01-03-2008, 03:18 PM
Sandeep is hilarious. follow the article on blog for links etc.
The Devil in the Advocate
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The award for Hate Speech of the Century goes to this piece. The self-styled swamis of secularism have transcended all boundaries of reason. The reason: F-E-A-R.
But this one is dangerousâ¦
This blogger chanced upon a hush-hush Devilâs Advocate with the Devilâs Advocate himself. It unravelled the Devil in the advocate.
Q: Mr. Devilâs Advocate (DA), what do you think of the new term, Moditva floating around after Modiâs third electoral victory?
DA: You need to ask that more clearly.
Q: How do you define Moditva?
DA: What do you mean how do I define Moditva? Thereâs nothing to define. Moditva is Moditva. Moditva is communal, divisive, has a saffron tinge, grows a beard, and inspires hate.
Q: Really? Despite all these horrid qualities, how did it triumph?
DA: Because divisiveness breeds divisiveness and it breeds only in Gujarat because my friend the eminent psychologist, has proved that Gujaratis hate themselves. Therefore, hatred works. Hence Moditva.
Q: Oh yes, Iâve read the psychologistâs article. So you think Moditva..errâ¦Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister of India?
DA: Well, not really but that deadly hope definitely exists. My analysis proves it. Let me read out the relevant excerpt:
The key question is can Moditva work outside Gujarat? It depends on how you define it. If you believe it combines strong personal leadership and integrity, with an appeal to regional pride or robust nationalism â admittedly with strong communal undertones â and a stress on development, I see no reason why it canât translate throughout the country. Even the fact that it alienates minorities is counterbalanced by the promise of uniting Hindus as never before. And if in Gujarat it could cut across divisions of caste, wealth and location, then it can hope to do so elsewhere as well.
Q: That sounds spine-chilling. But let me try to understand what your analysis says. Personal leadership, integrity, and demonstrated economic development are the evils we need to fight in order to ward off Moditva. Is that right?
DA: You are correct.
Q: With decades of experience in dealing with all hues of politicians, what do you propose?
DA: Exactly one person.
Q (confounded expression): Person? You mean, an anti-Modi, to borrow the psychologistâs (anti-self) terminology.
DA: Absolutely!
Q: So do you have anyone in mind? Or is anti-Modi waitingâ¦
DA (Interrupts): Sonia Gandhi
Q: Mr. Thapar, but I thought you were against all dynastic forms of governmentâ¦.
DA: Please hold your horses. That same analysis I wrote has proved why Sonia is the best choice, dynasty notwithstanding. Let me read out:
Modi and Moditva is, therefore, the challenge facing the Congress, the UPA and the Left. I donât deny it has to be fought ideologically, but that also calls for the projection of a single personality who, in herself, embodies the fight. She has to rival Modiâs appeal â both his magnetism and his myth â and symbolise the alternate vision.
Perhaps there is only one person who can do that. The pronoun âsheâ was used deliberately. Itâs Sonia Gandhi. It may be an irony that an Italian-born woman, a widow who till 1998 detested politics, should transform into one of the twin poles of Indian politics, but it could also be an inescapable fact. No other person from the anti-BJP parties has the appeal or the nation-wide image to rival Modi..Of course, Sonia has a lot to learn.
Q: Hmm..You have a point but the last line got me curious. Ever since her entry into active politics, all observers including you have repeatedly said she has a lot to learnâ¦its almost 10 years nowâ¦
DA: Every electoral defeat is a learning.
Q: In that case, what explains Modiâs hatrick success?
DA: Thatâs not success, itâs Moditva.
Q: Agreed. So Moditva should be defeated by Sonia Gandhiâ¦
DA: Yes, but you see since she has a lot to learn, we will coach her. We have our methods in the media and public space. We will take her side. I have already given the clarion call in the same analysis:
For the rest of us, voters rather than politicians, commentators but not participants, we also have to make a critical choice. We can either accept the idea of Modi and Moditva and adapt and adjust to it, or overcome our concerns with the Gandhi dynasty and Sonia in particular, and join the fight she must lead⦠the emergence of a dominant idea on the saffron front and, in response, the creation of an equal but counterveiling force on the other will squeeze out everything else. The more Moditva grows, the more its opposite has to be strengthened. Increasingly the choice will be one or the other. We will have to take sides.
Q: Itâs a brave fight. Letâs talk about your methodsâ¦
DA: Sure. One, we will use the combined might of the media, which we control and write similar analyses. We will condemn Moditva in the strongest terms. We will create awareness across India that personal integrity, leadership skills, and economic development are communal and divisive. Theyâre the enemies of secularism and progressiveness. At the end of five years, we will ensure that Moditva is voted out.
Q: Interesting and very ambitious. Let me ask you something. In the recently-concluded Gujarat elections, the media did the same thing. They exposed Narendra Modi horribly and dented his image. That didnât seem to matter to the votersâ¦
DA: You have pointâ¦let me thinkâ¦
Q: What if the same phenomenon repeats say a few years laterâ¦
DA: It wonât. My analysis again, has the answer to that:
Only the sudden removal of Narendra Modi can stop this. For he is the agent forcing this change.
Q: We now come to the end of the Devilâs Advocate. Thank you, Mr. Thapar.
DA: It was a pleasure being on this show and sitting on the other side of the fence. You played your Devilâs Advocate role very well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This blogger questions: Mr. Karan Thapar, how exactly do we interpret sudden removal of Modi: Forcible removal by the President? Or is it something more sinister?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Devil in the Advocate
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The award for Hate Speech of the Century goes to this piece. The self-styled swamis of secularism have transcended all boundaries of reason. The reason: F-E-A-R.
But this one is dangerousâ¦
This blogger chanced upon a hush-hush Devilâs Advocate with the Devilâs Advocate himself. It unravelled the Devil in the advocate.
Q: Mr. Devilâs Advocate (DA), what do you think of the new term, Moditva floating around after Modiâs third electoral victory?
DA: You need to ask that more clearly.
Q: How do you define Moditva?
DA: What do you mean how do I define Moditva? Thereâs nothing to define. Moditva is Moditva. Moditva is communal, divisive, has a saffron tinge, grows a beard, and inspires hate.
Q: Really? Despite all these horrid qualities, how did it triumph?
DA: Because divisiveness breeds divisiveness and it breeds only in Gujarat because my friend the eminent psychologist, has proved that Gujaratis hate themselves. Therefore, hatred works. Hence Moditva.
Q: Oh yes, Iâve read the psychologistâs article. So you think Moditva..errâ¦Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister of India?
DA: Well, not really but that deadly hope definitely exists. My analysis proves it. Let me read out the relevant excerpt:
The key question is can Moditva work outside Gujarat? It depends on how you define it. If you believe it combines strong personal leadership and integrity, with an appeal to regional pride or robust nationalism â admittedly with strong communal undertones â and a stress on development, I see no reason why it canât translate throughout the country. Even the fact that it alienates minorities is counterbalanced by the promise of uniting Hindus as never before. And if in Gujarat it could cut across divisions of caste, wealth and location, then it can hope to do so elsewhere as well.
Q: That sounds spine-chilling. But let me try to understand what your analysis says. Personal leadership, integrity, and demonstrated economic development are the evils we need to fight in order to ward off Moditva. Is that right?
DA: You are correct.
Q: With decades of experience in dealing with all hues of politicians, what do you propose?
DA: Exactly one person.
Q (confounded expression): Person? You mean, an anti-Modi, to borrow the psychologistâs (anti-self) terminology.
DA: Absolutely!
Q: So do you have anyone in mind? Or is anti-Modi waitingâ¦
DA (Interrupts): Sonia Gandhi
Q: Mr. Thapar, but I thought you were against all dynastic forms of governmentâ¦.
DA: Please hold your horses. That same analysis I wrote has proved why Sonia is the best choice, dynasty notwithstanding. Let me read out:
Modi and Moditva is, therefore, the challenge facing the Congress, the UPA and the Left. I donât deny it has to be fought ideologically, but that also calls for the projection of a single personality who, in herself, embodies the fight. She has to rival Modiâs appeal â both his magnetism and his myth â and symbolise the alternate vision.
Perhaps there is only one person who can do that. The pronoun âsheâ was used deliberately. Itâs Sonia Gandhi. It may be an irony that an Italian-born woman, a widow who till 1998 detested politics, should transform into one of the twin poles of Indian politics, but it could also be an inescapable fact. No other person from the anti-BJP parties has the appeal or the nation-wide image to rival Modi..Of course, Sonia has a lot to learn.
Q: Hmm..You have a point but the last line got me curious. Ever since her entry into active politics, all observers including you have repeatedly said she has a lot to learnâ¦its almost 10 years nowâ¦
DA: Every electoral defeat is a learning.
Q: In that case, what explains Modiâs hatrick success?
DA: Thatâs not success, itâs Moditva.
Q: Agreed. So Moditva should be defeated by Sonia Gandhiâ¦
DA: Yes, but you see since she has a lot to learn, we will coach her. We have our methods in the media and public space. We will take her side. I have already given the clarion call in the same analysis:
For the rest of us, voters rather than politicians, commentators but not participants, we also have to make a critical choice. We can either accept the idea of Modi and Moditva and adapt and adjust to it, or overcome our concerns with the Gandhi dynasty and Sonia in particular, and join the fight she must lead⦠the emergence of a dominant idea on the saffron front and, in response, the creation of an equal but counterveiling force on the other will squeeze out everything else. The more Moditva grows, the more its opposite has to be strengthened. Increasingly the choice will be one or the other. We will have to take sides.
Q: Itâs a brave fight. Letâs talk about your methodsâ¦
DA: Sure. One, we will use the combined might of the media, which we control and write similar analyses. We will condemn Moditva in the strongest terms. We will create awareness across India that personal integrity, leadership skills, and economic development are communal and divisive. Theyâre the enemies of secularism and progressiveness. At the end of five years, we will ensure that Moditva is voted out.
Q: Interesting and very ambitious. Let me ask you something. In the recently-concluded Gujarat elections, the media did the same thing. They exposed Narendra Modi horribly and dented his image. That didnât seem to matter to the votersâ¦
DA: You have pointâ¦let me thinkâ¦
Q: What if the same phenomenon repeats say a few years laterâ¦
DA: It wonât. My analysis again, has the answer to that:
Only the sudden removal of Narendra Modi can stop this. For he is the agent forcing this change.
Q: We now come to the end of the Devilâs Advocate. Thank you, Mr. Thapar.
DA: It was a pleasure being on this show and sitting on the other side of the fence. You played your Devilâs Advocate role very well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This blogger questions: Mr. Karan Thapar, how exactly do we interpret sudden removal of Modi: Forcible removal by the President? Or is it something more sinister?
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->