Vis-a-Vis

MANMOHAN SINGH Prime minister versus MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI BJP vice-president

"India's struggle for freedom was more an assertion of our right to self governance than a rejection of British claim to good governance."

"Describing British rule in India as good governance is an insult to crores of Indians who shed their blood to gain freedom for the country."

EPILOGUE: The Opposition finally finds something to offset the Advani-Jinnah episode.

VOICES

"Militancy is down by 80 per cent in the Valley and by 40 per cent in the Northeast. There's a decline of up to 4 per cent in Naxal violence."

Shivraj Patil, Union home minister

"Mohammed Shahabuddin is a criminal, a slur on Muslims and a liability for the party."

Sadhu Yadav, RJD MP and party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's brother-in-law, on the controversial MP from Siwan

"Any country that claims to be a modern, secular democracy must unify its legal system and take power over women's lives away, once and for all, from medievalist institutions like Darul-Uloom."

Salman Rushdie, writer, on the Deoband edict in the Imrana case

"Chess isn't like tennis. The beauty in a sequence of moves doesn't manifest outwardly, and we need to counter the idea that chess players are nerds."

Vishwanathan Anand, Indian Grandmaster

"I don't really think from the heart. It's just a pumping organ. I think from the right side of my brain."

Salman Khan, actor

THE BUZZ OF THE WEEK

The rift between Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and Governor S.K. Sinha is growing in Jammu & Kashmir, affecting issues like security. Sayeed has now asked the Centre for a replacement.

PICTURE SPEAK

MISLEADING LIGHT: Advani (right) and RSS chief Sudarshan

DELHI The BJP's presidential crisis is fast degenerating into a farce. And L.K. Advani's detractors are making the most of it. On July 11 before the RSS leaders met Advani to apprise him of their deliberations in Surat, a whisper campaign sponsored by Advani baiters hinted that the Parivar was going to demand the BJP chief's resignation. As BJP leaders began trooping into the RSS headquarters later that night, the media proclaimed that though Advani had been asked to resign he was refusing to do so. However, by 10 p.m., the story changed as "sources close to Advani" briefed the media that though the RSS had expressed its unhappiness with the ideological deviation in Pakistan it had not demanded Advani's resignation. This was echoed by party leader Sushma Swaraj the next day at an official briefing.

Advani's supporters point out that the RSS has always said it is an ideological outfit and not a political one. It, therefore, has no right to decide who leads the BJP. Otherwise, it will be no different from 10 Janpath running the PMO via remote control. It is a round that Advani has won by standing his ground and making it clear that as president he has a right to raise issues for the Parivar to debate.

-By Priya Sahgal

DELHI India got a supporter although a con one for its UNSC bid. The President of Songhrati Republic of Thaumaturgy wrote to the foreign minister assuring him of his country's support and seeking recognition from India. The Foreign Office went scurrying for an atlas since the country was not a UN member state. Inquiries revealed that the country only existed in cyber space and is supposed to be situated near the Spratley Islands in the South China Sea. Earlier a country that called itself "Conch Republic" had even issued fake passports and citizenship to some Indian nationals for thousands of dollars. Since then the Intelligence Bureau has been keeping a watch out for such con countries.

-By Saurabh Shukla

DIED: P.K. Vasudevan Nair, 79, veteran CPI leader. He relinquished the post of chief minister of Kerala in 1979 after a year in office to realise the alliance with the CPI(M), ushering in an era of left unity in the country.

INTRODUCED: By the G-4 countries which include India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, the draft resolution for expansion of the 15-member UN Security Council.

STRUCK DOWN: By the Supreme Court, the controversial Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunal Act operating in Assam to identify Bangladeshi migrants.

WON: P. Mahesh Chandran, 22, the title of Grandmaster when he tied for first place in the US $180,000 33rd World Chess Open in Philadelphia. Chandran is India's 12th Grandmaster.

SET UP: India's first bone bank, at Government General Hospital, Chennai.

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