Monthly Archives: March 2009

Expel Varun Gandhi

varun

With general elections less than a month away, BJP leader Varun Gandhi’s alleged hate speech in Pilibhit was shameless propaganda from the Gandhi scion in an attempt to win a seat from Uttar Pradesh. The BJP-led NDA would do well to immediately repudiate Gandhi’s remarks and expel him from the party, if they are to give an indication of being mature enough to win the Lok Sabha elections.

News channels spun into a frenzy as the Hindu-Muslim fire had been ignited once again. While sense has prevailed and most leaders including Muslims from the BJP have condemned Gandhi’s remarks, the Shiv Sena has his back with their claims of ‘nothing wrong’ having been said by Gandhi. The silence of more influential leaders like Narendra Modi and Prime Minister-in-waiting L K Advani is baffling though as their quick denouncement would do a world of good to the tattered image of the BJP.

Varun Gandhi’s ‘clarification’ is unapologetic and absurd, doubling the necessity to expel the leader.

“I am a victim of political conspiracy. It was not my voice, not my words,” Mr Gandhi told a press conference in the Indian capital, Delhi.

[BBC]

Even if we were to suppose that he is a victim of a political conspiracy, just how is it not ‘his voice’ and how are those not ‘his words’?

India attacks Sri Lanka in Pakistan

In the event of the dastardly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan by suspected terrorists, the Pakistani media is responding with archetypal hysteria and is resorting to blame games bordering on apathetic insanity.

Former chief of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Gen(R) Hameed Gul said India is trying to weaken Pakistan.

Commenting on the attack on Sri Lankan team, Gul told Geo News that India wants to declare Pakistan a terrorist state and firing on Sri Lankan team is related to the that conspiracy. [Geo TV]

Even the Sri Lankan government is resorting to questionable conspiracy theories by suggesting that the LTTE might be involved in the attack, hence diverging from Pakistan-sponsored and home grown terrorism.

“I have heard the LTTE mentioned on the airwaves. There is considerable speculation, but we will await the outcome of the investigation before we comment,” Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said. “We are reassured that Pakistan authorities are conducting a probe to arrest the assailants and bring them to justice,” he added. [The News Pakistan]

Fortunately, all cricketers are safe according to latest reports. Eight Pakistani security personnel lost their lives in the ‘Mumbai-style’ attacks. It is a shame that Pakistan failed to provide adequate security to the cricket team. Given the undeniable importance of cricket in the subcontinent, this attacks bears heavy on Pakistan’s so-called initiative against terrorism on its soil.

Irrespective of how Pakistan tackles this episode, the future of Pakistan cricket is thrown into complete uncertainty as there is unlikely to be any cricket tour to the country in the forseeable future.

WordPress

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Thank you for your time.