Free Republic

NEW DELHI - Hindu priests who look after the memorial of Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi conducted a purification ceremony at the shrine after a visit from President Bush. But it wasn't the president who offended them, it was the sniffer-dogs who scoured the area ahead of his visit. After the dog visit, the memorial was cleansed with water brought from the Ganges river, which Hindus consider holy, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported Sunday. Bush visited the memorial on Thursday during his three day visit to India. The site, where pacifist icon Gandhi was cremated, is considered sacred and all...

Recently under the sponsorship of the Indian Embassy in Rangoon, "The Forgotten Hero," the Indian film about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was shown to the public in Burma. It was screened on August 15, (India's Independence Day) free of charge. The $US5 million film partially shot in Burma, illustrates the life of Bose. Directed by Mr. Shyam Benegal, a part of the film was shot in Burma in December 2003 for 20 days. The great Indian war hero Subhas Chandra Bose may have spent his finest and fruitful days in Burma, but its capital city does not have any memorial...

At a time when India and the US keep hailing the present “new era” in their relationship, just released classified papers pertaining to the 1969-1972 period prove that it is indeed a revolutionary new era! The documents declassified by the State Department and the transcripts of the Oval Office tapes cover the period when in private, President Richard Nixon was abusing Indira Gandhi and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger was insulting Indians. The cold war blinded the US to India’s democracy and other virtues. Even though it was not a communist country, India was still seen as evil. Pakistan...

The pro-business government of Infia (BJP) has just lost the national elecetion. It has been replaced by an ultra-left wing government lead by the Italian born wife of the last male-Gahndi, who died some years back. The communists have a place in the new government for the first time in a long time with the socialists haveing the major part.The new government will do what left wingers world over do, tax the devil out of those who have anything, stuff a large portion in their own pockets and redistribute the remainder to the "needy."This must certainly cause those who outsourced...

NEW DELHI, May 13 — When the cameras caught up to Rahul Gandhi in his rural constituency on Thursday, Mr. Gandhi, the descendant of three Indian prime ministers — and possibly soon a fourth — could barely contain his dimpled grin. It was a good day to be the latest star of the Nehru-Gandhi family dynasty. Written off as calcified, out-of-touch, visionless and nepotistic, that dynasty is poised once again to lead the world's most populous democracy. On Thursday, the Indian National Congress, which the family has controlled in fact or in spirit since before independence, emerged from elections as...

<p>The mind of the bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.</p> <p>"She might have called him a bastard. I wouldn't rule that out. She's never claimed that she was pure on profanity. But I've never heard her tell a joke with an ethnic connotation. She's so fanatic about it. She can't tell an ethnic joke. It's not in her."</p>

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for joking that Mahatma Gandhi used to run a gas station in St. Louis, saying it was "a lame attempt at humor." The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser Saturday. During an event here for Senate candidate Nancy Farmer, Clinton introduced a quote from Gandhi by saying, "He ran a gas station down in St. Louis." After laughter from many in the crowd of at least 200 subsided, the former first lady continued, "No, Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of the 20th century." In a nod to Farmer's underdog status against...