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'Why is a man who talks of peace in times of war looked upon as unpatriotic?' Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, in 'The Indian Express' | | 'Give us Madhuri Dixit and take Kashmir. Who wants the rocky wasteland of Batalik anyway? ' A drunk Pak soldier's heartcry on the heights of Jubar |
| | Soldiers killed in conflicts with Pak since '47 10,636*; wounded: 25,362 | |
| | Some plain truths on Kargil, from The Nation
- For Pakistan: The world supports our Kashmir policy
even less than we believed. The importance of status quo for the world...we underestimated
it. The staunchest of friends can't be taken for granted. (And) the best of friends
shouldn't be put to an unfair test. If we want Kashmir, we should be ready to go to war
for it.
- For India: Pakistan can go to any length (short of
war, for now) for Kashmir. The world hasn't forgotten it. The Indian army is not as
invincible as India thinks. Kashmir has been internationalised, like it or not.
- For the mujahideen: The gun is the best spokesman of
the cause. Mountain guerrilla warfare pays. Don't trust Pak diplomacy. Trust Stinger
missiles.
- For the world: 'Kashmir ain't gonna disappear.' It
is a nuclear flashpoint. Bilateralism between Pakistan and India is the safest course,
even if it doesn't work. The weaker party can be browbeaten.
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| | | Trust Buddhadev 'Blunder' Bhattacharya, he who so deftly blends arrogance and ignorance. The home and culture minister declared in the assembly that a soldier from West Bengal had died in Kargil. Next day, the soldier's shocked parents called up the press: their son was alive. The CM-in-waiting is presumably back to his newest hobby: policing the Net.
Sharad Pawar is getting history lessons. On his split with Sonia, he's been citing Maratha pride. 'Shivaji was dishonoured by Aurangzeb at his court in Delhi. Even Ambedkar, C.D. Deshmukh and Y.B. Chavan were insulted,' he's been ranting. Leading historian Y.D. Phadke is aghast. 'Pawar's got his facts wrong. Shivaji never went to Delhi, he only got as far as Agra. Deshmukh and Ambedkar had differences with Delhi but never buckled under nor rebelled and Nehru respected them. As for Chavan, he got just desserts.' Mum's the word from Pawar. |
| | | After unleashing a debate on the Narmada, Arundhati Roy is off later this month to Rally for the Valley. The Narmada Bachao Andolan's ready with its 'Damned, Doomed, Drowned' publicity blitz and expects thousands of activists to converge at Jalsindhi, Madhya Pradesh. Outlook photographer, T. Narayan, whose picture of a Narmada oustee flashes in the nba posters and T-shirts, has a message for the lissome lady, 'You are the words, I am the eyes...' |
| | | Laloo 'Lantern' Yadav is already feeling the electoral heat. Driving to an rjd meet in Patna, his cavalcade screeched to a halt near a busy thoroughfare. In keeping with royal tradition, traffic halted to let the Raja of Bihar pass. Instead, Laloo walked up to the divider, where a huge cutout of his party symbol, the lantern, had tilted due to strong winds. Seeing a bad omen, Laloo huffing and puffing and oblivious to gaping onlookers set it right. Turning to a party worker, he said, 'Abhi se lantern bujhega to kaise sansad aur assembly mein jayega, ise jalaiye aur bujhne mat dijiye.' Then, waving to the crowds, he left, leaving all smiling for now, at least. |
| | | When the house is on fire, you can bet Farooq Abdullah will be nowhere near the scene. While the guns boomed in Kargil last week, TV newshounds found him shopping in Delhi's upmarket GK-I. Soundbites? No way, the CM-in-absentia just shooed them away. |
| | | O Kargil ! First came generous donors for a noble cause. Now, entrepreneurs cashing in. A Bangalore hotel has been renamed 'Kargil Bar and Restaurant' with a 'Kargil Kebab Corner' next door. The owner, undeterred by threats from livid ex-servicemen, insists it's a tribute. |
POLL RECALL MGR is a shade better than Jesus Christ. While the founder of Christianity was
resurrected just once, the founder of the AIADMK gets resurrected before every election.
Even this time, the matinee idol-turned-CM is the party's primary mascot.
Jayalalitha has asked her party campaign managers to dig out all the anti-Karunanidhi
speeches delivered by MGR. Platform speakers are now trained in the halting oratory made
famous by MGR in the late '70s. The speeches are going to be delivered by MGR lookalikes,
dressed exactly like him, right down to the last detail the fur cap, dark glasses and
silk dhotis, pink lipstick and pan-cake coat, the sporty walk and the immortal V-sign.
The aiadmk has about a dozen of these clones who would warm up the dais before the
frontline leaders launch their all-out attack on the political opponents.
But, unfortunately for Jayalalitha, there are too many claimants to MGR's legacy. S.
Thirunavukkarasu's mgr admk and ex-minister R.M. Veerappan's MGR Mandran too are planning
to use the same technique. Since these two aiadmk offshoots are now with the dmk-led
front, their MGR clones are now being tutored to re-render MGR's speeches praising
Karunanidhi, including the most memorable one in 1969, when MGR proposed Karunanidhi to
succeed Annadurai as CM.
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