It baffles me time and again, when non-issues can be stroked to such propositions, that they tend to occupy prime time in our media. CNN-IBN practically needs nothing to stroke sentiments like this. Remember Sunitha Williams?- Yeah, the second "Indian" woman in space- put there by an American Agency- an Indian as much as Musharaff is one :)

Now, see this video news item from CNN-IBN:



You know what is the most pressing issue on hand in Gujarat and in India?-
Why isn't the Gujarat government according a state reception and welcome to Sunitha Williams?- Is it because she is a relative of Haren Pandya?

I am sorry to say this, but WTF?- We have her "relatives" coming up on TV and saying that, she is the daughter, sister of Gujarat, India and the World- I mean why are we so hell bent on this "national" back smacking? What is there for India to be proud in what Sunitha achieved?- Why should Gujarat Government even be concerned about her visit, except may be for providing security?

Just hearing the words like "We dont mind it"-(when commenting on the Gujarat Govt's supposed unwillingness to welcome her), "It shows their smallness, hallowness"etc, makes me hot under the collar. As I had already written about this earlier, it is absolutely none of our business to ask questions like,"Is it becoming a camp for anti-modi campaign" and get answers like, "We dont mind because the Government is not welcoming her- it shows their smallness, hallowness", when the person is supposedly here on a personal visit- Gosh- what is the government for- to roll out red carpet welcome to some fake national pride?

Here, in the US, there is hardly any mention of her or the other astronauts who had gone with her to space- I can atleast understand all the euphoria, if she had been put in space by ISRO, with our own rockets and science. We have absolutely no connection what so ever to what she has achieved than fathering her father in some distant past- then I guess African tribes should be celebrating for every damn thing that we achieve- after all, all humans came from Africa only- right?

The ending of the interview was a piece of cake- the host says, "Hope her visit remain a personal one"- simply amazing- do these guys have any such thing as common sense?- I am sure not!

While I used to follow the US press when I was in India itself, it wasn't all that of immediate relevance to me. But when I came here, I started following US new editions more carefully, gleaning for information with their content and context. Enough said about the BBC, now its time for Reuters.

Some days back when I was reading through the daily news, I came upon this article. It's a 3 page article and needless to say, touches one of the most stormy issues in the International politics today. Inspite all these, the flow of the article and the news that it conveys is, IMHO, simply inconsistent with general journalistic judgment.

Sample these:

"The purpose appears not to be to shore up Iran's political partners in Iraq against the Sunnis, but to cause problems for American troops," said a former intelligence official who closely monitors events in the Middle East.

.........

The secretive Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards has circumvented Shi'ite organizations like the Mehdi Army to enlist individual militants and train them in the use of explosively formed penetrators, the officials said.

These allegations against Iran are all made by unnamed, unidentified "Officials"-there are no attributions to any one. Remember these were the same tactics used earlier before the war on Iraq. Now, its an open secret on who the public opinion was manufactured leading to Iraq War.

The heights of such scandalous attribution comes here:

WARNING TO U.S TROOPS?

Some experts believe Iran has supplied traceable weapons to show the United States what ground troops might face in any military intervention.

"Tensions between these two countries have escalated dramatically since 2003, and everybody has suspected for a long time that Iraq could become a battlefield," said Vali Nasr, Middle East expert at the Naval Postgraduate School.

"I'm sure these (munitions) have been used to let it be known that the Iranians have these capabilities in Iraq."

Added an intelligence source: "They could be saying, 'This is the merest taste of what you would face if you came across the border or bombed us or knocked out our nuclear reactors'."

Here, the sentence structure seems so like that the quote "I'am sure these have been....." can easily me mistaken for Vali Nasr, whereas in reality it is again said by some "intelligence source". What is this, but stroking hysteria? A population already scared with 9/11 and yet to come back to normal doesn't need further than these words to panic.

I have just one question- What Next?

I am just waiting for more Indian noises! I fail to understand the excitement over this news(purely and only from the perspective that I am ranting about here) and the tag "Indian-American". I am afraid we live in such a hypocratic world that I wonder what makes us think she is Indian anymore. I am sure Sunitha got where she got, not because of her nationality. She got there through her hard work, intellect and merits. To claim a national pride where there exists none - or at least to rejoice in such nationalistic jingoism, sucks.

I am skeptical whether Sunitha would claim herselves an Indian, anymore than Musharaff would claim himselves an Indian. I wonder how come none of our news papers ever call Musharaff an "Indian-Pakistani". In the same league, how about calling Advani, as "Pakistani-Indian"? Such stupidity!

I had never been a votary for this thing called "Nationalism"[Though I can understand there is some shred of pride in me, in the fact of being called an Indian- Old habits- die hard]- When are we going to come out of the Nation State? I think the time has come for Nation State to wither..But frankly, I am unable to see an alternative. May be just states and not Nation States would be a solution. But states can't survive without becoming a Nation State- else America would have been a province of England still.