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Re: Sangh Parivar Pageant: Sid Harth

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chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 2, 2009, 10:32:42 AM12/2/09
to
BJP slams Chidambaram in RS over ‘Hindu terrorist’ remark

ANI
Posted: Dec 02, 2009 at 1808 hrs IST

New Delhi Union Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram while speaking
on internal security in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday said that the
government’s anti terror campaign has proved to be highly successful
and there has been significant reduction in the troops deployment in
Jammu and Kashmir.

About Jammu and Kashmir, Chidambaram said the incidents of terrorism
have been the lowest in Jammu and Kashmir in 2009. Besides, a
significant amount of troop reduction has been done in J-K.

On Naxal problem in the country, the Home Minister said: “Government
will talk to any organization including ULFA if the abjure violence.”

The Home Minister also said that he would give utmost attention
towards restoration of interrupted academic session, which has been
affected by the separatists’ activities in Manipur.

However, Chidambaram had to face flak by the Opposition for repeatedly
using the word “Hindu terrorism”.

While talking about government approach towards any form of terrorism
cause by any group irrespective of its religious colour, Chidambram
said: “The government maintains zero tolerance for terrorism inspired
by religion, may it be Islam or may it be Hindu.”

Chidambaram was immediately pointed out by BJP’s Prakash Javadekar and
SS Ahluwalia and other BJP members for his repeated usage of the word
of “Hindu terrorists” during his statement on internal security
issue.

“When the investigation is on how could you say it would reveal the
Hindu terrorists”, Javdekar asked Chidambaram over his Hindu terrorist
remark.

Another BJP leader Ahluwalia questioned Chidambaram how could he
generalize the entire community over an alleged act of a few
individuals.

“For act of a few individuals, you cannot blame the entire community,”
said SS Ahluwalia in the Rajya Sabha.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/BJP-slams-Chidambaram-in-RS-over--Hindu-terrorist--remark/549059/

...and I am Sid Harth

Sid Harth

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Dec 3, 2009, 10:00:32 AM12/3/09
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Katiyar to make 'revelations' about Babri demolition Dec 6

2009-12-03 18:20:00
Last Updated: 2009-12-03 19:51:38

Lucknow: Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinay Katiyar on Thursday
said he will make certain 'startling revelations' about the razing of
the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya Dec 6, 1992, on the 17th anniversary of
the incident on Sunday.

'While some people would hail Dec 6 as 'victory day' and others would
condemn it as 'black day' , I have decided to observe the 17th
anniversary of the demolition of the mosque as 'the day of truth',
whereby I would make certain vital disclosures,' Katiyar, who was
among the front-line leaders of the Ayodhya movement, told IANS over
telephone from Ayodhya.

The founder chief of Bajrang Dal, Katiyar, who was twice elected to
the Lok Sabha from Faizabad, has convened a meeting of 'sadhus' and
activists of the Ram temple movement at his residence in Ayodhya Dec
6.

'I will make certain disclosures that would even fix Justice Manmohan
Singh Liberhan, who took 17 long years to submit his report as the
commission of inquiry appointed by the government to go into various
aspects of the demolition,' he claimed.

The BJP leader was not only among those indicted by the commission,
but is also facing trial in a case of criminal conspiracy lodged
against some 58 prominent leaders of the BJP and the party's
affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.

http://sify.com/news/Katiyar-to-make-39-revelations-39-about-Babri-demolition-Dec-6-news-National-jmdsueiadeg.html

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 3, 2009, 9:59:04 PM12/3/09
to
BJP leader kin in Rs 1-cr scam
Manvinder Singh, TNN 3 December 2009, 10:47pm IST

LUDHIANA: An example of sheer misuse of power by the kin of a ruling
party leader has once again come to the fore. A relative of an
influential BJP

leader along with two other contractors has inflicted huge losses on
the municipal corporation (MC) exchequer by taking an excess payment
of more than Rs 1 crore after producing fake bills for works whose
payment had already been made.

The fact came to the light when MC officers inquired into a case of
fake bill for a work, few days back. However, as the officers started
further inquiry by going deep into the records, a major scam worth
more than Rs 1 crore was unearthed. It was highlighted that three
contractors including kin of a BJP leader and two real brothers had
illegally minted more than Rs 1 crore in the last three years with the
help of MC officers.

The amount could be more as the MC officers have gone through the
record of only last three years and the previous record still remains
to be checked.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that initially the record of only one year
was inspected by the officers, but as roots of the scam were deep,
additional commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar, who is heading the
inquiry had asked the engineering branch to submit bills of work
undertaken in the last three years. An insight into the old records
brought this scam to the fore.

However, sources revealed that the political leaders were exerting a
lot of pressure on the officer because of which she had opted to go on
leave. They informed that Brar had not attended office from last four
days.

Sources revealed that the inquiry was likely to get restarted in a day
or two, after which the inquiry report would be submitted to the MC
commissioner.

When contacted, Brar denied any political pressure. She said she had
taken leaves due to some personal reasons, adding that no pressure of
any sort would affect the inquiry.

When asked about the findings, she asserted that it would be conveyed
to the commissioner.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/BJP-leader-kin-in-Rs-1-cr-scam/articleshow/5297374.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 5, 2009, 3:58:32 AM12/5/09
to
No regrets on Babri demolition, says RSS chief

IANS

Published on Sat, Dec 05, 2009 at 13:12, Updated on Sat, Dec 05, 2009
at 14:12 in Politics section

STAUNCH SUPPORTER: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was speaking at the
Chandigarh Press Club on Saturday

Chandigarh: On the eve of the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary,
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday
that the Hindu group has "no regrets" about the razing of the mosque
in Ayodhya 17 years ago.

Speaking at the Chandigarh Press Club, the RSS chief, responding to a
question on whether the rightwing Hindu group regretted the
demolition, said: "Afsos ka prashna hi nahin uthta (there is no
question of any regrets)."

"We all want the Ram temple to be built there (Ayodhya). The RSS will
always be associated with the Ram temple issue," Bhagwat said.

The 16th century Babri mosque was demolished by Hindu activists Dec 6,
1992, triggering communal clashes in the country. Hindu groups claim
the mosque was built after demolishing a temple that marked the
birthplace of Lord Ram.

The RSS chief also questioned the credibility of the Liberhan
Commission report on the Babri mosque demolition.

He said: "What has been said in the Liberhan report could have been
said in 1993 also. There is a question mark over the credibility of
the commission report. There are many factual errors in it."

"There was no conspiracy in the mosque demolition as pointed out by
the Liberhan report. This is the truth," he said.

Asked if the image of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been dented
by the indictment of top BJP leaders by the Liberhan report, Bhagwat
said: "The BJP will have to resolve the issue of its image."

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/no-regrets-on-babri-demolition-says-rss-chief/106532-37.html

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 5, 2009, 8:09:18 AM12/5/09
to
RSS does not run the BJP: Mohan Bhagwat
STAFF WRITER 16:8 HRS IST

Chandigarh, Dec 5 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said his
organisation does not "run" the BJP, which he described as an
"independent political outfit".

"We don't run the BJP, which is an independent political outfit. We
also don't have the time to run it," Bhagwat said addressing a 'meet-
the-press' programme here.

He, however, clarified that if BJP seeks help on any constructive
issue, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is always ready to help.

On several queries on the BJP leadership issue, Bhagwat said it is
BJP's internal matter and hoped the political party will resolve it.

"To decide on who will be the next president of BJP is their
prerogative," he said.

When asked whether the RSS was keen to have the next BJP chief from
outside Delhi, he said, "this is not true, but infact this had been
communicated to us by them (the BJP)..

http://www.ptinews.com/news/409131_RSS-does-not-run-the-BJP--Mohan-Bhagwat

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 5, 2009, 8:12:41 AM12/5/09
to
Sikh organisations protest against Ashutosh Maharaj’s visit
December 5th, 2009 - 4:29 pm ICT by ANI -

Ludhiana, Dec 5 (ANI): The members of several Sikh outfits took to
the streets here today, protesting against the arrival of a
controversial religious leader Ashutosh Maharaj, who has not found
favour with the Sikh groups for allegedly preaching against their
religion.

Swami Ashutosh Maharaj, who heads an organisation named Divya Jyoti
Jagriti Sansthan (DJSS), begins his visit to the city from today, and
is proposed to hold a religious meeting in the city.

Several Sikh men gathered outside a Sikh shrine this morning, raising
slogans and waving swords in the air.

The police arrested some protestors, who pelted stones at them.

The radical Sikh group, Dal Khalsa, who is against the arrival of the
religious leader, says it has got the support of the State government
and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“We will take our peaceful procession to stop their gathering here. We
have nothing against police. But Punjab government and Bharatiya
Janata party is mainly responsible for organising this gathering.
Today the actual face of BJP is revealed before the entire country.
They want to spark Sikh-Hindu riots in Punjab and now the entire
country knows their desire as they stood beside the supporters of
Ashutosh and have challenged the Sikh community. BJP has organised
this gathering by misleading the brotherhood of Hindu community,” said
Harnaam Singh Khalsa, a leader of Dal Khalsa.

The reports claim Ashutosh Maharaj of promoting Hinduism and being
backed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS).

Swami Ashutosh Maharaj is not in the good books of the Sikhs since
1980s, when he allegedly spoke against the religious text of the
Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib.

Security has been tightened following the protest; even top officials
of the administration have inspected the site to avoid further
troubles.

The Sikh organisations have made up their minds asserting that they
would not allow the meeting to take place. (ANI)

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/sikh-organisations-protest-against-ashutosh-maharajs-visit_100284688.html

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 5, 2009, 8:15:11 AM12/5/09
to
Ludhiana: One killed and 12 injured in protest against Ashutosh
Maharaj’s visit
December 5th, 2009 - 6:01 pm ICT by ANI -

Ludhiana, Dec 5 (ANI): One man was killed and twelve others were
injured, when the police opened fire at the members of the protesting
Sikh organisations. The protestors were pelting stones at the police.

The members of several Sikh outfits took to the streets here today,
protesting against the arrival of a controversial religious leader
Ashutosh Maharaj, who has not found favour with the Sikh groups for
allegedly preaching against their religion.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel also stepped in to
provide heavy security amidst the ongoing protests.

Several activists from the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party,
an ally of the ruling Akali Dal in the state, also congregated outside
the venue.

“This public discourse which is being held in Ludhiana city for two
days by Ashutosh Maharaj will be held in a proper manner. No body can
create any obstruction in it. If they (Sikh protestors) come here, the
Hindu youngsters have gathered here to take care of that. Punjab
police and a CRPF battalion have also reached here,” said Sanjay
Kapoor, President, youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Party.

The police officials had to open fire and throw tear gas to disperse
the protestors, who had almost reached close to the spot where
Ashutosh Maharaj had started addressing the conference.Many protestors
got injured in the ensuing violence.

Radical group leaders like Bhai Mohkam Singh, Convenor of Khalsa
Action Committee, Kanwarpal Singh Bittu of Dal Khalsa, Baljit Singh
Daduwal, Ranjit Singh and Jasbir Singh Rode were also among those who
led the procession.

Tomorrow’s conference has been called off due to the ongoing protests.

Swami Ashutosh Maharaj heads an organisation named Divya Jyoti Jagriti
Sansthan (DJSS).

The reports claim Ashutosh Maharaj of promoting Hinduism and being
backed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS).

Swami Ashutosh Maharaj is not in the good books of the Sikhs since
1980s, when he allegedly spoke against the religious text of the
Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib.

The Sikh organisations have made up their minds asserting that they


would not allow the meeting to take place. (ANI)

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/ludhiana-one-killed-and-12-injured-in-protest-against-ashutosh-maharajs-visit_100284752.html

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 6, 2009, 5:03:54 AM12/6/09
to
We don't have the time to run BJP: Mohan Bhagwat
Agencies

Posted: Saturday , Dec 05, 2009 at 1620 hrs
Chandigarh:

'To decide on who will be the next president of BJP is their
prerogative.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday that his organisation does


not "run" the BJP, which he described as an "independent political
outfit".

"We don't run the BJP, which is an independent political outfit. We
also don't have the time to run it," Bhagwat said addressing a 'meet-

the-press' programme in Chandigarh.

He, however, clarified that if BJP seeks help on any constructive
issue, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is always ready to help.

On several queries on the BJP leadership issue, Bhagwat said it is
BJP's internal matter and hoped the political party will resolve it.

"To decide on who will be the next president of BJP is their
prerogative," he said.

When asked whether the RSS was keen to have the next BJP chief from

outside Delhi, he said, "this is not true, but in fact this had been
communicated to us by them (the BJP)..we dont know who their next head
will be".

On the charges that the organisation indulged in "moral policing",
Bhagwat said there was no truth in this. "After India became
Independent, we have always submitted ourselves to the law of the land
though we have our own ideology and we follow that".

When asked to make a choice between BJP and the Congress, he said, "we
are not to make this judgment. This choice is made by the people
whenever the elections are held."

Asked about the "border disputes" between India and China, the RSS
chief said, "We have to be alert. China keeps staking its claim on
some territories which are our part. But we have to adopt a balanced
approach. We should keep our military, intelligence and diplomacy
fronts on alert and at the same time deal with the situation in a
peaceful manner".

On "divisive agenda" by MNS in Maharashtra, Bhagwat said, "this
country belongs to all of us. Anyone is free to live and earn their
livelihood anywhere. Sometimes there are some local issues but these
cannot be at the cost of our national integration."

To a query on the recent violence in Gujarat allegedly involving the
followers of religious leader Asaram Bapu, he said, "we have talked to
the authorities and asked them to ensure that no innocent faces any
trouble".

He termed the menace of caste system as a "chronic evil" and favoured
continuation of the reservation system till "the discrimination which
the people have faced over a long period of time ends".

"There should be a time-bound programme and a non-political committee
should be set up to decide how long this (the reservation) is needed,"
he said, charging political parties with wanting to keep the
reservation system continue indefinitely for "their own interests".

Comments (1)

| we have our own ideology and we follow that
By: N J Ramesh | 05-Dec-2009

This deep disconnect in loyalty to India which RSS ideology creates in
the mind of young Indians is one of the critical factors which
subverts healthy development of social climate to engender Indian
mettle to take on threats emanating from Pakistan and China. The RSS
leadership instead of encouraging assimilation into modern Indian
ethos is creating confusion in the young minds with their
underdeveloped political ideology, founded in India of pre-
independence years. We can only pray that the spirit of Goddess
Saraswati will give them true comprehension of emergent Indian reality
to discard their outdated schizophrenic ideology which talks of
culture but also indulges in politics. A strategic shift of RSS from
quasi-political space to social-constitutional space under the aegis
of Presedential ethos, where all sectors pertaining to education,
arts, sciences, sports, governance amongst others are expected to
thrive in India would strengthen India to take on China on equal
terms.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/we-dont-have-the-time-to-run-bjp-mohan-bhagwat/550384/0

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 6, 2009, 8:29:08 AM12/6/09
to
Partition not a settled fact, has to be undone, says Bhagwat
Express news service

Posted: Saturday , Dec 05, 2009 at 0950 hrs
New Delhi:

'We are often told to forget about this (Partition), but those who
forget are condemned to repeat it.

With the BJP-in-transition debating its dynamics with the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat opened another front on
Friday when he said that “partition of the country was not a settled
fact” and that the “division of the sub-continent would have to be
undone for everyone’s good”.

“We are often told to forget about this (Partition), but those who
forget are condemned to repeat it. Partition is not a settled fact,
and it shall have to be undone. When we refer to Bharat, it’s always
Akhand Bharat. Those who think otherwise have been brought up on a
western value system in the name of progress,” he said at the release
of a booklet called Bharat Vibhajan — Ek Trasadi, Ek Kalank (India’s
Partition — A Tragedy, A Blot).

Bhagwat’s speech runs contrary to the dominant stream of thought on
“India and its Neighbourhood” in the BJP. During the NDA rule in 1999,
the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had visited Minar-e-
Pakistan while in 2005, BJP leader L K Advani visited Mohammed Ali
Jinnah’s mausoleum in Karachi — two steps that the BJP regards
important in according Pakistan legitimacy as an independent country.

While Bharatiya Jana Sangh ideologue late Deen Dayal Upadhyay had
mooted “a confederation of South Asian states”, Bhagwat didn’t specify
his own blueprint for “Akhand Bharat”, but added that “no truth could
be established without adequate force” and that a “common Hindu past
alone could be the basis of emotional integration for the
subcontinent” and that it would be the basis for everyone’s happiness.
He also claimed that “recent research findings on DNA mapping have
established that the inhabitants of this sub-continent in the last
40,000 years have had similar DNA”, and “thus no one could be called
minorities in the country”.

Bhagwat indicated that Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Myanmar
and Sri Lanka once formed “Akhand Bharat”.

PARTITION OF INDIA 1947
By: Viru | Sunday , 6 Dec '09 0:36:20 AM Reply | Forward

It is difficult to undone pakistan now.Moreover we Indians do not need
terrorisit culture of pakisan.We have to blame this to england who did
this and left cancer disease on our western border.Uk has done more
harm to all fifty four countries which were ruled by them then any one
else.Now they are worried how to save Britain from these terrorisit
whome they nurtured in past.We Hindus have no unity that's why we were
ruled by muslim kings in the past and by British.Still we have been
voting for congress who has created problem of kashmir and corruption
in country.Mr Bhagwat has to united first Hindu's and then say any
thing.

Prof. Emeritus
By: D. Prithipaul | Sunday , 6 Dec '09 0:13:57 AM

Bhagwat does not realise that Jinnah's partitioning the Umma has been
beneficial to the Hindus, for with 40 years of Gandhian pacifism their
Dharma would have lost its soul by retaliating to the iconoclasm and
violence of the Believers. Above all, neither the Hindu leaders of all
parties, nor the nationalist Muslims, like Frontier Gandhi, A. K.
Azad, asserted that in 1947 the Hindus were emancipating themselves
ALSO from the dhimmitude imposed during Muslim rule. This silence lies
at the root of the irony that the Muslim League did not seek freedom
so much from the power which had ended their domination, as to put
into practice the Koranic injunction of spelling doom to the Kaffir.
Jaswant Singh's latest book on Partition provides one more proof that
even after 100 years the Hindu is still unable to internalize the
historical fact of Muslim hatred of the Kaffir. Though publicly
affirmed, this hate remains unperceived till now by the Hindu shackled
by the need to humour the vote bank.

Mr Insane
By: Qamar | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 23:45:32 PM

Mr Bhagwat, statement is very illogical and lacks sense. He is trying
to repeat the history because people like him and Balthakere, are the
one who helped in dividing the subcontinent. His arguments are
creating another two nation theory which will further divide india
hopefully. I think Pakistan is a very well established nuclear power
Mr Bhagwat must forget about reuniting the subcontinent rather should
watch his words before uttering; it will endanger the indian
federation.

Partition
By: BNS | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 22:23:44 PM

Guys, think with a calm head and a warm heart. Today's Pakistan is so
degenerate and soon will disintegrate. Their political leadership will
collapse like a house of cards. In this such a situation, it is
natural for India to be in a position to take control of the fertile
Indus plains, rather than leave it to China to take over. It would be
possible only if India can think of being capable of it. During the
days of cold war it was unthinkable of uniting the two Germanys. But
it eventually happened because of the years of hope and faith that it
is possible. If Israel could be formed by jews scattered world over,
even after 2000 years, why not think of undoing the partition?

BAN RSS
By: AKA | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 20:02:48 PM

Mr. Bhagwat We are all indians by race but different by religion and
beliefs. Dont expect us to follow your religion because it practises
discrimination and defies all logic. Now you will say it is a way of
life but it does not appeal to me. I cannot worship cows/snake/rats/
lingam and Yoni. Sorry about that to my other sensible hindu brothers.
For God sake stop wearing those khakhi chadees over your skinny legs.
They make you look like Gays.

better worship all than kill and maim all
By: APA | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 21:54:09 PM

Bhagwat must be mad. The idea of one India including Pak and
Bangladesh is unthinkable. Hindus have sacrificed enough in limbs and
treasure. 1947 was a necessary solution. Only regret is a complete
seperation was not implemented. We still have to put up with the likes
of this writer whos knowledge of Hinduism is limited.

no truth could be established without adequate force
By: N J Ramesh | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 18:59:49 PM

Such statements by Mr Bhagwat are very dangerous distortion of
Bharatiya thought. The first step is establishing satya. This needs
various qualities like non-covetousness, abhaya etc and various
disciplines. Truth establishes discernment to acquire capabilities for
victory. This correlating force and truth without specifying the
precedence order makes an admixture of truth and force, which can be
very dangerous. Bhartiya yoga cleary establishes that truth can only
be discerned in a mind imbued with non-violence for it is easy to be
led astray by maya. The mind-set of Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, as seasoned
English minds would call it, is still work in progress.

Make no much ado about nothing
By: N.D.Saha | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 18:31:56 PM

Every one in this round world is entitled to have his own views on any
issue, however pernicious it may sound to others.So long such opinions
are not given the importance and publicity that might influence others
it takes little time to go into oblivion.I think what Bhagawat has
said about "akhand bharat" doesn't have the potential to make any
impression on public minds unless importance is thrust upon it by the
media. India have no dearth of important issues that calls for media
attention. So I would like the media not to pay any attention to such
obscure comment and allow it have its natural death.

Make no much ado about nothing
By: PJ | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 23:16:07 PM

The english media has brainwashed people in such a way that they have
lost the capacity to think. Mr Saha, how is this comment obscure?When
EU can be formed with different nationalities, why not Confederation
of south asian states? that too which were not long before a single
country.

rss
By: charan gill | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 18:29:35 PM

RSS is working for further disintegration of India by poisoning the
relations within communities.Nobody can understand how can the hate
based force unite the people.RSS was among the aggressive players
whose two nation theory actually partitioned India.

terrorist mindset or tourist mindset is the moot question
By: N J Ramesh | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 18:23:42 PM

As long as Akhand Bharat is seen in purely cultural terms, it shall
remain a beautiful blueprint for cultural unity and rejuvenation of
our vast societies. If Akhand Bharat ideation assumes political
overtones, it becomes very dangerous. It is negation of Instrument of
accession the basis of which India is founded, and the basis of which
we are pursuing Kashmir and Tibet disputes. A political conception of
Akhand Bharat then beckons a military solution from India. Worse, it
legitimises the terror warfare Pakistan is indulging in and makes
Chinese transgressions internationally credible. It basically converts
India into a war zone and is a far cry from the development focus and
legal positions assiduously built since 1947 and endorsed by BJP and
NDA. If RSS remains political, it would be akin to terrorist mindset,
if it turns authentic cultural entity, then its expansive mindset
would be seen as tourist mindset. Response of BJP may determine the
true colour of RSS.

Mad Dogs and RSS
By: Jatinder S Hoon | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 17:59:12 PM

Love thy neighbors and live in peace. Mr Bhagwat, your naked legs are
showing and cold wind is entering through it,shut your communal trap
and work for better India or Bharat.India does not need Madrass -
RSS,educate people of India on its secular values and lead the country
to economic development and one day the whole south east asia will be
one big economic zone.Stop chewing on bettle nuts and pans and
spiiting out the venom of your hatered towards miniorties.Go take a
yatra and see other part of village- India and help these poor peace
loving Indian towards better life.If you call your self Hindu, read
Ramayana and Mahabarata with open eyes and mind, and you will realize
that whole world is Hindu, i.e we are all Brothers and not only
Sanghies. "THAT MR BHAGWAT IS A SETTLED FACT."

Bhagwat
By: Krupa | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 15:14:13 PM

If partition has to be undone then about 30 crore muslims will be
added to the indian population. Will this acceptable to the
perennially muslim alergics like these Bhagwats? Instead of making
outlandish suggestions that nobody will give a damn about shouldn't
these people be doing to make the existing India stronger and more
prosperous?

Train Hindu terrorists, and live up to reputation then....
By: James Bond Puttar | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:53:41 PM

Mr. Bhagwat should train hindu terrorists, as the secular and IBN
media portrays. We all know that this is not possible, then why spray
salt on wounds that BJP and VHP refused to heal after winning
elections for five years. Please hide behind supreme court. Or better
yet, again brain wash college youth with slogans like "Garv se kaho,
hum hindu hai", or join congress on divisive agenda of SC ST OBC
Communal muslims = All Inclusive secular political victory. No hindu
is again going to be trapped in your trap on name of Ram, VHP slogans,
and other utter nonsense for generations to come due to incompetent
and unpotent performance of Mr. Vajpayee administration. Forget Akhand
Bharat, when you cannot claim your own Bharat and allow occupation of
J&K and Arunachal Pradesh by ruling party for over sixty years!! And
you will not have standing locii due to dirty politics of common
minimum program and supreme court. BJP does not aim to contest
elections for all Indians on all 543 seats!!

Ill-considered benevolence----
By: romesh.sharma | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:31:59 PM

My immidiate reaction to this statement was irritating crossness for
Mr.Bhagwat has proved to be absolutely apolitical and shadowed by
hallucinations of compassionate religious values;weakness of Hindus/
ism.With this kind of ill-considered benevolence he looks only to
proximate and immidiate results without considering either
alternatives or distant/indirect consequences.True Partition was too
bad for the sub-continent but he has to realize when brothers and some
members of a family feel uncomfortabe and unhappy;and that their way
of life is entirely contrary/different,they must have own house to
live for their happiness.It was done as desired by muslims and to undo
is their look-out.These two religions,irrespective of the facts of our
cultural semblance,will ever remain like oil and water,you just can't
mix them to one.Its foolish of Bhagwat to tell people what was/is
Akhand Bharat for this is torn chapter of the history.Better to living
as it is but amicably,brotherly and respecting

Really needs rest
By: Rahul Pandey | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:27:34 PM

Please sir stop attending the shakhas, talk to real people and sleep
well. The brain has amazing capacity of rejuvenating.
Reunification on communal lines is as dangerous as the communal
thought itself

By: sachinsharma | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:14:21 PM

Mr. Bhagawat's words clearly reflect the communal thoughts of RSS
according to which India is hindu nation and it had common Hindu past.
RSS wants to take the nation ages back when muslims had not invaded
India. I wonder why can't RSS accept that India is a modern secular
nation ? Mr. Bhagwat's perspective is a dangerous one and is on
communal lines. reunification of countries on communal lines is as
dangerous as the communal thought itself.

Yes, we will be a one nation
By: Bharatiya | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:13:55 PM

There is nothing new about what Mr Bhagwat has said. RSS is saying
this for last 60 years. Even those communities who supported partition
have started accepting that partition was a mistake. One day we will
all unite and will become one nation

UTTER FOOLS THESE KHAKHIWALAS
By: VIJAY SHAH | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:01:50 PM

UTTERLY BRAIN DEAD THESE USELESS RSS FELLOWS. AS IF 150 MILLION ARE
NOT ENOUGH THAT THESE FOOLS WANT TO INVITE 300 MILLION MORE.

Humble suggestion ...
By: Manoj | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 13:48:06 PM

These old RSS men alongwith Fatwa masters of Deoband etc should be
transported to Pakistan and Bangladesh with only 1 condition. Never
come back to India again. Oh, before I forget, please take all the
loudspeakers from all mosques too. Why kill the peace of people living
nearby?

new idea or old
By: Saleem | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 13:47:02 PM

Kabul to Rangoon including khatmandu , colombo and tibet also, wow
sounds like he wants the return of Aurangzeb Alamgir,congrats

Ok Bhagwat... lets undo history... and be the first in world to do
it !!
By: CK Raju Thrissur | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 13:09:44 PM

Fine piece of thinking Bhagwat. So you want to undo every piece of
unjust history one-after-the-other. Great stuff. Ok. Let us take it
for granted that partition is undone. What injustice was prevalent
before that ? Unification of small kingdoms by colonial forces. Ok.
Lets undo that. So we restore tiny kingdoms which were autonomous and
independent. Done. What injustice was there prior to arrival of
kingdoms ? Small tiny communities of people who had different folk
traditions, which by act of enormous violence, the kings brought under
their control. Lets undo that too. Done. So we now have only tiny
communities, which are free to move around anywhere and settle. Done.
HEY BHAGWAT.. don't sleep.. aren't we discussing about rolling back of
injustice - rewinding all those historical unjust actions... HEY...
where are you running away... Lets continue with our undoing...
WHAT... all you said were a joke... Ok.. Then leave it.. For a moment,
I thought you were serious. How foolish I were !

Undo colonial mindset also
By: Vish | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 15:09:43 PM

what u are not aware is, your view of colonial version of history also
needs to be undone... then you wont have these confusion...

Chill guys
By: Indian | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 13:02:31 PM

Chill guys. The old man is just trying to keep his organization
relevant for few more hundred years. He has a tough job of managing
and growing an irrelevant organization. There are millions out there
who can see sense in this nonsense and keep feeding this monter called
RSS. I call you to look at the chaddis of two seniors in the photo.
New, in shape and properly ironed chaddis. Now look at chaddis of the
cadets. Old, shapeless, colors faded out and not ironed. Forget DNA
analysis of 40000 years. Just do chaddi analysis of one single photo
to see the truth. When welfare of few cadets is at large, how is it
possible to achieve happiness and welfare of nearly 2 billion peoples
in as large a country extending Afghanistan to Sri Lanka. Who cares?
Alls good as long as business is good and growing, just keep talking
nonsense. Dividing is easy and uniting is more difficult. And so he is
doing an easy job of dividing in the guise of unity. Well done. Give
him a raise :)

akhand bharath
By: ravishanker | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:46:13 PM

it is very nice to hear of such a thinking emanating from Mr.Bhagwat.
But our country is divided very badly under the name of caste and
religion, on which the congress has managed to thrive and hold on to
power. they have further kindled the passion of the people by dividing
them even more further with people like arjun singh and indira gandhi.
it will take generations to take out this poison from the heart of the
people.

akhand bharath
By: Indian | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:57:56 PM

Mr.Ravishanker, no probs, congress is dividing India for their own
Powers. Let us continue to divide each state into different country,
atleast we can focus very closely for development. Congress cannot
concentrate entire India and WILL not do any development work

Yes it is time for Old brains to retire - I agree with Bhagwat
By: Indian | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:42:11 PM

Yes it is time for all old brains to retire and hand over the reigns
to yonger, dynamic, global and enterprising generation. If Advani has
to go, Vajpayee has to go, Mr Bal Thackery has to go ...then I think
this Bhagwat teaches also applies to him. He has to set the exmaple as
a leader and guru. It is time for him to retire and hand over the
reigns to a dynamic and forward thinking Hindu leader who can work for
the upliftment of all Hindus( poor, low caste, beaten up as slaves etc
and also the forward castes ) and build a one India without any caste.
Let them elect the leaders without the baggage like Naidu ( caste
names ) and total honesty.

Partition
By: Vaid S C K | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:41:36 PM

Bhagwat statement should be taken in right spirit as it unfolds
reality.While it is true that some politicians and other people may
not agree for their vested interest, lasting peace in this sub
continent can only be established by undoing treacherous British act
of partioning.Already Germany and Vietnam has set the example. Undoing
process should be built slowly with the help of good people from both
sides and taking media help. Future generations would be grateful to
this.
Stop Blaming British for our Ills!By: ABC | Saturday , 5 Dec '09
22:23:16 PM

British have united us contrary to popular belief. Who do you think
were at the head of the army when we annexed Hyderabad, Kashmir and
Mysore? It was British officers. India had no single identity until
British rule although that was not done as a favor to us. East India
came here for business and not to rule. Too much infighting
interrupted their business and that's how British got involved. While
they harmed and robbed, they also protected India from Chinese,
Japanese and especially Afgan invasion (in their own interest).

Akhand Bharat
By: Ananth Seth | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:39:37 PM

While integration (into India) of those parts which were taken away or
broke-off from India is a good idea, care needs to be taken regarding
the phenomenon of non-hindu vote block which tends to vote en-block.
With 20 percent population, they are a decisive force in many of the
constituencies. Imagine what wud be the face of pro-vedic forces if,
god forbid, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis too become "Indian"
electorate! Not to discount the possibility of "sekyular" parties
bending over backwards to woo neo-citizens!

Get yourself check in mental hospital
By: Arunodaya Verma | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:38:27 PM

Indian leadership is lacking in real politic, Bhagwat sahib please get
you checked up properly in mental hospital, things are going serious
day by day.

IS IT PRACTICAL
By: Venu | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:29:59 PM

He is building castles in the air ? Is just not practical. The point
is India as a Nation is struggling to keep alive its own existence
with threat from all quarters. There are linguistic chauvinists like
Raj and Bal who are trying to rip apart the society in the name of
language. There are communal elements like the RSS, BJP, Muslim
league, Majlis, etc. who are trying their best to drive a wedge
between different faiths for their own gain. Then there is the Jihadi
terror which is staring us on the face. Added to this is the perennial
caste conflicts and the Naxalite menace. Then there are politicians
like the Kodas, Reddys, Yeddys, Naidus etc. who systematically loot
the society. Despite all these burning problems, it is a wonder as to
how this Country is still united. Probably that has much to do with
the indifference of the people of this Country to the overwhelming
decay of political discourse in this Country.

IT IS PRACTICAL
By: PJ | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 23:34:33 PM

Such things do not happen in one day Mr Venu when you say it is not
practical, look at germany , vietnam, may be further even korea may
becoe united. Why not we?and how to u put majlis and RSS, BJP on the
same side, just because you are told so daily , bombarded on TV ?
Can't you check yourself , read about the organizations?Did you know
it was only the RSS which helped the sikhs after the sikh riots? There
are numerous occassions where the organization has helped people, no
eye on votes, the bjp was not even born then,It has worked selflessly
for many years. So please read, check about what you are saying and
then form your opinion.

Rahul Patel
By: Rahul | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:20:32 PM

Man those who want to undo partition are crazy. Do we want Taliban
infested Pakistan as part of India. The Pakistanis have continously
been bringing up their children teaching them hatred for pluralism and
all other nonmuslims. Indian muslims who by and large are moderate
would not welcome their inclusion back into India. Let by gones be by
gones. No sense in trying to turn back the clock. We might end up
spilling rivers of blood again.

Akhand Bharat
By: Radhey Gupta | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 13:05:34 PM

We have Union of European States, we have Confederation of Russian
States and they still live together in terms of economic growth,
progress, human values and systems which are complementary & helpful
to the existence of each existence, why not we have a United India or
Union of Indian States or Union of SAARC Nations. Only will is
required to achieve this peacefully.

aas above
By: nml | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:09:26 PM

east germany and west germany have reunited ------north vietnam and
south vietnam have reunited------

MR. BHAGWAT COMMENTS
By: Abdul Rawoof Ashfaq | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 11:26:34 AM

It seems the RSS chief with his HALF NIKKAR is having only half brain.
Why this time he agains raise the issue of divison, India is
progressing very well in all field. At this time the idea of Mr.
BHAGWAT to undo divison is senseless. These RSS people always guide
India to wrong direction. The press should not give importance to
these matters and sideline. Now BJP is a dead party and it will never
come to power in centre in future. So forget the past, now think only
of present and future and take our INDIA towards progress and
development.

Mr Bhagwat----
By: romesh.sharma | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:45:39 PM

Hello Abdul,don't you know half Pants a Nikkar and Nikkar is full
garment and no a half.Moreover having half-brain is better than no
brain like you.Be sure BJP is not dead Party and has enough to say in
country's politics because its major opposition Party.Sitting on
opposition benches doesn't mean its Dead.there are times when
opposition has more power to make decision of nation's internal and
external piolicies.Otherwise what Bhagwat says is all bull-shit which
I think he knows himself.He is speaking like a school teacher teaching
past history of Bharat/subcontinent.I think he will be better placed
if he takes up /Priest's/Pujari's job.

Partition
By: Vaid S C K | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 12:45:23 PM

Sorry to know your mind. Have you ever thought why you are spending
money and time on your children education when you are not going to
live long. Pl think of future of nation.

Aadi Chadi what they want to tell!
By: Murtuza Moosavi | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 11:14:21 AM Reply |
Forward

It is useless to talk about akhand Bharat? Forget it now. Still we are
uncertain. From one side we talk about akhand bharat? From other side
still we apprecaite Britian and America? How come we are united?
Manmohan Singh again want to split and disintegrate our country india
into seprate with the help of US? Wait watch and see? Aadi chadis must
forget Hindutva. Are the caste system still vanished from our system?

Akhand Bharat containing only Hindus
By: George Orwell | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 11:01:12 AM

But the Hindu fascists and terrorists dream of a 'Hitlerian' Akhand
Bharat(Afghanistan,Pakistan,Tibet,Nepal,Myanmar and Sri Lanka)with
only Hindus in it and after the annihilation of all Muslims and
Christians.

Annihilation of whom???
By: Radhey Gupta | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 13:13:28 PM

Dear Gearge, if you have read history been following recent events, in
the terrorist attacks or other wars & attacks most of these have been
against Hindus. Hindus as a nation or as region or as religion have
never carried out any offensive attack on any other community.

Why assumption?
By: PJ | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 23:38:17 PM

Why this assumption that Muslims , christains will be annhilated? That
is what he is saying , read that, all our DNAs are same, a kn own
fact, you me were made christians, muslims so that we fight amongst
us, but basicaly our forefathers were blood brothers. please
understand.

Akhand Bharat
By: gautam | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 10:51:13 AM

It is good to note that countries like Malayasia and Indonesia escaped
the attention of Bhagwat. Bhagwat must try to correct the great
injustice and betrayal done by BJP on Hindus by playing Ram Janmbhoomi
card for persuing political agenda.BJP is big let down on Hindus and
their stalwarts Atal/Advani are solely to be blamed.Forget about
propogating Akhand Bharat theory and think of Bharat mata in its
present form.Make Hindu concious about the fact that this is their own
country and others are migrants or aliens.Make clear that except
Bharatbhoomi there is no place for them in the world. Minorities are
waiting to stab and bleed Bharatmata. Neverever trust them and behind
the screen they are actively aided by enemies within country who also
happens to be aliens.

MAJORITY-MINORITY SYNDROME
By: A.K.SHARMA | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 10:41:50 AM

The Majority-Minority syndrome is British legacy.The Britishers were
rattled by the 1957 joint Hindu- Muslim uprising against the British
rule.This prompted them to coin the terms majority and minority to
create a wedge between the Hindus and Mulsims and they were very
successful because the selfish elements,both in Hindus and Muslims
immidiately fell in the British trap.The Britishers ruled our country
on the policy of 'divide and rule' and Majority-Minority syndrome came
very handy to them.But very unfortunately for the nation,when the GORE
ANGREZ handed over the reins of the nation in the hands of KALE ANGREZ
(Congress),the KALE ANGREZ also carried on the British legacy to
follow the policy of 'divide and rule' This British legacy is a major
stumbling block in the way of true national integration.AKHAND BHARAT
is a historical fact,so there is nothing wrong in forwarding this idea
to the coming generations.

Thank God 1857 was a Failure!
By: ABC | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 22:33:56 PM

Blame the British is Outdated Idea! I have seen both Lagaan and Mangal
Pandey several times and visited Lucknow, Gwalior and Jhansi. Blaming
British was adopted by Nehru and other secular founding fathers in
order to protect muslim minority. In a desperate need to pin the blame
on someone else, they chose British since they were gone and
irrelevant (although I think it impacted Anlo-Indians). Only good
deeds and secular actions of muslim rulers were highlighted while
stressing all evil committed by British. British were definitely no
angels and to say so is idiotic (I ain't no idiot :-).

The universal concept
By: Jem Hassan | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 11:37:21 AM

My Dear...whole world was not partitioned in the past...it was one
world...later people conquered many countries and got dominance on the
aboriginals of the places.Australia,America etc are examples for
that.So why dont RSS deman more comprehensive 'Bharat' and say the
whole world belongs to Bharat as it was divided once!...sounds
logical?

Pakistan as a part of India again!
By: George Thakur | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 9:44:46 AM

Wishful thinking is not the same as is practicality. The very concept
is riddled with foreseen problems. Both Pakistan and Bangla Desh once
again forming India can be achieved only, and only through A-Bombs
which, by itself, is a nasty thought. The only alternative towards
peaceful co-existence is that all: India, Pakistan and Bangla Desh,
live side-by-side in peace as independent nations. What disturbs most
of us is that Pakistan is more likely to A-Bomb India than India
Pakistan, and then the whole hell will get loose. Let us all,
therefore, work against the probability.

Bhagwats day dreaming
By: k madhukar | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 9:29:34 AM

Mr Bhagwat, probably one of those ,who refuse to learn from history
and also suffers from confused mind.Whatever is left of so called
akhand bharat administered from New Delhi it self is struggling to
stay united with caste, language religious and economic differences
nibbling at the core structure of the country, Bhagwat day dreams of
including Afghanistan,Pakistan , Bangladesh whose people themselves
dreaming of a grand Caliphate of the world populated by muslims
only.Now hind sight says India is better of without these lost areas
of Mr Bhagwat's Akhand Bharat.Mr Bhagwat should see a head shrinker at
the earliest, in his own interest.

Akhand Bharat
By: arvindtiwari | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 9:18:34 AM

We have not gained anything in dividing the country in diffrenet parts
and it is difficult to govern such a large country.We should make our
subcontinet as border less means ppl are free to move in any country
in any subcontinent country.This will solve mant problems.Ultimately
all these Bangladeshis/Pakistanis/Lankans are our brothers and we have
a common thread. Yes the biggest danger is Arab cult which made
enormous harm to the basic fabric and those who strated following that
cult, have started identifying themselves with Arab Land and started
hating their own mother land.This is cause of all problems.Look in
Head lines today a starting figures have come out that our army is ill
prepared for any eventuality, similar thing must have happened during
muslim invasion when Jainism/Budhism was flourishing and abhored all
siorts of Vilolence therefore allowed Muslims to conquer this country
for 700 yrs.We are still ill prepared.Let us mount pressure on Govt to
keep our Army preapred

Partition
By: A Srivastava | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 8:30:14 AM

Let us not live in fools paradise. Partition of Pak from India has
been full and final. It has total legal validity. It has same legal
International sanction/acceptance as was the partition of Burma from
India or Lanka from India. Please dont mislead the gullible people of
India. In any case you have lost credibility with the informed
Indians. Join the main stream please. Do some useful work like free
total healthcare for poor Hindus or free education culminating in
employment/ self employment of Hindus. Improve life of billion Hindus
than looking the other side of the fence. Who would want liability
being added to modern India anyway!

Akand Bharat
By: Gyan Rohra | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 8:20:20 AM

Let us first learn to accept indians whether they are Maharashtrians
or Bihris among us, then think of accepting all. Oppertunities and
mutual respect can induce togetherness, not history or Dadagiri.

Bhagwat's dream
By: indian | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 8:10:20 AM

I am a patriotic Indian and I too try to think of what might have been
if India was not partitioned and we would be living in "Akhand
Bharat". But all that is history now and we have to move forward. The
two nations Pakistan and India are a historical reality and the
position can be undone only at great cost. We can surely prosper if
only we learn to live together in peace. However, Bhagwat's idea of
"Akhand Bharat" seems to be an India where only Brahmins like him can
dominate and rule, while the others have to be present to take orders
from them, this is not possible any longer. I am not sure of Bhagwat,
but many Brahmins and other assorted "upper castes" even go to the
extent of keeping separate crockery and cutlery for guests who do not
belong to their exalted "status",i.e.if they invite others home at
all.I am sure most Indians do not want this kind of "Akhand Bharat".We
are better off as a secular democracy. It is of course
"pseudosecularism" that must be eliminated from India.

IF BIG BROTHER WILLS
By: Ganesh Prasad Das | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 7:49:57 AM Reply |
Forward

Partition of the country was perpetrated by the Big Brother in their
interest and the dissention between the two parts is meticulously
maintained by him in their interest. If the Big Brother will the two
parts would combine into one again in their interest. We do not know
what our interest is. We do not really know ourselves, we have no urge
within to know ourselves. The other day our Home Minister expresses
his helplessness when he was in a question-answer session with youths
in a TV channel saying, "We cannot hold war with Pakistan. We can only
hold dialogues with them. What else can we do, please say." And their
Home Minister says, "Unless you talk substance, we would lose desire
for dialogues." An impasse. Helpless impasse. We have to transcend it.

Partition : A Historical Blunder
By: Anil Gupta | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 7:40:05 AM

Sir, The partition of Hindustan was an international conspiracy. The
British policy if divide and rule created the ground for partition and
post second World War strategy of western powers to contain the spread
of Communism culminated in the creation of Pakistan. Through their
foothold in Pakistan western power block could keep an eye on Soviet
Union. Later, when Communism drifted southward and China also came
under Communist rule existence of Pakistan became all the more
important for western power block.Pakistan took full advantage of this
situation and tried to strengthen itself against India. Though
presently, western powers are not concerned about the spread of
Communism but at the same time they do not want India to become so
strong that they have to face another Asian country after China.
Pakistan is on the road to disintegration. Indian planners should
seriously start planning about Post-Pakistan situation and to re-unite
the countries of Hindustan peninsula.

British had no interest in partitioning India!
By: ABC | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 22:37:28 PM

It was British officers that annexed Hyderabad, Mysore and Kashmir for
India. It was another British general on Pakistan side who refused
send army to Kashmir at a critical time. If they wanted to divide, why
would they unite?

Partition not a settled fact, has to be undone, says Bhagwat-
MEaningless statement
By: ram | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 7:20:49 AM

Why does the Indian Express give valuable media space to demented
people like Bhagwat who have no mass base and are just troublemakers
for India?

Agreed!
By: Jem Hassan | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 11:33:49 AM

When world is looking for peace,these kind of elements are always
bringing new face of conflicts and primitive approach to society.

Dont agree with that
By: Preet | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 6:04:41 AM

No I dont want to undo partition.I dont want pakis to be part of my
country.Why I want a failed state arogue state a terrorsit state and
most lawless and mean spirited pakis as my countrymen ? Let them die
or live but keep them away.

Pakistan/Bangladesh/Lanka
By: arvindtiwari | Saturday , 5 Dec '09 14:51:59 PM

Dear Preet.U have reasons for not agreeing but do not forget that all
these Pakis/Bangladeshis/Lankans r our brothers as their ancestors
were forcibly converted to Arab Cult and slowly they were made to hate
their own motherland and keeping Arab in high regard.So let us not
forget that.The problem is that Arab/Wahabi cult which teaches only
Rape/Murder/Loot to its followers and forible conversion.Look waht
they have done to Bamiyan recently.They are destroyer and Barbaric.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/partition-not-a-settled-fact-has-to-be-undone-says-bhagwat/550229/0

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Listen to the Gita
R B Sreekumar 8 December 2009, 12:10am IST

Confirmation of the culpability of the sangh parivar, particularly its
nucleus, the RSS, in the sacrilegious crime and national shame of
demolishing the Babri masjid by Justice Liberhan, may or may not
result in the prosecution and punishment of the actual perpetrators of
the crime. The mosque's destruction, nevertheless, has inflicted
unprecedented and unredeemable ignominy on the heritage of our
motherland and the well-known syncretic ethos of Sanatana Dharma -
popularly called Hinduism.

No jail term for the sangh parivar leaders would restore the image of
syncretism and equal respect for all religions that ensured the
embracing of all victims of religious prosecution - from Jews to
Parsis, Ahmedias and Bahais. The sangh parivar has subverted the
Indian ethos of tolerance.

Do the Hindu scriptures sanction the demolition of religious shrines
of other faiths? The answer is a big ''no''. The conceptual and
philosophical framework of Hinduism is enshrined in three treatises -
the Brahmasutras, Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita. Equal adoration of
all varieties of divinity and paths towards God and the recognition of
the right to salvation/liberation that all living beings have -
including plants and animals - are deemed to be the most ennobling and
elevating features of Hinduism. Ill will towards even non-believers is
not permitted.

Applying this yardstick, the sangh parivar can never be recognised as
a body of Hindus, though a few self-proclaimed pundits characterised
the destruction of the Babri masjid as a holy war and part of a
Dharmayuddha. The act is in direct conflict with the teachings of the
Bhagavad Gita.

The Gita is quite explicit about one's approach to any form of
worship. In three shlokas, the relevant principles are unambiguously
laid down. In Chapter 4, Shloka 11, Lord Krishna proclaims: "In
whatever way men identify with me, in the same way do I carry out the
desires; men pursue my path, in all ways." Again in Chapter 6-30, He
preached: "He who sees me everywhere and sees all in me, he never
becomes lost to me, nor do I become lost to him." Finally, in Chapter
7-21, He says: "Whatever form any devotee with faith wishes to
worship, I make that faith of his steady."

Significantly, Uddhava Gita or the last message of Lord Krishna
further reiterates the ideal of equal respect to all forms of worship.
In Chapter 10, Shloka 26, He says: "In whatever form, at any time, a
devotee of mine may reflect on a particular thing with his intellect,
concentrating the mind on me as possessed of infallible will, he gets
that very form."

The goons who razed the 16th century masjid in Ayodhya to the ground
actually acted against the letter, spirit and ethos of the above
stipulations of Lord Krishna. The divine chant of Lord Shiva - Jai
Shiv Shankar - was also polluted by the marauders of the Babri mosque
when they shouted this as a slogan of victory. The literal meaning of
Shankar is one who blesses everybody with peace - Sham Karoti Iti
Shankaram.

The Buddhist shrine at Bodh Gaya is an undisputed site known to be the
place where prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became Lord
Buddha. Strangely, even today, Buddhist institutions in Bodh Gaya are
controlled by Hindus. There is no politician-led mass movement for
their 'liberation' by Buddhists. Hindus are in no mood to voluntarily
give up their authority here - thanks to the success of economics and
commerce over propriety and ethics.

Can we expect the sangh parivar to desist from launching any further
misadventures? For the sake of amity among communities and the unity
of the nation, it is high time that the sangh parivar adopts the line
of judicious prudence and accepts the status of all socio-cultural and
religious monuments in the country as on August 15, 1947 in tune with
the assurance to minorities given by Gandhi, the Father of the
Nation.

The writer is a retired Gujarat DGP.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/subverse/Listen-to-the-Gita/articleshow/5311790.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 7, 2009, 5:25:12 PM12/7/09
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Outgoing BJP chief plays to Sangh gallery
Mohua Chatterjee, TNN 8 December 2009, 01:51am IST

NEW DELHI: For outgoing BJP chief Rajnath Singh, there could not have
been a better opportunity to please the Sangh than defending his party
on the Ram temple issue at a time when he may be looking to remain in
favour after he steps down as party president.

Given the high stakes, the party chief, who opened the Liberhan
Commission debate on behalf of BJP in Lok Sabha on Monday, was eager
to deliver. Trying to maintain a balance between hardline Hindutva
that the Sangh has been pushing on the temple issue and the moderate
party line of sticking to criticism of the report for factual errors,
Singh was focused on addressing Sangh's concerns in an hour-long
speech.

He went to extraordinary lengths, invoking the questionable claim of
some scientists that Aryans were not invaders and that the entire
nation was formed of the same gentic pool. The assertion that drew
some incredulous stares from the Opposition was meant to ram home his
point about Babar being an invader from Central Asia who had no qualm
in destroying the temple of Lord Ram.

With its choice of Nitin Gadkari as party chief after Singh, the Sangh
is all set to have much greater control over the party than it had
before this.

Hence, well aware that the Sangh was watching the party's performance
in Parliament on this core ideological issue that BJP has often
"diluted" since the party grew into a national entity and acquired
diverse allies, Singh stuck to the line that demolition of the Babri
mosque was not a pre-planned event, rather it happened as a result of
a spontaneous momentum that had gathered in Ayodhya.

"Whatever happened on December 6, 1992, was a result of public anger.
There was no mosque at the site since 1936," he said.

Having said that, in keeping with the perfect Sangh line that was
reminded to BJP by a statement from RSS chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat only
three days ago, Singh even sounded as "unapologetic" as he could for
the fall of the mosque, that he of course calls the disputed
structure, again toeing the Sangh line. A good section of BJP leaders,
including L K Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee have maintained that the
demolition has saddened them. The repenetence from the top leaders
came as early as the within the next couple of days after December 6,
1992.

On Monday, Singh also told the Lok Sabha that while BJP was in office
at the Centre leading the NDA government, it did try to have a temple
in place at Ayodhya, but failed, however, "there was a temple there,
there is a temple there and there will be a temple there," in the
manner of sloganeering.

Opening BJP's defence on the report that has indicted several of its
senior leaders, Singh said, it was "a bundle of grave errors" and its
intent appeared to be "pre-decided" and aimed at "character
assassination" of certain political leaders and parties.
The Commission he said, has reached "bizarre" conclusions and took
strong objection to adverse comments made against former Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior leaders L K Advani and M M
Joshi.

Other BJP members, including deputy leader of the party in Lok Sabha
Sushma Swaraj, rose up to add voice to Shahnawaz Hussain's point of
order that Congress speaker Jagdambika Pal was also among those
indicted by the report. Rajnath Singh himself welcomed Pal as a "kar
sevak," putting the Congressman to embarrassment.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Outgoing-BJP-chief-plays-to-Sangh-gallery/articleshow/5312323.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 7, 2009, 5:34:07 PM12/7/09
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Worse than street corner gossip

S GurumurthyFirst Published : 08 Dec 2009 12:44:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 08 Dec 2009 12:58:45 AM IST

Liberhan’s theatre of conspiracy starts with exonerating the Ayodhya
movement leaders from the guilt of demolition first, on evidence and
later, on suspicion, indicting them for the conspiracy to demolish. In
this exercise he does not spare anyone, including A B Vajpayee who
never visited Ayodhya during or after the movement. Read on to know
how he achieves this impossible feat.

Exonerate first, indict later

Look at how Liberhan’s conclusion in one place destroys his own
conclusion in another. He swings from exonerating the leaders while
seeing the evidence to indicting them at the end purely on suspicion.
Analysing the (fragmented) evidence in Chapter 8 (para12) of his
report, he says that “the leaders of the movement” — who must
necessarily include Vajpayee, Advani, Singhal, Seshadri and the like —
“may not have approved the demolition”. But six chapters later in
Chapter 14 he ends up concluding (para 171) that each of them — naming
them all — is individually ‘culpable’, on suspicion! How could the
later indictment in Chapter 14 match with the earlier exoneration in
Chapter 8? The exoneration was based on evidence; the indictment, on
suspicion. This is the pattern of Liberhan’s jurisprudence.

Advani pretended to save structure — Liberhan

Again, Liberhan (para 44.24, Chapter 4) suspects as ‘feeble’ the
‘requests to the karsevaks’ by L K Advani, M M Joshi, Ashok Singhal,
Vijay Raje Scindia, H V Seshadri, etc, who were present there ‘to come
down from the disputed structures either in earnest’ or, as Liberhan
suspects, ‘for the media’s benefit’. He doubts that Advani was merely
pretending. He says: “The icons of the movement present … could have
easily proceeded to the corridors and utilising the administration’s
assistance or that of their highly disciplined swayamsevaks, prevented
the demolition”, virtually leaving it unsaid that, unless Advani and
others had rushed towards the crowd to stop them, it would be correct
to suspect that Advani was part of the conspiracy. Liberhan knows that
the movement leaders are themselves under high security and the
security would not allow them to rush into the crowd. Yet he says that
unless they did so they would be suspect, and they did not and so he
suspects them. His logic of suspicion yielding suspicion is adequate,
according to him, to nail Advani.

Advani actually attempted to save the structure, Liberhan again!

But, contradicting his suspicion (in para 44.24, p256) that Advani was
just pretending to stop the karsevaks, Liberhan notes the evidence in
his possession, in the very next para (para 44.25) which totally
destroys his suspicion that Advani was pretending. Liberhan notes: ‘L
K Advani first made requests over the public address system to the
karsevaks on the dome to come down. When the request fell on deaf
ears, then he deputed Uma Bharati, Acharya Dharmendra Dev, Baikunt Lal
Sharma ‘Prem’ to go along with his own personal security officer Anju
Gupta to the disputed structure to persuade the karsevaks to come
down. The karsevaks paid no heed to this request either. Uma Bharati
claimed that when the persuasion failed, an attempt was made to bring
them down by instilling fear of the paramilitary forces, saying that
there would be firing and bloodshed. The karsevaks’ reply reportedly
was, “we have not come here to eat Halwa Puri. We are not that brand
of karsevaks. We have come from home to face firing. The karsevaks did
not react to persuasion nor fear”. This evidence about the level of
motivation of the karsevaks recorded by him from different persons,
should have completely removed his suspicion in the earlier para that
Advani was merely pretending to ask the karsevaks to stop the
demolition. More. Liberhan recognises (in para 59.12, p346) that ‘all
witnesses including’ the then BBC correspondent ‘Mark Tully accepted’
that Advani ‘did not make any provocative speeches’. Again (in para
44.5, p263) Liberhan finds that ‘there was mixed reaction among the
leadership of the movement. L K Advani and other more sober leaders
were taken aback by the demolition’. These are all Liberhan’s findings
on evidence. How could Liberhan then hold, as he does, that Advani did
incite the crowds when all witnesses say he did not? Why would Advani
who, Liberhan suspects, was inciting the karsevaks to demolish and
pretending to stop it, be taken aback by the demolition? Evidence
recorded by Liberhan establishes that Advani never made provocative
speeches; he tried to prevent the demolition; he was taken aback by
the demolition. Yet Liberhan holds him, purely on suspicion, guilty of
conspiracy to demolish the structure. How? He first suspects that
Advani was pretending to prevent the demolition. On that basis he
further suspects in Chapter 14 that Advani and others could have
prevented the demolition but did not do so. On that basis he further
suspects that Advani must have been part of the conspiracy. So his
suspicions aggregated become, for Liberhan, proof even though it is
contrary to evidence.

Flip-flop-flip on RSS

See how he flips-flops on the RSS, first exonerating it and later
indicting it for conspiracy. Liberhan (para 43.11, p241) refers to
allegations of training and rehearsal for the demolition, but
concludes that, even though there are doubts, it was not safe to
hazard a finding about training in the absence of conclusive evidence.
But he says in the very next page (paras 43.15-27 p242-45) that ‘it
was never in dispute that they (karsevaks) had the ability to carry
out the demolition’ — which is exactly the opposite of what he says
earlier. How come that ‘there is no conclusive evidence of training
for karsevaks for demolition’ in para 43.11 becomes, ‘it was never in
dispute that the karsevaks have the ability to carry out the
demolition’ in para 43.19? A flip-flop! Again Liberhan notes (paras
43.15/43.19/43.27) that tempers among the emotionally surcharged and
belligerent karsevas started rising, but concludes (in para 158.10,
page 917), against all the evidence to the contrary, that ‘the theory
or the claim made by the leaders of the movement’ … ‘does not carry
conviction to conclude that the demolition was carried out by the
karsevaks spontaneously or sheer anger or emotions’. Again a flip-
flop!!

Liberhan notes (paras 43.12/13, p253) that a defiant group of
karsevaks breached the security cordon ‘despite the resistance offered
by the RSS swayamsevaks’ and ‘the RSS swayamsevaks succeeded in
physically throwing the intruders from the platform’ when ‘no visible
substantial resistance was put up by the police or the administration
for stalling the intruders’. All this was in the presence of Advani
and M M Joshi. Thus the evidence clearly proves that the RSS, on its
part, was determined to protect the structure. But in defiance of this
direct evidence, he concludes, in the end, that the RSS was the main
conspirator to demolish the structure. But why would the RSS
volunteers throw the intruders out if the RSS was conspiring to
demolish? Again a flip-flop!!!

Suspicions as conclusions, against evidence

Thus, against all evidence in his possession and no evidence to
support him except his own high propensity to suspect, Liberhan
conclusively suspects that not only Advani against whom Liberhan has,
in possession, evidence that establishes that he had tried to prevent
the demolition, and others, but, also A B Vajpayee — yes Vajpayee —
was part of the conspiracy.

See his sequential ‘logic’ for holding that the BJP leaders are
culpable: one, it cannot assumed even for a moment that L K Advani, A
B Vajpayee and M M Joshi did not know the designs of the parivar; two
they could not have defied the mandate of the parivar; three, the BJP
is appendage of the parivar; four, they could not be given the benefit
of doubt! (para 166.11, p943). That is, they should be not exonerated,
but indicted, on doubt! Is this logic any different from the gossip in
street corner tea stalls and coffee shops like how could Dr Manmohan
Singh be not aware of the payoff in the Spectrum scam, so he should
also be indicted?

QED: The Liberhan report is worse than street corner gossip.

(The author is a well-known commentator on political and economic
issues.

E-mail: com...@gurumurthy.net)

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Worse+than+street+corner+gossip&artid=mIBkN5sGz%7C0=&SectionID=d16Fdk4iJhE=&MainSectionID=HuSUEmcGnyc=&SectionName=aVlZZy44Xq0bJKAA84nwcg==&SEO=

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 8, 2009, 10:00:00 AM12/8/09
to
Sociology,Public Administration,General
Studies,English,Hindi,Essay,Personality test

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Partition Of India.....

for this to undrstand u need to have baisc understanding of national
movemnt in inida then u will understand this following chapter on
partition though it is ver well written

Understanding Partition - Politics, Memories, Experiences

We know that the joy of our country’s independence from colonial rule
in 1947 was tarnished by the violence and brutality of Partition. The
Partition of British India into the sovereign states of India and
Pakistan (with its western and eastern wings) led to many sudden
developments. Thousands of lives were snuffed out, many others changed
dramatically, cities changed, India changed, a new country was born,
and there was unprecedented genocidal violence and migration. This
chapter will examine the history of Partition: why and how it happened
as well as the harrowing experiences of ordinary people during the
period 1946-50 and beyond. It will also discuss how the history of
these experiences can be reconstructed by talking to people and
interviewing them, that is, through the use of oral history. At the
same time, it will point out the strengths and limitations of oral
history. Interviews can tell us about certain aspects of a society’s
past of which we may know very little or nothing from other types of
sources. But they may not reveal very much about many matters whose
history we would then need to build from other materials. We will
return to this issue towards the end of the chapter.

Why and How Did Partition Happen?
Culminating point of a long history?

Some historians, both Indian and Pakistani, suggest that Mohammad Ali
Jinnah’s theory that the Hindus and Muslims in colonial India
constituted two separate nations can be projected back into medieval
history. They emphasise that the events of 1947 were intimately
connected to the long history of Hindu-Muslim conflict throughout
medieval and modern times. Such an argument does not recognise that
the history of conflict between communities has coexisted with a long
history of sharing, and of mutual cultural exchange. It also does not
take into account the changing circumstances that shape people’s
thinking.

Some scholars see Partition as a culmination of a communal politics
that started developing in the opening decades of the twentieth
century. They suggest that separate electorates for Muslims, created
by the colonial government in 1909 and expanded in 1919, crucially
shaped the nature of communal politics. Separate electorates meant
that Muslims could now elect their own representatives in designated
constituencies. This created a temptation for politicians working
within this system to use sectarian slogans and gather a following by
distributing favours to their own religious groups. Religious
identities thus acquired a functional use within a modern political
system; and the logic of electoral politics deepened and hardened
these identities. Community identities no longer indicated simple
difference in faith and belief; they came to mean active opposition
and hostility between communities. However, while separate electorates
did have a profound impact on Indian politics, we should be careful
not to over-emphasise their significance or to see Partition as a
logical outcome of their working. Communal identities were
consolidated by a host of other developments in the early twentieth
century. During the 1920s and early 1930s tension grew around a number
of issues. Muslims were angered by “music-before-mosque”, by the cow
protection movement, and by the efforts of the Arya Samaj to bring
back to the Hindu fold (shuddhi ) those who had recently converted to
Islam. Hindus were angered by the rapid spread of tabligh (propaganda)
and tanzim (organisation) after 1923. As middle class publicists and
communal activists sought to build greater solidarity within their
communities, mobilising people against the other community, riots
spread in different parts of the country. Every communal riot deepened
differences between communities, creating disturbing memories of
violence.

Yet it would be incorrect to see Partition as the outcome of a simple
unfolding of communal tensions. As the protagonist of Garm Hawa, a
film on Partition, puts it, “Communal discord happened even before
1947 but it had never led to the uprooting of millions from their
homes” Partition was a qualitatively different phenomenon from earlier
communal politics, and to understand it we need to look carefully at
the events of the last decade of British rule.

The provincial elections of 1937 and the Congress ministries

In 1937, elections to the provincial legislatures were held for the
first time. Only about 10 to 12 per cent of the population enjoyed the
right to vote. The Congress did well in the elections, winning an
absolute majority in five out of eleven provinces and forming
governments in seven of them. It did badly in the constituencies
reserved for Muslims, but the Muslim League also fared poorly, polling
only 4.4 per cent of the total Muslim vote cast in this election. The
League failed to win a single seat in the North West Frontier Province
(NWFP) and could capture only two out of 84 reserved constituencies in
the Punjab and three out of 33 in Sind.

In the United Provinces, the Muslim League wanted to form a joint
government with the Congress. The Congress had won an absolute
majority in the province, so it rejected the offer. Some scholars
argue that this rejection convinced the League that if India remained
united, then Muslims would find it difficult to gain political power
because they would remain a minority. The League assumed, of course,
that only a Muslim party could represent Muslim interests, and that
the Congress was essentially a Hindu party. But Jinnah’s insistence
that the League be recognised as the “sole spokesman” of Muslims could
convince few at the time. Though popular in the United Provinces,
Bombay and Madras, social support for the League was still fairly weak
in three of the provinces from which Pakistan was to be carved out
just ten years later – Bengal, the NWFP and the Punjab. Even in Sind
it failed to form a government. It was from this point onwards that
the League doubled its efforts at expanding its social support.

The Congress ministries also contributed to the widening rift. In the
United Provinces, the party had rejected the Muslim League proposal
for a coalition government partly because the League tended to support
landlordism, which the Congress wished to abolish, although the party
had not yet taken any concrete steps in that direction. Nor did the
Congress achieve any substantial gains in the “Muslim mass contact”
programme it launched. In the end, the secular and radical rhetoric of
the Congress merely alarmed conservative Muslims and the Muslim landed
elite, without winning over the Muslim masses. Moreover, while the
leading Congress leaders in the late 1930s insisted more than ever
before on the need for secularism, these ideas were by no means
universally shared lower down in the party hierarchy, or even by all
Congress ministers. Maulana Azad, an important Congress leader,
pointed out in 1937 that members of the Congress were not allowed to
join the League, yet Congressmen were active in the Hindu Mahasabha–
at least in the Central Provinces (present-day Madhya Pradesh). Only
in December 1938 did the Congress Working Committee declare that
Congress members could not be members of the Mahasabha. Incidentally,
this was also the period when the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were gaining strength. The latter spread from
its Nagpur base to the United Provinces, the Punjab, and other parts
of the country in the 1930s. By 1940, the RSS had over 100,000 trained
and highly disciplined cadres pledged to an ideology of Hindu
nationalism, convinced that India was a land of the Hindus.

The “Pakistan” Resolution

The Pakistan demand was formalised gradually. On 23 March 1940, the
League moved a resolution demanding a measure of autonomy for the
Muslimmajority areas of the subcontinent. This ambiguous resolution
never mentioned partition or Pakistan. In fact Sikandar Hayat Khan,
Punjab Premier and leader of the Unionist Party, who had drafted the
resolution, declared in a Punjab assembly speech on 1 March 1941 that
he was opposed to a Pakistan that would mean “Muslim Raj here and
Hindu Raj elsewhere ... If Pakistan means unalloyed Muslim Raj in the
Punjab then I will have nothing to do with it.” He reiterated his plea
for a loose (united), confederation with considerable autonomy for the
confederating units.

The origins of the Pakistan demand have also been traced back to the
Urdu poet Mohammad Iqbal, the writer of “Sare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan
Hamara”. In his presidential address to the Muslim League in 1930, the
poet spoke of a need for a “North- West Indian Muslim state”. Iqbal,
however, was not visualising the emergence of a new country in that
speech but a reorganisation of Muslim-majority 387 areas in north-
western India into an autonomous unit within a single, loosely
structured Indian federation.

The suddenness of Partition

We have seen that the League itself was vague about its demand in
1940. There was a very short time – just seven years – between the
first formal articulation of the demand for a measure of autonomy for
the Muslim-majority areas of the subcontinent and Partition. No one
knew what the creation of Pakistan meant, and how it might shape
people’s lives in the future. Many who migrated from their homelands
in 1947 thought they would return as soon as peace prevailed again.

Initially even Muslim leaders did not seriously raise the demand for
Pakistan as a sovereign state. In the beginning Jinnah himself may
have seen the Pakistan idea as a bargaining counter, useful for
blocking possible British concessions to the Congress and gaining
additional favours for the Muslims. The pressure of the Second World
War on the British delayed negotiations for independence for some
time. Nonetheless, it was the massive Quit India Movement which
started in 1942, and persisted despite intense repression, that
brought the British Raj to its knees and compelled its officials to
open a dialogue with Indian parties regarding a possible transfer of
power.
Post-War developments

When negotiations were begun again in l945, the British agreed to
create an entirely Indian central Executive Council, except for the
Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, as a
preliminary step towards full independence. Discussions about the
transfer of power broke down due to Jinnah’s unrelenting demand that
the League had an absolute right to choose all the Muslim members of
the Executive Council and that there should be a kind of communal veto
in the Council, with decisions opposed by Muslims needing a twothirds
majority. Given the existing political situation, the League’s first
demand was quite extraordinary, for a large section of the nationalist
Muslims supported the Congress (its delegation for these discussions
was headed by Maulana Azad), and in West Punjab members of the
Unionist Party were largely Muslims. The British had no intention of
annoying the Unionists who still controlled the Punjab government and
had been consistently loyal to the British.

Provincial elections were again held in 1946. The Congress swept the
general constituencies, capturing 91.3 per cent of the non-Muslim
vote. The League’s success in the seats reserved for Muslims was
equally spectacular: it won all 30 reserved constituencies in the
Centre with 86.6 per cent of the Muslim vote and 442 out of 509 seats
in the provinces. Only as late as 1946, therefore, did the League
establish itself as the dominant party among Muslim voters, seeking to
vindicate its claim to be the “sole spokesman” of India’s Muslims. You
will, however, recall that the franchise was extremely limited. About
10 to 12 per cent of the population enjoyed the right to vote in the
provincial elections and a mere one per cent in the elections for the
Central Assembly.

A possible alternative to Partition

In March 1946 the British Cabinet sent a three member mission to Delhi
to examine the League’s demand and to suggest a suitable political
framework for a free India. The Cabinet Mission toured the country for
three months and recommended a loose three-tier confederation. India
was to remain united. It was to have a weak central government
controlling only foreign affairs, defence and communications with the
existing provincial assemblies being grouped into three sections while
electing the constituent assembly: Section A for the Hindumajority
provinces, and Sections B and C for the Muslim-majority provinces of
the north-west and the north-east (including Assam) respectively. The
sections or groups of provinces would comprise various regional units.
They would have the power to set up intermediate-level executives and
legislatures of their own.

Initially all the major parties accepted this plan. But the agreement
was short-lived because it was based on mutually opposed
interpretations of the plan. The League wanted the grouping to be
compulsory, with Sections B and C developing into strong entities with
the right to secede from the Union in the future. The Congress wanted
that provinces be given the right to join a group. It was not
satisfied with the Mission’s clarification that grouping would be
compulsory at first, but provinces would have the right to opt out
after the constitution had been finalised and new elections held in
accordance with it. Ultimately, therefore, neither the League nor the
Congress agreed to the Cabinet Mission’s proposal. This was a most
crucial juncture, because after this partition became more or less
inevitable, with most of the Congress leaders agreeing to it, seeing
it as tragic but unavoidable. Only Mahatma Gandhi and Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan of the NWFP continued to firmly oppose the idea of
partition.

Towards Partition

After withdrawing its support to the Cabinet Mission plan, the Muslim
League decided on “Direct Action” for winning its Pakistan demand. It
announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”. On this day, riots
broke out in Calcutta, lasting several days and leaving several
thousand people dead. By March 1947 violence spread to many parts of
northern India. It was in March 1947 that the Congress high command
voted for dividing the Punjab into two halves, one with Muslim
majority and the other with Hindu/Sikh majority; and it asked for the
application of a similar principle to Bengal. By this time, given the
numbers game, many Sikh leaders and Congressmen in the Punjab were
convinced that Partition was a necessary evil, otherwise they would be
swamped by Muslim majorities and Muslim leaders would dictate terms.
In Bengal too a section of bhadralok Bengali Hindus, who wanted
political power to remain with them, began to fear the “permanent
tutelage of Muslims” (as one of their leaders put it). Since they were
in a numerical minority, they felt that only a division of the
province could ensure their political dominance.

The Withdrawal of Law and Order

The bloodbath continued for about a year from March 1947 onwards. One
main reason for this was the collapse of the institutions of
governance. Penderel Moon, an administrator serving in Bahawalpur (in
present-day Pakistan) at the time, noted how the police failed to fire
even a single shot when arson and killings were taking place in
Amritsar in March 1947.

Amritsar district became the scene of bloodshed later in the year when
there was a complete breakdown of authority in the city. British
officials did not know how to handle the situation: they were
unwilling to take decisions, and hesitant to intervene. When panic-
stricken people appealed for help, British officials asked them to
contact Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabh Bhai Patel or M.A.
Jinnah. Nobody knew who could exercise authority and power. The top
leadership of the Indian parties, barring Mahatma Gandhi, were
involved in negotiations regarding independence while many Indian
civil servants in the affected provinces feared for their own lives
and property. The British were busy preparing to quit India. Problems
were compounded because Indian soldiers and policemen came to act as
Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs. As communal tension mounted, the
professional commitment of those in uniform could not be relied upon.
In many places not only did policemen help their co-religionists but
they also attacked members of other communities.
The one-man army

Amidst all this turmoil, one man’s valiant efforts at restoring
communal harmony bore fruit. The 77-year-old Gandhiji decided to stake
his all in a bid to vindicate his lifelong principle of non-violence,
and his conviction that people’s hearts could be changed. He moved
from the villages of Noakhali in East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh)
to the villages of Bihar and then to the riot-torn slums of Calcutta
and Delhi, in a heroic effort to stop Hindus and Muslims kill each
other, careful everywhere to reassure the minority community. In
October 1946, Muslims in East Bengal targeted Hindus. Gandhiji visited
the area, toured the villages on foot, and persuaded the local Muslims
to guarantee the safety of Hindus. Similarly, in other places such as
Delhi he tried to build a spirit of mutual trust and confidence
between the two communities. A Delhi Muslim, Shahid Ahmad Dehlavi,
compelled to flee to a dirty, overcrowded camp in Purana Qila, likened
Gandhiji’s arrival in Delhi on 9 September 1947 to “the arrival of the
rains after a particularly long and harsh summer”. Dehlavi recalled in
his memoir how Muslims said to one another: “Delhi will now be saved”.
On 28 November 1947, on the occasion of Guru Nanak’s birthday, when
Gandhiji went to address a meeting of Sikhs at Gurdwara Sisganj, he
noticed that there was no Muslim on the Chandni Chowk road, the heart
of old Delhi. “What could be more shameful for us,” he asked during a
speech that evening, “than the fact that not a single Muslim could be
found in Chandni Chowk?” Gandhiji continued to be in Delhi, fighting
the mentality of those who wished to drive out every Muslim from the
city, seeing them as Pakistani. When he began a fast to bring about a
change of heart, amazingly, many Hindu and Sikh migrants fasted with
him.

The effect of the fast was “electric”, wrote Maulana Azad. People
began realising the folly of the pogrom they had unleashed on the
city’s Muslims but it was only Gandhiji’s martyrdom that finally ended
this macabre drama of violence. “The world veritably changed,” many
Delhi Muslims of the time recalled later.

Preserving “honour”

Scholars have also shown how ideas of preserving community honour came
into play in this period of extreme physical and psychological danger.
This notion of honour drew upon a conception of masculinity defined as
ownership of zan (women) and zamin (land), a notion of considerable
antiquity in North Indian peasant societies. Virility, it was
believed, lay in the ability to protect your possessions – zan and
zamin – from being appropriated by outsiders. And quite frequently,
conflict ensued over these two prime “possessions”. Often enough,
women internalised the same values.

At times, therefore, when the men feared that “their” women – wives,
daughters, sisters – would be violated by the “enemy”, they killed the
women themselves. Urvashi Butalia in her book, The Other Side of
Silence, narrates one such gruesome incident in the village of Thoa
Khalsa, Rawalpindi district. During Partition, in this Sikh village,
ninety women are said to have “voluntarily” jumped into a well rather
than fall into “enemy” hands. The migrant refugees from this village
still commemorate the event at a gurdwara in Delhi, referring to the
deaths as martyrdom, not suicide. They believe that men at that time
had to courageously accept the decision of women, and in some cases
even persuade the women to kill themselves. On 13 March every year,
when their “martyrdom” is celebrated, the incident is recounted to an
audience of men, women and children. Women are exhorted to remember
the sacrifice and bravery of their sisters and to cast themselves in
the same mould.

For the community of survivors, the remembrance ritual helps keep the
memory alive. What such rituals do not seek to remember, however, are
the stories of all those who did not wish to die, and had to end their
lives against their will.
Regional Variations

The experiences of ordinary people we have been discussing so far
relate to the north-western part of the subcontinent. What was the
Partition like in Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Central India and the
Deccan? While carnages occurred in Calcutta and Noakhali in 1946, the
Partition was most bloody and destructive in the Punjab. The near-
total displacement of Hindus and Sikhs eastwards into India from West
Punjab and of almost all Punjabi-speaking Muslims to Pakistan happened
in a relatively short period of two years between 1946 and 1948. Many
Muslim families of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad
in Andhra Pradesh continued to migrate to Pakistan through the 1950s
and early 1960s, although many chose to remain in India. Most of these
Urdu-speaking people, known as muhajirs (migrants) in Pakistan moved
to the Karachi- Hyderabad region in Sind.

In Bengal the migration was even more protracted, with people moving
across a porous border. This also meant that the Bengali division
produced a process of suffering that may have been less concentrated
but was as agonising. Furthermore, unlike the Punjab, the exchange of
population in Bengal was not near-total. Many Bengali Hindus remained
in East Pakistan while many Bengali Muslims continued to live in West
Bengal. Finally, Bengali Muslims (East Pakistanis) rejected Jinnah’s
two-nation theory through political action, breaking away from
Pakistan and creating Bangladesh in 1971-72. Religious unity could not
hold East and West Pakistan together. There is, however, a huge
similarity between the Punjab and Bengal experiences. In both these
states, women and girls became prime targets of persecution. Attackers
treated women’s bodies as territory to be conquered. Dishonouring
women of a community was seen as dishonouring the community itself,
and a mode of taking revenge.

Help, Humanity, Harmony

Buried under the debris of the violence and pain of Partition is an
enormous history of help, humanity and harmony. Many narratives such
as Abdul Latif’s poignant testimony, with which we began, reveal this.
Historians have discovered numerous stories of how people helped each
other during the Partition period, stories of caring and sharing, of
the opening of new opportunities, and of triumph over trauma.
Consider, for instance, the work of Khushdeva Singh, a Sikh doctor
specialising in the treatment of tuberculosis, posted at Dharampur in
presentday Himachal Pradesh. Immersing himself in his work day and
night, the doctor provided that rare healing touch, food, shelter,
love and security to numerous migrants, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu alike. The
residents of Dharampur developed the kind of faith and confidence in
his humanity and generosity that the Delhi Muslims and others had in
Gandhiji. One of them, Muhammad Umar, wrote to Khushdeva Singh: “With
great humility I beg to state that I do not feel myself safe except
under your protection. Therefore, in all kindness, be good enough to
grant me a seat in your hospital.”

We know about the gruelling relief work of this doctor from a memoir
he entitled Love is Stronger than Hate: A Remembrance of 1947. Here,
Singh describes his work as “humble efforts I made to discharge my
duty as a human being to fellow human beings”. He speaks most warmly
of two short visits to Karachi in 1949. Old friends and those whom he
had helped at Dharampur spent a few memorable hours with him at
Karachi airport. Six police constables, earlier acquaintances, walked
him to the plane, saluting him as he entered it. “I acknowledged (the
salute) with folded hands and tears in my eyes.”

Oral Testimonies and History

Have you taken note of the materials from which the history of
Partition has been constructed in this chapter? Oral narratives,
memoirs, diaries, family histories, first-hand written accounts – all
these help us understand the trials and tribulations of ordinary
people during the partition of the country. Millions of people viewed
Partition in terms of the suffering and the challenges of the times.
For them, it was no mere constitutional division or just the party
politics of the Muslim League, Congress and others. For them, it meant
the unexpected alterations in life as it unfolded between 1946 and
1950 and beyond, requiring psychological, emotional and social
adjustments. As with the Holocaust in Germany, we should understand
Partition not simply as a political event, but also through the
meanings attached to it by those who lived it. Memories and
experiences shape the reality of an event.

One of the strengths of personal reminiscence – one type of oral
source – is that it helps us grasp experiences and memories in detail.
It enables historians to write richly textured, vivid accounts of what
happened to people during events such as Partition. It is impossible
to extract this kind of information from government documents. The
latter deal with policy and party matters and various state-sponsored
schemes. In the case of Partition, government reports and files as
well as the personal writings of its high-level functionaries throw
ample light on negotiations between the British and the major
political parties about the future of India or on the rehabilitation
of refugees. They tell us little, however, about the day-to-day
experiences of those affected by the government’s decision to divide
the country.

Oral history also allows historians to broaden the boundaries of their
discipline by rescuing from oblivion the lived experiences of the poor
and the powerless: those of, say, Abdul Latif’s father; the women of
Thoa Khalsa; the refugee who retailed wheat at wholesale prices, eking
out a paltry living by selling the gunny bags in which the wheat came;
a middle-class Bengali widow bent double over road-laying work in
Bihar; a Peshawari trader who thought it was wonderful to land a petty
job in Cuttack upon migrating to India but asked: “Where is Cuttack,
is it on the upper side of Hindustan or the lower; we haven’t quite
heard of it before in Peshawar?”
Thus, moving beyond the actions of the well off and the well known,
the oral history of Partition has succeeded in exploring the
experiences of those men and women whose existence has hitherto been
ignored, taken for granted, or mentioned only in passing in mainstream
history. This is significant because the histories that we read often
regard the life and work of the mass of the people in the past as
inaccessible or unimportant.

Yet, many historians still remain sceptical of oral history. They
dismiss it because oral data seem to lack concreteness and the
chronology they yield may be imprecise. Historians argue that the
uniqueness of personal experience makes generalisation difficult: a
large picture cannot be built from such micro-evidence, and one
witness is no witness. They also think oral accounts are concerned
with tangential issues, and that the small individual experiences
which remain in memory are irrelevant to the unfolding of larger
processes of history. However, with regard to events such as the
Partition in India and the Holocaust in Germany, there is no dearth of
testimony about the different forms of distress that numerous people
faced. So, there is ample evidence to figure out trends, to point out
exceptions. By comparing statements, oral or written, by corroborating
what they yield with findings from other sources, and by being
vigilant about internal contradictions, historians can weigh the
reliability of a given piece of evidence. Furthermore, if history has
to accord presence to the ordinary and powerless, then the oral
history of Partition is not concerned with tangential matters. The
experiences it relates are central to the story, so much so that oral
sources should be used to check other sources and vice versa.
Different types of sources have to be tapped for answering different
types of questions. Government reports, for instance, will tell us of
the number of “recovered” women exchanged by the Indian and Pakistani
states but it is the women who will tell us about their suffering.

Timeline

1930 - The Urdu poet Mohammad Iqbal speaks of the need for a “North-
West Indian Muslim state” as an autonomous unit within a single, loose
Indian federation

1933 - The name Pakistan or Pak-stan is coined by a Punjabi Muslim
student at Cambridge, Choudhry Rehmat Ali

1937-39 - Congress ministries come to power in seven out of 11
provinces of British India

1940 - The Muslim League moves a resolution at Lahore demanding a
measure of autonomy for the Muslim-majority areas

1946 - Elections are held in the provinces. The Congress wins
massively in the general constituencies. The League’s success in the
Muslim seats is equally spectacular

March to June - The British Cabinet sends a three-member Cabinet
Mission to Delhi

August - The Muslim League decides on “Direct Action” for winning
Pakistan

16 August - Violence breaks out between Hindus-Sikhs and Muslims in
Calcutta, lasting several days and leaving several thousand people
dead

March 1947 - The Congress high command votes for dividing the Punjab
into Muslim-majority and Hindu/Sikh-majority halves and asks for the
application of a similar principle to Bengal; the British begin to
quit India

14-15 August, 1947 - Pakistan is formed; India gains independence.
Mahatma Gandhi tours Noakhali in East Bengal to restore communal
harmony.

from examrace

Posted by Shikha at 2:56 PM

http://shikha-agarwal.blogspot.com/2009/12/partition-of-india.html

...and I am Sid harth


bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 8, 2009, 10:03:29 AM12/8/09
to
TV grab of Home Minister Chidambaram speaking in Lok Sabha during the
Liberhan report discussion. PTI

Demolition was pre-planned, cold-blooded act: Chidambaram
STAFF WRITER 19:2 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Government today asserted in the Lok Sabha that
the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya was a "pre-planned
and cold-blooded" act conducted by the Sangh Parivar, and BJP leaders
like L K Advani and M M Joshi cannot escape responsibility.

Replying to a heated debate on the Liberhan Commisison report, Home
Minister P Chidambaram said the kar sevaks from various states and
logistical support had been mobilised with the "sole intention" of
destroying the structure.

Singling out then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh for his
attack amid constant slogan-shouting by NDA members, Chidambaram said
the state government had "lied" to the Centre, the Supreme Court and
the National Integration Council that the structure would be
protected.

Regretting that the then P V Narasimha Rao government had made a
"wrong political judgment", he said it was based on the promises of
the state government.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/414064_Demolition-was-pre-planned--cold-blooded-act--Chidambaram

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 8, 2009, 10:06:12 AM12/8/09
to
World|
Mon, Dec. 07 2009 04:56 PM EDT
Official Names Hindu Nationalist Groups in Anti-Christian Violence
By Vishal Arora

Compass Direct News

NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) – The ruling party of Orissa state,
which labeled last year’s mayhem in Kandhamal district as “ethnic
violence,” has publicly admitted that Hindu nationalist groups were
behind the killings and arson of Christians and their property.

“It is learnt from the investigation into the riot cases that the
members of the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh], the VHP [World Hindu
Council] and the Bajrang Dal were involved in the violence that took
place last year,” Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told the state
legislative assembly last month.

Patnaik, in response to a question by a member of the Communist Party
of India, also disclosed that police had arrested 85 people from the
RSS, 321 members of the VHP and 118 Bajrang Dal members in the
attacks. He said that only 27 members from these groups were still in
jail.

The others were either bailed out or acquitted for lack of evidence,
which Christians say is due to shoddy or corrupt investigation by
police and prosecutors (government attorneys).

Soon after violence in Kandhamal broke out in August 2008, Patnaik
blamed it on “conflict of interest” between Dalits (people at the
bottom of the caste hierarchy in Hinduism and formerly known as
“untouchables”) and tribal people.

National media speculated that Patnaik was seeking to deflect
attention from the Bajrang Dal, which had been accused of the attacks
on the Christians. The Bajrang Dal (Army of Hindu God Hanuman) is the
youth wing of the VHP, which is seen as part of the RSS family.

Local Christians had suspected the role of the RSS and related outfits
since the violence began on Aug. 24, 2008 – one day after Hindu
nationalist leader Laxmanananda Saraswati was killed by Maoists
(extreme Marxists) and RSS members blamed Christians for it.

The RSS is a Hindu nationalist conglomerate whose political wing, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was part of the ruling coalition during
the 2008 eruption of the violence that killed more than 100 people,
mostly hacked to death or burned alive, and incinerated more than
4,500 houses, over 250 churches and 13 educational institutions.

Patnaik’s party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) broke up its 11-year-old
alliance with the BJP in March 2009, a month before state assembly and
national elections were held. The BJD, which fought the two elections
alone, won a majority in the state assembly and most seats in
parliament from the state.

It was only after the coalition’s break-up that the BJD began to hint
at the culpability of the RSS and related groups.

“It was important to break up with the BJP, because I don’t consider
them healthy any longer for my state after Kandhamal [violence] –
which I think is very apparent to everyone,” Patnaik told CNN-IBN, a
private TV news channel, on April 19.

A state government-constituted panel, the Justice Mohapatra Commission
of Inquiry, is probing the Kandhamal violence but has yet to issue its
final report.

Meantime, a report of another panel, the Justice M.S. Liberhan
Commission of Inquiry, said that top leaders of the BJP, the RSS, the
VHP and the Bajrang Dal “meticulously planned” the demolition of the
17th century Babri Mosque 17 years ago.

More than 2,000 people were killed in communal violence across the
country following the demolition of the mosque on Dec. 6, 1992. The
incident polarized voters along religious lines and subsequently
contributed to the BJP’s rise in Indian politics.

The Liberhan report, presented to parliament on Nov. 25, indicted
several Hindu nationalist leaders, including former Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, current Leader of Opposition in the People’s
House L.K. Advani, VHP leader Ashok Singhal and former RSS chief K.S.
Sudarshan.

Observers said the indictment of extreme Hindu nationalists, however,
has come too late, as the BJP no longer seems to be powerful at the
national level.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091207/official-names-hindu-nationalist-groups-in-orissa-violence/index.html

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 8:52:56 AM12/9/09
to
Liberhan report used for character assassination: BJP
By IANSDecember 7th, 2009

NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday slammed the
Liberhan Commission report on the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya,
saying the report is a “political document for character
assassination”.

Participating in the debate on the report in the Lok Sabha, BJP
president Rajnath Singh alleged that the commission made political
comments in the report by calling former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee and party leaders L.K. Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi as
“pseudo moderates”.

“Atalji, Advaniji and Joshiji were called pseudo moderates. This (the
report) is a political document for character assassination.
Commissions can not make any political comments. It is deplorable,”
said Rajnath Singh in his speech, which was disrupted occasionally by
MPs from the treasury benches.

He said the demolition of the mosque on Dec 6, 1992, was “public anger
and it was not an event which could be controlled”.

“It was a spontaneous action committed by the people,” said the BJP
president.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram had to intervene following disruption in
the house when Rajnath referred to historic documents, written by 17th
and 18th century Muslim clerics, and books written by Western
historians to establish that Babri Masjid was built in 1528 by
demolishing Ram temple in Ayodhya.

“We are not here to discuss the title suit. That is subjudice,” said
Chidambaram.

Speaker Meira Kumar upheld the home minister’s observation saying “if
the matter is subjudice, it could not be discussed”.

Justifying Kalyan Singh, who was then the Uttar Pradesh chief
minister, Rajnath Singh said: “On Dec 1, 1992, Kalyan Singh had
expressed his inability to take action against the
‘karsevaks’ (volunteers) to the then central government headed by
Narasimha Rao.”

“There are factual errors in Liberhan Commission report,” the BJP
president said referring to various chapters in the report, adding:
“It is a bundle of factual errors.”

Initiating the discussion, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader
Gurudas Dasgupta said both the central and state governments did not
do their constitutional job in Ayodhya.

“The report appears to be not comprehensible and in a way partial,” he
said.

He said the demolition of the mosque was meticulously organised.

“The political leadership of the movement — Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi
— were all aware of the target,” he said.

Dasgupta’s remark that those who were responsible for the killing of
Mahatma Gandhi were behind the Babri Masjid’s demolition and Gujarat
riots created an uproar in the house.

Congress MP Jagadambika Pal said the people of the country have
rejected the BJP.

“Let the (CBI) Central Bureau of Investigation take action against
those guilty,” he said.

http://blog.taragana.com/politics/2009/12/07/liberhan-report-used-for-character-assassination-bjp-5289/

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 8:55:09 AM12/9/09
to
Congress gives clean chit to Vajpayee in Babri case
PTI 9 December 2009, 06:37pm IST

NEW DELHI: In a move that puts L K Advani and other BJP leaders in the
dock, Congress today gave a clean chit to Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the
conspiracy to demolish Babri masjid in the discussion on Liberhan
Commission report in the Lok Sabha, while the BJP dubbed it as a
"political document full of grave errors".

"Vajpayee's name was not in the conspiracy, his name was only there in
one of the lists," Union Minister Salman Khurshid said intervening in
the day-long discussion which saw the BJP going hammer and tongs
against the report which it alleged failed to come out with truth
despite spending 17 long years.

BJP, whose President Rajnath Singh led the defence of the party, said
the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya was a result of
public anger and asserted that it would build a Ram temple at the same
site for "national justice".

Congress, on the other hand, said BJP had used the Ayodhya movement to
gain power misusing the name of Lord Ram.

Samajwadi Party, BSP and JD(U) attacked both the BJP and the Congress
for the developments that led to the demolition on December 6, 1992.

While Mulayam Singh Yadav targeted the Congress saying facts have been
concealed in the report to save P V Narasimha Rao, Khurshid said the
Congress government's only fault at that time was that it trusted the
then Uttar Pradesh government, led by Kalyan Singh, and the BJP
leadership.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Congress-gives-clean-chit-to-Vajpayee-in-Babri-case/articleshow/5319369.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 8:57:36 AM12/9/09
to
PM apologises for remarks by a Cong member against Vajpayee
PTI 9 December 2009, 12:00pm IST

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday apologised to
the Lok Sabha on behalf of the government for certain "undesirable"
remarks by a Congress member against former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee. ( Watch Video )

"Yesterday I was not present in the House. I have heard some
undesirable remarks were made by a member of the ruling coalition
which was inappropriate. On behalf of our government, I apologise to
the House," Singh, who returned last night after a three-day visit to
Russia, said.

BJP and allies had yesterday created pandemonium in the House after
Beni Prasad Verma (Congress) used demeaning remarks against Vajpayee
forcing two adjournments.

The NDA members were agitated when Verma used a derogatory word
against the former Prime Minister during a debate on the Liberhan
Commission report and demanded an apology from him.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PM-apologises-for-remarks-by-a-Cong-member-against-Vajpayee/articleshow/5318030.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 9:19:40 AM12/9/09
to
Punish us if you must: Sushma Swaraj
TNN 9 December 2009, 02:59am IST

NEW DELHI: BJP chief Rajnath Singh may have elbowed out party
colleague and deputy leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj to open the
debate on Liberhan Commission report in Lok Sabha but Swaraj on
Tuesday beat him by making an impassioned defence of her party as well
as taking a strident Hindutva line that appeals to the Sangh.

Leader of Opposition L K Advani, architect of the Ayodhya movement,
placed his hands over his deputy’s head in blessing her in
appreciation of her performance, which also took the party "back to
basics".

She even tried keeping Muslims on board by declaring that the Liberhan
report had the potential of starting communal riots, as it asked
Hindus and Muslims to dump their community leaders. While asking the
home minister to scrap the Liberhan report "lock, stock and barrel",
she said "khuda ke liye is report ko kharij kijiye", using the Urdu
word for God instead of the usual BJP style of invoking Ram or
Ishwar.

Harping on the Hindutva theme, Swaraj said the report should be
dismissed as it says the Ram temple agitation was "not a people’s
movement". Slamming Justice Liberhan, saying he would not know the
facts of the wave in favour of the temple by sitting in an air-
conditioned office in Chandigarh, Swaraj told the House, "It was the
largest people’s movement of post-Independent India that turned L K
Advani into a mass leader."

She went on to say how during Advani’s Ayodhya yatra, she participated
in the Haryana leg and every morning she would do an "aarti" of the
vehicle and pick up the dust from the wheels and put it on her head.
She said Liberhan had dared to call Ram a Hindu God when "Ram was
really the soul of India".

Swaraj dared the government by declaring that its leaders were ready
for any punishment. "Did kar sewaks dismantle the disputed structure?
Yes. Was there a conspiracy? No," she said, adding "Yes, we are ready
for any punishment, if you want to punish us. Both leaders inside and
outside the House are ready."

Readers' Opinions

Comment

Punish us if you must: Sushma Swaraj

Hansel,Mumbai,says:The BJP is a evil political party and they are
fighting for a cause which is completely baseless. Their only ideology
is Hinduvta. In fact when every Educated Indian is so clear that
Hinduism is not even a religion, its mythology.The government should
take strict action against L. K Advani and people like Sushma Swaraj.
[9 Dec, 2009 1716hrs IST]

Rajesh,Nigeria,says:Sushama, Be rest assured you all will be punished
irrespective of how big political speech you deliver on the floor of
the parliament. You can cast doubts on sanctity of Liberhan Commission
report by raising numerous questions but the hard fact remains that,
you all have indulged in genocide of people for cheap political gains,
lust for power. Leave aside voters of India, Lord Ram himself will
never forgive you people.
[9 Dec, 2009 1645hrs IST]

prakash ,Hyd ,says:Yes, Cong trying to use this issue for political
benefits.
[9 Dec, 2009 1604hrs IST]

Dipak Kumar Rai,Chennai,says:Please do not hurt one's relgious beliefs
and faith by saying "Shri RAM" was not a HINDU GOD.If anyone was guilt
of breaking the law punish them but do not make any derogatory remarks
on the HINDU relegion. I dare such people to make such remarks against
other faiths and see the result.Hindus are peaceful people committed
to the development and progress of humanity.Do not take advantage of
that.
[9 Dec, 2009 1556hrs IST]

S Banerjee,Bangalore,says:Sushma Swaraj, Advani and MM Joshi and many
other BJP leaders know that its payback time for them. They have done
enough to plague the country with communal feelings. VHP, Bajrang dal
and BJP all are equally responsible. Further, parties like MNS (region
based pilitics), BSP (caste based politics), RJD and SP (muscle based
politics), AIADMK/ DMK (corruption based politics)...(list goes on)
and finally CPM (stupid & obsolete politics) should also be
dismantled. They are no different than gorups like ULFA or SIMI which
exist just to create trouble. They must be punished. BJP managed to
come to power once based on the Ayodhya drama and Vajpayee's personal
aura. Now they are feeling the heat and calling "Khuda" to cancel the
report. Really funny stuff. But its sad that we dont have a single
large party in the country which can contest Congress without getting
into dirty caste and religion based politics. And of course, this
doesn't mean that Congress doesn't play this dirty game either. We as
people of India should introspect.
[9 Dec, 2009 1518hrs IST]

SHAHID,SAUDI ARAB ,says:DEAR ALL BE HAPPY I WROTE BEFORE ALSO THAT THE
ONLY TRUE LIFE COMES AFTER DEATH. FOR THOSE WHO BELEIVE IN ALLAH AND
FOLLOW THE RULES OF ISLAM WHAT IT SAYS HE WILL GO TO JANNAT IF ALLAH
WISH.AND THOSE DENIDE AND NOT BELEIVE IN ALLAH
[9 Dec, 2009 1510hrs IST]

Ramakrishna,Bangalore,says:See comments from "Salim Dar". seems to be
terrorist from Delhi. Hope the Media can trace him out if they can and
hand him to the police.
[9 Dec, 2009 1509hrs IST]

surya,Delhi,says:It is totally wrong to say BJP and its Parivar
organised ten lakh people at Ayodhya. The lakhs of people who gathered
didnot belong to any Sangh Parivar nor they understand what is BJP. It
was pure love for their revered god Ram which brought them together at
Ayodhya. Only thing they believed BJP was genuinely interested for a
Ram Mandir. More than hundred lakhs will gather even today if they get
the feeling that some political party is genuinely interested to give
back Ram's birth place. It is th e lure of Hinud votes which let Rajib
Gandhi open the door and let Sinia Gandhi leap into Varanasi water in
a chilly morning some years back.
[9 Dec, 2009 1507hrs IST]

Ramakrishna,Bangalore,says:It need not be learnt from the so called
advanced nations. Basically we are divided by our thoughts, even
Vandemataram cannot unite us. As long as the Muslims cannot respect
even the national song, why should a Hindus be broaaaaaad minded. Is
it required only for a Hindu to be secular????????????????????????????
[9 Dec, 2009 1506hrs IST]

sankar,mumbai,says:This so called BJP is a communal party without any
base and aim for serving the people of India. Though the time is
changing fast but their ideologies are not changing and they are
typical mindset. Its unfortunate in this country that a few percent of
upper castes people are ruling this country and their men are doing
atrocities on poors especially upon down trodden community. Examine
each and every villages in the rural areas of this country and you
will get atrocities are being done on poors and most probably they are
the people of upper castes who are wealthy. It was an impression that
people who are illiterate might only be practising dsicrimination in
the society but thats not true, people from upper castes who are
highly educated are very much polluted their minds and theirway of
looking towards poors is a different angle.I dont think any govt. can
punish such culprits who first commits offence and thereafter they
challenge govt. to punish them. No, I dont think govt. will take any
action and/or in a position to take action against them.
[9 Dec, 2009 1449hrs IST]

Ajay,Hong Kong,says:An Indian... You are not an Indian.. and not a
Hindu for sure... A tru Hindu always respects other religion. And we
would never go to the level other would go... That is the greatness of
a Hindu. Being Said that, In India... everything is on vote.. Congress
is most seculr as they divided us into caste. in india secular means
anti-Hindu for political parties because they think that minority will
vote for them one sided and they will rule... We are wasting time and
tax payers money for reports and then discussing on it on the
parliament rather then discussing on how would aydhya people will get
water for drinking... It is Shame...
[9 Dec, 2009 1445hrs IST]

Subramanian,Chennai,says:The entire episode of Liberhan report is a
total waste of time, money and energy as the Hon'ble Justice has taken
more than 17 years to dole out a report to please the ruling UPA!
Beyond this there is nothing to it and as somebody put it, this may
perhaps backfire on Congress and help BJP to resurrect itself from the
Ashes of Liberhan report. Beyond this, it is a total waste of
Parliament's time in allowing debate to enable MPS to call names of
each other. By discussing this report are we trying to get more
credentials for our democratic rule? Where is democracy in India when
genuine voters are not able to vote peacefully in a stage managed
election where goons take over the booths and votes are bought by
greasing the palms of the poor! In a way, all the money allocated for
NREGS and Rajiv Gandhi National Schemes are used to garner the poor
voters who otherwise are denied their needs. Further, these
discussions show how deeply we the majority community are divided
along caste and party lines and offer ourselves as easy prey to
terrorists from the neighboring countries. The amount spent on the
enquiry, its report and the discussion in parliament can be better
utilised for feeding the BPL people!
[9 Dec, 2009 1429hrs IST]

Feroz,Saudi Arabia,says:Yes, all of you should be punished including
Advani. In order to gain the popularity of the masses you cannot kill
the masses. Has any one of you realised what it means to loose a
member of your family-father-son-daughter etc, when it happens to you
then you will understand. Where were you when mass urders were going
on, sitting in an air-conditioned room and watching the TV. Have you
forgotten the scenes when Ladoos were distributed after the demolition
and patting on the back and hand shakes for a job well done. This is
inhuman act and genocide commited by leaders like you worse than what
Hitler did. You call yourself as educated, hang your heads in shame.
When the entire world is punishing the war criminals in India we
should punish the communal riots instigating leaders like Advani &
Vajpayee and their team of hooligans.
[9 Dec, 2009 1421hrs IST]

Sanatana Dharma,Bangalore,says:Naveed Miya, You said "That's the
reason why islam is a major religion in more than 50 countries whereas
Hinduism remains just in India and fading fast" Islam is a major
religion today because any TDH can accept this religion. Which fool on
earth will not accept this religion if there is a facility for cow
flesh eating, many wives, unwanted children, brainwashing saying will
get so many virgins in heaven after killing non islam followers. On
the contrary, hinduism or more clearlt sanatana dharma is an ocean and
eternal. Only in oceans pearls can be obtained. Here there is no scope
for flies/ants/pigs to be in the ocean. There requires special
qualification be become a hindu or a Brahmin. The qualifications are
no flesh eating, no gambling, no intoxicants and no illicit sex
relations, worshipping lord krishna (allah) to go back to spiritual
world. So it is not so easy even for a person born in hindu communtiy
today and what to speak of muslims and christians following these
Finally to clarify, any person though he may be a hindu/brahmin/sudra/
muslims/christians/chandala etc etc are eligible to follow sanatana
dharma irrespective of their castes or creed. Only the principle holds
good in sanatana dharma. Please follow sanatana dharma and make your
lives successfull.
[9 Dec, 2009 1418hrs IST]

G.RAMACHANDRAN,MUMBAI,says:Our ex-Prime Minister Mr.Narasimha Rao
shrewdly took away the life breath of the Bharatiya Janata Party by
allowing the Babri Masjid demolished. What more punishment is
Ms.Sushma Swaraj asking for?
[9 Dec, 2009 1414hrs IST]

Bibekananda Praharaj,Canada,says:This is really very sad that Humans
created by God are now trying to create God, if some one really
believes God how could they think of that even; creating a temple or
mosque was certainly not God's idea (if to believe Hindu religion) God
lives in our heart(sorry I do not know about others)so why do we need
a temple?? Do good to others God will be happy, I really do not know
if people still remembers this saying " serving to mankind is serving
to God". Please God come down to the earth to teach this dirty
politicians how to love people rather than dividing the society in the
name of God.
[9 Dec, 2009 1408hrs IST]

Rajeev Srivastava,Pune,says:Yes, punish those who are guilty. First
person should be PM, second Home Minister, Third UP CM, Fourth UP Home
Minister, Fifth ................... Why to do politics? Let Supreme
Court give the judgement and punish. It took 17 years and for
punishment it will take 100 years. By the time all these politicians
will be die. Goooooood, keep it up. Make commission like this in
future also.
[9 Dec, 2009 1400hrs IST]

Ramakrishna,Bangalore,says:Sushma is true. Congress and the Liberhan
both are non hindus and cannot understnad the Hindu feelings for the
nations and anational leaders like Ram. These cristian cultured people
who do not know, how to respect their elders will react like this
only. If it would have been in any other country, By now the A great
Ram temple would have been constructed in the same place, as a
national monument. Jai Sriram
[9 Dec, 2009 1346hrs IST]

Naveed,India,says:Sushma Swaraj claims that construction of Ram temple
was a mass movement, but I would say that demolishing the Babri masjid
was the sole intention of the BJP/VHP/RSS leaders as well as the
people involved. Once the masjid was demolished and the leaders gained
some sort of milage from the act, they stopped altogether calling for
the Ram temple. Why the BJP isn't showing the same intensity for the
Ram temple as it shown before the Babri masjid was demolished? Because
they know that Ram temple isn't anymore the trump card. Rajnath Singh
in the parliament said that no namaz was offered in Babri majid after
1936. well, what about before 1936? You lock the doors of the mosque,
you stop people from offering prayers there, you forcefully put idols
into the mosque and then say there was no namaz offered. Insn't that
silly? As far as those sick minded people putting-up filthy comments
againts islam, I request muslims not to react to them because Islam is
just too great and big religion to be affected by such filthy minds.
That's the reason why islam is a major religion in more than 50
countries whereas Hinduism remains just in India and fading fast.
[9 Dec, 2009 1343hrs IST]

Prakash Krishnan,Tanzania,says:It is waste of time for the country to
discuss about this issue at this point of time. The government has to
convene an all party leaders meeting and decide what to do at the
disputed site. We should bear in mind that it is also the duty of the
leaders of the Minority communities to maintain communal harmony in
the country.
[9 Dec, 2009 1339hrs IST]

S.R.Shrivastava,Ghaziabad,says:Congratulations Sushma Ji, what a gr8
speech in Lok Sabha. Ram Janambhoomi andolan is one of the biggest
mass movement in India. I support your views. Justice Liberhan
included Deoraha Baba in the report also. Baba, who died 2 yrs ago the
demolishing of the disputed structure. This proves that Liberhan's
report is a report made to favor certain political party and its far
beyond truth. Sushma Swaraj rightly said " khuda ke liye is report ko
kharij kijiye."
[9 Dec, 2009 1327hrs IST]

Manzoor Ali,Abu Dhabi,says:After reading all those comments, I felt
there is only one individual who really commented with conscience and
full of sense i.e. Anoop Aravind from Chennai said, "There is a
supernatural power in the universe / multiverse which made it nobody
knows who... you can't give it a name, you are not that great to name
it a single gods name. you are just a mere HUMAN..." Well done Anoop,
hats off to you! All other comments are worthless! All those dumbos
just sit and think, who are we to protect the Gods and their houses.
You are just a human and you protect your own house and look after
your loved ones and thats more than enough in this life. Religion and
Politics came to this world to prevail peace but you people fight and
kill each other in the name of God and politicians. God, save us from
this politician and I will take care of my country.
[9 Dec, 2009 1324hrs IST]

ANSAR,MANGALORE,says:SUSHMA SWARAJ JI DONT BE SO INNOCENT AND DONT TRY
TO PLAY WITH IMOTIONS OF PEOPLE AND SENTIMENT PEOPLE ARE GOOD ENOUGH
AWARE BY YOUR DIRTY POLITICS. (HUM DOODH KE DHULE HI HAME KUCH PATHA
NAHIN).
[9 Dec, 2009 1312hrs IST]

dileep ayachit,pune,says:We as divided Hindues and Seodo Secular
political leders are driving the nation in Wrong direction.In this
country minority is majority ,that governs the country.
[9 Dec, 2009 1250hrs IST]

Raj,Delhi,says:why talking abt babri masjid?? do people know how much
temples demolished all over the world including India after babri
masjid kand..why not an enquary commission for those temple. or one
masjid is stronger than all temples.
[9 Dec, 2009 1242hrs IST]

kool_boy,bihar,says:the govt should put a enquiry commission on
liberhan, y it took 17 yrs.. and the report for this report will come
in another 17 years.. thats the fate of our country.......
[9 Dec, 2009 1240hrs IST]

Sarvesh Kumar Dev,Pune,says:To those who think demolishing masjid was
wrong... Do they have courage to say that Muhammad demolishing the
PAGAN temple at MECCA after he defeated Quraish was also wrong? Why is
only one side expected to be tolerant? Why is other side not qustioned
for killing raping and destroying religious structures not questioned.
Why congress bowed down in case of Shah Bano case. Wasn't that against
constituion? We bow down to them because if fear they will bully us.
But more you bow to a bully more he bullies you.
[9 Dec, 2009 1218hrs IST]

jayaji,hamilton,says:Hindus cant rule:0(
[9 Dec, 2009 1214hrs IST]

H.R. Sreepada Bhagi,Erbil,says:First of all there should be an enquiry
to find out why it took 17 years with 48 extensions to prepare the
report (Whether to find out the truth should be left to ones
imagination) The question of punishment comes if the report is
accepted to be from the heart of justice & is not just a report for
keeping engaged after retirement with government facilities and
taxpayers money. When it comes to the question of demolition of
masjid, How it was built is also important. Why should we start just
from there and not from 1528AD when the Babri Masjid was built?. If
the majority population can't protect their own pride in the country,
then what else is possible. If the minority wants a peaceful &
harmonious life, they should identify themselves the majority instead
of confronting them. It's known fact that during partition of
undivided India, Hindus wwere pushed from Pakistan but the same was
not done to Muslims in India. It's also known to all those who have
read the Indian History that the muslim invaders have destroyed many
Hindu temples and sculptures all over the country. It can happen only
in India that the majority population is expected to sacrifice in
favour of the minority. It's another fact whatever our politicians do,
to whichever party belong is to meet their political ends and not with
love for the people or the country. had the pseudo secular media &
politicians kept quite, the issue would have been resolved among local
Hindus & Muslims long ago.
[9 Dec, 2009 1212hrs IST]

Sanatana Dharma,Bangalore,says:So Mr Editor, I am not at all surprised
for you not letting my statements published. I can understand your
incompetence. First of all i am sending these to educate your demoniac
mind. Start worshipping Krsna, start following Gita and make your life
successfull.
[9 Dec, 2009 1207hrs IST]

simran,mumbai,says:People and people who are politicians should
understand that Advani is not god.God just has a name. whom we call
GOD, ALLAH, ISHWAR,YESU but no one teaches us to kill others in the
name of god.neither the muslims are told to kill in the name of jihad
nor the hindus are told to kill others in the name of darm.Dont treat
Advani as God please and insult god.
[9 Dec, 2009 1157hrs IST]

AP,Bangalore,says:>> Salim Dar,Delhi,says:Why cannot congress
government prosecute these BJP/VHP/RSS/BD/SS/Kar-sevaks? They must be
hanged for insulting Allah. Jehad starts because no justice is being
done to muslim community in India. We only will settle till all the
hindu organizations are defeated and Koran prevails, as Allah ordered
to his followers. All Kafirs of BJP/VHP/RSS/BD/SS/kar-sevaks must be
punsihed per sharia. We ruled hindustan for seven centuries, and suhan
allah, we will continue it for another 14 centuries. This kind of
mentality made common man bring down Babri... This mindset needed to
be challenged and was done when Babri fell. No regrets.
[9 Dec, 2009 1152hrs IST]

Sanatana Dharma,Bangalore,says:Salim Dar, You want Koran to be
prevailed in India, the land of vedas? Stop day dreaming. Vedas and
Sanatana Dharma is eternal and no rogue elements like u can dismantle
it. It is like a big banyan tree. And btw, Koran is a smaller
dictionary compared to Bhagavath Gita or Srimad Bhagavatam. If you
have nerves under your belt, i challenge all the muslim brothers to
read Gita and you yourself will come to know the differrence and you
people's actual status. Oh pig headed brother, Gita says this world as
'Dukhalayam Asasvatam' meaning full of miseries and temporory. There
is no point in ruling 14 centuries or 400 centuries in a place where
there is misery and temporariness. This shows your depth of
understanding of your literature and we can understand your incomplete
knowledge. Stop killing and start worshipping cows. Start worshipping
Lord Krishna , who is none other than your allah you people call and
shout everyday looking at the sky. Proof for my statement is Gita
wherein the lord says, "Aham bija prada pitha" meaning i am the seed
giving father for all the living beings. Read Bhagavath Gita and make
use of this human life rather wasting like pigs in the drain.
[9 Dec, 2009 1151hrs IST]

Sanatana Dharma,Bangalore,says:Salim Dar, You want Koran to be
prevailed in India, the land of vedas? Stop day dreaming. Vedas and
Sanatana Dharma is eternal and no rogue elements like u can dismantle
it. It is like a big banyan tree. And btw, Koran is a smaller
dictionary compared to Bhagavath Gita or Srimad Bhagavatam. If you
have nerves under your belt, i challenge all the muslim brothers to
read Gita and you yourself will come to know the differrence and you
people's actual status. Oh pig headed brother, Gita says this world as
'Dukhalayam Asasvatam' meaning full of miseries and temporory. There
is no point in ruling 14 centuries or 400 centuries in a place where
there is misery and temporariness. This shows your depth of
understanding of your literature and we can understand your incomplete
knowledge. Stop killing and start worshipping cows. Start worshipping
Lord Krishna , who is none other than your allah you people call and
shout everyday looking at the sky. Proof for my statement is Gita
wherein the lord says, "Aham bija prada pitha" meaning i am the seed
giving father for all the living beings. Read Bhagavath Gita and make
use of this human life rather wasting like pigs in the drain.
[9 Dec, 2009 1151hrs IST]

Ashish Uffa,Ghaziabad,says:What happened at Ayodhiya was wrong, Sangh
should have taken muslims with them and arrived at an agreement. I am
sure that Muslims would have ,for sure, respected the feelings of
their Hindu brothers. What makes me feel disgusted is that in
Kashmir , hundreds of hindu temples were raised to ground in the last
20 years, humdreds of sufi dargahs were torched by fanatics, no body
raises a voice. Anantnag becomes Islamabad, Shankracharya hill becomes
Kohe- e - Sulaiman, Hari Parbat becomes kohe-e- maran , these so
called secular leaders does not even raise an eyebrow. Are we still
saying that we live in a secular country. SHAME ON US! and SHAME ON
CONGRESS!
[9 Dec, 2009 1146hrs IST]

Ashish Uffa,Ghaziabad,says:What happened at Ayodhiya was wrong, Sangh
should have taken muslims with them and arrived at an agreement. I am
sure that Muslims would have ,for sure, respected the feelings of
their Hindu brothers. What makes me feel disgusted is that in
Kashmir , hundreds of hindu temples were raised to ground in the last
20 years, humdreds of sufi dargahs were torched by fanatics, no body
raises a voice. Anantnag becomes Islamabad, Shankracharya hill becomes
Kohe- e - Sulaiman, Hari Parbat becomes kohe-e- maran , these so
called secular leaders does not even raise an eyebrow. Are we still
saying that we live in a secular country. SHAME ON US! and SHAME ON
CONGRESS!
[9 Dec, 2009 1146hrs IST]

Mohit Gupta,Delhi,says:Please, for Ram/Allah/Jesus/or what ever God
and religion you follow,stop this gory vote bank game,else it would
all be too late pressing the reverse button and undo the follies of
yours deeds in the name of god.People can think of their survival at
least,else they would fall prey to the mallicious fire of communal
riots that could be provoked by these acts of building Ram mandir or a
mosque at the disputed place.wounds of Indo Pak distribution are still
raw, we cant bear to face another. Also this time the intensity would
be unprecedented.Can the educated elites of our country do something
to prevent such event to happen.
[9 Dec, 2009 1144hrs IST]

Mohd. Younus,Hyderabad - Riyadh,says:RESPECTED EDITOR, PLEASE RELEASE
THIS MANDIR/MASJED, THANKS. PROBLEM IS NOT FROM PUBLIC !!!! IT IS
SELFISH POLITITIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD MAKING PROBLEMS. IN AN INDIAN
VILLAGE THERE IS A TEMPLE AND A MASJED IS LOCATED IN THE SAME PLACE,
THE MASJID WAS NOT ATTAINED BY MUSLIMS BECAUSE OF VERY LOW NUMBER OF
MUSLIMS IN THAT VILLAGE. BUT ONCE A TABLIGI JAMAAT VISIT THIS MOSQUE
AND START CLEANING THE MOSQUE AND WHAT HAPPENED ONE HINDU WORSHIPER
VISIT THE TEMPLE AND PUT THE LANTIN ON WITH FIRE AND THEN VISIT THE
MOSQUE AND ALSO PUT THE LANTIN WITH FIRE, WITH RESPECT THE PEOPLE ASK
THIS PUJARI WHAT YOU ARE DOING BROTHER, HE REPLIED I ASHMED TO GIVE
LIGHT IN THE TEMPLE AND TO LEAVE THE MOSQUE. INDIANS ARE UNITED AND
WORKING ABROAD AND GETTING RIYALS, DHIRMS, DINARS, PONDS AND DOLLER
FOR THEIR COUNTRY AND WE REQUEST THE POLITICIONS TO FEAR GOD AND NOT
TO USE THE RELIGION AS A VOTE BANK, AND REMEMBER THE DIVINE POWER WILL
TAKE REVANGE IF ANYONE OF US DO WRONG.
[9 Dec, 2009 1118hrs IST]

An Indian,india,says:for all the evils of the muslims throughout the
world there is only one answer that is to destroy them to dust. the
real problem of this world is the muslims and their destructive
mentality. many idiot muslims have commented to punish the hindu
leaders and their organisations on the basis of the idiotic sharia rule
(pig rule) as they believe that these people and organisations
insulted allah. i call these people the dirty product of the arabs
when they came to holiday in india. ask their mothers and grandmothers
who produced them and i bet they will have no answers. these bastards
do not know their roots and claim to be muslims when they really are
products of arab rapes. they call india kafirs in the tone of the
stupid arabs, but they feel shame to identify their own culture. all
this is oil money playing games. once this is over everything will be
back to squre one. with camel milk and donkey back ride the arabs will
go back to stone age and their dear followers around will like their
ass. to end hats off to sushma for her valor. may the day come when
each and every indian (non muslim) raise against these dirt called
islam and destroy it and kick it out of our holy land. may lord ram
give us the power to do so. jai hind. jai sree ram.
[9 Dec, 2009 1108hrs IST]

Vaid S C K,Bhilwara,says:Continuance of Babri issue shows how pseudo
morals we advocate. In pluralistic society, we must learn respecting
every community sensitivities irrespective of minority or majority
tag. In this case, Ram is worshipped by almsot all hindus who
constitute 80% population but is also respected by world for the high
ideals he practised. So, Muslims should have shown generousity towards
Hindus and had not chosen to make hindu-muslim dispute. Hindus, in
return, are willing to construct great mosque for them. It is
unfortunate that congress like parties have been exploting this issue
for so long and sowing seeds of suspicion and distrust.
[9 Dec, 2009 1053hrs IST]

Anoop Aravind,Chennai,says:This is the last statement any criminal
will give after he/she finds out that people have come to know and it
will be proved without any difficulty that what he/she did was wrong
and there is no way to avoid a punishment. This statement of a
national party worker like Mrs. Swaraj is something like a child
saying "OK, i broke the glass dad, give me whatever punishment you
want" and when the mom hears it her heart melts and if the dad raises
a hand she yells back to defend her child. who was so courageous to
admit his mistake. This is what will happen if this statement of hers
is not handled properly and a detailed mass communication is not made
regarding the report in front of national television and others as to
what the report actually says. Those who demolished a structure saying
reasons of religion can't be denied punishment. There are many more
issues like poverty.... and people want to fight over religion. This
is very sad. Try to understand religion was made for feeling warmth, a
shoulder to cry on when noone else hears you. It was man made
consoling system for the good of man. Everyone invented his or her
deity, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists Sikhs whoever. IT was
never meant to make people fight. There is a supernatural power in the
universe / multiverse which made it nobody knows who... you can't give
it a name, you are not that great to name it a single gods name. you
are just a mere HUMAN... so be like that, and respect nature.....
respect every culture and its beliefs. because a belief saves a life.
so believe what YOU want to, not to shatter others for your sake.
JAIHIND, love earth, respect the SUPERNATURAL , THE ONE.
[9 Dec, 2009 1033hrs IST]

Nasir Khan,Hyderabad,says:Why BJP or Sangh parivars affiliates always
trying to threat Muslims in the name of communal riots! They already
made a system in which muslims being tortured physically and morally
in taking our lives, looting or burning our properties and dis-
hanouring our women in stripping and walking in the streets as done in
surat in Gujarats and else where and later booking our youths under
various IPC anti national laws in ending their carrier. You think in
doing so with the help of massess is a great and brave act, affcouse
not and Shame on you. We know that there will never be a communal
riots in country without government or political party blessings to
divert public attention from major issues such as corruption etc. to
cover their black faces making we muslims as scapegoats.
[9 Dec, 2009 1027hrs IST]

Nasir Khan,Hyderabad,says:Why BJP or Sangh parivars affiliates always
trying to threat Muslims in the name of communal riots! They already
made a system in which muslims being tortured physically and morally
in taking our lives, looting or burning our properties and dis-
hanouring our women in stripping and walking in the streets as done in
surat in Gujarats and else where and later booking our youths under
various IPC anti national laws in ending their carrier. You think in
doing so with the help of massess is a great and brave act, affcouse
not and Shame on you. We know that there will never be a communal
riots in country without government or political party blessings to
divert public attention from major issues such as corruption etc. to
cover their black faces making we muslims as scapegoats.
[9 Dec, 2009 1027hrs IST]

Manish,Hyderabad,says:"Beshaq mandir Masjid Todo.... Par Pyar Bhara
Dil Kabhi na Todo... Is Dil main Ishwar/Khuda Rahta...." If only this
can be implemented then no one will fight for Temple of Mosque. Let
There be a building with all Ram - Raheem in it.... Our Politicians
Please, do not create a sense of Sudo Self respect in the name of God
and divide the country and it's nationals... I would not like to pray
at a place for which genocide has been committed... Will You?
[9 Dec, 2009 1004hrs IST]

Siva,TN,says:Libharan report are gold mine for BJP growth,Such report
are essential for BJP which is stagnent and disappointed, But this
report are going to back fire congress which is below bar just ahead
of BJP just because of their seat in andhra/Tamil nadu and BSP capture
of BJP basin UP. The casteism in UP has spoiled the chances of BJP and
UP brahmin should come back to BJP fold for the nations welfare.In
Mumbai attack Mahesh Bhatt family also involved knowingly or
unknowingly congress has to punish him group along with HR activist
Telesta.
[9 Dec, 2009 0958hrs IST]

narayana,muscat,says:all pseudo secular traitorous activities of
pseudo demcratic congress must be put a full stop and all pseudo
secular traitotrs either extradited or eliminated. Nothing less will
do. Liberhan is now clearly a part of thistraitor gang. People of
india of all religions - raise up and eliminate these pseudo secualr
traitors before they destroy the country using religion as vote weapon
[9 Dec, 2009 0935hrs IST]

navaid iqbal,perth,australia,says:hi! the report revealed wicked or
mischievous intentions of the mind to do a wrongful act without just
cause or excuse; disregarding the rights or safety of others ,was this
the preaching or will of god !
[9 Dec, 2009 0933hrs IST]

navaid iqbal,perth,australia,says:hi! deputy leader of
opposition ,some of yours instigate genocide in name of god, other
change the adjudicators to hide the truth and you want the truth to be
dumped . what you people want this country to be ,it is the land of
mahatma gandhi , who had fought for noble cause with simple means(no
genocide) and proved himself with incredible results . THATS
LEADERSHIP !!
[9 Dec, 2009 0913hrs IST]

navaid iqbal,perth,australia,says:hi! deputy leader of
opposition ,some of yours instigate genocide in name of god, other
change the adjudicators to hide the truth and you want the truth to be
dumped . what you people want this country to be ,it is the land of
mahatma gandhi , who had fought for noble cause with simple means(no
genocide) and proved himself with incredible results . THATS
LEADERSHIP !!
[9 Dec, 2009 0913hrs IST]

Som Karamchetty,USA,says:It is time that India moved beyond these
problems and commissions. Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians,
Sikhs, and people of other religions will have to evolve amicable
solutions. There appears to be a strong desire to build the Ram temple
as well as the Babri Masjid. Perhaps, there are many other religious
structures that need to be rebuilt or expanded. Politicians, business
people, and common folks will have to chip in and decide on the most
sacred places approximately in the proportion of population (about
eighty for Hindus, ten for Muslims, two each for Buddhists, Sikhs and
Christians, one each for other religions). As brothers and neighbors,
accommodate one another while allowing sufficient space for religious
ceremonies and engagements. Indians should look at religious
structures as foreign tourist attractions for people of those
religions. A Babri Masjid built at a different place with modern
amenities and deep reverence can generate enormous goodwill for the
Indian Muslim community and can be promoted as a symbol of religious
tolerance. India can pay for such a structure.
[9 Dec, 2009 0853hrs IST]

Milind Kher,Mumbai,says:Sushma Swaraj can speak all these words
because she knows the government can do nothing to her. What is
amazing is that inspite of the massive mandate it has, it can do
nothing against these troublemakers who want to communally divide the
country,
[9 Dec, 2009 0843hrs IST]

Anonymous,USA,says:Sangh Parivar, VHP and Bajrang Dal are no better
than the terrorists only difference is that these groups are trying to
destroy the harmony and peace of their own country. India is the
country of diversity , a country which is has all the religions of the
world. Common people of India wake up , forget these stupid things.
Grow up and divert your attention to real world problems or else we
are developing nation and in another 150 years we will still remain a
developing nation. Politicians don't want the country to develop, they
just want the seat, the power and inflow of money,
[9 Dec, 2009 0814hrs IST]

B.Lal,Canada,says:National Anthem daily Prayer "Vande Mataram" all
Female Goddesses nullifies Babri Mosque location Hindu Male God
Ram.Besides Real god who created universe and all its content has a
different concept than recent borns Hindu Religion Gods and goddesses
it seem.Is my understanding of Ram God being born in Babri Location is
wrong info?
[9 Dec, 2009 0707hrs IST]

Dipankar Chaudhuri,Kolkata,says:This is going to be the slap on the
face of the government. Can the govt take the step for punitive
action ?. Sushma was the only lady who said that if Mrs Sonia Gandhi
becomes the Prime Minister (as a lady of foreign origin) she will
tonsure her head and boycott the parliament. So when she challenges it
should be taken with great deal of weightage. Further upto a certain
limit Hindus are tolerant and takes politics not for the sake of
principle but other extraneous purpose but once that limit crosses
they become the most brutal people as is evident from the riots of
pasts. So it is for the best interest of the country not to pursue
this matter any further and drop similarly as Bofors issue was
dropped.
[9 Dec, 2009 0707hrs IST]

Sharad,US,says:Its a shame that we have people movement for the sake
of building a temple. After Babur destroyed the temple hundreds of
years ago, neither did our God's stature go down nor was Hindu way of
life denegrated. Though I personally strongly feel that muslims should
have given that structure away and built a mosque elsewhere and not
causing any problem, I am really shamed that our leaders want to make
temple construction a peoples' national movement when 50% of the
population does not get proper wanter to drink or have access to basic
sanitation facilities. Education and health care are far far away.
Corruption is at its worst and India does not command any
international respect considering that every 6th person in the world
is an India. Today the world cannot give India a place in security
council. India is considered a napunsak state by our neighbours and
dare to mount any attack and even considered attacking the parliament
and were close to success in their mission. Indian government cannot
take steps to save its own citizens from getting beaten for taking up
recruitment examinations, anyone can pass fatwa against the national
song and nothing happens. We need national leaders today who can bring
up these larger issues which can give Indians a reason to be proud of
our country in the present context and not sing laurels of the Gupta
dynasty or earlier achievements.
[9 Dec, 2009 0637hrs IST]

Salim Dar,Delhi,says:Why cannot congress government prosecute these
BJP/VHP/RSS/BD/SS/Kar-sevaks? They must be hanged for insulting Allah.
Jehad starts because no justice is being done to muslim community in
India. We only will settle till all the hindu organizations are
defeated and Koran prevails, as Allah ordered to his followers. All
Kafirs of BJP/VHP/RSS/BD/SS/kar-sevaks must be punsihed per sharia. We
ruled hindustan for seven centuries, and suhan allah, we will continue
it for another 14 centuries.
[9 Dec, 2009 0614hrs IST]

Karan,India,says:Punish them...if there is anything like law in india,
punish them so these jahil leaders have time to understand what they
have done.
[9 Dec, 2009 0603hrs IST]

Rahul Gowda,Dallas TX USA,says:TIME is UP TO TONSURE SUSHMA SWARAJ
HEAD !!!!! I remember after 2004 General Elections , then Congress
president Sonia gandhi was thinking of claiming to form the Govt under
her leadership. Then there was so much of drama created by Sushma
swaraj saying that if sonia Gandhi ever becomes PM ,she will tonsure
her head. But the way Mrs Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi
behaved all these days was a big slap on this corrupt woman Suhma
swaraj, Added to that in this year general elections people of India
have voted out these communal people like L k Advani and corrupt
politician like Sushma swaraj into dustbin. Sushma swaraj boasts
herself as messiah of India's age old tradition, culture, ethos..But
look at her associations!!! She calls Karnataka's Mining MAFIAS REDDY
brothers as SONS.. These reddy brothers loot India's natural resources
and will go to an extent of hijacking the democracy in karnataka by
trying to topple Popular Yediyurappa Govt. But for Sushma Swaraj this
is okay becuase she gets huge money from these illegal Mining mafia
REDDY brothers. Also what shocked was the way Sushma swaraj rebuked
Karnataka CM yediyurappa infront of the media shows that how she is
morally , politically corrupted by Mining Mafias. Now time is right
for people of india to TONSURE Sushma swaraj head and tell her to
learn some ethics from SONIA GANDHI AND RAHUL GANDHi!!!!
[9 Dec, 2009 0536hrs IST]

Rahul Gowda,dallas TX,says:Let me deviate from this burning issue and
lets talk about Sushma Swaraj first.I always thought that this she is
one heck of a great lady truly representing India's ethos. But her
real face was out last month when she triggered Mining Mafia REDDY
brothers to revolt against Karnataka CM Yediyurappa. Its no big secret
these days that Sushma swaraj gets huge bounty from Reddy brothers and
she happily characterizes this as an affair between Mother and Sons.
Shame on you sushma swaraj for playing all these dirty tricks and you
have lost all that respect and love karnataka people rendered to you
all these days. But unfortunately like other politicians you too have
shown that your livelihood is being taken care by Reddy Minig
mafias.Its bolt on your career to come out openly and tell the whole
world that Yediyurappa needs to amend his behavior in the future. If
not for yediyurappa BJP in karntaka would have been thrown into
dustbin in the last election. i was great supporter of vajpayee and
its sad to see that party of his class has been denigrated by people
like YOU and impotent L K Advani. If RSS relies on morally ,
politically corrupt people like YOU , ANATHKUMAR and L K Advani , then
RSS must stop dreaming of having another BJP govt anytime in the
future. If you have any shame, dissociate from REDDY brothers and ask
karnataka CM to order CBI enquiry into Illegal mining by REDDY's OR
else you will go down the history as someone brought out by REDDY's
for few more BUCKS!
[9 Dec, 2009 0509hrs IST]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punish-us-if-you-must-Sushma-Swaraj/articleshow/5317003.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 9:24:06 AM12/9/09
to
Cong not ready to give Vajpayee clean chit after all
TNN 9 December 2009, 02:07am IST

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday rolled back its view that Atal
Bihari Vajpayee's name could be dropped from the list of persons
culpable for Babri demolition, with the party saying that it stood by
the Liberhan Commission report.

AICC spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters that minority affairs
minister Salman Khursheed had not said anything to suggest that
government felt Vajpayee was not involved in the events leading to the
demolition.

Ahmed said, "Congress has no reasons to disagree with the findings of
Liberhan Commission."

When reminded that Khursheed told Lok Sabha on Monday that Vajpayee's
name could be dropped when faced with angry protests from BJP benches,
Ahmed said, "There may be factual errors (like the mention of Deoraha
Baba or Jagdambika Pal) but we stand by the substantive findings."

2 Comments

I think PM, HM and Defence Ministers of that time should have stopped
Babri Masjid falling under terrorist hands. Though BJP members were
supports and architect for this move, Govt. of that time shou| Read
By SHOUKAT FIRFIRAY on 09/12/2009 at 01:52 pm

Since independence, India had several commissions for various
enquiry / fact finding. But none had yielded any positive results.
This is because most of these were politically motivated rather than
fi| Read
By Viswanath on 09/12/2009 at 01:43 pm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cong-not-ready-to-give-Vajpayee-clean-chit-after-all/articleshow/5316550.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 9:30:49 AM12/9/09
to
Babri demolition was pre-planned, cold-blooded act: Chidambaram
PTI 8 December 2009, 08:12pm IST


NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday asserted in the Lok Sabha that the


demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya was a "pre-planned and
cold-blooded" act conducted by the Sangh Parivar, and BJP leaders like
L K Advani and M M Joshi cannot escape responsibility.

Replying to a heated debate on the Liberhan Commisison report, home
minister P Chidambaram said the kar sevaks from various states and


logistical support had been mobilised with the "sole intention" of
destroying the structure.

Singling out then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh for his


attack amid constant slogan-shouting by NDA members, Chidambaram said
the state government had "lied" to the Centre, the Supreme Court and
the National Integration Council that the structure would be
protected.

Regretting that the then P V Narasimha Rao government had made a
"wrong political judgment", he said it was based on the promises of

the state government. "The promises made by the BJP were completely
false .... to induce us in a state of optimistic slumber."

Giving elaborate details on the manner the structure was pulled down
by kar sevaks, he said it showed that the entire act was "pre-planned,
wanton, conspiratorial and cold-blooded destruction".

Chidambaram said Advani and Joshi made "feeble" attempts to stop the
activists, which indicated a "hidden" intent of complicity.

The home minister said Advani and Joshi had a held a closed door
meeting with Vinay Katiyar, Ashok Singhal and other Sangh Parivar
leaders on the morning of December 6, 1992, about which there is no
account.

"I want to ask them what did you talk, what did you discuss, what did
you decide. You had breakfast and then proceeded to the place (Ayodhya
site). Tell us, tell the nation what did you discuss and decide on
that morning," he said referring to Advani and Joshi who were not
present in the House.

Throughout his hour-long speech, BJP and Shiv Sena members continued
shouting slogans hailing Atal Bihari Vajpayee, against whom Congress
member Beni Prasad Verma had made certain demeaning remarks.

Amid cries of 'shame, shame' from treasury benches, Chidambaram said
he had thought that after Liberhan report, the RSS and BJP would be
remorseful. "But they have no remorse, no shame."

He said the "horrendous consequences" of the demolition led to
communal riots from December 1992 to March 1993, which claimed 2,019
lives. "It continues to divide our country even today."

Hitting out at BJP, he said its "idea of India" which entails
"divisive politics" was rejected by the people in 2004 and again in
2009. "That verdict is greater than Liberhan (indictment)."

Readers' OpinionsComment

Babri demolition was pre-planned, cold-blooded act: Chidambaram

LK Advani(The iron man of india),Delhi,says:Sad to hear that People
are supporting barbarians like RSS,VHP,BJP etc. These ppl are equal to
terrorists like afzal guru,kasab.Hang these ppl in public along with
the terrorists sent by other countries. For every ones info
Ramayan,Geeta and Mahabharat are mythologies(not reality).Super hit
stories written by poets and saints..They are like super hit movies of
our times,something like a sholay,don,janjeer etc.Also the characters
in the epics like ram,krishna etc are like our heroes like
amitabh,shahrukh,salman,hrithik etc.Nothing more than that.As we dont
have movies at that time these stories became big hits. So ppl dont
fight for such man made heroes or the fictious characters. We beleive
in hero worship and dats the reason y we were ruled by
muslims,europeans in the entire history. India will never change. I
BEING A HINDU SAYING ALL THIS AS IAM AN INDIAN BEFORE A HINDU lONG
LIVE INDIA
[9 Dec, 2009 1311hrs IST]

rohit...@yahoo.com,New Delhi,says: they all are responsible for poor
condition of India, from nehru to all his bloody preceeders. If India
& people of India want to see good days in future, they all should
pumish congress and alliance by stoned to death in public. Jai Hind
[9 Dec, 2009 1237hrs IST]

Rehaan,Mumbai, India,says:How can someone know that under babri masjid
there was a scared place for hindus? This is all bullshit and all
preplanned by the Hindu extremists supported by USA. The muslim were
never liked by Hindus or even the whole world because Muslims could
become a population threat for all the religions. Now people are
saying that it has been demolished why talk about it now..this is all
bloody damm politics. I think in the inner side Hindus wants all the
Muslims out from India from the beginning and is a slow poison for the
Muslims...Hindus stop fooling around with these coward acts... muslims
have understood but dont say anything, but that dosent mean that
advantage should be taken. Get your acts straight!!!
[9 Dec, 2009 1139hrs IST]

Nikhil,Hyderabad,says:What's so cold-blooded about the destruction,
Mr. Chidambaram?
[9 Dec, 2009 1132hrs IST]

Mahaveer,Delhi,says:I think there are lot of other issues to be
worried about. China is not allowing roads to be built in Indian
Borders( which became Indian border after China occupied huge
territory of Askai Chin in Sino-Indian War of 1962?) Why Indian Govt.
(Congress takes such as dumb stance again foreign policies). Had it
been Vajpayee like person he would have thrown them out in 1962? But
what does a govt. driven by people who are not even of Indain Origin
know about the loss of pride to millions of Indian when China occupied
India and now depriving India of DEVELOPMENT by preventing Infra
building exercise and spreading NAXALISM with the help of Communist
parties in India(again allies of GOOD OLD CONGRESS). Thanks to
congress for allowing foreign powers to destroy Indian, Indian
Culture, Indian Values and Indian People....... When would you learn
that the real threat is not from within but its from CHINA
[9 Dec, 2009 1035hrs IST]

Mahaveer,Delhi,says:Get a life Mr. Chidambram ji. Congress was and is
equally responsible to bring that divide in various religons of India.
[9 Dec, 2009 0620hrs IST]

Sundeep,Gupta,says:"Everything is planned". I have heard this tag line
in a bollywood movie few years ago and the dialogue which is turned
out to be true some how here when Home minister made such a statement.
We can not deny that such event could not be commenced without
someone's governance as it did have a leader with bad political
consciences.
[9 Dec, 2009 0424hrs IST]

neeraj,UK,says:Pre-planned, cold-blooded act: If Babri Masjid was
that, what was Swarn Mandir, what was congress leadership dabbling
with LTTE and what was Anti Hindi movement fomented by erstwhile
congress leadership in Southern part of India, what is not acting on
Naxals in spite of regular killings. Look up the statistics...number
of communal rights that took place during congress rule and in
congress ruled state, it never happened in any of the BJP ruled
states. It is the congress that has always pre-planned and cold
blooded 'divide and rule' policy with Indian population. They never
had a vision for the country except one - somehow grab and hold on to
power.
[9 Dec, 2009 0416hrs IST]

Kootala Raman,New Delhi,says:Congress Party should be voted out.. They
are building corruption, inefficiency, minority worship and no
transparency and demolishing Hindus and Hindu values. I am surprised
why the majority not getting united to vote this government out. I
challenge Mr Chidambaram to walk alone in majority areas of Muslims in
Delhi incognito or arrest Naib Imam of Jama Masjid Delhi for his anti
national activities.
[9 Dec, 2009 0326hrs IST]

Deepak,USA,says:Whoever did this has only carried out mandate of
millions of Indians. By the way, who is Babar? A foreign intruder. Why
someone be so interested in preserving a building made after his name?
Eveery day mosqes are demolished in Muslim cuntries for road
wiedening. In Pakistan shia and sunnies domolish each others mosque.
What is a bib deal about babri? Ram jalma bhoomi is unique to all
hindus. but congress is always half muslim. Ramji help them.


[9 Dec, 2009 0235hrs IST]

ISHRAT HUSAIN,PHOENIX (ARIZONA),says:Any comment/view on the matter
only is relevant,which speaks with in the frame work of the
constitution and the democracy and any thing beyond is nothing but
irrelevant/trash and no cognizance must be given to that.However who
speaks beyond that would not be able to carry their points to
substance/relevance.We are for the good of the country and we all must
be alive to see the points in righteousness as our country never
demands any thing but good.Could I ask a very valid question-HAS OUR
COUNTRY EVER DEMANDED LESS THAN FAIRNESS,PONDER OVER IT YOU WOULD GET
THE ANSWER!!.NO!!!! Come on we are on the march to progress and
becoming number 1 cricket team in the world is the movement we push
further in all walks of the field. i ask those falling below that


[9 Dec, 2009 0235hrs IST]

ISHRAT HUSAIN,PHOENIX (ARIZONA),says:Any comment/view on the matter
only is relevant,which speaks with in the frame work of the
constitution and the democracy and any thing beyond is nothing but
irrelevant/trash and no cognizance must be given to that.However who
speaks beyond that would not be able to carry their points to
substance/relevance.We are for the good of the country and we all must
be alive to see the points in righteousness as our country never
demands any thing but good.Could I ask a very valid question-HAS OUR
COUNTRY EVER DEMANDED LESS THAN FAIRNESS,PONDER OVER IT YOU WOULD GET
THE ANSWER!!.NO!!!! Come on we are on the march to progress and
becoming number 1 cricket team in the world is the movement we push
further in all walks of the field. i ask those falling below that


[9 Dec, 2009 0235hrs IST]

ISHRAT HUSAIN,PHOENIX (ARIZONA),says:Any comment/view on the matter
only is relevant,which speaks with in the frame work of the
constitution and the democracy and any thing beyond is nothing but
irrelevant/trash and no cognizance must be given to that.However who
speaks beyond that would not be able to carry their points to
substance/relevance.We are for the good of the country and we all must
be alive to see the points in righteousness as our country never
demands any thing but good.Could I ask a very valid question-HAS OUR
COUNTRY EVER DEMANDED LESS THAN FAIRNESS,PONDER OVER IT YOU WOULD GET
THE ANSWER!!.NO!!!! Come on we are on the march to progress and
becoming number 1 cricket team in the world is the movement we push
further in all walks of the field. i ask those falling below that


[9 Dec, 2009 0235hrs IST]

ISHRAT HUSAIN,PHOENIX (ARIZONA),says:Any comment/view on the matter
only is relevant,which speaks with in the frame work of the
constitution and the democracy and any thing beyond is nothing but
irrelevant/trash and no cognizance must be given to that.However who
speaks beyond that would not be able to carry their points to
substance/relevance.We are for the good of the country and we all must
be alive to see the points in righteousness as our country never
demands any thing but good.Could I ask a very valid question-HAS OUR
COUNTRY EVER DEMANDED LESS THAN FAIRNESS,PONDER OVER IT YOU WOULD GET
THE ANSWER!!.NO!!!! Come on we are on the march to progress and
becoming number 1 cricket team in the world is the movement we push
further in all walks of the field. i ask those falling below that


[9 Dec, 2009 0235hrs IST]

ISHRAT HUSAIN,PHOENIX (ARIZONA),says:Any comment/view on the matter
only is relevant,which speaks with in the frame work of the
constitution and the democracy and any thing beyond is nothing but
irrelevant/trash and no cognizance must be given to that.However who
speaks beyond that would not be able to carry their points to
substance/relevance.We are for the good of the country and we all must
be alive to see the points in righteousness as our country never
demands any thing but good.Could I ask a very valid question-HAS OUR
COUNTRY EVER DEMANDED LESS THAN FAIRNESS,PONDER OVER IT YOU WOULD GET
THE ANSWER!!.NO!!!! Come on we are on the march to progress and
becoming number 1 cricket team in the world is the movement we push
further in all walks of the field. i ask those falling below that


[9 Dec, 2009 0235hrs IST]

RM,Ujn,says:Ramesh,London,says:"Gods don't do that".... Well
Ramesh,are you God's personal secretary or what?
[9 Dec, 2009 0232hrs IST]

Indian,Delhi,says:These BJP/RSS leaders have created public euphoria
over mythological stories just to serve their malafide political
purpose of dividing people on religious ground and garnering votes of
fundamentalist hindus. These people should be tried for the murder of
INDIANS in post Babri masjid demolition riots and treated as people
like Afzal guru.


[9 Dec, 2009 0227hrs IST]

Hindustani,Hindustan,says:Jai Hind ! This is the shinning India that
we try to show off about. The modern India, the developing India, the
worlds largest Democracy. Is it really fair to call India a
democracy ? We have Hindus and Muslims fighting each other. When the
Hindus are not fighting the Muslims or breaking down mosques, they
feel they are not being a part of the modern world, no one is giving
them attention, so just like attention seeking children, they are out
buring Christian priests and churches. What do we have in India to be
proud of ? Indians are proud of the things that they have inherited
from the western world, proud that they can break churches and
mosques, and there is no law to do anything to them. Indians again are
proud that we have one of the most ocrrupt governments and most
corrupt police forces in the world. This is what we Indians need to be
proud of. We take pride in saying we are leaders in technology,
ofcourse which is there only to cater to the western world, we dont
have anything to give to our poor starving Indian brothers and sisters
in India. You have politicians raping and killing and they are all
above the law. Keep this going, thats what we are proud of. Jai Hind.
This is our culture.


[9 Dec, 2009 0227hrs IST]

Syed,USA,says:The Masjid was demolished so many years ago,it was the
intention to do that.I do not understand why now this has become issue
now,no one can bring the old building back nor the people who were
involved can and should be punished.It make no difference.God is every
where not necessary in special place.If Hindus believe the place
belonged to them let it be.The whole India belongs to Indians so why
fight.I say this is waste of time of politicians/nespapers/people and
whole India.
[9 Dec, 2009 0059hrs IST]

Kamalesh Sharda,`Toronto,says:Congress Party has made The Liberhan
Report into a political stick with which it wants to score points over
the NDA. The matter of the demolished temple by Babri forces and now
the demolished structure by frustrated angry crowds is still not
resloved. Rather than create conditions for a negotiated settlement,
the Home Minister is making statements to appease the Muslim Community
for block votes targetting the next elections in UP and the rest of
the country. With their strategy of exploiting the Muslim sentiment
and ignoring the Hindu sentiment, the Government is playing devisive
politics to the detriment of India. India is secular because Hindu is
secular. Continuation of the selective appeacement policies may result
in redefining the ' secular ' nature of the majority of people of
India. Treat all citizens of India equally and talk in terms of
Indians only then over period of time a new proud India will emerge.
[9 Dec, 2009 0036hrs IST]

msingh,canada,says:Mr Indian Hindu, India You said 99 beimaan, are you
counting yourself in 99 or you are the 1 out of 100 around you ! Dont
be idiot, as It has been long time strategy of congress that has led
division in society in Country. Why would one get admission in Engg
college or Medical because he is Muslim ? Why cant it be open to
everyone based on Merit, and then if 100% seats goes to Muslims, noone
would complain.. My issues and everyone's issues are making sense,
only thing is your sense of humor is not at that level, that you can
distinguish between what is right or wrong, If you are such a great
person, get visa to pakistan and spend 1 yr wth your family, i am sure
you will be the first one to comment in our waves after that. If
congress minister is so great, then they should get sarabjit sigh who
is dieng in pakistani jails. People likeyou are coward and we dont
need such hindu's Jai Sri Ram.


[9 Dec, 2009 0032hrs IST]

Nick,India,says:Whether the optimistic slumber in which Congress was
induced by the then UP Govt. was by convenience of PVR??? Questions
can be raised on numerous such arguments put by PC or whatever is
mentioned in the Liberhan report. Congress has always used
situations,reports,commissions for its own political interest and
divided the country for its sheer lust of chair....that goes only to
the scion of their first family. The BJP on the other hand has atleast
represented the feelings of the majority.Demolition of the structure
was a result of unrest in the people due to policies of the congress.
[9 Dec, 2009 0027hrs IST]

Shreeharsha,Bangalore,says:justice liberran, after 6036 days of
pregnancy, delivered a baby which is totally handicapped... may be
because many sickularists from congress, leftists, JNU
intelectuals,and even from english media in this country tried to
father this Baby... it is classic case of 'too many cooks spoil
the .....???? !! Chidu is trying too hard to prove that it is legally
borned baby
[9 Dec, 2009 0026hrs IST]

Rahool,Mumbai,says:Why are we always like this? Babri Mosque is
already demolished. Why are we wasting time in this crappy
discussions. Even Muslims have accepted the fact that by discussing or
playing this blame game, we are not going to get the Mosque back. So,
let's all move on and do something creative!!!
[9 Dec, 2009 0024hrs IST]

Ranjan Singh,Noida,says:I donot understand what these bloody so called
contractors fo Hinduism wanted to tell by stating that they have taken
revenge by demolishing a Masjid.I donot know in the first instance
whether there was a mandir or not and even if it was there, isnt it an
act of a coward to demolish a mosque..Where were you guys or your
ancestors, when some invaders invaded your country and demolished one
of your so called shirnes..Man...Move on..Those who commited the crime
let them face what they deserve for creating a havoc in the country.
there are so many other issues to tackle with other than standing for
hollow hinduism or for any other sect... We are a country where in we
live with so many diverse cultures..We need to respect all other
cultures and as a larger section of the society it is our duty to take
care of others and ensure that they donot lag behind us otherwise it
will again create friction among the society as a whole..
[9 Dec, 2009 0023hrs IST]

Mohammed Irfan,Saudi Arabia,says:Let's not divide India in terms of
Religions - INDIA always been a culture a diverse Culture and showed
intergrity. Why don't we remembers when we all religions stand
together and stand against Britishes as Partriot - there are no
muslims or hindus but we stand together as ONE for our country. If
mughal ruled india for 700 years and they force Islam or to be muslim
on point of Sword , 700 years are more than enough to convert, but
today it's not the fact - you can see the fact in numbers- which is
definately a fact that mughals - they didn't force. Today Majority are
our hindu religion and believers compare to muslims. So, lets not
become beit for the politicians here - but stand together regardless
of religion , color or any racism - Stand as ONE " WE INDIANS" Lets
respect each Other as human being first.
[9 Dec, 2009 0010hrs IST]

Mohammed Fareeduddin Siddique,Hyderabad AP ,says:There are many
questions in our minds now... Since our government has now accepted
the guilt that it was a deleberate pre-planned, cold-blooded act. Now,
what? Will our government apologize for this? Will our government
rebuild it? Will they restore the supremacy of our supreme courts
status-quo order? Last but not least .. who removed the demolished
Babri Masjid and made it a clean ground after the Barbarous act..? The
SC order was in effect even after demolition.. Clean Grounds for
what .. Grounds to build a temple? Minor criminals are being put
behind bars for their monor crimes, why are the culprits of this pre-
planned, cold-blooded act still flourishing free in our country? Or is
this a new gimmick of our government for a pre-planned, cold-blooded
act of communal voilence in store for us - the innocent civilians &
common man? Is the time ripe now, since the LC report is out, it is
good time to use this issue again to gain new political mileage for
all parties? Where are we heading to - Food crisis, Economic Crisis,
Political Crisis, Joblessness crisis.. what more do we await with this
LC report? How much more the common man will be pushed to face and
sustain in our society? Did we learn enough lessons from our communal
past?
[9 Dec, 2009 0009hrs IST]

Rahool,Mumbai,says:Why are we always like this? Babri Mosque is
already demolished. Why are we wasting time in this crappy
discussions. Even Muslims have accepted the fact that by discussing or
playing this blame game, we are not going to get the Mosque back. So,
let's all move on and do something creative!!!
[9 Dec, 2009 0008hrs IST]

Manik,London,says:Mr. Home minister do you have the same courage to
say the attack on Godhra train, ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri pandits
and many more instances were cold blooded and planned? I dare you "DO
YOU HAVE COURAGE TO SAY THIS?"
[9 Dec, 2009 0003hrs IST]

msingh,canada,says:In response to comments by "Rafay,Karachi", Please
mind your own business in pakistan and better stay away from Indian
motherland, otherwise 1972 and Kargil will be repeated in a worst than
ever way, to wipe out the problem state of pakistan from map of world.
-Jai Hind
[8 Dec, 2009 2357hrs IST]

Subhash ,Mumbai ,says:War is always planned and this kind of act of
peoples movement is not a unplanned event. Seventeen years , Justice
Liberhan has spent only to find out one truth which millions of Indian
knows that it was a planned event. The several debates took place on
Liberhan report on Demolition. The disputed land/structure has never
been such a symbolic issue. Political will and its roots has become
opportunistic and over a period the political symbolism in our mindset
has changed to a most hatred word. The synergy which was required over
a period was to sit with both the religious respected groups and
planned the harmony required between two. None of the effort has been
seen over a period by anyone in this political arena.
[8 Dec, 2009 2351hrs IST]

saurabh,hyderabad,says:NO party is clean.Every party time to time uses
same old issues to gain political edge over others.I think both
congress and bjp were responsible for demolition of mosque.They could
hav avoided that demolition if there was better coordination.
[8 Dec, 2009 2337hrs IST]

Geet,USA,says:Shame on you Congress party and the allies. Country is
divided because of you and your disgusting divide and rule policies.
Started with Nehru and not is at it's Peak with his grand daughter-in-
law.God please save this country from Congress of fake Gandhis.
[8 Dec, 2009 2327hrs IST]

Mr. Chrysantha Wijeyasingha,Clinton, USA,says:If the destruction of
the Babri Mosque was a "planned cold blooded action" then it is
keeping with a over a thousand year long tradition where Muslims have
acted in this manner when they demolished and vandalized buildings of
learning and worship that were not Islamic and they did this in India.
[8 Dec, 2009 2321hrs IST]

Anil,Delhi,says:Who is responsible, if one blames BJP, who is not at
power of centre, then in other words one can simply say that the
person himself is the most responsible one for whole this episode.
Looks that some people just blame BJP without even realizing that it
is congress who is playing the majority-minority game and so called
tathakathit socialist party. They cant escape by just saying that it
was congress PVN Rao mistake , if they really feel so then they should
step leave their posts and stop following a foreigner lady who even
declined to accept the nationality of India for decades even after
marrying to Indian. These type of people who takes poor decision is
taking our country again back to Bristish Raj type situation to
control by foreigners and then later regret for the same. Then their
is only a guilty feeling left and again sacrifying the heros to free
our contry. Such people who trying to be very educated are the mordern
days educated illiterates.
[8 Dec, 2009 2319hrs IST]

SUDHIR,ALLAHABAD,says:I dont know why congresss is making so much
noise for this demolition case. Babri masjid need to be destroyed, I
am not against the muslims or their religion, in uttarpradesh, some
districts are there, where the muslim community thinks that they own
the place,lots of trouble from them. when we have republic day, they
hoist black flag,they support pakistan in every way. they want to
create trouble in every way, I know in some places in Allahabad hindus
live scare, their woman and children cant walk freely in their
streets. If these muslims want to live in india, be indian first than
muslim. Our country give lot of facilities to them what they cant get
in muslim countries. Congress is just playing games for votes.
Congress is not protecting our country, congress just want power,
Babur invaded india, destroyed india, looted our temples, molested our
woman , his all monuments should be destroyed, Ayodhya is a hindu
place, Hindus own that, Congress need to stop, Terrorist attacked
mumbai, what congress did, just talks, Congress should learn from the
U.S, alqeada attacked World tower, from that day U.S is behind Bin
laden, which ever part of the world he is, he is running like a rat
now,cant even see the sunlight hiding under the ground,India should
have attacked Pakistan, and cleared up the POK, but congress did just
talks thats all, because they want muslim votes, why they dont talk
about BOFORS case , why it closed down, because that involves the
hubby of of our great italian madam, well if they can close the case
because Rajeev Gandhi is dead they can close this case also Narasimha
Rao is dead. I request the people of india, congress is fuming this to
get the votes of muslim people, be aware of this people, this will
again provoke communal riots between Hindus and muslim.
[8 Dec, 2009 2312hrs IST]

Ramesh,London,says:Even if Ram existed he was a war hero not God. He
killed evil RAVANA to bring peace to indian subcontinent. George Bush
has also killed lot of evil people, so should hindus build a mandir in
BushJanmabhoomi? Ram sent his pregnant wife into jungle just because
some idiot dhobi raised doubt about her pavitrata. How silly is that?
can such husband be regarded as God. Gods don't do that to their own
wifes. Ramayana is a story created to educate people in certain
aspects of life. Ram janmabhoomi is not important for hinduism, hindu
values are important to hinduism.
[8 Dec, 2009 2306hrs IST]

KK Singh,New Delhi,says:Babri demolition along with the economic
reforms that happened in 1992 is responsible for India's glorified,
confident image in the world today. India stands tall after a
millenium of subjugation and subordination. Jai Hind.
[8 Dec, 2009 2304hrs IST]

Shailesh,Hauppauge NY,says:Why congress is acting on a report of a
commission which is based on some assumptions, what about court
verdict meted out to Afzal GURU, why not implement that, reason is
simple vote bank, muslim appeasment, what about 1984 sikhs killings
that was planned and sponsored by congress, all HINDUs should unite
and I am proud of Hindus who live peacefully with other religions
people except for vote bank politics these congress party only divide
and rule
[8 Dec, 2009 2301hrs IST]

RAJU,PUNE,says:U TAKEN ALMOST 17 YEARS TO UNDERSTAND THIS THEN IT
SHOWS THAT HOW MUCH TALENT U HAVE. U ARE SIMPLY MENTALLY SLOWER ONE
LIKE UR OTHER COLLEGUE.I THINK THAT U AND UR ALLIES WILL GOING TO SAY
AFTER 20 YEARS THAT MUMBAI ATTACK WAS PLANNED IN PAKISTAN.
[8 Dec, 2009 2301hrs IST]

DevoutHindu,Ayodhya,says:what's wrong in pulling down that structure ?
They say "history repeats itself". It has unfortunately took 400 long
years to repeat.
[8 Dec, 2009 2256hrs IST]

savio,goa,says:Neither Ram nor Shayam can save india,the upper caste
hindus(BJP) r making use of the illiterate majority hindu comunity to
create havoc
[8 Dec, 2009 2256hrs IST]

Rahul,Agra,says:The demolition of the mosque was illegal. However the
much bigger crime on humanity was the murder and mayhem let loose by
muslims on Hindus after the demolition. This is a big crime by the
muslim fanatics. Why is congress not investigating this. Is it
justified to murder hundreds of Hindus just because a old unused
Mosque is demolished ? As usual the congress has managed to hoodwink
the naive people of India by shifting the main issue of violent
tendencies among sections of muslims to a secondary issue of mosque
demolition.
[8 Dec, 2009 2255hrs IST]

Indian,India,says:Political games played by the Sonia and her group.
Did the Congress party ever take responsibility when Congress party
with Indira as their leader for killing thousands of innocent Sikhs?
What was Chidambaram doing, sucking up to the Nehru family and being a
slave to the dynasty rule.
[8 Dec, 2009 2251hrs IST]

Raman,India,says:If Indians take back occupied Kashmir from Pakistan
and demolish some monument built by paki army to claim that land, will
that become a shameful act? If not, that is what Hindus did in Ayodhya
in 1992. Took back what was rightfully theirs, occupied by a foreign
invader Babur who built a victory monument over native cultures
temple! Every Indian who opposes the removal of this invaders victory
monument over our ancestors is a shame to this country, his/her
ancestors and to the mother who gave birth to this scum! Even if you
are a Muslim, your Hindu ancestors will be happy for avenging their
insults/brutalities by murderous invaders! Don't you want any peace
for those unfortunate souls?
[8 Dec, 2009 2237hrs IST]

rashi,los angeles,says:Ram is a myth oh well.... what is mohammed.....
self created god by some evil and killing the rest of the world in his
name.OH yes it is a well panned act and what was NOV 2008 attack on
Mumbai.Muslim world is moving towards their own destruction and i hope
that happens..as things like this makes all of us racist.No matter how
much we try to be nice to them ,they still prove they are
different.Why so much issue about something happened years
ago...THings of Kargil and all the attacks happened on our own
coyntrymen.DO something about it.
[8 Dec, 2009 2237hrs IST]

Sudhansu,UK,says:The one who says that demolition was good, I would
like to straight a point. If you are a proud Hindu then, what are the
basic practices of a Hindu? 99.99% Hindus are accidentally Hindus, not
by soul. What Moguls were done was a past and we have left those 400
years back. Today India is a secular country and no one has any rights
to hurt the sentiments of any religion. India is not only a Hindu
country, its home for 250 million Muslims, 70 million Sikhs and many
more religions. In past also we got divided and ruled for 200 years by
British Govt. Wake up and use your brain. BJP has made India ashamed
as well as congress. But we should support the progress which seems to
be with Congress now. Majhab nahin sikhta, aapas mein ber
rakhna......... So let's join together to throw these corrupt and
selfish politicians to create a bright and progressive India........
[8 Dec, 2009 2234hrs IST]

prashant,pune,says:no dobt in every indian mind who was responsible
for all wat happend , bt wat is more itching is that these so called
leaders are still not regretful even on moral grounds of all that
happened,i think some laws needs to b made o take on such unethical
politicians.......
[8 Dec, 2009 2212hrs IST]

Citizen,Delhi,says:I perceived and here i agree with BILL that we
should not go digging old graves but i would like the BJP LEaders
involved to resign their pst for such accusations in protest also I
would like to see they prove themselves right in the court. It would
hurt to know what they discussed during the meeting. I personally
think politics should be more transparent and not just parties
stabbing at each other once the elections are done i believe that the
parties need to have no power and decision should be made by the new
administration solely.
[8 Dec, 2009 2206hrs IST]

Milind Kher,Mumbai,says:There is no doubt whatsoever that the
demolition of the Babri Masjid was a cold blooded, premeditated act.
However, the perpetrators are aware of the fact that when law
enforcers are mrtally in terror of them, nothind will happen
[8 Dec, 2009 2206hrs IST]

Ravindra,Mau,says:Better to build a College or school on so called RAM
JANBHOOMI,so that some poor student will be benefited. By this way no
Temple no Masjid will be constructed
[8 Dec, 2009 2203hrs IST]

vj,nz,says:yes it was predermined and we give this writing that there
are 10 other mosques that will be demolished as well. This is to undo
the injustices done by muslims in previous era on hindus and we intend
on reversing all that..till that time hindus will not rest..
[8 Dec, 2009 2156hrs IST]

Abdullaah,Karnataka,says:Appreciate honourable Home Minister's bold
speech on Babri Masjid demolition. However, the crime which BJP, RSS,
and their allies conducted, which led to the communal riots, should
not left unjustified without punishing all those involved in this act.
I would request the Indian government to bring the criminals to
justice involved in the demolition of the 16th century Babri Mosque as
identified in the Report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of
Inquiry.
[8 Dec, 2009 2156hrs IST]

Dinesh,Bangalore,says:Yes, it should have been calculated. We are just
taking back what the invading mughal barbarians took from us. Babri
demolition was a good first move in the long chain of historical
correction necessary in India. I hope God gives Indians the strength
to wipe out the traces of invaders from this land. Jai Hind.
[8 Dec, 2009 2153hrs IST]

no political man,mumbai,says:WHAT A SHAMELESS STATEMENT BY THE GOVT.
So many innocent people were killed COLD BLOODED by muslim radicals in
Kashmir and Assam and still they are bombing and killing innocent
people COLD BLOOODED and millions of radicals migrating from
neighbouring countries. Are these acts nothing infront of so called
babri mosque which is also a converted thing. In another ten years
India will be another terrorist country, if this govt runs this
country and its vote bank policy is not stopped now. Jai Ho
[8 Dec, 2009 2152hrs IST]

Jagatheeswaran,Coimbatore,says:Mr. Chidambaram, why you are not
believe that fact that the demolison happened due to Hindus anger for
many hundred years. The ram temple problem is not just created few
decades back. This issue started by Babar when he constructed Majid
after demolishing the Lord Ram temple 500 years back. Please be
remember hindus are also can express their religious feelings.
[8 Dec, 2009 2150hrs IST]

G YAGNESWARAN,MADURAI,says:Mr Chidambaram and leaders from his party
down from former Prime Minister Mr Jawaharlal Nehru - an outright
manupulator and hypocrat - must be ashamed for keeping a serious in
cold storage for decades together. These gentlemen do not even
acknowledge the existence of a serious problem. How they will initiate
to resolve it? All this because the Hindu Majority do not even know
their self - worth and Muslims organise themselves into compact vote
banks.
[8 Dec, 2009 2149hrs IST]

Indian Hindu,India,says:msingh from canada, dont demean all hindus by
ur non-sensical comments!!! v dnt support ppl like u or politics by
divisive parties. Truth is it was pre planned by BJP and kar sevaks.
RSS even agrees to that. That being said I refuse to believe Congress
didnt know what was happening behind closed doors! Congress let it
happen so that they can demean BJP. But the last thing was rightly
said by Chidambram, that incident divided our country and still
continues to do so!! The guilty SHOULD be punished but we all know
whats going to happen. 100 main se 99 be-imaan phir bhi mera Bharat
mahaan!! Jai Hind
[8 Dec, 2009 2147hrs IST]

Anil,Mumbai,says:In other words, Central intelligence failed
miserably.
[8 Dec, 2009 2141hrs IST]

raghavendran,mumbai,says:A shame on Chidhambaram . Sikhs can be
tonsured and forced into convertion in Pakistan . Even that PC will
support . All to be a minister . Where was the central government-
where were the central fact finding missions.If Liberhan is to write a
report he will say that BJP was resp[oncible for the 1984 sikh riots.
It shouls be known that the babri demolition represents the
suppression of Hindu sentiments by ruthless politicians like
chidhambaram and is not good for the country -- which Congress is
trying to destroy . PC should think about his children. Will they have
an India to live after pandering to his political asperations
[8 Dec, 2009 2139hrs IST]

Rafay,Karachi,says:Demolition of the Babari mosque and cold blodded
murder of 2000 Muslims that followed affixed a question mark on Indian
claims of secularism forever. No report or committee or government can
defend it. The sad thing is that nothing changed and again 3000
Muslims were killed in Gujarat after the so called "Muslim" mob
attacked a train filled with Hindus. We all know who attacked the
train. Shame on you. Do allow this if you have courage to face the
truth.
[8 Dec, 2009 2137hrs IST]

Shailendra Singh Thakur,USA,says:Yes vijailugani, you are right. I can
see another Sardar Patel in the form of P. Chidambaram. Looks like
India is going in the right direction finally as far as the rule of
law is concerned.
[8 Dec, 2009 2137hrs IST]

Shoaib,Edmonton,says:The demolition of Babri Masjid was planned that
every body knows, beside this, the Sikh Genocide, Bhagalpur Genocide
and the Gujarat Genocide all were very well planned. After these many
years of all these massacres, the culprits are wandering freely in our
society and more shameful is still they are active in our politics.
The demons like Modi, Titler and Bal Thackrey and so many terrorist
organizations like RSS, Bajrangdal, Shiv Sena are still continuing
their coward acts.
[8 Dec, 2009 2137hrs IST]

Bill,USA,says:why do we go on digging graves???? there are other
problems on our home grounds.pakistan and china are out to screw us.we
must unite and forget all stupid issues of masjid/mandir. for that
matter our country , politicians must respect hinduism, not to ignore
other minorities which are now almost equal to majortiy. But all the
same they can leave peacefully and respectfully without making any
issues like this. If they have complaints against India they can go
somewhere else. the politicians who take advantage of such religius
ddevide must be thrown out.
[8 Dec, 2009 2134hrs IST]

Gopalakrishna,Bangalore,says:I entirely agree with Harbir Singh above.
Will the same Home Minister condemn the acts of his own party men who
were responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent Sikhs, women
and children in 1984. One's heart aches when you think of what they
went thro' in 1984. It is all good to talk from an assumed moral high
ground today about opponents but search your heart, Chidambaram, and
say whether what happened in 1984 to Sikhs can be justified by you in
the same manner. Shame on you and your party that still harbors,
protects and promotes such goons / so called leaders and gives them
ticket to contest elections.
[8 Dec, 2009 2133hrs IST]

Johnny Storm,India,says:Ram is just a myth with no proof of existence.
Its just a nice story created by thief known as VALMIKI. I am not even
sure whether RAM existed or not.If he existed then why do Hindu's make
clean shaved idols of him, we know that razor came after 100 B.C . Was
RAM a female or HINDUS are just mad to insult him by not making beards
in hi sculptures?
[8 Dec, 2009 2130hrs IST]

Ganguly,kolkata,says:The congress just went a little bit too far this
time...
[8 Dec, 2009 2130hrs IST]

P.Prakash,UAE,says:We have more serious issues at hand.Incumbent govt
should concentrate on that and also not to repeat the mistakes which
you have committed.
[8 Dec, 2009 2129hrs IST]

Pankaj,mumbai,says:Will be happy to see the culprits atleast put in
jail for life.Otherwise this is just a war of words.So many Indians
died and Indian familys suffered.It is the least that our elected
Congress Government can do for the people of India.It would have
tremendous confidence building impact on the people of India towards a
functional Law and Order system.
[8 Dec, 2009 2123hrs IST]

Sanatana Dharma,Bangalore,says:Jesus said I am the son of god, then
who is that god? Mohammed said , Allah o akbar, who is that allah?
Lord Krishna says in Bhagavath Gita, "Aham Adirhi devanam" i am the
original supreme personality of godhead. No matter whether muslims/
christians believe it or not, it is a fact that one has to digest in
order to come up in life
[8 Dec, 2009 2121hrs IST]

msingh,canada,says:Its just for the reason that COngress and Gandhi
family wants to run its family business of politics in India, and they
want morons like R*** to rule the country. Grow up, deal with Kasab's
issue, Deal wth Kashmir issue, where Pakistan has been continously
trying to unstablize the country with Militant infiltration, Congress,
chidambram, and PM should reply - Are hindu, Sikhs, in Pakistan have
equal rights the way Muslim minority is given rights and respect in
India, the fact and reply is NOOOO , Then why to please them for an
Non Existing structure... Congress could have brought an unilateral
solution by having a Mandir & mosque around same complex, but NO they
wont do it, as they dont care about the Majority and want to please
only Minority to secure vote bank. If you have enough in you, then
first solve Kashmir issue, and have POK back to country, Solve the new
emerging issue of borders with China, and then you wont need support
of Muslim minority and politicians like Mulayam & Amar singh to make
govt. -Jai Hind -Jai Sri Ram
[8 Dec, 2009 2120hrs IST]

indian,hyderabad,says:Not the country all over the world knows the
political party who commit this sinful attempt...even fucking
political leader just playing with word war... is BJP thinks still
inidans are illiterate.... what the answers they are giving infront of
Media.... couldn't the public understand thier reaction and
replies.... blady fucking politics from Advani,vajpayee,murali manohar
joshi,ashok singhal lead to death of thousands of people... the
constitution should punish them in such a way that no other leader
think even to commit this again.... these leaders not only responsible
for killing muslims also revange killing of hindus comes to their
account.... yet what is the reason and why they are still alive...why
they are still in INDIA? they are more dagerous than terrorist.. who
harm the nation internally.. SAALE APNE MAFAD KE LIYE INSAN KE KHOON
SE KHELTE..... IT'S RESPONSIBILITY OF EVERY PERSON TO KILL THESE BLODY
RASCELS.
[8 Dec, 2009 2120hrs IST]

murty,visakhapatnam,says:Both in parliament, elected members and out
side parliament,the media are making a hell of a bloody noice on the
demollition of Babri Masjid.Have they talked so vehemently when with
the help our neighbour the muslims have started the terrorist
activities in our country.Coolly and conviniently they gave a blind
eye and deaf year.Even to day inspite of so many terrorist activities
and oflate26/11The present government running to pakistanis to have a
dialogue.Why Mrs Indira Gandhi has started 1971 war.Is it not for
punishing Pakistan.We talk a lot against US for being policing on the
world affairs.Have we got that any authority to be come super cop for
bisecting of Pakistan?Supporting the infiltration of muslims from
Bangladesh is not for vote bank politics,started none other than
Congress itself?What action has been taken on those people who
actually are responsible for 1984 riots on sikhs.Are they not congress
people.Every one mentally in all affairs are currupt.The present
polity is charectorless.They talk and do what ever comes to their
mind.They give more repect to Pakistanis more respect than to even
some of our elected representatives.They give more value and respect
to Pakistan's Armed forces than our own forces.Shame less
oportunists.The present generation of the citizens Knows every
thing.On 26/11 they openly hated the politicians.They better wake up
and treat the Majority as Majority.Let the minorities be not made
majority make them rule the minority.Some minorities object for
singing Vandemataram and the majority agrees.What type of
democracy.These present Political people are making mockery of
demcracy.Though the demolition of Babri masjid is not required,dont
make one sect of people as criminals.
[8 Dec, 2009 2118hrs IST]

Prafull,Mumbai,says:What the hell is going on with the Congress? Each
and every moment they are coming up with anti hinduism.Instead of
doing something constructive,the only thing these people are doing is
inflaming Hindu sentiments.Does it not get into their heads that
appeasing the minority 24 hrs a day will earn them only hatred from
the rest?Why are they not probing into the Sikh massacre,after
Indira,s death? It,s about time the Hindus united and start seeing
through the hypocricy of the Congress,who will turn our nation into an
Islamic country.The Military should wake up and check out this
guys.Enough with this democatic government with a fake secular
agenda.Dear Editor please be unbiased and post my comments.
[8 Dec, 2009 2109hrs IST]

vinit,patna,says:how ridiculous!!!!!!can such a big movement be
carried out without any plan.its shameful that the congress government
is interested in making political benefit out of this report which was
preinfluenced.instead of worrying about the security threats ,that the
country is facing at this moment of time from terrorists , pakistanand
china, they are busy making fool of the citizens of india.in a country
where its 26% of the population is under poverty line ,the government
instead of worrying about the burning problem of price rise, they are
trying to distract the attention of people and media from it just for
getting political benefit.this is really shameful.
[8 Dec, 2009 2107hrs IST]

vinit,patna,says:how ridiculous!!!!!!can such a big movement be
carried out without any plan.its shameful that the congress government
is interested in making political benefit out of this report which was
preinfluenced.instead of worrying about the security threats ,that the
country is facing at this moment of time from terrorists , pakistanand
china, they are busy making fool of the citizens of india.in a country
where its 26% of the population is under poverty line ,the government
instead of worrying about the burning problem of price rise, they are
trying to distract the attention of people and media from it just for
getting political benefit.this is really shameful.
[8 Dec, 2009 2107hrs IST]

vinit,patna,says:how ridiculous!!!!!!can such a big movement be
carried out without any plan.its shameful that the congress government
is interested in making political benefit out of this report which was
preinfluenced.instead of worrying about the security threats ,that the
country is facing at this moment of time from terrorists , pakistanand
china, they are busy making fool of the citizens of india.in a country
where its 26% of the population is under poverty line ,the government
instead of worrying about the burning problem of price rise, they are
trying to distract the attention of people and media from it just for
getting political benefit.this is really shameful.
[8 Dec, 2009 2107hrs IST]

Sayed Salman Al-Bahar,Sohar-Oman,says:If similary we do in our country
to deomilish all the temples, how Hindu brother will feel. Therefore,
to hurt any religion is unfair. It's great shame for Indian people,
who destroyed the Babri Mosque. Let us stay in peace and not in
pieces. A Proud GCC National from Soil of Oman.
[8 Dec, 2009 2105hrs IST]

K Balan,USA,says:I agree with Sharad. Congress gets elected every time
by deviding the country with this type of rehtoric. We must unite and
throw out anti-nationalists. We need to reestablish national pride and
resolve to do something positive for the country if we truely love
her. Vande Mataram!
[8 Dec, 2009 2102hrs IST]

HD,Oman,says:So many temples were destroyed during the time of the
Muslim rulers ruled India what about them.Hindustan is a land of the
Hindus nobody can say NO to this .see in the Muslim countries how
fearfully other religions practice their faiths,with such a lot of
restrictions.We should be happy with such a lot of freedom in India to
practice our faiths.we should remember that each and every piece of
land were a mosque or a church is build was once upon a time the land
of the Hindus.here in the Arab country church's & temples are not
allowed to constructed with a cross or a OM on top of the
structure.actually we should be thankful to all our Hindu brothers,and
learn to respect other religion
[8 Dec, 2009 2056hrs IST]

Indian,NYC, USA,says:Ofcourse it was preplanned there is widespread
video where are all the top BJP leadership is sitting on dais sipping
tea and cheering the karsevaks, at that time average Indians were not
that tech savvy to create fake videos... all the guilty should be
punished irrespective of their age or status...
[8 Dec, 2009 2053hrs IST]

Varind,UK,says:Had demolition been planned, Karsewaks would have used
hammers and sickles and not bare hands. "Little knowledge is a
dangerous thing". Assuming like Justice Liberhan assumed, the
demolition was planned, then why government of the day at Centre
failed to foresee? Why congress does not own responsibility? How long
Congress's will continue forwarding vague aruguments?
[8 Dec, 2009 2052hrs IST]

Naved Yar Khan,Delhi,says:Whereas the high-level statutory enquiry is
complete and Liberhan Commission Report has named persons who directly
or indirectly committed the cognizable and non-bailable offences under
sections 295,295A(destroying ,damaging a place of worship,maliciously
insulting the religion or religious beliefs of any class)and likewise
under section 153A(promoting enmity between classes in place of
worship etc.) under Indian Penal Code,and the Court of law's status
quo order was violated and the State has come to know of the
Report,the concerned public servants of the State are not performing
their public duties under the concerned statutes,which,in my opinion,
is unconstitutional and ofcourse unlawfulor illegal.The debate under
Rule 193 is over now atleast they have no other excuse to act as per
the laws of the land.
[8 Dec, 2009 2047hrs IST]

Harbir Singh,Gurgaon,says:The same can be said about the Sikh massacre
instigated by the seniors of Congress in 1984: 1) The criminals
involved have no shame or remorse of what happened after Indira's
assassination, even 25 years later. 2) It was instigated, financed,
planned using voter's list to find Sikh homes, cold-blooded massacre
of innocent Sikhs and children and burning of Sikh property including
their places of worship. 3) Senior Congress leaders of Delhi
controlled every aspect of the massacre and rewarded the police and
the murderers and stone-walled every enquiry. 4) Police and district
administration remained mute spectators during the barbaric genocide
for more than 3 days. 5) Rajiv Gandhi, Narisama Rao had unrestricted
access to all information on what was happening during the mayhem that
was being carried out to teach the Sikhs a lesson. 6) All the Congress
did was offer an apology through the current prime minister for the
darkest chapter of post partition Indian history after 20 years. 7)
The murderers are still roaming free in the streets of Delhi and
elsewhere in India. 8) Congress should not be allowed to make use of
the Babri demolition episode as its own hands are not clean; not that
this demolition by the Saffron brigade is to be condoned. 9) No checks
have been put in by Congress to prevent such massacres in the future
as the police continue to remain inept in such matters and no clean-up
efforts were ever made. 10) Let us close this chapter quickly and work
on other important issues that are plaguing the nation today -
terrorism.
[8 Dec, 2009 2043hrs IST]

msingh,canada,says:Keep on pleasing Muslim minority to keep up the
vote bank but each and every hindu was and is proud of the moment when
'Non Existing' mosque was demolished at ayodhya. Jai Sri Ram.
[8 Dec, 2009 2041hrs IST]

Desh Bhakt,Mumbai,says:Chidambaramji, Please move on from this topic..
Its more then 17 years now and you are still wasting the nations time,
resource and energy on this topic. Why dont you speak so passionately
against the terrorists
[8 Dec, 2009 2040hrs IST]

Sharad,US,says:Till there are forces like congress, MNS etc, our
country will keep getting divided based on caste/religion/region
politics. When we have issues of basic facilities not available to
Indian citizens, why is the govt bent of digging dead graves which
will only further divide the country. I dont see the same seriousness
to indict the 26/11 culprits. India needs nationalist movements, and
though interest of all minorities has to be protected, the majority's
interest has to be respected. There should be no place for violence of
any kind to achieve any goal. In the case of Babri masjid, the mosque
was non-existent as a place of worship, muslims should have just given
up that structure, but both Congress and BJP wanted to make a big
issue out of it for petty political gains. If India have had good
leadership in politics and civil services, we would not be in the
state we are after 63 years of independence. So everything going on is
an eye wash and the real intentions of the leaders are only selfish
and nothing in the national interest.
[8 Dec, 2009 2038hrs IST]

jsdevgun,uk,says:bjp is not all ashamed of what they have done.any
body borne in india does not have aright to live in peace ,cannot have
faith in anythimg one believes,if u really love ur country ,leave
these prejudice things behind,learn to respect yourself & others thank
you.
[8 Dec, 2009 2037hrs IST]

IRFAN ALEKAR,SAUDI ARABIA,TAIF,says:The wise peoples of our country
had rejected those parties and politicians which are involved in
mosque demolition.If those politicians are sincere to the our country
they can use such force of people and their effort to build the
country and not to demolish it,it is a mistake from every corner of
view and our peoples knows it and they reject these parties in
election,we must comeout from this and think to develop our country.
[8 Dec, 2009 2036hrs IST]

Guru,Bangalore,says:It is congress which divided the country on the
line of religion and caste. Just give couple of example, they lounched
the minority cell reservation etc to create their own core vote bank.
Most of the problem is because of visionary politics of this party
which rules most part of the post indipendence.
[8 Dec, 2009 2034hrs IST]

Bhanu,Bharat,says:What was a planned,calculated and cold blooded act
( infact it was ethnic cleansing )was the slaughter of the Sikhs by
the Congress leaders, supporters and workers after the death of indira
gandhi in 1984.Why is it wrong to take back what was force ably taken
from our ancestors by the mougal invaders .Hindus and there leaders
have nothing to be ashamed of for destroying babri masjid and claiming
back Shri Ram Janamabhoomi what we should be ashamed of is the BJP and
people like Advani who failed the hindutva movement and people by not
building the temple on this site.
[8 Dec, 2009 2027hrs IST]

Bhanu,Bharat,says:What was a planned,calculated and cold blooded act
( infact it was ethnic cleansing )was the slaughter of the Sikhs by
the Congress leaders, supporters and workers after the death of indira
gandhi in 1984.Why is it wrong to take back what was force ably taken
from our ancestors by the mougal invaders .Hindus and there leaders
have nothing to be ashamed of for destroying babri masjid and claiming
back Shri Ram Janamabhoomi what we should be ashamed of is the BJP and
people like Advani who failed the hindutva movement and people by not
building the temple on this site.
[8 Dec, 2009 2026hrs IST]

vijailugani,munich.,says:Another Patel has been born in india as home
minister of india who calls spade for spade and make the country where
law will rule.
[8 Dec, 2009 2019hrs IST]

Pavan,World,says:Are communal riots for demolition of an illegal
strecture justified?
[8 Dec, 2009 2019hrs IST]

Sunil,London,says:Why should BJP or any other people be remoseful? Its
the site which has religoius significans for the |Hindus as LORD RAM
WAS BORN THERE. Our past hinstory we had invaders who destroyed hindu
temples and so it has to be set right...congress with its minority
base has always side stepped to appease them and so the long court
battle.... JAI SHREE RAM
[8 Dec, 2009 2018hrs IST]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Babri-demolition-was-pre-planned-cold-blooded-act-Chidambaram/articleshow/5315286.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 9:33:10 AM12/9/09
to
Regional parties band together on Babri issue, blame Cong-BJP for
demolition
TNN 9 December 2009, 02:01am IST

NEW DELHI: The heated Liberhan debate threw up a glimmer of non-BJP,
non-Congress bloc as the Left and other regional parties strongly
slammed the Big Two for their culpability in Babri demolition.

SP, Left, BJD, TDP and BSP were unanimous on their views on Babri
demolition. Any doubts were cleared by RJD's Raghuvansh Prasad Singh
who stood in the middle of the din caused by protesting BJP members
and home minister P Chidambaram's reply to say "there was collusion
between the two in demolition".

On display was the political compulsion which has often dictated the
choices of regional formations. While outfits with Congress as rival
in states have little option, UPA's rebuff to SP seems to be pushing
Mulayam Singh Yadav towards a working arrangement with the non-
Congress, non-BJP outfits. Lalu Prasad's RJD falls in the same
category.

CPM leader in the house Basudeb Acharia spared no effort in indicting
Congress and BJP. He slammed L K Advani's rath yatra for inciting
riots even in a peaceful area like Purulia. He said Congress had
joined hands with Muslim fundamentalists in Shah Bano case while it
gave in to Ram temple campaign of RSS. "Congress always compromises
with communal forces," he said.

Acharia's strong words, however, heaped praise on Mulayam for taking a
strong stand as UP chief minister to save Babri mosque. "The firing
saved the mosque and the entire country," he said, contrasting it with
central inaction.

The CPM olive branch to the SP chief appears a shift from the rift
between them since Mulayam ditched the anti-nuke deal camp to support
Congress. In reaction, the CPM had joined hands with its arch-rival
BSP. The two had also joined hands on the sugarcane price issue
recently.

Biju Janata Dal, which has quit BJP alliance but faces Congress in
Orissa, followed suit. Pinaki Misra, in an articulate speech, traced
the "ill-advice" to Rajiv Gandhi to open the locks of the disputed
structure to the demolition under Rao regime. His attack appeared
focused on Congress.

Telugu Desam Party slammed Congress for not doing anything despite
being in power at the Centre. "Congress knew of demolition plans of
kar sevaks on November 28 but did not do anything for six days," Nama
Nageshwar Rao alleged, adding that Babri demolition had led to
problems like terrorism.

With BSP having taken a similar line on the first day of the debate,
it showed that lack of options may be pushing regional parties towards
political realignment. At least, the Liberhan tempers showed as
much.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Regional-parties-band-together-on-Babri-issue-blame-Cong-BJP-for-demolition/articleshow/5316482.cms

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 9:35:57 AM12/9/09
to
BJP as much part of demolition gang as other Sangh outfits:
Chidambaram
TNN 9 December 2009, 02:06am IST

NEW DELHI: Admitting that the P V Narasimha Rao government had its
share of responsibility for the Ayodhya demolition, home minister P
Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Centre had made a `wrong' political
decision on the eve of the tragic event in December 1992.

"The government had to make a judgment and it was a wrong political
judgment by the Centre," he said replying to the two-day debate in Lok
Sabha on the Liberhan Commission report.

Implying that the Rao government's error of judgment was in taking the
assurance of then Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh at face
value, Chidambaram said the mistake was regrettable.

Congress MP Beni Prasad Verma also made strong comments on former PM
Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His use of a strong word saw pandemonium break
out in Lok Sabha.

While the word was expunged by the presiding officer, BJP MPs were on
their feet rushing to the well and raising lusty slogans. Verma
expressed regret on his remarks but it did not satisfy the NDA benches
who insisted on an apology.

Consequently, Chidambaram had to answer the debate in the din as BJP
members aided by Shiv Sena and Akali Dal stood in the well raising
slogans "Atalji, jai jai". The sloganeering continued till the home
minister spoke.

Raising his voice above the chorus of protests by BJP members, the
home minister launched a scathing attack on the BJP claiming the
mainline political party was as much responsible for the demolition as
the other outfits of the Sangh Parivar.

Referring to the presence of L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma
Bharti and other BJP leaders at Ayodhya close to the demolition site,
Chidambaram disputed reports about their attempt to prevent the
catastrophe. Recalling they had stayed there on the night of December
5, he said, "I would ask Advani and Joshi what they had tried to
stop."

Recounting provocative slogans raised by the kar sevaks, he said had
it been spontaneous action, a large number of pickaxes, shovels,
hammers and iron rods would not have found their way to the site.

To pinpoint the BJP's role in the demolition, Chidambaram quoted
Kalyan Singh as having said afterwards that he had actually fulfilled
one of the poll promises of his party.

Terming the destruction of the structure as a "joint enterprise" by
all the elements in the Sangh Parivar, Chidambaram said there was
neither any remorse nor shame for the terrible consequences of the
tragedy.

Describing the Ayodhya episode as manifestation of the BJP's `divisive
politics', he said in 1998 it had paid the party rich electoral
dividends. "But in 2004, when Congress put forward its inclusive
vision, people rejected the divisive idea," he said. "Only one idea of
India will prevail," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/BJP-as-much-part-of-demolition-gang-as-other-Sangh-outfits-Chidambaram/articleshow/5316549.cms

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 9, 2009, 4:12:40 PM12/9/09
to
Opinion - Editorials

Clear and commendable

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s raucous slogan-shouting in the Lok Sabha
could not drown out the clear message from Home Minister P.
Chidambaram’s reply to the debate on the Liberhan Commission’s report
on the December 6, 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid. His oration
was in the best traditions of truth-telling — a cool lawyerly
marshalling of facts punctuated by sharp punches but also by honest
self-criticism that is rare in Indian political discourse. True to
form, the BJP leaders defended the indefensible — defiant in their
insistence that the “disputed structure” met its brutal end because
kar sevaks were at the end of their patience. Mr. Chidambaram, on the
other hand, must be commended for showing the mirror to the BJP and
also turning it inward, admitting on the floor of the House that the
P.V. Narasimha Rao government — which made a “wrong political
judgment” — was partly to blame for the demolition. Assembling his
facts with care and targeting the protagonists with precision, the
Home Minister made out an unassailable case against the sangh parivar
and the BJP, accusing the latter of breaking “every single promise”
made to the Supreme Court, the Central government, and the National
Integration Council. The assault on the disputed structure was “pre-
planned, calculated, and cold-blooded.” The evidence lay in the
variety of tools and ropes ready at hand for destroying the structure,
the inflammatory slogans that encouraged the rampaging kar sevaks, and
the passivity of the BJP leaders as well as the police and district
administration, which “remained a mute spectator to the demolition.”

Even as Mr. Chidambaram laid bare the details of the Babri conspiracy,
which could not have possibly succeeded had the Congress central
government done its job, the party’s rising star, Rahul Gandhi, was
away in Lucknow, refusing even to acknowledge that he had read the
Liberhan report. Had he gone through the 1,000-plus pages, he might
have learnt that there were other omissions in the report, besides
Prime Minister Rao’s tragic culpability. History will record that the
Congress in power made two earlier key contributions to the process
that led to demolition. It was Rajiv Gandhi’s government that, under
pressure from a VHP-led mobilisation, facilitated the opening of the
locks of the makeshift temple in February 1986, and enabled the
performance of shilanyas in November 1989. One provided fresh impetus
to the Ayodhya movement, the other legitimised the Ram mandir project.
It was not part of Mr. Chidambaram’s remit to go into this pre-history
of the demolition. But the Congress would do well to follow his lead
and complete the much-delayed exercise in truth-telling on Ayodhya —
so that full closure can be applied to a benighted chapter in
independent India’s socio-political history.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/10/stories/2009121054910800.htm

Sid Harth

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Dec 9, 2009, 4:24:30 PM12/9/09
to
Little men re-enact Ayodhya chaos inside Parliament

Siddharth Varadarajan

Challenge for Chidambaram will be to go from jaw-jaw to law-law

New Delhi: After having its say on the Liberhan Commission report in
Parliament on Monday and Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party showed
its fear of a proper debate on the demolition of the Babri Masjid by
trying to prevent Home Minister P. Chidambaram from replying to the
points it had made.

Throughout the Minister’s hour-long speech, BJP MPs screamed and
shouted at the top of their voices and later even resorted to throwing
paper. The Speaker, for some reason, chose not to intervene and have
them evicted from the House, thus depriving all those citizens who had
tuned in to the live telecast on Lok Sabha TV from hearing what the
government had to say.

In a curious way, the orchestrated chaos inside the House was like a
farcical reprise of the tragic drama that played out in Ayodhya on
December 6, 1992.

Seventeen years ago, according to Justice Liberhan, activists of the
BJP, RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Shiv Sena demolished an ancient
mosque while the party’s top leaders either celebrated, smiled quietly
or expressed “feeble protests.” On Tuesday, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth
Kumar, the senior most BJP leaders present at the conclusion of the
debate, did nothing to rein in backbench MPs who went about
demolishing parliamentary tradition and the public’s right to
information with lusty abandon.

On Monday BJP president Rajnath Singh sounded angry and hurt at Mr.
Liberhan’s reference to party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K.
Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi as “little men.” But on Tuesday, his
party handed itself over to little men with oversized, bullying
voices. Mr. Chidamabaram refused to yield but he could barely be heard
above the din.

Unfortunately for Indian democracy, this was not the first time the
BJP has behaved like this in Parliament. Last August, the party
refused to allow Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reply to the
confidence motion moved against him. His speech was entered into the
records without actually being delivered. Indeed, during the term of
the last Lok Sabha, the BJP continuously sought to disrupt proceedings
under one pretext or another.

On Tuesday, the pretext was a reference Congress MP Beni Prasad Verma
made to Messrs. Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi that the BJP said was
offensive. Even though Mr. Chidambaram apologised and the reference
was expunged from the record, BJP MPs refused to take their seats. And
when the Home Minister began speaking after a brief adjournment, the
shouting resumed.

Mr. Chidamabaram was combative, insisting that the only issue the
House was debating was who demolished the “Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri
Masjid structure” and not the historicity of the mosque or temple. He
placed on record the government’s concurrence with Justice Liberhan’s
principal finding — that the demolition was the result of a “joint
common enterprise” by the BJP, RSS, VHP and Shiv Sena and their
leadership. And their crime did not end there. More than 2,000
innocent people died as a result of the violence that the sangh
parivar’s calculated act of vandalism unleashed across the country.

Having thus described the crime and identified the criminals, the Home
Minister must now find a way of turning debate into action, jaw-jaw
into law-law. The UPA government won the war of words in the Lok Sabha
by default because the other side kept shouting. But winning the
battle for justice will require a stronger display of political will
than anything we have seen the Congress put up so far.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/09/stories/2009120955031000.htm

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 10, 2009, 8:31:24 AM12/10/09
to
Posted Thursday, December 10, 2009 6:07 AM
More Bad News for India's BJP
Newsweek
By Jason Overdorf and Sudip Mazumdar

This week india's Parliament will begin what promises to be its most
pointless debate in history--though one not lacking for histrionics--
as its members take aim at a handful of opposition leaders with the
aid of a flabby report on a 17-year-old crime. But the manufactured
controversy could still spell trouble for the now ­perennially
beleaguered Bharatiya Janata Party. Once again raising the specter of
the BJP's violent ­Hindu-nationalist roots, the report assesses
responsibility for the 1992 destruction of the Babri mosque by Hindu
radicals. It will likely be the last nail in the coffin of the BJP's
Lal Krishna Advani, the party's prime-ministerial candidate in 2008
and the man whom everyone has blamed--or credited--for the event.

But the really bad news for the party is not the loss of Advani, who's
already on his way out as a leader. Rather, it's the inevitable
renewed lease on life that the debate will grant to the BJP's bankrupt
ideology of Hindu nationalism. This pesky strain of fanaticism no
longer appeals to the electorate, which is now more focused on India's
rising future than its mythological past. But by staggering on, it
prevents the BJP from reinventing itself as a legitimate conservative
foil to the liberal Congress party. With neither a clear ideology nor
a leader who is both popular with the masses and acceptable to its
inevitable coalition partners, the party is torn by internecine
battles and petty factionalism--and it shows no signs of closing
ranks. For now, that basically makes India a single-party democracy,
despite the noise from the back benches.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/wealthofnations/archive/2009/12/10/more-bad-news-for-india-s-bjp.aspx

Sid Harth

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Dec 10, 2009, 12:40:59 PM12/10/09
to
Chargesheets in Ayodhya case to be re-visited: Chidambaram

Agencies
Posted: Dec 10, 2009 at 1942 hrs IST

New Delhi Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday that
chargesheets against those connected with the demolition of the
disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, would be re-visited
and the sources of huge funds
for the movement that led to the incident probed.

"We will have to examine whether chargesheets are complete, whether to
re-visit them," he said in the Rajya Sabha replying to a two-day
debate on the findings of the Liberhan Commission on the demolition of
the Babri Masjid, 17 years ago.

Noting that there were three cases pending before the court,
Chidambaram said in case the chargesheets were inadequate in terms of
persons named, they would be revisited.

Marked by frequent interruptions by BJP members, he said the
government would also examine the source of large money received for
the "conspiracy" which led to the demolition of the disputed
structure.

"We would have to examine what action, if any, should be taken, can be
taken against people who collected money, transferred money... whose
money was it and was it accounted for," he said.

The Home Minister said CBI has collected a lot of evidence in these
cases, which have a chequered history.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Chargesheets-in-Ayodhya-case-to-be-revisited-Chidambaram/552592/

Sid Harth

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Dec 10, 2009, 1:09:51 PM12/10/09
to
BJP taking country in wrong direction, says Congress
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, December 10, 2009

First Published: 17:17 IST(10/12/2009)
Last Updated: 17:19 IST(10/12/2009)

Terming Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) position on demolition of the
Babri mosque as a "national shame", the Congress said Thursday that
the opposition party was taking the country in a wrong direction "in
the name of Lord Ram".

"Don't make false arguments. You will regret it tomorrow. You are
taking the country in a wrong direction -- that too, in the name of
Lord Ram," Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal said participating in
the debate on the Liberhan commission report in the Rajya Sabha.

Rejecting the BJP's contention that the demolition of the Babri mosque
was a spontaneous act and the Liberhan report was a "national joke",
Sibal said the demolition was "a scripted exercise" carried out for
political purposes.

"Lord Ram made a sacrifice to keep promise of his father. You want use
his name to come to power," he said, asking if Lord Ram was alive,
would he have carried out a rath yatra?

"He would have worked for better education and health," the minister
said.

Sibal said contours of administration were destroyed by the then Uttar
Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh. "There was no difference between
a political party, police and bureaucracy," he said, adding that the
state agencies helped carry out the agenda of the ruling party.

The minister said that BJP leader Arun Jaitley in his speech Wednesday
had skirted the core issue of the responsibility for mosque
demolition.

"The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the
Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal and their office-bearers in connivance with
Kalyan Singh entered into a joint enterprise for destruction of the
disputed structure," he said, adding that it was a canard to say that
it was a sudden upsurge of sentiments.

Extensively quoting from the Liberhan report, Sibal said Kalyan Singh
acted to redeem the BJP's manifesto. The BJP should own up
responsibility for the demolition and apologise.

"You are playing a joke on the people of this country. You, for a
moment, destroyed the soul of India," he said.

Sibal, whose speech was repeatedly disrupted by the BJP benches, said
that the BJP had taken up the temple issue for political purposes
after its dismal performance in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections.

Going into the details of events of December 6, 1992, he said that the
para-military forces were not allowed to take action, police did not
stop kar sevaks, and the state government did not associate
intelligence agencies in reviewing security of the structure.

Noting that BJP leader L.K. Advani had said that the kar seva will be
symbolic, Sibal asked where did the iron bars, pick-axes, and ropes,
used to pull down the structure, come from.

He said the Kalyan Singh government had acquired land near the
disputed structure so that the kar sevaks were in a better position to
destroy the mosque.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/BJP-taking-country-in-wrong-direction-says-Congress/H1-Article1-485047.aspx

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 10, 2009, 6:59:49 PM12/10/09
to
BEYOND THE OLD BOOKS
- Modern India and the discourse of faith
Swapan Dasgupta

Among the few quirky sidelights of the parliamentary debates on the
maverick report by Justice M.S. Liberhan on the events in Ayodhya on
December 6, 1992, was the speech by the Bharatiya Janata Party
president, Rajnath Singh. Opening for his side in the Lok Sabha, the
MP for Ghaziabad, Singh was predictably outraged that the report had
named the legendary Devraha Baba as one of the 68 persons culpable of
spreading communal disharmony 17 years ago.

As someone with roots in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the BJP president’s
indignation was warranted. It was known that the Baba died in June
1990, well before kar sevaks turned the 16th-century shrine into
rubble. To that extent, his inclusion in the commission’s rogue’s
gallery was a travesty. Equally needless and unsubstantiated was the
commission’s observation (para 69.22) that Devraha Baba issued “open
threats by exhorting…dacoits to take to arms for Ram temple”.

A fierce reverence for Devraha Baba was among the few points of
convergence between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party in a debate that
was otherwise polarized on familiar lines. The Baba, who commanded a
wide following and was regarded as a living deity, was a legend in his
long lifetime. According to his devotees, the Baba, who was normally
perched on either an elevated platform or a tree and blessed his
devotees by touching his foot to their head, had supernatural yogic
powers and was 250 years old at the time of his death.

Regardless of his exact longevity, celebrities flocked to secure his
blessings. As Rajnath informed Parliament, President Rajendra Prasad,
accompanied by the Uttar Pradesh governor K.M. Munshi, chief minister
Sampurnanand, Lal Bahadur Shastri and C.B. Gupta, conducted a puja of
the Devraha Baba during Kumbh Mela. Indira Gandhi too met the Baba and
was said to be a devotee. Before beginning his election campaign in
Faizabad on November 6, 1989, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, accompanied
by the home minister Buta Singh, UP chief minister N.D. Tiwari and
K.Natwar Singh, spent 40 minutes with the Baba, a move presumably
linked to his bid to gazump the BJP.

Having established the bipartisan appeal of the Hindu seer, Rajnath
went one step further. He made the astonishing claim, on the strength
of “old books”, that “King George V went for darshan of Devraha Baba
in 1911”.

Whether the King-Emperor departed from his dreary routine of being
showered with expensive gifts by the Indian princes and attending
grand dinners to confer a Royal Charter on a holy man who, in 1911,
was either 170 years old or a mere child, hasn’t been documented in
detail. The “old books” that Rajnath alluded to must contain details
that historians have been unwise to ignore for so long. Regardless of
the veracity or otherwise of George V’s darshan of Devraha Baba,
Rajnath’s injection of this unknown and somewhat questionable factoid
points to a larger malaise of a section of the BJP: the patent
inability to blend the discourse of faith into a modern idiom.

To the BJP president who, by common consensus, had a limited target
audience of his speechwriters and his “appointing authority”, a
euphemism for the bigwigs of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, there
was nothing unnatural in embellishing the documentation of the Devraha
Baba’s spiritual and Hindu credentials with his transnational appeal —
the paradoxical nationalist quest for foreign certification. To a less
committed audience, it was further evidence of an inability to
distinguish between legitimate history, conspiracy theory, mythology,
bazaar gossip and plain banality.

This became somewhat more pronounced during his bid to debunk
Liberhan’s suggestion that the mobilization for the kar seva was
contrived and achieved through money-power and the misuse of state
resources. What others would have substantiated by casually citing the
election results of 1991, which elevated the BJP from a fringe player
to the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath tried to do with a
foreigner’s certificate. In his speech, he went on to claim that in
November 1990, BBC Radio had claimed that popular participation in the
Ram Janmabhoomi agitation was greater than that witnessed in the 1942
Quit India movement.

The claim, despite its inherent heresy, wasn’t incredible. L.K.
Advani’s Somnath to Ayodhya rath yatra of September-October 1990 drew
spectacular crowds and certainly redefined Indian politics. It is
entirely possible that the numbers of those who turned up to chant
Mandir wahin banayenge were greater than those who took part in
Mahatma Gandhi’s least successful movement in 1942. Yet, the belief
that the mass appeal of the Ayodhya movement could be demonstrated by
invoking a BBC programme was laughable. It was reminiscent of an
earlier age when village tea-shops were abuzz with titillating news
allegedly originating from the BBC. All of us who covered elections in
the pre-TV age recall being told by local pundits that BBC had
forecast a victory for such-and-such candidate. In rural India, BBC
was often the shorthand for the bush telegraph — in an age when the
official media lacked all credibility. For Rajnath to invoke the same
BBC is very revealing. It is also a bit incongruous in the context of
his declamation against the “colonial mindset” of the report.

Equally, Rajnath was quite unfazed and bereft of any squeamishness
when he approvingly referred to “genetic engineering”, a term
suspiciously reminiscent of eugenics, and to DNA tests to argue that
the genetic pool of India differed from that of Central Asia. This
sudden burst of science was aimed at demonstrating that Babur, a
Chagtai Turk, had nothing in common, at least genetically, with local
Muslims who were converts from either the Hindu or Buddhist faith.

Ever since Nazi Germany used race and physical anthropology to
perpetrate some of the worst crimes against humanity, the invocation
of race and genetics in history and the social sciences have been
viewed with considerable suspicion. These sensibilities were absent
from Rajnath’s speechwriters, who are still bound in a ghettoized
world of like-minded individuals. Their detachment from a new India
that has become cosmopolitan and more Western was marked. They have
become a caricature of the celluloid Borat from Kazakhstan whose
pathological aversion to Jews and unfamiliarity with the social mores
of America made him both funny and unacceptable.

The Liberhan report presented the BJP a handy escape route from the
embarrassment of a misadventure 17 years ago. The shoddiness of the
findings, its blunders and howlers and the absurdity of its
recommendations made it difficult for even the ‘secular’ parties to
use the report as a weapon of self-righteousness. The BJP just needed
to ridicule the commission’s clumsiness, indicate its lack of even-
handedness and hone in on Liberhan’s record of freeloading to get over
an event best left to history to judge. L.K. Advani wisely chose to
stay out of the firing line; and Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha and
Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha did effective demolition jobs of
Liberhan without simultaneously provoking a secularist backlash. The
two politicians blacklisted by the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat,
discreetly signalled to the country that 17 years and two generations
separated the past from the present.

Rajnath’s certitudes appealed to the fanatically faithful, but seemed
comic to those for whom the Ayodhya years are a hazy memory. He showed
quite conclusively why any BJP that chooses to be bound in ghettoized
Hindutva will invariably hit road bumps in 21st-century India.
Unwittingly, he also demonstrated why another BJP with a more
contemporary idiom has a future as the rallying point of anti-
Congressism.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091211/jsp/opinion/story_11846918.jsp

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 11, 2009, 12:04:11 AM12/11/09
to
BJP trashes Liberhan report, Congress counters (Roundup)

By IANSDecember 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) clashed in the Rajya Sabha over the Liberhan
Commission report Wednesday, with the opposition calling it a
“national joke”. The ruling party hit back with an accusation of a
“cold-blooded conspiracy” to pull down the mosque Dec 6, 1992.

Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the third speaker
after Samajwadi Party’s Amar Singh initiated a short duration
discussion on the Liberhan report, also wondered whether the report
had been outsourced to some other people to be written.

“The report is devoid of any credibility. It is an unimplementable
document and a fraud on fact-finding process. It is a national joke,”
Jaitley thundered. “It was not a fact-finding mission but a commission
which commented on ideology.”

Questioning the 17 years the commission took to submit its report,
Jaitley asked: “Was it being used to perpetuate self-employment?”

Noting that the report had numerous “factual errors”, Jaitley said it
was written in a language far removed from that used by the
judiciary.

Jaitley even raised questions about the actual author of the report.

Pointing out that Justice Liberhan, in his report, had thanked
Harpreet Singh Giani in helping him analyse the evidence to come to a
conclusion, editing the report, and modifying the language, Jaitley
said: “Giani has analysed the report, helped in drawing the
conclusion, editing the report, and the judge (Justice Liberhan) did
the rest.”

Speaking after Amar Singh, Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress said:
“The central theme (in the report) is not (former prime ministers)
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P.V. Narasimha Rao, factual inaccuracies or
leakage (of the report) but who broke the mosque and why and how they
did it.”

Singhvi accused the BJP of skirting the core issue of culpability in
discussing the Liberhan report.

He termed as a “sad, sordid saga of brazen, cheap politics” the BJP’s
Ayodhya campaign that led to the razing of the 16th century Babri
mosque.

Charging the BJP and the Sangh Parivar with double-faced conduct, the
Congress leader said the demolition was a “carefully conceived and
cold-blooded conspiracy done with enormous pre-planning”.

Rejecting the BJP’s argument that the destruction was a spontaneous
act, Singhvi said that over 200,000 people were present at the site in
Ayodhya Dec 6, 1992, and “kar sevaks” had been trained in pulling down
the structure.

He said Sangh Parivar activists carried tools and even “manhandled”
journalists to prevent any eyewitness account of the mosque razing
that sparked off widespread communal violence.

“The Liberhan report was a formal vindication but the conduct (of BJP)
was damned years ago,” Singhvi maintained.

Tracing the history of the disputed land in Ayodhya, Singhvi said it
was at best a local problem until the BJP made it a part of its
political agenda following its dismal showing in the 1984 Lok Sabha
elections that were caused by the assassination of then prime minister
Indira Gandhi. The BJP had won only two seats in that election.

Hitting out at BJP leader L.K. Advani, Singhvi said the movement to
build a temple for Lord Rama was launched “for pelf, power and self-
aggrandizement, in particular of one man who is Leader of Opposition
in the Lok Sabha”.

He said the ’shilanyas’ in 1989 at Ayodhya when Rajiv Gandhi headed a
Congress government in New Delhi took place on a piece of land that
was not disputed.

Singhvi said that Vajpayee could not escape moral responsibility for
the demolition but he could go to court to get his name removed from
the Liberhan report.

He insisted that then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was misled by
the Sangh Parivar and then BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan
Singh on the situation in Ayodhya ahead of the mosque demolition.

“Certainly, everybody was misled, including the Supreme Court, the
Congress and Rao,” Singhvi added.

On its part, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) expressed
its dissatisfaction with the government’s Action Taken Report (ATR) on
the Liberhan report and demanded that all the cases related to the
mosque demolition be clubbed together before the Supreme Court, which
should be requested for an early verdict.

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said the demolition was “a criminal act
and worst expression of vote-bank politics”.

He also said that the ATR “does not inspire confidence. If the
government is sincere, it should intervene through its judicial
officers to get the demolition cases clubbed together and move Supreme
Court for an early verdict”.

http://blog.taragana.com/politics/2009/12/09/bjp-trashes-liberhan-report-congress-counters-roundup-6220/

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 11, 2009, 12:17:39 AM12/11/09
to
Lawyer MPs have field day during Liberhan debate
STAFF WRITER 19:44 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The lawyers were the flavour of the debate in
Parliament on the Liberhan Commission report with almost all parties
fielding them to telling effect.

In the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, several leaders of all hues, who
are senior advocates, articulated the positions of their respective
parties.

"We all are today non-practising lawyers. Non-practising lawyers do
not miss (an opportunity) to test their skills," Home Minister P
Chidambaram, himself a legal luminary, remarked during the course of
his reply in the Rajya Sabha.

While Union Minister Salman Khursheed put forth the point of view of
the Congress in the Lok Sabha, another minister Kapil Sibal intervened
in the Rajya Sabha.

Arun Jaitely as Leader of the Opposition led the BJP attack on the
government while Abhishek Singhvi and Jayanthi Natarajan put across
the Congress point of view.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/417775_Lawyer-MPs-have-field-day-during-Liberhan-debate

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 11, 2009, 12:34:20 AM12/11/09
to
Rein In Ashutosh. Now!
Ludhiana violence has projected a gory theatre of BJP and
Congress
Dr Amrik Singh, Sacramento

Punjab has seen the blood-soaked politics of Congress in the past
decades. The militancy can’t be studied by separating it from the
culture that created it. Ludhiana violence has shown that BJP is
apathetic to interests of Punjab.

Ludhiana violence on the eve of 17th anniversary of Babri Masjid’s
demolition and 53rd Death anniversary of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar portends
dangerous signals for Punjab. Nothing happens in Punjab that has not a
history to it. The state has been a theatre of manipulative politics,
intricate designs and provocative rationalities since ancient times.
In the last hundred years, it remained a target of a colonial milieu,
vivisection, and diversionary techniques. The name of one such policy
was “The Great Game” of 1885 that the British had designed to provoke
sectarian identities to dissipate anti-colonial venom from the hearts
of Punjabis. The British in 1947 left a colonial heritage which new
rulers of India followed in letter and spirit. New masters revised
“the Great Game” and named it “Secularism.” As per its unofficial
agenda , non-Hindu religious beliefs have to be discouraged,
destroyed and dismantled to an extent that people accept the
supremacy of Secularism, which experts believe is just a strategic
name for Hinduism.

Hardly anyone knew Dayanand Sarswati when he tried his luck in
Maharashtra and in his home state , Gujrat. But when he came to Punjab
under a special mission to alienate the poor from Sikh religion, he
drew everybody’s attention, especially the British. Earlier, nobody
listened to his discourses of returning to Vedic glory, but the moment
he made controversial comments on Gurbani, he achieved stardom. He
created in Hindu intelligentsia a desire to not only control Punjab,
but the whole Indian sub-continent with their racial superiority and
intricate designing, scheming and maligning. The dream didn’t appear
far-fetched when the English were ready to fulfill their aspirations.

M.K. Gandhi was non-entity when he came back from South Africa. The
moment he entered Punjab after the Jallianwallah massacre in 1919, he
found an easy route to nationalize his leadership role. The peaceful
protests of Sikhs for freeing Gurdwaras from Hindu-oriented Mahants,
inspired him to fashion his non-violence mainly for suppressing
Punjabis’ rising patriotism and anti-colonial venom. British
highlighted Gandhi’s role for their colonial ends because Punjab
seemed to pose a growing threat to them. Gandhi kept delaying freedom
until the way for Hindu Nationalism was charted by alienating Muslims,
forcing Dr. Ambedkar to enter Poona Pact and defrauding Sikh
leadership with a state where they would relish the glow of freedom.
The epicenter of three grand frauds was Punjab. Undivided Punjab would
hinder Hindu nationalistic goals, therefore, suppress the emerging
alliance of Dalits, Muslims and Sikhs. All efforts were directed for
provoking violence that led to the partition of India.

Divya Jyoti Sanghthan’s founder Ashutosh appended Maharaj with his
name when he came to Punjab in 1984. His arrival in the state was
under a special mission that related to 1984 attack on Harmandir
Sahib. Ashutosh believed Operation Blue star was necessary to stop
Pakistan from helping militants. He declared he would not let
terrorism again raise its head in Punjab. Although, an elected
government at the center and a trained military were in place for
meeting any foreign threat, yet Ashutosh assumed the extra-
constitutional role of the state to free Punjab of terrorists. He
questioned Sikh traditions that inspired Amritdhari Sikhs to recite
Gurbani daily, which according to him, is just parroting to no effect.
He considered Sikhism an offshoot of Hinduism. One of his followers
projected Guru Gobind Singh seeking blessings of Hindu Gods and the
Khalsa created by him as a misconception. The real Khalsa, according
to one of his deputies, was a body of Ashutosh’s devotees.

Ashutosh questioned Sikh traditions that inspired Amritdhari Sikhs to
recite Gurbani daily which he denigrated saying it was just parroting.
He termed Sikhism an offshoot of Hinduism and followers projected Guru
Gobind Singh as seeking blessings of Hindu Gods. Many of Ashutosh's
controversial remarks and activities were brought to the notice of the
Akal Takht but it seems his influence runs deep within Badal’s family.

The controversial remarks were brought to the notice of the Akal
Takhat. Ashutosh was refrained from creating unnecessary
controversies, but his influence reportedly runs in Badal’s family.
The state BJP stood behind him even at the cost of the coalition
politics. The minority commission had censured Ashutosh for poisoning
Punjab’s atmosphere, but could not deter it to abandon provocative
speeches in the name of Braham Gyan and to the disparagement of
Gurbani.

BJP is of the opinion that every one has right to practice whatever
religion one believes in. Therefore, the action of Sikh bodies’ to
march towards the venue of the function undermined the freedom of
religion. Sikh bodies argue that the BJP didn’t comment on Ashutosh’s
interference in the practice of other religions. The freedom as a
right only exists so long as it doesn’t undermine freedom of the
other. Damdami Taksal Chief Harnam Singh Dhumma blamed the government
for misleading Punjabi Hindus and creating an anti-Punjab
atmosphere.

Mohan Rao Bhagwat, chief of radical Hindu organization RSS, selected
historical Babri Masjid’s demolition day for his visit to Punjab. On
December 6, 2009, he held an RSS camp and a press conference in
Chandigarh . He declared that he had no regrets for what happened in
Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. He also made it clear that all minorities
(Muslims and Christians) are descendants of former Hindu forefathers.
The aim of Hindu raj should be to take them back in its fold. On
December 6, posters of the controversial sect leader displayed all
over Ludhiana were said to ridicule Sikhs and create ruckus that might
deflect attention from 17th anniversary of Babri mosque demolition.
The shooting of Darshan Singh is a sad commentary of Akali-BJP
alliance in Punjab.

It is an open secret that Ashutosh’s function was organized by
Ludhiana Ashok Malhotra Group of Industries at the behest of BJP
party. The top leadership’s incarceration in the Librahan Report
motivated them to seek the theatrical protection of the controversial
religious leader. Raising the bogey of Sikh terrorism and linking it
with Pakistan could wash blood from hands of both Congress and
BJP.

The dangerous trends point to apprehensions that the Punjab will burn
again. The hatred comes here packaged in the name of peace and non-
violence. Mantras of annihilation are chanted to decimate the voices
which don't conform to Brahamanical codes. RSS chief has already
pronounced that all minorities have their origin in Hinduism. Bhagwat
is looking forward to times when minorities will submerge in the ocean
of Hinduism. He is fantasizing Mahan Bharat that will include
Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet as well. If viewed in the background of
colonial history nothing has changed even after one hundred years.
Science has broken many frontiers of knowledge, but more the
development in India, the greater the slide into primitive fantasies.

When Arya Samaj came to Punjab as part of the “Great Game,” it focused
on Amritdhari Sikhs and Guru Granth Sahib. In the beginning years,
Arya Samaj's programs included reading from Guru Granth Sahib . But it
was only to denigrate Gurbani in comparison to the purity of eternal
Vedas. The founder of Khalsa Akhbar, Bhai Dit Singh objected to
Dayanand’s derogatory commentary on Gurbani and challenged him to
debate with him about Vedas and Gurbani. It was Bhai Dit Singh’s
genius that exposed Swami Dayanand’s imperfect knowledge about
planetary revolution. Swami Dayanand kept insisting that the Sun
revolves round the earth. The dynamic personality of Bhai Dit Singh
had experienced at Dera Gulab Dass Chatthianwala a negative mindset
that degraded Gurabani simply because it had hymns of Saints who owe
their origin to Shudra families. Later, he joined Arya Samaj for
there appeared a promise that caste would not be followed. Shuddhi of
dalits attracted many followers. When Bhai Sahib saw the proponents of
Arya Samaj raging with their superiority and replete with blasphemous
words for Gurus and Saints, he vowed to give up that faith forever. He
met Bhai Gurmukh Singh and embarked on a mission to inculcate true
Sikh spirit through his discourses and writings. Bhai Sahib left the
world in 1901, but his influence on Sikh history is tremendous and
invaluable.

Punjab has seen the blood-soaked politics of Congress in the past
decades. The militancy can’t be studied by separating it from the
culture that created it. Ludhiana violence has shown that BJP is
apathetic to interests of Punjab. Sikhs are either with Congress or
with BJP. They barter Sikh ideals for the hateful campaign of their
political masters. Right-minded Hindus should rise to discourage nexus
of politicians and criminals. Guilty politicians’ attempts to hide
behind religious sentiments of people should never be allowed to
succeed in Punjab. If Punjabis keep their house in order, no foreign
threat can vanquish them. The unity of Dalits, Sikhs, Christians,
Muslims and Hindus in a new alliance can force BJP, Congress and their
allies to shift the Gory Theatre to some other place.

9 December 2009

http://worldsikhnews.com/9%20December%202009/Rein%20In%20Ashutosh%20Now.htm

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 12, 2009, 8:43:56 AM12/12/09
to
Friday, December 11, 2009
Let us remove your shorts

That was the tagline for a company offering electricians. It may well
be the temporary motto for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),
which, if The Times, UK, is to be believed, is set to shed its uniform
and its staid image. Read the report by Jeremy Page here.

This comes 84 years after the RSS' inception. It also comes because
the organisation (finally and rather belatedly) is seeing the logic
behind catching up with changing times, and the fact that the outfit
(pun intended) comprises a largely geriatric population. That the
young and the upwardly mobile were not racing to sign up with this
particular fundamentalist ideology has not escaped its members'
notice. The big reason behind this could be the apparel (which does
not look good on ANYbody, let's not kid ourselves about that) and more
importantly, because its ideas and overall working remain as
mysteriously off-limits to the average person looking for inspiration
in the social sphere, as ever.

Another big departure in thinking comes also from the RSS' readiness
to accept married couples into its fold. I should actually have ended
that last sentence with an !, so here it comes: !

The new uniforms' design should be complete by March. Are we looking
at trousers now? Will the Indian flag be imprinted on the shirts? We
don't know and who can say? And more importantly, will these changes
cause a systemic change within the ranks, or is this 'shift' to be
reported on and later forgotten?

Posted by WiseAss at 9:43 PM

Labels: change in uniform, ideology, RSS, shorts

1 comments:

Vbubber said...
Check this out.

I can't help but compare the RSS to these chaddi-wearing nuts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYWRu8uT8z8

Nice post, btw

December 12, 2009 2:29 AM

http://headlinehog.blogspot.com/2009/12/let-us-remove-your-shorts.html

December 12, 2009

Hindu nationalists drop their baggy shortsJeremy Page in Delhi

2 Comments

Recommend? (3)

For more than eight decades, members of India’s largest Hindu
nationalist organisation have identified themselves with a distinctive
military-style uniform consisting of long baggy shorts, a white shirt
and a black cloth cap.

Followers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh can still be seen wearing
the uniform, modelled on that of British colonial police, as they
perform ritual early morning exercises in public parks and squares
across India.

Now, 84 years after its foundation, the RSS has finally given in to
the demands of modern India and decided to renounce its uniform. Ravi
Bansal, a RSS spokesman, told The Times that it hoped to devise a new
uniform by March.

The move is the latest attempt by India’s beleaguered Hindu
nationalists to overhaul their image after a year in which its main
political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party, was trounced in a general
election. Analysts say that the movement — which campaigns to rid
India of the legacies of foreign invasions and establish a pure Hindu
state — is struggling to appeal to young people, especially the urban
middle classes.

So, as well as deciding to change its uniform, the RSS has also
introduced evening meetings as an alternative to its traditional
morning exercises to cater for busy middle-class professionals.

It has organised special forums for supporters in the technology hubs
of Bangalore and Hyderabad. It is also allowing married couples to
take a more prominent role in the organisation, although its
leadership still consists entirely of celibate males, known as
pracharaks.

Some RSS veterans say that the uniform change is a step too far and
betrays the legacy of K. B. Hedgewar, who founded the movement in 1925
and introduced the uniform a year later to encourage discipline.

Critics are happy to see the end of a uniform that they say was
inspired partly by the European fascist movements of the 1920s. The
RSS, which trained the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, has been banned three
times for inciting violence and is still often accused of fomenting
ethnic and religious hatred.

The question now is whether the movement can agree on a design for the
eight million members it claims.

Sadanand Menon, a popular columnist, said: “It is universally accepted
that there can be nothing more boring and unattractive than their
present attire ... What designers will have to pay attention to is how
to make it trendy, smart and ‘cool’.”

2 Comments

Khan Ali wrote:
The best would be saffron clad - it's not only traditional but also
much religious and elegant.
December 12, 2009 12:08 PM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk

David Dou wrote:
When the SA changed their brownshirts to the SS black shirts did they
get a mention in the tims to?
December 11, 2009 10:10 PM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk
Recommend? (1)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6954056.ece

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 12, 2009, 8:52:39 AM12/12/09
to
BJP leader Charged in Nun’s Rape
Friday, 11 December 2009
Vishal Arora/ Compassion News

Police in Orissa state have arrested an official of the Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly leading an
attack that ended in the rape of a Catholic nun during last year's
anti-Christian mayhem in Kandhamal district.

Officers in the eastern state of Orissa had been searching for Gururam
Patra, identified by local residents as the general secretary of the
BJP in Kandhamal district, for more than 14 months. Arrested on
Saturday in Balliguda, Patra was charged with leading the attack but
not with rape.

Dilip Kumar Mohanty, an investigating officer, told Compass that a non-
bailable warrant had been issued against Patra, accused of being "the
main organizer" of the attack on Aug. 25, 2008, in which then-28-year-
old Sister Meena Lalita Barwa said she was gang-raped. Mohanty said he
had gathered "sufficient evidence" against Patra.

"He is the one who went into the house where the nun was staying and
took her out, along with his associates who outraged her modesty,"
Mohanty said.

Previously police had arrested 18 associates of Patra.

The Rev. Ajay Singh of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar
told Compass that Patra had become a "terror" for local Christians, as
"he was threatening against [those] identifying the accused in
numerous cases."

Violence in Kandhamal took place in August-September 2008, killing
more than 100 people - mostly hacked to death or burned alive - and
incinerating more than 4,500 houses, as well as destroying over 250
churches and 13 educational institutions. The violence began after a
VHP leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, was killed by Maoists
(extreme Marxists) on Aug. 23. Hindu extremist groups wrongly blamed
local Christians for the assassination.

A local Christian from K. Nuagaon village, where the nun said she was
raped, told Compass on condition of anonymity that Patra was the
general secretary of the BJP for Kandhamal district. But the BJP and
its ideological mentor, the Hindu nationalist conglomerate Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Corps or RSS), were reluctant to
admit association with him.

Suresh Pujari, president of the Orissa state BJP, told Compass that he
did not know if Patra was a member of his party.

"I have heard his name, but I have never met him," he said. "The BJP
is a big organization, and I cannot know everyone."

RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya told Compass that Patra was a block
president (a local government position) in Balliguda during the
violence.

"He may have attended a few meetings of the RSS, but he was never
associated with the organization officially," he said.

Investigating officer Mohanty said police have yet to establish his
affiliations, but "it appears that he was from the RSS group." Mohanty
said Patra was not accused of rape but of being the main leader of the
attack.

On Nov. 11, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, told the state
assembly House that 85 people from the RSS, 321 members of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) and 118 workers of the
Bajrang Dal, youth wing of the VHP, were rounded up by the police for
the attacks in Kandhamal.

Educated by Christians

Union Catholic Asian News (UCAN) agency reported Patra attended a
Catholic school, Vijaya High School, in Raikia town in Kandhamal
district.

The news agency quoted the Rev. Mathew Puthyadam, principal of the
school when Patra attended, as saying that he was a good student and
respected the priests.

"I really wonder how he changed," Puthyadam told UCAN.

UCAN reported that Puthyadam said right-wing Hindu groups commonly
recruit people educated at Christian schools and indoctrinate them
against Christians. There were a few other former students of Catholic
schools who also led mobs that attacked Christians in Kandhamal, he
added.

Puthyadam reportedly said that when Patra's mother brought him to the
school, she said he lost his father in early childhood and they had no
money to continue his studies; the priest arranged sponsorship through
a Christian aid agency to cover his fees and lodging at Bishop Tobar
Hostel.

‘Police Refused to Help'

It was during these attacks that Barwa of the Divyajyoti Pastoral
Centre in K. Nuagaon area in Balliguda, said she was attacked and
raped.

At an Oct. 24, 2008, press conference, the nun said 40 to 50 people
attacked the house in which she and priest Thomas Chellantharayil were
staying; he also was attacked in the Aug. 25 incident. She said the
assailants first slapped and threatened her, then took her out of the
house.

"There were three men who first threatened to throw me into the
smoldering fire," she said. "Then they threw me on the veranda [which
was] full of plastic pieces. One of them tore my blouse and
undergarments. While one man stood on my right hand, the other stood
on my left hand and the third man raped me."

Another man tried to rape her as she got up, she said, and when a mob
arrived she was able to hide behind a staircase. But the mob pulled
her out and threatened to kill her while others wanted to parade her
naked in the street.

"They then beat me up with their hands," she said. "I was made to walk
on the streets wearing my petticoat and sari, as my blouse was torn by
one of the attackers. When we reached the market place I saw two
policemen there. I asked them to help me, but they refused."

When the nun filed a complaint at the Balliguda police station, she
said, police made no arrests until The Hindu newspaper highlighted her
case on Sept. 30, 2008.

Christian leader John Dayal, a member of India's National Integration
Council, said the government has yet to fully address violence against
Christians.

"The administration, civil and police, have to act with their full
strength to stop the hate campaign that has been unleashed in the last
one year, and which has penetrated distant villages, creating schism
and hatred between communities," he said.

On Sunday Christians and rights activists formed a new organization,
the Association of Victims of Communal Violence in Kandhamal in
Phulbani to deal with the growing communal divide in Kandhamal.

"The major task of the new association, working closely with clergy
and civil society activists irrespective of religion, is to restore
public confidence and to ensure that the victims and witnesses felt
safe enough to depose in court," said Dayal.

He said Christian leaders hope this grassroots initiative will also
help in the process of reconciliation and allow people to go back to
their villages, where right-wing groups are threatening them with
death if they do not convert to Hinduism.

Dayal also said there were rumors of human trafficking in Kandhamal,
and that the new association felt special projects for women and
especially young girls were urgently required.

"I pray they remain rumors," he added.

Posted by John Dayal at 9:25 PM

http://kandhamal-orissa.blogspot.com/2009/12/bjp-leader-charged-in-nuns-rape.html

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 12, 2009, 9:06:38 AM12/12/09
to
Kandhamal victims unite, knock at Government’s doors for justice;
action for grassroots reconciliation, security and confidence
December 10, 2009

A meeting of Priests, Pastors, community leaders and activists held at
Berhampur on 7th December 2009 has endorsed the formation of the
Sampradayik Hinsa Prapidita Sangathana [Association of Victims of
commuinal violence in Kandhamal] formed earlier in Phulbani after a
series of meetings in which human rights and civil society activists
from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack also took part.

All these meetings were the first of their kind since Hindutva
violence against the Christian community in Kandhamal and other
districts of Orissa left over 5347 houses looted and burnt, 295
churches destroyed, women and girls raped, and more than 75 people
murdered in the name of religion and ethnicity. Large-scale
displacement and migrations followed with over 50,000 people becoming
refugees in their own motherland.

Two fast track courts set up in the aftermath of the violence have
lost the confidence of the people with murderers, one of them a BJP
legislator Manoj Pradhan, being released in several cases with eye
witnesses too scared to dispose against the culprits. About 2500
complaints had been registered but only 823 FIR have been registered.
All the cases were classified into murder (27 cases), attempt to
murder cases, rape case, etc.

The major task of the new association, working closely with clergy and
civil society activists irrespective of religion, is to restore public
confidence and to ensure that the victims and witnesses felt safe

enough to depose in court. This grassroots action will also help in
the process of reconciliation and hopefully allow people to come back
to their villages which are now barred to them by Hindutva activists
who are forcing them to first convert to Hinduism before assimilating
in the old habitations.

However, the association has expressed its deep distrust in the
current justice delivery system, saying the Fast Track Courts are
working perhaps too fast in trying to finish off the cases without
looking closely at the evidence. Of cases involving 12 murders, there
has been conviction just in one case, for instance.

The association has also decided to boycott the Justice Mohapatra
commission probing the murder of VHP vice president Lakhmanananda
Saraswati and the violence that followed his death at the hands of a
Maoist group on 23rd August 2008. They said the commission has
preconceived notions and has already formed its conclusions without
even waiting for evidence.

The meeting at Berhampur, presided over by Archbishop Cheenath, was
also attended by other Bishops and church leaders including Bishop
Sarath Nayak of Berhampur and Believers Church bishop Bardhan,
National Integration Council Member John Dayal, Human rights activist
Dhirendra Panda and senior lawyers from the Christian Law Association,
Human Rights Law Network, and the All India Christian Council and all
church groups represented in the region.

Meanwhile the Archbishop of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack and Kandhamal, Most
Reverend Raphael Cheenath, SVD, has also met the Collector and
submitted him a memorandum highlighting the same issues of instilling
a sense of security among the villagers and giving them adequate
compensation, rehabilitation and employment.

It was made clear at the various meetings that security of the people
remained the main concern. The sense of insecurity is also leading to
a gross miscarriage of justice in the two Fast Track courts. As
victims have complained to the Orissa High Court separately, witnesses
are being coerced, threatened, cajoled and sought to be bribed by
murderers and arsonists facing trial. Shoddy police investigations
have already created a crisis in the dispensation of justice, and even
genuine eye witnesses are reneging in court as they see the court
premises full of top activists of fundamentalist organisations and
often the same persons who had burnt their houses. The police remain
mute watchers, as always.

The witnesses are threatened in their homes, and even their distant
relatives are being coerced. This requires urgent and immediate action
by the District administration and the Police to ensure that the
process of justice is not thwarted and sabotaged.

There are major lacunae in the relief and rehabilitation of the
victims of mass arson. Not a single Christian place of worship or
Christian NGO has been compensated for their tremendous loss, but the
poor victims are also being mocked by the inadequate compensation. The
violation of principles of rehabilitation is at several levels. The
first is in identifying the houses as fully or partially damaged.
Secondly, houses by the dozens have not been enumerated by the
government surveyors. Thirdly, the victims of the 2007 arson,
especially in Barakhama have been criminally left out of the reckoning
and for those 225 or so poor families, it has been second year without
adequate shelter.

It costs about Rs. 85,000 to reconstruct a house and yet the
government gives only Rs 50,000 in separate tranches. It is the duty
of the state to give the full money. Just to save the people from the
vagaries of the weather, the Church has sought to pitch in, but their
resources are meagre and more than 2,500 families cannot be helped by
the Church.

There is no information from government or the district administration
about the livelihood of those affected by the violence. The
administration without delay must conceive and execute a scheme so
that every family effected by violence has at least one person, if not
more, in gainful employment in government projects so that they can
live a life of dignity, and to prevent large scale migration and
pauperisation of victim families.

It was felt special projects for the women victims, and especially
young girls, are also required urgently in Kandhamal. There are
already rumours of human trafficking. I pray they remain rumours.

The administration has to act swiftly on the issue of allotting land
for homes to those persons who have fallen into the gap of the Forest
Act, and have no land to build their houses. They have to be
identified, allotted land so that they can live in peace without
facing the perpetual threat of being ousted.

The administration, civil and police, have also to act with their full


strength to stop the hate campaign that has been unleashed in the last
one year, and which has penetrated distant villages, creating schism

and hatred between communities. The law of the land must be
implemented severely to contain and deter those indulging in this
activity.
Posted by John Dayal at 8:40 PM 0 comments

Friday, December 11, 2009

Educated by Christians

‘Police Refused to Help'

Posted by John Dayal at 9:25 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 3, 2009
Kandhamal Update 4th December 2009
4TH DECEMBER 2009
From John Dayal in Kandhamal:

Of the 12 murder cases tried inthe fast Track courts in Phulbani,
Kandhamal district or Orissa, India, the accused have been let off in
11 murders, and convicted in just one. A member of the State
Legislative assembly on the Bharatiya Janata party ticket, Mr Manoj
Pradhan, has been let off in th four cases in which he has been tried
so ar. He and his henchmen have been accused by witnesses of
terrorising them, or seeking to bribe them.

A belated effort is now being made to revive civil society and the
process of justice and reconciliation towards a lasting peace in
Kandhamal, which remains the worst single case of persecution of
Christians in South Asia. Most of the over 5,000 houses destroyed in
the December 2007 and August 24-October 2008 mayhem remain un-built,
and several thousand of the 50,000 Christian refugees are still to
return home. Many cannot as they have been told they have to convert
to Hinduism before they will be accepted in the villages. The threats
and coercion continue till today.

The police and administration, as usual, look on. The one change is
the Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik’s acceptance, in an answer in
the State legislature, that it was the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and
its sister organisations of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad
which were responsible in the anti Christian violence, the first time
the government has accepted this reality. Two judicial commissions of
enquiry, plodding on in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, are yet to admit this
fact.

The following is an update:

I. The Harsh Reality of Orissa and especially of Kandhamal is:

1. No one raised a voice when violence hit the Christians in December
2007 and August 2008, not even the governments

2. Civil Society in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, if it existed, played
dead, and nation was not moved.

3. Barring a few Left parties who could protest, the Political
Apparatus remained silent and invisible, including so called friendly
parties and groups

4. The Media was violently biased, specially the Oriya Media

5. Fact Finding groups either misunderstood the causes, or just blamed
either Conversions or Dalit-Tribal conflicts as the cause of the
violence, and even people’s enquiry commissions incouding An Oriya
Judge and Teesta Setalvad have yet to give their reports on the 2007
violence.

6. Post violence, civil society and peace institutions have yet to be
revived.

7. Church was shattered, deeply wounded and overwhelmed by the
magnitude of the violence. Barring the PILs in the Supreme Court, no
real pressure on Government to construct all houses fully, pay
sustenance allowances etc, and government jobs.

II. Post Violence;

1. Church is focussed on helping complete houses instead of using the
law to let government complete the houses. As a result, though the
Catholic Church says it will help complete 1200 houses, Believers
Church 900 Houses, Eficor about 300 houses, and CNI a similar number,
another 2,500 houses remain without help. Also without help are the
250 or so victims of the 2007 violence, especially in Barakhama, who
have been left to thereon devices.

2. Although there has been much work by religious groups in
distributing Holy Bibles and clothes, and in counselling victims,
there has not been commensurate work in enhancing the sense of
security.

3. The result is that complainants and witnesses to violence feel very
insecure and are susceptible to coercion, blackmail and perhaps
allurement.

4. The result has been that despite the effort of well meaning young
lawyers, especially of the CLA and HRLN, not much progress has been
made in getting convictions especially in the murder cases involving
BJP political leaders.

5. In many villages, refugees have not been able to return because the
threat of forcible conversion to Hinduism remains.

6. The government peace committees remain on paper, or are loaded
against Christians

7. Not much headway has been made in getting the Collector to secure
land for non Tribals so they can construct their houses.

8. No headway has been made at village level towards reconciliation

III. Reviews:

1. Civil Society groups have met sporadically to assess the situation,
including those coming from Delhi, but there has not been much sharing
of info and concepts.

2. The first major initiative was taken by Fr Ajay and Mr Dhirendra
Panda to call a meeting on 3rd November 2009 in Bhubaneswar to assess
the satiation. Almost the entire political spectrum, excluding the
BJP, BJD and Congress, were present, incouding women groups, tribal
and Dalit groups and specialists. Several victims were also present.
Dr Dayal, and Advocate Sr Mary Scaria, Ms Lansinglu Rongmei, Mrs
Tehmina Ram Arora and Ms Vrinda Grover met several times in New Delhi
to discuss the legal issues.

3. As part of the follow up of the decisions and recommendations of
those meeting, some activists held meetings in It was also decided o
get senior advocates and observers to be present for some time in the
Fast Track courts so that grounds could be prepared for intervention
in superior courts.

4. As a follow-up of those meetings and after consultations with
senior Bishops of Orissa of various denominations, it was felt that
the Church had a major role to play at the grassroots level to
reconstruct social and civil society structures to give courage and
strength to the victims. This can be done only at the homeland village
level and not by outsiders from Bhubaneswar or elsewhere in the
country.

5. It was therefore decided to call a meeting in Berhampur, the
nearest big town, of all religious workers – Priests, pastors,
catholic religious, NGO workers, catechists and others – on 7th
December 2007 for a full day discussion cum workshop to discuss the
issue and to encourage the religious groups to begin grassroots work
apart from the religious work and relief they have been doing.

6. It was decided to bring experts to help brief the religious on
these issues.

Posted by John Dayal at 7:57 PM 0 comments

Thursday, November 12, 2009
Justice, Kandhamal style
Miscarriage of Justice in Kandhamal Courts

From John Dayal
12 November 2009

I have just come back from Orissa, very depressed at the way the
criminal justice system is working in that benighted state.

I had gone to take part in a rare Civil Society meeting with victims,
some law experts and some Human Rights activists on 3rd November 2009
in Bhubaneswar. In truth, barring some leaders of various Left parties
and Women’s groups, there is not much of a civil society in Orissa as
far as violence on Christians or Muslims is concerned. Fortunately,
there are activists – and Dhirendra Panda is one such – who are
determined to press for justice. Fortunately again, there are some
more activists working in the defence of the rights of Tribals and
workers whose very existence is threatened by the entry of global
mining giants trying to profit from the underground riches of Orissa.
About them, in another note.

Advocate Rasmi Ranjan Jena says “As we know in most of the cases
already tried in the Fast Track Courts in Kandhamal the accused
persons have been acquitted. This is nothing but a great failure of
the criminal justice system which has miserably failed to give justice
to the victims of the communal violence. At this juncture there is an
urgent need of critical analysis of the factors responsible for the
failure. Though nothing much should be expected from a judicial forum
in a communal society, but we need to have a self introspection to
develop a strategy for the upcoming days.”

The following is a more urgent situation report on meeting convened
under the banners of the Common Concern and Orissa Manavik Adhikar
Suraksha Abhijan on justice delivery crisis. The report’s authors
include Dhirendra Panda and Fr Ajay Singh. While this report is
critical of the legal support systems for the victims, I must
acknowledge the work done by the Human Rights Law Network and the
Christian Law association who have had to work with young local
lawyers and limited resources in the face of official machinery that
is determined not to pursue justice with honesty.

I quote from the report:

“In the context of regular acquittals of the persons accused of
criminal involvement during Kandhamal violence by Fast Track Courts on
the ground of non-availability of witnesses, a meeting was held at
Lohia Academy, Bhubaneswar to listen the experiences of the victims
and their witnesses seeking justice. About seventy five persons
including the victims, activists, representatives of left/democratic
political parties and civil society organisations, advocates, media
persons, civil society

members, church leaders and others participated in the Meeting.
Agenda

• Sharing of experiences/concerns by victims and witnesses in and
outside courts

• Sharing on challenges faced by Lawyers and organizations engaged in
legal aids

• Observations/Suggestions by the Participants

Among the participants, Prafulla Samantara, renowned activist and an
ardent advocate of people’s rights and movements, Radhakant Sethy,
former MLA and leader of CPI-ML Liberation, Dr. John Dayal, Member of
National Integration Council, Sudhir Patnaik, Editor, ‘Samadrusti’,
John Nayak, former DG of Police, Orissa, Prasant Paikray and
Ramakrishna Panda – leaders of CPI, Smt. Tapasi Praharaj, CPI-M
leader, Smt. Saila Behera, Shanti Ranjan Behera – Senior Social
Activist, Ms. Lalita Missal – Woman Rights’ Activist (NAWO), Hemant
Nayak – Social Activist, Mahendra Parida - Social Activist and Trade
Union leader, Pradip Pradhan – RTI Activist and many others shared
their observations regards to the approaches to the problems faced by
the victims.

Observations

• Public Prosecutors are mostly found biased against the victims

• In comparison with the skills, influences, clouts, numbers of
advocates favoring the accused persons, the strength of advocates need
to be improved

• Faulty and biased methods of police investigation, framing the
charge sheets and presentations in the Courts weaken the cases

• Absence of social and physical security of the victims and witnesses
inside and outside the Court

• The provision that in GR cases only Public Prosecutors can argue,
while the victim parties can not appoint their own advocates
privately, does not help the victims in cases where PPs are biased.

• Show of extra-favour to the accused ones by some judges harass the
victims and their counsels

• Lawyers counseling the victim parties are even persuaded not to
continue their legal assistance

• Witnesses are threatened/allured to turn hostile

• Absence of democratic and left parties in comparing to the dominance
of BJP and RSS helps the culprits and corrupts the atmosphere of the
courts

Suggestions

• Appeal to transfer the cases to outside Kandhamal, preferably to
Bhubaneswar and Cuttack courts.

• Christian Lawyers’ Association, Human Rights Law Network and other
groups engaged for legal aid should work in a coordinated manner

• Assistance from senior and experienced lawyers should be taken up

• Engagement of other lawyers to assist the P.Ps\A.P.Ps in GR cases
and submission of written arguments by other lawyers

• Mobilisation of activists to be present in the court will help in
building confidence among the victims and influence the PPs/APPs and
judges to be careful to some extent

• A Public Hearing/People’s Tribunal can be organized..

• Lawyers should be smart enough to intervene at the right manner at
the time of necessity

• Local people need to create their own defense mechanism

• Secular minded organizations/activists, particularly the people
participating in this programme, need to evaluate the ongoing legal
actions and decide upon appropriate measures to respond to the current
situation collectively.

• At the state level a joint committee involving people from various
sectors need to be formed to keep regular watch on legal matters and
monitor the actions being taken up by the organizations engaged in
legal aids

• It is necessary to document the court proceedings and situation of
witnesses and victims, which can be used in future for raising the
issue before higher courts and media

• A Kandhamal level committee should be formed for monitoring justice
delivery processes and for looking after mobilizing social supports
for the victims and witnesses

• Extensive media campaign has to be taken up to expose the illegal
and biased behavior and functioning of PPs/APPs and judges.

• Referring to the deposition of Police officers before the Sarat
Chandra Mohapatra Commission, information will be collected from their
respective offices using RTI and a letter can be sent to the Governor
with a copy to the Commission can be sent mentioning the concerns and
position of the civil society

Decisions

• An ad hoc state level joint solidarity committee was formed
involving the participants to coordinate

o Interaction with political parties for their support for the victims
in getting justice

o Media campaigns

o Keeping watch on legal processes

o Documentation of justice delivery processes

o Social Mobilisation for backing the victims inside/outside courts
,;
Footnote:

To understand the different factors responsible for the failure it
will be convenient to have a minimum idea on the chain/ stages on
which the justice delivery process runs.

The stages of criminal cases in series:

(1)Occurrence of the Incident--- (2)FIR--- (3)Investigation (includes
arrest of the accused & Submission of Charge-sheet)--- (4) Magistrate
( who commits the case to the competent court)--- (5)Trial (includes
Framing of Charges, Summon to Witnesses, Testimony by the witnesses,
Argument & Judgment)--- (6) Appeal

Difficulties & Lacunas in different stages

(1) Occurrence of the Incident

- Many of the victims are not eye witnesses as they fled away to the
jungle just before the incident happened.

- As the investigation started very late the proofs and marks of
violence had disappeared or washed away.

(2) FIR

- Non- registration by the police

- The names of the accused persons are not mentioned

- Delay in filing

- In some FIR the offence in specific is not disclosed

- In most of the cases copies of the FIR not given to the victim

- The informant himself is hostile in some cases.

(3) Investigation

- No proper investigation but a stereotyped process adopted by the
police.

- Non-examination of the important witnesses

- Accused examined as the witnesses.

- Non-arrest of the accused persons ( particularly the kingpins) till
date

- The property of the absconding accused persons could have been
attached ( Sec 83 of Cr.P.C.) which could compel them to surrender.

- Proper sections of IPC not mentioned in the Charge-Sheet

- Delay in filing of Charge-sheet helped the accused persons to get
bail.

(4) Magistrate


- The lawyers for the victim could have put their objection before the
magistrate, before whom the charge-sheet is submitted, on the non-
mentioning of appropriate sections of IPC in the Charge-sheet.
( Section 216 of Cr.P.C)

(5) Trial

- Most of the independent witnesses were hostile as they were
threatened by the accused persons in the village.

- The court atmosphere is not conducive for free and fair trial.

- The judge and the public prosecutors lacks judicious mind.

- Deficiency of trained lawyers in comparison to the number of cases.

- Lacuna in the part of the lawyers engaged on behalf of the victim.
No effort to build up the case in favor of the victim, only tutoring
of the witnesses on their previous statement of the police is done.
The lawyers could have done as the following.

- Effort could have been made to cover up the lacuna in the FIR as
well as the statement before the police, while giving testimony before
the trial court.
- The witness/ victim could have been prepared on the point on which
the defense lawyer is striking.

- Proper caution could have been taken to avoid major discrepancy
between the testimonies of the major witnesses.

- Petition could have been laid to examine the important witnesses who
are not charge-sheeted. ( Section 311 of Cr.P.C)

- Written argument could have been filed in each case at the time of
final argument. ( It must be kept in mind that if the lawyer has not
filed the Vakalatnama from the initial stage then he may not be
allowed to file written argument in the final stage.)

- Even though most of the witnesses are becoming hostile, the victim
and the family members could have been properly guided before giving
testimony. Because law is well settled, the sole testimony of the
victims / the eye witnesses, if inspires confidence and appears to be
natural and truthful and also corroborated by the documentary
evidences, is enough to convict the accused.

(6) Appeal

- No appeal preferred in most of the cases where the accused were
acquitted.

- Appeal should be preferred in conviction cases as in the said case
conviction is done for only few accused persons and most of them are
acquitted.
-
[PP is Public Prosecutor appointed by the Administration. CrPC is
Criminal Procedure Code, IPC is Indian Penal Code, FIR is First
Information Report, ]
Posted by John Dayal at 9:31 AM 0 comments


Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A letter to the Orissa Human Rights Commission
KUIDINA FORUM FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
AT-NUA SAHI (KUPANAJU), G.UDAYAGIRI, KANDHAMAL, ORISSA, PIN-762100

Letter No. – 1132/2009 Date – 22.10.2009

To

Sj. Justice R.K. Patra,
Chairperson,
Orissa Human Rights Commission,
Bhubaneswar.

Sub:- Prayer for independent enquiry of case No.472/2009 by OHRC,
Bhubaneswar.

Sir,

We express our deepest gratitude for patient hearing of the esteemed
members of the Bench on dt.22.10.09 in relation to our case No.
472/2009 in the office of the OHRC, Bhubaneswar

That, “Kuidina Forum for Peace and Justice” is a local peoples
initiative mostly led by the indigenous women of Kandhamal committed
to restore peace and justice and also have been sincerely engaged in
peace building processes in almost all the past so called communal
violences.

On the petition of “Kuidina Forum for Peace and Justice” dt.
28.03.2009, the commission had given a direction to the District
Administration for the joint enquiry on the negligence and lapses in
the investigation in providing life protection and security
arrangement in relation to the victims vide the order dt.05.05.2009 in
a joint bench of Hon’ble Justice R.K. Patra, Justice Himadri Mohapatra
and Dr. R.N. Bahidar and report back within eight weeks.

Even today after 22 months of major violence took place in Dec. 2007
and the 14 months after the incident took place in the month of August
2008, the victims are still living in a fear of insecurity and terror
without any adequate livelihood support system and no enquiry has been
made so far to give immediate relief and justice to the victims.

In spite of clear direction of OHRC to give protection to Debendra
Nayak of Lingagada vide Case No.549, dt.04.08.08 failed, Issac Digal,
G.Udayagiri, Co-ordinator of the Forum was brutally attacked on dt.
03.09.09. Karpura Digal, Shankarakhole has not received due
compensation for her murdered husband. Attempt to rebuild damaged
houses in Dadingia and Gressingia was disturbed due to further attacks
as reported (communicated to OHRC on dt.07.09.09). Sumabati Pradhan,
Dakedi and Bhabanti Nayak, Godabisa approached His excellency Governor
of Orissa but did not get adequate security assistance to return back
by the admn. And still facing further attacks. Most of the victims in
the petition are facing continuous attacks, threatening and
humilitation in different forms even for last seven months since the
petition submitted to OHRC. District Administration is very busy in
taking up many formal peace initiatives sincerely but the said
responsibility seems to be an additional burden.

Large number of complaints are yet to be converted into formal FIRs
and even in the justice delivery system Criminals are getting
acquitted due to the weaknesses in the investigation and prosecution.
There is greater need of protection for the complainants and witnesses
in the process. So far 95 persons are acquitted and 24 persons
convicted.

The real criminals, the third force, who practically led the violence,
supplied all the required financial resources, managed the looted
property, supplied explosives, arms, weapons, petrol and cooking gas
etc. are still in the dark, not arrested and moving freely to create
further violence in future under the defence mechanism of different
political parties and organizations, with their predominant, sectarian
and divisive attitude.

Though the Govt. has declared the closer of all the relief camps
withdrawing the CRPF by the end of August 2009 and claims that the
situation in Kandhamal is peaceful and normal, the indigenous women
leaders allege that the victims are still not in a position to return
back to their native villages, construct their damaged houses and
avail the due compensation. The victims are leading a miserable life
under the impending fear of death and future attacks deprived of
proper security arrangement, Govt. relief and staying in their self
managed temporary tents and shelters. 40% of the total agricultural
activity has been dropped due to the prevailing chaotic situation and
social unrest.

Non-transparent and non-inclusive peace building and rehabilitation
process has made the situation more complicated and critical as many
agencies and organizations not much familiar with the local
egalitarian culture, long standing, symbiotic relationship,
traditional non-hostile animistic faith and most importantly the
entitlements and the protective constructional provisions and the
related rules of all the indigenous forest dwelling communities have
started intervening in the process. Resource seems to be mismanaged
and underutilized.

The Forum pray your kind self for an appropriate intervention,
particularly conduct the enquiry independently through OHRC and advice
the concerned authority for an inclusive people based process and due
recognition of the voice of the local community leaders without giving
further scope to the divisive elements as life of the poorest of the
poor is equally important and also requested for displacement of all
the officials with sectarian and biased mindset for the greater public
interest.

Sd/- Sd/-
(Keshamati Pradhan) (Hemant Naik)
Co-convener Convener
Contact Phone- 9437645267
Posted by John Dayal at 12:35 AM 0 comments
Friday, September 25, 2009

Rumours Kandhamal victim was ritually sacrificed.
On Murder anniversary in Orissa, , Fast Courts, Faster Acquittals

Rumours Kandhamal victim was ritually sacrificed.

By John Dayal, with detailed inputs from Ajaya Kumar Singh in Orissa:

September 25, 2009

Why are there so many acquittals in the Fast Track courts trying the
cases of murders and arsons in Kandhamal during August-September 2008?

Indian Human Rights groups are aghast at the outcome of murder cases
in these courts. In one case the son testified in the court that he
was witness to the killing of his father and knows the killers. Yet,
the accused were acquitted. And now there are rumours that perhaps it
was more than a mere murder – that it was a case of a ritual human
sacrifice, for which once Kandhamal was notorious in the country.

In the second murder case, the witness out of intimidation and
possibly other considerations including money, turned hostile in
court. He was taken to the courts by friends of the accused in their
vehicle.

Some families of the victims have in fact been forced to become Hindus
and join the RSS, local people say.

In his latest report from Orissa, Ajaya Kumar Singh interviewed the
son of the victim who had been dragged from a running public bus full
of passengers. At least two witnesses had said he was dragged from the
bus only to be found murdered next day by a mob led by the man who
later became a BJP legislator. The killer gang and their leader run
scot free.

Patently, the police investigation is a sham, so also is the
prosecution.

It was an irony that the acquittal came on the first anniversary of
the murder. Kantheswar Digal, 60 years, a Catholic Christian of
Sankarakhole of Chakapada block was dragged from a public transport
and was killed brutally after one month of killing of Swami
Laxmanananda allegedly killed by the Maoists.

The judge of the Fast Track court-II C R Das acquitted Pradhan and
another accused Mantu Nayak of the murdering Kantheswar Digal.

Manoj Pradhan was arrested in October last year and sent to jail. He,
however, won the last State Legislative Assembly election from G
Udaygiri segment in Kandhamal from jail. He was released from jail for
15 days in July this year to enable him to take oath as member of the
Orissa assembly.

In a separate case, the fast track court acquitted five others accused
of setting houses on fire at Tikabali area on August 26, 2008, three
days after the killing of Lakhmanananda Saraswati.

With these acquittals of seven persons today, the total number of
persons acquitted has risen to 95 while 24 persons have been convicted
so far.

Kantheswar left his native village soon after the anti-Christian
program along with his wife to escape and stay safely with his only
son, Rajendra Digal, 28, in Bhubaneswar. He was a cook in the Parish
Catholic Church. All his life time earnings, he invested on a starting
of grocery shop. Besides, he was into trading and had a herd of 35
goats. He was enterprising. He could not remain idle in Bhubaneswar as
refugee any longer. He had just returned to his village to see his
house and livestock presuming normalcy has been restored.

Seeing the violence around, he sold 24 goats for Rs 40,000 in a
distress sale and informed his son that he would be returning to
Bhubaneswar. He boarded Sagar Suraj Public Bus heading for district
headquarter. Public transport is the safest for transportation for the
Christian refugees. Hardly, he has travelled a kilometre or so, the
hindu radicals allegedly led by Manoj Pradhan stopped the public bus
and dragged Mr. Digal in full view of passengers around noon time on
24th of September 2008.

The old man’s cries went in vain as the attackers dragged him while
slashing his leg so that he could not run. They took him to a nearby
forest while looting and razing his house and shop to the ground. They
took away all 8 goats and feasted the whole night. Digal’s son,
Rajendra said, ‘The attackers forced the Christians to become Hindus
and join the feast’. Kantheswar was given good feast that night and
was taken away to unknown place. Rajendra apprehending danger to his
father informed the police and the administration. Thakur Digal filed
a missing-personal complaint.

The police did not take interest to look for the missing father,
complained the son. ‘After 12 days, Digal’s body was found 40
kilometers away from the village with acid charred face and naked
state. The genitals had been chopped off. The body was found along
with another Christian couple, who were government officials.

Human Sacrifice?: “I have heard my father was not killed instantly.
The fanatics had all the rituals and he was sacrificed”. Rajendra does
not know the reasons for all this as his father was a very good person
and was close to the church. On being asked about the acquittal of the
accused, “ I cannot understand as the attackers are known and there
are witnesses, who say that they have seen him being dragged out of
the public bus. Yet, they are acquitted”. The lawyer supporting the
victim tries to reason out saying the proper investigation and strong
prosecution would have made the matter different”.

In another murder related case where a woman was burnt alive in a
house while another non-Christian tribal leader was killed for
defending the Christians, the five witness families are on the run for
testifying the truth while the accused are on a prowl and roaming
freely in villages. There are several reports of intimidations and
threats for the witnesses against the accused from different villages
Dodingia, K. Nuagam, Phiringia and Solesoru testifying before the
courts. Police instead of taking action against the people, refused to
receive complains.

Dr. Augustine Singh, the psychologist, who had held counsel sessions
for the victim’s wife was disappointed at the acquittal. “We need to
support the victims’ families and encourage them to keep the fight on
so that nobody is denied of justice’.

There is increase demand for protection of the witnesses, strong
prosecution and robust investigation before charge sheet of the
accused is the unanimous opinions of the Christian communities.
“Without these, justice will be derailed, Paul Pradhan, 48, a civil
right activist says.

Posted by John Dayal at 8:54 AM 0 comments

Memorandum submitted by OMASA to the President of India

To

The President of India,
Rastrapati Bhawan
New Delhi.

Sub: Proper investigation and punishment of the Orissa police for
their Indifference and failure to protect the life and properties of
the victims of Kandhamal violence

Dear Madam,

It may not be out of place to mention that Kandhamal violence was a
black spot in a human society in which we live. The violence that
perpetuated against the dalit and tribals, who chose to become
Christians engineered by the Sangh Parivar. The violence against dalit
and tribal Christians claimed 75 lives, scores of women molested and
raped; looting and burning and destroying 6000 households and
displacing and snatching livelihoods of nearly 25000 people. Worse,
still hundreds of people cannot return to their own native soils to
enjoy their constitutional and fundamental rights as citizens of the
country. The role of police both rank and file in the violence has
come under question.

a. Sister Meena, a Tribal Catholic Sister narrated before media and
others of her plight that the police remained mute spectators when she
was paraded and gang raped by the fanatic murderous mob. Rather, they
tacitly supported as her cry for protection became futile while the
culprits became emboldened in the presence of the police to carry out
further crime. The incident continued for hours and whole day. Worse,
still, she was being pressurized not to state the facts by the police
officials as mentioned in her press conference.

b. When the nun gang rape case came to light, after two months, the
state government woke up and Mr.Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Orissa
ordered the collector and superintendent of police, Kandhamal to
assess and give the report of gangrape of Sister Meena in K.Nuagam,
Kandhamal. The joint report of District Magistrate and Superintendent
of Police of Kandhalmal corroborated the news report resulting in the
suspension of five police persons. (News item published in the daily
Oriya newspaper “Sambad” Dt 01.11.08). It reflected the role of police
personnel.

c. During our visit to Kandhamal camps and villages, we came across
several affected people, who had narratives as how police remained
mute spectators in a way encouraging the perpetrators.

To cite a few examples; in Dibya Jyoti centres and Jana Vikas, in
K.Nuagam, Srasanada Tuberculosis centre in Telapally under Phiringia
block run by Missionary charity where a platoon of the police
personnel was stationed. The administration had been informed of the
possible attack on Gadaguda and Rudangia gram panchayats and police
forces were stationed within 15 minutes, yet the people are killed and
hundreds of households burnt to ashes as late as October 30th, 2009.

d.The then Orissa Home Secretary Sri. Tarunkanti Mishra admitted that
people had lost faith on the local administration and the same to be
restored. Why the people lose faith in the administration? (News item
published in the daily news paper “Samaj” Dtd 3.9.08)

e. The inquiry commission for Kandhamal violence justice Sj Sarat
Chandra Mohapatra has made Police and administration responsible for
the Kandhamal violence. (Daily newspaper “Sambad” Dtd 2.7.09).

f. The delegates under the leadership of Archbishop Dr. Raphael
Cheenath, SVD demanded for CBI inquiry, since, for his people it was
hard to trust the local police personnel and administration on their
action. Hence, later on the Archbishop handed over a memorandum to the
Chief Minister, Orissa (Published in the daily news paper “Sambad” Dtd
11.11.08)

g. Sri. A.K. Upadhyay IPS now working as DIG (Training) in Bijupatnaik
state police Academy, has written a letter to the Director General of
Police while marking copy to different high ranking officers of the
state Government including the Home Secretary, Orissa. He accuses and
names 13 Indian Police Administrative officers including the then
Director General of Police, Mr.Gopal Nanda of dereliction of duties in
protecting the life and properties of the dalits and tribals
especially those who chose to become Christians in Kandhamal. He is
bewildered to note that the officers of this kind are rewarded with
awards for their services. (Published in the daily Oriya newspaper
“Dharitri” Dtd 03.9.2009). The allegations of Mr.Upadhyaya are very
serious in nature and it corroborates what the victims were
apprehending and experiences.

h. The state government went on claiming that the situation is normal
and was indifference to protection of dalit and tribal, who chose to
become Christians for seven months. In 1999, Graham Staines and his
two minor sons were brutally burnt alive by the Bajrang Dal under the
leadership of infamous Dara Singh. The then central government knew
the fact, but responded to it in a lukewarm way. The then central team
of three prominent central ministers; George Fernandes, Murali Manohar
Joshi and Naveen Patnaik. They called it as International Conspiracy
and thus, tried to escape from their responsibility. This is the
indifferent and careless tendency of the central as well as state
government while innocent citizens lose their lives and properties at
the forces of fanatics.

Taking the total stock of situation, we may reach a conclusion that
the Kandhamal violence was deliberate and intentional in close nexus
with some section of police administration in particular and local and
state administration in general.

There are reports of certain government officials were actively
involved in this carnage. The blood sucking fanatics and criminal
elements got a free hand to perpetuate the violence of all forms;
looting, arsoning, molesting and raping, burning and destroying the
houses, institutions and worship places and murders of barbaric kinds
unheard of on the helpless victims.

The Sangh Parivar elements made good use of the state machinery to
eliminate the indigenous dalit and tribals. The state has failed its
duty to protect life and properties of the citizens.i. More
importantly, no other person in a country knows about the security and
role of police than a home minister of a country. Home Minister of
India, Sri P. Chidambaram after his visit to Kandhamal, who made a
study and came to conclusion. It is total negligence. He has had no
option, but squarely blamed the state police for its failure to
prevent the attacks by mobs on Christian community. He said, “The
police have failed to give protection to Christian people of
Kandhamal. They have failed completely.”

In the above background a detail enquiry is the necessity in order to
bring the facts to the limelight in the fairness of the administration
and justice. It would be highly appreciated if the matter would be
taken up with the CBI for the better and impartial investigation.

We demand a white paper on the role of police and administration in
the violence covering all the records of verbal and written
instructions and decisions of the police maintaining law and order in
Kandhamal from the beginning till day; receiving complaints,
registration of the cases, enquiry and charge sheets of cases,
attempts and successes in arresting the culprits.

We, therefore, request to treat the matter as serious one and look
forward the immediate action on unearthing the role of police and
administration in nexus with the criminal elements to perpetuate the
violence within three months.

Yours faithfully

Sukhdev Behera
President
Orissa Manavika Surakhya Abhiyan(OMASA)
Plot No.2297, Jayadev Vihar, Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar 751013, Odisha,
E- mail: omasa...@gmail.com
Posted by John Dayal at 4:57 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 24, 2009
The first life imprisonment for Orissa anti-Christian pogrom

By Ajay Kumar Singh

Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) The first sentence of life imprisonment for 5
youths, accused in the trials regarding the anti-Christian violence’s
in Orissa was given today in the court of Kandhamal. Sentenced to life
are Papu Pradhan (30), Sabito Pradhan (30), Dharmaraj (32), Mania
Pradhan (28) and Abhinas Pradhan (29). The five have been declared
guilty for the murder of Akbar Digal, a Baptist pastor and forced to
pay a fine of 5 thousand rupees (around 120 dollars) for arson,
looting and burning houses.

It is the third trial for a case of murder. The previous two involved
amongst other people, Manoj Pradhan, member of Parliament in Orissa
for the Hindu party Bharatiya Janata Party, but were closed with the
acquittal of the accused.

Akbar Digal, 40, was the pastor of the Protestant community in the
village of Totomaha, part of the Gram Panchayat of Mandakia in the
agglomeration of Riakia. On the 26th of September 2009, during the
attacks by the Hindu extremists he sought refuge in the fields whilst
his wife with their five children escaped in the opposite direction.

The attackers, decided to reach their prey at all costs, they searched
the pastor house to house looting and burning them. Despite having
hidden in the fields he was not able to escape the extremists. Once
they captured him they forced him to abandon Christianity and
convertor Hinduism. When he refused they decapitated him and cut his
body into pieces. Once the extremists left the village, his wife found
his body burnt and in torn to pieces.

The news of the sentencing of the assassins renewed the hope the
Christian community of Kandhamal. Jay Prakash, 46 years, brother of
Akbar says ”we are pleased that the judges bought justice to the soul
of our brother. These barbaric attacks call for severe punishments for
the assassins.” Bulgan Digal, 48 years and older brother of the victim
tells “ When I read about the guilty being

acquitted on the newspapers, I lose all hope for us.

This ruling will help the witnesses of these violence’s to be more
courageous, bring back faith to the victims in the justice in
Kandhamal and be a deterrent to repeat such brutal acts for the
criminals in the future.

The sentence of the five coincides with the acquittal of other five in
another case for arson and violence against Christian closed today in
the court of Bhubaneswar. Up to date the two courts that are examining
the cases related to the pogrom put in prison 19 persons and released
88.

Posted by John Dayal at 5:43 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
6 convicted, 5 acquitted in communal cases in Kandhamal, Orissa

By Ajaya Kumar Singh

23rd September 2009

In the major case, the fast track court in Kandhamal today, 23rd
September 2009, convicted 5 accused with life imprisonment for the
murder of Akbar Digal and fined them 5,000 ruppees (USD 120) for arson
and looting as well as burning of the houses. The five accused are 1.
Popu Pradhan 2. Sabito Pradhan 3. Dharmaraj Pradhan 4. Mania Pradhan
and 5. Abhinas Pradhan.

This is the third trial of murder cases. In the previous two cases,
Bharatiya Janata Party Legistlator, Orissa Assembly Manoj Pradhan and
others were acquitted of the murder crimes.

Akbar Digal, 40, Sulesoru village of Burbinaju post under Tikabali
police station in Kandhamal district, Orissa was a pastor in Totomaha
village in Mondakia Gram Panchayat under Raikia block. As the hindu
radicals trooped into the village, the dalit Christian villagers run
for their life. Akbar, pastor could run into turmeric field for a
cover on 26th of September 2009 while his wife and 5 year child run in
another direction. The murderous radicals were determined not to
return without their target, Pastor Akbar. They searched every house
one by one, looting the valuable and setting the house on fire. Akbar
could not escape the murderous eyes as they marched towards the
turmeric fields. He was caught and was asked to denounce Christ and
become Hindu. ‘Be Hindu and save your life’. He refused. The attackers
could not wait longer. They beheaded and cut into pieces. The Holy
Bible was in the place thrown into the corner. Once the murderous
crowd left the place, the wife came only to see his dismembered and
burnt body. He left for heavenly abode with a young wife and five year
child.

This has emboldened the Christian community. There is definite
reassurance that the justice be ensured for the kandhamal victims. Jay
Prakash, 46, brother of Akbar said, “We are happy that justice is done
to our brother soul. The barbaric attack demands severe punishment of
the culprits’.

Bulgan Digal, 48, elder brother, who has retired from Indian Air Force
says, “When I used to read the newspapers about the culprits being
acquitted, I had given up hope of justice for us. This judgement will
boast the confidence of the witnesses as well as sagging moral of the
Kandhamal victims of the fight for justice’. He hastened to add,”It
would deter the cuprits for committing similar crime future’.

His Grace, Dr.Raphael Cheenath,Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar said,
" We are happy and welcome the court verdict. This would enhance and
embolden the christian community as well as the intimidated and
frightened witnesses to come forward to give witnesses". " I hope the
witnesses would come forward to testify the truth. The struggle for
justice has to go on and justice should be ensured for the victims'.

On 22 September, the fast-track court in Orissa State Tuesday
sentenced six people to three-year rigorous imprisonment
for their role in the communal violence in Kandhamal district last
year, but acquitted five others accused.
“Six persons have been awarded rigorous punishment of three years and
Rs.4, 000 (US$_100__) fine,” said public prosecutor P. K. Patra, while
five accused were set free. In another case, it has released 6 accused
on bail.
So far, the fast track court has completed 21 cases related to anti-
Christian pogrom that was carried out by Hindu fanatics. The court has
convicted 19 persons while released 88 persons in the communal
violence in Kandhamal.

The fast-track court in Kandhamal, about 215 km from the state
capital, Bhubaneswar, was hearing a case relating to the torching of a
house of a journalist named Ashok Kumar Ray in Phiringia village. “I
am welcome the court’s verdict’, said Ashok and went on to add, ‘I
shall get full justice, if mastermind of our house burning attack
behind the bar’. Ashok Ray had a grocery shop. One of the convicted,
Tapan was working in the shop. On hearing the attack on a Parish
Church, Ashok, a hindu said to the radical hindu friends that they
have not done right in pulling down a Parish church in Pabingia, 30
K.M. away from the district headquarters. This did not go well with
the radicals, who by now concluded that he was taking side of the
Christians and raised his shop and house to the ground.

So far 19 radical Hindus have been convicted, and 88 set free in 21
communal cases in Kandhamal

The judgement has not come without price. He testified against the
accused before fast track court. The accused were furious. He was
heckled and threatened outside the court premises during the
testimonies. Mr.Ashok brought the matter before the court, which
directed the complainant to report to the police. He reported to the
police against the accused. The police refused to accept the complaint
until it is brought before the Superintendent of Police, Phulbani. By
the time, the accused hand in globe with the local police threatened
Mr.Ashok to withdraw a case or ready to be booked under Prevention of
Atrocities against SC/ST Act. Mr.Ashok had to withdraw case fearing
the arrest on the pretext of this Act as he does not belong to these
communities.

Fr.Prasan Singh said,” I am happy at this verdict’, but hasted to add,
‘the acquittal rate is alarming as hundreds involved in 21 cases
settled so far and only 19 accused are only convicted. The police has
to do a proper investigation if at all we shall have more
convictions”.

The Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, said, ‘We welcome
the verdict. It shall boast the witnesses not to be cowed down, but
testify the truth”. The prelate, who has become a voice against the
anti-Christian violence, adds, ‘I am concerned about the acquittals of
the accused in the heinous crimes like murders’. He calls for ‘a very
strong prosecution, well-knit investigation and protection of the
witnesses’ to give justice to the victims.

More than 50,000 Christians fled their villages after their houses
were attacked by rampaging mobs, who held Christians responsible for
Saraswati’s killing although police blamed Maoists for the crime. The
violence claimed 70 persons while around 5000 houses burnt to ashes.
The Maoists too later owned the responsibility for the killings of
Saraswati and his four aides.

Posted by John Dayal at 9:59 AM 0 comments

Sunday, September 20, 2009
Archbishop Cheenath slams conversion charges

By: CT News Desk

Saturday, 19 September 2009, 14:38 (IST)

Statements that religious conversions went unchecked and was a reason
for sparking the anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal was slammed by
the Archbishop of Orissa Raphael Cheenath.

Appearing before the investigating Justice SC Mohapatra Commission,
former district collector of Kandhamal Gangadhar Singh on Wednesday
said religious conversions was rampant and went without following the
statutory provisions of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA),
1967.

"There were many cases of conversions but few intimated the district
administration," Singh said.

Archbishop Cheenath called the statements "ridiculous" and told the
AsiaNews that much of Singh’s testimony is ambiguous and based on
outdated information.

“Why did they not bring to light the irregularities prior to this?” he
asked. “Can they prove what they say? [. . .] The Orissa Freedom of
Religion Act was enacted in 1967, and only now after the wave of anti-
Christian persecution, do they mention some violations of the law!

This is all a game played to make the government appear innocent.”

Apart from conversions, fake caste certificates, tensions between
tribals and Dalits and others were mentioned before the Commission
investigating last year's brutal violence on Christians in Orissa's
communally-sensitive Kandhamal district.

Further, the Orissa police also denied receiving any threat letter
against Swami Laxmananda Saraswati before he was murdered. But, former
DGP Gopal Nanda said police had prior information that Saraswati was
under threat from some group.

Archbishop Cheenath feels the officials’ version of events is but the
latest chapter “in the game played by government authorities and the
Sangh Parivar (Hindu fundamentalist group) to continue persecuting
Christians.”

“Most shamefully and regrettably, officials are working with the Sangh
Parivar to drive out the vulnerable Christian minority from
Kandhamal,” he was quoted saying.

Copyright © 2009 Christian Today. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without
prior permission.

Posted by John Dayal at 10:16 PM 0 comments

Friday, September 18, 2009
Hindutva's Violent History

By Angana Chatterji

06 September, 2008
Tehelka

Hindutva's production of culture and nation is often marked by
savagery. On 23 August 2008, Lakshmanananda Saraswati, Orissa's Hindu
nationalist icon, was murdered with four disciples in Jalespeta in
Kandhamal district. State authorities alleged the attackers to be
Maoists (and a group has subsequently claimed the murder). But the
Sangh Parviar held the Christian community responsible, even though
there is no evidence or history to suggest the armed mobilisation of
Christian groups in Orissa.

After the murder, the All India Christian Council stated: “The
Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of
terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own
hands”. Gouri Prasad Rath, General Secretary, VHPOrissa, stated:
“Christians have killed Swamiji. We will give a befitting reply. We
would be forced to opt for violent protests if action is not taken
against the killers”.

Following which, violence engulfed the district. Churches and
Christian houses razed to the ground, frightened Christians hiding in
the jungles or in relief camps. Officials record the death toll at 13,
local leaders at 20, while the Asian Centre for Human Rights noted 50.

The Sangh’s history in postcolonial Orissa is long and violent.
Virulent Hindutva campaigns against minority groups reverberated in
Rourkela in 1964, Cuttack in 1968 and 1992, Bhadrak in 1986 and 1991,
Soro in 1991. The Kandhamal riots were not unforeseen.

Since 2000, the Sangh has been strengthened by the Bharatiya Janata
Party's coalition government with the Biju Janata Dal. In October
2002, a Shiv Sena unit in Balasore district declared the formation of
the first Hindu ‘suicide squad’. In March 2006, Rath stated that the
“VHP believes that the security measures initiated by the Government
[for protection of Hindus] are not adequate and hence Hindu society
has taken the responsibility for it.”

The VHP has 1,25,000 primary workers in Orissa. The RSS operates 6,000
shakhas with a 1,50,000 plus cadre. The Bajrang Dal has 50,000
activists working in 200 akharas. BJP workers number above 4,50,000.
BJP Mohila Morcha, Durga Vahini (7,000 outfits in 117 sites), and
Rashtriya Sevika Samiti (80 centres) are three major Sangh women's
organisations. BJP Yuva Morcha, Youth Wing, Adivasi Morcha and Mohila
Morcha have a prominent base. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh manages 171
trade unions with a cadre of 1,82,000. The 30,000-strong Bharatiya
Kisan Sangh functions in 100 blocks. The Sangh also operates various
trusts and branches of national and international institutions to aid
fundraising, including Friends of Tribal Society, Samarpan Charitable
Trust, Sookruti, Yasodha Sadan, and Odisha International Centre.
Sectarian development and education are carried out by Ekal
Vidyalayas, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashrams/Parishads (VKAs), Vivekananda
Kendras, Shiksha Vikas Samitis and Sewa Bharatis — cementing the
brickwork for hate and civil polarisation.

This massive mobilisation has erupted in ugly incidents against both
Christians and Muslims. In 1998, 5,000 Sangh activists allegedly
attacked the Christian dominated Ramgiri-Udaygiri villages in Gajapati
district, setting fire to 92 homes, a church, police station, and
several government vehicles. Earlier, Sangh activists allegedly
entered the local jail forcibly and burned two Christian prisoners to
death. In 1999, Graham Staines, 58, an Australian missionary and his
10- and six-year-old sons were torched in Manoharpur village in
Keonjhar. A Catholic nun, Jacqueline Mary was gangraped by men in
Mayurbhanj and Arul Das, a Catholic priest, was murdered in Jamabani,
Mayurbhanj, followed by the destruction of churches in Kandhamal. In
2002, the VHP converted 5,000 people to Hinduism. In 2003, the VKA
organised a 15,000- member rally in Bhubaneswar, propagating that
Adivasi (and Dalit) converts to Christianity be denied affirmative
action. In 2004, seven women and a male pastor were forcibly tonsured
in Kilipal, Jagatsinghpur district, and a social and economic boycott
was imposed against them. A Catholic church was vandalised and the
community targeted in Raikia.

Change the cast, the story is still the same. 1998: A truck
transporting cattle owned by a Muslim was looted and burned, the
driver’s aide beaten to death in Keonjhar district. 1999: Shiekh
Rehman, a Muslim clothes merchant, was mutilated and burned to death
in a public execution at the weekly market in Mayurbhanj. 2001: In
Pitaipura village, Jagatsinghpur, Hindu communalists attempted to
orchestrate a land-grab connected to a Muslim graveyard. On November
20, 2001, around 3,000 Hindu activists from nearby villages rioted.
Muslim houses were torched, Muslim women were ill-treated, their
property, including goats and other animals, stolen. 2005: In
Kendrapara, a contractor was shot on Govari Embankment Road,
supposedly by members of a Muslim gang. Sangh groups claimed the
shooting was part of a gang war associated with Islamic extremism and
called for a 12hour bandh. Hindu organisations are alleged to have
looted and set Muslim shops on fire.

It is Saraswati who pioneered the Hinduisation of Kandhamal since
1969. Activists targeted Adivasis, Dalits, Christians and Muslims
through socio-economic boycotts and forced conversions (named
‘re’conversion, presupposing Adivasis and Dalits as ‘originally’
Hindus).

Kandhamal first witnessed Hindutva violence in 1986. The VKAs,
instated in 1987, worked to Hinduise Kondh and Kui Adivasis and
polarise relations between them and Pana Dalit Christians. Kandhamal
remains socio-economically vulnerable, a large percentage of its
population living in poverty. Approximately 90 percent of Dalits are
landless. A majority of Christians are landless or marginal
landholders. Hindutva ideologues say Dalits have acquired economic
benefits, augmented by Christianisation. This is not borne out in
reality.

In October 2005, converting 200 Bonda Adivasi Christians to Hinduism
in Malkangiri, Saraswati said: “How will we… make India a completely
Hindu country? The feeling of Hindutva should come within the hearts
and minds of all the people.” In April 2006, celebrating RSS architect
Golwalkar’s centenary, Saraswati presided over seven yagnas attended
by 30,000 Adivasis. In September 2007, supporting the VHP’s statewide
road-rail blockade against the supposed destruction of the mythic ‘Ram
Setu’, Saraswati conducted a Ram Dhanu Rath Yatra to mobilise
Adivasis.

In 2008, Hindutva discourse named Christians as ‘conversion
terrorists’. But the number of such conversions is highly inflated.
They claim there are rampant and forced conversions in Phulbani-
Kandhamal. But the Christian population in Kandhamal is 1,17,950 while
Hindus number 5,27,757. Orissa Christians numbered 8,97,861 in the
2001 census — only 2.4 percent of the state’s population. Yet,
Christian conversions are storied as debilitating to the majority
status of Hindus while Muslims are seen as ‘infiltrating’ from
Bangladesh, dislocating the ‘Oriya (and Indian) nation’.

The right to religious conversion is constitutionally authorised.
Historically, conversions from Hinduism to Christianity or Islam have
been a way to escape caste oppression and social stigma for Adivasis
and Dalits. In February 2006, the VHP called for a law banning (non-
Hindu) religious conversions. In June 2008, it urged that religious
conversion be decreed a 'heinous crime' across India.

‘Reconversion’ strategies of the Sangh appear to be shifting in
Orissa. The Sangh reportedly proposed to 'reconvert' 10,000 Christians
in 2007. But fewer public conversion ceremonies were held in 2007 than
in 2004- 2006. Converting politicised Adivasi and Dalit Christians to
Hinduism is proving difficult. The Sangh has instead increased its
emphasis on the Hinduisation of Adivasis through their participation
in Hindu rituals, which, in effect, ‘convert’ Adivasis by assuming
that they are Hindu.

The draconian Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA), 1967, must be
repealed. There are enough provisions under the Indian Penal Code to
prevent and prohibit conversions under duress. But consenting converts
to Christianity are repeatedly charged under OFRA, while Hindutva
perpetrators of forcible conversions are not. The Sangh contends that
'reconversion' to Hinduism through its ‘Ghar Vapasi’ (homecoming)
campaign is not conversion but return to Hinduism, the ‘original’
faith. This allows them to dispense with the procedures under OFRA.

The Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1960 should also be
repealed. It is utilised to target livelihood practices of
economically disenfranchised groups, Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, who
engage in cattle trade and cow slaughter.

In fact, a CBI investigation into the activities of the VHP, RSS and
Bajrang Dal is crucial as per the provisions of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Groups such as the VHP and VKA are
registered as cultural and charitable organisations but their work is
political in nature. They should be audited and recognised as
political organisations, and their charitable status and privileges
reviewed.

The state and central government's refusal to restrain Hindu militias
evidences their linkage with Hindutva (BJP), soft Hindutva (Congress),
and the capitulation of civil society to Hindu majoritarianism. How
would the nation have reacted if groups with affiliation other than
than militant Hinduism executed riot after riot: Calcutta 1946, Kota
1953, Rourkela 1964, Ranchi 1967, Ahmedabad 1969, Bhiwandi 1970,
Aligarh 1978, Jamshedpur 1979, Moradabad 1980, Meerut 1982, Hyderabad
1983, Assam 1983, Delhi 1984, Bhagalpur 1989, Bhadrak 1991, Ayodhya
1992, Mumbai 1992, Gujarat 2002, Marad 2003, Jammu 2008?

The BJD-BJP government has repeatedly failed to honour the
constitutional mandate separating religion from state. In 2005-06,
Advocate Mihir Desai and I convened the Indian People's Tribunal on
Communalism in Orissa, led by Retired Kerala Chief Justice KK Usha.
The Tribunal’s findings detailed the formidable mobilisation by
majoritarian communalist organisations, including in Kandhamal, and
the Sangh's visible presence in 25 of 30 districts. The report did not
invoke any response from the state or central government.

In January 2000, The Asian Age reported: “‘One village, one shakha’ is
the new slogan of the RSS as it aims to saffronise the entire Gujarat
state by 2005.” Then ensued the genocide of March 2002. In 2003,
Subash Chouhan, then Bajrang Dal state convener, stated: “Orissa is
the second Hindu Rajya (to Gujarat).”

We all know what has happened in Kandhamal December 2007, and again
now. The communal situation in Orissa is dire. State and civil society
resistance to Hindutva’s ritual and catalytic abuse cannot wait.

The writer is associate professor of anthropology at California
Institute of Integral Studies and author of a forthcoming book:
Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present, Narratives from
Orissa

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 36, Dated Sept 13, 2008

Posted by John Dayal at 2:43 AM 0 comments

Thursday, September 17, 2009
Withdraw Police medals from 4 IPS officers for Kandhamal Violence
Withdraw Police medals from 4 IPS officers for Kandhamal Violence

Bhubaneswar, 2.9.09:

A.K.Upadhyay, a senior IPS officer has held
13 IPS officers, including the former Director General of Police, Sri
Gopal Nanda responsible for the Kandhamal violence. The situation got
deteriorated due to their utter negligence in taking appropriate steps
within the timeframe. Hence, Sri Upadhayay has written a letter to the
present DGP,Sri Manamohan Praharaj to withdraw the police medals
awarded to those IPS officers. The letter of Sri Upadhyay has now been
a point of discussion within the IPS circle. Mr.Upadhyaya, a 1976
Cadre IPS officer is now functioning as DIG (Trainer) in the Biju
Patnaik state Police Academy.

On last 31st August 2009, Sri Upadhyay has written a letter to the
DGP, Orissa that the 13 IPS officers holding responsibilities in
different times should submit affidavits before the Judicial
Commission constituted under the chairmanship of Sri. Sarat Chandra
Mohapatra to enquire the Kandhamal violence. It is not appropriate for
those IPS officers to escape from their responsibilities by shifting
the same on the local police personnel and officers. He said that the
additional DG Sri Deshraj Meena had gone to Kandhamal on 25th December
2007 aftermath violence in Kandhamal. Sri Meena had also gone to
Kandhmal after Janmastami violence occurred on 24.8.2008. Hence, he
should submit affidavit before the commission.

Sri Bidhu Bhusan Mishra IG was in-charge of law and order situation in
December, 2007. But he did not go there when the incident occurred.
During December 2007 Sri Pradeep Kapoor was supervising the law and
order situation, and later he was in charge of law and order; but at
the relevant time, DGP Sri Gopal Nanda did not send him. In fact, he
went to the spot only after 10 days of the incident.

The crime branch had sent IG Mr. Bijay Kumar Sharma to assess the
violence occurred during Christmas day on 25th December 2007. Special
branch IG Mr. R.P.Singh was sent to the spot immediately.
During the gangrape of nun at K.Nuagoan on 25th August, 2008, IG Mr.
Shayam Sundar Hansda was in-charge of Balliguda range. But he did not
permit lath charge to stop the “nun” rape incident rather than victim
of gang rape and Father Challan were brought to Balliguda and were
persuaded to give opinions against incidence of rape while lodging
FIR. DIG, Mr. Mahendra Pratap was kept in-charge of G.Udayagiri. The
state government entrusted to crime branch IG Mr. S.Panwar to enquire
the murder case of Swami Laxmannanda. But instead of going
immediately, he had actually gone there after 7 (seven) days. On the
pretext of health check up, he flew to Delhi. However, government is
not able to give any information regarding his treatment. Awardee Mr.
Gopabandhu Mallick was sent to Phulbani from Ist September 2008 to
15th September, 2008, but he did not permit to take actions against
the persons involved in the violence. Even he did not take any action
against the police/constables deployed in the district HQs who were
involved in firing left and right. From 1.9.2008 to 12.9.2008 Mr. A.K.
Roy was appointed in Balliguda and he had nor taken the
responsibilities. When appointed as as a crime branch IG, he created
eight stories on the assassination of Swamiji dated on 17.9.2008.
Afterwards, 18 persons were arrested on 15.12.2008. Mr. Prakash Mishra
remained as Chairman of Orissa Police Housing Corporation including
additional D.G in Sadar HQs. But he neglected his duties. DGP Mr.
Gopal Nanda did not send the police IG in-charge of law and order
situation of Kandhamal to monitor the incidents occurred during the
period from December 2007 to August 2008. Rather through them, he
forged the records. During the period from 13.9.2008 to 19.9.2008 Mr.
Satyajit Mohanty was in-charge of Balliguda. Therefore, those IPS
officers should submit their affidavits before the commission. Mr.
Upadhyay in his letter has mentioned that the medals from Mr.
R.P.Koche, R.P.Singh, Gopabandhu Mallick and Mr. Deshraj Meena should
be withdrawn from them likewise as done in the case of Mr. Binayatosha
Mishra. The copy of the letter addressed to the DG also has been sent
to the member of RDC (ND) Mr. Santosh Kumar, IAS. In this letter he
has requested the persons in the helms of affairs to withdraw the
medals on account of their inaction during the Kandhamal violence.
Along with this he also demands that the appointment given to Mr.
Gopal Nanda after his retirement must be cancelled. Even he has
written by appraising the matter to the chief Secretary Mr. Tarun
Kanti Mishra, Home secretary, Mr. Aditya Prasad Padhi, Principal
secretary to CM, Mr. Bijay Kumar Patnaik and Union Home Secretary.

Source: Local Oriya leading newspaper: DHARITRI – 03.09.2009,
translated by Madhu Yadav ( Editor: Tathagata Satpathy, Present Lok
Sabha Member),

Posted by John Dayal at 8:33 AM 0 comments
some important links
some important links, FYI:

Book: 'Violent Gods: Hindu Nationalism in India's Present':
http://www.threeessays.com/titles.php?id=40

Search inside the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Violent-Gods-Nationalism-PresentNarratives/dp/8188789453/ref=ed_oe_h

Indian People's Tribunal report on Communalism in Orissa (September
2006):
http://www.iptindia.org/main/ipt.php?Page=Report&Report=40

Testimony to the Congressional Task Force on International Religious
Freedom (December 2008):
http://www.sacw.net/article549.html

Orissa: A Gujarat in the Making (Communalism Combat, October 2003):
http://www.sabrang.com/cc/archive/2003/oct03/sreport2.html

Affidavit to the Commission of Inquiry on the Kandhamal riots in Dec
2007 (May 2008):
http://www.sacw.net/DC/CommunalismCollection/ArticlesArchive/angana_may2008.html

Orissa: Hindutva's Violent History (Tehelka, September 2008):
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne130908HindutvasViolentHistory.asp

Posted by John Dayal at 8:21 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Let we forget
LEST WE FORGET

In its annual report for 2008, India’s Ministry for Home Affairs
recorded that the country had witnessed a high incidence of communal
violence --- as many as 943 communal incidents, mainly against Muslims
and Christians, took place in which 167 persons were killed and 2,354
persons were injured. The figures were up from those of 2007, when
there were 761 incidents in which 99 persons were killed and 2,227
persons were injured.

Some details:

ORISSA

14 (of 30) Districts hit

315 Villages destroyed

4,640 Houses burnt [State government earlier estimates 4,215]

54,000 Homeless initially

20,000 People still living as Internally Displaced Persons

1,500 People still in Government run camps / enclaves

120 People murdered [Estimated, but not officially acknowledged]

7 Priests/ Pastors killed

10 Fathers/Pastors/Nuns injured

3 Rapes confirmed [One of Nun]

252 Churches destroyed [estimated by State government]

13 Schools, colleges destroyed

827 cases have been registered

6 persons convicted

4 Cases in which all accused acquitted

Registered

2. KARNATAKA

8 (of 29) Districts affected

33 Churches attacked update again

53 Christians injured in attacks, including Nuns assaulted by state
police.

[This does not include incidents of violence and persecution witnessed
in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra,
Chhattisgarh, Delhi and many other States in 2008-09]

The reality of Kandhamal – One year on, the crisis of State continues

Our Lord teaches us not to hate. We do not hate our enemies.

But Fear is real, specially in Orissa’s Kandhamal district.

It is not just Kandhamal, or indeed Orissa. Unfortunately,
circumstances in India are such that the religious minorities and the
marginalised groups, the Dalits and others, have to live under the
shadow of fear, of violence and domination, hate and official
impunity, always looking over the shoulder for the next threat.
Priests in forest parishes, pastors in villages, evangelists in
distant rural areas, and social activists live under a very real and
very dark shadow of fear.

In Kandhamal a year after that dreadful day of 24th August 2008, the
situation remains terrible. We know for a fact that perhaps as many as
20,000 [of the 50,000 who were rendered homeless when almost 5,000
houses were torched by Hindutva mobs] remain internally displaced
persons, living as refugees or beggars in other towns of Orissa and in
nearby states, some even in Mumbai and New Delhi. Some live in
Christian ghettos created by the government which could not protect
them in their home villages.

We know that so called fast track courts of the Orissa government have
set free known killers because the police did not prepare a sound case
and because the state failed to protect witnesses who were threatened
and who could not give evidence. We know that government has reneged
in its promise of financial relief and rehabilitation of widows and
other victims of the violence. We also know to our deep regret how
even so called judicial commissions headed by retired High Court
judges have tried to pin blame on Christians citing conversions as the
main cause of violence without even trying to identify the
perpetrators of murderous violence.

The threat is potent enough for many Christians to prefer to live in
government refugee camps in ghastly conditions because the killers
roam scot free in their home villages while the police look on. All
this has been documented by the international media, and by noted
Indian Christian investigative reporters such as Anto Akkara and
Vishal Arora. Independent scholars Professor Angana Chatterji of
California, and Prof Manoranjan Mohanty and Advocate Vrinda Grover,
both of New Delhi have documented this. Even the National Minorities
Commission has commented on it. And of course the Church and its Human
Rights activists continue to raise the issue with the National and
State governments. The uneasy peace is maintained by armed police
whose energies have however been diverted to cope with Maoist militant
activity in this region and other states.

The main threat continues to be from Hindutva elements who have tasted
blood and who have prospered and flourished under official patronage.
Many of them are now joining the ruling party, the Biju Janata Dal.
The police and administration is also heavily infiltrated by these
elements. The lack of a witness programme and the involvement of
crucial police officers prevent real investigation and ensure s a
miscarriage of justice. We await superior court judgments to petitions
that these criminal cases be tried outside Kandhamal and outside
Orissa so that witness protection programmes can be put into
place. .Official impunity, the tacit support to Hindutva, and
increasing polarisation do not augur well for religious minorities.

But this is our homeland, and we will remain, even if the struggle for
justice has to continue indefinitely. It is the state’s duty to end
violence, a duty it must carry out. We are before the Supreme Court
for this, as also before the President of India. We also know that the
international human rights community is watching India.

For the Christians of Orissa, and of Kandhamal in particular, there is
the strength of faith which prevents the fear from becoming a routing
or crippling paralysis. Even in the darkest hour of violence in Orissa
a year ago, the people refused to abandon their faith, and that is
where they conquered fear of that sort.

As for reconciliation, most of us have been working for reconciliation
and peace. Not reconciliation as a compromise, or as a sign of defeat;
not reconciliation as surrender; but reconciliation born out of
forgiveness and underpinned by justice ensured by the state. Murderers
and killers, who did the violence out of ideologies of hate and
mischief, need to be punished, but communities need to get over the
suspicion and hate and come together once more.

Time is ripe for genuine reconciliation in Orissa and elsewhere.

Page four

Demands and Recommendations which the government must implement in
Orissa:

i. Investigate the forcible conversion of Christians to Hinduism, and
prosecute perpetrators under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code;

ii. Ensure that (with reference to the ruling of the Supreme Court in
Writ Petitions) police unfailingly assist victims of violence to
submit FIRs.

iii. There must be a Witness Protection Programme put into immediate
operation giving serious consideration to the need for a suitable
atmosphere for victims and witnesses to testify, in order to expedite
prosecutions and convictions;

iv. Investigate reports of police officers failing to register cases
or showing complicity in attacks, and bring prosecutions against
offending officers;

v. Supply a substantial number of investigating officers and public
prosecutors, and implement fast-track courts in at least four
locations in Kandhamal district.

vi. Request that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carry out
an investigation into the assassination of Vishwa Hindu Parishad
leader Lakhmanananda Saraswati and the subsequent anti-Christian
violence from 24th August 2008, paying specific attention to the root
causes of this violence, including the propagation of anti-Christian
hatred;

vii. The Government should take measures to carry out an extensive
research with the view to rehabilitating the victims of violence, make
the recommendations public, and implement them without loss of time.

viii. Provide education to displaced children

ix. Provide further compensation for those who have been affected by
the violence, including covering the loss of crops, livestock and
employment, and assess required levels of compensation on a case-by-
case basis through certified independent evaluators;

x. Undertake to follow the recommendations of the National Commission
for Minorities in September 2008 on the establishment of Peace
Committees, and further to take measures to ensure that all
communities are adequately represented within such Peace Committees,
to enable these to promote reconciliation and inter-communal
understanding with integrity;

xi. Establish a State Commission for Minorities (in the model of its
national counterpart) and ensure that members of the commission are
appointed by transparent and non-partisan procedures;

xii. Repeal the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967.

Posted by John Dayal at 1:38 AM

http://kandhamal-orissa.blogspot.com/search?q=kandhamal

Sid Harth

unread,
Dec 12, 2009, 12:01:06 PM12/12/09
to
Sanatan charges: Govt keen to implicate it in Margao blast
Agencies

Posted: Saturday , Dec 12, 2009 at 1701 hrs

Panaji:

Sanatan Saunstha (SS), a Right Wing Hindu outfit, on Saturday termed
the decision to hand over the Margao bomb blast case to NIA as a
"desperate" attempt to indict it in the case.

"Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Goa Police made every attempt
to gather evidence against Sanatan Saunstha in the blast case, but
they achieved nothing," the organization said in its mouthpiece
'Sanatan Prabhat'.

It said the case is transferred to NIA to make sure that Sanatan is
indicted in the offence "by hook or by crook".

"How would they accuse Sanatan when the institution is not involved in
the case? First it was local police, later anti-terrorist squads of
different states and now NIA. The people in power have continuously
harassed Sanatan," the article said.

"Sanatan will prove its innocence at the end of all this process.
There is no basis to act against us," it said, adding the state
government may still suggest the union government to impose a ban on
it.

The Margao bomb blast on October 16 killed two of the SS's activists
killed when they were ferrying explosives. The police arrested four
people in connection with the case, all having affiliation to the
outfit.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sanatan-charges-govt-keen-to-implicate-it-in-margao-blast/553365/

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 12, 2009, 4:11:53 PM12/12/09
to
RSS tries to turn over a new leaf
Jaideep Hardikar / DNA
Sunday, December 13, 2009 1:28 IST

Nagpur: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is making subtle changes
in the way it functions in keeping with the times, say insiders.

From using e-communications, social networking sites like Facebook and
Orkut to e-shakhas (internet groups) to easing the timings of daily
shakhas, the Sangh is more open today than it has ever been to make
change for the convenience of supporters and sympathisers in all
spheres.

"If evenings are convenient for a shakha, it should not be an issue.
It is not a compulsion that a shakha should be held only in the
mornings, but we do insist on regular physical meetings," an RSS
functionary said.

"Sending an email to invite people for a gathering is convenient, so
instead of going door to door, email invites or an SMS is okay," he
said. "We can't be rigid with the ways as long as we are not playing
with our basic ideals."

The Sangh, he said, is not closed to ideas that would rope in people
who want to contribute to nation building. "Among all the youths."

After he took over as the Sarsanghchalak, Dr Mohan Bhagwat is making
an effort to streamline its cadre-base and bring in fresh and younger
leadership at all levels, Sangh insiders say. "Look at the current
national executive body; its average age has come down."

Making a better use of IT, the RSS aptly updates its website these
days and posts the statements and speeches in multimedia format.

In six years, the RSS has built software shakhas to groom IT
professionals, who support its ideology. The idea, say Sangh watchers,
is to stay relevant and seal its appeal among masses in the country,
particularly the youth.

Though in his October 27 press conference in Delhi, Bhagwat had
categorically denied that a change in dress code was on the anvil,
insiders said the Sangh had briefly discussed this issue, but got no
support on it then.

As an important initiative, the Sangh is approaching groups and
individuals across the country who are not its supporters, but work in
the areas and on the issues of national interest. Senior functionaries
are reaching out to political leaders and retired bureaucrats through
a programme called Vishesh Sampark Yojana.

"It's an indication of the RSS trying to look outward for solutions to
issues for which it has no expertise," an RSS observer analysed.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_rss-tries-to-turn-over-a-new-leaf_1323079

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 12, 2009, 4:31:39 PM12/12/09
to
Saffron in turmoil
Arati Jerath
Saturday, November 7, 2009 23:48 IST

The BJP is not the only organisation in crisis. The patriarch of the
Sangh parivar, the RSS, is in turmoil too with pracharaks clamouring
for a transfer to the greener pastures of the BJP.

The change sweeping through the RSS surfaced at a recent meeting of
workers near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. During a discussion on the BJP,
a senior leader suddenly popped a poser. How many pracharaks want a
lateral shift to the BJP, he asked.

To everyone's surprise, the majority of those present raised their
hands. Infuriated that his pracharaks seemed to prefer working for the
political wing instead of the parent body, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
upbraided the leader for posing the question.

What kind of a query was that, he barked. But Bhagwat may find that
he's fighting a losing battle. Politics and the material benefits it
brings are proving irresistible even for those sworn to selfless
social commitment. At this rate, the BJP could end up having the last
laugh in its ongoing tussle with the RSS for supremacy.
***
Oldtimers in the BJP are not quite sure what to make of RSS chief
Mohan Bhagwat. They are used to sarsanghchalaks who kept away from
public limelight and exercised control through the power of moral
authority. But Bhagwat is straining to be a creature of the 21st
century. He has already done two television interviews and regularly
gives soundbytes in front of cameras.

He is constantly on the move and seems to enjoy addressing public
gatherings. He has held three such meetings in Delhi alone since he
took over the reins of the RSS a few months ago. That's a record for
any sarsanghchalak. What's upsetting oldtimers is that all this
exposure is giving away a closely guarded secret, that the RSS is
losing its appeal. Bhagwat's most recent meeting in Delhi was attended
by less than 100 people.
***
Despite Bhagwat's fulminations against "Delhi-based'' leaders and his
announcement that the next BJP president will be chosen from outside
the "coterie"that rules in the Capital, the RSS can't seem to find a
candidate for the post.

The two state leaders approached so far, Madhya Pradesh chief minister
Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Manohar Parrikar from Goa, have declined the
offer. The latest name doing the rounds is that of Maharashtra BJP
president Nitin Gadkari. But even that is not final as the RSS is not
sure that Gadkari has the stature to become a national leader or that
he has the capacity to handle the cut and thrust of Delhi politics.

The way things are going, Rajnath Singh may get his heart's desire in
an ad hoc extension because of the TINA (there is no alternative)
factor. If Rajnath stays put, so will L K Advani as Leader of
Opposition. And the RSS will be back to square one in its bid to
overhaul the BJP.
* * *
TAILPIECE
While the Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka was gasping, the RSS
seemed to be blissfully unaware of the crisis. A senior RSS leader
telephoned Arun Jaitley as the latter was leaving for Bangalore to do
some firefighting. He wanted to know whether Jaitley was in Delhi.
When Jaitley replied that he was on his way to Bangalore, the RSS
leader nodded sagely. Ah, he said, must be for a political programme
and asked what it was. Jaitley had to explain that he was going for
something more serious than a mere ``karyakram''!

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/column_saffron-in-turmoil_1308649

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 12, 2009, 11:01:36 PM12/12/09
to
'Beyond doubt, the demolition was a pre-planned act'

P Chidambaram / December 13, 2009, 0:15 IST

What was happening that day? This is the most important part, Madam.
At about noon, a teenaged kar sevak vaulted onto the dome and thereby
signaled the breaking of the outer cordon. Other kar sevaks wielding
pickaxes, hammers, iron-rods and shovels started scaling the Ram
Deewar and over the barriers of the outer, inner and isolation
cordons, from the east, west and south directions.

Madam, I ask where do the pick-axes come from? Where do the hammers
come from? Where do the iron-rods come from? Where do the shovels come
from? In a tremendous team-work they carried them… (interruptions).
They stormed the disputed structure. The police deployed at the spot…
(interruptions) Please listen to this. The police deployed at the spot
gave their canes and shields to the kar sevaks who brandished them
openly… (interruptions).

The kar sevaks’ assault on the disputed structure started at 12.15
p.m. They first entered the Garba Griha, carefully took away the idols
and cash box, etc to a safe place. Then they started breaking the dome
and started breaking the upper plaster of the dome with hammers. In
fact, the demolition was accomplished by smashing holes inside the
walls. Ropes were inserted through these holes in the walls under the
domes; the walls were pulled down with these ropes bringing down the
domes as well… (interruptions). The structure was not brought down by
the kar sevaks on the domes, the structure was brought down by digging
a hole in the dome, putting the ropes to the hole and pulling the dome
down with the ropes… (interruptions).

It was shameful, pre-planned, conspiratorial, wanton, cold-blooded
destruction of the property, which they promised they would protect…
(interruptions). L K Advani, M M Joshi, Ashok Singhal, Vijayaraje
Scindia, H V Seshadri who were present at the Ram Katha Kunj made
feeble requests to the kar sevaks to come down from the disputed
structure either in earnest or for the media’s benefit. …
(interruptions).

What does the Commission conclude? This charade by these leaders at
the instance of L K Advani is in stark contradiction to their own
prior conduct and their public posture, incitement and exhortations to
the crowd to build a temple in place of the disputed structure. The
demolition of the structure was unavoidable for the construction of a
temple. They had to demolish the structure to construct the temple.
Therefore, they demolished the structure.

The idols and cash box removed to safe places were brought back to
their original place at 7 pm. The construction of a temporary
makeshift temple commenced at 7.30 pm. A close examination of the
evidence shows that the enthusiastic chanting of inflammatory slogans
acted like a proverbial war cry and these were raised to encourage the
kar sevaks in their dastardly deeds. Slogans against Muslims were also
raised. Sarcastic remarks were made against the High Court and the
Supreme Court.

Mulayam Singhji was mocked by the kar sevaks. Even though the Chief
Minister was informed about this, he gave a written order not to
resort to firing under any circumstances and to take any other
measure. The police and the administration were a mute spectator.
Their loyalty to the political masters was writ large.

Listen to Shri Kalyan Singh’s reaction: “It was like a badly inflated
balloon that burst. They should arrest me because, after all, I
fulfilled one of the major objectives of our party and have redeemed
the party’s election manifesto.”

It stood established before me beyond reasonable doubt that the Joint
Common Enterprise was a pre-planned act for demolition under the
immediate leadership of Vinay Katiyar, Paramhans Ramchander Dass,
Ashok Singhal, Champat Rai, Swami Chinmayanand, S C Dixit, B P Singhal
and Acharya Giriraj. The other leaders cannot be absolved of their
vicarious liability and were willing collaborators playing the roles
assigned to them by the RSS. Their informed support for the Ayodhya
campaign, fortified by their physical presence during the grand finale
of the prolonged campaign is irrefutably established.

(Excerpts from Home Minister P Chidambaram's speech in the Lok Sabha
while replying to the debate on the Liberhan Commission, on December
8, 2009)

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/%5Cbeyond-doubtdemolition-waspre-planned-act%5C/379348/

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 13, 2009, 5:22:56 AM12/13/09
to
SC should decide what to construct at Ayodhya site: Mulayam
November 28, 2009

Mulayam Singh Yadav, president of Samajwadi Party on Friday said that
Supreme Court should decide whether to build temple or a mosque at the
disputed site of Ayodhya of Uttar Pradesh. Watch Video

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 13, 2009, 8:09:51 AM12/13/09
to
Cong complaint with SEC against Reddys, Sreeramulu
Updated on Sunday, December 13, 2009, 18:28 IST

Hubli: The Congress in Karnataka has lodged a complaint with the
State Election Commission against three ministers - the Reddy brothers
and health minister B Sreeramulu for allegedly 'hijacking' 600 Bellary
district gram panchayat members and keeping them in resorts in Hubli
and Dharwad in view of the Dec 18 Legislative council elections.

Janardhana Reddy is the tourism minister,while his brother G
Karunakara Reddy is the revenue minister in the BJP government, led by
B S Yeddyurappa.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President R V Deshpande told
reporters here today that KPCC has also lodged complaints with the
Deputy Commissioner, Dharwad District and Police Commissioner, Hubli-
Dharwad,to enquire into the matter.

The KPCC has demanded that steps be taken to ensure that the
panchayat members be sent back to Bellary.

PTI

http://www.zeenews.com/news587117.html

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 13, 2009, 8:12:13 AM12/13/09
to
Law will take its own course in mining probe: Moily
Updated on Saturday, December 12, 2009, 18:56 IST

Bangalore: Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Saturday said law
would take its own course in regard to CBI investigation into the
affairs of a company, owned by three Karnataka ministers, accused of
illegal mining.

Talking to reporters here, Moily said he does not wish to express an
opinion over the issue as the investigation is on.

However, he said, "The law will clearly take its course. Nobody can
stop that".

When asked for his reaction to Karnataka Chief Minister B S
Yeddyurappa's reported statement that he was unaware of the probe,
Moily said he (Moily) knows that the CBI inquiry is on.

Asked to comment on the inquiry, Governor H R Bhardwaj told reporters
separately that he had no knowledge about it.

"I have no knowledge of any enquiry. You let me know. Come and discuss
with me. You can ask the Chief Minister. I have frankly no information
on this issue," Bhardwaj said.

CBI sleuths this week verified records and documents of Obulapuram
Mining Company, owned by ministers G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhana
Reddy and B Sriramulu, in the district headquarters town of Bellary
following allegations of illegal mining.

OMC has denied the charges.

PTI

http://www.zeenews.com/news586898.html

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 13, 2009, 8:23:13 AM12/13/09
to
Battle for BJP Orissa chief runs into rough weather
By Anurjay Dhal
Last updated: 12/13/2009 07:20:08

Bhubaneswar ( Orissa) : By differing the date for the election of the
State president, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s central leadership has
done a damage control exercise to appease several rebels including
former MP MA Kharvel Swain in Orissa State unit.

In fact, the Saffron party should have held election to choose the new
president on Saturday but it was postponed for few more days.

Party’s central observer Dr Chandan Mitra has already been started
talks with several leaders over this issue. Mitra on Sunday discussed
the issue with several senior leaders.

With differences are wide open, Dr Mitra, who is also the Editor-in-
Chief of The Pioneer would find it very difficult to reach out at a
conclusion. Dr Mitra maintained that new president will be chosen
instead conducting an election.

The problem within the BJP has been apparent since the party snapped
its tie with Naveen Patnaik led BJD and faced a humiliated defeat in
twin polls.

Though, it was expected, the Saffron party would set its house in
order, nothing has happened with several leaders are planning to set
down from the party.

Worried over Swain’s move, senior leaders LK Advani and Rajnath Singh
had telephoned the former Balasore MP. Sources said that Swain is
being interested for the top job.

Sources in BJP hinted that apart from Swain, Jual Oram, Dharmendra
Pradhan, Manmohan Samal, Rajkishor Das, Bijay Mohapatra, KV Singh Deo
and few others are eyeing for the post.

In case RSS strongly back any one of them, new party chief would be
from the above mentioned names.

Dharmendra Pradhan, who lost Palahara seat in last polls, is trying
very hard to become the party’s State chief.

As he is very close to both senior BJP and RSS leaders, Pradhan, who
is party’s Pravari for Chhattisgarh could be emerge as a dark horse.

Another fact was that BJP central observer Dr Mitra too also close to
Pradhan than any other leaders in Orissa.

Like Pradhan, Oram too has chance to lead the party for another term.
It may be noted here that Oram had earlier headed BJP in Orissa.

Sources also said that game plan of both Prasana Mishra and Panchanan
Rout, two RSS men in BJP, might be clicked in getting a new State
chief.

Privileged sources in RSS however rejected speculations that the Sangh
Pariwar wants a president contrary to BJP;s choice.

“It is the BJP to choose its State chief and we have nothing to do
with,” a senior RSS leader added.

He said that when situation demands, Sangh suggested few things to
BJP, which was also accepted by it.

http://www.odishatoday.com/special/Battle_for_BJP_Orissa_chief_runs_into_rough_weather_131209-45670237467103768439769348546.html

Sid Harth

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Dec 13, 2009, 11:20:53 AM12/13/09
to
Telangana state

| | Posted on 3:57 AM

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Dominicus said the Move
should set up a new State Organization Certification (SRC) to hatful
with the demands for isolated statehoods and have its recommendations
as territory. "The announcement of creation of secernate Telangana
state has set the actress rolling as demands for writer smaller states
is cropping up... It would be wiser on effort of the regime to
forthwith set up new SRC," RSS advocator M G a.k.a. Baburao Vaidya
wrote in his weekly upright in a localized Marathi regular. "The SRC
should be set up with a statue of recommendation and its
recommendations should be treated as dominion... it would easiness the
difficulty," he said, adding that the Middle in no way should track
pick in rushing. Interestingly, the Legislature was in quality both at
the Place and in Andhra Pradesh and the latter was revolting against
the Building. Moreover, Dravidian mumbling grouping were clashing with
one another over the stock, Vaidya said. After the Confection's
Telangana counselling, Uttar Pradesh Leader Diplomatist Mayawati and
Jaswant Singh connected the line for smaller states with the BSP
supremo renewing the demand for splitting her advise into Bundelkhand,
Paschimanchal and Poorvanchal, time the old politician pitched for
Gorkhaland.

http://www.tgdc.info/2009/12/telangana-state.html

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 13, 2009, 3:29:31 PM12/13/09
to
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh is ready to wear trousers
Nistula Hebbar / DNA
Monday, December 14, 2009 0:22 IST

New Delhi: The hemlines are coming down. No, we're not talking about
winter fashion, but the 80-year-old dress code at the Rashtriya
Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). In the wave of change sweeping through the
organisation, the uniform will also be given a new look.

RSS officials told DNA that a new uniform would be in by March and
long trousers, instead of shorts, is one of the changes proposed. "The
uniform was a way of fostering a sense of belonging. We now find that
younger people who may be attracted to RSS ideology keeping away
because of the uniform," said a senior office-bearer.

RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said that the organisation was doing its
bit to attract a younger, more professional demographic but did not
say anything about the uniform. "Whenever people talk of the RSS, they
invariably mention the shorts. That is not the issue, the real deal is
to bring in all demographics to the shakhas and we are a dynamic young
organisation with a tested ideology," he said.

Indoor shakhas held in the evening instead of early morning is another
change being made. Blogs and social networking sites have also been
set up. "Some of the shakhas are online, with members meeting in the
evenings, this has been especially successful in Kolkata and
Bangalore," said a source.

RSS enrolments had dipped in comparison to the BJP in the last few
years. RSS office-bearers hope the new makeover turns the tide.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_rashtriya-swayamsewak-sangh-is-ready-to-wear-trousers_1323447

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 13, 2009, 3:58:22 PM12/13/09
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Babri's aftermath
R Jagannathan
Thursday, December 3, 2009 10:03 IST Email

It's just a few days to the 17th anniversary of the Babri demolition.
It is time to forget the Liberhan commission and seek closure on the
events of that tumultuous day. We need to understand the real meaning
of December 6, 1992. Since then, in our blind efforts to demonise the
Sangh parivar, we have ignored the real gains made by our polity. It
speaks much for the shallowness of our intelligentsia, that they are
unable to see what lay in front of their eyes.

Every society learns by making mistakes. It is one of the big ironies
of life that we learn only after societies and individuals sometimes
pay a horrendous price for it, but there's no getting away from it.
Emperor Ashoka learnt the value of moderation and non-violence only
after the murderous Kalinga war. We learnt the value of a solid
defence only after being ignominiously thrashed by the Chinese in
1962. The world recognised the jehadi nature of the Pakistani regime
only after 9/11, the London bombings and 26/11, among other things.

Hindus have realised the follies of narrow Hindutva only after 1992
and 2002; they know that it diminishes Hinduism and is something the
country cannot afford. Through a painful process, Muslims have made
their own discoveries: that sham secularism and placing trust in
rabble-rousers can land them in the ditch.

One of the unexpected conclusions of Liberhan is that the Ayodhya
movement had widespread support among a segment of Hindus. This is the
only conclusion one can draw when he condemns almost every single
leader of the BJP-RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal combine, and goes on to blame
the common man for the destruction of the structure.

While it is obvious that the Sangh parivar did not represent all
Hindus, there is no doubt that in much of north India, Hindus had
developed huge awareness about the Ram Janmabhoomi issue. While few
expected the worst to happen on December 6, when the masjid was
brought down, there was a sense of momentary catharsis - as one
columnist noted astutely - mixed with a strong sense of unease. One
should not, therefore, dismiss LK Advani's comment - that it was the
"saddest" day of his life - out of hand. His statement was at least
half-true.

For many Hindus, the fall of Babri ended their sense of rage at their
own real or imagined powerlessness. The Ayodhya movement, by
mobilising people across caste and gender barriers, enabled lakhs of
men and women to discover their own agency and sense of public
participation.

Put another way, the bringing down of the masjid enabled Hindus to
break out of the old mould of imagined passivity even while realising
that this was not what they wanted. It is difficult for non-Hindus to
understand these mixed emotions.

The closest comparison could be what Muslims felt on 9/11, when the
twin towers were demolished. There was a sense of both horror and
hidden fulfilment. Political correctness stops Muslims today from
glorifying 9/11, but one could sense a sneaking sense of admiration,
even pride, in the body language of Muslims one met immediately after
9/11. The subtext of what they said was this: "It was horrible that so
many people died, but you must admire the audacity and courage with
which the hijackers executed their plans."

Babri also served as a wakeup call for Muslims, who were till then
willing to let obscurantist leaders and phony secularists lead them to
a dead end. After December 6, despite a short flirtation with communal
politics, ordinary Muslims started to take matters into their own
hands by sending their children to schools and organising themselves
politically to demand the things they really needed: jobs and public
recognition of their citizenship. In the decade after 1991, that is,
in the post-Babri decade, Muslims have made great strides in education
through their own efforts. Even though they lag behind Hindus on the
literacy ratio (65.1% for Hindus vs 59.1% for Muslims in 2001), the
gap is narrowing.

In as many as 10 states, mostly in the western and southern regions,
they are either better off or at least equal to Hindus in terms of the
literacy rate. Four states which account for half the Muslim
population in India are almost entirely responsible for the
community's backwardness -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and
Assam. Apart from being poorly administered, three of the four are
backward because of high migration from Bangladesh. In short, if we
concentrate all our efforts on improving the lot of the poor and
illiterate in these four states and reduce immigration from
Bangladesh, Muslims would automatically catch up with Hindus -- at
least on the literacy front.

December 6 was no more justified than 9/11, and we can't run away from
the consequences. But, hopefully, both Hindus and Muslims have learnt
from it to say "never again". However, one can never discount the
ability of politicians to rake it all up again.

http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/column_babri-s-aftermath_1319484

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 15, 2009, 3:10:53 AM12/15/09
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'BJP does not treat Muslims equally'
According to Chidambaram

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday attacked BJP saying its
kinship towards Sikhs and not towards Muslims was a matter of "grave
concern".

"BJP feels a kinship to the Sikh community, which it does not feel
towards the Muslim community and that I think is a matter of grave
concern," Chidambaram told reporters outside Parliament.

The statement came after Chidambaram had responded to a Calling
Attention motion in Rajya Sabha on the progress of relief and steps
taken to punish the guilty involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

There were frequent clashes between him and BJP member Vinay Katiyar
during the debate.

Chidambaram told reporters," I think the last point I made stung them.
I pointed out that you are, at least collectively, discussing Nanavati
Commission report. But you did not allow such a debate on Liberhan
Commission report."

He said while BJP members did not allow him to reply at all in Lok
Sabha, there were numerous interruptions even in Rajya Sabha during
the debate on Liberhan Commission report.

"One should feel kinship for all communities and whichever community
suffers, all of us are collectively responsible...all of us have to
collectively share the blame for inaction if any..., he said." (ANI)

December 14, 2009

http://www.india.com/news/india/bjp-does-not-treat-muslims-equally_6391

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 16, 2009, 7:57:31 AM12/16/09
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Uproar in Delhi Assembly after CM blames BJP over Babri
STAFF WRITER 16:51 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) High drama was witnessed in Delhi Assembly
today after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said BJP ideology led to the
demolition of Babri Masjid, leading to vociferous protests by the
opposition MLAs and an adjournment for a brief period.

The Chief Minister's remark came when she was replying to a no-
confidence motion moved by opposition BJP alleging "complete misrule",
"massive corruption" and "total insensitivity" towards peoples'
problems.

BJP MLAs were on their feet soon vigorously protesting against Dikshit
who said the ideology of BJP led to the Babri Masjid demolition. They
shouted slogans against Dikshit and levelled allegations against her
which were expunged from records.

Adding more drama, Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, who joined Congress
during the Lok Sabha elections this year, jumped on to the table and
blamed the ruling Congress for the plight of Muslims.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/426446_Uproar-in-Delhi-Assembly-after-CM-blames-BJP-over-Babri

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 16, 2009, 8:32:30 AM12/16/09
to
Yet another storm in waiting for State BJP ?
Posted on Dec 15th, 2009

BANGALORE : There are all indications of yet another dissidence
sparking off in the state BJP with reports saying that a faction of
the BJP has already kickstarted the dissident activities at a resort,
even as the Congress and the JD(S) are making a veiled attempt to
bring down the BJP government, to have a coalition government.

Reports say that a total of 21 legislators including the MLAs who have
identified themselves with the Reddy faction met at the Silver Home
Resort near Yelahanka in the outskirts of the capital and held serious
discussions on their future course of action in the backdrop of the
CM’s failure to respond to their demands despite the latter yielding
to the demands of the mine barons.

The 21 MLAs included the three BJP ministers who had abstained from
the assembly session and five independent ministers. The meet was led
by Honnali Legislator Renukacharya and attended among others by
minister Goolihatti Shekhar, Shivaraj Tangadagi and PM Narendraswamy.

The meet decided to pressurize the chief minister to drop eight
cabinet members including Basavaraj Bommai, Murugesh Nirani, Haratal
Halappa and CM Udasi and to induct Renukacharya, Gopalkrishna Belur
and SK Bellubbi in their place.
Reliable sources revealed that the dissidents this time are firm that
they would not succumb to pressure from any corner.

http://thecanaratimes.com/epaper/index.php/archives/1936

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 16, 2009, 8:34:21 AM12/16/09
to
Dissident MLAs threaten to quit enmasse
Posted on Dec 16th, 2009

BANGALORE : The new dissident faction in the State BJP led by Honnali
Legislator Renukacharya has threatened to quit enmasse if the CM
failed to concede to its demands. The faction is also learnt to have
set a 15 day deadline for the same.
On the other hand, the CM who is moving heaven and earth to secure his
position, while trying to appease the dissidents on one hand, is also
stating that there was no dissidence in the ruling party.

The CM has also held a meeting with senior ministers at his home
office Krishna on Tuesday to discuss the strategy to be adopted to
cope with the present situation.

According to sources, it were the mine lords themselves who were
indirectly patronizing the latest dissidence in the ruling party.

http://thecanaratimes.com/epaper/index.php/archives/1952

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 16, 2009, 8:35:58 AM12/16/09
to
Yeddy in trouble again

Posted on Dec 16th, 2009

BANGALORE : Chief Minister HD Yeddyurappa is in trouble again-thanks
to yet another dissident group in the BJP which however has proved to
be a boon to the JD(S) leader and former CM Kumaraswamy who is all the
more interested in forming a JD(S) Congress coalition government.

Already, the latest dissident faction in the BJP is all set to resign
enmasse if its demand was not conceded. Kumaraswamy who was waiting
for such an opportune time, is already at work by meeting state
Congress leaders.
Though HDK was in Delhi on Monday to meet Sonia, he could not as Sonia
was busy with the Telangana imbroglio. Still he could meet other
leaders including Gulam Nabi Azad and Oscar Fernandes.

Meanwhile, reports said Kumaraswamy who is now back in Bangalore to
celebrate his 51st birthday, is expected to leave for Delhi yet again
on Thursday. He is also said to be in touch with the dissident BJP
legislators and is hopeful that if the dissidents quite enmasse then
it would pave way for the formation of a coalition government with
Congress support.
However, HDK who has refused to divulge anything has only said that he
was visiting Delhi to pressurize the union ministers to concede to
several demands pertaining to development of the state.

http://thecanaratimes.com/epaper/index.php/archives/1949

Sid Harth

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Dec 16, 2009, 12:27:16 PM12/16/09
to
BJP evasive on Jaswant quitting as PAC chairman
STAFF WRITER 21:27 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) BJP, which had been demanding the resignation
of expelled party leader Jaswant Singh from the post of Chairman of
Parliamentary Accounts Committee, today said he may have quit as his
term was coming to an end.

Party President Rajnath Singh gave a guarded response when asked for
his reaction to Jaswant Singh's unexpected resignation from the post
of PAC Chairman.

"No comments," he said, adding "Jaswant's decision may have come
because his term as Chairman was coming to an ending".

When asked if he felt Jaswant Singh was sending overtures to BJP by
quitting the post, Rajnath Singh refused to comment.

Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha is likely to succeed Jaswant
Singh as PAC chairman, BJP sources said.

Sinha is a former Finance and External Affairs Minister and takes keen
interest in financial matters.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/427349_BJP-evasive-on-Jaswant-quitting-as-PAC-chairman

Sid Harth

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Dec 16, 2009, 12:31:44 PM12/16/09
to
High drama in Delhi Assembly, all BJP MLAs expelled
STAFF WRITER 20:17 HRS IST

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) Uproar, vociferous protests and expulsion of
all opposition BJP MLAs marred the concluding day of winter session of
Delhi Assembly today which rejected a no-confidence motion against the
Sheila Dikshit government.

The House plunged to total chaos, when the Chief Minister during the
course of her reply to the no-confidence motion, blamed BJP's ideology
for demolition of Babri Masjid, which led to vociferous protests by
the BJP MLAs and an adjournment for 10 minutes.

Adding more drama, Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal then jumped on to the
table and started speaking against the ruling Congress for plight of
the Muslims.

As the ruckus continued, Speaker Yoganand Shastri asked marshals to
remove Iqbal and expunge comments made by him as well as the BJP MLAs.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/427203_High-drama-in-Delhi-Assembly--all-BJP-MLAs-expelled

Sid Harth

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Dec 16, 2009, 12:40:47 PM12/16/09
to
Jaswant Singh resigns as PAC chairman

Agencies
Posted: Dec 16, 2009 at 1639 hrs IST

Major cities, iconic installations on te...Proceedings in Parliament
disrupted over...Justice Dinakaran’s impeachment petition...

New Delhi In a sudden development, Jaswant Singh has resigned as
Chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which he
had refused to quit when he had a bitter parting of ways with the BJP
four months ago.
His resignation raised questions whether there was any rapprochement
with the BJP but the 71-year-old leader ruled out any such possibility
saying his action was not under "any pressure" or done with "some
calculation". The former Union Minister had met Lok Sabha Speaker
Meira Kumar on Monday and submitted his resignation, which has been
accepted with effect from December 31, to enable him complete three
reports.

His tenure as PAC Chairman ends in March next.

"I wanted to establish a point, which has got established, which is
the primacy of autonomy of functioning of Parliamentary Committees,"
said Singh, who was appointed as PAC Chairman on August 6.

He was expelled from the party on August 19 for writing a book --
'Jinnah -- India, Partition, Independence' in which he had eulogised
the Pakistan founder M A Jinnah and denigrated Jawaharlal Nehru and
Sardar Patel.

Soon after his expulsion, the BJP had demanded that Singh should quit
the PAC Chairman's post as he had been nominated by the party to which
he no longer belonged.

Senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and S S Ahluwalia, in fact, had met
him on behalf of the party with a plea that he should quit as there
was no provision for his removal.

Singh had refused to resign and the Speaker had also maintained that
there was no provision to remove PAC Chairman unless he did on his own
or was incapacitated.

The resignation raised eyebrows against the backdrop of Singh
addressing L K Advani in Lok Sabha on Monday with regard to Gorkhaland
issue and the Leader of Opposition responding to him as "my
colleague".

"I am surprised and saddened that you see some calculation. There is
life beyond calculation even in politics. I did not calculate any
advantage on Gorkhaland issue," he said in reply to questions whether
the step was taken in the context of the exchange between him and
Advani.

He said he believed that it was incorrect for political parties to ask
Chairmen of committees to vacate their seats.

"This too is an encroachment on propriety and prerogative of
Parliament and its committees as tomorrow parties would say "write
this in the report or don't write this".

Singh said he was not a permanent denizen of this committee. He had
enough political experience and continuing in office was not his over-
riding concern, he said.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Jaswant-Singh-resigns-as-PAC-chairman/554906/

Sid Harth

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Dec 16, 2009, 12:42:33 PM12/16/09
to
Jaswant resignation: Cong says no comment on subterranean shenanigans

Agencies
Posted: Dec 16, 2009 at 1935 hrs IST

New Delhi Congress on Wednesday suggested that the resignation of
Jaswant Singh as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of
Parliament showed the “subterranean shenanigans” between BJP and its
former member.
“The Congress need not comment on the subterranean shenanigans between
the BJP and its former member. We can hardly comment on stands and
loyalties which change by the hour, more frequently than the weather,”
party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said here.

In a sudden development, Singh has resigned as Chairman of the
prestigious panel, which he had refused to quit when he had a bitter


parting of ways with the BJP four months ago.

His resignation raised questions whether there was any rapprochement
with the BJP but the 71-year-old leader ruled out any such possibility
saying his action was not under “any pressure” or done with “some
calculation”.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Jaswant-resignation-Cong-says-no-comment-on-subterranean-shenanigans/554939/

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 16, 2009, 4:15:15 PM12/16/09
to
State BJP Govt will collapse before MLC election results: Deshpande

S.O. News Service, Thursday, 17 December 2009 - 00:40:08 IST

Bhatkal: “The whole state is submerged with fears and terror; riots
has become customary; the innocents are being oppressed and moreover
the places of worship are being attacked, these can be attributed as
the achievements of the State BJP Government in the last one and a
half year”, cited Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)
President, Mr. R V Deshpande.

He was addressingthe town municipal corporation, Gram Panchayat and
other voters in the election campaign meeting for Congress MLC
candidate Mr. S L Gotnekar held in Rabita Hall in Bhatkal. He averred
that BJP has deprived people of peace and harmony in the state.

Mr. Deshpande accused B S yeddyurappa, Karnataka Chief Minister of
being the weakest Chief Minister in the history of Karnataka state and
held him responsible for the communal riots. He acclaimed that the
state has turned Bankrupt on the economical grounds and has been
unsuccessful in the social level. KPCC President mentioned that the CM
has taken loan worth Crores of rupees to pay of the salaries of his
staff.

He alleged that the CM is more concerned about his chair rather than
the flood hit victims. He affirmed that the state government will
collapse even before the MLC elections. Referring to the recent
activities of the Reddy Brothers, he mocked at Chief Minister
Yeddyuruppa and said that he was the state chief minister only for
namesake. He avowed “the state is not run by yeddy (yeddyurappa), but
it is run by Reddy brothers who has encroached the forest lands.

KPCC President asserted that Mr. Yeddyurappa had taken an oath in the
name of the farmers, but his Government is oppressing the farmers.
While earlier the farmers of Haveri were caned and fired, at present
the farmers of Chamarajanagar have also been caned. Describing the
chief minister as anti-farmer, Deshpande expressed his concern over
the actions of the chief minister.

Mr. Deshpande stated that many projects which were initiated during
the Congress rule have been left unattended as these files have been
left to kiss the dust. He also notified that BJP caused great trouble
to Gram Panchayats following the petition against reservation in the
Supreme Court, which was filed by Rama Joyce, the Rajya Sabha member
for BJP. This act exposed the BJP, he added.

On this occasion, dignitaries present on the stage included Bhatkal
MLA Mr. JD Naik, congress MLC candidate Mr. SL Gothnekar, DCC
president Mr. Shantaram Hegde, Mr. Damodar Gardikar, Ms. Pushpa Naik,
Mr. Bhimanna Naik, Mr. Mankal Vaidyaye, Mr. Rama Moger, Ms. Vaneeta
Naik, Mr. Gajanan Acharya, Bhatkal TMC president Mr. Parvez Kashimji,
Tanzeem president Mr. Badrul Hasan Muallim, Mr. SM Sayed Abdul Azeem
Ambari and JDS taluk president Mr. MD Naik.

http://www.sahilonline.org/english/news.php?catID=coastalnews&nid=7007&viewed=0

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 16, 2009, 4:54:48 PM12/16/09
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Over Rs nine crore spent on Liberhan Commission: Govt

16 Dec 2009, 1601 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday said it has spent over Rs nine
crore on Liberhan Commission set up to probe the destruction of Ram
Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

"An amount of Rs 900.02 lakh was spent on the Liberhan Ayodhya
Commission of Inquiry," Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken
told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The total amount of Rs 9.02 crore was given to the Commission during
its 17-year long tenure. A highest of Rs 89.77 lakh was given to the
Commission during 2008-09, Rs 68.58 during 2001-02 and Rs 62.63 lakh
during 2002-03.

"The Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry was set up for the purpose
of making an inquiry into a definite matter of public importance,
namely, the destruction of the Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid structure
at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992," Maken said.

"The Commission was set up on December 16, 1992 and was given
extension on 49 occasions and the tenure of the Commission expired on
July 31, 2009," the Minister said.

The Centre gave Rs 8.98 lakh during 1992-93, Rs 25.19 lakh in 1993-94,
Rs 30.50 during 1994-95, Rs 36.61 in 1995-96 and Rs 38.43 in 1996-97.

The Minister said the government incurred expenses of Rs 45.86 lakh
during 1997-98, Rs 52.72 lakh in 1998-99, Rs 51.65 in 1999-2000, Rs
49.54 during 2000-01, Rs 60.19 lakh in 2004-05, Rs 54.93 in 2005-06,
Rs 50.44 during 2006-07, Rs 49.39 lakh in 2007-08 and Rs 62 lakh
during 2009-10.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Politics/Nation/Over-Rs-nine-crore-spent-on-Liberhan-Commission-Govt/articleshow/5343797.cms

Sid Harth

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Dec 17, 2009, 12:59:35 PM12/17/09
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Spiritual awakening
William Dalrymple

Published 17 December 2009

Globalisation has been good for gods in the Indian subcontinent. As
the region has remade itself, it has grown more devout, and its
religions are becoming ever more entangled with politics

On a foggy winter's night in November 1998, Om Singh, a young
landowner from Rajasthan, was riding his Enfield Bullet back home
after winning a local election near Jodhpur, when he misjudged a
turning and hit a tree. He was killed instantly. As a memorial, his
father fixed the motorbike to a stand, raised on a concrete plinth
under the shelter of a small canopy, near the site of the crash.

“We were a little surprised when people started reporting miracles
near the bike," Om's uncle Shaitan Singh told me on my last visit. "Om
was no saint, and people say he had had a drink or two before his
crash. In fact, there was no indication whatsoever during his life
that he was a deity. He just loved his horses and his motorbike. But
since his death a lot of people have had their wishes fulfilled here -
particularly women who want children. For them, he has become very
powerful. They sit on the bike, make offerings to Om Singh-ji, and it
is said that flowers drop into their laps. Nine months later they have
sons. Every day people see him. He comes to many people in their
dreams."

“How did it all begin?" I asked. We were in the middle of a surging
throng: crowds of red-turbaned and brightly sari-ed villagers gathered
around the bike, the women queuing patiently to straddle its seat and
ring the bell on the canopy. Nearby, two drummers were loudly banging
dholaks, while chai-shop owners made tea and paan for the pilgrims.
Other stalls sold plaques, postcards and statues of Om Singh and his
motorbike. Pieces of cloth were tied to branches all over the tree and
gold flags flapped in the desert wind. Everywhere buses and trucks
were disgorging pilgrims coming to visit Rajasthan's newest shrine.

“First it was just family and friends who came," Shaitan Singh
replied. "Then people realised there was a certain power here. It
wasn't just the Hindus: Muslims came, too. Now the truck drivers will
never pass this spot without stopping and making an offering. Every
year the crowd grows."

“Do you believe in Om's power?" I asked.

“The more faith grows," he answered enigmatically, "the stronger it
becomes."

Across the subcontinent, faith has been growing and religion becoming
stronger as the region develops and reinvents itself. In 19th-century
Europe, industrialisation and the mass migrations from farms and
villages to the towns and cities went hand in hand with the Death of
God: organised religion began to decline, and the church and state
moved further and further apart. The experience of south Asia has been
more or less the reverse of this.

During the early 20th century, educated, urban Hindu reformers moved
away from ritualised expressions of faith, and early leaders such as
Jawaharlal Nehru and B R Ambedkar constitutionally formed India as a
model secular state with no official faith: this was to be a nation
where, in the words of Nehru, dams would be the new temples. But over
the past 20 years, just as India has freed itself from the shackles of
Nehruvian socialism, so India has also gone a long way to try to shake
off Nehruvian secularism, too. The revival of religiosity and
religious extremism in Pakistan may be more the focus of the
international media, especially as Barack Obama grapples in vain with
the troubled region now hyphenated as Af-Pak, but what is happening in
India is equally remarkable and in many ways surprisingly similar.

The dramatic revival of piety and religion in India has recently been
the subject of a remarkable study by Meera Nanda, a Delhi-based
academic who has shown how globalisation may be making India richer,
and arguably more materialistic, but it is also making Indians more
religious, and at the same time making religion more political.
"Globalisation has been good for the gods," she writes in The God
Market.

As India is liberalising and globalising its economy, the country is
experiencing a rising tide of popular Hinduism which is leaving no
social segment and no public institution untouched. There is a surge
in popular religiosity among the burgeoning and largely Hindu middle
classes, as is
evident from a boom in pilgrimage and the invention of new, more
ostentatious rituals. This religiosity is being cultivated by the
emerging state-temple-corporate complex that is replacing the more
secular public institutions of the Nehruvian era . . . a new Hindu
religiosity is getting more deeply embedded in everyday life, in both
the private and public spheres.

India now has 2.5 million places of worship, but only 1.5 million
schools and barely 75,000 hospitals. Pilgrimages account for more than
50 per cent of all package tours, the bigger pilgrimage sites now
vying with the Taj Mahal for the most visited sites in the country:
the Balaji Temple in Tirupati had 23 million visitors in 2008, while
over 17 million trekked to the mountain shrine of Vaishno Devi.

In a 2007 survey jointly conducted by the Hindustan Times and the CNN-
IBN news channel, 30 per cent of Indians said they had become more
religious in the past five years. Such is the appetite for rituals in
this newly religious middle class that there has recently been a
severe shortfall of English- and Sanskrit-speaking priests with the
qualifications to perform Vedic and Agamic rites. When it comes to
rituals in the new India, demand has completely outstripped supply.

In her book, Nanda writes engagingly about what she calls "karma
capitalism" and the Indian equivalent of American televangelists, the
TV God Men, some of whom have huge followings: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
who is in many ways India's Pat Robertson, has built a global
spirituality empire called the Art of Living, which claims 20 million
members, and much of whose land has been donated by Indian state
governments.

Meanwhile, religion and politics are becoming ever more entangled.
Nanda presents interesting evidence about the dramatic increase in
state funding for yagnas (fire sacrifices), yoga camps and temple
tourism, as well as the sharp increase in state donation of land for
temples, ashrams and training schools for temple priests. In
Rajasthan, the government annually spends 260 million rupees on temple
renovations and training for Hindu priests. Mass pujas (prayers) and
public yagnas have become an important part of political campaigning
for all parties, not just the overtly Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP).

Perhaps surprisingly, India's growing band of techies and software
professionals seems particularly open both to religiosity in general
and to hard right-wing Hindu nationalism in particular, so much so
that many have joined a special wing of the far-right Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (the National Association of Volunteers), the
organisation to which Mahatma Gandhi's assassin belonged. The RSS now
organises regular social meetings called IT-milans, where right-wing
techies can "meet like-minded people and get a sense of participating
in something bigger than just punching keyboards all day".

The modernisation of the RSS is certainly one of the more worrying
trends in Indian religiosity, as is the organisation's increasing
respectability in the eyes of the urban Indian middle class. For, like
the Phalange in Lebanon, the RSS was founded in direct imitation of
European fascist movements. Like its 1930s models, it still makes much
of daily parading in khaki drill and the giving of militaristic
salutes (the RSS salute differs from that of the Nazis only in the
angle of the forearm, which is held horizontally over the chest). The
idea is to create a corps of dedicated paramilitary zealots who will
bring about a revival of what the RSS sees as the lost Hindu golden
age of national strength and purity.

The BJP, which governed India from 1999 until 2004, and is now the
principal opposition party, was founded as the political wing of the
RSS, and most senior BJP figures hold posts in both organisations.
Though the BJP is certainly much more moderate and pragmatic than the
RSS - like Likud in Israel, the BJP is a party that embraces a wide
spectrum of right-wing opinion, ranging from mildly conservative free
marketeers to raving ultra-nationalists - both organisations believe,
as the centrepiece of their ideology, that India is in essence a Hindu
nation and that the minorities may live in India only if they
acknowledge this.

The most notable political manifestation of the increasing presence of
religion in Indian life took place in the early 1990s as the Hindu
right rose slowly to power, partly as a result of taking advantage of
a long-running dispute over a small mosque in the northern Indian town
of Ayodhya. The argument revolved around the question of whether Mir
Baqi, a general of the Mughal emperor Babur (1483-1530), had built the
mosque over a temple commemorating the birthplace of the Hindu god
Lord Ram.

Although there was no evidence to confirm the existence of the temple
or even to identify the modern town of Ayodhya with its legendary
predecessor, Hindu organisations began holding rallies at the site,
campaigning for the rebuilding of the temple. Finally, at a rally in
December 1992, a crowd of 200,000 militants, whipped into a frenzy by
inflammatory BJP statements, stormed the barricades. Shouting "Death
to the Muslims!" they attacked the mosque with sledgehammers. One
after another, like symbols of India's traditions of tolerance,
democracy and secularism, the three domes were smashed to rubble.

Over the next month, violent unrest swept India: mobs went on the
rampage and Muslims were burned alive in their homes, scalded by acid
bombs or knifed in the street. By the time the army was brought in, at
least 1,400 people had been slaughtered in Bombay alone. It was a
measure of how polarised things had become in India that this violence
played so well with the electorate. In 1991, the BJP had taken 113
seats in parliament, up from 89 in the previous ­election. In 1996
that proportion virtually doubled, and the BJP became the largest
party. After the 1999 general election, with 179 seats, it was finally
able to take the reins of power into its hands.

Since then, however, the BJP has lost two general elections, largely
for economic reasons, and perhaps especially their neglect of India's
farmers; the ability of the religious right to mobilise votes by
exploiting communal religious grievances seems, thankfully, to have
diminished. But as large-scale anti-Christian riots in Orissa last
year showed, it doesn't take much to wake the sleeping dragon of
communal conflict from its slumber, and Ayodhya remains an emotive and
divisive issue. If religion is no longer a vote-winner for the BJP, it
is largely because other parties have found more subtle ways to use
its ever-growing power.

F or the growing politicisation of faith among the middle classes is
only part of a much wider story. Behind the headlines, and beyond the
political sphere, in the small towns and villages suspended between
modernity and tradition, Indian religion is in a state of fascinating
flux. Over the past couple of years, while researching Nine Lives, my
book on local and folk beliefs in contemporary India, I have been very
struck by how fast forms of traditional Indian devotion have been
changing, even in the villages and backwaters, as India transforms
itself at breakneck speed.

As is now well known, India is already on the verge of overtaking
Japan to become the third-largest economy in the world; the Indian
economy is expected to overtake that of the United States by roughly
2050. Much has now been written about the way that India is moving
forward to return the subcontinent to its historical place at the
heart of global trade, but so far little has been said about the way
these huge earthquakes have affected the diverse religious traditions
of south Asia, and particularly the archaic and deeply embedded
syncretic, pluralist folk traditions that continue to defy the
artificial boundaries of modern political identities.

Though the west often likes to imagine the religions of the east as
deep wells of ancient and unchanging wisdom, in reality much of
India's religious identity is closely tied to specific social groups,
caste practices and father-to-son lineages, all of which are changing
rapidly as Indian society transforms itself beyond recognition.

Certainly on my travels around India for Nine Lives, I found many
worlds strangely colliding as the velocity of this process increases.
In Jaipur, I spent time with Mohan Bhopa, an illiterate goatherd from
Rajasthan who keeps alive a 4,000-line sacred epic that he, now
virtually alone, still knows by heart. Living as a wandering bard and
storyteller, he remembers the slokas of one of the great oral epics of
Rajasthan praising the hero-god Papuji. Mohan told me, however, that
his ancient recitative art is threatened by the lure of Bollywood and
the Hindu epics shown on Indian TV, and he has had to adapt the old
bardic tradition in order to survive.

The epic that Mohan recites contains a regional variant on the
"national" Ramayana myth. In the main Ramayana tradition, the hero
Lord Ram goes to Lanka to rescue his wife, Sita, who has been captured
by the demon king Ravana. In the Rajasthani version of the myth, the
hero is Papuji, and he goes to Lanka, not to rescue a kidnapped
spouse, but to rustle Ravana's camels. It is exactly these sorts of
regional variants, and self-contained local cults, which are being
lost and menaced by what the eminent Indian historian Romila Thapar
calls the new "syndicated Hinduism".

As Thapar explains in a celebrated essay on the subject, Hinduism is
different from other major world religions in that it has no founder
and no founding text. Indeed, the idea that Hinduism constitutes a
single system is a very recent idea, dating from the arrival of the
British in Bengal in the 18th century. Used to western systems of
faith, early colonial scholars organised many of the disparate,
overlapping multiplicity of non-Abrahamic religious practices, cults,
myths, festivals and rival deities that they encountered across south
Asia into a new world religion that they described as "Hinduism".

Since the mid-19th century, Hindu reformers such as Vivekananda have
taken this pro­cess forward, so that Hinduism has slowly become
systemised into a relatively centralised nationalist ideology which
now increasingly resembles the very different structures of the
Semitic belief systems that its more extreme adherents tend to abhor.
"The model," writes Thapar, "is in fact that of Islam and
Christianity . . . worship is increasingly congregational and the
introduction of sermons on the definition of a good Hindu and Hindu
belief and behaviour [is] becoming common, and register[s] a distinct
change from earlier practice."

According to Thapar, the speed of this homogenising process is now
rising. "The emergence of a powerful middle class", she believes, has
created a desire for a "uniform, monolithic Hinduism, created to serve
its new requirements". This Hinduism masquerades as the revival of
something ancient and traditional, but it is really "a new creation,
created to support the claims of [Hindu] majoritarianism".

All over India, villages were once believed to be host to a numberless
pantheon of sprites and godlings, tree spirits and snake gods who were
said to guard and regulate the ebb and flow of daily life. They were
worshipped and propitiated, as they knew the till and soil of the
local fields and the sweet water of the wells, even the needs and
thirsts of the cattle and the goats in the village. But increasingly
in urban India, these small gods and goddesses are falling away and
out of favour as faith becomes more centralised, and as local gods and
goddesses give way to the national, hyper-masculine hero deities,
especially Lord Krishna and Lord Ram, a process that scholars call the
"Rama-fication" of Hinduism. New deities are emerging, but carefully
tailored for satisfying modern and middle-class needs, such as
Santoshti Ma, who first reached national consciousness in the 1970s
Bollywood film Jai Santoshti Ma. Also popular are other new deities
such as Shani Maharaj, who neutralises the negative impact of the
planet Saturn, and Aids Amma, who reputedly has the power to do away
with HIV.

Ironically, there are strong parallels between the way this new
Hinduism is standardising faith and what is happening in south Asian
Islam - a religion Hindu nationalists routinely demonise. There, too,
the local is tending to give way to the national as the cults of local
Sufi saints - the warp and woof of popular Islam in India for
centuries - lose ground to a more standardised, middle-class and
textual form of Islam, imported from the Gulf and propagated by the
Wahhabis, Deobandis and Tablighis in their madrasas. Today, the great
Sufi shrines of the region find themselves in a position much like
that of the great cathedrals and saints' tombs of northern Europe 500
years ago, on the eve of the Reformation. As in 16th-century Europe,
the reformers and puritans are on the rise, distrustful of music,
images, festivals and the devotional superstitions of saints' shrines.
As in Europe, they look to the text alone for authority, and recruit
the bulk of their supporters from the newly literate urban middle
class, which looks down on what it sees as the corrupt superstitions
of the illiterate peasantry.

Where this process differs from 16th-century Europe is in the
important role played by colonialism. Religiously conservative Hindus
and Muslims alike suffered the humiliation of colonial subjugation,
and had to watch as their faith was branded degraded and superstitious
by the victorious colonisers and their missionaries. In both faiths,
reform movements re-examined and reinvented their religions in
reaction to the experience of failure and conquest; but while Hindu
reformers tried to modernise their diverse spectrum of theologies and
cults to become more like western Christianity, Muslim radicals opted
instead to turn their backs on the west, and return to what they saw
as the pure Islamic roots of their faith.

In the aftermath of the brutal massacres by the British following the
Great Uprising of 1857, Muslim radicals left the ruins of Delhi and
the demolished Mughal court, rejecting both the gentle Sufi traditions
of the late Mughal emperors and the ways of the west. Instead,
disillusioned refugees from Delhi founded a Wahhabi-like madrasa at
Deoband that went back to Quranic basics and stripped out anything
syncretic, Hindu or European from the curriculum. A hundred and forty
years later, it was out of Deobandi madrasas in Pakistan that the
Taliban emerged to create the most retrograde Islamic regime in modern
history, a regime that in turn provided the crucible from which
emerged al-Qaeda, and the most radical fundamentalist Islamic counter-
attack the modern west has yet had to face. In the al-Qaeda training
camps of Kandahar, Deobandi currents of thought received a noxious
cross-fertilisation with ideas that emerged from two other
intellectuals forced to rethink their faith in reaction to domination
by the west: the fathers of the intellectual Egyptian jihad, Hassan al-
Banna and Sayyid Qutb.

Understandably, while it is the Islamists' assaults on India and the
west that have absorbed our press of late, it is sometimes forgotten
that the Taliban are also at war with rival comprehensions of Islam.
Last year, in a new front on this war, they dynamited the shrine of
the 17th-century Pashtun poet-saint Rahman Baba at the foot of the
Khyber Pass in the North-West Frontier. For centuries, his shrine was
a place where musicians and poets had gathered; Rahman Baba's Sufi
verses in Pashto had long made him the national poet of the Pathans.
Some of the most magical evenings I have ever had in south Asia were
spent in the garden of this shrine, under the palm trees, listening to
the sublime singing of the Afghan Sufis.

Then, about ten years ago, a Saudi-funded Wahhabi madrasa was built at
the end of the track leading to the dargah (Sufi shrine). Soon its
students took it upon themselves to halt what they saw as the un-
Islamic practices of the shrine. On my last visit there, in 2003, I
talked about the situation with the keeper of the shrine, Tila
Mohammed. He described how young Islamists regularly came and
complained that his shrine was a centre of idolatry, immorality and
superstition: "My family have been singing here for generations," he
said. "But now these Arab madrasa students come here and create
trouble."

“What sort of trouble?" I asked.

“They tell us that what we do is wrong. They tell women not to come at
all, and to stay at home. They ask people who are singing to stop.
Sometimes arguments break out - even fist fights. This used to be a
place where people came to get peace of mind. Now when they come here
they just encounter more problems, so gradually they have stopped
coming."

“How long has this being going on?"

“Before the Afghan war there was nothing like this," he replied. "But
then the Saudis came, with their propaganda to stop visiting the
saints, and to stop us preaching ishq [love]. Now this trouble happens
more and more frequently."

The end came on 4 March 2009. A group of Pakistani Taliban arrived at
the shrine before dawn and placed dynamite around the squin­ches of
the dome. The shrine chamber was completely destroyed. The Taliban
issued a press release blaming the shrine for opening its doors to
women and allowing them to pray and seek healing there. Since then
several other shrines in areas under Taliban control have been blown
up or shut down, and one - that of Haji Sahib Turangzai, in the
Mohmand region of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas - has been
turned into a Taliban headquarters.

If the North-West Frontier is now dominated by the Wahhabis and their
mad­rasas, in Sindh the Sufis are putting up a strong resistance on
behalf of their saints and the old, mixed culture that emerged in the
course of a thousand years of cohabitation between Hinduism and Islam.
Here, 60 years after Partition and the expulsion of most of the Hindus
of Pakistan into India, one of the Sajjada Nasheens, or hereditary
tomb guardians of the great shrine of Sehwan, is still a Hindu, and it
is he who performs the opening ritual at the annual Urs (death
ceremony). Hindu holy men, pilgrims and officials still tend the
shrine, replenishing the lamps and offering water to visiting
pilgrims.

Many scholars believe that the Sufi fakirs of Sehwan Sharif model
their dreadlocks, red robes and ecstatic dancing on those of Shaivite
sadhus. For Sehwan was once the cult centre of a Shaivite sect called
the Pashupatas, who believed in emulating the dance of Shiva as part
of their rituals, and using this shamanistic dancing as a way of
reaching union with God.

As elsewhere in south Asia, these local, composite and pluralistic
traditions are under threat; but, as in India, the Sufis of Sindh are
not going down without a fight. As one female Sufi devotee put it: "I
sometimes feel that it is my duty to protect the Sufi saints, just as
they have protected me. Today in our Pakistan there are so many of
these mullahs and Wahhabis and Tablighis who say that to pay respect
to the saints in their shrines is shirk [heresy].

“Those hypocrites! They sit there reading their law books and arguing
about how long their beards should be, and fail to listen to the true
message of the Prophet. Mullahs and Aza­zeel [Satan] are the same
thing."

As the great saint Shah Abdul Latif wrote:

Why call yourself a scholar, o mullah?
You are lost in words.
You keep on speaking nonsense,
Then you worship yourself.
Despite seeing God with your own eyes,
You dive into the dirt.
We Sufis have taken the flesh from
the Holy Quran,
While you dogs are fighting with each other.
Always tearing each other apart,
For the privilege of gnawing at the bones.

William Dalrymple is the New Statesman's south Asia correspondent. His
most recent book is "Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern
India", published by Bloomsbury (£20)

http://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2009/12/india-hindu-shrine-faith

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 17, 2009, 4:12:43 PM12/17/09
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Advani set to end innings as oppn leader today
Nistula Hebbar / DNA
Friday, December 18, 2009 2:21 IST

New Delhi: LK Advani is all set to step down as leader of opposition
in Lok Sabha as early as on Friday itself. Top leaders in the party
confirmed Advani was likely to announce his resignation at a meeting
of the party's parliamentary group, to be held on the last day of the
Winter Session of Parliament.

"It could be on Friday itself, if the government decides that it wants
to adjourn the house sine die a day in advance. If not, the meeting
will take place on Monday," a senior MP in the party said.

After exiting the Lok Sabha leader of opposition's post, Advani might,
after an amendment by the BJP parliamentary party, take on as chairman
of the parliamentary party or chairman of the NDA. The post of NDA
chairman is at present held by former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee.

Sources in the party also confirmed that Rajnath Singh would step down
as party president at a meeting of the BJP parliamentary board over
the weekend. Nitin Gadkari's name will be endorsed by the board as the
new president at the same meeting. Later, the party's national council
will formally elect him sometime by end of January.

At Friday's meeting, Advani is likely to indicate that Sushma Swaraj
will lead the party in Lok Sabha in his place. Swaraj is currently
deputy leader of opposition. Thus in the space of two days the
leadership change in the party would be complete.

"Other posts, too, will be up for grabs, like that of deputy leader of
the opposition, for which there will be a tussle between Advani
loyalist Anath Kumar and others," the source said.

"We expect all these matters to be settled by December 25, Atalji's
birthday, when the new president will visit him to seek his
blessings," said the source. Officially, the party remained mum on the
matter, hoping that the transfer of power could take place without
much embarrassment to anyone. "Things will unfold at their own pace,"
Sushma Swaraj said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_advani-set-to-end-innings-as-oppn-leader-today_1324823

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 17, 2009, 10:42:23 PM12/17/09
to
‘BJP strong and united’

Express News Service
First Published : 18 Dec 2009 04:05:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 18 Dec 2009 07:13:18 AM IST

BANGALORE: Accusing Congress and JD(S) of trying to topple the
democratically elected BJP government through backdoor manoeuvrings,
BWSSB minister Katta Subramanya Naidu on Thursday said they would not
succeed in their efforts as the saffron party was united and strong.

``Some people live in the illusion that they would bring down the
government anytime. But sheer disappointment awaits them,’’ Katta said
in an obvious reference to former CM HD Kumaraswamy’s statement that
there would be `sweet news’ for the people of the state soon.

He also dismissed the reported discontent among a section of MLAs
describing it as a family matter. ``There is no discontent in the
party.

Even if there are any, the party is capable of sorting it out,’’ he
said. He also gave a piece of advise to the Congress and JD(S) to not
interfere in the matters of BJP and to perform their duties as the
opposition.

Ready to support a non-BJP govt: Deve Gowda

FORMER Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda has reiterated that he has no
objection in supporting a non- BJP government in Karnataka.

Gowda told reporters at his son HD Revanna’s house on Thursday: “I
have no objection in joining hands with the Congress to form a non-BJP
government. But prior to this, the BJP government should fall on its
own, then the Congress should show interest to form the government
only then we can step in.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=%E2%80%98BJP+strong+and+united%E2%80%99&artid=WLtkHGoMFK4=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==&SEO=

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 18, 2009, 5:29:55 AM12/18/09
to
Rath yatri gets off today, Sushma all set to take charge

18 Dec 2009, 0425 hrs IST, Devesh Kumar, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: In what would mark the end of an era in Indian polity, L K
Advani will step down from the post of leader of the Opposition in Lok
Sabha on Friday, paving the way for the installation of Sushma Swaraj
as his successor.

A day later, the BJP’s central parliamentary board would put its seal
of approval on Nitin Gadkari’s elevation as the next BJP president. An
official announcement to this effect will be made after the meeting.
The 52-year-old Maharashtra leader, known for his clean image and
administrative efficiency, is, however, expected to assume his new
responsibility only next month.

With the twin changes in place, the road map planned by the RSS in
consultation with senior BJP leaders for the complete overhaul of the
party’s organisational and parliamentary set-ups would be rolled out.

Mr Advani, in keeping with the script prepared in consultation with
the RSS, is likely to announce his decision at the specially-convened
BJP parliamentary party meeting on Friday. The session-ending
gathering had initially been planned for Monday, but had to be
advanced by a couple of days in view of the government’s reluctance to
allow the session to be dragged on till December 21.

With the LS proceedings getting stalled for the second consecutive day
on Thursday, this time over Telangana, government managers are keen to
adjourn the House sine die on Friday, notwithstanding the insistence
of the principle Opposition party and the Left bloc to allow the two
Houses to wind up their proceedings on Monday after a statement from
prime minister Manmohan Singh on India’s stand at the Copenhagen
climate change summit.

While Ms Swaraj is set to replace him as Leader of the Opposition in
the Lok Sabha, party leaders are keen to accommodate Mr Advani in the
parliamentary wing set-up as chairman of the parliamentary party (a
role played by Sonia Gandhi in Congress), or as chairman of NDA —a
post currently held by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. There is, in
fact, a room set aside for him in Parliament in his capacity as head
of the opposition alliance. Mr Vajpayee, however, has been keeping
indifferent health, and has withdrawn himself from politics. Any
decision to replace Mr Vajpayee with Mr Advani will have to be taken
jointly by the NDA constituents.

With Mr Gadkari’s elevation as BJP president and the anticipated
replacement of Mr Advani by Ms Swaraj, the blueprint for revamp in
BJP’s organisational and parliamentary wings has have been set in
motion. The CPB’s seal of approval on Mr Gadkari’s appointment as the
next BJP chief would throw Rajnath Singh’s game plan of bowing out on
December 23 into a tailspin.

The results of the Jharkhand assembly polls will be declared on
December 23. Party managers contend that BJP and its alliance partner,
JD(U), would be ahead of its rivals in the state, and form the next
government in the state. Mr Singh had timed his exit in such a manner
that it’d have allowed him to go out on a high.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Politics/Nation/Rath-yatri-gets-off-today-Sushma-all-set-to-take-charge/articleshow/5349964.cms

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 18, 2009, 9:41:31 AM12/18/09
to
L K Advani steps down as leader of opposition, Sushma takes over
Agencies
New Delhi, December 18, 2009

First Published: 18:27 IST(18/12/2009)
Last Updated: 18:39 IST(18/12/2009)

Veteran BJP leader L K Advani on Friday stepped down as leader of
opposition, handling the reins to party leader Sushma Swaraj.

Advani is elected Chairman of BJP parliamentary party.

The changes in the BJP have come at a time when the the party is beset
with several challenges including its decline in Uttar Pradesh where
it finished a distant fourth in the last Lok Sabha polls. The defeat
in the Lok Sabha polls also led to internal bickering and blame-game
in the party.

With youth forming a large section of the country's population and
Congress scion Rahul Gandhi working systematically to bring young
voters closer to his party, the BJP has opted to a generational change
in its leadership to meet the future political challenges.

Advani, 82, who has scripted the rise of BJP from the mid-eighties,
is expected to guide the party in the role of a mentor. He could not
realize his ambition of becoming prime minister in the 2009
parliamentary polls.

Born in Karachi, Advani joined RSS in 1942 at the age of 15 and later
associated with Bharatiya Jana Sangh (precursor to the BJP). Advani
was information and broadcasting minister in the Janata Party
government. He became home minister in the National Democratic
Allaince government in 1998 and served as deputy prime minister from
1999 and 2004. He represents Gandhinagar in the Lok Sabha.

(With IANS inputs)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/india/L-K-Advani-steps-down-as-leader-of-opposition-Sushma-takes-over/Article1-488061.aspx

Sid Harth

unread,
Dec 18, 2009, 4:18:06 PM12/18/09
to
Sena ditches BJP in council poll
Pandurang Mhaske / DNA
Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:16 IST

Mumbai: In another indication of the growing rift between the saffron
allies, Shiv Sena corporators did not cast their second-preference
votes for the BJP's legislative council candidate Madhu Chavan,
leading to his defeat by Ashok 'Bhai' Jagtap of the Congress.

The Sena's Ramdas Kadam won the other seat from the BMC constituency
comfortably. All 81 Sena corporators cast their votes in his favour,
without splitting them into first and second preferences.

The Sena ditched its ally on the plea that it had to ensure Kadam's
victory. Ravindra Waikar, standing committee chairman, said Kadam
could have been in trouble if the party had cast second-preference
votes for Chavan.

Kadam, leader of the opposition in the previous assembly, had lost the
election from Guhagar after forcing the BJP to part with the seat.

The Congress has 76 corporators and the BJP, 29. A candidate needs 75
votes to win. BJP leaders said Chavan would have won if the Sena had
cast its second-preference votes for him. "The Sena did not keep its
promise," Ashish Shelar said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_sena-ditches-bjp-in-council-poll_1325187

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 18, 2009, 9:25:05 PM12/18/09
to
Advani may turn a yatri again
By: MiD DAY Correspondent
Date: 2009-12-18 Place: Delhi

RSS sources suggest the BJP leader may embark on a Somnath to Ayodhya
yatra to revive party's fortunes

The Congress has already done it. Now, it's the turn of archrival BJP.

A generation is ready to walk into the sunset in the saffron party
with both LK Advani and Rajnath Singh making way for the younger turks
of the party.

Making way: LK Advani and Rajnath Singh will pave the way for a
generational change in the BJP Pics/MiD DAY

He may have failed to lead the party and NDA to corridors of power,
but Advani's influence in the party goes beyond any position.
Therefore, the party may float a new position for him after his
resignation as Leader of Opposition.

Sources in the BJP said he might be offered to become the chairman of
the parliamentary party or step in for ailing Atal Bihari Vajpayee to
lead the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The party will have to
amend the parliamentary party constitution for creating the new post
for which a two-thirds majority is a must.

Party sources told MiD DAY that Advani had called a meeting of senior
party leaders at his residence on Wednesday where he expressed his
desire to quit as leader of the Opposition before the current session
of Parliament gets over. Sushma Swaraj, who is all set to replace
Advani as leader of the Opposition, Arun Jaitley, party's leader in
the upper house, Ananth Kumar and Venkaiah Naidu were among those who
attended the meeting. Interestingly, party president Rajnath Singh was
not invited for the meeting.

Singh is also slated to resign on Friday. If speculation is to be
believed Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari is almost set to become
the next party chief, however, party leaders refused to say anything
conclusive on the subject.

"The party will meet and only then a decision will be taken in this
regard. Certain names are doing the rounds but nothing should be
considered certain right now," a party leader said, requesting
anonymity.

Gadkari, 52, had earned the reputation of a good administrator as a
PWD Minister in Maharashtra in the Sena-BJP government. He has been
called to Delhi for the meeting. His election will be ratified by the
BJP National Council.

RSS' role

Speculation was rife over Advani quitting as leader of Opposition ever
since RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat suggested that the party better
look at having a younger leadership between 55 and 65 years of age
following the debacle in the last general elections.

However, highly-placed sources in the Sangh told MiD DAY that Advani's
resignation will pave the way for him to don the shoes of a 'Yatri'
once again.

"Advani's role had come under severe criticism ever since party's
debacle in general elections. The Sangh had called for him to lead
another yatra to revive party's votebank and party cadre," a senior
prant pracharak (state chief) told MiD DAY.

He said even Advani himself wanted to take up a yatra from Somnath to
Ayodhya for which the RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad had extended their
full support to him.

Another prant pracharak said Advani would never walk away before
proving his detractors wrong. He said the yatra would help him
establish what the party has lost over these years after his first
yatra to Ayodhya catapulted the party's fortunes.

Second in command

In the wake of these developments, some posts, including the Deputy
Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha, would be up for grabs in the party. The
race for the post of Deputy Leader of BJP in the Lower House is now
between Ananth Kumar, Gopinath Munde and Shahnawaz Hussain. Munde and
Yashwant Sinha are also eyeing the post of Public Accounts Committee
Chairman, which has fallen vacant after Jaswant Singh's resignation.

Dumb charades

Another important decision that the party will have to make is whether
it will make Advani sit in Parliament. Till now as the Leader of the
Opposition, he used to sit on the seat opposite reserved for the Prime
Minister. With new incumbents for both the Leader of Opposition and
the Deputy Leader of the House, Advani may have to be accommodated at
an alternative yet equally important seat.

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/dec/181209-lk-advani-rajnath-singh-ayodhya-yatra.htm

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 4:47:25 AM12/19/09
to
Stepping down not end of era but a new chapter: Advani
Agencies

Posted: Friday , Dec 18, 2009 at 1919 hrs

New Delhi:

'There is no political party in India which has set up such a strong
base in so few years.

BJP leader L K Advani said on Friday that his stepping down as the
Leader of the Opposition does not mark the "end of an era" in politics
but the beginning of a "new chapter" in his political life.

"It is not end of an era. In my life and politics, this is a new
chapter," 82-year-old Advani said as he made way for Sushma Swaraj
(57) as the Leader of the Opposition in a generational shift in the
party's top leadership.

Advani was chosen chairperson of BJP parliamentary party, a post
created for him through an amendment of the party's constitution.

Advani, who was given the power to appoint leaders of the party in
both the Houses of Parliament, named Swaraj to the post he had held
till now, and renominated Arun Jaitley as leader of BJP in Rajya
Sabha.

Advani said "there is no political party in India which has set up
such a strong base in so few years".

"Even now, we are ruling eight states, out of which we have our own
government in six states," he said addressing the BJP Parliamentary
party meet after taking over as its new chairman.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/stepping-down-not-end-of-era-but-a-new-chapter-advani/556085/

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 19, 2009, 5:15:08 AM12/19/09
to
Order finally in BJP?
Shekhar Iyer , Hindustan Times
New Delhi, December 19, 2009

First Published: 00:36 IST(19/12/2009)
Last Updated: 00:38 IST(19/12/2009)

L.K. Advani’s exit as the Leader of the Opposition on Friday marks an
end to a stormy period in the BJP that saw a bitter blame-game after
his projection as the prime ministerial candidate failed to win the
Lok Sabha polls.

Advani agreed to step aside after months of negotiations with the
party’s ideological fount. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was
pushing for a greater say in the party to end the infighting.

The deal with the RSS saw Advani get his way — Sushma Swaraj and Arun
Jaitley as the leaders for the parliamentary wing. But, he had to
accept Nitin Gadkari, Sangh’s choice, as successor to party chief
Rajnath Singh.

Advani would have liked Jaitley or Venkaiah Naidu to take over. But
his detractors, including Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi, were against
any of Advani’s supporters, disparagingly referred to as “the Delhi
Four”, taking over the party.

Finally, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat agreed to let Advani decide on House
leaders. But Bhagwat wanted him to oversee the transition under
Gadkari.

The big question remains: can Gadkari succeed in revitalising the BJP,
end factional feud and ensure a generational shift?

With the Sangh backing him, Gadkari is unlikely to face an open
rebellion immediately. But once he chooses his team, his troubles may
begin, say insiders.

Gadkari has an amiable way of handling matters and it will help him,
said a party leader. Unlike Singh, Gadkari doesn’t have an immediate
ambition to be fulfilled.

At 52, he is not in a hurry and can wait. If he succeeds, the RSS will
take care of his future.

His biggest challenge will be the next round of assembly polls in
October, starting with Bihar.

“But Bihar will not be just his problem. The BJP will have to work
hard for its survival. Advani’s supporters will not sabotage him,”
said an RSS functionary.

“We might have had reservation on the way he was chosen… but can’t
have complaints against him. He is an honest man who will take
everyone along. Nothing can be worse than what we went through under
the outgoing dispensation,” said an Advani loyalist.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/Order-finally-in-BJP/488287/H1-Article1-488245.aspx

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 5:17:34 AM12/19/09
to
Politics an instrument of socio-economic change: Gadkari
Press Trust Of India
Nagpur, December 19, 2009

First Published: 15:31 IST(19/12/2009)
Last Updated: 15:35 IST(19/12/2009)

BJP President-designate Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said he did not view
politics as a career but as an instrument of socio-economic reforms to
bring about a change in the lives of the poor and the down-trodden.

"I don't work as if I am making a political career. I work for the
poor and down-trodden sections of society who don't have food to eat,
house to live in or clothes to wear. I strive to bring about a
transformation in their lives," he told reporters here.

The Maharashtra BJP chief said he got the inspiration to work for the
poor and the down-trodden from the Sangh and the ABVP.

"I have asked the Sangh for its blessings in my work for the benefit
of the poor." Rajnath Singh will step down as BJP president paving the
way for Gadkari to take over the post.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/maharashtra/Politics-an-instrument-of-socio-economic-change-Gadkari/Article1-488352.aspx

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 19, 2009, 5:29:51 AM12/19/09
to
END OF AN ERA

Advani: A BJP icon but lacking national vision

CNN-IBN

Published on Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 10:33,
Updated on Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 11:14 in Politics section

PASSING THE BATON: L K Advani says he isn't quitting politics and his
rath yatra will go on all his life.

An era ended in Indian politics on Friday when Lal Krishna Advani, the
man who was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ideological mascot for
three decades, stepped down as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok
Sabha. Sushma Swaraj has been named as the new Leader of Opposition.

So the change of guard and the passing of the baton has taken place.
Advani stepping down as the Leader of Opposition also signalled the
end of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-Lal Krishna Advani era.

Advani had held the position of Leader of Opposition since 2004. The
party on Friday also amended its constitution, paving the way for
Advani to be elected as the Chairman of the parliamentary party. His
role is expected to be that of a mentor.

The stage is also set for BJP's Maharashtra chief Nitin Gadkari to
take over as the party President from Rajnath Singh.

CNN-IBN special show tried to analyse the impact of Advani on Indian
polity, his impact on the country and how history will judge him.

Gadkari to take over as BJP president

L K Advani's contribution to BJP

Advani bows out as BJP's mascot

Watch: What does Advani's decision mean to BJP

The panel of experts included senior journalist Vir Sanghvi, columnist
Swapan Dasgupta, Outlook Editor-In-Chief Vinod Mehta and political
commentator & author Jyotirmaya Sharma.

Advani and Vajpayee had been the guiding force behind the BJP since
the formation of the party. The duo has also been instrumental in
bringing the party to power at the Centre. With Vajpayee already
retired and now Advani also abdicating a huge responsibility has
Indian politics witnessed a major change?

Is this really the end of an era in Indian politics?

“Yes and No! I don’t think you are going to see the last of LK Advani.
He has not abdicated but merely stepped aside. He may have become the
Bhishma Pitamah but Bhishma Pitamah still fought in the battle of
Kurukshetra. It does mark the transition, the end of the Atal-Advani
era,” said Swapan Dasgupta.

“It is a transition and the end of a generation in the BJP. It is the
end of a generation that was part of the Jan Sangh and created the
BJP. It is the start of an era and now people who will run the BJP
have only been a part of the BJP,” Vir Sanghvi said.

Vinod Mehta credited Advani with making BJP a truly national party but
added that he had been forced to quit.

“This is definitely an end of an era because he was unquestionably the
man who brought BJP to power. But is has been an undignified exit.
This is not a voluntary retirement. This is a forced retirement. This
is not the script that Advani wrote for himself. Just a few months
back he was saying he would stay the full term. So he has been pushed
out,” said Mehta.

Dasgupta, however, said that Advani has managed to become taller by
resigning as Leader of Opposition.

“You can say that the era ended with the loss in Lok Sabha elections.
But by this Advaniji has actually salvaged quite a lot of his
authority within the BJP. Now he has established himself as an
alternative moral authority,” said Dasgupta.

But on the other hand Sanghvi claimed that Advani was only playing
political games.

“He said that he would retire after the Lok Sabha defeat but he
withdrew his resignation. He wanted to hang on, install Sushma or
perhaps Arun Jaitley or someone his own as his successor and ensure
that the Advani era continued,” said Sanghvi.

“His moral authority depends on what role the RSS wants him to play
post retirement. The script has been written by the RSS. Sushma Swaraj
and Arun Jaitley want to stamp their own authority on the party and
they would not like any back seat driving. I think Advani era is
over,” said Mehta.

Dasgupta pointed out that BJP was facing a crisis and the RSS had
taken a decisive stand as the party did not know what the real BJP
was.

It seems that the script of Advani quitting has been written by the
RSS. Nitin Gadkari as party President, Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha
and Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha all have RSS backing.

“Yes! It is a script written by the RSS. There is hardly any
difference between the BJP and the RSS,” said Sharma joining the
debate.

Sanghvi, however, disagreed saying that if the RSS had its way then
Advani would have been out a long time ago.

“We must call a spade a spade. This is a triumph for the RSS and
defeat for the BJP. There is RSS on one side and pragmatist and
modernisers like Sushma and Jaitley on the other side. Therein lies
the fault lines within the BJP as both sides will pull in different
directions,” said Mehta.

Dasgupta said that politics and organisation are separate.

“While Sushma and Jaitley represent politics, RSS represents the
organisation,” he said.

Sanghvi drew parallel with the Congress and said that BJP was just
like the Grand Old Party of India.

“It is juts like the Congress where if the Gandhi family does like
something it won’t happen. Similarly if the RSS does not like
something then that will never happen in the BJP,” said Sanghvi.

Has Advani never got his due?

Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister of the country three
times but Advani never got a chance to occupy the top political spot
in the country.

“He has got more than his due. He never became the prime minister
because the country did not want him to. He lost the election where he
could have become the prime minister. He is looked upon as someone who
emerged during the Rath Yatra and led BJP to power. We forget that he
was in politics for a long time and he was not much more than
Vajpayee’s secretary or speech writer. He was always second fiddle to
Vajpayee. He became an extremist and espoused Hindutva. He made BJP a
national party with his Rath Yatra. No one was going to ally with the
BJP led by this man,” said Sanghvi.

Dasgupta said that Advani had his limitation which came in the way of
him occupying the post of prime minister.

"He was never a mass leader with the flexibility that Atal Bihari
Vajpayee showed. But where Advani is to be given his due is for
changing the discourse of Indian politics. He recognised that he had
raised a question and that played out. So he had to redefine himself
and he recognised that,” said Dasgupta.

“I think Vajpayee got more of his due from politics than Advani. But
politics is about power and Advani brought BJP to power. Advani is a
flawed character,” Mehta added.

“In January 1996 Advani voluntarily said Vajpayee should be the prime
minister because he realised that he had got the Hindu votes but to
get to power the party needed incremental votes which Vajpayee could
bring in,” claimed Dasgupta.

Mehta pointed out that it was Advani who got the BJP to a level where
incremental votes could bring power.

The Ayodhya movement which the BJP would call his finest moment was
perhaps also his worst moment. It branded him as a militant Hindutva
leader, a hardliner for life.

“That is right. But I would say that after Ayodhya he became a shade
among the shadow. Everyone is talking about him becoming the Bhishma
Pitamah. But the BJP is the only Mahabharata which has two Bhishma
Pitamahs and one Shakuni, which is the RSS. What Advani could have
done to gain some moral status was to say boo to the RSS,” said
Sharma.

“After two election defeats the mood in the BJP is different. After
the loss in 2004 there was still a belief in the BJP that something
had gone wrong and a bit of fine tuning was needed. But 2009 dawned on
them that if they carry the RSS on their backs, they would never be
fit to come to power or even a viable political force. Advani should
have seized the occasion and said boo to the RSS and rid the BJP of
the shadow of the RSS,” Sharma said.

Mehta said that Advani made some blunders that cost him dearly.

“He did not want to modernise the BJP as much as he wanted to
modernise himself. On Ayodhya he played his cards very badly. He tried
to separate the movement from the demolition. He did not even stay
with his role in the Ayodhya movement,” said Mehta.

So it seems that Advani was a prisoner of his image.

“He got the image of a hardliner due to Ayodhya. It was image he never
had before. He tried very hard to get rid of it. I don’t think he
understood secularism and he certainly didn’t understand the Indian
Muslim. He made a statement before the 2004 elections that the BJP
would get Muslim votes as the party had improved relations with
Pakistan. Many Muslims rose up in protest asking ‘are you suggesting
that we are Pakistanis?’ He then praised Jinnah as truly secular and
called Indira Gandhi, himself and others pseudo secular,” said
Sanghvi.

Dasgupta, however, claimed that Advani did try to reform his image

“We forget Indian Shinning. Advani took BJP into an election on plank
that was economic and inspirational,” he said.

Mehta was categorical in criticising Advani and blamed the veteran BJP
leader of not having a moral centre. Sanghvi agreed with Mehta.

Is Generation Next of the BJP ready to take over?

Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi and Nitin Gadkari are the
Generation Next leaders of the BJP and now it is upto them to energise
the party.

“If you are looking at the next General Elections you are probably
looking at Rahul Gandhi as Congress’ prime ministerial candidate. Who
does the BJP have who can compete with Rahul Gandhi? If you bring
Narendra Modi, he is going to look like sinister Neanderthal and this
guy is the bright guy. Or is it Sushma Swaraj who will be projected as
the spirit of Indian women against this western educated boy,” Sanghvi
said warning about the future of BJP.

“One leader will have to be projected as the prime ministerial
candidate. At present there is a plethora of leaders. Rahul Gandhi
will also have to deal with 10 years of UPA rule,” said Dasgupta.

“BJP may have got from the frying pan into the fire. There are two
hugely ambitious politicians in Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley. A
better bet would be Jaitley. Then there is the question of their
relation with Nitin Gadkari who is an unknown,” said Mehta.

So if the Atal-Advani era is over, what is the direction that BJP will
move in?

Sharma simply said “confusion and self destruction.”

“One cannot write the BJP off and it would not be in the interest of
democracy. We need a strong Opposition if there is going to be any
kind of check on the Congress. In 2004 the Congress did not win the
elections but the BJP lost it. Advani and BJP were hoping that
Manmohan and Sonia would lose the 2009 elections, but they did not
oblige,” said Sanghvi.

“Both Sushma and Jaitley are very professional, seasoned and
experienced politicians. If they can team up together they are a
formidable pair. They probably hate each other more than they hate the
Congress. Can they work as a team? That is why the referee with the
whistle is very important,” Mehta added.

“BJP is part of the NDA and all of them are together due to anti-
Congressism. There are some people who would like Mohan Bhagwat to run
the BJP. But I don’t think they will run the BJP,” Dasgupta said.

Sanghvi added that Hindutva had run its course. According to him the
BJP has no clarity on how to deal with economic issues and foreign
policy.

“On both of these there is no clarity in the BJP,” he said.

Mehta said that Advani would be remembered like PV Narasimha Rao.

“He did some good but the evil will be remembered. The good will not
be remembered,” said Mehta.

“A man who could not keep pace with his ambitions and who was consumed
by hubris,” said Sharma about Advani.

“He will have an iconic status within the BJP. As to how he will be
viewed by rest of the country is not clear,” responded Dasgupta.

“As a mediocre man whom history thrust into the limelight and who rose
to the occasion for a brief period and then his own mediocrity
reasserted itself,” Sanghvi said concluding the debate.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/advani-a-bjp-icon-but-lacking-national-vision/107392-37-single.html

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 9:21:31 AM12/19/09
to
Rajnath steps down, Gadkari takes over as BJP president
PTI 19 December 2009, 04:09pm IST

NEW DELHI: BJP’s Maharashtra unit chief Nitin Gadkari was on Saturday
appointed the BJP president at a meeting of the Parliamentary Board of
the Gadkari was elected the party chief at a meeting attended by
senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun
Jaitley and others. (TOI Photo) party, marking a generational change
in its hierarchy. ( Watch Video )

The 52-year-old leader succeeds Rajnath Singh to become the youngest
president of the party and the first one from Maharashtra.

Gadkari was elected the party chief at the meeting attended by senior
BJP leaders L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and
others.

Earlier in the day, Gadkari said he did not view politics as a career


but as an instrument of socio-economic reforms to bring about a change

in the lives of the poor and the downtrodden.

"I don't work as if I am making a political career. I work for the

poor and downtrodden sections of society who don't have food to eat,


house to live in or clothes to wear. I strive to bring about a

transformation in their lives," he said.

The party was effecting a generational change in its hierarchy. Advani
on Friday stepped down as the Leader of Opposition paving way for
Sushma Swaraj to don the mantle. He was chosen at a meeting of party
MPs to the newly-created post of Chairman of the party's Parliamentary
Party.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rajnath-steps-down-Gadkari-takes-over-as-BJP-president/articleshow/5356182.cms

chhotemianinshallah

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 9:27:31 AM12/19/09
to
Nitin Gadkari: From a humble student leader to BJP chief
PTI 19 December 2009, 05:02pm IST

NAGPUR: It has been a long journey for 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari from
a Sangh swayamsevak, to a student leader and to be the youngest-ever
President of the BJP.

Gadkari who was appointed by the party's Parliamentary Board to the
top post on Saturday, is a disciplined soldier of RSS and will have
the distinction of becoming the first BJP chief from Maharashtra.

It is a coincidence that he hails from Nagpur, the headquarters of the
RSS -- which has always been the guiding force for the main opposition
party.

Gadkari, who has replaced Rajnath Singh, has been entrusted with the
responsibility at a time when Congress is playing the Rahul Gandhi
card, projecting the young leader as the future prime minister and BJP
is facing serious challenges on the leadership front.

The BJP leader, who was till now the chief of Maharashtra BJP, proved
his mettle as an effective minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government in
the state ten years back.

Though an 'outsider' in Delhi circles, he is no babe in the woods and
is known in the BJP as a clear thinker having a forward-looking vision
and an organiser who knows how to take the party along.

Gadkari has maintained his close proximity with the RSS leadership
right from the days of the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras and later
with Rajju Bhaiyya, K C Sudarshan and the current head of the
organisation Mohan Bhagwat.

In fact, the talk in BJP circles is that Gadkari became the hot
favourite for the top job following Bhagwat's search for a new leader
to turn the party around.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Nitin-Gadkari-From-a-humble-student-leader-to-BJP-chief/articleshow/5356320.cms

Sid Harth

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 1:42:08 PM12/19/09
to
Gadkari shows pragmatic side, makes right noises on BJP, RSS
PTI Saturday, December 19, 2009 21:48 IST

New Delhi: Newly appointed BJP president Nitin Gadkari today made
right noises, giving due credit to the RSS while sending across a
message to the party that he believed all challenges faced by it can
be taken care of with a strong will and a practical approach.

Gadkari, known for maintaining a low, no non-sense profile and a
pragmatic outlook, said he would serve the party honestly and would
not "do anything that would make senior leaders hang their heads in
shame".

"I don't make false promises," he said.

To emphasise that he believed in action and achieving what appeared
near impossible, the former Maharashtra PWD minister said he had built
the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in just two years and at a cost of Rs2,000
crore.

When he was handed over the baton by Rajnath Singh, Gadkari said he
expected Advani and other senior leaders to support him.

Though it remains to be seen whether Gadkari would have his way by
building a consensus and taking everybody along - a hope held by RSS
when it named him Rajnath's successor - he did show some astuteness
when he asked Advani to bless him. The Advani camp has opposed the
growing interference of RSS in BJP affairs and was initially against
Gadkari. Gadkari indicated that he planned to adopt a hands-on
approach in dealing with problems when he said, "If there is a will
there is a way. And if there is no will, then there are surveys,
committees, sub-committees, and discussions."

He asserted that he had gone through several difficult phases as a
minister and was used to overcoming challenges.

Gadkari, who was Maharashtra unit chief till now, also emphasised on
his humble beginnings and thanked RSS and BJP for the rise his
political career had seen over the last three decades.

"I started as a small-time worker of the party during the emergency
when I used to paste party posters and write slogans on the wall,"
Gadkari said.

The new president also insisted that there would be no dilution in BJP
ideology under his leadership, saying he believed in nationalist
thinking. RSS leaders feel failure to take a firm stand on Hindutva
was one of the reasons for BJP's defeat.

Both the Rajnath and Advani camps have welcomed him. Though both
groups feel they can manipulate Gadkari to their way of thinking, it
is easier said than done. RSS sources insist they will ensure he is
not lost in the Delhi maze.

Gadkari himself tried to convey that he was not a part of the Delhi
coterie which was engaged in the internecine war when he said he had
never seen the night in Delhi -- never had a overnight stay in the
capital -- in the last five years.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gadkari-shows-pragmatic-side-makes-right-noises-on-bjp-rss_1325455

Sid Harth

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 1:45:43 PM12/19/09
to

Crown of thorns for Nitin Gadkari
Nistula Hebbar / DNA
Saturday, December 19, 2009 14:39 IST
Last updated: Saturday, December 19, 2009 16:26 IST

New Delhi: Nitin Gadkari formally took over as BJP president Saturday,
after a meeting of the party's parliamentary board put its seal of
approval on his name.

At 52, Gadkari is the youngest party president the BJP has ever had
and he has his work cut out for him if he is to revive the demoralised
party reeling under two successive Lok Sabha defeats.

Senior party leaders have been at loggerheads in Rajasthan, Karnataka
and Uttarakhand, denting the party's once-cherished image of a unified
outfit. Gadkari will have to first neutralise the parallel power
centres that have emerged in recent years. And that will be no easy
task.

At the state level, there are leaders like Gujarat chief minister
Narendra Modi whose writ runs large within the party. Then Sushma
Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu have emerged as power
centres with their own loyal constituencies.

As a junior, Gadkari may find it difficult to crack the whip. "The
problem is that there are now so many veteran and senior leaders
within the party that Rajnath Singh never got a free hand to run the
party. Gadkari might not find himself in any different position," a
veteran BJP leader said.

At his formal taking over, Gadkari tried to strike a purposeful note,
in keeping with his general image of being the one to "get things
done." "When I was PWD minister in Maharashtra, many people said that
the Mumbai-Pune expressway could not get done. I believe that where
there is a will there is a way. If you want something done, you just
have to go ahead," he said to the BJP's senior officebearers.

In fact, it is the expressway which has become the yardstick for
measuring his capabilities. Even newly elected chairman of the BJP
parliamentary party, L K Advani said that he hoped that Gadkari would
take the party forward on the highway of achievement.

Gadkari hails from Nagpur where the RSS' headquarters is also located
and is said to be the RSS' choice for the job. "The transition has
been more or less smooth," said a senior MP of the party. "By allowing
Advani to appoint his favourites as leaders of the Opposition in the
Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and bringing in its own man in the
party, the RSS is sending the message that everyone has been
accommodated, so show us what you've got," said the MP.

(With inputs from Agencies)

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_crown-of-thorns-for-nitin-gadkari_1325277

Sid Harth

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 1:56:30 PM12/19/09
to
Sunday, December 20, 2009

A challenge for BJP’s GenNext

Kanchan Gupta

On a late spring evening more than a decade ago, some of us had
gathered at Pramod Mahajan’s apartment — he hadn’t moved into a
Lutyens’ bungalow till then — to discuss ideas for the 1996 general
election campaign. Mr LK Advani had already declared Mr Atal Bihari
Vajpayee as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and there was a
palpable surge of support for the party which corresponded with the
waning of the Congress. Despite the framing of Mr Advani and other
senior leaders of the BJP in the Jain hawala scandal by a desperate PV
Narasimha Rao (he even turned on his colleagues in the Cabinet who in
turn turned against him and resigned from the Congress) there was
great enthusiasm among party cadre. Mr Advani had seized the moral
high ground and converted what Rao had thought would be a disadvantage
into a clear advantage. In that election, Mr Advani was the non-
playing captain though he led his team from the front.

Over chai and samosas ordered from an eatery downstairs, ideas were
tossed around on how to package the BJP’s core message — good
governance — and portray it through the persona of Mr Vajpayee. Till
then, the BJP had not projected any single leader in any election; it
was always the party’s ‘collective leadership’ that was projected as
an alternative to the Congress’s dynastic leadership. The tragic
assassination of Rajiv Gandhi midway through the 1991 general election
had forced a break in the Congress’s tradition, catapulting Narasimha
Rao to power. Since the Ram Rath Yatra days, Mr Advani had emerged as
the most prominent face of the BJP; to suddenly weave a campaign
around Mr Vajpayee posed a challenge to even Pramod Mahajan who was
never short of ideas, especially when it came to election campaigns.

Among those invited for that meeting was an impetuous young man
representing a big advertising agency which had offered to help plan
the campaign — as had some others. This man suddenly said, “It would
have been a lot easier had Mr Vajpayee been a younger man.” There was
stunned silence. Obviously ignorant of the esteem in which Mr Vajpayee
was — and still continues to be — held in the party, he had clearly
upset everybody. Pramod Mahajan looked at him coldly and bitingly
said, “This isn’t America where young upstarts are elected to high
office. We value experience and we respect age. Please tell your
agency we aren’t interested in its services.” The poor sod was halfway
through his samosa and didn’t know what to say. “Ab aap jaaiye,”
Pramod Mahajan added, literally asking him to leave the meeting.

I don’t recall whether anything concrete emerged from that particular
meeting, but over the following weeks a campaign was painstakingly put
together centred around Mr Vajpayee and based on the theme, ‘The man
India awaits’, which, incidentally, was the headline of an interview-
based article I had written at that time. That election saw the BJP
emerge as the single largest party and form a Government led by Mr
Vajpayee. The Government lasted for a fortnight, but it helped the BJP
come to power two years later. The rest, to quote a cliché, is
history.

The reason I cite this particular incident is to highlight the point
that too much is made of a leader’s age by the New Delhi-based
commentariat, more so when it comes to the BJP. Voters are less
persuaded by a candidate’s age than by his or her perceived ability to
deliver on promises. It is the sum total of a leader’s qualities that
matters, not his or her age. Equally important is a leader’s ability
to connect with the masses, to strike a rapport and secure their
confidence.

Mr Vajpayee was not a young man when he became Prime Minister, nor was
Mrs Indira Gandhi in the prime of her youth when she swept back to
power in 1980. If Mr Manmohan Singh is widely respected at home and
abroad, it has nothing to do with his age but his ability to project
himself as an earnest and humble person of unimpeachable integrity.
And, the BJP’s defeat in last summer’s general election was more on
account of a poorly planned campaign and shoddy political management
than either Mr Advani’s age or his leadership which has been variously
described as ‘uninspiring’ and ‘jaded’ by his critics within and
outside the party. But for bogus pollsters, stupidly brash aides and a
‘war room’ whose most creative contribution was the astounding promise
of gifting every family living below the poverty line with a smart
phone, perhaps the results would have been vastly different. Nor can
we overlook the Congress’s surge in States where the BJP is at best a
marginal player.

It would, therefore, be self-defeating for the BJP to believe that
with Mr Advani standing aside for the next generation of leaders to
take charge of the party’s affairs, the 2014 general election will be
a cakewalk. Today’s ‘young’ leaders will be five years older when
India votes to elect a new Lok Sabha, which means they will be pushing
60. If between now and then those who find themselves propelled to the
frontline are unable to tackle the many illnesses that plague the
party and fashion an alternative agenda distinctively different from
that of the Congress and in tune with the aspirations of today’s
voters, the BJP’s tally could dip below the 100 mark. The battle for
votes has always been a battle of ideas; in 1996, 1998 and 1999, Mr
Advani and Mr Vajpayee had the right ideas largely because they went
with their instincts. It’s only when they allowed their ideas to be
swamped by the mumbo-jumbo of courtiers and time-servers that they
faltered and fell.

Contrary to what is being claimed, the BJP’s main problem is not the
RSS but the BJP itself. Last week’s transition will be meaningless
unless it is accompanied by a tectonic shift in the way the BJP sees
itself. It can either choose to position itself as the only
alternative to the Congress by being distinctly, ideationally and
ideologically different, or it can persist with fashioning itself as a
clone of the Congress, a holdall party with neither beliefs nor
commitments but driven by the cynical pursuit of power as an end and
not the means to an end. Mr Vajpayee had vision; he was the ‘big
picture’ man who couldn’t bother about the details. Mr Advani had
ideas; it was his job to fill in the details of Mr Vajpayee’s vision.
What the BJP needs to regain its position as an unassailable foe of
the Congress is a new generation Vajpayee and a new generation Advani,
if not a leader who can combine the qualities of the two stalwarts who
still tower above everybody else in the party. Age won’t be a
criterion in deciding who qualifies as the new generation Advani or
new generation Vajpayee.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/223818/A-challenge-for-BJP%E2%80%99s-GenNext.html

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 19, 2009, 6:05:05 PM12/19/09
to
BJP road-repair job
RADHIKA RAMASESHAN

Gadkari at the BJP office on Saturday. (Ramakant Kushwaha)

New Delhi, Dec. 19: A man known for building highways and flyovers
will be trying to pave the BJP’s path to power.

As Maharashtra’s road and transport minister in 1995, Nitin Gadkari
had commissioned a study on accident-prone spots, accepted its
findings and instantly sanctioned Rs 20 crore to make the roads safer.
Today, shortly after replacing Rajnath Singh as BJP president, he told
journalists: “Where there is a will there is a way; if there is no
will, there will only be a survey.”

Actually, he said: “…surveys, discussions, seminars, committees and
sub-committees but no way”, rather spoiling the effect.

In his white, gulal-smeared khadi shirt, beige linen trousers and
hands bereft of the astrological rings that adorn so many north Indian
netas’ fingers, the new party chief looked a bit like a stockbroker
from Dalal Street who had wandered into Delhi’s political jungle.

He said his overnight stay in Delhi this weekend, with wife Kanchan
and daughter Ketki, would be a first in five years. “Else I land in
the morning and am off by evening. There’s so much work to be done in
Maharashtra.”

Gadkari, who will formally take over charge on December 24, has
already notched two more firsts: he is the only businessman to head a
major political party in India and, at 52, is the youngest BJP
president. His business interests range from manufacturing PVC pipes
and steel furniture to running co-operatives that make saris and
paper, and exporting fruits.

“It is important to have in politics people who have their legitimate
sources of earning…. They will not be digging for gold in others’
mines,” another BJP leader with independent means said.

Gadkari belongs to Nagpur and has always been close to the RSS,
especially its current chief Mohanrao Bhagwat. The Sangh picked him to
run the party the way it wanted.

Gadkari was clear about what was expected of him. “When there is
strong political will, that will sort out all kinds of problems. When
I wanted to construct the Mumbai-Pune expressway, I was told the
outlay was Rs 200 crore. How much time, I asked? Two-and-a-half years.
What is the amount on hand? Rs 5 crore. But I had made a promise and I
fulfilled it. Because I never give false promises,” he said.

Advani told party workers: “The NDA government is best remembered for
its road connectivity, its commitment to infrastructure. This is
Nitin’s contribution: expressways, roads, highways.”

On the dais with Advani, Rajnath, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley,
Gadkari said: “As I share space with you, I am also conscious that I
am much junior to all of you. I need your encouragement and guidance
and everyone’s co-operation.”

“Co-operation” was the operative word. Underlying the celebratory mood
in the BJP is anxiety about whether Gadkari, a greenhorn in intrigue-
ridden Delhi and without a popular base, can pull the party out of the
rut.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091220/jsp/frontpage/story_11888744.jsp

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 20, 2009, 1:08:43 AM12/20/09
to
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Advani takes over as BJP helmsman

Kumar Uttam | New Delhi

Hands over LOP charge to Sushma in LS
Arun remains Leader in Rajya Sabha

Bharatiya Janata Party veteran LK Advani stepped down as Leader of the
Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Friday with “a sense of relief and
satisfaction” but making it abundantly clear that he was “neither
tired nor retired”. BJP’s parliamentary party also amended its
constitution to elevate Advani as its Chairman that gave him power to
appoint Leaders of Opposition in both Houses and other office-
bearers.

This amendment would bring on a par LOPs in both the House with
Chairman being at the helm of the parliamentary party. Earlier, the
LOP in the Lok Sabha used to be the leader of the parliamentary party
and his counterpart in the Rajya Sabha held the post of deputy leader.

Advani, who is being replaced by Sushma Swaraj as LOP in the lower
House, told party MPs here on Friday that it was “not an end of era
for him but beginning of a new chapter”. Advani also re-appointed Arun
Jaitley as LOP in Rajya Sabha.

“A news report I came across this morning said rathyarti was stepping
down. If someone thinks that I will cease to be active and quitting
politics or keeping away from Parliament he is wrong,” Advani said, as
he got a standing ovation from party colleagues.

Advani’s elevation is part of the generational shift in the party that
would see younger leaders taking over direct charge and the BJP
veteran remaining the guiding force for them.

BJP sources revealed to The Pioneer that Advani may be eventually
promoted as Chairman of the National Democratic Alliance, a post
currently held by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Incidentally, Vajpayee is not
in pink of health and for all practical purposes Advani has been
leading the NDA for the last couple of years.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, who will step down from the top post of
the party’s structure on Saturday to make way for Nitin Gadkari, noted
that Advani has made invaluable contribution to the party and his
stature could not be measured in terms of post he occupies.

“Change of responsibility is a natural process in politics and life,”
Rajnath told reporters, adding that Advani had expressed his desire to
give up his post of Leader of Opposition but the party said that he
must continue to guide considering his “incomparable” contribution to
the party.

Advani also underlined the importance of BJP in Indian politics,
saying no political outfit became so popular in such a short span of
time in post-independence era. "BJP workers should keep this in mind,"
he said.

During the parliamentary party meeting, BJP's top leadership also
tried to put up a united face. Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha,
who had openly attacked Advani for this year’s parliamentary election
defeat, moved the motion for election of the BJP veteran as chairman
of the parliamentary party.

Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, who are not known for being in best of
their terms, also hugged each other in front of cameras, as leaders
made beeline to congratulate the new office-bearers.

See Edit: LK Advani takes a bow — But he will be there to guide the
BJP

COMMENTS BOARD ::

Leader with Substance
By Manoj on 12/19/2009 7:00:06 AM

Advani brought a paradigm shift in Indian politics providing the
indian middle class with an alternative. Its amazing how time goes
by...

http://www.dailypioneer.com/223770/Advani-takes-over-as-BJP-helmsman.html

bademiyansubhanallah

unread,
Dec 20, 2009, 1:16:22 AM12/20/09
to
Saturday, December 19, 2009

LK Advani takes a bow

The Pioneer Edit Desk

But he will be there to guide the BJP

Politicians are more often than not reluctant to disturb the status
quo and most who aspire to high office, whether in their parties or in
Government, tend to sway with the wave. Mr LK Advani is among the very
few politicians India has had who consciously challenged the status
quo, steered the Bharatiya Janata Party (and before that the Bharatiya
Jana Sangh) against the stream of Nehruvian consensus, and in many
ways refashioned India’s political discourse while setting the agenda
for national politics. In a sense, he freed Indian politics from the
shackles of the past and contributed in no small measure to the
emergence of a bipolar polity in which the BJP and the Congress are
the two major poles around which smaller players congregate, depending
on their political exigencies. In brief, he was a ‘change agent’ who,
along with Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, not only made nationalism once
again fashionable but demonstrated that it still remains a powerful
tool for political mobilisation as well as the core idea of good
governance in modern India. This is the best tribute that can be paid
to Mr Advani, who has dedicated his life to the nation, as he prepares
to step aside for younger leaders to take charge of the BJP, marking
the beginning of a new chapter and the end of an era.

It is only natural that Mr Advani should not make an abrupt departure
from either active politics or the party which he has nurtured for
nearly three decades. A leader is not necessarily a helmsman; Mr
Advani has been both for the BJP. By becoming chairman of the
parliamentary party while Ms Sushma Swaraj, an able parliamentarian,
takes over as Leader of Opposition, Mr Advani will remain at the helm
of his party’s affairs, which he should. As the BJP makes a momentous
generational shift and the old guard passes on the baton to the next
generation of leaders, it will require a calming hand to guide it
through the much-anticipated transition. Mr Advani, needless to say,
is best suited for this task: As mentor for those who will now lead
the party from the front and wise counsel for the cadre, he will
oversee the changing of the guards. The BJP, which will also have a
young president in Mr Nitin Gadkari, should consider itself blessed
that unlike other parties which crowd the political scene, it will not
have to contend with either turmoil or tumult in the coming days.

It must be said to Mr Advani's credit that he had expressed his desire
to step down after last summer’s general election. But it was the
party, defeated and dejected, which had insisted on his assuming
charge as Leader of Opposition. Mr Advani had abided by the collective
decision of the time. Let it also be said that he has not used that
opportunity to stay on in office, but create the right atmosphere for
younger leaders to come to the fore. It would be in order to mention
that Mr Rajnath Singh, who took charge as party president at a
particularly difficult time, has been equally gracious. It is now for
Mr Arun Jaitley, Ms Swaraj and Mr Gadkari to prove they are worthy
inheritors of a great legacy; it is also for the party cadre to
demonstrate that they have the determination and commitment to build
upon what they have inherited: It’s both a challenge and an
opportunity. As the BJP enters a new phase of its life, it can look up
to Mr Advani for inspiration. But it must also learn to look forward
to conquering new frontiers, as Mr Advani and Mr Vajpayee did with
single-minded determination and absolute devotion to the party.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/223661/LK-Advani-takes-a-bow.html

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 1:45:26 AM12/20/09
to
State loss, national gain
Ramu Bhagwat, TNN 20 December 2009, 06:48am IST

NAGPUR: He has been candid about it. Nagpurian that he is by heart,
Nitin Gadkari is wary of big power centres like Delhi. The fact that
he spent barely two nights in the national capital in 30 years of
political life bears testimony to the fact that he wilfully stayed
away from it. But those who know his style of functioning are sure he
can overcome the fright in no time with his intrinsic dynamism and
sense of patriotism instilled by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in
which he has deep roots.

His catapulting to the national scene can be a big loss for the state
where he held centre stage for a decade and half as a politician of
action - a minister par excellence for five years, an affective
opposition leader and president of the party's state unit. But by
taking a firm step to put him at the helm of affairs in the BJP, the
RSS has shown that it means business.

Ever since RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat unveiled his plans to rejuvenate
the BJP after its lacklustre performance in the Lok Sabha elections in
April and some months before that when it lost power in Rajasthan,
Gadkari gradually started emerging as the obvious choice.

Not surprisingly, critics of the party and commentators raised
questions. How can a regional satrap who never contested a direct
election to test his mass support head a national party and rub
shoulders with the likes of Sonia Gandhi, senior statesmen and
visiting political dignitaries from overseas, they asked.

However, there are equal number of observers who feel that given the
state of disarray post Lok Sabha polls and Jaswant-Shourie outbursts,
the party can hit a rock bottom. Only a relatively younger leader
ready to mix his conventional wisdom with readiness to try out of box
solutions can do the trick.

The fact that the RSS is firmly behind him may only make Gadkari's job
easier as those much senior to him in the party are expected to see
him in that light and fall in a line. Gadkari is capable of
implementing the RSS decision to put the BJP back on its feet. If his
first day experience of blending humility with confidence and
stressing on core values of nationalism is anything to go by, he is
sure to go a long way to accomplish the mission.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/State-loss-national-gain/articleshow/5357723.cms

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 5:10:22 AM12/20/09
to
Nitin Gadkari takes over as BJP President bjp's Maharashtra unit chief
Nitin Gadkari has been appointed the party's youngest-ever president.
On Saturday, the bjp's parliamentary board elected Gadkari. He will
officially take over on

December 24. From: ndtv Views: 0 0 ratings Time: 04:01 Watch Video

http://nowstreamin.net/ondemand/ndtv/12-19-2009/nitin-gadkari-takes-over-bjp-president

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 5:21:29 AM12/20/09
to

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 5:24:10 AM12/20/09
to
I am new to national politics, says Gadkari
PTI 20 December 2009, 02:04pm IST

NEW DELHI: Beginning his innings as new BJP President, Nitin Gadkari
on Sunday called on senior party leader L K Advani to seek his
blessings and support during his tenure.

Gadkari met the party veteran along with his family members. Former
BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu joined them during the breakfast
meeting.

Later, talking to reporters, Gadkari said, "Atal Bihari Vajpayee and
Advani have been the source of inspiration for me. I had met Vajpayee
yesterday.

"I am new to Delhi and national politics. But after getting the
blessings of the senior leaders, I am confident of performing the
duties and responsibilities entrusted to me. After meeting Advani, my
confidence has increased," the 52-year-old BJP chief said.

After taking over as BJP President yesterday, Gadkari had called on
Vajpayee and other senior leaders Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and
Naidu.

He could not meet Advani yesterday as the latter had gone to Vrindavan
after the party's Parliamentary Board meeting.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/I-am-new-to-national-politics-says-Gadkari/articleshow/5358388.cms

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 5:39:31 AM12/20/09
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Challenge to BJP chief's authority will create crisis: Rajnath
Agencies

Posted: Sunday , Dec 20, 2009 at 1254 hrs
New Delhi:

Nitin Gadkari took over as the new BJP president from Rajnath Singh.

A day after stepping down as BJP President, Rajnath Singh on Sunday
said there is bound to be a crisis if the authority of the party chief
is challenged.

"The line of command rests only in the hands of the party president
which is Nitin Gadkari. It is true that if the authority of the party
president is challenged, there is bound to be a crisis but this hasn't
happened in the BJP and I am confident that this won't happen with
Nitin Gadkari either," he said.

Recalling that the results of the Lok Sabha elections were "not as per
our expectations," Singh said, "Had we attained a good strength in the
Lok Sabha, (L K) Advani would have definitely been the Prime
Minister". Asked if he regretted this, he said, "Yes, absolutely."

Hoping that Atal Bihari Vajpayee will play his role in the party once
his health improves, Singh said, "As far as Advaniji is concerned, he
is still active in politics and will be in the future."

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/challenge-to-bjp-chiefs-authority-will-create-crisis-rajnath/556757/

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 5:45:45 AM12/20/09
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Race for Gadkari’s successor begins
Swatee Kher

Posted: Sunday , Dec 20, 2009 at 2335 hrs
Mumbai:

With Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari donning the mantle of the
national chief, the state wing of the party that has now lost two
senior leaders to national politics, the other being Gopinath Munde,
is searching for Gadkari’s successor. Gadkari’s elevation as BJP
national president comes at a time the party has turned into the
largest opposition party in the state.

At 52, Gadkari succeeded Rajnath Singh on Saturday, becoming the
youngest to don the mantle.

Earlier this year, Munde, another prominent BJP leader from the state,
was elected to the Lok Sabha. Both had been active for almost two
decades, Munde as MLA and Gadkari as MLC and were prominent faces of
the party in the state.

With both leaders, who had come to be be identified with BJP politics
in Maharashtra for over two decades, shifting base to the national
capital, the BJP state unit is looking for new faces to lead it.

The BJP is the single largest opposition party in the Assembly and
holds the posts of Leader of the Opposition in both Houses of the
Maharashtra legislature. The posts were claimed by the party after it
bagged more seats than the Shiv Sena in the Assembly elections for the
first time in the two-decade alliance. While the BJP won 46 seats, the
Shiv Sena got 44.

Several second-rung BJP state leaders, including former Nagpur mayor
and three-time MLA from Nagpur Devendra Fadnavis, MLA from Jat in
Sangli district Prakash Shendge, MLC Vinod Tawde and Ballarpur MLA
Sudhir Mungantiwar are in the race for the state chief’s post.

Fadnavis and Mungantiwar are from Vidarbha and among the most
articulate and aggressive BJP MLAs in the state, with the former being
the youngest. Tawde is a close lieutenant of Gadkari and had taken his
side during the Gadkari-Munde squabbles. Shendge is also a trusted
lieutenant of Gadkari and belongs to the Dhangar (shepherd) community
listed as a nomadic tribe. Shendge would be the choice if the party
wants to give a non-Brahmin face to the state, especially as Munde (an
OBC and Gadkari-baiter) has moved to Delhi.

BJP spokesperson Vivekanand Gupta said the drive for party membership
was under way and the election of the next party president would be
conducted in the first week of March. Party leaders said that due to
Assembly elections, the organizational elections scheduled this month
had to be postponed.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/race-for-gadkaris-successor-begins/556581/0

Sid Harth

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:00:46 AM12/20/09
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Uma Bharti warns nation-wide agitation on women's reservation issue
PTI Sunday, December 20, 2009 16:50 IST

Valsad: Bharatiya Janshakti Party chief and former BJP leader Uma
Bharti said that her party would launch a nation-wide agitation for
women's reservation.

Bharti was here on her way to Nashik where the former Madhya Pradesh
chief minister would be meeting Malegaon blast-accused Pragna Thakur
in a jail there.

Talking to PTI here she said Indian society was a male-dominated one
and the women would have to fight for their rights.

Bharti said that 33% reservation for women was not enough. It has to
be 50% as half of India's population are women.

She further said that there also should be a separate quota for the
OBC (other backward class) women. Bharti said that though her party
members have not contested elections but they will be doing it soon.

Referring to her fledgling party , she cited the example of the Jan
Sangh and how it grew into a national level party.

Bharti, who had injured her foot, was travelling in a wheel-chair and
had come to Valsad by train, from where she went by road to Nashik.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_uma-bharti-warns-nation-wide-agitation-on-women-s-reservation-issue_1325657

Sid Harth

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:05:54 AM12/20/09
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Change in BJP leadership gives hope to Gujarat unit
DNA Sunday, December 20, 2009 10:59 IST

Ahmedabad: The change of guard at the national level in the Bhartiya
Janata Party has raised new hopes in the state unit that the new
leadership will take the party to the top position. The state unit of
the BJP is not surprised with the latest developments at the national
level as it was expected ever since the debacle of the party in the
parliamentary polls.

The party has unanimously selected Sushma Swaraj as the leader of
opposition in the parliament in place of Advani while Nitin Gadkari, a
stalwart leader of Maharashtra, replaced Rajnath Singh as the national
president. Both names were being bandied about in party circle since
the Rastriya Sewak Sangh (RSS) interfered in the matter. Advani will
now head the parliamentary board.

Party workers in the state are now expecting positive developments in
the party. "We want the party back in power at the Centre," said a
party worker. "We did not have any doubt about the leadership of
Advani but the time has changed now. We have to emerge as a strong
party which can take on the hype of the Congress," the worker said.
"Swaraj is a good and accepted leader as she was earlier deputy leader
of the opposition," the leader said.

The BJP needs total revival after its lukewarm results in the
parliamentary elections. The row of leaders like Jashwant Singh and
other has also depleted the image of the party as well as spread
depression in the party ranks.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_change-in-bjp-leadership-gives-hope-to-gujarat-unit_1325527

Sid Harth

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:07:30 AM12/20/09
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Shivraj Singh Chouhan praises Gadkari's organisational skills
PTI Sunday, December 20, 2009 13:59 IST

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said
that the new BJP Chief Nitin Gadkari was a visionary and dedicated
leader. "Gadkari is a visionary and dedicated leader," Chouhan told
reporters here.

Chouhan said that his party would be richly benefited by the
experience of Gadkari, adding that the new chief has excellent
organisational skills.

"Under Gadkari, the BJP will become stronger," he said. He said the
new BJP chief was having the blessings of their senior leaders like -
former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and LK Advani, adding
Gadari is a great leader, who believes nothing was impossible.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_shivraj-singh-chouhan-praises-gadkari-s-organisational-skills_1325577

Sid Harth

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:09:20 AM12/20/09
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Nitin Gadkari's elevation may change Sena-BJP alliance equation
PTI Sunday, December 20, 2009 11:39 IST

Mumbai: Will 52-year-old Nitin Gadkari's elevation as BJP president
change the equation among saffron alliance partners in Maharashtra, is
a question being discussed in state political circles.

The over two-decade long Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, engineered by slain
BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, has held till date. Now, with Gadkari at
the helm of affairs in BJP, there is growing speculation about its
status in the backdrop of recent developments.

The latest development, which could damage the already fragile ties
between Sena and BJP, is reports that Sena did not give its second
preference votes to BJP during the voting for legislative council
seats from local self-government bodies on Friday.

For the two seats from Mumbai, which saw a triangular fight, the Shiv
Sena and the Congress seem better placed than the BJP, with the Sena,
which has the highest number of corporators in the civic body, not
casting second preference votes for ally BJP.

Sena had nominated former leader of the opposition Ramdas Kadam, who
lost the Assembly elections from Guhagar in Raigad district, while the
BJP had fielded incumbent MLC Madhu Chavan.

Congress fielded trade union leader Bhai Jagtap, who lost the Assembly
polls from suburban Jogeshwari. "By not voting for the BJP candidate,
the Sena has indirectly helped the Congress," a BJP corporator said.

Gadkari is known to enjoy a working relationship with Sena executive
president Uddhav Thackeray but their relations are not exactly
'cordial'.

Three years ago, Gadkari emerged winner in the crisis which threatened
the saffron alliance as both parties staked claim over Chimur seat in
Assembly bypoll. As Gadkari stood his ground, the Sena blinked and
agreed to give up the seat.

This was after senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde held talks with Sena
chief Bal Thackeray and Uddhav. Earlier, Thackeray's editorial in Sena
mouthpiece, Saamana, had said, "There is no give and take in
friendship and we have shown enough patience so far." The editorial
also targetted Gadkari for 'damaging' the alliance.

"Earlier, whenever there was a crisis in the saffron alliance, Sena
leader bypassed BJP leaders like Gadkari and Munde and approached LK
Advani for resolution of the crisis. Now, when Gadkari is BJP
president, there is little scope for bypassing him," a Sena leader
said.

BJP has already assumed the role of 'Big Brother' in the alliance. Its
senior state leader Eknath Khadse was last month elected leader of
opposition in legislative assembly, in place of Sena leader Ramdas
Kadam. In the October Assembly polls, BJP won 46 seats, compared to 44
won by Sena.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_nitin-gadkari-s-elevation-may-change-sena-bjp-alliance-equation_1325538

Sid Harth

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:13:38 AM12/20/09
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Maharashtra BJP celebrates Gadkari's elevation as national president
PTI Saturday, December 19, 2009 20:08 IST

Mumbai: Maharashtra unit of BJP today celebrated Nitin Gadkari's
elevation as the national president of the party by bursting of
crackers.

As soon as the formal announcement was made in Delhi, party workers,
office-bearers at the state unit office in South Mumbai burst crackers
and distributed sweets.

Party spokesman Madhav Bhandari and other office-bearers were present
on the occasion.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_maharashtra-bjp-celebrates-gadkari-s-elevation-as-national-president_1325420

Sid Harth

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Dec 20, 2009, 9:15:31 AM12/20/09
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Gadkari gets rousing welcome on his arrival in Nagpur
PTI Sunday, December 20, 2009 15:24 IST

Nagpur: An unprecedented rousing welcome was accorded to newly elected
National BJP president Nitin Gadkari, a day after his elevation to
highest party post, on his arrival in Nagpur.

Hundreds of party workers sporting saffron turban, dress materials,
party flags, scarves, posters, banners with Gadkari's photographs
greeted him as soon as he came out of terminal building at Ambedkar
International Airport, here.

BJP state leader Kirit Somaiya, Hansraj Aher, MP, along with Vidarbha
party legislators - Chainsukh Sancheti, Davendra Phadanvis,
Chandrshekhar Bawankule, Sudhakar Deshmukh along with former MP
Banwarilal Purohit, Mayor of BJP-ruled Nagpur Municipal Corporation
Maya Iwnate, local leaders Anil Sole, Girish Vyas, Sanjay Bhende and
Girish Deshmukh were among the prominent present on the occasion.

Gadkari was taken in an open decorated vehicle through the main
streets of city from city airport to his Mahal residence. Welcome
gates were erected through the way and rose petals were showered on
him.

Workers danced to the tune of melodious numbers and crackers were
burst. A number of two wheelers participated in the rally and the
traffic was disrupted at some junctions.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_gadkari-gets-rousing-welcome-on-his-arrival-in-nagpur_1325609

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 2:53:58 PM12/20/09
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Yeddyurappa denies rift in BJP, says govt will complete tenure

Correspondent
Sunday, December 20th, 2009 AT 11:12 PM

B S Yeddyurappa

BENGALURU: Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday said he would
complete his full term and that the party was united to face the
challenge of the Congress-JDS combine.

He said reports of dissidence were just rumour mongering and he had
the support of the party to take on the Opposition in the Assembly,
which begins on Monday.

Yeddyurappa met RSS leaders to get their support in meeting the threat
posed by a group of rebels, who want to be inducted into the ministry.

State party president Sadananda Gowda also claimed there was no
dissidence.

He said the plot by the Congress and the JD-S to destablise the
government would not succeed.

Meanwhile, the Congress held a meeting to work out a strategy to
embarrass the government in the Assembly and council sessions.

Opposition leader in the Assembly Siddharamaiah said that the chief
minister’s position had become shaky.

“The CM has become a pawn in the hands of Bellary Reddy brothers,” he
said.

The Reddy brothers, both ministers, were running the government, he
said.

Siddaramaiah said the Congress would not venture into dethroning the
BJP government.

“But there is every possibility of the government falling due to
differences in the party,” he said.

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2009/12/20235944/Yeddyurappa-denies-rift-in-BJP.html

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 2:55:39 PM12/20/09
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Opposition in parleys as BJP faces rebellion

Correspondent
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 AT 9:12 PM

BENGALURU: Former chief minister and leader of Janata Dal Secular H D
Kumaraswamy has met Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi and union minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss possibilities of a coalition government in
the event of the BJP government losing power due to internal
squabbles.

Kumaraswamy and his father former prime minister H D Deve Gowda have
given their nod for a Congress-led coalition as they felt that chief
minister B S Yeddyurappa was on his way out.

The rebel group has renewed its campaign against Yeddyurappa.

Yeddyurappa on his part said the Opposition was day dreaming and he
would complete his full term.

Kumaraswamy said the BJP government would fall on its own and that
neither the Congress nor his party would try to pull it down.

He said his party had no objections to leader of the Opposition in the
Assembly and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah becoming chief
minister.

Worried over the moves by the Opposition, Yeddyurappa has assured
dissident legislators that he would induct a few of their nominees in
the ministry.

He has also promised to appoint some of them as heads of state-owned
boards and corporations after the legislative council polls.

Meanwhile, former CM and Congress leader S Bangarappa has sought
governor H R Bharadwaj’s intervention to end the misrule in the state.

“I am only saying that the governor should act according to the
Constitution to end the misrule in the state.”

He also called upon secular parties not to let go the opportunity to
form the next government if the BJP government falls due to its
internal squabbling.

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2009/12/17215358/Opposition-in-parleys-as-BJP-f.html

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 3:05:50 PM12/20/09
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India’s opposition party divided
By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi

Published: December 20 2009 18:58 |
Last updated: December 20 2009 18:58

India’s octogenarian opposition leader, LK Advani, stepped down at the
weekend to pave the way for a generational change in the Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in the midst of
internecine battles over its future direction.

The BJP has elevated Sushma Swaraj, 57, a fiery orator and one of the
party’s few prominent women, as Parliamentary opposition leader. It
has chosen Nitin Gadkari, 52, a dedicated member of the rightwing
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, as party president.

The leadership change comes as the BJP is being torn between its
traditional RSS support base – which sees the BJP as a Hindu party
that should promote Hindu interests – and those who want to relegate
identity politics to the back burner and focus on bread-and-butter
issues with greater resonance among more culturally confident and
tolerant middle-class and young voters.

“The tussle between those who are into pragmatic politics and those
who are into ideology has not been settled,” said Swapan DasGupta, a
journalist close to the party. “There is an unresolved tension over
whether the BJP can be an umbrella party, or a doctrinaire party.”

The choice of Ms Swaraj and Mr Gadkari represents the precarious
balance between these two competing forces, still battling for
supremacy and control over the party since its bitter defeat in May’s
Parliamentary elections.

With her ostentatious display of symbols of traditional Indian
womanhood – including a large bindi on her forehead and vermillion
powder in her hair, Ms Swaraj, a former minister of health, and
information and broadcasting, is seen as a moderate within the party
who still has strong appeal among the lower middle classes, especially
women.

Mr Gadkari, a provincial politician from the western state of
Maharashtra who held no previous position with the BJP in New Delhi,
has been pushed into leadership job by the RSS, which feels the party
has drifted too far from its ideological roots and wants to reassert
control over the party organisation.

However, Mr DasGupta said Mr Gadkari, who was popular as a can-do
public works minister in the Maharashtra in the 1990s, may not prove
to be as compliant a tool of the RSS as the organisation’s leadership
expects.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d03cbb50-ed91-11de-ba12-00144feab49a.html

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 3:12:56 PM12/20/09
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Climate change in the BJP
Pankaj Vohra, Hindustan Times
December 20, 2009

First Published: 22:38 IST(20/12/2009)
Last Updated: 23:28 IST(20/12/2009)

The recent developments within the BJP resulting in the elevation of
L.K. Advani as the Chairman of its parliamentary wing through
arbitrary means have led to a situation where both the saffron outfit
and its controlling authority, the RSS, have come out as losers. The
happenings have also demonstrated that fascist tendencies within the
Sangh parivar continue to dominate its functioning.

The appointment of Sushma Swaraj as leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha
and that of Arun Jaitley in the same position in Rajya Sabha, in
addition to the elevation of Nitin Gadkari as the party president,
also indicates that the Sangh has decided to somehow make up for Atal
Bihari Vajpayee’s absence by having three Brahmins in key posts. But
what is baffling is the tearing hurry with which the parliamentary
party constitution was amended without prior notice to pave way for
Advani, Swaraj and Jaitley to occupy their positions barely a few
hours before Gadkari’s appointment as the BJP chief was to be
announced.

It appears that Advani did not wish to take any chances and went ahead
with his plan to present a fait accompli to the new party chief, said
to be extremely close to the RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat. There
is also speculation that Bhagwat, who has ended with egg on his face
in view of his statement excluding the D-4 — Jaitley, Swaraj, Ananth
Kumar and Venkaiah Naidu — from the race for important positions in
the BJP, may have entered a deal with the Advani camp to have Gadkari
appointed as the president. Gadkari and Bhagwat hail from the same
village.

The RSS had always been reluctant to have a Maharashtrian Brahmin at
the helm of affairs of the BJP/Jan Sangh particularly after the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, which led to a ban on its activities.
Three Brahmin families from the region — Godse, Apte and Kanade — had
appeared in the conspiracy behind Gandhi’s murder and the Sangh (also
accused of complicity) had to wait for nearly 50 years before it was
able to come to power at the Centre during the coalition era. Gadkari
is expected to lead the party towards its hardcore Hindutva agenda and
has, therefore, been handpicked even though he does not have much
experience of Delhi and politics of regions where the party is
strong.

But the manner in which things have played out, it appears, that
Advani has ensured that Gadkari’s importance remains minimal.

There is another spin to the developments. It is being said that the
RSS wanted Advani, a Jinnah-admirer, to step down as leader of
Opposition in the Lok Sabha, which he did as per his own conditions.
It may not be difficult to get his nominees out once the appropriate
time arrives. According to another version doing the Sangh rounds is
that the RSS is unhappy over what has happened and may want things
reversed.

But the most apt way of analysing the developments would be that the
BJP has a Jinnah-admirer as its parliamentary party head and Gadkari,
an RSS stooge, as its president. The appointments are in accordance
with Bhagwat’s promise of bringing about a change in the party’s
image. Murali Manohar Joshi, the only person who could have fulfilled
the actual RSS agenda stands totally marginalised. He was sent to
Copenhagen while the real climate change in his party was taking place
in the capital.

It is obvious that he has been cheated and outwitted by realpolitik.
Advani and Gadkari, the new big two, together may help Bhagwat realise
his dream of Akhand Bharat. Both Jinnah and Gandhi will look from
above in disbelief. The impossible has happened. Between us.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Climate-change-in-the-BJP/H1-Article1-488729.aspx

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 3:24:55 PM12/20/09
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Rangnath Mishra Commission recommendation dangerous to country: BJP
Posted On Sunday, December 20, 2009
By Our Staff Reporter
Bhopal, Dec 20:

BJP Scheduled Caste Cell's senior office bearer and former MLA Lala
Singh Arya said that the recommendations of Rangnath Mishra Commission
are danger to the nation and society. This would reduce the rights of
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and it would be against the
constitution of the country.

Arya said that reservation was given to the scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes because earlier they were treated like untouchables.
Through reservation their economic condition and living status would
be improved. He said that there is no untouchability in Islam and
Christianity. He said that the idea of Congress by including 'Dalit
Muslim' and 'Dalit Christian' in Backward Class category would be
against the interests of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
Scheduled Caste Cell of the BJP would not tolerate this, he said.

Arya said that the Congress wanted to reduce the reservation to the
minimum of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the Rangnath
Mishra Commission is just a political cover for the same. He said that
if the commission recommendations are implemented, agitaion would be
started and said that the backward classes have a lot of opportunities
in the country.

He said that poverty among the backward classes is due to social
traditions and not political. They did not bother to adopt to limit
the family and that is the main reason why they are poor.

Arya said that by implementing the recommendations the converted
Muslims and Christians would become stronger contenders for
reservation. It would also help conversion. Due to conversion several
states are facing population imbalances. Demand of separate state is
proof of this, he said.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=22297

bademiyansubhanallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 3:41:08 PM12/20/09
to
Vajpayee can't escape blame for Babri: Muslim panel

IANS

Published on Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 21:24 in India section

Lucknow: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday
said it agreed with the Justice M S Liberhan Commission report on the
demolition of the Babri mosque, but objected to it not indicting
former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"We do not see the Liberhan Commission report as politically
motivated. However, what the commission should not have done was
giving a clean chit to former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee,"
said AIMPLB secretary general Abdul Rahim Quraishi after a meeting of
the board's executive in New Delhi.

"Vajpayee should have been summoned by the commission, but even if it
did not do so, Vajpayee could not absolved of his collective
responsibility as he was the tallest leader of the party that
masterminded the demolition of the Babri Mosque."

The panel said it was opposed to the proposed Prevention of Communal
Violence Act.

"The draft bill, in its existing form, is full of lacunae and would
only end up leaving Muslims at the receiving end, as it bestows
unbridled powers on the local administration and the police who are
generally biased towards Muslims," Quraishi alleged.

The 'guilty' 68: persons indicted in Liberhan report

"What was quite surprising was that the draft bill has no provision
for action against those who instigate violence, as also against those
involved in conspiring violence and it tends to rope in only those who
were found to be indulging in actually violence, thereby allowing the
masterminds to have a free run," he said.

"What was also strange was that the bill appears to take cognizance
only of acts of violence like arson, murder or rioting only after such
acts were committed... there was no provision for taking suitable
action to prevent such acts," he said.

The AIMPLB has resolved to meet United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister
P Chidambaram and Law Minister Veerappa Moily "to draw their attention
to the glaring anomalies and pitfalls in the bill".

According to Quraishi, the bill requires several amendments and would
not be acceptable to Muslims in its present form.

The board proposes to mobilise various Muslim organisations across
states to stage demonstrations against the provisions of the bill.

On the Babri Mosque front, the board demanded clubbing of all criminal
cases pending before two courts in Lucknow and Rae Bareli.

"Besides, the cases of criminal conspiracy that were dropped against
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani and seven others ought
to be revived in the wake of the Liberhan Commission report, which
clearly indicts Advani," Quraishi said.

"The case relating to title of the land on which the Babri Masjid
stood until it was pulled down on December 6, 1992, should be
expedited by the Allahabad High Court, where it had been pending for
decades," he said.

He said the AIMPLB also strongly suggests the need for "using evidence
gathered by the Liberhan Commission in all other criminal cases
pending before courts with respect to the Ayodhya mosque demolition".

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/vajpayee-cant-escape-blame-for-babri-muslim-panel/107468-3.html?from=tn

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 20, 2009, 11:17:17 PM12/20/09
to
Gadkari has to tread cautiously in Rajasthan
TNN 21 December 2009, 04:10am IST

JAIPUR: New BJP president Nitin Gadkari may have his way in unifying
the rival factions within the BJP at national level, but he has to
tread cautiously in Rajasthan.

The new BJP chief has to handle two key issues in the desert state;
the appointment of a new leader of Opposition and also a new state
president, that too in the instance of a “rigid” approach of
Vasundhara Raje and her loyalists, who are not ready to accept anyone,
imposed unilaterally by the high command.

Although Raje and her loyalists have waged a fresh offensive in the
state after the change of guard at national level, sources within the
party say that the new party chief will be treading cautiously while
handling the party affairs on Rajasthan. Sources, however, maintained
that instead of deferring decisions, Gadkari has to be firm with his
priorities to end the deadlock at the earliest.

“Gadkari will take his time before reaching to any decision and will
not undo anything in haste done by his predecessor Rajnath Singh,”
said a senior leader from Rajasthan, who admits that sorting out
issues in Rajasthan amicably remains a Herculean task. The Raje camp,
which still enjoys support of the majority of the legislators in the
state, is now gunning for the two key posts of the state party
president and the leader of Opposition.

While election for the state party president post is slated for
December 24, the party is still indecisive about the new leader of
Opposition ever since Raje was forced to quit the post by the then
president Rajnath Singh. As per precedence, the current president Arun
Chaturvedi was anticipating his unanimous election, which, however,
halted as Raje camp has decided to field Digambar Singh for the top
party post in the state.

“The Raje camp may have their own plans in place to regain the
hegemony in the state but an election or a possible defeat of Arun
Chaturvedi, will be a setback to Sangh, which won’t be acceptable for
Gadkari too,” said a senior leader. He said that Chaturvedi was
appointed as state president with RSS blessings and the same is the
case with the elevation of Gadkari.

Immediately after Rajnath Singh handed over the baton to Gadkari in
the party function in New Delhi on Saturday, Raje swung into action as
she arrived in Jaipur and held a meeting with her loyalists about
their future plan of action in the changed circumstances. As the
outgoing president Rajnath Singh impelled Raje to put in her papers as
leader of Opposition, the latter now sees an opportunity to play her
cards afresh and regain the key posts in the state unit, which she
used to enjoy before the two back-to-back defeats.

Rajnath Singh had appointed Arun Chaturvedi as state president after
Om Prakash Mathur resigned from the post taking moral responsibility
of the party’s defeat in the assembly polls.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Gadkari-has-to-tread-cautiously-in-Rajasthan/articleshow/5360411.cms

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 21, 2009, 8:51:59 AM12/21/09
to
BJP fails to win majority in Karnataka legislative council
December 21st, 2009 - 6:00 pm ICT by IANS -

Bangalore, Dec 21 (IANS) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in
Karnataka Monday won ten of the 25 legislative council seats for which
polls were held Friday, but failed to win a majority in the 75-member
house.
The Congress-Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) alliance bagged ten and five
seats, respectively.

With 10 seats it won Monday, the BJP will now have 34 members in the
upper house of the legislature. It retained four of the seats and
gained six.

The Congress was a big loser winning only 10 of the 19 seats it earier
held. Its alliance partner, the JD-S was a major gainer bagging five
seats, four more than it had.

Of the 25 seats, one was vacant. Voting took place for 23 seats as
Congress and BJP had bagged one seat each unopposed.

Of the council’s 75 members, 25 each are elected by assembly and local
bodies, seven each by graduates and teachers and the remaining 11 are
nominated. Polls to the council are held biennially as one-third
members retire every two years under statutory provisions.

Friday’s poll was to fill the 25 seats from the local bodies - gram,
taluka, zilla panchyats, town municipal councils and city
corporations. Besides these members, legislators and parliament
members formed the electoral college.

Of the over 93,000 members of local bodies, legislators and parliament
members, around 97 percent voted.

The BJP was hoping to win 15 seats to gain control of the upper house,
over 18 months after capturing power in Karnataka for the first time.

After Monday’s outcome, party position in the 75-member house would be
BJP 37, Congress 20, JDS seven and the chairman of the council.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters here that he was happy
BJP got ten seats in spite of the Congress-JDS alliance.

JDS leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who stitched
the alliance with the Congress, said in a statement from New Delhi
that the tie up had achieved its goal of preventing BJP from gaining
control of the upper house.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/bjp-fails-to-win-majority-in-karnataka-legislative-council_100292619.html

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 21, 2009, 8:59:51 AM12/21/09
to
Advani nominates Munde as Dy Leader of BJP in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: BJP Parliamentary Party Chairman L K Advani today
nominated Maharashtra leader Gopinath Munde as Deputy Leader and re-
appointed Mr Ramesh Bais as Chief Whip of BJP Parliamentary Party in
the Lok Sabha. Mr Munde, who was Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra
in the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition, will succeed Ms Sushma Swaraj, who has
been elevated as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Mr Munde's
name was in the reckoning in party circles for appointment as Chairman
of the Public Accounts Committee, a post vacated by expelled BJP
leader Jaswant Singh. Mr Advani also re-appointed S S Ahluwalia as
Deputy Leader and Ms Maya Singh as Chief Whip of BJP Parliamentary
Party in the Rajya Sabha.

Updated : Monday, 21 Dec 2009, 16:47 [IST]

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 21, 2009, 9:21:27 AM12/21/09
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Whose BJP is it anyway?
Suman K Jha

Posted: Monday, Dec 21, 2009 at 2352 hrs IST
Updated: Monday, Dec 21, 2009 at 2352 hrs IST

New Delhi: With Lal Krishna Advani taking over as the BJP legislative
party chairman, Sushma Swaraj as leader of Opposition in the Lok
Sabha, Arun Jaitley continuing as leader of Opposition in the Rajya
Sabha, and Nitin Gadkari as BJP president, the generational shift in
the BJP is, at last, accomplished. Many are tempted to see a neat
division between the legislative party and the organisation, with
Advani, aided by the Sushma-Jaitley duo, looking after the former, and
Gadkari taking charge of the latter, as per the directives of RSS
chief Mohan Bhagwat. This, however, would be a simplistic analysis of
the jigsaw puzzle that the BJP-in-transition has come to resemble.

The last one year has been one of the most dramatic in terms of twists
and turns for the BJP. Advani’s candidature as the NDA’s Prime
Ministerial candidate, Bhagwat’s elevation as the RSS chief, and the
intensely personalised turf war between the party’s second-generation
leaders were the key issues that affected the BJP-RSS.

Advani was instrumental in nominating Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the
Prime Ministerial candidate at a party meet in Mumbai in 1995, for he
knew that Vajpayee was the only leader in the entire party capable of
getting ‘BJP plus’ votes. It was Advani, again, who often acted as a
cushion against RSS pressure tactics on the party (and the NDA
government) under Vajpayee’s leadership.

But when Advani stepped into Vajpayee’s shoes, there was hardly anyone
by his side to stave off the RSS pressure on various counts. To make
matters worse, Advani’s Prime Ministerial campaign was marred by an
unending turf war between the dominant factions. Through the entire
Lok Sabha campaign, the BJP fought two battles—one with the rival
alliance, another with itself.

It was around this time that Bhagwat was elevated as the RSS chief. In
his first few interventions, citing the examples of APJ Abdul Kalam
and Varghese Kurien, Bhagwat spoke of “Hindutva being a liberal
worldview”. However, with infighting in the BJP showing no signs of
abating, and Advani’s authority being severely compromised in the
process, Bhagwat, assumed a greater political role in the later
weeks.

Advani’s views on the RSS and the BJP-RSS dynamics were always known.
Prior to the Lok Sabha campaign, at a meeting of RSS leaders
(including Bhagwat) and Advani at the latter’s residence, it was
decided that the BJP’s—and by logical extension, Advani’s—would be the
last word in organisational matters of the BJP....

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/whose-bjp-is-it-anyway/556859/

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 21, 2009, 9:30:32 AM12/21/09
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Where next for the rath yatra?

Meghnad Desai

Posted: Monday, Dec 21, 2009 at 2106 hrs IST
Updated: Monday, Dec 21, 2009 at 2106 hrs IST

Apart from the Congress, the Jan Sangh/BJP is the oldest party still
around. The CPI is the only other. While the Congress has split
several times, the first time in 1969, again later in the 1970s, and
CPI spawned CPM, the Jan Sangh/BJP has never split. It is also the
only party with an internal democratic system, which the Congress has
by now abandoned and the CPI never believed in.

Neither longevity nor internal democracy has been of much help to the
BJP in the last five years. After a Herculean effort, it got elected
in 1996, and again in 1998 and 1999, but then it was exhausted. It
lost the 2004 election inadvertently, surprised itself and ever since
then has not found its way back. This happens to parties that lose
power when they least expect it. It happened to the Labour Party in
1979. It took the Labour Party three more defeats before it got itself
electable.

The BJP has at least begun to recognise that it has a problem, though
it should not have taken seven months after the May 2009 defeat. It
was obviously difficult for Advani to resign immediately upon defeat
and the party at large could not tell an elder to get out.

So, after the confusion of the August Chintan Baithak, we now have a
compromise. There is at least a change of guard and a new face at the
helm of the party. The RSS has decided that it cannot any longer be
the power behind the throne. It has to take charge of the party hands
on.

The choice of Gadkari is, however, a cautious one. I had expected the
RSS to opt for Manohar Parrikar who, as chief minister of Goa and an
IIT graduate, has both top executive experience and a modern image.
But the choice fell on a proper Marathi speaker since RSS is in the
final analysis a Marathi outfit. Yet the transparent control of RSS
over the BJP is a good thing. It is best to have these things in the
open.

Gadkari will need to restructure the Party offices, which became quite
moribund during the NDA government period. But the major problem of
the BJP is not organisation, but ideology. As the Labour Party found,
after each defeat the Party faithfuls want to reinforce the orthodoxy
that had just been rejected. They forget that in a democracy a party
has to capture not so much the faithful and dedicated, but the
undecided and hesitating voters.

The BJP had been enticed into a centrist stance by Vajpayee. He was
trusted so totally that no one suspected him of deviating from the
true path. He thus managed to make the BJP electable and won three
elections in a row, a record matched only by Panditji.

Advani had made his name as a hard-line ideologue and organiser while
Vajpayee was there. But by nature he is a moderate person. When he
tried after 2004 to bring out his moderate reasonable nature, both the
BJP and the RSS were very unhappy. They believed quite wrongly that
the voters wanted the raw meat (apologies to BJP vegetarians) of
Hindutva and not the daal-roti of a reasonable mid-stream ideology.

What Atalji could get away with, Lal Krishnaji could not. In the final
stages of the 2009 elections, Advani tried to become his fiercer self
with Narendra Modi at his side but the game was up.

Labour Party redefined its old style Socialism as Left of Centre
progressive radicalism and sold it to the electorate to win three
victories. The BJP has to find a modern repackaging of Hindutva so
that the new generation of Indians born since Indira Gandhi’s days
will find something to identify with. Their insecurity is economic,
not religious or political. The Partition is old history for them and
Muslims are the heartthrobs in Bollywood and not aliens. Hence the
need to repackage.

There is a gap in the political spectrum on the Right of Centre. India
needs a pro-business party, somewhat like the Swatantra Party. Twenty
years after liberal reform, the themes of anti-bureaucracy and
accelerated growth can win many more voters for the BJP.

It can be done. The hard task is to look ahead, not backwards.

—The author is a prominent economist and Labour peer

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/column-where-next-for-the-rath-yatra/556794/0

chhotemianinshallah

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Dec 21, 2009, 9:35:13 AM12/21/09
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Malegaon to Goa on terror map

Prashant Rangnekar

Posted: Monday, Dec 21, 2009 at 2354 hrs IST
Updated: Monday, Dec 21, 2009 at 2354 hrs IST

Panaji: Days after the National Investigating Agency (NIA) took over
the probe into the Diwali bomb blast in Goa, the police in the state
said they had found links between the Sanatan Sanstha members blamed
for the blast and the Hindu extremists of Abhinav Bharat accused in
the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blast.

The Goa police investigation had found phone records to show that some
key members of the two Hindu groups had been in touch with each other
in the past and this was one of the reasons for the case to be handed
over to the NIA, sources here said.

“I can only say that this case has links with Sadhvi (Pragya) and
Colonel (Shrikant) Purohit,” said Goa’s inspector-general of police KD
Singh. “There is evidence… It would be inappropriate to share more
information as the case has now been handed over to the National
Investigating Agency.”

Sources in Goa police said that they found the links when
investigating the backgrounds of Malgounda Patil and Yogesh Naik, the
two Sanatan members who were killed after one of the three bombs they
were allegedly planting at a Diwali celebration in Margao went off
accidentally on the night of October 16.

“When we checked call records from January this year, we found that he
was in touch with a close family member of Purohit. After analysing
call records before January 2009, we found calls between Patil and
Sadhvi Pragya before the (Malegaon) blast,” one officer said.

Investigators also suspect that Patil may have been in touch with
Purohit since Patil is alleged to have had several mobile phone SIM
cards he had procured using fake identity documents.

“This is probably one of the reasons why Patil managed to evade
investigating agencies in the past,” the officer said, adding that he
had secured one SIM card using a fake voters’ ID which had the
photograph of a lawyer working with the law department.

“Patil was the managing trustee of a trust which had more than 70 bank
accounts across the country and also had connections all over the
country. The money collected in the name of religion was deposited in
his account. Since the accounts are across the country it would be
appropriate for NIA to investigate where the money was spent,” the
officer said.

Goa police have since arrested 28-year-old Vinay Talekar, who had an
MBA in human resources and was working with a local five-star hotel,
and an accomplice Vinayak Patil.

They have also picked up Dhananjay Ashtekar who was studying
engineering in Kolhapur district in Maharashtra, and Dilip Mangaonkar.
While Talekar and Vinayak Patil have been accused of planting the
fourth bomb in Sancaole town near Margaon, Ashtekar is suspected of
helping assemble the explosives.

Sadhvi Pragyasingh Thakur and Purohit are among 11 Abhinav Bharat
members arrested in connection with the September 29, 2008, Malegaon
blast in which six Muslims were killed. Malgounda Patil is also said
to have been in touch with Sanatan member Vikram Bhave, who was
arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad last year in
connection with the crude bombs planted on the outskirts of Mumbai.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/malegaon-to-goa-on-terror-map/556860/0

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