From Modi magic to urn politics
There is no second thought on the fact that Atal Bihari Vajpayee is single handedly responsible for the respectable position the otherwise ‘untouchable’ BJP acquired in the past to form NDA. We don’t know yet of how long Modi’s fallacy and loud politics would continue. But Vajpayee provided a solid foundation for BJP is a reality beyond any doubt. Vajpayee has a long standing political journey that begins from pre-independence days. He built BJP based on liberal values of Hindutva.
Hence, his statesmanship should mean much more to BJP over the politics of Adityanath, Amit Shah or Modi and the likes who have no value-based approach to their politics. After his death, Vajapayee’s persona is being misused. Of course, the members of BJP have all the rights to invoke the name of their leader who built the party. And if the opposition says a party should not use the name of its most significant person, it would be ridiculous.
Congress still uses the name of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv at every election it fights. Reforms such as land tenancy act, or nationalization of banks brought in by Indira Gandhi; and the computer revolution set in by Rajiv are still good calling cards of Congress around every election. So then why should the BJP not use the name of Vajpayee who just died a few days ago? In a way, BJP has a better standing when they take Vajpayee's name for the sake of their party. But then today’s BJP that is led by Modi does not want to identify itself around the statesmanship, liberal values and accomplishments of Vajpayee. They do not want to follow the values set their most revered leader either.
Everybody remembers their favourite leaders through their achievements. For instance, the country knows the contribution of Nehru, Indira Gandhi or Rajiv through the progress of the country. Similarly, Vajpayee has contributed very significantly to the country’s bilateral relations with other nations. He never assumed his ideology was bigger than the nation itself. He tried hard to control the extremist powers that had set out to destroy the interest of the country against the Hindutva they wanted to spread across the nation.
He was helpless amidst the extremist forces that had surrounded him. His efforts to improve Indo-Pak relations are highly commendable and honest to the core. To remember him, is to live the ideals he strived to introduce into the society. But when he slipped into coma, his ideals also slipped into dark alleys of this nation. Today, nobody needs the path he followed.
BJP leaders only need the ashes from his final rites. They have now filled the urns in his name and have set out to all corners of the country to achieve their goal. If there is a way he’d know about this, it would hurt Vajpayee more than anyone else.
One of the first persons who took objection to this is Vajpayee's sister Karuna Shukla. “We have completed the final rites of Vajpayeeji according to our family customs and scattered his ashes in Ganga and Yamuna as per the tradition,” she told the media. But then BJP has been filling numerous metal pots with ashes claimed to be that of Vajpayee's and distributing them to states across the nation. Their intention is to scatter the ashes in main rivers in every state. While the family members already said they didn’t hand over the ashes to anyone else, what ash is being distributed in the name of Vajpayee then? Who gave them that amount of ash? Putting aside his ideals and values, why is BJP hell bent upon only disseminating his ashes? Why has the party come down to this? BJP as it stands now, has completely ignored the ideals and values that Vajpayee stood for. They are now out to emotionally manipulate people just the way as they did with Ram Janma Bhoomi issue collecting bricks in the name of god. They are trying to cover up their misdemeanors under the guise of ashes.
In the recent times, government and Pollution control boards have been laying down strict rules against discarding remnants of corpses in rivers. Now the government itself is spearheading this scattering of ashes in rivers. How would the government then advise common people not to engage in such rituals? Now the ashes that are entering the river stream are not from Vajpayee's final rites. They are the result of reducing his thoughts to cinders. This ash is that of the person who advised his men to follow ‘Raj dharma’ after the Gujarat genocide. They are the ashes of those people who died standing in queues during demonetization. And those of the people who were killed at the hands of mobs for transporting cattle. Those who were lynched in connivance with the government have become ashes. It is also that of those babies who died under the government’s watch for lack of oxygen.
BJP leaders are scattering them in rivers. Thus insulting their own Namami Gange, in glaring day light.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
