05 November, 2011
The Bufoon of the Queen
Francois Gautier
In ancient times in France, many kings and queens had their buffoons - usually dwarves - who would make them laugh by their antics, extravagance and eccentricities. These buffoons would also act as “unofficial” spokespersons of their masters, often mimicking what they thought would please them.
India has a Queen of course, and she has her own a buffoon, in the person of Digvijay Singh. Buffoons have no dignity – otherwise they cannot function. Mr Singh, once a respected CM of Madhya Pradesh, shredded his self respect, to please his Queen and climb back the hierarchy of the Congress, at the cost of common sense and human decency.
Actually, few people know that Digvijay Singh was already known for controversies. In 2002, income tax raids on a liquor manufacturer in Bhopal, yielded a diary maintained by the distillery's owners, which listed, among others, the name of the ex Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister as one of the recipients of Rs 100 million. In 2004, the Special Police Establishment of the Madhya Pradesh Lok Ayukta registered an FIR against Mr. Singh, his close friend Subhash Gupta, the Indore Collector, M. Suleiman, the Competent Authority (Urban Land Ceiling), R.K. Gupta and the Principal Secretary, Revenue, Satyanand Mishra, under Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with criminal conspiracy. In 2009, The Madhya Pradesh Bureau of Investigation for Economic Offences also registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 12 persons including the former State Chief Minister for allegedly deriving undue benefits from the promotion of Treasure Island, a swanky Mall near Indore.
Mr Singh’s affinities are also most peculiar: he once addressed Osama bin Laden as 'Osamaji', praises Zakir Naik, one of the most rabid Muslim preachers in India, whose entry has been banned in the UK and Canada, but who seems to have a free hand here to insult Hindu spiritual leaders and Hindu scriptures. Naik is infamous for a video clip that circulated on the Internet in which he says, “If he (Osama bin Laden) is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. If he is terrorizing the terrorists, if he is terrorizing America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
Indeed, Digvijay Singh bats for terrorists. He is notorious for saying that the Batla House shootout, which took place in a Muslim-dominated area of south Delhi in 2008, “might have been staged”. He also visited the family of Batla House encounter accused Mohammad Saif who had been arrested. Even the Congress tried to disassociate itself from Singh's statements made in Azamgarh on the Batla encounter, in which Inspector Mohan Sharma was killed and awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously.
Digvijay has as well a soft corner for the corrupt: Undertrials are unnecessarily being denied bail," he twitted when a court dismissed bail pleas of Kanimozhi and other 2G accused, despite the CBI not objecting to the bail pleas of the DMK MP and four others.
But the worst thing he has done to himself and his own karma, is to attack Hindu Gurus and Hindu social leaders, thinking it will please his Christian Queen. He started with Swami Ramdev, whom he accused “of using his mass-yoga sessions to make crores”, then continued with Anna Hazare, this beacon of a man, claiming “that Baba Ramdev is more honest than Anna Hazare over the controversy of their RSS and BJP link”. Now he is after Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the most soft spoken spiritual leaders, respected by millions of disciples, not only in India, but all over the world. Mr Digvijay’s Singh’s trick is to link everybody he wants to denigrate with the RSS, as his latest tweet demonstrates: “Baba Ramdev. Crashed. Plan B - Anna. ? Plan C - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar soon to start his campaign”. He could associate them with a fundamentalist Muslim outfit, such as theLashkar-e-Taiba, which has killed thousands of innocent people in the name of One God. But no, he prefers to relate them to a harmless outfit of old faddy-daddies in khaki shorts.
The irony is that Sri Sri has been fighting corruption for many many years, long before it became politically correct. Most of his swamis, close disciples and his yuvacharyas are voluntary workers who toil tirelessly in many of India’s poor villages. Guruji, as he is fondly called, has been making people take pledges against corruption for years and he has now embarked upon an anti-corruption yatra in UP from November 7. He would be holding satsangs in various parts of the state in which he would urge people to take an anti-corruption pledge.
Digvijay Singh has probably no strong opinions. In fact he often contradicts himself: “I hold Sri Ravi Shankarji in high esteem and have done a course in the Art of Living as CM MP in 2001”, he twitted. But the need to please his Queen is stronger and like all true buffoons, he will go to any length, even at the cost of his own credibility.
Yet, buffoons tend to fade into anonymity sooner than later. Not many of us remember what happened to another buffoon, Raj Narain, who in the eighties bullied quite a few with his antics (he once campaigned in a monkey’s cage). In ancient France, it was not always fun to be a buffoon, for when the King or Queen were displeased, or fed up with the buffoon, or if it had outlived its usefulness, they would kick the buffoon, and banish him.
India has a Queen of course, and she has her own a buffoon, in the person of Digvijay Singh. Buffoons have no dignity – otherwise they cannot function. Mr Singh, once a respected CM of Madhya Pradesh, shredded his self respect, to please his Queen and climb back the hierarchy of the Congress, at the cost of common sense and human decency.
Actually, few people know that Digvijay Singh was already known for controversies. In 2002, income tax raids on a liquor manufacturer in Bhopal, yielded a diary maintained by the distillery's owners, which listed, among others, the name of the ex Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister as one of the recipients of Rs 100 million. In 2004, the Special Police Establishment of the Madhya Pradesh Lok Ayukta registered an FIR against Mr. Singh, his close friend Subhash Gupta, the Indore Collector, M. Suleiman, the Competent Authority (Urban Land Ceiling), R.K. Gupta and the Principal Secretary, Revenue, Satyanand Mishra, under Sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, along with criminal conspiracy. In 2009, The Madhya Pradesh Bureau of Investigation for Economic Offences also registered a First Information Report (FIR) against 12 persons including the former State Chief Minister for allegedly deriving undue benefits from the promotion of Treasure Island, a swanky Mall near Indore.
Mr Singh’s affinities are also most peculiar: he once addressed Osama bin Laden as 'Osamaji', praises Zakir Naik, one of the most rabid Muslim preachers in India, whose entry has been banned in the UK and Canada, but who seems to have a free hand here to insult Hindu spiritual leaders and Hindu scriptures. Naik is infamous for a video clip that circulated on the Internet in which he says, “If he (Osama bin Laden) is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him. If he is terrorizing the terrorists, if he is terrorizing America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
Indeed, Digvijay Singh bats for terrorists. He is notorious for saying that the Batla House shootout, which took place in a Muslim-dominated area of south Delhi in 2008, “might have been staged”. He also visited the family of Batla House encounter accused Mohammad Saif who had been arrested. Even the Congress tried to disassociate itself from Singh's statements made in Azamgarh on the Batla encounter, in which Inspector Mohan Sharma was killed and awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously.
Digvijay has as well a soft corner for the corrupt: Undertrials are unnecessarily being denied bail," he twitted when a court dismissed bail pleas of Kanimozhi and other 2G accused, despite the CBI not objecting to the bail pleas of the DMK MP and four others.
But the worst thing he has done to himself and his own karma, is to attack Hindu Gurus and Hindu social leaders, thinking it will please his Christian Queen. He started with Swami Ramdev, whom he accused “of using his mass-yoga sessions to make crores”, then continued with Anna Hazare, this beacon of a man, claiming “that Baba Ramdev is more honest than Anna Hazare over the controversy of their RSS and BJP link”. Now he is after Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, one of the most soft spoken spiritual leaders, respected by millions of disciples, not only in India, but all over the world. Mr Digvijay’s Singh’s trick is to link everybody he wants to denigrate with the RSS, as his latest tweet demonstrates: “Baba Ramdev. Crashed. Plan B - Anna. ? Plan C - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar soon to start his campaign”. He could associate them with a fundamentalist Muslim outfit, such as theLashkar-e-Taiba, which has killed thousands of innocent people in the name of One God. But no, he prefers to relate them to a harmless outfit of old faddy-daddies in khaki shorts.
The irony is that Sri Sri has been fighting corruption for many many years, long before it became politically correct. Most of his swamis, close disciples and his yuvacharyas are voluntary workers who toil tirelessly in many of India’s poor villages. Guruji, as he is fondly called, has been making people take pledges against corruption for years and he has now embarked upon an anti-corruption yatra in UP from November 7. He would be holding satsangs in various parts of the state in which he would urge people to take an anti-corruption pledge.
Digvijay Singh has probably no strong opinions. In fact he often contradicts himself: “I hold Sri Ravi Shankarji in high esteem and have done a course in the Art of Living as CM MP in 2001”, he twitted. But the need to please his Queen is stronger and like all true buffoons, he will go to any length, even at the cost of his own credibility.
Yet, buffoons tend to fade into anonymity sooner than later. Not many of us remember what happened to another buffoon, Raj Narain, who in the eighties bullied quite a few with his antics (he once campaigned in a monkey’s cage). In ancient France, it was not always fun to be a buffoon, for when the King or Queen were displeased, or fed up with the buffoon, or if it had outlived its usefulness, they would kick the buffoon, and banish him.
francoisgautier26@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment