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Thursday, April 29, 2010

Google Does Better

Versions of the following comment have appeared in:

online Wall Street Journal: Jessica E. Vascellaro - Google Discloses Requests on Users

WATBlog.com: Siddharth Raman India Ranks 3rd in Censoring & Removal Requests To Google – A Detailed Look


voxy.co.nz David Silversmith Google Publicizes Government Censorship Requests


Defamer Australia: Glen Runciter Google’s New Government-Tracking Toy

ZD Net: Tom Espiner UK leads in Europe for Google data surveillance


France 24.com: Google ‘outs’ countries that demand data on web users

news.techwhack.com: Google launches GovernmentRequests tool

truthdig.com: Google’s ‘Government Requests’ Map Outs Nosy Feds

technewsworld.com: Katherine Noyes New Google Tool Exposes Government Pushing and Prying

techdailydose.nationaljournal.com: Juliana Gruenwald New Google Tool Highlights Data Removal Requests


I commend this path-breaking idea from Google. Now it must be put to good use by responsible civil society groups.

It is interesting that India stands third in the number of requests to block content and fourth in the number of requests for data.

Internet freedom is not complete without privacy.

But I am grateful for even this “free” scrap.

Till I put some money on this P III and net connection, the ruling class of India had believed it had consumed me with their toast.

Guardian UK has “disappeared” me. Withdrawn my posting privileges and scrubbed my earlier comments.

The Economist wobbles – sometimes scrapping my comments and at other times leaving them on.

bbc.co.uk has published my comment in one blog but would not publish them in the Indian blog.In a form letter they have conveyed their fear that they may be sued for “defamation” !!!!!

Have these eminences of the media seriously scrutinised my claims and found them inadequate ? Absolutely not.

But they do crumble with one phone call from the Prime Minister’s Office or someone else.

The Indian media’s poppadum panjandrums have said what I have said from the safety of their armchairs.

I am recounting my lived experience, with documentation.

Have I acted in the larger interest ? You be the judge.

Have they ?

Here’s my comment that appears to have rocked some stalwarts of the "free world"

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies – “Go along to get along” – I will not pay bribes – and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I have come to believe that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment – Thou Shalt Not Get Caught – was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furore and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh’s reported first response was, ” There are ups and downs in politics”.

Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken “down”.

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948?, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research.

Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s wiidow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception)doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.

My crime?

I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought and protect the miscreants who have stonewalled my pursuit of justice.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan, after repeated urgings from me, had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester.

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

India’s editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths “dialogue’.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Also Mad Dogs And Guardian UK

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

When Guardian UK succumbed to an alleged pedophile and 'disappeared' me.


The other day, Guardian UK, did something more befitting an apparatchik of a military junta.

It "disappeared' me.

After months of moderating and publishing my comments, it suddenly and without any notice or discussion, withdrew my posting privileges. It had also scrubbed all my previous comments.

Guardian UK's draconian action is in keeping with the moral sloppiness and copious hypocrisy of India's feudal editorial class.

In my personal experience, I have found that for India's infantile editorial class, wounded narcissism, "honour" is everything.

Social consciousness, professionalism, a concern for truth, mean little.

India's editorial class might preach dialogue with Pakistan and tenderness with left extremists, but it is when they encounter a soft target like yours truly, that you get to feel their repressed blood lust.

Like any group in the throes of power lust, India's editorial class will lie and connive to criminally abet witch-hunts,ostracism, deprivation and annihilation.

Yes.

In my experience, India's editorial class is just another bunch of slobs with English.

Life is tough and unpredictable,but that is no license to drink and drive.

Priests must minister and not violate their wards.

Teachers must make their students wonder and aspire, not help them cheat and pass.

Doctors must heal and not take bribes to create factories of disease.

And editors and administrators who make excuses for the violation of the idea of the rule of law must be disabused of their pretensions and cleaned out like the the trash they are.

Fortunately, I have been blessed with a loving character. Often I have been able to create ease from disease. I will not give up this gift for anything.

And that is why, despite the fact that I have not made a paisa in profit, and very, very little income in the last twenty years, I have had it with this rabid riffraff.

This is what I wrote to the Reader's editor of the Guardian UK (April 1,2010):


Dear Ms Butterworth,

I am shocked and upset that my commenting privilege has been suddenly withdrawn.

Guardian.co.uk has since months moderated and published my comments.

It has now withdrawn my privilege without any notice or explanation.

I believe I have been extraordinarily considerate and respectful of the various authorities against whom I have voiced my complaint when I have directly dealt with them.

I have spent months and in some cases years communicating with them.

Equally, their arrogant, inhuman and unprofessional - narcissistic is my description - response has staggered me and left me bereft.

It was clear that they were not very concerned about their reputations at that time.

I stand by every word and have conscientiously substantiated with documentation most of the comments in my blog, whose address I have always provided in my comments.

May I also bring to your kind attention the fact that I am an individual citizen, unsupported in any way by any government, religious body, special interest society or any other organisation,

Keeping in mind, the tremendously unfair conduct to which I have been subjected to by the authorities and others in India, and the fact that they have not in way responded responsibly yet, it is but natural that I would be forced to repeatedly post the same message.

This may please not be confused with "spam".

I am reaching out to make some good, sturdy minded friends.And I am very receptive to constructive input.

I request Guardian.co.uk to respect my intentions and efforts, restore my commenting privilege and support me in any other way that it sees fit.

Sincerely,

Guardian UK replied (April 1, 2010):

Divakar - here is the note we send to readers raising queries about
moderation of their comments. It explains that moderation is largely
outside the realm of the readers' editor, and outlines where to go to look
for answers about moderation.

The readers’ editor deals primarily with complaints about content
commissioned and published by the Guardian and/or written by Guardian
journalists. She does not usually deal with complaints about the way
moderators have responded to comments posted online, although she may do so
in exceptional cases. Several thousand comments are posted on the website
every day and it is not feasible for her to get involved, routinely, in
complaints about the way individual comments are moderated.

If you are wondering why your post has been deleted or has not been
published you should first consult the Community standards and
participation guidelines to see whether your comment has breached its
provisions:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/community-standards

You may also find these FAQs about posting comments and moderation helpful:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/community-faqs

Any complaints about the removal of comments or the suspension of posting
rights should be sent to the moderators at cif.moderation@guardian.co.uk or
community.suggestions@guardian.co.uk (as appropriate). The moderators
operate a two-stage procedure for such complaints. If you are unhappy with
the moderator’s response to your complaint you may use the same email
address to ask for the decision to be reviewed by a second moderator.

General comments about moderation should be sent to this email address:
community.suggestions@guardian.co.uk

Unfortunately the moderators cannot respond to every email but they say
that all emails are reviewed.

best wishes
Helen Hodgson
Assistant Readers' editor, the Guardian

I wrote back:

Helen,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I shall go where you sent me.

Sincerely,
divakar

And wrote again (April 7, 2010):

Helen,

I have not yet heard from cif.moderation@guardian.co.uk and I am beginning to wonder about the strange and obscure professional ethics of The Guardian.

From where I sit, things do not look very good for your venerable publication.

But I am willing to, at further risk to my and my family's personal safety willing to hold out for another day, before I make my next move.

Please help.

Sincerely,
divakar

Guardian wrote back (April 7, 2010):

Dear User,

I have been forwarded your message about moderation. Please could you send me your username so that I can help find out why your posting privileges have been removed.

Thanks,

Isabella.

I replied to her and Ms Hodgson (April 7, 2010):

Thank you Helen. Isabelle Mackie has emailed me. I have replied.Thank you once again.
Sincerely,
divakar

And finally (April 14, 2010):

Helen:

It is now a week since I appealed and despite my reminder to Ms Mackie, I have not heard from her or anyone else.

Sincerely,
--
divakar

Divakar - I'm afraid the office of the Readers' editor cannot help you with
this. Please address your concerns to the moderators as previously
advised.
best wishes
Helen Hodgson
Assistant Readers' editor

And that has been that.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The IPL Fiasco & Dr Manmohan Singh's Penchant For Purgatory

Versions of the following comment have appeared in :

Reuters.com: Krittivas Mukherjee Cricket row lands India reformist minister in trouble

Telegraph.co.uk: Ayaz Memon IPL 2010: Lalit Modi's Twitter controversy is no surprise

Telegraph.co.uk: Ayaz Memon IPL 2010: Kochi controversy shows action not limited to the pitch

The Independent: Andrew Buncombe India's tweeting cricket boss hits minister for six

The Independent: Andrew Buncombe How Twitter attack brought down the most popular tweeter in India

online Wall Street Journal.com: Tripti Lahiri India's Junior Foreign-Affairs Minister Resigns

blogs Wall Street Journal.com: Rupa Subrahmanya Dahejia India Journal: An Inconvenient Truth About Corruption

Newsweek: Samanth Subramaniam India’s Next Big Thing

SF Gate: Indian Cricket Chiefs to Meet Next Week on Franchise Scandal



M J Akbar is reported to have “insightfully” observed,”They went to war through the media…A veteran would have told them, had they but asked, that children in glasshouse nurseries shouldn’t throw stones.”

I have always puzzled that the popadum panjandrums of India’s media are always blaming those who seek recourse to the media for the expression of their views.

What’s wrong with that in a putative democracy ?

Also everybody knows in the subcontinent, nothing happens without “band baja”

I blog, Modi and Tharoor tweet, and our more forceful neighbours in Pakistan fire off their AK 47s and their IEDs.

M J Akbar is too coy to speak the truth about India’s ruling class.

And the truth is that Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment – Thou Shalt Not Get Caught – was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furore and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh’s reported first response was, ” There are ups and downs in politics”.

Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken “down”.

Till date nobody knows for sure whether Shri Tharoor has been fired for corruption or has merely had his Blackberry temporarily taken away from him.

In other words India is so mired in corruption, that it is for all practical purposes an administrative basket case.

Yesterday it was Satyam, today IPL, tomorrow what ?

It is in the context of Dr Manmohan Singh’s indecisiveness and the leading political parties’ ambivalence on the idea of the rule of law in India, that the following recounting of the most perverse injustice may be seen:

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948″, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research.

Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s wiidow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception)doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.

My crime?

I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.



Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester in limbo.

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.



India’s editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Grieving For The Bloodbath Of The Innocents

The following comment appeared in The Economist: Politics with bloodshed -
A slaughter reveals the inadequacy of India’s counterinsurgency effort



divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:06 GMT

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - “Go along to get along” - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I grieve for the this and other bloodbaths that might follow.

An avoidable fiasco of this and various other kinds that splatter over the local television screens everyday reinforce the apprehension that despite the fantastic growth figures, India is fast deteriorating into an administrative nightmare and a bit of a basket case.

Readers are aware that for several years, I have been banging at the doors of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office, demanding that they step in and do all within their powers to bring accountability to the cascading delinquency of constitutional authorities that I have documented.

Unfortunately, both these august offices have not yet stirred.

They have demonstrated that they do not value life.

Their 'pontifical' silence demonstrates without any doubt, that they are too mired in perversity to care about the public weal.

Much more than the Vatican, Rashtrapathi Bhavan and Prime Minister's Office appear to be able only to blame the complainant and protect the offender.

In such a situation where the psychosis and necrophilia of the ruling classes are relieved only by the perennial Bollywood and IPL excitements, calamities, catastrophes and the bloodbath of innocents, appear preordained and inevitable.

Democratic India's Dodgy Media - The Hindu's Modus Operandi Revealed

Boot-lick the powerful and ambitious Roman Catholic Church.

Bully the local khat panchayat.

The following comment was published in: The Economist: The Vatican's travails When walls are too high


divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:51 GMT

Finally after years of careless silence, The Hindu finally bestirred itself to write a second editorial on this horrendous issue of pedophilia and systematic cover up in the RCC.

In another disturbing show of the Indian media's small mindedness and self hatred, the editorial stayed well within the safe boundary of recycling the well worn foreign criticisms of the RCC.

Not one word on what this might mean to the children and the RCC institutions in India!

To the best of my knowledge, there is very little from the vernacular media - especially television.

What an outrageous betrayal of India's health and future !

India's ruling classes are given to believe that sado masochism or the boot-licking/bullying thought and behaviour is a secret legacy of our ancient wisdom.

After its careful and tender licking of the RCC boots, The Hindu thundered on about a tiny so called "khap" panchayat from an India state.

From where I sit, this is yet another glimpse of a nauseating lack of self awareness by India's self celebratory ruling classes.

In my experience that I have documented, it is India's editorial classes colluding with the rhino hided babucracy, that are the truly barbaric panchayats that are the crushing burdens of India today.

With such a dodgy and deluded Indian media and authority, who needs the alleged 10 yuan armies ?
Recommend (3)


divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:16 GMT

Earlier I had written:

India is crisscrossed by schools and other institutions run by Jesuits.

Yet thanks to India’s dodgy editorial class very few in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit “a small minority” of priests.

The Indian media has barely reported that story.

Was the media’s heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of leaving well enough alone ?

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, asking for it.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I am able to feel deep appreciation for the heroes who spoke out and for those who heard them, felt outrage and who together managed to extract a measure of accountability from one of the most powerful and ambitious organisations on this planet.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.
Recommend (4)

divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:15 GMT

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.
Recommend (4)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Google's Sathyagraha

The following comment was published in:

Reuters: For Google Stock China Could Mark Turning Point

The Huffington Post : Sandeep Gopalan - Google's Faustian Bargain Unravels

SF Gate: Opinion Shop - If China unplugs Google ...

WIRED :Ryan Singel - Microsoft Tarred as Tyranny Abettor as Google Asks Feds to Promote Net Freedom


Dallas Morning Views: Jim Mitchell - Google, A Human Rights and Free Trade Warrior?

The Washington Post: Google's Good Deed In China

Online Wall Street Journal: Jessica E Vascellaro - Brin Drove Google to Pull Back in China


The Independent: Clifford Coonan - The Big Question: Is Google right to abandon its search engine in China over censorship?

Boston.com: John Pomfret - Google-China showdown is turning point

SF Gate:China vs. Google: A call to (government) arms

BBC - Maggie Shiels - dot.Maggie - a blog from Silicon Valley - Google's lonely stand

CNET News: Molly Rants - Molly Wood - Google leaving China: better late than never

Chicago Tribune: Google And Repression


Online Wall Street Journal:Gordon Crovitz - Google's Search Result: Hong Kong


miami herald.com:Edward Wasserman - Taking bricks from Great Wall

The Huffington Post: Libby Liu - China's Google Syndrome


The Huffington Post: Adam Hanft - Google Is the New "CorporNation" - Half Company, Half Virtual Government

Foreign Policy.com: Christian Caryl - Google Isn't China's Problem. Press Freedom Is.

The Morung Express: Source - Christian Science Monitor - Google and China: What Obama can learn

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - “Go along to get along” - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I can appreciate the doubt and ambivalence with which Google may currently be viewed.

But when big, influential corporates begin to value innocence and say “no” it portends interesting times.

Google’s Done Good.

Google has challenged the smug corporate assumption that business alone will liberate.

It will not.

Fellow traveling businesses will allow corrupt, inefficient and doltish coteries, cliques and regimes to bask from the reflected glory of hard won wars for equity, freedom, enlightenment and excellence that have been fought in societies that have produced such new, thoughtful responses.

Fellow traveling businesses, that squander their freedom and slip into cozy relationships with the authorities betray the ” poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak” in the case of even democracies these are all those without a vote – children, the environment and the future.

Such businesses produce cynicism, and conformism, not innovation and wonder.

Such businesses die slow, inglorious deaths.

Google’s decisions – first to engage and then draw the lakshmanrekha – the line in the sand – are both that will inspire life conscious people.

Creative people are quixotic.

Mahatma Gandhi was when he took on the might of the empire with stubbed pencils and recycled envelopes.

Erich Fromm characterizes revolutionaries as those imbued with “a passion for independence, a passion for justice, a passion to serve the unfolding of life” . He may have been describing the quintessential Quixote.

This is not to underestimate to quantum of insanity on this planet.

It takes the whole village to create fun alternatives to psychotic behaviour.

In other words, this is not a moment for corporate schadenfreude or voyuerism.

Remember the lessons from Nazi Germany. They first came for the trade unions. Remember apartheid South Africa.

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, to be asking for it.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at
http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Obviously, internet freedom is not complete without privacy.
But I am grateful for even this “free” scrap.

Till I put some money on this P III, the ruling class of India had believed it had consumed me with their toast.

I now have had the dignity at least of telling a little bit of my side.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Pope And The Prime Minister's Office - Unfortunate Similarities

The following comment was published in:

The Guardian.co.uk Saying sorry is not enough

Online Wall Street Journal: Scandal Shakes Catholics In Bavaria

Newsweek: Pope Benedict's Underwhelming Response

telegraph.co.uk: Cardinal Brady Must Go


Global Post - Connor O'Clery: Ireland Greets Pope's Apology With Skepticism


Reuters - US Edition - Faith World - Religion Faith And Ethics - Pope-victims gap is tip of iceberg of incomprehension in Catholic Church

Telegraph.co.uk: Damian Thompson - More Catholic-baiting from The Times


The Independent: Leading article: A landmark for Ireland, if not yet for Catholicism

The Independent : Bruce Anderson: Only a different leadership can save the Irish church

timesonline:Richard Owen - Vatican and Nico Hines Pope Benedict XVI 'knew child abuser allowed back to work'


cnn: connect the world


npr news blog:the two way-Punish Pope, Other Church Officials: Sex-Abuse Victim

The Daily Beast: Dirk Johnson - A Shocking Priest Abuse Tale


US News & World Report:John Aloysius Farrell - Catholics, Police Must Act to Stop Sexual Abuse in the Church


The American Spectator: Joseph Lawler - Benedict And The Media


The Economist: Papal Vulnerability - Pope Benedict XVI is losing popularity

India is crisscrossed by schools and other institutions run by Jesuits.

Yet thanks to India’s dodgy editorial class very few in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit “a small minority” of priests.

The Indian media has barely reported that story.

Was the media’s heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of leaving well enough alone ?

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, asking for it.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I am able to feel deep appreciation for the heroes who spoke out and for those who heard them, felt outrage and who together managed to extract a measure of accountability from one of the most powerful and ambitious organisations on this planet.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Citizens Risk Lives Seeking Information.

The following comment was published on The FOI Advocate

The official blog of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the FOI ADVOCATE, in which we bring news of freedom of information developments far and wide... NFOIC is a coalition of state groups dedicated to open government, headquartered at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is the "patronage paradigm" - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Suspension Of Conscience

The following comment was published on Next.com February 10, 2010

For a quick and easy way to be outcast, outlawed, to be put forever beyond the pale, whatever, try this.

Try standing up for the idea of the rule of law.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining. Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad. However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

And of course our editors know it all. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled. It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao. That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot. But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations. Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.


What about "civil society" in India ? Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS and Anna Hazare regarding this serial delinquency of constitutional bodies in India . There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in deep denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been relentlessly persecuted, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

India's Real Estate Boom Is on Shaky Ground

The following comment was published on the online Wall Street Journal March 7, 2010


Like the smile of the Cheshire cat, the "license raj" may putatively have disappeared, but the the "kickback raj" sure has not.

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

That is why many suspect India's growth story may be mere a smoke and mirrors illusion built on swamp land.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

India's Unequal Political Landscape

The following comment appeared in guardian.co.uk India's unequal political landscape

Only the corrupt, predatory, servant seeking ruling class will dance to visions of an effulgent future, with the passage of this or that law.

The way the "system' is run, benefits will accrue to a small, monstrous minority, beyond all dreams of avarice.

The rest will consider themselves lucky to be favoured as servants, sycophants, propagandists of the brutal few.

In a system where the "success" of the few inevitably creates squalor for the rest, where the media does its truth by numbers, where the judiciary is blithely compliant with the rich , where education is as much a racket , lets not expect, that we have arrived at any envisioned Ram Rajya, "where the mind is without fear and the head is held high"

Because:

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

That is why many suspect India's growth story may be mere a smoke and mirrors illusion built on swamp land.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court?s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India?s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan?s, ?no excuses?, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

BBC chickens out ?

I am saddened and disappointed that my exhaustive and factual comments about my nearly two decade long personal experience in dealing with brazen abuse of power issues - in effect administrative or professional dysfunctionality or incompetence - appear to have been held back since days by moderators on this site.

This appeasement by the bbc of an atrocious conspiracy of silence is barbaric.

However if the bbc's heart is in the right place, you may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Tendulkaristics Are The Right Of All Human Beings

The following comment was published in:


The Independent.co.uk Sachin Tendulkar: Little Master



Global Post The Michael Jordan Of India by Jason Overdorf


Wisden Cricketeer Tendulkar, a thank you John Stern

bbc.co.uk Soutik Biswas's India How Does Sachin Tendulkar Do It ?

The Straits Times: The Wonder That Is Sachin Tendulkar

Guardian.co.uk : Is Sachin Tendulkar The Best Batsman Ever ?

Thaiindian News: Andhra assembly congratulates Tendulkar on ODI double ton


The Wall Street Journal: Sachin Breaks ODI Record, Slams 200 Runs



The Daily Inquirer: Sachin Score 200: Sachin Tendulkar breaks ODI record




Sport.co.uk: Tendulkar smashes record breaking ODI Double hundred



bleacher report.com:Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr Fletcher?






The right to be soft spoken and heard, the right to be honest, correct and productive in one's relationships, the right to choose one's field of endeavour , however outlandish and even extravagant it might seem, the right to be supported by "the village" in one's quest for excellence and joy, the right not to deteriorate into a cynical, necrophilous slob,the right to be true to one's country and people, the right to earn the right to pass on one's knowledge to whosoever shows an interest, and the right to the good life that ensues; these Tendulkaristics are the rights of every human being.

It says something about humanity in the 21st century that these are rights are so rarely respected, leave alone supported, that Sachin Tendulkar stands almost alone in embodying them.

The Dalai Lama and Aung San Su Kyi are in their own way exemplars of integrity and excellence, but why have we not been able to receive their benedictions to the the fullest ?

Even in sports India, citizens were recently witness to the Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra and earlier the entire hockey become "activists" and get involved in a"panga" (tussle) with the authorities to receive proper playing conditions.

I place my own “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India,now in its 18th year, in a similar category of my quest for my right to love, to play and to excel.

Since the media and civil society in India prefer to ride bandwagons and idolize, rather than apply their imaginations and responsibility, I appeal to your esteemed publication and your readers to get my message across to the powers that be in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office in India.

It says a lot about the infantile and narcissistic character of these two august offices of the Indian state, that they have since months, given the strong impression of abusing their immense power by instigating and sustaining a conspiracy of silence against me.
It is in this larger context that I make the following observations:

In India today any “aspiration” nursed by the “common man” for integrity, innovation or excellence, can quickly get “him” ostracised if not brutally killed.

And in the stilted political discourse manufactured by India’s ruling class the “common woman” does not even exist !

A culture of profiting from deceit and dysfunctionality appears to have enveloped India.

And even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its “politics” are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the “patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption that has cretinised us all”

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh’s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

And of course our editors know it all. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a sane, unexploitative, equitable life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

India’s Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations. Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister’s office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler .

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar’s Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Thank you for your attention.

It has been an 18 year long innings and thanks to the unwillingness of the various leaders of the Indian state to own up to their various delinquencies, I continue to be hounded for my innocence.

Not cricket.



Deepan Joshi responds:



Keep the faith Diwakar; and you will get your due just try and make it easy on yourself and on others as well. What you are is your lookout and what the others are is in a broad sense their lookout.


divakarssathya draws Shri Joshi's attention to a small detail:

Thanks for your carefully considered response Deepan.
BTW, I spell my name with a V. It is DiVakar.
Cheers!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

In The Economist - Kind Words For Divakar


The Economist published the following comment in the article The Politics Of Repression In China - What Is China Afraid Of ?



What are they afraid of?
Feb 23rd 2010 2:45 GMT

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

To which East Wind responded:

What are they afraid of?
Feb 23rd 2010 3:15 GMT

@ divakarssathya

THANK YOU FOR a most truthful posting

STRAIGHT FROM the heart

The truth, nothing but the truth

You , sir , are a man of honour

All decent people on this forum salute you

This made divakarssathya go all mellow:

Feb 24th 2010 6:17 GMT

Dear East Wind.
Thank you for your very thoughtful and kind response.

I am willing to bet that almost every intelligent Indian who has had an opportunity to study abroad has a bunch of Chinese, Korean, African, Black, Latino, Paki, Jewish and of course Anglo friends, whose memories still bring a smile to his face.

Let us rage against the machine and wish that we will all live to watch our grandchildren play with each other.

Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!