Sunday, January 6th, 2008...2:32 pm
Annals of MSM Respectability
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My feminism/nepotism post caught the interest of a kind soul at The New York Times, so I’m happy to report that I’ve got a quick 700 words on Saturday’s Op-Ed page. It’s the kind of thing that a lot of people are going to hate and it’s impossible to stuff every tedious caveat into so small a space, so check back for some spirited defense tomorrow. For now just let me say yes, I know that Indira Nehru Gandhi is not related to Mahatma Gandhi. (As it turns out, the name Nehru comes with some advantages in India.)
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January 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
indira’s husband feroze was a freedom fighter himself and was well respected tho obviously wasn’t a leader of the stature of mahatma or nehru (& according to some sources was actually adopted by the mahatma so indira wouldn’t be stuck with a muslim last name after marriage & thus have problems getting elected tho i doubt that). & the congress party has been dominated by the nehru family so your example citing indira was an excellent case of nepotism trumping competence. and sonia gandhi, but for the hindu right’s crude exhibition of xenophobia after losing power in the last elections, would have become (& may yet) india’s first foreign born pm.
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