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There's case, or ten, for putting a lifetime ban on certain issues and events which have either been devalued beyond recovery, have been flogged to death and are fit for cremation or no longer strike a chord with the janata at large. Though the Most Unwanted list gets longer by the day, here's a look at the ones that most deserve a decent burial.

Any More Bofors Papers: By now, over a decade later, there's still no sign of the smoke clearing. After all those revelations, sensationalisms, prevarications and proposed extraditions, the public remains more confused than over about who did what, when and to whom. What with all those amazing codes and alphabets, it's a maze trying to figure out whether M hands anything over to Q or was it G who tiptoed through the tulips? It could also be that R was the one who signed the cheques with his Mont Blanc. If the next set of papers contains more questions than answers, it's time to bury the pasta.

Mumbo Jumbo: The expanding size of jumbo ministries has meant that banquet halls now have to be hired to hold cabinet meetings. What this means for the poor taxpayer and poorer voter is that there are any number of ministers with no work to do, others who don't work anyway, some who will never work and others who refuse to work because they have been given no work. It's all very confusing, not to mention expensive. Maharashtra has shown the way. Now, we have ministers who have to return their white Ambassadors with flashing lights. Except they then become rebels who then topple the government so that we wind up with an even larger cabinet. All in the larger interests of democracy.

The Gandhi Obsession: The Roman orgy over Sonia's origins was bad enough. Now we are reduced to reading about the importance of Rahul Gandhi's views on Calcutta, whether he wears Nike or Reebok, and how considerate he was not to behave like a VIP while those four escorts vehicles with revolving red lights did their best to remain discreetly in the background.

Holy Smoke: The family that flays together, stays together. So it would seem to be judging by the unseemly howls of protest from Sangh Parivar & Associates over the papal visit. It's high time that the Government shows it has the courage to stop the tail from wagging the dogma.

Improving Relation With Pakistan: In a General sense, given the option, there's something of a consensus on the issue as far as the public is concerned. Except, that after being taken for a Lahore bus ride, it's more con than census. As long as India remains cross about border terrorism, and Pakistan's idea of solving the Kashmir issue is that it should be handed over, lake, stock and gun barrel, any hope of improving relations should be treated with the same degree of suspicion as Yashwant Sinha's pronouncements on the economy.

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