26th june 2006
of course, i support shashi tharoor's candidacy for the un secretary general's post because he's
a) indian
b) malayali
c) an acquaintance. his sister and brother-in-law are friends of mine and i have met him at their house; and he has quoted yours truly in one of his books. i also interviewed him on rediff some years ago. (rediff incidentally republishes that interview after carefully removing my name from it: one of the 'secularists' on their staff at work, no doubt).
anyway, this is my personal opinion that i support shashi's candidacy.
but on the other hand, i have seen several commentators being less than enthusiastic.
what do you guys think? is this a good thing for india? what are shashi's chances?
btw, i have heard that women have a soft corner for him, as they consider him good-looking.
4 comments:
ST may be a good candidate for UNSG, but it is a waste of resources for the Indian Govt at a time when the UN itself seems to be increasingly irrelevant.
I am surprised that the following would be reasons for supporting a UNSG candidate on this:
b) malayali
c) an acquaintance
Unless I am on a new blog called "Malayali Nationalist perspective".
Even Arundathi Roy might fit 2 out 3 in the a), b) and may have some
other c), but would that her make a good candidate for UNSG ?
About Shashi Tharoor, I feel the man is a diplomat to the core. And a good man too, evident from the peaceful aura around him (as I watched Barkha Dutt interview him).
And being mostly a diplomat, he cannot understand what a fight is all about :-)
About his candidature he said - "I am an Indian, and I come from the Indian civilisation. But I will not be India's man in this post. I will be serving the interests of 191 countries."
He has also welcomed any candidate who might be better than him. He is not greedy for this post and wants the best qualified person to be in it.
He also said if he doesnt get selected, he will have plenty of time to write books (and not otherwise). So take your pick folks - Shashi as UNSG, or more books like "Riot".
Sorry for responding even if I am not a guy and wasnt invited to.
_
gosh, some strong words from many of you about poor shashi tharoor! yes, i did read swapan's editorial. well, shashi is a charming individual and a very clever person. he can write exceedingly well when he wants to.
what do you think his chances are? this time it is the 'reserved' asian turn, which is partly why shashi made his move, i suppose. he couldn't possibly wait another 15 years for another 'asian' slot. there are strong asian candidates, from thailand eg. and the pakistanis have of course said they will field a candidate since india fielded one. so i am not very sure of shashi's chances at all. is india conceding that it will never make it to the security council, as the secy genl is never from a SC member nation. this was the tack some commentators chose.
America is rooting for Tharoor.
America's loyal friends will vote
for him.
Who are they ? How many ?
That will decide the outcome.
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