Clearly, the government has a lot to handle since the seven serial blasts in Mumbai last Tuesday. Banning America's anti-Left website ExposingTheLeft.Blogspot.Com is a start.

Viewed through pkblogs.com, a website that helps you bypass the official Indian ban (its home page invites you if your blog is blocked in India, Pakistan, Iran or China), ExposingTheLeft.Blogspot.Com makes only one reference to Mumbai, which is: ''At least 131 killed in India train bombings: More humanitarian acts from the 'Religion of Peace'.''

This may be offensive and so could the rest of this websitebut largely for anti-Bush voters in the United States as it tracks domestic politics, takes several swipes at Iran, applauds a court ruling against same-sex marriages, and slams the Hizbollah. It has little to do with what Comrade Prakash Karat was thinking about or doing on 7/11.

ExposingTheLeft's editors are aware of India's gag order and their new post is: "Well, it's not a fatwa but I suppose it will have to do.''

Government officials today defended their action against the three blogspot.com sites and eight other websites they have ordered Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block from Indian viewers. Several Department of Telecom officials, contacted through the day, declined to comment. An official in charge of cybersecurity said: "Google should take the initiative to block sites that are offensive to us. If it doesn't, we have to take such action."

All banned blogs are being hosted on a website that Google owns. The websites are hosted both in India and abroad, which complicates matters, since bloggers are being forced out of their blogs because of the ban.

''There are ways to bypass the ban which makes it ineffectual, but there's another complication, it's not easy for India to block blogs selectively if they are not hosted here,'' says Supreme Court lawyer Pavan Duggal.

... contd.

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