BJP ideologue K.R. Malkani, who died recently, will surely be missed by many but none more so than the Pakistan-headquartered South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), which recently organised the successful visit of Indian MPs (self-led by Laloo Prasad Yadav), journalists and all.A SAFMA brochure on the visit, which carries messages by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Sonia Gandhi, is dedicated to Malkani’s memory. Imtiaz Alam, the Pakistani journalist who doubles as the spirit behind SAFMA and describes Malkani as the organisation’s ‘‘mai-baapir’’, says it was he who took the Pakistani peaceniks by the hand and got them direct access to the PMO.As peace breaks out, SAFMA is on the lookout for another key Indian politician with his heart in the right place. Rhyming Sindhi names, especially those who left Karachi when it was really a clean city, will be highly appreciated.Diplomatic about democracyYou could divide Delhi’s diplomatic community down the middle, those who like to watch ‘‘Indian democracy in action’’ and those who don’t. Now the newly arrived British high commissioner, Michael Arthur, clearly belongs to the former category and has no problems saying so. We’ve all heard of the time he went native in a Karnataka village earlier this summer, now it turns out he was in Madhya Pradesh checking out the campaigns of both Uma Bharati and Digvijay Singh.He travelled for a day with each of them, through the heat and dust of middle India. Off and on, Uma would take his hand and raise it and say, ‘‘Yeh Britain ke rajdoot hain! Yeh Hindustani democracy ko dekhne aaye hain (This is Britain’s ambassador and he’s come to check out India’s democracy).’’Now it’s also the flavour of the season for foreign nations to adopt focus states (Madhya Pradesh is one of four British adoptees) and the European Commission has decided to ‘‘take over’’ Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh in terms of aid and development programmes.The decision to do so and allot them about 160 million euros was taken before the elections. But what with the European Union summit last week, EU diplomats were more than a little tense about being knocked with the connection.Both states were identified on the basis of a curious mix of poor socio-economic indicators as well as reform-mindedness. Especially in Chhatisgarh, Ajit Jogi’s autocratic bureaucracy is said to be very tilted towards reforms. Clearly, the foreign community in town watches India’s elections with equal interest.Memories of JhangBJP chief ministerial candidate for Delhi Madan Lal Khurana (who horrified many with newspaper ads that promised the legalisation of lakhs of unauthorised houses), must surely have his heart in the right place. At one of the last meetings to distribute tickets, it seems that Khurana, who hails from the Pakistani side of Punjab, was overheard arguing, ‘‘But we still haven’t given a ticket to anyone from Jhang!’’Nonplussed observers were later told that Jhang is a town in Pakistani Punjab and that a number of Punjabi refugees who later entered Indian politics came from there.Still, speaking of continuing cross-border influences on the recently concluded assembly elections, yet another reason why the BJP seems so confident in Madhya Pradesh (apart from Digvijay Singh’s no-show, that is) is because the Muslim community there is said to be very heartened by the BJP’s pro-Pakistan initiatives.Many of them, traditional Congress loyalists, just didn’t come out and vote. That is supposed to have dented Diggy Raja’s vote bank.Aircraft carrier as power statementThe Russians are finally coming in the third week of December to sign the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, in the pipeline for only eight years. Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov will lead the delegation. Turns out the enormity of the documentation in the main contract (said to run into 1,800 pages) and the 18 sub-contracts was the real reason why the visit was postponed last month.New Delhi’s been waiting with bated breath for the Gorshkov, many people wishing India had it in 1999 when Mahendra Chaudhury was summarily ousted in a homegrown coup in Fiji. Chaudhury desperately sought Indian help, but New Delhi could hardly do much except mouth verbal support.Analysts point out that since the aircraft carrier is meant to project power, sailing the Gorshkov in the vicinity of Fiji would have definitely scared off Chaudhury’s opponents.
