periscope

Shinde gaffe on terror

Home Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde has finally been forced to eat his own words by his bosses in the party and the government. Congressmen whisper that it was party president Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul who is also the vice president of the outfit asked Shinde to apologise for his remarks on “saffron terror”. Sensing that the BJP would tear into the government over Shinde’s remarks, the government made the distraught Home Minister to eat his own words. Shinde who was initially reluctant gave in after he was told by the mother-son duo to follow the diktat. If Home Ministry officials are to be believed, Shinde is sulking and told one of the senior party men kya karen naukri ka sawal hain (what to do it’s the question of my job).

Kurien under fire

With Parliament in session Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, PJ Kurien, accused of a rape case continues to hold his post. He is now writing letters to all the Rajya Sabha MPs claiming innocence. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, who had been screaming hoarse over rape cases and the accused is silent over the fate of Kurien. And following the tradition of Congress politicians, Kurien has refused to resign. For the record  local court at Thiruvananthapuram has admitted a petition seeking to register cases against the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien and Chief Information Commissioner Siby Mathew in connection with the Suryanelli gang rape case. The petition filed by pro-CPI Kerala Mahila Sangham office-bearer C Udayakala, sought a direction from the Court to police to register a case against Kurien for alleged sexual exploitation of the victim. Action has also been sought against Siby Mathew, then ADGP (Additional Director General of Police) who headed the Special Investigation Team that inquired into the case, for alleged destruction of evidence and conspiracy to shield Kurien. The case relates to the sexual exploitation of a girl from Suryanelli in Idukki district of Kerala, who was abducted in January 1996 and transported to various places and harassed by different persons for over 40 days. Kurien’s name figured again in connection with the case recently after the victim wrote to her advocate to explore the possibility of filing a review plea in the Supreme Court, seeking a fresh probe against him. Kurien has maintained he has been cleared of the charges by the Apex Court.

Eclipse on cricket

Is politics and political blackmail casting a shadow over the game of cricket in India? If reports are to be believed in a bid to defuse tension in the Valley, particularly after the hanging of terrorist Afzal  the Indian government is understood to be pushing for Jammu & Kashmir cricketer Parvez Rasool to be fast tracked to the national side. Rasool is supposed to be talented, but then that should have been the consideration.  Government is believed to be pushing for Rasool, who was the highest run scorer in Ranji Trophy to be inducted in Indian side. Asked how keen the government was to see Rasool fast tracked to the India team, senior BCCI official Rajeev Shukla would only say: “We have always wanted Jammu & Kashmir cricket to be promoted. The official policy of the government has always been to promote sports in the region.”  without however casting doubt on Rasool’s talent, one needs to ask the government why was there no move to fast track another cricketer from the State, Suresh Raina into Indian side years back. Or does it have something to do with religion ?

Walk not the talk

Should one practise what he preaches? Politicians do not believe that. Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal targeted Congress president, Sonia Gandhi for eating pizzas. Like most people in Punjab, we eat sarson da saag and makki di roti. However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not like Indian food and only eats pizzas,” Sukhbir said addressing a gathering at Dutt Road in the State. Ironically, immediately after his address, the Deputy CM was served pizza, which he ate with relish, away from the prying eyes of the media.
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