Imran Khan: Politics is not a game of cricket

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If not in politics, certainly in cricket Pakistan's World Cup winning captain Imran Khan has always been larger than life. My favourite Imran story dates back to a Sharjah match in the late 1980s. On the eve of the game, Imran was told of reports that some of his players were looking to 'fix' the match. Angered, he called a team meeting and told the players that their entire match fee was being put on Pakistan winning the game. He warned them, "If I find any of you not giving 100 per cent on the field, I promise you will never play for Pakistan again." Sure enough, Pakistan won the game. That was Imran the cricketer, the most successful and charismatic captain Pakistan has known. On the field, he was the great dictator, setting lofty personal goals, always playing his cricket with an intense self-belief and passionate desire....

Mr Prime Minister, sing the sound of silence no more

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It may seem incongruous to say it today, but there was a time when one found Dr Manmohan Singh's silence as a mark of quiet dignity. In the age of noise, where everything from Parliament to television studios thrive on high-decibel politics, Dr Singh was seen to be a reassuring bridge to an earlier era when the tone was more measured. I still remember interviewing Dr Singh in 1999 just ahead of him contesting a Lok Sabha election for the first and, as it later transpired, only time. There was none of the manufactured hype around his campaign: no shrill rhetoric, no cheering sycophants, no screaming banners. Dr Singh appeared most comfortable when we sat in his personal library away from the lights and cameras. It was his grandson's birthday. I recall asking him if we could shoot the family celebrations. "No family please," was his firm but....

Ajit Pawar is emblematic of a class of unaccountable political czars

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In the 1970s, Marathi cinema threw up a comedian in Dada Kondke who went on to create history by churning out the maximum number of silver jubilee films in a row. The humour was crass, it was at times vulgar but Kondke got away with it because of cinematic licence. Public life offers no such freedom. Which is why Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's offer to urinate to fill up the empty dams at a time of drought has evoked such sharp responses. Even by the depressingly low standards of public discourse in the country, Mr Pawar's statement would give Marie Antoinette's classic "Let them eat cake": remark a close run for the utter callousness of our elected representatives which it highlighted. For years Ajit 'dada', as he is popularly known, has remained in the shadows of his larger than life uncle Sharad Pawar. The Pawars are widely....

Unequal justice breeds communalism and terrorism

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"Justice", the new rallying cry on the streets and in the studios, can be awfully selective at times. The brutal gangrape of a Delhi girl in December led to an avalanche of protests and demands that the culprits be hanged immediately. On the other hand, sexual crimes against women in interior Chattisgarh attract scant attention. Afzal Guru's hanging becomes a contentious political battle, even as faceless prisoners remain on death row for years. Now, the Supreme Court verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case has become more about a film star's saga rather than about a dispassionate analysis of the judgment. The reactions to the Mumbai 93 judgment are typical of how 'justice' is now perceived in the public arena. Veering between a blood-thirsty desire for 'revenge' for the lives of those who died and the several hundred who were injured and an unbridled sympathy for those who....

To be (the PM) or not to be, Rahul's Hamletian dilemma continues

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India's two main national parties are facing distinctly contrarian leadership dilemmas: while the BJP is confronted with managing the vaulting ambitions of its multiple leaders, the Congress must deal with the reluctance of its "Chosen One" to stake a claim for the top job. If the BJP's leadership contenders seem to be in a tearing hurry to be anointed prime ministers in waiting, the Congress's problem is of a prince who doesn't want to be coronated. Rahul Gandhi's Hamletian response to any question on his future has confounded his friends and foes alike. So we are told that he doesn't intend to marry. No problem, that is his personal choice and should hardly bother anyone except the page three chatterati. But that he has also indicated he isn't keen on being the Prime Minister should trouble the Congress party whose sycophantic culture is unable to look beyond a member....

BJP's Modi dilemma

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It is not without reason that the BJP in recent times has been referred to as the 'Hindu Divided Family'. Impressed by the speech given by Sushma Swaraj at the BJP National Council, I tweeted: "Outstanding speech by Sushma Swaraj: is she another PM in the making?". Within minutes, I was subject to vicious abuse on Twitter, including from a person whose profile described him as the co-convenor of the BJP IT cell from Ahmedabad's Ellisbridge area and a Narendra Modi supporter. Profanity on social media is not unusual, but it struck me that praise for a 'rival' BJP leader was being seen by a member of the Modi fan club as a downsizing of their icon. Modi today is undoubtedly the prime ministerial choice of the BJP's rank and file. The response to his speech at the party's national council was euphoric: every dialogue was accompanied by loud....

Shinde's list is one of abject failures

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Every Union home minister of the country has had to live literally in the shadow of the first occupant of the post. In the stairway of the North Block, leading to the home minister's office, there is a lifesize portrait of Sardar Patel. He has been eulogised in textbooks as the 'Iron Man of India' and is probably the only Congress leader of the freedom movement who still enjoys widespread endorsement across the political class (Don't forget Mayawati has spoken out against the Mahatma). Which is perhaps why Sushil Kumar Shinde is finding life in the chair, once occupied by the mighty Sardar Patel, a little too hot to handle. From court constable to sub-inspector to Maharashtra chief minister to a state Governor to Lok Sabha leader and Union home minister, Shinde is a shining emblem of upward mobility in politics. Being a Dalit in an age of....

Making sense of sensationalist TV journalism

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American pop art icon Andy Warhol was probably right: everyone is looking for their 15 minutes of fame; only the time has now been compressed to a 15-second soundbite. In 1998, Jai Bhagwan Goel, the rotund, fire-spewing, self-appointed leader of the North India unit of the Shiv Sena, called us with an 'invitation' to send a camera crew to cover his proposed attack on the cinema house screening the film 'Fire'. We did ring up the police but as in cinema, so also in real life, the men in khakhi landed a wee bit late. The theatre was attacked, the show was stopped and Goel was arrested but made it to the front pages and prime time news. A few days later, out on bail, Goel landed up in office with a box of sweets. "You covered the event very well, thank you so much," he smiled through his wide....

Rahul vs Modi: the long and short of it

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There is nothing journalists and the viewers love more than a 'big fight'. A Roger Federer is a great tennis player, but the legend is enhanced because of his battles with a Nadal; a Tendulkar's true genius was tested in his contests with a Mcgrath. What is true of sports is certainly true of politics. Which is perhaps why political pundits have rushed to predict a Rahul Gandhi versus Narendra Modi battle in 2014 even before the bugle has been sounded for the general elections. For a news editor, it is a catchy headline and the contrast between the Congress's dimpled 'Prince' and the BJP's macho 'Pracharak' is too striking to be ignored. One is a child of privilege, blessed with the most enduring brand name in Indian politics. The other is a child of hardship whose father was not even a sarpanch. One claims to be the legatee....

How to take rabble rousers like Owaisi to task

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It has been my experience that the best way to deal with political rabble rousers is to call their bluff and bluster. I have never met Akbaruddin Owaisi, the 42-year-old MLA of the Hyderabad-based Majlis-e-Ittihad al Muslimin, but listening to his recent incendiary speech at a public gathering in Adilabad, I see no reason for him to roam free. Clearly, his hateful vocabulary has no place in a civilised democracy. I have, however, met the elder Owaisi brother, the MIM MP, Asauddin Owaisi. Senior Owaisi in private is a soft-spoken, highly courteous gent, with a Bar at Law degree from the prestigious Lincolns Inn. During Parliament sessions, he invites journalists and fellow MPs for a Hyderabadi daawat and is always a gracious host. Since my gastronomic habits are distinctly secular (I have had crabs and red wine with the Thackerays and jalebis with VHP leaders), the haleem at....