The audacity of being an Indian government official

The Khobragade affair needs very little by way of an introduction, to a nation and people that have been screamed at by its media on this issue.

Briefly - one of India's serving diplomats, Devyani Khobragade, was arrested in the USA, on a charge of visa fraud, which is a felony, and she claimed she was strip searched and cavity searched, thereby breaching her diplomatic immunity protection.  India screamed blue murder.

reuters.com

Page on Reuters

The USA is capable of much more heinous crime, like dropping bombs on unsuspecting and unconnected and absolutely peaceful people, claiming collateral damage in a "legally" sanctioned war, and its president can escape trial for war crimes, but in this case, there hasn't quite been so much crass violation as there has been carrying out of duty by its law enforcement agencies.

The reason is simple.  India's diplomat was personally responsible for an unlawful act under the USA's visa rules, in the hiring of a maid, who she paid below minimum wage.  Khobragarde was not doing a job assigned to her by her nation.  This is personal, not professional.  So India wasn't really required to press for her immunity from any kind of arrest.

But, this is India under the Congress Party's rule, and it hasn't exactly set the nation on fire with its accomplishments in this current term.  It needs to look good to its own people.  Add to this, Mayawati, the ex-Chief Minister of one of its populous states, added fuel to the fire by saying the central government is dragging its feet on this issue because Khobragarde is from one of the lower castes! 

So, India (I mean the Congress Party) sprung into action and claimed the USA had violated its trust and endangered its diplomatic relationship with India, and removed barricades meant to protect US embassies in India, and asked serving US diplomats in India to return their identity cards that granted them several privileges.  It went even further and asked for a full apology from the USA, and Salman Khurshid, India's External Affairs minister, said their diplomat's "honor" would be fully restored!

Devyani Khobragade case: US must do something, says External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid

What has been startlingly absent is an acceptance that Khobragade did something illegal.  No matter what fancy diplomatic language is used to cover up this fact, she did something unlawful in a foreign country, and expected her official position to cover for this.  Nothing can be more disgustingly obvious of the hypocrisy India indulges in, during fiascos like this one.

The USA also subscribes to several shades of hypocrisy, but in this case, it stands absolutely in the clear as far as the legality of the arrest of Khobragarde goes.  How better it could have handled this matter is debatable, and claims of regret over the handcuffing, strip searching and placing with common criminals in custody may or may not be convincing.  However...

The fact remains that the trigger for this cascade of events was Khobragade's wrongdoing.  Why is India finding it really hard to accept this and indeed, even mention it?  It's because most Indian officials, in any capacity, are wont to abuse their power in some way or the other.  Starting from using the state provided car for personal needs, like dropping off the family at the airport, to bending as many rules as possible when there is some small benefit to be had, with very little risk of getting caught, Indian officials, no matter which government they work for, are mostly guilty of many petty crimes.  So none of them feel Khobragarde did anything so "grave" as to warrant such extreme treatment.

Every message and every projection of the Indian government has been that the nation has somehow been wronged, and we, the people of India, must show our rightful indignation! 

"The fact is that (the) American authorities have behaved atrociously with an Indian diplomat. And obviously, America has to make good for its actions," said Manish Tiwari, minister for information and broadcasting.  As shrill as this sounds, it appears in an article about rowdy elements ransacking a business establishment using an American brand - Dominos Pizza!  Mumbai: Protesters attack Dominos outlet over Devyani Khobragade case

For some reason, India's inferiority complex comes forth at times like these, when it feels it needs to stand up to the big brother, the USA!  Well, if it needed opportunities like this, it could very well have stood up to the USA when Bush decided to attack Iraq based on its pretentious and highly dubious claims of Weapons of Mass Destruction and called it a bloody sham.  After all, thousands of Indians were working in Iraq, legally, I might add, and their interests had to be guarded at all costs.  But none of them were diplomats, or officials, and people worthy of protecting like this.  It is true Air India did a big evacuation of Indian citizens from Iraq, but what could have been a better opportunity than telling the USA, "India is extremely disappointed with the USA's decision to attack Iraq, and has decided to suspend all diplomatic ties in view of this dastardly and tragic decision"?  That would have been a show of national character, of belief in peaceful means of existence, of subscription to a high standard in international relations.

India could have told Hillary Clinton to mind her own business when she said she would like to wean India away from Iranian oil and gas, for India has excellent relations with Iran, no matter what the USA says about that nation.  India could be regularly playing up the damage drones are causing to its neighbour Pakistan.  But then, its media outlets, particularly English language channels, are owned by US interests!  How can this ever happen, except for some polite banter or debate?  It's balls that they lack, and this is a good representation of India today - shallow in character, big on noise.

Khobragade doesn't seem to have any stellar character to bulk up any dossier on her that might be forming this moment.  She owns properties that were meant for war veterans, and has other dubious connections.  All very common in India's bureaucratic circles.  It would appear that not only are most Indian government servants in power abusing their position, but indeed that they get into such positions for the express purpose of abusing the law to accrue assets and advantages they would normally not be entitled to or be competent enough to accrue on their own as private and legitimate entrepreneurs.

No matter what caste she comes from, and it really doesn't and shouldn't matter - Khobragade's behaviour indicates something low.  You don't employ a maid, a subordinate, and pay that person less than minimum wage!  Mayawati also comes from a lower caste, and she amassed wealth to an unprecedented degree when she was in power as the Chief Minister of UP.  There are any number of cases pending against her and people in her government.  This could be an indication of a mindset - when given the opportunity, rise at any cost to offset any feeling of inferiority on any front!

What has been lost in the process of this needless grunting from the Indian government is the opportunity to set the record straight and demonstrate that India puts lawful behaviour by its diplomats and representatives on high priority and ask the USA how it can assist in the process of resolving this issue.  What can possibly be lost in accepting the fact that one of its servants did indeed commit a crime?

Completely the opposite, India (read the Congress Party) has seen this as an opportunity to launch an all out offensive, in order to shore up its image as a failed, weak and unresponsive government, and has used its diplomatic capital to put pressure on the USA!  It has gone far enough to try and move Khobragade to the UN, which would mean greater protection and immunity for a wrongdoer, but the USA has stated very clearly that that sort of immunity cannot be applied retroactively.

The simple question is - when you commit visa fraud, you are committing a crime that common criminals do!  Why would you want to be treated any differently for the same crime?  Why should you expect to be allowed to be placed in some sort of luxurious custody, while your nation "figures out" how to get you out of a mess you created?  It is the expectation of the hypocrites, not the truth seekers. 

It is the expectation of those that have lived their lives mired in shady behaviour, who accept ambiguity as an ally, and unspoken rules as the guiding principles of their very existence.  Which bloody maid could be expected to complain against her boss of wrongdoing, that too in a foreign land?  Well, that's the whole high class versus low class attitude for you!  Khobragarde was wrong in assuming that all maids are indeed mute slaves.

What India has on its hands is an absolutely naked exposure of its hypocrisy and its unwillingness to come out of its murky labyrinth of government working class corruption, its compromise of all morals, its lack of humility and a striking shortage of national character.  This is the damage India needs to repair, not the damage that has happened to one of its errant ambassadors - someone it should be ashamed of, not protecting.

Why Modi?

The Congress and its allies must be delusional.  Their supporters must be even more so.  Or else how could someone who thinks there was no loss to the nation in the 2G spectrum allocation scam still be expected to show up in the media at all?  Wouldn't anybody with even a modicum of brain want to hide such a fool from the public eye?  

Yesterday, Finance Minister Chidambaram made a condescending remark about Narendra Modi saying it appears as if Mr. Modi is taking an interest in the economy of the nation.  An interest?  No kidding!  A man who knows nothing about the economy can actually reform a state and make it the most productive, sought after investment destination in the nation?  Really?  Where the hell does this attitude to ridicule come from, after failing in almost all economic tests?  Inflation, out of control!  Current Account Deficit, massive!  Imports, increasing!  Exports, no growth!  Savings of Indian people, going down!  Some record this!

Chidambaram had the gall to say he welcomes people taking an interest and hopes that they will try to learn, first by unlearning, and then learning anew.  No shit!  This great learning is what has caused India's coal reserves to be looted, its spectrum allocated to random parties with huge losses to the exchequer, labour shortage in agriculture, terrible schemes like the rural employment guarantee schemes in which nobody benefits while the nation becomes full of beggars waiting for the next round of freebies ... the list goes on and on.

There were real opportunities - to rope in a huge amount of energy security for India.  Venezuela was willing to sell oil at below OPEC prices to certain nations, and India was on that list.  Iran already had a great relationship and was even willing to purchase in rupees!  What did the bloody Congress do?  Refuse Venezuela and agree to "wean" itself off Iranian oil, because that white female political goddess Hillary Clinton thought we needed to be weaned, like fucking babies.  She is the same woman who once said Mahatma Gandhi ran a gas station in St. Louis, Missouri!  Can you believe showing this moron any kind of respect?  There wasn't one Congress member with any bloody spine that told her to shove it.  Obama would have understood - that's the way the Americans are.  If you're straight with them, they get it.  But these slave minds are bent, crooked, even to us, so of course they'd bend over backwards for a white woman from the USA!  What we need to wean ourselves off is dependence, and sycophancy.

Here is why I will vote for Modi and hope he becomes PM of India - the guy actually has a track record of growth, a model of development, and a showcase of work he is willing to do.  Gujarat is not a hot destination for nothing.  This guy actually thinks he can do that to the rest of India.  The idiots in Congress, starting with their puppy, think India needs to be on life support, and they are the heroes that will provide it.  Modi thinks India can do better and do much more, and we don't need condescending and insulting programs - and he thinks right.  He will make India work.  That alone will get me to vote for him.

Screw the Congress, screw being lethargic, and screw being stuck in rhetoric.

Rahul Gandhi says he would like to see young people in politics.  Hello!  He's young and he's a dodo.  What if more young dodos join politics?  That's not what we want.  We need able people to run the show.  Age is just a number.  Just because Manmohan Singh is proving to be senile doesn't mean age is the problem.  Being senile is the problem!  Rahul Gandhi is proving you can be senile at a pretty young age.

Kapil Sibal wants a debate?  Seriously?  What for?  For Modi to waste his time?  Is this the best tactic to weaken Modi - so he can be debating with this fool instead of campaigning for the BJP?  How much of a debate can you have with someone so hopelessly delusional?   I am sick of this Congress lot.  Just to get them out of the way I'd vote for the BJP.

The Congress is the best party to rule a nation that no longer exists.  It is the Congress that created that weak nation, and it is the Congress that needs such a weak nation, in order to further their unimaginative agendas, sycophantic dynasty, and retarded notions.  Despite their strongest efforts, India has managed to come out of the delusion, and is now taking a deep, good look at itself.  Indians are frustrated, not because of not having enough to eat, but because of being suppressed from reaching their true potential.  

We don't need free food.  We need a free nation.  A nation free from the Congress party's antics.  A nation free from Kapil Sibal and Chidambaram.  A nation free from the pseudo intellectual Delhi high society coterie imagining it can run a nation.

I'd vote for Modi - nothing political, nothing personal, just for the fun of seeing fools kicked out.

- BSK

What's the fuss all about this damn movie?

Vishwaroopam.

No matter what, the support for Kamal Haasan is extremely well deserved.  At the very least Kamal Haasan has tried to do something he believed in and he has pulled it off very well. 

Unfortunately, what he has tried to do isn't anything great.

The fact that this movie is being hailed as something great by some people is an indication of how pathetic the other movies around it are!

Kamal Haasan is an incredibly talented actor.  That's also because he has invested himself heavily for many, many years in that art and craft.  He has made no such investment in directing and it shows.  He still does better than many so called "commercial" directors and that shows as well.

Let's not set the same standards for Kamal Haasan as we would do for others.  His fans have every right to expect better, unless they have refused to grow up or are disrespectul enough to lower their standards for him.  If you've been around in the industry for over fifty years, and you've won national recognition, you need to get your shit together.  It's that simple, as far as I'm concerned.

This movie has a hard time deciding what it is.  It works quite well as a good guys vs. bad guys movie, without any of the pretentions of global ramifications, nations involved, plots that humanity should worry about, religion and all that bull.  For this film, it doesn't matter who the bad guys are.  They are terrorists and that would suffice.  But there are irrelevant elements that attempt rather childishly to take it to some other level, and fail miserably.  If this is Kamal Haasan trying to be "global" in his viewpoint, then I'm afraid he simply doesn't cut it as a storyteller.

The transformation from the effeminate dance teacher to awesome action hero that leaves the girl drop jawed was fantastic, even though we expected it.  A few seconds of action, and the switch was complete.  The moment the slow motion replay followed it, the whole effect was diluted and pissed away.  This is Kamal Haasan the director making sure, rather condescendingly, that we get it.  We sure got it, for expecting better.

An uncouth hero, who doesn't give a damn about any God can be just that, without picking any arguments with anyone.  He can just pretend as convenient, as needed.  In fact, that type of character would be a karma yogi and would be incredible.  Kamal Haasan hasn't reached for anything that high.

The physical obstacle course that the ageing protagonist puts himself through, all by himself, for absolutely no reason, really asks the question - "Why are we watching this?".  If he is such a superhuman operator, we know he must be capable of going through an obstacle course just like all other jihadis who're training for militancy.  This is Kamal Haasan's irrepressible narcissism gaining momentum.  It culminates (in this movie) with him sleeping with the girl.  Just in case we had any lingering doubts about his virility, since he has led her on so far to believe he's really married to her for convenience, and obviously for safe cover.

The conversation with the black immigration official is priceless trite.  Clearly Kamal Haasan the writer knows nothing beyond the stereotypes his front seat fans already have in mind.  Thankfully, it is in English.  Erm, American.

If anybody ever figures out why the Nigerian terrorist shaves his pubic hair before going out, and why we had to see it, please enlighten us.  Not that we're heavy with anticipation, but some lightening of the load of bull would help considerably.

This would have been a fantastic movie with Ultimate Star Ajith in the lead.  In fact, he would have had more fun with this sort of role.  Except that there is nobody who can write a script even this good for him.  Kamal Haasan the writer constantly supports Kamal Haasan the actor, but where is Kamal Haasan the visionary?  Certainly invisible in this movie.

The US military's soldier, uttering "shit" when he shoots a woman from his helicopter is ... what?  I seriously don't know why this movie has to lick up to the Americans, found as they are in the wrong countries fighting wars with people completely unconnected to those that attacked them! 

There are any number of dreadful lapses, but the humour survives!  I'm not sure why we would want to be humoured through so much labour to make us laugh, but this is again Kamal Haasan not knowing what movie he is making.  The actor in him easily takes on all the lack of congruence though!

The most annoying thing about the movie is its unformed world view.  The grey areas are great, but what's the defining conflict?  It's between a group of bad buys and good guys, with two chicks in the mix.  That's it.  What is the fuss all about?

- BSK.