“He has nothing on”

The press conference of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reminded me of the famous old fable told to us as little children: ‘The emperor’s new clothes’. A proud king who always liked to be flattered and surrounded by a coterie wanted to be decked in his best robes and go out in a procession. The courtiers knew the king’s weakness for flattery.

They decked him one after in silk and velvet robes-all imaginary ones and kept repeating to him how gorgeous he looked. The king was mightily satisfied. He went out on his procession with the crowds looking at their king but dared not verbalize the stark truth-what they saw. It was a little child who suddenly from the crowd shouted out ‘But ,he has nothing on”
What is the comparison? Looking at the News reporters and journalists who sat in awe listening to the Prime minister reel out his one year old achievements this story came to my mind. Were there achievements? No one dared to question him on it. True he did list out the events-the areas of governance-But were these events-and areas of governances marked with growth and a direction.

Economy-
 
He along with Montek Ahluwalia keeps on assuring the country that the prices will come down soon. Since the UPA took change of the country’s affairs with Mohanmohan Singh (and his two unaccountable advisors) the prices have gone up by 400 percent. So when he says that it will come down soon it can mean that after another push upwards to touch 500 percent it may come down to 400 percent. Does this mean that the prices had come down? And what is the reason for this price rise? According to Manmohan Singh it is -floods and drought. The economist PM knows very well that the prices of the essential commodities rose when petrol and diesel prices were hiked by the UPA in 2007 and again in 2010 it hiked the import and customs duties of petroleum based products. We are told that fuel price hike is round the corner and will be decided on June 7th.The common people can expect the cascading effect on this and a steep rise in essential commodities-but then if only wishes are horses….then we beggars would be riders on the sharp curve upwards. He expects the economy to grow at 8.5 this fiscal year and reach a 10percent.Now as an economist the PM should know that growth does not necessarily mean less starvation and more employment-Growth need not be an index for pushing up those below the Poverty line above it. So in short as far as the economy is concerned it is a jugglery of figures-it is a showcase of rapid economic growth but he does not touch the absolute numbers in chronic hunger. There goes another imaginary robe of velvet and glamour on him

Pakistan

This area has been a miserable failure because that country knows our weakness-especially the weakness of the PM. It is fully aware of the UPA’s appeasement policy and its urgency to garner the vote bank. So any number of talks and the composite dialogue had no real composition to gel it-no trust .The simulated talks-the exchange of dossiers goes on-justification for the existence of the Minister of Foreign affairs and his ministry. There has been absolutely no effort on the part of India to act when it comes to cross border terrorism. On the other hand it has been quite wary to call a spade a spade and has been even bringing this national security threat under one communality-stating that both the countries are victims. So the perpetrators and the victims with one shot the PM had leveled down as victims. Naturally what does one victim talk to another victim-exchange their notes of suffering and their stories of agony and mourn together. That the UPA under Manmohan Singh was an utter failure regarding Pakistan and India ’s relations is evident with the release of Hafiz Saeed the chief of JuD and the founder of the banned Lashker-e-Tayyeba. According to India he is one of the master minds of the Mumbai terror and enough evidence had been given to Pakistan on his role and activities of Saeed. Now what  action does India expect Pakistan to take?And why this shadow boxing? Yet another imaginary robe for Manmohan Singh to be decked up.

Terrorism

Terrorism within the country is again soft pedaled because the majority –nay more than 95 percent of the terror acts of Jihadis. But again the imaginary robe must cover him-so terrorism has no religion But the PM again covers this with yet any robe-‘Terror if it is sponsored by particular religious elements, it has to be dealt with effectively and purposefully’ But this is in variance with the Muslim appeasement policy of the PM and his UPA government .Hence Muslim terrorists are handled with care-while Sadhvi Pragnya is half paralyzed and thrice administered narco analysis. Till date not a single Muslim terrorists has been brought to justice. The Afzal Guru case is a study by itself. Why should the execution of the Supreme Court sentence be such a problem-because Kashmir will burn-because Delhi will witness violence? Why? Does this mean that Muslim terrorists cannot be brought to justice? Then will it not be better to wind up this entire probe and these simulated faked encounters? Let both the Muslims and the Hindus go ahead with the terrorists acts. Why should the Muslims alone to handled with a velvet glove while the Hindus terrorists made to look as though they are threat to the security of this country? Why should there be two kinds of justice-either you have one justice or no justice.So that’s the great cloak of sequins thrown on the PM to make the performance of the UPA ‘satisfactory’.It is shameful to say the least.

Naxals-

How naïve and complacent for the PM simply to state that the Naxalism is the biggest internal security threat that our country faces. Hear, hear the unrevealed revealed. As though this is news and as though it was for the PM to disclose such a classified secret! The blood letting-the destruction by the Naxals the whole country is aware of. So what about it-that the PM also has reinforced this biggest threat. What consolation for the people of India . He did not say how the magnitude of this problem is going to be tackled. Not that he should chart out the strategy but he need to have assured the country on this front because his cabinet-both kitchen cabinet and cabinet ministers are at tangent on this issue. Each having their own theories on how to tackle/or not to tackle this problem. The Home Minister has publicly stated that he has a limited mandate. Limited to what extent? What does this mean in terms of containing and overcoming the Naxal problem? The bottom line being that nothing concert has been done-except the airing of the differences which gives greater defiance and power to the Naxals. So another fine imaginary robe thrown round the PM Did the nation get any assurance? Any hope that the knowledge of the magnitude of the Naxal problem will definitely be attended to with a firm hand and that the Naxals cannot take law and order into their hands and snuff out the lives of common people-They cannot destroy and demolish what has been achieved in the name of development.

Kashmir-

The PM reiterates that his visit to Kashmir was a visit to one of the States of the Union of India. In J&K he gives us the information that there is a democratic government. If it is one of the States of the Union and if there is a democratic government why is there no democracy there? Why has J&K become an exclusive Muslim State and not a State for Indians? Why should the Indian taxpayers’ money be pumped in that State which refuses to be one among other States of the Indian Union? Why has it become a breeding place for anti-Indian sentiments and anti Indian civilities including rallies against India ? Did the democratic State government put down even the burning of the Indian national flag –an act of treason with an iron hand or looked the other way?

G2-Spectrum and telecom minister Raja

Accepting the huge gap between what was generated by the G2Spectrum and the 3G Spectrum the PM wants us to look at this whole problem in proper perspective.If there was a policy since 2003 does all the ministries follow the policies laid down during the NDA period? To look at this huge loss and this blatant corruption we need the dark spectacles of Raja’s boss Karunanidhi. We are told to wait till the investigations are over. But why has A.Raja has not been asked to step down so that the investigations will be carried on without fear or favor? That because Manmohan Singh at last has found comfort in the PM’s chair and likes to sit on it a bit longer-there is a design. He does not want the DMK to shake it and there goes another robe to cover up the PM’s integrity and honesty in his blatant abetment of corruption.

Caste-Based Census

The UPA has earned a historic name with this achievement-It is COMMUNAL.The youth leader and his mother should look up the dictionary to find out what communal meansUnless the dictionary is old book and the Congress under Rahul Gandhi is scripting a new vocabulary with its current meanings. But the Fourth estate which we presume understands the meaning of communal should desist henceforth from pointing at the BJP and the saffron outfits as communal and cover the most communal political party-the Congress and the other communal parties of DMK,PMK,RJD,JMM,BSP, and SP  et al as ‘secular forces. This is completely untrue and unfair. And now the communalization of the UPA goes down as one of its achievements with the caste based census to be taken during the biometric census. What more proof do we need?

Afzal Guru
 
Yes there is a law in this country and the people expect the government to carry out the execution of the Supreme courts verdict and not dilly dally with legal process. One should think that the legal process had come to its logical end with the SC’s verdict. Why now blackmail the nation by threats that Kashmir will burn-law and order will become an issue if Afzal Guru’s execution order is carried out. Does this mean that Justice can be thwarted and negated by such threats and the government will buckle down? Or is it part of the UPA appeasement policy to go soft on the Muslims? Vote bank erosion must be avoided by all means and towards that Justice can be the casualty. What if in the place of Afzal Guru it was one Hariram Krishnan? Manmohan Singh’s slip is showing…in spite of the numerous robes he has thrown on his person to cover up.

Corruption-Black money and Hasan Ali Khan’s tax evasion

If there was something called patriotism in the whole approach of the UPA these would have been tackled. India is not a poor country for money to be poured in for the NGOs. India is a rich country if one is to go by the mind-boggling amounts stashed in foreign tax havens. According to Swiss bank report Indians have stashed away$1.456 billion in Swiss accounts. There will be surely other accounts in other tax havens. India stands first in this black money hoarding outside the country and yet the UPA under Manmohan Singh is silent on this. There is no money for the Food security-then tax the poor people again and claim it as an achievement of the UPA2 but why not bring back this enormous amount kept outside the country. Whom is Manmohan Singh and his government protecting? The silence of Manmohan Singh on this account and the failure of the news reporters to raise questions on this is a betrayal of the people. The PM has a robot kind of performance and the soft ware has not been programmed for this. So he and the UPA abets corruption-blatantly encourages the flight of Indian wealth to foreign banks. This swindling of the people/of the public exchequer is not only contained with in the cabinet but is wide spread-all the rich and those with political and social power have ganged up against the poor of India . Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi stands by them. And we must give him a ‘satisfactory’ score-for his downright betrayal of the people.
 
Sonia Gandhi/Rahul

Manmohan Singh has thrown to the winds all his reticence to openly declare his good fortune in having the benefit of the advice of the world’s most learned woman and politician Sonia Gandhi. His qualifications need to be complemented by her educational qualifications-her political legacy and her hidden motives. He goes further to declare that he is very privileged to have the constant advice of both his wife and Mrs Sonia Gandhi. It is for people to decide how a PM can be so insensitive to democratic norms-Does he depend on a kitchen cabinet for advice or his council of ministers for advice. He says he is accountable to the people while both his advisors are not. But for a PM of this country to openly state that he benefits from the advice of these two is a confirmation that the PM is a puppet-He has also now learned the art of   sycophancy and clearly indicates that he there at the goodwill of Sonia Gandhi. He confirms the fact- that he is in office but not in power. Then why complain when he is called as the weakest PM India has ever had?

His pet subject to put Mrs Sonia Gandhi at ease is his often repeated claim that Rahul Gandhi is best qualified to be in the Cabinet. The post is there for the asking. This assessment of Rahul Gandhi is based on two areas-his achievement as the General Secretary of the Congress-a post which he got simply on his legacy and not on his hard work. His qualifications-that he is the son of Sonia Gandhi and that he can talk English .But it does not matter if he has no idea of India and Indian affairs-it does not matter that he has no sense of history. A Harvard qualified PM’s assessment of Rahul Gandhi makes one squirm. Has he really some concern for India or has he only the concern to continue the dynastic regime of the Nehru- Gandhi family?

Manmohan Singh is certainly not democratic-his views clearly exhibit his lack of adherence to democracy. His brief is clear-to keep the PM’s chair warm till the time when RG wants to sit on it. Can there be a greater misfortune for India and her people to have a PM who is simply a caretaker-a chair warmer-a puppet and is totally controlled remotely.

If only wishes were horses…So here behold the PM of India Manmohan Singh fully robed and decked in durbar with news reporters stands fully exposed in office-he stands fully revealed in office but with no power for – “He has nothing on”

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