Anil Dharker
Read biographyAnil Dharker is a writer and columnist on social and political issues.
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Sibal has a point; social media must find a way to screen rubbish
When Kapil Sibal announced a couple of months ago that he had asked social media sites to monitor their content, there was a howl of protest. “Government censorship!” the cries went up, “Curtailment of liberty!” “Trampling of democracy!” It seemed then that Sibal, no stranger to controversy, had done it #Free Speech #InMyOpinion #Kapil Sibal #Shashi Tharoor #social media
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Was that thing in the Lok Sabha really a debate? Naah…
The debate in parliament on the Lokpal bill suffered from one major deficiency: the fact that it was called a debate. Debate is what you get in Westminster (allegedly our model for the parliamentary form of government), where members speak but ‘yield’ when another member wants to make a point, after #Aruna Roy #Arvind Kejriwal #Jan Lokpal #kiran bedi #LokAyukta #Lokpal #Medha Patkar #Team Anna
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FDI has already benefited us: check McDonald’s, Coke, Pepsi
Try and think of this imaginary scenario. It’s 1991, a Congress coalition government rules in Delhi. Our economic situation is terrible — so bad that the government has had to secretly pledge its gold to keep the country’s head above water. There’s only one solution: to get out of this #Kiranas #parliament #Pepsi #Pranab Mukherjee #retail FDI #ToWhatEffect #Wal-Mart
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Team Anna is unravelling, and Anna is no Gandhi
Is anyone happy to see the Anna Hazare campaign quickly begin to unravel? The Congress party, of course, and, secretly, probably every politician who would have faced the Lokpal's scrutiny in the years to come. Not to name bureaucrats and others who have similarly been lining their pockets over the #Anna Hazare #Arvind Kejriwal #kiran bedi #Lokpal #PoliticalPlay #Prashant Bhushan #Team Anna
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Shoaib vs Sachin: Competitive intolerance isn’t the answer
What incredible times we live in! The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena are both taking credit for a Big Achievement. And what is the Big A? Starting vocational courses for young people? Encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship in Maharashtra? Introducing special programmes for the girl child? The Big #Controversially Yours #Rahul Dravid #Ricky Ponting #Sachin Tendulkar #Shoaib Akhtar #Thats Just Wrong #Virender Sehwag
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Corruption is our birth-right; Anna, please excuse us
Years ago when I had just come back to India from England — and was therefore a sitting duck for conmen – I would be taken by the longest possible route by taxi drivers. (In fact, I distinctly remember one cabbie getting 'lost' in Malabar Hill in south Mumbai and #Anna Hazare #Corruption #OnlyInIndia
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When Chidu blames Delhi cops, it’s time for him to resign
You switch on the TV and find all the news channels replaying the same old scene. It happens on sports channels all the time: inspite of the huge number of sporting events going on all around the world, there aren’t enough of them to satisfy television’s insatiable appetite. But replays #9/11 #David Coleman Headley #deal #Delhi blast #Mumbai attacks #P. Chidambaram #World Trade Center
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Anna’s backroom boys did a great job, but the frontroom?
Who are Anna Hazare’s back-room boys? Whoever they are, they deserve praise and a lot of credit for the success of the anti-corruption campaign. They have orchestrated Anna’s moves most brilliantly: refusing to come out of Tihar Jail, for instance. The government realised its folly a few hours after they stupidly #Anna Hazare #Lokpal #PoliticsDecoder #Rajghat #Team Anna
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A deluded Team Anna is feeding a dangerous intolerance
It’s a mob out there. And some of the self-appointed leaders of Civil Society who sit on the dais at Ramlila Maidan and give their self-righteous opinions are now showing all the signs of suffering from delusions of grandeur. It starts from Anna Hazare himself. He now really thinks he is #Anna Hazare #Arvind Kejriwal #Corruption #kiran bedi #Lokpal
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Doesn’t Team Anna know when it’s time to stop?
Are you fed up of Anna Hazare and Team Anna? I am. Mental fatigue has set in because of two reasons. The first is media overkill. Newspapers, having limited space, at least exercise some restraint, but television, which has 24 hours to fill, just drones on and on, showing the #Anna Hazare #Arvind Kejriwal #Lokpal Bill #Satyagraha #ToTheContrary