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Journalism of Courage
In an article in the Organiser, Gautam Sen paints a dark and alarmist scenario of a possible nuclear attack by Pakistan on India. He writes, 8220;Mumbai is a likely potential target of a Pakistani nuclear bomb in the foreseeable future8230; The specific immediate reason for a decision to explode a nuclear bomb will be a combination of collective religious hysteria brought on by national social disintegration and fear of the outside world8221;. He thinks India will be a target, 8220;because of the utter bankruptcy of India8217;s political class and administrative apparatus.8221;
Sen says the only way to avoid a nuclear attack is to send a message that India will retaliate not only against Pakistan but all its allies. 8220;Since Pakistan8217;s nuclear missiles originate in China and North Korea, a public discussion which the government could duplicitously repudiate, should suggest that India might retaliate against Chinese and North Korean cities. It would also be appropriate to suggest that important cities in the Middle East would be obliterated in a retaliatory nuclear strike since some countries there have funded Pakistan8217;s nuclear programme. This public speculation would constitute a powerful signal that would keep India8217;s historic tormentors guessing. 8220;
Sethu conspiracy
The advisor to the Sangh Parivar on the Ram Sethu, S. Kalyanaraman, writes the cover story alleging an international conspiracy. 8220;When five alternative alignments are available to create a land-based canal, why has a mid-ocean channel passage been chosen as the Sethusamudram Channel Project? There is an international conspiracy behind this choice and an utter disdain of governance, a veritable failure to safeguard the nation8217;s wealth of placer deposits containing thorium and titanium.8221;
Congress8217;s cold feet
Shyam Khosla writes that the UPA government withdrew the Ram Sethu affidavit only fearing a Hindu backlash and not because of any change of heart. 8220;Outrage over the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court negating the very existence of Ram and debunking the great Ramayana tradition has served to prove that the Hindu society is in no longer in a mood to suffer insults and humiliation at the hands of secular fundamentalists and 8220;rationalists8221;. So fierce and widespread was the national reaction that the Congress developed cold feet not necessarily because of the conviction that the government it is leading had committed a blunder by insulting a national hero and a religious idol but largely because of the realisation that its 8220;error of judgment8221; will hurt its fortunes in the future elections as it did in the 8216;80s when it opposed the construction of the temple at Ayodhya.8221;
