Karnataka's Shame: Debauch Ministers in Dirty Business!

Article first published as Debauch Ministers in Dirty Business! on Technorati.

The ten day session of the Karnataka Assembly was going on debating heatedly on an intriguing local issue. And television cameras covering the session found something unspeakably dirty going on in the same floor.

Karnataka is a southern state of India and the lone domain of the main national opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in entire south India. Recently the then Chief Minister of the state, BS Yeddyurappa, was charged and convicted with a land scam, arrested and put in jail. After much brainstorming the BJP decided to dislodge him, but the next government could be installed only with the tacit support of the tainted ex-chief minister himself who ruled from his jail. The BJP never wanted to lose the only southern state it ruled and the tight number game compelled the party to fall in line with Yeddyurappa.

Two ministers of that government were found to be glued to a porn clip in the cell phone of the third minister on Tuesday in the on-going Karnataka assembly session. While occupying the designated assembly seats of the ruling party the three ministers were gleefully engaged in the dirty business of their own.

A nation wide hue and cry followed with the blurred shots of the mobile clip running in all the news channels. Outraged citizens, scholars and intellectuals, activists including Anna Hazare, leaders of other political parties and the media demanded the immediate sacking and expulsion of the three debauch ministers. Embarrassed and red faced, the BJP could not still manage to come out with clear action to condemn the horrendous act.

The three ministers were only allowed to resign and the state government promptly accepted their resignations. They were barred from the Assembly too, but the session being adjourned sine die immediately it was hardly effective action. And, it seemed to be all that the BJP was capable of doing considering its strategically compelling politics. So, the defiant three ministers announced that they did nothing seriously wrong and resigned only to help the party pass over the problem. One of them allegedly cut off the power supply and disabled the cable feed in his constituency so that his voters could not tune in to the news. Adding insult to injury both the present and the former Chief Ministers commended their party men for their brave action.  

Hardly surprising. The BJP nurtures within its folds several right-wing lumpen elements who exhort the oppressed Indian women to behave.  They hold the women themselves responsible for all the tortures, atrocities and molestations heaped on them throughout the nooks and corners of India. They ask them to cover as much skin as possible so that the male marauders do not invade or attack or rape them. Just fitting that one of the debauch ministers held the portfolio of Women and Child Development.

India’s continuing feudalistic spell and male chauvinistic exploitation go on exposing the political hypocrisy further. No political party has the courage to break out of this. They vouch for social values only to politically counter and charge their rival parties.

If the elected representatives so brazenly violate the same people who elect them then it’s time the Indian democracy gets redefined or recast. The voters and the society must decide.

Cricket: India Beat Sri Lanka in Perth One-Dayer! Rotation Continues!

Virender Sehwag came back into the team, but Gautam Gambhir was out! It was some weird kind of a rotation policy that drops one established or maybe a ‘senior’ player and takes in one youngster that is to say Rohit Sharma—to be more specific. He was kept out of the Test series consistently and now somebody is trying to make amends! The pertinent question is why rotation? For a team that almost forgot the winning habit overseas winning must be the main objective and for that you have to put in the best team possible. That India managed to win against Sri Lanka by four wickets in the second match of the triangular series in Australia was not a masterful statement of authority, the team with rotation in full swing is still suspect against Australia or maybe even Sri Lanka in matches to follow.

Zaheer Khan came back too into the team and kept the Sri Lankans at bay by capturing two wickets. With disciplined bowling and R Ashwin’s great bowling of 3 for 32 restricted Sri Lanka to 233 for 8 in the allotted fifty overs. The target of 234 for a win was not a stiff one and Sri Lanka definitely fell short of at least 20 runs for a challenging total.

Except for good batting by Virat Kohli (77) and Sachin Tendulkar (48) the Indian reply was almost the predictable one with all top batsmen back in the pavilion at the score of 181 for 6. That was the moment when Sri Lanka could have stormed back and won the match. But all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and spinner with some batting ability R Ashwin batted sensibly and had an unbeaten partnership of 53 runs seeing India through with 20 balls to spare. They in fact showed the right way to the genuine batsmen how to play for win when the asking rate was not all the concern. R Ashwin deservedly won the man of the match award.

The ill-advised rotation policy must end if India fancy chances of going into the final of the series and even winning it. Just thinking if Yuvraj was also fit and playing what the rotation policy would have been like! Anyway, it was refreshing to see World Champions overcoming their World Cup final opponents yet again after about ten months.

Nurturing youngsters for Test matches, particularly overseas, remains a huge problem that needs lot of introspection by the people who matter. The lifeless and slow Indian pitches are no answer to this problem whatever form of cricket you play thereon, T20, one-dayer, tests or Ranji matches. 

Cricket Australia: Contradictions Galore For Team India!

Just when Indian dashing opener Virender Sehwag was needed most he was dropped or rested or whatever! In the first one day international cricket match between India and Australia in Melbourne on February 5^th Indian top order failed again and Team India had a disastrous start in the triangular one-day series too. 

  

The argument was that youngsters needed to be encouraged. Where were these youngsters when the ‘seniors’ failed and failed and failed in the Test series? During that time Sehwag and others were not considered as ‘seniors’! We have always maintained here that young Indian cricketers should be trained and prepared for test cricket—the real format of the game. If you have no faith in them for the real cricket then your encouragement is immensely ‘short’ sighted! Sehwag has proved his worth in the shorter format more effectively than in the real one and just one explosive innings from him can turn a match on its head.

Then again, on Australian bouncy wickets you go for two spinners which is a rare tactic even in ODIs played on flat Indian wickets. Pravin Kumar and Vinay Kumar gave India a terrific start in that match, but the two spinners neutralized it completely and helplessly saw Australia taking absolute command of the game. And by the way, what’s Zaheer Khan doing nowadays? Is he another ‘senior’ fit only for test cricket? 

And not the least, in place of ‘senior’ opener Sehwag only Sachin Tendulkar came in to open for India! What is his status—senior, junior, youngster or what? Or is it only because he has to accomplish the hundredth hundred feat? It is getting very ominous—the more the delay in achieving this record the more will be the sufferings and humiliations for Indian cricket.  Sachin’s ‘century of centuries’ dangler is almost creating the dilemma of the ‘millennium’ for Indian cricket! Back home, you have lost the biggest sponsor too. 

For the time being, end the contradictions so that the one-day series does not become another disaster. Tomorrow’s match against Sri Lanka is the immediate challenge. 

Meanwhile, medical experts have confirmed that Yuvraj Singh has no lung cancer, but a tumor or a rare form of seminoma in between his lungs just above the heart. Yuvraj is responding  to treatment very well and with his positive energy he will indeed be back into the cricket field in May, the doctors add confidently.