India Votes - and How!

sridhar, harimaou and their proxy jaya

Its clear that its caste politics. Sridhar is an Iyengar, and its well known that Iyers are jelous of Iyengars since they are fairer, speak more Sanskritized tamil and are truer descendants of the Aryan ;-)

Iyengars dont like Iyers, I really dont know why except that bringing an Iyer bahu may create a darker progeny. (now now rest of the chokies, stop snickering, this is common all over India with change of names, i know that ghatis have similar issues among others).

So, while blaming biharis for being casteist..

Well its congress time and its missile time in pakistan. I guess the blackmail has started again..........will the congress wilt and hand over Kashmir. The congress has to decide between being wnating to be obliterated by not handing Kahmir over and living to tell the tale.....

the news item:

Pak to test-fire 3500 km long-range missile in June


Friday, 21 May , 2004, 15:03

Pakistan is all set to test-fire on June 3 its new long-range ballistic missile Ghauri-III, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and having a range of 3,500 km covering all major cities in India.
Discuss: Pakistan is asking for trouble!



The missile, which has a range of 3500 kilometres compared to the 2000-km Shaheen missile test fired in March, would be launched from the firing range near Nowshehra into the Arabian Sea, official sources were quoted as saying on Thursday.

Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was informed of the details of the test when he visited the country`s premier nuclear installation Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on Thursday, English daily The Nation reported.

It said, according to officials the missile could be tentatively test fired on June 3, close on the heels of a new government headed by Manmohan Singh assuming office in India.

Based on liquid fuel, Ghauri-III is a ground-to-ground ballistic missile. If test fired, Ghauri-III would be the second long-range missile developed by the KRL. It had test fired 2500-km range, Shaheen-II in March.

re:#371 by ankit
Did Jayalalitha really believe strongly in what she did. If she did, she would not be retracting those policies which she put in effect sometime ago. Much was made out of her toughness in dealing with the striking employees. If my info is correct, she is now going to reinstate them back. Same with the anticonversion policy, which was done keeping the Hindutva votes in mind. She is going back on these policies not because she believes they are wrong, but simply because she has seen voter`s ire and she has an election to face in 2 years time (that is, if she lasts that long).
Jayalalitha is not a team player. She is an individual who believes she alone can deliver the goods. This election must remind her that she is doing something terribly wrong.
People are rejecting her way of governance. She fielded the candidates of her choice, all of who lost their seats. She has to take the blame now.
Sridhar

Ref rsridhar #370

[Ha!
Now, i read in a newspaper that Amma is going back on all those promises. Which means: all those employees who were fired would be reinstated, the law banning conversions will be repealed etc etc. I can`t get hold of the Url but i will post it as soon as i can relocate it. Look out for policy changes in TN by Amma after the recent humilation.]

If you get the CORRECT URL, you would know that all except about 7,000 (out of 175,000) were re-instated back in September of 2003. The leaders of the strike amounting to approximately 7,000 went through a tribunal which heard their cases and recommended either re-instatement or dismissal. But at least they were put on notice that there would be a drastic reaction from the government if they resorted to illegal tactics. By the way, the strikers weren`t paid for the days they were absent from work or were locked out of their offices by the government. Do check and let me know if the workers got back pay for those days -- I don`t know.

As to the cancellation of certain other acts, Jayalalitha figures it is no skin off her nose if people kill goats at Kali temples or convert to Christianity in exchange for rice.

re: Jayalalitha`s change of policies

Here is the link i was talking about:
http://www.sulekha.com/redirectnh.asp?cid=334973

`` IN SHOCK

Ms J. Jayalalithaa is losing her touch. She is quite well-known for changing her tune when it suits her — her quick turnabout from withdrawing support to the Bharatiya Janata Party to full-throated support for it being just one example — and for going unblinkingly back on her word, but she always did it with imperturbable brazenness. That brazenness seems a little dented. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s non-performance in the Lok Sabha elections has obviously shaken her, and she has gone for an indiscriminate withdrawal of all her policies in Tamil Nadu barely a week after the results. While her retreat on some fronts may augur well, the hurried decision to arrange for free electricity to farmers, for example, suggests an unashamed bid to ensure votes in the coming assembly elections that says little for thought or planning behind any of her moves, past or present. The ban on conversions was a policy that cost her dear this time. She had originally implemented it to show how close she was growing to the BJP. The anti-conversion law was not only contrary to a constitutional right, for practical purposes it alienated her from both the Christians and the Dalits, especially since the latter felt that their only weapon to fight the oppressive casteism in the state was being taken away from them. The withdrawal of this, as well as of the cases of defamation and privilege against organs of the media, are positive moves in every way. Freedom of speech is as fundamental a right as the right to practise the religion of choice. The chief minister has also lifted the income ceiling on beneficiaries under the public distribution scheme, extended the free bus pass to students, and withdrawn the cases against government employees who had gone on strike.

In appearing to be consistent in her rollbacks, Ms Jayalalithaa has exposed an alarming degree of inconsistency. Free power for farmers and hut-dwellers means a heavy subsidy, and this cannot be done thoughtlessly, if it can be done at all. Nothing has been said about water shortage. The free pardon to government employees erases important issues of responsibility and rights and the specifics of the episode that led to the charges against them, while it pushes out of sight the debate over the legitimacy of the Tamil Nadu Essential Services Maintenance Act. Similarly, discussions about the use and abuse of the Prevention of Terrorism Act have been glossed over, in spite of the urgency of the Vaiko question. For Ms Jayalalithaa, thinking is unimportant, all that is necessary is to hold on to power. ``
Sridhar

sridhar 370

is it not simple? if populism is what gives votes, people will resort to populism. it is duty of the citizen to tell the govt what they want, and do this in elections. it seems the TN ppl are getting what they have demanded and so there is no place for complain.

however, good that demand will turn out to be for the future of the ppl is not very difficult to see.

re: #360 by harimau
Harimau Iyer is angry. When he is angry, he loses sight of logic.
He says:
``Then don`t b!tch about the outcome. If they felt so bad about the water problem, your dad could have run for elections....as did one candidate in a rural area. ``

So, let us look at the logic here. My dad, who is in his late 70s, should run for elections to protest against the water problem. What are young people like Harimau Iyer doing? Just sermonising on the Chowk? I would say this is a way my father is protesting.

``That TamBrahm is the only politician in India who has stood up to the government employees` and teachers` unions. And broke them both. She ran candidates not based on their caste or religion``
Ha!
Now, i read in a newspaper that Amma is going back on all those promises. Which means: all those employees who were fired would be reinstated, the law banning conversions will be repealed etc etc. I can`t get hold of the Url but i will post it as soon as i can relocate it. Look out for policy changes in TN by Amma after the recent humilation.
Sridhar

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I was a believer in the feasibility of Sonia Gandhi`s PM-ship until Vajpayee went to Lahore and the Kargil war. I could not imagine her climbing a bus and enthusing an entire nation, not could I imagine her leading the country during an armed conflict.

So I am bit relieved. It is exciting that Manmohan Singh will be the next PM. My misgivings about the situation I will keep for another time.

re: #344 by rsridhar,
``I never lived in Bihar``, I guessed it. But I think my post will still assist you to learn something more about Bihar, so that the next time you won`t put your foot in your mouth. Also, your generalization regarding ``no communal riots and economic growth`` is incorrect. (I am not esposing communial riots here though). Even in Maharashtra (where I come from) riots happened even during Congress, that didn`t impede growth. Bombay which has seen even worse riots still it is far better than Patna with regard to economic growth. Ofcourse, Laloo is not communal, he is Castiest. If communal forces favour one religion over other, laloo prefers one caste against other (with the aid of Muslims). So if you think Hindu hegemony over Muslims is not acceptable, how are you o.k. with Yadav hegemony over other castes. In the end it as simple as ``divide and rule`` some do it by dividing nations, some religions and some divide one religion into different fragments.
Jai Hind.

harimau #359

Why are you assuming that ALL Pakistanis are universally in favor of Sonia Gandhi? This one certainly isn`t. And if you`re judging by the media then since when has the Pakistani media ever represented ALL Pakistanis?

Just wondering? : )

Ref rsridhar #347

[I only commended Lalloo Yadav`s policy of fostering communal harmony, which is so essential for peace and stability and ultimately for any govt to implemement its policies.]

Ever heard of the Ranvir Sena? Ever heard of the fight between the Thakurs and the Dalits?

For pseudo-secularists, the only communal fights are those between Hindus and Muslims. Any killings within the Hindu community is a sign of harmony.

Ref rsridhar #346

[The day i come back, it will be to give back not to take anything from Mother India.]

That day will be slightly later than when Hell freezes over.

Why is it that if Manmohan Singh becomes the Prime Minister that is NOT a recognition that a person belonging to a minuscule religious group in India can indeed aspire to and obtain the highest position in India but it has to be Sonia Gandhi to prove that point?

Why is it that ALL the Pakistanis are universally in favor of Sonia Gandhi as leader of India?