Amnesty International Report: too light on NE
This year's AI country report contains all the usual suspects: killings in Kashmir, Gujarat riots, Pota abuse, social discrimination of adivasi and dalits and others. Surprisingly, the human rights situation in NE is portrayed rather perfunctorily, dismissed in a couple of sentences.

"In the states of the northeast, abuses included the torture and killings of non-combatants and attacks on civilians by naxalites (armed left-wing groups) in areas of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal".

I don't know why NE is treated alongside these unNortheasternly states, but by doing so the report seems to suggest that human rights violations are perpretrated by the rebel groups only. The state is left unscathed, nor are there any references to Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Sharmila Irom, Disturbed Area Act..

Haven't the human rights bodies in NE, particularly Manipur, alerted the AI adequately in time? Or has the situation in the state really improved? Or is the author of the report a thoroughbred Indian gentleman with little knowledge about the troubled region?

My mind is violated.

Comments retrieved
Due to design changes that I have effected, all my earlier settings of this blog has gone, deleting all the readers' comments. I have retrieved them manually and thought it prudent to publish them as a post. There is certainly a risk in tinkering with a website if you are a tech novice. Fortunately, I found out a way to restore the lost feedback of my valuable readers, which is placed below:

On Power without responsibility
sonia was actually washing her hands from everything, she wanted to run away form the problem, that's all you don't need to put all your efforts to describe her meaningless actions.

i hope you dont get irritated with my comments, after all you are a journalist.

he he he ...
-- Unknown

Hmm..I am not irritated at all. On the contrary, every bit of your opinion has given me a new perspective. Feel free to leave your comments, any comments, but please be restrained in your language so that I won't need to wipe them out later. Ideas matter, not the desperation. And abuse, no no.
– ranjan yumnam

On What women want?

Tamo Ranjan,

By "space on commntaries", I guess wannabe-whistleblower was indicating the 12 dotted lines in your article. Maybe he did not realize that the dotted lines were an integral part of the story.

I always enjoy your posts. They make a really interesting read. Keep up the great work!

- bm

Could you please clarify what actually you mean by reducing the "space on commntaries"?

ranjan yumnam

Thanks for that enlightening definition of whistleblower. I am aware that the word connotes a rather negative overtones, and is often used to refer to disgruntled employees within an organisation (usually successful ones)who have a vested interest in blowing the lid on inner malpractices of that company. I chose the word as I liked the phonetic feel of the word; I don't actually fancy myself as a whistleblower in the true sense of the term. I am planning to move the entire blog to ranjanyumnam.com, the domain name which I am soon registering with a techie friend of mine.

ranjan yumnam

PLEASE LEAD THE WAY!!!!!
reduce the space on commentaries...


whis•tle•blow•er or whis•tle-blow•er or whistle blower ( P ) Pronunciation Key (hwsl-blr, ws-)
n.
One who reveals wrongdoing within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority:
"The Pentagon's most famous whistleblower is... hoping to get another chance to search for government waste" (Washington Post).


A Whistleblower is really a slang term that is now generally used in practice to describe a person that alerts civil authorities of wrongful acts being committed by HIS EMPLOYER AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.

In the US, Whistleblowers are protected from retaliation by the Federal Whistleblower Protection Act.
A remedy that may be used by the Whistleblower, beyond just protection, is to file a Qui Tam action. In Qui Tam, the

Whistleblower sues on behalf of the government and will share in any recovery.

Wannabe-whistleblower

On A taste of Gmail

Home Studio Enthusiast ??
You like A R Rahman, dude ??
And hey, thanks for the free Gmail lesson. I dint know that one can upload large songs into Gmail.
YABADABADOOOOO !!

Ru

well written. can't agree better.
bm

On Things we can’t do

But don't say no Manipuris make it to Bollywood, I know many who work as xtras, ppppssssttt, pppppssstttt. If you wish I can pin-point some "dalals" who brockerage these xtras. And mind you, they are doing brisk business. Next time, look closely at those college themed Pepsi Ads, Cola Ads, Dance sequence of College themes etcetera, you might be lucky and spot a few of our own people. Gulp!
Brajeshwar
Ranjan, I agree with your posting. Manipuris are able to shine in most fields - education, technology, media etc. But when it comes to Bollywood, I guess we don't stand a chance. But it's not that I regret it though. It is just one of those things we have to learn to live without.

I do enjoy Hindi movies - for timepass of course. Though I have to wait quite some time for them to arrive.

bm

Well, well, who are (a) Kamala (b) Medha. And why do Manipuri have to do the "nautanki" stuff. We watched these actors in movies for our entertainment; they are a separte bunch of their own community; people no longer crave for them at the streets save for a few. Let them do it and let us watch.
Anyway, I think you will not miss the points to discuss people like the Laxmi Mittal, The Ambanis, The Tatas, The Birlas etcetera.
Brajeshwar

Very interesting reading indeed!
Bale

On Miscellaneous

Not that I am good at but from a usability point of view, can you have the comment and trackback link at the bottom of each post and not on top, it is confusing and I am sure a common user will definitely be confused and yours is the first blog I came across with comment at the top of a post!
Brajeshwar

Cool that you took to blogging! My Best wishes to you.
Brajeshwar

Dear Ranjan,
Great though of a free bird. All the best and looking forward to reading some great stuff-no matter how long or short.

Arhan Writwik

Power without responsibilty

Yes, I agree that Sonia Gandhi stands shoulders and above the petty politicians of BJP. To club them together will not only be inappropriate but also amount to insulting the honesty and sincerity of the Italian born Congress President.

But, I somehow never can't tomtom like the rest of the media that she is a great "renunciant" who doesn't crave for power. This is not a hard nut to crack; just consider the irony that the renunciant is the most powerful person in India at the moment.
In the days to come, I bet we will also be subjected to news of political intriques within the Congress party - bewteen the Sonia coterie and the PM camp.

Well, the reason why sonia refused to lead the party in 1991 and 1998 is precisely the same one why she declined the post of Prime Minister now: she is incompetent for the job. To her credit, Sonia is graceful enough to accept this fact and pass on the baton to good ol amiable doctor. That's why I said Sonia is honest and sincere at the outset, no doubt about that. She knows too well she never can't give an extempore speech without someone ghostwriting it for her before. Being PM means you have to accomplish far more serious and complex duties that she wouldn't be able to handle competently, or without looking like a fool.

So, in a masterstroke, she renounced the PM post and that decision has catapulted her to a high moral pedestal in the eyes of the Indians. But most significantly, the arrangement has given her unprecedented power without responsibilty, which might be exactly what Sonia wanted.

Earlier Imocha Huidrom wrote:

Read you rather cynical take on Sonia Gandhi's refusal to become PM. While I'm no big fan of the Congress party and understand the necessity of 'objectivity' in journalistic columns, your inconsistent theory does not explain why she had refused to take up the leadership of the party in 1991 and 1998. Yes, the move is certainly a smart one on her part, but you cannot also discount the renunciatory element. And for that alone, Sonia's act puts her way above the Uma Bharati's and Sushma Swaraj's of Indian politics, who stand exposed as nothing but power hungry and venal who'd stop at nothing.

Pun riot
Newspapers are becoming more fun to read, especially during these elections. The headlines are innovative, puns are amusing and the graphics that go along with the stories are simply rib tickling, if not satirical. Consider these one liners used to describe IT savvy Chandababu's rout in Andhra Pradesh.
Key Rajiv man siezes Ctrl, Deletes TDP, set to be Alt CM and Reboot Andhra. (Times of India)
Hindustan Times is not far behind, and comes up with this:
System failure: Cyber CM logged out. This was accompanied by a cartoon graphic showing Naidu tapping furiouisly at the keyboard with the screen displaying a message: Access denied. Rediff.com had this: Ctrl+Alt+Del for Chandrababu Naidu
But the most accurate headline appeared in the New York Times that read: Indians voters turn cold shoulder to high technology.

I will keep scanning for more bytes like these. Let me shutdown for the moment. END.

Things we can’t do – IV
(We can’t be Prime Minister)
If the pollsters are to be believed, it’s not going to be a cakewalk for the BJP at the hustings after all. Speculations are ripe that NDA may get a beating and find themselves occupying the opposition benches in the parliament when the next sitting takes place. Names like Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, V.P Singh, Jyoti Basu are doing the rounds among the political chatterati, with Sonia Gandhi being the favourite. There will be kingmakers and kings-in-waiting.
This is not a joke; Mayawati may actually become the most powerful person of the world's largest democracy. And to know that her USP is caste politics really makes me sick. Does she know a Rouble from a Pound? The post of Prime Minister is up for grabs, and this country has only a few dimwits fighting for it, while deserving people like Manmohan Singh are pushed to the margins.
But my point is not this. It is: Can any Manipuri become a PM of this country? Foolish me. There are not enough Manipuris for a Manipuri PM hopeful to play the caste card to outsmart the likes of Mayawati, Laloo, Modi…. We have a real logistics problem here.