Dear readers,
I will not be able to blog for some time as my country has slapped a blanket ban on the blog sites. All Internet service providers are instructed to block a long list of sites and blogspot is one of them.
Reason ?
I do not know
There are merits and demerits of the internet but the merits far outweigh the demerits. Unfortunately this happens in the largest democracy in the world and an IT super power.
I am able to receive your comments by mail but will not be able to respond to them and I am not able to visit your blogs and comment as the access is denied to all.
I am sorry for myself and I am sorry for my country.
Thank you Aamir for the information
Love you all
Rauf
Blunt Knife
46 comments:
Beauties!!! All these pictures are from your backyard??? Wow! Nice ones Rauf. Makes me want to take flight...
Dear Don, this post is not about pictures
Thank you Mudassar, tried a different proxy server. I have posted the link in this post
i'm so sorry rauf. that makes me very sad.
Rauf, I am terribly sad at what you are saying! I hope you'll be able to go on blogging somehow!
I am shocked. completely shocked.
Has the world gone even more mad?
I hope you can find some way around this or the ban is lifted soon.
Many happy thoughts and know that I will be coming to visit your blog regardless of the insane ideas of governemnts. Won't young people protest this I wonder? will anyone put their foot down?
Rauf...I did a google of the ban, and if you are reading this via email there are ways to work around the ban.
try...
http://www.hidemyass.com/
or
http://www.shadowsurf.com/
or
http://pkblogs.com/
It is indeed very sad for the largest democracy in the world Miss Terri. There have been acts of terrorism, but we cannot stop people from going out. Thank you so much for your concern Miss Terri
I am accessing my blog thru a proxy server
I really hope so Claudia, No one supports terrorism. We would like to join the efforts to stop such acts of terrorism. But we cannot stop all the trains. We have to carry on.
Yes all Indian bloggers are worried Candy. These ISPs are just following government orders. None of them took up the fight. They all are worried about their business. Thank you for the links Candy. I am going through a proxy server. I think Indian media is happy about this ban. As blogging is a threat to media.
Hey Sonal Sundaree ! Hope you are reading this. Thank you for showing me the light.
shocking... hope that they lift the ban soon...
great pics.
Yes Sarah, Hope sense prevails soon. Thanks so much for your concern. Blogging is the best thing ever happened to me and to the internet. I was a frog in the well Sarah, except for my close friends no one ever saw my pictures, they were gathering dust for decades. Never had an exhibition, which was far beyond my means. Blogging came as a blessing and I met such amazing friends, friends I have never met, who have been so kind with their appreciation, which gave me a burst of energy, which gave me a new lease of life towards the fading light of my life.
What a ridiculous situation, Rauf. I hope it can be resolved in full soon. Came to you via Candy Minx.
Comment 4 of 20
http://mazenkerblog.blogspot.com/
support him as a human being.
thank you Asterisk, hope this blockade is temporary
Anonymous, i have no clue what you are talking about
That is horrible!!!
I am going to send you a sight that I use at work...I hope it works for you....
Yes, Unbelievable Cari. Still I am going through a proxy server which my blog friends suggested. Thank you so much Cari, I'll try your site too.
I hope this is not true! If it is, it might be for a short time. Please come back. We will be missing you.
We're here, hoping for you, hoping for your freedom. Meanwhile, we'll be watching for your return. Please, be careful. The most important thing now is your safety, because we care about you!
P.S. May you soon be able to fly freely, too!
It is true Imemine, hope it is for a short time. i have great faith in indian democracy how ever corrupt it may be. Actually there is more freedom in India than anywhere in the world. This may be a work of some bureucrat who is living in dark ages. I am still going thru a proxy server.
Thank you for your support Darlene, voices like yours will be heard, and they make a world of difference. Hope this blockade is for a short period. All these years I was able to breath freely, suddenly I felt caged. Actually we had too much of freedom and such freedom is more misused than used.
We have such loop holes in the law that terrorists and high profile criminals go scot free. Some people have been spreading hatred freely. Irresponsible media has been highlighting only the views of such extremists. My fellow Indian bloggers and I are the victims of such misuse of freedom.
Not to mention those unfortunate ones who lose their lives due to irresponsible reporting, self serving politicians and hatred spread by extremists.
Thank you once again for your concern Darlene, I am still going through a proxy server, I never knew what it was until my blog friends told me how to access my page.
With warm regards to you and Mark.
Rauf hello
I tried commenting earlier but it wouldn't work. So I hope this goes through this time. I can't believe you don't have freedom in India to blog! thats really bad! This world scares me...and its getting worse! It's just awful!
Dear Rauf i hope this ban lifts very soon.
On the contrary Kathy, we have too much of freedom, things are different in India where freedom is misused more. Some blogs were spreading hatred. Politicians do that always. Politicians actually spread more hatred than some insignificant bloggers. Media is irresponsible in reporting views of the extremists. But the axe fell on all Indian bloggers. No one thinks of gagging the politicians. That would make lot more sense actually.
The truth is, the Government wanted to block some blogs which were spreading hatred. It seems the list ran to 22 pages. The Internet service providers thought it wise to block the blog site itself because they are too lazy to block individual sites. This is another story of government orders carried a bit too far.
India is a funny country Kathy.
This blockade is out of sheer laziness of ISPs. I still have faith in Indian democracy. Freedom of expression is still intact.
Came to know the details only this morning and had a big laugh. Hope this blockade is lifted soon.
Thank you so much for your concern Kathy, the world is indeed getting worse
This is the stupidest thing the government can do, Poms; wasn't aware of this earlier. Looking it up on Google. I would miss your blogs so much :( *hugs*
I'm sad, and I will miss you so much. I hope this is temporary, very short-lived. Being in Ireland I'm already pretty disgusted at the history here with the English, and this makes me more furious still . . .
Ummmmmmmmmmmmma ree boo
Yea the Government keeps doing stupid things all the time. This time they wanted to block a long list of sites which were spreading hatred. The list includes mostly ultra Hindu and Muslim sites. I can understand such a move. But this doesn't make any sense as only one or two percent of Indian population has access to internet, rest of the people close to a billion don't know what a computer is and have never touched a keyboard in their lives. So these sites which are spreading hatred are not a big threat to the nation. These guys will pull down the shutters and open their shop somewhere else. internet is an ocean. Politicians, who have total disregard for the scurity of the nation, who spread hatred, should be gagged instead. With the help of the irresponsible media politicians reach far and wide, causing riots, destruction and deaths of innocent people. They are the biggest threat to the National security and not some insignificant blogs.
It is indeed a stupid move from the government, believe me sweet boo, I am still proud Indian. I have faith in our democracy. Hopefully this ban would be lifted soon and I'll be back to drown you with my pictures and views.
Love and hugs booey!
Hi Rauf. Enjoyed yer blog a lot. tvm. Came by via Candy Minx. Proud to be Indian? Damn right mate. Be proud of yer country. Politicians blanket bannin' blogs? Dicks. Carry on regardless (wasn't that an old Brit comedy film?) and stuff 'em. Fantastic pics mate. Good luck.
Sweet Ruth, I am really touched.
You must visit India with Don after exploring Ireland and see the total contrast. Indians have forgotten their past and continued with the chaotic life. India became independant in 1947 where as Ireland became independant much earlier 1922 ? (Easter rising was in 1921 ?, please correct me Ruth)
Irish history is smeared with blood. The English committed more atrocities in Ireland, wiped out their culture tradition and language. That was not possible in India as there is so much of confusion and diversity. The Brits had no clue which language or culture to wipe out, there are so many. Language food and culture changes every 100 miles, they just gave up. India was set on fire instead and they divided the country and left India burning. What ever communal hatred we see here in India is the gift from the British. They adopted a policy of divide and rule. Thankfully Indians are deeply philosophical and cultured(which includes an illeterate man on the streets) they carried on, soon the history was forgotten. We live in relative harmony in our own chaotic style. What a contradiction !
Where as the Irish are a sad bunch of people, they have every reason to be sad because of violent and bloody history, The British were ruthless and merciless, in their long rule and they are still criminally holding a big chunk of their land. Indians in the most passive and non violent way were successful in driving the British out completely.
thank you so much for your concern Ruth, hopefully this blockade would be lifted soon.
Please convey my regards to Don. hope you are having a great time in Ireland
Hi Four Dinners, Good to see you here, I should thank Candy for her moral support. She has come out with a great post on this thoughtless blockade. Yes I have seen all the 'Carry on' comedies.
Indian administration is one big hillarious story. They have absolutely no clue what they are doing. In my state od Tamil Nadu, one government comes to power bans all the pubs and taverns liquor shops, next government legalises it. One government erects a statue of some dead clown and the next government knocks it down. they love to see their own stautes erected and they see them getting knocked down by the opposing politicians. Its a funny country
Thank you so much for your encouraging words Four Dinners. Hope to get back to blogging soon.
Rauf,
So sad about the blogging scene in our country..Hope it'll be resolved so soon..
Thank God,wordpress is not banned..
Gangadhar ! Initially I was upset felt depressed and suffocated. I understand the government's concern. there are more than 40 thousand bloggers in India according to today's 'Hindu' This is hardly a number for 1.1 billion people, out of which a few insignificant blogs have been spreading hatred. A total ban on blogging doesn't make any sense.
Indian bloggers are the victims of a few irresponsible people who were misusing the freedom. Politicians helped by the media spread more hatred than a handful of bloggers.
Rauf, Easter 1916 was the uprising, but I believe the official change was 1922.
The comparison of Irish and Indian cultures as repressed by the English is an interesting study! I think you should write a book about it. :)
Oh, and I have been dreaming of visiting India for years, in fact since meeting a friend of my parents when I was just 14. His name was Deepraj Singh Puar, and I thought he was amazing, hunted tiger. I guess he was from an elite class. I hope we can visit someday, Rauf.
i completely agree with you
banning d blogs was pathetic
Thank you for correcting me Ruth, I don't have the knowledge resources or energy for any research. I think it is a good subject, a comparison of English colonial rule in different parts of the world. After your current assignment perhaps you can think about it. I can send you some material about their 200 year rule over India, Ruling a complex country for more than 200 is not an easy job. Just imagine such a small country colonising many parts of the world, unbelievable today.
This research work perhaps would bring you and Don to India Ruth. If you write, It will be an interesting book I know
Ah Ajay ! you prove to be lucky for me
I think the government has just lifted the ban now.
Yes it was pretty thoughtless of the government.
Rauf, good to see you back in action, now that the ban has been lifted. Apologies for not writing earlier, it was crazy out here at work and i avoided gettin on the computer at home. I had commented on an earlier post of yours which i see you have deleted. Please try to use the software i mentioned earlier. It will help you blog offline, in the sense that you wont have to use the browser, sign in and post. It will let you save your posts offline, let you modify your posts and republish it with the click of a button. You can also play with your template here.
Incase you dont have the link, here it is again, and it is free. Give it a try, i'm sure you will like it.
w.bloggar
http://www.wbloggar.com/
i visited some of the sites banned in india. There were some very inflamatory posts about islam and the muslims. Knowing how the muslim world would react to these posts and india being a country with a large muslim population, i guess the govt thought it only makes sense to block those particular sites to avoid more sparks from flying. It was poor communication in the end which resulted in the blocking of the whole domain. Happy that the ban is lifted now.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/183986.php
I knew very well Aamir that this ban would be lifted. As you have seen it was all for a good reason. Both ultra Hindu and muslim sites were on the list. I keep telling boo all the time that I take pride as an Indian. You'll never find this kind of freedom anywhere in the world. My today's post is on freedom
Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
»
Anonymous, have you read the post ?
This is not about pictures.
Greets to the webmaster of this wonderful site! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
»
Post a Comment