Member of Parliment,
Mysuru - Kodagu Loksabha Constituency
ಸಂಸದರು,
ಮೈಸೂರು - ಕೊಡಗು ಲೋಕಸಭಾ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರ
Email : mpmysoresimha@gmail.com
Pratap Simha > Bettale Jagattu > ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ತಂದವನನ್ನು ನಿನ್ನ ದೇಶ ಯಾವುದೆಂದು ಕೇಳುವುದಾ?!

ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ತಂದವನನ್ನು ನಿನ್ನ ದೇಶ ಯಾವುದೆಂದು ಕೇಳುವುದಾ?!

I want my country back!
ಹಾಗಂತ ಈ ದೇಶದ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಪುತ್ರನೇ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಾದ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣವಾಯಿತೆ? ಈ ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಸರು ತಂದುಕೊಟ್ಟ ಚೆಸ್ ತಾರೆ, ತಾನು ಯಾವ ದೇಶದ ಪ್ರಜೆ ಎಂದು ಸಾಬೀತುಪಡಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯಾಯಿತೆ? ಏನಾಗಿದೆ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ನೇತೃತ್ವದ ಈ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ? ಒಂದು ಕಡೆ ಕಾಮನ್‌ವೆಲ್ತ್ ಗೇಮ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರವೆಸಗುವ ಮೂಲಕ, ಕಳಪೆ ಕಾಮಗಾರಿಯ ಮೂಲಕ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಕಳಂಕ ತರುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇನ್ನೊಂದೆಡೆ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ವಿಶ್ವಮನ್ನಣೆ ಗಳಿಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿರುವ ಕ್ರೀಡಾತಾರೆಯಾದ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರ ‘ಪೌರತ್ವ’ದ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೇ ಸಂಶಯ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸುವಂತಹ ಬೌದ್ಧಿಕ ದಿವಾಳಿತನ ತೋರುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಏಕೆ ನಮ್ಮ ನ್ಯಾಷನಲ್ ಐಕಾನ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ಈ ರೀತಿ ಅವಮಾನಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ? ಮಾನವ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ಖಾತೆ ಸಚಿವ ಕಪಿಲ್ ಸಿಬಲ್ ಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ, ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ಮನಮೋಹನ್ ಸಿಂಗ್ ಅವರೂ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕವಾಗಿ ಕ್ಷಮೆ ಕೇಳಬೇಕು. Infact, the country wants him back. ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಅದೇನು ಅಂತಿಂಥ ಅವಮಾನವೇ? ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಮುನ್ನ ನೀನು ಈ ದೇಶದ ಪ್ರಜೆ ಎಂದು ಸಾಬೀತುಪಡಿಸು ಎಂದು ಕೇಳುವುದಾ?! ಇಟಲಿಯ ಮಹಿಳೆಯನ್ನು ಭಾರತದ ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ಗಾದಿಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುಳ್ಳಿರಿಸಲು ಹೊರಟಿದ್ದವರಿಗೆ ಈ ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ತಂದ ಸುಪುತ್ರನ ಪೌರತ್ವ ಯಾವುದೆಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲವೆ?

ಇಂಥದ್ದೊಂದು ರಂಪ ಏಕಾಗಿ ಆರಂಭವಾಯಿತು?

ನಾಲ್ಕು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಸ್ಪೇನ್ ರಾಜಧಾನಿ ಮ್ಯಾಡ್ರಿಡ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಗಣಿತಜ್ಞರ ಸಮಾವೇಶ’ (ಇಂಟರ್‌ನ್ಯಾಷನಲ್ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಆಫ್ ಮ್ಯಾಥಮೆಟಿಶಿಯನ್ಸ್-ICM) ಆಯೋಜನೆ ಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಆ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತದ ದೂತಾವಾಸ ಕಚೇರಿ ಔತಣಕೂಟವೊಂದನ್ನು ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿತ್ತು. ಕಳೆದ ಕೆಲವು ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಸ್ಪೇನ್‌ನಲ್ಲೇ ನೆಲೆಸಿರುವ ಭಾರತದ ಖ್ಯಾತ ಚೆಸ್ ತಾರೆ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರನ್ನೂ ಆಹ್ವಾನಿಸಲಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಮುಂದಿನ (2010) ‘ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಗಣಿತಜ್ಞರ ಸಮಾವೇಶ’ ಹೈದರಾಬಾದ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಲಿದೆ, ಆ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ 40  ಆಟಗಾರರ ಜತೆ ಏಕಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ನೀವು ಚೆಸ್ ಆಡುತ್ತೀರಾ, ನಿಮ್ಮ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ಇದ್ದರೆ ಅಂತಹ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಯನ್ನು ಆಯೋಜಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ ಎಂದು ಸಮಾವೇಶದ ‘ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಾಹಕ ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಸಮಿತಿ’ಯ ಛೇರ್‌ಮನ್ ಎಂ.ಎಸ್. ರಘುರಾಮ್ ಅವರು ಆನಂದ್‌ರನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರು. ಆನಂದ್ ಖುಷಿಯಿಂದಲೇ ಒಪ್ಪಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಈಗ್ಗೆ ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷದ ಹಿಂದೆ ಸಮಿತಿ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಸ್ತುತ್ಯರ್ಹ ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಮುಂದಾಯಿತು. ಸಮಾವೇಶದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಹಾರ್ವರ್ಡ್ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯದ ವಿಶ್ವವಿಖ್ಯಾತ ಗಣಿತಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಜ್ಞ ಮತ್ತು ಭಾರತೀಯ ಗಣಿತಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಜ್ಞರ ದೀರ್ಘಕಾಲೀನ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ ಪ್ರೊಫೆಸರ್ ಮಮ್‌ಫೋರ್ಡ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ನೀಡುವ ನಿರ್ಧಾರವದು! ಈ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆಗೆ ಹೈದರಾಬಾದ್‌ನ ಕೇಂದ್ರೀಯ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯದ(UoH) ಕುಲಪತಿ ಬಹಳ ಉತ್ಸಾಹದಿಂದಲೇ ಹೂಗುಟ್ಟಿದ್ದರು. ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆಯನ್ನು ಯುನಿವರ್ಸಿಟಿಯ ಕಾರ್ಯಕಾರಿ ಮಂಡಳಿಯ ಮುಂದಿಟ್ಟರು. ಆರು ತಿಂಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಅದು ತನ್ನ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆಯನ್ನೂ ನೀಡಿತು. ಅಂತಿಮ ಅಂಗೀಕಾರ ನೀಡುವಂತೆ ಮಾನವ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ಸಚಿವಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕಳೆದ ಜೂನ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕಡತ ಕಳುಹಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಆದರೆ ಮಾನವ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ಸಚಿವಾಲಯದ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ ಆರ್.ಡಿ. ಸಹಾಯ್, ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರ ಪೌರತ್ವದ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯೇ ತಗಾದೆ ತೆಗೆದರು!! ವಿದೇಶಿಯರ ಅನುಕೂಲಕ್ಕೆ ಅನುಗುಣವಾಗಿ ವಿಶೇಷ ಘಟಿಕೋತ್ಸವ ಹಮ್ಮಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ಎಂದು ಹೈದರಾಬಾದ್ ಸೆಂಟ್ರಲ್ ವಿವಿಯನ್ನೇ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದರು. ಹೀಗೆ ವಿವಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಸಚಿವಾಲಯದ ಅಧಿಕಾರಶಾಹಿಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಗುದ್ದಾಟ ಆರಂಭವಾಯಿತು. ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯತೆಯನ್ನೇ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದ ಸಚಿವಾಲಯವನ್ನು ವಿವಿ ಕೂಡ ತರಾಟೆಗೆ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡಿತು. ಈ ವಿಷಯ ತಿಳಿದು ಮನನೊಂದ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಪತ್ನಿ ಅರುಣಾ ಅವರು ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಪಾಸ್‌ಪೋರ್ಟ್‌ನ ಫೋಟೋ ಕಾಪಿಯನ್ನು ‘ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಗಣಿತಜ್ಞರ ಸಮಾವೇಶ’ದ ‘ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಸಮಿತಿ’ಗೆ ಕಳುಹಿಸಿದರು. ಜುಲೈ 30ರಂದು ಅದನ್ನು ಸಚಿವಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕಳುಹಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಇಷ್ಟಾಗಿಯೂ ಯಾವುದೇ ಪ್ರಗತಿಯಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಮಧ್ಯೆ, ವಿವಿಗೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿದ್ದ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿ ಪ್ರತಿಭಾ ಪಾಟೀಲ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಹವಾಲು ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಲಾಯಿತು. ಅದರಿಂದಲೂ ಏನೂ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನವಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಸಚಿವಾಲಯದಿಂದ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ಬರಲಿಲ್ಲ!

ಈ ಯಾವ ವಿಷಯವೂ ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರ ಅರಿವಿಗೆ ಬರಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಕಳೆದ ಸೋಮವಾರ ಅಂದರೆ ಆಗಸ್ಟ್ 23ರಂದು ನಡೆಯಲಿದ್ದ ಘಟಿಕೋತ್ಸವ ಹಾಗೂ ೨೪ರಂದು ನಡೆಯಬೇಕಿದ್ದ 40 ಸ್ಪರ್ಧಿ ಗಳೊಂದಿಗಿನ ಸಾಮೂಹಿಕ ಚೆಸ್ ಪಂದ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಅಣಿಯಾಗಿ ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಮೊದಲೇ (ಆಗಸ್ಟ್ 22) ಹೈದರಾಬಾದ್‌ಗೆ ಆಗಮಿಸಿದರು. ಆದರೆ ಆನಂದ್ ಇಡೀ ದಿನ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ಕೊಠಡಿಯೊಳಗೇ ಕಳೆಯ ಬೇಕಾಗಿ ಬಂದರೆ, ಅತ್ತ ‘ಸಂಘಟನಾ ಸಮಿತಿ’ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ಸಮಾರಂಭ ನಡೆಯುವ ಭರವಸೆಯನ್ನೇ ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಮಮ್‌ಫೋರ್ಡ್ ಭಾನುವಾರ ಸಂಜೆಯೇ ವಾಪಸ್ ವಿಮಾನ ಹತ್ತಿದರು. ಇಂತಹ ಅವಮಾನದ ಹೊರತಾಗಿಯೂ ಮಂಗಳವಾರ ಚೆಸ್ ಪಂದ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಂಡ ಆನಂದ್, ಕಡೆಗೂ ತಮ್ಮ ನೋವನ್ನು ತಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗದೆ, ತನ್ನ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯತೆಯನ್ನೇ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರದ ಧಾಷ್ಟ ದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬೇಸರಗೊಂಡು “I want my country back” ಎಂದರು.

ಛೇ.

ಯಾವ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ತಾನೇ ಇಂತಹ ಅವಮಾನವನ್ನು ಸಹಿಸಿಯಾನು? ಈ ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಕೀರ್ತಿ ತಂದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗೆ ಕೊಡುವ ಬಳುವಳಿ ಇದೇನಾ? ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಯಾರು?

1969, ಡಿಸೆಂಬರ್ 11ರಂದು ತಮಿಳುನಾಡಿನ ಮಯಿಲಾದು ತುರೈನಲ್ಲಿ ಜನಿಸಿದ ಆನಂದ್ ತಂದೆ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಅಯ್ಯರ್ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ರೈಲ್ವೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜನರಲ್ ಮೇನೇಜರ್ ಆಗಿದ್ದರು. ಆರನೇ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಮ್ಮ ಸುಶೀಲಾ ಅವರಿಂದ ಚೆಸ್ ಕಲಿಯಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ ಆತ, ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಸಬ್ ಜೂನಿಯರ್ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಆದಾಗ 13 ವರ್ಷ. ಹದಿನಾರನೇ ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಎನಿಸಿದರು. 1987ರಲ್ಲಿ ಫಿಲಿಪ್ಪೀನ್ಸ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ವಿಶ್ವ ಜೂನಿಯರ್ ಚೆಸ್ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಶಿಪ್ ಗೆಲ್ಲುವುದರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಅಂತಹ ಸಾಧನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಮೊದಲ ಏಷ್ಯನ್ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಗ್ಗಳಿಕೆಗೆ ಪಾತ್ರರಾದರು. 1998ರಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರ್ಯಾಂಡ್ ಮಾಸ್ಟರ್ ಆಗುವುದರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಮೊದಲಿಗ ಎನಿಸಿದರು. ಆ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ಯಾರಿ ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪರೋವ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಅನಾತೋಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಪೋವ್ ಎಂದರೆ ಚೆಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಣಿಸಲಸಾಧ್ಯವಾದ ಜಗಜಟ್ಟಿಗಳು. 1992ರಲ್ಲಿ ರಷ್ಯಾದ ಈ ಇಬ್ಬರನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿಸಿ ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಿತ ರೆಗಿಯೋ ಎಮಿಲಿಯಾ ಟೂರ್ನಿಯನ್ನು ಗೆದ್ದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ ಆನಂದ್.  11995ರಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಶ್ವ ಚೆಸ್ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಶಿಪ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಶ್ವಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಗ್ಯಾರಿ ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪರೋವ್ ಅವರನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸುವ ಅವಕಾಶ ಆನಂದ್‌ಗೆ ಲಭಿಸಿತು. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡನೇ ಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ತೃಪ್ತಿಪಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡರೂ 1996ರಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ರ್‍ಯಾಪಿಡ್ ಚೆಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಅದೇ ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪರೋವ್ ಆನಂದ್‌ಗೆ ಮಣಿಯಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. 1997ರಲ್ಲಿ ಹ್ಯಾಂಬರ್ಗ್ ರ್‍ಯಾಪಿಡ್ ಚೆಸ್ ಟೂರ್ನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆನಂದ್‌ಗೆ ಸೋಲುವ ಸರದಿ ಅನಾತೋಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಪೋವ್ ಅವರದ್ದಾಯಿತು! 1999ರಲ್ಲಂತೂ ವಿಶ್ವವಿಖ್ಯಾತ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ಚೆಸ್ ಪ್ರೋಗ್ರಾಮ್ ‘Fritz’ ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಕೂಡ ಆನಂದ್‌ಗೆ ಮಣಿಯಿತು. 2000ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಪೇನಿನ ಅಲೆಕ್ಸಿ ಶಿರೋವ್ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಗೆದ್ದು ವಿಶ್ವಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಶಿಪ್ ಜಯಿಸಿದ ಮೊದಲ ಏಷ್ಯನ್ ಎಂಬ ಖ್ಯಾತಿ ಪಡೆದರೂ ಆಗ ವಿಶ್ವ ಚೆಸ್,  ‘ಫಿಡೆ’(FIDE) ಹಾಗೂ ‘ಪಿಸಿಎ’(ಪ್ರೊಫೆಶನಲ್ ಚೆಸ್ ಅಸೋಸಿಯೇಶನ್) ಎಂಬ ಎರಡು ಭಾಗಗಳಾಗಿತ್ತು, ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪರೋವ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಕಾರ್ಪೋವ್ ಎಂಬ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್‌ಗಳಿದ್ದರು. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರು ವಿಶ್ವಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಎಂದು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಂದಲೂ ಕರೆಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೇನಂತೆ ಫಿಡೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಪಿಸಿಎ ವಿಲೀನವಾಗುವುದರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ ಪರಿಹಾರವಾಯಿತು, ಅದರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಸವಾಲೂ ದೊಡ್ಡದಾಯಿತು. ವಿಶ್ವಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಎನಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಗ್ಯಾರಿ ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪರೋವ್, ಅನಾತೋಲಿ ಕಾರ್ಪೋವ್, ವ್ಲಾದಿಮಿರ್ ಕ್ರಾಮ್ನಿಕ್, ಗಾಟಾ ಕಾಮ್‌ಸ್ಕಿಯಂತಹ ದಿಗ್ಗಜರನ್ನು ಮಣಿಸಬೇಕಾಯಿತು. 2002ರಲ್ಲಿ ಫಿಡೆ ವಿಶ್ವಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್‌ಶಿಪ್ ಮೆಕ್ಸಿಕೋದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯಿತು. ಎಲ್ಲರನ್ನೂ ಮಣಿಸಿದ ಆನಂದ್ ‘ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥ’ನಾದರು. 2008ರಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಲಾದಿಮಿರ್ ಕ್ರಾಮ್ನಿಕ್ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ಸೆಣೆಸಿದ ಆನಂದ್, ತಮ್ಮ ‘ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥ’ ಪಟ್ಟವನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಈ ವಿಶ್ವಚಾಂಪಿಯನ್ ಶಿಪ್ 3 ವಿವಿಧ ಮಾದರಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತದೆ-ನಾಕೌಟ್, ಟೂರ್ನಮೆಂಟ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಮ್ಯಾಚ್ ಫಾರ್ಮ್ಯಾಟ್. ಈ ಮೂರು ಮಾದರಿಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ಜಯಿಸಿರುವ ಏಕೈಕ ಆಟಗಾರ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್. ಇಂತಹ ಸಾಧನೆಯಿಂದಾಗಿಯೇ 1985ರಲ್ಲಿ ಅರ್ಜುನ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ, ೧೯೮೭ರಲ್ಲಿ ಪದ್ಮಶ್ರೀ ನೀಡಲಾಯಿತು. ಕ್ಯಾಸ್ಪರೋವ್, ಕಾರ್ಪೋವ್ ಅವ ರಂತಹ ದಿಗ್ಗಜರನ್ನು ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ನೀಡಿದ ರಷ್ಯಾ ಕೂಡ ಆನಂದ್‌ರನ್ನು ಮೆಚ್ಚಿ, ತಾನು ನೀಡುವ ನೆಹರು ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರವನ್ನು 1987ರಲ್ಲೇ ಆನಂದ್‌ಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿತು. 1992ರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದ ರಾಜೀವ್ ಖೇಲ್ ರತ್ನ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ಪಡೆದ ಮೊದಲ ಕ್ರೀಡಾ ತಾರೆ ಆನಂದ್. 2000ದಲ್ಲಿ ಪದ್ಮವಿಭೂಷಣ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಯೂ ಅರಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಂತು. ಅಂತಹ ಗೌರವಕ್ಕೆ ಪಾತ್ರರಾದ ಮೊದಲ ಕ್ರೀಡಾತಾರೆ ಕೂಡ ಆನಂದ್.  ಅವರು ಬರೆದ ’My Best Games of Chess’  ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ 1998ರಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ರಿಟಿಷ್ ಚೆಸ್ ಫೆಡರೇಶನ್ ‘ವರ್ಷದ ಪುಸ್ತಕ’ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ನೀಡಿತು. ಅಷ್ಟೇಕೆ, ವಿಶ್ವದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಚೆಸ್ ವಿಮರ್ಶಕರು ಹಾಗೂ ರಷ್ಯಾದ ‘64’ ಮ್ಯಾಗಝಿನ್ ವರ್ಷದ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಚೆಸ್ ಆಟಗಾರನಿಗೆ ನೀಡುವ ‘ಚೆಸ್ ಆಸ್ಕರ್’ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಆನಂದ್ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಬಾರಿ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಚೆಸ್ ಬೋರ್ಡ್‌ನ ಅರವತ್ನಾಲ್ಕೂ ಮನೆಗಳ ಈ ಒಡೆಯನ ಹೆಸರು ಯಾರಿಗೆ ತಾನೇ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ?!

ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಎಂದು ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಕೂಗಿದರೆ ‘ಚೆಸ್’ ಎಂಬ ಹೆಸರು ಕೇಳಿದ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರೂ ಆತ ಯಾರೆಂದು, ಯಾವ ದೇಶದವರೆಂದು ತಟ್ಟನೆ ಹೇಳಿಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಅಂತಾ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಚೆಸ್ ಪಂದ್ಯಗಳು ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವಾಗ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧಿಗಳ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲೇ ಅವರವರ ದೇಶದ ಪುಟ್ಟ ಬಾವುಟಗಳ ಟ್ಯಾಗ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ಮೇಜಿನ ಮೇಲಿಟ್ಟಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆನಂದ್ ಆಡುವಾಗ ಭಾರತದ ತ್ರಿವರ್ಣ ಧ್ವಜ ರಾರಾಜಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಚೆಸ್ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕನಿಷ್ಠ eನ ಇರುವ, ಪಂದ್ಯಗಳ ಫೋಟೋ ನೋಡಿದ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರ ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೂ ಬಿದ್ದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಘನತೆವೆತ್ತ ಹಾಲಿ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಇಷ್ಟೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲವೆ? ತಾನು ಯಾವ ದೇಶದವನು ಎಂದು ಸಾಬೀತು ಪಡಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ದುರ್ಗತಿ ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರಂತಹ ಆಟಗಾರರಿಗೂ ಬಂದು ಬಿಟ್ಟಿತೆ?!

ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರ ಪೌರತ್ವದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಸಂದೇಹಪಡುವಂಥದ್ದೇನಿತ್ತು? ಕಳೆದ ಕೆಲ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಸ್ಪೇನ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿದ ಮಾತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಆನಂದ್ ಆ ದೇಶದವರಾಗಿಡುತ್ತಾರಾ? ಯಾಕಾಗಿ ಅವರು ಸ್ಪೇನ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ?

ಬಹುತೇಕ ಎಲ್ಲ ಚೆಸ್ ಟೂರ್ನಿಗಳೂ ನಡೆಯುವುದು ಯುರೋಪ್ ಇಲ್ಲವೇ ಅಮೆರಿಕದಲ್ಲಿ. ಪ್ರವಾಸಕ್ಕೆ ಅನುಕೂಲವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂಬ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೆ ಸ್ಪರ್ಧೆಗಳ ಋತುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಆನಂದ್ ಸ್ಪೇನ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸುತ್ತಾರೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ. ಹಾಗಂತ ಅವರು ಸ್ಪೇನ್‌ನ ನಾಗರಿಕರಾಗಿ ಬಿಡುತ್ತಾರೆಯೇ? ಅದಿರಲಿ, ಗೋಕುಲಾಷ್ಟಮಿಗೂ ಇಮಾಮ್ ಸಾಬ್‌ಗೂ ಸಂಬಂಧವೇನು ಎನ್ನುವಂತೆ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್‌ಗೂ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯತೆಗೂ ಏನು ಸಂಬಂಧ? ಸೌದಿ ಅರೇಬಿಯಾದ ಕಿಂಗ್ ಸೌದ್ ಯುನಿವರ್ಸಿಟಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ಮನಮೋಹನ್ ಸಿಂಗ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ನೀಡುವಾಗ ನಿಮ್ಮ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯತೆ ಯಾವುದೆಂದು ಕೇಳಿತ್ತಾ?! ಈ ದೇಶ ಕಂಡ ಅಂತ್ಯಂತ ಜನಪ್ರಿಯ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಪತಿ ಅಬ್ದುಲ್ ಕಲಾಂ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ನೀಡಿ ಗೌರವಿಸಿದ್ದೇ ರಷ್ಯಾದ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯ ಅಲ್ಲವೆ? 2010 ಫೆಬ್ರವರಿ ಯಲ್ಲಿ ದಿಲ್ಲಿಯ ಅಮಿಟಿ ಯೂನಿವರ್ಸಿಟಿ ಟರ್ಕಿಯ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ಅಬ್ದುಲ್ಲಾ ಗುಲ್‌ಗೆ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ನೀಡುವಾಗ ನೀವು ಭಾರತದ ಪ್ರಜೆಯೇ ಎಂದು ಅವರನ್ನು ಸಾಕ್ಷ್ಯ ಕೇಳಲಾಗಿತ್ತೆ? 2009ರಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಲಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷೆ ಮಿಶೆಲ್ ಬ್ಯಾಷೆಲೆಟ್‌ಗೆ ಮದ್ರಾಸ್ ಯುನಿವರ್ಸಿಟಿ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ಕೊಡುವ ಮೊದಲು ಅವರು ಭಾರತದ ಪೌರತ್ವ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದರೆ? 1980ರಲ್ಲಿ ‘ಭಾರತ ರತ್ನ’ ಪಡೆದ ಮದರ್ ತೆರೆಸಾ ಹುಟ್ಟಿನಿಂದ ಯಾವ ದೇಶದ ನಾಗರಿಕರಾಗಿದ್ದರು? 1990ರಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲ್ಸನ್ ಮಂಡೇಲಾ ಯಾವ ದೇಶ ಪ್ರಜೆ ಎಂದುಕೊಂಡು ‘ಭಾರತ ರತ್ನ’ ನೀಡಲಾಯಿತು? ಬ್ರಿಟನ್ ರಾಣಿ ಎಲಿಝಬೆತ್, ಇಟಲಿಯ ಮಾಜಿ ಪ್ರಧಾನಿ ರೋಮೋನೋ ಪ್ರಾಡಿ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ನೂರಾರು ವಿದೇಶಿ ಗಣ್ಯರಿಗೆ ಭಾರತದ ನಾನಾ ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯಗಳು ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ನೀಡಿ ಗೌರವಿಸಿರುವಾಗ ಖ್ಯಾತ ಚೆಸ್ ಆಟಗಾರ ವಿಶ್ವನಾಥನ್ ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರನ್ನು ಪೌರತ್ವವನ್ನು ಸಾಬೀತುಪಡಿಸಬೇಕೆಂದು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೇಕೆ? ಈ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ, ಪುರಸ್ಕಾರ, ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್‌ನಂತಹ ಪದವಿಗಳಿಗೂ ಪೌರತ್ವಕ್ಕೂ ಏನು ಸಂಬಂಧ? ನನಗೆ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ಕೊಡಿ ಎಂದು ಆನಂದ್ ಅವರೇನು ಅಂಗಲಾಚಿದ್ದರೆ?

ಒಂದು ಯಕಃಶ್ಚಿತ್ ಗೌರವ ಡಾಕ್ಟರೇಟ್ ಪಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾದರೆ ತಾನು ಈ ದೇಶದ ಪ್ರಜೆಯೆಂದು ಆನಂದ್ ಸಾಬೀತುಪಡಿಸಬೇಕು ಎನ್ನುವುದಾದರೆ ಇಟಲಿ ಮಹಿಳೆಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರಧಾನಿಯಂತಹ ಮಹತ್ವದ ಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ಕುಳ್ಳಿರಿಸಲು ಹೊರಟಾಗ ಆಕೆಯ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯತೆ ಯೇಕೆ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ?!

30 Responses to “ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ತಂದವನನ್ನು ನಿನ್ನ ದೇಶ ಯಾವುದೆಂದು ಕೇಳುವುದಾ?!”

  1. ಹರ್ಷ ಹೆಗಡೆ says:

    ಎಂದಿನಂತೆ ಈ ಲೇಖನವೂ ಸಹ ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮೂಡಿ ಬಂದಿದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಜವಾದ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಒದಗಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ತುಂಬ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸಂಗತಿ. ಯಾವುದೇ ಘಟನೆ, ವಿದ್ಯಮಾನ ಜರುಗಿದರೂ ಆ ವಿಷಯದ ಮೇಲೆ ನೀವು ಬರೆದ ನಂತರವೇ ಒಂದು ನಿರ್ಧಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಬರಬಹುದು. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಈ ಕೃಷಿ ಮುಂದುವರಿಯಲಿ

  2. Gangaraju says:

    Prathap avre,

    neevu heliddu nija ,
    namma deshakke (desha paalakarige) swadehigalu yaaru , videshi galu yaaru
    endu tliyuvudilla .
    kaarana , aa deshapaalakarella videshigala kai mareyelli kannu kaanisadanthe
    varthi suttidaare.

    mere bharath mahaan ….

    ondu korike nimmalli :-
    pls write an article on “Matte Mungaaru” movie——

    thanks
    ganga

  3. kiran says:

    It was nice article.I think all the people of India should read this and realize what is d condition of India. They should bring d change……OR else we will be responsible for dis kind of situation…..

  4. Manju..... says:

    pratap anna e kendra sarkarakke yavage buddi barutto gottilla adre namiganthu thale taggisuvanta kaala bande barutte…idu eege munduvridre coming soon days in count, nanna prakara yaru yene yelali miltry rooling is best solution ….their is no use Democracy in india …….totally misusing everything in india ………

    already from 30 % to 40% voting ratio in india then who will belive in infian democrecy…….

  5. VG says:

    ನಾಚಿಗೆ ಆಗಬೇಕು ನಮ್ಮ ಕೆಂದ್ರ ಸರಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇಸರಿ ಭಯೋತ್ಪಾದನೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಳವಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ ಎನ್ನುವ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಗೃಹಸಚಿವ ಪಿ.ಚಿದಂಬರಂ ಹೇಳಿಕೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಲೇಖನ ಬರೀರಿ.

  6. THOMAS says:

    JANUARY 17, 2007
    Rahul Gandhi involved in Gang Rape : Victim Ms.Sukanya is under threat from Congress goons
    Below message is received from sources on the ground and also members of Hindu Unity.

    Source: HINDUUNITY.ORG Local reporters

    Rahul Gandhi, Congress Member, Parliament of India ,representing the youth of Congress Party is been charged for raping a girl named Ms.Sukanya who happened to be daughter of Congress worker . Rahul Gandhi is fifth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and son of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, he ran on a campaign promoting economic development, honest politics and the role of youth.Mainstream media is silent on this issue .

    On that fateful night Ms.Sukanya tried to get the support of local bastiwalas, but no one came forward as everyone are scared of Congress Goondaism which is strong in Amethi.Sukanya’s father beat her so badly that she was forced to run away with her mother because Congressman wanted to kill her. A Group of 1,000 Congress people roamed the town on that night and kept warning people to keep their mouth shut otherwise they will kill them.It all happened under the nose ofthe police who acted helplessly.

    The local media who learnt about this incident next morning enquired from the local people. Both people and Police refused to speak anything and evaded any question. Reporters of Small and Medium Newspapers had shown interest in this incidence but it did not carry much weight. Major newspapers had heard about this incident, but did not take it seriously.

    The following Reporters who were present on 4th December,2006 to cover Rahul’s Trip in Amethi and who were given information about the incident. These reporters were informed about the incident, none of them took interest to look into the matter

    a) CNN IBN7
    b) Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar
    c) Punjab Kesari
    d) Hindusthan Times (Hindi)
    e) Times of India & Times now
    f) NDTV
    g) Aaj Tak
    h) Star News
    i) Nav bharath times

    Sukanya

    Sukanya and his mother are said to be hiding in one of their Relatives House in Harayana. Our Sources in Lucknow say that “The Congress men have been ordered to kill them at sight before they come out in open or approach the president” .Congressman have been deployed at all 7 borders of UP & Delhi to trace both motherand and Daughter . Congressmen deployed at checkposts have been provided photographs of Sukanya.

    Door to Door Searching is on in Amethi and neighbouring Villages to track down them, and simultaneously the villagers are being warned and threathened if they provide protection to both mother and daughter.

    As per the information, both Mother and Daughter are alive (Updated information about 10:00 P.M IST 16/1/2007) and search is going on. There is likely that Congressmen and Congress Governments in other states are secretely been instructed to track them down and hand over to them at the earliest.

    We have no information like who is contacting the president on behalf of them. We are trying to gather information from our people in New Delhi whether the Human Rights has seriously registered their Complaints. Our people are hesistant to to because there is a possibility that they may apprehend us and hand over us to the police or congressmen for questioning.

    Few Congress MLA’S from Uttar Pradesh are under tremendrous pressure from the high command to Locate both mother and daughter and finish the needful.Secretly a reward has been announced by the Congress High Command if whosoever provides info or …… Congressman from other districts and states are touring all over UP & Delhi.

    “I am sure they have decided to kill both mother and daughter.”

    IMPORTANT : Father of the victim Mr.Balram Singh has either gone underground or has been killed, he is not to be seen since 4th January 2007.

  7. suresh says:

    you always right against congress!!!!! i Hate this ….

    Media people should not show any favoritism

    i think you are a supporter of BJP

  8. Vijay says:

    Hi,

    The article is very good. Y its is at the last you compare things with the congress party everytime. I understand people are free to express their views but the views should not be biased. I know a many people disagree with me but this is my view.

    The sharpness in the articles has always been good. Please do continue to write in teh same way.

    Thanks,
    Vijay

  9. sadanand says:

    you gave your congragts to p.chidambaram one time in your ariticle for naxalism
    now he told about saffron terrerism
    wat will u told abt this
    your articles are more good . i am your articles fan
    i’m B.E student

  10. SHRIDHAR says:

    THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS KIND INFORMATION TO OUR PEOPLE TO KNOW THE CURRENT CENTRAL GOVT BAD RULES …

  11. siddesh yadav says:

    The statement of Kapil sibal is very ridiculous . i think he become mad. he has not a single pinch of own knowledge in his mind. he is unfit to be a minister…

  12. VG says:

    This is for “SURESH”.

    What about NDTV, Aaj Tak? Does the name ring a bell?

  13. narahari says:

    Nice article…..

  14. Manju says:

    HELLO SURESH

    Its not all about congress and BJP its the truth who ever did mistake its a mistake pratap brother supporting BJP BUT NOT JANARDAN REDDY ,RAMULU ,SUSHMA SWARAJ he only focusing on truth …..ok first u feel the difference. don’t behave like a politician

    First u come out bloody politician way , just think as a INDIAN u can understand whats right whats wrong ….ok as u think congress is wery good then who is responsible for “BHOOPAL INCIDENT, KASHMEER,BOMBAY ATTACK,DELHI BLAST ,PARLIMENT ATTACK

    Tell me suresh we has been ruling india from 60 years ? is it BJP ? then who is responsible for present india facing problem …is it BJP ?

    if ur really respect our country,culture and our people then follow PRATAP SIMHA otherwise ……………………….ok ? mind it….

  15. RAMU says:

    yes ts exactly right…… what he replying to suresh…..

  16. Ajith says:

    Prathap,
    as usaual..very impressive and powerful article.

    @VG: Rightly said.
    @Suresh: Gather stastics before commenting. What VG said is very true. And regarding Prathap’s article. Pls go and read all his “Bettale Jagattu”. You find all his articles against corruption and for truth. You also find his article in which he has questioned BJP’s decision’s and actions and also on JD.

    Prathap is a true journalist.
    Keep it up Prathap

  17. Chethan, Coorg says:

    ಮೊದಲನೆದಾಗಿ ಆನಂದ್ ge Hats Of!! ದೇಶ ಕಂಡ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟು. ಇಂಥ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಪಟುವನ್ನು ನಡೆಸಿಕೊಂಡ ರೀತಿ ವಿಷಾದ ತರುವಂತದ್ದು.

    ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಪ್ರತಾಪ್ ನಿಮಗೆ ಒಂದು ದೊಡ್ಡ ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಬಹಳ ಸಲ ಗಮನಿಸಿದ ವಿಷಯ ಏನೆಂದರೆ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷದ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಟೀಕೆಗಳು. ನೀವು BJP ಪಕ್ಷದ Agent ಆಗಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರಾ ಅಥವಾ ಮಾಡ್ತಿದೀರಾ?
    ಒಬ್ಬ Editor ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿಷಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುವಾಗ ಆತ ಪಕ್ಷ ರಹಿತ ಆಗಿದ್ರೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಇರುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತ ನನ್ನ ಭಾವನೆ.
    I do agree there are many mistakes in Congress party. But do you agree there are many loop holes in your BJP and other parties too?

    A small example of your BJP govt way of attitude which i found in todays newspaper

    http://www.kannadaprabha.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=KPH20100902231554&Title=Headlines&lTitle=%AE%DA%C3%A8%DB%AB%DA+%D1%DA%DF%A6%A7&Topic=0&ndate=9/3/2010&Dist=0

    “ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಮನುಷ್ಯನ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಎರಡು ತುಂಬಾ ಮಹತ್ವದ ದಿನಗಳಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ಒಂದು ಅವನು ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ದಿನ, ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಅವನು ಯಾಕಾಗಿ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡ ದಿನ.”

  18. THOMAS says:

    KNOW SONIA MAINO GANDHI
    Know Sonia Gandhi – Article by Dr. Subramanyan Swamy

    I have known Dr. Subramanyan Swamy as a personality from the village next to mine, as a senior to one of my Uncles at the Indian Statistical Institute and as one of the intelligent, but often irrelevant politicians of India. For those who read my articles (1, 2) on the Nehru – Gandhi Dynasty (now into it’s 5thGeneration of representatives), you would be well-versed with some of the falsehoods on the foundation of which the current 10, Janpath stands.

    This is the election time and am sure you will all wince reading what is written below in Dr. Swamy’s own words. But please make an exception this elections. Get this rotten dynasty out of India.

    “Patriotic Indians should thank the then President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for having the courage by citing a legal hitch to dissuade Ms. Sonia Gandhi from staking her claim to form the Government in May 2004. She therefore did not as expected (which she later twisted to her favour by citing it as a sacrifice, when she actually had no choice!) on May 17th become the Prime Minister of 1 billion plus people of India. It can now be said that the nation has been saved from a monumental, devastating, and permanent injury to India’s national interest and patriotic psyche of Indians. And therefore every effort that can be made in a democracy should be made to ensure that Ms. Sonia Gandhi is permanently out of reckoning for any public office. For those who instinctively understand that, this Note is to explain the factual basis for this conclusion, and suggest what patriotic Indians can do now.

    My opposition to Ms. Sonia Gandhi is not merely because she is Italian-born. In other democratic countries, including in Italy, such an issue [of foreign-born aspiring to be head of government] would not even arise at all because the issue has already been settled by law, that a person cannot hold the highest public office unless he or she is native born. In India there is no such law, but the President according to my knowledge, correctly acted on a proviso to Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act[1955] which empowers the Union Home Ministry to lay down conditions that apply to Indian citizenship acquired by foreigners by registration, which conditions would be based on the principle of reciprocity, viz., in Ms Gandhi’s case such of those conditions that apply to Indians on becoming citizens of Italy would apply to her. The President reportedly told her that if she insisted on being invited to form the government, he would want first to clarify, on a reference to the Supreme Court, whether in view of this proviso her appointment as PM could be successfully challenged in the court. It is fair to assume that this report of the President’s decision, is correct since the President had before him my petition dated May 15, 2004 making just that point- that Ms. Gandhi’s citizenship is conditional, and in particular she cannot be the PM legally. The President had also given me an appointment at 12.45 PM on May 17, 2004 to explain my submissions in person, which I did. I also told him that I would challenge such a constitutional appointment in the Supreme Court just as I had in 2001 when the Tamil Nadu Governor illegally swore in Ms Jayalalitha as Chief Minister. In that case, the Supreme Court had after hearing me and many other institutional luminaries, upheld my contention that mere majority in the House is insufficient for being sworn in to a constitutional office. There must be no disqualification as well. Ms. Jayalalitha had therefore to step down because she was disqualified by a conviction handed by a trial court in the TANSI corruption case filed by me as private complaint [she subsequently was acquitted by the Madras High Court, and hence became eligible the next year]. I also cited to the President a 1962 Allahabad High Court case, which held that this proviso in the Citizenship Act was binding and lawful.

    The nation in the Sonia matter has thus got an unexpected but temporary reprieve, a reprieve received not only because her citizenship of India by registration is not equal to one by birth even by Indian law, but also a reprieve more because of what national security risk was averted. To comprehend that risk, we must first understand who Sonia Gandhi really is and what danger she, her family and her friends in Italy hold for India’s national security. Even for an Indian born citizen, we find it difficult to know a person’s true background, but for an Italian born it is extremely hard because of the remote access for most people to Italy in language and familiarity. This note is about that danger that Sonia represents to the nation, which the people need to know.

    Ms. Sonia Gandhi’s background as is publicized by her and her Congress Party today, is based on three lies to hide the ugly reality of her life.

    First, her real name is Antonia not Sonia. The Italian Ambassador in New Delhi revealed this in a letter dated April 27, 1983 to the Union Home Ministry which has not been made public. Antonia is Sonia’s real name in her birth certificate. Sonia is the name given to her subsequently by her father, Stefano Maino [now deceased] following his return from Russia where he had been a prisoner of war. Stefano had joined the Nazi army as a volunteer. Sonia is a Russian not Italian name. While spending two years in a Russian jail, Sonia’s father had become quite pro-Soviet; especially after the liberating US army in Italy had confiscated all fascists’ properties including his.

    Second, she was not born in Orbassanoas she claims in her bio data submitted to Parliament on becoming MP, but in Luciana as stated in her birthcertificate. She perhaps would like to hide the place of her birthbecause of her father’s connection withthe Nazis and Mussolini’s Fascists, and her family’s continuing connections with the Nazi-Fascists underground that is still surviving since 1945 in Italy. Luciana is where Nazi-Fascist network is headquartered, and is on the Italian-Swiss border. There can be no other explanation for this otherwise meaningless lie.

    Third, Sonia Gandhi has not studied beyond High School. She has falsely claimed in her affidavit filed as a contesting candidate before the Rae Bareli Returning Officer in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, that she qualified and got a diploma in Englishfrom the prestigious University of Cambridge, UK. The truth is that Ms. Gandhi has never studied in any college anywhere. She did go to a Catholic nun run seminary-school called Maria Ausiliatrice in Giaveno [15 kms from adopted home town of Orbassabo]. Poverty those days forced young Italian girls to go to such missionaries and then in their teens go to UK to get jobs as cleaning maids, waitresses and au pair. The Mainos were poor those days. Her father was a mason and mother a share cropper. Sonia thus went to the town of Cambridge and first learnt some English in a teaching shop called Lennox School [which has since 1970 been wound up]. That is all her “education” is-learnt enough English language to get domestic help jobs. But in Indian society education is highly valued. Thus, to fool the Indian public, Sonia Gandhi willfully fibbed about her qualifications in Parliamentary records [which is a Breach of Ethics Rules] and in a sworn affidavit [which is criminal offence under IPC, severe enough to disqualify her from being MP]. In popular parlance, this is called 420 or 10 “numberi” [not to be confused with 10 Janpath].

    These three lies indicate that Ms. Sonia Gandhi has something to hide, or has a hidden agenda for India. We need to find out more about her.

    Ms. Sonia Gandhi upon learning enough English became a waitress in Varsity Restaurant in Cambridge town. She first met Rajiv when he came to the restaurant in 1965. Rajivwas a student in the University, but could not cope withthe academic rigour for long. So he had to depart in 1966 for London where he was briefly in Imperial College of Engineering as a student. Sonia too moved to London, and according my information, got a job with an outfit run by Salman Thassir, a debonair Pakistani based in Lahore, and who has a export-import company headquartered in Dubai but who spends most of his time in London. This fits the profile of an ISI functionary.

    Obviously, Sonia made (or was given) enough money in this job to loan Rajiv funds in London, who was obviously living beyond his allowances [Indira herself expressed anguish to me on this score in late 1965 when she invited me to a private tea at the Guest House in Brandeis University]. Rajiv’s letters to Sanjay, who was also in London then, clearly indicate that he was in financial debt to Sonia because he requested Sanjay who obviously had more access to money, to pay off the debt.

    However, Rajiv was not the only friend Sonia was seeing those days. Madhavrao Scindia and a German by name Stiegler are worth mentioning as other good friends of Sonia. Madhavrao’s friendship continued even after Sonia’s marriage to Rajiv. Scindia in 1982 was involved in a traffic accident near IIT, Delhi main gate while driving a car at 2 AM. Sonia was the only other passenger. Both were badly injured. A student of IIT who was burning midnight oil was out for a cup of coffee. He picked them up from the car, hailed an auto rickshaw and sent an injured Sonia to Mrs Indira Gandhi’s house since she insisted in not going to a hospital. Madhavrao had broken a leg and in too much pain to make any demand. He was taken to hospital by the Delhi Police who had arrived a little after Sonia had left the scene. In later years, Madhavrao had become privately critical of Sonia, and told some close friends about his apprehensions about Sonia. It is a pity that he died in mysterious circumstances in an air crash, which if investigated thoroughly, without biases, I am sure would eventually lead to startling revelations.

    The circumstance under which Rajiv hastily married Sonia in a Church in Orbassano is controversial but that was his personal matter that has no public significance. But what is of public significance is that Indira Gandhi who was initially dead set against the marriage for reasons known to her, relented to hold a registry marriage with Hindu ceremonial trappings in New Delhi only after the pro-Soviet T.N. Kaul prevailed upon her to accept the marriage in “the larger interest of cementing Indo-Soviet Friendship”. Kaul would not have intervened unless the Soviet Union had asked him to.

    Such has been the extensive patronage from the beginning extended to Sonia Gandhi from the Soviets. When a Prime Minister of India’s son dates a girl in London, the KGB which valued Indo-Soviet relations, obviously would investigate her and find out that she was the daughter of Stefano, their old reliable Italian contact. Thus, Sonia with Rajiv meant deeper access to the household of the Indian Prime Minister. Hence cementing the Rajiv-Sonia relations was in the Soviet national interest and they went to work on it. And they did through their then existing moles in the Indira Gandhi camp.

    After her marriage to Rajiv, the Soviet connection with the Mainos was fortified and nurtured by generous financial help through commissions and kickbacks on every Indo,Soviet trade deal and defence purchases. According to the respected Swiss magazine, Schweitzer Illustrate [November 1991 issue], Rajiv Gandhi had about $ 2 billion in numbered Swiss bank accounts,which Sonia inherited upon his assassination. Dr. Yevgenia Albats, Ph.D [Harvard], is a noted Russian scholar and journalist, and was a member of the KGB Commission set up by President Yeltsin in August 1991. She was privy to the Soviet intelligence files that documented these deals and KGB facilitation of the same. In her book,The State Within a State. The KGB in Soviet Union, she even gives the file numbers of such intelligence files, which can now be accessed by any Indian government through a formal request to the Kremlin. The Russsian Government in 1992 was confronted by the Albats’ disclosure; they confirmed it through their official spokesperson to the press [which was published in Hindu in 1992], defending such financial payments as necessary in “Soviet ideological interest”. When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, things changed for Ms. Sonia Gandhi. Her patrons evaporated. The rump that became Russia was in a financial mess and disorder. So Ms. Sonia Gandhi became a supporter of another communist country to the annoyance of the Russians.

    The national security ramification of this ‘annoyance’ is now significant: The President of Russia today is Putin, a former dyed-in-the-wool KGB officer. Upon Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government taking office, Russia called back it’s career diplomat Ambassador in New Delhi and immediately posted as the new Ambassador a person who was the KGB station chief in New Delhi during the 1970s. In view of Dr. Albats confirmed revelation, it stands to reason that the new Ambassador would have known first hand about Sonia’s connections with the KGB. He may have in fact been her “controller”. The new Indian government which is defacto Sonia’s, cannot afford to annoy him or even disregard Russian demands coming from him? They will obviously placate him so as not to risk exposure. Is this not a major national security risk and a delicate matter for the nation?

    Of course, all Indians would like good normal and healthy relations with Russia. Who can forget their assistance to us in times of need? Today’s Russia is the residual legatee of that Soviet Union which helped India. But just because of that, should we tolerate those in our government set up having clandestine links with a foreign spy agency? In the United States, the government did not tolerate an American spying for Israel even though the two countries are as close as any two countries can be. National security and friendship are as different as chalk and cheese.

    In December 2001, I had filed a Writ Petition in the Delhi High Court with the photocopies of the KGB documents, and sought a CBI investigation, which the Vajpayee Government was refusing. Earlier, Minister of State for CBI, Vasundara Raje [now Rajasthan CM], on my letter dated March 3, 2001, had ordered the CBI to investigate. But after Sonia Gandhi and her party stalled the proceedings of Parliament on this issue, the then Prime Minister Vajpayee cancelled Vasundara’s direction to the CBI. The Delhi High Court issued a direction to the CBIto ascertain from Russia the truth of my charges. The CBI procrastinated for three years, and finally told the Court without an FIR registered the Russians will not entertain any such query. But who stopped the CBI from registering an FIR? The next hearing of the case is on September 8th.

    After Sonia married Rajiv, she went about minting money with scant regard for Indian laws and treasures. Within a few years the Mainos went from utter poverty to billionaires. There was no area that was left out for the rip-off. On November 19, 1974, as fresh entrant to Parliament, I asked the then Prime Minister Ms. Indira Gandhi on the floor of the House if her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi was acting as an insurance agent of a public sector insurance company [Oriental Fire ” Insurance], giving the Prime Minister’s official residence as her business address, and using undue influence to insure all the officers of the PMO while remaining an Italian citizen [thus violating FERA]? There was uproar in Parliament, but Mrs. Indira Gandhi had no alternative but to cut her losses. She made a rare admission that it was so, and that it was by mistake, but that Sonia had resigned from her insurance agent status [after my question]. But Sonia was incorrigible. Her contempt for Indian law continued to manifest.

    The Justice A.C. Gupta Commission set up by the Janata Party government in 1977 came out with a voluminous report on the Maruti Company then owned by the Gandhi family, and has listed eight violations of FERA, Companies Act, and Foreigners Registration Act by Sonia Gandhi. She was never prosecuted, but can be still prosecuted because under Indian law, economic crimes not subject to the statute of limitation. In January 1980, Indira Gandhi returned as Prime Minister. The first thing Sonia did was to enroll herself as a voter. This was a gross violation of the law, enough to cause cancellation of her visa [since she was admittedly an Italian citizen then]. There was some hullabaloo in the press about it, so the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer got her name deleted in 1982. But in January 1983, she again enrolled herself as a voter! Such is her revealed disdain for Indian laws and that is her mindset even today.

    The bottom line observed in Sonia’s mindset is that she can always run back to Italy if she becomes vulnerable at anytime. In Peru, President Fujimori who all along claimed to be “born Peruvian”, faced with a corruption charge fled to Japan with his loot and reclaimed his Japanese citizenship.

    In 1977, when the Janata Party defeated the Congress at the polls, and formed the government, Sonia with her two children, abandoned Indira Gandhi and ran to the Italian Embassy in New Delhi and hid there. Rajiv Gandhi was a government servant then [as an Indian Airlines pilot], but he too tagged along and hid in that foreign embassy! Such was her baneful influence on him. Rajiv did snap out Sonia’s influence after 1989, but alas he was assassinated before he could rectify it. Those close to Rajiv knew that he was planning set things right about Sonia after the 1991 elections. She did too know of it because he had told her. Ever wonder why Sonia’s closest advisers are those whom Rajiv literally hated? Ambika Soni is one such name. Ever wonder why she asked the President of India to set aside, on a mercy petition, the Supreme Court judgment directing that Rajiv Gandhi’s LTTE killers be hanged to death, when she was not similarly moved for Satwant Singh who killed Indira Gandhi or recently for Dhanajoy Chattopadhyaya? The explanation for this special consideration for the LTTE lies in what Rajiv had told her in 1990.

    Those who have no love for India will not hesitate to plunder her treasures. Mohammed Ghori, Nadir Shah, and the British scum in the East India Company made no secret of it. But Sonia Gandhi has been more discreet, but as greedy, in her looting of Indian treasures. When Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Ministers, not a day passed when the PM’s security did not go to the New Delhi, or Chennai international airport to send crates and crates unchecked by customs to Rome. Air India and Alitalia were the carriers. Mr. Arjun Singh first as CM, later as Union Minister in charge of Culture was her hatchet man. Indian temple sculpture of gods and goddesses, antiques, pichwai paintings, shatoosh shawls, coins, and you name it, were transported to Italy to be first displayed in two shops owned by her sister [i.e., Anuskha alias Alessandra]. These shops located in blue-collar areas of Rivolta [shop name: Etnica] and Orbassano [shop name:Ganpati] did little business because which blue collar Italian wants Indian antiques? The shops were to make false bills, and thereafter these treasures were taken to London for auction by Sotheby’s and Christies. Some of this ill-gotten money from auction went into Rahul Gandhi’s National way into the Gandhi family account in the Bank of America in Cayman Islands.

    Rahul’s expenses and tuition fees for the one-year he was at Harvard, was paid from the Cayman Island account. What kind of people are these Gandhi-Mainos that bite the very hand of Bharat Mata that fed them and gave them a good life? How can the nation trust such greedy thieves?

    Since I failed to persuade the Vajpayee government to defend India’s treasures from plunder by the Mainos, I approached the Delhi High Court in a PIL. The first Bench of the court issued notice to the Government, but since the Indian government dragged it’s feet, the Court directed the CBI to seek Interpol’s and Italian government’s help. The Italian government justifiably asked for a Letter Rogatory for which a FIR is a pre-requisite. But the Interpol did oblige and submitted two voluminous reports, which the Court directed the CBI to hand over to me. But CBI has refused, and has claimed privilege! The CBI has also been caught lying in court by telling the judges that Alessandra Maino is a name of a man, and Via Bellini 14, Orbassano is a name of a village [not the street address of the Maino’s residence]. Although the CBI counsel had to apologise to the court stating he made a mistake, he has been promoted to Additional Solicitor General by the new government! The Vajpayee-Sonia mutual assistance pact is in full view. The case now comes up on September 8th.

    But the most sinister aspect of Sonia Gandhi’s character is her connection withterrorists. I am still working on it, but she has had long connection with the Habash group of Palestinian, and has funded Palestinian families that lost their kith and kin in a suicide bombing or hijacking episode. This, Rajiv Gandhi himself told me and was confirmed to me [the funding] by Yassir Arafat when I met him in Tunis on October 17, 1990 at the request of Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi and I were good friends from 1978, but became very close buddies after V.P. Singh had betrayed him in 1987. We met practically every day, mostly in the early hours from 1AM to 4AM. It was at my suggestion that he made Chandrashekhar the PM. And contrary to public impression, he was not mainly responsible for the fall of Chandrashekhar government in which I was a Minister.

    Besides the Palestinian extremists, the Maino family have had extensive business dealings with Saddam Hussein, and surprisingly with the LTTE [“the Tamil Tigers”] since 1984. Sonia’s mother Paola Predebon Maino, and businessman Ottavio Quattrocchiwere the main contacts with the Tigers. The mother used the LTTE for money laundering and Quattrocchi for selling weapons to earn commissions. Sonia’s conduit to the LTTE has been and is through Arjun Singh who uses Bangalore as the nodal point for contact. There is a string of circumstantial evidence pointing to the prima facie possibility that the Maino family may have contracted the LTTE to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The family may have assured the LTTE that nothing would happen to them because they would ensure it is blamed on the Sikhs or the evidence so much fudged that no court would convict them. But D.R. Karthikeyan of the CBI who led the SIT investigation got the support of Narasimha Rao and cracked the case, and got the LTTE convicted in the trial court, and which conviction was upheld in the Supreme Court.

    Although on the involvement of Congress Party in the assassination, DRK soft peddled on a number of leads perhaps because he did not want political controversy to put roadblocks on his investigation as a whole. The Justice J. S. Verma Commission, which was set up as the last official act of the Chandrashekhar government before demitting office on June 21, 1991, did find that the Congress leaders had disrupted the security arrangements for the Sriperumbudur meeting. The Commission wanted further probe into it but the Rao government rejected that demand. In the meantime under Sonia’s pressure, the Jain Commission was set up by the Rao government, which tried to muddy the waters and thus exonerate the LTTE. But the trial court judgment convicting the LTTE came earlier, and that sinister effort too failed.

    Nowadays, Sonia is quite unabashed in having political alliance with those who praise Rajiv Gandhi’s killers. No Indian widow would ever do that. My investigations into Sonia’s involvement in Rajiv’s assassination is therefore still on. I am also author of a best seller titled Assassination Of Rajiv Gandhi,Unasked Questions and Unanswered Queries [published by Konark in 2000] in which I have given some indications.

    Is it not significant that the political career of Sonia Gandhi advances concomitantly with a series of assassinations and apparently accidental deaths? How did Sanjay’s plane nosedive to a crash and yet the fuselage not explode? There was no fuel! Why was there no inquiry conducted? Is it not a fact that Indira Gandhi died because of loss of blood from the wounds and not directly due to a bullet impacting her head or heart? Then is it not strange that Sonia had insisted that the bleeding Indira be driven to Lohia Hospital – in the opposite direction to AIIMS, which had a contingency protocol set up for precisely such an event? And after reaching Lohia Hospital, did not Sonia change her mind and demand that they all drive to AIIMS thus losing 24 valuable minutes. The same kind of mystery surrounds the sudden deaths of Sonia’s other political roadblocks such as Rajesh Pilot, Jitendra Prasad, and Madhavrao Scindia. Such things happened in the dark ages in Italy. Should we allow it India like dumb cattle?

    What Can We Do? We have to ensure that the Maino clan does not stay in power. Dr. Manmohan Singh may be PM, which is a small relief, but he is not a fighter. The real power in government today is wielded by the Maino mafia gang. Can they be dethroned?

    In Indian democracy, only a shocking scandal can unseat a government other than by losing majority. Today’s priority is not for toppling the Congress government as such since Manmohan Singh is a decent and scholarly person, but in driving the Maino clan out of India. It will however not be long before Sonia will give Manmohan Singh marching orders, and he will march out meekly. We should not expect him to resist. With Sonia’s defacto government in place, it is also unrealistic to expect that I can get an early victory in the courts on the KGB and antique smuggling cases.

    The most potent weapon therefore to dislodge the Maino clan [including Rahul and Priyanka] is by exposing their Italian citizenship. In 1992, Sonia revived her citizenship of Italy under Article 17 of the Italian Citizenship Law [Act 91 of 1992]. Rahul and Priyankawere born Italian citizens because Sonia was Italian when she gave birth to them [Italian law based on jure sanguinis]. Hence, they continue be Italians since they never renounced it. Both have been traveling abroad on Italian passports. They may now acquire Venezuela passports since Rahul’s girl friend Veronica is a Venezuelan. That means one more foreign bahu for us tolerant Indians. The Maino-Gandhis are certainly getting globalized.

    So what can patriotic Indians do? There is an urgent need to document these facts on notarized paper, for which we need a network in London, Milan, Hongkong and Venezuela. Those persuaded by my above stated facts and arguments may join in and help set up this network.

    Yes, I am speaking here of Sonia Maino, the alien, non-Hindu widow of the late Rajiv Roberto Gandhi, hell bent to destroy India’s culture, religion and its people.
    A Visit to Orbassano, Sonia’s Birth Place

    It has been a great tragedy that for the last several centuries our people have been kept in the dark about the true identity of our rulers. I am not speaking here of our common people who, in great measure, have been denied education and literacy, induced to lay down their lives in battles, almost like mercenaries; I am speaking here of our so called educated men who are more eager to know about lesbianism, an Islamic phenomenon, born in harems, than about the antecedents of their own foreign-born rulers. The thing has deteriorated so much that the entire country happily romps around today, with a foreign born woman of unknown pedigree. Yes, I am speaking here of Sonia Maino, the alien, non-Hindu widow of the late Rajiv Roberto Gandhi, hell bent to destroy India’s culture, religion and its people.

    Photograph 1
    The facsimile of the business card
    of Ganpati shop located on Viale Regina
    Margheria, or Regina Margherita Street,
    in Orbassano, near Turin Itali

    Did you notice that we are never told about the roots of Sonia, her background, her family, how many brothers and sisters she has, the name of her father, his profession, which town or village she comes from, in small little things that familiarize the people with the self-appointed ruler by virtue of an accidental wedding abroad? In India, we are not told the name of Rajiv’s paternal grandfather or how did the universal uncle Jawahar Lal died or wherefrom did the adjunct ‘Nehru’ come from! Moti Lal’s father’s name was Ganga Dhar; why then Moti Lal was not named Moti Lal Dhar? And so on and so forth; we have a great deal of unknowns to discover and be familiar with. I therefore set out to discover myself the small village where Sonia hails from. After some inquiries, I discovered that Sonia was born some 52 years ago in the small village called Orbassano, just outside Turin (called Torino in Italian), in the north of the country, at the foothills of the Alps.)
    I set out for Orabssano. It is a small North Italian village with small houses, small schools, churches and narrow streets. Like all small Italian villages, Orbassano too is inhabited by old fashioned Catholic villagers. There is a small church, narrow roads and cool mountain breeze. Turin is not far; it is a modern city where they build automobiles. Fiat is their main product but one can see a few Alpha Romeos on the streets as well. However, Turin is Turin and Orbassano is Orbassano. Sonia was NOT a Torinese (or Turin-resident).

    Photograph 2
    Shop front displaying the name Ganpati
    Part of Krishna’s picture is visible through window

    The surprising thing was that no one seemed to know about Sonia in the whole of Italy. At long last, a good old man, said that there was a girl with that name from the village who had married the President of India. Well, he had meant, the Prime Minister, which Rajiv was at the time. And soon we (we, because I had two gentlemen with me; Signore Carbone and one youngman known as Salvatore) got in touch with a lady of Orbassano who told us about Sonia’s shop located on the Regina Margherita Street (or Viale Regina Margherita). The shop was located near the village church. I discovered the shop without too much difficulty. There was a coffee bar opposite the shop which was named Ganpati. That is the name given after Lord Ganesh but on the calling card of the shop it states in Italian: ARGENTO – ARTICOLI ORIENTALI, meaning silverware and oriental articles. On the shop front, it says gioielli which means toys. The telephone number of the shop is 011/9016598. It is managed by brother Vicentini and his sister, reportedly distant relatives of the Maino family.
    The shop was full of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, ‘toys’ to the Orbassano residents. There was not much of a crowd looking for the ‘toys’. My driver and I went into the bar opposite the Ganpati shop, ostensibly to drink coffee and eat a few cookies, but the real idea was to kill some time watching if there was any rush of clients to buy the ‘toys’. There was none. Perhaps, if it had been a holiday, there would have been more customers for the Indian ‘toys’.

    Photograph 3
    A few of the Hindu idols for sale
    are visible on the shelf. Sonia’s
    People call them toys

    The bar girl serving coffee reminded us that the shop was not so empty always. There was a time when the Ganpati shop used to be full of customers and business was brisk. The bar girl explained that at that time the nature of ‘toys’ was different. They were larger and more substantial and of course a great deal more expensive. People came from great distances to buy those. It soon transpired that those ‘toys’ were in reality Indian antiques of great value. No doubt, Rajiv was still alive then and kicking; he must have given a carte blanche (or carta blanca) to his Italian wife. Normally sale of such products is forbidden and no doubt the GoI employees were forced to keep mum as were V.P. Singh and his cohorts on the subject of the Bofors deal and the submarine purchase. Apparently, Sonia’s only sister Marouchka (the two sisters do not have any brother) was seen busy selling the ‘toys’ at the time. No doubt profits were big then but business has since fallen on evil days. When Sonia became an Indian citizen, Rajiv had to go by the law and the Italian government became a little more wary, for such deals are punishable by international law!

    Photograph 4
    Pictures of Lord Krishnafor sale
    are visible on the shop Ganapati of
    Orbassano, near Turin, Italy

    The next night I invited the two Italian getlemen to dine with me. I asked them what they knew about the love affair between Rajiv (il presidente indiano), a Mohammedan boy and Sonia, a thoroughbred ‘cattolica’ of Orbassano. Didn’t her father have anything to say to this inter-faith marriage? I was told that Sonia’s father, a simple man named Stephano Maino, used to be a staunch fascist (never mind Sonia’s leftist stance today) and supporter of Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Italy then. Stephano was an upcoming party-man at the time. He was among those hoodlums who used to round up leftists and force feed them with bottles of castor oil. This was common at the time, all over Italy. The men would vomit and foul their pants, would be ridiculed in public and punished by long jail sentences so that their will could be broken. And in due course Stephano rose in ranks and eventually was sent to the eastern front to fight the Russians. He was captured and had to pass many months in Russian prison camps where he, for the first time came in touch with Russian women jail-keepers with names like Sonia and Marouchka. It was after his return from the front, after the war was over, that Stephano returned home in Orbassano and sired the two daughters, whom he named with Russian names, Sonia and Marouchka. He became a contractor of some sort and no longer a party-man; there was no party then!

    Photograph 5
    The front of the coffe bar
    opposite the Ganpati shop, also
    located on Viale Margherita

    On the subject of the inter-religious marriage with Rajiv, the ‘indiano’, I was told that Stephano was too angry at first to give his blessing to the marriage. At the beginning, Rajiv denied his Islamic roots and blabbered something on his being a Parsee. He explained how the Parsees in India are very liberal. He cited the names of Ratan Tata and several others, even of those who had married French Catholic ladies without giving up their Parsee faith. The implication was that by virtue of the fact that Rajiv’s father Feroz’s mother used to be a Parsee woman (and that was prior to her niakaah), Rajiv too could marry Sonia sans relinquishing his Mohammedan creed. The problem that the nitwit Rajiv did not think about is that a man’s faith is NOT determined by the religion of the mother and even more so when she changes her creed, just prior to wedding as Feroz’s mother had done; she had become a Mohammedan woman at the time of her nikaah with the Sunni Mohammedan Nawab Khan. If Feroz is a Parsee then Pataudi and Ayesha Sultana’s (aka Sharmila Tagore) son Seif Ali (the sword of Ali) is also a Hindu. However, Stephano was smart enough to call the bluff of Rajiv, who never has been known to be intelligent. From the BCCI, Bofors and the submarine deals, he has dropped the load everywhere to great dismay of his supporters. (Those who want to know further, please read up M.O. Mathai’s books My Days With Nehru and Reminiscences of the Nehru Age, if you can at all procure them today. There M.O. Mathai (Nehru’s P.A. for more than a decade) tells us of Nehru’s chicanery fooling the Hindus of India when he announced the Vedic marriage between Feroz and Indira. According to Mathai, that was no marriage at all; such inter-faith weddings between Hindus and Mohammedans were illegal and hence, writes Mathai. Indira’s two sons were bastards. India has thus been ruled for so many years by a dynasty of bastards!)

    Photograph 6
    Pciture showing the name plate
    of the street Viale Margherita

    But the old fashioned Stephano was not ready to listen to Rajiv’s arguments. He said that in order to marry his daughter, Rajiv would have to accept Catholicism and become one. Stephano Maino may not be a Cambridge graduate (but then neither was Rajiv, inspite of all the brouhaha), he did not approve of an inter-faith wedding where his own daughter was a party. And behold, Rajiv became a Catholic. Now, readers! Please remember by this simple act that took place in far away and unknown Orbassano, Rajiv, the grandson of Nawab Khan, the Sunni liquor merchant, became punishable by death! Apostasy is punishable by death in Islam. Measures were taken to keep this information on Rajiv’s change of faith quiet. India’s Mohammedans did not make much noise for the ante was too high. Sonia came to India as Rajiv’s wife, with her father’s blessings, but as an Italian Catholic citizen which she remained for decades.
    She was no burden to her husband. She dabbled in insurance business. Who in India would not run to an insurance agent like Sonia? She was making bags of money in our poor India until the matter was brought to light and such activities were stopped forthwith. Then Rajiv, still an Indian husband of an Italian wife, willy nilly went on with his air plane second pilot’s job until the time came to take over from her assassinated mother. A share of the sins from subsequent mass slaughter of India’s Sikhs bothered Sonia and her advisors (like Mani Shankar Liars et al) suggested garlanding of Bhagat Singh’s pictures in public for an eventual redemption. However, that did not work as we all know.
    No doubt this ragazza (girl, in Italian) has come a long way. She had to become an Indian citizen to enable her husband to become the Prime Minister. We know the subsequent incidents and anecdotes. How the wily Sonia was instrumental in the Pope’s arrival in India after the eye-wash of a fictitious ‘Ganga-cleaning’, which remained unclean even after the Pope had left for the Vatican! It was then that the Catholic couple (they had not done so all these years!) started visiting Hindu temples with vermilion-smeared foreheads, in saris and dhoties. Sonia was made the life-time chair-person of the million-dollar Rajiv Gandhi Fund. Money was coming in like it was no body’s business. From the BCCI, from the Bofors deal, the submarine deal, while Catholic convents were being built with India’s money, some 500 of them, to vie with Mother Teresa. It was at this time of the post-Rajiv period, this young woman went to Japan (please look up the Soka Gakkai International edition of that year) where she lectured that in the matter of divinity both Gandhi and Nehru were of the same level as the Lord Gautama Buddha. At one stroke, the entire Japanese nation was red in anger. And this is the person who in her big expensive book on the late Rajiv, prepared by a hack-writer under the guidance of Sonia, had stated that her knowledge of India was very limited when she first met Rajiv at that Italian eatery in the back streets of Cambridge. Then she knew India to be only a land of snakes and tigers. She had never heard of Gautama Buddha or of Hinduism or even of Islam!
    The lady has well-paid and competent teachers. Money has always been abundant; even after she had transferred all those millions of dollars from India to London (one would like to know under which law this could be done and by whose orders?) and after the Baring Bank (where she had deposited all the Rajiv Gandhi Fund money) had turned turtle, one wonders who gave permission to replenish all that lost money in full?
    Now she has become a past mistress in chicanery, Sicilian style. Christian Bhil boys rape Christian Bhil women and Hindu boys get the blame for having raped Christian nuns. The false news is broadcast all over the Christian world and our wide-eyed BJP babes-in-the-wood cannot even protest! In faltering Hindi she reads to Hindu listeners that ‘the soil of India is as pure to her as the vermilion of her forehead’; that ‘she would like to breathe her last only in this land of virtue’ and so on and then abruptly turns round, and like an ill-bred street woman starts calling respectable Indian leaders like Vajpayee, ‘a liar’!
    (Afterword: Readers! We have not heard the last of this babe. Unless our Gods take care of such insult of our ancient nation by this broad, who also is a fraud, like they had done with the entire Gandhi-Nehru dynasty within the span of a few years, she is going to be a nuisance and our people would have to suffer! Time has come for our people to take notice and to watch every movement of the signora, and NOT leave our affairs totally in the hands of incompetent leaders! She has already dubbed Vajpayee a liar; wait till she comes up with choice Italian swear words for us too! )

  19. Rakesh Mangalore says:

    our govt. not concerned of people who bring glory to our nation.they r bothered how to increase their vote bank..good article pratap.

    $Vande Matharam$

  20. A lemary says:

    A foreign lady who had least respect towards this great country and who took more than 17 years after coming here to take the citizenship of this land and who does not know either the culture or history of this heavenly land, is leading a major political party for the longest period . What a shame on our political set up. There is no one who can even whisper against this in that party, which has become a family property. Certainly questioning about the proof of Sri Vishwanathan Anand’s citizenship is nothing strange. This is going to be the fate of every Indian shortly, if we allow this lady, her family and so called spineless political party to exist in this country.

    Dear Pratap, here is a suggestion. Please provide a feature to forward your resourceful articles to our near and dear ones as well as interested persons. This will be really very beneficial.

  21. Arun says:

    entha kett rajakaranigalu.we are proud of him mr. Vishwanathan Anand. i think political system should be change.

  22. John says:

    hey, nice blog…really like it and added to bookmarks. keep up with good work

  23. smitha says:

    nimma ankakna chennagide. i ankana nodi nanna mansigu ondu kshana besara enisitu. deshakke hemme tanda vyaktiyannu hige avmanisiddu sariyalla. idarinda itr kridapatugaligu deshada bagge gowrrva kaledukolluttare. kendra sarkarada i vartane inda deshada gowravakke kuttu bandantaguttade

  24. Delmar Preer says:

    Thankyou for the excellent article.

  25. bindu says:

    In the page named ‘your views’ I did not get any link to put my views!! Or you can mention your e-mail address there.

    Thanks
    Bindu

  26. VG says:

    ಶ್ರೀಯುತ Chethan, Coorg ರವರಿಗೆ ,

    “ಒಬ್ಬ Editor ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿಷಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತನಾಡುವಾಗ ಆತ ಪಕ್ಷ ರಹಿತ ಆಗಿದ್ರೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಇರುತ್ತೆ ಅಂತ ನನ್ನ ಭಾವನೆ.”
    ಈ ಮಾತನ್ನು ತಾವು ಬರ್ಖಾ ದತ್ತ, ಪ್ರಣಬ್ ರೋಯ್ ಇಂತವರಿಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದರೆ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದು. ಯಾಕೆ ಅಂತ ಇಡೀ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಗೊತ್ತು..

    ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು,
    VG

  27. srikant says:

    im memtal fan for ur articls

  28. Manju hiremath MBL says:

    Nimma Articl pratiyobbarigu mana muttuvntide. Aadre nimma bgge nivu BJP pakshdvru irbeku endu heluvre cong pakshada maamaglu endenisuttde nanage cong pkka pakigal pksha..

  29. vinod kulal says:

    nimma artical nanna manasige nimannu guru yendu bayasidene,,e jagadinalli nimma “big fan” nimma artical kannada prabha news papernalli oduthene..thumba kaaravada mathu..i like it sir….thanku sir..pls ennu jasthi artil submit madi pls pls sir..me waiting sir

  30. vinod kulal says:

    sir nimma artical ninnda nanu kuda artical baritha edeenee…sir

    nive nanna guru…………..