Hindu civilizationalist. Thinking aloud since 2022. Not here to agree with you. Liberal in the real sense, not Nehruvian!
Mumbai - India
Joined April 2022
- Tweets61.5K
- Following3.2K
- Followers1.8K
- Likes237K
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
India does not raise the issue of genocide of Armenians. It does not raise the issue of mass killings of Alevis and Kurds. India has not criticised Türkiye’s aggression of Iraq and Syria. What makes Turkey poke and provoke India? A bit of introspection will provide ready answers, Mr Ambassador. Tessekur ederim!
Sayın Sibal, Keşmir'i BM Genel Kurulunda dile getirilmesinden rahatsızsınız ama Keşmir 1948'den beri BM Güvenlik Konseyi'nin gündeminde. 47 sayılı karar ortada.
Kıbrıs'ı BM'de konuşmak isterseniz de buyurun. Ada 1964'ten beri BM gündeminde ve Kıbrıs Türklerinin 1963-74 arasında yaşadığı katliamları konuşmaktan en az çekinecek ülke Türkiye'dir.
Kürt meselesine gelince, Türkiye'de özerkliği bir gecede kaldırılıp interneti 18 ay kısıtlanan bir bölge yok. @KanwalSibal
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Going by reaction of some seniors on the left of spectrum, it seems they are extremely upset and unhappy with what is happening in France.
No no no, not because they have any sympathy whatsoever for French people. It's just because they fear all these visuals coming from Europe are going viral on social media. And that is puncturing their narrative on supporting street protests in India.
Weird side effect. But interesting to observe nevertheless.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Siddhart , what would you say to this since the argument is that she was basing what she said on our own NHRC’s reports etc.
She never condemned as UNHCR High Commissioner Pakistan sponsored terrorism against India.
Much worse, she did not condemn Pakistan for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Her personal rhetoric on the attack was condemnable. Instead of pointing to external state sponsorship or naming Pakistan, she said this:
"Whenever there is an act of terrorism, one points fingers at neighbouring countries, thereby absolving oneself of all responsibility... Terrorists need not be from outside; they can be home grown. When you accuse others, you fail to take steps to correct the problem at home."
She not only gave a pass to Pakistan, she insinuated this terrorist attack had local origins.
Better than the GOI's silence on Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize is @KanwalSibal attempt to offer an explanation and I applaud him for that.
At the heart of his objection to Navi Pillay's Nobel is his suggestion that she "has a long record of targeting India". This is what he writes:
"She has attacked India on Kashmir and mass graves and disappearances, on AFSPA, on Sexual Violence and New Delhi gang rape(2012), calling for substantial legal and systemic reforms to tackle widespread sexual violence, and Caste and Gender Discrimination (2014)."
Let's break it down.
1. Kashmir mass graves.
This is what a UN press release in Oct 2012 (news.un.org/en/story/2012/10…) said when Pillay was head of the UNHRC:
"The human rights of people living in areas that are the subject of unresolved territorial disputes are also often neglected, she noted, adding that one such example is Jammu and Kashmir in India, where the discovery of 2,730 bodies in unmarked mass graves was confirmed in a 2011 report by the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission.
“I urge the Indian authorities to fully investigate past killings and disappearances and bring the perpetrators to justice, as well as to ensure protection of witnesses and families of the missing and provide them with redress,” the High Commissioner stated. “These will be critical steps in the ongoing effort to build confidence with the aim of promoting lasting peace and stability in the region.”"
Here, Pillay does nothing more than cite the finding on mass graves of an OFFICIAL INDIAN BODY, the J&K SHRC and urges India to fully investigate. Here is the JK SHRC report (kljp.org/articles/shrc-on-un…). After 2019 the commission was disbanded and it no longer has a website! How is that 'targeting India'?
2. Call to repeal AFSPA. Navi Pillay made this call in 2009. Two years later, another Pillai, Gopal Pillai, former Union Home Secretary, said the same thing. (nagalimvoice.com/news/gk-pil…). Whether you agree or disagree, the call to repeal AFSPA has many, many backers within India and abroad and this position cannot be dismissed as 'anti-India'. The government is free to disregrard these calls, if it wishes.
3. "She has attacked India on ... Sexual Violence and New Delhi gang rape(2012), calling for substantial legal and systemic reforms to tackle widespread sexual violence"
Yikes. Navi Pillay echoed what Indians were saying on the street and whose views Parliament duly took note of by passing a new law that embodied substantial legal and systemic reforms to tackle widespread sexual violence.
4. "She has attacked India on ... Caste and Gender Discrimination (2014)".
Double yikes! He gives the date for 2014 when Navi Pilay made (as far as I can tell) brief and unobjectionable remarks in response to the murder of two Maurya girls in UP, but I found a more complete statement from 2013 which cannot be accused of 'targeting India'. (idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/…). She actually said this, which should please Mr Kanwal Sibal: "India also has far-reaching constitutional guarantees and laws which prohibit castebased discrimination. Most recently, the Union Cabinet in India has cleared the new legislation on manual scavenging, proposing stiff penalties against any public authority or private individual who uses or promotes this heinous practice. With an estimated 90% of Dalit women among manual scavengers in India, the adoption of this law will represent a key step forward in protecting and promoting the rights of Dalit women and it will represent a good practice for other countries where manual scavenging continues to be practiced."
Net-net, the evidence offered to justify India not welcoming Navi Pillay's Nobel Peace Prize is unconvincing.
Please revise and resubmit.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Jean Drèze and Mother Teresa are two sides of the same coin. To poverty they owe their public identity, their livelihood and their halo. Thus, little incentive to alleviate it.
The halo gleamed because Gunga Dins polished it. Dazzled by skin colour and too intellectually lazy to distinguish genuine achievement from manufactured sainthood.
And then, when our Italian Florence Nightingale endorsed them both, what more did our hem-kissers need?
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
I have known Sanjeev @sanjeevsanyal for almost one and a half decades. He has always been generous with his time to upcoming talent and scintillatingly brilliant with his entire focus being how to make India better. Even when he was in the private sector, his Deutsche notes were much sought after.
He has been a thorough pragmatist. Whatever works in whatever context. If it’s free markets, then so be it. If it’s industrial policy so be it. Lower or higher rates, lower or higher currency - everything is context specific. Everything is rightly linked to history and politics. Similarly, he embodies both tradition and modernity in what would be called a “fusionist” conservative, though I don’t like the term and perhaps he doesn’t either.
It is rare to have such multidisciplinary talent. To then compare Sanjeev to Jean Dreze whose entire policy and political universe has revolved around povertarian ideas - not at all how to generate wealth - is a bit baffling. We of course need a welfare state. But a JAM-enabled stated that does transfers and asset creation modularly is different from one that, in extremis, wants spoons to dig trenches.
Anyway, Dreze has his following and good for him. I have worked in J-PAL so I know some of the folks and I appreciate different views. But honestly, there is no comparison between Dreze and Sanjeev. And the latter will probably not appreciate my tweeting all this in any case. But I had to put my two cents on this.
Jean Dreze reminds me of this Milton Friedman exchange:
'While visiting a worksite in the 1960s, Friedman was shocked to see that, instead of modern tractors and earth movers, the workers had shovels. He asked why there were so few machines. The bureaucrat explained: “You don't understand. This is a jobs program.” To which Friedman replied: “Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If its jobs you want, then you should give these workers spoons, not shovels.”'
I am very glad we are reforming our welfare programs to increasingly separate asset creation from income redistribution. Conflating of objectives is one of the most common policy errors around. While my views on industrial-trade policy have evolved and I would disgaree with Friedman there, his basic point is rock solid here. Even in welfarism, 'how much help' should be separated from 'how to help'. Conflating them creates problems.
Many years ago, I have myself seen NREGA type programs being abused by JCBs doing the actual work in the dark, so to speak, with the payrolls being manipulated by village officials. And quite frankly to force people to work with shovels, when better machines are available, is masochism even if it would be even worse if they were forced to work with spoons.
In a modern economy, we need redistribution. The less corrupt and more efficient it is, the better. The more identity neutral, the better. The more skill-creating than dependency-creating, the better. But we do need redistribution. To take the 2004-09 fiscal boom and redistribute it did not take a genius. To do it smartly and honestly was a different thing.
And worst are those folks who say just because he is a white Belgian who has taken Indian nationality and works in villages - we have to somehow put him on a pedestal. Please get a grip: you are embarrassing yourselves with such outdated self-hatred.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Dear Canada,
See how easy it is easy to catch gangsters. Indian cops caught the shooters of Tiger Shroff and his driver in 48 hours. But you guys cannot catch Lawrence Bishnoi gang members in Canada. When will you realise your systems are weak and pathetic and your so-called journalists informing you about this are mediocre at best.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
IE (today) has invited Fahad Zuberi an MIT student in the US to give guidance to “peaceful protestors” to use streets, park, marketplaces, seashores, libraries, highways if JM site is not available. Cites example also of Shaheen Bagh which was not any designated site.
Insidiously brings in the Arab Spring phenomenon by citing Tahrir Square.
Wants protestors to reinvent revolutionary geographies.
Interesting that IE has ferreted out this person located in the US who implicitly wants to plant ideas on how to keep stoking anarchy in India.
Reveals the foreign and local networks at work in our country.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
A reminder of how convincing these people can sound when they speak sweetly, wearing a cunning smile. Never mistake sweet talk for genuine intentions.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
It is a lapse on my part if I hosted you for an interview at my residence and didn’t remember it. I am sorry for that.
Apart from this lapse I don’t see any rudeness in my post. A strong difference of views.
I still maintain that the protest site should be moved away from the core areas of the central institutions in the capital city.
The declared agenda of the principal opposition party is regime change. The Cockroaches cock a snook at all constitutional institutions in most disparaging terms.
With the declared anarchic agenda of these “peaceful” protestors we need to avoid the build up of a situation where a France like situation gets created. There is currently street rioting in Belgium and Denmark too with strong police response.
You mention the freedom struggle . Do we see the current protests as one against a colonial power?
Does the total revolution called for JP have any parallel with today’s situation?
What do we want? A political and economic collapse of India by those who can’t win power through the democratic process?
The youth have grievances no doubt and all is never well with governance in India given the scale of our problems and challenges , but let us not put such primacy to JM as a designated protest site to the point of ignoring the declared agenda of the opposition that their struggle is now against the Indian state.
With due respect Mr. Sibal, of course it matters where the protest is being held. BJP, Congress and the left have led several protests over last three decades at Jantar Mantar. The issue we debate isn’t about people supporting or against this particular ongoing protest. Of course people are against “Regime Change” and “Inspiration from Bangladesh” or any such anti-India hate terminology.
But here we debate protest location for all Indians across ideologies and issues. Why has Jantar Mantar suddenly become unsafe and a major security risk? Since years we have had major protests at this location which Police has strategically and bravely controlled. If a particular mob is indulging in violence, Police has every right to arrest them, take strongest possible action and take legal course. De-notifying Jantar Mantar won’t help.
Jantar Mantar is centrally located. It’s close to Parliament and Seat of the Government. Protest is a fundamental right for all Indians across ideologies. It has to be seen and felt. Moving it several miles away in an isolated place doesn’t make sense in any way. Beauty of Indian democracy is the Govt, opposition, SC, EC, Bureaucracy, People and the Media. India has seen several historic protests from Freedom Struggle to JP Movement. We shouldn’t be afraid of any protests or even threats. Trust to Police to be competent to handle elements against the nation. Globally protests are held near Parliament or Govt Central Building. Don’t fall in the trap of certain protestors who want Govt to take such steps in haste to invite attacks from usual suspects. Don’t give them fodder.
Lastly, if you don’t know me, you shouldn’t have responded honestly. Why waste your and my time? Just agree to disagree! I know who you are. I won’t call your arguments hollow even if your language is rude and unnecessarily provocative. Even though I didn’t indulge in any personal attack. Many years ago you hosted me at your residence and gave me an interview at your rooftop. With respect. Thanks
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Hey @Chinmayi , I know you are a anti hindu to the core.
But you are also a fraud stealing someone else's musical creation.
Taken from Kaushiki Chakraborty's fb handle.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
No wonder his daughter turned out to be what she is..more these people speak more people realise that all is not well with SSB..
A woman who never claimed her Indian descent, has mostly been anti-civilisation, Chinese shill, Hamas advocate, anti-India should be celebrated ?
Richly deserved Nobel Peace prize - Bravo ma'm @NaviPillay1 - odd that Indian government has still not felicitated the courageous Justice - "Honouring Pillay is therefore not only about her biography; it is about upholding a principle."
scmp.com/opinion/world-opini… "I place Pillay firmly in the Socratic-Confucian lineage : might may prevail but that does not make it right, and even the strongest state is bound by law......the world needed to understand that the alternative is the situation Thrasymachus and Han described. The 2026 prize is a reminder that we can still choose the normative path." @SAMonitor @APLNofficial #NobelPeacePrize #GazaGenocide #Rwanda
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Oil is fungible and sanctions against India for buying Russian crude would be either ineffective or jack up global prices. This bill was, as I said on Rahul’s show I think, just threatening to attack oneself. A strong Indian message also worked. India has enough leverage, including on US Big Tech.
INDIA HAS SAID NO AND U.S. HAS GOT THE MEMO:
Rubio: India is an important ally of the U.S. and hard for them to pivot in one day from Russian oil supplies.
The real story is elsewhere. U.S IS REALIZING THAT ITS TARIFF WAR, OIL DIPLOMACY, ANTI-IMMIGRATION POLICIES ARE THREATENING TO ISOLATING IT, LEAVING IT FRIENDLESS.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Astonishing post.
Wants India to congratulate someone who has a long record of targeting India.
Navi Pillay has regularly criticised India on human rights during her tenure as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2008–2014)
She has attacked India on Kashmir and mass graves and disappearances, on AFSPA, on Sexual Violence and New Delhi gang rape(2012), calling for substantial legal and systemic reforms to tackle widespread sexual violence, and Caste and Gender Discrimination (2014)
Throughout her tenure, she has has had policy frictions with India on human rights issues.
India has officially responded to her attacks.
She has also been a judge of the ICC which India does not recognise..
What is the case for congratulating her?
Simply because she is of Indian origin?
It’s been six days since this remarkable woman of Indian origin (see her story, attached) won the #NobelPeacePrize. And the Government of India, her ancestral homeland, hasn’t so much as congratulated her?! Shame on the petty men who have made such a deplorable decision.
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Not “looted”. The word you’re looking for is “equitably distributed” in the “people’s uprising” against the “repressive regime”.
𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵é 𝘌𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵é 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵é
Rolex and Louis Vuitton stores looted in Marseille, France!
Still waiting for the UNHRC to show the same “deep concern” about the health of democracy, rule of law and the right to property that it shows for India.
Or does that only apply when the location/interests are convenient?
@UNHumanRights @UN_HRC
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
During the emergency we organised a reception for Shanti Bhushan in the Congress grounds in Teynampet in Chennai. We all celebrated him for fighting for Rajnarayan and Indira
See how he became utterly corrupt later
The father and son Bhushan duo grabbed with BJP govt support 4.7 acres of Tea garden to set up a high class education business but that attempt failed as Govt resumed possession
Two points.
They shamelessly got land from their ideological enemy BJP
Had they retained it, the land would be worth Rs 35 cr today
But they were more lucky with Mayavati largesse than with BJP largesse
See here
They for 20000 sq meter land allotted by Mayavati in Noida for defending her in Noida land scam
They paid for that land Rs 3cr. Today's it is worth believe it
Rs 1300-1400 cr
They also evaded stamp duty of Rs 1.35 cr while buying land in Allahabad Civil lines. The court directed them to pay it
Prashant Bhushan who has got this illgotten wealth is the man fighting for democracy and against Corruption
What a shame? How shameless he is ?
Read on for more details
The public and legal controversies surrounding Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan involve specific land transactions and legal actions that became subjects of intense political and legal scrutiny, particularly during their involvement with the anti-corruption movement (India Against Corruption).
1. Land and Property Controversies
• The Palampur Tea Garden Land Case (Himachal Pradesh):
In 2010, the Kumud Bhushan Education Society (a trust run by the Bhushan family) was granted permission by the then-BJP government to purchase 4.66 hectares of tea garden land in Palampur for setting up an educational institution.
Political opponents later alleged that the land was acquired at highly discounted prices. Under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, land-use for tea gardens cannot easily be modified.
In September 2014, following a probe initiated under the Congress state administration, the local administration ordered the vesting of the land and its buildings back to the state government, citing a failure to utilize the land for its designated educational purpose within the stipulated timeframe.
Noida Farmhouse Allotments (Uttar Pradesh):
In 2011, it emerged that Shanti Bhushan and his other son, Jayant Bhushan, were allotted two 10,000-square-meter plots of land in Noida by the Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government under a discretionary farmhouse development scheme in 2009. Critics flagged a potential conflict of interest, noting that Jayant Bhushan had been appearing as a lawyer against the Mayawati government in a high-profile local park case. The Bhushans maintained that the application followed standard regulations and denied any wrongdoing.
Indian Express reported on 14.12.2011 that the CAG audit found rules were flouted for allotment of 20000 sq meter land to Bhushans and excheque lost Rs 145.8 cr
They paid a subsidised price of Rs 3 cr for the land.
In Today's value AI says the loss to the exchequer represents atleast Rs 1300-1400.cr
• Allahabad Property Stamp Duty Case:
In 2011, civil authorities in Allahabad ruled that Shanti Bhushan had evaded ₹1.35 crore in stamp duty during his purchase of a historical property in Civil Lines, Allahabad.
The Assistant Stamp Commissioner ordered him to pay the outstanding duty along with a monetary penalty. Shanti Bhushan contested the ruling, labeling it a legally flawed order driven by political pressure.
प्रशांत भूषण के बाप थे शांति भूषण। शांति भूषण एक नामी वकील थे और उन्होंने आपात काल के पहले इंदिरा गाँधी के खिलाफ राजनारायण का केस लड़ा था और इंदिरा गाँधी केस हार गयी थी।
उनको उसका ईनाम तब मिला जब केंद्र में मोरार जी देसाई की सरकार बनी और इन्हे लाॅ मिनिस्टर बनाया गया।
२०१२ में जब अन्ना आंदोलन हुआ तो बाप- बेटे उसमे सक्रिय रूप से शामिल हुए और और बाद में आम आदमी पार्टी के फाउंडर मेंबर भी बने।
तब शांति भूषण ने आम आदमी पार्टी को एक करोड़ रुपये का चन्दा दिया था।
बाद में कई मुद्दों को लेकर केजरीवाल से इन बाप- बेटे का मतभेद हुआ, खासकर कश्मीर में रेफरेंडम के अधिकार के बयान पर आम आदमी पार्टी ने इनसे दूरी बनानी शुरू कर दिया। रेफरेंडम वाले बयान के बाद ये अपने दफ्तर में ही लात खाया था।
उसके बाद कुछ मुद्दों पर मतभेद इतना बढ़ा कि एक मीटिंग के दौरान ही केजरीवाल और उसके समर्थकों ने प्रशांत भूषण, उसके बाप शांति भूषण और योगेंद्र यादव को जमकर माँ- बहन की गालियाँ दी और इन्हें पार्टी से बेईज्जत करके बाहर निकाल दिया। कुछ लोग तो यह भी दावा करते हैं कि इसके बुजुर्ग बाप को कूटा भी गया था।
तो जो बंदा एक करोड़ देने के बाद भी अपने ९० साल के बुजुर्ग बाप को लात खिलवा कर, माँ- बहन की गालियाँ सुनवा कर, खुद लात खाकर और गाली सुनकर केजरीवाल जैसे खजुहे का एक बाल भी नहीं उखाड़ पाया, वह नरेंद्र मोदी की सत्ता उखाड़ने चला है।
मरने के पहले यह कई बार लात खायेगा, क्योंकि यह आदतन लतखोर है। जल्द ही कोई इसको रिचार्ज करो रे।
साभार
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Bhaskar Sir is going to demand a Nobel Prize for Yasin Malik soon. I wonder whether the daughter influenced the father or vice versa.
Richly deserved Nobel Peace prize - Bravo ma'm @NaviPillay1 - odd that Indian government has still not felicitated the courageous Justice - "Honouring Pillay is therefore not only about her biography; it is about upholding a principle."
scmp.com/opinion/world-opini… "I place Pillay firmly in the Socratic-Confucian lineage : might may prevail but that does not make it right, and even the strongest state is bound by law......the world needed to understand that the alternative is the situation Thrasymachus and Han described. The 2026 prize is a reminder that we can still choose the normative path." @SAMonitor @APLNofficial #NobelPeacePrize #GazaGenocide #Rwanda
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
Sample Story of Vote Chori !
@ECISVEEP sent notices for discrepancy to 0ne Crore
15 Lakhs Responded
85 Lakhs received and did NOT act, as they were illegal migrants
Of 15 Lakhs all but maybe a 100 couldn't eventually produce and verify documents on time and so couldn't Vote
Of 85 Lakhs none Voted as they made a choice to conceal their illegal status identify
Those 85 Lakhs are now under scrutiny by @HMOIndia and other Agencies to track down and verify illegal status
Opposition wants to derail the SIR Process to ensure those 85 Lakhs are not hunted and deported
Government thinks otherwise
Anti-India Cabal are with Opposition
Citizens are with Government
Foreign Inimicals are with the Opposition
Government is still doing fine
The falsehood run by a Journalist of @IndianExpress is exposed as all decisions have been as per process and no document or quote has been produced in public domain to substantiate the claims and allegations
Media and Anti-India Narrative Spinners have sensationalised the Fakery and Anti-India Cabal is milking the situation in continued support of Deep State to destabilise India through Street Anarchy
Well fone Shri Gyanesh Kumar Ji
@SpokespersonECI and Team @narendramodi
JAI HIND 🇮🇳
Cc @PMOIndia @KirenRijiju @NitinNabin @RSSorg
PS - Shame on #CJPsadakchaps #AAPkaPAAP #CunningCommies and #CongressiSAANP
Siddhartha Speaks retweeted
We should not belittle ourselves by classifying ourselves as a middle power.
Nominal GDP is a false measure as it is based on the value of the rupee against the dollar. PPP is far more realistic. By that measure we are number 3.
“Middle powers” like France, UK, Germany, Japan are powerful in many ways but they are declining not rising powers.
India is a rising power.
Canada talks of middle powers but is treated contemptuously by the US and is hugely dependent on it. It is seeking more geopolitical room.
Europe is dependent on the US for its security. Now that the US is treating them with derision they are reacting but have limited margin of manoeuvre.
The European economies are in bad shape. Look at France and Germany. The latter is still an occupied country.
India is not balancing between US-China and US-Russia. It is preserving its strategic autonomy as much as possible, which other “middle powers” are unable to do.
How many “ middle powers” have the capacity to straddle the rich North and poor South. We have more geopolitical manoeuvrability.
All countries have a degree of interdependence. We are not unique in this regard. Even the US has seen the limits of its power. Its hands with China are tied because of its dependence on China for critical raw materials and technologies.
.@HappymonJacob @bhatia_rk Middle powers are quite simply those big enough to influence geopolitics globally or regionally and willing to use that power to do so. It is both capability & will to use it. India certainly has capability. But we have just started exercising our will.