Sonia Gandhi Mystery Deepens, Chocolates Spied

Paul Beckett

The mystery around Sonia Gandhi’s unexplained absence from India this summer is getting even more bizarre.

The Congress party, as has been repeatedly noted, has said only that its President went for treatment abroad. Now, barely one week after returning to New Delhi, Mrs. Gandhi was well enough to chair a meeting. This was not just any meeting, but a gathering of Congress’s Central Election Committee, which appears to have the unenviable task of wading through reams of candidates to select to run for seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Despite Mrs. Gandhi apparently not being well enough to appear in public, the Business Standard reported that she achieved almost the same level of candidate-selection productivity as the committee’s previous meeting held, in her absence, at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Race Course Road meeting “cleared the first list of the names of 73 party candidates for the UP elections,” the article said. “While a total of 98 names were discussed at the meeting on Thursday, only about 70 were finally cleared.”

Mrs. Gandhi, to hear her Congress lieutenants tell it, is not just on the mend but actually improved. After greeting the committee “attired in three-inch wedge heels and a bluish grey salwar suit,” the article said, one party functionary gushed that she looked “younger than usual” and was “more than usually cheerful.” One might ask, looking across the political landscape, what she has to be cheerful about unless it is the prospect of Narendra Modi going for a weekend without food, but that is beside the point. In comparison, the normally outlandish Digvijay Singh verged on the morose when he noted only that “nobody could make out that she has undergone any operation.” But even he couldn’t refrain from slipping in an upbeat coda: “Touch wood, she was looking quite good!” None of this is to belittle what Mrs. Gandhi underwent, whatever it was. We don’t know, because of the official silence. But how her absence – and her return – have been treated, especially by her Congress underlings, speaks volumes about the culture within the party. If you actually believed all these comments and quotes and had to guess where she had been, you’d think she’d spent a few weeks at Canyon Ranch and had brought back some nice gifts for her admirers. “She accepted our bouquet of flowers and greetings,” the unnamed functionary gushed. “We were delighted with the milk chocolates with nuts that she served us apart from the coffee.” What? He sounds like a schoolboy who has just met the Queen circa 1955.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, waves to the press after leaving Cromwell Hospital, London in November 2010. On reading it, I was reminded of Margaret Thatcher. Not that the two women have much in common politically. But during Mrs. Thatcher’s time, her reputation as the Alpha Male among her Cabinet was legendary. Next to her, grown men — tough men with decades of experience in political combat — were said to go wobbly. One of the most famous sketches on the British satirical puppet show “Spitting Image” shows the Iron Lady, as Mrs. T was known, taking her Cabinet out to dinner. “Would you like to order sir?” the waitress asks the prime minister. “Yes, I will have the steak,” she says. “How’d you like it?” the waitress asks “Oh, raw please,” Mrs. Thatcher responds. “And what about the vegetables?” the waitress asks. “Oh,” says Mrs. Thatcher. “They’ll have the same as me.”

NDTV’s Great Indian Tamasha could do well to take inspiration if it is thinking of featuring Mrs. Gandhi anytime soon.

Paul Beckett is the WSJ’s South Asia bureau chief. You can follow Mr. Beckett on Twitter at @paulwsj.

Can a Jihadi Muslim be rehabilitated?

Dr. Babu Suseelan

Jihadis who claim to be followers of MohaMad consider Islam as a perfect religion and need no revision, renaissance or reformation. Those who question it's irrational statements will be beheaded. Muslims are indoctrinated at a very young age through rot learning of the desert originated Koran. They never learn logical reasoning or develop any critical analytical methods. As a result, they grow up with emotional immaturity and intellectual difficulty in comprehending complex philosophical aphorisms and theories. Terrorism and fighting is the only problem solving methods they know.

The importance of Jihadi Muslim's sociological, psychological and communal life and built in prejudices are harmful to learning new problem solving techniques. Muslim children learn harmful Islamic practices at an early age at their Madrases. Islamic teacher attitudes play a large part in the etiology of learning disability of Muslims.

Islamic adherents reject all other religious theories, scientific facts and life philosophy. And Islam teaches polarity between believers and non believers.

Thus criminal behavior of Jihadi Muslims (Beheading, bombing, terrorism, hijacking, stoning, limb amputation) can be attributed to inherited deficiencies in the Islamic education system and become anti social through their Islamic definition of Kafirs and Infidels. As a result Jihadi Muslims develop character disorder, ego deficiency, and other carcinogenic needs. Islamic communities around the world amplify psycho pathologies of Jihadis as a form of divisive dysfunctional behavior.

Islamic preachers, Muslim Jihadi leaders, and Islamic Peer group pressure are considered crucial to the development of deviant behavior among Jihadis.

If rehabilitation of Jihadi Muslims to take place, we have to consider Islamic values. Islamic values are rigid, non compromising, non changeable, fundamental and dogmatic. There is mounting evidence that current practices are largely ineffective in altering or changing anti human Islamic values. For every appeasement policy and concession provided to Jihadi Muslims have failed miserably.Jihadis demand more for every concession provided to them.

There is no systematic research to evaluate programs for Muslims. This omission often leads to the question of over sell of such appeasement policy and programs for Muslims. Failure to recognize this fact is responsible for government waste and it fosters Jihadi terrorism in India. Asking for objective evaluation of appeasement programs for Muslims (Hajj Subsidy, Job Reservation, Special Islamic education, Mullah Pension, special privileges) from phony-corrupt secular politicians is tantamount to asking a man to testify against himself.

Essentially our strategies must be to alter Muslim's deviant values, attitudes, perception and change their criminogenic needs. Instead, government policies and programs amplify criminal values and deviant life of Jihadis. This has resulted in the common idiom by such saying as "you can not teach an old dog new tricks", " a leopard does not change his spots", and "once a Jihadi terrorist, always Jihadi terrorist".

Jihadi terrorism and criminal behavior around the world clearly indicates as scientific observation of Jihadi criminal behavior. Re socialization of Jihadi Muslim is a very difficult proposition.

Although appeasement of Jihadis do not appear to be highly successful, Jihadi terrorism continues through out India. Muslims seldom acquire secular-tolerant values or express any desire to co habitate with infidels.Perhaps the best way to achieve socialization of Jihadis would be to re-emphasize humanistic approach to criminal Jihadi behavior and emphasize pragmatism. Jihadi criminals and Islamic terrorists like all ex-convicts fall back into crime because they are criminals at heart and are incorrigible. The concept of punishment and restraints must be enforced. Jihadi offenders must be arrested, prosecuted, and punished and they should not be allowed to run freely. If Jihadi criminals are not restrained the society is jeopardized.

Ignorant, incompetent or irresponsible?

Dr Pravin Togadia

Again jehadi terror struck Delhi! Around three months back, in Delhi Court itself there was a powerful blast and the learned Home Minister with the Donald Duck smile promised Bharat that there would be proper security. There wasn’t, of course! Who has time to secure the nation, anyways! Those who are supposed to ensure the safety and security of the nation by strengthening hands of army, police etc, are busy misusing their good offices in bad-mouthing and persecuting Hindus, common people and old social workers.

Truly learned people from all walks of life have been alerting all Government that the menace of jehadi terrorism will gobble up Bharat very soon. But No! Most Government including the Centre have been purposely ignoring such well-meaning warnings. Are they really ignorant about the entire ideology behind jehadi terrorism? Does not seem so. The intelligence agencies of Bharat are smart and well informed. They are aware of the indoctrination being done in many countries – some neighbouring ones – of the youth towards killing those who are not like them. The internet is full of provocative messages and even jehadi recruitment sites. From the USA to Germany – all have been alerting Bharat that the jehadis no more look like the typical stereotype! They may have a foreign colour of skin, eyes and hair. David Headly is a glaring example. Internal agencies may have millions of dockets on domestic modules of jehadi outfits and about their nexus with the international ones. But yet the Goliath is sleeping. Not really!

People who run the government are not as ignorant as they would like to show! After each blast like a junior constable, the Donald Duck smile gives details of how many dies, how many injured and with the same clichéd line – we can not tell who really did it. Obviously! If he tells who really did it, he would lose his job and his party thinks it may lose a minority vote bank. So they have now crossed that stage of showing ignorance and entered the dark zone of incompetence!

Being incompetent is easier for such people. They really do not have to be accountable to anything! People die; many lose their legs, hands and therefore – their livelihoods; families collapse under sorrow and drudgery of living; nation is permanently terrorised as wanted by the jehadis! But incompetent people have no action to face. They do not lose their jobs, legs, hands, lives. They become a party to indirectly terrorise the nation by issuing mere alerts. Shamelessly the Donald Duck smile says – ‘we had an alert in July about High Court attack.’ Can there be anyone more incompetent than this? Knowing well, experiencing the attack in the similar area once, not even a CCTV there? Such people rattle the same sentences after every blast! Be it Mumbai or Delhi or Pune or anywhere!

They found out a new way to cover up their incompetent behaviour – they send NIA to each place wherever there is any blast. Not to really find out the real culprits but to ensure that Hindus and Hindu organisations are implicated in the attacks. They try to distract the well meaning local state investigating agencies and throw the probe in limbo so that the Jehadis are never punished but Hindus are implicated.

They may be gaining a few votes by doing it but in the long run not only they will lose the majority votes but they would also lose the power – because jehadis will over power the government, media, judiciary and administration. The makings of this are evident in many places from Kashmir to many districts of Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala–so to say–in every state! But Donald Duck smile’s leader is busy visiting Bangladesh showering on it goodies like 24 X 7 unchecked entry into Bharat (as if they waited until now! That’s the route jehadis have been taking and Bharat’s intelligence agencies must be having enough proofs!), giving away 600+ acre Bharat’s land to Bangladesh (as if it is his personal property!), trying to compromise on Teesta river water and what not! It is truly a shame that when such a powerful nation’s head is visiting Bangladesh, the jehadi groups grown in the very Bangladesh blast Bharat’s High Court in the capital! Is it a height of being incompetent?

Well, no! Being ignorant can damage the nation, but one can not doubt the intentions. Being incompetent can damage the nation more and it seems the voters should now create and raise the efficiency bars even for the ‘netas’ they choose! But yet being incompetent is not the Government’s fault – it is just like that! May be unfit for the job!

But, being irresponsible is intentional! It is killing someone with a purpose and the Government are doing this with majority of Bharat! Killing sanaatani Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Scheduled Castes, OBCs, Tribals…. Knowingly! They know that jehadi modules have been growing in Bharat with the help of the same Pakistan and Bangladesh with whom they claim to do dialogue! When a person is caught for a murder, the nexus or contact that the person has with the dead person is checked. If confirmed, the crime is confirmed. Here, many political leaders are seen appeasing known separatist jehadi groups. Then, when such groups strike and people of Bharat are killed, why should not be such hob-nobbers arrested? ‘Get blasted every now and then and get used to it’ is a highly irresponsible way to run the Government. Same happened in Kashmir, Assam, Tripura, Manipur etc and now all over Bharat!

Bharat’s majority is not born to tolerate such irresponsibility from anyone, however mighty he or she may be! Over 1000 years, Bharat fought against invaders and now even in the chosen democracy, if the majority has to get killed by the similar Jehadis because the rulers are irresponsible and bend for votes, then Bharat’s majority will democratically and peacefully focus on protecting itself without getting distracted or deviated by any euphoric dreams of pseudo reforms, development etc or by any so-called utopian social movements that do not ensure basic safety. Bharat knows how to protect itself. And Bharat will. Because Bharat has its own very strong ideology that is much more total and fulfilling that the jehadi indoctrination or than the opportunistic populist pseudo secularism due to which with a clumsy smile most politicians rattle figures as to how many per cent jobs had been given by them to the minority and so on. Majority is no more amused by such histrionics. Majority of Bharat wants strong systems that do not bend before jehadis either for votes or for money or for cheap publicity. And Bharat knows how to set such systems without ignorant, incompetent and irresponsible people.