Saba Naqvi’s piece (Why It Doesn’t Wash) seems BJP-centric, when in fact 95 per cent of adults will admit to having read or watched porn some time or the other. The remaining are either liars or have had no access to such material. The only blunder the ministers who have had to resign committed was to view porn in the assembly.

M.A. Raipet, Secunderabad

Ms Naqvi gloats over the fact that they were BJP MLAs!

D.L. Narayan, Visakhapatnam

When more than 40 per cent of candidates standing for elections have a criminal background, and when it is so difficult to make a minister resign for wrongdoing (witness how A. Raja kicked and screamed as he went), which party can claim the moral high ground?

P.B. Joshipura, Suffolk, US

If the BJP has no claims to moral high ground, the Congress and its lackeys don’t either—what with the Bhanwari Devi case and, not to forget, the N.D. Tiwari tapes.

Kiran Bagachi, Mumbai

Watching porn inside the VS = insensitive, improper;
While session in progress = insensitive, improper, dereliction of duty;
Getting caught = stupid;
Our subsequent reactions = hypocrisy.

Madhavankutty Pillai's seems to have got it right on porngate: http://www.openthemagazine.com/shorts/smallworld/2012-02-11#2

 why do they publish paid write up?and this writer is a well known congress bill board writer at election time,and its not much surprising in what she writes ,who cares?

Some more than 40 per cent of election candidates are criminals or accused of serious crime.  Which political party can claim moral high ground?  It is all relative.  We know how hard it is to fire a minister from present UPA government.  How it (UPA government) fought tooth and nail in support of minister Raja before giving in to the public pressure?  Or how long did it take to fire the minister in Rajasthan government because of Bhanvaridevi's murder case?  Comared to that BJP took stern action and fired all three ministers very quickly.  This is the only way to comare moral grounds of our political parties.

Congress and its allies can cover themselves and their sympathisers with pants from the one lakh seventy six thousand crores telecom scam plus seventy thousand crores Commonwealth Games scam plus innumerable other scams. Saba should tell us, will it be pants up or pants down or pants flying ?

This is why I think there is a difference between reporting and opinion. Saba (yours truly) did fine job in reporting, biased it may be. But opinion as this one, I am afraid might make her irrelevant.
Unless you write with some insight and skill, mere rant is just a waste. That suits more to us in comment section rather than article section.

I am saying this with a good wish btw. I do hope she write and write well.

Meanwhile, Karnataka episode is shameful.
BJP should stop doing this moral policing, and should discourage its affiliates for the same.

I have to agree with unblocked male this time, don't make this porn thing illegal, that is primitive.

Do sang pracharak's have to be celibate? didn't know that.

Are BJP women wrong in living upto to the traditions? what has that got to do with this topic?

Is corruption only in the BJP? what about other parties? A.Raja, Suresh Kalmadi? And sex scandals - Narayan dutt Tiwari? caught whoring in his official premises when he was governor! Why has Saba not mentioned them here? why this prejudiced viciousness against one party?

I'm not justifying the porn watching or the corruption, but it is hardly limited to one party. Whereas as a journalist Saba has chosen to be deliberately vicious against one party, one group, one religion - and coming during election time, I'm wondering if there is more to this... 

While males being disrobed is laughed away as a 'political' issue, even ALLEGATIONS of molestations of females, becomes a sensitive 'gender' topic.

Is it because males are supposed to have no shame, while even the thought of a female being molested deserves to be banned?

19 D

Bowanelppsefojjokolkwef...

Times have changed, and pornography is now accepted as a male necessity. Please accept this as a fact.

Please do change with the times ( and stop drumming political support for JJ with the political claim that the good lady was 'molested' - incidentally, you simultaneously seem to mock about a 'bad' male, Karunanidhi's, fear of being molested )

BJP has no grounds to claim a high moral ground.”

Congress and its lackeys have no grounds to claim a high moral ground either. Not with their leaders like Gahlot and ND Tiwari accused of sleaze AND murder…
 

.........Amazing to read your claim that JJs blouse was torn off, while the lights were 'switched off' in the Assembly - was it, indeed?MALE UNBLOCKED.

Yes, it happened.

Jayalalitha's blouse was torn even before the lights were turned off..

She also threatened may be indirectly, but for sure, Karunanidhi was shit scared, that his dhoti would be pulled off ( or that he would be caught with his pants down) after he was elected as the only MLA of his party ( after Rajiv's assassination in TN).

So, Karunanidhi who was intelligent enough to understand the fierce anger of Jayalalitha , ducked ,resigned and kept himself at home eating idlis,vadai and sambhar.

This all happened when "Dharma Cow" is standing only on one leg in this Kaliyuga. But when this "Dharma govu (cow) " was standing on two legs during Mahabharata time, Queen Droupadi's sari was pulled , right in front of the Emperor of India and right inside the Mahasabha ( Parliament)!!

This only means that we are progressing !!! at least as far as women is concerned. We progressed from sari pulling to blouse tearing to only just watching a naked woman fucking a man on the screen only !!! right inside "Vidhana Sabha" ( state legislature)
Is not that a progress ????
 

Reading all the comments here I am reminded of my childhood school.  While caught cheating in the exam, the student will quickly point at the others, but they are cheating too, why are you just pointing at me?  Lesson, I know I am doing wrong, but I don't want to admit it

Male Unblocked,

The REAL TRUTH is that when the lights went off the pants of 'gentlemen' sitting in the assembly were torn off.  They were molested by the 'anti-male stereotypers'.

It is almost 18 months since Saba got a reprive.......from Congress based corruption. It is almost 18 months since she could use her keyboard to slam BJP. I was expecting it the day the ministers were caught!

And to comment on BJP leaders celibacy is a joke....She has never written about CHILD and woman abuse in Churches all over india (leave apart the whole world). And Saba never writes about the issue of female genital mutilation observed by some sections of Islam. All these issues are petty issues cpompared to porn watching.

Long Live Secular Liberal Journalists

It is not surprising to me that that this story alone caught Saba’s attention. While this kind of behavior exists in all political parties and all organizations, she targets only BJP. We had huge worldwide scandal of catholic priests sexually molestating underage kids, but that story does not get her attention or attention of Indian media. May be doing that dents their "secular" credential. How bitter was she when Allahabad high court gave verdict on Ayodhya issue. Look as how differently 1984 riots are covered and how much media attention was given to post Godhara riots. Why can’t Indian media you be equal opportunity offender?

Instead of expressing rage at the unpardonable behaviour of our elected representatives, Ms. Naqvi seems to gloat over the fact that the offending politicians belonged to the BJP and lists out all instances of BJP politicians being caught lterally with their pants down. I am sure that such indiscretions cut across the political spectrum. 

What I find suspicious about the whole sordid matter is the ability of the cameraman to zoom in on the screen of the mobile phone in question. Did someone send the clip to this phone after tipping off the cameraman about it? In a room filled with hundreds of people, zooming in on one particular phone cannot be attributed to sheer luck.

Hi Guys, Had you really following the porngate on the net, the latest round doing on the net is that the , post porngate   letters   B J P   stand for new meaning. Hope every one knows. or else it is not too late update ypurself, befor next scandal breaks. You see now a days it is very difficult to keep a track. Last week LKA Joked very seriously that wnat to build some mandir in Ayodhaya..

11 D

Amazing to read your claim thet JJs blouse was torn off, while the lights were 'switched off' in the Assembly - was it, indeed?

Needless to say, this can be debated for years. All the time giving more sympathy to the ALLEGED lady victim, and more flak for the alleged male perpetrators.

Anti-male stereotypers 'naturally' survive on this stereotyping and sympathy, until they can milk it dry - or until the REAL TRUTH comes to light - whichever is later!

The question is when did those ministers watch the porn? It is not important even if it was state Assembly. Jayalalitha's blouse was torn open right in the assembly while someone of Karunanidhi's supporters managed to switch of the electricity( obviously it was in the night).

So, all said and done , it would not be very bad after all , even if it were an Assembly. But the Ministers were watching, huddling together, a porn on an  ipod type cell phone, when a serious debate was going on about hoisting of a Pakistani flag by  muslims in a village on Republic day !!!

If a porn is sent and Minister concerned had opened it because of an alert for video without knowing it ,he would have closed it , the moment he had understood as to what the is the content. Instead he watched and also enjoyed sharing this with another Minister sitting side by him. This is without any a most shameful act.

This is more a case of the shirt buttons coming undone than the trousers falling around the ankles.

 The story has been so juicy that journos would like to milk it for all it is worth to them - more so as it involves the principal opposition. TRPs matter and so does magazine sale. The 'paid news' lot have to earn their bit- and why not- its a free country. What morality and what ethics are we talking about? We discarded them decades ago!! 

Porn must be legalised. Full Stop,

Male Unblocked , you have always been a killjoy here. Once legalised porn stops being porn. Full Stop. Imagine legalised porn &  what would  journos do with the  Karnataka threesome ?

How many ways can a political party be caught with its pants down? Well  pants down is more straight forwoard way than going around flies open?

But what Saba is so cross about ? They took care to deliver a copy to her hotel room as well ! Didn't they?

 Is she remorsing, she is not her?

Porn must be legalised. Full Stop,

And moaners like Saba need to be told their place.

i wish a journalist sticks to some basic ethics. I fail to understand why saba had quoted sanjay joshi. No one knows if the tapes are true. Even if the tapes are true, he dint rape any one. Even if the person in the tape is sanjay joshi he was with a woman where both were consenting. If someone took a video of it secretly, whose mistake is it. Did sanjay joshi swear celibacy to any one in the society? He choose to be a celibate out of his choice and he dint make a promise to any one in this world. I hope saba has the minimum thinking ability to realize that. Every one has a bias but bias shouldnt make one so reckless and so colored.

Expect Saba to carry her personal jihad against BJP what else

For heaven's sake I cannot understand what the fuss is about. O.K. some ministers accessed pornographic material. So what ? I do not see any harm in adults downloading pornographic material. It is their business. Yes but there is an element of hypocrisy here if one preaches "traditional and conservative values" in public and download porn in their own lives.

BJP has no grounds to claim a high moral ground. In matters of greed and sex scandals it is barely (no pun intended) average. In its desire to make a leader with dictatorial trends and allegedly with blood stained hands the next PM of India, it is downright cynical and irresponsible.

BJP has no grounds to claim a high moral ground. In matters of greed and sex scandals it is barely (no pun intended) average. In its desire to make a leader with dictatorial trends and allegedly with blood stained hands the next PM of India, it is downright cynical and irresponsible.

For heaven's sake I cannot understand what the fuss is about. O.K. some ministers accessed pornographic material. So what ? I do not see any harm in adults downloading pornographic material. It is their business. Yes but there is an element of hypocrisy here if one preaches "traditional and conservative values" in public and download porn in their own lives.

Expect Saba to carry her personal jihad against BJP what else

i wish a journalist sticks to some basic ethics. I fail to understand why saba had quoted sanjay joshi. No one knows if the tapes are true. Even if the tapes are true, he dint rape any one. Even if the person in the tape is sanjay joshi he was with a woman where both were consenting. If someone took a video of it secretly, whose mistake is it. Did sanjay joshi swear celibacy to any one in the society? He choose to be a celibate out of his choice and he dint make a promise to any one in this world. I hope saba has the minimum thinking ability to realize that. Every one has a bias but bias shouldnt make one so reckless and so colored.

Porn must be legalised. Full Stop,

And moaners like Saba need to be told their place.

 Is she remorsing, she is not her?

How many ways can a political party be caught with its pants down? Well  pants down is more straight forwoard way than going around flies open?

But what Saba is so cross about ? They took care to deliver a copy to her hotel room as well ! Didn't they?

Porn must be legalised. Full Stop,

Male Unblocked , you have always been a killjoy here. Once legalised porn stops being porn. Full Stop. Imagine legalised porn &  what would  journos do with the  Karnataka threesome ?

 The story has been so juicy that journos would like to milk it for all it is worth to them - more so as it involves the principal opposition. TRPs matter and so does magazine sale. The 'paid news' lot have to earn their bit- and why not- its a free country. What morality and what ethics are we talking about? We discarded them decades ago!! 

This is more a case of the shirt buttons coming undone than the trousers falling around the ankles.

The question is when did those ministers watch the porn? It is not important even if it was state Assembly. Jayalalitha's blouse was torn open right in the assembly while someone of Karunanidhi's supporters managed to switch of the electricity( obviously it was in the night).

So, all said and done , it would not be very bad after all , even if it were an Assembly. But the Ministers were watching, huddling together, a porn on an  ipod type cell phone, when a serious debate was going on about hoisting of a Pakistani flag by  muslims in a village on Republic day !!!

If a porn is sent and Minister concerned had opened it because of an alert for video without knowing it ,he would have closed it , the moment he had understood as to what the is the content. Instead he watched and also enjoyed sharing this with another Minister sitting side by him. This is without any a most shameful act.

11 D

Amazing to read your claim thet JJs blouse was torn off, while the lights were 'switched off' in the Assembly - was it, indeed?

Needless to say, this can be debated for years. All the time giving more sympathy to the ALLEGED lady victim, and more flak for the alleged male perpetrators.

Anti-male stereotypers 'naturally' survive on this stereotyping and sympathy, until they can milk it dry - or until the REAL TRUTH comes to light - whichever is later!

Hi Guys, Had you really following the porngate on the net, the latest round doing on the net is that the , post porngate   letters   B J P   stand for new meaning. Hope every one knows. or else it is not too late update ypurself, befor next scandal breaks. You see now a days it is very difficult to keep a track. Last week LKA Joked very seriously that wnat to build some mandir in Ayodhaya..

Instead of expressing rage at the unpardonable behaviour of our elected representatives, Ms. Naqvi seems to gloat over the fact that the offending politicians belonged to the BJP and lists out all instances of BJP politicians being caught lterally with their pants down. I am sure that such indiscretions cut across the political spectrum. 

What I find suspicious about the whole sordid matter is the ability of the cameraman to zoom in on the screen of the mobile phone in question. Did someone send the clip to this phone after tipping off the cameraman about it? In a room filled with hundreds of people, zooming in on one particular phone cannot be attributed to sheer luck.

It is not surprising to me that that this story alone caught Saba’s attention. While this kind of behavior exists in all political parties and all organizations, she targets only BJP. We had huge worldwide scandal of catholic priests sexually molestating underage kids, but that story does not get her attention or attention of Indian media. May be doing that dents their "secular" credential. How bitter was she when Allahabad high court gave verdict on Ayodhya issue. Look as how differently 1984 riots are covered and how much media attention was given to post Godhara riots. Why can’t Indian media you be equal opportunity offender?

It is almost 18 months since Saba got a reprive.......from Congress based corruption. It is almost 18 months since she could use her keyboard to slam BJP. I was expecting it the day the ministers were caught!

And to comment on BJP leaders celibacy is a joke....She has never written about CHILD and woman abuse in Churches all over india (leave apart the whole world). And Saba never writes about the issue of female genital mutilation observed by some sections of Islam. All these issues are petty issues cpompared to porn watching.

Long Live Secular Liberal Journalists

Male Unblocked,

The REAL TRUTH is that when the lights went off the pants of 'gentlemen' sitting in the assembly were torn off.  They were molested by the 'anti-male stereotypers'.

Reading all the comments here I am reminded of my childhood school.  While caught cheating in the exam, the student will quickly point at the others, but they are cheating too, why are you just pointing at me?  Lesson, I know I am doing wrong, but I don't want to admit it

.........Amazing to read your claim that JJs blouse was torn off, while the lights were 'switched off' in the Assembly - was it, indeed?MALE UNBLOCKED.

Yes, it happened.

Jayalalitha's blouse was torn even before the lights were turned off..

She also threatened may be indirectly, but for sure, Karunanidhi was shit scared, that his dhoti would be pulled off ( or that he would be caught with his pants down) after he was elected as the only MLA of his party ( after Rajiv's assassination in TN).

So, Karunanidhi who was intelligent enough to understand the fierce anger of Jayalalitha , ducked ,resigned and kept himself at home eating idlis,vadai and sambhar.

This all happened when "Dharma Cow" is standing only on one leg in this Kaliyuga. But when this "Dharma govu (cow) " was standing on two legs during Mahabharata time, Queen Droupadi's sari was pulled , right in front of the Emperor of India and right inside the Mahasabha ( Parliament)!!

This only means that we are progressing !!! at least as far as women is concerned. We progressed from sari pulling to blouse tearing to only just watching a naked woman fucking a man on the screen only !!! right inside "Vidhana Sabha" ( state legislature)
Is not that a progress ????
 

BJP has no grounds to claim a high moral ground.”

Congress and its lackeys have no grounds to claim a high moral ground either. Not with their leaders like Gahlot and ND Tiwari accused of sleaze AND murder…
 

19 D

Bowanelppsefojjokolkwef...

Times have changed, and pornography is now accepted as a male necessity. Please accept this as a fact.

Please do change with the times ( and stop drumming political support for JJ with the political claim that the good lady was 'molested' - incidentally, you simultaneously seem to mock about a 'bad' male, Karunanidhi's, fear of being molested )

While males being disrobed is laughed away as a 'political' issue, even ALLEGATIONS of molestations of females, becomes a sensitive 'gender' topic.

Is it because males are supposed to have no shame, while even the thought of a female being molested deserves to be banned?

Do sang pracharak's have to be celibate? didn't know that.

Are BJP women wrong in living upto to the traditions? what has that got to do with this topic?

Is corruption only in the BJP? what about other parties? A.Raja, Suresh Kalmadi? And sex scandals - Narayan dutt Tiwari? caught whoring in his official premises when he was governor! Why has Saba not mentioned them here? why this prejudiced viciousness against one party?

I'm not justifying the porn watching or the corruption, but it is hardly limited to one party. Whereas as a journalist Saba has chosen to be deliberately vicious against one party, one group, one religion - and coming during election time, I'm wondering if there is more to this... 

This is why I think there is a difference between reporting and opinion. Saba (yours truly) did fine job in reporting, biased it may be. But opinion as this one, I am afraid might make her irrelevant.
Unless you write with some insight and skill, mere rant is just a waste. That suits more to us in comment section rather than article section.

I am saying this with a good wish btw. I do hope she write and write well.

Meanwhile, Karnataka episode is shameful.
BJP should stop doing this moral policing, and should discourage its affiliates for the same.

I have to agree with unblocked male this time, don't make this porn thing illegal, that is primitive.

Congress and its allies can cover themselves and their sympathisers with pants from the one lakh seventy six thousand crores telecom scam plus seventy thousand crores Commonwealth Games scam plus innumerable other scams. Saba should tell us, will it be pants up or pants down or pants flying ?

Some more than 40 per cent of election candidates are criminals or accused of serious crime.  Which political party can claim moral high ground?  It is all relative.  We know how hard it is to fire a minister from present UPA government.  How it (UPA government) fought tooth and nail in support of minister Raja before giving in to the public pressure?  Or how long did it take to fire the minister in Rajasthan government because of Bhanvaridevi's murder case?  Comared to that BJP took stern action and fired all three ministers very quickly.  This is the only way to comare moral grounds of our political parties.

 why do they publish paid write up?and this writer is a well known congress bill board writer at election time,and its not much surprising in what she writes ,who cares?

Watching porn inside the VS = insensitive, improper;
While session in progress = insensitive, improper, dereliction of duty;
Getting caught = stupid;
Our subsequent reactions = hypocrisy.

Madhavankutty Pillai's seems to have got it right on porngate: http://www.openthemagazine.com/shorts/smallworld/2012-02-11#2