Fidgety Foots

Read this article first - Ram Sena reaction to pub attack

Looks like Mutalik left his brain behind for this interview. The guy is saying it’s ok to gratuitously assault men. And women are gullible cows, incapable of free thought, being misled. Patronizing, fanatical and stupid. Great combo.

These people are permanent terrorists in our country. The Mumbai attackers operated swiftly and devastatingly, but the Senas are slow poison, petrifying free thought, progress and individualism.

I bet Ram Sena activists will “protect”  (read molest) any attractive woman who is above their social stratum and wouldn’t give them the time of day under normal circumstances. I would be afraid to go for a walk in Mangalore now. What if one of the Sena goons takes a fancy to me, decides to beat up Sunil and grope me?

Bloody terrorists.

Breaking news. There has been another terrorist attack in India. The reason you may not be hearing about this anywhere else in the world is because it was carried out by Indians against another Indian. I wonder why Pakistan needs to even bother carrying out its terrorist acts against India when we are so good at doing it to our own people? Anyone remember the 1984 terrorist attack against the Sikhs? Anyone remember the Gujrat riots? We dont have anyone else to blame for these acts of terror but ourselves, hence we are content to sweep them under the carpet while at the same time cry ourselves hoarse about how Pakistan has attacked our way of life. Yup, the way of life where the Chief Minister of a state found it necessary to raise crores of rupees forcibly from the public for a birthday celebration in the same week that saw 16 poor, debt-ridden farmers in Vidharba commit suicide.

Of course, this does not mean that I think Pakistan needs to be let off the hook either. They keep behaving as if they are the country that’s been attacked and have milked the current situation to get out of their commitments to the US to wipe out the Taliban (they are pretty much blackmailing the US). In the bargain, the Taliban has been wooed into promising help Pakistan in the event of war against India. The Pakistan govt has denied all the evidence provided to them and in fact have moved their armed forces to the Indian border despite no troop mobilization by India. In fact, they’ve now taken on the role of wounded nation, while we’re painstakingly trying to rebuild our lives in the wake of the Mumbai attack. It’s a demonstration of remarkable sleight of hand, the tables have neatly turned, suddenly we find ourselves the aggressor.

I have never believed that war or military confrontations solve any issues, but their continued belligerence in the entire matter makes me wonder if the time for diplomacy has ended.

We’re trying to rent out our flat in Bangalore, and a week ago a Muslim family inquired about it. I mentioned this to a friend and it became clear that we would be ill-advised to rent to them. Seemed illogical, but I’m the air-head NRI, out of touch with ground reality, so I asked around.

Every single person I talked to advised me against renting to Muslims.

“Why take a chance?”

“They may be decent folk but some mama/chacha/cousin will come from Karachi and they won’t even know what he’s up to”

“When they find any hanky panky they catch the homeowner first. You’ll be charged with harbouring a terrorist”

“You guys aren’t here, they’ll catch your family and put them in jail. Log mahino tak gaayab ho jaate hain (people disappear for months)”

“I’ve heard that no one will rent to Muslims, some people are even refusing to sell to them”

“How would you feel knowing a bomb was made in your beautiful new house?”

Imagine how the Muslim community must feel, denied accommodation (and God knows what else) on the sole basis of their religion. Is it any wonder they live in ghettos, embittered, feeling like second-class citizens? They’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with other Indians in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack. Yet we have trouble trusting them.

And what of me the “educated” intellectual? What am I to do? It’s true that the majority of terrorist incidents are Muslim-perpetrated. It’s true that the landlords are harassed when subversive activity takes place in a home. It’s very possible that in my absence my  family will be targeted by law enforcement. I know theoretically it shouldn’t happen, but it does. If POTA comes back civil rights will be even more curtailed.

So I can stand by my liberal ideals and risk the comfort and dignity of the people I love. Or I can turn hypocrite and bigot - preaching tolerance, practicing discrimination.

I’m not sure what my decision will be in this case, but it’s unfair that this is my choice.

I have been reading articles about the rallies happening in Bombay, and even though the cynic in me wonders how long we can keep this newly-found unity and nationalism going, reading about the emotions in B’bay did instill some hope, and definitely struck a chord.

A couple of the articles that caught my eye:

The heartbeat of a wounded city that will bleed, but will not bend

Quit India, Mumbai says again

I wish I was back in Bombay for this rally.

You have to hand it to the Indian armed forces. Not only do they need to deal with well-armed terrorists, but they also need to deal with self-absorbed, moronic, politicians who decide to get in the way.

This is the part that really got my gander up:

“Sources said though the plane carrying NSG Commandos was ready by midnight, it could not take off due to the delayed arrival of a VIP, who wanted to accompany them to Mumbai, at the Delhi airport. Worse, the Commandos had to wait for a vehicle at the Mumbai airport until morning”

I would like to ask the VIP’s (Very Incompetent Politician) including the PM of India who decided to visit Mumbai in the middle of the battle, how many armed personnel were diverted from the operations to make sure you had a safe, televised visit to Mumbai?

And then just when I think that the Indian politician can’t sink any lower, I read this: Slanging match between Congress, BJP and Mumbai attacks: BJP expects vote swing.

I am glad that the brave soldiers and policemen in the middle of the firefights are a little pre-occupied to read these reports. If they were I am not sure if they would be willing to put their lives on the line knowing that these clowns are the ones calling the shots.

Teju’s addendum: looks like the VIP who delayed the NSG flight was Shivraj Patil. I heard the DG of NSF mention on TV that the union home minister flew with them and that was confirmed by this article in the Hindu. Good thing he’s been kicked out, though it makes me sick to see the BJP gloat about the current administration’s failure.

Bombs went off at 10 locations across the city today, terrorists are holding people hostage at the Taj (Colaba) and Oberoi. I’m  looking at CNN IBN - fire burning at the Taj, the NSG is en route to the Taj, bloodied hostages staring dazed into the camera, shots in the background, ATS chief Karkare shot dead. Casualties so far: 87 dead, 185 injured.

Gritty footage of JJ hospital on the screen, the hospital has been flooded with injured people. Please donate blood at:

• JJ Hospital (022 23739031)
• St George’s Hospital (022 22620240)

Re: cell phones, we were able to get through to family at 6:30 am today. Looks like you can call.

The public is advised to stay indoors.

Watch (almost) live news here: http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/video_streaming.php

The terrorists hijacked a police van and started shooting from inside. The van was chased down and found abandoned. WTF???

Am I the only one who’s irritated by the “exclusive” news coverage on CNN IBN? I understand this is the perfect time for a plug, but come on ya - I’m watching your news coverage already, stop telling me how great you are.

According to this line by the Times of India, “The state will not receive much rainfall after the month of November, which will reduce drastically”.

That is what I think of when I read about how Black and Latino’s overwhelmingly supported Prop 8 and practically stomped on the civil rights of another section of the population. I expected the religious right-wingers to support it, but you would think that races that have been subjected to poor treatment by a majority population would know better. And yes, I will hear arguments about how the Bible says that marriage can only be between a man and woman. Well, does it make it right to discriminate against someone else because it says so in a book? Tomorrow if some white right-wing zealot uses an interpretation of some section of the Bible to discriminate against colored people, will we allow that? Also, are non-Christian gays allowed to marry since the Bible doesn’t really apply to them?

I think this article in CNN articulates it better than I can.

That chant tells you how much Bush and company have polarized, divided, and damaged this country. Good job Dubya, and good riddance.

Cant blame Dubya/Palin/McCain for exploiting people’s stupidity though, a prime exhibit being the genius in the linked article who mentions, “I guess Obama was named after Saddam Hussein.”

Ok, this has been brewing for a while, and I finally need to rant. Lets start with this CNN article where Sarah Palin tries to defend her lack of insight into policy issues, and keeps harping on how the Dumbocrats will increase the taxes on the middle class, which is a completely false accusation.  Of course this fear-mongering never fails to get a rise out of the misinformed moronic masses who cant spare two minutes from growing their beer bellies to actually read the facts on their own. This of course leads to chants like “Hussein the socialist”. Can you even imagine the mind-set of a person who can actually utter these comments and of someone who tries to rile up crowds to that effect? And to think that this person is actually considering a run for presidency in 2012, wow.

Also, I am not sure what all the bruhaha is with the “spreading the wealth” comment. Anyone know who expanded the Earned income tax credit program designed to pay low-income families money that is collected from higher-income families? Yup, Ronald Reagan. So, I guess Reagan was a socialist too. And anyway, for the last eight years havent the Rebublimorons been the ones spreading the wealth to the top 1% of the population? The nonpartisan Tax policy center’s analysis also suggests that Obama’s plan will save money for the middle-class and lower-income famlies a lot more than McCain’s plan. And yet, these are the same people who attend these rallies and yell “terrorist” or keep getting whipped into a frenzy when Sarah Palin and her cronies try to spread the myth that “Barrak Hussein Obama’s” patriotism is to doubted. The fact is that McCain’s policy will give Big Oil a $4 billion tax break, the fact is that Sarah Palin was found guility of abusing the power of her office. But then, as Joe Klein wrote in Time,  “Facts are powerless in the face of potent mythology”. Which is why McCain and Palin can keep spewing their venomous lies and the self-delusional public keep swallowing them. Yup, keep voting for incompetent candidates on religious grounds without knowing the facts, and you will pay the price for it by sending your loved ones to a war started by a draft-dodgers on false premises, while getting poorer due to the financial policies drafted by a guy who has failed in every position he has ever held.