Kicking Away The Talk.

Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup

Kicking Away The Talk.

 

 I had earlier in Facebook referred to the foolhardiness that is characteristic of the Islam mind. This trait is a later acquisition as the Qur'an doesn't enjoin its believers to act like that. There is,  however, a streak of violence that is preached in the holy book which I believe is the root cause of Islam's belligerent interactions with the rest of the world. This exhortation to violence to the extent of disregarding the endangering of one's life for perceived causes of defending or promoting the faith and or the followers and the very explicit promise of just and pleasurable rewards in the nether life for the resulting self sacrifice should be held as the prime causative factor for this foolhardiness. While Islam spread with astonishing speed on the wave of sustained crusades or jehads, especially in the then no man's land of Middle-East, and later on, in a good part of the relatively less intellectual or vacuum-lands of the world where at that time the spread met with little resistance, the attempts to further the faith, expanding its credo to an establishment of global Islamic World Order that includes nations  in progressive parts of the world have been resisted and been  the major cause of global strife after the end of world war 2.

The Islamic history is riddled with senseless and mostly self decimating conflicts with the rest of the people   so much so that 95 percent of all world strife is of Muslim origin and or causation,. - whether it is the Middle-East, Bosnia, Cyprus, Afghanistan,Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Nigeria, or the latest Gaza rocketeers, the story is the same. While the non-Muslim nations have progressed to religious liberalism and tolerant democracy, the Muslim nations and people have regressed towards radicalism and theocratic state, spreading in its wake  a scourge of violence in a new form of medieval jehad: the terrorism.

These theocratic states find themselves in continuous conflict, with Jewish Israel, Hindu India, and Christian Europe. Added to their religious bigotry of scriptural origin, they are also the hallucinated sufferers from their history.  They had a hoary history of cultural and scientific advancement as part of the eastern civilizations compared to the rudimentary state of the west in the distant past. But no more so, which they don't realize. The world has gone far ahead of them and reached greater heights while they still wallow in the muddied pit of their decadent medievalism that is now shone of all the assets of the past. Muslims all over the world and specially of the Middle East, their home, want to experience the history as a current reality. In short. their religion teaches them that they are recipients of the final and most perfect revelation of God for which and whose enhancement it is noble to die and reap the reward, while their history tells them that they were able to conquer others.

Muslims of the world are living out this fantasy and chasing the  past chimeras in the present. And Pakistan is just another theocratic medieval Muslim nation living in the illusion of  grandiose Muslim past, and on that account, falling apart refusing to acknowledge reality. They believe that they will emulate the Moguls and pitiably refuse to recognize that in both the wars they fought with India, they came a cropper and with a severed limb that is Bangla Desh. Their nose is still bleeding in Kashmir which only enrages them. So long as the Kashmir bleeds in to their eyes they will be incapable of clear vision and to see what is really happening.

Does any one of them, their govt. their media, the leaders and intelligentsia, halt and ponderfor a moment  what they did achieve in the current episode of their pigheaded  insistence on meeting the separatists and getting the talks bombed. A reluctant Modi govt. finally consented to initiate the resumption of talks due to some bonhomie developed between the two PMs in the immediate wake of swearing-in attendance and the meet that followed, and it took some pleadings by Pakistan to get that consent. Then to to go about and dash all that hope and expectation of better days on  to the hard rock of sheer diplomatic pigheadedness and loose everything gained only to revert to the old state of bleeding and brooding, and finding some consolation in sending more terrorists across the border in to India! Only a Muslim nation can carry it off and bring about its own fiasco.

                                                 Pak High Commissioner Abdul Basit

India's Torpedo at a Smug WTO

Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup

India's Torpedo at a Smug WTO

 

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil

Demanding that efforts to promote global trade should be linked to food security, India last Friday at the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva effectively blocked a Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) that would have clamped restrictions on the freedom of developing countries to subsidize and stockpile food. By and large the Indian media has rather glossed over or muffled the issue.

 India has been pressing for implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) as a part of a single undertaking that includes a permanent solution on public food stockpile, necessary for its food security programme. It is stockpiling food for its poor, citing the need for food security, which is contrary to the WTO norms. The TFA is scheduled to be implemented in 2015. This agreement, being strongly backed by the US and industrially developed Western countries, is aimed at simplifying customs procedure, increasing transparency and reducing transactions cost. US and other Western countries are craving the revival of their faltering economies through unhindered international trade by way of uniform and easy procedures at customs.

 India pointed out that stockholding as a measure of food security is necessary so that  the millions of farmers and the poor families who depend on domestic food stocks do not have to live in constant fear, and for this purpose, suggested that trade facilitation protocol arrived at the meeting in December last year at the Indonesian resort city of Bali  be postponed till a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security is found. Indian trade officials hastened to assure that India was basically on board with the trade-facilitation measures, but it needed the WTO to go further and start to recognize such  unique issues in India and other developing countries.  India's decision had immediate support of developing countries like Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela.

India's genuine problems relating to WTO rules on food stockpiling and subsidizing. At the Bali meeting the WTO had proposed a formula that defines how much money a country can spend creating a food stockpile for security and support for farmers. The current WTO norms limit the value of food subsidies at 10 per cent of the total value of food grain production of a country. So the US gives about $120 billion (Rs 7.2 lakh crore) as agricultural subsidy as compared to India’s $12 billion (Rs 72,000 crore).

The subsidy support is measured at prices that are over two decades old, not at current prices and India is asking for a change in the base year (1986) for calculating food subsidies.  India wants the rules changed to allow it to go beyond the limit. India has hundreds of millions of farmers and consumers who are on or just above the poverty line, and  the country needs more freedom to help its citizens. Besides, TFA is replete with conditionalities. For instance, after four years, India can be taken to WTO’s dispute settlement. Moreover, the anti-circumvention/safeguard clause stipulates that counties that use this clause “shall ensure that stocks procured under such programmes do not distort trade”. This is fundamentally against India’s system of minimum support prices and direct procurement that sustain both its PDS as well as farming.

 India agreed to the trade-facilitation package earlier explicitly with the understanding that the WTO members would find some sort of permanent way to address India's demands. While India originally agreed to give the WTO four years to find a permanent solution, it now is not prepared to put the issue on limbo and  wants the solution before it will approve the trade facilitation package. India is of the view that the Trade Facilitation Agreement must be implemented only as part of a single undertaking including the permanent solution on food security. India has the feeling that  the WTO wasn't taking its demands seriously, so it proposed that discussions on how to implement everything agreed to in Bali should be extended until the end of the year. The meet of ministers of the G20  in Sydney on July 19, in which India’s Nirmala Sitharaman also participated, was completely silent over the food security proposal, while it referred specifically to the TFA. This was considered as G20 pushing for its interests while ignoring the critical requirements of the people in developing countries.

Bali meeting was an attempt to jump-start the long-stalled Doha round of WTO talks that began in 2001 in the Qatari capital. The Doha round was an ambitious plan to open up more sectors of the global economy to more trade. But it has been stuck because the WTO depends on consensus for decisions and countries can't agree on many of the controversial changes sought.

 India's tough stand has surprised the west and angered USA, and prompted criticism from a block of 25 WTO members, some of whom said that India's brinkmanship could undermine the international trading system as the country has basically hijacked the trade talks to force a change on one issue. US and other Western countries are craving the revival of their faltering economies through unhindered international trade by way of uniform and easy procedures at customs.  They are also exercised more so because this has  come soon after the announcement of a BRICS bank headquartered in China . One may recall that PM had given the electoral promise to Indian farmers during the elections that the government would ensure a 50% profit margin to them. Top sources in the government said the prime minister was the main moving force behind the tough stand at the WTO by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

   If the US and EU want the TFA to go through, it will indeed has to give India what it wants. By this India and Modi  send a message to the West which had its doubts over Modi before the elections and, after he became prime minister, whether he had statesman like ability. Some liken this to Atal Bihari Vajpayee seeking to announce India's arrival on the world stage as a global power by testing nuclear weapons in 1998.

"Mowing the Grass". The Israeli Invasion of Gaza

Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup

"Mowing the Grass". The Israeli Invasion of Gaza

Why did Israel launch an invasion of Gaza unlike in all previous times of precipitate and acute hostilities with Palestinians, Hamas in particular? On the face of it, it can be easily read that the ground offensive was meant for destroying the tunnels used by the Hamas who have fired a steady barrage of rockets into Israel. Hamas use these tunnels to surreptitiously access both Israel and Egypt . But surely, that is not a worthwhile object as Hamas can rebuild the tunnels. Israel has publicly stated that the objectives of the invasion do not include ending Hama's rule in Gaza. Already, Israel has lost more men than they perhaps reckoned with prior to the invasion.    So what was it that prompted them to go into Hamas territory knowing fully well that such aggression will have only temporary impact on Hamas? To answer that, one has to understand the nuances of the security doctrine Israel has been practicing over the years. Ever since its inception until recently, conventional Arab militaries, of countries such as Egypt and Syria, were its greatest threats. Israel fought three wars against its Arab neighbors in 1948, 1967, and 1973. At that time Israel felt that Arab states will not accept its existence and so a peace deal is also impossible. That meant it could only manage the threat and not solve it altogether. It had to live with a certain level of threat and it evolved a strategy of weakening its enemies with occasional military forays before they reach proportions  of existential challenge. It wanted just to ameliorate its security problems until a stable political solution is arrived at, as it was not possible to immediately eliminate the problems. The long confrontation to be punctuated with decisive battle field victories which could force the Arabs to eventually accept Israel's permanence and result in final peace   This was the doctrine that shaped its strategy which it adopted against sovereign nations as well as militant groups since 1948. The strategy worked well for Israel in buying peace with Egypt and later Jordan. Now Israelis see themselves as being under siege by Hamas and like any of those other previous threats, this needs to be managed. You can't defeat Hamas completely. But Israel at the same time realizes that the threat from Hamas is not akin to the Cold War era threats it faced against Arab State's conventional armies. Israel doesn't believe that old strategy will work today with non-state militant groups like Hamas whom it sees as implacable enemies, who want to destroy the Jewish state, and finds little leeway to deal with them politically. So its thinking appears to be in terms of regular military assaults like the present Gaza invasion designed to cripple the military capabilities of Hamas, specially its rocket launching ability. By cropping periodically the Hamas's military capabilities it hopes to lessen their rocket forays, out of fear of retribution. Israel hopes, like Egypt and Jordan, Hamas also will eventually give up on the intent to destroy Israel.   So it has evolved a newer version of its long term strategy of threat management sans elimination which is euphemistically called "mowing the grass", - a creepy term, as it implies periodically killing people. But that's the basic analog, Hamas, like grass, can't disappear, but it can be regularly cut down to size. The Gaza invasion is about 'mowing the grass'.  However, whether the strategy is working well for Israel in the present conflict is yet to become clear. Israel has to realize sooner or later that the world is glaring at it for having only this horrible concept and the resultant dastardly strategy of " mowing the grass', which at best is only a holding pattern. It has no political security strategy of diplomatically resolving the dispute with Palestinians which is essential if it has to survive beyond the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza.  The current Gaza invasion, helps Palestinians to put international pressure on Israel to concede to them more favorable terms. And Israel must also recognize that already Hamas has gained in a fashion; it debunked the belief that political stalemate with the Palestinians is cost-free for Israel. It has raised the Palestinian profile and also extracted heavy psychological price from Israel. Empathetic perception of Palestinians as the weak victim confronting a mighty aggressor could be translated into increased international pressure on Israel and isolating it politically and damaging it economically.

The Ukrainian Dire Straits

 Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup

 The Ukrainian Dire Straits.

It was Syria for some time, and now Ukraine has been added to the woes of the world. President Obama issued a blunt warning to Moscow on Friday that "there will be costs" if Russia sends its troops into Ukraine, saying he is deeply concerned about reports of Russian military movements in the region. Obama had told a hastily convened White House press gathering that Russian military action would violate international law and "would be deeply destabilizing, which is not in the interests of Ukraine, Russia or Europe. It would represent a profound interference in matters that must be determined by the Ukrainian people."

Obama did not say what the United States will do — or can do — to head off Ukraine's threatened slide toward renewed civil conflict and a possible breakup as pro-Russia militants push for secession in Crimea. But he suggested that there would be some sort of international action if Russia intervened. Americans are worried that what is an unfolding nightmare scenario for them since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, is now manifest in the way Putin tries to establish that Russia is back. Till now, the White House has been cautious regarding Ukraine in part because conflict with Russia could disrupt collaboration on other major problems like U.S. cooperation with Russia on the Syrian civil war, the international effort to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and other issues.

Dominated by people of Russian origin and affinity Ukaraine's Crimean peninsula is in civil revolt aided and abetted by Russia. Ukraine's acting president accused Russia of trying to seize the territory, a semi-autonomous region of Ukraine that is important to Russia for historical and strategic reasons. Authorities in Ukraine closed airspace over the Crimean peninsula late Friday and reports indicated that multiple Russian transport planes had landed at a military air strip near Simferopol, Crimea's regional capital. Russia leases the Crimean port of Sevastopol, the longtime headquarters of its Black Sea fleet. The region's population is dominated by ethnic Russians.

Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov said Russia was trying to seize territory in Crimea and "provoke us to a military conflict." Although Kiev retains control over Ukrainian military forces in the western and central areas of the country, and even most Russian-leaning areas in the east have refrained from defying the new government, it feels  troops in Crimea may not be reliable in the face of the local population's rejection of Kiev's authority. With pro-Russia gunmen at airports and communications centers, it was unclear whether Kiev could bring in forces to challenge any Russian buildup.

Washington and its European allies have an untested relationship with the fragile new pro-Western government in Kiev, Ukraine's capital. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Ukraine's prime minister by phone to promise U.S. support, White House advisors said. The president has reportedly directed his aides to coordinate with European allies and to communicate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin's government. The West's greatest point of leverage, a promised multibillion-dollar bailout to help Ukraine's economy avoid collapse, faces resistance in Congress and in financially strained European capitals.

 It may be that Russia is back, - and back with a bang.

Aam Aadmi Party's Anarchy

Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup

Aam Aadmi Party's Anarchy.

 It may be some time before Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) realizes the damage wrought to its image by the anarchist dharna they staged in Delhi, thoughtlessly forgetting themselves, forgetting the aam aadmi, and forgetting the constitutional position and responsibilities held by its ministers. But people will not forget the potentially great damage to the rule of law and civic order in the capital city of India that loomed large while it lasted. People have also marked in mind AAP's utter arrogance, the rowdy language, and the insolent contempt they exhibited towards the observance of Republic Day. They have now branded themselves as a third-rate band of morons totally devoid of propriety and civility, not to speak of any governance capability. They are now self-confessed anarchists.

AAP's main plank as a political party was anti-corruption crusade and they were able to instill an impression among people long suffering from corruption that they are obsessed with it , and that only a party singularly obsessed with anti-corruption spirit could combat the menace effectively. But what was the performance they displayed immediately after the elections that catapulted them to the second place in the run? They had declared in pre-election time that they as a political party are holier and purer than mainstream parties and the latter being corrupt are untouchables to them. No truck with any of them. But the moment Congress, the most corrupt of all  and therefore the most untouchable, literally offered its hand in support, they decided to grab it in order to occupy the coveted power chair. That one act itself had made them polluted in their own terms , a betrayer not to be trusted anymore, and as bad as any others, when it comes to breaking own words.

Having climbed to power laterally and on the shoulders of Congress, they found themselves prisoners of their untenable promises made recklessly in the activist mode, while further handicapped by inexperience. Tinkering of the establishment by greenhorns could result only in gimmickry and counterfeits. They thrust their hands deep in to people's pocket( the exchequer) and picked enough money to pay the companies as subsidy, bought some current and water and offered it back to the people as their freebies. This was charlatanism. Companies were happy. If this is the way AAP is going to govern they are more than welcome, said the companies. And people found to their dismay that the so called freebies had gone straight to the rich who were laughing merrily as only the rich can laugh at gimmicks.

If we come to power Sheila Dikshit and coterie and all the  scamsters will find themselves in prison, Kejriwal had thundered pre-election. Instead he found himself a prisoner of Shela Dikshit and coterie and at their mercy in sustaining his life in power.  Having tasted power and already  feeling  distasteful without it , the Congress sins had suddenly become invisible for him. All of a sudden he wanted proof, yes proof for believing Congress is corrupt and 'untouchable'. As many people are saying, Kejriwal is the biggest liar at
present in stock in India.

The Lofty Lotus and the Earthy Broom

Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup

 The Lofty Lotus and
 the    Earthy Broom

 What do the recent Assembly election results say loud and clear?  What kind of a phenomenon is this apparition called Arvind Kejriwal?

The election results unequivocally declare that good governance can, and will, over run the handicap of incumbency, even over sustained periods. Two of the three states where BJP won have been under long spells of governance by the BJP satraps. Instead of strutting around haughtily like vain cocks, crowing to the world and preening their own feathers, as some self-appointed Congress satraps do, they only spoke when they were expected to, and thus proved to be doers rather than talkers only.

The muddled signals from Chhattisgarh could have been clearer if only Maoists had not deliberately caused the muddle, dastardly picking off the tribal Congress leader, at a time close to the then impending elections. Irrespective of the question whether the govt. could have prevented the Maoist atrocity of that assassination, the Chief Minister Raman Sing had to pay a heavy price for the lapse, almost becoming a loser. When elections loom large, all the hawks and vultures hover and gather close and Maoists were no exceptions who  marauded and mined extensively the jungles of Bastar. Most of the affected states are still ill-equipped to deal with Maoist's predatory style and savagery of attack. This is in spite of all the inputs by the Central govt too.

In Madhya Pradesh, however, incumbency or no incumbency, what we witnessed was a digvjay by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, his unstoppable chariot running on well-oiled wheels smoothly and comfortably, flying the saffron flag fluttering in the easily blowing wind, made cooler by the Modi effect. And most befittingly the appreciative people of the state gave him a massive mandate matching fully his mindful governance, and  brushing aside the belated intervention and stemming attempts by the scion of Scindia royals, Jyotiraditya Scindia. Incidentally, Scindias wrote a story of their own feudal feuds in the elections arena too, the scion faltering, and the Maharani moving on a massive juggernaut to storm and take the state almost entirely in her hands.

Still reverently addressed by people as 'Maharani', Vasundhara Raje Scindia had a free run in the state, governed badly and haphazardly by the somewhat clueless Ashok Gehlot. His Gandhian facade did not assuage the sufferings of his people and his muddled  measures of appeasement some time and meddling at other time had antagonized minorities. Vasundharaji just went, visited and conquered the state. Congress men  didn't even know what hit them till the polls foretold and the results confirmed.

Well well, now the story of the stories, the Delhi elections. No one knew what hit one or another there till the results came incredulously on the screens. The recently arrived apparition found haunting for sometime the maidans, avenues , and free spaces of the Capital city, the very Lutyens' Delhi". of avant-garde clubs, boutiques, perfumed exclusives, the  commuters, all shivering in their spines in fear of bludgeoning sexual rippers, inexplicably turned a phenomenon of election proportions. The phenomenon of Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) simply plucked Delhi's three-time Chief Minister and snatched her wooden cabinet away, put her in it and send her home.

Flabbergasted politicos, parties, and people looked with awe at the broom-wielding brigade hooded in Anna caps, and strangely reminiscent of the vanishing tribe of manual cleaners. AAP then came menacingly close  to sweep away the  mighty BJP, the party that was straddling like a colossus in other three states, from any reckoning as the largest single party, but just stopped short. In the process AAP has now hung the  party governance of  Delhi in mid air. Both the main players are now refusing to touch Delhi governance.

What are the strands that catapulted the AAP in to a game changer in the hard dried out war grounds of Delhi State where the motherly face of Sheila Dikshit reigned for one and a  half decade?. Well, the bad  governance insensitive to unbearable  rise  in prices and cost of living , unmitigated insecurity feeling, all round corruption. unpopular anti- people measures  are all obvious reasons for the antipathy to Congress. But the question remains : why AAP  and not the BJP all the way? How all of a sudden the novice  AAP garnered such a big chunk of votes to emerge as the second biggest party.enabling it to put up a blockbuster debut performance?

I have only an unconventional answer, perhaps befitting the uncommon phenomenon. It is their symbol, the broom, and the  broom making Daliths, whose life-stay it is, and the real broom-wielding brigade of the gender class of women,  the girls, house wives, the mothers - the same groups that sustained Sheila Dikshit, but antagonized this time. Being in the hot vicinity of national politics, drawn innocuously in to the thick and thin of it, the Delhi aam admi is a volatile activist. The reactive response to this volatile activism has now seems to have permeated in to the homes too, raising the women folk out of their TV serials and idle gossip. One may again ask here why this newly, more than usually awakened constituency spread all over in the Delhi homes emerged and flocked even to late polling hours of election day evening, to AAP and not BJP? The answer is: the fresh faces in AAP, in juxtaposition to the jaded, tired and just tolerated old junkies, the BJP fielded. Harsh Vardhan, utterly sincere, is an exception who could still be the leader..

And there lies the golden moment of recognition and salvation for BJP, not only for Delhi but for the ensuing Parliamentary elections as well. Field fresh faces; need not be entirely new but relatively fresh and somewhat evidentially promising. Narendra Modiji, are you listening?

In Delhi, any time the Lieut. Governor might march in. If BJP takes to heart the above golden fact,  the Delhiites might have to throw the dice only once again to have a government, and not again perhaps.

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Swetha Menon And Body sanctity.

Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup


Swetha Menon and Body Sanctity

 In Kerala, blessed as this Indian state is with strikingly beautiful water scenery, many breath- taking boat races are conducted in different parts when the rain gods fill its enchantingly  beautiful water bodies during the south west monsoon, and as usual  the coastal municipal town of Kollam(Quilon) conducted its annual boat race on 1st Nov. 2013. It is customary that some crowd pulling and popular figure is invited as chief guest to grace the occasion and this time the organizers  decided to supplement scenic beauty with a good dose filmy glamour. The invitee was Swetha Menon a film and serial actress cum TV anchor, lately of fame for the gimmick of having filmed and exhibited her primiparous child delivery live for the benefit of movie going people. She arrived, clapped waved cheered ,and pleasantly left, and having got home, as only women can explain, kicked back to send a bomb shell alleging that a senior Congress Member of Parliament Shri Peethambara Kurup( nearing 70)who chaperoned her in the function had molested her while jostling in the crowd. In spite of the fact that TV footage showed only some jerky rubbing of shoulders with her by him, perhaps in his anxiety for standing shoulder to shoulder with Malluwood  in the ensuing general elections!.it was a bolt from the blue for an already infighting and debilitate Congress, and manna from heaven for the media and a very handy hatchet for the cutting left. Both the latter went to town, the savory news spilling over the Ghats and getting splashed all over the Indian media. The left smelled blood and sharpened the teeth while the media smacked its lips with pleasure. The back to the wall and anguished MP protested and professed his innocence sprinkling it with a dash of apology and empathy. Soon the waves inundated cyber world and the Facebook. Pushed hard, the govt. announced an inquiry and  the police went ahead for preparation of a FIR. And in late evening on Sunday came the news that the holier than Swetha Menon had backtracked  and decided not to push the matter further making much of a speech of apology by the M.P. in the TV. Obviously Swetha took a bite too big to chew. The Congress youth brigade had meanwhile promised to make life and career miserable for her.
 
  The Swetha Menon episode raises some thoughts as well as questions. Why did it happen that there was no unanimous condemnation of the incident, but on the contrary people took sides?  Normally if it becomes clear that a hapless woman was publicly humiliated there would have been a chorus of public outcry and indignation. But in Swetha's case people took sides. And in the end, it appears to me that it was she who was severely mauled and bruised more, much more, than her alleged detractor, -  so much to the disappointment of his political opponents who had immediately smelled pay- dirt and were preparing to dig in and go to town on that.

We react, as discerning people, differently in varying contexts. No template of behavior with a universal fit can determine human conduct in differing contexts. It is, if any thing, a broad  code of conduct envisaging a set of alternatives. These in their turn are riveted much like in a serial, to the projected nature of the characters of the actors, other personae involved and also the orchestration, which again are influenced drastically by the antecedents of the central actors. Imagine if it were someone like Manju Warrier or Kavya Madhavan  bearing the brunt of unwanted attention and intimacy, then whoever had the audacity of inflicting that and infringing the honor of their bodies would have been hauled over the burning coal by the public without serious dissent. Of course, an offense is an offence irrespective of the character of the victim, I agree and also uphold the dictum; but to me it is perfectly natural and expected that the reactions will diverge when the alleged victim is controversial and the alleged villain is one beyond reproach till then. To confound the matter further, the script comes on rather hazy and confusing, leaving much space for all kinds of interpretations and allegations of conspiracy based on the contradictions that are galore. Like Swetha's visible behavior till the end, which is one of enjoying the occasion to the core and happily going back, courteously taking leave and departing pleasantly. No distraught face, suppressed indignation and storming out. This left room for unsuspecting and incredulous people to entertain the suggestion that her subsequent volte- face to throw up insinuations was an after-thought and a put on, either for publicity which is life breath for actors, or that it was at the behest of vested interests. Or, to be more charitable to her, the reported antics of the unwanted unsolicited escorts of locals  back on way to the car must have caused to blow up her ire to loom larger than life and to merge in to it the entire occasion. Women often excel in the process of imparting reality to their fears, and some times even  to their desires.

A lesson Swetha might have learned, I hope, is that it is as much a crime as her allegations could have been, in the volatile public life of Kerala to besmirch the character and assassinate a career, especially a blameless one so far, of a senior man in public life on insufficient grounds, in this case, even if true, nothing more than any non-celebrity woman daily faces in our public transport. Not that those annoyances have to be tolerated, but usually they are these days controlled by a stern look and or warning. And least of all by a Swetha, who had nonchalantly carried out the ultimate exposure of body any woman can make or dreading to make ( it was not a call of duty) and one who now most unabashedly hugs or draws men to her body, wrapping arms around their shoulders and as seen once , even caressing the slightly protruding tummy of strangers, in TV shows. These days of  woman empowerment and it's stringent laws there could be  something like molestation by woman, and every politician is scared now that any determined woman can trample their reputation built assiduously over their entire life in one nightmarish moment.

Feminists and women in general who make shrill cries for gender equality should understand that a semblance of equality can be achieved only in some restricted fields like certain social and  service sectors; in any case  not in biology and psychology dependent sectors  As far as the educated urban middle class is concerned, In India, legally gender equality, and recently with all the woman empowering laws, even an edge over the male gender have already been achieved. If the disparities persist it is largely due to the fact that our women have not yet freed themselves fully from their traditional mindset, and by their own volition, continue to be its prisoners. So here it remains mainly an issue of under utilization of avenues open to women and also one of subconscious desire to remain at the comfort level of patriarchal dependency and protection.. Men are prepared to lend them indulgence both in equality demand as well as my fair lady's coy dependency desire, but if they insist on carrying along dependency desire too then they should know that it will amount to legitimization of patriarchy. Mind you,  it is the patriarchy that instilled a sense of differential sanctity of the body, woman's being vastly more sanctimonious than that of man. Here the patriarchy was only recognizing and obeying the matriarchal bidding of mother nature that the reproductive cost for and investment by the woman are far heavier than those of man. This is what makes the man a daring entrepreneur and woman a shy cautious capital.

If the women say gender equality embraces body sanctity then Swetha is as guilty of indiscriminate molestation  in the past as much as the accused she put on the mat and almost on the dock.