Bad omens

First there was the incident in Mangalore where a minor crime (violation of individual's fundamental rights as guaranteed in our constitution) to a major crime of terrorism and Talibanisation. Now attempts are being made to connect the people involved to Malegaon case. Now thats a leap of faith right there! But more concerning is the amount of media attention such incidents are being given in proportion to the actual terrorist and actual talibanisation incidents.

Next was the extremely interesing episode involving powerful Ms. Barkha Dutt of the rich NDTV, poor Mr.Chyetanya Kunte, a blogger (just like me, and probably you) and a totally invalid reason for libel suit resulting in something (unknown since the emergency of Indira Gandhi) called 'attack on an individual's freedom of speech'. Also read this wonderful piece by Atanu Dey on Defending Free Speech. Please see the video at the end of the article. Now I have been called 'Fanatic', 'Hateful' etc etc by some of the bloggers I know personally, does Barkha mean I can sue them now? Hmm! On a serious note, readers may note that just because its cloaked behind a legal procedure, it should not obstruct us from seeing for what it is-- a major violation of individual's right to free speech and a dangerous threat to the country, and this is much more dangerous than the earlier pub incident.

Third and the most dangerous one is the appointment on Mr. Navin Chawla, a known stooge of the Congress party as the CEC (this is not new... there has been a precedent!), even after the earlier CEC Mr. N.Gopalaswami's recommendation against this appointment. This is not good for the country. Why? Yossarin at Offstumped explains why this appointment is disastrous to Indian Democracy in his small and clear post. Now this move by congress is a direct attack on the country's democratic system itself. Sandeep at sandeepweb has given permission to all right-minded people to use this image (click on the image for full view):















Last, but not the least: A poser to the humanists in this rediff article. Read and ponder on what Dr. Hammond said in his book. Readers can also revisit the video in Atanu's post regarding this incident. Such views made publicly without any fear of criticism set the precedent for what is their 'right' and what is a 'favour'. And mind you, the boundary will keep extending to include a lot many dear things into what is their 'right'. This omen has the most potential of being easily the most dangerous one, mostly because people ignore such incidents.

It is hard to shake Indians. Its both good and bad. And against an adversary who has been engaging in salami tactics over a thousand years, it is even more important that we wake up soon enough. So... the humanist ostriches will anyway not think of taking a break from burying their heads in the dense sand of the grand delusion.. but what about the rest of Indians?