Hibernating…

Well, i’ll be giving my German and Chemistry GCSE in mid-March, so from today i’ll be going into self-imposed hibernation. See ya guys till then!

Vikrant

Is it the end of the road for Shiv Sena?

It seems that our pals at Shiv Sena have been having a bit of rough time lately. But even with the criminal gang party experiencing its worst ever crisis after Raj Thackeray-Uddhav Thackeray spat, its business as usual for Shiv Sainiks. First, they vandalised an office of a news channel and then the deprived youths of Shiv Sena disrupted a Valentine’s Day bash.

It may well be well beyond Mr.Tackeray’s powers of comprehension that in a democracy you cant really terrorise anyone to conform to your ideals or archaic cultural values. These imbecilic vandalisms are nothing more than a gimmick to divert the public attention from the infighting that has engulfed SS. Peace will be a casualty as Shiv Sainiks try to reassert their authority over their traditional domains, the streets of Mumbai. But these incidents are the pointers of a SS in disarray rather than a resurgent SS. The recent high profile defections of party stalwarts like Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray (Bal Thackeray’s own nephew) have rendered Shiv Sena politically impotent for some time to come.

Shiv Sena now is undergoing a crisis of ideology and identity. For much of its history, SS has been a party centered around one man rather than an ideology. Shiv Sena traces its origin to militant Maharashtrian nationalist movements of 1950’s. Bal Thackeray founded SS in 1966 to fight back the dwindling numbers and diminishing role of Maharashtrians in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra. A fiery orator, this diminutive cartoonist struck a cord with the Marathi working classes. By using strong-arm tactics and a healthy dose of “sons of soil” populism, SS tasted its initial success at BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation). But “Marathi manoos” agenda hardly worked in the rural hinterland of Maharashtra, where non-Maharashtrians were few and far between. Hence the party didn’t figure in the political equation of the state till 1980’s. Riding the saffron wave generated by Ram-Janmabhoomi Movement, Thackeray jumped the Hindutva bandwagon (nevermind the fact that Shivaji Maharaj, whose legacy they claim to inherit was the only secular king of his day). Shiv Sainiks went from being Marathi activists, to enforcers of Thackeray’s diktats to the foot soldiers of Hindutva.

It would be interesting to see how the party reorients itself in a changed political climate. It can no longer rely on Bal Thackeray's arousing oratory to see it through. Years of dismal eletoral performances have their toll on party's traditional voter base. It must shed its irredentist image or face a natural death. In coming years, Shiv Sena may well be relegated to the dustbins of history, but the underlying causes for its meteoric rise to fame are more or less present to this day. As Maharashtrians continually marginalised in Mumbai and the state witnesses a massive influx of migrants from Hindi belt into other traditional Maratha bastions of Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad, the mantle of Maharashtrian nationalism is bound to pass on to the shoulders of secular minded and more (hopefully) responsible NCP.

I am a half-Maratha.

Komrade Karat: India’s 24 Carat Commie… (pun unintended)

transcripts of interview with Pinko Pansy Prakash Karat.
Vikrant: Hello guys this is Vikrant Singh here and this afternoon we have here a very special guest; Mr Prakash Karat the CPI strongman who is here in London for… well for some study tour.
Karat: Oh well get on with it.. dont have much time ya know.
Vikrant: Ok… Here we go… So what is your stand on Airport modernisation.
Karat: Well we are all in for modernisation. But government should not privatise the airports under the guise of modernisation.
Vikrant: So what do you propose…
Karat: Well we think that the government ought to hand over modernisation work to AAI.
Vikrant: But hasn’t AAI failed comprehensively in this aspect? India is probably the only major country in the world with cowsheds for airports.
Karat: On the contrary i think AAI has done a great job in running the airports. And also it is the only organisation in India with experience in building and maintaining airports.
Vikrant: (sigh) But.. Mr.Karat AAI can’t maintain a clean toilet let alone modernise and maintain an international airport.
Karat:: No you communalist swine. WORNG!!! WRONG!!! India needs to think about agriculture not airports.
Vikrant: Communalist?
Karat: (screams)Imperialist.
Vikrant: (sigh) Ok we’ll move on, we’ve got more contentious bones to chew today.
Karat: Huff…
Vikrant: Well what about FDI in retail sector. India remains the only major economy in the world to remain closed to FDI in retail sector.
Karat: (jumps to his feet) FDI IN RETAIL!!! Never…
Vikrant: But surely Letting in retail chains like Tesco or Sainsbury’s would bring in lot of jobs, wont they?
Karat: Kiddie… those jobs come at the price of thousands of small retailers.
Vikrant: But Chinese experience has been otherwise. Small retailers actually increased with the opening up of FDI in retail, isnt it?
Karat: Well theres a difference between India and China…
Vikrant: Dont you realise Mr.Karat what is good for China ought to be good for India?
Karat: (to producer) Whered’ya find this Smart Alec.
Vikrant: (sighs again) oh well… Mr.Karat dont you think you militate against India’s national interest by insisting India vote against any anti-Iran resolution in UN.
Karat: Really what national interests?
Vikrant: Let me rephrase. Isnt it hypocritical of you to support Iran which is a theocratic state with utter disregard for even basic human rights as opposed to United States.
Karat: All that matters is that they are Non-Aligned.
Vikrant: Non-Alignment my foot. C’mon Mr.Karat surely even you by now must have understood the futility of Non-Alignment.
Karat: No you capitalist (edited).
Vikrant: But what made you suddenly go soft on Iran-referral issue.
Karat: Not saying…
Vikrant:: Oh puhlease Mr.Karat.
Karat: Will you promise me you wont tell anybody.
Vikrant:(in Indian Liltating accent) God promise.
Karat: The yellow sahibs agreed to support Iran referral, didnt they?
Vikrant: Yellow sahibs?
Karat:: Do i have to spell it out for you?
Vikrant: Yes.
Karat:C-H-I-N-E-S-E. There you go. Satisfied? (looks at his watch).
Vikrant: (gasp) Ok lets wrap it up.
Vikrant: Well I heard tell that the only Viagra pill sold in Delhi was bought by you…
Karat: As a matter of fact i did. Brinda reckons it works far better than Ramdev’s hodgepodge Ayurvedic aphrodisiac brew.
Vikrant: (Coughs) Thanks for sharing that err.. interesting fact with us Mr.Karat. So nice of you to have come on my show.

Hello there

Hiya people,

This is Vik here ‘n this is my spanking new neo-neo-con blog. This blog is sill in a process of formation so please be patient. I’d normally update on Fridays and Saturdays. Thats prett much it.

Vikrant