Justice For SSR

Sushant Singh Rajput is unlikely to get justice. Why, you ask? Simple: Because the same factor that set the "Justice For SSR" ball rolling will derail the movement. And that factor is Us.

Sushant Singh Rajput

Have you ever wondered why the Palghar Sadhu Lynching incident didn't kickstart a mass movement of protest but the death of a 34-year-old actor did? Again, simple: It had nothing to do with "Oh Hindu Sadhus therefore ignored" (though that was definitely there), but the heinous, cold-blooded, long-in-the-making and utterly, absolutely ruthless manner in which a celebrity with a boy-next-door image was surrounded by a group of rich and powerful and pushed to a dark corner from which there was no escape except a long last fall over the edge into oblivion, and subsequently the media-police-politician-bollywood-underworld nexus that worked like a scarily well-oiled machinery to hush up the case, which reminded the country about the Dec 2012 atrocity in Delhi and roused the nation's collective conscience. It was, simply put, a question: "If such a terrible thing can happen to Sushant, then what hope do we commonfolk have?" It was a repeat act of the question that the country had asked itself at the time of Nirbhaya. This time, it was Sushant.

A major, major clean-up of the viper's den that bollywood has become has been overdue. Anyone not conforming to the rules is given a gentle push over the edge, a figurative hand in the back, and the rest is taken care of police investigations that find nothing suspicious, politicians who orchestrate their cadres in the guise of supportive fans, and media stooges who already have shiny, spanking-new clean chits out and waving in the air, pouring the milk of "child in a man's body" and "so much humanitarian work" and "weeps when he hears a 'lori' song and has to be consoled by his mum" on the blood of innocents dripping from the hands of the khans, the bhatts, the kapoors and the johars. Divya Bharti and Sridevi were drunk, Jiah Khan and Sushant and Parveen Babi were depressed... Same screenplay, different victims.

And this is where the secret of their escape route lies: the ability to orchestrate a whitewashing-and-hoodwinking campaign that has us eating out of their hands time and time again. We will forget all about Sushant the moment the next bachchan / srk / salman / ranbir kapoor film hits the theaters because to us, celebrating the glory of our stars who care two hoots about us matters more than innocent lives nipped in the bud in the most monstrous manner possible and justice and punishment...until the next dead body appears, hanging from the ceiling or drowned in a bathtub.

But remember one thing: the next guy or girl who falls victim to these hungry predators coming out of the scummy cesspool of unlimited power could be someone you love. I hope your breathless anticipation of the next bachchan / srk / salman / ranbir / deepika movie remains the same at that moment of utter despair.

P.S.: Here are some snaps of bollywood's A-listers with brothers Annel Mussarat and Nabeel Mussarat, two of pakistan's richest and most powerful businessmen, who often act as go-betweens between pakistan's ISI and the rich and the famous, esp of the Indian variety.
"Nothing wrong in being clicked with some businessmen, even if they're from pakistan," you say? Well, do remember that that is exactly how dawood ibrahim had dug his tentacles deep inside bollywood in the 1980s.

In Pictures below: Pakistani Businessmen Brothers Annel Mussarat and Nabeel Mussarat with various bollywood stars

How raga Proved His Family's Non-Hindu Lineage

Over the last 5-6 years, the lineage of the nehru-gandhi family has been a matter of hot debate, esp. on social media. It has been debated ad nauseam how giyasuddin gazi became gangadhar nehru, how indira gandhi became maimuna begum prior to her marriage to phiroze jehangir khan, he of the muslim father-Parsi mother lineage (his mother's surname was ghandy), and how the union was blessed by no less than India's answer to Lord Voldemort, who turned fjk into feroze gandhi overnight, how indira (in)famously claimed to be the descendant of babur at the latter's grave (as mentioned by her Foreign Minister Natwar Singh on numerous occasions later), how nehru himself once claimed "By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim, and I am a Hindu only by accident of birth", and so on. Of course, there have been numerous counter-arguments to this as well.

But be that as it may, this latest act by rahul gandhi, it can be said with some confidence, rather firmly puts the stamp of endorsement on the tainted family's non-Hindu lineage.

The Somnath Temple has two guestbooks, one for Hindu devotees arriving at the temple and the other for non-Hindu visitors. By signing the latter guestbook, the scion of India's answer to the Cosa Nostra has effectively admitted that even without his Roman Catholic mother's religious roots, his family is not, and has never been, a Hindu family. Unsurprisingly, it also provides a strong pointer towards the reasons of the family's longstanding and continued hatred for the HIndus of India.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/rahul-gandhi-name-shows-somnath-114842772.html 

Why The Indian Media's Wolf-crying Tactics Aren't Working Anymore

(This is too brief a piece; someday I would like to expand upon this.)

Portraying itself as "the innocent sheep trying to run from the hounds of fascism" is no longer working for India's mainstream media. The diatribes against Narendra Modi and Donald Trump didn't work, despite a carefully-constructed narrative urging the people to bring down the media-annointed "wicked wazirs of right-wing hate-mongering", hence this "oh-how-intolerant-of-you-to-suppress-us" wail.

Wake up and smell the coffee, wolf-criers. The veneer of educated intellectualism has been stripped off your faces; your elitist snobbery and refusal to call out the grave injustices inflicted upon the long-suffering public have been exposed. So stop taking sides and start reporting things as they are. You will find that only flustered, angered politicians and criminals, unnerved by your courage and honesty, are blaming you and not the people. Put an end to dictating a country's --- and indeed, the individual's --- right to form its own political discourse, discard your slavish adherence to the diktats of those you consider your (political) masters, and you will find yourself sleeping the sleep of the righteous.

Some Thoughts On The 96th Anniversary Of The Jallian Wala Bagh Massacre

Exactly 96 years ago, on 13th April 1919, British Brigadier General Reginald E.H. Dyer ordered his troops to fire at will on a peaceful gathering at Jallian Wala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab, causing more than 1,500 casualties. Over 1,650 rounds were fired and men, women, and even children were brutally massacred, making the incident the most barbaric civilian massacre in modern history.

On April 13, the traditional festival of Baisakhi, thousands of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims gathered at the Jallian Wala Bagh, a public garden near the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. An hour after the meeting began as per schedule at 4:30 pm, Dyer arrived with a group of 65 Gurkha and 25 Baluchi soldiers. 50 of them were armed with rifles. Dyer had also brought two armoured cars with machine guns. The vehicles were left outside as they were unable to enter the garden through the narrow entrance. The garden was surrounded on all sides by houses and buildings and had few a narrow entrances, most of them permanently locked. The main entrance was relatively wider but was guarded by the troops backed by the armoured vehicles.

Without warning the crowd to disperse, Dyer blocked the main exits. He explained later about this act: "…was not to disperse the meeting but to punish the Indians for disobedience." Dyer ordered his troops to begin shooting towards the densest sections of the crowd (including women and children). Firing continued for about 10 minutes. Ceasefire was ordered only when ammunition supplies were almost exhausted, after 1,650 rounds were spent. The official (then) GoI sources estimated that the fatalities were 379, with 1,100 wounded. The number estimated by Indian National Congress was more than 1,500, with approximately 1,000 getting killed.

And what happened to Dyer? He was removed from duty and forced to retire. But when he returned to Britain, he was presented with £26,000 raised on his behalf by the Morning Post newspaper, a women’s organization presented him with the 'Sword of Punjab', and a large number of influential Britishers, including Rudyard Kipling, thought he had done the right thing. He became a celebrated hero in Britain among people with connections to the British Raj.

In Dyer's own words:

• It is only to an enlightened people that free speech and a free press can be extended. The Indian people want no such enlightenment.
• There should be an eleventh commandment in India: "Thou shalt not agitate."
• The time will come to India when a strong hand will be exerted against malice and 'perversion' of good order.
• Gandhi will not lead India to capable self-government. The British Raj must continue, firm and unshaken in its administration of justice to all men.

The massacre caused a re-evaluation of the Army's role in which the new policy became minimum force and the Army was retrained and developed suitable tactics such as crowd control. Historians consider the episode as a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India.

Heil BBC

Dear BBC,

Thank you very much for having interviewed Mukesh Singh, the rapist awaiting appeal on his death sentence. Thank you for being concerned about “India’s Daughter”. Let’s for a moment set aside Leslee Udwin’s competency as a journalist; having read her report, I have second thoughts about her level of common sense itself. She had come to India expecting an 8-feet tall, one-eyed monster with blood dripping from his fangs, and is surprised to see that Mukesh Singh is a "normal common bus driver"!

Then, she is appalled at the lack of remorse demonstrated by him. She is appalled that the value systems held by Mukesh (which she generalizes to be held by all Indian men, by quoting some other bigots---people with poor English language skills and a vested interest of saving the accused to further their career prospects as well) consider women to be unequal and that woman is responsible for getting raped, and so on.

Dear Leslee, this is where the monstrosity lies, not in Mukesh's appearance, but in the value systems that he held and adhered to.

However, having watched the video as well, I have to thank you for the commendable effort made.

We Indians didn't know that rape was a crime. I guess that was why the whole of Delhi and Indian social media protested (rioted) against the crime immediately after it was committed. Maybe that’s why the culprits are behind bars, awarded the death sentence, awaiting appeal.

May I please request your capable journalistic effort in the following scenarios as well?

1. Please do a documentary on "UK’s Daughters". With a 2010 rape statistic of 28.8/100,000 population and ranking 6th in this crime (far exceeding India’s 1.8/100,000 and ranking of 54), I guess England also has a lot of daughters who have been raped. Their rapists also should get an opportunity to voice their views, right? Maybe you should do separate ones for penile penetration and penetration with other objects or body parts. That’s how your legal system compartmentalizes rape and sexual assault, right? While you’re at it, please don’t forget to call England the “rape capital of Europe”. I'm sure you’ll find equally graphic descriptions of crime in action within England itself.
2. Speaking of ranking, why not do one on “South Africa’s Daughters”? They rank 1st with 132.4/100,000 population. Please call it “the rape capital of the world”.
3. Maybe you should do a similar one on your colonial cousins across the Atlantic and Pacific. “America’s Daughters” and “Australia’s Daughters”. They rank 12th and 8th respectively. You should also do a comparison against yourself with these. It seems the successors of all the criminals and convicts that your ancestors exiled to these countries have reformed their younger generations to do better than you in treating women with respect. Or it’s because of the high rate of immigration from South Asian and Latin American countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Mexico (ranked 21st).

As my friend Ayan Chaudhuri puts it, if we are to see the report released by the Office of National Statistics for 2013 for England and Wales (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_360216.pdf), then the data for 2013 shows a total of 19,124 rapes (Page 13). Given that the population of England & Wales is 57 million people (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/compendiums/compendium-of-uk-statistics/population-and-migration/index.html) [53.9m + 3.1m = 57m for E&W only, not UK as a whole], that translates into a figure of 33.55 rapes per 100,000 population for England and Wales. So the figures given above are quite in line (in fact the latest figure as calculated above is actually higher, since the figures quoted are for 2010). Is the Office of National Statistics is as unreliable as Wikipedia?

These statistics do not prove anything about the general mindset (as the West loves to claim for India's case), because if they did, what is to be made of the mindset in the UK? The crimes are very serious and both societies need to solve them urgently with every resource at their command, but the holier-than-thou attitude of the West needs to be dropped first.

Would you DARE to do any of the suggestions that I put forth? No, right? I guessed as much.

Why haider Does Not Work For Me

I actually wanted to watch haider, but I decided to give it a miss. That's fine, really...you don't need to be able to lay eggs to know how to make an omelette (just as you don't need to know shit about Hinduism—the religion, the way of life, call it what you will—to make seemingly-erudite posts on 33 crores deities on social networking sites). Similarly, one can comment knowledgeably on a movie based on 35 years of movie-watching experience without actually seeing it.

As a film, haider is possibly quite good. When he adapts Shakespearean tragedies, vishal bhardwaj actually does a good job (at other times, he just makes esoteric shit like matru ki bijlee ka mandola, which is what he makes most of the time). Apart from the gripping narrative Bill had written 400 years ago, haider boasts of some of today's finest artistes like Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Kay Kay Menon, and Shahid Kapur. But a good film is not the same as a blatant political statement filled with...well, lies.

The most flagrant of the lies in haider is the one that chooses to ignore/discredit/label as a myth the genocide of the Kashmiri Pundits and their subsequent exodus from the state. It is as much a truth as was the genocide of the Sikhs back in 1984, and an even bigger one than either that or the much-abused Godhra incident—which, as many are loathe to recall, was triggered by the Sabarmati Express Massacre. But then, this is not surprising coming from a man who wrote an open letter to the citizens of India repeatedly urging them to not vote for a certain candidate (who need not be named here) in this year's LS polls so that the "secular" and "liberal" fabric of the Indian society could be maintained.

Much has already been said and written about the film's merits, which are many, and demerits, which are probably even more, though I still maintain that haider simply as a film is, probably, quite good and watchable. I do not wish to spend too much time and energy on this, but for those who are interested, here is some good reading material:

• Post no. 1 (http://www.dailyo.in/opinion/vishal-bharadwajs-haider-kashmir/story/1/309.html)

• Post no. 2 (http://www.newslaundry.com/2014/10/06/reflections-on-%E2%80%AAhaider%E2%80%AC-and-the-ignored-narrative-of-%E2%80%AA%E2%80%8Ekashmir%E2%80%AC/)

• Post no. 3 (http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/L25cl1PxL2DGCxZdZ2xwWK/The-thing-thats-wrong-with-Haider.html)

• Post no. 4 (http://greatbong.net/2014/10/12/few-thoughts-on-haider/)

Just a small question to bhardwaj: "Sir, would you have the same guts to show someone dancing to the chant of 'Ram Ram' on the steps of babri masjid just like you showed someone dancing to the chant of 'bismil bismil' on the steps of the Martand Sun Temple? And would you make a film based on 'Our Moon Has Blood Clots'?"

And yes, that bit—a dance number picturized on the ruins of a once-revered, brutally-desecrated temple—did hurt. Quite badly too.

Is ratna pathak shah For Real?

Dear (not really) Ratna Pathak Shah,

I am not criticizing/appraising/analysing your comments "Satyajit Ray was barely tolerable" and "SHOLAY is extremely embarrassing". I am simply trashing them. So here goes:

1. Personal opinions are fine, as long as (a) the opinions are informed and intelligent and (b) we agree that our lack of appreciation of something might be a result of lack of understanding of the subject, or sheer stupidity, or simply an attention-grabbing technique. I may not like poetry, but if I say something like "Tagore just didn't know how to write poetry", that would indicate utter idiocy.
2. Both your husband—who, incidentally, shares your views on the topics you have remarked on—and you are fine actors. But comments like these only serve to establish the fact that being talented in a particular field and having a deep, intelligent, empathetic, and analytical understanding of that field are two different things altogether.
3. Evidently you have a profound Maya Sarabhai-esque "oh-I-am-so-intellectually-evolved" disdain for mainstream cinema. That is fine. A lot of us arty-farty types do. But while criticizing SHOLAY, the Citizen Kane of mainstream (Indian) cinema, you have very cleverly chosen to overlook the fact that the man who started off with Junoon, Sparsh, Aakrosh, Masoom, Trikaal, Mirch Masala, Ijaazat, Khamosh, and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro was rather quick to criticize the very kind of movies that won him fame and acclaim and moved on to award-winning, timeless classics like Daava, Lahoo Ke Do Rang, Takkar, Misaal, Zulm Ko Jala Doonga, Tehelkaa, Kasam, Lootere, Hasti, Dand-Nayak, Lakshmanrekha, Asambhav, Bombay Boys, Jackpot, Sona Spa...while your own bio-data now boasts of Khoobsurat. Even Sonam Kapoor doesn't want to talk about it! Selective judgementalism? And why, pray, was SHOLAY "embarrassing"? Did Ramesh Sippy make an indecent proposal to you while you were watching it??

Your comments are clearly nothing more than a lame attempt to generate the paying public's interest in Khoobsurat. Sorry, it's not working. You can outrage in Anurag Kashyap/Sanjay Leela Bhansali/Mahesh Bhatt/any venerable Bong director of today's style that your film is for the intelligent ones and not the hoi polloi, but guess what? People are still sticking to reruns of the extremely mediocre, unflattering, embarrassing SHOLAY and Ray films while giving Khoobsurat a miss by a mile.

In effect, therefore, your comments are evoking nothing but scornful mirth and ridicule for your intelligence. I actually feel sad for the scribe who interviewed you and hope someone brings this post to your notice.

No Country For Women, OR, A Nation Full Of Unbridled Misogynistic Libido

"Why? Why are we so shocked, so outraged over violence against women on the streets? Are we forgetting that this is India? Where a girl-foetus is not safe in her mother's womb; where a three-year-old baby is fair sexual game for her own father; where a godman as well as the Principal of a school can with impunity molest girls who have reposed their belief and trust in them; where educated husbands abuse their wives daily and equally educated friends justify that abuse? When wombs, schools, temples and even homes are not safe, why the shock about unsafe streets?"
— Sukanya Das [a much-loved and much-loving friend]

The malaise is not 'lack of awareness' or 'lack of education'. The malaise is INACTION.

Think, people, think. And then, for heaven's sake, ACT.

Or else, ere long, we will turn ourselves into A Nation Without Women.

And that will be the greatest injustice that a country can inflict upon itself.

Alas, India

"Let the House remember this. The Indian political parties and political classes do not represent the Indian masses. It is a delusion to believe that they do. I wish they did. They are not as representative of them as the movements in Britain represent the surges and impulses of the British nation. This has been proved in the war……The Congress Party declared non-co-operation with Great Britain and the Allies.……the Muslim League, sought to make a bargain about it, but no bargain was made.……Nevertheless, the only great volunteer army in the world that fought on either side in that struggle was formed in India. More than three and a half million men came forward to support the King-Emperor and the cause of Britain; they came forward not by conscription or compulsion, but out of their loyalty to Britain and to all that Britain stood for in their lives. In handing over the Government of India to these so-called political classes we are handing over to men of straw, of whom, in a few years, no trace will remain.

This Government, by their latest action, this 14 months limitation—which is what I am coming to— (will) cripple the new Viceroy and destroy the prospect of even going through the business on the agenda which has to be settled. This can only be explained as the complete adoption of one of Mr. Gandhi’s most scatterbrained observations, which I will read to the House. It was made on 24th May, 1942, after the Mission. He said: 'Leave India in God’s hands, in modem parlance, to anarchy; and that anarchy may lead to internecine warfare for a time, or to unrestricted dacoities. From these a true India will arise in place of the false one we see.' There, as far as I can see, is a statement indistinguishable from the policy His Majesty’s Government are determined to pursue."
— Sir Winston Churchill

Truer words were seldom spoken. The "men of straw" have infested this once-great land as might a demonic, inhuman entity possess a hapless soul and will not be exorcised.

On Betrayal

How did we reach this corner of the world?

I mean, the world’s supposed to be round, right? How come it has so many corners, then? Some sunny corners, where friends meet and greet and talk and fight and make up and love and stand up for each other…

…and this dank, damp, dark, lonely, crowded-with-shadows corner, where the memories of yesterday sulk in silence, grimy tears of painful nothingness rolling up their cheeks to disappear within the hollows of the empty holes that once held shining bright eyes that lit up at the sight of each other?

How did we reach this corner of the world?

Or maybe it's not "we", but "I", thanks to your betrayal.

To The So-Called 'God' Of Cricket

Dear Mr. Sachin Tendulkar,

Retiring gracefully with your dignity and honour still intact is a million times better than f***ing your own legend for the sake of a few million bucks.

Sincerely,
Someone who considered you a 'god' from November 1989 to April 2011.

Helpless, Frustrated Rage

In 1983, Amitabh Bachchan had acted in a film titled INQUILAAB, which showed how an educated young man, unable to bear any longer the shackles of crime that were strangling him, his society, his country, takes up arms and mows down an entire room-full of corrupt politicians. As a school-going kid, I had been fascinated by the film and the strong anti-political message it sent out [though in typical cinematic fashion].

Over the last few months/years, this country of ours has been dogged, indeed, hounded by a legion of corrupt politicians/law-makers/law-keepers. The recent spate of rape crimes against women in general and kids in particular has deepened my conviction that the only way this country can be salvaged is by going the INQUILAAB way.

Take up arms. Don't appeal to the law to act. Take up arms against whoever does you wrong. An eye for an eye may very well render the whole world blind, but blind purging is a lot more preferable than seeing with helpless, fearful, cowering eyes. This country has gone to the gutters. Only a blood revolution can save it from utter destruction now.