Kapil Sibal, in his corpulent smugness, encapsulates all that is wrong with this UPA regime. Just hark back to the fiasco of sending Anna to Tihar, or declaring there was no scam in 2G. This is the new style of governance, the government that can launch a thousand paunches!

Nirmal Kumar, on e-mail

And this man holds the future of education in this country. Scary, isn’t it? He lost a lot of respect during the Anna Hazare agitation, but now he has forfeited whatever respect he had left, just to score a few brownie points with Mrs G. First, he should get next year’s Nobel for economics for proving ‘1,76,000 crore = zero’. Then he should get the Nobel peace prize for spreading harmony in the world by trying to censor everything objectionable about everyone.

Pankaj Jethi, Jagadhri

I had quite a laugh after a long time. Is this what Sibal wants to censor? This kind of lampooning was very much in the public space before the Election Commission put a ban on defacing of walls during elections.

Narendra Kaushik, Gurgaon

As they say, “vinaasha kaale vipreeta buddhi”. When the end (or destruction) nears, people go crazy. This is what is happening with the government. They can police the internet but they cannot police minds; people will continue to think what they already do. So what if they cannot express it on the internet? They will find some other media.

Alakshyendra, Hyderabad

There is stuff out there which stinks. There is stuff out there which I would not like to see done on me. In an open medium like the internet it could be technologically possible to issue a rebuttal. So if there is a doctored photo of me, I should have the right to tell the website owner that he/she please also include a denial from me.

Gul Ramani, Dusseldorf

Mr Sibal, your comments are causing a “riot” on the internet here. It makes a perfect case for calling in the cops!

K.M.K. Mohan, Visakhapatnam

Kapil Sibal is just a desperate publicity-monger, the average Congress sycophant. His sole concern is to get the best he can as long as the good times last, with a little help from friends in the media who are part of the sycophancy food chain. But, of course, when so much gloss is applied over idiots pretending to be indulging in intellectual debates, even slowpokes look smart.

K.P. Ganesh, Bangalore

On finding the morphed and distorted images of his party’s goddess and god on the web, a devout Kapil ‘Zero Loss’ Sibal felt dutybound to react.

Pramod Srivastava, New Delhi

There is a flip side to all this blind veneration of new media. Unverified and baseless data proliferates online, becoming quotable “truths” in the course of time, reference material for establishing even non-existent truths. You know what they say about repeated lies.

R.V. Subramanian, Gurgaon

Why so much hullabaloo and heartburn about morphed pictures? Political cartoons have always been around. Obviously, the degree of decency and satire has come down to gutter level, but then which stream of public life has maintained quality and decency?

Lopamudra, Mumbai

The content that Sibal seems to have taken offence to is at best in bad taste but not offensive or illegal. Vinod Mehta better be watching out! Years ago, Cho Ramaswamy, editor, Thuglak, published near-naked photos of Sita and Rama. The idea was only to show the tableaus used by some Dravida Kazhagam procession condemning Hindu gods and goddesses. But it was Cho who was arrested for publishing obscene pictures!

Col C.V. Venugopalan (retd), Palakkad

Looks like the government is fast running out of friend requests and existing ones like Mamata are fast unfriending them. Maybe that is why they have decided to tweak the privacy settings on their profile.

Rahul Mudholkar, Pune

How come the Congress, via Kapil Sibal’s recent comments on curbing net freedom, has done such a volte-face on its traditionally established stand that in India painters like M.F. Husain and writers like A.K. Ramanujan can draw, paint or write blatantly blasphemous material against religious icons and deities? By the way, will I be jailed for saying what I have, Mr Sibal? Readers, please bail me out if indeed I am.

Yogeet Sharma, Jaipur

You and your cartoonist have a great sense of humour! The cover of December 19, 2011 Outlook reminds me of Adolf Hitler, who was supposed to have committed suicide along with Eva Braun, at the end of World War II. It seems now that Adolf Hitler has reincarnated (especially his moustache!). I hope the gentleman on the cover picture is a subscriber to Outlook.

L.J. Celestine, Bangalore

I am not a Kapil Sibal fan, but this freedom of expression hysteria is also bogus.

Pradip Singh, Stafford, UK

Kapil Sibal and his tribe represent the duplicitous, hypocritical mob with their uncontrollable and fanatic hatred for Bharat and Hinduism. They are the 'intellectual progeny' of the white race that was supposed to have left this land over 60 years ago. They represent the vulgar face of the cultural colonialists.

What else can explain their rant about the sacred right of freedom of expression when it came to MF Hussain and his nude paintings of Hindu deities on the one hand and demanding censorship when it came to cartoons of Sonia Mata, Manmohan and some prophet on the other?

They are too quick to protest about the hurt caused to the Muslim community but Hindus are fair game for him.

They deserve TOTAL contempt.
 

>>>19/D-28
I am no admirer of the UPA or the Congress Party. Much less Mr Kapil Sibal, the advocate who can see only the legal angles and not the political or social implications of the misrule of the Union Govt. Yet I find the morphed pictures of the political leaders as shown above as offensive and distasteful.
How does one arrive at a balanace between people's right to freedom of speech and its inoffensive dimension ?

Here is a sane comment in the midst of mass hysteria about how internet has replaced GOD.

I totally agree.
 

"MF Husain died panging to return home"

Deeply moving.

And that is why he took the citizenship of Qatar – the land of the free.
 

I am not a fan of Kapil Sibal. But this freedom of expression hysteria is also bogus. There is no such thing as absolute freedom. Freedom must be exercised with responsibility. One person's freedom of expression could be the infringement of the freedom of someone else. I know that sounds fuddy duddy and not in tune with the current fashion, but we must keep a sense of balance and stop worshipping internet as the NEW GOD.

The intolerance of internet fanatics is very disturbing.

Also the morphed photo of Ramdev and Sonia...and Manmohan and Sonia is hot! Seriously, widow romance just got a big boost. I am hoping a porno version is also in the works...Hollywood calling for Sonia, Ramdev and MMS even before SRK get his break.

Btw will be great to see the premier on Vinod Mehta debonair outlook...

Mr Kapil Sibal hereditorical lineage is as follows. His immediate family loves to wash themselves or they "douche" in french. And they are a group of "d-bags" when they are really trying their best to screw India. However, when the two words ... douche and bag.. are used together..., it describes what Kapil Sibal really is... Please don't insult idiots by calling KS a idiot. KS deserves a better more French hereditorical last name...

By the way don't you think the outlook picture is cute, I mean he really looks like Hitler's cute cousin...except Sibal may not be as clean, punctual like the German leader's relative.

Chidambaram's gestapo the CBI and Delhi Police are already hounding private citizens and making false cases againts them. Kapil Sibal has gone a step ahead by becoming the Joseph Gobbels and professing censorship and muzzling of free speech. The most interesting thing is most of the statements in the past year related to policy and an ongoing case in the courst (2G scam) amounts to influencing a case in court using a public office and are criminally liable for their statements. Does it mean now that since innocent citizens can't express their own opinions in a democracy and Mr Sibal will be tried in court for perjury and wilfully influencing public opinion/justice on a matter of an ongoing case?

And by the way....did someone say we are a democracy? When can I see it ?

 Dear Mr.Sibal needs to clarify whether controlling content on internet was solely his idea or it was of somebody else?

@ 25,Kudos to Noronha. 'My name is Kapil Sibal and i am not an idiot' may become as catchy as 'Kolaveri,Kolaveri Di'.Just imitating that line,'My name is Rahul Gandhi, surely i am an idiot,and there can be no doubt about that'?

 Hats off to your cover. All weak regimes start by censoring the media. Manmohan Singh's government is no exception. Then they become egregious, authoratarian regimes. Your cover exposes a very weak government indeed.

 Do you know your Sonia?
Go to janataparty.org site and know.

I echo Karthika Nairs comments “Kapil Sibal is an idiot with power, which is what makes him so dangerous.”

I do not blame "Total Loss Sibal" on this. Indians are by nature devoted to their masters whether those masters are the people represending certain caste, community, religion or region, it does not matter if the person is devil himself, they will vote according to their background instead of choosing people on merit.

There is hope for Indians but yet to see how it materializes, I do not want to say much till next election and all will know after election, if we are still the slaves to these masters. And do i say we deserve these masters?

As they say, "Vinaasa Kaale Vipareeta Buddhi". When the end (or destruction) nears, people go crazy. This is what is happening with the government. They can police the Internet but they cannot police minds; people will continue to think what they already do. So what if they cannot express it on the Internet? They will find some other media.

All people who support censorship should realise that one day, sooner or later,  this very censorship will ensure that they will not be able to air their views.

Who was the mastermind behind setting MF Hussian's tail on fire with frivolous petetion saying "he had insulted india by painting bharat mata in a derogatory fashion"?

It was Kapil Sibal's ass in his brain.

The intention: to beat the Sangh parivar at its game...after all bharat mata is a matter dear to sangh's heart...

Result: MF hussain died panging to return home, but not uttering a single word against his country - he was after all an original Hindustani...but even they snap beyond a point : therefore he surrenedered his indian citizenship and took an person of indian origin card: a suttle message to all indians.

How come Govt. of India suddenly woke up now? It is not all a new or unknown phenomenon. Govt. request to "delete" the content is mindboggling. Out of 358 of their requests for removal nearly 255 are sites or posts criticizing the Govt. and they were not in bad taste either except off course for Kapil Sibal.

If any content is really in "bad taste" as we could see in the pictures of Sonia and Manmohan dancing for example, Govt. shall get a court order for removal of content, at which, Google or Face Book or any other site would have to comply because there would be no other options.
Censoring online content by throwing an electronic blanket would be meaning less and can be made redundant by posters with mirror sites or clones. It would also be very expensive as well as stupid exercise in futility.

The big question off course is why Govt. of India has suddenly woken up to this necessity? What for? Why it did not react when there were terrible comments on Hindu Gods and Hindu epics like Ramayana particularly? When I discussed Ramayana on Facebook one guy who professed himself as Christian posted such an abusive language that it would be most absurd even to read it. If you post a devotional song on YouTube (on Hindu gods), the comment section would overflow with most abusive language from Pakistanis, Indian Christians and some westerners as well, the only trick is to disable commenting or else you have to always alert to prune the content.
When some Christian fellow wrote a book depicting Ramakrishna Paramhamsa as a homosexual and young Vivekananda as "helpless" victim of sexual abuse, what was the Govt. doing? Did it ban the book? By the author's own admission, just about 5(five) copies could be sold in entire India! Yet another foreigner published a book with cover page of Lord Shiva wearing a woman's goggles! And our secular media even entertained "reviews" of the book!! Without bothering about "hurting" the sentiments of Hindus. Wendy Doniger wrote that Sita (of Ramayan) was born to a nymph called Menaka virtually giving her an illegal birth. Did we ban her book? Did not Outlook praised her as “Sanskrit scholar !!!” even she never wrote a single printed essay , let alone a book, in Sanskrit !!!

And now I am sure my comment might be removed because it is about Sundeep Dougal , this fellow , misquoted Sita's dialogue with Hanuman (Sundara khanda , Ramayan) and again quoting entire sobbing , weeping scene of Sita in Yuddha khanda (Ramayana ) out of context just to give a wrong meaning in some newspapers years ago only to support that painting of Hussein. How come so called all knowing, Govt. did not know about the painting of Sita by that perverted, greedy M.F.Hussain? And what was all written by people like Sundeep Dougal?
So, censoring online content with an electronic blanket check is meaningless, expensive and will not serve the purpose. Kapil Sibal's interest is to please the madam and look for a space at the feet of Rahul and other "chemchas", and his sycophancy and raising of bogey of communal riots is absurd, it is like pot calling the kettle black.

Online commenting indeed gives freedom of speech an new dimension because our printed media controlled by business tycoons have already taken sides and they are biggest sycophants.
 

On finding the morphed and distorted images of his party's Goddess and God on the web, a devout religious Kapil aka Zero Loss Sibal is dutybound to react and propose the contents supervision and filteration to the Site Masters- what's wrong in it ?

In public life we must keep some morality.Social on line media giving too much freedom. it is dangerous for  civil society.Showing  naked obstinate photo of leading politicans or used  abused language which kind of satisfaction blogger get?Suppose any one wrote these kind of stories on their mother, father or sister   how they react? I think this is responsibility of social online media to keep watch  how people using  their freedom and must some restriction on their writing.too much freedom is very harmful to society as well as too much restriction also very harmful  to creativity of mankind

 and this man hlds the future of education in this country,scary isnt it. he lost a lot of respect during anna hazare agitation, but now he has no respect left at all. just to score a few brownie points with mrs.g. first he shud get next years nobel prize for economics for proving that '176000 crores= zero'. then he shud also get nobel peace prize for 'spreading harmony and peace in the world' by trying to censor everything objectionable abut everyone.

 Just heard Kapil Sibal supporting MF Hussain's freedom of expression on CNN-IBN! In the same breath, he denounced "objectionable" content. This chap is a first class hypocrite. 

Ashok Malik, in the Pioneer, discusses the recent tax notice on Google and brings in a comparison with the tax notice on Time magazine by Indira Gandhi's government in 1976:' Sundeep Duggal ;Twit

Standard trick of Congress recently issuede IT Notices to  Kejriwal ,Kiran Bedi's NGO, 700 Bussinesmen who signed Memorandums with Modi,-----

History says Aurangzeb too levied Zaji and Jakat . Every Talibani regime does it .

A Clarification.

I, Kapil Sibal, would like to clarify a few points regarding the upsurge in angst against me for my comments to screen contents in Facebook and Google. In fact, Kafila - another popular Internet site, has asked users to put "Kapil Sibal is an Idiot" message on their Facebook wall to protest against my comments. I have only one thing to say - My name is Kapil Sibal and I am not an idiot.

We owe a lot to Her Highness, Sonia Gandhi and her family. This family gave us our freedom, our daily bread and butter, the air we breathe freely, the water we drink, the roads we walk on; our lives are indebted to her and her family. I myself initially had a lot of apprehension regarding her surname 'Gandhi' (in fact for her mother-in-law's assumed surname), but I was convinced that the surname was given to Mrs Indira by the great Mahatma himself. When the Mahatma bestowed on her the coveted surname, we are the least of all mortals to even question that. Now, please stop all these non-sense regarding this surname. As Shakespeare wrote - What's in a name? that which we call a Gandhi. By any other name would smell as pure and pristine.

Coming to venting displeasure on Facebook and Google, we Indians, are considered to be the most humble and tolerant among all races among the world. Her Highness, Sonia Gandhi is an Italian, which means her son and daughter are Italians too. I have seen their Italian passports. In fact Rahul Baba is an ardent fan of Silvio Berlusconi and his colourful ways. In fact, Rahul has a overnight visit to Berlusconi's palatial mansion on top of his itinerary during his every clandestine visit to Italy. Why does he even need to go to Italy? Dont we Indians believe in the age old mantra of "Atithi Devo Bhava", which considers guests as Gods. Yes, Her Highness, Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi are our guests, our Gods. Any lesser treatment to them would mean demeaning their kindness and affection for the people of India. Sukanya Devi should be proud of what was done to her. After all, the Gopis also had drenched themselves in 'Raasleela' with Krushna, the God of the Gods. Do you all think Rahul Gandhi to be any lesser? I would request everyone to maintain discipline of thoughts on Facebook and Google. In the roads shown to us by the great Buddha, Mahaveera, Vedavyasa, Yagnavalkya and others, indiscipline and mistrust do not find a place. We should learn to be tolerant. Only then Her Highness Sonia Gandhi and her family will continue to shower her blessings on us. The Food Security Bill, the Lokpal Bill, the Judges Accountability Bill and many other bills are at her mercy these days. Don't you all want them to be passed? It is this discomfort created by Internet users that have stalled full throttle implementation of the Sonia Gandhi Right to Information, Sonia Gandhi Right to Education, Sonia Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Sonia Gandhi Forest Rights Act. Don't you want lesser equal Indian people to reap benefits from the Sonia Series of Acts?

Now, whether I am an Idiot or not, is a million dollar question. I see today, every Facebook user is saying that "Kapil Sibal is an Idiot". I am surprised that this little known fact, known to only my wife till recently, is now known by almost every active Facebook user in India and Pakistan. All that I can do now is to vehemently deny that I am a certified Idiot. I have been an Education Minister, Science and Technology Minister and now the Telecom Minister. By questioning my intellect, you are questioning Her Highness Sonia Gandhi's intelligence and decision making capability. How dare you do that? I trust Her Highness' judgment on my insanity.

I reiterate - My name is Kapil Sibal and I am not an Idiot.

With due regards to Her Highness and her family,

Yours' always,

Kapil Sibal

 When MF Hussain was drawing nude pictures of hindu godesses it was art and freedom of expression, if its sonia and the corrupt singh all the sickulars call it outrageous.

 I just love the Coverart !!!

Freedom always entails responsibilty. Exercise of freedom also requires restraint. Defacating in public is beyond its limit

Why so much hullabaloo atbout morphed pictures? Political cartoons were always there. Obviously the degree of decency and satire has been reduced to gutter level, But then which stream of public life has maintained quality and decency?  
Most importantly, the target audience for these new age cartoons, are mainly 20 or 30 something internet users who are immune to these form of vilification to form any opinion.

Niranjan Rao >> Yet I find the morphed pictures of the political leaders as shown above as offensive and distasteful

You find morphed pictures of political leaders distasteful. I find distorted tales and picturisation of Hindu Deities distastefulthe difference  and highly offending.

But the difference is that when a view such as what you expressed is mentioned , it is considered politically correct. But when views such as mine are expressed, we are termed as "fundamentalists", arsonists, millitants, zealots, terrorists and what not. Why this difference ?

I am no admirer of the UPA or the Congress Party. Much less Mr Kapil Sibal, the advocate who can see only the legal angles and  not the political or social implications of the misrule of the  Union Govt. Yet I find the morphed pictures of the political leaders as shown above as offensive and distasteful.

How does one arrive at a balanace between people's right to freedom of speech and its inoffensive dimension ?

ps... Unlike a book where you might have to blacken the offensive item or go to an another edition to put the changes the internet allows on the go addition of content. This feature of Internet should be used and it reflects the plurality of the medium and could be an INDIAN solution to the current impasse.

There is stuff out there which stinks. There is stuff out there which I would not like to see done on me. In an OPEN medium like the internet it could be technologically possible to issue a rebuttal. So if there is a doctored photo of me, I should have the right to tell the web-site owner that he/she please also include a denial from me.

 People in Public life must learn to live with Public criticism,Given the UPA record and its absolute indifference to open loot cannot be ignored.Thats why Sonia and her son face Public outrage.

As a Leader with a unassailable control over her party Sonia willfully turned a blind eye to Rotting grains ,Loot of CWG and 2G to name a few.

What compounded this was the Price rise.Given the circumstances Sibal cannot expect the Public to suck thumbs and watch the chaos.

Trying to censure the Media is not the way out.Congress is ruling the Nation for one last time and it will take a generation to wash away its sins in the last 8 years. 

Mr. Sibal Sir ... You comments are causing a "riot" on the internet here. They make a perfect case for censure.

What do you say ? Shall we block all comments emmanating from you to be published on the internet?  While you are at it also include the print media and the television for good measure.

Nowadays, we are seeing a lot of bluff and blabber by likes of Sibal and Diggy. But looks to me that there is a method in this madness.

Let us face facts. MMS is reaching his end of tenure. Next LS polls are a full 2 and half years away. RG is still unable to accept the responsibility of national leadership since he has nothing in him except his family lineage. And the big ministers are all in problem. PC  and SMK are knee deep in scams. AKA is utterly incompetent in any responsibility that needs leadership. And Pranabda, the only person capable of being a PM is simply too close to non Congress leaders to be trusted.

So this leaves likes of Sibal and Diggy in race. They all  know that unless a miracle blackswan event happens, UPA 2 will be routed in 2014 polls. But why leave a chance of being PM of India, even if it is for a few months? The logic is - if a Deve Gowda can be a PM of India, why not me  (Sibal/Diggy?)

RV S >> Unfortunately online unverified and baseless data become quotable "truths" in course of time

Ever heard of the term "Caveat Emptor" - It means "Let the Buyer Beware". It applies to all unverified media sources on internet , including Wikipedia, Youtube and our own VM run Outlook.

On my blog, and in the articles I write for Subversify magazine (under my nom de plume of Bill the Butcher), I regularly call Manmohan Singh the unelected, so-called "prime minister" who has never won even a municipal election in his life.

Let's see them try and censor me.

Grow up Sibal. Govern properly. Stop looting. And get a good name.

Reputation is earned , not commanded.

had quite a laugh after a long time. is this what Sibal has been wanting to censure? This kind of lampooning was very much in public space before election commission of India put a ban on defacing of walls during elections.

I am curious now.

Where is the so called "offensive" content that has so moved our eminent minister? What was so "offensive" about it that it could lead to communal riots ? Why has'nt it caused any riots yet ?

I am going to search for it now.

BTW the pictures are very funny. I had a big laugh.

Agree wth Prashanth. Had a hearty laugh after a longtime, looking at the pics :D 

Kapil Sibal is just a desparate news monger, typical of Congress sycophancy, wanting to get the best the he can as long as the Good Times last thanks to Indian main stream media who just can't get enough of such sycophants ranting. But of course, when so much gloss is applied over idiots pandering to be indulging in intellectual debates even intellectual degrades look smart.

Freedom of expressions like respect and honour
should be earned.Online monitoring, considering
the present scenario is advisable.Pushing all trash
in the name of Freedom of expressions should not
be tolerated.

 Well done outlook, not for the cover story, but for printing the so called "offensive" morphed cartoons featuring Sonia Gandhi and MMS. Nicely rubbed it on to Kabil Sibal's face. Now what will Kapil Sibal do?? Ban Outlook?? LOL!!!

“Any attempt to curb the FREEDOM of Internet would be like ‘Closing Windows & Doors’ and thinking that ‘WINTERS’ are over.”

OUTLOOK itself does nt allow pro-male rants. It does nt have any credibility to talk about Freedom of Speech, when it is itself a fiefdom of anti-male propaganda. 

Unfortunately online unverified and baseless data become quotable "truths" in course of time : the sad part is they become reference material for establishing non existant truths. Repeated Lies become quotable truths!

One cannot control online content without sacrificing some of our most fundamental freedoms. China is engaged in an ongoing battle with Google and Facebook but we cannot go that route. Incessant internet chatter may tilt some news stories in one direction, but eventually the balance is usually restored. We have to just learn to live with it.

One cannot control online content without sacrificing some of our most fundamental freedoms. China is engaged in an ongoing battle with Google and Facebook but we cannot go that route. Incessant internet chatter may tilt some news stories in one direction, but eventually the balance is usually restored. We have to just learn to live with it.

Unfortunately online unverified and baseless data become quotable "truths" in course of time : the sad part is they become reference material for establishing non existant truths. Repeated Lies become quotable truths!

OUTLOOK itself does nt allow pro-male rants. It does nt have any credibility to talk about Freedom of Speech, when it is itself a fiefdom of anti-male propaganda. 

“Any attempt to curb the FREEDOM of Internet would be like ‘Closing Windows & Doors’ and thinking that ‘WINTERS’ are over.”

 Well done outlook, not for the cover story, but for printing the so called "offensive" morphed cartoons featuring Sonia Gandhi and MMS. Nicely rubbed it on to Kabil Sibal's face. Now what will Kapil Sibal do?? Ban Outlook?? LOL!!!

Freedom of expressions like respect and honour
should be earned.Online monitoring, considering
the present scenario is advisable.Pushing all trash
in the name of Freedom of expressions should not
be tolerated.

Kapil Sibal is just a desparate news monger, typical of Congress sycophancy, wanting to get the best the he can as long as the Good Times last thanks to Indian main stream media who just can't get enough of such sycophants ranting. But of course, when so much gloss is applied over idiots pandering to be indulging in intellectual debates even intellectual degrades look smart.

Agree wth Prashanth. Had a hearty laugh after a longtime, looking at the pics :D 

I am curious now.

Where is the so called "offensive" content that has so moved our eminent minister? What was so "offensive" about it that it could lead to communal riots ? Why has'nt it caused any riots yet ?

I am going to search for it now.

BTW the pictures are very funny. I had a big laugh.

had quite a laugh after a long time. is this what Sibal has been wanting to censure? This kind of lampooning was very much in public space before election commission of India put a ban on defacing of walls during elections.

Grow up Sibal. Govern properly. Stop looting. And get a good name.

Reputation is earned , not commanded.

On my blog, and in the articles I write for Subversify magazine (under my nom de plume of Bill the Butcher), I regularly call Manmohan Singh the unelected, so-called "prime minister" who has never won even a municipal election in his life.

Let's see them try and censor me.

RV S >> Unfortunately online unverified and baseless data become quotable "truths" in course of time

Ever heard of the term "Caveat Emptor" - It means "Let the Buyer Beware". It applies to all unverified media sources on internet , including Wikipedia, Youtube and our own VM run Outlook.

Nowadays, we are seeing a lot of bluff and blabber by likes of Sibal and Diggy. But looks to me that there is a method in this madness.

Let us face facts. MMS is reaching his end of tenure. Next LS polls are a full 2 and half years away. RG is still unable to accept the responsibility of national leadership since he has nothing in him except his family lineage. And the big ministers are all in problem. PC  and SMK are knee deep in scams. AKA is utterly incompetent in any responsibility that needs leadership. And Pranabda, the only person capable of being a PM is simply too close to non Congress leaders to be trusted.

So this leaves likes of Sibal and Diggy in race. They all  know that unless a miracle blackswan event happens, UPA 2 will be routed in 2014 polls. But why leave a chance of being PM of India, even if it is for a few months? The logic is - if a Deve Gowda can be a PM of India, why not me  (Sibal/Diggy?)

Mr. Sibal Sir ... You comments are causing a "riot" on the internet here. They make a perfect case for censure.

What do you say ? Shall we block all comments emmanating from you to be published on the internet?  While you are at it also include the print media and the television for good measure.

 People in Public life must learn to live with Public criticism,Given the UPA record and its absolute indifference to open loot cannot be ignored.Thats why Sonia and her son face Public outrage.

As a Leader with a unassailable control over her party Sonia willfully turned a blind eye to Rotting grains ,Loot of CWG and 2G to name a few.

What compounded this was the Price rise.Given the circumstances Sibal cannot expect the Public to suck thumbs and watch the chaos.

Trying to censure the Media is not the way out.Congress is ruling the Nation for one last time and it will take a generation to wash away its sins in the last 8 years. 

There is stuff out there which stinks. There is stuff out there which I would not like to see done on me. In an OPEN medium like the internet it could be technologically possible to issue a rebuttal. So if there is a doctored photo of me, I should have the right to tell the web-site owner that he/she please also include a denial from me.

ps... Unlike a book where you might have to blacken the offensive item or go to an another edition to put the changes the internet allows on the go addition of content. This feature of Internet should be used and it reflects the plurality of the medium and could be an INDIAN solution to the current impasse.

I am no admirer of the UPA or the Congress Party. Much less Mr Kapil Sibal, the advocate who can see only the legal angles and  not the political or social implications of the misrule of the  Union Govt. Yet I find the morphed pictures of the political leaders as shown above as offensive and distasteful.

How does one arrive at a balanace between people's right to freedom of speech and its inoffensive dimension ?

Niranjan Rao >> Yet I find the morphed pictures of the political leaders as shown above as offensive and distasteful

You find morphed pictures of political leaders distasteful. I find distorted tales and picturisation of Hindu Deities distastefulthe difference  and highly offending.

But the difference is that when a view such as what you expressed is mentioned , it is considered politically correct. But when views such as mine are expressed, we are termed as "fundamentalists", arsonists, millitants, zealots, terrorists and what not. Why this difference ?

Why so much hullabaloo atbout morphed pictures? Political cartoons were always there. Obviously the degree of decency and satire has been reduced to gutter level, But then which stream of public life has maintained quality and decency?  
Most importantly, the target audience for these new age cartoons, are mainly 20 or 30 something internet users who are immune to these form of vilification to form any opinion.

Freedom always entails responsibilty. Exercise of freedom also requires restraint. Defacating in public is beyond its limit

 I just love the Coverart !!!

 When MF Hussain was drawing nude pictures of hindu godesses it was art and freedom of expression, if its sonia and the corrupt singh all the sickulars call it outrageous.

A Clarification.

I, Kapil Sibal, would like to clarify a few points regarding the upsurge in angst against me for my comments to screen contents in Facebook and Google. In fact, Kafila - another popular Internet site, has asked users to put "Kapil Sibal is an Idiot" message on their Facebook wall to protest against my comments. I have only one thing to say - My name is Kapil Sibal and I am not an idiot.

We owe a lot to Her Highness, Sonia Gandhi and her family. This family gave us our freedom, our daily bread and butter, the air we breathe freely, the water we drink, the roads we walk on; our lives are indebted to her and her family. I myself initially had a lot of apprehension regarding her surname 'Gandhi' (in fact for her mother-in-law's assumed surname), but I was convinced that the surname was given to Mrs Indira by the great Mahatma himself. When the Mahatma bestowed on her the coveted surname, we are the least of all mortals to even question that. Now, please stop all these non-sense regarding this surname. As Shakespeare wrote - What's in a name? that which we call a Gandhi. By any other name would smell as pure and pristine.

Coming to venting displeasure on Facebook and Google, we Indians, are considered to be the most humble and tolerant among all races among the world. Her Highness, Sonia Gandhi is an Italian, which means her son and daughter are Italians too. I have seen their Italian passports. In fact Rahul Baba is an ardent fan of Silvio Berlusconi and his colourful ways. In fact, Rahul has a overnight visit to Berlusconi's palatial mansion on top of his itinerary during his every clandestine visit to Italy. Why does he even need to go to Italy? Dont we Indians believe in the age old mantra of "Atithi Devo Bhava", which considers guests as Gods. Yes, Her Highness, Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi are our guests, our Gods. Any lesser treatment to them would mean demeaning their kindness and affection for the people of India. Sukanya Devi should be proud of what was done to her. After all, the Gopis also had drenched themselves in 'Raasleela' with Krushna, the God of the Gods. Do you all think Rahul Gandhi to be any lesser? I would request everyone to maintain discipline of thoughts on Facebook and Google. In the roads shown to us by the great Buddha, Mahaveera, Vedavyasa, Yagnavalkya and others, indiscipline and mistrust do not find a place. We should learn to be tolerant. Only then Her Highness Sonia Gandhi and her family will continue to shower her blessings on us. The Food Security Bill, the Lokpal Bill, the Judges Accountability Bill and many other bills are at her mercy these days. Don't you all want them to be passed? It is this discomfort created by Internet users that have stalled full throttle implementation of the Sonia Gandhi Right to Information, Sonia Gandhi Right to Education, Sonia Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Sonia Gandhi Forest Rights Act. Don't you want lesser equal Indian people to reap benefits from the Sonia Series of Acts?

Now, whether I am an Idiot or not, is a million dollar question. I see today, every Facebook user is saying that "Kapil Sibal is an Idiot". I am surprised that this little known fact, known to only my wife till recently, is now known by almost every active Facebook user in India and Pakistan. All that I can do now is to vehemently deny that I am a certified Idiot. I have been an Education Minister, Science and Technology Minister and now the Telecom Minister. By questioning my intellect, you are questioning Her Highness Sonia Gandhi's intelligence and decision making capability. How dare you do that? I trust Her Highness' judgment on my insanity.

I reiterate - My name is Kapil Sibal and I am not an Idiot.

With due regards to Her Highness and her family,

Yours' always,

Kapil Sibal

Ashok Malik, in the Pioneer, discusses the recent tax notice on Google and brings in a comparison with the tax notice on Time magazine by Indira Gandhi's government in 1976:' Sundeep Duggal ;Twit

Standard trick of Congress recently issuede IT Notices to  Kejriwal ,Kiran Bedi's NGO, 700 Bussinesmen who signed Memorandums with Modi,-----

History says Aurangzeb too levied Zaji and Jakat . Every Talibani regime does it .

 Just heard Kapil Sibal supporting MF Hussain's freedom of expression on CNN-IBN! In the same breath, he denounced "objectionable" content. This chap is a first class hypocrite. 

 and this man hlds the future of education in this country,scary isnt it. he lost a lot of respect during anna hazare agitation, but now he has no respect left at all. just to score a few brownie points with mrs.g. first he shud get next years nobel prize for economics for proving that '176000 crores= zero'. then he shud also get nobel peace prize for 'spreading harmony and peace in the world' by trying to censor everything objectionable abut everyone.

In public life we must keep some morality.Social on line media giving too much freedom. it is dangerous for  civil society.Showing  naked obstinate photo of leading politicans or used  abused language which kind of satisfaction blogger get?Suppose any one wrote these kind of stories on their mother, father or sister   how they react? I think this is responsibility of social online media to keep watch  how people using  their freedom and must some restriction on their writing.too much freedom is very harmful to society as well as too much restriction also very harmful  to creativity of mankind

On finding the morphed and distorted images of his party's Goddess and God on the web, a devout religious Kapil aka Zero Loss Sibal is dutybound to react and propose the contents supervision and filteration to the Site Masters- what's wrong in it ?

How come Govt. of India suddenly woke up now? It is not all a new or unknown phenomenon. Govt. request to "delete" the content is mindboggling. Out of 358 of their requests for removal nearly 255 are sites or posts criticizing the Govt. and they were not in bad taste either except off course for Kapil Sibal.

If any content is really in "bad taste" as we could see in the pictures of Sonia and Manmohan dancing for example, Govt. shall get a court order for removal of content, at which, Google or Face Book or any other site would have to comply because there would be no other options.
Censoring online content by throwing an electronic blanket would be meaning less and can be made redundant by posters with mirror sites or clones. It would also be very expensive as well as stupid exercise in futility.

The big question off course is why Govt. of India has suddenly woken up to this necessity? What for? Why it did not react when there were terrible comments on Hindu Gods and Hindu epics like Ramayana particularly? When I discussed Ramayana on Facebook one guy who professed himself as Christian posted such an abusive language that it would be most absurd even to read it. If you post a devotional song on YouTube (on Hindu gods), the comment section would overflow with most abusive language from Pakistanis, Indian Christians and some westerners as well, the only trick is to disable commenting or else you have to always alert to prune the content.
When some Christian fellow wrote a book depicting Ramakrishna Paramhamsa as a homosexual and young Vivekananda as "helpless" victim of sexual abuse, what was the Govt. doing? Did it ban the book? By the author's own admission, just about 5(five) copies could be sold in entire India! Yet another foreigner published a book with cover page of Lord Shiva wearing a woman's goggles! And our secular media even entertained "reviews" of the book!! Without bothering about "hurting" the sentiments of Hindus. Wendy Doniger wrote that Sita (of Ramayan) was born to a nymph called Menaka virtually giving her an illegal birth. Did we ban her book? Did not Outlook praised her as “Sanskrit scholar !!!” even she never wrote a single printed essay , let alone a book, in Sanskrit !!!

And now I am sure my comment might be removed because it is about Sundeep Dougal , this fellow , misquoted Sita's dialogue with Hanuman (Sundara khanda , Ramayan) and again quoting entire sobbing , weeping scene of Sita in Yuddha khanda (Ramayana ) out of context just to give a wrong meaning in some newspapers years ago only to support that painting of Hussein. How come so called all knowing, Govt. did not know about the painting of Sita by that perverted, greedy M.F.Hussain? And what was all written by people like Sundeep Dougal?
So, censoring online content with an electronic blanket check is meaningless, expensive and will not serve the purpose. Kapil Sibal's interest is to please the madam and look for a space at the feet of Rahul and other "chemchas", and his sycophancy and raising of bogey of communal riots is absurd, it is like pot calling the kettle black.

Online commenting indeed gives freedom of speech an new dimension because our printed media controlled by business tycoons have already taken sides and they are biggest sycophants.
 

Who was the mastermind behind setting MF Hussian's tail on fire with frivolous petetion saying "he had insulted india by painting bharat mata in a derogatory fashion"?

It was Kapil Sibal's ass in his brain.

The intention: to beat the Sangh parivar at its game...after all bharat mata is a matter dear to sangh's heart...

Result: MF hussain died panging to return home, but not uttering a single word against his country - he was after all an original Hindustani...but even they snap beyond a point : therefore he surrenedered his indian citizenship and took an person of indian origin card: a suttle message to all indians.

All people who support censorship should realise that one day, sooner or later,  this very censorship will ensure that they will not be able to air their views.

As they say, "Vinaasa Kaale Vipareeta Buddhi". When the end (or destruction) nears, people go crazy. This is what is happening with the government. They can police the Internet but they cannot police minds; people will continue to think what they already do. So what if they cannot express it on the Internet? They will find some other media.

I do not blame "Total Loss Sibal" on this. Indians are by nature devoted to their masters whether those masters are the people represending certain caste, community, religion or region, it does not matter if the person is devil himself, they will vote according to their background instead of choosing people on merit.

There is hope for Indians but yet to see how it materializes, I do not want to say much till next election and all will know after election, if we are still the slaves to these masters. And do i say we deserve these masters?

I echo Karthika Nairs comments “Kapil Sibal is an idiot with power, which is what makes him so dangerous.”

 Do you know your Sonia?
Go to janataparty.org site and know.

 Hats off to your cover. All weak regimes start by censoring the media. Manmohan Singh's government is no exception. Then they become egregious, authoratarian regimes. Your cover exposes a very weak government indeed.

@ 25,Kudos to Noronha. 'My name is Kapil Sibal and i am not an idiot' may become as catchy as 'Kolaveri,Kolaveri Di'.Just imitating that line,'My name is Rahul Gandhi, surely i am an idiot,and there can be no doubt about that'?

 Dear Mr.Sibal needs to clarify whether controlling content on internet was solely his idea or it was of somebody else?

Chidambaram's gestapo the CBI and Delhi Police are already hounding private citizens and making false cases againts them. Kapil Sibal has gone a step ahead by becoming the Joseph Gobbels and professing censorship and muzzling of free speech. The most interesting thing is most of the statements in the past year related to policy and an ongoing case in the courst (2G scam) amounts to influencing a case in court using a public office and are criminally liable for their statements. Does it mean now that since innocent citizens can't express their own opinions in a democracy and Mr Sibal will be tried in court for perjury and wilfully influencing public opinion/justice on a matter of an ongoing case?

And by the way....did someone say we are a democracy? When can I see it ?

Mr Kapil Sibal hereditorical lineage is as follows. His immediate family loves to wash themselves or they "douche" in french. And they are a group of "d-bags" when they are really trying their best to screw India. However, when the two words ... douche and bag.. are used together..., it describes what Kapil Sibal really is... Please don't insult idiots by calling KS a idiot. KS deserves a better more French hereditorical last name...

By the way don't you think the outlook picture is cute, I mean he really looks like Hitler's cute cousin...except Sibal may not be as clean, punctual like the German leader's relative.

Also the morphed photo of Ramdev and Sonia...and Manmohan and Sonia is hot! Seriously, widow romance just got a big boost. I am hoping a porno version is also in the works...Hollywood calling for Sonia, Ramdev and MMS even before SRK get his break.

Btw will be great to see the premier on Vinod Mehta debonair outlook...

I am not a fan of Kapil Sibal. But this freedom of expression hysteria is also bogus. There is no such thing as absolute freedom. Freedom must be exercised with responsibility. One person's freedom of expression could be the infringement of the freedom of someone else. I know that sounds fuddy duddy and not in tune with the current fashion, but we must keep a sense of balance and stop worshipping internet as the NEW GOD.

The intolerance of internet fanatics is very disturbing.

"MF Husain died panging to return home"

Deeply moving.

And that is why he took the citizenship of Qatar – the land of the free.
 

>>>19/D-28
I am no admirer of the UPA or the Congress Party. Much less Mr Kapil Sibal, the advocate who can see only the legal angles and not the political or social implications of the misrule of the Union Govt. Yet I find the morphed pictures of the political leaders as shown above as offensive and distasteful.
How does one arrive at a balanace between people's right to freedom of speech and its inoffensive dimension ?

Here is a sane comment in the midst of mass hysteria about how internet has replaced GOD.

I totally agree.
 

Kapil Sibal and his tribe represent the duplicitous, hypocritical mob with their uncontrollable and fanatic hatred for Bharat and Hinduism. They are the 'intellectual progeny' of the white race that was supposed to have left this land over 60 years ago. They represent the vulgar face of the cultural colonialists.

What else can explain their rant about the sacred right of freedom of expression when it came to MF Hussain and his nude paintings of Hindu deities on the one hand and demanding censorship when it came to cartoons of Sonia Mata, Manmohan and some prophet on the other?

They are too quick to protest about the hurt caused to the Muslim community but Hindus are fair game for him.

They deserve TOTAL contempt.