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Vandalize the neighborhood cyber cafe, of course!
Tsk tsk…the poor souls must think they can erase those communities if they smash the nearest computer screen. Someone please explain to them how the Internet works [via Uber Desi].
Update#1: This is getting too funny for words. Maharashtra police are now mulling over a ban on Orkut [via]. ROTFL! I swear anyone would think that the state is virtually crime-free and a haven for peace that the cops have to indulge in such petty matters. I say, go ahead….block Orkut. Please.
If the temporary Blogspot ban protests were any indication, the authorities will have a major mess on their hands because anyone and everyone in India these days is on Orkut. I for one, would love to sit out here and watch the tamasha. If there are no protests, then the public probably doesn’t deserve access to Orkut.
Update#2: Thankfully Sify, Mumbai’s largest ISP and owner of more than 1000 cyber cafes in the city has refused to block Orkut citing potential economic loss. This was expected as no sensible businessman is going to shut down the avenue that earns them their daily bread. As Mehboob Pasha, area manager of cyber cafe says, “Eighty per cent of Internet-savvy youth in the age group of 16 to 30 are members of Orkut.com. On an average, they access the site every alternative day. If I block access to the site, nobody will turn up at my Internet centres and it will affect my bread and butter.” Touche! Will Shiv Sena ever understand this basic fact of life? Hulla gulla karo lekin dhande mein khotti mat karo (protest all you like but don’t let it affect my business) - has been Mumbai’s mantra. Orkut is here to stay and any protests against it is simply going to turn people against Shiv Sena. Learn to live with it, bhau.
by Patrix | on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 9:56 pm | 
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June 5th, 2007 at 8:00 am reply
They seem to have it in for Orkut. I suspect Blogspot and wordpress will be next :-)
June 5th, 2007 at 10:21 am reply
Santosh, yeah but it is sad that they would think that destroying the nearest cybercafe is not akin to burning the newspaper’s office that publishes the offensive article.
June 5th, 2007 at 10:31 am reply
The cybercafe attacks are part of the gross ignorance displayed by our politicians in general, not just the Sena.
Also the thing is when they say there are derogatory comments against Shivaji, I bet its not something outright insulting. There have been instances where someone mentioned that Shivaji’s parents had a broken marriage and the Sena folks considered that derogatory.
June 7th, 2007 at 5:42 pm reply
Hahahaha…. like burning up all round objects will make the moon cease to exist! Man… these guys redefine stupidity at each step.
June 7th, 2007 at 6:09 pm reply
Black King, I guess the act of violence needs no logic or rationality…just need an excuse :)
June 7th, 2007 at 8:16 pm reply
[...] A week back, Shiv Sena attacked certain neighborhood cyber cafes because they of certain Orkut communities allegedly derogatory to Shiva ji. [...]
June 8th, 2007 at 6:13 pm reply
Going by the words of Phanse (the man who started all this) he has little clue as to what he is doing. So no threat to freedom and all that. Mumbai police though is really saddening.
June 9th, 2007 at 10:29 am reply
Vijay, my problem is not that these lunatics are a threat to ‘freedom and all that’ but rather the official statedom deems them important enough to take them seriously. That scares me more.