West Bengal: Where is Socialism?

How many leftists are there in the Communist Party in West Bengal? How many of them really believe in Socialism? How many of them really do believe that Wealth is something that has to be distributed and not something that has to be accumulated?

The 'Nandigram-gate' haunting the Communist Party in West Bengal has everything to do with sucking up to big money and ignoring the poor. It is not only a dangerous recipe to lose their democratic support; it is a very dangerous game.

First it was Jyothi Basu, who wanted to fill in the Congress boots - when Congress was losing their ground to the right-wing BJP. Even before the independence in 1947, the Congress party has held on to the position of being the socialists (Hypocrisy Unlimited), manipulating the media and using every government propaganda machinery available.

That Basu had wet dreams of being the first Communist Prime Minister of India is not a secret. He never wanted to be a socialist Prime Minister.

The problem with the West Bengal communists is simple: they don't like socialism anymore - they like their own brand of Communism, which is very close to Capitalism run by a party machinery. They want their party to become rich, powerful and whatnot and extend their control over power. Again, very dangerous.

Economif Times reports, 'Nandigram firing unconstitutional'

In A verdict that could have widespread legal implications, Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Surendra Singh Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose on Friday held the Nandigram firings on March 14 as “totally unconstitutional”.

The court has also directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each loss of life, Rs 2 lakh for each rape victim and Rs 1 lakh for each of the injured. The state government on November eight had announced compensation of Rs two lakh for the next of kin of the 14 killed and ruled out compensation for the injured.

Brushing aside all contentions of the West Bengal government, the division bench has directed the CBI to continue with its investigation while the state government has been asked to submit a compliance report before the court within a month.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the March 14 firings in Nandigram, the court by an order passed on March 15 had asked CBI director to constitute a special team to collect all reports, including the ones on post-mortem, all evidence and other particulars, and to keep the same in safe custody.

The West Bengal government, in turn, was told to file an affidavit explaining the sequence of events that had led to the firings which claimed many lives. Soon after the incident, there was a deluge of public interest petitions which were heard simultaneously.

The main contention of the Buddhadeb government has been that the High Court cannot direct the CBI to investigate without the approval of the state government.

Based on the findings of the High Court of West Bengal, the government's actions have been "TOTALLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL."

Isn't that good enough reasons to sack the government? It is another matter that the central government wouldn't do anything, as they rely on the Communist support to their government - which is running on borrowed time.

If this isn't total constitutional breakdown in the Indian state - what is?

A State Government breaks the golden rule of upholding the Indian constitution. The Federal Government, which should have acted immediately, lets the constitution to be challenged and ridiculed - just to save itself from losing power.

This is a classic case of two men fondling each other's balls.

The congress and the communists have proved how incompetent and anti-people they are. BJP, which is the other option believes the poor will be well fed and happy if they were to build new temples!

None of these politicians has a vision of a new India, which is ready to work harder to earn more, and also to support the poor brothers and sisters.

We don't need new billionaires in India, and we don't need more poor people who constitute a vote-bank for these political parties.

What we need is to regain our state, protect it from being abused by these powermongers, nourish it to be a home for all Indians to live with some amount of peace and prosperity.

Kerala's Icecream shame

Icecream parlour case: Kerala govt.'s appeal rejected

Kochi (PTI): The Kerala High court on Friday rejected the appeal filed by the state government against the order of acquittal of all the 16 accused in the Icecream Parlour sex case.

Dismissing the appeal, Justice K Thankappan said there is no scope for retrial.

The court also dismissed the revision petition filed by K Ajitha, President of a social organisation, Anweshi, challenging the acquittal order. The Principal Assistant sessions court, Kozhikode, had on January 12, 2006, acquitted all the accused in the case. The government in its appeal submitted that even the prosecutor for the state was aiding the accused. The case relates to luring of young girls to the icecream parlour and forcing them into sex trade.

The then left government, which was in power, when the Icecream Parlour case surfaced - did literally nothing to book the criminals.

Many in Kerala know that the rich and famous of Kozhikode were involved in this. That the case was weakened further when the Left were booted out of power and replaced with an equally corrupt Congress regime.

The High Court can only say things based on the evidence that is placed before the court. Both Communists and Congress - led factions are responsible for the failure of the state to prosecute the criminals.

Maybe, in another few years, when there is a real shift in power from the hands of these power-brokers, there will be justice served.

Till then, all Malayaless are forced to live with the Icecream shame.

Lions for Lambs

A very good movie.

Welcome to IT shining India

This is a shocking news which appeared in the Times of India: Wrong man in jail for 50 days on cyber charge

MUMBAI: In the early hours of August 31, Lakshmana Kailash K was asleep at his home in Bangalore.

He was woken up by eight policemen from Pune who came knocking on his door and waved the Information Technology Act, 2000, in his sleepy, terrified face.

Get dressed, he was told, we are taking you to Pune for having defamed Shivaji. Lakshmana protested that he didn't know anyone called Shivaji.

The policemen said that they were talking about Chhatrapati Shivaji and that an insulting picture of him had been uploaded on the Internet networking site, Orkut. The trail had led them to his computer in Bangalore.

Turning a deaf ear to his protests, the cops took him to Pune and put him behind bars. Along the way, the 26-year-old Lakshmana, who works with HCL, learned that what he was being arrested for was a case that had triggered riots in Pune in November 2006.

Political parties had forcibly closed cybercafes and gone on a rampage over the posting of the illustration which had poked fun at Shivaji.

Lakshmana was released after spending 50 days in jail, three weeks after the cops claimed to have nabbed the "real culprits".

I checked what the IT Act 2000 says.

CHAPTER XI: OFFENCES
65. Tampering with computer source documents
66. Hacking with computer system
67. Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form
68. Power of Controller to give directions
69. Directions of Controller to a subscriber to extend facilitates to decrypt
information
70. Protected system
71. Penalty for misrepresentation
72. Penalty for breach of confidentiality and privacy
73. Penalty for publishing Digital Signature Certificate false in certain particulars
74. Publication for fraudulent purpose
75. Act to apply for offence or contravention committed outside India
76. Confiscation
77. Penalties or confiscation not to interfere with other punishments
78. Power to investigate offences

What could be interest to the Law Enforcement Officers would have been this section:

67. Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstance, to read see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.

If a person posts a cartoon/ caricature to make fun - his intention is not to "trigger riots." There are enough social evils in India, which is not covered under the radar of -the police department or the 'morally superior political parties.'

The stinking moral hypocrisy of the politicians and the system in general is way too apparent.

"Any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient* interest [*having or showing too much interest in things connected with sex] or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstance, to read see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished..."

This is a Law? The Indian parliament passed this? What a crying shame!

So what are the sculptures in Kahjuraho telling us? If the law is clear on prurient interest
the temples and other historical structures of Khajuraho have to be demolished (with government sanction) like what the Taliban did to the Buddhas in Bamiyan.

No, we Indians are not from the dark age, we do believe that the Indians are civilized.

What happened to Lakshmana is a national shame. A clear breakdown of the legal structures in India. If the law is incompetent or ambiguous, it has to be amended immediately.

No Lakshmana must be behind bars without the due process of a trial. We Indians have constantly challenged the status quo, questioned myths that are paraded as history, lies masqueraded as truth.

If the Indian legal system fails even one citizen; the system has to be reformed and overhauled. No Indian should be a victim of an incompetent law; collateral damage cannot be accepted.

I wonder how come Lakshmana wasn't produced in a court. How can the cops keep a man as an undertrial for 50 days? How come he wasn't produced in front of a magistrate in Bangalore - who could have given him a bail.

How come there are two Indias? A poor man's India and a rich man's India?

More than any other reforms, we need political and legal reforms in India.

And that day is not too far away.