Divakar's Sathyagraha

Banalising The Beautiful. Lok Satta Does Martin Luther King.

2011-06-23T11:08:00.000+05:30

Happened to click on the Lok Satta site the other day and was confronted by an alleged quote from Martin Luther King.

I carry the music of Martin in me and this just did not sound like my beloved prophet.

So tame. So plaintive and boring. "More dangerous"! - what is this?

So I Googled.

Not only did I come up with the original melody, but also a lovely photograph, that is so typically Martin.

About ten years ago, I went to meet Dr Jayaprakash Narayan and came back empty handed.

But here you see two men traversing whole worlds.

And the quotation ?

" History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."

Can you hear the passion? The conviction? Can you see the shadows of history and Martin's clear vision of the future?"

In my meeting with the good Doctor Jayaprakash Narayan - he had done a pretty good job of de impressing me.

This misappropriation of greatness, by a media anointed crusader against corruption, does nothing to raise him up in my eyes.

It gets worse. It is Malalai Joya, an activist, writer and former politician from Afghanistan to whom those words are attributed.

This is "robbing Peter to pay Paul" taken up a few notches.

This is distorting Ms Joya to dull Dr King.

Certainly not my idea of "New politics for a new generation".

Restore The Honour Of The Andhra Pradesh High Court

2011-06-13T10:26:00.000+05:30

HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE NISAR AHMAD KAKRU (sic)
Andhra Pradesh High Court,
Hyderabad

to cjap
date Thu, Jun 10, 2010 at 2:46 PM
subject Restore The Honour Of The Andhra Pradesh High Court
mailed-by gmail.com

Your honour,

If you have ever had the occasion to search for "Andhra Pradesh High Court" on the internet, then my appeal to and correspondence with your predecessor entitled "Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law" would not have escaped your notice.

With the benefit of hindsight, that account can reasonably be read today as a stunning narration of the Andhra Pradesh High Court's slide with “minuscule” check or balance from delinquency to disgrace to depravity.

As I have detailed in my correspondence to the then Chief Justice, the AP High Court had very obviously and at every level prejudged my case, delayed, obstructed and perverted the course of justice.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court State Legal Services Authority conducted a time consuming, farcical and ultimately fruitless search for a competent counsel.

The judges in question stubbornly resisted giving me any impression that they had heard me, obstinately ignored my repeated requests for the assistance of a competent counsel, displayed no compunctions about heckling me in my defenseless state from the lofty position of the bench, took upon themselves the obligation of arguing the respondents case and produced a judgment that was completely at variance to the independent opinion sought and received by the High Court, the facts of my case and the RTI Act 2005.

The Hon’ble judge’s babble emanated despite the fact that that the only new fact that emerged during the hearing was that the Andhra Pradesh Government was forced to admit the exposure of its affidavit as a tissue of lies and brazen fabrications.

Your esteemed predecessor had an excellent opportunity and sacred obligation to mitigate this sordid situation and put the hearing back on its track.

Instead he actively participated in this rowdy violation of the principles of natural justice and due process.

Not only did he assign the hearing of my case to a judge who is shown as being one rung junior to the judge against whom I had complained, he did not respond for my request for assistance for an appeal.

With the smug tunnel vision that is peculiar to successful technicians, lawyers are often advised , "When you cannot plead the law, plead the facts. When you cannot plead the facts, plead the law'.

To this wisdom, we in India, have added a more practical, subaltern twist. “When you can argue neither the facts or the law - start a riot."

Blood may not have been shed, the courts may not have been interrupted, the television cameras may have been busy elsewhere, and our editorial class may be too cloddish to recognize it and only my life has been thwarted, but there can be little doubt in reasonable minds that the Andhra Pradesh High Court over a period of more than a year, comprehensively and at every level disgraced itself by mauling the idea of due process in order to pervert the course of the law and to thwart justice with a clear motive to let the powerful respondents off the hook.

Extremists almost reflexively accept responsibility for their heinous acts.
But despite the fact that I have complained to the President of India, that office in an act of utter depravity, has not only ignored my complaint but has gleefully elevated the delinquent former Chief Justice to the Supreme Court.

Till date, Andhra Pradesh High Court has shown no signs of the self correcting conduct that society routinely expects from erring human beings.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has not given any sign that it has recognizes and regrets its reprehensible delinquency.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has shown no rectitude, remorse or reform that will restore the process of justice.

In other words the Andhra Pradesh High Court does not appear to possess any power, procedure or compunction to recover from its woefully compromised state.

It appears to not have the conscience, character or potency to re establish its shattered independence and autonomy.

There can be no question that by recounting this rowdyism of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and Bar and its toadying, symbiotic relationship with the Executive and Administration, I have performed an extraordinary service for the cause of an authentic, autonomous and vibrant judiciary.

At a time when even a clearly compromised and cowering Rashtrapathi Bhavan has chosen to stay mute, and lawless extremisms are bubbling everywhere, I have performed a rare service to the idea of equity under the rule of law by not leaving you in any doubt about the odiousness of the earlier hyper activism and current inertness of the Andhra Pradesh High Court .
This inertness of the Andhra Pradesh High Court is clearly intended to be punitive because I continue to suffer the brazen violation of my rights, denial of information and fair access to institutions of redressal and remedy.

I now request you to kindly use your authority to take whatever action that you may consider fit to make amends for this barbarism.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

PS: Since Shri Subrahmanyam, formerly Secretary to the Legal Services cell who conducted the dubious and infructuous search for legal aid, who I understand is currently your PS, has claimed not to have received the earlier email dated May 25,2010, I am emailing you again .

The hand clap that triggered the avalanche. Comments by divakarssathya in The New Statesman

2011-05-30T08:52:00.000+05:30

My thanks to the New Statesman and Mehdi Hassan.

A special thanks to writeoff's testy, thoughtless but typical comment.

Don't miss the response from the slobs at our beloved Prime Minister's Office.

Psychotic PMO Bareknuckles The Economist.

James Astill's Dazed Denial.

Dr Manmohan Singh's Office Asserts Its Determination To Be An Idiot. This Time It's The New Scientist.

Mad Dogs and the Guardian UK.

divakarssathya
30 April 2010 at 13:15

Unfortunately, "bigotry" is found in the most surprising places.

The following is an account of the bigotry against the Indian constitution and the idea of rule of law as I have experienced it over the past two decades.

It appears to be gaining some powerful adherents in the UK too.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it "normally" is in so called democratic societies - "Go along to get along" - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I would like to believe that plain speaking and straight dealing are a simple and universal human pleasure, that are being relentlessly and rather madly being subdued by the powers that be.

A documented account of my lived experience that follows, and certain obvious conclusions that follow, have been savagely suppressed by Guardian UK .

After months of moderating and publishing my comments, Guardian UK has suddenly and without any notice withdrawn my posting privileges and scrubbed all my earlier ones.

Like some apparatchik of a military junta, Guardian UK has in effect, "disappeared" me.

The Economist wobbles - sometimes scrapping my comments and at other times leaving them on.

bbc.co.uk has published my comment in one blog but would not publish them in the Indian blog.In a form letter they have conveyed their fear that they may be sued for "defamation" !!!!!

Have these eminences of the media seriously scrutinised my claims and found them inadequate ? Absolutely not.

But they do crumble with one phone call from the Prime Minister's Office or someone else.

The Indian media's poppadum panjandrums have said what I have said from the safety of their armchairs.

I am recounting my lived experience, with documentation and am demanding accountability.

Have I acted responsibly and in keeping with the greater good ?

You be the judge.

Have they ?

I have complained to Press Complaints Commission about Guardian UK's "baiting" behaviour.

But the PCC appears to be living in a Pre Magna Carta timewarp.

Despite the clear appearance of bad intent, requiring investigation, it appears to be believe in unfettered monarchial privileges for comment moderators and will not intervene.

The following is the account that appears to have staggered some of the stalwarts of the “free world”:

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948?, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research.

Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s wiidow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

divakarssathya
30 April 2010 at 13:18
However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception)doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.

My crime?

I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought and protect the miscreants who have stonewalled my pursuit of justice.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan, after repeated urgings from me, had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester.

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

divakarssathya
30 April 2010 at 13:20
India's editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths "dialogue'.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

divakarssathya
30 April 2010 at 13:21
What about "civil society" in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

It is in this squalid situation that I have come to conclude that I have come to believe that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Get Caught - was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furore and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh's reported first response was, " There are ups and downs in politics".

Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken "down".

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India's editorial class will not report the story!

Also Mad Dogs And Guardian UK

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

writeoff
30 April 2010 at 14:01
I can't think why you get kicked off message boards. Not with your talent for brevity and ability to stay on topic.

divakarssathya
30 April 2010 at 15:41
writeoff:

It may be advisable to take a broader, humanistic "view of staying on topic."

The discussion gathers steam when we attempt to understand the underlying commonalities in seemingly disparate experiences.

When constitutional and other other authorities do not deliver, society as we know it is in parlous state.

And that is not just an individual's problem.

Cheers!

The hand clap that triggered the avalanche. Comments by divakarssathya in The Columbia Journalism Review.

2011-05-20T08:23:00.000+05:30

My thanks to The Columbia Journalism Review

This international campaign was the handclap that triggered the avalanche of popular revulsion against the pervasive corruption in India.

Don't miss the response from the slobs at our beloved Prime Minister's Office.

Psychotic PMO Bareknuckles The Economist. and

James Astill's Dazed Denial

Mad Dogs and the Guardian UK

Dr Manmohan Singh's Office Asserts Its Determination To Be An Idiot. This Time It's The New Scientist.

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit, dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and whether it is a Bhopal or a New Delhi or a Ahmedabad Mass Killing, the controlled implosion of an Enron or Satyam, the resignation in disgust by a former Supreme Court Judge and till recently ombudsman on governance, the dully regular murders of RTI and other "activists" all these and my own experience since two decades, indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

The administration of the RTI Act is no exception.

Under the fists of the distilled essence of India's corrupt, desperado bureaucracy, facing hostility from the judiciary and a tepid press the RTI Act 2005 is developing as yet another bureaucratic enclave and patronage bazaar.

It is another vivid instance of the failure of India's mired Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court among other things,denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Posted by divakarssathya on Wed 30 Jun 2010 at 05.09 pm

The hand clap that triggered the avalanche. Comments by divakarssathya in The Harvard Political Review

2011-05-20T08:11:00.000+05:30

My thanks to The Harvard Political Review

This international campaign was the handclap that triggered the avalanche of popular revulsion against the pervasive corruption in India.

Don't miss the response from the slobs at our beloved Prime Minister's Office.

Psychotic PMO Bareknuckles The Economist. and

James Astill's Dazed Denial

Mad Dogs and the Guardian UK.

Dr Manmohan Singh's Office Asserts Its Determination To Be An Idiot. This Time It's The New Scientist.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies – “Go along to get along” – I will not pay bribes – and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, it has become obvious to me that corruption is the father of all bigotries.

Corruption is the domination and control, rape, of the very idea of rule of law and makes a mockery of and cripples the authentic psychological evolution of the human race.

Corruption is fascist. And that is why, even in the 21st century, “the more things remain the same.”

Democracies have frittered away their immense moral advantage due to corruption and the people from top to bottom have all but given up on making the system function.

The following is an account of the bigotry against the Indian constitution and the idea of rule of law as I have experienced it over the past two decades.

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948?, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research. Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s widow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception) doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.

My crime? I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist. The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler. In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought and protect the miscreants who have stonewalled my pursuit of justice. Rashtrapathi Bhavan, after repeated urgings from me, had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester.

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

India’s editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths “dialogue’.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad. However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer. When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled. It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao. That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India. There has not been one constructive response.

Like a Taliban operating through neglect,they all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

It is in this squalid situation that I have come to conclude that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment – Thou Shalt Not Get Caught – was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furor and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh’s reported first response was, ” There are ups and downs in politics”.

Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken “down”.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09 Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India. Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

PS: Bigotry is found in the most surprising places.

The account above appears to have staggered some of the stalwarts of the “free world”:

After months of moderating and publishing my comments, Guardian UK has suddenly and without any notice withdrawn my posting privileges and scrubbed all my earlier ones.

Like some apparatchik of a military junta, Guardian UK has in effect, “disappeared” me.

The Economist wobbles – sometimes scrapping my comments and at other times leaving them on.

bbc.co.uk has published my comment in one blog but would not publish them in the Indian blog.In a form letter they have conveyed their fear that they may be sued for “defamation” !!!!!

Have these eminences of the media seriously scrutinised my claims and found them inadequate ?

Absolutely not.

But they do crumble with one phone call from the Prime Minister’s Office or someone else.

The Indian media’s poppadum panjandrums have said what I have said from the safety of their armchairs. I am recounting my lived experience, with documentation and am demanding accountability.

Have I acted responsibly and in keeping with the greater good ? You be the judge.

Have they ?

I have complained to Press Complaints Commission about Guardian UK’s “baiting” behaviour.

But the PCC appears to be living in a Pre Magna Carta timewarp. Despite the clear appearance of bad intent, requiring investigation, it appears to be believe in unfettered monarchical privileges for online comment moderators and will not intervene.

The hand clap that triggered the avalanche. Comments by divakarssathya in the international press.

2011-05-19T09:31:00.000+05:30

A timestamped record of my campaign for justice in The Economist. My Thanks to The Economist.

This international campaign was the handclap that triggered the avalanche of popular revulsion against corruption.

Don't miss the response from the slobs at our beloved Prime Minister's Office.

Psychotic PMO Bareknuckles The Economist.

James Astill's Dazed Denial

Mad Dogs and the Guardian UK

Dr Manmohan Singh's Office Asserts Its Determination To Be An Idiot. This Time It's The New Scientist.

Thursday May 19th 2011

1 2 &gt;&gt; Last

Rotten to the crore? Dec 1st 2010 6:16 GMT

Unregulated, narcissistic capitalism - witness its helplessness in obtaining a functioning health care system in the USA, the student protests in the UK, the looming shadows of catastrophic economic breakdown in hitherto "miraculous" economies of Europe,etc might soon drive the masses to discover the liberating joys of the spinning wheel.

One can dis the Mahatma only when one is completely impervious to the oceans of deprivation and emaciation that imperils all of us.

Incidentally, apropos the current mess, when somebody says. "I did no wrong" they are only saying, "I only did whatever everybody else in my group is doing."

Not an adult argument at all.

But it probably engenders sympathy among the schoolboys and girls who constitute India's ruling class.

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Rotten to the crore? Dec 1st 2010 5:15 GMT

Forget "Yatha Raja, Thatha Praja - Like the Ruler, so the ruled".

Just because this bit is in Sanskrit, does not mean it is not hideously outdated.

I have always dismissed those who parrot this cliche as, unconscious, bookish, boring,irresponsible,cruel,tamasic, bureaucrats.

Bureaucrats = All those who treat living human beings like dead, objects.

The wisdom for the moment lies in the old African saying, "It takes a whole village to raise a child."

It takes all of us - Chinkis, Brahmins, Pakis, White Devils, and others to engage with reality and imagine and construct a free, friendly and delightful life for our children.

In this context, I am unable to resist the temptation to most respectfully observe that while there are many Indians who have exhibited their most impressive - unfortunately usually obsolete - erudition, worldly - unfortunately usually trite - wisdom and admirable and indefatigable energy for expression, unfortunately also stubborn and wasted, they have not had anything to say about yours truly's “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

It may not be unfair to infer that such avoidance appears to indicate a preference for idle chit chat as a safe substitute for engaging with something that appears strange, but which actually might be new, fresh and healthy.

Such "busyness" as a safely and sterile substitute for even the most innocuous and relatively risk-free positive action,is probably at the psychological root of corruption.

Such preference for the ersatz and an infantile hostility - fear and loathing - of the real provides us with a strong, smelly clue about the long, painful trudge to real growth that lies ahead.

C'mon guys and gals ( are there any gals on this forum?), grow up and speak your mind.

Would you like your child to marry a Sathyagrahi ?

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Rotten to the crore? Nov 26th 2010 3:31 GMT

The burden of the Advocate General of India's defence of the Hon'ble Prime Minister and his office to the Supreme Court appears to be in two parts.

Part 1 has been most attractively rendered in a popular Hindi song - " Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji, Thoda Kaccha Hai Ji. My Heart is still a child...it is still a little raw..."

However Dr Singh is neither green nor naive or powerless. He is probably India's most experienced and eminent bureaucrat.

Part 2 of the defence is of the variety of Nixonian royalism - "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."

Whether this artless mix of wheedling and bluster will work and how expertly will the honourable court shred it in the larger cause of the Secular, Socialist, Democratic Republic of India is a denouement worth waiting for.

Thanks to The Economist and other esteemed publications the world over for providing your auspices for my “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

No question, my comments appear to have lit a fire under the corrupt and corpulent bottoms of the Indian Editorial Class that till a few months ago were in slumber.

Readers will probably concede, that my comments, uncannily prophetic, were made in all honesty and truthfulness, they were born from my experience and conveyed my searing hatred for the injustice that most people put up with and participate in.

Blowing columns and columns of hot air will soon turn tiresome. Show me your scars, I say.

Welcome to:

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality.Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

sathyagraha.blogspot.com

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 20th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

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Crossing the boundary Sep 13th 2010 7:02 GMT

It must have seemed like a good idea, but the past few months have seen "the patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption," explode and leave a lot of egg on the faces of India's ruling class.

From medical education to dental education, from the Judiciary to the Army, and of course all the traditional areas like mining and telecommunication, corruption scandals have hit the hit the hapless "aam admi" of India.

The amounts mentioned are humongous - and there is a section of the media which is trying to measure outrage on a crude scale of the tonnes of money involved.

How many Bofors for a Satyam ? How many Bhopals?

In the last 9 months,9 RTI activists have been murdered all over India.

The President of India's daughter has been accused of illegally "grabbing" land. Earlier a court had convicted her husband for the same offense. There are other cases also pending against members of her family.

In Andhra Pradesh, a television channel caught a bunch of senior judges of the lower courts, brazenly cheating in their Master of Law examinations.

Chief Justice Kakru continues to foul the bench by not responding to my well documented allegation of massive corruption by the judges in his court.This is the same court that is trying the alleged perpetrators of the massive Satyam fraud.

So everything I have mentioned in my comments - please refer my earlier comments - have been borne out by cold facts from a cacophony of crimes,betrayals and miseries.

So shame on you Guardian UK for withdrawing my commenting privileges, scrubbing my comments and "disappearing" me.

Have a good time fulminating about that pyromaniac priest from the US.

Just as the Commonwealth Games are now being spoken of as the Congress Wealth Games, my fear is that very soon Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, may be known as the Prime Fixer Of India.

Because every time a corruption scandal erupts, he comes out like the cuckoo in the clock and does a little chirping for the accused.

You can try and be a little even handed respected Prime Minister, say for every 9 statements in support of a colleague facing damning accusations, you can try one on behalf of a citizen who has been isolated, deprived,humiliated and persecuted since two decades for his belief in the idea of the rule of law.

For every few times you make concessions to militants and extremists, you can occasionally apologise and accept responsibility for the atrocity your government and those before you have visited upon an individual, nonpartisan, ultra peaceful, sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law.

I am nauseated by the schadenfreude displayed by many sections of the Indian media.

Our media has for long nursed the lucrative delusion that cricket is the only area of subcontinental life that is not "fixed'.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies – “Go along to get along” – I will not pay bribes – and who has been almost destroyed for my pains,I cannot tolerate any excuses for skilled sportsmen, who self destruct for a few bucks or a Ferrari.(Please refer my earlier comments)

But what choice do they have?

What can they do?

Complain to their respective Prime Ministers?

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Make it cricket again Sep 8th 2010 5:54 GMT

It must have seemed like a good idea, but the past few months have seen "the patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption," explode and leave a lot of egg on the faces of India's ruling class.

From medical education to dental education, from the Judiciary to the Army, and of course all the traditional areas like mining and telecommunication, corruption scandals have hit the hit the hapless "aam admi" of India.

The amounts mentioned are humongous - and there is a section of the media which is trying to measure outrage on a crude scale of the tonnes of money involved.

How many Bofors for a Satyam ? How many Bhopals?

In the last 9 months,9 RTI activists have been murdered all over India.

The President of India's daughter has been accused of illegally "grabbing" land. Earlier a court had convicted her husband for the same offense. There are other cases also pending against members of her family.

So everything I have mentioned in my comments - please refer my earlier comments - have been borne out by cold facts from a cacophony of crimes,betrayals and miseries.

So shame on you Guardian UK for "disappearing" me. That was a silly thing to do.

Just as the Commonwealth Games are now being spoken of as the Congress wealth Games, my fear is that very soon Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, may be known as the Prime Fixer Of India.

Because every time a corruption scandal erupts, he comes out like the cuckoo in the clock and does a little chirping for the accused.

You can try and be a little even handed respected Prime Minister, say for every 9 statements in support of a colleague facing damning accusations, you can try one on behalf of a citizen who has been isolated, deprived,humiliated and persecuted since two decades for his belief in the idea of the rule of law.

For every few times you make concessions to militants and extremists, you can occasionally apologise and accept responsibility for the atrocity your government and those before you have visited upon an individual, nonpartisan, ultra peaceful, sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law.

I am nauseated by the scadenfreude displayed by many sections of the Indian media.

Our media has for long nursed the lucrative delusion that cricket is the only area of subcontinental life that is not "fixed'.

While there can be no excuses for skilled sportsmen, self destructing for a few bucks or a Ferrari, what choice do they have?

What can they do? Complain to their respective Prime Ministers?

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The slow pursuit of justice Jun 28th 2010 2:51 GMT
With the smug tunnel vision that is peculiar to successful technicians, lawyers are often advised , "When you cannot plead the law, plead the facts. When you cannot plead the facts, plead the law'.

To this wisdom, we in India, have added a more practical, subaltern twist. “When you can argue neither the facts or the law - start a riot."

Blood may not have been shed, the courts may not have been interrupted, the television cameras may have been busy elsewhere, and our editorial class may be too cloddish to recognize it and only my life has been thwarted, but there can be little doubt in reasonable minds that the Andhra Pradesh High Court over a period of more than a year, comprehensively and at every level disgraced itself by mauling the idea of due process in order to pervert the course of the law and to thwart justice with a clear motive to let the powerful respondents off the hook.

Extremists almost reflexively accept responsibility for their heinous acts.

But despite the fact that I have complained to the President of India, that office in an act of utter depravity, has not only ignored my complaint but has gleefully elevated the delinquent former Chief Justice to the Supreme Court.

Till date, Andhra Pradesh High Court has shown no signs of the self correcting conduct that society routinely expects from erring human beings.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has not given any sign that it has recognizes and regrets its reprehensible delinquency.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has shown no rectitude, remorse or reform that will restore the process of justice.

In other words the Andhra Pradesh High Court does not appear to possess any power, procedure or compunction to recover from its woefully compromised state.

It appears to not have the conscience, character or potency to re establish its shattered independence and autonomy.

There can be no question that by recounting this rowdyism of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and Bar and its toadying, symbiotic relationship with the Executive and Administration, I have performed an extraordinary service for the cause of an authentic, autonomous and vibrant judiciary.

At a time when even a clearly compromised and cowering Rashtrapathi Bhavan has chosen to stay mute, and lawless extremisms are bubbling everywhere, I have performed a rare service to the idea of equity under the rule of law by not leaving you in any doubt about the odiousness of the earlier hyper activism and current inertness of the Andhra Pradesh High Court .

This inertness of the Andhra Pradesh High Court is clearly intended to be punitive because I continue to suffer the brazen violation of my rights, denial of information and fair access to institutions of redressal and remedy.

I now request you to kindly use your authority to take whatever action that you may consider fit to make amends for this barbarism.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,etc

When I called the office to follow up, I was welcomed with yet another zen moment about how the Indian system functions.

The same officer who had conducted that time consuming, farcical and infructuous search for competent counsel had been moved up to the position of Principal Secretary to the Hon'ble Chief Justice.

No surprise then that he averred that he had not received my email.

Close to a month gone and I sent him another email.

This was forwarded to the Registrar Judicial.

This official does have an email, but it does not function.

So he is another believer in the eternal virtues of snail mail.

That is when I called the Supreme Court.

Where is the pursuit of justice in all this, you ask ?

C'mon, if you want focus get yourself a camera.

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The slow pursuit of justice Jun 28th 2010 2:39 GMT

I made a few calls to the Supreme Court of India today and guess what ?
The Supreme Court of India has just one general email address.

When I inquired from the Principal Private Secretary to the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India - he retorted with the standard PPS response;variations of which most Indians would have heard when trying to eke some functionality from the Indian system without paying a bribe - "If we had an email address, we would be flooded with emails and then what will we do?"

Some may consider this vigorous advocacy of snail mail symptomatic of the Indian judicary's unwillingness to step into the light of day, but to me it comes through as, "Forget about all your words, shords and your facts, shacts, the whole thing is that ke bhaiyya sabse bada rupaiya"

Translation:"Brother, over here only money talks."

We must all agree that enforcing snail mail in the days of email is a kind of brutality.

In Hyderabad, The Chief Justice does have email and last month I had the occasions to write him as follows :

Your honour,

If you have ever had the occasion to search for "Andhra Pradesh High Court" on the internet, then my appeal to and correspondence with your predecessor entitled "Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law" would not have escaped your notice.

With the benefit of hindsight, that account can reasonably be read today as a stunning narration of the Andhra Pradesh High Court's slide with “minuscule” check or balance from delinquency to disgrace to depravity.

As I have detailed in my correspondence to the then Chief Justice, the AP High Court had very obviously and at every level prejudged my case, delayed, obstructed and perverted the course of justice.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court State Legal Services Authority conducted a time consuming, farcical and ultimately fruitless search for a competent counsel.

The judges in question stubbornly resisted giving me any impression that they had heard me, obstinately ignored my repeated requests for the assistance of a competent counsel, displayed no compunctions about heckling me in my defenseless state from the lofty position of the bench, took upon themselves the obligation of arguing the respondents case and produced a judgment that was completely at variance to the independent opinion sought and received by the High Court, the facts of my case and the RTI Act 2005.

The Hon’ble judge’s babble emanated despite the fact that that the only new fact that emerged during the hearing was that the Andhra Pradesh Government was forced to admit the exposure of its affidavit as a tissue of lies and brazen fabrications.

Your esteemed predecessor had an excellent opportunity and sacred obligation to mitigate this sordid situation and put the hearing back on its track.

Instead he actively participated in this rowdy violation of the principles of natural justice and due process

Not only did he assign the hearing of my case to a judge who is shown as being one rung junior to the judge against whom I had complained, he did not respond for my request for assistance for an appeal.

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The corruption eruption May 2nd 2010 5:05 GMT

Oh Boy! Censored already!
Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Also Mad Dogs And Guardian UK

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

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The corruption eruption May 2nd 2010 6:10 GMT
My genuine apologies for screwing up the editing in one post.

After "The documentary was acclaimed nationally." please continue from "Historians of the caliber...".

Mortified. Beg your kind indulgence.

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The corruption eruption May 2nd 2010 5:26 GMT

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

India's editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths "dialogue'.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

India's editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths "dialogue'.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about "civil society" in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

Like a Taliban operating through neglect,they all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

It is in this squalid situation that I have come to conclude that I have come to believe that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Get Caught - was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furor and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh's reported first response was, " There are ups and downs in politics".
Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken "down".

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The corruption eruption May 2nd 2010 5:17 GMT

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948?, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

India's editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths "dialogue'.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research.

Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s wiidow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception)doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.
My crime?
I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought and protect the miscreants who have stonewalled my pursuit of justice.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan, after repeated urgings from me, had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester.

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The corruption eruption May 2nd 2010 5:06 GMT

You cannot discuss contemporary India without paying attention to the collective assassination of constitutional values - the constitution is "nearly dead" observes Shri V R Krishna Iyer - and the domination and violation, rape, of the very idea of the rule of law that corruption is.

Any analysis of India that is disrespectful of or rationalises, trivialises, this humongous,hydra headed threat to the security and
integrity of India - death by a billion briberies - may be considered of the divisive, partisan, cheer leader type.

As the recent chastisements of the Prophets of the so called free market in the West have shown, this predatoriness in the name of productivity is not limited to India.

It is for this reason that I am bemused and frustrated that my repeated attempts to use your esteemed forum for the extraordinary, even noble, purpose of seeking transparency and accountability from the Government of India's brazen duplicity in its relationship with me have not been properly understood by your moderators, who appear to take a rather limited view of the idea of "staying on topic".

With this solemn invocation that the demigods of moderation may shower me with their "good humour', imagination and solidarity that I place before you a limited account of the atrocity that has been inflicted on me, an individual citizen, unsupported by any government, corporation, religious denomination or other collective and demand an answer from all those mentioned, who believe they are moral, modern and trustworthy.

Unfortunately bigotry is found in the most surprising places.

The following is an account of the bigotry against the Indian constitution and the idea of rule of law as I have experienced it over the past two decades.

This bigotry appears to be gaining some powerful adherents in the UK too.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it "normally" is in so called democratic societies - "Go along to get along" - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I would like to believe that plain speaking and straight dealing are a simple and universal human pleasure, that are being relentlessly and rather madly being subdued by the powers that be.

A documented account of my lived experience that follows, and certain obvious conclusions that follow, have been savagely suppressed by Guardian UK .

After months of moderating and publishing my comments, Guardian UK has suddenly and without any notice withdrawn my posting privileges and scrubbed all my earlier ones.

Like some apparatchik of a military junta, Guardian UK has in effect, "disappeared" me.

The Economist wobbles - sometimes scrapping my comments and at other times leaving them on.

bbc.co.uk has published my comment in one blog but would not publish them in the Indian blog.In a form letter they have conveyed their fear that they may be sued for "defamation" !!!!!

Have these eminences of the media seriously scrutinised my claims and found them inadequate ? Absolutely not.

But they do crumble with one phone call from the Prime Minister's Office or someone else.

The Indian media's poppadum panjandrums have said what I have said from the safety of their armchairs.

I am recounting my lived experience, with documentation and am demanding accountability.

Have I acted responsibly and in keeping with the greater good ?

You be the judge.

Have they ?

I have complained to Press Complaints Commission about Guardian UK's "baiting" behaviour.

But the PCC appears to be living in a Pre Magna Carta timewarp.

Despite the clear appearance of bad intent, requiring investigation, it appears to be believe in unfettered monarchical privileges and will not intervene.

The following is the account that appears to have staggered some of the stalwarts of the “free world”:

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A sticky wicket Apr 27th 2010 3:27 GMT

For "Mad Dogs And Guardian UK" please visit sathyagraha.blogspot.com. Thanks.

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Greedy until proven guilty Apr 23rd 2010 3:15 GMT

Vikramb - i share your concerns.
In India we make our metro tracks,flyovers, roads, dams and "infrastructure" the way GS makes its products.
Ha Ha.
Some time back, I used to be a ” we have to stop blaming the colonisers, we have to take responsibility’ kind of a guy.

But after twenty years of dealing with the dysfunctional Indian psyche- please read my other comments - I think we may have underestimated the profound psychological distortion and damage that colonialism may have wrought.

Not only on the colonised, but equally the coloniser.

It takes the whole village and the West has not been a good role model.

For instance:

After months of moderating and publishing my comments, Guardian UK suddenly and without any notice,revoked my posting rights and scrubbed all my previous comments.

Not a good example of how a free Press fulfills its vital truth telling function, is it ?

Please check my blog after a few hours and I’ll lay out all the details, including is UK’s Press Complaints Commission obstructing me ?

Boy, it ain’t easy to take a stand against corruption.

My deepest condolences to my dear Chinese friends on the natural disaster that has struck Tibet.

C'mon guys, loosen up on the Dalai Lama already.
There are worser beings on this planet.

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When walls are too high Apr 9th 2010 3:16 GMT

Earlier I had written:

India is crisscrossed by schools and other institutions run by Jesuits.

Yet thanks to India’s dodgy editorial class very few in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit “a small minority” of priests.

The Indian media has barely reported that story.

Was the media’s heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of leaving well enough alone ?

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, asking for it.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I am able to feel deep appreciation for the heroes who spoke out and for those who heard them, felt outrage and who together managed to extract a measure of accountability from one of the most powerful and ambitious organisations on this planet.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

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Politics with bloodshed Apr 9th 2010 3:06 GMT

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - “Go along to get along” - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I grieve for the this and other bloodbaths that might follow.

An avoidable fiasco of this and various other kinds that splatter over the local television screens everyday reinforce the apprehension that despite the fantastic growth figures, India is fast deteriorating into an administrative nightmare and a bit of a basket case.

Readers are aware that for several years, I have been banging at the doors of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office, demanding that they step in and do all within their powers to bring accountability to the cascading delinquency of constitutional authorities that I have documented.

Unfortunately, both these august offices have not yet stirred.

They have demonstrated that they do not value life.

Their 'pontifical' silence demonstrates without any doubt, that they are too mired in perversity to care about the public weal.

Much more than the Vatican, Rashtrapathi Bhavan and Prime Minister's Office appear to be able only to blame the complainant and protect the offender.

In such a situation where the psychosis and necrophilia of the ruling classes are relieved only by the perennial Bollywood and IPL excitements, calamities, catastrophes and the bloodbath of innocents, appear preordained and inevitable.

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Papal vulnerability Apr 3rd 2010 2:46 GMT

India is crisscrossed by schools and other institutions run by Jesuits.

Yet thanks to India’s dodgy editorial class very few in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit “a small minority” of priests.

The Indian media has barely reported that story.

Was the media’s heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of leaving well enough alone ?

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, asking for it.

Recommend (15)PermalinkReport abuse
Papal vulnerability Apr 3rd 2010 2:41 GMT
As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I am able to feel deep appreciation for the heroes who spoke out and for those who heard them, felt outrage and who together managed to extract a measure of accountability from one of the most powerful and ambitious organisations on this planet.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Recommend (12)PermalinkReport abuse
The rights approach Mar 19th 2010 2:58 GMT
The idea of India, the idea of its "secularism", the idea that Kamli and her lot would figure prominently as a standard of functionality are all scary, disruptive,"Utopian" ideas and the world has not quite learnt to deal with them.

Your faint praise, for our judiciary, our activists, for our "young democracy" without much mention of the monstrosities inflicted by corruption is understandable.

For a quick and easy way to be outcast, outlawed, to be put forever beyond the pale, whatever, try this.

Try standing up for the idea of the rule of law.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" -, and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad. However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler

What about "civil society" in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)
and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India .

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been relentlessly persecuted, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha
News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Recommend (38)PermalinkReport abuse

State of concern Feb 25th 2010 6:03 GMT

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

Recommend (20)PermalinkReport abuse
What are they afraid of? Feb 24th 2010 6:17 GMT
Dear East Wind.
Thank you for your very thoughtful and kind response.

I am willing to bet that almost every intelligent Indian who has had an opportunity to study abroad has a bunch of Chinese, Korean, African, Black, Latino, Paki, Jewish and of course Anglo friends, whose memories still bring a smile to his face.

Let us rage against the machine and wish that we will all live to watch our grandchildren play with each other.

Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!

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What are they afraid of? Feb 23rd 2010 2:45 GMT

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

Recommend (19)PermalinkReport abuse
The quiet American Nov 27th 2009 4:09 GMT
As a youngster I have heard our tragic but multifaceted and gorgeous Mrs G blamed for the failure of the monsoons.

Now we can all blame the cool Mr Obama when Armageddon strikes. In 2012.

Alas, the slings and arrows of superpowerdom.

Americans elected Obama because they needed to bust out of the George Bush box in a hurry. Obama is an intellectual who believes ideas come first. His speeches are compelling.

And Michelle Obama is one lovely, lovely, lovely lady.

But most of all he gives you a feeling that he is thinking all the time.

Faced with a Sisyphean situation, Obama has not given up.

This however cannot be said about our own dearly beloved Dr Manmohan Singh.

India's Prime Minister gives every impression of being a happily resigned captive of the country's brutal bureaucracy,that has made a lucrative racket out of capitalising on its slobbish and semiliterate dysfunctionality.

And of which his Office appears to be the languid lynchpins.

A few days after I had commented about the wooden headed perversity of the Prime Minister's Office, came the tragic news that an Indian citizen (now increasingly referred to as aam admi or common man) had to lose his life because the Prime Minister's security had blocked his way to the Emergency ward.

Talking to children on Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday, celebrated as Children's Day in India, he referred to himself, with endearing irony of course, as " an extinguished" economist and dwelt at some length about the bad old days when he had to trudge to school without any shoes.

For millions of India's precious children, that situation has not changed.

Always a worrysome factor in those have made it big on the strength of associations rather than on innovative,individual brilliance, Dr Manmohan Singh's digital streak - hero to some, zero to the rest - was on display the other day when he beamingly lavished Rs 7000 crores on Shri Rahul Gandhi.

While I congratulate Shri Rahul Gandhi on his pluck and the suffering masses of Bundelkhand on their luck and might even be willing to be a little indulgent on an aging, extinguished Prime Minister wanting to be "Uncle Joe", I wish he would not be such a Stalin - how many divisions can Divakar S Natarajan raise - to the likes of " common men" like me.

After conspiring with the Chief Information Commissioner to deprive me of my Right To Information and swatting down my comments appearing in distinguished international journals, the Prime Minister's Office continues to remain quiet as a foraging bandicoot about the about the impeccable evidence that I have presented on the corrupt, duplicitous and psychotic conduct of the Government of India, the Government Of Andhra Pradesh, The Indian editorial class, the administrators of the Right To Information Act and The Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Indians and the world expect humane,innovating, problem solving discipline, responsibility and leadership from India.

India is capable of a lot more than excellence hating bandwagon buddyism.

Readers who want to know more about Divakar's Sathyagraha are welcome to visit and participate in sathyagraha.blogspot.com.

Divakar's Sathyagraha - News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

The good folks of the United States for all their scary insanities have expressed their concern for renewal and renaissance by electing Barak Obama.

As an Indian who loves originality and intelligence,I find that Barak Obama inspires patience and trust.

And given what I continue to expeience about the sorry state of India's own corrupt ruling elite, I can have no illusions about the burdens that he will have to bear.

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A world apart Oct 30th 2009 7:36 GMT

One of the few bright moments for me as an Indian was hearing Joseph Stieglitz commending the prudent policies of the then Governor of RBI.

Being "stitched in" might appear an attractive idea, but to imagine that a democratic Giant like India would be allowed to pursue such an Utopia might be a little wishful.

It is traditional for dictators to believe that weapons alone, will solve all problems. Their fascination and craving for big and bigger bombs never ceases.

Some others believe capital and more capital is the panacea.

But it is embedded in the Indian psyche that prosperity and well being evolve from a combination of several auspiciousnesses.

An appetite for capital must be matched by a efficient enough digetive system that will be able to receive and produce the most healthful results.

But if the system is stunted, diseased or otherwise diseased the result will be more disease and probably a collapse.

The key to demonstrating confidence in India's future is to secure and develop its potentially magnificent people.

The world they create with their strong, healthy, loved and liberated geniuses may be very different from the world as it exists today. But I willing to imagine, that it will also be a much stronger, viable, vital world.

Unfortunately India today is mired in corruption. Democaracy is working brilliantly, beyond the wildest dreams of avarice for a relative handful. And these are willing to defend their "democracy" with guns.

For the rest, India's performance on the Various indices of human development tell their own tale of delusion.

Several months ago, I wrote to the Prime Minister's Office documenting the serial misbehaviour of various constitutional authorities.

The Prime Minister's Office's response is to chase down and swat down my comments appearing in various eminent international media.

I doubt that such behaviour of the PMO is enhancing the image of India as a preferred democratic destination among the international media, but one may also wonder - is this all the Prime Minsiter's Office can do to protect its citizen's ?

Is the PMO and Rashtrapati Bhavan to mired in compromise to do anything other that punish the complainant ?

There is no dearth of perversity and foot shooting, so how smart are these guys anyway?

Don't they have enough people who hate their guts? Why would they want to add another with their juvenile delinquency ?

Given such dysfunctionality and perverse conduct from the most exalted offices of the land, is it any wonder that any attempt to inundate India with capital and "stitch it" with the rest of a single minded and twin emotioned, fear and greed, world, might not be welcomed with "flowers and garlands" ?

The Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Prime Minister’s Office are being quiet as mice about the impeccable evidence I have presented to them on the corrupt, duplicitous and psychotic conduct of the Government of India, the Government Of Andhra Pradesh, The Indian editorial class, the administrators of the Right To Information Act, and The Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Readers who want to know more are welcome to visit sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- State Information Commissioner Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced Chief Information Commissioner Laps Up Prime Minister’s Office’s Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

Recommend (15)PermalinkReport abuse
Shorts and all Oct 10th 2009 2:37 GMT
India's insular, necrophilous oligarchy had encountered - shot dead in cold blood - 19 year old Ishrat Jehan on idiotic dribbles.

And the Prime Minister's Office is being quiet as a mouse about the impeccable evidence it has on the corrupt, duplicitous and psychotic conduct of the Government of India, the Government Of Andhra Pradesh, The Indian editorial class, the administrators of the Right To Information Act, The Andhra Pradesh High Court and a fellow travelling klatch of "human rights" ngos.

Welcome to yet another "conspiracy in corruption" .

This is a documented account of the schizophrenic character of the babulog ke babalog who have formed themselves into the ruling class of India.

This is a story of the most appalling illiberality and destructiveness that India's editorial class will not report !

sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Divakar's Sathyagraha - News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Believe me , you have no idea how much I wish I had a warm, fuzzy, Indian fairy tale to tell!

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An astonishing rebound Aug 20th 2009 7:19 GMT

Incidentally, my records indicate that it is the same Shri Biswal, Political Secretary, General Administration Administration, Government of Andhra Pradesh, who had supervised the stream of false of misleading statements that I had documented !

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An astonishing rebound Aug 15th 2009 2:55 GMT
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! The Economist !

Finally I accessed A message From The President Of India's Time Warp!

It solemnly assures me that "for further action taken on this request/grievance, please check status after 7 days from date of receipt."

It acknowledges receipt on 4 August 2009. So today is the eleventh day !

Alas, not even this has emerged from the Black Hole Of the Prime Minister's Office.

You are very welcome to hate my guts, Respected Prime Minister's Office.

But in the name of the Mahatma and Panditji, Respect My Rights!

Incidentally, the fact that I can write like this without fearing a midnight knock on my door, by itself is no big deal.

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An astonishing rebound Aug 14th 2009 4:56 GMT

"In the future some may actually appreciate the "good old days" when the..." Western Media used to grill India without mercy or any sense of proportion.

India is being smothered by the ethic of dysfunctionality that it has created for itself.

Also known as corruption, the modus operandi is for public servants, at all levels to reduce hapless Indians to desperation by refusing to function till they are paid a percentage.

For a price they will also fabricate evidence, lie, cheat and interpret the law in weird and magical ways.

In other words, sanity can get you humiliated, destroyed and ultimately killed, while so called "civil society" the press, voluntary agencies etc boogie away in their parallel dimensions.

The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh's former media adviser had written a most glowing review of my documentary.

But he had nothing but silence during his days in office.

Once again in June, I wrote to our Hon'ble Prime Minister, through certified post.

The acknowledgement was returned to me in pristine condition. Sent another letter through India's Speed Post. Once again no due acknowledgement.

My local post office has sent several reminders to the the President's Post Master in new Delhi, but no response.

The President of India launched her online helpline with great publicity some weeks ago.

It looks quite swank and conceptually makes the Prime Minister's site look like a pathetic little clunker from the bad old days of the "license-permit-control raj".

But nobody in power, or our Press appears to have taken it for a test drive.

Since a couple of weeks, I have written to the President's Personal Secretary about the bugs.

Only response: A chilling silence.

Yet another “conspiracy in corruption”

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09 Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

sathyagraha.blogspot.com

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Recommend (16)PermalinkReport abuse

Necessary, but wrong Aug 1st 2009 6:50 GMT

Now for a breath of fresh air ...

Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.
Now in its 18th year

Give The economist a break, willya guys ? Come to where the action is!

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Google Does Better

2010-04-29T21:18:00.000+05:30

Versions of the following comment have appeared in:

online Wall Street Journal: Jessica E. Vascellaro - Google Discloses Requests on Users

WATBlog.com: Siddharth Raman India Ranks 3rd in Censoring & Removal Requests To Google – A Detailed Look

voxy.co.nz David Silversmith Google Publicizes Government Censorship Requests

Defamer Australia: Glen Runciter Google’s New Government-Tracking Toy

ZD Net: Tom Espiner UK leads in Europe for Google data surveillance

France 24.com: Google ‘outs’ countries that demand data on web users

news.techwhack.com: Google launches GovernmentRequests tool

truthdig.com: Google’s ‘Government Requests’ Map Outs Nosy Feds

technewsworld.com: Katherine Noyes New Google Tool Exposes Government Pushing and Prying

techdailydose.nationaljournal.com: Juliana Gruenwald New Google Tool Highlights Data Removal Requests

I commend this path-breaking idea from Google. Now it must be put to good use by responsible civil society groups.

It is interesting that India stands third in the number of requests to block content and fourth in the number of requests for data.

Internet freedom is not complete without privacy.

But I am grateful for even this “free” scrap.

Till I put some money on this P III and net connection, the ruling class of India had believed it had consumed me with their toast.

Guardian UK has “disappeared” me. Withdrawn my posting privileges and scrubbed my earlier comments.

The Economist wobbles – sometimes scrapping my comments and at other times leaving them on.

bbc.co.uk has published my comment in one blog but would not publish them in the Indian blog.In a form letter they have conveyed their fear that they may be sued for “defamation” !!!!!

Have these eminences of the media seriously scrutinised my claims and found them inadequate ? Absolutely not.

But they do crumble with one phone call from the Prime Minister’s Office or someone else.

The Indian media’s poppadum panjandrums have said what I have said from the safety of their armchairs.

I am recounting my lived experience, with documentation.

Have I acted in the larger interest ? You be the judge.

Have they ?

Here’s my comment that appears to have rocked some stalwarts of the "free world"

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies – “Go along to get along” – I will not pay bribes – and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I have come to believe that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment – Thou Shalt Not Get Caught – was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furore and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh’s reported first response was, ” There are ups and downs in politics”.

Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken “down”.

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948?, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research.

Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s wiidow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception)doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.

My crime?

I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought and protect the miscreants who have stonewalled my pursuit of justice.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan, after repeated urgings from me, had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester.

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

India’s editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Like the police in Hindi films, it arrives after all the action is over and then mouths “dialogue’.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Also Mad Dogs And Guardian UK

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Mad Dogs and the Guardian UK

2010-04-27T08:37:00.000+05:30

The other day, Guardian UK, did something more befitting an apparatchik of a military junta.

It "disappeared' me.

After months of moderating and publishing my comments, it suddenly and without any notice or discussion, withdrew my posting privileges. It had also scrubbed all my previous comments.

Guardian UK's draconian action is in keeping with the moral sloppiness and copious hypocrisy of India's feudal editorial class.

In my personal experience, I have found that for India's infantile editorial class, wounded narcissism, "honour" is everything.

Social consciousness, professionalism, a concern for truth, mean little.

India's editorial class might preach dialogue with Pakistan and tenderness with left extremists, but it is when they encounter a soft target like yours truly, that you get to feel their repressed blood lust.

Like any group in the throes of power lust, India's editorial class will lie and connive to criminally abet witch-hunts,ostracism, deprivation and annihilation.

Yes.

In my experience, India's editorial class is just another bunch of slobs with English.

Life is tough and unpredictable,but that is no license to drink and drive.

Priests must minister and not violate their wards.

Teachers must make their students wonder and aspire, not help them cheat and pass.

Doctors must heal and not take bribes to create factories of disease.

And editors and administrators who make excuses for the violation of the idea of the rule of law must be disabused of their pretensions and cleaned out like the the trash they are.

Fortunately, I have been blessed with a loving character. Often I have been able to create ease from disease. I will not give up this gift for anything.

And that is why, despite the fact that I have not made a paisa in profit, and very, very little income in the last twenty years, I have had it with this rabid riffraff.

This is what I wrote to the Reader's editor of the Guardian UK (April 1,2010):

Dear Ms Butterworth,

I am shocked and upset that my commenting privilege has been suddenly withdrawn.

Guardian.co.uk has since months moderated and published my comments.

It has now withdrawn my privilege without any notice or explanation.

I believe I have been extraordinarily considerate and respectful of the various authorities against whom I have voiced my complaint when I have directly dealt with them.

I have spent months and in some cases years communicating with them.

Equally, their arrogant, inhuman and unprofessional - narcissistic is my description - response has staggered me and left me bereft.

It was clear that they were not very concerned about their reputations at that time.

I stand by every word and have conscientiously substantiated with documentation most of the comments in my blog, whose address I have always provided in my comments.

May I also bring to your kind attention the fact that I am an individual citizen, unsupported in any way by any government, religious body, special interest society or any other organisation,

Keeping in mind, the tremendously unfair conduct to which I have been subjected to by the authorities and others in India, and the fact that they have not in way responded responsibly yet, it is but natural that I would be forced to repeatedly post the same message.

This may please not be confused with "spam".

I am reaching out to make some good, sturdy minded friends.And I am very receptive to constructive input.

I request Guardian.co.uk to respect my intentions and efforts, restore my commenting privilege and support me in any other way that it sees fit.

Sincerely,

Guardian UK replied (April 1, 2010):

Divakar - here is the note we send to readers raising queries about
moderation of their comments. It explains that moderation is largely
outside the realm of the readers' editor, and outlines where to go to look
for answers about moderation.

The readers’ editor deals primarily with complaints about content
commissioned and published by the Guardian and/or written by Guardian
journalists. She does not usually deal with complaints about the way
moderators have responded to comments posted online, although she may do so
in exceptional cases. Several thousand comments are posted on the website
every day and it is not feasible for her to get involved, routinely, in
complaints about the way individual comments are moderated.

If you are wondering why your post has been deleted or has not been
published you should first consult the Community standards and
participation guidelines to see whether your comment has breached its
provisions:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/community-standards

You may also find these FAQs about posting comments and moderation helpful:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/community-faqs

Any complaints about the removal of comments or the suspension of posting
rights should be sent to the moderators at cif.moderation@guardian.co.uk or
community.suggestions@guardian.co.uk (as appropriate). The moderators
operate a two-stage procedure for such complaints. If you are unhappy with
the moderator’s response to your complaint you may use the same email
address to ask for the decision to be reviewed by a second moderator.

General comments about moderation should be sent to this email address:
community.suggestions@guardian.co.uk

Unfortunately the moderators cannot respond to every email but they say
that all emails are reviewed.

best wishes
Helen Hodgson
Assistant Readers' editor, the Guardian

I wrote back:

Helen,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I shall go where you sent me.

Sincerely,
divakar

And wrote again (April 7, 2010):

Helen,

I have not yet heard from cif.moderation@guardian.co.uk and I am beginning to wonder about the strange and obscure professional ethics of The Guardian.

From where I sit, things do not look very good for your venerable publication.

But I am willing to, at further risk to my and my family's personal safety willing to hold out for another day, before I make my next move.

Please help.

Sincerely,
divakar

Guardian wrote back (April 7, 2010):

Dear User,

I have been forwarded your message about moderation. Please could you send me your username so that I can help find out why your posting privileges have been removed.

Thanks,

Isabella.

I replied to her and Ms Hodgson (April 7, 2010):

Thank you Helen. Isabelle Mackie has emailed me. I have replied.Thank you once again.
Sincerely,
divakar

And finally (April 14, 2010):

Helen:

It is now a week since I appealed and despite my reminder to Ms Mackie, I have not heard from her or anyone else.

Sincerely,
--
divakar

Divakar - I'm afraid the office of the Readers' editor cannot help you with
this. Please address your concerns to the moderators as previously
advised.
best wishes
Helen Hodgson
Assistant Readers' editor

And that has been that.

The IPL Fiasco & Dr Manmohan Singh's Penchant For Purgatory

2010-04-20T10:06:00.000+05:30

Versions of the following comment have appeared in :

Reuters.com: Krittivas Mukherjee Cricket row lands India reformist minister in trouble

Telegraph.co.uk: Ayaz Memon IPL 2010: Lalit Modi's Twitter controversy is no surprise

Telegraph.co.uk: Ayaz Memon IPL 2010: Kochi controversy shows action not limited to the pitch

The Independent: Andrew Buncombe India's tweeting cricket boss hits minister for six

The Independent: Andrew Buncombe How Twitter attack brought down the most popular tweeter in India

online Wall Street Journal.com: Tripti Lahiri India's Junior Foreign-Affairs Minister Resigns

blogs Wall Street Journal.com: Rupa Subrahmanya Dahejia India Journal: An Inconvenient Truth About Corruption

Newsweek: Samanth Subramaniam India’s Next Big Thing

SF Gate: Indian Cricket Chiefs to Meet Next Week on Franchise Scandal

M J Akbar is reported to have “insightfully” observed,”They went to war through the media…A veteran would have told them, had they but asked, that children in glasshouse nurseries shouldn’t throw stones.”

I have always puzzled that the popadum panjandrums of India’s media are always blaming those who seek recourse to the media for the expression of their views.

What’s wrong with that in a putative democracy ?

Also everybody knows in the subcontinent, nothing happens without “band baja”

I blog, Modi and Tharoor tweet, and our more forceful neighbours in Pakistan fire off their AK 47s and their IEDs.

M J Akbar is too coy to speak the truth about India’s ruling class.

And the truth is that Dr Manmohan Singh and his Congress party have been wishy washy, namby pamby, lackadaisical, mealy mouthed and covertly encouraging of corruption.

As long as the Eleventh Commandment – Thou Shalt Not Get Caught – was not broken, Dr Singh and his party could be relied upon to engage his considerable personal influence and the immense powers of his office to pour unction on roiling waters.

Faced with a eight day long furore and the cold fact of one of his brightest colleagues having been caught red handed, Dr Singh’s reported first response was, ” There are ups and downs in politics”.

Given such dissimulation from the Prime Minister Of India, a scholar with a reputation for probity, for those who stand up for the idea of the rule of law in India, there is only one long, unbroken “down”.

Till date nobody knows for sure whether Shri Tharoor has been fired for corruption or has merely had his Blackberry temporarily taken away from him.

In other words India is so mired in corruption, that it is for all practical purposes an administrative basket case.

Yesterday it was Satyam, today IPL, tomorrow what ?

It is in the context of Dr Manmohan Singh’s indecisiveness and the leading political parties’ ambivalence on the idea of the rule of law in India, that the following recounting of the most perverse injustice may be seen:

Twenty years ago – I had the privilege of having conceived, researched, scripted, edited, presented and produced a 37 minute Doordarshan commissioned documentary in Urdu,”Hyderabad. August 1948″, on the circumstances in which the 28 year old editor Shoebullah Khan of an Urdu newspaper, Imroose, was slaughtered, because of his open defiance of the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad.

The documentary was acclaimed nationally.

Historians of the calibre of Dr Bipan Chandra commended the meticulous research.

Freedom fighters expressed their gratitude that light had been shone on a chapter of history, which they believed had been obscured.

Among the most epiphanic reviews was the one by Dr Manmohan Singh’s former media adviser, currently editor of Business Standard and fellow Hyderabadi Dr Sanjaya Baru.

Under the informal chairmanship of Dr Abid Hussain, India’s former ambassador to the USA, I was able to organise a petition to the former Prime Minister Dr P V Narasimha Rao.

This resulted in a freedom fighter’s status and pension for the martyr’s wiidow, more than four decades after his supreme sacrifice.

However since the past two decades I have been hounded by the bureaucracy, with the Indian editorial class (with an occasional honourable exception)doing its bit to trivialise, denigrate and gag me.

My crime?

I have been outspoken – wrote an article in the editorial page of The Hindustan Times and The Pioneer- about corruption in Doordarshan – the Government’s so-called public service broadcaster.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbors to cut off my water supply.

Wajahat Habibullah and C D Arha have conducted themselves as though the RTI Act 2005 does not exist.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The AP high court sought independent legal opinion on my plaint, which was completely and unequivocally in my favour, and a judge issued a notice, yet the AP High Court high court denied me my right to competent counsel – a right given to the 26/11 gunman – and punished me for complaining.

The Prime Minister’s Office appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

In the same vein, it has and continues to illegally and fraudulently deny me the information I have sought.

Rashtrapathi Bhavan had issued notices to the Ministry of Law and the Chief Secretary of Andhra Pradesh almost a year ago, presumably it has taken a prima facie view, but since then has been content to let matters fester in limbo.

In other words, even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

India’s editorial class always narcissistic has decayed and is useless.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in many abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of The Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Grieving For The Bloodbath Of The Innocents

2010-04-09T22:40:00.000+05:30

The following comment appeared in The Economist: Politics with bloodshed -
A slaughter reveals the inadequacy of India’s counterinsurgency effort

divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:06 GMT

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - “Go along to get along” - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I grieve for the this and other bloodbaths that might follow.

An avoidable fiasco of this and various other kinds that splatter over the local television screens everyday reinforce the apprehension that despite the fantastic growth figures, India is fast deteriorating into an administrative nightmare and a bit of a basket case.

Readers are aware that for several years, I have been banging at the doors of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office, demanding that they step in and do all within their powers to bring accountability to the cascading delinquency of constitutional authorities that I have documented.

Unfortunately, both these august offices have not yet stirred.

They have demonstrated that they do not value life.

Their 'pontifical' silence demonstrates without any doubt, that they are too mired in perversity to care about the public weal.

Much more than the Vatican, Rashtrapathi Bhavan and Prime Minister's Office appear to be able only to blame the complainant and protect the offender.

In such a situation where the psychosis and necrophilia of the ruling classes are relieved only by the perennial Bollywood and IPL excitements, calamities, catastrophes and the bloodbath of innocents, appear preordained and inevitable.

Democratic India's Dodgy Media - The Hindu's Modus Operandi Revealed

2010-04-09T22:27:00.000+05:30

Boot-lick the powerful and ambitious Roman Catholic Church.

Bully the local khat panchayat.

The following comment was published in: The Economist: The Vatican's travails When walls are too high

divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:51 GMT

Finally after years of careless silence, The Hindu finally bestirred itself to write a second editorial on this horrendous issue of pedophilia and systematic cover up in the RCC.

In another disturbing show of the Indian media's small mindedness and self hatred, the editorial stayed well within the safe boundary of recycling the well worn foreign criticisms of the RCC.

Not one word on what this might mean to the children and the RCC institutions in India!

To the best of my knowledge, there is very little from the vernacular media - especially television.

What an outrageous betrayal of India's health and future !

India's ruling classes are given to believe that sado masochism or the boot-licking/bullying thought and behaviour is a secret legacy of our ancient wisdom.

After its careful and tender licking of the RCC boots, The Hindu thundered on about a tiny so called "khap" panchayat from an India state.

From where I sit, this is yet another glimpse of a nauseating lack of self awareness by India's self celebratory ruling classes.

In my experience that I have documented, it is India's editorial classes colluding with the rhino hided babucracy, that are the truly barbaric panchayats that are the crushing burdens of India today.

With such a dodgy and deluded Indian media and authority, who needs the alleged 10 yuan armies ?
Recommend (3)

divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:16 GMT

Earlier I had written:

India is crisscrossed by schools and other institutions run by Jesuits.

Yet thanks to India’s dodgy editorial class very few in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit “a small minority” of priests.

The Indian media has barely reported that story.

Was the media’s heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of leaving well enough alone ?

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, asking for it.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I am able to feel deep appreciation for the heroes who spoke out and for those who heard them, felt outrage and who together managed to extract a measure of accountability from one of the most powerful and ambitious organisations on this planet.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.
Recommend (4)

divakarssathya wrote:
Apr 9th 2010 3:15 GMT

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.
Recommend (4)

Google's Sathyagraha

2010-03-25T19:47:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published in:

Reuters: For Google Stock China Could Mark Turning Point

The Huffington Post : Sandeep Gopalan - Google's Faustian Bargain Unravels

SF Gate: Opinion Shop - If China unplugs Google ...

WIRED :Ryan Singel - Microsoft Tarred as Tyranny Abettor as Google Asks Feds to Promote Net Freedom

Dallas Morning Views: Jim Mitchell - Google, A Human Rights and Free Trade Warrior?

The Washington Post: Google's Good Deed In China

Online Wall Street Journal: Jessica E Vascellaro - Brin Drove Google to Pull Back in China

The Independent: Clifford Coonan - The Big Question: Is Google right to abandon its search engine in China over censorship?

Boston.com: John Pomfret - Google-China showdown is turning point

SF Gate:China vs. Google: A call to (government) arms

BBC - Maggie Shiels - dot.Maggie - a blog from Silicon Valley - Google's lonely stand

CNET News: Molly Rants - Molly Wood - Google leaving China: better late than never

Chicago Tribune: Google And Repression

Online Wall Street Journal:Gordon Crovitz - Google's Search Result: Hong Kong

miami herald.com:Edward Wasserman - Taking bricks from Great Wall

The Huffington Post: Libby Liu - China's Google Syndrome

The Huffington Post: Adam Hanft - Google Is the New "CorporNation" - Half Company, Half Virtual Government

Foreign Policy.com: Christian Caryl - Google Isn't China's Problem. Press Freedom Is.

The Morung Express: Source - Christian Science Monitor - Google and China: What Obama can learn

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - “Go along to get along” - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I can appreciate the doubt and ambivalence with which Google may currently be viewed.

But when big, influential corporates begin to value innocence and say “no” it portends interesting times.

Google’s Done Good.

Google has challenged the smug corporate assumption that business alone will liberate.

It will not.

Fellow traveling businesses will allow corrupt, inefficient and doltish coteries, cliques and regimes to bask from the reflected glory of hard won wars for equity, freedom, enlightenment and excellence that have been fought in societies that have produced such new, thoughtful responses.

Fellow traveling businesses, that squander their freedom and slip into cozy relationships with the authorities betray the ” poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak” in the case of even democracies these are all those without a vote – children, the environment and the future.

Such businesses produce cynicism, and conformism, not innovation and wonder.

Such businesses die slow, inglorious deaths.

Google’s decisions – first to engage and then draw the lakshmanrekha – the line in the sand – are both that will inspire life conscious people.

Creative people are quixotic.

Mahatma Gandhi was when he took on the might of the empire with stubbed pencils and recycled envelopes.

Erich Fromm characterizes revolutionaries as those imbued with “a passion for independence, a passion for justice, a passion to serve the unfolding of life” . He may have been describing the quintessential Quixote.

This is not to underestimate to quantum of insanity on this planet.

It takes the whole village to create fun alternatives to psychotic behaviour.

In other words, this is not a moment for corporate schadenfreude or voyuerism.

Remember the lessons from Nazi Germany. They first came for the trade unions. Remember apartheid South Africa.

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, to be asking for it.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at
http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Obviously, internet freedom is not complete without privacy.
But I am grateful for even this “free” scrap.

Till I put some money on this P III, the ruling class of India had believed it had consumed me with their toast.

I now have had the dignity at least of telling a little bit of my side.

The Pope And The Prime Minister's Office - Unfortunate Similarities

2010-03-22T23:08:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published in:

The Guardian.co.uk Saying sorry is not enough

Online Wall Street Journal: Scandal Shakes Catholics In Bavaria

Newsweek: Pope Benedict's Underwhelming Response

telegraph.co.uk: Cardinal Brady Must Go

Global Post - Connor O'Clery: Ireland Greets Pope's Apology With Skepticism

Reuters - US Edition - Faith World - Religion Faith And Ethics - Pope-victims gap is tip of iceberg of incomprehension in Catholic Church

Telegraph.co.uk: Damian Thompson - More Catholic-baiting from The Times

The Independent: Leading article: A landmark for Ireland, if not yet for Catholicism

The Independent : Bruce Anderson: Only a different leadership can save the Irish church

timesonline:Richard Owen - Vatican and Nico Hines Pope Benedict XVI 'knew child abuser allowed back to work'

cnn: connect the world

npr news blog:the two way-Punish Pope, Other Church Officials: Sex-Abuse Victim

The Daily Beast: Dirk Johnson - A Shocking Priest Abuse Tale

US News & World Report:John Aloysius Farrell - Catholics, Police Must Act to Stop Sexual Abuse in the Church

The American Spectator: Joseph Lawler - Benedict And The Media

The Economist: Papal Vulnerability - Pope Benedict XVI is losing popularity

India is crisscrossed by schools and other institutions run by Jesuits.

Yet thanks to India’s dodgy editorial class very few in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit “a small minority” of priests.

The Indian media has barely reported that story.

Was the media’s heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of leaving well enough alone ?

Abuse of power often happens in plain sight, since to the busy and self absorbed lay person, the powerful appear glamorous and formidable and their prey appear to be rebellious, despicable and in many ways, asking for it.

As somebody who has conscientiously refused to do business the way it “normally” is in so called democratic societies - I will not pay bribes - and who has been almost destroyed for my pains, I am able to feel deep appreciation for the heroes who spoke out and for those who heard them, felt outrage and who together managed to extract a measure of accountability from one of the most powerful and ambitious organisations on this planet.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption” – and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me by one former Chief Minister of my state, one former minister of home affairs, one speaker of the Lok Sabha, several prominent ministers of the central cabinet, eminent intellectuals and freedom fighters.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh”s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all locked in a most perverse and ignominious conspiracy of silence to deny me justice.

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a guilty silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India’s editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it “impact”.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our “know-it-all-in -chiefs” have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

What about “civil society” in India ?

Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS (Aruna Roy)and Anna Hazare regarding this cascading delinquency of constitutional bodies in India.

There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in helpless denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been hounded and humiliated since two decades, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

Please visit and participate at http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/ :

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Citizens Risk Lives Seeking Information.

2010-03-18T11:57:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published on The FOI Advocate

The official blog of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the FOI ADVOCATE, in which we bring news of freedom of information developments far and wide... NFOIC is a coalition of state groups dedicated to open government, headquartered at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is the "patronage paradigm" - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Suspension Of Conscience

2010-03-18T11:38:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published on Next.com February 10, 2010

For a quick and easy way to be outcast, outlawed, to be put forever beyond the pale, whatever, try this.

Try standing up for the idea of the rule of law.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining. Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad. However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

And of course our editors know it all. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled. It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao. That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot. But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations. Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

What about "civil society" in India ? Since close to a year now, I have written to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Campaign for Judicial Accountability And Reform, Forum For Judicial Accountability, MKSS and Anna Hazare regarding this serial delinquency of constitutional bodies in India . There has not been one constructive response.

They all appear to be in deep denial of the awful truth that an innocent citizen has been relentlessly persecuted, not for any bad behaviour or wrongdoing, but for resisting the dilution of the values of the Indian constitution and standing up for the correct administration of the Right To Information Act 2005.

India's Real Estate Boom Is on Shaky Ground

2010-03-18T11:29:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published on the online Wall Street Journal March 7, 2010

Like the smile of the Cheshire cat, the "license raj" may putatively have disappeared, but the the "kickback raj" sure has not.

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

That is why many suspect India's growth story may be mere a smoke and mirrors illusion built on swamp land.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

India's Unequal Political Landscape

2010-03-16T10:11:00.000+05:30

The following comment appeared in guardian.co.uk India's unequal political landscape

Only the corrupt, predatory, servant seeking ruling class will dance to visions of an effulgent future, with the passage of this or that law.

The way the "system' is run, benefits will accrue to a small, monstrous minority, beyond all dreams of avarice.

The rest will consider themselves lucky to be favoured as servants, sycophants, propagandists of the brutal few.

In a system where the "success" of the few inevitably creates squalor for the rest, where the media does its truth by numbers, where the judiciary is blithely compliant with the rich , where education is as much a racket , lets not expect, that we have arrived at any envisioned Ram Rajya, "where the mind is without fear and the head is held high"

Because:

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

That is why many suspect India's growth story may be mere a smoke and mirrors illusion built on swamp land.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court?s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India?s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan?s, ?no excuses?, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

BBC chickens out ?

2010-03-04T20:05:00.000+05:30

I am saddened and disappointed that my exhaustive and factual comments about my nearly two decade long personal experience in dealing with brazen abuse of power issues - in effect administrative or professional dysfunctionality or incompetence - appear to have been held back since days by moderators on this site.

This appeasement by the bbc of an atrocious conspiracy of silence is barbaric.

However if the bbc's heart is in the right place, you may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Tendulkaristics Are The Right Of All Human Beings

2010-02-27T22:11:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published in:

The Independent.co.uk Sachin Tendulkar: Little Master

Global Post The Michael Jordan Of India by Jason Overdorf

Wisden Cricketeer Tendulkar, a thank you John Stern

bbc.co.uk Soutik Biswas's India How Does Sachin Tendulkar Do It ?

The Straits Times: The Wonder That Is Sachin Tendulkar

Guardian.co.uk : Is Sachin Tendulkar The Best Batsman Ever ?

Thaiindian News: Andhra assembly congratulates Tendulkar on ODI double ton

The Wall Street Journal: Sachin Breaks ODI Record, Slams 200 Runs

The Daily Inquirer: Sachin Score 200: Sachin Tendulkar breaks ODI record

Sport.co.uk: Tendulkar smashes record breaking ODI Double hundred

bleacher report.com:Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr Fletcher?

The right to be soft spoken and heard, the right to be honest, correct and productive in one's relationships, the right to choose one's field of endeavour , however outlandish and even extravagant it might seem, the right to be supported by "the village" in one's quest for excellence and joy, the right not to deteriorate into a cynical, necrophilous slob,the right to be true to one's country and people, the right to earn the right to pass on one's knowledge to whosoever shows an interest, and the right to the good life that ensues; these Tendulkaristics are the rights of every human being.

It says something about humanity in the 21st century that these are rights are so rarely respected, leave alone supported, that Sachin Tendulkar stands almost alone in embodying them.

The Dalai Lama and Aung San Su Kyi are in their own way exemplars of integrity and excellence, but why have we not been able to receive their benedictions to the the fullest ?

Even in sports India, citizens were recently witness to the Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra and earlier the entire hockey become "activists" and get involved in a"panga" (tussle) with the authorities to receive proper playing conditions.

I place my own “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India,now in its 18th year, in a similar category of my quest for my right to love, to play and to excel.

Since the media and civil society in India prefer to ride bandwagons and idolize, rather than apply their imaginations and responsibility, I appeal to your esteemed publication and your readers to get my message across to the powers that be in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office in India.

It says a lot about the infantile and narcissistic character of these two august offices of the Indian state, that they have since months, given the strong impression of abusing their immense power by instigating and sustaining a conspiracy of silence against me.
It is in this larger context that I make the following observations:

In India today any “aspiration” nursed by the “common man” for integrity, innovation or excellence, can quickly get “him” ostracised if not brutally killed.

And in the stilted political discourse manufactured by India’s ruling class the “common woman” does not even exist !

A culture of profiting from deceit and dysfunctionality appears to have enveloped India.

And even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its “politics” are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the “patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption that has cretinised us all”

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh’s office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

And of course our editors know it all. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, “You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar.”

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta’s “Outlook” has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published “spin” by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a sane, unexploitative, equitable life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

India’s Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations. Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister’s office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister’s Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler .

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar’s Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity’s struggle to honour the gift of life.

Thank you for your attention.

It has been an 18 year long innings and thanks to the unwillingness of the various leaders of the Indian state to own up to their various delinquencies, I continue to be hounded for my innocence.

Not cricket.

Deepan Joshi responds:

Keep the faith Diwakar; and you will get your due just try and make it easy on yourself and on others as well. What you are is your lookout and what the others are is in a broad sense their lookout.

divakarssathya draws Shri Joshi's attention to a small detail:

Thanks for your carefully considered response Deepan.
BTW, I spell my name with a V. It is DiVakar.
Cheers!

In The Economist - Kind Words For Divakar

2010-02-25T11:35:00.000+05:30

The Economist published the following comment in the article The Politics Of Repression In China - What Is China Afraid Of ?

What are they afraid of?
Feb 23rd 2010 2:45 GMT

Even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all".

In India today, a culture of profiting from deceit,dysfunctionality and decay is flourishing.

In this culture of perversity, monstrous behavior is the ticket to wealth and domination.

In India today, the "Common Man" - a typically feudal pejorative - who 'aspires' to be an intelligent citizen might be labelled "goody-goody", ostracised and brutally killed.

It takes a whole village and the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

In my experience India's editorial class is as dense, amoral and narcissistic.

Variations of this comment have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the professionalism to pick it up and make it "impact".

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

Our "know-it-all-in -chiefs" have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist and fixer, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a good life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations.

Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler.

To which East Wind responded:

What are they afraid of?
Feb 23rd 2010 3:15 GMT

@ divakarssathya

THANK YOU FOR a most truthful posting

STRAIGHT FROM the heart

The truth, nothing but the truth

You , sir , are a man of honour

All decent people on this forum salute you

This made divakarssathya go all mellow:

Feb 24th 2010 6:17 GMT

Dear East Wind.
Thank you for your very thoughtful and kind response.

I am willing to bet that almost every intelligent Indian who has had an opportunity to study abroad has a bunch of Chinese, Korean, African, Black, Latino, Paki, Jewish and of course Anglo friends, whose memories still bring a smile to his face.

Let us rage against the machine and wish that we will all live to watch our grandchildren play with each other.

Shanti! Shanti! Shanti!

Corruption Engulfs The Indian Army

2010-02-19T23:27:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published by Macleans.CA in their story entitled Corruption Engulfs The Indian Army

In the culture of profiting from deceit and dysfunctionality that has developed in India, the problem is that even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all"

In India today any "aspiration" nursed by the "common man" for integrity, innovation or excellence, can quickly get "him" ostracised if not brutally killed.

And in the stilted political discourse manufactured by India's ruling class the "common woman" does not even exist !

The recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

And of course our editors know it all. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

And now, unfortunately, between various Chiefs Of Army and real estate agents.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a sane, unexploitative, equitable life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations. Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler .

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

21st Century Governance

2010-02-19T16:18:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published in the article 21st Century Governance by David Osborne of the Public Strategies Group on Forbes India Online

It is heartening that Shri Osborne and other fine minds outside India are applying themselves to issues of good governance.

In the culture of profiting from deceit and dysfunctionality that has developed in India, the problem is that even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its "politics" are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the "patronage paradigm - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption, that has cretinised us all"

In India today any "aspiration" for integrity, innovation or excellence, in the "common man" can quickly get "him" ostracised if not brutally killed.

The "common woman" does not even exist !

The recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Very little difference between the judiciary, the administration, the legislature and the press.

They all know that while being "goody-goody" - can quickly mark you out for destruction, bad, perverse, dysfunctional behaviour is the capital with which money and power, beyond all dreams of avarice, are accumulated.

My fear is despite the fantastic growth figures, India is fast deteriorating into an administrative nightmare and a bit of a basket case.

Transparency and accountability are the mantras that will create the necessary paradigm shift into an autonomous, functioning society.

The Right To Information Act 2005 is a brilliant piece of legislation.

But count on the bureaucrats to racketeer on this too.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh’s Office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in a criminal conspiracy to deny me justice.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary has misbehaved egregiously.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a sane, unexploitative, equitable life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

India's Home Minister has called on civil society to speak out against Maoist depredations. Will he kindly let me know why Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's office have not taken appropriate action on the representations made on my behalf by the former Home Minister Shri Indrajit Gupta, Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao and others ?

Even as the Prime Minister's Office maintains a baleful and ignominious silence in my case, it appears to have jumped through hoops to heap honour on a businessman alleged to be a serial swindler .

A variation of the above comment was also published in the Wall Street Journal

More "anonymous" appreciation on Fumiko Nagano's blog

2010-02-14T10:15:00.000+05:30

The Hokey Herd ?
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 23:09.

It is instructive that while most of your participants go on and on about this hokey zero rupee note idea, only one appears to have taken the trouble to visit Divakar's Sathyagraha - a live, non cooperation struggle against corruption in India.

The herd that will scramble to seek favors from a Big Power by flattering its silliness and ignore individuals like Divakar who are trying real things - that is the corruption.

Maybe I am being too hard on the zero rupee note, but why not try the real thing ? Why not hand out real greenbacks ?

Surely, the honest, suffering Indian may deserve them more than the so called "good Taliban " ?

But the most repugnant aspect of the zero rupee note is that the giver of the note puts himself on a pedestal not through any struggle, evolution or suggestion of equity but merely through an alienated, mechanistic and capitalist process.

The fact that neither the President nor the Prime Minister of India have been able to respond to Divakar's documented criticism indicates the awful grimness of the abject helplessness of the Indian state in dealing with its lawlessness.

If the President and Prime Minister are "helpless", then God alone can help and zero rupee notes are merely cute distractions.

Howard Zinn Passes Away. What A Luscious Life !

2010-01-29T18:27:00.000+05:30

"A People's History Of The United States" is emotionally, one of the most difficult books I have attempted. I first came across it, in the 80's, in New York City's most enviable public library system.

I own a copy. Someday, I will read it all in one go.

This will infuriate the purists, but it seems like Avatar has taken off from where Howard Zinn and Dee Brown had begun. (Have not seen Avatar yet.)

Has our beloved Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh read Zinn ?

Dave Zirin in Huffington Post

The New York Times

"My hope is that you will not be content just to be successful in the way our society measures success; that you will not obey the rules, when the rules are unjust; that you will act out the courage that I know is in you."

Sixty Years Of Change In India

2010-01-28T19:37:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published by The Guardian UK

For a quick and easy way to be outcast, outlawed, to be put forever beyond the pale, whatever, try this.

Try standing up for the idea of the rule of law.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals.

And of course our editors know it all. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

When I sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) advised me, "You cannot go around taking pangas (quarrels) with people, yaar."

Even my comments are mutilated.

Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

The Hindu crawled.

It published "spin" by corrupt officials and got hissy with me for pointing out, with evidence, its craven, yellow soul.

The Indian Press (with a solitary exception) blacked out the fervent open letter written by Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao.

That dear man , clear as a bell in his nineties, had laid his head on my shoulder, hugged me and wept.

In India today, it is difficult to tell the difference between policeman and journalist, politician and criminal, lawyer and judge, Indian Administrative Service Officer and the village idiot.

But they all are laughing all the way to their offshore accounts.

Melting Pots responded:

@divakarssathya

For a quick and easy way to be outcast, outlawed, to be put forever beyond the pale, whatever, try this.

Try standing up for the idea of the rule of law.

I very much sympathise with you.

Whatever you have said is not something new and they are just the echoes of what already been told over and over again. It's bit of a silly of us to expect that "Rule of Law" will ever take its place and justice will prevail. You are just a sprat, not a shark!

Unless you are politically influential, or powerful enough to intimidate, you plea for justice is a waste. Media work not to highlight the absence of "Rule of Law" but to promote the interests of the ruling class and thugs.

I will be surprised if your comment is not removed! Good luck!

divakarssathya took the high ground:

Bless your kind heart Melting Pots.

It does occur to me that with the precious life you used up to express your angst, you may have written to the editor , guardian to investigate my claims and do a story.

Its better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

To the editor; on the subject of the influence of the guardian in the US, my feedjit has lit up with - presumably - your esteemed visitors from across the Atlantic.

Thanks, guys. Give a thought to the story, will ya.

Thanks Craig Jeffrey

From Indonesia With Love

2010-01-26T20:06:00.000+05:30

Editorial: Our friend India

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 01/26/2010 10:14 AM | Opinion

Today we share the joy of the Indian people as they celebrate their 60th National Day, remembering the historic moment when India adopted a new Constitution as a republic on Jan. 26, 1950. Different from Indonesia, which adopted its Constitution as a republic a day after our founding fathers declared Indonesia’s independence on Aug. 17, 1945, India endorsed its Constitution nearly three years after it declared its sovereignty from the British colonists on Aug. 15, 1947.

We congratulate the Indian people whose Constitution has led the country to become the world’s largest democracy and one of the major pillars of political and security stability on the continent. Indonesia has followed India’s example and has now become the world’s third-largest democracy after India and the United States. It is not just in democracy where we have learned from India; the subcontinent’s culture also has a very strong influence on Indonesia. We also need to learn from them how to develop our education. Who can deny the high quality of India’s education system?

It is a matter of eternal record that India played a major role in our struggle for independence. The deep friendship between leaders of the two countries flourished long before both countries could enjoy their independence. Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru quickly offered his help to our founding fathers Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta.

During the Cold War, Indonesia and India became anchors of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and in 1955 the two countries were among key players in organizing the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, West Java. Bilateral relations between the two countries are also still rapidly growing.

India and China are fast becoming regional — even global — economic, political and military superpowers. A strong India helps ensure the safety and security of the Indian Ocean. India is also an important factor to counter the domination of China on the continent.

Again, we congratulate India on this very special day. Mutually beneficial cooperation between Indonesia and India will be helpful to accelerate the development of the two countries and the Asia.

Google's Done Good

2010-01-17T11:21:00.000+05:30

The following comment appeared in
Guardian.co.uk (2 posts},
Guardian.co.uk

Telegraph.co.uk,
The Independent,
Newsweek,
The Baltimore Sun ,
Chicago Tribune,
San Francisco Chronicle
Salon.com
The Washington Post (2posts)
Forbes.com
PC World,
Ground Report

Google's Done Good.

Google has challenged the smug corporate assumption that business alone will liberate.

It will not.

Fellow traveling businesses will allow corrupt, inefficient and doltish coteries, cliques and regimes to bask from the reflected glory of hard won wars for equity, freedom, enlightenment and excellence that have been fought in societies that have produced such new, thoughtful responses.

Fellow traveling businesses, that squander their freedom and slip into cozy relationships with the authorities betray the " poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak" in the case of even democracies these are all those without a vote - children, the environment and the future.

Such businesses produce cynicism, and conformism, not innovation and wonder.

Such businesses die slow, inglorious deaths.

Google's decisions - first to engage and then draw the lakshmanrekha - the line in the sand - are both that will inspire life conscious people.

This is not to underestimate to quantum of insanity on this planet.

It takes the whole village to create fun alternatives to psychotic behaviour.

There is chaos in India too.

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the "patronage paradigm" - the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption - and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.

I have been denied the recognition that were commended to me.

I have been unable to earn a decent living.

The office of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh incited my neighbours to cut off my water supply.

The Indian editorial class published government "spin".

The information commissions in the state and at the centre denied me my right to information on spurious, brazenly illegal grounds and punished me for daring to object.

The high court denied me my right to competent counsel and punished me for complaining.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

Such dysfunctionality, and recently they appearing to pouring down in India, has drawn only an occasional murmur from Indian industry, that at best comes up with palliatives.

I have met with at least one Indian "altruist" IT "icon" on appointment and he appeared to be completely clueless and at a loss for words and ideas.

Please visit and participate at:

Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India's editorial class will not report the story!

sathyagraha.blogspot.com

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Raped By The Law

2010-01-11T21:41:00.000+05:30

The following comment was published on Jason Overdorf's post "Raped By The Law"

Why are we so abysmally cynical and hopeless that conditions will continue to remain outrageously inhuman in India?

One simple reason: The following comment or variations of it have appeared in almost every major Indian online publication plus in a few abroad.

However, not a single editor or reporter has had the nous to pick it up and work it to the max.

In my experience, most Indian journalists are wannabe Rathores.

There is little difference between the mindset or work ethic of a rogue administrative officer and your Indian editor.

It is obvious that our authorities are confident that they hold the country's press in the palm of their hands.

If Ruchika's Dad had sought the solidarity of the press, Shekhar Gupta (editor in chief of New Indian Express) would have advised, "You cannot go around taking pangas(quarrels) with people, yaar."

That is what this idiot told me when I met him.

My credentials are strong and I have taken much trouble to meet many editors personally, usually on impeccable referrals. They have had nothing but smirks to offer.

Even my comments are mutilated. Vinod Mehta's "Outlook" has banned my comments on risible grounds.

Am I the only victim?

Who is to say if the Indian editorial class had been less narcissistic and more professional, it might have had a chiling effect on other predators?

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh's office, "Daredevil" Pratibha Patil's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in an obvious conspiracy to deny me justice.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary, has misbehaved egregiously.

Yet another "conspiracy in corruption".

Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Compelling Criminality. Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India's editorial class will not report the story!

sathyagraha.blogspot.com

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Remarkable that it has not yet dawned on the panjandrums of the Prime Minister's Office and Rashtrapathi Bhavan that I have been "raped" since two decades, not for any misbehavior but for my belief in the idea of the rule of law.

Thanks To Fumiko Nagano At The World Bank. The Prime Minister's Office and Rashtrapathi Bhavan Could Learn From You.

2010-01-05T21:28:00.000+05:30

Unless I am very mistaken, Ms Nagano visited twice before choosing to place my comment on her blog.

I appreciate that act of responsibility. I appreciate the opportunity to get my plaint across.

India's Corruption Quaqmire
Submitted by divakarssathya on Thu, 12/31/2009 - 00:46.

While the idea of the zero rupee note is commendable, it looks in the wrong direction.

India's pervasive corruption is more a function of the self serving sluggishness of the ruling class - the recently exposed Ruchika Girhotra case and my own experience indicate that checks and balances have collapsed and coalesced into one corrupt predatory ruling class.

Very little difference between the judiciary, the administration, the legislature and the press. They all know that bad, perverse, dysfunctional behaviour is the capital with which to earn money and power. The old "Pinch the child and then rock the cradle" idea.

My fear is despite the fantastic growth figures, India is fast deteriorating into an administrative nightmare and a bit of a basket case.

Transparency and accountability are the mantras that will create the necessary paradigm shift.

The RTI ACT 2005 as a piece of legislation is brilliant.

But count on the bureaucrats to racketeer on this too.

Even as we speak, Dr Manmohan Singh’s Office, “Daredevil” Pratibha Patil’s Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, State Information Commissioner CD Arha are all in a criminal conspiracy to deny me justice.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court in the inimitable manner of the Indian judiciary has misbehaved egregiously.

If you would like to know about the sheer impossibility of living a sane, unexploitative, equitable life in India, you and your esteemed visitors may want to visit and participate at sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced CIC Laps Up PMO Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India’s editorial class will not report the story!

Divakar's Sathyagraha

News and views from Divakar S Natarajan’s, “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

In contrast, Rashtrapathi Bhavan is quiet happy to remain blizzzzfully ignorant.

The panjandrums at PMO will probably send out a black cornered notice, through some men in black suits and neuralyze my comment off the blog.

Looking further into the future, the Men In Black from PMO will probably decide to neuralyze themselves and disappear among the milling crowds of NYC and start new identities marketing biryani on the streets of Manhattan.

Unless of course they decide to sample the booze on the flight back home,get frisky with our havaii sundaris and end up on the screens of our news channels.

In which case the PMO's Media Adviser will be seen neuralysing all the people going into and coming out of the studios.

There was also this , alas, anonymous, comment:

Agree with divakarsathya
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 01/03/2010 - 11:02.

I agree with Divakarssathya. While the zero rupee note is an interesting idea, what real tangible impact it will have is questionable.

It's not like we're unaware of the corruption that plagues this country, and most officials brazenly abuse their power- even if they might give it some seemingly harmless (borderline warm fuzzy) name (chai-paani). That one can appeal or wake their conscience with a zero rupee note does make for a good story and an interesting read.

However, as pointed out in the comment above, the RTI Act is the way to go. The more Indians are aware of this Act the more effectively it can be used and the more realistic our hopes towards a system that is rid of corruption.

@divakarssathya I just went through your blog. It is a brave attempt. Please don't give up. May you see success soon.

PS: This comment was also published on

bitterwallet.com

New Paradigm Digest

The Telegraph.co.uk

Robust Idiocy. Pakistani Minister Deconstructs Dr Manmohan Singh's Silence.

2009-12-07T09:43:00.000+05:30

Two Faces Of Psychosis. Brutality Of The Sri Lankan Police Vs Perversity of the Prime Minister's Office.

2009-11-04T09:06:00.000+05:30

It occurred to me that the picture of brutality is a vivid metaphor of how how the elites of the world keep reality at bay.

Without any irony at all, television reports reported that the Tamil youth - who was the subject of police attention - was mentally unbalanced.

Presumably the Sri Lankan Policemen were merely "doing their duty" and the thousands of gawkers were merely "helpless" .

divakarssathya wrote:
Oct 30th 2009 7:36 GMT

One of the few bright moments for me as an Indian was hearing Joseph Stieglitz commending the prudent policies of the then Governor of RBI.

Being "stitched in" might appear an attractive idea, but to imagine that a democratic Giant like India would be allowed to pursue such an Utopia might be a little wishful.

It is traditional for dictators to believe that weapons alone, will solve all problems. Their fascination and craving for big and bigger bombs never ceases.

Some others believe capital and more capital is the panacea.

But it is embedded in the Indian psyche that prosperity and well being evolve from a combination of several auspiciousnesses.

An appetite for capital must be matched by a efficient enough digetive system that will be able to receive and produce the most healthful results.

But if the system is stunted, diseased or otherwise out of order, the result will be more disease and probably a collapse.

The key to demonstrating confidence in India's future is to secure and develop its potentially magnificent people.

The world they create with their strong, healthy, loved and liberated geniuses may be very different from the world as it exists today. But I willing to imagine, that it will also be a much stronger, viable, vital world.

Unfortunately India today is mired in corruption.

Democaracy is working brilliantly, beyond the wildest dreams of avarice for a relative handful. And these are willing to defend their "democracy" with guns.

For the rest, India's performance on the Various indices of human development tell their own tale of delusion.

Several months ago, I wrote to the Prime Minister's Office documenting the serial misbehaviour of various constitutional authorities.

The Prime Minister's Office's response is to chase down and swat down my comments appearing in various eminent international media.

I doubt that such behaviour of the PMO is enhancing the image of India as a preferred democratic destination among the international media, but one may also wonder - is this all the Prime Minsiter's Office can do to protect its citizen's ?

Is the PMO and Rashtrapati Bhavan to mired in compromise to do anything other that punish the complainant ?

There is no dearth of perversity and foot shooting, so how smart are these guys anyway?

Don't they have enough people who hate their guts? Why would they want to add another with their juvenile delinquency ?

Given such dysfunctionality and perverse conduct from the most exalted offices of the land, is it any wonder that any attempt to inundate India with capital and "stitch it" with the rest of a single minded and twin emotioned, fear and greed, world, might not be welcomed with "flowers and garlands" ?

The Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Prime Minister’s Office are being quiet as mice about the impeccable evidence I have presented to them on the corrupt, duplicitous and psychotic conduct of the Government of India, the Government Of Andhra Pradesh, The Indian editorial class, the administrators of the Right To Information Act, and The Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Readers who want to know more are welcome to visit sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- State Information Commissioner Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced Chief Information Commissioner Laps Up Prime Minister’s Office’s Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

Dr Manmohan Singh's Office Asserts Its Determination To Be An Idiot. This Time It's The New Scientist.

2009-10-20T16:12:00.000+05:30

Shri T K A Nair
Principal Secretary To
The Prime Minister Of India
New Delhi.

Sir,

Congratulations.

Your cold, coercive silence is being met with a reasonable response.

The following comment was published in The New Scientist.

India Is Mired In Corruption

Sun Oct 18 12:26:33 BST 2009 by divakarssathya
http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com

At a closer look, it would become obvious that the primary responsibility in any Indian job function - from The President Of India to the lowly village school teacher - is the collection and distribution of bribes and patronage.

In order to be a collector and distributor of bribes, you obviously cannot be a sane, functional, human being.There is no percentage in just doing your job.

You have to be able to regularise the irregular and irregularise the regular.

You have to put yourself beyond the pale of reason. You have to be perverse.

If Dr Venkataraman, had worked in India, he would have had been routinely asked to fetch tea for the bureaucrats.

He would have been told that such humility was fundamental to great achievement.

He would be asked to alter his lab notes and findings to suit the moods of the bureaucrats.

Good chance, if he finally came up with something good, his work would be plagiarised and even if the President Of India had been valourized by India's sheepish editorial class as a champion of science and modernity, his pleas and protests would have been coldly ignored.

Till he somehow managed to cause an international furore. Then there would be a mild stirring.

I have called it the "patronage paradigm". The paradigm of shoddiness,irresponsibility , cronyism and corruption that cretinises a society.

Read Kameshwar C Wali's biography of Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar to recollect the horror that the youthful Chandra felt, when he saw the great Satyen Bose being mistreated right before his eyes, by the top scientific babus of his day.

Sycophancy continues to rule in India today.

India's insular, necrophilous oligarchy had encountered 19 year old Ishrat Jehan on idiotic dribbles.

And the Prime Minister's Office is being quiet as a mouse about the impeccable evidence I have presented to them on the corrupt, duplicitous and psychotic conduct of the Government of India, the Government Of Andhra Pradesh, The Indian editorial class, the administrators of the Right To Information Act, The Andhra Pradesh High Court and a fellow travelling "civil society".

Proliferators or pedophiles - the lawless subcontinent is a haven for the scum of the earth.

In India today, dysfunction rules ! Perversity prevails!

Welcome to yet another "conspiracy in corruption" :

Psychotic PMO Bareknuckles "The Economist"

"When The Going Gets Tough, The PMO's Media Advisers Go Nuts"

"James Astill's Dazed Denial"

"The President Of India's Helpline Is A Waste Of Time"

Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .05/29/09

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- State Information Commissioner Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!05/07/09

Prejudiced Chief Information Commissioner Laps Up Prime Minister's Office's Lies 05/05/09

Divakar S Natarajan and Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong ! 01/28/09

And India's editorial class will not report the story!

sathyagraha.blogspot.com

Divakar's Sathyagraha News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India.

Now in its 18th year.

Any struggle against a predatory authority is humanity's struggle to honour the gift of life.

Incidentally, when I referred to the "petty minded idiots in your office", you will be glad to know I was being stone cold sober and scientific.

Please read this:
It's official: Your bullying boss really is an idiot

Sincerely,
divakar

The above comment was moderated and appeared in The New Scientist. Hours after my email to Shri Nair, it was dropped.

From Shri Harish Khare

QED.

Exhibit 1 "Compelling Criminality"

Jaipal Reddy, Leader Of Opposition , Rajya Sabha writes eloquently, did nothing.

From Shri Jaipal Reddy, Leader Of Opposition Rajya Sabha

Exhibit Two "Compelling Criminality" Chief Minister Of Andhra Pradesh Writes To Jaipal Reddy.
Reddy "responds" by launching frivolous and vexatious litigation on exactly those matters mentioned by Chief Minister. The litigation continues till date.

From Hon'ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri Chandrababu Naidu to Jaipal Reddy, Minister of Informa

Exhibit Three "Compelling Criminality"

This nugget of non partisan wisdom appears to be utterly lost in the Prime Minister's Office.

" Indrajit Gupta ?" exclaimed the section officer at the PMO, in whose charge the Principal Secretary, has with exemplary wisdom entrusted this case, "Par Woh Tho Mar Gaye Hain !"

From

From Ex Minister Of Home Affairs Shri Indrajit Gupta's Appeal To Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpay

Exhibit Four " Compelling Criminality"
Dr Manmohan Singh's Former Media Adviser Dr Sanjaya Baru's "epiphanic" review of "Hyderabad. August 1948"

From My Scans

Exhibit Four "Compelling Criminality"

Petition to Former Prime Minister signed by Sarvashri Soumitra Chatterji, Shyam Benegal, Derek Malcolm, Om Puri, Jean Paul Carriere, Jabbar Patel, Jahnu Baruah, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and other intellectuals endorsing Indrajit Gupta's representation.

"Given that his Doordarshan commissioned documentary, "Hyderabad. August 1948." has been nationally acclaimed for celebrating our nation's core values and given the abundance of open support that he has received, it appears credible to us that he is being severely punished for his resistance to corruption in Doordarshan"

From

Exhibit Five "Compelling Criminality"

Padma Vibhushan Kaloji Narayana Rao's Open Letter To The Former Prime Minister.

The late Kaloji garu had known Shoebullah Khan, fought in India's freedom struggle and had seen my documentary.

From Padma Vibhushan Shri Kaloji Narayana Rao's Open Letter To Former Prime Minister

Exhibit Six "Compelling Criminality"
Doordarshan's Conduct Of Fiftieth Year Celebrations Of Indian Independence Described As "50th Year Racket" Sevanti Ninan, The Hindu

From 50th year racket

For more please go to "Compelling Criminality

Mananiya Shrimati Pratibha Patilji , Are AK 47s The Way To Go ?

2009-10-10T19:05:00.000+05:30
On the same day, the media bubbled over with the news that the President Of India, Pratibha Patil, got her photograph taken with Rukhsana Sultana, the Sherni Of Kashmir, there was a story in The Hindu about another young lady Ch. Anuradha who had attempted suicide.

ELURU: A whistle-blower of the Treasury Department in Andhra Pradesh, who was responsible for the arrest of four personnel in the Social Welfare Department, including a Deputy Director and another Assistant Director, in the Rs.30-lakh scholarship scam in West Godavari district, attempted to end her life. Ch. Anuradha (27), Senior Accounts Officer in the office of the District Treasuries department, was battling for life in the government hospital here after consuming sleeping tablets.

In a statement recorded by the police from her while undergoing treatment, Ms. Anuradha said the harassment by the sleuths of the Crime Investigation Department handling the case was the cause for her suicide bid. She said she had been subjected to harassment by CID personnel in the name of questioning her.

Unlike the leading lights of our ruling classes who affect a self aggrandizing cynicism and visible moral bankruptcy, both Ch Anuradha of Eluru, Andhra Pradesh and Rukhsana (Kausar? Sultana?)dealt with the failure of the State with courage and intelligence.

They asserted their dignity.

But the Indian State has shown a nearly ecstatic preference for Rukhsana.

What is the message?

From Drop Box

In the collective subconscious of India's ruling class, the quick and easy way of the AK 47 trumps the grotty uncertainties of the sathyagraha.

Incidentally, on that very day, the President Of India had presented Rukhsana a "memento" presumably something that will at least help Rukhsana scrape her tongue, the officer who is handling my case at Rashtrapati Bhavan,all the stuff that is on this blog has been available since months, if not years, with the babus of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office, banged the phone down on me.

"I am busy, man!" he cried "Do you think you are the only person, I must talk to?"

I am shameless. I called him right back.

He banged the phone down again. I called him again.

The telephone operator at Rashtrapathi Bhavan could sense something was afoot."Sir, Didn't I just connect you ?" she asked.

This time he relented. A bit.

"I have to sign hundreds of letters !" Bang.

All my emails have been addressed to the Principal Secretary, to the Rashtrapathi.

And the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Is it unthinkable that they just might come on the line to say a friendly "hello"?

Other than generating a couple of papers, if the Rashtrapathi's office has done anything else to heal a ravaged Constitution, it has certainly kept it well hidden.

In the case of the PMO, the section officer has told me, "no action will be taken".

It is not just some lowly policemen in the badlands of Andhra Pradesh or Bihar who torture and humiliate the sane. The whistle-blowers and RTI petitioners. The sathyagrahis.

The Chief Information Commissioner, the State Information Commissioner, The Chief Justice and Judges of Andhra Pradesh High Court, Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Prime Minister's Office, India's editorial class and a fellow traveling "human rights' ngos; they all do it.

They have all rubbished the RTI Act 2005 and the Indian Constitution.

And now the Rashtrapathi and the ruling elite glamorizes, AK 47 wielding vigilantes and desperadoes.

But one has to keep one's chin up, right?

Maybe, sanity will surface.

Maybe they will get the right message from the Anuradhas and Rukhsanas of this country.

This Deepavali, will the Indian State come up with a message of life ?

Or will it wring its hands, in "helplessness" and surrender gladly to death?

What's so "wrong" about these RTI queries ?

2009-09-04T10:18:00.000+05:30
Claiming the right to ask wrong questions
Shivani Vig, TNN 3 September 2009, 09:30pm IST

KANPUR: How about getting a duplicate marksheet with the help of Right To Information (RTI) Act? Or putting the Act to seek verification of
National Council of Teacher's Education (NCTE) information to be true.

Or for that matter seeking the evaluated answer sheets from home University.

The above-mentioned cases are the kind of queries that Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University comes across daily, with such applications seeking information through the RTI Act, 2005.

Meant for seeking information through a proper channel, the RTI Act is being used by the applicants to seek any and every information from the home university.

Sample this: district basic shiksha adhikari, Mau, has sought information under the RTI Act from Kanpur University for the verification of the academic details of 17 candidates, who had filed their applications for Vishisht BTC.

Similarly, several applications from passed students used to reach university seeking duplicate degree/marksheets to be provided under the Act. The students have even sought help of the Act for getting the evaluated answer sheets.

Only recently, an advocate of high court, Santosh Kumar, had filed an application under the RTI Act complaining about a college. In another case, Sushila Devi, 46, of Kanpur Dehat had sought a step-by-step information on how to fill online form, as she -- being illiterate -- did not know the procedure.

"Instead of paying for the approved amount for getting a duplicate degree or marksheet -- which is Rs 265 -- many students have tried to get their duplicate marksheet through RTI, by spending a minimal amount of Rs 10," said Dr Saxena.

Referring to another such application from one Ayodhya Prasad, the public information officer, Dr Piyush Saxena said, "In one of the applications under the RTI Act, this person has asked the university to inform the counselling board that his daughter, Archana Kanaujia, is ill and that she cannot appear for the counselling."

Not only does most of these RTI applications carry weird queries -- providing information to which is nothing but sheer waste of time -- some of them are even not valid, claimed the officials.

In what could only be termed as the lack of awareness among people about the relevance of the RTI Act, it was found that the applications had come to university asking information on what is the difference between a name and a signature, said the official.

Notably, what is more time-consuming is seeking information from other departments. "Several times, it has been found that we are not ready with the information asked for and thus, we have to gather required information from other officials and departments, which is the most time-consuming part of answering these applications," said Saxena.

And if the information office is to be believed, the number of RTI applications seeking information under the Act is more than five on a daily basis. Interestingly, the amount of sincere RTI queries seeking information hardly amounts to 10% of the total applications.

A visit to the information office of Kanpur University is enough to gauge the lack of awareness among people about the Act. Bundles of files of RTI applications are piled up here and two persons have been deployed only for separating such applications from normal mails.

"The time which we spend in replying to the applications can otherwise be utilised in doing other important work. However, the number of these applications is really very high, and under the provisions of the RTI Act making the information to be provided as mandatory, we are bound to give a reply," said Jyoti, working in the information office of the university.

My comment that the Times Of India may not publish:

I find each of these queries address serious and legitimate concerns of the petitioner.

They point to lacunae in the system that need to be addressed.

The mindset that there can be "more serious work" than the implementation of the RTI Act or the imaginative,objective and sympathetic consideration of legitimate grievances, belongs in an evil time and needs to be completely dissolved; after which such "frivolous" questions may not arise.

James Astill's Dazed Denial

2009-08-28T17:33:00.000+05:30
So I tracked down, Shri James Astill, who is the South Asia correspondent for The Economist, who speaks French,Japanese and Spanish but no Hindi, Urdu or Kannada and may be forgiven for not quite knowing the ways of us "lesser breeds without the law".

To Shri Astill's immense credit, I repeat immense credit, he did something extraordinarily humane.

He did something that very few Indians do.

He emailed me back.

Dear Divakar,

Though I am unversed in your various battles, I wish you success with them. But your effort to involve The Economist in this struggle seems odd: I'm afraid I can't see the connection. I don't why your comment was removed from The Economist website, though I suppose the fact that it seems to be not at all about the article you were notionally commenting on could be a reason. I imagine you can respond to the moderator asking for a fuller explanation. But we would not consider publishing your letter, for the simple reason that it is almost entirely unrelated to The Economist.

Best wishes,

James Astill

I have handraised a child and I know when she is dissembling.

The weak sarcasm is a dead giveaway.

Corruption is "not at all about the" the Indian economy ?

Did you read our Prime Minister's speech to our Central Bureau Of Investigation, Shri Astill ?

I will not grudge you the brownie points you may earned with Shri Khare's office, Shri Astill - but it doth seem like both Shri Khare and our Prime Minister are not on the same page.

When The Going Gets Tough Our Prime Minister's Media Advisers Appear To Go Nuts !

2009-08-28T17:14:00.000+05:30
This was to the good folks at The Economist.

Ladies And Gentlemen,

I am shocked and disappointed by the admonishment administered to me by your Comments Moderator.

Only an hour before I received your email, I had spoken to Shri Harish Khare regarding the widely reported speech of the Hon'ble Prime Minister to the Central Bureau of Investigation, in which he has, once again shared his deep concern and understanding regarding the stultifying problem of "pervasive corruption".

Since our Prime Minister had spoken similarly to the CBI just three years ago, I confided with Shri Khare, who according to Wikipedia possesses a Phd in Political Science from Yale University on the subject of Perception In Decision Making, that it would have such a Gandhian act to have come clean on the matters that I have placed before the esteemed readers of your eminent publication and which I have extensively supported with documented evidence in my blog.

sathyagraha.blogspot.com.

Shri Khare appears to have taken the easy road and appears to have bare knuckled you into removing my comment.

Shri Khare was of course," just doing his job."

But I am deeply saddened that, just one hour after my call to Shri Khare, your esteemed publication has buckled under and removed a serious, factual and well documented comment, that had been on your site since five days and had received its fair share of approvals from your readers.

Please consider this.

About twenty years ago, alarmed and offended by a section of my co religionists "profiling" Muslims in the most derogatory manner, I conceived, researched, scripted, directed, edited and presented a documentary in Urdu, "Hyderabad. August 1948".

In this documentary, I had the opportunity to narrate the events leading to the tragic saga of Shoebullah Khan, the 28 year old editor of Imroose who had his right palm chopped off and who was shot dead because his writing had offended the Razakars of pre Independence Hyderabad. His second daughter was born a fortnight after his assasination.

This documentary was commissioned by Doordarshan, but it was only exhibited after nearly two years of wrangling.

This, despite the, or come to think of it, because of the encomiums that were heaped on it.

To get a sense of how my documentary was received, please read the review by Dr Sanjaya Baru, Dr Harish Khare's predecessor Media Adviser to Dr Manmohan Singh, then an editor of The Economic Times in my blog post Divakar S Natarajan And Varun Gandhi Cannot Both Be Wrong.

Responding to my signature campaign, in which Dr Baru was a participant and Dr Abid Hussain, former Ambassador to the United States the main resource person, the then Prime Minister of India, Shri P V Narasimha Rao, officially recognised Shoeb's sacrifice by granting a Freedom Fighter's pension to the widow of Shoebullah Khan , more than 40 years after his martyrdom.

Unfortunately, the Doordarshan authorities chose to take deep offense to my outspoken ( published in the editor's page of The Hindustan Times) resistance to what I perceived to be the "kickback raj" at Doordarshan.

The then Director General of Doordarshan, responded by vowing, "Your article in the Hindustan Times has defamed Doordarshan. As long as I am there, I will see to it that your work will not get done."

The former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Chandrababu Naidu, made a representation to the Government of India, that I be commissioned as " a film maker of acknowledged eminence" to make films to celebrate the 50th year of Indian Independence.

His representation on my behalf was probably, the most popular he made.

It was supported in writing by the Centre, Left and Right.

Nothing happened.

To get a sense of how I was treated, please read the letter of the former Minister of Home Affairs Indrajit Gupta to the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In my blogpost De freezing Com Gupta I have documented how Shri Indrajit Gupta, a University of Cambridge Tripos, who was elected by Parliament as its first "Most Outstanding Parliamentarian" decided to most kindly befriend me after watching my documentary and the role played by Shri Harish Khare in publishing my impressions of the veteran communist leader in The Hindu.

The wise and pleasing liberality of the Bharatiya Janata Party in supporting the former Chief Minister's representation was a welcome surprise.

Incidentally, Doordarshan's conduct of the 50th Anniversary Celebrations were described as the "50th Year Racket" by the media columnist of Dr Harish Khare's former newspaper, The Hindu.

Despite the earnest views repeatedly and eloquently expressed by this Prime Minister and most of his illustrious predecessors, the unstated attitude of the Indian elite regarding "the scourge of corruption" is like the one expressed by Prabhu Chawla, Editor, India Today, India's leading newsmagazine and flagship of a most influential media conglomerate.

He says, " I think people have accepted it as a reality as they have lost hope in the political leadership." (Emphasis mine. Quoted in my blogpost
Why Prabhu Chavla, His Esteemed Publication And India's Editorial Class Have Decayed And Are Dangerous
Saturday, June 13, 2009.)
Given this infantile "it is you, it is them, it is most certainly not us" dissembling by a large section of India's intellectual elite, one that clearly questions their very reason for existence, I should probably not be surprised by the fact that India's editorial class and others have ridiculed my sathyagraha and made me a "non person".

The Prime Minister's Office has had months to refute my allegations. It has kept quiet.

Now it is trying to corrupt your esteemed publication and put the quietus on the uncomfortable truths that I seek answers for.

In the meanwhile, two significant pronouncements by other Chief Information Commissioners have validated my allegation that Shri Wajahat Habibullah has colluded in the violation of the RTI Act 2005 by the PMO and has punished me for standing up for its proper implementation.

You may also probably know that the respected security expert and writer B Raman had castigated Shri Khare's predecessor Dr Baru for allegedly indulging in" character assasination" of persons like him who had views contrary to that of the PMO and for running the Media like the "Gestapo" ( Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle "Is Dr Sanjaya Baru Running The Gestapo ? September 22, 2006)

When the going gets tough, our Prime Minister's Media Advisers appear to go nuts.

The rest of us recognise the imperative of endeavouring to exercise our imaginations constructively however arduous and futile it might seem at this moment.

I know this is a little longish, but I shall be grateful if you would kindly publish this letter.

In the best traditions of journalism, please let Shri Harish Khare know, in no uncertain terms, that he must throw his weight in the right
directions.

Do feel free to call me, if you need any more information.
My cell number is.......

Sincerely,
Divakar

Psychotic PMO Bareknuckles The Economist

2009-08-28T15:29:00.000+05:30
Barely an hour after I spoke to Dr Harish Khare, currently media adviser to the Prime Minister and formerly one of the prime panjandrums of The Hindu's editorial page , I received an email from the Comments Moderator of The Economist.

It informed me that my comment on The Economist's cheery piece, Asia: An Astonishing Rebound was being removed.

The comment had stood since five days and had received its fair share of reader recommendation.

In my conversation with Harish Khare, he sounded about as distant and disoriented as our crepuscular elites are from the agonies of Indian citizens.

He did not remember me. "Indrajit Gupta? That was such a looong time ago !"

Khare had personally accepted my impressionistic profile of the late Shri Indrajit Gupta, then Minister of Home Affairs.

The Hindu, as the unofficial mouthpiece of the Communist Party Of India (Marxist) was involved in a serious sibling spat with the Communist Party Of India, Indrajit Gupta's party and was undermining him at every opportunity.

Since I was conveniently perceived as Indrajit Gupta's man by the wise heads of The Hindu, that was excuse enough for them to ignore my sathyagraha.

No, he had not read my comments in The Economist and he had no idea about the letters I had written to our Honourable Prime Minister.

And in the style perfected by India's babudom to rouse the monster in the breasts of even the meekest of human beings, he hung up on me.

"Hahn,okay,hahn!,by..." Click .

Approximately an hour later, I have this in my inbox:

CommentsModerator@economist.com
to divakarssathyagraha@gmail.com
date Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 3:09 PM
subject divakarssathya's comment to Economist.com

Dear Sir,

The attached comment, posted under the pen name divakarssathya, has been deleted from Economist.com. The comment was removed because it breaks our comments policy:
http://www.economist.com/about/terms_and_conditions.cfm#8

We ask that future comments be made in the spirit of good-natured debate. Repeated violation of our comments policy will result in your being blocked from posting comments on Economist.com.

Yours sincerely,

Comments Moderator
Economist.com

Your comment:
----------
In my earlier comment, I had pointed out how the Indian ruling elite,The
Press, The Judiciary, The Bureaucracy and of course The Political Class work
together to do nothing, so that desperate citizens who value their sanity and
innocence can then prostrate to them, acknowledge them as their true fathers
and mothers,mai-baap, pay them a percentage of their income and eke out a
living as vassals.

You had kindly permitted me to invite your esteemed readers to my blog,
sathyagraha.blogspot.com, where i have documented how -

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has systematically denied me due process.

The State Information Commissioner has concocted a transparent ruse to
rubbish the RTI Act 2005.

The Chief Secretary, the top bureaucrat of Andhra Pradesh, has personally
supervised the false and misleading information that was fed to me and has
also lied to the High court. The State Information Secretary never
represented himself in the Court.

The Chief Information Commissioner, in New Delhi, has comprehensively
contumed the RTI Act 2005, has chosen to not examine the false claims of the
Prime Minister's Office and has punished me for standing up for the proper
implementation of the Act.

Not only has the Prime Minister's Office, violated the RTI Act 2005 it has,
perhaps inevitably, clearly kept the Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
in the dark about their sordid juvenile delinquency.

The Prime Minister's Office has not answered, or even acknowledged my letter
to him sent by registered post, number 9700, dated June 15, 2009.

After a great deal of work by the concerned postal authorities, I finally got
the acknowledgment due for the Speed Post dated 28 July 2009 on 17th August.
The letter had been delivered to the PMO on the 1st August and normally, I
would have received the acknowledgment not later than a week from that date.

I had also described to you the President's helpline, launched with fanfare.

I finally received a response:

Name : Shri Divakar S Natarajan
Date of Receipt : 04 Aug 2009
Current Status : The petition is transferred
Date of Transfer : 19 Aug 2009
State Government : Government of Andhra Pradesh
Officer's Name : Shri C.R.Biswal
Designation : Principal Secretary
Address : General Administration Deptt.
3rd Floor, B Block, AP Sectt.,
Hyderabad
Telephone No. :

Note: You are requested to further liaise in the matter directly with
Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, General Administration
Deptt.3rd Floor, B Block, AP Sectt., Hyderabad for further information.

Well, if my President asks me to, I shall obey.

But are you and your esteemed readers, convinced that the President's
intervention in this form is adequate to address the issues that I have
documented ?

Or is it a, properly worded sigh of helplessness ?

The President Of India's Helpline Is A Waste Of Time.

2009-08-20T17:44:00.000+05:30
Shri Christy L Fernandez,
Secretary to The President Of India,
New Delhi.

Dear Shri Fernandez,

When a citizen petitions the President of India, it is reasonable that he expects a comprehensive, well considered and honest answer.

He does not expect to be thrown back into the bureaucratic quagmire.

The following is a comment that has been published by The Economist:

divakarssathya wrote:
August 20, 2009 6:42

In my earlier comment, I had pointed out how the Indian ruling elite,The Press, The Judiciary, The Bureaucracy and of course The Political Class work together to do nothing, so that desperate citizens who value their sanity and innocence can then prostrate to them, acknowledge them as their true fathers and mothers,mai-baap, pay them a percentage of their income and eke out a living as vassals.

You had kindly permitted me to invite your esteemed readers to my blog, sathyagraha.blogspot.com, where i have documented how -

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has systematically denied me due process.

The State Information Commissioner has concocted a transparent ruse to rubbish the RTI Act 2005.

The Chief Secretary, the top bureaucrat of Andhra Pradesh, has personally supervised the false and misleading information that was fed to me and has also lied to the High court. The State Information Secretary never represented himself in the Court.

The Chief Information Commissioner, in New Delhi, has comprehensively contumed the RTI Act 2005, has chosen to not examine the false claims of the Prime Minister's Office and has punished me for standing up for the proper implementation of the Act.

Not only has the Prime Minister's Office, violated the RTI Act 2005 it has, perhaps inevitably, kept the Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the dark about their sordid juvenile delinquency.

The Prime Minister's Office has not answered, or even acknowledged my letter to him sent by registered post, number 9700, dated June 15, 2009.

After a great deal of work by the concerned postal authorities, I finally got the acknowledgment due for the Speed Post dated 28 July 2009 on 17th August. The letter had been delivered to the PMO on the 1st August and normally, I would have received the acknowledgment not later than a week from that date.

I had also described to you the President's helpline, launched with fanfare.

I finally received a response:

Name : Shri Divakar S Natarajan
Date of Receipt : 04 Aug 2009
Current Status : The petition is transferred
Date of Transfer : 19 Aug 2009
State Government : Government of Andhra Pradesh
Officer's Name : Shri C.R.Biswal
Designation : Principal Secretary
Address : General Administration Deptt.
3rd Floor, B Block, AP Sectt.,
Hyderabad
Telephone No. :

Note: You are requested to further liaise in the matter directly with Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh, General Administration Deptt.3rd Floor, B Block, AP Sectt., Hyderabad for further information.

Well, if my President asks me to, I shall obey.

But are you and your esteemed readers, convinced that the President's intervention in this form is adequate to address the issues that I have documented ?

Or is it a, properly worded sigh of helplessness ?"

You have my cell phone number.

I will be delighted to receive your response at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

divakar.

PS Incidentally,

1. Political Secretary (GAD) CR Biswal is the same officer who supervised the stream of false and misleading statements, that I have documented.

2. He is no longer the Political Secretary (GAD). The current political secretary is Shri R M Gonella, with whom I have been in touch.

India's Judiciary - Derelict, Delinquent And Dangerous

2009-07-30T16:54:00.000+05:30
Title India: Independence of and corruption within the judicial system (2007 - April 2009)
Publisher Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Country India
Publication Date 23 April 2009
Citation / Document Symbol IND103122.E
Cite as Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Independence of and corruption within the judicial system (2007 - April 2009), 23 April 2009, IND103122.E, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4a7040ab23.html [accessed 30 July 2009]
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada - Logo
India: Independence of and corruption within the judicial system (2007 - April 2009)

Transparency International (TI) provides the following summary of India's judicial system:

India's court system consists of a Supreme Court, high courts at state level and subordinate courts at district and local level. The Supreme Court comprises a Chief Justice and no more than 25 other judges appointed by the president. The Supreme Court has a special advisory role on topics that the president may specifically refer to it. High courts have power over lower courts within their respective states, including posting, promotion and other administrative functions. Judges of the Supreme Court and the high court cannot be removed from office except by a process of impeachment in parliament. Decisions in all courts can be appealed to a higher judicial authority up to the Supreme Court level. (2007, 215)

Article 50 of the Constitution of India provides for the independence of the judiciary, stating that "[t]he State shall take steps to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State" (India 1 Dec. 2007, Art. 50).

Article 124 of India's Constitution states the following in regard to appointment, tenure and impeachment:

(2) [e]very judge of the Supreme Court shall be appointed by the President ... after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President deems necessary for the purpose and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years.

...

(4) A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. (ibid., Art. 124 (2) and (4))

As of April 2009, no instances of impeachment have been reported; there was an attempt to impeach Supreme Court Justice V. Ramaswami in 1991 for "misuse of office," but the motion did not pass in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament) (DNA 21 Feb. 2009; The Times of India 9 Sept. 2008). According to a 17 March 2009 Times of India article, a "chargesheet " detailing accusations against High Court Justice Soumitra Sen, as well as his defence, has been prepared by a panel of judges, which will enable members of parliament to debate a motion to impeach him. Justice Sen of the Calcutta High Court was found guilty of misappropriating "sale proceeds" when he was an advocate in the 1990s, although he later repaid the money at the request of the High Court (The Times of India 17 Mar. 2009; India Today 9 Sept. 2008). According to India Today, Sen was found guilty of "misconduct," but was subsequently elevated to the High Court in 2003, while still in possession of the money (9 Sept. 2008).

In 1993, nine judges of the Supreme Court developed a new system for the appointment of judges to the high courts (CJAR 12 Oct. 2007; see also The Hindu 19 Feb. 2009). This system established a "collegium" of senior judges of the Supreme Court to select candidates and make recommendations to the government regarding appointments (CJAR 12 Oct. 2007; The Hindu 19 Feb. 2009).

According to Shanti Bhushan, a former law minister in India writing on behalf of the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reform (CJAR), an organization whose objective is to apply "grassroots pressure" on the implementation of judicial reform in India (n.d.a.), the recommendations of the collegium were "binding" on the government (CJAR 12 Oct. 2007). The government could "return the recommendation [of the collegium] once, but subsequently if it was unanimously reiterated by the collegium, it would have to be implemented" (ibid. 12 Oct. 2007). Shanti Bhushan further states that this system was developed in order to protect the independence of the judiciary, but he also indicates that the system's "performance has been disappointing," because it has not been transparent (ibid.). According to a 19 February 2009 article in The Hindu, the collegium's "selection process is kept secret from the Bar, the legislature and the people." The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) similarly states that the selection process for judges of the higher judiciary is "non-transparent," additionally stating that "all attempts to make the process transparent have been resisted by the judiciary thus far" (25 Sept. 2007).

According to the World Bank, "[a]lthough India's courts are notoriously inefficient, they at least comprise a functioning independent judiciary" (World Bank n.d.). The World Bank also indicates that in many states corruption investigations have "increased significantly" (n.d.). However, TI states that despite constitutional provisions for the independence and accountability of the judiciary in India, "corruption is increasingly apparent" (2007, 215).

As evidence of corruption, TI cites a high-profile case, wherein 9 people, including a politician's son, were acquitted of their alleged involvement in the murder of Jessica Lal (2007, 215). However, following extensive media exposure, the case was reopened and the son of a senior Haryana Congress leader was convicted of the murder, while two others were convicted of conspiracy and destruction of evidence (Rediff.com 18 Dec. 2006).

Though TI indicates that the upper judiciary "is relatively clean," it states that "[i]n the broader justice institutions corruption is systemic" (2007, 215). Specifically, TI indicates that "[t]here is a high level of discretion in the processing of paperwork during a trial and multiple points when court clerks, prosecutors and police investigators can misuse their power without discovery" (2007, 215). TI additionally indicates that corruption is often caused by case delays and judge shortages, explaining that civilians "seek shortcuts through bribery, favours, hospitality or gifts" (2007, 215-216).

In a 1 April 2009 telephone interview, the South Asia Desk Program Officer of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), who is a lawyer from India, stated that if we are to consider corruption not in strictly financial terms, but also in terms of favours to family members, for instance, then "an alarming number of justices are corrupt" in India. The AHRC Program Officer also stated that "it is possible for justices in India to be bribed, to falsely accuse someone or to falsely acquit someone" (1 Apr. 2009). According to a statement issued by the ALRC, a former Chief Justice of India, Justice S.P. Bharucha, suggested "that about 20 percent of the judiciary in India is corrupt," while a High Court judge suggested that the number was closer to 33 percent (25 Sept. 2007).

In regard to case backlogs, TI provides the following numbers as of February 2006: "33,635 cases were pending in the Supreme Court with 26 judges; 3,341,040 cases in the high courts with 670 judges; and 25,306,458 cases in the 13,204 subordinate courts" (2007, 215). TI specifically refers to India when stating that "lengthy adjournments force people to pay bribes to speed up their cases" (2007, xxiv). A 25 January 2008 Indo-Asian News Service article states that the Supreme Court had 222 cases pending decisions 6 months or more after their last hearing. The article indicates that the Civil Procedure Code does not have provisions for time limits between the hearings and the decisions (Indo-Asian News Service 25 Jan. 2008). The article also indicates that information on the delayed 222 cases was attained by a lawyer through the Right to Information Act (RTI) of 2005 (ibid.).

Citing a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, Global Integrity indicates that, in India, "initiatives like Right to Information (RTI) and e-governance, [as well as] computerization of judicial records for clearing [the] massive backlog of legal cases in courts ... have been instrumental in curbing corruption in the country" (2008). However, Prashant Bhushan, a Supreme Court lawyer and member of the CJAR, alleges that the judiciary is "seeking to effectively remove itself from the purview of the Right to Information Act," using the independence of the judiciary as its justification (CJAR n.d.b).

According to Asian News International, in May 2008, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition that sought to have the assets of judges, including the Chief Justice of India, disclosed under the provisions of the RTI (15 May 2008). The article reports that the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) filed the petition arguing that the Chief Justice could not withhold asset information "on the mere ground that judges [are] Constitutional authorities" (Asian News International 15 May 2008). However, in January 2009, The Times of India reported that the Central Information Commission rejected the argument that the Chief Justice was exempt from the RTI, ordering the Chief Justice to disclose whether its judges were filing declarations of their assets, as per a 1997 resolution (8 Jan. 2009).

According to The Times of India, in September 2008, 34 sitting judges were accused of being involved in embezzlement within the Ghaziabad court system (10 Sept. 2008). Of those identified, one is a Supreme Court judge, 10 are high court judges and 23 are lower court judges (The Times of India 10 Sept. 2008; see also Thaindian News 23 Sept. 2008). Thaindian News reports that in September 2008 the Supreme Court gave its approval for the Central Bureau of Investigation to inquire into the allegations (23 Sept. 2008). An April 2009 Hindustan Times article indicates that the investigation is ongoing, stating that the Supreme Court asked for the case to be moved from a court in Ghaziabad to Delhi, due to "practical difficulties in conducting the probe" (1 Apr. 2009).

Another corruption accusation involves a former Chief Justice of India, YK Sabharwal; Sabharwal has been accused of making case decisions that furthered the business interests of his sons (Hindustan Times 9 June 2008; ALRC 25 Sept. 2007). A 9 June 2008 Hindustan Times article indicates that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) forwarded the complaints against Sabharwal, made by CJAR members, to the Ministry of Law and Justice for further action. No further information regarding the investigation of Sabharwal could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Attention to Sabharwal's case decisions were first given media exposure by Mumbai-based Mid Day newspaper staff, who published information indicating that Sabharwal's sons gained "material benefits out of their father's position in the Indian judiciary" (ALRC 25 Sept. 2007; CJAR 13 Oct. 2007). The editor, the resident editor, the publisher and the cartoonist of Mid Day were convicted of "contempt of court" (ALRC 25 Sept. 2007; CJAR 13 Oct. 2007). The four journalists were sentenced to four months imprisonment (Rediff.com 21 Sept. 2007; Mid Day 28 Nov. 2007). According to a 28 November 2007 Mid Day article, the Supreme Court stayed the prison sentence and the case was scheduled for a hearing on 16 January 2008. No further information on the case proceedings could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

In October 2008, the Union Cabinet announced that it would introduce the Judges Inquiry Amendment Bill 2008 in parliament (Thaindian News 8 Oct. 2008; Indo-Asian News Service 8 Oct. 2008). A 20 December 2008 article in The Statesman reports that "increasing charges of corruption against the judiciary" precipitated the need to amend the Judges Inquiry Act of 1968. Sources indicate that the Bill carries provisions for a National Judicial Council that would function to investigate allegations of corruption and misconduct of judges from the higher judiciary (Indo-Asian News Service 8 Oct. 2008; The Statesman 20 Dec. 2008; Thaindian News 8 Oct. 2008). According to a document entitled "Bills Passed During 2007-2009" published by PRS Legislative Research, a research initiative that publishes legislative briefs on Bills in India (n.d.a.), the Judges Inquiry Amendment Bill 2008 had not been passed as of February 2009 (n.d.b.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Hong Kong. 1 April 2009. Telephone interview with South Asia Desk Program Officer.

Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC). 25 September 2007. "India: Indian Judiciary's Contempt for Accountability and Scrutiny is a Shame." [Accessed 1 Apr. 2009]

Asian News International. 15 May 2008. "Supreme Court Dismisses Petition Demanding Judge's Assets Disclosure." (Factiva)

Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Judicial Reform (CJAR). 13 October 2007. Prashant Bhushan. "Securing Judicial Accountability – Freedom of Speech vs. Contempt: Towards an Independent Judicial Commission." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]
_____. 12 October 2007. Shanti Bhushan. "Clean Up the Judiciary." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]
_____. N.d.a. "About Us." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]
_____. N.d.b. Prashant Bhushan. "Judicial Accountability or Illusion: The National Judicial Council Bill." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]

Daily News and Analysis (DNA) [Mumbai]. 21 February 2009. Rajesh Sinha and Rakesh Bhatnagar. "MPs Seek to Impeach Judge." [Accessed 17 Apr. 2009]

Global Integrity. 2008. "India: Corruption Timeline." [Accessed 3 Apr. 2009]

The Hindu [New Delhi]. 19 February 2009. V.R. Krishna Iyer. "Needed, Transparency and Accountability." (Factiva)

Hindustan Times [New Delhi]. 1 April 2009. "SC to Consider Transfer of UP PF Scam Case from Ghaziabad." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]
_____. 9 June 2008. Nagendar Sharma. "Ex-chief Justice Under Corruption Panel Scanner." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]

India. 1 December 2007. Ministry of Law and Justice. The Constitution of India. [Accessed 9 Apr. 2009]

India Today [Mumbai]. 9 September 2008. Elora Sen. "Justice Soumitra Sen Case Stuns Judicial Fraternity." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]

Indo-Asian News Service. 8 October 2008. Arun Kumar and Manish Chand. "Bill for Probe Panel Against Errant Judges Cleared." (Factiva)
_____. 25 January 2008. "Justice Delayed: 222 Cases Await Supreme Court Verdict." (Factiva)

Mid Day [Mumbai]. 28 November 2007. "MPs Cutting Across Party Lines Demand Inquiry Against the Former Chief Justice of India and Defend Mid Day Journalists Sentenced to Jail for Exposing the Nexus Between the Judge's Sons and Mall Builders." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]

PRS Legislative Research. N.d.a. "About PRS." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]
_____. N.d.b. "Bills Passed During 2007-2009." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]

Rediff.com. 21 September 2007. Onkar Singh. "Mid Day Journalists Sentenced to 4 Months in Contempt Case." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]
_____. 18 December 2006. Onkar Singh. "Jessica Lal Case: Manu Sharma Convicted." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]

The Statesman [New Delhi]. 20 December 2008. "The Statesman (India): Special Article." (Factiva)

Thaindian News. 8 October 2008. "Government to Introduce Judges Inquiry Amendment Bill 2008." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]
_____. 23 September 2008. "Supreme Court Approves for CBI Probe into Ghaziabad PF Scam." [Accessed 16 Apr. 2009]

The Times of India [New Delhi]. 17 March 2009. Dhananjay Mahapatra. "Panel to Pave Way for Justice Sen's Ouster." [Accessed 17 Apr. 2009]
_____. 8 January 2009. Manoj Mitta. "CJI not Exempt from RTI Purview, CIC Tells SC." (Factiva).
_____. 10 September 2008. Dhananjay Mahapatra. "UP Cops Want CBI Probe Against 34 Judges." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]
_____. 9 September 2008. "Kolkata Judge's Case Adds to Judiciary Woes." [Accessed 17 Apr. 2009]

Transparency International (TI). 2007. Global Corruption Report 2007: Corruption in Judicial Systems. [Accessed 9 Apr. 2009]

World Bank. N.d. "Governance in India." [Accessed 15 Apr. 2009]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources, including: The International Commission of Jurists, Global Integrity, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Combat Law, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice Initiatives, Hindustan Times, a Professor at the National Law University of Delhi, and a Professor at the University of Michigan did not provide information within the time constraints of this Response.

Internet sites, including: American Bar Association, Asia Times, Combat Law, The Economist, European Country of Origin Information Network (ecoi.net), Far Eastern Economic Review, Global Integrity, Human Rights First, IndLaw.com, Ministry of Law and Justice – India, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Supreme Court of India, United Nations (UN) Development Programme, UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Topics: Corruption, Independence of judiciary,

Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.

Andhra Pradesh High Court's Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law .

2009-07-29T22:45:00.000+05:30
from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 7:28 PM
subject Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon’ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182
mailed-by gmail.com

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. December 10, 2008

Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182

Your Honour,

I have been constrained to conclude for the following reasons, that the Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao is conducting this hearing for the admission of my mandamus writ petition, in a frivolous and vexatious manner and with a transparent intention to trivialise, humiliate and defeat me and minimise the onus of the all powerful respondents:

1. Despite repeated requests and mention that I have had to struggle with the Andhra Pradesh High Court Legal Services Committee since a year, the Hon'ble Judge has not made any visible effort to provide me with sound legal counsel. This lapse, in a case as serious as this, is similar to the intriguing insanity of repeatedly sending ill equipped persons into harm's way.

2. The Hon'ble Judge has not taken any notice of the contempt that till date, the State Information Commission has not issued a counter. The SIC's counsel has not even appeared in court.

3. The Hon'ble Judge has gratuitously and reflexively taken every opportunity to jeer and ridicule me in my deprived and defenseless state while remaining mute on the grave infractions committed by the all powerful respondents and by others.

4. After my presentation of the decisive evidence ordered by the Hon'ble Judge, he has granted the respondents an untimely, abrupt and lavish adjournment and since then appears to have lost his initial enthusiasm to conduct the hearing.

Your Honour, I plead with you to kindly help me with a legal counsel, with the necessary intellectual, psychological and professional maturity, to productively partner me in the successful conduct of this important case.

I request you to kindly ensure that the relevant affidavits are meticulously mastered and cases are heard properly by an unimpeachable legal authority, without any dilatoriness, obfuscation or other appearance of bias.

I also request you to take any other actions that you may think fit to compensate me for the delays I have suffered and to restore my confidence in the judicial conduct of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Sincerely, I am

Divakar S Natarajan

Attachments:

1. Detailed account of "Serious apprehensions..." 2. "Compelling Criminality" – a bare account of Divakar's individual sathyagraha against corruption

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon’ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad November 23, 2008

Re:

STATUS OF: WP 20182 of 2008

STAGE: ADMISSION (GAD) DIVAKAR S. NATARAJAN, HYD V/S STATE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER, HYD & 2 OTHERS

Pet.Advocate: PARTY-IN-PERSON

Res.Advocate: GP FOR GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

SR-Number: / District: HYDERABAD Lower Court Number: Subject: GENERAL ADMINISTRTION DEPT. (MISC.MATTERS)

Last Time Listed On: 21-Nov-2008

Next Date Of Listing: 05-Dec-2008 Misc. Petitions filed: WPMP 26356/2008 Connected Matters:na

Sub: Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Conduct Of WP 20182 of 2008

Your Honour,

On February 20, 2008 I had appealed for the services of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Legal Services Committee through an exhaustively documented and comprehensively descriptive application.

My application documented serious illegalities and maladministration by the State Information Commissioner and the Chief Secretary, Government Of Andhra Pradesh.

It appears that after approximately one month of my application, on 12 March 2008, the Committee sought independent legal opinion from its counsel on the matter. Approximately forty days later, on 25 April, 2008, the advocate advanced his opinions in favour.

Following the receipt of the favourable legal opinion, the Committee then commenced its search for a counsel to represent me.

According to the Secretary, the search was conducted among fledgling lawyers who were looking to augment their nascent practices by performing routine legal chores for the Committee.

They were all shown my papers and one after another they all refused. The Secretary then proceeded to inform me that the Chairman had asked him to inform me that he believed that the Committee had done its best for me and it could do no further.

When I requested him to kindly fix an appointment for me to appeal to the Chairman, he informed me that the Chairman did not wish to meet me or hear my appeal.

Memorably he said, “You cannot argue with a judge”.

I did not give up and immediately called the Hon’ble Judge’s chamber to seek an appointment. I was lucky and the Hon’ble Judge himself picked up the phone and kindly gave me an appointment that very afternoon. He heard me patiently, enquired from me as to why I could not appear as party in person, and when I demurred that I had no knowledge either of all the legal ramifications of my situation nor any experience of judicial procedure or my rights in a court room, he instructed the Secretary to file the papers and recommence the search.

It was decided that the same lawyer who had offered his opinion would be requested to prepare the papers. The papers were prepared by July.

After several false starts– queried and returned by Registry for being filed as a CLP, necessitating another meeting with the Chairman – missing documents – incomplete index etc – the Secretary had entrusted the job to the junior most clerk - they were finally filed on 22nd August 2008.

I have repeatedly informed the hon’ble judges that all the relevant papers may not have been filed.

However, no legal counsel had been appointed yet. This lapse, in a case as serious as this one, is similar to the intriguing insanity of repeatedly sending ill equipped persons into harm’s way.

The case was posted before the Hon’ble Justice N V Ramana and the Secretary whispered into the ears of the hon’ble judge and sought two adjournments.

When the Committee appeared to have finally found a lawyer, she unfortunately took strong exception to my unwillingness to blindly sign the vakalatnama without meeting her.

Memorably she said,” You cannot ask any questions if you come to Legal Services. If you want to ask questions, engage your own lawyer. “

Now the hon’ble judge kindly summoned a senior advocate to his chamber - I was not present - and later instructed me to meet him.

I spent two hours to pick up the papers from the Committee and met him punctually at his residence at the appointed minute.

This lawyer, had not properly informed himself of the facts of my case, but attempted to interrogate me about what my intentions were with my litigation.

This was curious considering that he had not made any assurance that he was accepting my case.

This man finally informed me that he was appearing in a major case the following day and instructed me to present myself before the hon’ble judge and request yet another adjournment.

I had to travel all the way from Begumpet to the High Court just to perform a menial chore and ask for yet another adjournment.

Two days later, when I called this lawyer, he instructed me to ask for another fortnight’s adjournment. When I started to demur, he flatly informed me that he would not accept my case. He did not give me any reasons.

In the meanwhile, the hon’ble judge had perused my affidavits and had issued a fortnight’s notice to the respondents.

When I appeared at his court a fortnight later, the respondents had not prepared their counter.

The hon’ble judge expressed his displeasure, warned that he may have to personally summon the respondents to the court, and gave them another ten days.

When I appeared ten days later, I had to do a lot of running around before I finally discovered that the hon’ble judge VVS Rao would now hear the case.

Hon’ble Judge Shri VVS Rao hears the case:

During the very first hearing, I was perplexed by the hon’ble judge’s apparent lack of preparedness and his unfortunate reflex of making cruel remarks .

The Hon’ble Judge opened by asking me to introduce myself. “Mass communicator? What is that?” I then proceeded to talk about my documentary and gave a sketchy account of what I call my sathyagraha.

Given that my affidavit contained a reasonable account of my work and ordeal, I had to wonder whether the hon’ble judge had chosen to make a spectacle and had sought to belittle me in some fashion.

Later I informed the hon’ble judge that I was severely handicapped because I had not received my constitutional right for competent, independent legal

counsel. “But why cannot you represent yourself?” enquired the Hon’ble judge, “You appear to present yourself quite well.”

I respectfully informed the hon’ble judge, that it was not just a simple matter of presenting myself before a judge.

I informed him that till date I did not have any competent independent legal opinion of the issues and opportunities in my case.

Even as a layman, I was not satisfied with the papers that were filed. I did not know what my courtroom rights were.

“I am aware of my limitations,” I informed the hon’ble judge, “This is a serious litigation and I feel myself to be severely handicapped by a lack of proper counsel and representation.”

“I like to think of myself as an ethical person, but I am not familiar with the processes of the judicial system.”

To my disappointment, the hon’ble judge responded with a comment that was as alarming for its pedestrian, uninsightful nature as it was for its cruel and disparaging spirit.

“Oh!” exclaimed the judge,”Ethical! But no money!”

This was nothing short of a gratuitous verbal slap on my face, but I retained my composure and open mindedness to be able to respond, “True Sir, but my devotion to ethics seems to be perversely validated by the global financial tsunami.”

The hon’ble judge did not respond.

There have been three hearings held on consecutive days since, but during every hearing I have had to raise my voice and counter the hon’ble judge, “Your honour. With due respect you do not appear to be familiar with my affidavits and papers. You appear to be confused.”

My serious request for counsel had been brushed aside.

The respondents’ lawyers were never questioned and during this continuing one sided spectacle, the hon’ble judge was observably too preoccupied with his inquisition to offer me even the plain courtesy of a podium to place my papers.

It was only on the third day, the penultimate day of this four day chunk that the hon’ble judge permitted himself to reveal some grasp of my affidavits.

Given that the nub of the Chief Secretary’s counter is the prima facie absurd assertion that there are no documents to support my claim that the former Chief Minister had made repeated representations to the Former Information & Broadcasting Ministers on my behalf, and my assertion that copies were physically presented to the former CS, presented again in the form of a completely documented CD and also emailed by me to the former Chief Secretary and that these documents appeared to have been wantonly destroyed or lost to justify the administration’s negligence – the hon’ble judge now asked me whether I could produce copies of the emails that I had claimed to have sent to the former Chief Secretary.

I affirmed that I could and informed the hon’ble court that I had indeed forwarded them to the Secretary, Legal Services, the hon’ble judge directed me to produce them in court on the following day.

On the following day I forwarded the same to the hon’ble judge’s email address and informed his office accordingly. The hon’ble judge’s personal secretary then informed me that the hon’ble judge had kindly advised me to present them in a sealed envelope to the Registrar’s office to be forwarded to the court.

I briefed the Secretary, Legal services accordingly but noticed that all that the Secretary had done was put a single copy in a plain envelope, staple it and present the same through his attender to the hon’ble judge’s clerk in the court.

While I was horrified by this willful abuse of procedure and the hon’ble judge grimaced as he received the envelope I noticed that he did not utter a single,reprimanding word.

He scrutinized it and passed it on to the opposing counsel and asked them to make copies for themselves and also present a copy to me.

It does not appear as if this crucial evidence has yet been registered.

Then to my complete surprise, the hon’ble judge chose to adjourn the matter for another fifteen days. He did not ask whether I had any objections.

I believe the hon’ble judge’s adjournment was untimely, abrupt and amounted to a lavish gift to the all powerful respondents at my cost.

The hon’ble judge’s 15 day adjournment was untimely because my emails- including copies of the former CM’s letters, knocked the base out of the respondents’ flimsy assertions.

It categorically proved the falsity of their affidavits and demonstrated that I had done everything I humanly could and that they had abused an already stretched judicial process by willfully provoking my litigation.

To offer them a long adjournment at this point was untimely.

The hon’ble judge’s 15 day adjournment was abrupt. Why a sudden 15 day adjournment after having continuously heard the case for four days?

The hon’ble judge’s 15 day adjournment amounted to a lavish gift to the all powerful respondents at my cost.

If the hon’ble judge had asked me I would have brought to his attention the fact that the respondents had been given ample time to present their counter. The previous judge hearing the case had first given them a fortnight’s notice and then a further ten days.

There can be no question that the hon’ble judge’s 15 day adjournment had the unfortunate appearance of largesse to the all powerful respondents at my cost.

Finally, I have noted with concern, that the case against the State Information Commissioner has till date not been countered by their counsel. Indeed it does not appear that their counsel has even made an appearance in the court.

The hon’ble judge has not yet indicated that he has noticed this casual and contemptuous behaviour of the State Information Commissioner.

Your Honour, for the above reasons I have been constrained to conclude that the Hon’ble judge Shri VVS Rao has conducted this hearing both in substance and style in a frivolous, vexatious manner with a transparent intention to trivialize and humiliate me and favour the all powerful respondents.

The continued dysfunctionality of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Legal Services Committee in my case, since almost a year, and its manifest philosophical confusion and organizational decrepitude analogous to reported situations in which ordinary police stations refuse to record First Information Reports, also begs the serious question whether there exists in the Andhra Pradesh High Court a crushing bias in favour of the rich and powerful that is subsidised by the ordinary embattled citizen.

Your Honour, I plead with you to kindly help me with a legal counsel, with the necessary intellectual, psychological and professional maturity, to productively partner me in the successful conduct of this important case.

I request you to kindly ensure that the relevant affidavits are meticulously mastered and cases are heard properly by an unimpeachable legal authority, without any dilatoriness or any other appearance of bias.

I also request you to take any other actions, that you may think fit to compensate me for the delays I have suffered and to restore my confidence in the judicial conduct of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Sincerely, I am

Divakar S Natarajan

Excuse Me, Your Honour ?!?

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 11:12 AM
subject Re:Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon’ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008
mailed-by gmail.com

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. December 18, 2008

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10,2008

Your Honour,

Responding to my telephonic inquiry, your personal secretary kindly informed me yesterday that Your Honour had kindly perused my email to Your Honour and attachments on the above subject and had decided not to take any action.

I shall be deeply grateful if you would kindly confirm to me whether I have heard and understood your response correctly.

Sincerely,
Divakar S Natarajan

A Pernicious Rebellion Against The Law Of The Land

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 9:52 AM
subject Re:Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon’ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008
mailed-by gmail.com

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. December 31, 2008

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10,2008 & December 18,2008

Your Honor,

May I request your kind attention towards the clear and unequivocal statements of the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, reported in the press yesterday

These views endorse,without any shadow of doubt, my assesment of the conduct of the hearing of my writ petition 20182 , in the court of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao, as a vitiated spectacle and waste of valuable time.

They reiterate and underscore the reasonableness of my requests made to your kind self.

Given my experiences with APHCLC that I have described to you, the Chief Justice's views indicate that your Hon'ble Court may have been in pernicious rebellion of the law of the land.

A statement of bitter truth.

But it is certainly one that I have laboured mightily over one year to avoid.

Your honour,judicial time is paid for, but mine is not.

My elderly mother, my daughter and myself have been have been humiliated and tortured since two decades, not for any damage that we have inflicted on society, but because of our steadfast refusal to do so.

Your silence does not give us any relief.

I feel now that I have no option but to pray that whatever Muse of Justice there is will kiss your brows with inspiration and enlighten you to seek truth from the facts, carefully consider cause and effect and do justice without fear, favour or ill will and most of all, with speed.

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

Judicial Game Of "Pass The Parcel" ?

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 5:23 PM
subject Judicial Game of "Pass the Parcel" ?
mailed-by gmail.com

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. January 15, 2009

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008 , December 18, 2008 and December 31,2008.

Your Honour,

It appears that Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narayana Reddy will now hear my nearly year old petition for a mandamus writ.My petition appears as No.105/- in his list, which going by my earlier experience would take close to another ten days to come up.

While this probably represents an improvement over the earlier shocking "file and forget" response, I am unable to read it as anything more than a frail and reluctant admission of delinquency by the Hon'ble Court.

I have to most respectfully submit to Your Honour, that I am not satisfied that the AP High Court has adequately felt the depth and volume of the cynical and unrelenting breach of trust and torture, that it has perpetrated on me over the period of nearly one year through its
slovenly judicial conduct in a matter that has passed prima facie muster of allegations of serious illegality in two of the most powerful offices in the state.

The AP High Court's action to change the Judge hearing my nearly year old petition for a writ,coming as it does baldly and without any explanation,contains no expression of commiseration, compassion, empathy or remorse, no assurance that the previously enacted sordid drama will not be visited on me again and leaves the matter of relief entirely to my currently overburdened imagination.

In the circumstances, the mere act of changing the judge is too nuanced a gesture to be interpreted as anything other than a continuation of spectacle.

The Hon'ble court may want to consider drawing a thicker line that distinguishes self serving gesture from an act of ripe justice.

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

Thank God For Kasab! Thank God For The Satyam Fiasco !

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Sun, Jan 18, 2009 at 8:43 PM
subject Thank God For Kasab! Thank God For The Satyam Fiasco!
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Jan 18

Reply

Follow up message

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. January 18, 2009

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008 , December 18, 2008 and December 31,2008 & Judicial Game of "Pass the Parcel" ? of January 15,2009.

You Honour,

May I request your kind attention to the article by Nirmalya Kumar,Co-Director, Aditya Birla India Centre at London Business School,titled "Satyam: Not Yet India's Enron". Times of India January 18,2009.

In this article, Prof Kumar makes the point that unless the Indian system demonstrates the nous to deal with this crisis with the 4Cs,namely, Candour (accepting failure) Contrition (accepting responsibility) Compassion (showing concern for those adversely affected) and Commitment (to solving the crisis), it runs the risk of damaging its credibility as a place where grown ups can make investments and do business.

You may recall that this was more or less verbatim, my prayer to you in my email of January 15,2009.

I once again request you to answer my solemn prayers with the 4 Cs.

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

The Mafia Does Quietus

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 1:31 PM
subject The Mafia Does Quietus.

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. February 2, 2009

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008 , December 18, 2008 and December 31,2008 , Judicial Game of "Pass the Parcel" ? of January 15,2009 & "Thank God For Kasab. Thank God For The Satyam Fiasco"

Your Honour,

Unfortunately my apprehensions that your kind but mild intervention of changing the Judge would not significantly change the year long partisan, authoritarian and degrading character of the court towards my plea appear to have come true.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court continues to behave like a submissive crony of the Chief Secretary, APGOV and the State Information Commissioner.

* If the Honourable High Court of Andhra Pradesh is unable to enlist the services of a single professionally mature advocate who will partner me, why does the court not come clean in the public interest and say so?

* Once again the court took no notice, when I pointed out that the counsel for the State Information Commissioner had not bothered to, till date, make an appearance in the court or even issue a counter.

* With the submission by the GP for GAD of a material paper containing letter no 44130/I&PR-11/A2/2008-1 dtd 4 December 2008 from Pri Secy to Govt (GAD) to Secy, I&B Govt of India enclosing,

" 1. GMail from Divakar S Natarajan dated 29-07-05 and 20-11-08.
2.Letter from former Chief MInister of AP dated 17.05.1998 17-07-1999 and 03.06.1997.
3.Letter from Member of Parliament(Lok Sabha), Ex Home Minister (not named but Shri Indrajit Gupta) dated 18.12.1999.
4. Letter from Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, New Delhi (not named but Jaipal Reddy) dated 03.06.92."

the GAD's counter has collapsed.

It is evident that the GP for GAD 's counter is false and misleading in its entirety and exposes the reckless and perverse defamation that I and my family were made to suffer all these years because of administrative negligence and inhuman denial at the highest level.

The GP for GAD's counter clearly constitutes a callous abuse of the judicial process.

However, the Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narasimha Reddy hearing my case has not given any sign that he has noticed this collapse and has judged its implications.

Like the famous leg spinner Shri BS Chandrasekhar is reported to have asked of the cagey Kiwi umpire, I too have to ask, "I know he is bowled. But is he out?"

* In my affidavit, I had stated," The government files provided by the Deputy Secretary/PIO GAD, make obvious the following points:

a. The Chief Secretary APGOV has taken a personal interest and has personally directed the disposal of my file.

b. That at every stage, all significant information has been withheld and false and misleading information has been provided.

However, the Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narasimha Reddy hearing my case has, in a clear attempt to mitigate the onus of the all powerful respondent, not made any mention of this nor enquired about the basis or evidence for my claim.

The "government files" that I mention were part of my application to the APHCLSA. Despite my incessant urging, the Secy/ Aphclsc refused to include these papers to support my affidavit.

* The Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narasimha Reddy has indicated via the sneak peek that he gave of his impending judgement, that he intends to endorse the State Information Commission' s fabrications and the most extreme illegality, namely that of administering a public institution like a private estate.

In order to achieve his dubious purpose of subverting the very idea of rule of law and the judicial process as a check and balance on a delinquent administration, he has indicated, that he intends to rubber stamp, the State Information Commissioner's assault on, of all things, my facility with the English language.

A wise and independent judge, in full possession of his faculties, who cares about the continued health and effectiveness of the RTI Act 2005, may have viewed my refusal to be cowed down by the corrupt SIC's repeated intimidation as an unusual -especially given the multiple collapse of so called "independent" professionals in the horrific Satyam fiasco - act of doughty public responsibility.

But this hon'ble judge has indicated that like an adolescent ( authoritarian, sado masochistic) class monitor, willing at all costs to keep the affection of his master, he intends to admonish me for my alleged "excessive rights consciousness".

This is preposterous, considering that independent, informed and patriotic Indian citizens might consider that currently the most egregious example of "excessive rights consciousness" is emanating from the highest court of our land in its infantile (narcissistic) squall to privilege itself from the reach of the RTI Act 2005.

* The Hon'ble Judge's confession of doubts:

Just before concluding his preview of his judgement, the Hon'ble Judge confessed that he did not consider himself perfect and that I could always appeal his judgement.

In the earlier session, I had to request the Hon'ble Judge Reddy to kindly desist from using self disparaging statements as a device to escape responsibility and to covertly shift blame on the the receiving party. A kind of double entendre.

In view of the facts and opinions that I have already listed, it would be appropriate to read the Hon'ble Judge's 'generous' advice as an irresponsible confession of his doubts , confusion and unconscious guilt regarding his impending judgement.

* A mad curial chorus for "quietus"

In the court of the Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao, I heard the GP for GAD request the Hon'ble Judge, " Judge Saab ab isko khatham kar do" " My Lord, now you must put a quietus to this"

His wish was immediately granted." Hahn, my isko abhi khatham kar doonga." "Yes.Yes. I shall put a quietus to this."

That is when I screamed. "This man is lying, Your Honour. The GAD's affidavit is a pack of lies."

The sheer viscerality of my scream must have gotten to the Hon'ble Judge. That is when he asked me whether I could present copies of the former CM's correspondence. This correspondence has demolished the key stone of the GAD's affidavit which has collapsed.

The Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narasimha Reddy surprised me when he said in conclusion, that he had now put a quietus to the matter.

A vibrant judge may be expected to display and demonstrate, "a passion for independence, a passion for justice, a passion to serve the unfolding of life" - Erich Fromm. Anatomy of Human Destructiveness."

To be subject to this open clamour for putting a quietus on me is quiet unpleasant.

Judges do Justice. Hoodlums do quietus.

Your Honour. I request you to kindly request the Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narasimha Reddy to keep his judgement of my WP 20182/08 in abeyance, while you consider a suitable recourse that will serve the ends of justice, keeping in my mind that my resources and confidence are quite close to breaking point.

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

An Absurdly Prejudiced And Dishonest Judgement

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 7:57 PM
subject Honour My Constitutional Right For Timely And Effective Legal Counsel And Aid.
mailed-by gmail.com

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. February 5, 2009

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008 , December 18, 2008 and December 31,2008 , Judicial Game of "Pass the Parcel" ? of January 15,2009, "Thank God For Kasab. Thank God For The Satyam Fiasco" & " The Mafia Does Quietus" of February 2, 2009

Your Honour,

As feared, the Hon'ble Judge Shri L Narasimha Reddy has dismissed my WP 20182/08.

Given my earlier unhappy experience with the APHCLSA, I have no alternative but to demand your aegis to receive my constitutional right for timely and effective legal counsel and aid, in order that I may consider and pursue my legal options.

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

Has The Message From Chennai been heard In Hyderabad ?

from divakar snatarajan
to cjap@ap.nic.in
date Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 1:25 PM
subject Has The Message From Chennai Been Heard In Hyderabad ?
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Feb 23

Reply

Follow up message
The Chief Justice of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh,

Hon'ble Shri Anil Ramesh Dave,

Andhra Pradesh High Court

Hyderabad. February 5, 2009

Sub: Further to Serious Apprehensions Regarding The Judicial Conduct Of Hon'ble Judge Shri VVS Rao in WP 20182 dtd December 10, 2008 , December 18, 2008 and December 31,2008 , Judicial Game of "Pass the Parcel" ? of January 15,2009, "Thank God For Kasab. Thank God For The Satyam Fiasco" & " The Mafia Does Quietus" of February 2, 2009 & Honour My Constitutional Right For Timely And Effective Legal Counsel And Aid or February 5,2009

Your Honour,

Responding to advice from your office, I presented myself before your PS the week before last, to follow up on my request to your kind self .

When I called last week, Mr Sridhar Rao, communicated to me that the feeling was that the APHC could not cooperate with me, because I was "digging into" the judges.

Given that there has been no positive response from your end, I have to assume that your office is with deliberate ambiguity, conveying that it has no qualms about abusing its considerable powers to collude in the cover up of serious illegality in high places and to hound a patriotic sathyagrahi into submission to its ignorant, ill conceived, ragging.

Fortunately the events at the Chennai High Court have come at the right time to demonstrate exactly how our courts revel in being a law unto themselves and in holding innocent people hostages to their diseased vanities.

As a loving and constructive Indian who has sacrificed two of the best decades of his life for the cause of an law abiding society, I am in no mood to humour your vanity.

I hope that the pre Talibanic style events would have sobered sections of the legal community who would at least now see my sathyagraha against Indian idiocy in its proper perspective.

I look forward to an intelligent response from you at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Divakar S Natarajan

A Little Ethics ?

2009-07-16T11:25:00.000+05:30

Retribution Is Good - But Who Qualifies ?

The Raging American was a walking IED .

He was a threat to himself and others.

He was lucky to find Shri Keillor - a reader, thinker and writer with obvious self esteem issues.

He could have found one of those multitude of Americans who pack guns and are itching to test them.

He has probably dehumanised his wife to "quivering jelly" or worse.

His children are probably growing up as potential Michael Jacksons - defenseless against the "normalities" of existence.

He either was or will soon be fired.

Do we "forgive" this carrier of calamities or do we show him some tough love?

But how many among us have any idea what love is?

I was well into my thirties, before I lucked upon a Rabbi's son who could explain love, psychoses and related issues, with a perspective that I found appealing.With only marginal and clearly awkward traces of ethnocentricity or hubris .(Erich Fromm - start with Man For Himself).

Justice is brilliant and necessary, but why is it that 21 centuries after a martyrdom considered significant by a large mass of the ruling elite of the planet and ages of human experience and wisdom we are unable to cast stones and deliver healing and life?

The moral of Shri Keillor's complex parable appears clear - Tat Tvam Asi - That Thou Art and we have a lot of growing up to do.

Welcome to Divakar's Sathyagraha - News and views from Divakar S Natarajan's, "no excuses", ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India. Now in its 18th year.

http://sathyagraha.blogspot.com/

I would love to hear from you.

And what's with this software. Shri Keillor's name goes unnoticed but all non anglo saxon stuff is underlined in red !

-- divakarssathya
[Read divakarssathya's other letters]
July 15, 2009 10:36 PM

Where's the anger over cruelty?
Garrison Keillor writing at Salon.com

RTI Act 2005 Abuse In Andhra Pradesh- SIC Cheats! Chief Secretary Lies!

2009-07-10T20:40:00.000+05:30
Shri D Subramanyam,
Member Secretary,
Andhra Pradesh State Legal Services Authority,
High Court Of Andhra Pradesh,

Hyderabad. February 20, 2008

Appeal For Legal Services Towards Filing A Public Interest Litigation To Call Attention To Maladministration Of The AP State Information Commission, The Office of the Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh and to seek a remedial writ.

Sir,

Further to our meeting on February 15, 2008, I thank you and Shri T Venkatesvara Reddy, Administrative Officer, for giving me a kind and patient hearing and useful advice on the course to follow to avail the invaluable services of the APSLSA.

I wish to state the following regarding my experiences with AP State Information Commission and later with the Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh State Information Commission:

Since I was not familiar with the RTI Act 2005, and since I am not very intimate with our legal processes, I fixed an appointment and met with Shri Radhakrishna, PS to State Information Commissioner Shri CD Arha and on his advice met Shri Mohan Krishniah, Secretary (Law), SIC on Oct O4, 2006.

I drafted my request for information with Shri Krishniah’s advice and his office kindly typed my petition, which met with his approval.

Shri Ramakrishna, then called and fixed an appointment with Ms Soodamani, Dy Secy, GAD at the Secretariat and advised me to hand my petition to her in person.

However when I went to the Secretariat, I was told that the Dy Secy had left and that I could not enter the Secretariat to hand my petition to anybody else.

Two weeks later, on October 23th, after daily telephone follow up by me, I was once again asked by Shri Ramakrishna to meet the concerned officer at the secretariat.

While I was allowed to meet the officer on this occasion, once again she refused to accept my petition, I was made to walk from one corner of the secretariat to the other in the hot sun, taken to the Chief Secretary’s office by another officer of the GAD and this office also refused to receive my petition.

No grounds were offered for the rejection of my petition.

However I left a copy with the tapaal section, and got my petition date stamped.

In this condition, I once again met Shri Krishniah. He advised me to file a complaint, under section 18(1) of the RTI Act which once again was typed by his office and submitted immediately.

Along with the complaint I also submitted a copy of one of my previous emails to the then Chief Secretary Shri Mohan Kanda as reference to my petition for information.

I later learnt that, under the RTI Act 2005, there was no need to do this. There was no need to disclose the reason for my request for information.

Summoned to meet with State Information Commissioner:

Despite calling the PS to SIC on several occasions, I found that he could not provide me with any further information on the progress of my case.

Sometime in late November 2006, the Private Secretary to the Chief Information Commissioner suggested that the Commissioner had expressed a desire to meet me.

When I arrived for my appointment, he informed me that the Commissioner was busy and that he had advised me to meet Shri K Mangapathi Rao, IAS Secretary - Administration.

Shri Rao spoke to me about various general, unrelated subjects, and but did not answer my query regarding the status of my case.

I shared with him all the information in the public domain, regarding the apparent duplicity of the former AP government and the apathy of the present government and the consequent nearly ostracizing effect on the lives and liberties of myself and my family. (This is detailed in “Excellence Vs Perversity” in the appended current file.

A shocking judgment from the Chief Information Commissioner:

It can be seen that the judgment is draconian and does not carry even a bare pretense of the RTI Act 2005.

Standing section 19(5) regarding onus of proof, on its head, the CIC proceeds to plead for the erring PIO.

He does this by concocting a baseless allegation of lack of specificity and insists; repeatedly and in a most outlandish fashion, that I surrender my right to not reveal the reason for requesting the information or any other personal details (Section 6(1) and 6(2).

When I refuse, repeatedly, to gratify his clearly illegal and illicit demand for information, that has no relevance whatsoever for the adjudication of my case, he proceeds to punish me by dismissing my lawful complaint, drafted by his own legal adviser.

Request for information from APSIC dismissed on dubious grounds:

It can be seen that my application dated November 6, 2007, regarding all information, inputs, and advices on the final disposal of my appeal has been dismissed on spurious grounds.

Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh:

On July 18, 2007, I once again sent a request for information to the Chief Secretary.

From Application To Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

This request is identical in content and wording to the earlier request faulted by the State Information Commissioner on grounds of lack of “specificity”.

As can be seen, this time “specificity” or the lack of it was never an issue – thus conclusively establishing the falsity of the Commissioner’s allegation.

From PIO (GAD)s 1st response

However, my requests for information have, despite clear evidence of the Chief Secretary’s intervention in the matter, been responded to by a series of false and misleading responses.

My appeals to the appellate authority have been rejected.

My requests for an appointment with the Chief Secretary have not been entertained.

My request for clarifications from the Chief Secretary, filed as a fresh petition under RTI Act 2005, has also been rejected.

Persona Non Grata for my loyalty to the rule of law:

The Supreme Court of India was recently forced to chastise the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the alacrity and doggedness with which APGOV sought to release prisoners serving life sentences after conviction of heinous crimes.

The duplicity with which I have been treated (as described in “Excellence Vs Perversity”) appears to be the other side of the coin of lawless predatoriness that unfortunately appears to have gained force and currency in India today.

My innocent quest to abide by the idea of the rule of law and thus preserve my life and liberty has turned into a virtual struggle for survival.

I have been unable to earn an income since the past two decades. I do not possess a bank account.

In this totally unprovoked contest, I have only been supported by my mother, Smt Kanti Rajan MA BEd – who retired after nearly two decades of service at the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet and who since the past 12 years has been conducting a Preschool in the Begumpet area.

It is evident that even her enterprise has been seriously hobbled by our family’s unwillingness to conform to the prevailing “kickback culture”.

Under the above circumstances, I appeal for support from your esteemed authority, in order that I receive the satisfactions that I am due under the law.

Sincerely

Divakar S Natarajan

Esteemed readers may click on the documents displayed on the slide show to reach the album. Here the documents are displayed in the right size. The album also has a magnifying glass facility on the top right.