Fossil

In a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, Mark Sappenfield describes the Chattisgarh conflict as more depressing then the conflict of Afghanistan. His reasoning goes like this

“In Afghanistan, there remains a fierce pride and strength of will. Perhaps these qualities cause their fair share of trouble, but they also produce an iron defiance in the face of the most terrible atrocities – an unyielding resolution to be unbowed. In the jungles of Dantewada district I saw a people utterly broken. Whereas Afghans looked you directly in the eye, chin resolute, the people at the refugee camp had all but conceded, slump-shouldered and speaking softly, staring at nothing.”

The Hindu taliban of recent years is also the result of this lack of fierce pride and strength of will. How else do you explain the ban on covering the face of girls from a particular community? The ban is in effect at the soaring heat of plains of India reaching 45^o Celsius, and many have to move around on their two wheelers in this heat. To add insult to injury, even the police have joined the circus. There logic? The criminals are able to move around freely as their faces are covered. What is worth noting is the police found out the criminals strategy only after the RSS controlled Sindhi panchayat found this practice offensive. Bhopali is confused whether wearing a helmet would also be considered an attempt to hide identity.

Meanwhile the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh is off to London, seeking foreign investment in Madhya Pradesh. Hopefully he has taken permission from the saffron brigade, and they have approved this visit for a select group of politicians, to cool London from the soaring heat of Bhopal. A team of Indian palaeontologists has discovered a nest with 12 dinosaur eggs, the largest in a single nest, in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. No, the saffron brigade has not found any thing objectionable in this yet, neither have they claimed the eggs for themselves till reports last came in.