Birds of a feather.

The Hindustan Times reported yesterday that a high profile minister in the previous Congress led government had spent an awful lot of money on redecorating his bungalow on Teen Murti Marg, which is the central part of Delhi and where the politicians beg and fight to be allowed to stay. It is not clear whether he spent his own or taxpayer money but, having lost the election in May and being forced to move out, he has trashed the house to spite the next occupant. " All fittings have been removed, glass panels smashed and the badminton court dug up." These are the same people who come with folded hands and unctuous smiles to ask for votes before elections. Chinese leaders do not have to be polite to the people. Although there are daily protests these are brutally suppressed and never reported. Even when parents protested about the death of children in the Sichuan earthquake, when party offices went unscathed, and about melamine in baby milk they were beaten up. However, students are protesting in Hong Kong over freedom to elect who they want instead of only those who have been chosen by Beijing. They call it the ' Umbrella Revolution ', having used umbrellas to protect themselves from pepper sprays used by the police. That is completely unacceptable to the apparatchiks governing the country. If Hong Kong gets democracy today what if Shanghai demands it tomorrow? News of the protests have been completely suppressed inside China but will they be able to shutdown the internet completely despite the Great Firewall. Hong Kong is no Tiananmen Square that they will drive tanks over human bodies. The students are demanding that CY Leung, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, appointed by Beijing, must step down. China needs Hong Kong to showcase its tolerant government under the ' One Country, Two Systems ' rule. Leung did try to disperse the students by using the police batons and tear gas but that has only angered the students more. Leung and his supporters believe in the benevolence of the Communist Party and subservience to the mainland. They say that the student protests in the center of the city is harming small businesses and that the right to protest must not interfere with people's right to earn a livelihood. They say that the students are breaking the law by not taking police permission for the protests and should move to Victoria Park so as not to interfere with daily life. Of course, these are people appointed by Beijing and want to cling on to power like politicians everywhere. When Constable Tomar died of a heart attack, in the protests over the rape of a young woman in a Delhi bus, in 2012 the Congress immediately blamed the students. Hindi Chini bhai bhai.