Meenakshi Lekhi, please stop telling lies

Supreme Court lawyer and BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi claims in a recent interview that during the time of Mughal emperor Akbar, Hindus were forced to wear arm bands to distinguish themselves from Muslims. This is false. One of the references she gives for her claim is the historian V A Smith. Smith was a British historian writing when India was a British colony, but even Smith does not make this bizarre claim anywhere in his book. His book on Akbar, incidentally,is titled 'Akbar the Great Moghul'. On the whole, Smith's book is full of praise for Akbar even though it does have a few errors which have been pointed out by Dr Ishwari Prasad (see Dr Prasad's book on the Mughals).

Meenakshi Lekhi, please stop telling lies.

Meenakshi Lekhi is right. Hindus wore colored arm bands in Akbar's day and there are references of this on the internet.

southindian wrote:Meenakshi Lekhi is right. Hindus wore colored arm bands in Akbar's day and there are references of this on the internet.

Do not believe the lies and slanders of hindutva idiots.

Rashmun wrote:

southindian wrote:Meenakshi Lekhi is right. Hindus wore colored arm bands in Akbar's day and there are references of this on the internet.

Do not believe the lies and slanders of hindutva idiots.

Meenakshi Lekhi gives the reference of the colonial British historian VA Smith in perpetuating her lie. Although Smith's book on Akbar has a few errors, which have been pointed out by Dr Ishwari Prasad, nowhere in his book does Smith make the claim which Lekhi is attributing to him. It is clear that neither Lekhi nor you have read Smith's book.

Once again: Meenakshi Lekhi should stop telling lies.

Hate these moguls --- backwardness, oaf, looters, plunderers who sucked blood out of this country and gifted this country what:- anarchy, illiteracy, exploitation, forceful conversion, discrimination, polygamy, poverty, destruction of ancient and sacred hindu temples scriptures, inclusion of cheapest tradition called Parda system in Hindu Society which was forceful coz they used to harass hindu girls sexually, where ever or whenever they got chance to demolish our ancient sacred temples they never quivered to do so like in ayodhya, mathura... they were monsters e.g., babar and shah jahan was so selfish and self centred, egoist, cruel, arrogant that he got the architect's hands amputated, who designed and built TAJ MAHAL after got TAJ MAHAL built. What's this Compassion? It's a gruesome, heroneous act one can even think of.... Moguls never have had a feeling of compassion.... apart from Moguls, Mohammed Gori attacked india 18 times. 17 times consecutively prithviraj chauhan defeated him and forgave him out of mercy and compassion but in 18th time prithviraj got defeated and mohammad gori didn't let go the chance to furnish or manifest his heroneous, wicked, vile, cruel and wretched intentions. Gori got his eyes gauged off and gave him very painfula dnagonizing death. What u call such behaviour? A God like behaviour or Monstrosity? just ask to urself.

gorsimo wrote:Hate these moguls --- backwardness, oaf, looters, plunderers who sucked blood out of this country and gifted this country what:- anarchy, illiteracy, exploitation, forceful conversion, discrimination, polygamy, poverty, destruction of ancient and sacred hindu temples scriptures, inclusion of cheapest tradition called Parda system in Hindu Society which was forceful coz they used to harass hindu girls sexually, where ever or whenever they got chance to demolish our ancient sacred temples they never quivered to do so like in ayodhya, mathura... they were monsters e.g., babar and shah jahan was so selfish and self centred, egoist, cruel, arrogant that he got the architect's hands amputated, who designed and built TAJ MAHAL after got TAJ MAHAL built. What's this Compassion? It's a gruesome, heroneous act one can even think of.... Moguls never have had a feeling of compassion.... apart from Moguls, Mohammed Gori attacked india 18 times. 17 times consecutively prithviraj chauhan defeated him and forgave him out of mercy and compassion but in 18th time prithviraj got defeated and mohammad gori didn't let go the chance to furnish or manifest his heroneous, wicked, vile, cruel and wretched intentions. Gori got his eyes gauged off and gave him very painfula dnagonizing death. What u call such behaviour? A God like behaviour or Monstrosity? just ask to urself.

You sound like a chaddi, Mr Gorsimo.

I'm not a fan of Modi and I hope NDA fronts a more neutral candidate such as Nitish Kumar (Bihar CM) as PM candidate. Or even better, somebody like Manohar Parrikar (Goa CM) or Raman Singh of Chattisgarh. Given a choice, I would pick these any day over Modi. That said, I find this question loaded and singles out BJP in a nation where every political party has blood in its hands.

We have 3 main options at the national level:
Congress: The makers of Emergency, Sikh terrorism, Bluestar, IPKF, 1984 massacre, 2G scam, Shah Bano & Opening of Babri gates and countless massacres since 1947: List of massacres in India. Their inept rule keeps India in poverty (leading to 100s of unnecessary deaths everyday) and regions they dominate are the worst for farmer's suicides. Under Congress, we are just one step short of becoming a monarchy. Arguably the most corrupted option.
NDA: The makers of Babri Masjid crash and 2002 riots. Their attitude towards minority is arguably a little poor than Congress. However, they are arguably more development focused.
Third Front: The hodgepodge of regional parties who have ruined/are ruining Indian states in various ways. This includes Mamata (whose inept handling of Railway ministry has spiked accidents), Communists (who have economically ruined every region they ruled), Mayawati, Janata Dal (the party which brought our worst PMs: VP Singh, Dewe Gowda, Morarji Desai & Chandrashekar). At various points this also includes Lallu, Dravidan parties of TN, etc.

Goa CM -- and a better choice for BJP.
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Selective Bias
We should all indeed be angry about 2002 riots. I used to hangout all the time at a close Muslim friend's house back then and his mom was so scared to let us travel across India for our research work. BJP really angered me then and I was even more disappointed with Vajpayee for not dismissing Modi as a matter of principle. For years, I ignored every news article about Modi.

We have reason to be angry about that incident. But, why stop with just that? Congress led Delhi & Haryana lead the nation in crime against women. Congress led Maharashtra leads the nation in farmer suicides. Congress ally Lalu ruined Bihar and made it lawless. Their ally Owaisi has presided over communal riots in Hyderabad. Why not let us be indignant about that? Are some lives more worthy than others?


Sikh riots of 1984. Killed 5 times more people than 2002 riots. My friend's whole family was burned alive. By Congress, in capital, in full sight of our Prime Minister Rajiv.

Do you want to vote for a party that has scammed us left & right? Do you want to vote for a party who is cluelessly fumbling with the economy? Do you want to vote for a party whose poor management is killing the rural farmers 1000 times more than Gujarat riots?

On the other hand, NDA led states such as Goa, Bihar and Gujarat have managed to perform well on development indicators in the past 5 years. Under BJP, Bihar and Chattisgarh have turned to become India's fastest growing states (clocking over 12% GDP growth y-o-y). Not saying much better, but relatively better. Chhattisgarh's GDP growth highest in 2009-10 .

Whether it is Telangana or 26/11, the present Congress government looks like a deer in headlights unable to make any decisive direction. In contrast, previous BJP government showed a little more balls whether it be Pokhran or economic reforms.

Time and again, present Congress leadership has shown its ineptness in leading us.

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Lack of development is the worst form of violence
The Modi-phobia is a classic case of a statistically rare event completely playing with rational choices. For instance, we hyped SARS scare & other rare diseases when more common diseases such as TB kill a million times as many. During Gujarat riots 790 Muslims and 230 Hindus perished in a really sad week for modern India.

However, let us also not forget that 50,000 people die in India everyday from disease, starvation, poverty, violence apart from natural causes and a chunk of this can be saved through better development. Lack of development is a far more heinous violence on our populace. Whomever we decide, we have to see their development track record.
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Lesser of evils
Now, when you are asking Modi supporters to justify their choice, I will turn the question and ask how non-Modi supporters can defend their choice of far worse barbarians. I mean how can you support a party that is so outright corrupt. I mean which rational person can vote for Rahul Gandhi (whose party presided over some heinous crimes in the past 5 decades). Which rational mind will vote for Mamata & Lallu & Mayawati?

Assume you are picking fast bowlers for Indian cricket team. What is the point of getting angry at Zaheer for being worse than Akram or Steyn. What matters for selection is whether he is better than rest of Indian fast bowlers. As simple as that. However, what many non-Modi supporters are saying is equivalent to: "Since Zaheer is worse than Dale Steyn, we have to go back in time and pick Debashish Mohanty." (Sorry Mr PM).

Politics is about picking the least of evils. Even assuming Modi was involved in 2002 riots (our legal system says one is presumed innocent unless proven), his competitors have been involved in equally horrific crimes.

Do you want to support people like her(MAYAWATI of Bahujan Samaj Party), if you want to not support BJP?
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Epilogue:
It is still not too late for non-Modi BJP supporters to ask for a more of a pro-development person (the people I mentioned in the first line). But, the reason should be development & not just facts thrown without context. If enough anti-Congress people prevail over BJP for Parrikar or another development oriented CM, it might still happen. Just as it showed in Vajpayee's case, when middle class come out to back that party it picks better candidates. But, by staying away from the party, middle class has let hardcore right to take up the party.

I really hope someday we will have better choices and when I don't need to pick a guy like Modi. It will come when we educated get in and make a difference. But, if nothing else changes there seems to be no option but Modi. When you pick someone you are not picking his competitor & viceversa. Whether you vote or not, you are making that choice. Own that choice.

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Summary:
Modi is the only way to stop Congress. And Congress must be stopped to show we care about governance & corruption. Let us even forget their ancient follies. Have you all forgotten 1,76,000 Crore 2G Scam? Have you forgotten Common Wealth Games fiasco? Have you forgotten Owaisi's hate speeches? Have you forgotten Prathiba Patil? Have you forgotten Sibal's repression against free speech? Have you forgotten all the misgoverance that every business leader from Ratan Tata to Narayanamurthy has spoken against? So, none of farmer suicides, rapes and riots matter to you?

If you have forgotten all the above, don't delude yourself that you are any more righteous, any more moral, any more holy than any Modi supporter. Wake Up.

MALNUTRITION is one of the main campaign issues in Gujarat even if the aim is to embarass Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his views on the high rate of malnutrition in the State.

Modi told an international daily in the recent past:

“Gujarat is by and large a vegetarian State. And secondly, Gujarat is also a middle-class State. The middle class is more beauty conscious than health conscious—that is a challenge. If a mother tells her daughter to have milk, they’ll have a fight. She’ll tell her mother, ‘I won’t drink milk. I’ll get fat.’” Modi’s detractors were quick to criticise him, and so was a large section of the Gujarati press known to otherwise favour him.

As a part of a damage-control exercise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a nutrition week before the code of conduct for the election kicked in and repeatedly claimed that Modi was quoted out of context.

The malnutrition situation is bleak, says a highly placed bureaucrat. “Gujarat is peaking some areas of development, mainly infrastructure and urban sectors. However, 45 per cent of the children under five years in the State are underweight and more than 55 per cent of the women are anaemic. These are also crucial indicators of a State’s development.”

The opposition parties are obviously milking controversy in their campaign. “Modi has been unsuccessful in dealing with education and health. His statement is not only a joke, but also an insult to the women of Gujarat,” said Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia.

“The most anaemic women are among the tribal people. Are they beauty conscious?” he asked.

Former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel said over 70 per cent of Dalit and Adivasi women in Gujarat suffered from malnutrition.

“Are they dieting to walk the ramp? It was Modi’s government that reduced the food given at midday meals and so we see those consequences now,” he added.

In February, the State Health Department presented some grim facts at a conference called the Chintan Shibir. In Gujarat, under-nutrition contributes to more than one-third of all deaths of children under the age of five; green leafy vegetables form less than 20 per cent of the diet of the majority of the people; production of cereals and pulses has fallen and as a consequence families do not have access to enough foodgrains. Additionally, the government’s malnutrition programmes are focussed on the age group of three to six years , while the degree of malnutrition is the highest among children up to two years.

According to the last National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the percentage of underweight children in the State actually went up between NFHS-2 (1998-99) and NFHS-3 (2005-06). The NFHS yields relatively recent data on malnutrition in the State.

According to NFHS-3 data, 47 per cent of children below the age of three in the State are underweight. That figure was 45 per cent in NFHS-2.

The percentage of Gujarat’s children who are “wasted” also went up from 16 to 17 per cent between the two NFHS surveys. In the hunger index released last year, Gujarat was placed 13th among the major States, below Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam.

Ironically, this is the State where the White Revolution began and continues to thrive.

http://www.flonnet.com/fl2924/stories/20121214292411001.htm

Shajapur: Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Sunday slammed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for making "tall claims" about development, and claimed that despite all talks of progress every citizen of Gujarat is burdened with a debt of Rs 26,000. "When Modi became Gujarat Chief Minister for the first time, the state had a loan burden of Rs 46,000 crore, but today it has risen to Rs 1.72 lakh crore, which means each and every individual in the state is indebted by a loan burden of Rs 26,000," he told reporters Saturday night, enroute to Indore.

Singh said that this fact exposed all of Modi's claims about development of Gujarat. He said that in "developed" Gujarat there is a wide difference between men and women in terms of social equality and Dalits have been prevented many times from taking water from rivers, even recently.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gujarats-loan-burden-has-risen-to-rs-172-lakh-crore-says-digvijaya/385353-3-236.html

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India alleged financial irregularities worth thousands of crores by the Narendra Modi government. The report has indicted the state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), whose flawed operations since 2009 has caused a loss of Rs. 5,000 crore.

Its 'undue favours' includes crores of giveaways to corporate giants including Gautam Adani's Adani Energy, the Essar Group run by the Ruias and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industdani Groupries.

The CAG report says that GSPC gave 71 crores worth benefits to Adani Energy by selling it gas at a price lower than the cost. It also gave Rs. 12.02 crore to Essar Steel by waiving off capacity charges. Also Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries installed a platform in GPSC'S Krishna-Godavari (KG) Block, which makes GSPC responsible for the structure for life.

The largest chunk of losses however comes from GPSC's own faulty operations in the KG Basin, where it bid for exploration without properly estimating financial and technical costs, which finally shot up from an estimated $102.23 million to $1.302 billion.

"The BJP tolerates Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as he feeds the party's central leadership by indulging in corruption," leader of the opposition in Gujarat assembly Shakti Sinh Gohil told reporters here.

Mr Gohil also alleged that the Modi government chose to table the report on the last day of the Assembly; so that the it can't be raised inside the House. The entire Opposition was suspended two days back, and hence, it had to raise the issue outside the Assembly.

"It is a loot of the treasury," said Mr Gohil adding that the state Congress would take the issue of uninterrupted corruption during Mr's Modi rule in the past decade among the masses.

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/modi-government-indicted-for-undue-favours-to-corporates-192000