Vantage point




Sunday, August 24, 2003

The Swami gets it right again with Serving beef at Ayodhya.

I have long opposed a ban on cow slaughter as a secular liberal. But in the light of Bhavabhuti's narrative, I also oppose the ban as a beef-eating Hindu. I am following in the footsteps of Vasishta, no less.

If the cablewallah ban was hilarious, read this about what the Pakistani press is up to. Apprently, we are building up Iran's nuclear programme.

Pak mantra: Charge India as world charges you

Indian scientists, it added, are believed to be working at Talkhab and Chah-e-Lashkar, suspected sites of nuclear research laboratories and possible enrichment facilities and both sites have a large deployment of India's Akash missiles.
Indian officials responded good-humouredly to the report, wondering what Akash, which is still at the user trial stage in India and has a small payload of 50 kg and a short range of 25 km, was doing at a nuclear enrichment site. "Presumably we are teaching the Iranians to blow themselves up with small nukes," one official remarked.


This reminds me of an article I had read in The Frontier Post a year back or so. It cited the "study" of some think tank in Islamabad to say how the nuclear weapons in India are the most dangerous ones for the Western World, because of "Hindu fundamentalists who hate American ideas like Valentine Day". This was the time when the world was concerned about Taliban types getting hold of Pakistan's nuclear weapons.


On another topic, 4 IIT Delhi students were expelled for ragging a fresher. Initially the punishment given was mild, but thanks to HRD Minister as been made stringent. I applaud Joshi for having taken this move. What saddens me is that a lot of IIT-ians....in fact most of them....are actually saying that the fresher is to blame for "being a coward" and "not taking the heat". One actually went so far as to say that if the guy couldn't take ragging, he should not be in IIT. The most cynical manifestation of the "chalta hai" attitude amongst us Indians.

For once a minister is doing something right, but we oppose it on weird grounds. And then we have the gall to blame everything on corrupt politicians as if our social fabric is any better.