Tag-Archive for » Karnataka «

Tuesday, June 09th, 2009 | Author: Prakash N Prathabhan

Mid May election results gave the incumbent Congress led UPA a comfortable majority. Post parliamentary election results the Indian Share markets soar by more than 50 percent. But this economic rise hasn’t benefitted every section of the society. No we are not talking again about rural farmers or urban poor. The latest concern is aboutdecreasing demand for smaller party MP’s who used to earn a lot and”bite more than they can chew” because of minority central governments formed for the past two decades.

So these small party / Third front leaders decided to demonstrate outside the Parliament demanding bail-out for them. Some of them like JD(S) Deve Gowda from Karnataka and SP Amar Singh from UP were most vocal.

Deve Gowda, a senior southern politician, said, “Before election results came, Congress leaders like S.M. Krishna were in constant touch with me. They even promised mining industry ministry to us; so that we can jointly take on mighty Reddy brother’s of Bellary BJP.” Upon hearing the word “Mining”, Gowda’s son Kumaraswamy started weeping “Mine is mine, Mine is mine”. Pointing to Kumarawamy, Gowda asked reporters, “Now tell me, who will console him”.

The story in northern gangetic plains is not much different. Amar Singh, the spokesperson for Hindi heartland also complained his party was humiliated. He said, “When the last UPA government was in trouble getting support for Indo-US deal remember how much trust / cash we(Samajwadi Party) earned from ruling Congress party. We were able to extort so much cash, we can even buy handful of BJP MP’s. You remember the great scene in our parliament when some stupid BJP MP’s poured money on parliament floor. I think those golden moments of Indian democracy are gone for ever. He also added, “Now, Myself and Mulayam don’t know how much returns this investment will give us” - pointing to the 20 plus Samajwadi MP’s sitting like sheep’s at a corner.

BSP parliamentary leader, Akil Mishra also agreed with Amar Singh. Possibly this is the only issue rivals SP and BSP agrees. Akil added, “We too earned trust / cash of congress high command during election of Prathiba Pateel as president. Now see we are standing like beggars in front of parliament”. The mood of other leaders from gangetic plains like Lalu and Paswan were quite similar - humbled / humiliated, but they maintained low profile.

Again all attention turned to Gowda father / Son duo as Kumaraswamy started crying out at top of his voice, shouting “Papa, Mine is mine,Mine is mine; you told me so”. When some junior Congress MP’s from Karnataka walked down to console crying Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowda shouted at them, “You Congress people talk all about inclusive growth and priding yourselves as ‘Aam Admi Ka Sarkar(Government of common people)’. But see what your party has done to my family”.

We, reporters have witnessed so many heart-breaking scenes - Gujarat earth quake, Tsunami victims, Bihar Floods etc., but by far this is the most disturbing of all. We pray to God and appeal to PM and Finance minister to provide some relief for this MP’s in distress.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 | Author: Prakash N Prathabhan

Bangalore: Due to unequivocal condemnation from all over India and imminent ban threat - “Sri Ram Sena” famous for the atrocious attack on women at a pub in Mangalore decided to change its name to Sri Ravan Sena.

Though Hindu fundamentalist organizations like “Bajrang Dal” and “Vishwa Hindu Parishad” at times attack minority Muslims and Christians, they were generally tolerant towards women.  So Indian women believed, apart from Valentines Day (Sanghh Parivar’s Moral Policing Day) any day of the year they are free in modern India. Their belief was torn apart last Sunday at Mangalore, Karnataka.

This day “Sri Ram Sena” a fledgling member of “Sangh Parivar” decided to take on women visiting pubs. “Sri Ram Sena” members entered pubs by force, chased and attacked women. Seeing the reports in media, common people wondered whether Mangalore is a modern Indian city or a tribal town in Afghanistan. Nation overwhelmingly condemned this outrageous act.

Realizing the opposition from all quarters and predicting an imminent ban by the government, “Sri Ram Sena” today decided to rename itself as “Sri Ravan Sena”. Insider sources claimed, “Sri Ram Sena” leader Pramod Mutalik  had said, “We have already learned from our Pakistani brothers. When some one bans your organization just change its name and operate. We also taught lot other things. Soon we are going to ban fashion shows, women going to work and burn all girls’ schools in Karnataka. This way we will preserve Indian culture.”

Karnataka people are worried by this latest development. KumaraSwamy Gowda(48) from Alsur, Bangalore said, “Think about this! an organization that can commit so many atrocities even in the name of ‘Ram’ can go to what extent when it decides to go by the name of ‘Ravan’. Even the mere thought makes me tremble”.