.

Why could this not be the case when Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, Ashtosh and Nikhil Wagle ended their association with Network18? All of them too tried to give a different spin, as Pankaj Shrivastava is doing, while media circles always maintained that they were sacked for non-performance.

Interestingly, all of these journalists keep targeting Network18 periodically, as if waging personal war of grudge for having removed them from their jobs. Ashutosh has been especially consistent in doing so.

While one may argue that such attacks could benefit AAP electorally, one must ask how ethical it is of Ashutosh to drive a personal agenda through the political party he belongs to. And the bigger question is – why is AAP allowing this?

The answer might have been given by former AAP member Shazia Ilmi, who tweeted this earlier today:


What could this “quid pro quo” be? Either Ashutosh paid some money or he extended some favors to AAP as a journalist. We at OpIndia.com believe that the chances of latter could be higher.

So is Shazia hinting that Ashutosh was given Lok Sabha ticket by AAP because he used IBN7 as a propaganda channel for AAP? Apart from non-performance, was that the reason Ashutosh was asked to leave IBN7, after which he resigned and joined AAP?

And guess what, even the latest episode of Pankaj Shrivastava could be a case of “quid pro quo”. Yashwant Singh of Bhadas4Media claims that there is “fixing” between Ashutosh and Pankaj, and Pankaj could soon join AAP and fight elections.

Senior Editor at Firstpost thinks that Yoga is blind faith, Find out what blinds him

Rahul Raj
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Senior Editor at Firstpost thinks that Yoga is blind faith, Find out what blinds him

The news that Baba Ramdev will be honored with Padma awards on January 26, 2015 is already bombarded with lots of compliments, jokes and criticism. While Ramdev Fans are going gaga over it, many of the intellectual pretending journalists have gone too far to prove that their illogical criticism is justified.

An article published Firstpost today reads – “Padma Award to Ramdev is wrong: He’s a business tycoon, thanks to blind faith”. It’s written by Senior Editor of the website, Sandipan Sharma.

A casual reading of the article may make you believe that Mr. Sharma is trying his hands at satire, but then as you move to the next paragraph, you will be surprised to find how much hate the writer has for a person who is earning money and fame through imparting yoga exercises and ayurvedic medicines.

Yes, Baba Ramdev is open about his political affiliations and occasionally airs some of his regressive and old-fashioned views on some topics e.g. on homosexuality – reasons due to which he attracts hate. But is Mr. Sharma driven by these two?

The first one (political affiliation) shouldn’t be an issue for a journalist, unless the journalist is of the rival political camp. In fact, Mr. Sharma should have respect for Baba Ramdev, who is not pretending to be some “neutral” or “unbiased” public figure – something that many celebrity journalists do.

I will not make any comment on political affiliation of Sandipan Sharma as I don’t know him personally, so I would assume that his hate is due to the second reason – Mr. Sharma is one of those who love to hate Ramdev because it helps them appear “superior” in thinking.

Dr. Mukesh Batra awarded Padma Shri for Medicine
Dr. Mukesh Batra awarded Padma Shri for Medicine

However, like many Ramdev hating people, Sandipan Sharma appears confused whether he is angry because Ramdev is earning money, or because Yoga is earning money, or because “gau-mutra products” (he conveniently reduces Ramdev’s range of products to these) are selling well.

But why should any of these be any reason for concern? None of these are examples of “blind faith” as the Firstpost article tries to suggest.

I checked profiles of doctors who have been honored with the Padma awards in the past. Most of these doctors are well-established ones, who charge good money for the cure and maintain a lavish lifestyle. For example, in 2012, the CEO of the biggest mass-spamming organization in India, Dr. Mukesh Batra was awarded Padma Shri.

For your information Mr. Sharma, Yoga and Ayurved are far more scientific and effective than homeopathic medicines. I hope the Senior Editor in you feels as much disgusted and angered because a business tycoon like Mukesh Batra was given the award 3 years ago?

I have met many people who appreciate Ramdev, and none of them are consuming bhasm or gau-mutra, as the Senior Editor loves to imagine.

And what is this obsession with mutra (urine) Mr. Sharma? Our ex-PM Morarji Deasi was conferred with Bharat Ratna. He used to drink his own urine. Inspired by him, many people followed the same practice. I hope you also feel disgusted at Morarji Desai? Please do write the next article as hate really makes you write good.

In the last paragraphs, the senior editor gets more personal and sillier. He mocks faith of Bhakts in Ramdev and quotes a random example “One of his disciples, for instance, brushes his teeth daily with petrol to get rid of paan masala stains.”

It is as funny as ridiculing Salman Khan for the reason that one of his random fans walks topless on roads. A senior editor putting his opinion based on such statistics makes me feel uncomfortable.

Ramdev may have put weird and unscientific statements about homosexuality or economics, but the fact that he, as a Yoga Guru, has helped masses can’t be ignored or rejected. Unless of course, you believe that yoga itself has to be ignored and rejected, because every native Indian knowledge deserves that treatment.

Padma awards are conferred to citizens of India to recognize their distinguished contribution in various spheres of activity including the Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Medicine, Social Service and Public Affairs. If Ramdev has massively contributed to any of these, his haters should either change the criteria of awards or try to work on their frustrations, which blinds them from seeing the other aspect of a person.

CONTEST: Delhi Poll Predictor

OpIndia Staff
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CONTEST: Delhi Poll Predictor

Put your money where your mouth is! Predict the  results of the Delhi Assembly elections and stand to win exciting prizes. 5 most accurate entries will receive copies of @amreekandesi‘s latest book “Democrazy” AND Amazing Flipkart Gift vouchers! To help you make your mind, check our Opinion Polls summary here.

Rules:

1. Only ONE entry per person. If any person is found making multiple entries, ALL his/her entries will be disqualified.

2. Make sure the total number of seats predicted by you adds up to 70. If not, the entry will stand disqualified

3. In case of tie, earliest entry will be declared winner

4. Last date for submission of entries is 8pm, 6th February 2015.

5. Organizer’s decision will be final.

6. Results will be declared on 11th February 2015 (After Counting) at 8pm on our Facebook page. Like it to be up-to-date with any developments.

Baba on the dance floor, Baba likes to party

Guest Author
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Baba on the dance floor, Baba likes to party

For writers, comedians and people who have figured out the answer to the greatest question facing humanity right now ‘Kya aapke toothpaste mein namak aur nimbu hai‘, India is like a wet dream. A potential goldmine for pure, unadulterated, original and hilarious content. The statements that our politicians make on a daily basis; the kind of debates that erupt on social media between groups of self proclaimed liberals, intellects, pseudo-intellects, atheists, non-atheists, right wingers, left inclined, mid-center-45degreetoeast-vastukehisaabsetheek-crypto-secularists; the kind of news that make it to the headlines, give more sexual titillation to pretentious writers like me than watching Tori Black making out with Lily Carter.

These days, to get my daily dose of ‘if you know what i mean’, i just browse through India’s favourite newspaper, Youporn.com, which is littered with videos like Sakshi Maharaj-BDSM-Sambit Mahapatra, amateur AAPtard hot night out with BJP bhakt, PK supporter interracial or Nasty adventures of Sashi Tharoor. And that’s just on a lazy Monday morning.

So, it is obvious that with such eclectic taste, I nearly movie-gasmed when I saw the trailer of Messenger of God aka MSG. It featured Chewbacca (His Bollywood debut), dressed as Mithun in Disco Dancer, playing rugby, driving a Harley (What happened to Millenium Falcon?) bashing up people and crushing trees with his bare hands. Yeah, I know what you guys are thinking. How did Chewbacca manage to speak clear sentences in this movie? I think his speech therapist should have been hired by Yash Chopra, while he was still alive.

I was left heartbroken though when I found out that it is not Chewbacca who stars in the movie. No, it’s not even a guy hiding under his suit. Its a human being, the real deal and his name is Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan, leader of a ‘religious-spiritual’ cult Dera Sacha Sauda. Now, I am amused at the choice of the word Insaan that he uses to establish his identity, so as to avoid the imminent confusion between him and Chewbacca and making sure that he is really but a mere mortal. This is the equivalent of Uday Chopra rechristening himself as Uday Wannabe Raj Rahul Chopra Ji Dumbfuck.

highway-love-charger-song-lyrics

Fun fact: This particular cult, Dera Sacha Sauda, was started by a guy named Beparwah Mastana. I wonder how someone with a name like that would have convinced people to join his cult. I can totally imagine his recruitment drive conversation to go something like this:

Mastana: Hey, you guy peeing on the wall. Are you stressed out in life? Let me help you.

Guy: Like how?

Mastana: I have started an organisation called Dera Sacha Sauda. We, like, meditate and stuff. If you have problems like stress, dissatisfaction at your job, complicated love life, jaadutona, patni-sautan vivaad, shighrapatan, etc., come to us. Guaranteed positive results in 10 minutes. We are also handing out freebies like a yearly supply of Shilajit, free of cost, to early-bird registrations.

Guy: Cool!! What’s your name, again?

Mastana: Beparwah Mastana.

Guy: And I am Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop. I work with United Nations and help frame economic policies of under-developed nations. I also opine on matters of global crisis like Angelina Jolie and her exotic baby selection.

Mastana: Are you fucking kidding with me right now?

Guy: You started it, sir.

A quick search on the Mr. Insaan revealed that he has close to 40-50 million followers, has released several music albums and has performed in over a hundred ‘rock-concerts’. One of his most popular song is called the Love Charger, and has lyrics like “I’m so lucky because you are my love charger…Billion battery when goes down, you charged up with love, so strong your power love, you are the love charger.” Just to be clear, this is not an advertisement for a vibrator.

Though the religious Guru believes that he is just a messenger of God and has been sent on earth to deliver HIS message to the people, he elaborates that he chooses to wear such garish, polka-dotted skirts and attaches Diwali light bulbs on his pubic hair infested body to connect to today’s youth. Now, unless he is popping hallucinating pills and has been living under a rock with Manishankar Aiyar, I can’t fathom which youth is being targeted. But then, the largest chunk of his followers are people from Haryana, where a guy is only allowed to make love to a sonogram. So, I see his point.

But what is the fun in being a religious guru without having some murder and rape case on you, right? True to traditions, he also faces several charges of rape, murder, and extortion. He upped his game by several notches when he forced nearly 400 of his followers for castration, which according to him, is a way to reach God. And guess what, each one of them did. They actually sacrificed their balls in anticipation of a glorious future that involved fairies whispering sweet nothings in your ears and a land where honey nectar flowed because someone said so. So, yeah, never underestimate the power of a marketing guy. Case in point: Elections, 2014.

With all of this background, I had made all the plans to watch the movie, till I heard that the Censor Board aka VHP of Bollywood, has cock-blocked its release, citing reasons that it glories a person who is accused of murder charges. Really now!! They don’t seem to be having any objections to the glorification of a similarly accused Bhai-who-cannot-be-named, whose idea of fun involves a Land Rover, some vodka and pavement dwellers. Censor board chief has also said that the film looks like an advertisement and some parts of the movie are not substantiated by logic. In a galaxy far far away, Sajid Khan is snorting stuff, pointing fingers and laughing, while writing the script of his new movie ‘Audience waalon, tumhari aisi ki taisi‘.

Well, I hope the movie gets released someday so we, the insaans, get to see Bling Baba performing miracles like taking a dump on the audience’s intellect. The movie would really be miraculous if no one while watching it, decides to choke himself with that Rs. 300 samosa or stab his own face with Nachos. As for me, I will, for now, get to my daily dose of entertainment. I heard that in today’s Newshour debate, Arnab has called in Sambit Mahapatra, Sanjay Jha and Meenakshi Lekhi. That’s what I call, Wild Things: Foursome.

(This post first appeared here)

by – Shubhkirti Sinha

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this articles are the personal opinions of the author. OpIndia.com is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information in this article. The information, facts or opinions appearing in this article do not reflect the views of  OpIndia.com and OpIndia.com does not assume any liability on the same.

8 people who have been disillusioned with Arvind Kejriwal

OpIndia Staff
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For some time, when AAP was in the run up to Delhi and Lok Sabha elections, it was in the news regularly for many high profile entrants. Many had left their corporate positions and taken a headlong plunge into AAP hoping for a new political discourse. But recently, the trend has reversed. AAP is now shrinking, as its leaders are slowly but surely deserting it. Even those people who weren’t officially AAP members, but were seen as sympathisers of Arvind Kejriwal are moving to other parties. We list 10 such prominent people, who have turned away.

1. Shanti Bhushan

Shanti Bhushan who is often seen as the grand old man of AAP, is the latest leader to go against the party. Yesterday, he is said to have told Economic Times that Kiran Bedi has excellent credentials and that she will provide a very honest Government. He termed the move by BJP as a “master-stroke”. This statement may prove heavily detrimental to AAP as a senior leader is supporting an opposition candidate.

2. Prashant Bhushan

Prashant Bhushan has also been conspicuous by his absence from any sort of political campaigning for AAP. A regular on TV debates, he has suddenly disappeared from the studios. He has told Economic Times, that he is busy with his PILs, that AAP is “not his primary concern” and he also conceded that there was something that “worried him“. In this case, Prashant Bhushan’s silence on TV debates and road shows, speaks louder than his words.

3. Shazia Ilmi

Shazia Ilmi, the Muslim face of AAP, also left the party soon after its disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha elections. It appeared as if she was only biding time, in AAP, and the poor results were the last nail in the coffin. Recently she joined BJP, compounding the embarrassment for AAP.

4. Kiran Bedi

Kiran Bedi was never a AAP member, but she was a close associate of Arvind Kejriwal during the Jan Lokpal movement. In fact till 2012, she was a strong supporter of Kejriwal, as is seen from these tweets.

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What might have led to her disillusionment with AAP, that she eventually decided to fight AAP politically, is something only she or Kejriwal can answer.

5. Yogendra Yadav

Yes Yogendra Yadav is a very active member of AAP as of today, but just 7 months ago, he resigned from all party posts, on the heels of the heavy drubbing AAP received in the Lok Sabha elections. It brought to light an ugly spat between him and Manish Sisodia which was brewing for some time. Eventually Yadav was pacified and brought back, but who knows, if AAP doesn’t do well in Delhi Assembly elections, Yadav might decide to finally abandon AAP.

6. Captain Gopinath

Captain Gopinath, a respected entrepreneur had joined AAP in January 2014. But within a few months, he seemed disillusioned by AAP. In his resignation letter to AAP, he mentioned that he is taking this step “because of increasing differences with the party leadership and its ways“. The AAP leadership on the other hand seemed unwilling to accept criticism, As Yogendra Yadav claimed, he did not even know when Gopinath had joined AAP.

7. Ashwini Upadhyay

Ashwini Upadhyay was one of the founding members of AAP. In November 2014 though, he switched over to BJP. he claimed AAP had adopted “corruption, crime, caste-ism and communalism” and was behaving like a regional party. Indeed, when a founder member leaves, it shows something is certainly wrong in an organization

8. MS Dhir

MS Dhir was a senior face among the AAP MLAs who got elected to the Delhi Assembly. In fact AAP honoured him with the post of Speaker of the Assembly, during it short 49 day old Government. But in November 2014, Dhir joined BJP saying “no one can trust Arvind Kejriwal“.

 

Kiran Bedi: Master-stroke or Misstep?

Gaurav
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Kiran Bedi: Master-stroke or Misstep?

BJP is a party known for its strong cadre, its ideology which allows ordinary workers to rise through the ranks and reach the summit, its natural tendency to produce state leaders. Narendra Modi, Devendra Fadnavis, Manohar Parrikar, Manohar Lal Khattar, are all graduates who have gone through the BJP school of leadership, working their way up, by winning the support of their cadre via sheer hard work and performance.

Kiran Bedi’s induction into BJP has negated all the above. By parachuting near the finish line, she has outrun many senior BJP leaders in Delhi, who were running in the race for quite some time.  Naturally, supporters of these leaders will be miffed. Granted she has given a more credible and visible face to the Delhi BJP unit as compared to the current crop , but it has come at a cost. One wonders whether Bedi could have been taken in much in advance, giving the other leaders some time to resign to their fate, especially since rumours are that Bedi was in the reckoning ever since Kejriwal resigned after his 49 day stint.

And it is also not that Kiran Bedi has been a long time BJP sympathiser, who has just been formally taken into the BJP.  As we had shown in our earlier post, Bedi was in fact a vocal critic of BJP and Narendra Modi while she was in the Lokpal movement. This can be demotivating to dedicated BJP members who have strived to uphold the party line through tough times. Bedi at best, has joined BJP at its peak, while the rest have weathered a 10 year long storm. It also plays on the mindset of the average supporter, who may have been anti-Bedi to protect the party, but now has to change his view in line with this “U-Turn”.

This move also gives off the impression that Delhi BJP unit did not have a single leader who the high command felt was worthy of being put up as their face for the elections. This “importing” of leaders is not something which BJP, a “producer” is used to. Yes, BJP did induct many rebel Congress leaders in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, but not many were drafted into important positions, undermining the importance of stalwarts.

Also, whatever Kiran Bedi’s charisma might be, she is no Harshvardhan. Harshvardhan was seen as a clean face, a respected figure, who even the opposition didn’t go after much. Bedi also has a clean image, but there some unanswered questions, some of which Karan Thapar raised. Her loyalty to the party is certainly in question since she has been only a recent supporter, and that too from the time BJP was well into its ascension. This comes off as opportunism and one wonders whether she will stick to BJP through tougher times.

But Bedi does bring with her immense general goodwill. Her feat of being the first IPS woman officer, her image as a no-nonsense, tough task master, her clean image all add to her positives. She played a major role in the Lokpal movement, and has been involved in social work for a long time. Some people say that her never becoming the Police Commissioner, or not winning certain awards, shows that her service record wasn’t satisfactory, but it can also be argued that she didn’t get these posts, which are often politically motivated, because she steadfastly refused to play ball with her Political overlords. This is broadly in sync with the “tough” image Modi enjoyed during the Lok Sabha elections, and may work in her favour.

BJPs’ electoral success depends more on Bedi’s acceptability in her own party than her acceptability among the public. It is understood in political circles that the main reason for BJP not forming a state Government in Delhi for 15 long years is infighting. One fears that with Bedi’s parachute entry, BJP may lose yet another chance, probably its best, to stake claim for the post of Delhi CM.

-With valuable inputs from @IndianTweeter

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