Howzzit?

IPL in a Fix: BCCI Takes Swift Decision but Do we Need Shrinks for Young Cricketers?

Shantanu Datta — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:02:50 +0000

From top: T.P. Sudhindra (Deccan Chargers), S. Srivastava ( Kings XI Punjab), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Amit Yadav (Kings XI Punjab) and Abhinav Bali.

It’s not often that the BCCI, which looks, acts and reacts like a younger sibling of the Manmohan Singh-run UPA-II, acts and reacts with alacrity. So let this be said loud and clear that the cricket board’s decision to suspend the five players named by a TV sting operation of purportedly being part of spot fixing and match fixing is a welcome move.

Too many noises, accusations and counter-accusations have been made since that ugly phrase ‘match fixing’ raised its ugly head sometime late last century. And too many times have BCCI officials spoken their standard one-liner — “We have zero tolerance for corruption” — and then done nothing about it.

T.P. Sudhindra (of Deccan Chargers), Mohnish Mishra (Pune Warriors), Shalabh Srivastava and Amit Yadav (both Kings XI Punjab) and Abhinav Bali would “not be entitled to participate in any cricket match played under the aegis of BCCI while under suspension”, BCCI president N. Srinivasan said in a statement on May 15.

I am not, of course, saying the five involved in fixing, or that no one but these five are involved. Not guilty until proven, says the law, and so be it.

What I say is, this was necessary; the Board needed to take some action — and serious action, mind you — to at least appear to be in control after being in denial mode for long. In recent times, recall the Board’s frantic denial of fixing charges for last year’s World Cup semi-final, or questions raised over the semi-final against Sri Lanka in the 1996 edition of the event (where Vinod Kambli memorably shed tears, and a game that the very same Kambli found had “something amiss” as India decided to chase), and last year’s report in The Australian newspaper that “a leading batsman manipulated” some games in the last edition of the IPL.

BCCI’s Rajiv Shukla, now the IPL chairman, who had then said that the “IPL was clean”, now says Ravi Sawani, the former head of ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit, will probe the allegations against the five players found with a ‘corrupt’ mind by India TV.

Incidentally, Shukla had, as recently as November last year, turned down sports minister Ajay Maken’s call for a probe into Kambli’s claims about the 1996 World Cup.

Now, there have been sting operations galore by different media organisations over the last few years, alleging different levels of corruption in cricket, specifically involving Pakistani cricketers, but India and Indian cricket has had do bathe in quite a bit of muck. (Read: Six major match-fixing scandals) So why did BCCI come out of its shell, all raging, scathing and let-me-show-you-my-might force now?

One reason could be what this article calls the reason at least to appear to be in control. And what better opportunity than now? The IPL, mind you, is a relatively soft target, and these uncapped India players even more so. Recall the same Srinivasan or Shukla, now with hard taskmaster tone, when faced with allegations that have anything to do with Team India or its players. Without even bothering to go in a huddle and appear to call for probes and so forth, they close ranks and go in a denial mode.

Mind you, I am not saying any allegation made against any match involving India was fixed. All I say is, not guilty under proven, which implicitly entails a probe, in order to get anywhere close to proving either guilty or innocent.

So the BCCI top shots pick a few soft targets and stake their claim to be the bosses of Indian cricket, which now, more or less, means cricket per se so far as its fiscal strength is concerned.

Not that these ‘soft targets’ can seek the right to be excused on much ground of innocence. It is often said that young sportspersons at an “impressionable” age make “loose comments” in the media. A comically ludicrous notion, I say: if a man or woman can decide to take up sports full time, as a career, in his or her late teens and forego education and other avenues of growth for the rest of the supposedly ‘ordinary’ youths, they can hardly be deemed of an impressionable age. Heck, one doesn’t even need to be a professional cricketer to know sting operations could be just round the corner and that one shouldn’t open his/her mouth about money/fixing/any pecuniary gain without first making a call to the lawyer. You just need to be human enough to follow the media.

So Mohnish Mishra, suspended by his IPL team Pune Warriors with immediate effect, now seems to have found some sudden source of enlightenment and ostensibly ruing his “casual remark” during the sting op “to develop his value”.

A media release issued by Pune Warriors owner Sushanto Roy said Mishra has “apologised for his frivolous and incorrect statements”, and that he made the statements during the sting op by India TV “to develop his value or maybe he wanted to be pompous in front of others during the course of discussion”.

Pompous? Casual statement about purported role in spot fixing? Those are things done by people in their early teens, Mr Mishra. You are 28 years and more than 3 months old. You haven’t played a single game for India, which I presume is your goal, like all cricketers. Sorry, but how could you, in cricket parlance, let your guard down to such extent? Who did you, in your right mind, think would appreciate the fact that your value might appreciate with such “casual” statements? Not even my eight-year-old nephew, and not even his friends of that, well, impressionable age.

I do not want to pick on Mohnish Mishra here. I am simply aghast at all professionals (sportspersons or people in other professions) who take such lines, and if such “casual” statements” in need to be “pompous” and held in high esteem are par for the course for young Indian cricketers, I think more than anything else the BCCI needs to hire a troop of shrinks to impart lessons to our young guns. On how not to blow the lid off the gunpowder keg.

And to BCCI my appeal is, let us not go home smug-faced and satisfied, after chomping a few soft targets for lunch. Let’s face it: there is a malaise bigger and deeper than these unheralded five. So get off your self-righteous confidence and dig deeper.

Top Five Cruises to Experience Your Long-Time Dreams

Melissa Davis — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:00:39 +0000

If you’re filling up your to-do-list before you get old or simply looking for an activity that will ecstatically give you a memorable experience, these top five cruises are just perfect for you.

Intimate Majestic Experience

The cruise makes way for close-up encounters with blue whales, polar bears, and turtles.

My top five features the American Safari Cruise. It boasts a special design of cruise vessel that will allow you to explore regions that are impassable for most large-sized ships. With this, you will experience an intimate and close-up encounter with blue whales, polar bears, and turtles, that will totally be out of your usual safari experience. You will be overwhelmed by the wonders of nature partnered by the luxurious cruise facilities and outstanding personnel service.

Queen’s Luxury Experience

Feel like a royalty on board the luxurious Queen Victoria ship

Next in the list is the Queen Victoria Cruise experience. If you want to feel like a Queen floating amidst the breezy oceans, this is the perfect treat for you. A one of kind luxurious atmosphere will welcome you in this remarkable cruise experience. From its elegant design, boasting ornaments and facilities like those in royal palaces, you will surely enjoy dancing like princes and princesses in grand balls held in the ship. You will also be captivated with their extraordinary high-class food selection that will make your tummies also feel like a royalty. Feel the luxury and satisfy your being royalty-wanna-be.

Superb Family Getaway

The Disney cruise ships have numerous play spots and amusement facilities for children.

Next in line is the Disney Cruise experience. This is the most unprecedented getaway for your family. Various fun-filled activities await you in this extraordinarily designed vessel, specifically configured for your family. The kids will surely enjoy being simply kids with the ship’s numerous play spots and amusement facilities. As a bonus, while the children are busy spending their once-in-a-lifetime experience, you will be free to recall your free moments by spending your intimate time together with your partner. This will definitely will be the highlight of your family scrapbook or photo album through the years.

King of the Caribbean Experience

It's fun-filled activities, five-star meals, fantastic entertainment all the way.

The Royal Caribbean Cruise experience is among the top two in my list. This is the ultimate perfect dream. Imagine non-stop fun-filled activities, five-star meals, fantastic entertainment, and shopping galore opportunities. Being in this cruise vessel is like living the perfect dream! Be ready to be treated as a King of the Caribbean as this cruise experience brags one of the best personnel service among the top cruise lines. This is a must-see destination before you get old.

Bright and Starry Journey

Be ready to be treated as if you are the richest man or woman on the world.

The Celebrity Cruise holds the number one spot in my list. Are you dreaming to be a star? This is definitely the perfect experience for you. Be ready to be tempted to divulge in a lustful journey towards being a celebrity. In this experience, you will be treated as if you’re the richest men and women in the world! This ship boasts to be the most modern cruise experience that definitely sets apart from other cruise line choices. Up-to-date extraordinary activities await you in this palace-like ship as you slowly gaze the Atlantic Ocean. It’s assured that you will feel like a celebrity floating on your dreams.

So pick now among these top five cruises and feel the breeze of the ocean as you live your long-time dreams.

Images courtesy: The photographs used are screenshots of the various cruise sites.

Best Snowboarding and Skiing Destinations for Family Vacations

Natasha — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:47:17 +0000

There are various activities that families can organise that can be a source of fun. For people who are in areas where they experience winter, there is a need to come up with innovative ways to enjoy yourselves despite the cold weather conditions. Some of the great outdoor activities that you can do during winter are skiing and snowboarding — after all, there is nothing like scaling the mountainous and hilly terrain. In fact, it adds up as a very good activity as far as exercising the body is concerned in addition to being a great idea for anyone looking for a group activity that they can do with family or friends.

Niseko skiing site in Japan

One of the most beautiful spots on earth for snowboarding or skiing is in Niseko, a popular ski resort in Japan. It’s for people who enjoy powder because it has powder playing grounds where kids can have a lot of fun. It also provides a challenging terrain that would be attractive to anyone who appreciates good skiing grounds. They are well groomed to cater for various groups from beginners, all the way to people who are good in skiing — something that makes it an ideal site to take the whole family for a day of fun. You have access to both alpine and tree skiing despite the cold weather conditions. Availability of good accommodations and restaurants is just a side-effect :-)

Girdwood in Alaska is another destination. It has been created from the forest that is found at the foot of Chugach Mountain. It has trams for carrying tourists up the mountain. The upper part of the mountain is wide open and ideal for people who are still learning the ropes when it comes to skiing. As you become better with your skiing skills you can venture on to the mountainous parts that are made up of vertiginous chutes. This spot is not very crowded and the ideal time to visit is in the month of March when there are 12 hours of daylight. Did I mention Girdwood has a beautiful view of the ocean?

Jackson Hole in Wyoming, USA

There are several other wonderful spots around the world where one can go skiing or snowboarding. When looking to get a ranch like feel to your skiing experience, you can go to Jackson Hole in Wyoming, USA. Canada also offers a lot, with several sites present in British Columbia, like Whistler Blackcomb. You can also go to various destinations around Europe. Popular sites include Tignes in the French Alps, Mayrhofen in Austria, and Zermatt in Switzerland.

If you are looking for some fun activities during the winter, consider paying a visit to one of the various snowboarding and skiing resorts located nearest to you.

Importance of Reading Comprehension for Second and Third Graders

Guest — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:28:26 +0000

Learning to read and understand what we are reading is one of the necessary steps towards literacy. It is utterly important to get the meaning of what we are reading otherwise it would be meaningless. It will be like staring at words without knowing what it is about. Reading without comprehension is also like listening to a person talking to you without understanding what he or she actually wants to convey.

As early as possible, children should learn to read and understand what they are reading so that they will not find it difficult to learn various things in the future and throughout their life.

Here are some of the reasons why reading comprehension for 2nd grade and 3rd grade is important with what they are reading:

Learning to comprehend what we are reading makes life easier.
It gives children the foundation to future academic learning, not only in reading and writing but also in math, science, social studies, and other subjects as well. It also helps us enjoy the literary world.
It will help increase their vocabulary knowledge which is strongly needed in reading comprehension thus, making them more confident in speaking and writing. It will also help them read effortlessly or more naturally.
It will help them make predictions, arrange the sequence of the story, make clarifications on difficult or confusing parts of the texts.
It will help them connect what they are reading to their life experiences and/or to their previous knowledge.

How can we attain this goal for our children? It’s not very easy but not very difficult either. We only need to expose our children to rich language and reading opportunities as early as possible. Their environment should be one that is supportive enough to the development of their reading skill. They should be given more chances to learn more vocabulary because many students fail to comprehend what they are reading due to poor vocabulary. As the children learn to read and understand what they are reading, they learn new information and develop new strategies to develop comprehension. It will help them explore the world of reading in a fun positive way.

FUTURE PERFECT

Some books we strongly recommend for 2nd and 3rd graders:

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Summer of Riley by Eve Bunting
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
The Pigeon Series by Mo Willems
Ragweed by Avi

How can we help improve the children’s vocabulary? Parents or teachers can help improve the children’s vocabulary, a gateway to reading comprehension for 3rd grade by reading the child a story for several times, explain some difficult words and review some regular words.

At the end of each reading, ask some questions that would test the children’s comprehension. In this way, we are teaching our students how to comprehend a story being read. As they grow older, they will then be able to adopt such strategy or tool unconsciously when reading.

Another thing that parents and teachers should do is to keep giving the children more materials to read in order to practice, practice, practice. The key to develop reading comprehension is to keep practicing. It will also help develop the children’s love to read as they understand what the author conveys.

Feature image copyright: Lars Plougmann. Reused under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

This is a guest post by Riley Johnson. Riley has been involved in kids reading programs curriculum for over 15 years. She loves history, arts, and sports. She discovered a love for helping children learn how to read and grow educationally with studydog.com.

In Didi’s Wonderland, where Words Come Out from the Depth of Truth

Sanjukta Choudhury — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:16:10 +0000

Our honourable chief minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has, without a doubt, done a great service to the cartoonist tribe. Can you think of another time when so much newsprint was spent on these people? On how many occasions have cartoonists made it to prime time TV? I can hardly recall any instance when cartoonists have been asked to give their opinion on something as important as Freedom of Speech and Expression. Hence we should all be grateful to our honourable chief minister for coming down heavily on Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra. Well done Madam CM! You have given these neglected people their moment under the sun.

The Left Front government had spoilt us silly by allowing us to read anything and everything that we wanted. And we all know that being spoilt is not healthy. So our honourable chief minister, who is ever so concerned about the welfare of the people of Bengal, decided, very rightly so, that the people or “manush” should be disciplined and not allowed to go astray. They should be told which newspapers to read when they visited their neighbourhood library. As our “mai baap” she of course has the right to determine what is good for us and what is not. Remember she said that newspapers wished by her to be made available to readers at different libraries advocated “free thinking””? Did we ever have such a thoughtful Chief Minister?

How ungrateful of us to call her a “dictator” or a “fascist in the making” or a “lady Hitler”! Renowned political psychologist Professor Asish Nandi was very unjust in suggesting, during a panel discussion on a leading national news channel, that our honourable chief minister needs the help of a shrink!

But our honourable chief minister should not worry. She has her loyal band of hangers-on, the so-called “intellectuals” who are doing every thing in their power to try and defend these “dictatorial” and “fascistic” actions. One particular woman, who is the HOD of the Dept of Journalism and Mass Communication in a leading college in Kolkata and a documentary film maker and also associated with one of the news channels, which critics say is run by chit fund money, went red in the face defending Madam CM, on a national news channel where the anchor was tearing through her arguments. But hats off to her, she held her ground, no matter how preposterous and idiotic she sounded to the rest of the panelists and to her viewers. She showed her allegiance to our honourable chief minister (unlike so many others who are only hatching conspiracies and plotting against the Madam) and unabashedly tried to raze the reputation of one of her own tribe. Kudos to this ” brave , upright , free thinking” professor for not being foolhardy unlike Kabir Suman, Sunanda Sanyal, Mahesweta Devi et al .

The “manush” of West Bengal should realise that our honourable chief minister is a very selfless lady who only thinks about the welfare of her “subjects”. She is working relentlessly to make this state an amalgamation of London, Switzerland and Goa… some kind of a wonderland where professors are put behind bars , college principals are mercilessly beaten up, women are raped, school syllabi are tampered with, political opponents are hacked to death in broad daylight or incarcerated on false charges , poor villagers are made to pay “tola” for having supported the CPI(M), farmers commit suicide because they have not got the price for their produce, upright police officers are transferred for solving complex criminal cases, the Chief Minister barges into the police station to free hoodlums, where marriages between members of different political parties are frowned upon.

Into that heaven of wonderland, my honourable chief minister, let my state awake.

Cartoon Conspiracy: In Defence of Didi and how Politics is not a Funny Game

Guest — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:03:13 +0000

(This a letter we received from a reader who calls him/herself a TMC supporter and wishes to remain anonymous. Since we have no way of verifying his claims, we are publishing this as a guest post and invite the readers to draw their own conclusion.)

I know you have started reading this with an assumption that there will be loads of funny mistakes all along. That is only what you netizens want. Fun. But fortunately you people only represent a miniscule portion of the democracy. So we really do not care what you think. It hardly matters whether you spread these assumptions or keep them to yourself. Like your assumption, that we cannot write correct English, you conveniently assume our leader lacks a sense of humour. I will just remind you of the incident when she went for inaugurating a swimming pool in the city, along with our esteemed Mayor. Remember, how she pushed him inside water? Everybody was laughing to see this drenched dhoti-clad gentleman. Today you all have forgotten the funny quips and intelligent banter that she keeps on delivering impromptu in her speeches. (Read: Foot in Mouth Disease is a Killer, Does Mamata Know that?)

Coming to the recent topic of cartoon-gate, how could you think that being an artist herself she will oppose a cartoon? It was beyond your calculation. But actually this has been very systematically done to promote cartoon drawing in our state. To this you must at least agree that her efforts have already started to bear fruit. Today, even my elderly mother was trying to draw a cartoon.

But you see, politics is not only about whether you have a funny bone or not. It is much more serious than that. It is, as I said earlier, the rule of majority. By your policy, you must be able to benefit the maximum number of people in the shortest time span. This is what we have made our vision. It is our policy that we will not allow the cost of any thing to go up, come what may. You may have named this policy as “populist”, but the point what you have missed is that every politics is essentially populist; it is “for the people”.

You may protest here in a silly forum, but does it hurt you when even today you can throw a five rupee coin at the metro counter and cover a considerable distance in a very short time? Are you really bothered where from the money is coming? You do not, and you do not need to, really. Railways is our own company and we will make them absorb the losses.

It is for this reason that we like companies which are our own. They are more controllable and work for the masses. Multinational companies work in a bizarre way. It is only business that they are concerned with. They will increase prices whenever they deem fit. If we had gone for them, who would have thought of you?

Do not ever question the good intention of our leader. She is the mother. Did you people never get a beating from your mother during your childhood? Sometimes we too have resorted to physical punishment, but you must understand, they were meant for the best reasons. What you will eat, what you will read, with whom you will mingle, did your mom not decide for you these things when you were young? Our leader is that benevolent mother. Accept her doting care, and you will never suffer from her hands.

Our leader is also a poet. You have never thought about the play of words that has gone in making the tag line of our party as “Maa-Maati-Manush”. When uttered properly, you can hear it as “mamati manush“. Which means “my maternal uncle is a human being”. Which means there is a limit of his patience. If you break that limit, which is happening quite frequently now, mama will not tolerate. Remember poetry is not always meek, it can be lethal too.

There is a dedicated band of people whom we call mama, or our mother’s brother. They are from each and every walk of society. I am not ashamed to say that most of them are rough rowdies. It is a fact that to run a democracy, to maintain law and order, you need tough guys. Do not, I warn you, do not take them lightly. Also think about who you are. You are a very small portion of the population who actually matter. Your yelps and whimper will not make any differences to who rules you. Earlier you have seen the same thing during the rule of “pishima” and same now during “mama“. Some truths are universal and are not changeable. Do not expect any “poriborton” on these.

To conclude, I will once again warn you people, do not venture too far out. Come and go to office, listen to Rabindra Sangeet at traffic jams, enjoy the Londonesque blue and white colour of public buildings, eat, drink and be merry. You do not disturb us, we do not bother you. We will even get free benefits for you. But do not try to have any political view, it is not a worthwhile pursuit and may be extremely injurious to your health.

Mad Cow Disease in Maa-Maati Land

Dhrubodhi Mukherjee — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:32:30 +0000

The front page of a newspaper the cows can't eat now.

Cow is a good animal. Cows give milk and yummy steak. Cows live in herds and masticate newspapers, if given. Cows moo “Maa Maa”, wallow in the “Maati” (soil) and rely on the “Manush” (people) for caregiving. Thus, cows vote in tandem when you put the “Maa, Maati and Manush” (MMM) together as your political tagline. There are intellectual or budhdhijibi cows who counsel the stupid ones to vote for “MMM” to bring about Change or “paribartan“ after million cow-years of “Red” cow rule. The Red Cow Party had a “sickle” as its symbol that most cows disliked on Facebook; as the sickle signifies the chopping off of the top part of the grass or “trina” that cows consider their only food while they graze on the meadows. Cows, however, had never tasted the “grass-roots” or “Trinamool” because their tongue could never reach bottom of the green grass. Thus cows don’t know how the “Trinamool” or grass-root tastes like. Curious cows then mooed “Maa Maa” from the barn to demand for some good “Trinamool” tasting. And one summer day the “Goddess of the Roots” did grant them their coveted wish. The Red Cow rule finally ended and the green “grass-roots” were now planted all over for the cows to see and eat. In exchange of this favor, the “Goddess of the Roots” had called on the cows to support her visions, absolutely. She promised greener meadows and a Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal) landscape, a nostalgic utopia of sorts for the cows. Most cows cheered but some cows feared for the future that awaited them all.

It’s not even a year since that promised summer day when the cows came out in herds to perform happy dance for the roots. But the poor stupid cows never valued their freedom that they had taken for granted for long. The freedom of grazing freely in the meadows, eating whatever newspapers they lay their tongues on or mooing whatever they liked or disliked on Facebook. Now, under the new rules, they are told which newspapers to eat and which not to eat, which meadows to graze and where not to graze, which cartoons to like and which one to dislike, what to say on Facebook and what not to say, how to behave locally and how to behave digitally, how long to masticate and when to swallow. A phalanx of bulls has now been employed to bully the cows who may flout these rules.

Asphyxiated, the cows are scared and shocked. The intellectual or budhdhijibi cows are now mooing “Maa Maa” on the street corners calling for the “manush” or people to show up and protect their democratic rights that are now trampled underneath the “maati” (soil). But the real “manush” is missing too, and thus no one to take care of the things. Abandoned cows thus found themselves again waiting for another change to set in. But some cows are mad in anger against the bullying of the bulls unleashed by the Goddess of the Roots, who broke so easily her sweet promises. Thus, “Mad Cows” are again organising themselves to cure this systemic “disease” of false changes.

Cartoon Network in Mamata Land: How Many of Us Face Arrest for the Same Crime?

Soham Hazra — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:11:01 +0000

I had read Soumya Datta’s article (Facebook Users Beware: Every Post you Make, Didi’s Watching) a few months ago. The article talked about Mamata Banerjee looking over Facebook posts against her and taking due action. I had wondered then if any government in the world in any democratic set-up would really undertake such a dictatorial step. My doubts were cleared on Friday when I read in the news about Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra of the Jadavpur University in Kolkata being arrested because he circulated over social networking sites and e-mail a cartoon of Mamata, former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and railway minister Mukul Roy that allegedly showed the lady in question in poor light. (Read: It isn’t Funny Madam Chief Minister)

According to news reports, Prof Mahapatra was attacked by Trinamool supporters near his New Garia residence on Thursday night. The police arrived at the spot and took him to the police station. He and his neighbour Subrata Sengupta were arrested on Friday. The duo have been arrested under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act, the news reports quoted an official to have said.

IPC and IT Act? As far I know, IPC deals with any kind of criminal offence and the IT Act is for tackling cyber crime. Pray what offence is spreading a cartoon? Going by that logic R.K. Laxman should have spent his entire life in prison.

Even I shared this particular cartoon in question on my Facebook wall. And now I ask myself what was so bad in it to be called a “cyber crime”. As I write this article for Howzzit today, do I put myself in danger of being attacked by Trinamool goons on my way to school and back? Am I also tempting the authorities to come and arrest me? Is this post in any way violation of the IT Act?

But I am just a 16-year-old. So they have to send me to some juvenile home. On charges of what? Insulting the chief minister? Derogatory comments? Spreading wrong information? Somewhere I read one of the charges was “outraging the modesty of a woman”!

I am lost now. What are we arguing about?

But do logic and arguments hold any water for Didi? Everything is a conspiracy for her. So was Prof Mahapatra’s cartoon, so could be my this write-up.

But this is not the beginning. Things started getting wrong a long way back — the mass political murders. We thought those were political provocations. Then the chief minister’s disgusting statements against rape victims and the shameful way Damayanti Sen, the officer in charge in one of the rape case, was removed… the undemocratic decision of the state government to oppose a bandh… and finally, the utter embarrassment over the railway budget. We squirmed as the entire country (may be even the whole world) laughed and scorned us. Then there were the sudden dictatorial decision to ban all but Didi-friendly newspapers in state libraries. She openly gave threatening statements to the media — toe our line or face the music. And now this.

How long do we just keep quiet and sit back? We need to raise our voice. It’s my request to all the people of the state to raise your voice without the fear of getting ambushed by evil. I hope people have slowly started to realise the big mistake that they have committed by putting these people into power. Those who were seen publicly campaigning for TMC before the elections are now seen protesting against them.

Has West Bengal realised the truth a little too late? Are we in for four more years of this treatment?

Feature Image courtesy: Screen grab of a TV channel.

Cartoon Network in Mamata Land: It isn’t Funny Madam Chief Minister

Shantanu Datta — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:20:03 +0000

Ambikesh Mahapatra might have preferred to lie low, being a professor of Chemistry in Kolkata’s renowned Jadavpur University. But for the overtly proactive police in his city, and an overtly sensitive chief minister, who feels stung at the slightest mock, banter and curious queries.

Arrested for purportedly sending e-mails of a cartoon that, again purportedly, show West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and railway minister Mukul Roy in a poor light, Mahapatra has suddenly become prime time news, along with his neighbour, one Subrata Sengupta.

For those uninitiated with Bangla, or why this is humorous with a touch of innocence, a bit of a background first: the toon is based on a much-loved scene from the maestro Satyajit Ray’s film Sonar Kella, where a seven-year-old boy, Mukul, who believes he is in touch with his past life during the reign of the Marathas, is taken by a psychoanalyst on a tour of Rajasthan. The idea for this good doctor is to do a case study on the boy.

Two evil men, or “dushtu lok“, eyeing hidden treasures in the golden fortress, or ‘Sonar Kella‘, follow the duo, take the boy and push the doctor off the cliff.

Can you see Sonar Kella? The two ask the boy.
Where is that man (the doctor)? He is a “dushtu lok“, the boy replies, distractedly.
Dushtu lok? Vanish! One of the rogues replies, meaning the doc has been pushed off the cliff.

Now replace the characters: Mamata asking Mukul (Roy): Can you see Sonar Kella, Mukul? (Top frame)
Dushtu lok (read his predecessor as railway minister, Dinesh Trivedi).
Dushtu lok? Vanish! (Last frame)

The professor and his neighbour were arrested on April 13 for “sharing” this cartoon (see on right). For the two, it could well and truly be spooky Friday the 13th.

Now, before TV panelists start well-argued debates on freedom of speech and expression, a look at the grounds of “reasonable restrictions” of Article 19(1)(a) of Indian Constitution, which gives us those rights:

Security of State:
Friendly relations with foreign states.
Public Order
Decency or morality
Contempt of Court
Defamation
Incitement to an offence
Sedition

While the Constitution gives us the right to illustrate, appreciate, criticise and share cartoons lampooning public figures, what can Messrs Mahapatra and Sengupta be charged with? My limited application of logic leaves me with two grounds: Decency or morality, and Defamation.

Was the cartoon hitting anyone below the belt? The only bone of contention here can be the word “dushtu lok“, which in lay term means “naughty man” (I used the word ‘evil’ earlier because no one really calls a man naughty, do they!). All Bengalis I know of call kids naughty: “dushtu bachcha“. So the option for obscenity, and thereby “decency” or “morality” can go straight out the window.

And if it comes to that, Trinamool Congress leaders themselves called Dinesh Trivedi worse names following the Railway Budget. So if anyone has to be arrested, it’s gotta be Didi’s bhais.

Defamation? Ahem, of whom? It does not stand a chance for a charge under arrest, does it?

According to a report on India Today’s website, Mahapatra “faces charges of outraging the modesty of a woman, punishable with one year’s imprisonment, defamation, which carries a maximum term of two years, and hacking, which carries three years’ prison term and fine up to Rs 2 lakh”.

Outraging the modesty of a woman? I think two characters that could grumble about their modesty being apparently sullied are both men: Trivedi, for being called “dushtu” and Roy for the cartoon making him mouth that word. Outraging the modesty of a man isn’t a chargeable offence, at least not thus far in India.

Over to Kolkata Police DCP (South Suburban Division) Sujoy Chanda: “Professor Ambikesh Mohapatra has been arrested for spreading derogatory messages against respectable persons.”

“Derogatory messages”? As a family member reacted: “WTF!”, which could be slightly more derogatory that being said to say that you do not like your railway minister who went out of party line (as, and I repeat, all Trinamool leaders said in the aftermath of Trivedi’s budget) and made to mouth a line that you played Houdini and made your railway minister vanish, which Ms Banerjee did with Trivedi’s portfolio.

Another report said, “Mahapatra has been booked under Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Section 500, 509 and 114 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for defamation) have been slapped on the professor.”

I quote the same family member again: “Section 66 of IT Act deals with hacking. Again, WTF!”

On February 28, the day Bangla news channel Star Ananda broadcast an interview with a Kolkata resident, who was gangraped in a moving car at Park Street, Mamata Banerjee claimed it was a “staged event” to “malign” her government. The chief minister, in effect claimed the rape victim had lied, had schemed against her administration, and colluded with the news channel.

That’s derogatory, Ms Banerjee. That’s defamatory. It could also be taken as outraging the modesty of a woman. In fact, the chief minister could be detained, if not arrested, if the victim presses those charges against her.

I am reminded here of an article by fellow Howzziter Soumya Datta: Facebook Users Beware: Every Post you Make, Didi’s Watching. That was written on October 13, 2011, a time when West Bengal’s “intelligentsia”, a term they themselves use and one I find a little ridiculous, was still batting for the chief minister. The honeymoon period over, Bengal media, which shamelessly tangoed with Mamata Banerjee before and after the Assembly elections last year, not only buying but backing to the T her brand of ‘Paribartan‘ (change), got the first taste of her love for tolerance (democracy is too highfalutin a word) when Trinamool goons, along with plainclothed cops, bashed up TV journalists during a Left Front-sponsored bandh.

Close on the heels came the virtual ban on newspapers that criticised her government. (Read: Is Mamata’s Bengal Trying to Muzzle Free Media?)

The game has changed in Bengal. And my guess is, Mamata Banerjee has started getting the hints. Is she waiting for the Centre to eventually declare President’s Rule in a year or two, so that she can count on sympathy votes to climb back to power?

And I seriously wonder whether that last statement is seditious, and which would lead her administration to arrest the writer and ban this website.

PS: If Mahapatra was arrested for sending the cartoon to 65 persons, I wonder what happens to the bigwigs of news channels who are showing the toon non-stop since morning, thus reaching out to millions.

Of the Spooked Raisina Hill: Whose Coup was it, Mr Shekhar Gupta?

Sonali Chowdhury — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 19:37:25 +0000

The bizarre and sensational story by The India Express edition dated April 4, 2012 — The January night when Raisina Hills was spooked – is an article written by a man who wears many hats. Editor-in-chief of The Indian Express, TV host, political commentator and well-known public figure Shekhar Gupta at first seems to be an unlikely candidate for spinning a tall tale. But as one reads through the explosive article, it is difficult not to notice the many loopholes in this flimsy yarn about an attempted coup. Here is a detailed analysis of the article and its sensational claims.

Prologue

The story begins with a statutory warning: “This is a story you would tell with extreme care and caution” and further claims that “it has also taken this team of The Indian Express reporters that long (11 weeks) to establish the story”.

But are these claims true? Rediff.com had in fact “broken” this very story several weeks ago. (Read: How India’s elite force was stumped). The article concentrated on how the fog could throw a spanner in the Indian Army’s operational plans and no rumor of a coup was reported. All the facts in the Express story have already been reported in this news article. Mr Gupta and his team have only added fresh masala to an old dish. And done a very bad job of it.

Even Army chief Gen V.K. Singh himself, in a candid interview to the Week on March 13, stated “even, when our unit, divisions or brigades does an exercise, some people will say that it was not an exercise. (They accuse) they wanted to do something else. Now you can make a story out of it”. The old soldier had predicted the media mischief weeks ago.

Shadow Wars: The Misinformed Coup

The Express story begins with the “unexpected (and non-notified) movement by a key military unit, from the mechanised infantry based in Hisar (Haryana) in the direction of the capital, 150 km away.”

Mr Gupta fails to educate his readers that such a small move does not need any permission from higher-ups ever since the days of Operation Parakram when the Indian Armoured forces were late in mobilisation for war. Ever since then, “mob practice” in the Army has become a common training activity so that such gross errors are never committed again.

Secondly, one Mechanized Infantry Battalion is roughly 600 men. According to Mr Gupta, movement of this mere handful of troops was hinting at seizure of power in Delhi. This could have been possible had Delhi been the capital of a remote banana republic. But in a country of over a billion citizens with an Army of over a million personnel (and the Navy and Air Force which Mr Gupta so conveniently chose to forget) what exactly are 600 soldiers of one battalion supposed to achieve? Man to man these poor souls will be outnumbered by the politicians in the two Houses of Parliament alone (Lok Sabha 545 and Rajya Sabha 245)! Add to this the khadi brigade the number of bureaucrats and one would realise that an attempted coup by the soldiers would be beaten back by a barrage of files, Gandhi topis, leather chappals and generous oodles of red tapes in apna Dilli!!

This was followed by “reports came in of yet another military movement “towards” Delhi. This unit was identified as a large element of the airborne 50 Para Brigade based at Agra.”

Again the wily journalist fails to tell the strange tale of the C-130. When the C-130J Hercules aircraft was inducted in the Indian armed forces it was done specifically for them as a heavy-duty troop lifting aircraft. But rather than stationing the aircraft in Agra, where the Paras are posted, they have been parked in the capital for over a year. The Paras have protested several times in the past with absolutely no result. So, if now they don’t move to Delhi for a practice, where their aircraft are, where else on earth are they supposed to go?

An exercise for the troops’ mobility is an in-house affair to check own drills and timings and thus the doubts raised by Mr Gupta over no information being given to IAF also does not hold good. That would have been a joint exercise done so very often by the Indian Armed Forces and is a whole other kind of military movement.

The Empire Strikes Back

The article alleges that the government was informed (by whom exactly, Mr Gupta does not care to tell us) and “immediately, the Centre put in motion an old contingency plan to delay just such a move. It issued a terror alert with instructions to police to carefully check all vehicles on the highways leading to Delhi. The objective was to slow down traffic“.

So, according to Mr Gupta, who was it that the grand Government of India with some of the world’s largest military and paramilitary forces under its direct command chose to check the advance? The notorious Delhi traffic and the cops patrolling the capital’s streets. They were to stop a mechanised infantry battalion with armored vehicles which can bulldose through any amount of cars and elite paratrooper special forces who are trained to jump from the skies into enemy territory. Come on, Mr Gupta, watch some movies and read some Tom Clancy novels, if nothing. You can do better than this.

The article further informs us that “Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma was asked to cut short his visit to Malaysia” and that he asked Lt Gen. A.K. Choudhary, Director General, Military Operations, to send the units back.

So an attempted coup is under way and the government finds time to have its Defence Secretary recalled? That too when both the Defence Minister and the MoS Defence were present and so were the three service chiefs. Raksha Bhavan was fully staffed and so were the Integrated Headquarters (IHQ) of the three services. Any order for a retreat could have come in from a hundred different sources in the political, bureaucratic and military hierarchy. What super powers were summoned by this lone babu recalled from a good time in Malaysia is anybody’s guess.

The seasoned journalist and editor in Shekhar Gupta had to try real hard to justify his story in the interview with Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN.

The Counterbalance

Mr Gupta sugarcoats his article in the final paragraphs by stating that “Nobody is using the ‘C’’word to imply anything other than ‘curious’. All else is considered an impossibility.”

However, the very allusion to this ‘C’ word is a dead giveaway of the malevolent intention of the article. He goes on further to contradict his disclaimer by stating that “however, as a consequence, that certain ‘important correctives’’have been put in place.” If curiosity was all that was at stake here Mr Gupta, pray elaborate on what was the need to put corrective measures? A foot in one’s mouth can prove to be quite painful indeed.

Epilogue

Military analysts and passionate anchormen alike have thrashed the story so often in the past few days that a visibly browbeaten Shekhar Gupta had to try real hard to justify his story in an interview with Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN the next day. Claims of journalistic values and an open-ended story did nothing to salvage the reputation of a fine newspaper and a once respected journalist. It was not a coup waged by an upright General under siege by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. It was an attempted coup by a seasoned journalist to gain a favorable nod from political bosses of India’s grand old party. Whispers of his loyalty to ‘Madamji’s‘ forces have done rounds ever since his one-sided coverage of the Anna phenomenon last year and have now only grown stronger. Alas, that he has forgotten the power of the public opinion.

The coup, Mr Gupta, has failed.

Images courtesy: Screen grab of The Indian Express edition and CNN IBN interview.