Did the Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev visit Kumbh Mela as a kid?

3M has been closely watching the Boston Bombing for the last 2 days as two of his close relatives are staying in that city. After the initial Sunil Tripathi farce,  the needle of suspicion pointed to the Tsarnaev Brothers of Chechen origin. It was hard to believe that this innocent looking teen called Dzhokhar would be responsible for such a dastardly act!

Then comes this front page ad in Bombay Times about a forthcoming Prabhudeva Movie called "Ramaiya Vastavaiya"... Hmmm!

Kasab 2?

Image Courtesy: Hemant Morparia

परवाच एका स्फोटात मेलो

from a 'Mumbai Bomb Blast Victim'

परवाच एका स्फोटात मेलो,

पहिल्याच झटक्यात स्वर्गात गेलो,

स्वर्गात जाण्याचा एकच कायदा होता,

सरळ जगण्याचा हाच एक फायदा होता. -

स्वर्गात जाताच "टिळक" भेटले,

"नमस्कार" म्हणताच प्रसन्न हसले,

..... टिळकांनी विचारले.......

काय रे, स्वातंत्र्या नंतर बदलयं का काही?

म्हटलं , छे हो, सरकारच डोकं ठिकाणावर नाही,

तिथुन लगबगीने "सुभाषबाबु" आले,

विचारु लागले खाली नेमके काय झाले? -

मी म्हणालो, नेताजी काय काय म्हणुन घड्तय हल्ली

फक्त आमदारच म्हणतात चलो दिल्ली !!!

नेताजी ! आजही स्वातंत्र्यासाठी आम्ही रक्तच देतो

फक्त 'खुन' आमच असत आझाद कश्मीर होतो! -

तितक्यात....

दुरवर "सावरकर" दिसले म्हणुन धावलो,

म्हटलं 'तात्या', आज जन्मचा पुण्य पावलो ,

म्हणाले, सध्या तरी सगळ कसं निवांत आहे,

स्वर्र्गात "कांग्रेस" वाला नाही तर सगळं कसं शांत आहे -

त्यांनाच विचारल....

तात्या, इथे सध्या शिवराय कुठे हो राहतात?

म्हणाले, ते पहा सौधतुन आपल्याकडेच पाहतात!

छत्रपतिन्चा विजय असो, म्हणुन चटकन हात जोडले

पण घडलं भलतचं , ते माझ्यावरच ओरडले -

काय रे? कोण्या "जेम्स लेनने" म्हणे बत्तमिजी केल्ली

तुमची अक्कल, तेव्हा सांगा कोठे चरायला गेली? -

मान वर करायची हिम्मत नव्हती,

आणि महाराजांची नजर माझ्या वरुन ढळत नव्हती!

कबुल आहे महाराज, तुमची स्वप्न आम्हाला कळलीच नाही,

पैसा सोडुन आमची नजर, दुसरीकडे वळलीच नाही।

पण रक्षणकर्तेच लांडग्यांसारखे नेमके सावज हेरतात

ब्र म्हणयचा अवकाश, लगेच गाढवाचे नांगर फिरतात .

सगळे ऐकुन महाराजांच्या गालाचे कल्ले थरारले

आमच केविलवाण जगणं बघुन डोळ्यात पाणी तराराले

क्षणभर राजेपण विसरुन ते दु:खाने थाराथाराले

आणि मग आमचं असं वागणं बघुन रागाने बिथरले -

य लटपटले....

वाटलं आता, कम्बख्ति भरलिच म्हणुन समज,

चुकिची शिक्षा, गर्दन मारलीच म्हणुन समजपण,

मेलेल्याला मारायला ते 'खुर्चीतले' नेते नव्हते

न्याय-कठोर असले तरि ह्रुदय त्यांचे 'रीते' नव्हते .

म्हणले, नाव सांग फक्त, खाली जाउन समाचार घेतो,

सांगितलं खाली 'लोकशाहीत' प्रत्येकाचा विचार होतो

खाली आता न्याय बरेचदा विकत मिळतो,

आणि पैसेवाला दुसर्यांच्या जिवाशी खेळतो. -

फक्त एकच काळवीट मारले, म्हणत आपले माजोरडे नाक उडवतो,

कोणीही आपल्या गाडीखली गरिबानां चिरडतो

महाराजांनी मोठ्या मुश्किलीने, डोळ्यातल पाणी आडवलं

कळालं , हेच पातक आम्ही आयुष्यभर घडवल -

मान खाली घालुन तसाच पुढे गेलो............

अहो आश्चर्यम,स्वर्गात मला "औरंग्या" भेटला

म्हणे काफरांना मारुन तर स्वर्ग गाठला

"जिन्हा" सुध्हा होता तिथेच,

म्हणाला, लवकरच आमची संख्या इथे लाखावर जाईल

आणि मग स्वर्गाची सुद्धा फाळणी होईल -

Courtesy: Rajendra Oke

Mumbai, Parallel City

Today's Op-ed by Girish Kuber in Indian Express is the best description of the plight of Mumbai!

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mumbai-parallel-city/817603/0

That there is little governance in Mumbai is quite an understatement. In reality, there is no governance. A huge, ever expanding mass of humanity, cramped in a tiny, narrow expanse of land makes it a low-cost, high-impact model for terrorist groups. It is no coincidence that terrorists continue to strike this megalopolis almost at will. Time and again, it has been proved that cities with dilapidated infrastructure and poor civic mechanisms suffer more during such attacks. And so the common, hapless Mumbaikar is seen to be a low-risk target for even amateur terror outfits.

The root cause of all of Mumbai’s ills is its uncontrolled growth and the city’s ability to attract the poor from all corners of the country, despite all its odds. The city, in every aspect of life, has problems of plenty. At present, it houses more than two crore people of which more than a third, around 85 lakh, live along roads, railway tracks, etc. They have no homes. Every day, Mumbai witnesses some 65 lakh people crisscrossing the city suffocatingly crammed into local trains in order to make their living. A little over than half of these use city buses every day. It is like a small-size European nation moving from this end to that end every day. A lot has been written, talked about Mumbai’s never-say-die spirit. The much-hyped Mumbai Spirit is nothing but the city’s helplessness that it is being forced to be always on the move. The poor Mumbaikar has no choice but to keep moving. Else, he faces the danger of being left behind by the world speedily moving around him.

The city, which has an annual budget bigger than more than half-a-dozen Indian states and that houses double the number of people than do some European nations, has been politically orphaned for quite some time. Political establishments of all hues milked Mumbai to the hilt. At present, there are 19 agencies that run the city. For example, for the relatively routine job of maintaining roads, the city is divided among four agencies. It has that faceless, inherently corrupt government department called the PWD. Then there is the MSRDC, a loss-making state-owned corporation created to build and maintain roads. Add to it the MMRDA, a city planning authority, along with the local municipal body.

The same goes for the machinery expected to handle law and order. The state has a director general of police who cannot call the shots in its state capital, Mumbai. Because there is another body called the Mumbai Police whose chief competes with the state police chief for supremacy. Even within the Mumbai Police, the chief of its intelligence wing has been accorded near equal status to that of the Mumbai police commissioner. As a result, he usually does not like to report to the city police chief. Not to mention newer agencies such as the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Force One, Quick Response Team, etc. Remember how too many cooks spoil the broth?

As far as planning is concerned, the city has its own local self-government, the BMC. For the last two decades, it has been controlled by the Shiv Sena, which propagates its sons-of-the-soil prescription. Since the Congress has successively failed to capture the cash-rich BMC, it created another body called the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, or MMRDA. It is controlled by the state government where the Congress has had an uninterrupted reign. Through the MMRDA the Congress gained access to the city’s resources and tried to have its finger in the pie.

At the state level, Maharashtra has two parallel governments. One led by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and the other by NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s nephew, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. As per the alliance arrangement, the crucial home and finance ministries are with the NCP which has a one-point agenda: to unseat the Congress wherever possible. In this game of one-upmanship, any politician doing anything good for Mumbai faces the danger of being painted anti-poor in his home constituency by the rival. For many, to be called pro-Mumbai is shorthand for being anti-poor. The irony is that almost all important politicians have homes and families in Mumbai, their kids make best of the city’s opportunities but none dares to take steps to improve its infrastructure. This dichotomy results in Mumbai having ministers with a rural mindset who are ill-equipped to tackle modern, metropolitan sensibilities. As a result, state Home Minister R.R. Patil, who belongs to Satara in the rural heartland, ends up acting as a moral cop.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Mumbai has the Shiv Sena, the BJP and that new kid on the block, the MNS. The Sena, though it espouses Marathi causes, hasn’t grown much politically. It continues to handle the issues affecting the city in a manner that smacks of extortion. Its offshoot, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, has yet to prove that it can do any good than beating helpless pani-puri vendors on the street. Senior member of the saffron camp, the BJP, have willingly allowed the Sena to appropriate its political space and, as such, the party has reduced itself to a level of insignificance in the city.

The common Mumbaikar sees one universal factor binding these different political forces. That all are a part of the contractor-driven economy. More than the needs of the people, the Mumbai economy serves an all-pervasive entity called the contractor. This class, that has strong bonds with politicians, has large stakes in the city and can go to any extent to safeguard them. With a large swathe of the poor around, there is no dearth of lumpens who can be groomed for criminal activities. Although Mumbai prides itself in its service sector, the politician-contractor nexus has failed to create a hospitable climate for the service industry. A sizeable number of small-scale industries in Mumbai have downed their shutters over the years because of the poor work culture and absenteeism and a distorted idea of unionism.

Mumbai has grown into an unmanageable beast. The dinosaur and mammoth faced extinction not because there was nothing left to feed them, but because of their unwieldiness. The same may hold true for Mumbai.

The writer is executive editor of ‘Loksatta’, girish.kuber@expressindia.com

Future PM of India?????????????????????

"It is very difficult to stop every single terror attack in the country. Terrorism is something that is impossible to stop all the time. But 99 per cent of terror attacks had been stopped due to strong vigilance and intelligence efforts.....

....We have improved by leaps and bounds. But we have to work and defeat 100 per cent of attacks. The idea is to fight terrorism at the local level."

RAHUL GANDHI

Mumbai problems

Been there... Done That

How long will Mumbai continue to suffer? Will the Mumbai Bomb Blast be an integral part of our lives? Should we not thank Mr. Chidambaram for keeping is safe for last 31 months?

Happy Birthday Mr. Kasab...

3 Crackers for your birthday.... Zaveri Bazar, Opera House & Dadar!

26/11... The true story

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Check out this series of 5 videos that shows what actually happened on 26/11!

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If this does not make your blood boil... nothing can!

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Naxal kill 16 policemen

Sixteen policemen were killed when Naxals detonated a landmine in Tawitolal in Gadchiroli district. The naxalite belt stretches from Nepal to Andhra Pradesh like a dagger in India’s chest!

Shiv Sena attacks Waghmare for defending Kasab

Maharashtra Government gave the onerous task of defending Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 attacks, to Anjali Waghmare. Like the previous two lawyers who were given this responsibility, her house was also attacked by Shiv Sainiks last night… Knowing the past incidents, it is surprising that she was not provided with police protection in the first place!

3M wants to know if Shiv Sainiks were miffed with the fact that her surname is Waghmare – literally “Tiger Slayer”?

Ticketless Terrorist

One of the offences listed in the 26/11 chargesheet filed against Kasab is entry into CST Station without a ticket!

Suspicious Boat

Local fisherman at Satpati near Palghar spotted a suspicious boat in the sea with “unindian men”… a 26/11 redux? Luckily it was a naval expedition!

3M hopes that the vigilance does not die out in the days to come.

Mrs. Karkare takes a U-turn

After making the ‘Forgive Kasab’ pitch, Kavita Karkare makes a u turn and demands ‘Kasab should be hanged’… 3M wonders if she is shooting from the hip… or as Mr. Vijapurkar says… the lady has something up her sleeve!

Access restricted to Pink Beauties @ Mahul!

Every year thousands of Flamingos flock different parts of the Thane creek in winter… from Airoli to Uran and from Shivdi to Mahul. This year the “foreign dignitaries” have been fewer in number and the only place where you can get a decent dekho is the Mahul Creek that lies about 4 Kms south of Chembur.

Today 3M had gone to Mahul Koliwada with like minded friends to see these pink beauties. The group leader had arranged for a fishing boat to take us into the mangroves where the birds are currently residing. We were told that after 26/11, you have to carry a photo copy of your identification proof to get entry into the Mahul Creek. Another group from Photographic Society of India was also present with “all the requisite permissions”. Finally, no one was allowed in the creek due to “security reason”… a classic case of bolting the stable doors after the horses have ran away!

3M was amused that two policemen with lathis were “protecting” the jetty from potential foreign terrorist!

But for those who may not be very keen on bird watching, Mahul Koliwada has another surprise in store… It is hosting a Koli Festival during the “Mumbai Festival” at the end of this month… so expect a lot of song and dance accompanied by fish fry!

26/11 proof

The clinching evidence about Pakistan's involvement in the 26/11 attacks can now be read by the Janta at large thanks to The Hindu. Click here to read the pdf files!

“Forgive Kasab”

“Forgive Kasab as he is only 21 and has been brainwashed. We should try to help him come back to normal”

No… this is not a statement made by a Pakistani official or cleric… But by Hemant Karkare’s daughter! During an interview on IBN-Lokmat today, Mrs. Karkare revealed a lot of her own views on a variety of issue in addition her daughter’s thoughts. The grit and determination shown by that woman was amazing. 'We need 1000 more Karkares in India today!'

BTW is Pakistan listening?

Antulay's U-turn

After creating immense embarrassment for the Government, Antulay is suddenly satisfied with Chidambaram's statement that Hemant Karkare was indeed killed by Pakistani Terrorists! The U-turn seems as illogical as the theory he propounded in the first place.

3M is surprised that BJP and Shabana Azmi were on the same side of the political divide!

26/11 and Raj Thackeray

3M accidently came across an article written by Natteri Adigal, a south Indian, about Mumbai attacks and Raj Thackeray. Though the article is jingoistic and biased, it does try to reply the most common question that was asked by media... Where was Raj Thackeray when Mumbai was burning?

Who killed Hemant Karkare?

"R.H. from Bombay" is asking a lot of questions... will someone answer him?