Chandan Mitra
Chandan Mitra is a journalist and a known columnist. He started his career as Assistant Editor with The Statesman in Kolkata before he moved to the Times of India in Delhi and then The Sunday Observer; a  paper which was funded by Reliance Industries. After Reliance stopped funding, Mitra moved to the Hindustan Times as Executive Editor. Miffed at being superseded there, Mitra left to join The Pioneer and eventually bought that newspaper from the Thapar family. It is generally believed that he was helped by RSS, in more ways than one, to clinch that deal.

He started his career with left leanings but renounced it in Nineties in favor of an obscurantist Hindu ideology and  is a permanent member of Hindutva think tank since then. On the recommendations of BJP, he  was nominated member of  the Rajya Sabha during August 2003 to August 2009. He was elected to another term in the Rajya Sabha, as a BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, in June 2010.
Mitra writes extensively in line with the Hinudtva ideology he is wedded to.  But when he writes against  any  person  such  writing are generally treated as a  proverbial  “dog  on the prowl” - Following instances will explain this.

A few days before the killing of  Dr. Abdul Ahad Guroo, one of the most respected and  reputable cardiac surgeons of State, Mitra wrote an article in Hindustan Times casting aspersions on his role and  presenting him as a doubtful character. In Kashmir it is widely believed that the said article  was in fact  a precursor to Dr. Guroo’s actual  killing through a covert operation as exposed later by Wajahat Habibullah in his book “My Kashmir”

Some months back, he wrote an article in his paper suggesting Azadi for Kashmir by dropping   a subtle hint of change in Hindutva brigade’s thinking. The said article was picked up by  Kashmir Times, a reputable daily, through its Delhi correspondent Iftikhar Geelani. When Mitra got a wind  of the displeasure felt in  higher echelons of the saffron brigade about the  write-up, he scripted a long denial  attributing the conclusion to a misinterpretation of his article. To buttress his argument, he even coaxed  a  self styled Historian-cum- turncoat politician from Jammu to write supportively  in his paper.

 While Mitra was within his rights to issue the denial attributing the fault to conclusion drawn by the reader  rather than his poor writing skills, What was reprehensible in those denials  was to make public the relationship of Iftikhar Geelani with syed Ali Shah Geelani (the latter is father-in-law of Ifthikar) with the sole purpose and  intent of jeopardizing Iftikhar’s  personal safety. Malicious journalism indeed.

Of late Mitra has started a vicious tirade against Arundhati Roy for espousing Kashmir cause. Unsuccessful at getting her implicated on charges of  treason and  sedition, he has  started a personal character assassination campaign against her.   The motif  of this campaign is  that Roy has  constructed a house at Panchmari, Madya Pradesh by encroaching upon forest land meant for tribals. The gullible readers are continuously fed with the information that she co-owns this house with her second husband, Pradeep Krishen, a film maker. The sole purpose of this is to belittle Arundhati Roy’s stature and  reputation among the general public.

Let me tell Mitra and  his cahoots  that Roy has committed no sin by highlighting the opression perpetrated  on hapless and  innocent Kashmiris. Scores of Jaliawalla Bag and  Sharpeville  massacres have been inflicted on them and the beast is still not sated. The world is slowly awakening to the tragedy in Kashmir; Arundhati Roy   happens to be an early riser.

Mitra – please be also informed   that your vicious campaign may culminate in loss of Panchmari House  to  Mrs. Roy but that noble  soul, whose conscience is still alive,  has already  inherited millions of  four room house in every heart of  the oppressed and  suppressed people, be they in Kashmir, Punjab, Bihar or any other  place in  India.
And for that vilification campaign launched against Arundhati Roy, Chandan Mitra deserves a stone to be pelted at.

Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Ambani  is an Indian business magnate and the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries,  the largest private sector enterprise in India  and one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the world.
As of now he is the richest man in Asia  and the fourth richest man in the world. He is expected to regain the title of the richest man in the world in 2014.
Following differences  with his  brother, Anil Ambani and  parting of ways, Mukesh Ambani is constructing a new 27 floor, 173 metre tall  House  on Altamound Road, Mumbai  at an astronomical cost  estimated  around  Rs. 4000 crores.

Some  facts about this ‘house’..
1. 3 helipads on top- Though authorities  have  not given permission for making this operational as yet.

2. Hanging gardens and  Swimming pools within the structure

3. A two storey Health centre.

4. Parking space for 168 cars (6 floors). I initially thought that meant there will be a mini office in the building but apparently that is not the case. All these cars will belong to Mukesh Ambani! Just in case you are interested, he drives a 5 crore Maybach now.

5. A floor exclusively for servicing these automobiles within the building.

6. A floor for Home theatre – sitting capacity of 50

7. The house will have a staff of 600  to do the maintenance activities. That gives a ratio of 1:100 for people living in the house and those who are paid to take care of it. The six lucky ones are Mukesh , his wife, their 3 children and  mother Kokilaben.

However, the land on which this  Super  mansion is being built belongs to Muslim Waqf board and is estimated to value around  Rs 3000 crores but by circumvention of laws and  dubious documentation, Mukesh  Ambani has got it virtually  free. This is yet another example of official apathy and  corruption at the cost of Muslims.

Many Muslim organizations have urged the Union as well as Mahrashtra  Government to ensure   that the Ambanis  enter into  a proper lease deed on payment of an appropriate sum as well as land rentals for the lease period but till now without any tangible result.

Mukesh Ji, As you must be aware that Waqf is a religious endowment made by Muslim individuals and families for the welfare of the weak, especially for purposes like education, housing and healthcare.  Since Waqf properties have the potential to finance a sizable part of the developmental needs of poor Muslims, otherwise neglected by the Indian State, You have committed an unpardonable act of  snatching away the basic facilities of a large section of that under-privileged and  marginalized section of the society.
And for committing that heinous act Mukesh Ambani deserves a stone to be pelted at.

Tapir Gao
Tapir Gao is a  Former BJP member of the  Lok Sabha.  He represents the Arunachal East constituency of Arunachal Pradesh and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party national executive.

In a recent statement carried by The Telegraph-Nov.18-2011, Gao  opposed the extension of the Disturbed Area Act in Nagaland and demanded its revocation. So far so good.

When asked about the same treatment  For Kashmir, Gao had this to say:
“In Kashmir, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is needed. In the Northeast, however, there should be revocation  or modifications in the clauses. Kashmir cannot be compared to the northeastern states,”

Vow Tapir Gao Ji- What a duplicity? When victims are hapless Muslims of Kashmir, AFPSA should remain-Otherwise it should go.
Tapir Gao Ji- Next time  in the Parliament, you should move a proposal for Indian ordinance factories to manufacture a bullet, which  can only hit  a Muslim body. Na Rahe gi Bans-Na Bajey gi Bansari

Tapir Gao Ji- By the way  your Sur-name literally means a “Cow” in Kashmiri language. But looking to  your guile and  hypocrisy, It shall be a great  disservice and insult to  that animal  to  even think of any comparison.
And for that duplicitous  statement  coming from a sick mind, Tapir Gao deserves a stone to be pelted at.

(The author is a practicing Chartered Accountant. Feedback at amzargar1@indiatimes.com)

Lastupdate on : Sat, 27 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 28 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST