My Opinion

An uncanny resemblance between reel and real! Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijan is but a reflection of Gita’s story. Just as the film showcases the plight of a mute girl who unknowingly strayed into India, Gita a deaf-mute woman inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan 15 years back. Now all efforts are being made to bring Gita back home sometime soon. Credit must be accorded to Sushma Swaraj whose personal intervention has made all this possible.

Returning of awards by some of the country’s literary icons has generated a huge debate in the country. The question is whether it is a manufactured revolt or a genuine act of protest. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned why were Awards not returned during the Meerut or Bhagalpur riots. Questions have also been raised on why none in Maharashtra returned their awards when rationalist Narendra Dhabolkar was mercilessly killed. Whatever the case may be, writers cannot exhibit political patronage or any leanings…they bring people together with their writings. They are the pathfinders of the society.

A splendid innings by Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped India win today’s ODI against South Africa. After six wickets had already fallen, it was the captain who bailed out India thereby silencing his critics who were clamouring for his retirement. For the past few days, questions were being raised on his performance but the captain chose to remain cool and instead led from the front and let his bat do the talking. There were even murmurs of cracks between him and Virat Kohli but the way the team performed today, is proof enough that critics need to weigh their words before they speak.

It is strange that despite the PM having said that there would be no change in the reservation policy, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat has reiterated his stand on it. He has repeated once again that the policy would have to be relooked at. This could prove costly for BJP at a time when it is fighting the high stakes electoral battle in Bihar where Caste is perhaps one of the main issues. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad could well be proved wrong when he remarked that this issue of reservation will not benefit Nitish and Lalu in these elections. If that were indeed true, why would the BJP President Amit Shah keep repeating in all his rallies, that the fight in Bihar is about development and not so much about reservation!

Netaji’s death has always been shrouded in mystery – a mystery that is buried deep in secret files. There have been various rumours and conspiracy theories floating around pertaining to his death. Some felt he was alive for many years, some felt he was living incognito as a hermit…all these theories sprung from people’s feelings for Netaji. After the West Bengal Chief Minister decided to declassify the secret files a few days back, today it was the Prime Minister’s turn to announce that files connected to Netaji would be declassified. This will finally put all rumours to rest.

As campaigning in Bihar reaches a frenzy, the war of words between political adversaries has reached a new low. I have been a witness to many electoral battles in Bihar but in my thirty five years of journalism, perhaps for the first time I am seeing how political leaders are crossing all limits in their quest to verbally attack each other. ‘Brahma pishach’, ‘narbhakshi’, ‘shaitan’…these are some of the insults never heard before and sadly the volleys continue unabated!

It is no secret that Mulayam Singh Yadav loves to shoot from the hip and there are few leaders in the country who are as candid as him. In no uncertain terms, he lashed out at the RJD-JDU alliance. The Samajwadi Party chief accused Nitish Kumar of having sided with the Congress at the last minute thereby deceiving Lalu into forming an alliance. He also wondered why Lalu failed to see through this and instead fell for the trap.

A high 57% voter turnout in the first phase of the Bihar elections has given BJP reason enough to cheer. In the first phase out of one crore thirty five lakh voters, thirty five lakh are under the age of thirty and four and a half lakh are first time voters. This time in every seat there are 85,000 under-30 voters which is more than the average winning margin of 15,000 votes in the last assembly elections in 2010. Therefore the sizeable number of young voters this time could well be the deciding factor in an election where the stakes are high.

Probably even the Shiv Sena is unware of the spotlight it has brought on Kasuri’s book. Had Shiv Sena not smeared ink on Sudheendra Kulkarni, the former Pakistan Foreign Minister’s book might not have even generated so much interest. But what is worse are the consequences of its irrational act. Not only does Shiv Sena have egg on its face, the party should realise that such acts of intolerance bring about a disgrace to the country’s name.

Most clashes now a days are triggered off by a rumour and rumour breeds in an atmosphere of suspicion. Mainpuri too is a classic example of this. What is important is to reassure people – reassure them enough so that faith replaces this trust deficit. The political class, the civil society and the police will all have to come together and work towards restoring a sense of confidence amongst people.

Russia has defended its attack on Syria on the pretext of destroying the ISIS but whether it has succeeded or not, is difficult to ascertain. The ground reality in Syria makes it all the more difficult to find out whether the Russian missiles have strategically hit the ISIS or have hit civilian areas instead!

It was a video that went viral. A video on social medial that brought out the Nation’s outrage towards the plight of the Dalit family in Dankaur. Similarly it was the picture of a young boy studying under a streetlight outside a metro station that prompted the UP Chief Minister to reach out to him. While there is no doubt about the power of Social Media, it is equally important to check the veracity of such images and videos. It is important to avoid a knee jerk reaction without knowing what the truth is. In the Dankaur case too what was initially considered to be a result of police atrocities, turned out in reality to be a form of ‘nude’ protest by the Dalit family when the police failed to register their FIR despite repeated requests.