N.S. Rajaram

Something extraordinary is going on in the dark recesses of 10 Janpath. Sonia Gandhi with her retainers including Manmohan Singh are neglecting vital developments affecting the nation seemingly preoccupied with less vital issues like corruption which is nothing new for this administration.

I refer to Sarabjit Singh’s sister Dalbir Kaur’s charge on her return from Pakistan that the Indian Government is not supporting her by putting pressure on Pakistan. Others have also noted this Government’s soft attitude towards Pakistan (and other anti-India outfits) in the face of the most appalling atrocities. Even this is only a symptom of a much deeper malaise.

One can ignore Manmohan Singh who is a voluntary nobody propped up by Sonia Gandhi. He has no mind or spirit of his own, but a willing minion of 10 Janpath. So we must look beyond him into 10 Janpath itself and examine the antecedents of its occupants to decipher this persistent pro-Pakistan, pro-Islamist trend in the Sonia – Manmohan Singh policy.

An examination of her record over the years shows that Sonia Gandhi has never openly criticized Pakistani aggression or even Pakistan sponsored terrorism. This was so even during the Kargil War when she was anything but supportive of the Indian Armed Forces waging a life-and-death struggle against the Pakistani intruders. This is not a new development and Islamist forces have taken advantage of her reluctance to criticize them. As far back as 2001, within weeks of the 9/11 attacks, the Bin Laden family founded Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies invited Sonia Gandhi to deliver a lecture. Many found it strange, for the BJP was in power and Mrs. Gandhi has no credentials to justify the invitation (other than her willingness to speak).

Here is what I wrote in 2005, in a two-part article published in The American Thinker (Sonia Gandhi’s Reluctant War on Terror, 1 and 2 available at: http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/09/sonia_gandhis_reluctant_war_on_1.html and http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/09/sonia_gandhis_reluctant_war_on.html)

As just noted, the most curious thing was her talk given at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, a task for which she was by no stretch of the imagination qualified. Here is my summary of her performance at the event:

“In her talk titled ‘Conflict and coexistence in our age,’ Mrs. Gandhi spoke  vaguely about extremism and fundamentalism, ‘of all religions’ without once mentioning the word Jihad or terrorism. Mrs. Gandhi has never once uttered the word “Jihad” or mentioned Islamic terror in public even though India is one of the worst victims of Jihadi terrorism. The Telegraph of London called it a ‘strongly pro—Muslim speech.’

“Mrs. Gandhi is not an Islamic scholar— she has not even graduated high school. There was no reason for her to be invited to such a high profile institution, at such an inopportune time (November 2001) except its propaganda value. This proved suicidal for her party in the Gujarat state elections where the Congress was trounced. Adding to her troubles was a terrorist attack on a train that killed scores of passengers, mostly women and children. There again she failed to denounce Islamic terror.”

It was the same story again when on July 5, 2005 (two days before the London bombings) a band of Muslim terrorists armed with grenades and AK 47 rifles attacked a temple complex at the sacred Hindu site of Ayodhya. Thanks to the vigilance and the speedy response of the security forces, all the terrorists were killed before they could do serious damage. Still there was a gun battle lasting hours and a soldier was killed, but the intended holocaust of Hindu devotees was averted.

Mrs. Gandhi did not outright condemn the terrorist attack. All she did was to issue a weak statement appealing to the people to “stand as a rock against the divisive forces.” As was the case after the London blasts, there was talk of “backlash.” Teesta Setalvad, a Muslim activist close to Mrs. Gandhi cautioned that the attack on the Ayodhya temple should not be labeled as Jihad. (Sic: Should it be labeled as a Tea Party?) As usual, Mrs. Gandhi did not use the word Jihad.

Her appeasement policy came to the fore again in a human rights case that has drew international attention. When Imrana, a young Muslim woman was raped by her father-in-law, a self-appointed Muslim body calling itself the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, issued a ruling that the rape had made Imrana ‘impure’ (haram) and that her marriage to her husband therefore stood annulled. Adding insult to injury, it directed Imrana to leave her husband and live with her rapist father-in-law as one of his wives!

There were protests all over India and the whole world reacted with shock. Salman Rushdie, himself a victim of religious persecution, wrote an op—ed in The New York Times (July 10, 2005) denouncing Islamic courts and the Sharia (Islamic code). (“India and Pakistan’s Code of dishonor,” http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D13F73D540C738DDDAE0894DD404482

In the midst of the storm, Mrs. Gandhi refused to intervene or even condemn it. Instead, she directed her government’s law minister H.R. Bharadwaj, said to be her closest advisor, to issue a statement exonerating the Muslim Personal Law Board— saying that the government could not “interfere” in a religious matter.

So her reaction in face of the Pakistani barbarism is consistent with her record of handling provocations by Islamic outfits with kid gloves. Her conduct in the face of Pakistani atrocities against Indian prisoners is consistent with her decades old pattern of deference towards provocation by Islamist outfits including Pakistan. It is not something to be seen in isolation.

Clearly her concern for not offending such groups is overriding her concern for India’s national interest– assuming she has any. The same is true of her son Rahul Gandhi who has been propagating the view that Hinduism represents a greater threat to security than terrorist outfits like the LeT, etc– all the while being protected by security guards who are mostly Hindu. (The same holds for his mother.)  But he seems to have mental deficiencies with no assets beyond birth and (ill-gotten) wealth and is not taken seriously. It is a different matter with Mrs. Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh.

She and her family now enjoy security guards provided by the Government. She will lose this protection once the coalition government falls. Has this made her go soft in the face of provocation by Islamic fundamentalist forces? This vulnerability and its potential impact on the global war on terror, not to mention India’s national security is something that all of us need to know and understand.

This cannot be said of Manmohan Singh. At this time in his life he should be thinking about his place in history. Unlike Sonia Gandhi and her family and friends– from Quattrocchi to Robert Vadra—one expects him to be dedicated to India, not to a neo-rich family that has propped him up because he has a supple backbone. He needs to decide how he wants to go down in history– as a national leader or as the domestic minion of a neo-rich family rapidly descending into a cesspool of disrepute and disgrace.

But the conduct of Sonia Gandhi in the face of Pakistani atrocities is enough to raise questions about her motives and agenda in India and her attitude towards national security. At the very least she should address the nation and declare unequivocally where she sees her interests lie: in India which has given her everything while getting little in return (other than rapacious friends and relatives)— or appeasing Pakistan and the Jihadi forces that have sworn to destroy India and with it everything Sonia Gandhi has gained.

In the final analysis no individual is above the nation— or every individual is. National security cannot be sacrificed on the altar of insecurity of a privileged few. India’s enemies are taking advantage of the spinelessness of the Sonia – Manmohan Singh Government. Chinese are squatting on Indian soil while Pakistan is butchering Indian citizens. In the face of this Mrs. Gandhi must stop playing the Sphinx; she should come out and spelling out her policy on Jihadi terrorism and national security. People have seen enough of her veil of Sphinx-like silence and are now beginning to see through it.

Sensing the body language of the public is rarely among the abilities its rulers master. And if they do, many a time the preferred posture is burying their heads into the sand. Which explains why there are so many popular revolts in mankind’s history. And why revolution shall be with us until such time when a fair and just socio-political system is established, such as a true direct democracy.

Europe and US are pregnant with a revolution, whether the politicians want to acknowledge it or not. One country, Bulgaria, is already in its flames, and this note is to help raise the awareness of any and all intellectuals, given the Nomenklatura systematically downplays the significance of such events.

Guest column by Ivan Daraktchiev

Prehistory

For more than 20 years now Bulgarians were led to believe prosperity would come with switching from planned, entirely state-owned to fully state-disowned economy; from a single Party- to multi Party Parliamentary Republic. After realizing that the economy has actually shrunk tremendously compared to the Soviet-era days because the Nomenklatura has plundered the state assets during the first 10-15 years, their hopes were pinned on the EU membership. Yet the balance of five years into the club of the rich is nothing to be proud of: Bulgarians have the lowest of all members per capita income and there are no prospects of that to grow in an admirable manner. Add to it the fact that many non-EU member countries on the continent sport higher income while during “Communism” they were lagging far behind – as were some “economic miracles” of late like Greece and Cyprus – and the mood becomes sour. Add now the fact that today the country’s population is more than 20% below the count in 1989, tantamount to a genocide of its own people, by the ruling Nomenklatura, and it’s only natural that the hope turns into desperation.

Above process is described in more detail and analyzed in depth in a recent book, “Bulgaria, terra europeansis incognita,”¹ where also the remedy is proposed. The argument is raised that Representative Democracy has degenerated into what is called Nomenklaturocracy and it should be replaced with an optimized form of Direct Democracy. The culprit being the profession “Politician” and the arrangement whereby the Nomenklatura spreads and multiplies its cells like cancer, it is actually draining the economy of its nation by claiming added value for no good reason. The non-productive segment of society thus suffocates the productive one and must be removed, in order to avoid asphyxiation. That is a fate awaiting all Nomenklaturocracies; the difference in the urgency to reform is defined solely by the distance from the tipping point, when the supersturcture with the non-productive “contribution” to the economy ovewhelms the basic, productive economy of the given state. In the wake of the “subprime mortgage” banking crisis we have seen exposed several EU member states whose economic malaise is clear to see: in Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy prosperity has been built on borrowed money over invented, non-existant added value that the ruling Nomenklatura has claimed as justified. But the clear-cut example of our point of view is Cyprus. If we assume that the economic situation in Germany can be represented by a pyramid of which a cross section at ¼² of its height would represent the border plane above which the “added value” of the Nomenklatura is placed, while the added value of the productive economy is below that in a supporting function, then Cyprus would be the same type of pyramid – after appropriate scaling down – but positioned upside down. How on earth would that not fall down less either perpetuating the borrowing of cheap money or having the money laundering machine (oops, sorry, the banks) work full speed?

Hence our model of Nomenklaturocracy predicts that in the open economy of a globalized world it will inevitably drive downwards the purchasing power of the majority of the population. The lack of accountability is making the system doomed: predicted in the book is that EU can not continue to exist in the same form as initially intended. More important, predicted is that reform to direct democracy is a must as the best alternative to the current socio-political system, and that it is the moral responsibility of the leading intellectuals to see to it that change is introduced by peaceful, democratic means – a transitional period during one last mandate in a representative Parliament. The alternative being a revolution with all its unpleasant characteristics, it shall inevitably strike, in case the Intelligentsia in the respective country fails to make headway with the peaceful option. That conviction is expressed in a chapter entitled “The basic economic considerations underpinning the upcoming revolution in Bulgaria.” Today, just a few years later, that revolution has just started up!

Characteristics of modern popular revolt

For about a month now Bulgaria is a scene of protests and demonstrations by crowds of different size. Started spontaneously in a few cities and towns, the protest marches grew in size and in numbers, to have at the peak a crowd of over 100 000 in Sofia, the capital, and simultaneous action in some 30-40 towns, cities and villages. Barring a few minor incidents, including some with targeted  deliberate provokation, the action was going strictly civilized. The important thing is that while the initial protests have been focused on different specific demands, mainly cost of utilities, ecological crimes on the part of Nomenklatura members, poverty, corruption and the like, soon the slogans were reading “Enough!”, “23 years are enough!”, “It’s time to go!”, “We want change!”, “Change!”, etc., clearly indicating that the nation does not accept any longer to be fooled by the establishment, and that it demands radical change, now! The protesters threatened that they will be marching, again and again, until change is implemented.

The reaction

The government promptly resigned as this suited best its prospects for the next elections. The President promised to meet representatives of the protesters, and then immediately exposed his true substance as Nomenklaturchik: on the round table where six or seven protest leaders were supposed to meet him he has invited another 20 or more servants of the Nomenklatura – clacqeurs from “NGO’s” and similar. Still, the youngsters slapped him in his face, figuratively at least: they declared they would not sit at the same table with those whom they protest against, hence as they could not just be left alone with the President, they’ve  deposited their written demands and stormed out.

The President held a long – and senseless – meeting with the rest and promised to look into the demands of the protesters. He then informed the diplomatic court that there is just a (minor) political crisis in the country – nothing special – and that there will be earlier elections, and that’s that. Clearly he is playing for time, giving lip service to everyone interested in listening, with the intention to have a new Government that should continue as before, assuming the enthusiasm would dissipate, a few hollow promises would be thrown in the direction of the crowd, and there we are: business as usual.

The escalation

It might have gone in history as the first bloodless revolution (or at least the first wave of one) was it not for the sensational – at least for Bulgaria and Bulgarians – events of self-immolation: five (5) of them, one after the other, till this moment. The first one – of a young and cheerful man – took the nation as a surprise. In fact, it has  created a true shock wave: never before has this happened; moreover, it has been considered impossible, given the typically (over)optimistic – bordering with permanent yet inexplicable exuberance – national psyche and the living conditions in what we consider the Paradise on Earth. In that very instance Plamen Goranov (36) became a national hero.

Nomenklatura against Revolution

From what we’ve learnt the media coverage abroad is faint and occasional, bending on sensational news, if any. With the notable exception by BBC, it does not seem that the information provided leads to a true impression of the reality on the ground. And then clearly the Bulgarian Nomenklatura is getting the helping hand of their comrades abroad, in order to play down the dominant phenomena, and the actual situation in general. The day after the sacrifice of “the Bulgarian Jan Pallach” there has been a press conference on other issues at the EU premises in Brussels, on which the Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov was present. He had the obnoxious idea to call for a minute of silence in tribute to “the sacrifice in the name of freedom” of our new young national hero. This was an outrage! Plamen has died in flames protesting against the whole Nomenklatura, part of which this guy was – how dare he?!³

Of course there was no mentioning of this scandalous event in the press over here in Bulgaria. We would not at all have heard about this was it not for a famous rapper who happened to be on the spot and recorded the whole incident on his mobile phone. He couldn’t help but start screeming “hypocrite” against the Minister, and then was promptly being escorted outside, by the security… The short clip by the musician was immediately on YouTube, the Internet forums and blogs were white-hot, yet nothing at all showed up in the oficial media…

But then Foreign Policy Magazine topped them all external supporters of our Nomenklatura, with an article entitled “Self-immolation in Bulgaria isn’t as new as you might think,” by one Marya Nannun. Quoting a literature review by Médecins Sans Frontières the lady states that she expects here an average of no less than 7.4 cases per annum, of which only a third is to be attributed to psychiatric patients.  At 64, and having spent half of my life in Bulgaria, half abroad, thus disposing of waterfall of informaton; having had enormous network of contacts, friends, colleagues and acquaintances among the progressive Intelligentsia, that is the people opposing the one time Communist regime; having thus had (classified) information even about the labor camps, the fate of political detainees in the prisons and the dissidents; with all that never ever have I heard of a single (!!!) case of self-immolation in Bulgaria in its recent history: obviously I was outraged to read this “news.” And so were any other Bulgarians who have seen the article.⁴

After checking up the source⁵ of Mrs. Nannun I wish to make just a few remarks: First, the author of the review states explicitly, and I quote “In this paper, the term ‘deliberate self-burning’ does not imply a specific intention or outcome and therefore covers a range of burn injuries inflicted by self which includes, but is not retricted to, suicide by burning.” Second, for the reason mentioned above the title does not include the term “self-immolation.” Third, the cases reported for Bulgaria have an estimated average of total area of burnt skin in the range of 21-30%, and no mentioning of suicidal attempt or self-immolation is associated with them while for other countries those descriptors abound in the provided table. In all cases attested as suicidal or self-immolation, the burns are at least 45%, and mostly way above that… Four of the five Bulgarians who have committed self-immolation within last month had all 70-90% burnt skin area, and have all died as intended; the fifth one – having set himself on fire in front of the presidential palace, and thus vitally benefitting from the prompt reaction by the security – had his flames quickly extinguished and has survived, with 25% of burnt skin… And I find it grossly wrong, to even attempt to search for evidence to diminuate the sacrifice of those souls who are screeming for attention, just because they simply can not support the burden of life in a Paradise turned into Hell. And I find it grossly worse, to even publish such “work.” It makes me sick to even think about the fact that somebody is actually earning their daily bread with it: searching for consolation I am trying to figure out how much more human is to decide to pour gazoline over one’s head and strike the match, simply because you can’t find a job and tonight your kids will go to bed hungry again… So much so, for contemplating the highs and the lows of moral ground!

Meanwhile four people have died protesting against the Nomenklatura which robbed the common Bulgarians from their future, robbed them from their hope, and from the meaning of life. They died making the ultimate sacrifice a desperate homo sapiens sapiens can undertake in the name of change. The demand of those burning bodies is ringing the bell loud and clear, even though the chime is falling on deaf years, so far. The death of those people is upping the stakes, and if the ruling class does not pay attention today, one day – the day of reckoning – they might be asked to pay for everything: the total bill; no more, no less! It is a crime to cause death, it is a crime to conceal guilt, and high crime is paid for by high price. Those who ignore the signs by Its Magesty The People may come to bitterly regret it, one day… And this is part of the body language of a Revolution. Make no mistake!

And one last thing: revolutions are contagious.

The sad conclusions

The West keeps being oblivious to the East (and Bulgaria in particular). This is by no means a healthy attitude; healthy to itself, that is – such ignorance, combined with complacency, is not just going to bring surprises in terms of events abroad: that is a rehearsal for big shocks at home, sooner or later, less someone takes note.

In a clear display of subservience to the ruling Nomenklatura most of the world media played down the events in Bulgaria – if at all reported. What a stark contrast with the death of Jan Pallach in Prague in 1968: that news created furore as it was the ultimate sign of protest against Soviet invasion (and, presumably, ideology); 45 years later five self-immolations within a month are regarded as if nothing happened, just because they happen to be protests against Western values – “democracy” and all the rest. In case someone has forgotten, we discuss events in a country that is a proud member of the European Union!

A radical system change is under way: in a world plagued by consumerism and greed representative democracy is no longer viable – economically and, as a consequence, morally. Reading the signs of the budding revolutions is crucial, for the ruling “elites,” and requires a paradignm shift, on the part of Intelligentsia. Ironically, in the context of Bulgaria I am reminded here of the exchange with Richard Rahn last year. In an article⁶ in TBJ some time last year he claimed “The Success Of Eastern Europe.” Which success, Dr. Rahn?

______________________________________________________________________________________

¹ Written 2002-2009, published 2011, ISBN 978-954-91584-3-4.

² The number is arbitrarily picked, for illustration purpose only.

³ On top of it all, he announced the wrong name!

⁴ Self-immolation in Bulgaria isn’t as new as you might think, Marya Hannun, Foreign Policy, 14.03.2013, http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/14/self_immolation_is_not_new_to_bulgaria?wp_login_redirect=0.

 ⁵ Patterns of deliberate self-burning in various parts of the world: A review, Véronique Laloë, Burns, 30 (2004) 207-215. (The single source on Bulgaria is a clinical study covering 12 year period, 1983-1994. In view of the prevailing mentality during the studied period, my interpretation would be that this is a mere study of workplace accidents: it would be suicidal for the two authors to suggest that these accidents are anything but voluntary burns, apart from psychiatric cases, of course).

 ⁶The success of Eastern Europe, Richard Rahn, The Brussels Journal, 2012-09-06, http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4979.

]]> http://folks.co.in/blog/2013/04/17/on-reading-the-signs-of-vox-populi-2/feed/ 0 http://folks.co.in/blog/2013/04/08/the-real-war-in-south-asia/ http://folks.co.in/blog/2013/04/08/the-real-war-in-south-asia/#comments Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:04:35 +0000 Team Folks http://folks.co.in/?p=11312 Column by Dr. Richard L. Benkin

Dinajpur police confirm attack on village

Trained as a social scientist, I learned that if a factor appears in event after event, ignoring it is intellectually dishonest and ineffective analysis.  As the recent terror blasts in the South Indian city of Hyderabad reminded us, Islam is terrorism’s repeating factor; and no one has yet to explain effectively why it would not be dishonest to summarily dismiss it as one.  Moreover, the refusal of Muslim leaders lay and clerical to act assiduously against those who commit terror in their name is troubling, to say the least.  It should be inconceivable that we live in a world where a group calling itself Indian Mujahadeen sets off terrorist bombs in a crowded Indian market, and stuffs them with nails to create the maximum amount of human suffering; and every single Muslim in South Asia is not hunting down the terrorists.  But we do.  And the rest of the world is not calling them on it, which is our part of the problem.

Yet, having just returned from Bangladesh where Islamists and their appeasers are eliminating its Hindu population, I can confidently say that on the ground this is not a war between Hindus and Muslims but one between decent people and people who have no decency regardless of religion.

In the country’s far northern district of Dinajpur, I recently visited a remote village of 85 Hindu families, cut off from the rest of Bangladesh in almost every way:  no electricity, bad roads, not even a signal for my cell phone.  Some time before our visit, more than 100 marauding Muslims attacked the village; moving from home to home, taking some possessions and destroying the rest; from farm to farm stealing livestock and destroying crops.  They torched the homes burning many to the ground; and they abused many of the women (an all-too-common feature of such attacks).  By the time human rights attorney Rabindra Ghosh and I arrived, the villagers had largely rebuilt, but charred remnants were there, too.  More chilling, the attackers are threatening to return and finish the job if the people do not leave Bangladesh.

Those attackers have no decency; and neither do the Bangladeshi officials, local and national, who refuse to help the victims or prosecute the attackers and are thereby complicit in the terror.

Right now, however, the only thing that stands in the way of renewed attacks is four local Muslim policemen.  They told us that prior to the attacks, no one ever came to the village but that since then, they get there as frequently as possible, often multiple times daily, to let the villagers’ tormenters know that they will have to get through them if they want to renew the attacks.  (Villagers confirmed this.)  They are doing this largely on their own since, as they admit, the government is taking no action.  They fear for the villagers, however, because they know they cannot be there all the time.

In a country where decisions by public servants are based on how much money they get for it, these Muslim policemen represent the apogee of decency.

On the other hand, two Hindu Members of Parliament (MPs) visited me, and I asked them why neither they nor their 15 colleagues (by their count) have done a thing to save their co-religionists or even raised their voice against it.  I indicated Bangladeshi human rights lawyer and tireless activist, Rabindra Ghosh, beside me and said he could provide them with a fresh atrocity that they can read into the record at every session of the Jatiya Sangsad.  They could protest the non-repeal of the Vested Property Act and introduce bills to rescind this economic engine of ethnic cleansing until it is.  I pointed out that 17 MPs is a large bloc, and that the only thing preventing them from acting was their personal greed and moral cowardice.

They are not decent people, but the many young Bangladeshis I met—both Hindu and Muslim—who are trying to fight for the safety of Hindus are.  For their sacrifice, their service to their country, the Bangladeshi police and government—who are not decent—rewarded them with beatings and arrests.

Then there is Bangladesh’s Home Minister, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, particularly indecent because he is able to do something to stop the atrocities but refuses to do so.  On February 20, he and I had a rather acrimonious (and semi-private) argument when he insisted that the government was doing just fine, thank you, in preventing attacks on Hindus.  I wondered how the people I met in that Dinajpur village would have responded.  His most insistent reply was that he “saw the enclaves of the Red Indians” in the United States.  He also reminded me that “33 people were killed in Connecticut,” finished by reminding me that “union membership has declined in the United States.”  Whether he really thought they have any relation to their government-aided ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, or he was being cynical; the man has no decency.  Finally, he did ask me to provide him with evidence of any atrocities and he would have them investigated; but I asked him if he did not find it odd that he, the nation’s Home Minister sitting in its capital, was dependent on “some guy from Chicago” for information about events in Bangladesh.

Perhaps, however, the most indecent parties of all are the internationally referenced and well-funded  groups that claim the mantle of human rights defenders but who have actively ignored what has become an open secret in South Asia.  In its 2012 “Human Rights Report” on Bangladesh, Amnesty International did not even mention oppression of Hindus.  It claimed to have visited Bangladesh three times that year but could not find a trace of what has become an open secret that has been well-documented by organizations like the Hindu American Foundation, Global Human Rights Defence, and Bangladesh Minority Watch for years.

Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; the UN with its misnomered human rights commission; the finger-wagging European Union, CNN, Reuters, the BBC, New York Times, Times of India, Times of London, the left-wing media, the right-wing media, and pretty much every other major “media” you want to cite:  indecent for their willful ignorance of the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and of those Islamists and appeasers that are guilty of doing it.

So let’s add it up.  Muslim police, Muslim and Hindu youth activists; decent.  Hindu MPs, Muslim attackers, Muslim cleric and political leaders, big name human rights organizations and media, and the Bangladeshi Home Minister; not so much.  The ledger seems tilted against decency right now, and it seems the only hope Bangladesh’s Hindus have is for decent people to change that.

Perhaps unnerved by Rahul Gandhi’s fiasco of the speech at the CII, and the simultaneous rise of Narendra Modi, the Congress is increasingly resorting to personal attacks. Recently, it has revived the old phrase maut ka saudagar used by Smt Sonia Gandhi several years ago. (Sonia G is not literate enough in Urdu to come up with the phrase, it was the creation of the lyricist Javed Akhtar, Shabna Azmi’s husband.)

This is to be expected, for after all elections are only a year away and Narendra Modi is emerging as the greatest threat to continued dynastic rule of the country. Since they have resorted to personal attack, let us see how lily white (no pun intended) the accusers have been.

Sixty years after Mahatma Gandhi fell to an assassin’s bullet, the most illustrious bearer of the Gandhi name today accepted the Order of Leopold, instituted by the Belgian royal family. The name Leopold, King of the Belgians is synonymous with the worst excesses of European exploitation of Africa. Leopold, the king whose name the award carries was a slave merchant who rivals Hitler as a mass murderer. (See picture.)

Much of the controversy when the story broke focused on the violation of Indian law by a high official (Sonia Gandhi)- accepting an award that requires swearing allegiance to a foreign power. It is a legal technicality that ignores the moral dimension. Her acceptance was a sordid and ignoble act that smacks of servility and utter callousness to human suffering. (For the record, though founded by Leopold I, it was appropriated by Leopold II in 1908 by integrating it with his own order of the Congo Free State, which was the victim of his atrocities, more of which later. So, its ‘honoree’ carries the taint the more infamous son.)

The name `Congo Free State’ is one of the great ironies of history, for Belgian Congo under King Leopold was a massive slave colony that was ruthlessly exploited for its rubber and ivory. According to a recent BBC report by Mark Dummet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/hi/africa/3516965.stm):

“Of the Europeans who scrambled for control of Africa at the end of the 19th century, Belgium’s King Leopold II left arguably the largest and the most horrid legacy of all.” Leopold claimed he was taking over the Congo Free State to civilize the natives by bringing Christianity and Western capitalism to Africa. In the process “he turned his `Congo Free State’ into a massive [slave] labour camp, made a fortune for himself from the harvest of its wild rubber, and contributed in a large way to death of perhaps 10 million innocent people.”

Leopold’s plan was to harvest as much natural rubber as possible from the forests before organized cultivation of rubber could break his monopoly. He was interested also in looting the ivory gathered by African tribes. His government created a force called Force Publique to terrorize and plunder the African natives into surrendering everything they possessed and provide also slave labor for harvesting wild rubber. Dummet quotes an eyewitness report:

“One officer['s] method. was to arrive in canoes at a village; the soldiers were then landed, and commenced looting, taking all the chickens, grain etc, out of the houses; after this they attacked the natives until able to seize their women; these women were kept as hostages until the chief of the district brought in the required number of kilograms of rubber. The rubber having been brought, the women were sold back to their owners for a couple of goats apiece, and so he continued from village to village until the requisite amount of rubber had been collected.

Companies operating in the Congo used prison stockades to keep hostages. If the men in the village resisted the demands for rubber it meant the death of their wife, child or chief. The Force Publique supplied military might under contract and each company had its own mercenaries.

Mutilated Children Leopold’s plantations

Adam Hochschild in his book King Leopold’s Ghost- A story of greed, terror and heroism in colonial Africa quotes the Governor of the Equatorial district of the Congo Free State when the demand for rubber became ferocious: “As soon as it was a question of rubber, I wrote to the government, `To gather rubber in the district. one must cut off hands, noses and ears’.” The victims were often teenagers or even younger who were `punished’ in this manner for not meeting the quotas assigned to them. (http://www.wwws.org/articles/1999/sep1999/king-s06_prn.shtml )

Hochschild also notes: “During expeditions, Force Publique soldiers were instructed to bring back a hand or head for each bullet fired, to make sure that none had been wasted or hidden for use in rebellions. A soldier with the chilling title `keeper of hands’ accompanied each expedition.” Sometimes the soldiers saved bullets for their personal use like hunting by amputating the victims to meet their quota. (See photo.)

Honor from the greatest maut ka sudagar

Unlike most in kingdoms where the king is expected follow the law, there were no rules in Congo because Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe committed the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants. From the beginning, however, Leopold essentially ignored these conditions and ran the Congo using a mercenary force for his personal gain.

Leopold extracted a fortune from the Congo, initially by the collection of ivory, and after a rise in the price of rubber in the 1890s, by forcing the population to collect sap from rubber plants. Villages were required to meet quotas on rubber collections, and individuals’ hands were cut off if they didn’t meet the requirements. His regime was responsible for the death of an estimated 2 to 15 million Congolese. This became one of the most infamous international scandals of the early 20th century, and Leopold was ultimately forced to relinquish control of it to the Belgian government. In effect, in a single African country (Congo) Leopold killed twice as many not for ideological or religious regions, but purely for profit?

Why is this unknown to or ignored by the Indian media or the intelligentsia while the Jewish Holocaust in Europe is quite properly held up as among the most infamous acts in history? Is it because the victims in Africa were black while the European victims (Jews and non-Jews) were white?

These atrocities did not escape notice at the time. In the early 1900s itself a campaign to examine Leopold’s regime, led by British diplomat Roger Casement and former shipping clerk E. D. Morel under the auspices of the Congo Reform Association, became the first mass human rights movement. American writer Mark Twain wrote a stinging political satire entitled King Leopold’s Soliloquy, in which the King argues that the benefits of bringing Christianity to the country outweighs a little starvation.

All this was known for over a century when Sonia Gandhi accepted the knighthood. So if anyone deserved to be called maut ka sudagar – merchant of death-it was Leopold, King of the Belgians whose knighthood Sonia Gandhi feels proud to possess. If Smt Sonia Gandhi, a European of humble origins, feels honored to be admitted to an order that carries the name of this mass murderer because he was a European prince it is her prerogative. But she should have done so in her own capacity as Antonia Maino and not drag the name Gandhi into it.

Above all, having received knighthood carrying the name of the worst mass murderer in history she and her party shouldn’t call Narendra Modi or anyone else names like maut ka saudagar. One who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones at others.

Columnist is Contributing Editor of Folks Magazine. 

Second of two parts

N.S. Rajaram

The third wave: mathematics and beyond

Harappan and West Asian yogis

In previous articles I have described that the origin and spread of Indo-Europeans and their languages takes us to Africa almost a hundred thousand years ago. The most important conclusion to emerge is that all non-African humans and their languages can be traced to about a thousand or so residents of South Asia or present day India and Pakistan, perhaps 65,000 years ago. These were the primordial ancestors of Indo-Europeans who spoke primordial languages that became Indo-European tongues when they moved out of the Indian subcontinent and settled in Eurasia and Europe.

This ancient movement north and west took place in two major waves: the first about 45,000 years ago, and the next some 10,000 years ago as the last Ice Age ended. The first wave has not left any traces other than Rock Art in Europe that has some similarities to prehistoric art of India found in the Bhimbetka Caves and other places. But it did give rise to founder groups that absorbed ideas and vocabulary (Sanskritic) carried by the second wave that followed. This accounts for the Sanskritic features found in Eurasian and European languages.

This was followed by a third wave 5000 years later, or roughly 3000 BCE. This movement appears to have been more western than northern and clashed with the already settled populations of Iran, Mesopotamia (Babylonia), Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt moving all the way to Europe. In the process they left traces in the form of literature, crafts and also religious and spiritual thought. In my previous article I described how Indian mathematics from the Shulbasutras made their way to Old Babylonia and Egypt before 2000 BCE, perhaps earlier. This was part of the third wave.

Harappan seal and Gundustrep

In this context it is worth noting that the record of a treaty between the Hittites and the Mittani the two West Asiatic rulers Suppiluliuma and Shattiwaza, c. 1380 BCE invoke Vedic deities Indra, Mitra, Varuna and the Ashvins (Nasatya). Still more interesting is the discovery of a horse training manual dating to c. 1400 BCE includes technical terms in Sanskrit such as aika (eka, one), tera (tri, three), panza (pancha, five), satta (sapta, seven), na (nava, nine), vartana (vartana, round).

Another text has descriptions of different kinds of horses: babru(-nnu) (babhru, brown), parita(-nnu) (palita, grey), and pinkara(-nnu) (pingala, red). Their chief festival was the celebration of the solstice (vishuva) which was common in most cultures in the ancient world.  But vishuva and vishuat are Sanskrit terms found in the Vedic literature. All this suggests that in addition to mathematics, the people of West Asia borrowed ideas and techniques from Indians in the millennium after 3000 BCE.

Some of this was seized upon by advocates of the Aryan invasion to claim that these Vedic names were brought to India by invaders from West Asia, but this is easily refuted by other evidence presented here including the pervasive Vedic and late Vedic (Harappan) symbolism found in the region and also Europe. We begin with the well known Svasti symbol.

Svasti in Ghana and Iran

Arya, svastika and yoga

As with the word Arya, the word swastika and the associated sign have attained notoriety to the point that both are banned in several European countries including Germany, Hungary and Austria. Both are of Indian origin but perverted European minds and hands turned them into symbols of evil. Even this was mainly in the twentieth century especially under the Nazi influence. Prior to that, the Swastika symbol was used in Europe and West Asia in the same spirit as in India and East Asia— as a sign of auspiciousness.

Let us first look at the word Arya (or Aryan). There is widespread belief even among Indians, assiduously encouraged by Western Indologists and their Indian followers (like Romila Thapar) that Aryan identity was very important to the Vedic people. This is far from true. In the whole of the Rig Veda, in all of its ten books containing over a thousand hymns with ten thousand mantras, the word Arya appears exactly thirty eight times! And nowhere, not once does it refer to a race or language. If so, how is it defined?

Svasti in ancient Greece

The authoritative Amarakosha defines Arya as maha-kula, kuleena, arya, sabhya, sajjana, sadhava. Maha-kula and kuleena refer to family background, but that is not enough; it further emphasizes character and behavior—sabhya or courteous, sajjana or decent, and sadhu or gentle. So anyone can become an Arya through proper conduct. Birth, language and ancestry have nothing to do with it.

All this was ignored by Europeans. They created the unscientific Aryan invasion theory according to which the invading Aryans were white Europeans of pure blood! The Wikepedia notes: “The Nazis claimed that the early Aryans of India, from whose Vedic tradition the swastika sprang, were the prototypical white invaders. The concept of racial purity was an ideology central to Nazism, though it is now considered unscientific.” In fact even at the time scientists, including German scientists denounced it as unscientific. But like the equally unscientific Dravidian theory the idea persisted because it met some political needs.

To return to the swastika sign, the first point to note is it is a misnomer. It is more properly called the svasti sign— derived from su + asti = svasti which means well being. Several Western scholars including such well known one as A.A. McDonnell claim that it is not

panca-swasti

mentioned in the Vedas. This is pure nonsense. There is a famous mantra known as the panca svasti mantra (mantra of the five svastis) beginning svasti nah indro vriddha-shrava… that is found in all the Vedas. There is at least one Harappan seal that has five svasti signs inscribed on it. Svasti signs are extremely common with Harappan artifacts like seals and jars.

Until its misuse by the Nazis, the svasti signs were used everywhere its real meaning as an auspicious sign or harbinger of well being. Its appearance in Europe goes back perhaps 3000 years if not earlier. It seems to have been particularly popular in the Greco-Roman world as may be seen in the examples given. Svasti signs can be found in the New World also on numerous Native American artifacts as auspicious symbols.

More interesting perhaps is the pervasiveness of yogic influence. The famous ‘Seated Yogi” and the Pashupati image on some Harappan seals has made its way to West Asia (Iraq) and later still to Europe as far west as Gundestrup in Denmark.

Westward Ho

Just as we find two waves of movements of people and animals from India into Eurasia and Europe– one c. 40,000 years ago and the second about 10,000 years ago, we find at least one more movement out of India 5000 years ago or around that time, continuing for about 1000 years. While the second movement left its imprint on the languages of Eurasia and Europe in the form of Sanskritic vocabulary, this more recent movement has left traces of religious and other symbolism in West Asia and Europe.

Many West Asian dynasties and peoples are known— Kassites, Elamites, Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Hittites, Mittani, Hurrians (mentioned in the Bible) and more. All these show traces of Indian influence in religion, mathematics, vocabulary and other traits. The later Medes and Persians are almost indistinguishable from Indians to their east. For example, how many know that the name Cyrus is the Greek corruption of Kurusha? Or Darius of Dayavarsha? And Artaxerses was Arthakshetra. The word ‘satrap’ for a subordinate regional ruler is derived from Old Persian kshetra-pavana meaning protector of the region.

Many of the names became distorted because of Greek transliteration. For example, the founder of the Median Kingdom is given as Cyaraxes while in the original it is Huvakshatra. Similarly his successor and son is given by Greek writers (Like Herodotus) as Astyages whereas the correct original form (in Old Iranian) is Rishti Vaga.

Not merely the names but the whole of West Asian history has been seriously distorted by interpreting it in Hellenistic terms and the modern European practice of tracing everything to Greece. What is needed is a serious examination of these records from an Indian perspective which in ancient times was much closer to the Iranian. We may find many connections and be able to fill gaps in the history of both the peoples— Indians and Iranians. One example will suffice.

We have already seen how Seidenberg’s study of the Shulbasutras shed light on the Indian (Vedic) origins of Old Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics. A study by Sri Aurobindo’s disciple and eminent historian K.D. Sethna (Amal Kiran) showed that the people of the Harappan cities and those of Sumer-Akkad (Mesopotamia) had extensive trade relations. A major item of trade was cotton, called karpasa in Sanskrit. This became kapazum in Akkadian. The modern word kapda for cloth in modern languages derives from it.

Sethna also found that the region of the Harappan cities (Western India) was called Meluhha by the Akkadians. This is a corruption of Malekha, Prakrit for the Sanskrit word Mleccha. This suggests that Indians referred to the Harappan region as ‘Mleccha Desha’. (This is suggested also by the Mahabharata.) Mleccha may not have had a negative connotation then. In his book Karpasa in Prehistoric India (1978), Sethna gives a wealth of details connecting West Asia and the Harappan Civilization.

So we have these three waves out of India: (1) The first wave out of India some 45,000 years ago seeded Eurasia and Europe with founder groups; we have no traces of their language. (2) A second wave at the end of the Ice Age c. 10,000 years ago carried Sanskritic vocabulary along with agriculture and animal husbandry to Eurasia and Europe; traces of these can be found in archaeology and languages. (3) The third wave, 5000 years ago or a bit earlier carried more sophisticated ideas like mathematics, horse training, spiritual practices like yoga and the like. Record of this is abundant, much of which remains to be explored.

So we have this progress not over 5000 years as history books tell us but over 50,000 years.

(Concluded)

Dr. Rajaram is a scientist and historian and the Contributing Editor of FOLKS

By Terril Yue Jones and Poornima Gupta BEIJING/SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Apr 1, 2013 10:03pm EDT (Reuters) – Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook apologized to Chinese consumers on Monday and altered iPhone warranty policies in its No. 2 market after more than two weeks of condemnation in the state-run media of its after-sales service.

A visitor tries an iPhone at an Apple store in Beijing March 28, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

From China Central Television to the People’s Daily newspaper, government-controlled media outlets bashed the world’s largest technology corporation for its “arrogance,” protesting among other things that its current one-year service warranty was far shorter than in other markets.

“We are aware that owing to insufficient external communication, some consider Apple’s attitude to be arrogant, inattentive or indifferent to consumer feedback,” Cook said in a letter written in Chinese on the company’s local website. “We express our sincere apologies for causing consumers any misgivings or misunderstanding.”

Cook’s apology, unusual though not as rare as during his predecessor Steve Jobs’ tenure, highlights the importance of the market for Apple.

The country is typically the brightest spot in Apple’s quarterly financial statements. Revenue from Greater China — which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong — totaled $7.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter, up 60 percent from a year ago.

Apple will begin detailing quarterly sales results from the region starting this month.

Cook said in the lengthy letter that Apple has “much to learn about operating and communicating in China.”

China has long been a prime market for Western corporations hoping to capitalize on its growing economic power and increasingly affluent middle-class. Still, companies face many pitfalls operating in the country.

‘MUCH TO LEARN’

Since it joined the World Trade Organization and opened up its markets, many have run afoul of perplexing and sometimes arbitrary local regulations, fickle consumer sentiment – and occasionally capricious media coverage. Regardless, many corporations view the country as prime expansion territory as growth slows in the developed world.

Apple is hardly the first Western brand-name to come under fire in the media for a variety of real or perceived missteps, or the first to alter its policies.

In 2012, CCTV spotlighted McDonald’s Corp and Carrefour SA for minor food safety violations. The companies were forced to apologize and their shares slumped as China’s army of half a billion microbloggers unleashed their anger online.

Successful foreign brands like Wal-Mart Stores and Gucci have also come under fire for various product and labor issues. More recently, KFC parent Yum Inc issued a mea culpa in January for its handling of reports that chicken from some of its suppliers contained excess amounts of drugs and hormones. It subsequently outlined how it would improve food safety and quality control.

The targeting of Apple may be part of a policy that China has adopted to favor homegrown companies, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Information Foundation.

“This does seem to be part of a growing strategy by the Chinese government to criticize and single out for unfair treatment leading foreign companies in China,” he said.

And it is happening as the U.S. government calls out China “on their egregious economic and trade practices, including cyber attacks,” he added.

Apple has been expanding in presence in China slowly but steadily, especially through increasing its retail footprint. Its iPhones, iPods and computers are considered aspirational products in China with cache among the countries growing middle class.

Criticism of Apple began on March 15 with the broadcast of an annual show on CCTV about consumer safety and rights, which has become an annual ritual targeting foreign, along with Chinese consumer firms.

The program assailed Apple for its after-sales service, including Apple’s failure to offer new replacement iPhones with a one-year warranty in the case of major repairs.

Now, Apple will offer full replacements of iPhone 4 and 4S instead of major repairs, adding a one-year warranty starting from the date of replacement.

It will provide simpler and clearer explanations of warranties on its website and allow customers to offer feedback directly, Cook said. The company will also provide refresher training to service providers to explain the new warranty policy, he added.

The iPhone 5, the latest model, already carries a similar warranty to the new iPhone 4 and 4S coverage.

CCTV’s show this year became the subject of online ridicule over claims the network paid celebrities to post micro-blog comments against Apple. Thousands of Chinese have come to its defense online, criticizing Chinese firms as being the ones that lack transparency and consumer trust.

(Additional reporting by Edwin Chan; Editing by Jane Baird, Alden Bentley and Leslie Gevirtz)

By Erin Geiger Smith and Ronald Grover |

Mon Apr 1, 2013 4:08pm EDT

(Reuters) – An appeals court on Monday declined to temporarily shut down Aereo Inc, an online television venture backed by billionaire Barry Diller that broadcasters say is infringing their copyrights.

Chief Executive Officer of IAC/InterActiveCorp Barry Diller attends the Allen & Co Media Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 12, 2012. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the broadcasters, including Walt Disney Co’s ABC and Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal, that Aereo should discontinue its service until litigation between the companies is resolved.

The television industry is closely watching the case to see whether it could disrupt the traditional TV model. The industry sees Aereo and other similar services as a threat to its ability to control subscription fees and generate advertising income, its two main sources of revenue.

Aereo does not pay licensing fees to the broadcasters, while paid TV operators, such Comcast and Time Warner Cable, shell out billions in retransmission consent fees to broadcasters.

“I can see cable operators trying to stretch out their retransmission negotiations as long as they can to see how this case is finally decided,” said Alan Gould, an analyst with Evercore Partners who follows CBS Corp, Walt Disney and other large media companies that own TV stations.

Gould said analysts have modeled a large increase for networks “retransmission fees” – monthly fees based on how many subscribers each network reaches.

“Now it will depend on what happens when the trial begins,” Gould said.

Retransmission fees make up a very small portion of a TV station’s revenue stream, which is still heavily dependent on advertising sales.

Subscribers to Aereo can stream live broadcasts of TV channels on mobile devices using miniature antennas, each assigned to one subscriber. The service was launched in March 2012 in the New York area at a cost to subscribers of $12 a month. The company in January announced plans to expand to 22 U.S. cities.

Under U.S. law, copyright owners have the exclusive right to publicly perform their work, and broadcasters argue that Aereo’s transmissions of television programs while the programs are airing is a public performance of the broadcasters’ copyrighted works.

UPHOLDING LOWER COURT

The appeals court, upholding a lower court ruling, concluded that the broadcasters had not shown they were likely to prove their claims of copyright infringement because Aereo’s transmissions are “unique copies” and are not “public performances” of the broadcaster’s copyrighted works.

Aereo’s technology consists of thousands of antennas housed in a facility in Brooklyn, New York, that are individually assigned to users so that no two of them share the same antenna at the same time.

In determining whether a performance is “public,” it is important to determine who is capable of receiving the performance being transmitted, the court said.

Aereo’s system creates a “unique copy” of a program and, when a user chooses to watch it, the transmission sent by Aereo is of that unique copy, the court said.

In a joint statement, News Corp’s Fox, the Public Broadcasting Service and its New York station WNET, also plaintiffs in the litigation, called the decision “a loss for the entire creative community.”

The “court has ruled that it is OK to steal copyrighted material and retransmit it without compensation,” they said.

CBS, another plaintiff, said in a statement, “As the courts continue to consider this case and others like it, we are confident that the rights of content owners will be recognized, and that we will prevail.”

ABC and NBCUniversal issued a joint statement noting the case is still in its early stages and that they are “confident” the “rights of content owners will be protected.”

Shares of CBS, Comcast, Disney and News Corp were all lower in afternoon trading on Monday. CBS was down 2.2 percent and Comcast was down 1.25 percent, while News Corp was down 0.8 percent and Disney was down 0.4 percent.

Aereo’s chief executive, Chet Kanojia, said in a statement that the appeals court decision “validates that Aereo’s technology falls square within the law” and called it “a great thing for consumers.”

Aereo had argued that its technology was designed to conform to court precedent, specifically a 2008 2nd Circuit decision in favor of Cablevision Systems Corp for its remote-storage digital video recorder (RS-DVR) system.

Two of the three judges on the appeals court panel that heard the case agreed with Aereo that its system conforms to the Cablevision ruling.

Appeals court Judge Denny Chin dissented, writing that he believes Aereo’s transmissions constitute copyright infringement.

Aereo’s technology platform is “a sham,” Chin wrote, saying there is “no technologically sound reason” to use a multitude of antennas other than to take advantage of “a perceived loophole in the law.”

The cases are CBS Broadcasting Inc., et al v. AEREO, Inc. and WNET, et al v. AEREO, Inc, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 12-2807 and 12-2786.

(Reporting By Erin Geiger Smith; Additional reporting by Ronald Grover and Liana Baker; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Leslie Adler)

STOCKHOLM | Wed Mar 27, 2013 8:27pm IST (Reuters) – Argentinian author and illustrator Isol won the world’s biggest prize for children’s literature on Tuesday with the jury for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award praising her ability to expose the absurdities of the adult world to children.

Argentinian author and illustrator Isol poses in this undated handout picture. REUTERS/Xavier Martin/Handout

She beat “War Horse” author Michael Morpurgo, the former British Children’s Laureate, America’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” writer Eric Carle, and British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett among others to the annual prize.

The jury for the 5 million Swedish crown ($770,000) prize created by the Swedish government in 2002 said Isol, whose real name is Marisol Misenta, created picture books from the “eye-level of the child”.

“Taking the child’s clear view of the world as her starting point, she addresses their questions with forceful artistic expressions and offers open answers,” the jury said.

“With liberating humor and levity she also deals with the darker aspects of existence.”

Isol, who has written and illustrated 10 books of her own as well as other writers’ books, was born in 1972 in Buenos Aires and also works as a singer and a composer.

Her first book, “A dog’s life”, was published in 1997 and her books have now been published in about 20 countries.

Her latest book, “La Bella Griselda”, is the story of a princess whose suitors literally lose their heads as a result of their love of her.

Isol told Reuters that she was woken at 6.30 a.m. local time by the prize organizers with news of the award.

“I’m having to brush off my English, which was pretty rusty,” she told Reuters. “It is all really unbelievable, especially as the other nominees are amazing.”

Isol put her success down to being able to look at issues from a different perspective.

“It’s about being able, sometimes, like children do, to fearlessly ask questions and answer back a bit.”

Sweden’s Astrid Lindgren, one of the world’s most widely translated writers, is best known for her Pippi Longstocking books about the adventures of Pippi, her horse, monkey and friends Tommy and Annika. The prize was set up in the year of her death.

Last year’s winner was Dutch writer Guus Kuijer, whose books often deal with modern social issues from the perspective of pre-teens.

Other winners include Philip Pullman, author of the fantasy trilogy “His Dark Materials” and Maurice Sendak, who wrote the children’s classic “Where the Wild Things Are”. ($1 = 6.5212 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Simon Johnson, additional reporting by Alejandro Lifschitz in Buenos Aires; Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Actor Annu Kapoor in a still from the movie “Vicky Donor”. Reuters Handout

Following is a list of winners in leading categories.

Best Feature Film: Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia

Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a director: Chittagong (Hindi) by Bedabrata Pain and 101 Chodiyangal (Malayalam) by Siddhartha Siva

Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment: Vicky Donor (Hindi) and Ustad Hotel (Malayalam)

Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration: Thanichalla Njan (Malayalam)

Best Film on Social Issues: Spirit (Malayalam)

Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation: Black Forest (Malayalam)

Best Children’s Film: Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi)

Best Animation Film: Delhi Safari (Hindi)

Best Direction: Shivaji Lotan Patil for Dhag (Marathi)

Best Actor: Irrfan for Paan Singh Tomar (Hindi) and Vikram Gokhale for Anumati (Marathi)

Best Actress: Usha Jadhav for Dhag (Marathi)

Best Supporting Actor: Annu Kapoor for Vicky Donor (Hindi)

Best Supporting Actress: Dolly Ahluwalia for Vicky Donor (Hindi) and Kalpana for Thanichalla Njan (Malayalam)

Best Child Artist: Virendra Pratap for Dekh Indian Circus (Hindi) and Minon for 101 Chodiyangal (Malayalam)

Best Male Playback Singer: Shankar Mahadevan for the song ‘Bolo Na’ in Chittagong (Hindi)

Best Female Playback Singer: Aarti Anklekar Tikekar for the song ‘Palakein Naa Moondon’ in Samhita (Marathi)

Best Cinematography: Sudheer Palsane and Prasad Film Laboratory, Chennai for KO : YAD (Mising)

Best Screenplay Writer (Original): Sujoy Ghosh for Kahaani (Hindi)

Best Screenplay Writer (Adapted): Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla for OMG – Oh My God! (Hindi)

Best Dialogue: Anjali Menon for Ustad Hotel (Malayalam)

Best Editing: Namrata Rao for Kahaani (Hindi)

Best Production Design: Vishwaroopam (Tamil)

Best Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi for ‘Bolo Na’ in Chittagong (Hindi)

Special Jury Award: Rituparno Ghosh for Chitrangada (Bengali) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui for Kahaani, Gangs of Wasseypur, Dekh Indian Circus, Talaash (Hindi)

Best Choreography: Pandit Birju Maharaj for Vishwaroopam (Tamil)

Best Special Effects: Eega (Telugu)

(Compiled by Anuja Jaiman; Editing by Tony Tharakan)

A politician learning to video chat, a man trying to draw blood with a rusty knife and a newbie MLA who doesn’t know what a police FIR is - moments that make Tigmanshu Dhulia’s “Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns” a film that successfully marries the quirky with the violent.

Dhulia’s sequel to his 2011 film takes off smoothly from where the original left off. Jimmy Shergillplays Aditya Pratap Singh, a crippled erstwhile royal trying to hold on to his power while Mahie Gillplays his alcoholic, erratic wife Madhavi. Both hate each other but stay married anyway for practical reasons.

Aditya falls for the beautiful daughter of a neighbouring king and blackmails her father into agreeing to their match. What he doesn’t know is that Ranjana (Soha Ali Khan) is already in love with Inderjit (Irrfan Khan) who has a grudge against Aditya.

Ranjana’s father entrusts Inderjit with ensuring that Aditya is destroyed before he marries his daughter, but Inderjit weaves such a tangled web it is no surprise when he gets caught in it himself.

Dhulia directs the film with a deft hand, introducing idiosyncrasies in each character that make them interesting, and punctuating his narrative with a lot of quirky humour, as he did in the first film.

Where he veers off the path in the second half is when the film gets too complicated with several subplots and characters cluttering up the storyline. What saves the film is the dialogue, which is crisp and uses several pop culture references.

Dhulia is aided by the performances from his leading men. Both Jimmy Shergill and Irrfan Khan are exceptional, embodying their characters to the tee. What makes them even better is that the two women are at the opposite end of the spectrum, looking like amateurs in front of Khan and Shergill.

Mahie Gill’s Meena Kumari act is affected and likely to grate on your nerves rather than help her character get sympathy. Soha Ali Khan gives a one-note performance and her Ranjana never quite comes to life.

Nevertheless, film-maker Dhulia’s style of telling his story and the performances he extracts from his actors ensure that “Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns” is a fun film to watch.