Month: April 2012

Rajya Sabha nominations

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Rajya Sabha nomination is not an award or a prize or a title. Article 80 of the constitution prescribes that a person to be nominated to Rajya Sabha should have special knowledge or practical experience in respect of literature, science, art and social service.

Over the years many people have been nominated to Rajya Sabha in violation of the constitution. Mani Shankar Aiyar lost Lok Sabha election, he was nominated. Kuldip Nayyar was a journalist. Fali Nariman was a lawyer. Chandan Mitra, Shobhana Bhartia and Cho Ramaswamy were journalists.

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Burkha ban in college

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

St. Aloysius’ College is in news for its rule that students should show their faces in class rooms. Students who come wearing burkha have to show their faces. The rule is in prospectus. Some have called it Burkha ban. Muslim clergy is said to be opposed to the rule. St. Aloysius’ College has come to…

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Return of Bofors

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Bofors returned to news on 25/4/2012. TV channels reported former Swedish police chief Sten Lindstrom’s interview to Chitra Subramaniam on thehoot.org.

In April 1987 Swedish Radio reported that kickbacks were paid in Bofors deal. After that some newspapers had reported on it. Chitra Subramaniam worked for Indian Express. Sten Lindstrom had leaked many documents to her. Sten Lindstrom revealed himself as the source.

Why did Sten Lindstrom go public now? Perhaps he thinks he will not live long. He reminds me of W. Mark Felt who was informant in Watergate scandal.

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RSS on BJP President

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

It seems RSS wants Nitin Gadkari to be president of BJP again. It does not find anyone else suitable. Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are too old. Sushma Swaraj has to give up Lok Sabha leadership. Arun Jaitley has to give up Rajya Sabha leadership. Venkaiah Naidu was once president. Manohar Parrikar is Goa chief minister.

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Indians and fools

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Markandey Katju said 90% of Indians are fools. He clarified that by 90% he means an overwhelming number; it can be 85% or 95%.

Markandey Katju gave 10 reasons why majority of Indians are fools.

First, Tamilians follow rahukalam. They consider it inauspicious. They are fools. Katju has shown courage to single out Tamilians as more foolish than other foolish Indians.

Second, many ministers and chief justices of high courts take oath during “auspicious” times.

Third, Supreme Court judges considered 7, Tughlak Lane as inauspicious residence due to some mishaps there.

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Peace with Pakistan

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 18/4/2012 Pakistan’s General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called for resolution of Siachen and other issues. He said the two countries cannot keep spending on defence alone and forget about development. This came after Pakistan’s 127 soldiers and 11 civilians were buried alive by an avalanche on 7/4/2012 and searches are on for them.

Kayani’s statement is welcome but India should not throw caution to the wind. India should not vacate Siachen in a hurry. We know what happened in Kargil. After Kayani’s retirement next General may have different ideas about peace with India. Nawaz Sharif wanted peace with India. Atal Behari Vajpayee took bus to Lahore. A few months later Kargil War happened. Then Pervez Musharraf deposed Nawaz Sharif and sent him to jail.

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Hemraj murder case

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

Hemraj and Aarushi were murdered. People refer to the case as Aarushi murder case. Hemraj is forgotten. The case has seen many twists. After Aarushi was found murdered it was said that Hemraj was missing. He was the suspect. Next day his body was found on the terrace. Rajesh Talwar was the suspect. A police…

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Tuesday the 11th Terrorist strikes

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

There are people who oppose death penalty to a terrorist even when the terrorist does not challenge his conviction and does not file a mercy petition. The jailor refuses to execute court’s order to hang him. The state government files a mercy petition.

Imagine a situation. A terrorist enters the studio of NDTV when We the people is telecast live. He shoots Barkha Dutt, Colin Gonsalves, K. C. Singh, Praveen Swami, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Ram Jethmalani, Majeed Memon, Naresh Gujral and so on. The terrorist goes to Kashmir, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. The terrorist goes to Assam, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. The terrorist goes to Tamil Nadu, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. The terrorist goes to Punjab, kills Governor, MLAs and High Court judges. When MLAs are killed chief minister and other ministers are killed.

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Khalil Chisti gets bail

Posted on by Vincent Augustine D'Souza

On 9/4/2012 Supreme Court granted bail to Khalil Chisti, a man sentenced to life for murder of one person. It had referred to the goodwill generated by Asif Ali Zardari’s visit the previous day and hoped it would continue. The event makes one wonder whether India is governed by rule of law.

It is immaterial that Khalil Chisti is a Pakistani and the victim is an Indian. It is immaterial that Khalil Chisti is 80 years old and not in good health. What is material is that he is convicted of murder and serves life sentence.

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