Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
www.GhulamMuhammed.Blogspot.com
Saturday, October 17, 2009
PAKISTAN TAKES THE BUSH OPTION THAT DEMOSTRABLY FAILED - By Ghulam Muhammed
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Why shouldn’t we register a case of murder against you, HC asks cops
Observing that Altaf Sheikh died in police custody, court asks additional public prosecutor for details of officers who detained him
By Hetal Vyas
Posted On Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 03:52:20 AM
| | ||
The Mumbai Police once again face a serious allegation of custodial death. Hearing a petition filed by Vikhroli resident Mehrunisa Sheikh, mother of 22-year-old Altaf, the “You have killed him, why should we not register an FIR against you [police] under Section 302 (for murder)?” remarked the Division Bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice A R Joshi. The court has now directed Additional Public Prosecutor K V Saste to submit an affidavit giving details of police officers who had detained Altaf. Mehrunisa, who works as a domestic help, has sought HC directives that her son’s body be exhumed for a post-mortem, which may reveal the real cause of his death. Her petition alleges that police killed Altaf, a driver, in custody and later held a press conference saying that he had died of drug overdose. According to the petition, the police had picked up Altaf from his Park Side residence around “His skull and ear were badly injured. His ears were bleeding, too, and when he was taken to the hospital, he was just wearing a shirt and underwear, no trousers,” Mehrunisa’s lawyer Yug Chaudhary told the court. He also drew the court’s attention to the post-mortem report, which lists many injuries on Altaf’s body. “No FIR has been registered against the concerned officers,” Chaudhary argued, referring to Altaf’s address shown as “care of Ghatkopar Police Station” and “brought by police sub-inspector Shinde” in the post-mortem report. Chaudhary also mentioned that 20 per cent of all custodial deaths in The court will hear the case again on Thursday. |
Sy Hersh: The US Military is Racist
| Sy Hersh: The US Military is Racist |
| |
| BEGIN TRANSCRIPT |
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| |
| BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: You know, my friends, it's amazing how fast things change. Just last year, one year ago, if you called a phony soldier a phony soldier, if you called a legitimately phony soldier a phony soldier, the president of the Senate, the Senate majority leader would run to the microphones and denounce you and demand that your syndication partner make you apologize, or more. You were anti-American if you called a phony soldier a soldier. And you were against the whole military. That's what Harry Reid tried to portray me as. Now, you can go to Remember, a year ago, and for years prior to that, the only people in the military were poor blacks, poor minorities, and poor people who had no hope because This racist nonsense, we are in the midst of yet another teachable moment. Everybody sees how our media will just jump on anything without any regard whatsoever as to whether it is true or not. They will use anything to advance their agenda, true or not, doesn't really matter to them, just like they do with their reporting of the regular news. Don't forget that. As they have run with fabricated, false, made-up quotes, as they have spread this filth into the mainstream, knowingly and purposefully, you need to judge every other news story they report with the same skepticism, the same sense of suspicion and disbelief that you are watching unfold with this whole National Football League, St. Louis Rams story. It's amazing. It can change inside of a year. |
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
http://twocircles.net/
TwoCircles.net
Inform | Educate | Empower
Remembering Prof. Iqbal Ansari: A tireless defender of human rights
Submitted by admin on 15 October 2009 - 8:49am.
By Mahtab Alam
On Sunday evening, October 11th, 2009, when Prof. Iqbal A Ansari was sitting next to me in a meeting here in Delhi, I had no clue that- I will be not able to meet him again. In fact, it’s still unbelievable for me that he is no more among us. His untimely death left most of us bewildered. It is an irreparable loss for human and civil rights’ movements in India. Prof. Iqbal Ansai, who was always at the forefront of the human and civil movements throughout the country over two decades left this world Tuesday early morning following a heart attack.
My association with Prof. Iqbal Ansari is not very long and dates back to 2007, when I assisted him to organize a consultation meeting on “Towards Riot & Terror Free India” organized by Inter Community Peace Initiative (ICPI) on February 11th, 2007 here in Delhi. After that, I interacted with him on various occasions and issues, mostly through phone and internet. He was very prompt in his reactions. Whatever, I know him through my short interactions and his works, one thing is very clear to me his commitment for protection of civil liberties and advancement of human rights in India is unmatched. He was passionately committed for the cause.
He was one of the most visible civil liberties’ activists in India, taking up a variety issues, from communalism, religious freedom and communal harmony to minority rights. A teacher of English literature turned in to a whole time human rights’ activist, Prof. Iqbal Ansari along with another well-known civil libertarian like V M Tarkunde, Justice Rajendra Sachchar championed the protection of civil rights in India.
Born in 1935, Mr. Iqbal A Ansari served as a teacher of English at the Aligarh Muslim University,Aligarh (AMU) for 33 years and retired as professor of English in 1995. He has been visiting professor at Centre for Federal Studies, Jamia Hamdard (2001-2003) and Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (2003-2004). Prof Iqbal Ansari was associated closely with several international and national human rights organizations in different capacities. He was member of Amnesty International, National Council member of Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Vice President of Citizens for Democracy (CFD) and General Secretary of Minorities’ Council. And most recently, he was active with us in Citizens’ Initiative for Peace, a newly formed group which comprised of people like Justice Rajendra Sachchar, Prof. Randhir Singh, Kuldip Naiyyar, Swami Agniwesh, Nanadani Sunder and Kavita Srivastava. He was also editor of the quarterly bulletin, Human Rights Today published from New Delhi.
He was a prolific writer and his writing used to appear in most of national English dallies. Prof. Ansari has written extensively on issues related to human rights, minorities & prevention and resolution of inter-community conflicts. His publications include Political Representation of Muslims in India (2006), Readings on Minorities: Perspectives and Documents, Vol. I & II (1196), Vol. III (2002); Communal Riots: The State and Law in India (1997); Human Rights in India: Some Issue (1998); Muslim Situation in India (1989) and Uses of English (1978). Now days, he was working on the issue of religious freedom and about compile a book on it.
He traveled almost every part of the country to advance the human rights and to expose the violation of human rights and the illegal activities of both the state and non-state perpetrators. It was Prof. Anasri, who took special interest and made constant efforts in the matters related victims of communal voidances especially Hashimpura and Maliana. His efforts resulted in the form transfer of cases from UP to Delhi. Moreover, he made a remarkable intervention in the form of critically analysis the proposed Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill, 2005. One of the last contributions for the protection and advancement of civil liberties in India was his intervention in Justice Markande Katju’s remarks on beard and niqab. He personally wrote to him and argued the matter.
He was a selfless intellectual, tireless human rights’ defender and a great human being. It is a harsh reality that- Prof. Iqbal Ansari is no more amongst us but his legacy in terms of his works and brave struggles will continue to inspire us to keep on our struggle for the establishment of a just and equitable world. Our real tribute and homage to him will to carry forward his work and legacies not mourn his demise and celebrate his greatness.
--
Mahtab Alam is a Delhi based Civil Rights Activist and Coordinator with Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). He can be reached atmdmahtabalam@gmail.com
Mahtab Alam is a Delhi based Civil Rights Activist and Coordinator with Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). He can be reached atmdmahtabalam@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Why UNSC members US and UK are worried about Iran while Russia and China are not? - By Ghulam Muhammed
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Why UNSC members US and UK are worried about Iran while Russia and Chinaare not?
The simple answer is Israel’s grip on both US and UK.
Both these UN member countries, US and UK, are populated by powerful Israel lobbies that do not leave any stone unturned in trying to impose their undemocratic fascist agenda on the rest of the world. Note how both these countries allowing dual US/Israeli and UK/Israeli citizenship to make the most of a small minority of Jews to cover as much geographical and political area as they covet, beside their supposed homeland, Israel.
Their clout in Russia and China is not much to say; though Russia, the Zionists are treated more or less as pariah out to bring one more revolution in that country, to subvert it for their own world dominance strategies.
Whatever the world is being engaged to scatter its attention span over varying scenarios in world events, the overriding agenda of the Neo-con is to subdue the Muslim World.
The opening shot was fired by the British Jewish scholar, Bernard Lewis, who coined the phrase – Clash of the civilizations – conceptualizing how the next stage of the Jewish dogma of ‘perpetual war for perpetual peace, will unfold.
The next big event was the formation of the Neo-con group that prepared a self-serving thesis – The Project for America’s New Century. (This was whetted by Israeli leaders before being presented to Clinton and others.) The Jewish cabal chose social subjects like democracy, human rights, liberalism, to camouflage their ambitions to entangle the US and use its military prowess to advance their own hegemonical strategies. The small Jewish minority knows how to leverage its intellectual expertise to rule over the world of majorities.
The Kristol cabal surrounded an intellectually dumb US President with inputs to unleash wars on Muslim world and drain US financial resources in a way to enrich their own kind to the detriment of the US tax-payers who are burdened with trillions in debt. In fact, they are possibly convinced that world debt will never be called. And thus they are defrauding the whole world. The credit explosion in exploiting America’s sub-prime mortgage paper trade is just part of the same financial exploitation of the world of finance that is in their grips.
Both Russia and China are at the moment out of their multilayered traps to subvert them into following their lead that is presented to the world as demand of the US and UK. In fact, it is common knowledge that behind the relentless pursuit of the agenda to destabilize string of Muslim countries from Iraq, to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, are the Jewish conspirators from Israel and victimized nations of US and UK.
Both Russia and China have extensive economic interest in Iran and they only pay lip service to the supposed international concerns over non-proliferation. While the US and Europe is in the grip of Jewish warmongering strategies, the East as represented by Russia, China, India and the rest, are merrily enjoying their economic boom. The more they see US and UK busy in their self-destruction through Jewish warmongering, they more respite they get to develop their own economies.
India’s foreign policy planners should remain alert to the choices available to them, whether to get sucked in by the Western conspiracies or better build up their own independent trip devices to warn them, when they are sliding into the Western dug up quagmire. China’s independent route to economic development should not be overlooked, especially as a model to remain engaged with the West, only to the extant not being overwhelmed by them.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
Monday, October 12, 2009
http://www.tehelka.com/story_
| Posted on Oct 09, 2009 | ||||
Is it a Crime to be born a Muslim in India? By Ram Puniyani The rising tide of communal violence from the decade of 1980 has consolidated the communal politics, politics in the name of religion. The party riding on the chariot of religious nationalism became the second largest party and tasted power at center for six long years and is now entrenched in few states and is knocking at the door of power in few other states. The hope that its recent defeat in Lok Sabha elections will reduce the impact of communal politics in society or will ensure that all communities can breathe the air of civil rights and equal citizenship rights with ease, seems to be like distant drums! The impact of the rise of this politics and accompanying effect on minorities has resulted in worsening their lot. This downward slide in the condition of minorities very obvious, is going from bad to worse, to worst. It has resulted in the conditions for minorities where they have to live in fear, alienation and the impact of constant profiling in different walks of life. This communal politics has been talking of Hindu nation, has been spreading hate against minorities, against Muslims in particular. The Muslim community has been the major target of attack and has been bearing a huge brunt of the divisive politics being spearheaded by RSS, its progeny and by those infected by the RSS ideology. They are not only there in the state machinery and media but also in other crucial spots of Indian social, economic and political life. The worsening plight of Muslim community got reconfirmed in the recently held national meet on ‘What it means to be a Muslim in India Today’, organized by Anhad in Delhi (Oct 3-5). The meeting was addressed by the victims and social activists working in the area of human rights particularly of minorities. The pain and anguish of the Muslim community was heart rending, coming through different narrations of illegal arrests, tortures, detentions and adverse judgments. The latest trick is to implicate the Muslim youth in multiple cases in different states. This will ensure their being behind the bars for good. The communal violence which has broken the back of the community is being supplemented by the intense and blind police action against innocent Muslim youth, in the name of terror attacks. While the communal violence is now being orchestrated at low intensity and is scattered far and wide, in the post 9/11 period another front for torturing the community has been opened. Here the modus oprendi is simple enough, there is ‘Intelligence’ tip and that makes our efficient police machinery to arrest the Muslim youth, being Muslim is the major ‘tip’ for arresting and torturing innocent youth by the guardians of law. Many a youth in the middle of their education for professional lives face immense obstacles, their illegal arrests are never compensated for and nor are they supported to complete their education despite being proved innocents. There had been many such arrests followed by all sort of illegal steps by the police. Using cars without number plates, taking victims blindfolded to farm houses for third degree tortures are new addition to the ‘efficient methods’ of the police machinery. There are enough grounds of doubts in Batla House encounter, but it will not be taken up for honest investigation. The argument to avoid honest investigation is that it will demoralize the police force. Can we have such a police force whose morale depends hiding truth? Following Mecca Masjid blast, there was a shooting by the police which killed more people than the number killed by blast. The pretext was that the crowd was menacing, which it was not. Truth of Ishrat Jahan case is out in the open but the perpetrators will remain in the seats of power unscathed, barring an odd official living in jail. While such enthusiasm in arresting Muslim youth is there for all to see, those arrested by Hemant Karkare’s ATS in Malegaon blast case, are currently being treated with kid gloves. The apprehension is that these guilty gang against whom evidence was collected by late Hemant Karkare may not get the punishment it deserves. The families battered by such brutal police actions and the families shattered by communal violence are on the streets unattended, marginalized and neglected by society and state. Those Muslims having successful business have been targeted to ensure breaking their economic backbone. This not only in Gujarat but also in other BJP ruled states. This economically marginalized community is practically boycotted by financial institutions, telephone companies and other. There are many cases where the community is being denied space for graveyards, which are either being taken away or not allowed to expand where there is need for more space. The plight of Shabana Azmi or Imraan Hashmi not getting the house in desired locality is not isolated; this phenomenon is becoming more widespread. The walls of separation along religious community lines are becoming stronger. The Sachar Commission and the Prime Minister’s 15 point program remain a showpiece for purposes best known to the state! The myths and stereotypes in the media and social space are very much there. The large section of school text books do reinforce the stereotypes and myths about the community. So where does all this lead us? In a democracy, in a secular state the minorities are provided a safety and dignity irrespective of their being a minority. The present condition of Muslims in India is nothing but abysmal from the point of view of security, economic condition and social life. A large section has started feeling the deprivations in a very painful manner. One recalls under the domination of Brahmanical values, ideology, the caste of Shudras was systematically denied the life of dignity and made to live in subjugation and ghettoization. The efforts of ‘Brahmanical ideology based politics’, the one of RSS and its progeny, is achieving the same pattern with some difference. Now Muslims are being reduced to second class citizens. This is precisely what RSS wants this is what is coming to be practiced at all the levels in the country. RSS progeny being in power or out of it does not matter as far as the life of Muslim community is concerned. The RSS workers and ideology have infiltrated the ‘social common sense’ through media and education. It has infiltrated the state machinery. The limit of this can be seen that RSS controlled Bhonsla Military School in Nasik is supplying large number of recruits for Indian army one of them being Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an accomplice of Pragya Singh Thakur, alleged culprits of Malegaon blast. If RSS, a fascist organization wrapping its politics in the cloak of Hindu religion, swaymsevaks can infiltrate army, which institution in the society is safe from slow communal fascist infiltration? Which institution can be trusted for upholding Indian Constitution? It is with this gloomy scenario around that many a victims deposing in the meeting said with pain and anguish, “Is it a crime to be born a Muslim in India?” | ||||
| Posted on Oct 09, 2009 |
On Cluttered Ballots of India, Families Proliferate - By Jim Yardley - The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/
On Cluttered Ballots of India, Families Proliferate
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
Rajendra Shekhawat campaigning in Amravati, where his parents once held elected office. His opponents belittle any suggestion that his family did not orchestrate his candidacy and call him a carpetbagger. More Photos >
By JIM YARDLEY
Published: October 11, 2009
AMRAVATI, India — Rajendra Shekhawat, nicely polished in a pressed white shirt and neatly parted hair, his face sunburned from campaigning in the south Indian sun, says he is running for office as a common man. His pink cheeks suggest otherwise, though, since common men in India usually toil outdoors without requiring sunscreen.
Another clue is the elephant in every room in which he campaigns in this city in the state of Maharashtra: Mom. She is Pratibha Patil, the president of India.
“I’m not using my parents’ name at all,” Mr. Shekhawat, 42, stated in an upstairs office in his parents’ home, which he is indisputably using as a campaign headquarters. “I’m running on my own. But for sure, being in a political family for so many years does help me, and gives me easy accessibility for doing the work of the people.”
Democracy is built on the oft-tarnished ideal that any man or woman can get elected, but in India, home to the world’s biggest democracy, it helps to be part of a political family. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, scions of the governing Congress Party, is India’s version of the Kennedys. But other political dynasties, large and small, have proliferated so rapidly that many analysts believe nepotism is corroding the political system.
India’s chaotic politics can sometimes seem democratic to a fault: the election cycle rarely pauses and the country has roughly 1,050 registered national and regional political parties. But most of the major parties, including the majority Congress Party, are internally undemocratic; there are no primaries and party leaders discourage public dissent. Party bosses select candidates and have shown an increasing tendency to select their own relatives.
Here in Amravati, the decision by Congress Party leaders to run Mr. Shekhawat for Tuesday’s elections in Maharashtra State has provoked an angry backlash. He is running for a state assembly seat in the same district where his parents once held elected office. But to put him there, Congress leaders pushed aside Mr. Sunil Deshmukh, a former radiologist and two-term Congress incumbent with broad local support. Leaders offered Mr. Deshmukh the chance to run elsewhere, but he rebelled and is seeking his own seat as an independent.
“This is a fight against injustice,” declared Mr. Deshmukh, warming to his role as political insurgent. “If he is defeated, that will send a very strong message to all parties, no? If the person is only the son or daughter or a nephew of an important person, you can’t just thrust him on the people.”
Across India, political families are entrenched at every level of government and politics. At least nine of the 32 members of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet either descended from political families or have children seeking or holding office. Parliament is littered with political families; a recent study found that 31 of the 58 women elected had a husband, brother, father or father-in-law in politics.
The trend is even more glaring at the state level. In Maharashtra, analysts estimate that 30 or more party candidates running this month are from political families. The state’s chief minister, the top executive post, is the son of a former chief minister. This is also the case in two other states while the Congress Party is strongly considering replacing the late chief minister of Andhra Pradesh with his son.
“It has gotten into the DNA of the Indian political system,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, a founding member of the Association for Democratic Reform in New Delhi. “To control the workings of the party, the leader depends on trusted people. And one of the traditions of Indian culture is that you trust family members more than outsiders.”
Indian politics have a high turnover rate and voting blocs can be defined by region, religion, caste or community. Yet analysts say Indian voters favor a familiar family pedigree, partly because of a cultural reverence for the family and because of habits in some regions that trace back centuries. Several of the royal families who ruled over feudal states have today evolved into political families.
Modern India’s political marketplace is so crowded with parties and candidates that the “brand” of a familiar family name can bring an advantage, several analysts say. And the closed nature of political parties often perpetuates the dynastic problem; in several cases, rebels who broke from one party have formed their own and installed relatives around them.
Few political families are eager to step away from the power and lucre of office. In the state of Haryana, which has several local political dynasties, a recent study concluded that incumbents running for re-election had increased their personal wealth, on average, by 388 percent during their five years in office.
“Every political family these days is keen to keep someone in the field,” said Suhas Palshikar, who teaches politics at Pune University in Maharashtra. “Lots of resources are involved. Lots of networks are involved. And to put it crudely, a lot of money is involved.”
Mrs. Patil, 74, the Indian president, has less than three years remaining in her term. The position of president is largely ceremonial, with real power invested in the prime minister and his cabinet, though the presidency does command deference. Mrs. Patil’s press officer said the president had not been involved in her son’s candidacy but that the son, like anyone, has a constitutional right to seek office.
Her son’s opponents belittle any suggestion that his family did not orchestrate his candidacy and call him a carpetbagger who has spent much of his life away from Amravati, returning only in the past year after his political ambitions had been kindled.
“His only asset is his mom,” said Dr. Pradeep Shingore, 56, a cardiologist who is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the seat. “Politics is being used as ancestral property.”
On a cloudless morning in one of the city’s slums, the incumbent, Mr. Deshmukh, led supporters on a padyatra, or foot march, a ritual in Indian politicking. Sprinkled in the crowd were the mayor and 20 other local officials from the Congress Party who are defiantly supporting him.
“People are very angry,” said Ashok Dongre, the mayor. “These families are not good for democracy because the common person, the party worker in the field, should be encouraged to go for higher positions. If you do not do that, how will the party succeed?”
Many observers consider Mr. Deshmukh the favorite in the race, though he faces practical obstacles. Every candidate on the ballot is accompanied by a party symbol, which provides a guide for illiterate rural voters. The Congress symbol, an open hand, is iconic in India. But as an independent, Mr. Deshmukh had no symbol; after considering choices offered by the election bureau, he decided upon an image of a television.
“He has come to seek your blessing!” a campaign worker shouted in the slum as others waved banners with the television image. “His symbol is television! Tee-vee! Tee-vee! Tee-vee!”
For his part, Mr. Shekhawat, the president’s son, brushes aside criticism of his candidacy. He is making his first run for office after working for an educational institute controlled by his family and has spent more than a decade working inside the Congress Party. He says Mr. Deshmukh has failed to promote development projects adequately and accuses him of the political sin of disloyalty.
“This kind of defiance shows indiscipline,” Mr. Shekhawat said. “Nobody is above the party. Nobody.”
Nepotism presents an especially complicated question for the Congress Party and the Gandhi dynasty. Rahul Gandhi, the presumptive heir to the party, has been visiting poor villages while promoting the idea of making the party more open and internally democratic. As part of his tour, Mr. Gandhi appeared Friday in Amravati for a rally with local Congress candidates.
On the stage with him was the president’s son.
Multimedia
Related
Times Topics: India
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
Supporters of Dr. Sunil Deshmukh, a radiologist and two-term Congress incumbent who was pushed aside by Congress Party leaders so that Mr. Shekhawat could run. Dr. Deshmukh is running as an Independent. More Photos »
“I’m not using my parents’ name at all,” Mr. Shekhawat, 42, stated in an upstairs office in his parents’ home, which he is indisputably using as a campaign headquarters. “I’m running on my own. But for sure, being in a political family for so many years does help me, and gives me easy accessibility for doing the work of the people.”
Democracy is built on the oft-tarnished ideal that any man or woman can get elected, but in India, home to the world’s biggest democracy, it helps to be part of a political family. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, scions of the governing Congress Party, is India’s version of the Kennedys. But other political dynasties, large and small, have proliferated so rapidly that many analysts believe nepotism is corroding the political system.
India’s chaotic politics can sometimes seem democratic to a fault: the election cycle rarely pauses and the country has roughly 1,050 registered national and regional political parties. But most of the major parties, including the majority Congress Party, are internally undemocratic; there are no primaries and party leaders discourage public dissent. Party bosses select candidates and have shown an increasing tendency to select their own relatives.
Here in Amravati, the decision by Congress Party leaders to run Mr. Shekhawat for Tuesday’s elections in Maharashtra State has provoked an angry backlash. He is running for a state assembly seat in the same district where his parents once held elected office. But to put him there, Congress leaders pushed aside Mr. Sunil Deshmukh, a former radiologist and two-term Congress incumbent with broad local support. Leaders offered Mr. Deshmukh the chance to run elsewhere, but he rebelled and is seeking his own seat as an independent.
“This is a fight against injustice,” declared Mr. Deshmukh, warming to his role as political insurgent. “If he is defeated, that will send a very strong message to all parties, no? If the person is only the son or daughter or a nephew of an important person, you can’t just thrust him on the people.”
Across India, political families are entrenched at every level of government and politics. At least nine of the 32 members of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet either descended from political families or have children seeking or holding office. Parliament is littered with political families; a recent study found that 31 of the 58 women elected had a husband, brother, father or father-in-law in politics.
The trend is even more glaring at the state level. In Maharashtra, analysts estimate that 30 or more party candidates running this month are from political families. The state’s chief minister, the top executive post, is the son of a former chief minister. This is also the case in two other states while the Congress Party is strongly considering replacing the late chief minister of Andhra Pradesh with his son.
“It has gotten into the DNA of the Indian political system,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, a founding member of the Association for Democratic Reform in New Delhi. “To control the workings of the party, the leader depends on trusted people. And one of the traditions of Indian culture is that you trust family members more than outsiders.”
Indian politics have a high turnover rate and voting blocs can be defined by region, religion, caste or community. Yet analysts say Indian voters favor a familiar family pedigree, partly because of a cultural reverence for the family and because of habits in some regions that trace back centuries. Several of the royal families who ruled over feudal states have today evolved into political families.
Modern India’s political marketplace is so crowded with parties and candidates that the “brand” of a familiar family name can bring an advantage, several analysts say. And the closed nature of political parties often perpetuates the dynastic problem; in several cases, rebels who broke from one party have formed their own and installed relatives around them.
Few political families are eager to step away from the power and lucre of office. In the state of Haryana, which has several local political dynasties, a recent study concluded that incumbents running for re-election had increased their personal wealth, on average, by 388 percent during their five years in office.
“Every political family these days is keen to keep someone in the field,” said Suhas Palshikar, who teaches politics at Pune University in Maharashtra. “Lots of resources are involved. Lots of networks are involved. And to put it crudely, a lot of money is involved.”
Mrs. Patil, 74, the Indian president, has less than three years remaining in her term. The position of president is largely ceremonial, with real power invested in the prime minister and his cabinet, though the presidency does command deference. Mrs. Patil’s press officer said the president had not been involved in her son’s candidacy but that the son, like anyone, has a constitutional right to seek office.
Her son’s opponents belittle any suggestion that his family did not orchestrate his candidacy and call him a carpetbagger who has spent much of his life away from Amravati, returning only in the past year after his political ambitions had been kindled.
“His only asset is his mom,” said Dr. Pradeep Shingore, 56, a cardiologist who is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the seat. “Politics is being used as ancestral property.”
On a cloudless morning in one of the city’s slums, the incumbent, Mr. Deshmukh, led supporters on a padyatra, or foot march, a ritual in Indian politicking. Sprinkled in the crowd were the mayor and 20 other local officials from the Congress Party who are defiantly supporting him.
“People are very angry,” said Ashok Dongre, the mayor. “These families are not good for democracy because the common person, the party worker in the field, should be encouraged to go for higher positions. If you do not do that, how will the party succeed?”
Many observers consider Mr. Deshmukh the favorite in the race, though he faces practical obstacles. Every candidate on the ballot is accompanied by a party symbol, which provides a guide for illiterate rural voters. The Congress symbol, an open hand, is iconic in India. But as an independent, Mr. Deshmukh had no symbol; after considering choices offered by the election bureau, he decided upon an image of a television.
“He has come to seek your blessing!” a campaign worker shouted in the slum as others waved banners with the television image. “His symbol is television! Tee-vee! Tee-vee! Tee-vee!”
For his part, Mr. Shekhawat, the president’s son, brushes aside criticism of his candidacy. He is making his first run for office after working for an educational institute controlled by his family and has spent more than a decade working inside the Congress Party. He says Mr. Deshmukh has failed to promote development projects adequately and accuses him of the political sin of disloyalty.
“This kind of defiance shows indiscipline,” Mr. Shekhawat said. “Nobody is above the party. Nobody.”
Nepotism presents an especially complicated question for the Congress Party and the Gandhi dynasty. Rahul Gandhi, the presumptive heir to the party, has been visiting poor villages while promoting the idea of making the party more open and internally democratic. As part of his tour, Mr. Gandhi appeared Friday in Amravati for a rally with local Congress candidates.
On the stage with him was the president’s son.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
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