SG OwnBlog

The man made pyre Once upon a time in the dark days of February..... The evening mist has just settled. A middle aged man wrapped in a grey shawl waits in the station. Beside him is a cup of tea, long since cold. On his right is a Gujarati newspapers loosely folded. On the paper is a big Motorola cellphone. Just about a hundred meters away a couple of house are filled with strangers. Numbering about 30, they remain in silence waiting for a call from a Motorola wireless transmitter. A couple of days ago, news came in that women and children were coming in from kar seva. On route to home, they would have to pass through a small station in rural Gujarat. The group were to take part in a small 'welcoming'. As the middle aged man looked at his watch, the station signboard glistened at the passing lights of some nearby car. It read - Godhra. Substantial preparations were already made for the party. The photographers among them were highly trained and equipped w...

It was 15th June, 2004. Gujarat Police gunned down four people between the Gandhinagar - Ahmedabad road. The killed were Ishrat Jahan Raza aged 19, Javed Gulam Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar. Allegations were raised that the encounter was fake. In 2004 itself, a Lahore based publication of the Lashkar e Tayyiba confirmed that Ishrat Jahan and the other three were indeed operatives. This definitely gave a jolt to many parties who were crying foul. After three longs years, Jamaat-ud-Dawa stated that it was a 'journalistic mistake' to include the name of Ishrat Jahan and sent an apology to her family. This stirred the other folks into action. The hibernating political jumbos immediately filed a number of cases and after a long investigation, that is after 5 years, the Ahmedabad Metropolitan court declared that the encounter was staged . Important thing to note here is that it did not claim that Ishrat Jahan was innocent. Something quite damning then happened. Dav...

This question looms large over all Indians. The 2014 general elections is approaching. Sure it is still another year to go, but for us somehow this one feels so different. Over the last five years India and the world has changed a lot.The Congress ruled Government has some serious challenge to face. In spite of the contribution to national development they are facing the flak. Achievements of the present government - All records for corruption have been broken. The total scams unearthed so far in the short span of four years is equivalent to the GDP of all of Africa combined. Successfully supporting, shielding corrupt people. Dividing the nation on communal lines. Ensuring that the rate of growth declines and the economy slows down. Accelerating inflation and promoting crimes. Not preventing a rape wave but successfully assault protesters. Somehow finding BJP and Hindutva responsible for all ills. On the opposite side is the still unfortunately untainted(economically) Nare...