Twittering About Cattle Class & The Holy Cow

By Manuwant Choudhary

India's deputy foreign minister Sashi Tharoor is in trouble for twittering "Yes I will be travelling cattle-class...in solidarity with our Holy Cows", replying to a twitter by a fan on whether he will be travelling cattle class (third class train) to Kerala.

And the Congress Party is demanding his resignation for calling 3rd class train travellers `cattle' and the politicians of India as `The Holy Cows'.

India's Prime Minister now says it was only a joke.

And Sashi Tharoor explains that `cattle class' is an expression not to demean people who travel third class while The Holy Cow means principles and ideas that are considered `sacrosanct' and not be be challenged by anyone.

The media (Hindi and English) both simply also do not understand English and the breaking news is that Sashi Tharoor has apologised!

I'm not sure about the apology but if Tharoor has to apologise he must apologise not to the Congress Party or the politicians but to the people of India for calling third class trains `cattle class'. Its simply worse.

Mr. Tharoor as a press aide to the United Nations chief has perhaps spent too many years abroad.

I fear the idiom `cattle class' comes from the fact that it is possible to take your cattle along with you in the trains...like even goats and sheep, so abroad like in the photograph above there is space enough to take cattle in the trains but in India its simply not possible. He should have coined another `idiom' for travelling in Indian trains...`Bee Class' (see how Indians travel on the roof and even atop train engines!.

Or can you suggest a word?

India's Hindu party also tried playing the Hindu card by saying please do not insult the Cow - Our Mother!

For Cows Sake Learn English.

Ants Starve In The Prime Minister's Kitchen!

By Manuwant Choudhary

I got this unusual call, “We are ants who live in the Prime Minister’s kitchen and we would like to give you an exclusive interview.”

I said, “Where do we meet? At the Prime Minister’s Residence?”

Ant A : “No, no, you will never get past the security and besides you are not even a pretty airhostess to even get to the gates!”

Me, “Then?”

Ant A: “We can get past the security because we are tiny. I know there is a hole in the hotline cable to Pakistan PM. We will see you at the Delhi Gymkhana just opposite the PMs House.”

Me, “But journalists don’t come without getting some free booze.”

Ant A: “Ya, ya we thought about that already. We are not Congressmen. You can drink openly at the Gymkhana but you must hear our story. We are about to starve to death!.”

So as I made my way to the Delhi Gymkhana I saw Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Aroop Ghosh all outside the Prime Minister’s House waiting to get their `exclusive’ interview with the PM. I even noticed Shekhar Gupta nervously practicing his walk for his `Talk The Walk’ interview.

At the Delhi Gymkhana I got my promised drink first and then the interview.

Ant A, “We are very happy you made it. The reason why we’ve called you is that we are about to starve to death.”

Me, “But how and why? You are not some farmers in Vidarbha. You are ants and you live …welll…errr…in the Prime Ministers House.”

Ant B, “Yah it was all fine but suddenly last week things changed.”

Me. “When?”

Ant C, “When two foreign ministers S.M. Krishna and Shashi Tharoor were ordered to vacate their 5 Star rooms.”

Me. “What has that to do with ants? They were asked to vacate their 5 Star rooms because the Congress Party believes in an austerity drive….”

Ant C, “You don’t understand us. After that incident things have changed even in the Prime Minister’s kitchen. Earlier, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s wife and cooks would leave the sugar jars open and so we had no food problem. There were also sugar on the floor. But now suddenly we can’t find even one particle on the floor. What do we eat?”

Me, “Ahh, now I get it. But is it because the Prime Minister has diabetes so no sugar is allowed in the house or is it because Sugar is Gold?”

Ant B, “You should not comment about a persons health. That is a private matter. Besides, you now see how the PM is stronger than Advani."

Me, “No but even Time magazine dissected Vajpayees anatomy…from his brain to knees…what not..cover story.”

Ant C, “Yah its okay to talk about health as long as there is a public interest involved. In cour case the Prime Minister not eating sugar means we all die.”

Me, “But that is socialism. Austerity..spending less…see even Sonia Gandhi is traveling to Bombay economy class..and Rahulji takes a First Class AC train to Ludhiana (Does Ludhiana have an airport?)…They are all sacrificing so much for this country. All TV channels say so..even passengers in the planes and trains. Afterall Soniaji, Rahulji and all Congressmen aare `Aam Aaadme’.

Ant B, “But can you explain this socialism bullshit? Isn’t socialism about making people equal? And if Shashi Tharoor was spending his own money in a 5 Star Hotel would that not make him poorer? And now that he stays at a Navy Guest House, he will become richer, unless Sonia Gandhi asks him to donate all his money to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.”

Me, “You don’t understand all this…the Indian voter does. Socialism is not what it is …but what it seems.”

Ant A, “I think you are complicating issues. We are telling you a simple truth that we are going to die because we get no sugar in the Prime Minister’s kitchen.”

Me, “But there is a sugar crisis in the country. Look at the Prices….and in festivals that are around it will be Rs.100 a kilo!. Can’t you talk to the Prime Minister himself and say you are `aam aadmee’.

Ant A, “We are not aam aadmee..we are not even aam ants ..because we live in New Delhi in the Prime Minister’s House. Its better than 5 Star Hotels…Lutyen designed it himself.”

Me, “Who is aam ant then?’

Ant A, “Aam ants are those who live in Bihar and drown in the floods every year.”

Ant B, “You have no idea to what extend Manmohan Singh can go..Let me tell you..its an exclusive …I heard the PM tell his wife he plans to sell the BMW…and instead walk to parliament everyday…that’s why you saw Shkehar Gupta waiting nervously….Shekhar has been asked to walk with the PM everyday!”

Ant A, “I wonder why there is a sugar crisis in the first place?”

Ant B, “I read the other day that Soniaji has written a letter to Sharad Pawar to send her some sugar.”

Ant C, “Exactly, you see Sharad Pawar controls all the sugar in the country.”

Me, “Simple, why don’t you all just shift to 10 Janpath for a few days. You see all the sugar is with Soniaji…see how hordes of Congressmen swarm outside her gates like bees to a queen bee….even RJDs Laloo goes to her.”

Kim Dae Jung - Tribute To A Leader

Manuwant Choudhary

In August 2001 I got an invitation through the Indian Liberal Group and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung for a conference of young democratic leaders of asia. I was still a journalist with NDTV then and did not know what to expect but cutting my hectic life as a journalist I accepted the invite.

At Seoul’s Incheon airport I was greeted by a grumpy immigration official who roughly asked me about my purpose of visit and where I would be staying. I had really no clue except that I was to attend a conference. So I handed him the invite for him to see. As the man read the invite I saw his expressions change and he suddenly stood up from his chair and bowed thrice. I still did not have a clue why.

Once my immigrations were cleared I took one more look at my invite and the program mentioned nothing except the conference and a meeting with the `Leader’!

Our conference began and it was hectic I promise you with liberals demanding Gen. Parvez Musharrah of Pakistan be declared a dictator in the final resolution and the Pakistani liberals (close to the General) stoutly defending him and even saying that Musharraf was a democrat! But how could there be a resolution on democracy without condemning military dictatorships? So finally a consensus emerged that we condemn all military rules in Asia.

On the third day of the conference we were taken to see `The Leader’ who lived at the Blue House. Only then did I realize that `The Leader’ was none other than the President of South Korea.

No cameras were allowed and after a security check we were welcomed inside and President Kim Dae Jung stood waiting for us outside the hall with a host of TV crew and photographers alongside. As our names were called out one by one and each one of introduced in Korean (I could follow they said something about TV & Radio when my name was announced) each one of us shook hands with the President.

The Blue House is just regal and as we sat around our tables the director presented the proceedings of the conference and talked about in great detail the resolution we had passed. One had not imagined a head of state taking such keen interest in democracy.

And the President himself gave a one-hour speech in Korean but translated in English for us to follow. As I noticed a limp in his leg a Korean colleague pointed out that the President got that from the torture in prison as he led the uprising against military dictatorship in South Korea.

It was a privilege to hear Kim Dae Jung.

The next few days we got to see South Korea and all I can say is that it’s a very beautiful country.

We even visited the province that Kim Dae Jung comes from and its his province that was always the first to stand up to military rule but also the one who suffered the brutal military assaults resulting in the deaths of thousands of young men and women. Somehow the outside world has no idea the price Koreans have paid to fight for democracy and freedom.

I was asked which province I came from and when I explained about Bihar the Koreans said yes, yes, that’s exactly like the province Kim Dae Jung comes from – all protests start from there – a politically volatile state.

Another aspect I wasn’t aware of us that both India and South Korea got their independence on August 15 1947 and both were divided.

Kim Dae Jung’s legacy is his `Sunshine Policy’ when he became the first South Korean President to cross the border to North Korea and meet Kim Jong II, enabling thousands of other Korean families to meet their loved ones. There were critics to his plans then and there will be critics now but as I watched Kim Dae Jung’s last interview given to CNN he said, “The only way the two Korea’s can come together is by dialogue and never by war. My policy has made South Korea safer…before we felt a bomb would fall any minute, any second.”

He is also charged with bribing Kim Jong II for his Sunshine Policy but Kim Dae Jung said he was helping his poor brothers and sisters in North Korea. Later his government was also called the `lame-duck’ government.

But Kim Dae Jung deservedly received the Nobel Prize for Peace.

As I left Korea I felt Kim Dae Jung helped me look at Asia and the world differently. It also made me realize that there were only a few democratic countries in Asia and so when I started this blog I write about Aung San and the monks protests…I write about the Dalai Lama and his desire to return home to Tibet.

On my return to India the next month on September 11 as airplanes crashed into New Yorks World Trade Centre I understood why Kim Dae Jung paid so much attention to democracy.

The President of South Korea even sent me a New Year Greeting to my Patna address.

And while his sons embroiled his name in corruption he readily apologized to the nation.

But I am not sure if Korean’s forgave him.

He was their hero.

Swatantra Party Condolence For Maharani Gayatri Devi

PIX: Rajesh Singh

Swatantra Party offers its condolence to its former Member of Parliament Maharani Gayatri Devi who passed away on the eve of 50 years of the founding of the Swatantra Party. This meet was organised to commemorate 50 years at Bombay on August 1.

Maharani Gayatri Devi - India's Brightest Star Has Gone

By Manuwant Choudhary

I never met Maharani Gayatri Devi but in a strange way I've always felt I know her so well ..so when news came of her death at the age of 90 my eyes moistened.

She was one person I always wanted to meet..even if it was only to touch her feet and take her blessings as is the Indian tradition.

I feel saddened by her passing away and mourn, just as Jaipur mourns her death.

But Maharani Gayatri Devi was not just the Queen of Jaipur but of entire India.

She proved that one can still remain a Queen even after governments take away all your privileges and titles if being a Queen means winning the hearts and minds of people.

An international icon, she was said to be the world's most beautiful woman.

But I did have a connection with Gayatri Devi since my family belonged to the Swatantra Party and she won the Jaipur seat for the party winning some 1,92,000 votes of the 2,50,000 votes polled, which means 77 percent of the voters vote for her, thereby entering the Guiness Book of World Records.

And why even I did have a connection with her, as I've been trying to revive the old Swatantra Party.

Tomorrow I leave for Bombay to attend 50 Years of the Founding of the Swatantra Party.

Gayatri Devi's passing away just two days before the Swatantra Party's Founding Day has a message for us.

Gayatri Devi was Swatantra Party's brightest star, so this day the bright blue flag with the white star stays at half-mast.

But the flag must be raised tomorrow so that we can once again offer the Indian people a real credible alternative, something that tempted a Gayatri Devi to consider joining an opposition party.

In her book `A Princess Remembers', she writes, "Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari, founder of the Swatantra Party), had broken with the Congress Party the year before, because he felt Prime Minister Nehru's acceptance of socialist doctrine was quite out of keeping with the needs of Indians."

She says, "Rajaji used to tell us often `What has happened to the Congressmen? They have got fat and prosperous?'"

Rajaji described Gayatri Devi as the Rani of Jhansi - a great Indian heroine, who led her troops against the British in the cause of freedom.

Walter Cronkite - A Sky News Tribute

News Legend Walter Cronkite Dies

"Nothing peps up news as news itself." Walter Cronkite (the man America trusted the most)

Liberhan Commission Submits Babri Demolition Report

By Manuwant Choudhary

The demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was a shame to all Indians but what is equally shameful is that the Commission set up to inquire into the demolition should take 17 years to submit its report and that too after 48 extensions and costing the government of India 8 crore rupees.

And nobody yet knows whether Justice Liberhan, a retired Supreme Court judge, has come any closer to the truth.

The truth is what I write not in a volumnous commission report but in this blog in just a few lines.

The truth is BJP leaders wanted the demolition of the mosque.

The truth is when the mosque was being demolished they remained present and did not dissassociate themselves from the violent acts by moving away, rather they stood and watched, even celebrated...some loudly others quietly but celebrate they did.

They could sense they were finally close to cornering Hindu votes and hence grabbing political power in Delhi.

For L.K. Advani it was a culmination of his decades of struggle - a sense of fulfillment.

And for the Congress it meant the Muslims would remain a scared lot and continue voting for it.

If I were Prime Minister the act of demolition of the Babri Masjid would have been treated like a pure criminal matter under the Indian Penal Code.

L.K. Advani would not be in parliament - by now he would have served a term in prison and would be leading a quiet life.

And the nation spared the communal riots that followed.

I await to see the findings of the Liberhan Commission Report and I would agree with senior advocate Prashant Bhushan who says the report should have come within six months.

And yet, I do not really care for such commssions anymore.

Nor for our politicians.

My former editor Behram Contractor had this comment in his famous Round & About column "When we destroyed the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya we did not destroy a mosque or even Islam. We destroyed Hinduism."

Its an irony that just a few days ago as part of a soul-searching exercise of a defeated BJP, Mr. Advani said Hindutva is `liberal and tolerant'.

But by his own definition of hindutva...the acts at Ayodhya were simply neither liberal nor tolerant.

I Am A Maoist

A Jharkhand based website newswing.com gives this first person account of `The Making of a Maoist' of how a poor tribal in Communist-ruled West Bengal is forced into becoming a Maoist by The State although he has no such desire.....

By Manoj

My name is Manoj. It’s not the name my parents gave me, but all my comrades call me ‘Manoj’. My father’s name is Dhiren Murmu. I am his second son and I am 25. I was born at Bamundanga village in Salboni. I’ve lived most of my life in this hopeless village.

Our village falls under the Kansijora gram panchayat. The Left Front has been in power here for 30 years. Salboni has always been a CPM stronghold. But, in 30 years, neither the state government, nor the panchayat and Zilla Parishad took any interest at all in developing this area. We might have been living in the Stone Age.

When it rains here, the dirt tracks turn muddy and we are forced to drag ourselves and our cattle through the muck. We are not able to ride our bicycles or use carts. We don’t have clean drinking water. People are forced to drink filthy, yellow water. After sunset, we live in the dark as there is no electricity here. No jobs either. During the paddy season, we work in the fields and then sit idle for the rest of the year. Because we are tribals, no one has bothered to do anything for us.

In 2002, we got tired of being treated like rodents. So, the villagers got together and demanded development in our area. This infuriated the local CPM bosses. The police and Marxists slapped false cases on us, accusing us of working for the People’s War Group (PWG). They branded us Maoists. So we began to think we might as well join the Maoists.

Things turned nasty quickly. The former police superintendent of West Midnapore, K C Meena, lodged an FIR against the entire village. Nearly 90% of the men and teenage boys were charged with being Naxalite. We knew what was coming. We had to do something to save ourselves.

I was just 18 at the time. I was in class XII at the local school. But, I too joined in protests against the police. Within days, the police filed a case against me, my father and brother. They accused all of us of working for the PWG. We had nothing to do with the PWG. Our family has always supported the Congress party. In 1998, when Mamata Banerjee formed the Trinamool Congress (TMC), we switched loyalty to her.

One day, police jeeps rolled into our village, picked up people from their houses, bundled everyone into their vehicles and dumped all of us into the Midnapore jail. That was where I first met Maoist leader Sushil Roy. I found the Maoist ideology very appealing. Roy asked me to join the Maoists so that I could help the poor. I liked his ideas. Then I met two PWG leaders in prison. And I realized that neither Congress nor the TMC can stop the CPM’s terror. I also realized that under CPM rule, we had lost the right to speak up. It was time to take a stand and speak up.

I joined the Maoists. They gave me a new name, a new identity and a new life. Now, I work for the Lalgarh movement. I joined this great surge of people last year. On November 5, the police arrived here looking for people who had blasted landmines at chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s convoy at Salboni. In Lalgarh, the police rounded up innocent tribal women and began to molest and torture them. One woman lost an eye. Others were badly injured. After this incident, we decided to join the Lalgarh movement. It was our party’s decision. The Maoists always stand with the deprived. We joined them at Nandigram and Singur. Now, we have joined them in Lalgarh.

It’s been easy for us to win the people’s support. Most of them have been victims of torture by police. The people listened to us and joined the Peoples’ Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA). Opposition party workers have also supported us. Everybody is rebelling against the CPM cadre and police.

We know the government forces want to crush us. But, we plan to expand our area of influence. As soon as we are able to turn Lalgarh and Junglemahal (a forested area spanning three districts - Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore) into a Maoist-dominated area, we will apply our ideology here. We will undertake development work for the poor. We will raise money through public donations. And nobody will pay tax to the government anymore.

After victory at Lalgarh, we will expand our fight to the tribal communities of Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Chattisgarh. Our war has just begun.

Profile of a rebel:

Once peaceful forest-dwellers, now they challenge the Indian state. Here’s a profile of that little-known species, the typical Indian Maoist
Age - 18 to 30 years
Gender - Both male and female
Ethnic stock - Austro-Asiatic (tribal/indigenous people) Linguistic group - Austro-Asiatic (tribal) and old Dravidian dialects
Income group - Below poverty line ( Rs 12 per person per day)
Occupation - Small peasant, landless labour, jobless, jungle-dweller
Area of operation - UP, MP, W Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand Chhattisgarh, AP, Maharashtra and Karnataka political affiliation - CPI (Maoist)
other names - Naxalite, Red ultra, terrorist

Maoists In Numbers
Total number 50,000
Number of armed rebels 20,000
Area under control One-fifth of India’s forests
Active in 165 of the country’s 604 districts

From Naxalbari to Lalgarh: Such a long journey down the road to revolution
1960s
Inspired by Mao Zedong, Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal of the CPI (Marxist) develop a “revolutionary opposition” to the party. They lead a violent Santhal uprising in West Bengal’s Naxalbari village in 1967. Later, they break away from the CPI(M). Uprisings are organized in several parts of the country. In 1969, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) takes birth
1970s
The radical leftists fragment and the CPI (ML) becomes weaker across the country. This causes regional groups such as the Maoist Communist Centre, which evolved out of the Dakshin Desh-group, to strengthen in Bihar and Jharkhand and the People’s War Group to assume leadership of the armed rebels in Andhra Pradesh and adjoining states
1980-90s At least 30 Naxalite groups are thought to be active across the country, with a combined membership of around 30,000 activists. But their differences over their perceived “revolutionary” roles often result in bloody battles. Many groups, particularly in Bihar and AP, are accused of land-grabbing and extortion …

India Tests Pakistani Soil !

By Manuwant Choudhary

When Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh returned last night from Russia- to receive him at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport apart from the usual sycophants were two men in white gowns..no they were not a part of the doctors team to attend to Dr. Singh's heart..but scientists from the agricultural research centre PUSA.

In a clear break from traditions...Dr. Singh did not shake hands with his ministers but he was immediately taken to the airports VVIP lounge accompanied by only the two scientists.

The scientists new task was to carefully take `soil samples' from Dr. Singh's hands since he had shook the hands of Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and then check for terror virus to give Pakistan and the world further and conclusive proof of terrorists in Pakistani soil.

So carefully the scientists got to work.

Manmohan Singh showed them his hands. "Fast do it fast..I've not washed my hands since I shook hands with Mr. Zardari. Plus, I've promised to make every Indian rich in a 100 days."

Scientist 1 , "Sure, Sir. but we have to be careful u know. You are after all the Prime Minister. Your hand is the Congress hand."

Scientist 2, "We were very worried about your Russia visit, sir."

Dr. Singh, "But why?"

Scientist 2, "The last time an Indian Prime Minister went to Russia to talk peace with Pakistan..he never returned alive."

Dr. Singh, "You mean Lal Bahadur Shastri in Takshkent."

Scientist 1, "Yes, yes thats what we mean..plus the Russians told the Indians then that our PM Shastriji died of a heart attack and we were so worried because you do have a heart problem. Shastriji never had a heart problem even."

Dr. Singh, "I understand. I have to take these risks in the national interest. After all if I cannot protect India, who can? See how I embarassed Mr. Zardari by telling him to fight his own terrorists."

Scientist 1, "Sir we will do our best to do the soil test as soon as possible."

The samples taken..to the high-tech lab in PUSA...the scientists secretly get to work. Only thing they did not know that indiavikalp had planned a sting operation.

DISCLAIMER: Indiavikalp carries out this sting operation only to protect all Indians from further terror strikes because we know that the Indian government does not make public any of its reports citing security reasons.

Here is the transcript of what the scientists found.

Scientist 1: "You know I'm really worried doing this test."

Scientist 2: "But why? Just think its like any other soil test. Think its soil from Bihar."

Scientist 1 looking into the microscope: "I can see not one dangerous virus but several."

Scientist 2: "Can't be. Just look carefully. We can't get this wrong. We will look like fools if Pakistan proves us wrong at the United Nations."

Scientist 1: "No, I'm certain there are several. Have a look."

Scientist 2 looking carefully, "Yes, I can see that red virus. It looks like our PM does not use soap to wash his hands. The red virus is from the hand shake of Prakash Karat. See whats happening in Lalgarh. Maoists have attacked the Communists! Could you imagine that ever?"

Scientists 1 "Never. But hats not our mandate. Our inquiry is restricted to looking for only Pakistani terror virus. Maoists are not terrorists. They fight for the people."

Scientist 2, "I can see a sweet virus. Its from our PM shaking hands with Saharad Pawar. But i think the virus came from that NCP MP who murdered his own brother."

Scientist 1" Again you are digressing. We are not given this job to look for the murderers."

Scientist 2, "Ok, Ok I understand. But I cant help it we have to first identify all the viruses. See here is one the Y Virus. Its because of our Prime Minister shaking hands with Sadhu Yadav. How can our country be safe when the Congress Party gives tickets to such persons."

Scientist 1" I agree but lets focus now."

Scientist 2: "I need a break man. But I'm too scared to go for a walk. See what happened to the Indian nuclear scientist. He went for a walk and got killed."

Scientist 1: "Thats because he did not have any nuclear secrets."

Scientist 2, "Yes, yes, thats what they will say if something happens to us. The secrets will go with us."

Scientist 1, "Arre sir, just do our job. God is with us."

Scientist 2, "I still cannot find a terror virus. We are simply wasting our time. We should rather be working to test our own soil to make agriculture viable to reduce greenhouse gases to increase rainfall. See even BJP chief minister from Madhya Pradesh has to pray to god for rains!"

Scientist 1 "You have a point but lets try at least.

After 24 hours ........


Scientist 2: "Yes, I have found a virus which looks foriegn. It looks green so its definitely from the hands of Pakistani President Zardari."

Scientist 1: "It looks dangerous. See how it moves. Everything it touches just explodes just like bombs planted in five star hotels."

Scientist 2: "Let me take photographs of this..Its critical evidence. And if we show it to the terrorist arrested Ajmal Kasab of the Bombay terror attack I am sure he will cry in court again."

Scientist 1 " I still wonder how a photograph can make a terrorist cry."

Scientist 2 "If that is the case they should paste photographs of the Bombay terror attack and 9/11 all over Pakistan and Afghanistan. Imagine all the terrorists crying."

Scietist 1: No, no..terrorists cry only when arrested."

Scientist 2: Kasab I think cried because he's not getting non-vegetarian food and Amitabh Bachan films to watch."

Scientist 1: "Yes, u are right."

Scientist 1: We have to be carefull the media do not get to know of our finding yet."

Scientist 2: But why?

Scientist 1: "The opposition parties will make noises. Just like when secular Nitish Kumar shook hands with communal Narendra Modi."

Scientist 2: "In politics one has to shake hands..even with enemies."

Scientist 1: "But shaking hands is not our culture. The BJP believes in our culture...the Hindu culture."

Scientist 2, "Just don't disturb. I really dont know what this virust is. Our machines here can't decipher exactly. I think we need to fly the scientist from Haffkines Institute in Bombay."'

The same night an Indian Air Force plane flies another scientist from Bombay.

Scientist 2: Welcome.

Scientist 3 " Let me see. Ive brought my own instruments."

Scientist 1: "What is it?"

After carefully carrying out tests Scientist 3 confirms:

"Its the H1N1 virus..popularly called swine flu."

Scientist 2 "But thats from America..."

Scientist 1" Exactly, President Zardari has shaken more American hands..even Obama's. And so for every bomb that explodes in Pakistan he gets a billion dollars."

Scientist 2: "Wish our PM had just done the good old `Namaste' to President Zardari."

Scientist 1: Hey, can u make an emergency call to 10 Janpath and warn Soniaji and Rahulji not to shake hands with our Prime Minister."

Murder Management In India's Village Republics

By Manuwant Choudhary

What I write today is not about the debate whether or not Bihar is India's crime capital, but rather something more shocking - Murder Management!

A young man Navin Kumar Choudhary from my village in Keonta goes to give dinner to his ailing father Shashibhushan Choudhary in Dalsingsarai, Samastipur, and as he returns home to his village something terrible happens that night.

Early the next morning pasersby discover his body...some eyewitnesses say they saw some bruises on his face, others say there was a bottle of poison ..still others..just alcohol - in any case its an unnatural death.

The body is identified by the villagers and his kin informed.

As it turns out the police are not seen anywhere...the villagers take the body and along with the family members the last rites are performed - the body cremated.

I was in Patna when all this happens but just out of curiosity when I inquired whether or not the police were informed and a post-mortem conducted on the body to find out the cause of death, I was told the villagers had `managed' the police.

Rather, managed the suspected murder.

How did they do this? Why just a few phone calls to the police station was enough.

Now every village has two chowkidaars plus other informers but even they did not inform the police. Everybody feasted and kept silent.

So I approached the Dalsingsarai DSP - a Mr. Sharma.

Me, "Sir, do you know about the death of Navin Choudhary, son of Shashibhushan Choudhary, and whether the Dalsingsarai police have a case?"

Mr. Sharma tells me he has not heard of it but he enquires from the local police station and he confirms there is no case.

He then directs me to meet the police station inspector who also says he has received no such complaint. "The police can act only if someone compliants."

I offer to complain. But he says, "It would be better if a family member complains." He quotes High Court cases where the locus standi of the complainant is important. "There are so many deaths taking place. Do we probe every one of them.?"

But even after 11 days the family members have not complained, I said.

So as a citizen I filed an FIR of suspected murder and that the police must probe the case and at the same time provide protection to the kin of the dead.

I am not sure anything will come of this case but what I find shocking is how even families of victims can be silenced by fear.

Silence Kills.

Its not a one-off case.

Last year a woman was tried by a local panchayat and beaten publicly for stealing some maize from a field.

The woman writes a letter saying she is committing suicide because of the humiliation she faced and gives this letter to her young daughter to give it to the husband.

As news spread of the woman's death, the panchayat members took charge and even took away the letter.

The lady was buried by a lake (instead of being cremated) and the husband kept silent.

The husband hoped he would get some monetary compensation but when he did not get it, he filed a police complaint.

The police recovered the body from near the lake which was surprisingly intact because of its proximity to the water body.

The body was sent for post-mortem and the poison confirmed. The letter was also found.

And so the panchayat member was sent to prison.

India's panchayati raj can be evil.

The Trashy Times of India, Except Today

By Manuwant Choudhary

I do not buy the Times of India as I do not think its worth the rupees 4 they charge.

But I do read The Times of India - by borrowing - and for years i've been reading their trash as a matter of habit.

Perhaps, I was a fan of R.K. Laxman - India's legendary cartoonist - but now with Laxman himself being unwell and his cartoons not finding a place I wonder why anyone should buy the newspaper.

They lost their editors a long time ago.

And the columnists with honourable exceptions like Jug Suraiya, Swami Ankileshwar Aiyyar and Shobha...somehow do not connect.

And a few like Sashi Tharoor simply misused the paper and alphabetically bored the readers..A for Apple, B for Boy and C for Congress.

It got him the Congress ticket and he is now a Member of India's parliament and a minister. Another sychophant to join the ranks!

Shame !

So what makes me write about a newspaper I say is trash.

Well, today it is not.

After ages - their headlines is about a minister caught in corruption as the medical college he owns charges 20-30 lak rupees capitaion fees and this has been caught on camera.

The Congress Party's policy against private sector education is the reason why India's youth are taught to be corrupt doctors from Day 1.

The rest leave the country for the US, UK and Australia (now to be attacked).

Their second boxed story is how 145 Members of Parliament have won with less than 20 per cent of the total votes, so India is in fact an unrepresentative democracy.

A majority of Indians have MPs in parliament whom they either do not like or are indifferent towards.

Smaller parties cannot win even a single seat, even when they poll 4 per cent votes.

This should be a cause for demanding proportional representation, at least in the Rajya Sabha.

The third great story comes from Transparency International which says India has the worst bureaucrats in Asia.

A quote at the top of the newspaper by Thomas Sowell "You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing."

Local Bihar stories are about an ex Member of Parliament Vijay Krishna (now in JD (U) ) and his son facing murder charges for killing another JD (U) leader Satyendra Singh.
The complete story is not out yet but as I have it Satyendar used to be Vijay Krishna's pointsman in Bihar involved in the spending of the MP funds and the dispute over cuts and scam money is suspected to have led to this murder.

Then how Bihar has no ministers at the centre this time.

And an obituary on the death of an eminent Indian industrialist Jit Paul, chairman of Apeejay and Surendra Group - and elder brother of Lord Swaraj Paul.

I did not know about Jit Paul except through my lawyer Mr.D.N. Pradhan who happened to be Jit Paul's lawyer when in Calcutta.

Mr. Pradhan is a former district judge but he became a lawyer after retirement.

When in Calcutta he went to the elite and exclusive Saturday Club but was refused membership since he was not a director of a company.

Mr. Pradhan had a eureka and soon he had an appointment fixed with Mr. Jit Paul.

Mr. Paul, "Yes, Mr. Pradhan. What can I do for you?"

Mr. Pradhan, "Sir, nothing. I have just one problem in Calcutta. I cannot even visit Saturday Club."

Mr. Paul calling his secretary and handing some cards, "Mr. Pradhan. You will not ask me for money or attend my meetings or poke your nose in my business but from today you have been appointed a director of my shipping company."

The next day and for his remaining years in Calcutta Mr. Pradhan always got a royal treatment at the Saturday Club.

Mr.Jit Paul had humble origins and travelled economy class even as Chairman of one of India's top company.

I am fortunate to have Jit Paul's lawyer as mine and to hear this story from him.

And finally Sacred Space:

"I sought a soul in the sea
And found a coral there
Beneath the foam of mine
An ocean was laid bare. " Jalal-ud-din Rumi.

A Drive On The Arabian Sea

PHOTOS: PARUL MERCHANT

By Manuwant Choudhary

A drive on the Arabian Sea - even before the 1300 crore rupees Bandra-Worli Sea Link opens this month to VVIPs and traffic in Bombay, is what my friend Parul Merchant did and she sends me these exclusive photos.

Work began on this Sea Link by the Hindustan Construction Company in 2001 and was expected to be completed by 2008.

The link by connecting Bandra to Worli hopes to ease traffic and pollution in the city of Bombay as 80,000 vehicles are expected to use this sea link cutting travel time from 40 minutes to only ten minutes.

Enjoy the photos and appreciate this architectural feat.

But curse our politicians for this lop-sided development of India...the destruction of our cities due to the large migrations and the utter neglect of rural India.

First the buildings got taller and the slums wider and now you have a road on the sea.

Jai Ho !

Man Buried Alive - Exclusive Video Never Before

In December 2006 what prompted me to start this blog indiavikalp was a news story of a dalit man Ram Prasad Das being buried alive in Bihar, while the Bihar government watched. Two days later when Aaj Tak Reporter Kumar Abhishek visited the village Karhaiya in Supaul he was brutally attacked by the villagers. So even now many years later no reporter has yet dared to go back to the Supaul village.

Indiavikalp releases an exclusive video of the man being buried alive (Caution: this is not for the faint-hearted).



BLIND FAITH & BLIND GOVERNMENT

By Manuwant Kumar Choudhary

In a shocking incident a dalit man Ram Prasad Das claiming to be a sadhu...is buried alive in village Karhaiya in Supaul, Bihar, India, on November 28. Fifteen days earlier its alleged he announced he would be taking a samadhi (an ancient Hindu way of taking one's own life)...and true to his claim he was buried alive with all festivities by his followers and for the first time ever the 'SAMADHI' is on video CD.

Shockingly, everyone including the Bihar government is aware of this social practice in Bihar's villages but do nothing to stop this man from ending his life or even prevent the villagers of committing murder.

All night the dalit man gives blessings to his bhaktas (followers) and by morning he is lifted and placed in a wooden box, the lid covered, and the box lowered into the open grave in full public view with followers seeking his personal blessings as he departs on his heavenly journey...

The video CD is taken by one of his followers and by some chance it falls into the hands of local stringers of TV news channels. Aaaj Tak carries the story...but two days later when their reporter Kumar Abhishek visits the Supaul village....angry villagers attack him and his crew including a CNN - IBN representative with bamboo sticks. The TV crew just about manage to escape.

What is shocking that a man buried alive does not make headline news in Bihar's newspapers or even national newspapers and such is the media competition these days that even other TV channels don't think its a story. Sahara TV a few days later carry the footage on the samadhi followed by footage on attacks on journalists.

Its said that after the first media leak of the samadhi the local police on orders from higher ups went to the village and threatened the villagers that if they did not give a signed undertaking that the dalit man died before he was buried they would all be charged with murder. So all the villagers did as the police asked them to....and when the media team visited to make full inquiries they were attacked in full presence of the police.

Later the District Magistrate of Supaul Mr. Shareef Alam instead of arresting the villagers..threatens the mediamen. Even the Bihar Home Commissioner Mr. Afzal Amanullah tells Aaj Tak that they would naturally be attacked if they do such stories.
And in Bihar most say journalists who do stories against the sentiments of villagers will naturally be attacked.

So far there is no condemnation of the samadhi from any political party and no word from Bihar's Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar who perhaps only believes in image make-overs for Bihar.

A sad story for `samajik nyay' or social justice that when a dalit man is buried alive there are no protests. But when miscreants damage a B.R. Ambedkar statue in Uttar Pradesh....the Dalits burn the Deccan Queen train in Maharashtra.

Meira Kumar As Speaker To Silence Bihar!

By Manuwant Choudhary

In politics everything is a political move...even appointments of Speakers...but in the case of Meira Kumar's appointment..it has little to do with her being a woman or a dalit....she has been appointed only to silence Bihar.

Just like Somnath Chatterjee was appointed Speaker to keep the 60 Communist MPs in place.

Meira Kumar was only a few days ago made a minister for water resources - Bihar's lone minister.

And with all Bihar's MPs being in the opposition Bihar's issues like floods and Special Status was expected to be raised `noisily'.

Now Bihar's MPs will have to sit quietly for the next five years.

Forget jumping into the well of the house and forget fighting for Bihar.

Breaking News: Flood Waters Enter Villages in Madhubani

By Manuwant Choudhary

News just coming in is that flood waters have entered a few villages in Phoolparas in Madhubani district after seapage in the embankments of the Bhuthee Balan river.

Water has entered the homes of people and local villagers are rescuing the women and children trapped.

So far there is no sign for the state government, which had only two days ago claimed that there would be no floods in Bihar and all embankments were safe.

Its still not known about the extent of the floods right now.

Floods are an annual affair in these parts but this time its been early and sudden and at night which has caught people unaware.

Teens Kidnap, Kill 8-year-old Satyam in Patna

By Manuwant Choudhary

In Bihar its back to business..yes you got that right - the business of kidnapping but this latest incident has shocked even kidnappers in Bihar...teens Avinash and Monu kidnap their eight year old neighbour Satyam, demand ransom of 5 lakh rupees and when its not paid Satyam is sodomised and killed.

A plot perhaps even film director Prakash Jha could not have imagined.

The Bihar police like always came in late.

And now the arrested teens say they were influenced by Prakash Jha's film Apharan.

The latest case is not one-off...Bihar's crime scene is bleak at best..calling off the media's bluff about Nitish Kumar's turnaround of Bihar.

Newspapers receive so much government ads that they are simply not newspapers anymore - they have become an arm of the government and political parties.

Even national editors are on government appointed panels in Bihar and so Bihar's issues are off the national news.

But just look at the other news coming out of Bihar that you will not see on national TV at all:

1) Businessman robbed of 30 lakh rupees.

2) Gypsies Kill one person and angry villagers burn an entire gypsie village in revenge.

3) A mother can't yet find her son kidnapped 6 months ago even after paying 1.5 lakh rupees.

4) Two more kidnapped victims killed in Bettiah.

5) In Samastipur a local businessman Rajendra Sah killed and angry villagers burn four police vehicles.

This is to name just a few.

And its an irony that Bihar gets just one minister in the union cabinet and for the next five years all of Bihar's politicians will be sitting in the opposition.

But there is some good news... both Prakash Jha and Sadhu Yadav lost in these elections.

Both tried their best to win - caste combinations and even appeals to criminals in prison for support.

And all criminals lost in these elections, even the two fielded by Nitish Kumar. Even the criminals wives lost.

Bihar's politicians, yet, do not see the writing on the wall.

They are simply illiterate.

Disgraced Former Chief Minister In India's Union Cabinet

By Manuwant Choudhary

In India everyone is promoted even the disgraced...like only six months after being forced to step down as chief minister of Maharashtra for his failure in the aftermath of the terror attack on Bombay, Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is now in India's union cabinet as minister for heavy industries.

As chief minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh failed in protecting Bombay but not just that he had taken Hindi film director Ram Gopal Verma on a tour of the Taj Mahal Hotel perhaps to see the sets first hand so that he could make a blockbuster.

This led to an outcry and his ouster but there is always a return in Indian politics.

And unlike South Korea no Indian politician has ever felt guilty or even thought of jumping off a cliff.

We are shameless.

But I just wonder when the minister for heavy industries would take Ramu on a tour of India's parliament...from Taj Mein Aag to Sansad Par Humla!

Everyone Wants US Dollars, Even Communist Kim Jong!

Pakistan Is A Terror Factory

By Manuwant Choudhary

The full-scale fighting in Swat and the resultant human displacement only prove the fact that Pakistan had over the years become a terror factory...brainwashing, training and arming terrorists to threaten the world.

Yesterday's attack in Lahore, very close to the ISI building, shows the Taliban can attack anyone, anywhere, even their former masters.

I was reading a BBC article published in 2000 on `Who Are The Taliban'? The report says the world came to know of the Taliban only in 1994 when Pakistan used them to provide cover to a convoy which was meant to open up a trade-route to central asia.

These Taliban men, mainly of Pashtun origin, had been trained in religious schools in Pakistan, and proved to be effective `bodyguards' against attacks on the convoy by other mujahideens.

The same religious training centres were used by Pakistn to train other mujahideens to fight in Kashmir and elsewhere.

But the Taliban had their own plans and they soon fought other war lords to gain control over 90 per cent of Afghan territory, except a small part in the north which was controlled by Ahmed Shah Masood, a tajek leader.

Soon Kabul came under the Taliban and they even wanted international recognition but the UN seat still remained with former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

And when the US embassies were bombed in Kenya and the UN asked the Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban refused saying Osama Bin Laden was their `guest'.

Even during General Musharraf's rule the world saw what happend at Lal Masjid.

Pakistan's war within is going to be its toughest and success will come if they decide to shut their terror factories and remove corruption from their political lives thereby win the hearts and minds of ordinary Pakistanis.

Pakistan must shun `My criminals versus your criminals' mindset, if democracy is ever to become meaningful and order restored.

But with the billions in US dollars being poured into Pakistan by the United States and with President Zardari at the helm, things do not look positive - at least for now.

United States Demands Unconditional Release of Aung San Suu Kyi

The United States has demanded an unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and President Barack Obama has called the military junta to end `this show trial', if they want to be a respectable part of the international community.

Aung San has pleaded `Not Guilty' before the trial court and she says she committed no offence in allowing a man who swam to hear heavily protected home.

Aung San Suu Kyi Faces Trial today

By Manuwant Choudhary

Aung San Suu Kyi, the brave Burmese democracy leader, faces trial today and the charge being an American John Yettaw breaking into her heavily protected home, which is also her prison.

The European Union has called for the immediate release of Aung San, while foriegn ministers of ASEAN at Hanoi have also called for her release but Burma's military junta issued warnings against Thailand saying they will not tolerate interference in their `internal' affairs.

Surely, if you imprison an entire people, lock-up democracy itself and rule by brute force you have no soverignty left - the Burmese people need to be set free.

Not just sanctions the worlds powers must swim across the oceans just like John Yettaw did and set an example.

Burma must be freed.

Communist North Korea Joins Nuclear Club

North Korea has conducted successfully an underground nuclear test in defiance of international opinion, becoming the ninth country in the world to have nuclear weapons.

The others being....the US, Russia, France, China, Britain, India, Pakistan and Israel.

The explosion marked 4.7 on the Richter Scale in the asian region.

BBC reports that a short-range missile was also fired soon thereafter.

Its however not clear whether north Korea has the capability to mount nuclear war-heads onto missiles yet.

This test has heightened tensions in the region with South Korea and Japan particularly vulnerable but even the United States west coast can be targetted.

This is the second time North Korea has conducted nuclear tests, the first being in 2006. It just shows that South Korea's `Sunshine' policy is simply not working.

This nuclear test marks the complete failure of United States policy of nuclear non-proliferation.

The Bush regime had struck North Korea off its `terrorist state' list after North Korea promised it would abandon its nuclear program in exchange for fuel and dollars.

The world becomes more dangerous and can Iran now be far behind?

Wonder what `unclenched fist' President Barack Obama expected from his enemies.

LTTE Accepts Their Leader Is Dead

BBC News reports the LTTE now officially accepting the death of their `incomparable' leader whom they say attained `martyrdom' in the final battle.

The statement was signed by the defeated group's head of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan.

" We have already announced that we have given up violence and agreed to enter a democratic process to achieve the rights for the Tamil (self) determination of our people " says Selvarasa Pathmanathan

It said that the LTTE had declared a week of mourning for their dead leader, starting on 25 May.

The statement called on Tamils all over the world to "restrain from harmful acts to themselves or anyone else in this hour of extreme grief".

Nepal's New Prime Minister?

Carla Bruni For Free Aung San Suu Kyi

By Manuwant Choudhary

One man who swam against the tide is John Yettaw - the American who risked everything to reach Aung San Suu Kyi - he says he was concerned about Aung San and wanted to see for himself if she was all right.

Some call Yettaw a mad man, while even supporters of Aung San say people like Yettaw only complicate matters because Aung San's house-imprionment term was set to expire by this month-end and now for the folly of one man she may get another 5 years in prison.

I would not buy the argument. Aung San was not released last year and not before that either.

If not for Yettaw the army would have put her in prison for another cooked-up plot.

Yettaw risked his own life for the people of Burma. He could easily have been shot dead by the military.

Yettaw did what the American government should be doing, what all governments in the free world should be doing, what the United Nations should be doing.

Aung San needs to be rescued and the people of Burma must be freed...democracy must be re-introduced and the military sent to the barracks.

But there is no word from American President Obama.

And no word from the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Governments would rather do business with military regimes..even arm them to attack their own people.

So its refreshing that Aung San gets some support in France where the First Lady Carla Bruni has written to the Burmese government to free Aung San Suu Kyi..if not for anything because her health is poor..for the sake of humanity.

But are the General's listening?

Aung San pleads `Not Guilty'.

American Yettaw is a hero. He must also be set free.

Burma VJ - Reporting From A Closed Country

A Burmese Video Journalist records a General taking a salute and the VJ has this to say, "This is my country and it has been this way for 40 years...so I decided to become a video journalist."

Expected to release globally on May 20 Burma VJ is a must see film even in these recession days.

It's Anders Østergaardʼs award-winning documentary and shows a rare inside look into the 2007 uprising in Myanmar through the cameras of the independent journalist group, Democratic Voice of Burma.

While 100,000 people (including 1,000s of Buddhist monks) took to the streets to protest the countryʼs repressive regime that has held them hostage for over 40 years, foreign news crews were banned to enter and the Internet was shut down.

The Democratic Voice of Burma, a collective of 30 anonymous and underground video journalists (VJs) recorded these historic and dramatic events on handycams and smuggled the footage out of the country, where it was broadcast worldwide via satellite.

Risking torture and life imprisonment, the VJs vividly document the brutal clashes with the military and undercover police – even after they themselves become targets of the authorities.

The film is well-timed as the media has been shut out from the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi - being tried after an intruder broke into her home that is also her prison.

A VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Congratulations to Team Dave Hahn and his mountaineering team who scaled the Mount Everest and for sharing their amazing journey on their blog.

blog.firstascent.com

And you can see his report on Youtube that I have posted alongside, mountaineer Peter Whittaker sends his dispatch from the top of the world. He calls base camp, "We Are On The Top Of The World."

What a view!!!

Congrats.

This return to Everest was to pay respects to Eddie Bauer, the first American mountaineer to scale Everest.

And great reports..you put journalists to shame.

A Ticket to Delhi Please!

By Manuwant Choudhary

I visited the Patna Railway station yesterday and guess who was in queue - India's former railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Lalooji: Dilli ka ek ticket dena (get me a ticket to delhi).

Ticket Clerk: Pehle aap line mein lagiye (First you get in line).

Lalooji: Don't you know who I am?

Ticket Clerk: No.

Lalooji: I am Shri Laloo Prasad Yadav...two days ago I was your railway minister.

Ticket Clerk: I do not know any railway minister.

Lalooji: Arre jaldee kar...train choot jayegee..

Ticket Clerk: Kaun See Train? (Which train?)

Lalooji: UPA train..nayee walee.

Ticket Clerk: Ab Bihar se koi nayee train nahin hai...sab UP se khultee hai..(Sorry no new trains from UP sabhee naye train UP se khulte hain..)

Lalooji: Tumko hum coolie se clerk banaye aur too itna kaam bhee nahin karta mere liye (I made you a clerk from a coolie and you cant do even that much for me.)

Ticket Clerk: Hum bhee to mantri se jantree bana diye aapko. Do you have a reservation on UPA train to Delhi?

Lalooji: Are kya reservation? Tumko pata nahin Mandal Reservation ke log hain hum.

Ticket Clerk: Wo nahin..train ka reservation.

Lalooji: Dekho uuu sab humko nahin pata hai..Arree sadhua ko bulao to isko dekh lega.

Lalooji ka aadmee, "Sadhuji ka to jamanat japt hai..aur unke paas to Patna aane ka bhara bhee nahin hai. Aur uuu to aapse naraaj hain."

Lalooji To Ticket Clerk: Arre bhai..reservation kya ..humko to tatkaal chahiye..paisa jo lena hai lo..."

Ticket Clerk ka phone baja..."Main Congress Adhyakhs Anil Sharma bol raha hoon...agar tatkal diya Lalooji ko to naukri gaya."

Ticket Clerk: Dekhiye Khirkee chodiye...aap helicopter waale train se kyon jaana chahte hain?

Lalooji: Are helicopter crash ho gaya isliye.

Tabhee pichee se...."Arre jaldee kar..hum bhee poorva railway mantri hain...

Ram Vilas Paswan apna samaan khud uthaye hue...."Aaj mujhe yeh din dekna par raha hai..na gendaa ka phool...na lal battee..aur yeh sab sirf dharmnirpeksh takat ke liye."

Lalooji: "Aiye, aiye Ram Vilas jee...mere paas to ticket hai..phir bhee yeh birth nahin deta....

Ram Vilas: Eee Jo hai ki jo...mere paas to ticket bhee nahin hai...seat bhee milega ki nahin...

Lalooji: Arre chaliye naaa..Soniya madam hain naa.

Ram Vilasji: Soniaji kya dengeen...mera to ghar jal gaya.

Lalooji: Tatkal nahin mila tab bhee dilli jana hai.

Ram Vilas: Maurya Lok mein ek baithtaa hai ticket waala...

Lalooji: Arre wo nahin..wo to apne baap ko ticket nahin dila sakta hai..

Ram Vilas: Tab kya..?

Lalooji: Bihar mein rahenge to Nitishwaa jail bhijwaa dega...

Ram Vilas: Chaliye humlog general compartment mein baitha jaye.

Lalooji: Usmein to pair rakhne ka jagah nahin hai...

Ram Vilas: Tab kya AC se chalna hai...

Lalooji: Student days mein hum chalte the AC se..train ke chhatt par baitke...

Ram Vilas: Chaliye, chaliye humlong Punjab hee cahala jaye..mazdooree karne.

Tabhee peeche se: Main bhee poorva rail mantri hoon..Pradhan mantri ka ticket milega kya? Rahulji mujhe pasand karte hain..aur main Advaniji ko pasand karta hoon aur Advaniji...Narendra bhai ko pasand karte hain...main to Ulta-Pulta Alliance ka PM banna chahta hoon.

LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's Body Found

CNN's correspondent Sarah Snider reports Sri Lankan State TV showing photographs of the LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran killed and she says the photos do resemble that of Prabhakaran unless he has a trwin.

Earlier, an Elam spokesman had denied their leader was dead.

Is LTTE Chief Velupillai Prabhakaran Killed?

BBC Reports a Sri Lankan State TV broadcast quoted military officials as saying Prabhakaran was killed along with two of his deputies.

It said Prabhakaran, his intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Soosai, the head of the rebels' naval wing, were shot dead in an ambush in the Mullivaikal district while trying to escape the war zone in an ambulance.

Earlier, at least three senior rebel leaders were killed, including Prabhakaran's eldest son, Charles Anthony, the military said.

However, an Elam spokesperson on a Tamil website claimed `their beloved' leader was well and alive and would continue to work for the Tamil cause.

But if what the Sri Lankan government says is true it would mean an end to a 26 year old conflict but at what cost.

A huge humanitarian effort is needed to help the displaced Tamils get back home. 80,000 people are said to have been killed in the conflict.

Meg Ryan For Free Aun San Suu Kyi

Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Burmese freedom fighter and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been under government-sponsored house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years. As Suu Kyi awaits an upcoming trial on May 18 on charges meant to extend her imprisonment, Not On Our Watch has organized an international statement calling for her release. Luminaries from across the cultural, political, and social spheres, including Not On Our Watch founders George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, as well as Bono, Madonna, Steven Spielberg, Nobel Laureates Professor Elie Wiesel and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Senator John McCain, among others, have united to demand that the Burmese military regime free Aung San Suu Kyi now.

The statement and full list of signatories follow below.

FREE AUNG SAN SUU KYI

Nineteen years ago, the Burmese people chose Aung San Suu Kyi to be their next leader. And for most of those 19 years she has been kept under house arrest by the military junta that now runs the country. She is the world’s only incarcerated Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

Yesterday Suu Kyi was taken to Burma’s Insein prison to face criminal charges as part of a concerted plan to deny her freedom.

We must not stand by as she is silenced once again. Now is the time for the United Nations and the entire international community to speak clearly, and with one voice: Free Aung San Suu Kyi.

In support,

George Clooney
Sec. Madeleine Albright
Wes Anderson
Bono
Matthew Broderick
Sandra Bullock
James Carville
Daniel Craig
John Cusack
Matt Damon
Robert De Niro
Jake Gyllenhaal
Václav Havel
Helen Hunt
Anjelica Huston
Scarlett Johansson
Nicole Kidman
Ashton Kutcher
Norman Lear
Madonna
Mary Matalin
Sen. John & Cindy McCain
Rose McGowan
Orhan Pamuk
Sarah Jessica Parker
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
Brad Pitt
Julia Roberts
Robert Rodriguez
Salman Rushdie
Meg Ryan
George Soros
Steven Spielberg
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Prof. Elie Wiesel
Owen Wilson

9 Vote Verdicts In 2009

By Manuwant Choudhary

1) India says no to L.K. Advani for Prime Minister...and a No to Mandir-Masjid communal politics.

I have had the opportunity to cover several of Mr. Advani's pressers in the past and while I never agreed with his communal agenda he was always ready to take questions from a trainee reporter and answer them patiently although never wavering in his opinions. And when he wavered he praised the founder of Pakistan M.A. Jinnah out of context from the image he built and cultivated for himself over the years. Yet, I would say he is a democratic leader, more democratic than the Nehru-Gandhi family.
At leat he is not foisting his daughter Pratibha on the Bharatiya Janata Party and the people of India.

2) That 50 per cent voters did not vote. I did not.

3) That the Congress Party still could not get a majority on its own.

4) The Left Parties lost So Left Is Out.

5) Mamata Banerjee and her dedicated struggle against SEZs in Singur and Nandigram plus an alliance with Congress helped her defeat the Communists.

6) That you cannot aspire to be PM when your alliance partners keep attacking Muslims, Biharis...everyone....

7) South India is also changing from its clean sweep politics, just regional parties are not enough to form a government at the centre.

8) That voters in Bihar vote for criminals, not for the wives of criminals.

9) That just as I pay my electricity bills although I get no electricity, we have another Congress government at the centre while we remain a dark democracy, I promise you nuclear energy will not light up my home in even the next five years.

The Shoe Market Reacts to Indian Elections!

By Manuwant Choudhary

Everyone reacts to the Indian elections…from politicians themselves, to pollsters in their khadi kurtas, to journalists, to the stock markets...to even bookies.

Like the Bombay Stock Market shows an upward trend after it becomes clear the Communist parties will get lesser seats than they got in the last elections.

And bookies with covered faces and 5,000 cellphones buzzing on Live TV predict show they are the real experts.

Still others like my friend (who did not vote) has switched-off his favourite undie TV news channel for today and tomorrow.

While `I Be PM’ TV News is gloating that for once in 20 years their pollsters have got it right! (Was that due to the Laws of Probability)

And G (Ganja) TV for once is not glorifying lesser criminals but rather focusing only on those criminals whom the voters will be sending to parliament.

But my source from Punjab called me up with something unique….and all the TV channels missed it..busy as they were with their `talking heads’.

My Source from Amritsar, “Sir, I have this BIG story for you.”

Me, “Tell Me. But I am only a blogger.”

My Source, “All the shoes in Punjab have been sold out.”

Me, “Why? Is it some religious custom to buy shoes this time of the year.”

Source, “No, sir. Everything is not religion. You see after India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh made that speech that Sikhs must forget about getting any justice for their kins killed in the 1984 Sikh riots, the Sikhs have decided to protest.”

Me, “But Dr. Manmohan Singh is on his way out..Isn’t he??”

Source, “Arre Sir, you do not understand. Punjab is barometer for rest of India. If shoes have sold out then Congress is winning.”

Me, “But its still not on TV.”

Source, “Sir, which TV…Yesterday News?”

Me, “Not even on Times When??”

Source, “Arre Sir, Forget TV..just break it on indiavikalp. You will thank me.”

So that’s what I did.

But it did not stop there. My cellphone has not stopped ringing since...

I’m getting calls from all across India.

Soon I realized that the country’s shoe market had reacted to the Indian elections.

So, since I am not an arm-chair journalist. I decided to check out shoe bazaars.

In Patna I visited the Bata showroom at Frazer road and saw senior journalist M.J. Akbar checking out shoes.

I said to myself look at this even senior journalists want to throw shoes.

But isn’t M.J. Akbar with the Congress Party? So why does he want to throw shoes at the Congress?

My friend, “Ah, you forget, he’s now with the BJP.”

As I was about to ask Mr. Akbar about it, Yesterday News on the showroom wall showed a panel discussion. And guess who was on air. It was M.J.Akbar.

Then who was this gentleman in the Bata? A store employee said, “Sir, he is M.J. Akbar’s brother.”

What a goof-up. Im sorry, I said.

Just then I get a call from Ayodhya.

Another source, “Sir I have this BIG story for u…”

Me, “What?”

Source, “All the shoes outside the temple gates have disappeared..hindus say it’s a `miracle’ just like Lord Ganesh drinking milk but I have investigated and found out that there is a secular leader who is collecting shoes just in case L.K. Advani becomes Prime Minister.”

Tringg…tring….another call…aah it looks like from disant Tamil Nadu.

Source, “Sir, its BIG story here..bigger than Punjab.”

I said now what?

Source, “There has been a clash..violence..9 people killed.?

Me, “Now that’s a story…tell me. Is it some terror strike?”

Source, “No, Sir. Madam Jayalalitha’s supporters were buying up all the shoes in Tamil Nadu.”

Me, “For whom for Jayalalitha. Ive heard she has 50,000 shoes already. She doesn’t need shoes.”

Source, “No Saar, not like dat..watta I tellinga you do natta understanda.”

Source, “No one can say who will win in Tamil Nadu so both sides are collecting shoes. And its actually an international story. I hear Vaiko is sending shoes by fishing vessels to Sri Lanka.”

Call from Mumbai, “Sir. One independent candidate has taken 54 crore rupees from a political party ..price for not contesting.”

Me, “54 crore rupees is a lot of money. Does the independent candidate plan to buy a house in Malabar Hill.”

Source, “No sir, he already has house in Malabar Hill.”

Then what?

Source, “He would have lost anyway but he decided to take the money because he can better serve democracy if he buys shoes worth 54 crores.”

Me, “But all that money may just go to that Samajwadi leader Abu Asim Azmi. He has a shoe shop at Colaba Causeway.”

Source, “Business is Business. Mumbai is about business. Even politics is business here.”

Again a call from Uttar Pradesh. Now what?

Source, “Sir, some Congressmen wanted to buy shoes to throw at Mayawati but in all of Uttar Pradesh they could not find shoes.”

Me, “Strange. Uttar Pradesh is a big state..bigger than United Kingdom..and no shoes.”

Source, “Sir, not that way. You see caste is so important here. All shoes are made by one caste chaamar and since Mayawati belongs to their caste they have decided to protect their leader.”

So Congressmen even went to the Bata factory at Faridabad to discover that Bata factory is closed but they did find shoes at the Bata outlet…the salesperson informed the shoes have been outsourced from China.

Congressman, “It’s okay ..at least we will get Comrade Karat’s support now…a Chinese shoe for Mayawati!”

My source in Madhya Pradesh, “Sir, our great leader Arjun Singhji’s supporters are buying shoes in MP.”

Me, “But why is everyone buying new shoes? Remember, the journalist who threw shoes at President Bush. He threw his own shoe. Even the one thrown by the journalist on P. Chidambaram was an old one.”

Source, “Arjun Singhji is a broken man after his daughter was denied a party ticket. We all built the party for Rahulji to become PM and Arjun Singhji’s daughter to become CM.”

So Arjun Singhji finally told his supporters today, “I now fully understand that the Gandhi family does not wear old shoes.”

My friend and colleague journalist (expert on Bofors) in Switzerland called up, "I'm on a flight to Italy. Because Italian shoes are best in the world. Id spend my months salary to buy a pair just for the Gandhi family!."

A call from the Patna railway station, “Sir, even coolies are buying shoes.”

For whom?

“For Lalooji of course, Coolies are angry despite the budget promise Lalooji never promoted them to gangmen.”

But I also hear there is a flood of support for Nitish Kumar and he might just win all seats….even become Prime Minister.

Just then I get a call from the Kosi belt in Madhepura, “Sir, I had to call you. It is my life’s wish to throw a shoe on Nitish Kumar. But I do not have even that. It all got washed away in last years Kosi floods.”

Conscience-Keepers In Prison

By Manuwant Choudhary

Among the worlds conscience-keepers are two compassionate individuals His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Burma's leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Dalai Lama for the past 50 years has been exiled from his home in Tibet and while he globe-trots giving peace lectures and winning the hearts and minds of the world and even acquiring a celebrity status..he has often said that he really does not care for all this if he and his people can return home.

The other, Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi has been imprisoned within her country..put under house arrest by the military rulers..although she won a landslide victory in the elections.

The military would rather have Aung San leave Burma but this resolute woman refused to leave her impoverished people to a ruthless and corrupt military.

And everytime, every year, her house-arrest term is to expire the military extends it, except this year when an American man John William Yettaw swam across a lake and sneaked into her home.

For this intrusion in a heavily guarded house - Aung San is being put to trial.

If there is anyone who needs to be put on trial they are generals of the military junta.

Aung San is frail from her years under house arrest and now she has been sent to prison.

The world must protest and protest strongly.

If you are in London do show your solidarity oustde the Burmese embassy on May 18.

Time:
12:00 - 13:00
Location:
Burmese Embassy
Street:
19A Charles Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5DX
Town/City:
London, United Kingdom

And write to your governments to stop doing business with such governments who do not have any morality because ultimately morals will save this world, not might.