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Ramdev's fast a five-star satyagraha: Digvijay Singh
By Press Trust of India via Times of India.
Sharpening his attack on Baba Ramdev, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Saturday dubbed his indefinite fast as a "five-star satyagraha" sponsored by RSS and VHP to divert people's attention from "Sanghi terror".
(That would be a shame given I have endorsed Baba Ramdev. Religious bigotry kills many people in India, and discriminates against many millions more. However CORRUPTION by governments kills people also, though not as spectacularly as religious violence. It would be useful if an Indian Seymour Hersch could produce evidence that Anna Hazare, and Baba Ramdev had linkages with the RSS, Sangh Parivar and VHP...........I think the war against corruption in India has got to be tough, going beyond setting up yet another government body which is assigned to fight corruption, but ending up doing nothing {because the netas and babus manipulate it}. HOWEVER if the movement against corruption is covertly hijacked by the religious extremists, that is dangerous. Fighting corruption has to remain a secular ISSUE where OVERT RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM of the HINDU kind are not used which animates the wrong constituency in India)
"Now it is absolutely clear as to what are the credentials of Baba Ramdev. He is now openly supported by RSS BJP and VHP," Singh told reporters.
(Endorsement by the above parties does not mean necessarily that Baba Ramdev is fully paid up members of the above organization, unless clear evidence states otherwise, and he does not deny/disown the facts.
The above organizations may from time to time endorse wholesome things which are good for India....and it is not gospel truth that everything they support is necessarily evil and dangerous. The RSS, VHP and Sang Parivar may be stirred by patriotic fervor of the positive kind and may be fully indignant of the fact that India has so much black money abroad; for such a poor country...and may feel genuinely ashamed of the spate of corruption scandals that have affected India over the years.....this indignation, outrage and sense of shame is it self not a evil feeling, but normal for patriotic people)
He alleged that this campaign by VHP and RSS "is to undo the Constitution and Parliamentary democracy by encouraging people like Baba Ramdev to go on such fast."
(I don't think it goes that far. Indian Democracy has lasted for 63 years and has faced many turbulent challenges including from Congress itself under Indira Gandhi and the Emergency Rule 1975--77. However there is the complacency of corruption where a rotten system sets in when people with privilege think they are entitled to power and the riches of the state through nefarious means and Dynasty politics.........Why is Sonia and and her family billionaires when the family have never conducted business officially?.....because of kickbacks from defense procurements from the late 1960's.
On the other hand Baba Ramdev has to make sure that his actions do not lead to major destabilization of the state....where the GDP starts to shrink and people loose their jobs...where people start fighting and killing........that I think is NOT GOING to happen with the FAST, but may put pressure on the political system to do something about corruption finally)
Alleging that the campaign is "totally engineered by RSS and VHP to divert people's attention from Sanghi terror", Singh wondered "what kind of satyagraha is this of a baba who travels in a jet."
(Well in the 1905--1912 Satyagraha against the evil imperial design to divide Bengal along religious lines, there were no jets....ditto under Gandhi.....or Titters; Facebook etc.....there is absolutely nothing wrong in using modern communications system to SELL traditional age old ideas about the sanctity of India, and what needs to be addressed to improve the nation for the better of ALL......India is a big country geographically. Gandhi did walk a lot of the times in his agitation against the Raj, but I also think he did catch the train, and in Europe went on planes and Ships. Baba Ramdev is presumably not campaigning for ALL Indians to go back to the village, or is a Luddite......he is campaigning against corruption)
"He has got five-star tents put up with all facilities. And he is doing satyagraha on issues, which he doesn't know," Singh, who recently dubbed Baba Ramdev as being more of a businessman than a 'sanyasi', said.
(It is a utter falsity that ONLY CONGRESS LEADERS presume to know the problems of corruption in India.
The biggest crooks in Pakistan are the Pakistani military generals who work for the USA and a lot of the politicians.
Some of the biggest crooks in India are the politicians in charge of all the major parties and some babus.
INTENTION IS IMPORTANT.....before the problem of corruption is resolved....if Baba Ramdev see's corruption in India as a Congress Party problem mainly then he WILL FAIL in solving the problem.
However going back to the first point, one doesn't have to be a political insider within the state structure to understand the problem of corruption in India. Corruption in India is not a matter that MUST ONLY be understood and dealt with by political insiders within the state structure....if that were the case the problem would have been solved in the 1950's....and not allowed to linger 63 years into 2011)
"The whole satyagraha is not something what the satyagraha Mahatma Gandhi meant. This is five-star satyagraha for which crores of Rupees have been spent in creating air conditioned pandal," he said.
(Gandhi was fighting for Indian liberation, but I think it was Nehru who said in an autobiography that Gandhi was appalled by the corruption in his own party (source????). If he were alive today he may well have made his priority of fighting corruption in India his number one goal, and South Asian unity within SAARC his second goal)
Singh also took a dig at Anna Hazare who has announced plans to join Baba Ramdev in the fast tomorrow, saying, "I leave it to (his) judgement. Anna Hazare associates himself with RSS VHP, I don't know."
(It makes sense politically for Baba Ramdev and his fellow travelers to take their action together and speak with one voice)
The Congress leader, who has been speaking on the issue despite a virtual gag order, said that from day one everyone knows that "soldiers" of RSS, BJP and VHP are supporting Ramdev.
"So we all know who is sponsoring this and who he is trying to propagate," Singh said.
(I thought everybody in India with different social and political backgrounds, but mainly from the Middle class were campaigning against corruption in India)
The Congress leader also sought to project the Baba as regressive.
He said while the world is clamouring to learn English to compete in the global economy, the Baba wants medical and education in regional languages "and I want to ask him where he wants to take the country."
( It would be nice if India was less Anglophone and more Indian......with government institutions where suitable adopting HINDI as the oficial state language. However English is the global language, and India should not short cut herself on the benefits of this International language .......service CALL CENTERS etc)
On the estimate of black money, he said he failed to understand who has given the figure of Rs 4 lakh crore.
"BJP leader L K Advani is saying Rs 17 lakh crore. BJP is giving some other figure. Tell us, who gave you this figure. What is the original figure?," Digvijay asked.
( It is immaterial what is the exact figure for the back money in the 70 or so ofshore tax havens.....That is why its called Black Money. Illegally gotten money that avoids taxation, and is stashed away in foreign banks, off shore to avoid detection:
1. It is enough that the general public are aware that significant amounts of black money is abroad. They don't have to know the exact amount.
2. Governments take decisive steps to bring back the black money, beyond lip service.
3. The hole is plugged through which the system of black money is allowed to leave India.)
Singh also projected the yoga guru as an ignorant man. "Firstly Baba himself is not aware of what the issues are, what the system is, how the government functions. I pity BJP's mind, they have also run a government. Is it possible to resolve all points raised by Baba? I want to ask BJP's (Nitin) Gadkari."
(Baba Ramdev must clearly state that corruption in India crosses party lines, and is not a Congress problem only, AND HE is not campaigning against Congress only (UPA). Though Congress has been in power for most of the last 63 years of Independence, and because of this has a lot to answer for.
Again let me state that intention and habit are more important than knowledge, when combating corruption in India. SOME OF THE BIGGEST CROOKS IN SOUTH ASIA ARE VERY ARTICULATE, CLEVER....POWERFUL people who are well connected within the state structure and the private sector. They use their connections, and considerable KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE to loot the country.....in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh.......POLITICIANS, BABUS, MILITARY PEOPLE......and powerful individuals in the private sector.
Therefore it is simply disingenuous for Singh sahab to say that Baba Ramdev doesn't understand what he is talking about........."He's out of his depth" narrative dismissive thing that parents condescendingly say to their little children. I believe Baba Ramdev does understand that there is a very BIG problem called "corruption in India", and that this big problem is creating additional problems for India economically and socially----thats the generals gist of it.....he and many others in India understand this at a basic level.
On the other hand it behooves people like Baba Ramdev to make himself fully aware of all the issues surrounding the big issue of "corruption in India" so that he can argue from the position of true knowledge.....this will give him POWER......rather than playing to the gallery through pure emotional and religious symbolism. There is nothing to stop him in surrounding himself with articulate experts on the field of corruption from INDIAN ACTIVISM, and from Indian academia.
Corruption in India is a BIG problem, and is a COMPLEX problem that crosses party lines......however such challenges must not be used to avoid addressing the problem.
In my view it might make more sense to create effective state institutions as a precursor to fighting corruption in India..........a lot of corruption in a state comes from weak state structures which do not do their jobs properly)
He said Advani can tell whether the Baba's demand to continue his hunger strike till the Rs 4 lakh crore money stashed abroad is returned was reasonable.
He also asked the Baba, who is agitating against black money, as to why he established an ashram in Mauritius, which is a known tax haven.
(Most Mauritians are of Indian origin from Bihar????, and Hindu......so having an ashram there is normal, as it is in Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia. Now on the other hand if Singh Sahib knows otherwise he should tell us so.
Now I endorse Digvijay Singh as the leader of the Congress Party (PM position) after geriatric ManMohan Singh steps aside, and which bypasses the Dynasty appointment of the Playboy from Italy.....which is corruption/nepotism of a kind in itself, and no les odious. India does not need Playboy leaders)
