Sukumar Muralidharan

The rush and secrecy with which Afzal Guru’s execution was carried out under the orders of Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde post the presidential rejection of his clemency petition, is an affront to civilised values enshrined in the Constitution. Considering the circumstances of Afzal Guru’s conviction and execution, could it be said that he simply was a man who had to be eliminated, since he had too much knowledge of the dimensions of India’s two-decade long dirty war in Kashmir?

Two constructions of virtue are in contention as Anna Hazare prepares for the fourth phase of his agitation. For team Anna, virtue is a closely held monopoly, embodied in its leader’s self-denial and moral resoluteness, consistently denied in the electoral fray and endangered by the ruthless competition between parties to extend their patronage networks. For team Manmohan Singh, virtue is just as rare an attribute, typically found in close proximity with extreme wealth, and worthy of special commendation since it could easily slip into its opposite. Corporate India though, still has unmet expectations and Manmohan Singh is their best assurance of securing these. Media loyalties in team Anna's fourth phase of campaign are therefore, likely to lie with the prime minister who sees wealth as the marker of virtue.  

The Syrian civil war is not merely about that country any more. If it continues for any further length of time, it could draw in virtually every country of consequence in the wider region. In this, it could well be the prelude to a civil war involving the entire Arab world. And that would be potentially a fatal challenge to the key principles of western geopolitics in the region: to keep Iran out, Arab nationalism down and Israel on top.

After the strong opinions about the media expressed by the chairperson of the Press Council of India and the tone of the counter-response from media associations and groups, where the debate will proceed from here is anybody's guess. But the tone has dropped several notches and the media industry is unlikely to let yet another opportunity pass to push back against a potentially constructive public debate on transparency and accountability.