Vis-a-Vis

MANMOHAN SINGH prime minister versus ANUPAM KHER actor

"Every generation has rediscovered the relevance of Gandhiji's message of peace and tolerance."

"We have always tried to preach through films on Gandhi. That's not what today's youth wants."

EPILOGUE: Gandhigiri becomes the new catchword. But how relevant is it for GenNext?

VOICES

"It is clear that India's national security is not safe in the hands of the UPA Government."

Arun Jaitley, BJP spokesperson

"In a coalition it is very important that political space is given to the government to undertake economic reforms."

P. Chidambaram, finance minister

"The Pakistan high commissioner should be immediately summoned and categorically told that India will reconsider continuation of diplomatic relations with Pakistan."

Rajnath Singh, BJP president

"What do I say about (General Pervez) Musharraf? He describes himself in his book as a cat with nine lives."

General V. P. Malik, former chief-of-staff of the army

"I am contemplating on not representing India at future events any more."

Mahesh Bhupathi, tennis player

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

During his Havana trip last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that a foreign minister would be inducted soon. It appears that divisions within the Cabinet and other power centres have stymied the exercise.

PICTURE SPEAK

BIRTH OF A MARTYR? Afzal faces the gallows

The verdict may have been expected but not the public reaction and street protests that followed in J&K from separatist as well as mainstream camps. What surprised political observers were reports that Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene to get a presidential pardon for Afzal. Local dailies quoted officials as saying that Azad told Manmohan that Afzal's hanging should be postponed as it coincides with Jumat-ul-Vida (the last Friday of the month of Ramzan) and that "the execution on a holy day would send a wrong message to people".

The Congress sought to distance itself from Azad's plea after it drew flak from the Opposition, especially the BJP. "I'm neither endorsing nor rejecting what the chief minister has said," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said. But the state Congress is divided. Azad's colleague in the Cabinet and senior Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma said, "Clemency! What clemency? Had the militants entered the Parliament, the scene would have been altogether different in the country."

The hanging of JKLF's founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat in 1984 was a turning point in Kashmir politics. But even his execution did not receive such condemnation and public protest as Afzal's death sentence has in the Valley.

Now with his family arriving in Delhi to petition the President and press for a pardon, Afzal's fate, the politics of the Valley and the impact of another martyr on the separatist cause, literally hangs in balance.

-By Aijaz Hussain

-By Priya Sahgal

CONFERRED: On actor Roshan Seth, the Order of the British Empire for 2006, one of Britain's highest civilian honours, for promoting India-Britain relations in culture.

WON: By Gaurav Ghei, the Mercuries Masters Golf Tournament. He defeated Rahil Gangjee in Taipei.

AWARDED: Cardiologist Naresh Trehan, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration Academics and Management for 2005.

WON: By women's rights activist Ruth Manorama, the Alternative Nobel Right Livelihood Award along with ex-US Defence Department's Daniel Elsberg.

PICTURE SPEAK

THE RISING: (L-R) Dwivedi, Vora, Moily

Though Dwivedi has steered clear of both the Congress(T) and the Gen Next groups within the party, he has notched up an alliance with his next-door neighbour, party treasurer Motilal Vora. The Dwivedi-Vora duo is tipped to be the new Ambika Soni-Ahmad Patel combine in the AICC though one wonders if this alliance will be as rocky. The duo scored a victory over detractors recently when Vora put a lock on 99 South Avenue, the party's media centre, claiming that the bungalow was being misused to plant stories against the establishment.

Another rising star is Congress Working Committee member Veerappa Moily, in charge of formulating a roadmap for the controversial quota policy. Moily is also in charge of Tamil Nadu.

Then there is Oscar Fernandes, the minister without portfolio. Party speculation has him taking charge of the Congress president's office along with organisational affairs once Sonia reshuffles the AICC. Currently Fernandes is seen at his ministerial office at Shram Shakti Bhavan during the day and at 24 Akbar Road after 9 p.m. Commenting on Fernandes's late working hours and the fact that Patel, political secretary to the Congress president (who prefers to work from his house than the party headquarters) usually calls Congressmen at 2 a.m., a general secretary wondered if they should change the party's official timing to the night.

Apart from the evergreen Patel, these three seem to be the summer specials.

-By Priya Sahgal

BHOPAL Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar's bid to introduce educational reforms on Teachers' Day on September 5 has fallen flat with the Association of University Officers petitioning the high court. Whatever be the outcome of the legal battle, one thing is certain-the wall of customary courtesy towards the gubernatorial office has been breached and all the Chancellor's actions on universities could be dragged to courts in the future

-By Ambreesh Mishra

PICTURE SPEAK

SOMNATH HORE 1921-2006

-By S. Kalidas and Swagata Sen

Index