Another Onam. Phew! While working in Delhi I never even used to notice Onam days. Back here in Kerala, now I see people trying to shirk work every day in the name of Onam. Where else in the world will you see a government giving offs to people in the name of a festival, pampering them with cash advances, and then spending a fortune on festivities - in addition to burning up electricity in a electricity-deficient state?!

If Kerala is nowhere on the industry production charts, you don't have to look elsewhere. Onam is a good concept, but in the modern, globalized economy you cannot shut shop for four or five days in a row and expect to get business.

Not only is the Kerala government not realizing this truth, it is also encouraging this laziness in the people!

Mayawati Doest It, The Left Still Balks!

Wow, I can't believe this. But here is another regional party showing what it can do on exactly the same issue that the Left has held protests over for months. Yes, I am talking of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati asking big retailers, read Ambanis et al, to shut shop and go home. And here in Kerala and in New Delhi the Left has been holding protests and disrupting public life when it could have just done what Mayawati has done!
It is like how Karunanidhi showed the Left how to make the Center tow his line without putting to trouble all the people who voted for him.
I am not die-hard Leftist. But from what I have seen the Congress and the BJP do in the name of administering a state or a country, I earnestly hope that the Left remains in power in Kerala. I know many people who voted for the Left last elections aren't Leftists either, but simply those who chose them as they were fed up by the Congress or the BJP.
However, it seems the only people who don't want this goodwill to continue are the Left leaders. Why block traffic and call for shop shut-downs in Kerala when you can just ask Ambani to pack up and go home? Why let one of your leaders inaugurate Reliance Fresh's shops and then hold protests against the company? Search me!
But that is how the Left has always been. When people bring them back to power they will do everything possible to lose that power. And then they will go for another round of violent protests as the Opposition. The only losers, in both cases, are the people of the state.
Dear Karat, please learn from what Karunanidhi and Mayawati have done. If you thought that what they did was impossible, at least now don't stick to that line. It is possible and has been done.
If you want to protest against something do what you can about it first before putting people's livelihoods at stake.

Callous Officials Spoil Onam, But Kodiyeri Stars

The Onam fever is gripping Kerala, but rather than help the people enjoy this festival the government and the bureaucrats are trying to spoil it for them. The wave of fever infections sweeping the state is showing no sign of abating, and the health minister is still not in sight!
And the roads are still looking like canals. The roads minister went on a tour of the roads and elicited promises from officials that those potholes will be filled in "2 days." But let us wait and watch! If they couldn't repair it all these days, I doubt if they can do it in 2 days.
The only silver lining is the home minister's order to the police to stop harassing the public over not wearing helmets and seat belts. This home minister has time and again come out with orders that have helped the people - a welcome departure from the UDF days when the politicians in power let the police make as much money as possible from the public. Keep up the good work, Kodiyeri!
Lest I be painted a Pinarayi supporter for praising the home minister, let me say that the state health minister is a total failure. It is not enough to keep telling the people no one has died from chikunguniya in the state. At least show your face to the public. Mr Pinarayi, please take this woman out of this government. She is destroying the entire good image of the LDF. I pity this woman's ineptitude - even after an MP is down with fever she has done precious nothing about the health care machinery.
One heartening thing that happened yesterday was the tribal people marching to MP Veerendrakumar's son Shreyamskumar's (not sure if I have spelled it right) illegal land. The police shooed them away but I have a feeling Veeran cannot brush this issue under the carpet anymore. He may use his rag Mathrubhumi to settle political scores or divert attention but he will have to give up the land he has held on to illegally.

Ahcumama, A Hero? My Foot!

So the Left has pulled back from the brink and Manmohan Singh can sigh in relief. But then, there is nothing new in the Left's decision to keep supporting the UPA government. Power is too sweet to let go!
My question is did we gain anything by all this tough talk, or did the Left gain anything? The Indo-US nuclear deal remains as it was.
From a personal viewpoint, though, I am happy the Left did not resort to its ancient tactic of calling strikes in Kerala and West Bengal against a central government that it supports. From Keralites and Bengalis: a huge "Thank You", Mr. Karat!
One reader tells me in his comment that I am full of Hindutva garbage. Wrong and right. Because I favor the Hindutva ideology, though it is not any of the particular flavors now afloat in India. My Hindutva leanings (though I don't think it would fit the connotations of that word) are a logical culmination of my thought that in a country with a 80 per cent Hindu population, you cannot avoid Hindu politics. Beyond that I don't think I am a Hindutva supporter.
The same reader tells me Pinarayi and Achumama are the true heroes of Kerala. I doubt if we can apply the word 'heroes' to either of the leaders, and I think definitely not to Achumama.
Achumama knows only wanton destruction, as I mentioned in an earlier post. And if his faction is being ousted (or cut down) from CPM committees in Kerala, he is just reaping what he sowed. I would like to repeat: this man single-handedly has sown the seeds of destruction in Kerala CPM and watched over those plants. He, along with cronies such as MM Lawerence, kicked out and ruined the political future of many earnest party workers. If he is getting paid back for some of those deeds, why cry about it now?
And in this new world I think it is Pinarayi's brand of Communism that will find more takers. Anyone who thinks Achu can be their savior is just living in a fool's paradise. The man is just living for fame, something that is never rightfully his, but which a media syndicate comprising of Veeran and others is trying to hand over to him.
But as I said, stay tuned for my post on Pinarayi and Achu. And, yes, more such stinging comments are welcome!

On Taslima And The Left

I am waiting to know how the Left Front government in West Bengal will react to the proclamation of an Imam from the state that he will reward anyone killing Bengladeshi woman writer Tasleema Nasrin. Well, I doubt the fundamentalist Imam will be jailed - the Left likes to cultivate the radical Islamists against Hindu vote politics. But how can you allow a weirdo to take the law of the land into his hands and issue death threats? As always, the Left would have two rules in this case too, I guess!

Kerala MPs Deserve A Clap On Salem Division Issue!

Could not update this blog as much as I wanted as I got busy, but the last few days have been interesting.
For one, I think for the first time in my memory, the MPs from Kerala flexed their collective muscle. Yeah, guys it wasn't the MPs from Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, for a change. I remember the Narasimha Rao government, packed with MPs from Kerala and K Karunakaran in the kingmaker role. Yet, Kerala continued to get the step-motherly treatment that it always got. Frankly, when the Left supported the UPA at the Center, despite all the headlines, I did not believe Kerala would benefit in any way. History was heavily loaded against our poor state. And the CPM is more concerned with West Bengal, at least the Commissars at the top of the party are.
But this time Kerala MPs showed we can expect pleasant surprises from them. And their combined show of force on the creation of the Salem Division by the Railways came after Oommen Chandy going to press saying Sonia Gandhi attending that function is not wrong. I guess Chandy has swallowed his words.
That one Kerala MP was sent out of the House by the Speaker shows how strong the protest was. Till now the state's only voice at the Center was a bureaucrat - TKA Nair in the PMO. It is good to know our MPs are finally taking their job seriously instead of playing a game of duplicity with the people who have sent them to Delhi. Hope we can see this camaraderie in more issues concerning the state, such as Mullaperiyar.
Dear MPs, we the people of Kerala, are extending you a heartfelt clap. Keep up the good work!
Okay, but the show of force notwithstanding, the political scene is a bit roiled. Will the UPA express derail over the Indo-US nuclear deal? From the Left's record, I can easily say it won't. But maybe, yes there is a very slim maybe here, Manmohan's throne is a bit shaky this time.
I have got angry responses from Achumama's supporters among my friends to this blog, accusing me of supporting the Pinarayi faction. Let me tell you that is far from the truth, even though I don't like Achumama one bit. But I will soon be making a post comparing Pinarayi with Achumama. Keep tuned for that!

Mr Karat, Stop Biting The Hand That Feeds You!

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat's warning to the UPA government about the Indo-US nuclear deal is a step in the right direction. But I doubt if the CPM or the Left will go the whole way to stick to their stand, and let the government fall if they try to push through the deal in Parliament.
For long the Left has been acting like a toothless tiger, pushing the government on various issues and meekly giving way when the Congress pushed back. They did that in the name of not allowing the BJP to come to power. And then they resort to organizing strikes in Kerala and West Bengal against the central government that they support! The only ones who have suffered from this political joke have been the very people who elected the Left to power. The people in Delhi or elsewhere in the country have gone through their day's work without even knowing life had been brought to a standstill in Kerala and West Bengal. What a farce!
I hoped the Left will stop this game when Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu showed how to get what he wanted without any of the theatrics. I don't specifically remember the issue (it was about the trade unions in Neyveli Lignite Corporation, I think) but when the central government moved against his political interests Karunanidhi just sent word to the Prime Minister through one of his ministers that he is going to withdraw support. No noise, no nonsense. And no strikes in your state against a central government that depends on you for survival! It did the trick - the Center caved in! And the people of Tamil Nadu did not have to suffer any loss of business from a strike.
Newspapers across the country carried cartoons calling the Left's bluff the next day - comparing Karunanidhi with the Left. I really hoped the Left had learned its lesson then. I mean, when the central government is dependent on you for survival why put the very people who voted you to power through difficulties. The Tamil strongman showed what you can do if you did not know already that you could do it!
Still - this is the most unbelievable part of this tragedy - the Left has continued with the farce. They have continued their bluff, calling nationwide strikes against the Center that affect only Kerala and West Bengal. Plus regular statewide, disctrict-wide and even panchayat-level protests in the Kerala and West Bengal! If this isn't punishing the very people who gave you a voice at the national level, what is it?!
Okay, coming back to the point we started with, will the Left finally be able to show that it can bite and not just bark? I hope it will, but I don't think the old goats in the Politburo will go the whole hog. I strongly suspect it will be the same old story again. Power is too sweet to let go once you taste it, even if you are a Leftist! And it will be the unfortunate people in Kerala and West Bengal who will lose business - for the crime of voting for the Left. The Left's history shows it can bite only the hand that feeds it!

Left Is Right, And So Is BJP!

Is the Left's, and the BJP's, stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal good for the country? Well, it is too early to say. But going by past actions of the US, it is safe to be cautious and not to put too much hope on that deal.
We have seen on several occasions how the United States has left India hanging when it came to national security, while supporting Pakistan to the hilt. One could argue it is a whole new global strategic scenario now. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that the United States, and the West in general, will not repeat what they have done earlier with respect to India's legitimate security concerns.
The West now needs India's help to tame the monster of Islamic terrorism. And yes, it is also something in India's strategic interest. But what I hate about various Congress -led governments that have come to power in Delhi is that they try to see India's geo-political interests through the prism held out by the West. They have forgotten that the Indian have had strong relationships with various other nations and people, relationships spanning various planes. These governments have tried to follow a foreign policy that is largely a remnant of the Raj's policies.
The Vajpayee government, to its credit, made an attempt to go back to our roots and relationships by initiating the 'Look East' policy. But I think the Sahibs in the Congress have shelved that again.
We need to understand that our foreign and strategic interests are not exactly the same as those being preached to us by the West, mainly the United States and Britain. We have an existence of our own, something that predates the era of these two western powers. And our governments need to look at the various equations in that relationship before trying to lick the boots of the West.
In that respect - and not on the merits or demerits of the Indo-US nuclear deal - I would say the Left and the BJP are right. If they can force this government of western lackey Manmohan Sigh, driven by a westerner like Sonia Gandhi, to strike new paths in foreign policy then it is good for the long-term interests of this country.

Crossing The Rs 12 Red Line

I started this blog to express my views about happenings in India but have been concentrating lately on Kerala and the theatrics happening in the state's political scene. But something has jolted me back to focus on my original goal.
There is this government-commissioned report that says 836 million Indians live on less than Rs 20 a day, or about 50 cents in US dollars. That figure comes to around 75 per cent of the Indian population. And some of them are not even considered poor by our government or planners because our own poverty threshold is around Rs 12 a day! Now, which one of us can survive on Rs 20 a day, let alone Rs 12? Still millions in this country lead such a terrible life.
The silver lining in their lives is that living standards and income levels are increasing and, if not they, their children can hope to be out of this terrible burden on their lives.
But it is not an easy road to that destination. Because, for one, the current rise in incomes is due to a strong global economy and outsourcing boom. The first one is already under threat with hedge funds and speculators trying to spoil the party. The second one, too, is not going to be there always. Because of job pressures from the West, and because our own politicians are trying to make life difficult for companies that are tapping into outsourcing in India.
I run such a company, and I cannot explain how much I am perturbed by the frequent stop-works and strikes our political parties indulge in. I am answerable to my clients and I cannot tell them every day that "oh, we got a bandh here".
There is a vested interest for the political parties here to see the poor remain poor - as permanent vote banks. So they don't care about raising them above the Rs 12 red line of poverty.
Just think of this: which of our politicians, including the Communists, would be able to survive on Rs 12 a day? But then, the poor have no voice!

Pharis: The Model For The New Malayali!

Everyone who tries to paint himself a supporter of Achumama is these days gunning for Pharis. Maybe it is just because it has become fashionable to do so. Well, there are also some vested interests taking on Pharis. Like MP Veerendrakumar of Mathrubhumi. Veeran is angry that his illegal possession of acres of land is being highlighted in the media even as he and his paper have been egging on Achumama's backhoe loaders in Munnar.
Then there are those established vested interests - like PC George, MLA - who don't like an upstart like Pharis. They moan about Pharis' sudden rise to wealth - and fame. Discerning readers can easily recognize those cries as the fear of the established elite over being pushed out of the decision-making and opinion-leading roles in Kerala society.
Yes, far from being a danger I would say Pharis is the model for the younger generation Malayali to follow. And I would stick by that opinion even if tomorrow some solid evidence surfaces about some wrongdoing on his part (not the kind of stuff Veeran publishes daily in his rag. I wonder how his editor manages to keep working under such a moron!). He shows that if you break out of the limiting political and social molds currently in force in this state, you can make it big. Only problem then is that the established elite who profit from the current political, financial and social structures, such as Veeran and George, will gun for you. But that is because they fear they will be swept away by the currents of change sweeping the state; and they want to keep the status quo. The most enduring face of this obscurantist order that they want to preserve and protect is Achumama - the man who has never built anything, and who knows only to destroy wantonly. No wonder Veeran, George, and numerous other vested interests are supporting Achu.
But Kerala is changing. And the currents of time are sweeping away the old structures. Pharis can be maligned and tarnished. But tomorrow many more will follow his path, and the new generation Malayali will accept that to make a few crores in a few years is, in itself, not a sin.
Veeran and George and Achumama fear that day. But let us not!

Whither Achu? Whither Kerala? Whither CPM?

It is indeed interesting to watch the Achumama-Pinarayi road show, what with everyone trying to paint every imaginable conflict in the Achu-Pinarayi colors, like the Catholic Church's fight with Pharis Aboobacker over Deepika. What prompted me to write this piece is the support Achu seems to enjoy amongst at least a section of today's youth. I really find it disconcerting that Achu, who is one of the most inefficient and inept chief minister that Kerala has ever had, enjoys at least some support among the youth. Even more disconcerting is the fact that they have falling for Achu's verbal gimmicks.

I know I stand the danger of being painted a Pinarayi supporter, but let us face it: Achu's administration has done precious little in the way of governance. Of course, if we believe Achu's media managers that tearing down illegal constructions in Munnar is a great achievement for the state, then Achu is the best chief minister Kerala has had. Sadly, bulldozing illegal constructions is not among the criteria on which I, and most pople, would like to rate an administration. Without taking away from Achu the credit for doing it in all his haste, let us remember that even if those buildings stood a fw more days it wouldn't have mattered for the average Malayali.

And there are a lot of things that matter for the Keralite and those for which Achu's administration has scored zero marks. Let us look at the health scene. I think a zillion types of viruses are wreaking havoc in the state, and the health care system has all but broken down. Still we are yet to see a concerted effort from the part of the government to lick the issue. Yes, you can say the health minister is a Pinarayi supporter and is to blame. But Achu as chief minister is not above blame. Why cannot he act - like in the case of the Munnar demolitions - and get the health machinery moving? Because that is not going to bring him cheap publicity. The picture I get is that of an old man hungry for cheap publicity, but completely inept when it comes to ruling the state.

Or look at the state of the roads in the state. Except for the showpiece stretch of tarmac in front of the Raj Bhavan there is not a single road in Thiruvananthapuram without potholes. I would not even classify some of these as roads! And this did not happen overnight. The roads were pretty bad even before the monsoons started. The sad thing is neither the CM or the ministers or the officials are worried about this rickety state of affairs.

These are just two things that come to mind when trying to evaluate Achumama's government. I highlighted them here because they affect the common man more directly than any other issue now. Yet it is sad that some think Achu is a fantastic chief minister. The people are clapping now, and they are being egged on by people like Veerendrakumar and other media guys. But the day is not far when open questions will arise about the Achu government. By then the damage would have been done to the LDF. The CPM Politburo should act fast and decide if they need a wily, power-crazy, and incompetent old man who is trying to build himself a larger-than-party image as chief minister and lose its credibility in the bargain or would rather have a more competent, disciplined and practical chief minister and save the future of the party and the state. The faster the Politburo addresses the question, the better.

Media Wars: Veeran Gets A Black Eye!

One of the best things I love about the current roil in the media scene with respect to the Pharis-Achumama controversy is that Veerendrakumar, and Mathrubhumi, have been cut to size.
Ever since he defeated the entry of Times of India to the Malayalam media scene through his political connections, Veeran has been punching far above his weight. And now, Deepika, a featherweight in the Malayalam print media scene has screwed Veeran and his paper, and showed up their brand of journalism.
Everyone knows that Veeran took on the Pinarayi faction of the CPM and Deepika in trying to cover up the issue of his illegal possession of hectares of land. While clapping from the sidelines while Achumama's backhoe loaders were tearing down buildings in Munnar, Veeran forgot that he himself was sitting in a glass tower and throwing stones. Veeran stepped up attacks against the Pinarayi faction to distract readers from his land issue. And in doing that he bit off more than he could chew. If Veeran was accustomed to punching above his weight, now he has had to accustom himself to an adversary who punches far above his weight! Yes, I am talking about Pharis Aboobacker, the chairman of Deepika.
Whatever the controversy about Pharis' chairmanship of Deepika, he has managed to expose Veeran's double standards and his brand of tabloid journalism to the Malayali readers. Veeran's paper, the once-venerable Mathrubhumi, did the unthinkable in printing totally unsubstantiated allegations about Pharis and claiming that not even a photo of his is available. Pharis then appeared on TV and said Mathrubhumi could have got his photo from the income-tax office, or even worse, from PV Nideesh, one of the directors of Mathrubhumi and Pharis' close friend. In trying to obfuscate his mistake Veeran went on to dig up all remotely related trash about Pharis and publicize them under huge headlines, while conveniently censoring Nidheesh's denial from Mathrubhumi's readers.
Veeran has forgotten that we are now living in an information age and he cannot suppress the truth for long. If Veeran won't print his director's denial of a Mathrubhumi news story, it will still reach the readers. And discerning Malayali readers are beginning to lose faith in Veeran and his rag. Yes, I am pained to say that but Mathrubhumi is fast turning a rag in Malayalam journalism.
As Pharis said, there is no need to get overly proud over the fact that Mathrubhumi was started by nationalist fighters; those running the paper currently [Veeran and co] have no connection with those great men. Yes, what we are currently witnessing is the slow burial of a venerable newspaper, all to serve the personal agenda of a wily land grabber.
If those who say that Malayalis have a right to know the source of Pharis' wealth are correct, then Malayalis also have a right to question Veeran's agenda and the source of his wealth. He cannot obfuscate facts and keep a veil on reality as easily as he could have done a few years ago. Sooner or later the world will find out about Veeran. My only prayer is Mathrubhumi won't be dead by then.

Needed: Temple Entry For All

I have been thinking about the controversy surrounding the issue of temple entry to those born non-Hindus but are believers. A lot of arguments and counter arguments have been raised, with the ever obscurantist and casteist Nair Service Society throwing its weight (?!) behind those who want to maintain the skewed system of caste-based privileges.
But there are some larger questions to be asked before we approach this issue. For one, who decides someone is a believer or a non-believer? Can the temple priests vouch for someone's belief just because s/he has declared that s/he is a believer in the Hindu religion? For all you know that person could still be a non-Hindu in the core of his being!
Second question: if Hindus pride themselves to be the most inclusive religion with the loftiest of philosophies, why look into the question of someone's belief at all? If you really believe all creation is one, does it matter if some worm or homo sapien believes that s/he does not belong to the Hindu faith!
The argument has been raised by some that restricted access is needed in temples to maintain their purity. From what I have seen in various temples, there is no specious argument than this. Do you think all Hindu temples are clean and pure because only Hindus are allowed? I would disagree.
Also, this leads to another question: is spirituality connected to outer cleanliness. There were many men of god who were regarded highly for their spiritual achievements but who scarcely washed their bodies. And from my own experiences, I have felt the temples in Tamil Nadu and North India had better spiritual vibrations than those in Kerala with their haughty priests and Tantric rituals and restrictions.
In my humble opinion, Hindu temples should be open to everyone but with reasonable restrictions put in place to maintain harmony and cleanliness. Let us remember that even now many curious non-Hindus visit some of these temples without the guardians of Tantric rules even knowing it. Yesudas, who expressed his interest openly in visiting Guruvayoor cannot visit the temple (despite him being a great devotee and his records being played at every temple!) while many non-Hindus visit the temple daily without anyone knowing it! At the very least, it would be a farce to maintain this restriction when you can never really enforce it.
Also, we need to realize that this new world in which we live has little need for these retrograde traditions. We need to do away with them without a second thought and we need to do that fast. And for that to happen, each one of us need to approach the issue without the baggage of traditions that we have, a baggage the likes of NSS leaders and the Namboodiri priests are using to keep us from seeing Light!

Pharis, Not Faris - And Not Paris!

I got his name wrong in my last post. It is Pharis, and not Faris.
The second episode of the interview was even better. Our man went on to cut to size VS's bloated media image, something that was highly necessary. The points he raised were valid, questions that should have been asked about the Demolition CM's activities long back. But our media with its vested interests were busy "clapping" from the sidewalks - enjoying its lamp-post reporting role while forgetting its lighthouse reporting role. Thanks Pharis, you spoke for a lot of us Malayalis who have lost voice in this media frenzy - created by media barons with vested interests - over Achu's rule. And he went of to equate Achu's age old trick of resorting to trivia to tarnish opponents to what jealous school kids do - in reference to Pharis being referred to as Paris, our man said that is what my friends used to sometimes call me in school. He went on to paint Achu's conduct as puerile, despite Brittas trying hard to change tack!
And Mathrubhumi is still at its deception game with its readers - no news about its director being a friend of Pharis and more reportage about the former official of Singapore Kidney Foundation - connected with Pharis previously - being jailed.
Big photo, big headline on frontpage, but no serious reason for it to be there.
But then, what do you expect of a paper with Veerendrakumar as editor, eh?!
For the Malayali, tired of Achu's political circuses and oneupmanship the only hope now is the CPM Politbureau will do something to kick the government out of its inaction. Hope while they are reviewing Pharis' tapes they will have the sense to understand the message he gave - about delivery and performance mattering more now. Or will the ivory tower leaders - most of who can't even win a Panchayat election - still engage in endless debates about if the channel did the right thing?!
Maybe Keralites should give Pharis a chance to become their chief minister. At least that will show the politicians that they don't really matter!

Faris Shows Up Malayalam Journalism!

I watched the interview Faris Aboobacker gave to John Brittas in People Channel of Kairali TV with joy. For once the interviewee was in charge, completely dominating the proceedings and leaving the interviewer struggling to catch up and trying to make some feeble interjections! Also, Faris showed what Malayalam journalists are really worth - blasting them for not doing enough homework and for practicing armchair journalism. And in a not so subtle way Faris leveled the same charge against Brittas, who could not even parry Faris's pointed questions.
The interviewee was clearly calling the shots, and by far a better journalist than the interviewer!
Another piece I loved about it was Faris tearing up Mathrubhumi's self-professed right to take the moral high ground citing its history as a paper founded by nationalists against British colonial rule. Faris said what every impartial Malayali reader had on his mind while reading such lofty claims by Mathrubhumi's nameless journalists: Mathrubhumi cannot pride itself on that count because it is not the descendants of those nationalists who are running the paper now but people who were opposed to the Congress till before the emergency - that one should strike Veerendrakumar in the eye. Kudos!
And Mathrubhumi fumbled repeatedly in its attempt to bat for Chief Minister Achutanandan: claiming there is no photo of Faris in existence and that he is a mystery to people even in his home village, while the truth was one of the directors of Mathrubhumi was a close friend of Faris. The director went on to blast the paper for publishing such reports but the venerable editor thought it prudent to hide that!
Whatever be the merits or demerits of this case, I like this spat for two reasons: one Faris showed up Malayalam journalim; two, Veerendrakumar has ended up with egg on his face!

Achtung! LDF Going The UDF Way In Kerala

The infighting in the Left Democratic Front is actually causing a lot of pain to people who voted them to power. Let us first face the fact that a lot of people who voted for the LDF aren't members of any of the parties. They voted for the LDF because they were tired by the corruption and lack of accountability and complete breakdown of the administrative machinery during the United Democratic Front't rule.
I remember the last days of the UDF government. I had just returned from Delhi, and what I saw was something unimaginable in a state like Kerala which prides itself on its awareness and liberal outlook. Just one example: the police were out in the streets flagging down and checking any vehicle and fining them, trying to extort money from motorists. And if you wanted to complain about it to someone higher up, the officer you approached would ask you to grease his palms! The general feeling was the ruling leaders had let the policemen out on the streets to make money even as they themselves were lining their pockets.
Okay, now the funny thing was while the police were so active on the roads the thieves were having a field day! There were gangs of robbers roaming the streets, even in Thiruvananthapuram, and going about their 'profession' with immunity!
Now, this was one instance of UDF misrule. And the people were tired of it. So the LDF came to power - not because of the charisma of VS Achutanandan or the cadre folloewing of the CPM!
Look at the state of affairs now! The faction war has hobbled the administration. Even as various kinds of fevers ravage the populace the state health minister is not to be seen. The treatment and cleaning drives are non-existent. All that the chief minister and his cronies are worried about is image building, while leaving the day-to-day functioning of the government in the hands of an inept bureaucracy! Even the party machinery which usually steps in to correct such mistakes is split along factional lines and engaged in a game of trying to run down each other.
Little wonder even die-hard Communists are now saying they made a mistake in voting this government to power.
They may be exaggerating: the LDF is still better than the corrupt and divisive UDF; but their feelings can only be ignored to the peril of the current government. That is the most insidious part of the current state of affairs. Public memory is short; the UDF can come back to power if the LDF continues on this track. Will we go back to those days of rampant corruption and extortion? I fear to think of it.

Why All This Noise About Sanjay Dutt?

Why is there so much noise over Sanjay Dutt being put behind bars? I just don't understand it. The man may not have directly planned the Mumbai blasts, but he definitely was pally with the terrorists who did it. And he possessed automatic weapons banned by law.
Now, let us forget all the issues about whether Dutt deserves this or not. Let us just look at how a common citizen would have been punished if he was in Dutt's boots - a common man who would not have the money or the celebrity status to gain media attention or to get an army of illustrious lawyers. None of us would have even given a second thought about the quantum of punishment such a person gets. Therein lies the crux of the issue - celebrities or common people, everyone has to be same before the law. Our justice system has flouted this principle umpteen times, but this time it has not. So instead of throwing stones let us for one celebrate the unbiased justice system and the characters in it who delivered this judgment.
Also, there have been some comments from Dutt's fellow actor community that a celebrity should not be given such a punishment. Come on, look at what happened to Paris Hilton. If the people giving such comments were in Europe or America they would have been behind bars for at least 3 days for the offence!