Swamy does it again
Once again BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy has rubbed the “liberals” the wrong way. Speaking at the Consulate General of Israel in Mumbai on the similarities between Hinduism and Zionism, he pointed out that there was a clash of civilisations internationally and we should treat both Hinduism and Zionism as sister religions since there was not much difference between the two. This sparked off a signature campaign—or maybe the campaign came before the Mumbai event, in anticipation of Swamy’s speech as his views are well known—with as many as 40 people signing a petition against this idea. These included Nayantara Sahgal, Gita Hariharan, John Cherian, Vivan Sundaram and so on. In their letter, they called Zionism a racist ideology and warned against the plan to Israelize India. While speaking to NewsX, Swamy wondered how a race that had been tortured by the Nazis could be labelled “fascist”. Well, clearly that debate is still not over as yet. Watch this space.
Divine Right to Rule
At the same event, Dr Swamy made an interesting point. He commented that “women enjoyed a higher status than men in ancient India”. And went on to explain this thesis by pointing to what he referred to as “Brahma’s cabinet” where all the important portfolios went to women. As he explained, education is with Saraswati, finance with Lakshmi and defence with Durga. Then he added with his trademark smile, “I once asked Swami Dayanand Saraswati, you mean male gods don’t have any portfolios? He said, ‘There is one male god that does. Information & broadcasting is with Narad Muni’.” Well, clearly Swamy has had the last word on the gender debate with this one!
A not so happy Pawar
NCP strongman Sharad Pawar was seen to be visibly upset at a press conference recently when a journalist asked him that it was not just sundry NCP leaders but even relatives of the strongman who seemed to moving to the BJP. The journalist was perhaps alluding to the speculation that Padamsinha Patil, the eight-time ex-MLA from Osmanabad and more significantly the brother-in-law of senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was planning to quit the party. Patil is also considered a close confidant of Sharad Pawar. However, both the senior Patil and his son Ranajagjitsinha were missing at the NCP’s Swaraj Yatra in Osmanabad held last week. The NCP chief, however, did not take too kindly to this question as was obvious from the snub he dished out to the journalist. So it’s not just the Congress, even its allies have their fair share of troubles.