I thought I knew enough English but I just cannot understand what the phrase 'criminalisation of politics' means. How can politics be criminalised? Physicists invented the atom bomb which killed hundreds of thousands, but can we say criminalisation of physics? Writers have consistently fallen foul of the law for exposing social injustice. Even now there is a fatwa on Salman Rushdie for Satanic verses but can we say the literature has been criminalised. It is the mealy mouthed expression used by the freeloading press which does not want to upset the source of all its freebies. The truth is that a vast number of politicians in India are criminals or, better still, criminals have become politicians. The election in UP is costing one million rupees a day which is way above the limit set by the Election Commission. Plus there are expenses for killing opponents, terrorising people so that they do not come to vote, booth capturing, bribing government teachers who work as election agents and distributing free booze and saris to buy votes. Goons are not cheap so it helps if you have your own salaried goons or cadres in the case of the communists. Only criminals have enough black money and goons on the payroll. Once you win power you can loot the exchequer as you will while the police provide you with Z security to ensure complete safety. Amarmani Tripathy is a candidate while on trial for the murder of Madhumita. I bet no other country has such a strong democracy. Eat your heart out, Bush.