Re: Muslim Problem, Hindu Solutions: Sid Harth
bademiyansubhanallah
France arrests engineer at nuclear research lab CERN over 'Qaida
links'
AFP 10 October 2009, 10:29am IST
PARIS: French agents have arrested an engineer working at the CERN
nuclear research lab on suspicion of being in contact with the al-
Qaida militant network and planning attacks, officials said Friday.
"Perhaps we have avoided the worst," interior minister Brice Hortefeux
told journalists, adding that investigators were trying to establish
which targets in "France or elsewhere" the suspect was hoping to
strike.
Security sources in Paris said the suspected Islamist, one of a pair
of brothers detained on Thursday, worked at the European Organisation
for Nuclear Research on the Franco-Swiss border just outside Geneva.
The pair were arrested in Vienne, a town on the Rhone river some 100
kilometres (65 miles) southwest of the Alpine lab, by officers from
France's security service acting on a warrant from an anti-terrorist
magistrate.
According to officials, the engineer had made contact over the
Internet with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a North African
offshoot of Osama bin Laden's loosely organised global Islamist
militant movement.
He had expressed a desire to carry out attacks, but had "not got to
the stage of carrying out material acts of preparation", one said.
CERN confirmed a physicist working at the site had been arrested
"under suspicion of links to terrorist organisations", and said it was
helping the French police with their investigation.
"He was not a CERN employee and performed his research under a
contract with an outside institute. His work did not bring him into
contact with anything that could be used for terrorism," it added in a
statement.
According to a report on the newspaper Le Figaro's website, the
suspects are a 32-year-old Frenchman of Algerian origin who has been
the subject of a police inquiry for a year-and-a-half and his 25-year-
old brother.
The report, citing sources close to the inquiry, said the elder
brother had had several Internet exchanges with figures considered
close to Al-Qaeda and had provided a list of suggested French targets
for attack.
Judicial sources told AFP that investigators had come upon the pair
while monitoring the Internet as part of a separate inquiry into the
recruitment of would-be jihadists to send to Afghanistan as
guerrillas.
Intelligence agents recorded several incriminating exchanges between
the brothers and suspected al-Qaida contacts. Two laptops, three hard
drives and several USD memory sticks were seized from their home, they
said.
"We are in a situation of permanent alert. We follow statements made
by the leaders of certain organisations day by day. We never let our
guard down. The danger is permanent," Hortefeux said.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb was born in 2007 when a largely-
Algerian militant group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat,
swore allegiance to Bin Laden and rebranded itself as his
organisation's local franchise.
Intelligence officials consider it one of the most serious threats to
France, which has a large North African diaspora population.
CERN is Europe's leading laboratory for the study of the fundamentals
of sub-atomic physics. It operates particle accelerators to study the
behaviour of atoms at high speed and learn about the basic laws of
nature.
It is a civilian organisation, backed by 20 member states, and is not
connected to nuclear weapons technology.
The lab said the suspect had been working on the "LHCb experiment"
which its website says "will help us to understand why we live in a
universe that appears to be composed almost entirely of matter, but no
antimatter."
...and I am Sid Harth
chhotemianinshallah
Human rights groups call for ending caste system
Lalit K Jha/ PTI / Washington October 10, 2009, 10:13 IST
Three human rights group supported the call of a top UN official to
end caste system in India and other countries where it is still being
practiced.
"Governments in India and other caste-affected countries should
support the new UN framework to eliminate caste discrimination," said
Rikke Nohrlind, coordinator, International Dalit Solidarity Network.
"It is time for these nations to cooperate with the UN to address a
human rights issue that affects 260 million people," Nohrlind said in
a statement as the call to end the discrimination was issued jointly
by the Human Rights Watch, the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
(NCDHR), and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN).
The joint statement came after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Navi Pillay, has issued a strong call to end caste discrimination.
In an opinion article, Pillay stated that "the time has come to
eradicate the shameful concept of caste," and called on the
international community to come together "as it did when it helped put
an end to apartheid."
Sid Harth
10.10.09
Muslims, the love jihad and Advani’s dreams
This fellow is quite a hoot.
Alleging that ‘love jihad’ was the latest tool being used by
miscreants to promote anti-national activities, Shri Rama Sene chief
Pramod Muthalik said his organisation would launch a nation-wide
agitation against it.
Aww…so every Muslim male is a suspect? Every college girl is pliable?
What survey? You talk to a couple of girls going out with Muslim men
and you have results?
What about those who marry Hindus? Should we assume that those women
and men are not anti-national only because they are not Muslims? Who
is this Rama Sene to decide on patriotism? Will its chief have the
courage to target celebrities who are married to Hindus? Is the issue
only of conversion?
On a recent flight, the young woman sitting next to me got chatting.
After covering one quarter of the world’s nationalities and half the
states of India, she still did not get an answer to “Where are you
actually from?” I love that actually. Mumbai is not actual in anyone’s
book and these days after the crash-landing saying 'moon' won’t work
besides it being too cheesy. I was left with no option but to accept
my fate. Muslim, I said, feeling a lump in my throat and everywhere
lumps are possible. I mean, it was an emotional moment.
Her eyes widened, and I know it for a fact for she had small eyes.
“Oh?”
“Well, yes,” I shrugged, imagining she would now hold herself away,
look at my rather nice handbag suspiciously or even the ring she
liked. It might hold something damaging. I put on the best jihadi face
I could manage, you know narrowing of eyes and wicked grin.
She turned enthusiastically, “Tell me, why don’t you Muslims allow
people to marry outside?”
“They do. But there is not a policy decision. Why do you ask?”
“I am seeing this Muslim guy for four years and now his parents say
they won’t let him marry a Hindu.”
“As long as he stands by you…and I hope they are not expecting you to
convert.”
“I don’t mind that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. What is there to convert? You just say some prayers, no?”
“Well…So, what is their problem?”
“I don’t know. His mother will go to spa and all but she should
understand that a Hindu girl is also a human being.”
“The spa won’t teach her that. And if both of you are sure, it should
not be a problem.”
“I know it will, so we will continue like that for as long as we can
and then go our separate ways.”
“Is it so easy?”
“That is the practical decision.”
She did not think of him as anti-national. She was willing to convert.
And the stole she had wrapped round her neck was because her mother
wanted it that way.
I had no intention of getting into a discussion on Islam and she was
most certainly not up to anything beyond chit-chat. She shared
something because she felt that she could get a point of view from a
Muslim who looked like she went to the spa. I guess it’s time for me
to.
On what grounds are Bihar schools being forced to teach Urdu? That the
initiative comes from the JD (U)-BJP government is surprising, but as
the report clearly implies it has to do with getting Muslim votes.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said:
“We will be appointing Urdu teachers in every state-run school to
enable the students learn the language.”
This is fascism. What is the percentage of Urdu-speaking people in the
state? On what grounds do we assume that all Muslims are conversant
with Urdu? A Muslim in Kerala or Gujarat will fumble with the basics
of the language. And even in Uttar Pradesh it will be the elite that
will speak it with some fluency. In most states, even if people speak
Urdu, there will be a regional flavour to it.
There is no doubt that it is a lovely language and must get exposure,
but there ought not to be any compulsion. If Bihar wants to expose its
youngsters to a wider variety, then why not include Marathi or
Malayalam?
The state language is Maithili and Bhojpuri and most Bihari ministers
cannot even speak Hindi well. So, let’s cut out the nonsense. It might
help if Urdu teachers refused to become a part of this political game.
L.K.Advani was in Vashi for an election meeting and after all the
baloney about water, electricity and roads – yeah, these don’t matter
– he came to the crux:
“It is my cherished dream to have a ‘bhavya’ (beautiful) Ram Mandir at
Ayodhya.”
Why would the Vashi voter be interested in what happens in Ayodhya?
Why would the Vashi voter care about Advani’s dream? How would the
Vashi voter know how beautiful it will be? Is Advani an architect? Why
is the temple’s beauty of importance? Where will the money come from?
Of course, the Vashiwallas will have to continue with water shortage,
bad roads and power cuts. So that a man can realise his dream.
The crowd cheered. It does not mean they are thrilled. It is because
the candidate had managed to get a few people to hold banners. People
are not stupid, but politicians are.
That’s not the end:
Advani also spoke of his other dream, of having American style debates
for political candidates, like the presidential debates in the US.
What will they debate? The colour of the sanctum? How much gold to
cover Lord Rama with? Will it be a cradle or a throne? Oh, this is an
issue – are we going to display the deity as an innocent child or a
mature adult? What will better help us market India as a global
phenomenon?
Advaniji is like Kumbhakaran*. He must sleep so much for how else
would he dream so much?
*
Kumbhakaran was Ravana’s brother in the epic Mahabharata who was
cursed to sleep for months on end. I am implying this aspect of his
personality and not the other one in which he ate everything,
including humans, upon waking up. Nah. Advaniji comes across as
someone who’d be picky about his meals.
Posted by Farzana Versey at 2:08:00 PM
Sid Harth
12.9.09
The Malik-Chidambaram Face-off
The Malik-Chidambaram Face-off - A Satire
by Farzana Versey
Countercurrents, September 12, 2009
This is an exclusive peek into the private debate that took place
between Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik and India’s Home
Minister P Chidambaram regarding the 26/11 attacks. Mr. Malik had
suggested they meet at any place – India, Pakistan or elsewhere. After
much deliberation, Nepal was chosen. They had seen former Spice Girl
Geri Halliwell plant a peck on the Nepal king’s cheek. Détente was all
about gaal se gaal mila…
P Chidambaram: Just wondering.
Rehman Malik: Now what? You think too much. You remind me of Dalip
Kumar, you know he also has this pose of hand under chin. Big tragedy
king. India’s gain, Pakistan’s loss.
PC: What happened? He has nukes?
RM: Nahin yaar. He is original Peshawar banda, and you got him. He
became so famous doing all those rona roles. Sometimes, I think he
misses being with us.
PC: You gave him Nisha award, right?
RM: Nishan-e-Pakistan…
PC: Oh, whatever.
RM: Not vatever. We have enough on plate…
PC: Plate? Are we starting with lunch?
RM: Nahin, I mean we have enough problem; you want us to probe what
happens in your country, then you send formal request in Marathi. How
can we understand?
PC: It is not for you to understand. This is bureaucracy. Did you
understand anything that Baitullah Mehsud used to say? You think only
you need time? We also need time.
RM: How much? I told reporters that day that we filed the chargesheet
in court within 76 days whereas Indians took more than 90 days to
prepare it.
PC: Have you seen our population? Our courts have too much work. And
all because of you guys. If you want to infiltrate why did you guys
leave during partition at all?
RM: Tohada dimaag toh theek-thaak hain? I was only in kindergarten
that time.
PC: You went to kindergarten?
RM: Haan toh…Jack and Jill saath saath vich hill climb and then Humpty
Dumpy came tumbling after…
PC: You are mixing up your nursery rhymes.
RM: So vaat? How is Arun Shourie saab? He is ekdum intel gents, full
of fatafat rhyming.
PC: Can we get down to business?
RM: Down ya up, business is business. Bolo, kithe shuroo kainda?
PC: So what are you doing with the dossier?
RM: Which one – Baluchistan or Mumbai?
PC: Excuse me, but your own PM made it clear there was nothing given.
RM: We don’t have to give everything we make. Waise, your Man saab is
changa aadmi…ekdum jo moonh mein aaya bol diya…
PC: Er…
RM: Err…ghalat honda?
PC: Ok, we both know English.
RM: We both studied statistics also.
PC: Oh, well, I am a lawyer, too.
RM: I got doctorate in criminology.
PC: So find the criminals for us.
RM: Lau ji, if you are saying we send criminals then how we can have
them also…this is like eating cake and having it…Mary Queen of Scots
said.
PC: No, she did not.
RM: How you know what she said and what she didn’t? The problem with
you Indians is jumping the gun and not pumping the gun.
PC: We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi…we believe in non-violence.
RM: Chhad yaar. But I am not minding. You took effort to come over
here to debate, I am grateful to Allah.
PC: Hmm…I took the flight you know.
RM: Oh yes, that also in conmy class. That Parnab is on new trip.
PC: We understand that we need to pull up our socks.
RM: Loose hain kya? Please tell me why all Indian finance ministers
carry that funny briefcase like someone carrying black money?
PC: The budget report is there.
RM: Ok, so budget has to have small buxa, not big. Nice symball.
PC: “Gham ka heera
dil mein rakho
kis ko dikhaate phirte ho
ye choron ki duniya hai…”
RM: Wah-wah, you know Urdu so well.
PC: All finance ministers must know. In India it is tradition to quote
Urdu poetry.
RM: But you did not.
PC: I know. Big mistake. We need to appease people.
RM: But Muslims are poor.
PC: Who is talking about Muslims, we have to show Pakistanis that we
are Jack of all trade.
RM: Jack in the box…
PC: Please, can we start the debate?
RM: Ho gaya ji. Baat cheet. Hor ki? Kuchch spice gal ho jaaye.
PC: It does not become us.
RM: Who is wanting anyone to become. I only asked for spice gal…gal
meaning talk. You Indians are so big country but you only have one
railway track line mind. I don’t want any trouble. Zardari saab said
one nice thing to Sarah sahiba and whole of Pakistan was called
Republican.
PC: You are anyway half American.
RM: Haan, sahi hain. But you are full Italian.
PC: I take your leave sir.
RM: Allah hafiz…
PC: Thank you for reminding me…where is Hafiz Saeed?
RM: And who is Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi? Make up your mind who did what.
Next time we will have more material and debate on border. Then we
will see doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani.
PC: We have a shortage of ghee and butter in India, you are rubbing
it…
RM: Correct. Rab sab jaanda, I tell you.
Both depart. Rehman Malik takes PIA fusst class and asks for razai. P
Chidambaram gets into economy and the seats next to him are vacated.
Ajmal Kasab continues to grin in court.
Posted by Farzana Versey at 2:18:00 PM 3 comments
Sid Harth
Indian Actor, American Character-
The Psychology Of Security Measures
By Farzana Versey
26 August, 2009
www.Countercurrents.org
August 2009, Phoenix : A man carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle
over his shoulder is among the many gun-toting protestors outside the
convention centre where President Barack Obama gives a speech.
August 2009, Newark Airport : Indian actor Shahrukh Khan is detained
at the airport and there are questions asked, mainly the wrong ones.
February 2002, Mumbai Airport : I am standing at the counter and the
man at Immigration reads out my name aloud as though it is alien. He
goes through all the pages of the passport without looking at me and
then bangs down the document that declares me a citizen of the
Republic of India on the table.
In the taxi on the way home the driver says in Hindi, his mouth
stuffed with paan , “You know, they killed our people.” He does not
know I am one of Them. He makes no mention of the Gujarat riots; he
only talks about the burning train of Godhra. He keeps up the rant. I
wish to say something, speak out, argue. My throat is locked, my hands
with nail marks of unsaid words.
After the incident of Sharukh Khan, we have had a slew of reports and
opinion pieces that have held forth on how icons must be treated and
are treated. Some ‘balanced' commentators have stated that it does not
have to do with his being a Muslim and having a Muslim name. These
could well be valid trains of thought. However, there is a more dire
script lurking beneath. It has little to do with physical security and
all to do with psychological security. One would have called it
xenophobia, but here safety is sought on the basis of not necessarily
what is foreign but what is ingrained.
If security measures are all that important, then why did the US
administration ask the actor if he would accept an apology for his two-
hour detention? The culture of fawning that the Americans have pointed
out to is indeed more prevalent in India . We are given examples of
celebrity Americans who did time in jail for crimes committed. This
denotes a modicum of equitable justice, not a lack of deification.
Paris Hilton and Mike Tyson are not shunned socially. They become even
more saleable and keep the media machinery well-oiled. The Indian
judiciary, too, has arrested famous people for keeping arms, rash
driving resulting in death, poaching, rape. Sanjay Dutt spent years in
an isolated cell meant for hardened terrorists only because he had a
gun at home whereas a local minister who used it during the Bombay
riots was not even called to the police station.
Therefore, the point is not whether a simple internet search would
show up the actor's name. The Americans have now said that they wanted
to know the names of his sponsors because there are instances of many
supposedly being involved in illegal trade and having underworld
links.
Is this a cop-out? If so, then one wonders why. The elitist attitude
starts here. The actor calls a Congress minister who speaks to the
Indian Consulate and the US authorities. He brags, “Post-9/11, one
could understand and one did not complain. But this time it was a bit
too much. I have travelled to other countries. I never faced any
problem in the UK where I am treated like a state guest. They escort
me to the car.''
Perhaps, he ought to run a search and find out how many people with
certain names are detained and have no access to MPs. They are not
escorted and treated like state guests. And these are not people who
make 9/11 the yardstick for terrorism for we in India , among several
other countries, have been there years before.
This sort of amateurish political empathy conveys scant regard for
those lower down the rung in the hierarchy. In what amounts to another
sort of fawning, there have been analyses putting forth the argument
that such stringent security measures have prevented any further
attacks from taking place in the US . It is not security measures that
have stalled such attacks. It is the political machinery that makes
sure to nuke other territories that are considered a security risk.
Everytime an American politician visits another country, s/he will
indicate how that country and “We in the United States ” are fighting
terrorism. The US wants to be a part of every package deal to ensure
greater intrusion.
The Cold War is over so it prods icebergs and, sure enough, there are
conflicts. The saviour prepares. Marines are sent off. NATO sets up
shop.
The film Khans and their ilk will not fathom the complexity of the
9/11 factory of hallucination that produces hatred. When the man with
the big gun at the Obama convention said, in Bill Clinton fashion,
that he carried the weapon because he could, he was unmasking the
culture of pugilism. Fred Solop, a Northern Arizona University
political scientist, finds the trend disturbing: “It actually becomes
quite scary for many people. It creates a chilling effect in the
ability of our society to carry on honest communication.”
The security-conscious society has had several instances of trigger-
happy people. The issue is beyond the legality of such choice. What is
more important is that unlike the ‘subjects' of US imperialism where
weapons are used by lesser folks, in America campuses become the
battle-ground. For a society that talks about freedom, it has given us
the concept of road rage where people cannot even tolerate traffic.
These are games at the larger social level where the stampedes occur
in the mind and alter mindsets. The skirmish for individual space
results in each one venerating the cult of collectivism. Those who do
not follow the rules of such aggro are sidelined from the arena.
I have not been detained or questioned at American airports despite an
obvious Muslim name before or after 9/11. But, the time I forgot to
remove my shoes at the security check, it was another passenger who
wagged her finger at me. I still remember that woman's face. She did
not know me or my name or my beliefs, if any. Her fear was
internalised and naturally directed at a foreigner.
India has imported this bogey, except the foreigner here is one of us.
I was one to the taxi driver and the man at the immigration counter. I
am one when they see Pakistani visas on my passport.
In what is a bizarre move, I know of Americans of Pakistani origin who
are asked to produce their Pakistani passports and national identity
cards if they wish to visit India as tourists. It does not matter that
they are naturalised US citizens and not permitted to have any other
passport. It does not matter that years have passed.
As Indians we have a history of being colonised, so it is not
difficult for us to accept the outside system, especially if it
buffers the divisions that have been written into our scriptures.
Shahrukh Khan declared with cockiness, “I don't want an apology. I
just want to go back to my country.”
He said this in the US , character in place as targeted Muslim. When
he returns to India he will play the Muslim who knows Hindu mythology
and is therefore legitimate. This is the puerile panacea sought by
those who know that cocoons make for safe places.
The little people herded in little cells for just belonging to a
religion or a community are conscripted as totem criminals to support
the thesis of security.
Muslims in India today are as much suspects as they are in the United
States . When the Mumbai attacks took place someone had suggested that
since I visited the Sea Lounge at the Taj hotel often it is possible
that I had provided a map to the terrorists. This was an Indian. The
humour is so dark that it makes sure no light seeps in to call of the
bluff.
These are the anonymous terrorists who have learned their
psychological warfare from a picture of Rudy Giuliani wearing a
protective helmet when it is all over. Nothing makes people more
afraid than rubble, it would seem.
* * *
Farzana Versey is a Mumbai-based columnist and author of A Journey
Interrupted: Being Indian in Pakistan , Harper Collins, India . She
can be reached at kaagha...@gmail.com
Sid Harth
Can We Win In Afghanistan
And Would It Be Worth The Price?
By Timothy V. Gatto
09 October, 2009
www.Countercurrents.org
Does anyone really think that a continued U.S. and NATO presence will
actually achieve anything significant in Afghanistan? Will an
additional 40,000 soldiers defeat the Taliban or will it only lead to
more American deaths? It seems that a continued presence in that war-
torn nation will only bring grief and death while U.S. and NATO troops
continue to try and reign in the Taliban, which can only be compared
to the debacle in Vietnam, where trying to track down the Viet Cong
and the NVA could only be compared to trying to herd of cats.
I believe that General McCrystal believes that the Taliban can be
defeated but at what cost? We have yet to see a plan that will
accomplish this. The situation in that mountainous land where the
Taliban appear, kill a few soldiers and damage military equipment and
then disappear is shockingly reminiscent of the situation in Vietnam.
Peak US strength in Vietnam in April, 1969 was 543.400. We lost that
war. We also tried to win “The hearts and minds” of the people in that
war and we never succeeded. Will we repeat the same behavior in
Afghanistan and expect different results?
The war is in its eighth year and we are losing ground. The majority
of Americans don’t support ramping up the war effort. We are in
unprecedented times financially. The manufacturing base of the United
States has been eroding for almost two decades. We have become a
service economy; the only robust area of the manufacturing sector is
oddly enough, the military weapons sector. Do our leaders expect this
war will lead to a type of federal jobs program? Our military spending
accounts for almost half of the military budget of the entire planet.
We will spend just about a trillion dollars this year on our military.
The defense industry is definitely not experiencing lean times.
The problem with military spending is that once the money is spent,
there is no return on our investment. Military equipment has a bad
habit of getting used up in short order and it isn’t usually recycled.
When a tank or an airplane outlives its usefulness it goes on the
scrap heap. Munitions are made to be destroyed. A cruise missile costs
in the neighborhood of $569000. An F-18 costs $54.7 million. The unit
cost of the Army's UH-60L Black Hawk is $5.9 million. The cost of a
new M1A2 tank is approximately $4.3 million. War is an expensive
business. Despite threatened cuts at the Pentagon, Boeing's military
business--including f-15 Strike Eagles, Patriot and Harpoon missiles,
Apache, Longbow and Chinook helicopters, P-8A Poseidon antisubmarine
aircraft--is still in good shape. Last year it accounted for $32
billion, 53% of revenues, and $3.2 billion, or 82%, of operating
profit. (Forbes September 2009). I could go on but I think I made my
point.
While most of this article has been about hardware, the human element
cannot be ignored. We lost 58,000 soldiers in Vietnam. It stands to
reason that the more soldiers we send to Afghanistan, the more
casualties we will suffer. The civilian deaths in Iraq have been
calculated to be from 300,000 to 1.3 million depending on who is
reporting. The U.S. military does not keep a tally. Besides civilian
deaths and military combat deaths, depleted uranium exposure, PTSD,
and crippling injuries add to U.S. casualties. Just like Agent Orange
in Vietnam, the military refuses to acknowledge the harmful effects of
DU, such incidents as birth defects and crippling bone loss. Let’s
hear those comments saying depleted uranium is as safe as aspartame.
We all know how safe that is. Since Rumsfeld pushed it through the
FDA, citing flawed studies on monkeys in 1984 when he was President of
Searle Pharmaceuticals, cancerous brain tumors increased by 800%, but
that’s probably just a coincidence, right? We all know that our
government only works in the peoples best interests.
Speaking of the American peoples best interests, ridding the Afghan
nation of the Taliban means that we are fighting them over there so
that we don’t have to fight them over here. It’s funny; I seem to have
heard that phrase before. No matter, whatever. I also seem to remember
that before we sent our military folks into Afghanistan, the Taliban
offered Osama Bin Laden’s head up on a platter if we formally charged
him with crimes. Somehow that never came to pass and now we are
desperately fighting not only al Qaeda, in both Pakistan and
Afghanistan, but the Taliban. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t
these the very same Mujahedeen that we financed to fight Russia? Sure
does get confusing, can’t tell the players from one another over
there. Maybe we should provide them with uniforms so we could tell
them apart.
Let me get everything straight so I don’t criticize the Obama
Administration unfairly. The reason that we are trying to eliminate
the Taliban is because they don’t treat women very well. I can
understand that, they probably treat them as badly as the Saudi’s (our
number two military aid recipient) treat their women. The Taliban also
interfere with the Afghan government’s bribes and kickbacks for
services and their blind eye towards opium production (90% of the
planet’s supply). I also remember something about a proposed oil
pipeline. Let me mention Pepe Escobar’s article from the Asia Times
titled U.S. Growing Arc of Instability:
“Most of all, the underlying logic remains divide and rule. As for the
divide, Beijing would call it, without a trace of irony, "splittist".
Split up Iraq - blocking China's access to Iraqi oil. Split up
Pakistan - with an independent Balochistan preventing China from
accessing the strategic port of Gwadar there. Split up Afghanistan -
with an independent Pashtunistan allowing the building of the Trans-
Afghanistan Pipeline bypassing Russia.
Al Qaeda, since they are no longer funded by the CIA, is our #1 enemy.
Osama Bin Laden would get a sovereign nation from which to launch
their attacks on America and the rest of the “free” world if we send
our troops home.
All of this confusion has me wondering, as I’m sure it gives President
Obama pause also. I’m curious as to whether or not the U.S or any
other NATO member state has attempted to negotiate with the Taliban
since they offered up Bin Laden? The current leader of Afghanistan is
no stranger to “”the art of the deal” In 1997, UNOCAL led an
international consortium - Centgas - that reached a memorandum of
understanding to build a $2 billion, 1,275-kilometer-long, 1.5-meter-
wide natural-gas pipeline from Daulatabad in southern Turkmenistan to
Karachi, via the Afghan cities of Herat and Kandahar, crossing into
Pakistan near Quetta. A $600 million extension to India was also being
considered. The dealings with the Taliban were facilitated by the
Clinton administration and the ISI. But the civil war in Afghanistan
would simply not go away. Unocal had to pull out. In this geo-
strategic grand design, the Taliban were the proverbial fly in the
ointment.
It would be in the best interests of all concerned to lay their cards
out on the table. If I’m sensing things correctly, after a stalemate
in Korea and a loss in Vietnam followed by a totally senseless war in
Iraq, the American people are in no mood to bluff or be bluffed.
Tim Gatto is an Army veteran of almost 21 years. His new book, "From
Complicity to Contempt" An American Writer and Veteran Speaks Out
Against American Lies is available at most bookstores.
Sid Harth
Send More Troops, To Partition Afghanistan
By Ramtanu Maitra
08 October, 2009
www.Countercurrents.org
President Barack Obama met on Sept. 29 with his Afghanistan-Pakistan
policymakers and heard views of 17 individuals that included Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor Gen. Jim Jones
(ret.), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen,
CENTCOM Chief David Petraeus, and Vice President Joe Biden. The
meeting, the second of at least five President Obama has planned as he
reviews his Afghanistan strategy, comes after he received a critical
assessment of the war effort from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the man he
put in charge of the Afghan War earlier this year.
Reports of the meeting indicate that the Administration members are
divided on the issue of induction of more troops in Afghanistan.
McChrystal is reportedly looking for 30-40,000 additional soldiers,
added to the present U.S. troop strength of 68,000 and 35,000 NATO
troops. According to an unnamed senior Administration official, cited
by the media, there was no discussion of specific troop levels at the
meeting in the White House.
Besides from General McChrystal and General Petraeus, the White House
is also under pressure from its NATO allies, particularly Britain, to
put more troops into Afghanistan and slog it out for years.. At this
crucial juncture, when the strategy behind the war is being reviewed,
if Washington toes the London line, inevitably the United States will
plunge itself into a Vietnam-like situation. More people will be
killed on a routine basis, but that itself will become the motivation
(or pretext) to stick around and kill more. The situation has not
reached that point yet, but certain quarters in the United States and
the British establishment are pushing the President in that direction.
But beyond the fears of many, that mindless killings for years will do
nothing better than to create a stalemate, there is yet another
certainty which London understands clearly, but not many in Washington
do. If the war in Afghanistan is pursued, with or without more troops
sent to Afghanistan now, or in the near future, such a war will be
waged primarily against the majority Pushtun community, within which
the dreaded Saudi- and British-created Taliban ideologues remain
embedded.
The British Pressure
Since the Pushtun community spans the Afghanistan-Pakistan borders,
crossing the un-demarcated Durand Line, if an endless war is looming,
the Pushtuns of Pakistan will get fully involved. They have so far
participated in this eight-year war mostly by being “good hosts” to
the fleeing fellow Pushtun warriors and their foreign Islamic militant
friends; but if this war is continued with the objective not to end
it, it is almost a certainty that the Pakistani Pushtuns will be a
part of it.
And the Pushtun community in Pakistan is much larger than that in
Afghanistan. This means that the draining of the United States’ and
Pakistan’s manpower and resources, not to mention Afghanistan’s, under
such circumstances, would be much bigger than it ever was in Vietnam.
What London understands, and fully welcomes, and Washington does not,
is that such an endless war has only one possible outcome, which is
the break-up of Afghanistan along ethnic lines.
Because of the ethnic solidarity between Afghan and Pakistani
Pushtuns, Pakistan, already in a volatile state because of the war in
Afghanistan, will have to face Pushtun wrath and the threats of a
break-up. It also should be noted that in that part of the world, and
particularly after years of bloodshed, such a partition will not come
through peace negotiations. It will come out of the barrels of
Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and other weapons
of selected destruction.
On Sept. 2, the City of London’s Financial Times, in its lead
editorial, “Obama’s dilemma over Afghanistan,” wrote, “Barack Obama
will almost certainly have to decide in the next few weeks whether to
send more U.S. troops in order to defeat the Taliban. The decision is
set to be one of the most difficult he has faced since becoming
president.”
The British establishment mouthpiece went on to endorse McChrystal’s
statement that “success is achievable,” adding: “Mr. Obama, for now,
would be right to heed his demands. . . . In part, the president has
no choice, since he only recently put the man in the job. But Gen.
McChrystal is also forging a sensible strategy. He has framed the
mission in the right terms, emphasizing
the need to team up the Afghan National Army in bigger numbers. He has
stressed the need for allied troops to get among the people, rather
than just killing Taliban insurgents in large numbers.”
Sir Sherard Cowper-Cowles: Britain’s Man on the Spot
Besides the Financial Times and other arms of the British media, Sir
Sherard Cowper-Coles, the Foreign Office’s special envoy to Pakistan
and Afghanistan, has become an advocate for introducing more U.S.
troops into the abyss known as Afghanistan. Cowper-Coles’ and his
fellow Empire-servers’ selling point to the Americans is that, with
the greater muscle and ruthlessness that America possesses, the war is
winnable. While London is lying to get Washington to go where it
wants, very few in Washington have the gumption to ask: What does
winning mean?
Cowper-Coles tries very hard to keep his British intelligence cover
intact. One of the myths that circulates in Britain is that high-level
intelligence officers do not become high-level diplomats, and for
sure, Sherard Cowper-Coles gets around in the world of diplomacy at a
very high level. But there are others who point out that there are
exceptions, and Cowper-Coles is one. It is said that such exceptions
are made when such an intelligence officer-cum-diplomat is posted in
sensitive places.
Cowper-Coles has been Ambassador to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and
Afghanistan. In February 2009 it was announced that he would be taking
up a new role as special representative of the U.K. Foreign Secretary
to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In other words, the old spook has earned
his bread. The move was facilitated by Foreign Secretary David
Miliband, another active servers of the British Empire.
Cowper-Coles had performed well on behalf of the empire-servers,
including Tony Blair and Buckingham Palace. He was the political
counselor in Paris during 1997-99. It was in August 1997 that Princess
Diana died in Paris under “mysterious circumstances,” forcing
Buckingham Palace to duck from one corner to another.
According to one report, the alleged MI6 roster showed that only three
Secret Intelligence ervice (SIS) officers were posted to Paris in
1997: Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles, Colin Roberts, and Richard David
Spearman. Cowper-Coles’ role—if any—in the morbid affair of Diana’s
death was never divulged.
Cowper-Coles earned kudos from Tony Blair when he was identified as
“the man” who was instrumental in getting the Serious Fraud Office to
abandon its investigation into the corrupt al-Yamamah arms-deal
scandal involving Britain’s BAE Systems, Saudi Princes Turki al-Faisal
and Bandar bin-Sultan, Wafik Said, kickbacks, prostitutes, and global
terror, including 9/11
(see EIR, June 22, 2007).
While he was in Afghanistan as British Ambassador, Cowper-Coles used
his fellow agents in an attempt to split the Taliban, which the Saudis
and the Brits created, in the 1990s, and each own a piece of (see last
week’s EIR). The project was exposed, when Afghan President Hamid
Karzai expelled two MI6 agents on Dec. 27, 2007, on charges that they
posed a threat to the country’s national security. An unnamed Afghan
government official told the London Sunday Telegraph that “this
warning,” that the men had been financing the Taliban for at least ten
months, “came from the Americans.
They were not happy with the support being provided to the Taliban.
They gave the information to our intelligence services, who ordered
the arrests.” Afghan government officials said the decision to expel
them was taken at the behest of the CIA, after the two agents were
caught funding Taliban units. One of the agents, Mervyn Patterson,
worked for the United Nations, while the other, Michael Semple, worked
for the European Union.
According to The Scotsman’s report, Afghan intelligence officials
discovered the plan—which would have established a training camp for
1,800 fighters and 200 low-level commanders, in an attempt to convince
them to switch sides—on a thumb-sized computer memory stick that they
seized Dec. 23, 2007, in Helmand province. The memory stick revealed
that about $126,000 had been spent preparing the camp, and about
$201,000 more was earmarked to run it in 2008.
On Dec. 26, 2007, Britain’s Daily Telegraph exposed the occurrence of
several clandestine meetings between Britain’s MI6 and the Taliban the
previous Summer. Afghan and British officials, guarded by heavily
armed British soldiers, partook in at least six high-level meetings
with Taliban commanders who sought to defect to the government.. The
chain of events that led to these secret meetings spawned from
Britain’s previous attempts at negotiations, nearly a full year prior,
in a dusty Afghan backwater called Musa Qala.
The London Times wrote that, when Patterson and Semple were arrested,
they had $150,000 with them, which was to be given to Taliban
commanders in Musa Qala. “British officials have been careful to
distance current MI6 talks with Taliban commanders in Helmand from the
expulsions of Michael Semple, the Irish head of the EU mission and
widely known as a close confidant of Britain’s ambassador, Sir Sherard
Cowper-Coles, and Mervyn Patterson, a British advisor to the UN,” the
Times wrote. But what has not been told, is that these two MI6 agents
were operating in Helmand, the center of Afghanistan’s vast opium
production.
Holbrooke’s ‘Mini-Me’: Bring Back the Raj
Cowper-Coles, in an exuberant speech where he identified himself as
Holbrooke’s “Mini-Me” (it is no coincidence that Holbrooke is pushing
for more troops in Afghanistan!), at the International Institute for
Strategic Studies (IISS) in London on Sep. 12, said “the simple pull-
out option is not one that any responsible govern-ment could follow,
nor is it one that any country that values its
relationship with the United States, above all with President Obama’s
America, could possibly contemplate in any responsible way. While
Obama remains committed, we remain committed.” Or, is it the other way
around, Sir Sherard?
He went on, “We must not forget the original reason why we are there,
to prevent those great tribal lands on both sides of the Durand Line
from ever again posing a threat to our national security.” He
recommended as a prerequisite, “an enduring long-term commitment that
involves financing training and monitoring the Afghans.”
In addition, he proposed decentralization of Afghan power in Kabul;
the provincial governors in Afghanistan “need to be given the means
through which to re-create local government in Afghanistan.” “Power
needs to be distributed away from Kabul to the people who actually
govern the country. We need to create shuras [administrative groups
led by tribal leaders] which will do dispute resolution, including
civil and criminal cases, and which will do security.”
Those in Washington who are aware of what Cowper-Coles is talking
about, would know that he is setting up the system that the British
Empire had used in the Indian subcontinent during its almost 200 years
of colonial rule, from the mid-18th to the mid-20th centuries. In the
British Raj, Britain maintained almost 550 princely states within
India, with the feudal lords as administrators.
The British would have a presence there for two basic reasons: to
collect a part of the revenue earned by that feudal lord annually, and
to train the feudal lord’s soldiers, so as to use them whenever the
British Raj had to fight a war, be that in Africa, the Middle East,
Asia or Europe.
More importantly, the prescription laid down by Cowper-Coles is
primarily to undermine the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan and lay a solid foundation for partition.
The same method, during the British Raj days, helped the colonials to
break up India, and keep the Kashmir dispute as a flashpoint between
the two newly born nations, India and Pakistan.
Another carrier of the British Empire’s sceptre, Daniel Korski of The
Spectator, made amply clear when he wrote on Sept. 4, the day British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke at the IISS, that “our tactics
clearly need a review. Britain and its allies should not try to build
a modern Weberian state in Kabul that has the monopoly on the use of
violence and a self-financing, service-providing administrative
apparatus. The task is to midwife a pre-Westphalian state that acts
against existential threats like al-Qaeda, but has to negotiate its
power, access and ability to deliver (limited) services with local
power-brokers” (emphasis added).
Finally, to expedite the break-up of Afghanistan, London is courting
the so-called moderate Taliban. In this, Cowper-Coles, besides
covertly training the Taliban in the drug-infested province of
Helmand, works with his fellow empire-server, David Miliband. On July
28, The Times Online reported Miliband’s assertion that it is time to
talk to the Taliban. “Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the former British
Ambassador to Kabul, advocated the policy soon after arriving in
Afghanistan in 2004. British diplomats and commanders were carrying it
out, albeit on a small scale, until the furious intervention of Hamid
Karzai, the Afghan President,” the article said
The Times Online concluded that “Mr Miliband is anxious to reassure
the public that there is ore to the Afghan campaign than the continued
slaughter of young British troops.” What the British news media did
not clarify, is what that “more to the Afghan campaign” really is. But
it is evident that “more to the Afghan campaign” means breaking up
Afghanistan by weakening Kabul and controlling the provincial
governors.
It is the same old-same old, British colonial policy.
bademiyansubhanallah
Kabul attack handiwork of enemies of Indo-Afghan ties: India
IANS 10 October 2009, 08:24pm IST
KABUL/NEW DELHI: Without naming Pakistan or its spy agency ISI, India
on Saturday said the attack on its embassy in Kabul earlier this week
was the
handiwork of the enemies of India-Afghan friendship and their "patrons
across the border".
Unfazed by the second such incident in 15 months, New Delhi also
reiterated its "unwavering commitment" to the reconstruction of
Afghanistan and its assistance to the Afghan people "in realising a
democratic, peaceful and prosperous" country.
"The attack was clearly the handiwork of those who are desperate to
undermine Indo-Afghan friendship and do not believe in a strong,
democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan," Indian Foreign Secretary
Nirupama Rao said in Kabul.
Expressing her "deep concern and revulsion" over the "barbaric and
cowardly attack," she stressed that the attack was "so clearly aimed
against the people of India and the people of Afghanistan and their
abiding friendship".
At least 17 people were killed and over 80 injured when a Taliban
suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near the Indian
embassy in Kabul Thursday morning. Barring three Indian paramilitary
personnel who were injured, all the other casualties were Afghans.
"The international community and indeed the people of Afghanistan face
a clear and present danger from the perpetrators of such wanton acts
of terrorism and their patrons residing across the border," Rao said
in a veiled reference to Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI).
The ISI was also suspected of having masterminded the July 7, 2008
attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed two Indian diplomats
in the first attack on an Indian mission abroad.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the claim
is widely seen as a ploy to distract attention from the ISI's alleged
involvement in the incident.
The Afghan foreign ministry said Thursday that "the attack was
orchestrated by the same group stationed outside Afghanistan that
planned and executed the first attack on the Indian embassy in July
last year".
Afghan Ambassador to the US Said T. Jawad has blamed the ISI for the
latest attack on the Indian embassy.
"Yes, we do," the Afghan envoy told the PBS news channel in an
interview when asked if he was pointing the figure at Pakistan for the
suicide bombing.
"We are pointing the finger at the Pakistan intelligence agency, based
on the evidence on the ground and a similar attack taking place in
Afghanistan," Jawad said.
While condemning the terrorist attack on the Indian embassy, it was
emphasised by the foreign secretary, on behalf of the government of
India, that the scourge of terrorism must be resolutely opposed,
resisted and overcome through undiluted commitment and effort by the
international community, India's external affairs ministry said in New
Delhi after Rao returned from her two-day trip to Kabul.
During her visit, Rao met Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Foreign
Minister Dafdar Rangeen Spanta and National Security Advisor Zalmai
Rassoul. They assured her that the Afghan government "would do all in
its power to expeditiously investigate the dastardly attack and bring
to justice the perpetrators and those behind this attack".
They were unanimous in their view that the attack was carried out by
elements from outside Afghanistan seeking to damage the excellent
relations that exist between India and Afghanistan, the ministry said
about the meetings between Rao and top Afghan ministers and
officials.
Rao flew to Kabul Friday and inspected the chancery premises and its
surrounding areas to make an on-the-spot assessment of the devastation
caused by the blast.
She met the officers and staff of the Indian embassy, including the
members of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBT) entrusted with
security of the mission. Two ITBP men had suffered shrapnel injuries
during the attack.
Rao complimented the ITBP men for their bravery, resoluteness and
dedication for working unflinchingly under such trying circumstances.
She assured them that the government will take all possible measures
to ensure their safety, security and welfare.
She also conveyed condolences to the families of around 17 Afghan
nationals killed in the attack, especially the families of the two
Afghan security personnel who died during the attack. She commended
their presence of mind and alertness which "prevented what could have
been a far greater tragedy".
India has pledged $1.2 billion for the reconstruction of Afghanistan,
making it the sixth largest bilateral donor.
bademiyansubhanallah
Let's bombard Pakistan
Jug Suraiya Monday October 05, 2009
Not just India but the international community should immediately
bombard Pakistan. Not with missiles and bullets but with something
even more explosive: facts. Following near unanimous charges from
across the globe that it must shoulder responsibility for
international terrorism, Pakistan is whipping itself into a frenzy of
hysteria. In a total rejection of reality by resorting to violent
emotionalism it is like a child having a tantrum. That it is an
enraged child with nuclear weapons makes for an extremely dangerous
situation. To defuse the escalating tension, Pakistan has to be helped
to face reality.
And the reality is that far from being a victim of Indian war-
mongering, Pakistan is teetering on the brink of becoming a failed
state, largely because of its own internal contradictions: an on-and-
off (mainly off) democracy which is at odds with its own military and
intelligence establishment, widely held to be the biggest terror
exporting consortium in the world. The offer by the Taliban -- which
the Pakistani army is supposedly combating -- that it would side with
the armed forces in a war against India by sending 10,000 suicide
bombers across the border gives the lie to Islamabad's repeated claim
that there is no state-sponsored terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
(The Taliban offer is as bizarre as if the Naxal insurgents operating
in some 160 Indian districts were to volunteer to join forces with the
state they were fighting against to take on Pakistan, a fantasy
scenario that many might deem to be the best thing for all parties
concerned.)
Pakistan is not just politically but also financially bankrupt:
inflation is running at 25 per cent and the national coffers are so
depleted that there is only enough to keep the country going for two
weeks. Forget financing an exorbitant war; Pakistan can't even finance
peacetime without help from donor agencies like the IMF. In contrast,
the vital signs of India's democracy remain strong, as attested to by
the J&K polls which registered a record turnout, as notably distinct
from PoK where elections aren't held at all. Despite the global
downturn, the Indian economy, even accepting scaled-down projections,
is expected to chug along at a 6 per cent rate of growth. India is too
busy looking after its legitimate economic, political and social
concerns -- and these are many and varied -- to want, or to even think
seriously of, a war which would prove not just disastrous but
potentially suicidal for both countries.
These are the twin realities of India and Pakistan. How can Pakistan
-- the Pakistan of the common citizenry, if not that of the army and
the ISI -- best be made to see these realities? One way to bring a
belligerent Pakistan to heel is through the use of sanctions and
embargoes: cut off supplies of cash and goods and Islamabad would soon
fall into line. While all military aid -- which a wilfully oblivious
Washington keeps supplying in the fond hope that it will be used in
the so-called 'war on terror' and not against India -- should
certainly be stopped forthwith, it wouldn't be a good idea to cut off
the flow of civil supplies, a move which would only heighten
Pakistan's persecution complex that everyone is ganging up on it.
Driven into a corner, Pakistan with its history of proliferation,
could well take recourse to selling nuclear know-how and material on
the international grey market, with horrific repercussions.
What is needed is not a global shut-down on Pakistan but the exact
reverse: facilitating an opening-up of the country in terms of
informational input. Right now Pakistan is an ostrich with its head
deeply buried in the sand of misinformation created by its official
propaganda machine and by the more rabble-rousing elements in its
media. Through diplomatic pow-wows at different levels; through
exchange programmes of journalists, students, business people,
religious leaders; through television and the internet; through
meetings between the defence brass of the two countries, Pakistan
needs an infusion of information to help cure it of its delusional
disorder.
So by all means let's go Paki bashing. But bash them not with
firepower or military force, but with facts, which are bang on target.
chhotemianinshallah
Joint Statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Prime
Minister of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani
Sharm-el-SheikhJuly 16, 2009
The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister
of Pakistan Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani met in Sharm El Sheikh on July 16,
2009.
The two Prime Ministers had a cordial and constructive meeting. They
considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to
charting the way forward in India - Pakistan relations.
Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both
countries. Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and
to cooperate with each other to this end.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of
the Mumbai attacks to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that
Pakistan will do everything in its power in this regard. He said that
Pakistan hasprovided an updated status dossier on the investigations
of the Mumbai attacks and had sought additional information/evidence.
Prime Minister Singh said that the dossier is being reviewed.
Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real time,
credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats.
Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on
threats in Balochistan and other areas.
Both Prime Ministers recognized that dialogue is the only way forward.
Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue
process and these should not be bracketed. Prime Minister Singh said
that India wasready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all
outstanding issues.
Prime Minister Singh reiterated India's interest in a stable,
democratic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Both leaders agreed that the real challenge is development and the
elimination of poverty. Both leaders are resolved to eliminate those
factors which prevent our countries from realizing their full
potential. Both agreedto work to create an atmosphere of mutual trust
and confidence.
Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to promote regional
cooperation.
Both Foreign Secretaries should meet as often as necessary and report
to the two Foreign Ministers who will be meeting on the sidelines of
the forthcoming UN General Assembly.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/11/01hdline.htm
bademiyansubhanallah
A file photo of Pak Army chief Gen Pervez Kiyani at a meeting in
military HQ in Rawalpindi. AP/PTI Photograph (1)
25 hostages freed; 4 terrorists killed in rescue bid
STAFF WRITER 7:23 HRS IST
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 11 (PTI) Commandos today stormed a building near
Pakistan's Army General Headquarters where a group of terrorists were
holed up, freeing 25 hostages and killing four gunmen, the chief
military spokesman said.
Nearly 20 hours after the terrorists launched an audacious attack on
the Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and took several
security personnel hostages, the commandos launched an operation to
eliminate the attackers.
Military Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the commandos have
freed 25 hostages and killed four terrorists, including some who were
wearing suicide jackets. He said three of the hostages also died
during the operation.
Troops were conducting mopping up operations to check the presence of
other terrorists in the area.
Abbas did not give details about casualties among the troops who had
carried out the final assault.
bademiyansubhanallah
Pak's great game: Evict India from Afghanistan through terror
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN 11 October 2009, 12:13am IST
WASHINGTON: Afghanistan has boldly stepped up where even India has
been discreet in treading, bluntly accusing the Pakistani intelligence
agency ISI of masterminding the latest bombing of the Indian Embassy
in Kabul which killed 17 people.
"Yes, we do," Afghan Ambassador to the US Said Jawad told the Public
Broadcasting Service (PBS) in an interview here when asked if he was
pointing the figure at Pakistan for the suicide bombing that took
place on Thursday.
"We are pointing the finger at the Pakistan intelligence agency, based
on the evidence on the ground and similar attack taking place in
Afghanistan," Jawad said. He did not elaborate on the evidence.
Jawad was following up similar charges from Afghan officials in Kabul,
who were quick to identify Pakistani intelligence as the mastermind
even though India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao was initially
circumspect in suggesting that New Delhi would let the investigations
take its course before reaching any conclusion.
The previous attack referred to by Jawad and other Afghan officials
was the bombing of the Indian Embassy in July 2008, which US officials
disclosed was conducted by the ISI-backed Haqqani network. That
network was heard being described by Pakistan’s army chief Pervez
Ashfaq Kiyani as Islamabad’s “strategic asset” in intelligence
intercepts, result in the suspicion in Washington and New Delhi that
Pakistani’s military-intelligence apparatus masterminded the attack on
the embassy. That attack killed 58 people, including a popular young
Indian diplomat and a senior military attaché.
On Saturday though, India’s Nirupama Rao also stepped up to the plate,
saying Thursday’s embassy attack was the handiwork of the enemies of
India-Afghan friendship and their "patrons across the border," but not
directly naming Pakistan.
"The attack was clearly the handiwork of those who are desperate to
undermine Indo-Afghan friendship and do not believe in a strong,
democratic and pluralistic Afghanistan," Rao, who has rushed to Kabul
for assessment, said, while reiterating India’s “unwavering
commitment” to Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been pressing unsubtly with Washington that it resents
Indian presence in Afghanistan, where New Delhi has invested more than
$ 1.5 billion to build hospitals, school and other civil
infrastructure, while expanding its soft power influence.
Pakistan, in contrast, is now widely reviled in Afghanistan and is
regarded as the source of all its troubles, beginning with the
training and infiltration of the Taliban in the early 1990s to take
over Kabul after the eviction of the Soviet Union at the end of the
Cold War.
Getting Islamabad to unhitch its obsession with Afghanistan with the
idea of using it as “strategic depth” against India, whose ties with
Kabul pre-date Pakistan’s 1947 creation, is part of the Obama
administration’s long-term solution for the region.
But Pakistan has been insisting on its right to challenge Indian
presence in Afghanistan because of the perceived threat it poses.
Earlier this week, the Pakistani military high command issued a thinly-
disguised rebuff to US efforts, saying "Pakistan is a sovereign state
and has all the rights to analyse and respond to the threat in
accordance with her own national interests.” The embassy bombing took
place around the same time.
chhotemianinshallah
Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 43, October 10, 2009
Challenge before the Democratic Forces
Editorial
Sunday 11 October 2009, by SC
As we go to press news has come of the Indian embassy in Kabul being
the target of a fresh terrorist attack. The attack took place this
morning (that is, on October 8) killing 17 persons and leaving more
than 80 injured. (Reports suggest that the casualty figures are
steadily mounting.)
Since August this is the fourth terror strike on major installations
in the Afghan capital. This attack eerily resembles the one that
rocked the same embassy building in July last year; more than 50
persons perished as a result (and they included four Indian nationals—
prominent members of the embassy staff as well as security personnel
on guard there). That attack, according to reliable sources in this
country, was masterminded by Pakistan’s ISI—an allegation made not
only by the Government of India but also the Afghan administration
headed by President Hamid Karzai. This time even before New Delhi
could point the accusing finger at Islamabad the Taliban has publicly
declared its responsibility behind the blast caused by a suicide
bomber blowing up his car outside the compound of the embassy. That is
quite striking as the ISI’s close links with the Taliban do not bear
repetition (and this despite the current clashes between the Taliban
and the Pakistani security forces in the tribal regions in the Afghan-
Pak border). However, it needs to be also pointed out that due to
heavy fortification of the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital
carried out after the July 2008 explosion, this time the net effect of
the terror strike was less than what happened 15 months ago: no member
of the mission was either killed or injured although three ITBP
personnel guarding the building suffered minor injuries.
It is now learnt that because of India’s direct involvement in
Afghanistan’s national reconstruction efforts—several projects are
coming up in that country with Indian assistance—New Delhi would
continue to be target of terror outfits (some of which have been
fostered and promoted by the Pak intelligence network) totally opposed
to Afghanistan’s regeneration and hence modernisation.
Meanwhile India’s internal security remains under strain on account of
the Maoist depredations and the state’s response. The latest
development on this front has heightened legitimate concern. Only day
before yesterday (that is, on October 6) Jharkhand’s Special Branch
Inspector Francis Induwar’s body, along with his severed head, was
found near the Raisha valley under the Namkom P.S. about 12 km from
Ranchi—he was abducted some time ago by suspected Maoists, and this
gruesome killing is also suspected to be the handiwork of the Maoists.
This has shocked not only the people of Jharkhand but also citizens of
the entire country beyond measure, and human rights groups, vocally
protesting against both Maoist and state terror, have not hesitated to
roundly condemn with promptitude such activities on the part of those
claiming to defend the interests of the hapless people in the tribal
hinterland of Central India (precisely because such terror acts help
to legitimise the state’s counter-terror operations that would only
perpetuate the spiral of violence in the affected regions bringing
untold misery to the tribal population who are already the real
victims of this violence besides being subjected to unending age-old
deprivation and exploitation).
In the circumstances the authorities are hell-bent on going ahead with
their military operations against the Maoists in the tribal belt
without taking any political measure to tackle Maoism. (Such an
operation has already been launched in West Bengal’s Lalgarh although
those well aware of the ground reality know that this is not a Maoist
base even if Left-wing extremists have registered their presence there
of late.) This myopic approach, one is convinced from past experience,
will be counter-productive in the final analysis. As of now, Union
Home Ministry sources have grudgingly confessed that success has
eluded the security forces both in Lalgarh and Chhattisgarh (where too
the so-called Operation Green Hunt is underway). So it is difficult to
hazard any guess about what the actual outcome of such a strategy
would be and who (the security forces or the Maoists) would inflict
more damage on the adversary. But on one point there should be no
dispute: howsoever much the Central Ministers declare their intention
to minimise collateral damage, that damage cannot be avoided in such a
massive military operation and in that eventuality the country would
earn the permanent hostility of the tribals, the indigenous adivasis,
who are already alienated from the polity at large due to inhuman
neglect on the part of the powers that be.
According to latest reports, the Indian Air Force would be pressed
into service against the Maoists. Of course the Air Chief has
clarified that the IAF won’t be waging a war against the Maoists (in
deference to Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s aversion to such a step)
but would only open fire in self-defence. But does this also mean that
moves are afoot to escalate Operation Green Hunt?
Simultaneously, in West Bengal the State administration run by the CPM
is threatening with dire consequences those intellectuals who are
opposed to such military action against “Maoists” like Chhatradhar
Mahato. Mahato has never been in the thick of the Maoist movement but
has led a democratic and popular struggle against police atrocities in
Lalgarh. (Incidentally, he was arrested by such a devious method by
the police seeking to demean the noble profession of journalism that
would make any and every self-respecting journalist hang his/her head
in shame.)
All these pose a serious challenge before the country’s democratic
forces as a whole.
October 8 S.C.
Sid Harth
Politics of hatred grips Maharashtra hinterland
Krishna Kumar
Sangli (Maharashtra), October 10, 2009
Politics of hatred has cast its dark shadow over assembly elections in
Maharashtra's Sangli district.
A riot triggered by Muslim miscreants has led to the consolidation of
Hindutva forces here.
On September 3, a poster put up by a local Ganesh utsav mandal showing
Maratha warrior Shivaji slaying Mughal general Afzal Khan sparked a
riot, the wounds of which are fresh.
Some Muslim radicals in Miraj took objection to the poster that led to
stone throwing incidents in which Ganesh idols were damaged.
A month on, peace prevails, but political parties, especially the BJP,
are out to cash in on communal sentiments.
Suresh Khade, the BJP candidate from Miraj in Sangli, is not
campaigning in minority-dominated areas-he doesn't have to-and by all
accounts, would win hands down.
The riots have communally polarised the populace to such an extent
that a huge percentage of Hindus will vote for Khade. A similar
situation prevails in the Sangli seat where another BJP candidate
Sambhaji Pawar is sitting pretty knowing the polarisation will see him
through.
The Hindus are angry after the idols were vandalised. Many mandals
refused to immerse their idols till they were allowed to put up the
poster. But the administration did not budge and after more than a
week of stalemate, the police forced the mandals to immerse the idols.
To cash in on these sentiments, the saffron party is telling the
electorate to take 'revenge' on the Congress- NCP government for the
"humiliation". "The Muslims did not have any reason to be angry as the
poster was not against their community, yet they broke our idols and
the police and the government did nothing. Why should we vote for the
Congress-NCP?" asks Sanjay Kadam of Miraj.
Imran Ilyas Naikwadi, a social worker in Miraj, who also runs an NGO,
admits that a few criminals were involved in the stoning incident
which sparked off the violence.
"The situation could have been controlled, Muslims do not have a
problem with the poster, I repeat that it was some criminals who did
it and we went and apologised, but no one was ready to listen,"
Naikwadi adds.
He says the clashes were controlled the same day, but CDs and
photographs of the damaged idols began circulating which sparked riots
again on September 4. Naikwadi believes the situation will become
normal soon.
However, the BJP, which is assured of victory, is still talking of
"vengeance". Two nationallevel leaders have come to Miraj over the
past week and have been telling people to show their "anger" through
the ballot boxes.
Khade, however, justified BJP's campaigning. "The Hindus are bound to
be angry with the government for the way the whole issue was handled.
We are going to get benefit out of it as the people know we are a
Hinduvadi party," Khade says.
The saffron party and its rhetoric have led to a few parts of Sangli
and nearby areas like Kolhapur witnessing vandalising and looting of
shops and business establishments belonging to people of the minority
community.
In many villages, local Hindu outfits have told villagers not to
patronise shops belonging to Muslims. Areas like Kavte Piran,
Ichalganji (a textile town), Elavi and Kolhapur have seen Hindus
boycotting Muslim shops.
This 'economic blockade' appears to be the result of a systematic
campaign by radical Hindu outfits. For instance, immediately after the
riots, incendiary pamphlets were distributed freely among the Hindu
populace.
Sangli district collector acknowledged the pamphlets were distributed
but said they have been stopped.
Courtesy: Mail Today
chhotemianinshallah
VHP opposes gold plating of Lord Balaji temple
PTI Sunday, October 11, 2009 14:50 IST
Chennai: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today appealed to the
administration of the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in
Tirumala near Tirupati to drop the work on gold plating of the outer
wall of sanctum sanctorum, saying it was "an intereference in the
religious nature" of the structures.
"There is a craze for covering temple walls and other structures with
gold. There is no religious sanction for these acts (as) it is the
willful desire of some politicians and individuals (to do so)," VHP
International Working President S Vedantam said.
In a letter to Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam (TTD) chairman
Adhikesavulu, he said covering temple walls with gold would damage the
inscriptions written on the walls and other places.
"There are invaluable treasures of our tradition and history behind
these inscriptions.. nobody demanded such an action. The total
destruction of ancient authentic records by this work is an
interference in the religious nature of the structure," he said.
"VHP appeals to stop the work by avoiding further damage to the
inscriptions," he said.
Late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had launched
the first phase of the gold plating project estimated to cost Rs.150
crore during the last Brahmothsavam festival.
chhotemianinshallah
Gangster Act slapped on VHP leaders in Ayodhya
PTI Friday, October 9, 2009 21:47 IST
Faizabad: Gangster Act was slapped on Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
leaders for trying to create communal tension and riots in the twin
cities of Ayodhya-Faizabad during Dusshera and Durga Puja for the past
two years.
A local court last evening, after hearing the investigating officer OP
Singh, ordered to frame VHP leaders under Gangster act. According to
police, Kesarwani and Gupta were running a gang that was involved in
criminal activities especially during festivals.
Police on October 2 had arrested Gyan Kesarwani, vice president of
area unit and Ashok Kumar Gupta another local VHP leader active in
Ayodhya and Faizabad. Faizabad senior superintendent of police RKS
Rathore told that since last two years, during Dusshera and Durga Puja
festivals, Kesarwani and his goons were trying to create communal
tension that may lead to communal riots.
"Last year and this year, during Ram Baraat, Ram Vivaah and Dusshera
ceremonies they tried to create communal riot by keeping peaces of
meat on the way of the passing procession," SSP added.
This time also some anti social elements on being incited by Kesarwani
and Gupta attacked a Muslim dominated locality of Kashmiri Mohalla,
and Rath Heveli ransacking the shops of minority community and
communally abused them trying to crate a riot type of situation,
police sources said.
chhotemianinshallah
Pak raises Kashmir at UN committee; India reacts strongly
PTI Sunday, October 11, 2009 13:26 IST
United Nations: Pakistan has raised the Kashmir issue at a UN
committee saying the "decolonisation agenda" of the world body would
be incomplete without resolution of the problem, drawing a strong
reaction from India which asserted that the state is its integral
part.
Speaking at a special committee of the General Assembly that addresses
the issue of decolonisation, Amjad Hussain B Sial, Pakistan's deputy
permanent representative to the UN, asked the international community
to support the Kashmiri people's "right to self-determination".
"The decolonisation agenda of the United Nations would be incomplete
without resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue," he said.
"Negation of the right to self-determination breeds discontent,
ignites conflicts and threatens peace and security. Unfortunately,
South Asia and Middle East have witnessed it directly," Sial said.
Countering the claims made by Sial, senior Indian diplomat Anupam Ray,
exercising his 'right to reply', said that Kashmir is an integral part
of India.
"Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and participates in
the democratic process of India," Ray said.
The Indian side maintained that Kashmir remained a bilateral issue."It
has always been a bilateral issue and should not be addressed in
multilateral fora," Ray noted.
Ray expressed regret that Pakistan had reverted to "language of the
past" and was "not addressing the crying need of the hour, which is
dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism and tacking the
perpetrators of terrorism".
Sial, in his speech yesterday, claimed that Kashmir was not an
integral part of India.
"The Security Council and the UN, in several resolutions, have
recognised it as disputed territory," he said, adding that the final
solution should be made in accordance with the "will" of the people
expressed through "free and fair plebiscite" conducted by the United
Nations.
Insisting that Jammu and Kashmir remained an "international issue",
Sial said Pakistan "reserves the right to refer this issue at the UN
as necessary".
The senior Pakistan diplomat also reaffirmed Islamabad's pledge to
work through peaceful means to resolve its differences with New Delhi
on the Kashmir issue, which is imperative for durable peace, stability
and progress in the region.
The Special Committee on Decolonisation was created in 1962 by the UN
General Assembly to support and monitor a resolution passed in 1960
that declared that all people have a right to self-determination.
bademiyansubhanallah
Kandhmal riots: US lawmakers seek action
Sandeep Mishra, TNN 12 October 2009, 12:00am IST
BHUBANESWAR: The ghost of last year's anti-Christian riots in Orissa's
Kandhmal district, which left over 40 dead and thousands homeless, is
back to haunt the state government with a group of American lawmakers
seeking action against those involved in the violence.
As many as 21 US lawmakers, led by Republican Trent Franks, have
written a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik expressing concern
over the alleged intimidation of the Christians in the communally-
divided region and the possibility of the perpetrators of the violence
going scot-free.
"Such attacks on the fundamental freedom of religion threaten not only
India's reputation for religious diversity, but also the very
stability of India's secular democracy," said a news agency report,
quoting the letter sent late last month.
"Given the recent experience with religiously inspired terrorism,
we're concerned that if Hindu extremists can act with impunity toward
religious minorities in India, these extremists and their ideologies
will begin to affect international security as well," it added.
The letter comes after the US Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) in August put India under its Watch List for the
"country's failure to protect the rights of religious minorities".
The letter hasn't gone down well with Hindu organisations. "Who're
they to interfere in Orissa's internal problems?"
Bajrang Dal leader Subash Chouhan asked, "How can anyone say that
Christians are the victims of violence at a time when bombs and
firearms are being seized from Christian rehabilitation camp?"
Hindu Jagaran Sammukhya Orissa chief Ashok Sahu, who unsuccessfully
contested the Kandhmal Lok Sabha seat in the recent polls, too,
objected to the letter. "On what basis have they written such a
misleading letter, if at all they have sent one? It’s uncalled for and
the US lawmakers have no role to play in Orissa matters," he said.
Even some Christian leaders have also taken exception to the latter.
‘‘The term Hindu extremists in the letter is unfortunate because we’ve
maintained that criminals have no religion and whatever happened in
August-September, 2008, was never the act of Hindus,’’ said Orissa
Minority Front president Swarupananda Patra. ‘‘Blaming Hindus doesn’t
make minorities happy, as they are aware of Hinduism’s secular tenant
which probably isn’t known to the US lawmakers.’’
bademiyansubhanallah
Have asked US to 'warn' India: Rehman Malik
PTI 11 October 2009, 07:09pm IST
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik says the US has
been told to "warn" India not to meddle in the country's affairs and
charged New Delhi with supplying "some kind of terrorism" in
Balochistan.
Malik claimed President Asif Ali Zardari has been raising the issue in
every forum he has been addressing.
"When talks with Director CIA were held we said very clearly that
India should be warned. Whatever we are seeing in Baluchistan we've
signatures that they are supplying some kind of terrorism and they
must stop it," he said.
During the meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his
Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, Malik Said, the issue of
Balochistan was raised.
"The proof is that the issue was there in the common communique (joint
statement) but later it was removed," he said.
"When Indian Prime Minister returned back there was pressure in Lok
Sabha. We don't know if there is super power in India which is not
allowing them to move ahead," Malik said.
bademiyansubhanallah
Political leadership taken into confidence on Kerry-Lugar bill: PM
ISLAMABAD, Oct 12 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Monday
said he has taken the political leadership of the country into
confidence on the Kerry-Lugar bill, as he believed that there was a
remedy to every wrong. Regarding his marathon talk to political
leaders on Sunday about the Kerry-Lugar bill, the Prime Minister said
in his talks there was a unanimity of views on the matter.He said his
discussions were part of efforts to bring harmony among the political
leadership of the country and to seek the views of the political
leaders on the matter that was being discussed in the Parliament.
“I always feel that leadership is the opinion maker, even if they are
not in the parliament, they are opinion makers. I have taken everybody
into confidence and believe that Parliament is the forum where it
should be debated and a national consensus built and a national
response be given on this issue,” he told reporters at the Chaklala
Air Base, prior to his departure for a four-day visit to China to
attend the 8th SCO summit.
Prime Minister Gilani recalled his meeting with Senator Kerry at the
Foreign Relations Committee during his visit to Washington and said he
found him to be supportive and pro-Pakistan. He however said that
there were some reservations about certain clauses of the Kerry-Lugar
bill.
“But at the same time there are few problems which were discussed at
the level of Parliament and there was concern from some quarters as
well. And I think to every wrong there is a remedy, and Parliament is
the only forum where this thing should be debated,” Gilani said.
The Prime Minister said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will be
winding up the discussion on the bill at the Parliament and present
government’s point of view.
Prime Minister Gilani on Sunday telephoned leaders of various
political parties to take them into confidence on the Kerry-Lugar
Bill. The Prime Minister called Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif
and PML-F Chief Pir Pagara, PML-Q Chief Chaudhry Shujaat, PML-Q leader
Pervaiz Elahi, JUI-F Chief Fazlur Rehman, President ANP Asfandyar Wali
Khan, PTI Chief Imran Khan, MQM Chief Altaf Hussain, MQM leader Farooq
Sattar, MNA from FATA Munir Orakzai, Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Munawwar
Hassan and President of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Mehmood Khan
Achakzai.
A high level meeting of the country’s top leadership on Saturday
discussed the implications and various aspects of Kerry- Lugar Bill
for Pakistan. It was decided that a national response to the Kerry-
Lugar Bill will be given at the conclusion of the debate in the
Parliament.
bademiyansubhanallah
Obama looks forward to receiving Manmohan Singh
Indo-Asian News Service
Washington, October 12, 2009
First Published: 10:25 IST(12/10/2009)
Last Updated: 10:29 IST(12/10/2009)
President Barack Obama has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is
making the first state visit of his presidency next month, that he
looks forward to receiving the Indian leader in Washington.
Obama also expressed concern over last week's attack on the Indian
embassy in Kabul in a telephone call to Manmohan Singh on Saturday,
returning a call from the prime minister to congratulate him on
winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
"Late on Saturday morning, President Obama returned Indian Prime
Minister Singh's phone call. Prime Minister Singh had called President
Obama on Friday to congratulate him on having won the Nobel Peace
Prize," the White House said in a statement.
"The president also underscored his concern for the attack on the
Indian embassy in Kabul and said that he looked forward to receiving
the prime minister in Washington later this year," the statement
said.
"The president expressed his appreciation for the call and
congratulations. He noted that he was humbled and grateful for having
received the Nobel, and that he saw it as a call to collective action
on shared challenges," the statement said.
Obama and his wife Michelle will host Manmohan Singh for his first
state dinner at the White House on November 24, described as "...an
important event" by his spokesman Robert Gibbs.
"I think it goes without saying that India is an important ally,"
Gibbs told reporters on Friday.
"And obviously we continue to be very engaged with the Indians to
bring about peace in obviously an important region of the world," he
said.
bademiyansubhanallah
Shaken but undeterred
Hindustan Times
October 11, 2009
First Published: 23:22 IST(11/10/2009)
Last Updated: 09:29 IST(12/10/2009)
The second suicide bomb attack on the Indian embassy building in Kabul
is a stark reminder that few countries have as much at stake in the
present war in Afghanistan as India. There is a simple historical
fact: the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan coincided with the worst years
of the Kashmir insurgency. This was no coincidence. The Taliban
allowed militant groups to set up safe havens on Afghan soil and tap
the country’s heroin exports for funding. They also provided a
tangible example of how insurgents could use religion and rifles to
come to power. This was the earlier ‘Af-Pak’ equation, one that
allowed Pakistan to wage asymmetric warfare against India at little
cost. Despite claims to the contrary, there is no hard evidence that
if the present Taliban formation were to come to power, it would not
again convert Afghanistan into a hub of global terrorism.
While the embassy attacks and the killing of Indian workers in
Afghanistan are a reminder of the Taliban’s enmity, the truth is that
there are few countries where India has as strong a positive
association. Polls have shown that India is among the most favourite
nations with the Afghan public. In Afghanistan’s August election, both
of the main candidates saw India as a friend — a rare state of affairs
in South Asia. It is not as if India has a perfect record when it
comes to Afghanistan. For example, it made a poor decision to support
the Soviet invasion. Nonetheless, India has become the preferred land
of exile and nation of example for Afghan leaders.
Both realist and idealist motivations merge when it comes to India’s
interest in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, India’s own political and
strategic limitations mean it is reduced to a largely humanitarian
role in Afghanistan — and one fundamentally dependent on the United
States, eventually creating a stable and independent Afghan polity.
Which is all the more reason India must use every opportunity to
assert its Afghan role. Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s decision to
fly to Kabul after the blast is a good gesture. But India should also
consider increasing its aid commitments and its paramilitary
deployments. Under no circumstances should those responsible for the
attacks come to believe that acts of terror will make India sacrifice
its national interest.
Sid Harth
Clean chit to Hafiz Saeed a setback for India: BJP
STAFF WRITER 18:30 HRS IST
New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) BJP today said a Pakistan court order quashing
cases against Mumbai terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz
Saeed was a "big setback" to India's efforts to bring him to justice
and "proof" that Pakistan does not want to act against those behind
the attack.
"The Lahore High Court order today giving a clean chit to Hafiz Saeed
is proof that Pakistan does not want to take action against Mumbai
terror attack accused," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
He argued India had provided ample proof that the JuD Chief was the
mastermind of the 26/11 attacks but Pakistan still maintained that he
was not involved and presented this view in the court to help him go
free.
"This is a big setback to India's efforts. India should ensure that
either Pakistan hand over the 26/11 accused or take action against
them," Javadekar said.
Sid Harth
Pak court drops two anti-terror cases against Saeed
STAFF WRITER 17:10 HRS IST
By M Zulqernain
Lahore, Oct 12 (PTI) JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed, the brain behind the
Mumbai attacks, today got a major reprieve from a Pakistani court
which ordered quashing of two cases against him under the anti-
terrorism law, triggering a sharp reaction from India which claims
there was enough evidence to nail him.
A two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court said Saeed could not be
charged under the Anti-terrorism Act as his outfit was not banned in
the country.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said on several occasions that the
JuD has been banned, but official sources have told PTI that no formal
notification has been issued so far to proscribe the group.
Sid Harth
41 killed, 50 wounded in Pak suicide attack
STAFF WRITER 16:6 HRS IST
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 12 (PTI) A suicide bomber threw himself at a passing
para-military convoy near a crowded market killing 41 people and
wounding 50 in Shangla district in Pakistan's Malakand division, two
days after Taliban militants stormed the army headquarters in
Rawalpindi.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber blew himself up near a security
forces vehicle as it was passing through a security check post in the
market at Alpuri and most of the dead were civilian passers by.
The attack occurred close to a police station.
North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar
Hussain said 41 people, including six security personnel, were killed
in the blast. Police officials said over 50 people, including soldiers
and policemen, were injured.
"The condition of five of the injured security personnel was reported
to be serious," a local police official told private TV channel.
Sid Harth
India keen to bring peace and harmony with Pak: PM
STAFF WRITER 13:38 HRS IST
London, Oct 12 (PTI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that India
is keen to bring peace and harmony with Pakistan.
Singh stated this in a message to 'Pakistan-India Friendship Forum,
UK' on the occasion of the Eid and Diwali celebrations at the C and L
Country Club this weekend.
"We are very keen to bring peace and harmony between the two
countries," the Prime Minister said in the message.
Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, in his message to the Forum
Chairman Rajan Sehgal, said that his country will continue efforts to
bring the people of two sides closer.
He said people of both sides should realise the global changes taking
place around them. "We must prove the entire world that we are no more
'Third World' countries.
Sid Harth
'Punjab militants joining hands with Pakistani Taliban'
STAFF WRITER 15:33 HRS IST
M Zulqernain
Lahore, Oct 12 (PTI) Banned militant groups in Pakistan?s Punjab
province are gaining strength with every passing day after having
joined hands with the local Taliban who operate in the region with
ease, police officials have said.
Several members of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-
Mohammed (JeM) from southern Punjab, who fought in the Afghan war,
have tied up with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan to carry out attacks
against important installations, the officials said.
"This Pashtun-Punjabi alliance of extremists was also behind the
attack on the army?s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi," a senior
Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer told PTI.
He was referring to an attempt by terrorists over the weekend to storm
the army?s headquarters. Eight soldiers were killed in the attack
while nine terrorists were gunned down by commandos.
Sid Harth
Nuclear physicist admits link to al-Qaeda plotters: Report
PTI Monday, October 12, 2009 15:35 IST
London: An internationally renowned nuclear physicist has admitted to
French investigators that he acted as an al-Qaeda "mole", the media
reported today quoting French judicial sources.
A picture began to emerge over the weekend of Adlene Hicheur, 32, who
works at the "Big Bang" hadron collider on the Swiss-French border,
and who is likely to be formally accused today of having "links with a
terrorist organisation".
However, his brother, Zitouni Hicheur, 25, who was arrested with him
last Thursday at their parents' home just south of Lyon, has been
released, The Independent newspaper reported.
Investigators believe the elder brother, who has worked on high-level
nuclear research projects in Britain and the United States, acted
alone when he sent e-mails to Algerian members of al-Qaeda and listed
potential terrorist targets in France.
The experiment where he worked is one of a series of research projects
along the 17-mile (27-kilometre) circular tunnel under the Swiss-
French border.
chhotemianinshallah
Lahore HC orders quashing of two terror cases against Saeed
Posted: Monday , Oct 12, 2009 at 1954 hrs
A Pakistani court on Monday ordered quashing of two cases under an
anti-terrorism law against JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed, blamed by India
for masterminding 26/11 attacks, saying he could not be charged under
the act as his outfit was not banned in the country.
A two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court issued the order in
response to a petition filed by Saeed last month in which he had
challenged two First Information Reports registered against him by
police in Faisalabad city of Punjab province under the Anti-Terrorism
Act.
Police had booked him for allegedly inciting people to wage 'jehad'
against infidels and seeking funds for the JuD during speeches he made
in Faisalabad in August.
However, Justices Asif Saeed Khosa and Najamuz Zaman pointed out that
since the JuD had not been included in the list of banned
organisations under the first schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act,
Saeed could not be charged under the law. The court admitted Saeed's
petition and ordered the quashing of the two FIRs. During the hearing,
the counsel for the Punjab government acknowledged that the JuD was
not in the list of banned terrorist groups. He said the JuD was only
included in the government's watch list after the UN Security Council
declared it a terrorist organisation last year.
Saeed's lawyer A K Dogar told the court that his client was a "law-
abiding" citizen. Neither Saeed nor the JuD is involved in any illegal
activities, he claimed.
Saeed had also alleged in his petition that the two FIRs were
registered against him due to pressure on Pakistan from India.
Saeed, also the founder of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, was placed
under house arrest in December last year after the UN Security Council
imposed restrictions on the JuD. He was freed on the orders of the
Lahore High Court in June. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said on
several occasions that the JuD had been banned, but official sources
have said that no formal notification has been issued so far to
proscribe the group.
Comments |
Government Pls Act on your onw
By: Bhanu | Monday , 12 Oct '09 18:40:04 PM
Our central Govt never takes decisions or acts on their own. First
they wait for US to persuade or pressurise Pak to arrest or accept
that the terrorist is an Pak person. Then they wait for Pak Govt to
arrest and bring that personto court. after all waiting this would be
the result.its shame to have such a fools being elelcted by us...
See no evil, say no evil, hear no evil
By: Jati S Hoon | Monday , 12 Oct '09 18:28:10 PM
It is not a crime to kill and make war on,"INFIDELS"' says Pakistan
Lahore high court judges.After all Pakistan was created to get rid off
all non-believers, hence we the Pakistan highest judiciary is
upholding the law.
Attack Pakistan
By: Afroz khan | Monday , 12 Oct '09 18:07:36 PM
Wake up Manmohan singh; its high time India shud attack pakistan get
this Hafiz Sayed
Professor
By: T.M.Vinod Kumar | Monday , 12 Oct '09 17:54:31 PM
Hafiz Mohd Saeed is the best asset of Pakistan foreign policy to
mobilse money, train the illiterate and the poor with the help of
Pakistan army and ISI and motivate Jehadees to kill innocent people
and themselves for money in the name of allah. Therefore Saeed's
atrocities, barbarism and criminal activities are beyond laws of
Pakistan. Islam is a religion of peace. Goal of islam and that of
Saeeds are poles apart. Is he a true muslim?. It is people like Saeed
who had made every muslims world over a suspicious individual.Saeeds
biggest contribution is to give followers of peace, muslims a label of
potential terrorist.
History repeats
By: Dr. Ahmed | Monday , 12 Oct '09 17:44:48 PM
History repeats. Pakistan Govt did not register any case against the
mass killer as India Govt did not register any case again mass Killer
Bajrang Dal, Shive sena in 92-93 Mumbai riot. India Govt introduced
Anti Muslim Act (TADA) to selectively arrested Muslims and hanged
Muslims legally to put an example for Muslims to understand that mass
killing for Bal Thackeray, Shive sena, Bajrang Dal is okayin India but
mass killing for Dowd Ibrahim, Tiger Menon likes Muslims is NOT okay.
When it comes to Hindu there is no enough evidence to register a case
BUT for Muslims there is everything to register case and to prove
Muslim a mass killer.
Wholesale Merchant of Death
By: Iquebal Ahmed | Monday , 12 Oct '09 17:27:33 PM
Merchant of death, sorry, the wholesale merchant of death from the
otherside of the subcontinent. He is among the protected species there
like we have our own here. The greatest loser in the evil games of
this world is the humanity. God told angels ' I am putting a deputy on
earth', they said 'How can You put someone who will cause damage and
bloodshed.' Man was never in peace with his surroundings. History of
mankind provides ample evidence to this fact. And this is never going
to end.
Lahore H.C orders quashing of terror cases against Hafiz sayeed...
By: D.A.Srinivasan | Monday , 12 Oct '09 17:09:18 PM
Sir, it looks Pak has not charged the terrorist Sayeed of terrorism
committed by him against india with evidence given by india.It looks
as thought the Pakis have kept the evidence furnished by india under
the carpet and charged Sayeed of terrorism without producing material
evidence furnished by india.Our Police India are also aware of such
tactics and use it to save very influential persons from the acts of
crime. Pakis have not done anything new.India should now bring
pressure on Pakis through all means available with us to corner Pakis
in the international scenario.We can not solely dependent on U.S.There
are other means available to hurt Pakis interest.I hope our Govt will
take corrective actions to see that Pak is punished for the crime
committed by them through their terror groups and the I.S.I since pak
is aware that India can not resort to military action for obvious
reason.
Terror from pakistan
By: abraham | Monday , 12 Oct '09 16:42:49 PM
India is not Pakistan.We have many thing to loose if jump into
conclusion and act blindly. Whereas pakistan is a country which is
going to disintegrate shortly and devastated by themself. Until then
guard our territory and people and keep watching.
Saeed out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By: SVS Subrahmaniam | Monday , 12 Oct '09 16:42:12 PM
It is not unexpected! Pakistan does not bother or care for India
whether with UPA government or NDA government. Indira Gandhi again
should born who liberated East Pakistan now to liberate West Pakistan!
PM Wake up and take a bold step
By: freddie (Indian) | Monday , 12 Oct '09 16:36:48 PM
Indian Govt is nothing but a puppet this as been known to the world.
Well I would like to asked our PM that are you stupid or an idiot who
want to talk to pakistan for peace. If that is the case then why it is
taking so long almost 60 years. Either it looks like inspite of
fighting 3.2/2 war in the past 60 years, pakistan have never learnt a
lesson is this because we have a week govt or is that we ourself
corrupt. We do not need to compare ourself with pakistan when you come
yourself with a small state then your thinking also will be small. Why
is Indian politican who do not consider a open poll and asked the
public what they want from pakistan after 26/11 and you will Mr.PM
what message you will get. It looks like our PM is living in a fools
paradise not only fooling the Indian public but the entire world.
America want India to go to war with Pakistan so that they can sell
their arms, Is that true Mr.Obama, world knows that the recession was
only in USA and UK.
Hafeez Said
By: Sunil Sinha | Monday , 12 Oct '09 15:51:40 PM
Pakistan is a country where "jehadist" rule. The day is not far when
"war lords" will be ruling this country. The 7.5 billion dollars aid
with conditions from Kerry Lugar bill to Pakistan, will not and never
be used improve its economy, and will not and never dismantle terror
organizations operating on its land. No matter how much Pakistan is an
ally to United States in war against terror, but it will work in
reverse.
Dismissing terror FIR against
By: Surjeet | Monday , 12 Oct '09 15:42:29 PM
Is it FIR on Terror or anti terror!!Anyway, this is nothing new. All
of us except the Govt. know that Pakistan keeps buying time till
everyone around gets tired and gives up.And yet our PMji never learns,
The reason is simple, as our Govt also does not want to do anything,
Pak. tactics probably suits them.T~what else could be the reason of so
much of trust on Pak.'Each time Pak. takes (as expected) action, each
time Govt. comes back to us just to say how bad Pak is!!This is shere
India Govt. failure,Mark my word nothing at all will happen to
Saeed.Then, as a next step we shall ask the USA to do something!! The
USA will not take any action at our behest. There way of looking at
things and ours may be totally different. We have to decide what
action we have to take, not the USA.
JuD Chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed IS I.S.I SPONSERED TERRROIST LEADER
By: n.r.i | Monday , 12 Oct '09 17:02:25 PM
NOTHING WILL HAPPEN TO THIS DESH POT LEADER OF JuD Chief Hafiz Mohd
Saeed WHO IS WELL TRAINED I.S.I. TERROR LEADER WHO KNOWS THE WORKING
OF PAKI. ARMY AND I.S.I.EVEN AMERICAN IS TRYING TO PROTECT THIS
TERRORIST WHO IS WORKING AGAINST INDIAN INTEREST AND NOT AMERICAN .
FOR GOD SAKE PLEASE TELL INDIAN GOVERMENT OFFICAILS TO STOP RUNNING TO
PATHETIC COUNTRY LIKE AMERICA FOR HELP . THEY HAVE NEVER - WILL NOT
AND IS NEVER GOING TO HELP INDIA . SO STOP FOOLING YOUR SELF AND
INDIAN PUBLIC .
chhotemianinshallah
In search of Tipu's wealth
Kishore Singh / New Delhi October 10, 2009, 0:04 IST
Despite the pillage and plunder that accompanied the sack of
Seringapatam, Tipu Sultan’s treasures continue to excite prurient
curiosity.
Two hundred and ten years after the fall of Seringapatam, Tipu
Sultan’s death — caused through mugging on the battlefield when a
European soldier “seized the sultan’s sword-belt” and meeting with
unexpected resistance, shot him “through the temple, when he instantly
expired” — continues to excite curiosity and fuel an industry built
around his persona and treasures. The latest, a book, Tipu’s Tigers
may not completely overturn the earlier English view of the Tiger of
Mysore as a fierce tyrant and villain, but it does bring into focus
his love for all things beautiful, whether expressed in architecture,
laying gardens, collecting exceptional pieces of jewellery, or
commissioning rare works of art.
As senior curator in the Asian department of the Victoria & Albert
Museum, author Susan Stronge has had access to the few treasures and
curiosities that have shaped English interest in Tipu, not least of
which is Tipu’s Tiger, based on which the perception was created of
his fanatic hatred of the white man. As a work of art, it has inspired
everything from John Keats’s poetry (a plaything of the Emperor’s
choice/From a Man-Tiger-Organ, prettiest of his toys) to Staffordshire
pottery figurines in the 20th century, to the more recent sculpture by
Bill Reid that depicts a hybrid rabbit eating an astronaut. Books,
plays and vaudeville have featured him, almost always in a negative
light, his loss of battle and kingdom being the vindication required
for the conquerors to debauch his reign.
Tipu’s — and his father Hyder Ali’s — claim over Mysore was tentative,
perhaps even opportunistic at a time when the Mughal empire in Delhi
had weakened, the Deccan was gaining in strength, and Maratha power
was at its zenith. Ruling over a kingdom of largely Hindu subjects,
Tipu chose to combine elements of Persian kingship with those that
were Hindu. Not only were the coins in circulation in the kingdom not
cast in his name, the emblems he chose — including an elephant — were
those that kingdoms in the south were familiar with. His was a
capital, Lt Francis Skelly went on to record, of “verdant wooded
valleys, a profusion of beautiful gardens and clean, well-constructed
villages”, while his palace in Bangalore contained “rich carpets, gold
and silver cloth, and rooms filled with china and glass”.
Alas, Skelly was no travel writer but there to oversee the terrible
consequences of the British treaty that required Tipu to hand over
half his lands and, to ensure as security, his two small sons to their
safekeeping. “The sons were eventually restored and Mysore recovered,”
writes Stronge, “but the state was lost finally to the British in 1799
when Tipu Sultan was killed. His treasury, library and state documents
were dispersed, the wholesale destruction leaving only a glimpse of
the remarkable court arts of his short reign” of which “his most
famous surviving possession” — the Tipu Tiger at the V&A — “is in many
ways the least typical”.
If in the last years there has been a growing interest in Tipu’s lost
treasures, it is in part to do with the regularity with which Tipu
memorabilia keeps coming up for auction and not a little to do with
nationalism as espoused by United Breweries head and modern-day sultan
Vijay Mallya, who may not have bid for the tiger throne finial that
was auctioned by Bonhams earlier this year for a sum of £503,600, but
spent Rs 1.57 crore at a Sotheby’s auction in September 2004 to claim
a sword that once belonged to Tipu, and Rs 9.3 crore in May 2005 to
bring back to India a silver-mounted flintlock and two three-pounder
cannons from the Sultan’s personal armoury, a pick of “some of his
best” according to him, from among a treasure that consisted,
according to Sotheby’s experts, “of swords, porcelain tiger toys, bows
and arrows, guns, tents and armbands” and included a “tiger’s paw
taken from the legs of Tipu’s throne”. Interestingly, the gem-
encrusted gold finial from the octagonal throne of Tipu Sultan, found
in a bank vault and once inventoried to Baron Wallace of Knarsdale,
who oversaw the East India Company, was one of four such finials — the
throne itself dismembered, much to the annoyance of Governor General
Richard Wellesley, as being “too unweildy” [sic].
Stronge writes that the throne of gold chased with Koranic verses and
its tiger-head finials also had “a sparkling bird covered with
precious stones set in the distinctive style of South Indian
jewellery” which is associated with kingship in Iran and the use of
auspicious nine stone or navratna was an allusion to Tipu’s
preoccupation with cosmology and astrology. “Silver furnishings such
as howdahs and canopies were commissioned by Tipu for his own use and
for diplomatic missions, and the court workshops would have made much
of the jewellery for Tipu and his family. He dispatched “a casket of
jewels, mostly for the turban” to the Ottoman empire in 1785, “two
valuable rings set with a diamond and a ruby respectively for the
‘raja’ of France” in 1787, and was closely involved with the
production of artefacts in his ateliers, “recording his annoyance when
the toshakhana failed to supply his goldsmiths with gold and silver,
delaying an order of jewellery for distribution at court, possibly as
part of the celebrations when he became a padshah.
For a ruler whose reign spanned all of 19 years, his prosperity — or
that of his kingdom — is sans pareil. Tipu ascended the throne in
1782, and though both Hyder Ali’s and his reign were characterised by
battles in which they dealt humiliating defeats to the British, he
showed all the attributes of a gentleman prince. Though he once
famously said “I would rather live one day as a tiger than a lifetime
as a sheep,” as early as 1783, the colonel of a surrendered British
force found him “reclining against a pillow on a rich scarlet carpet
with his courtiers standing to one side. He was dressed plainly in a
fine white muslin robe, striped red-and-white silk trousers and a red
silk turban with a diamond sarpich or turban jewel: ‘A Diamond Ring,
large and apparently valuable, sparkled on the third finger of the
right hand’.” The colonel saw behind him “A European gold watch on a
hook”, but was mostly uncomfortable with etiquettes that clashed: “he
disliked being expected to remove his shoes on entering and felt ill-
mannered at keeping his hat on”.
When his short but hardly peaceful reign ended abruptly in 1799, the
British forces set to looting the Sultan’s magnificent haul of jewels
and art objects, “the precious stones and jewellery, pearls bought in
Hormuz and Muscat, gold and silver coins, bullion…” housed in a
toshakhana “guarded by chained tigers” that were shot dead when the
looting began, as well as a valuable library. Having “actively
encouraged Mysore’s trade…to attract craftsmen and new technologies”,
Sultan Selim II of Muscat and Louis XVI of France “were asked to send
cannon founders, gunsmiths and experts who knew how to make glass,
mirrors and china, and were given the finest guns made in Mysore for
their consideration. Louis XVI was asked for barometers, spectacles,
clocks and clockmakers, as well as seeds, plants and people to
cultivate them; the French king sent Sevres porcelain, Savonnerie
carpets and busts of himself with the queen… By 1789 an estimated 400
Europeans were in Tipu’s service at Seringapatam, most of them
Englishmen, including ‘artificers and coiners’ working in his arsenal
and mint; a French watchmaker was in Mysore at the end of his reign.”
At the time of his death, “the vast majority of the firearms in
Seringapatam’s military stores were modern flintlocks, with nearly
half designated as French or English muskets, but many made in
Mysore”, though his personal weapons “were often very fine and connect
him to the long and remarkable South Indian steel working tradition
that supplied the rulers of the Vijayanagara empire, the Deccan
sultanates and Tanjore”.
Because interest in Tipu’s kingdom was high, engravings of drawings of
the third Anglo-Mysore war were lapped up, Robert Colebrooke’s Twelve
views of places in the Kingdom of Mysore, the country of Tippoo Sultan
became extremely popular, and studies by Alexander Allan, Robert Home
(whose seminal work, Lord Cornwallis receiving the sons of Tipu Sultan
as hostages, is significant but probably flawed for the “paternal
kindness” with which the governor general is shown receiving the
heirs), and those by Arthus Devis, John Smart, Mather Brown, George
Carter and Henry Singleton based on written descriptions, went on to
depict the Sultan and his kingdom to curious Europeans. The storming
of Seringapatam and Tipu’s death would inspire more art, much of it
pretentious, though, ironically, it enjoyed a fashionable turn when
turbans topped with ostrich feathers became the rage in London.
But then, textiles formed an important part of the Sultan’s
repertoire. “Costly fabrics were used for the robes of honour
(khil’at) presented by rulers across the Muslim world: the embassy to
France, for instance, included many robes of honour and an embroidered
dress for the queen”, official missives were “wrapped in special gold
and silver fabrics” and Tipu donated valuable cloths to Hindu temples.
Custom house records show import of Kashmiri shawls, gold cloth from
Hyderabad and silk and woollen textiles from Madras, and chintz was
“made into garments and turbans for Tipu and his sons”. Like most 18th-
century kings in the subcontinent, Tipu and his sons wore “Mughal-
style jewelled turban ornaments and pearl necklaces”. “He encouraged
Armenian merchants to come to the kingdom” chiefly “to import their
silks and other merchandise duty free” and “ordered his agents in the
Persian Gulf at Muscat to procure silkworms and their eggs, and men
who knew how to breed them”.
Though “prize” was considered legitimate as the spoils of war, it was
plunder that occurred in the fallen Sultan’s kingdom. Still, prize
agents and a goldsmith for valuations set up office as “jewels and
gold plate were brought out from dark chambers where they were kept in
coffers”, silver, firearms, jewelled swords and state palanquins
unpacked, extensive chambers containing “beautiful carved ivory
doorposts, valuable carpets, furniture, telescopes, looking glasses
and pictures, porcelain and glass” desecrated, and hauls of gold coins
recovered and “a trail of coins left by fleeting looters was also
discovered”. Auctions took place, the local goldsmiths “making shrewd
purchases” as plundered jewels were squandered away “for bottles of
spirits or small sums of money”. Tipu’s extensive wardrobe was shipped
off to England to stop the clothes being used as sacred relics, but
though a list has remained of “57 jamas or dress jackets, 84 turbans
(including two with Koranic inscriptions), 50 ‘handkerchiefs’, 54
jackets, numerous pairs of paijamas or trousers” and so on, “the
wardrobe disappeared after it reached Britain”.
It is strange that Tipu’s throne should have been ordered by the prize
committee to be broken down for being too large to ship to London when
the “musical tyger” or Tipu’s Tiger as it would come to be known,
despite its size, was safely shipped there, to be exhibited at East
India House, along with the jewelled bird that crested his magnificent
throne and a tiger head with rock crystal eyes and teeth. Tipu’s Tiger
in all likelihood, derives from the traditions of European technology
and the sculptural, toy-making industry that flourished in the region.
It had a religious resonance since “painted wooden figures
representing demi-gods or particular animals, including the tiger…must
be appeased”. Though it was given pride of place in the V&A (or South
Kensington Museum, its earlier avatar), it was perhaps meant as no
more than something to provide light-hearted entertainment as a three-
dimensional cartoon “perhaps to amuse his young sons when they
returned from their British captivity in 1794”.
Much was made of the curiosity by the British press, its subject, a
tiger perched atop a white soldier “deemed a sufficient proof (if any
were yet wanting) of the deep hate and extreme loathing of Tippoo Saib
towards the English nation”. It was discovered in the Rangmahal or
palace music room, but reports said “[t]he sounds produced by the
organ are intended to resemble the cries of a person in distress,
intermixed with the horrid roar of the tiger”. The description would
occur so often to be taken as the truth, and though it did emit
“shrieks and growls”, in fact the mechanical curiosity performed
several airs, among them God save the King and Rule Britannia.
The “tyger” was among the chief attractions of the Great Exhibition in
1851, when the turn of the handle produced a sound that could be
“interpreted as either the growl of the tiger, or the half-suppressed
agony of the sufferer”, but as it became part of a museum, the handle
dropped off, and eventually it was damaged in 1944 when workmen
dropped it to the ground, and though it was restored, has not been
heard to play since. The fascination it exercised on the British is
evident from the Seringapatam Medal designed by Conrad Heinrich
Kuchler that depicts a British lion conquering a violently resisting
tiger. That it should have become a symbol of a Sultan whose artistic
treasures show up frequently at auctions, can but be a blasphemy aimed
at his personage and his rule.
bademiyansubhanallah
Thinking Aloud
Let Indians become genuine Indians
By Dr Jay Dubashi
October18, 2009
When you imitate the West, as we have been doing for the last two
hundred years ever since they conquered us, you first start imitating
their dress. This is how one culture drives the other culture out.
Unlike Gandhiji, Nehru had a complex about Britishers and he simply
had to dress like them. Neither Gandhiji nor Lokmanya Tilak dressed
like Englishmen. They were genuine Indians and Tilak was a genuine
Hindu. It is because of this complex that Nehru made a mess of
everything he touched—Kashmir, China and relations with the West—and
annoyed everyone without making a single friend.
We Indians are a simple people. We dress simply—just a dhoti and a
kurta or a kurta-pajama will do for most of us men; sometimes,
particularly in the South, just a dhoti will do, with nothing over it,
as I found to my great surprise when I called on a famous writer in
Bangalore. We live simply too, often in a house with little or no
furniture. I am talking about the average Indian, not those who live
in five-star hotels at taxpayers’ expense. Then, of course, there are
no limits to what you spend, or somebody else pays for you.
I went out recently to buy a dhoti for me, a simple hand-spun dhoti,
such as Gandhiji used to wear. I could not find one. I walked through
dozens of lanes in the crowded alleys of Pune—but no dhoti. They could
give me fine-spun three-piece polyester suiting, the kind Dhirubhai
Ambani used to wear, but no dhotis. And this in Pune, where until
recently elderly people used to go about with the headgear known as
pugdi, which Lokmanya Tilak used to wear, and so did his arch-rival,
Gopal Krishna Gokhale. About sixty years ago, when I was a student in
Pune, I used to see many people wearing pugdi, especially the Poona
pugdi, and even I purchased one for my grandfather, who, for some
reason, refused to wear it—I never could understand why.
Now, there are no pugdis in Poona and no dhotis either. The only
people who wear dhotis are fruit-sellers in bazaars and priests in
temples. I often go to temples in the evenings and listen to priests
singing kirtans. If reminds me of my younger days when, as a child, I
used to accompany my grandmother to temples. The Poona temples are
still very crowded and the priests, handsome in their silken finery,
regularly sing their kirtans, but the younger generation has taken to
shirts and trousers, many of them imported, and they wouldn’t know a
pagdi, if they saw one.
When you imitate the West, as we have been doing for the last two
hundred years ever since they conquered us, you first start imitating
their dress. This is how one culture drives the other culture out.
After all, you ask, what is the harm wearing a shirt, and maybe a tie,
instead of a kurta? Why not wear a pair of shoes instead of a pair of
chappals? If you are wearing a shirt, why not a necktie to go with it?
And so on and on, until you find you have gone totally Western, not
only in your dress but also in your thinking. You not only dress like
them, you also think like them. And ultimately you succumb as
completely that you become a caricature of the Western man, as Pandit
Nehru became and almost destroyed himself and the country.
Nehru’s grandfather was a kotwal of Delhi and worked for the last
remnants of the Delhi Sultanate. Go and see his picture in an old
Nehru book. He is dressed just like a moulvi from Lucknow, complete
with churidar pajama and Fez cap. He also looks as a Muslim, which
probably his forefathers, who came from Kashmir, were. I am quite sure
he and his family spoke Urdu at home, just as today’s babus speak
English at home. Their food was probably no different from those of
the Muslim rulers. For all practical purposes, they were Muslims, and
Nehru himself once said that he was born a Hindu by accident. Nehru
was an accidental Hindu, just as his grandchildren and other brood are
accidental Britishers. Nehru had also said that he was the last
Englishman in India, just as his grandfather, a minor functionary of
the fading Moghuls, would no doubt describe himself as the last Moghul
in India.
It is this cultural dislocation that is responsible for most of our
troubles today. Though most of us know who we are, our leaders,
particularly the Nehru types, do not. These are men who have nothing
of their own, neither dress nor culture, nor even food, who imitate
those who rule over them, and who follow slavishly one conqueror after
another, who are neither Indians, nor Muslims nor Westerners, but a
horrible mixture, a hybrid lot with nothing genuine about them.
Whatever you might say about Gandhiji—and I am not one of his great
admirers—he was, with all his faults, a genuine person. Like all great
leaders, he was simplicity personified. Gandhiji had simple tastes and
his meals were simple—often raw vegetables and fruits, and goat’s milk
to go with it. His dress was the simplest anybody could think of—the
dress of an Indian farmer. The only costly thing he used to have was
his watch, which must have cost a few rupees. Even when he visited
London, the imperial capital, and saw the British King in his
Buckingham Palace, he wore the same clothes as he did back home in
Wardha, and he washed and pressed them himself, just as Abraham
Lincoln, another genuine person, shined his own shoes and peeled his
own potatoes.
Nehru was entirely different, not at all a genuine person. When I
first saw him in London in 1948, a year after Independence, he looked
so funny in his suit and tie, I failed to recognise the great leader
we were used to. Krishna Menon was our High Commissioner in London
then, so he had asked some of us to receive Nehru at the embassy, as
he himself was unable to come down to receive him. Nehru arrived in a
Rolls-Royce—an embassy-owned car which we used to ferry special guests
like Nehru around town—and had to walk a few paces as the car was
parked a few yards away from the entrance. Nehru looked like Charlie
Chaplin—but for his polished shoes and his hat. It was the first time
many of us were seeing Nehru in that kind of dress—and I doubt whether
he would have had the guts to appear before Gandhiji in that ugly
dress.
Unlike Gandhiji, Nehru had a complex about Britishers and he simply
had to dress like them. Neither Gandhiji nor Lokmanya Tilak dressed
like Englishmen. They were genuine Indians and Tilak was a genuine
Hindu. It is because of this complex that Nehru made a mess of
everything he touched—Kashmir, China and relations with the West—and
annoyed everyone without making a single friend. Unless Indians become
genuine Indians, not always imitating the West as they do, will India
demand and receive the world’s respect, which it deserves.
(The writer can be contacted at 301, Manikanchan Apts., Kanchan Galli,
Pune, Phone: 020-254523951)
bademiyansubhanallah
Idea Exchange
The identity of an Indian
By Dr Subramanian Swamy
October18, 2009
Even if an Indian has a different faith from a Hindu, he or she can
still be possessed of Hindutva. Since India was 100 per cent Hindu a
millennium ago, the only way any significant group could have a
different faith in today’s India is if they were converted from Hindu
faith, or are of those whose ancestors were Hindus. Conversion of
faith does not have to imply conversion to another culture or nature.
Therefore, Hindutva can remain to be interred in a non-Hindu in
India.
The Hindu consciousness that is needed today therefore is that which
encompasses the willingness and determination to collectively defend
the faith from the erosion that is being induced by the disconnect
with our glorious past.
Hindus need today to confront the challenge that Hindu civilization is
facing from Islamic terrorists, fraud Christian missionaries from
abroad, and a gang of Marxists and Macaulayist intellectuals in the
academia and media, who are also aided and abetted by confused Hindus
within the country.
Every nation must have an identity to be regarded distinct. Even in
United States of America, a relatively young nation created by an
influx of immigration from diverse countries, scholars have felt the
need to define the identity of an American.
The world knew us in these three millenniums not as nomads but as a
highly civilized people of one nation of Hindus, who produced exotic
goods the world had never seen before and who were hospitable to
visitors from abroad. Many travelers such as Megasthenes, Fa Hsien,
Yuan Chuang, Marco Polo, Vasco d’Gama, and Mark Twain wrote glowingly
about the behaviourial quality of the Hindus, which can be summarised
as the Hindu-ness [i.e., Hindutva] of the Indian people.
This Hindu-ness or Hindutva has been our identifying characteristic,
by which we have been recognised world-wide. The territory in which
Hindus lived was known as Hindustan, i.e., a specific area of a
collective of persons who are bonded together by this Hindu-ness. The
salience i.e., overriding national identity was given religious and
spiritual significance by tirth yatras, kumbh mela, common festivals,
and in the celebration of events in the Ithihasa, viz., Ramayana and
Mahabharata.
Hindu Rashtra thus defined is a modern Republic today, whose roots are
also in the long unbroken Hindu civilisational history. Throughout
this history we were a Hindu Republic and not a monarchy [a possible
but weak exception being Asoka’s reign]. In this ancient Republican
concept, the king did not make policy or proclaim the law. The
intellectually accomplished elite in the society, known as Brahmans,
framed the laws and state policy, and the King implemented it.
Hindu panth [religion] is however a theology of faith. Even if an
Indian has a different faith from a Hindu, he or she can still be
possessed of Hindutva. Since India was 100 per cent Hindu a millennium
ago, the only way any significant group could have a different faith
in today’s India is if they were converted from Hindu faith, or are of
those whose ancestors were Hindus. Conversion of faith does not have
to imply conversion to another culture or nature. Therefore, Hindutva
can remain to be interred in a non-Hindu in India.
Hence, we can say that Hindustan is a country of Hindus and those
others whose ancestors were Hindus. Acceptance with pride this reality
by non-Hindus is to accept Hindutva. Hindu Rashtra is therefore a
republican nation of Hindus and of those of other faiths who have
Hindutva in them. This formulation settles the question of identity of
the Hindustani or Indian.
Hindutva defined
Swami Vivekananda defined Hindutva, upon returning from Chicago in
1896 in an address in Lahore as follows:
“Mark me, then and then alone you are a Hindu when the very name Hindu
sends through you a galvanic shock of strength. Then and then alone
you are a Hindu when every man and woman who bears the name Hindu,
from any country, speaking our language or any other language, becomes
at once the nearest and dearest to you. Then and then alone you are a
Hindu when the distress of anyone bearing the name Hindu comes to your
heart and makes you fell as if your own son or daughter were in
distress” [Collected Works, vol 3, page 379].
Paraphrasing what Veer Savarkar had said, the following is what he
said enlightened Hindus need to tell India’s minorities and others
about Hindutva:
“If you come along with us, then with you. If you do not, then without
you. If you oppose us, then inspite of you. Hindutva shall prevail”.
And Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya outlined how to modernise the concepts
of Hindutva as follows:
“We have to discard the status quo mentality and usher in a new era.
Indeed our efforts at reconstruction need not be clouded by prejudice
or disregard for all that is inherited from our past. On the other
hand, there is no need to cling to past institutions and traditions
which have outlived their utility”. This is the essence of
renaissance.
Thus, we should invite Muslims and Christians to join us Hindus on the
basis of common ancestry or even seek their return to our fold as
Hindus, in this grand endeavour as Hindustanis, on the substance of
our shared and common ancestry.
The Hindu consciousness that is needed today therefore is that which
encompasses the willingness and determination to collectively defend
the faith from the erosion that is being induced by the disconnect
with our glorious past.
That glorious past in aptly summarised in the writings of Dr.Ambedkar,
and his oration in the Constituent Assembly for a strong united
country. In his scholarly paper presented in a 1916 Columbia
University seminar [and published in Indian Antiquary, vol. XLI, May
1917 p.81-95] Dr. Ambedkar then a mere graduate student studying for a
Ph.D. in economics, had stated:
“It is the unity of culture that is the basis of homogeneity. Taking
this for granted, I venture to say that there is no country that can
rival the Indian Peninsula with respect to the unity of it’s culture.
It has not only a geographic unity, but it has over and above all a
deeper and much more fundamental unity—the indubitable cultural unity
that covers the land from end to end”.
Ambedkar wrote in this vein several such brilliant books, but alas,
Nehru and his cohorts so thoroughly frustrated him and electorally
humiliated him that in the end bitterness drove him to his sad end. We
must honour him now as a great Rajrishi and co-opt his writings as
part of the Hindutva literature.
The Hindutva Agenda
First, the concept of Hindustan defines the identity of India. That
is, Hindustan is a nation of Hindus and those others who proudly
accept that their ancestors are Hindus. Muslims and Christians shall
be part of the Hindustan if they accept this truth and revere it. That
is the first dimension of Hindutva, that is of a Brihad Hindutva.
Second, Sanskrit and the Devanagari script, in addition to the mother
tongue and its script, will one day in the future, be Hindustan’s link
language. All the main Indian languages have already a large
percentage of their vocabulary common with Sanskrit. Even Tamil which
is considered as ancient, has 40 per cent words in common with
Sanskrit. The scripts of all Indian languages are derived or evolved
from Brahmi script. Hence, the second item of the Hindutva Agenda has
to be a commitment to re-throne Sanskrit with Devanagari script as
Hindustan’s link language, which is to be achieved through a
compulsory 3-language formula of mother tongue, Hindi, and English in
all schools, and by a steady Sanskritisation of Hindi’s vocabulary
till Sanskritised Hindi becomes indistinguishable from Sanskrit.
Third, Hindus, and those others who are proud of their Hindu past and
origins, must learn the correct history of India. That history which
records that Hindus have always been, and are one; that caste was not
birth-based nor immutable but a code of discipline by choice and
adherence. It is irrelevant today and hence sunk by Hindutva. India is
a continuum, sanatana. That is, ancient Hindus and their descendents
have always lived in this area from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean,
an area called Akhand Hindustan, and did not come from outside; and
that there is no truth in the Aryan-Dravidian race theory.
Fourth, the virat Hindutva mindset is to retaliate when attacked. The
retaliation must be massive enough to deter future attacks. If
terrorists come from training camps in Pakistan, Bangla Desh or Sri
Lanka, Hindus must seek to carpet bomb those training camps, no matter
the consequences. If 5 lakh Kashmiri Hindus are driven out of the
Valley by Islamic terrorists, we must arm and financially equip 10
lakhs of the able-bodied ex-servicemen to go with their families and
settle in the former residences of the driven-out Hindus. If
Bangladesh permits its population to infiltrate into Hindustan, then
our armed forces should annex the northern parts of Bangla Desh [above
the line from Khulna to Sylhet] as compensation within the meaning of
the Indian Independence Act of June 1947 as passed by the British
Parliament to legitimise Partition.
This is virat Hindutva
At this juncture I would like to add a basic axiom that we must always
remember. While we may adhere to the principle of Hindu secularism,
i.e., sarva pantha sama bhava, we must never forget one fundamental
tenet of Islamic behavior: Islam teaches that Muslims must behave
differently when in majority from when in strong minority [i.e., if
the majority waffles or appeases], and in weak minority [i.e., if the
majority is united and clear sighted]. Saudi Arabia is in the first
category, termed as Darul Islam. India, UK and Germany is in the
second category called Darul Harab. Australia, China, and US is in the
third category held to be Darul Ahad or Al Takkiyya. This
categorisation applies even within countries. Kashmir is held to be
Darul Islam, and hence Hindus have to be driven out or killed as
kafirs, or brutalised as dhimmis, their temples razed, and their women
publicly raped. Even in Tamil Nadu where Muslims state-wise are less
than five per cent of the population, and culturally very close to
Hindus, there are 40 Town Panchayats where Muslims are in majority,
and there the Muslim psychology undergoes a complete transformation.
Thus, what happens in Kashmir happens also in these elected Town
Panchayats but in more subdued forms for the hapless minority Hindus
of these Towns
There is thus no scope for Muslims and non-Muslims uniting as equals
in the political, cultural, or social system in a Darul Islam where
Muslims rule. Secular order in India thus is possible only when
Muslims are not in power. Thondi, Rasathipuram, and other places prove
that the Muslim mind suffers from a dangerous duality—of seeking
secularism when out of power and imposing a brutal demeaning theocracy
for non-Muslims when in power.
It is this duality that patriotic Hindus must re-shape by modern
education and other means, as also retain its demographic overwhelming
majority in India. We do not have much time, in fact about 45 years,
as the X-graph of statistical regressions estimated by J.S. Bajaj and
colleagues shows. ‘X’ represents the two trends—Hindu percentage
declining and Muslim percentage rising, and intersecting in the year
2061.
Islam is not only and merely what is stated in the Koran. Islam is a
trilogy of Koran, Sira and Hadith. This trilogy defines a “true”
Muslim or believer. Therefore those who sing praises of the Koran to
prove that Islam is intrinsically humane, have not read the Sira and
Hadith. A true hard-core Muslim is Dr.Jekyll when in minority, and
Mr.Hyde when in majority.
Fifth, our Hindutva ideology has to be based on Ekatma Manavad or
Integral Humanism. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya recognised as far back
as 1965 that the world cannot be a happier place merely by material
progress. There has to be a harmonisation of material progress with
spiritual development of any human being. This reality has dawned
after centuries on Christians and even Communists. No wonder, the
Newsweek [August 31, 2009]article states that Americans feel
increasingly that they logically “are all Hindus today”.
Thus, the far-sighted Pandit Deendayalji advocated the concept of the
‘Integral Human’, which concept is squarely within the Hindu ethos and
based on Hindutva. Ekatma Manavad or Integral Humanism, as he termed
it, contrasts this harmonization as it differs from capitalism and
communism.
These five items together constitute the Brihad Virat Ekatma Hindutva
Agenda, which if followed and sincerely implemented will lead to a
bonding that Hindus need today to confront the challenge that Hindu
civilization is facing from Islamic terrorists, fraud Christian
missionaries from abroad, and a gang of Marxists and Macaulayist
intellectuals in the academia and media, who are also aided and
abetted by confused Hindus within the country.
(The writer is the President of Janata Party and former Cabinet
Minister for Commerce, Law & Justice, Government of India and can be
contacted at swa...@gmail.com)
bademiyansubhanallah
Opinion
The idea of incarnation is akin to the concept of National Security
By Indresh Kumar
October18, 2009
A question used to often occur in my mind that ‘Kanha ate soil’—
whether it is an ordinary incident or an extraordinary? With the
growing age, after reading books, epics, meeting scholars and watching
some religious serials on television, I concluded that it was not an
ordinary incident.
When the God incarnated in the form of Sri Krishna in the lap of
mother Devaki, and from there passing through the arms of father
Vasudev, He lay in a basket and reached Gokul. Having consecrated the
River Yamuna by the touch of His foot, He lay beside the mother
Yashoda at her bed and then came in the cradle. When He grew up a
little and started rolling over and toddling, He sanctified the mother
earth by standing over it. As He touched the mother earth, she jumped
up with joy and happiness and ran for welcoming, extending respect,
having darshan and worshiping the God. Owing to this activity, there
was some storm-like movement on the earth. When mother Yashoda
realised this abnormal movement, she having left Kanha ran towards
kitchen and backside of the house. Meanwhile, Kanha too came out of
the house rolling over and toddling.
Dialogue between Sri Krishna and mother earth
Mother earth appeared before Sri Krishna in the form of a Goddess and
offered sashtang pranam to the God. Kanha then asks, “Who are you,
devi?” “Your creation, earth, my God,” came the answer. Kanha again
asks, “Why have you come?” Mother earth says, “God, since you have
blessed me with your divine and holy touch, I have come to have your
darshan, extend welcome and also worship you.” Having said this, the
mother earth became quiet and a feeling of sadness enveloped her face.
The God asks, “Goddess, why are you looking sad?” Mother earth says,
“God, since I am made of soil, I am confused what should I worship you
with, as water belongs to Varun Dev, air belongs to Pawan Dev,
vegetables, fruits and flowers belong to Vishwakarma, foodgrains
belong to human and all other things belong to nature?” The God says,
“Devi, perform worship with whatever you have and with what you are
made of. That is hallowed in itself.” Then mother earth became happy
and performed puja by offering soil to the God. The God too accepted
that happily. It was an astonishing, fascinating and captivating
incident that I read in many books.
Kanha ate soil
At that time Gopikas, passing through the place, wondered to watch as
to how Kanha reached out of the house in such a stormy weather. When
they reached closer, they saw Kanha happily eating the soil. Owing to
their eternal devotion and affection to the child-form of the God,
they rushed to mother Yashoda and said, “See, your, no no, our, Kanha
is eating soil.”
Message to protect the earth
This incident makes it clear that at the time of the worship by mother
earth the God clearly gave the message of protecting the earth at the
time of His incarnation. He clarified it from his own mouth in the
Gita at the battlefield of Kurukshetra:
Yada yada hi dharmasyaglanirbhavati Bharatah,
Abhuthanamadharmasya, tadatmanam srijamhayam.
Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya ch dushkritam,
Dharma sansthapanarthaya, sambhavami yuge yuge.
Here the meaning of ‘Bharat’ is literal and spiritual. It means the
land with knowledge, character and human values and whenever
atrocities grow or there is any harm to these things, the God
incarnated in a particular form to destroy the evil forces and to
restore the knowledge, character and human values.
Sita as daughter of earth
When this ordinary-looking but beautiful and extraordinary incident of
eating the soil by Sri Krishna comes to the mind, another question
arises in the mind. When the God incarnated in the form of Sri Ram
lakhs of years ago, He incarnated in the lap of mother Kaushalya, but
mother Sita incarnated as dharati putri (daughter of earth). This was
also an extraordinary incident.
Protection of dharati putri Sita by Ram
When we go deep into the matter, we find that Sri Ram performed the
unique work of granting salvation to mother Ahilya and mother Sita—
Sita means ‘daughter of earth’, denotes woman and signifies culture—
all three are forms of mother. The kidnapping of mother Sita by Ravana
was the height of atrocities by him. Sri Ram took every kind of step
to protect and liberate the mother Sita and eventually killed Ravana,
the global symbol of atrocities. After killing Ravana, Sri Ram told
Lakshmana:
Api swarnamayi lanka, na me Lakshmana rochate,
Janani janma bhumishcha, swargadiapi gariyasi.
Through this shloka, Sri Ram gave the message that janani (mother) and
janmabhoomi (mother land) are greater than swarga (heaven) and swarna
(gold). Why did he say this? The reason is very clear. Swarga
(pleasure) and swarna (prosperity) are earned by men through their
conduct and labour, but the mother and motherland are granted only by
the God. Nobody gives a request letter to whom and where one has to be
born. Sri Ram completed his last journey through River Sarayu and
mother Sita through mother earth itself.
All are human sent by the God but at the earth nation is the identity
It is an eternal and beautiful principle of the God that everybody
comes as a human being from the house of God. But our identity on the
earth is not decided by our group of people, caste, religion,
language, party, profession etc., but we all are identified with the
piece of mother land, which we got as a country and with the woman’s
womb, i.e. mother, which is called our ancestors and culture. This is
an eternal truth, which the God explained in the above shloka.
The message of two incarnations of the God in the form of Sri Ram and
Sri Krishna is the protection of earth or the nation and its culture
and values of human life. If we in the form of the nation are
powerful, safe, honoured, full of character and independent, only then
can we restore peace and happiness all over the world. This is the
truth of the incarnations of the God. It is the yugdharma (religion of
time) to be followed by all today and forever.
(The writer is Member, National Executive of Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh.)
bademiyansubhanallah
A Report
Sadbhavana meeting in Delhi
Our goal is to end all exploitation and deprivation—Mohan Bhagwat
October18, 2009
Shri Mohan Bhagwat said Sadbhavana Baithaks need to be organised at
lower levels—block level in rural areas and basti level in cities—to
spread the feeling of cooperation and to educate the people about the
present challenges before the Hindu society. He emphasised that the
frequency of such meetings should be increased and more community
leaders should be involved in them.
There should be a feeling of mutual cooperation and goodwill in all
the communities and all leaders should educate their community members
about the need of cooperation and unity. The service activities should
be launched on a larger scale in all the areas where they are
required. Shri Mohan Bhagwat directed the swayamsevaks to pay adequate
attention to the areas, which are neglected with regard to service
activities.
"There is a need to launch reformative and service activities among
the deprived sections of the society on a larger scale so that none
feel deprived and exploited,” said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan
Bhagwat. He was addressing a gathering of leaders belonging to various
Hindu communities assembled at a Sadbhavana Baithak in New Delhi on
October 3. The Baithak was organised by Delhi Prant of Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh at Keshav Kunj.
A total of 54 leaders belonging to 32 communities including Banjara,
Kashyap, Berua, Sikh, Agrawal, Ahluwalia, Bagari, Harishchandra,
Khatik, etc, participated in the meeting. After the meeting all the
leaders had sahabhoj. Kshetra Sanghachalak Dr Bajrang Lal Gupt and
Prant Sanghachalak Shri Ramesh Prakash Sharma also shared the dais.
Kshetra Pracharak Shri Rameshwar Prasad, general secretary
(organisation) of VHP Shri Dinesh Kumar, Delhi Prant Pracharak Shri
Prem Kumar and many other Sangh adhikaris were also present on the
occasion.
Shri Bhagwat stressed on four points. He said there should be a
feeling of mutual cooperation and goodwill in all the communities and
all leaders should educate their community members about the need of
cooperation and unity. He further said service activities should be
launched on a larger scale in all the areas where they are required.
He directed the Sangh workers to pay adequate attention to the areas,
which are neglected with regard to service activities. He pointed out
that Sangh swayamsevaks are today running more than 1.5 lakh service
projects in remote areas.
He suggested that Sadbhavana Baithaks need to be organised at lower
levels—block level in rural areas and basti level in cities—to spread
the feeling of cooperation and to educate the people about the present
challenges before the Hindu society. He emphasised that the frequency
of such Sadbhavana Baithaks should be increased and more community
leaders should be involved in them.
Shri Bhagwat made it clear that Sadbhavana Baithaks are not being
organised to expand the Sangh work but to strengthen the Hindu society
and the Sangh would continue to organise them even if it has to face
any loss. “It is not the work of give-and-take. We are all one and we
all have to work for strengthening our society. We must educate the
people of our communities about the need of unity and goodwill,” he
said pointing out that the work of organising such meetings is going
on in all Prants.
Commenting on the so-called “beginning of Bhagwat Era in the Sangh”,
as mentioned by a section of the media, he said there is no such era
in the Sangh, as there has never been an individual era in the Sangh.
“All swayamsevaks work together and no work in the Sangh is done
projecting an individual. We all are doing the Sangh work and all the
activities are carried out with mutual agreement,” he added.
Earlier, Shri Ramgopal Suryavanshi from Khatik community said the
politics that is being done in the name of dalits is insulting them.
He said efforts are being made by some politicians to spread hate in
the society and they should be countered effectively. He said efforts
should also be made to strengthen social harmony.
Shri Shivnarayan Bagari said unity cannot be achieved till we continue
to talk on the basis of castes, creeds and communities. Shri Ram Gopal
from Koli community said we all are Hindustani first and then belong
to any other community. He said all the communities have their
specified role in nation building and no community should be ignored.
He stressed the need to have an open discussion on the issue of
sadbhavana. He expressed concern over the decreasing number of Hindus
and abnormal increase in the number of Muslims.
Shri Nand Kishore Garg from Agrawal community stressed the need to
move forward with broader perspective. Shri Shyamlal said the feeling
of sadbhavana could be achieved only by working with selfless feeling.
Shri Ranjit Berua emphasised the need to be faithful to the nation
before fighting for the cause of individual community.
By Pramod Kumar
bademiyansubhanallah
A Report
Vijayadashami function in Delhi
Ensure for all access to education and health care—Mohan Bhagwat
October18, 2009
"Truth does not get recognition without strength. Satya (truth) and
ahimsa (non-violence) too become weapons when they are backed with
strength. Today our country has good credibility. The whole world
recognises it. If we have to preserve this credibility for long it
needs the backing of strength. It is because of the lack of strength
that some of our neighbouring counties like Nepal, Bangladesh and
Pakistan are going under the influence of China one by one. It is
developing a major security threat for Bharat. That our neighbouring
countries are joining the imperialist forces like China should be a
matter of concern not only for India but also for the whole world,”
said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat. He was addressing a
gathering of uniformed swayamsevaks in Delhi on October 2. The
function was organised by Delhi Prant of RSS to celebrate
Vijayadashami, which is also the Sangh’s foundation Day.
Prior to it, Shri Bhagwat performed shastrapujan at the function. Over
35,000 uniformed swayamsevaks of Delhi were present at the function.
The workers of Delhi Prant had been preparing for this function for
over two months. Only selected swayamsevaks from all shakhas of Delhi
participated in the function. As the Sarsanghachalak reached the
venue, the ghosh swayamsevaks played four dhuns to welcome him. While
playing various other tunes they also formed many shapes like Om and
Swastika. Then the swayamsevaks performed various physical activities
like Surya Namaskar, yoga, etc. Kshetra Sanghachalak Dr Bajrang Lal
Gupt, Delhi Prant Sanghachalak Shri Ramesh Prakash Sharma and Sah-
Prant Sanghachalak Dr SS Agrawal also shared the dais.
Prominent among those who were present on the occasion in full uniform
included VHP president Shri Ashok Singhal, senior leaders of VHP
Acharya Giriraj Kishore and Shri Dinesh Chandra, RSS Akhil Bharatiya
Prachar Pramukh Shri Manmohan Vaidya, RSS National Executive Member
Shri Ram Madhav, senior Pracharak Shri Madhubhai Kulkarni, BJP
president Shri Rajnath Singh, BJP general secretary Shri Ramlal,
former Governor of Goa and Sikkim Shri Kidarnath Sahani, Leader of
Opposition, Delhi Assembly, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra and former Chief
Minister of Delhi Shri Madan Lal Khurana.
Shri Bhagwat said shastrapujan is performed every year by the
swayamsevaks to worship the shakti. He further said the day this year
also marks many other events like centenary year of the Uttarpara
Speech by Sri Aurobindo, birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Lal
Bahadur Shastri and also the centenary year of Hind Swaraj, a vision
document written by Gandhiji. Stating that since Mahrishi Aurobindo
had predicted in his Uttarpara Speech of India becoming the vishwa
guru, Shri Bhagwat said the time is approaching and we need to be
prepared for playing that important role in the world. “The world is
waiting for us to play this role. Before it, we have to overcome our
internal problems and need to stand with full force. We have to find
solutions to our both internal and external problems. What China,
Pakistan and Bangladesh are doing today should caution all of us. The
way the fundamentalist and imperialist forces are trying to break
India, we should be alert and should prepare the new generation to be
capable to face these challenges,” he said.
Shri Bhagwat stressed the need to ensure availability of education,
health and farming resources. “Only then shall we be able to achieve
paramvaibhav. There is also a need to identity those who are trying to
get political mileage by dividing the society in the name of caste,
way of worship, language and community. The politics of division has
become a routine. It must be curbed,” he added.
The Sarsanghachalak further said the problems come but they should be
faced with bravery and determination. “The internal weakness is the
root cause of our most of the problems. The people who dislike
everything Indian are, no doubt, very less in number but they are
dominating the majority of the population, intellectual world,
administration and government. They are trying to make everybody like
them. This is the basic problem that must be resolved. The RSS was
basically started with the feeling that blaming others for our
weaknesses will do no good. Those, who are weak, face repeated attacks
from everywhere. But nobody dare to look at those who are powerful.
This is the tradition in the whole world. We are sure that India shall
achieve the status of vishwa guru on the basis of truth, non-violence
and peace,” he added.
Shri Bhagwat stated that it is the fifth generation working in the
Sangh. The swayamsevaks are running more than 1.5 lakh service
projects on their own strength. That is why the Sangh is the largest
social organisation of the world. He appealed to the swayamsevaks to
educate the society about the challenges the country is facing today
and prepare them to be ready to play a bigger role in the world.
(FOC)
chhotemianinshallah
National / Interviews Magazine | Oct 19, 2009
Michaelangelo Francis
No uniform: Ghuman now practices law
Punjab
‘We Were Clubbed With The Terrorists’
A young major commanding a squadron of tanks recollects his memories
of Operation Bluestar...
Chander Suta Dogra Interviews Gurinder Singh Ghuman
Memories. Proud, bitter, sad, painful. If only...what if?...why me?
Whenever Lt Col Gurinder Singh Ghuman (Retd) relives the momentous
days of Operation Bluestar, these memories strike at his inner self
like a hundred shards, leaving him bruised afresh. As a young major
commanding a squadron of tanks in the 46 Armoured Regiment posted at
Amritsar, the summer of 1984 was a turning point in his life. Not
because he saw the operation at close quarters, or because he was
charged with supervising the cremation of scores of dead bodies,
including that of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Doing all that was duty.
The real cause of his anguish is that he was mistrusted by colleagues
and betrayed, as he sees it, by the very organisation he had sworn to
serve faithfully. Ghuman took premature retirement from the army in
1997 and is now an advocate at the Punjab & Haryana High Court.
Excerpts from an interview to Chander Suta Dogra:
Revisiting Operation Bluestar 25 years later, what is the first
thought that comes to your mind?
Though I was a young officer at that time, intent only on executing
the orders given to me and had no idea of the planning that went into
the operation, with the perspective of hindsight, the overriding
thought is that it all got marred due to faulty planning and poor
intelligence inputs.
In what way has Operation Bluestar affected you?
It has left a permanent mark on my psyche. I am not normal any more, I
suffer from insomnia. I was never a very religious person to begin
with, because in the army, we are trained to be secular and keep
religion within the four walls of our homes. But now I go to the
gurudwara every day. My career in the army was affected because I was
a Sikh officer and my seniors suspected me of being sympathetic to the
Khalistan cause. Despite above-average reports and a brilliant record,
I was passed up for promotion.
Could you elaborate?
‘At an inquiry, I was asked if I touched the dead Bhindranwale’s feet
in obeisance.’
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a time when Sikh
troops in some other units were revolting and there was a question
mark on the conduct of Sikh officers too. This hurt more than anything
else. On the night of June 6, I was tasked with cremating the dead
bodies from the Golden Temple and I supervised the cremation of some
70 bodies in the cremation ground next to Gurudwara Shaheedan. Just
then, some police personnel brought the bodies of Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale, Bhai Amrik Singh and Bhai Thada Singh. I noticed
Bhindranwale’s left leg was dangling and on lifting it to see why, I
realised his shin was broken due to three bullet wounds. It was idle
curiosity. But later on, there was an inquiry against me at which I
was asked if I had touched his feet in obeisance. There were questions
also on why I folded my hands when the granthi was reciting the antim
ardas (a prayer for the dead).
A couple of days earlier, I had been given the task of dispersing a
crowd of angry Sikhs who had presumably gathered to attack some Hindus
at Chiwinda Devi village on the outskirts of Amritsar. As soon as we
took up position, the crowd dispersed. But the inquiry officer wanted
to know why I did not open fire on the crowd. All this when I had also
been tasked with the job of stopping the possible advance of a
mutinous armoured squadron of Sikh troops coming from Jalandhar on
June 9. Being a Sikh officer, I was the only squadron commander of my
unit who was operationally deployed at that time!
Do you think if you were not a Sikh officer, your career would have
taken a different turn?
Certainly. All Sikh personnel in the army were looked upon with
suspicion at that time. We were clubbed with the terrorists and almost
overnight the very organisation that nurtured us professionally
turned adversarial. As if battling with our own countrymen in the
operation was not enough! For me, personally, I could never think of
questioning an order. Which is why facing the subsequent inquiry
ordered against me was distressing.
What about the idea of Khalistan? Was it a very emotional issue with
Sikhs at that time?
The Sikh masses were never in favour of Khalistan. Contrary to popular
perception, Bhindranwale did not really have a great following. The
whole situation was mishandled and allowed to get out of hand.
chhotemianinshallah
National / Essays Magazine | Oct 19, 2009
HT
After the storm: People come out of Golden Temple with their hands up
Punjab
Into The Temple, With Boots On
Operation Bluestar was a bloody, avoidable desecration
Mark Tully
Not a blaring horn was heard, not an overladen, toiling truck, nor an
ambling bullock cart were seen along the Grand Trunk Road on the
morning of June 5, 1984, hours before the army entered the Golden
Temple complex. The only bus between Amritsar and Punjab’s border with
Haryana was the one I was travelling in. It was carrying all the
Indian and foreign journalists rounded up by the police in Amritsar
and expelled from Punjab to prevent us reporting on Operation
Bluestar. The whole state had been put under curfew. In the villages
we passed through, even the domestic animals seemed to be observing
this curfew. The only trains moving were carrying troops.
We already knew a major military operation was under way because the
day before, we had managed to listen in to a joint police-and-army
radio network. We never imagined the operation would involve an
armoured assault on one of the most sacred shrines in the temple
complex and cost the army at least 332 casualties, the figure given in
the government’s white paper on the subject.
There was a faction in the Congress that was reluctant to give up
Bhindranwale though he quickly turned on the government.
The army never intended that the capture or killing of Sant Jarnail
Bhindranwale and his men, who had occupied and fortified the Golden
Temple complex, would become such a major operation. When he was
briefing the press after the operation, General Krishnaswami Sundarji,
who was commanding the operation, said, “I was told to flush out the
extremists from the Golden Temple with no damage, if possible, to the
Harmandir Sahib (site of the sanctum sanctorum) or the Akal Takht (by
then Bhindranwale’s fortress). I was told to use the bare minimum of
force required for achieving this object and that I was to minimise
casualties to both sides.” As it was, squash-head shells fired by
tanks reduced the Akal Takht to little more than rubble and the white
paper said 493 people were killed. Eyewitnesses believe the figure to
have been higher. No one will ever know what the exact figure was
because neither the police nor the army made any attempt to identify
the dead before they were hurriedly cremated. So what went wrong?
Hard place: Bhindranwale turned Akal Takht into his fortress
In the first place, the army should never have been ordered to mount
an assault on one of India’s most sacred places. That was bound to
cause deep offence to all Sikhs, including the large number of them
serving in the army. The Sikh mutinies that followed the operation
were the direct result of that offence. Action should have been taken
before Bhindranwale occupied the Akal Takht and began preparing to
defend the Golden Temple complex.
Part of the reason Bhindranwale was allowed to continue his defiance
of the government, his communal propaganda and terrorism for so long
lay in the origins of the crisis. Bhindranwale had originally been
promoted by the Congress party as a religious leader to challenge the
Akalis’ hold over Sikhs. There was a faction within the party that was
reluctant to give him up even though he quickly turned on the
government. The factional quarrel between Zail Singh, the then home
minister in Delhi, and his arch-rival Darbara Singh, the then chief
minister of Punjab, didn’t help. When President’s rule was imposed,
confusion within the government worsened. The then governor of Punjab,
B.D. Pande, a retired civil servant renowned for his efficiency and
honesty, told me he was forever receiving contradictory orders from
Delhi.
Even when A.S. Atwal, a senior police officer, was shot as he was
emerging from the Golden Temple complex, Bhindranwale was not touched.
But eventually Indira Gandhi realised that she had to act, because her
reputation for decisiveness, one of her most valuable political
assets, was being undermined. In her broadcast to the nation on June
2, three days before the assault on the temple, she said, “An
impression has been assiduously created that this matter (Punjab) is
not being dealt with.” With a general election ahead of her, she
decided she could not allow that impression to spread any further.
In the end, the action Indira Gandhi took turned out to be too much
too late. To what extent is the army to blame? Briefing the press
after the operation, Gen Sundarji maintained that he needed to act
rapidly to avert an uprising. He said, “We knew that they
(Bhindranwale and his colleagues) had plans to utilise innocent
people, the religious-minded innocent people in the countryside. That
plan was to incite these people to come to the Golden Temple in
thousands and to literally swamp the surroundings as well as the
inside.”
Neither Bluestar nor the 1984 anti-Sikh riots fulfilled
Bhindranwale’s ambition of building a Sikh identity around hatred for
Hindus.
This fear of an uprising was the main reason Sundarji gave for not
laying siege to the Golden Temple and starving Bhindranwale out. That
would have avoided the damage Bluestar inflicted on the complex, and
the heavy casualties. But even if the arguments against a siege are
accepted, they don’t justify the army’s decision to mount the
operation while Sikhs were celebrating the anniversary of the
martyrdom of Guru Arjan, who had built the Golden Temple and compiled
the Guru Granth Sahib. This inevitably compounded Sikh anger about the
operation. It also meant that the temple complex was particularly
crowded and this was why so many civilians were killed. The army
suspected everyone they found in the hostels opposite the Golden
Temple complex and forced them to sit outside in the sun with no water
and no food. Some of them were shot. Narinderjit Singh, known to all
the press as the polite public relations officer of the Golden Temple,
and despised by Bhindranwale as a “literate moron”, was put up before
an army firing squad. He was only saved by the timely intervention of
a senior officer.
Tough call: Gen Sundarji opted against a siege fearing an uprising
across Punjab
The army operation went wrong from the start. Sundarji hoped commandos
would be able to get into the Akal Takht, Bhindranwale’s fortress,
from the lane behind it. Some did manage to get onto the roof of the
shrine, but they were driven back by cross-firing. Then there was the
failure of the prolonged attempt by the infantry to mount a frontal
assault on the Akal Takht. Sundarji had underestimated the skill of
Bhindranwale’s tactical advisor, Gen Shahbeg Singh. Soldiers found
themselves fired on not only from the buildings of the complex but
also from manholes in the parikrama, the pavement surrounding the
sacred pool in which the Golden Temple stands. Many soldiers lost
their lives when they came under fire from gunmen armed with light
machine guns positioned under the steps at the main entrance to the
parikrama.
It was only when Maj Gen Kuldip Singh, commanding the division doing
the fighting, realised the infantry was, as he put it later, “in
danger of being massacred” that he asked for tanks to be brought in.
What is not clear is how Sundarji conceived of a plan that involved
sending the infantry into a place where they had no cover.
Sundarji did admit “there had been some failure of intelligence”. It
was clearly worse than that. He had been misled about the arms and
ammunition in the hands of Bhindranwale and his followers, the skill
of their deployment, and above all their will to fight. A junior
officer told my colleague Satish Jacob that the biggest problem had
been not even knowing the layout of the complex. Apparently, officers
only had “a general picture”. One foreign military advisor told me he
thought the generals believed resistance would collapse when
Bhindranwale’s men realised they were up against the army. He said
“the army had been arrogant because of its size and firepower”. The
advisor believed that if more use had been made of modern equipment, a
successful commando attack could have been launched. Whatever mistakes
were made, no one can doubt the courage of the soldiers and officers
who continued those infantry attacks in spite of repeated and bloody
setbacks. The army also showed remarkable discipline by refusing to
fire in the direction of the Golden Temple itself even though that
prevented them returning fire.
It was one thing for Indira Gandhi to give orders to Sundarji to
“flush out” Bhindranwale and his followers, it was quite another thing
to carry out those orders. So ultimately, the blame for Operation
Bluestar must be borne by the politicians who allowed the situation to
deteriorate so far that they had to call out the army. They include
the Akali Dal leaders. But Operation Bluestar did show the remarkable
resilience of India. Neither the outrage among Sikhs at the
desecration of their shrine nor indeed the anti-Sikh riots following
Indira Gandhi’s assassination four months later fulfilled
Bhindranwale’s ambition of constructing a Sikh identity based on
hatred of Hindus. Once again India showed itself to be like a great
ocean liner which sails through storms that would capsize smaller and
less stable vessels. But this inherent stability reinforces India’s
tendency to let things go, the “chalne do” factor, which was certainly
at work in the Punjab crisis. Fear can be the beginning of wisdom, so
perhaps India is not sufficiently afraid.
(Mark Tully is the author, with Satish Jacob, of Amritsar: Mrs
Gandhi’s Last Battle.)
Oct 13, 2009 10:31 AM
37 I don't know whether Mark Tully knows that Shahbeg Singh served in
the same unit as Lt Gen RS Dayal the elite 1 Para Commando (today
known as 1 SF). Shahbeg was the unit QM when Dayal was Adjutant. So to
say that Sundarji underestimated the military capability would not be
right. He should have known from Dayal what to expect. The same 1 Para
went in for the assault too. To my mind it was the most botched up
military operation lacking in anything which we can even call as
planning. There was no surprise or use of any chemical agents. Most
troops went in without bullet proof jackets, were bare footed and not
firing towards Harmandir Sahib. Nonsense like this cannot pass off as
military operation. It was only bullets, rocket launchers and cannons
on the Combat Vehicle i.e. brute force. A later operation cutting
supply lines was much better organized. Sundarji's brinkmanship was
seen during Operation Brass Tacks too. We only achieved the making
some flashy moves in the desert of Rajasthan when the need of the hour
was making some telling moves in J&K where it was more required.He
used to say that China is our long term enemy but did nothing to
improve the situation there too. The border roads organization was
never tasked to improve the road conditions along the Chinese border.
Till date the situation is pathetic.It is said that Sundarji was fit
to command NATO forces..India would have benefited if if he was spared
to do just that.
Sudhir Sharma
Bangalore, India
Oct 13, 2009 06:56 AM
36 If I am not wrong, the accompanying picture is from Operation Black
Thunder and not Op Blue star.
Paritosh
Sydney, Australia
Oct 13, 2009 06:46 AM
35 >>>Some 2 paisa people have commented about Sant Bhindranwale in
negative light. They are either ignorant or simply hate-mongers<<<
would you pls define "hate-mongers" Kulbir Singhji?
What would you call a person who threatened to kill 5000 Hindus if a
detained bus of his followers was not released within few hours?
Thats hate-mongering in my opinion.
what would you call someone inciting his impressionable followers to
buy weapons and motorcycles? Definitely not a "sant' following
Nanakian philosophy of peace and universal brotherhood.
Who build an arsenal of Pak-supplied weapons in harimandir and for
what purpose? who was responsible for torturing and killing of
numerous ppl INSIDE Harimandir sahib complex (victims' bodies were
disposed off in sewers coming out of the complex).
Who killed Surinder Singh ‘Chinda’ and his woman associate, Baljit
Kaur (accused of killing Bhindran's favourite hitman Surinder s
Sodhi)?
"Baljit Kaur was tortured brutally, her breasts cut off, and then
killed, within the Akal Takht itself. Her hideously mutilated body,
bundled into a gunnybag, was found more than 24 hours later on the
Grand Trunk Road. Near it was a second body: her associate and lover,
Chinda."
who killed Malik S Bhatia again inside Harimandir complex?
The answer is" Jarnail Singh BhindranwalA"
I can go on and on Kulbir Singh jiyo but would ask you one more simple
question - how come not a single western (as you can accuse Indian
writers of being 'biased') has got anything positive to say about
Bhindranwala.
You live in Toronto Canada so would be too familiar with Kanishka
tragedy (if you agree it was a tragedy in first place). Bagri and
Malik (two prime accused in the bombing of the above-named Air India
plane) have made fortunes for carrying out the heinous attack killing
hundreds of innocents.
These two were released as RCMP bungled the prosecution case.
Now what do you call bagri and Malik, Sants or evil incarnates?
Paritosh
Sydney, Australia
Oct 13, 2009 12:35 AM
34 Brahmanism, whether you call it Hinduism, Sanatana Dharma or Arya
Dharma plays a very active role ( EVIL )in day to day living in India.
It determines from birth to death, the destiny of the Dalitbahujans
( dalits, tribals and obcs ).
The following news is self-explanatory of the above facts.
Dalits, backward classes worst hit by floods
Raju S Vijapur, Oct 11, DHNS, Hubli:
Though all the communities have been affected by the recent floods,
dalits and other backward classes in North Karnataka are the worst
hit.
Most of the flood victims from the marginalised groups lived at
village end, where the rivers and streams flow. Thus, their situation
has been aggravated due to the precarious nature of their habitation.
A survey by Deccan Herald revealed that more than 60 percent of
victims at Gudisagar, Arahatti and Basapur in Dharwad district and
Kurlageri, Budihal, Surkod, Hole Mannur and Gadagol in Gadag district
are dalits.
Even in Bagalkot and Bijapur districts, thousands of families which
have been displaced by floods caused by Malaprabha, Don river and
streams belong to downtrodden and minority communities.
According to initial estimation, more than 92 villages in Gadag
district and 45 villages in Bagalkot have been affected by floods.
About 23 villages in Bijapur and 12 villages in Dharwad districts have
also been hit by floods. Official sources say that more than 40,000
dalit and backward class families have been affected in these
districts.
In villages like Kurlageri, Khyad and Budihal the entire dalit
localities (Harijan Keris) have been washed away in the floods.
Casteist Housing Pattern
Housing system in villages reflects the caste system of our Indian
society. People belonging to upper castes take away the land situated
on higher ground. Thus, the people belonging to the oppressed classes
are forced to move towards low-lying areas, at the end of the village,
which are vulnerable to floods. It is the harijan kheris that are the
first casualty of floods,” said Sociology Professor Hemanth Bhutnal.
Lalsab Yandigeri of Hole Mannur, one of the worst-affected village in
Gadag district said that he along with others have been demanding to
shift their houses, situated near Bennihalla stream. “However, the
government is unable to understand the fear of living near a stream,”
he said.
Neelavva Bomnalli, Neelappa Chalawadi and Ningavva Mundargi, who are
from the same village also echoed the same opinion.“Forcing the dalits
to reside at the end of the village is a ploy of the vicious caste
system,” added Prof Bhutnal.
B Prabhu
Mangalore, India
Oct 12, 2009 10:49 PM
33 Very true about the reform movements within Hinduism. It seems that
many people(like Prabhu) are frozen in time, and are unaware of
individuals and organisations like Vivekananda, the Arya Samaj, the
Ramakrishna Mission, the Hare Krishnas, the Shirdi and Satya Sai Baba
efforts, Ram Dev, Morari Bapu and many more. Not to mention the
various individual mandirs in North America, UK, Europe and within
India itself.
I can just see these people reciting, zombie like, "Hinduism believes
in caste, whereas Christianity and Islam believe in equality"
Oh, for the love of...
Varun Shekhar
Toronto, CANADA
Oct 12, 2009 04:23 PM
32 N_K:>>"i am not sure what this "brahmanism" is"
In full agreement with your post.
bramhanism has nothing to do with the casteism being blamed on it.
bramhanism is monotheist spiritualist hinduism. bramha satyam jagan
mityaa, as pointed out by Sankara. the absolute releasing the
relativist sp-time-lives univ out of Himself, enjoying Himself seeing
it, as Siva-leelaa, darpaNa-drisya-maana, as if in a mirror-image
illusion, to be withdrawn at His own will. the unitarian poet laurette
of america has written a poem titled 'bramhaa' on these lines..
anti-hindu church-folk like prabhu cannot digest the true spiritual
greatness of sanaatan hinduism, afraid of its revival to the
satisfaction of all humanity, depriving the vested interests of mullas
and pastors as priestocracy. hence the attempts to reduce bramha-
vidyaa to brahminism as worst form of casteism only, ignoring its
origins as swadharma-castism for socio-dynamic optimzation, helping
the obc-mino reservationists to utilize the same casteism for their
own self-enthronement, while blaming it on the so-called brahmins'
original sin, all the time.
most people can be cheated most of the time, perhaps. But not all for
all time, nor the divine observer. When His hammer comes down, the
jackals and rats will run into the bushes and the holes.
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 12, 2009 02:19 PM
31 >Brahmanism at its core denies the fundamental social >and
spiritual equality of human beings. It also >denies equal value to the
woman.
i am not sure what this "brahmanism" is. if it is claimed to be based
on a text like say "manusmriti" then it is to be noted that manu was a
kshatriya and his text is full of restrictions/strictures for the
brahmin community making his life full of struggle/suffering, which
today no brahmin will want to observe. so to say that a text like that
is "brahmanism" is injustice on both counts. for it wrongly places the
authorship of the text on brahmins and also is oblivious to the fact
that the text deliberately subverts any comfortable existence to the
brahmins - actually insisting that they live a life of austerity/
poverty so that they can be a dharmic guide to the society at large.
so from the brahmins perspective texts like that only served to
supress them through the ages and little gratefulness has been shown
by the society for all their effort.
nandakumar
chennai, india
Oct 12, 2009 07:55 AM
30 >>>>Hinduism has also incorporated countless Dravidian, tribal and
Adivasi forms of worship over the centuries.
Brahmanism at its core denies the fundamental social and spiritual
equality of human beings. It also denies equal value to the woman. It
does not want the blood of Indians to mix across caste lines even
though racially we are all Indians. Brahmanism has refused to abolish
the caste system for 3,000 years. It is because of this ideology and
attitude that the nightmare of the Dalits and the backward castes
continues. Brahmanism has used Indian thought, philosophy and religion
for its own racist agenda.
The present agenda of Brahmanism is to co-opt other faiths and
ideologies and avoid the unpleasant and painful task of the
reformation of the discriminatory social order. Co-option is the way
to stifle all voices that challenge the degrading social system.
B Prabhu
Mangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 11:52 PM
29 Seshadri,
>> "duryodhan, now born as osama."
They may or may not be equally evil, but to say that one was reborn as
the other is unnecessary, besides being stupid.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 11:46 PM
28 Some 2 paisa people have commented about Sant Bhindranwale in
negative light. They are either ignorant or simply hate-mongers. Sant
jee was a product of many years of injustice meted out to the Sikhs
after 1947. And the ones who are saying that Sant jee was not popular
amongst Sikhs know nothing. Sant jee enjoyed (and still does) such
acceptance amongst Sikhs that no leader in 20th century did. He has
been voted by the Sikhs as the best Sikh of 20th century. Indra Gandhi
demonized him so that she could win elections.
Kulbir Singh
Toronto, Canada
Oct 11, 2009 11:38 PM
27 Seshadri,
>> fundamental right is to freely practice the relig of one's birth
Fundamental right is to freely practice the relig of one's birth as
well as to form ones own beliefs etc if one chooses to.
Kumar
Bangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 11:36 PM
26 Seshadri,
>> death of ravan, kamsa, bhindranwala, indira, rajiv, zia-ul-huq, benazir, ysr, ltte prabhakaran etc are of different kind. with the heavy flooding to follow, the ysr-evangs and bellary-reddies will definitely introspect, before they continue their old pursuits! even anwar may start wondering if there is a real God, independant of [and above] the church!
Your religiosity has not progressed beyond a very primitive stage. By
mixing up your petty hatreds with the acts of God you insult Hinduism
and all mature religions.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 11:27 PM
25 Seshadri,
>> fundamental right is .... to convert voluntarity, oneself, on philo-conviction;
Converting innocents, as church-pastors, by invectives and incentives,
to harvest souls for the church-pay, is a fndamental 'crime' only.
These are your word games. You are just not honest enough to admit
your bitter enmity to any dalits or tribals converting to
Christianity. That is why I said that you should have been a mullah in
Pakistan.
>> mom-earth will herself explode under the feet of the evil satraps of relig-proliferation, as has already started happening in indonesia.
So you think the earthquakes and tsunamis are all because the
Indonesians are Muslims? You are truly insane!
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 05:21 PM
24 ANWAAR says:
"Kindly watch: 1) The Power of Nightmares. 2)The Century Of Self.
I strongly endorse that."
Beware of anything ANWAAR endorses.
On this website, over and over again, he has gloatingly endorsed some
of the worst killers in history - the Afghan mujahedin. These savage
brutes murdered countless innocent folk, crushed their own women
mercilessly and treated Hindus and Sikhs as worse than lepers.
Such are the appalling charcters ANWAAR has endorsed, on this website.
Iqbal Z
Pune, India
Oct 11, 2009 05:20 PM
23 Pr/Ilaya:>>”Womanhood is discussed in terms of devotion to the
husband and cooking with purity and pollution in mind”.
Nothing wrong. Moms, chaste and hygienic, free of infections and
diseases, will mean whole family-tree growing in health and wisdom
only. My grandma knew more philo , culturally imbibed, not rote-
learnt, than I would ever know.
>>”In fact brahmanical culture eulogizes negative heroes and negative heroines”
Not at all. Ravans, thaaTakas, soorpanakhas, are condemned only. Only
the neocon-fool profs in American univs may appreciate Ilaya’s
writing. Even a school-kid hindu in India will conclude he is hate-
iyah only.
>>”Krishna who encourages one to kill one's own relative is a hero. Arjuna who killed his relatives is a hero”
Kr advised arjun to kill relatives only bec they aligned themselves
with the evil-incarnate duryodhan, now born as osama. Only after duryo
tried killing pandavs and mom in shell-lac home-fire, tried killing Kr
also! Obama is now determined to kill osama, only bec he caused
destruct of thousands of innocent lives lives, on 9/11. Kr is micro-
correct in judgements: Karna, denied throne despite being eldest
paandav, is now being allowed some enthronement as karunaa in TN these
days, for some time, before passing off.!
>>”In these narratives acquiring private property ( the whole of Mahabharatha is constructed around land becoming the private property of these minorities, ie, brahmins, baniyas and upper castes, who are not involved in production ) is idealized.”
Not at all. Rulers and traders were expected to finance, conduct
sacrifices, yagjnas, regularly, the primary object being only the
redistribution of accumulated wealths to the deserving poor, mostly
Bs , in those days, living in huts, on alms. [chinmayaananda was
explaining in India when kancha was sleeping in America: horses sent
around to collect surplus wealth, for distribution to poor, socialism
in raghu’s days, as per kalidaasa!].
Even in tamil, the Dravidian [anti-aaryan, as wrongly presented]
language, the wealthy landlord is called ‘yajamaan’, kancha must know,
meaning sacrifice-doer in sans. Even the tamil word for them is only
‘veLaaLan, veLviyil aaLbavan, ‘ruling in sacrifice for others’,
meaning the same. Perian will certify.
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 11, 2009 05:12 PM
22 PRABHU:
You have to be fair.
Major Hindu Gods are depicted as blue or black.
Hinduism has also incorporated countless Dravidian, tribal and Adivasi
forms of worship over the centuries. Hindu leaders have strongly
condemned casteism and tried hard to overcome it.
There is a hell of a long way to go, but the journey is well begun.
That's all I'm saying.
Iqbal Z
Pune, India
Oct 11, 2009 04:26 PM
21 I believe that Mrs.Indira Gandhi had no choice at the time she
ordered the raid on Golden temple.
USA and its chamcha Pakistan was ready to recognise Punjab as an
independant country if only terrorists inside could held out just for
another day.
Full cement concrete bunkers were built inside temple complex. The
immense loss of human lives could not have been avoided.
Anyone knows that situations shall be in the control of politicians
only until they order the army. Once Army moves in, there is no going
back, because army once on the move it should move. It can not
withdraw and accept a defeat just like police.
Police can withdraw ,take brickbats and heckles from general public
and yet can try again , but soldiers on the move are entirely
different.
Gen. Sunderji did not plan properly was more than obvious. Otherwise
so many hundreds of soldiers would not have died.
In the first place, in Indian conditions politicians should stop
thinking about a religious place as a very sacred one and they should
not delay in attacking a temple or Mosque or whatever. The delay would
bring about a "halo" around a temple or Mosque and make it a national
issue.
Police with dogs and boots shall enter the places where there are
terrorists and thrash them and throw them out.
In the case of Golden temple ,if Jarnail singh Bindranwale was kicked
around in the begening and thrown out, even Sikh villagers could have
kicked him arround. He had no mass following at all.
The delay made the issue a big issue and hundreds of terrorists joined
him inside the temple.
bowenpalle venuraja gopal rao.
warangal, india
Oct 11, 2009 04:21 PM
20 R_S:>>"Lets pray to Lord Venky to protect us from Chinese and
Islamic fundamentalist threats by blessing us".
Lord venky in pittsburgh has protected bush also in his white house on
9/11. He will protect all the basically good people all over the world
and force only the evils to drive themselves to death [as per karma]
in Bs, in OBCs, in shylockian jews, in churches, in talibanic moslems
and in chinese communism, also, even if we dont specifically pray for
it.
>>"Reducing Bahu-jan to Daughter in Laws"
only their own claim, as per meaning of the word bahu in hindi, you
might know. Sonia is rajiv's wife, indira's dtr-in-law.
>>"reflect both your myopia and skulduggery, and i am too small to cure you of either"
I am innocent of either. no need for cures.
>>"God Bless you if he exists".
I think He is in me, myself in Him also. could be my myopia, tho. He
only knows, if He exists. Even buddha, narayaNa Himself, would not
assert it, bec that itself implies ego, non-divine attitude.
but dont equate celebrity deaths, which create epochal changes, to
individual deaths. my sister also lost a kid in a train accident,
train continued its run!.
death of ravan, kamsa, bhindranwala, indira, rajiv, zia-ul-huq,
benazir, ysr, ltte prabhakaran etc are of different kind. with the
heavy flooding to follow, the ysr-evangs and bellary-reddies will
definitely introspect, before they continue their old pursuits! even
anwar may start wondering if there is a real God, independant of [and
above] the church!
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 11, 2009 04:11 PM
19 faruki
muslim countries refused to sign the un declaration of
human rights. you remain silent about this.
in afghanistan a convert to christianity was sentenced to death by the
supreme court. conversion is happening
in india, and no one gets a death sentence for this.
it all points out to one thing- you expect higher
standards from hindus and nonmuslims. you accept in
silence that your own community is medieval and barbaric in thinking
and practice.
i would like you to answer this rationally and honestly
for a change.
muslims and others communities have frequently taken
over public property for their own purposes. modi has
demolished hundreds of temples in such areas. why should muslims not
accept the same practice.
muslims are backward enough on their own. they should not be allowed
to block development, which is aimed
at the public good-
in saudi arabia the house where the prophet lived was
levelled and made into a parking space, and a super
market- did even one muslim in india complain about this. ofcource
not-
gayatri devi
delhi, India
Oct 11, 2009 04:05 PM
18 >>>"The hindus morality is just the opposite of the dalitbahujans
living morality.
B Prabhu
Mangalore, India"<<<<
This perverted philosophy of Kanche Ilaiah is well known and can
attract immature teanagers or pseudo intellects.
He is perverted ,that is very clear. I met Mr.Ilaiah once in
Hyderabad ,long back.
Lord krishna is not hero just because he encouraged Arjuna to
fight.Any one with commonsense can tell you that. But commonsense is
very uncommon.
Lord krishna is chanted,all over India for hundreds of thousands of
years he was revered as God and his Gita has been a tremedous
influence on people at large has been bacause of Krishna's essence of
teaching the "love" (leela) and theory of "Karma" and ultimate aim of
human beings to achieve merger in to God "Mukthi" (salvation).
Lord Krishna's philosophy (preaching) differs from Lord Mahavira
(jains) or Lord Buddha ,in that Lord Krishna is very much nearer to
the essence of human nature and its advocation of various paths
including that of Bhakti (devotion) to reach God .
Whearas other religions are totally ignorant or silent of "cycle of
births" or Karma ( fate) ,Buddha and Mahavira(an atheist) accepted
"Karma" but stayed away from or could not speak of various paths
available to merge unto God, to end the cycle of births.
Lord Krishna is loved ,admired for his rasa leela a symbolic striving
of a "jeeva atman" (soul) to reach "paramatman"(super soul or God).
Likewise Lord Ram worshipped for his determination and sacrifice to
end devils from all walks of life. And not because he wears a bow and
arrow.
Kanche Ilaiah writes so much about Hindu Gods "...armed to the teeth"
and writes about having meals with Muslims and Harijans as greatest
event ever to be achieved etc.,
If you keep your commonsense around and start reading what Kanche
Iilaiah writes , you would begin to perceive that Mr.Ilaiah is the
most foolish person ,you may had ever come across.
bowenpalle venuraja gopal rao.
warangal, india
Oct 11, 2009 03:28 PM
17 A:>>"fundamental individual right guarantted by the Constitution"
fundamental right is to freely practice the relig of one's birth, not
to call others pagans or infidels; to convert voluntarity, oneself, on
philo-conviction; converting innocents, as church-pastors, by
invectives and incentives, to harvest souls for the church-pay, for
prospective funeral incomes [requiring heavy insurance by even poor
souls!], is a fndamental 'crime' only. the corrupt courts benched by
dinakaran types might let you off, but the court of the last will send
you to hell. mom-earth will herself explode under the feet of the evil
satraps of relig-proliferation, as has already started happening in
indonesia [= hindoonaam-aaSraya], being deprived of all hinduism,
except in the names of the people! .
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 11, 2009 01:02 PM
16 >> Kindly watch: 1) The Power of Nightmares. 2)The Century Of
Self.
I strongly endorse that.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 12:43 PM
15 Dear Ajaya,
Being Punjabi I'm sorry for what you have been going through coz of
that inexcusable episode.As a kid i used to carry a small knife to
protect my elder sister and i can empathize with you.I have a small
request and want you to consider.
Sikhism holds women in high esteem and those how insulted your sister
and those who defended them were noway being sikhs.Mob mentality can
never be rational,how can it be religious? They might have assumed
that they were being sikhs by attempting that outrageous act on a
hindu girl like their ancestors(both hindus and sikhs) who raped and
killed muslim women during partition-thinking as they were discharging
religious obligation.Muslims did the same to us. After partition mobs
(hindu and muslim) repeated their act in 84 and lets not forget
2002.Mobs have to be Insane/Irrational herds of maruaders and rapists
and only their religion changes but not the violence/cruelty/
consequences.
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from
religious conviction.
-Pascal.
Now regarding terrorism i would suggest read something about geo
political forces and move beyound the prism of Indo-Pak(hindu -muslim)
rivalry.This H4H virus probably would ..... .To remind you that world
wars were given to us by Europeans(Christians) and 65million died only
in ww2 ,that doesn't make west any less violent- your current abode.I
won't blame Christianity for it may be those engaged professed it.
Kindly watch:
1) The Power of Nightmares.
2)The Century Of Self
God Bless you if he exists
rupisingh
chandigarh, India
Oct 11, 2009 11:33 AM
14 Mr Seshadri,
'But words don’t tell lies!' is a convenient charade you are trying to
create as words by and large are more powerfully used to obfuscate
reality. As regards your skewed logic of ysr being punished by way of
an accident, i just need to remind you that 300 Indians die every day
due to road crashes and about 50% of them are Vulnerable Road User's
(cyclists,pedestrians etc) who mostly bear the major brunt of a road
crash.May be you can explain these suffering due to their karma as you
can the plight of oppressed classes.
I don't ever wish that some one known to you ever become victim to a
road crash as we all are vulnerable(even in car to someone -like Sahib
Singh verma,Giani Zail Singh etc died) as crashes are causative in
nature and not manifestation of some divine justice.Further, Lets pray
to Lord Venky to protect us from Chinese and Islamic fundamentalist
threats by blessing us.Reducing Bahu-jan to Daughter in Laws reflect
both your myopia and skulduggery and i am too small to cure you of
either.
Gob Bless you if he exists.
rupisingh
chandigarh, India
Oct 11, 2009 11:25 AM
13 I am a Hindu, who was living in Punjab ten years before Operation
blue star. I was escorting my sister and her friend about 200 yards
from my ancestrol home. Some Sikhs tried to assulate my sister and
when I defended, I was beaten up. A crowd collected but Sikhs in the
crowd protected the attacker and helped them flee.
I was lucky. I was not killed and my sister was not molested. But
thousands of Hindus traveling in buses were not so lucky. It is a
shame that media, including outlook, talks about Sikh victims of mob
violance but accepts the monsterity when victim is a Hindu. Be it bus
travelers in Punjab, Pundits in Kashmir or burnt alive in a train in
Godhara. It seems that there is even a glee, when "intellectuals"
declare that "Azadi should be given". Seeds of Operation bluestar were
put when "Gurudwaras" were used to spread hatered for Hindus. This
virus H4H is a bigger killer than HIV in subcontinent. It has a simple
cure. Speak up. DO NOT ACCEPT THAT PREACHING HATERED BY PULPIT
MASTERS. H4H is the main reason that neighbors can not find any proof
of Bombay Massacre.
I found it disgusting that supporters of terror against Hindus are
enshrined in holy (?) temple. Making shrine for terror supporters is a
far bigger descreation than thousand bluestars.
Ajaya Dutt
Anaheim, United States
Oct 11, 2009 11:25 AM
12 I am a Hindu, who was living in Punjab ten years before Operation
blue star. I was escorting my sister and her friend about 200 yards
from my ancestrol home. Some Sikhs tried to assulate my sister and
when I defended, I was beaten up. A crowd collected but Sikhs in the
crowd protected the attacker and helped them flee.
I was lucky. I was not killed and my sister was not molested. But
thousands of Hindus traveling in buses were not so lucky. It is a
shame that media, including outlook, talks about Sikh victims of mob
violance but accepts the monsterity when victim is a Hindu. Be it bus
travelers in Punjab, Pundits in Kashmir or burnt alive in a train in
Godhara. It seems that there is even a glee, when "intellectuals"
declare that "Azadi should be given". Seeds of Operation bluestar were
put when "Gurudwaras" were used to spread hatered for Hindus. This
virus H4H is a bigger killer than HIV in subcontinent. It has a simple
cure. Speak up. DO NOT ACCEPT THAT PREACHING HATERED BY PULPIT
MASTERS. H4H is the main reason that neighbors can not find any proof
of Bombay Massacre.
I found it disgusting that supporters of terror against Hindus are
enshrined in holy (?) temple. Making shrine for terror supporters is a
far bigger descreation than thousand bluestars.
Ajaya Dutt
Anaheim, United States
Oct 11, 2009 11:11 AM
11 In India it is always easy to find fault with the Hindus.But only a
balanced view will show that they are not that bad afterall.The
Hindus' most revered Gods,Rama,Krishna or Shiva were all black,blue-
black,in colour and not projected as fair skinned Aryans.Compare this
with Christianity,where Jesus Christ is always projected as a fair
skinned European,whereas in reality, being an Asian,he could well have
been brown or black.
Further,Krishna was a cowherd,Yadava by caste,Rama a Kshatriya,and
Shiva living in cremation ground.None a Brahmin.All our stories begin
with 'Once there was a poor Brahmin'Either in history or in
mythology,you would find Brahmins projected as a rich community.That
they coveted education is another matter.
S.S.Nagaraj
Bangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 11:09 AM
10 Seshadri,
>> Those, who try to convert mom-ind as a burial ground for the churches, will only get buried in controversy before final extinction.
Your obsession with conversions is an insult to a fundamental
individual right guarantted by the Constitution and by the UN Charter
of Human Rights. You should have been a mullah in Pakistan.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 09:50 AM
9 Morality Of The Hindus And The Dalitbahujans ( continuation )
Those who say that all of us are Hindus must tell us which morality is
Hindu morality ? Which values do they want to uphold as right values ?
The ' upper ' caste Hindu unequal and inhuman cultured values or our
cultural values ? What is the ideal of society today ? What should we
teach the children of today ? Shall we teach them what has been taught
by the Hindus or what the Dalitbahujan masses of this country want to
learn ? Who makes an ideal teacher ? Who becomes a good hero ? One who
produces varieties of crops, one who faces lions and tigers or one who
kills the relatives and friends, simply because what ' upper ' caste
think is DHARMA and what others think is ADHARMA ? We must begin by
creating our history and we must end by changing this very social
fabric.
( the above are excerpts from the best selling book " Why I Am Not A
Hindu " translated in many languages including the European ones
written by Dr Kancha Ilaiah )
B Prabhu
Mangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 09:25 AM
8 PR/Ilaya:>>”Let us examine the term ' Hindu ' which the RSS members
keep repeatedly mentioning again and again in website discussions to
hoodwink the Dalitbahujans.”
The hoodwinking is entirely from the church-folk only. The current
‘dalits’ have now fully understood their real enemies have always been
only the ‘obcs’, who pushed them as Bs outside villages and temples in
collude with Moslems, earlier, have now become obc-convs and convert
dalits to sit at their feet in church-congregations!. The spirit of
kaarta-veerya seems to be still operating against the spirit of
jamadagni, in unquenched anger for kartha-kill by paraSuraama! Evil
will die off, eventually!
>>”In Brahmin waadas and families, narratives about heroes and heroines do not exist within a human context. This is because brahmin life is alienated from the kind of socioeconomic environment in which a real hero or a heroine can be constructed. Their social settings are the reading of SLOKAS or mantras with proficiency”
This fool is simply equating what the pastors do in his churches,
reading the bible to the parish, [lay-chr, laid-down, not to read
bible themselves!], the clergical priestocracy, with the rishi-
samscaara among aarya-vartins. The rishis only stayed apart for medit,
in forest hermitages, living on free-fall fruits, advising those who
come for learnings, accepting some alms from them also. They were not
exploiting society, only blessing it with God-entunements.
>>”. The greatest achievement is learning the whole of the RAMAYANA or the MAHABHARATHA or the BHAGVAD GITA by heart”
Yes, to remind oneself always that satyuam eva jayate, truth,
goodness, alone triumphs in the end, against all evil machinations.
Now, of couse, Ilaya’s church-funds are financing hundreds of tv-
serials in all langs of the country to show, very systematically, that
devout hindus worshipping hindu temples will only face devastations,
immediately!. Good people are ignoring such serials, watch only
musicals, instead!
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 11, 2009 09:00 AM
7 Morality Of The Hindus And The Dalitbahujans ( continuation )
Those who say that all of us are Hindus must tell us which morality is
Hindu morality ? Which values do they want to uphold as right values ?
The ' upper ' caste Hindu unequal and inhuman cultured values or our
cultural values ? What is the ideal of society today ? What should we
teach the children of today ? Shall we teach them what has been taught
by the Hindus or what the Dalitbahujan masses of this country want to
learn ? Who makes an ideal teacher ? Who becomes a good hero ? One who
produces varieties of crops, one who faces lions and tigers or one who
kills the relatives and friends, simply because what ' upper ' caste
think is DHARMA and what others think is ADHARMA ? We must begin by
creating our history and we must end by changing this very social
fabric.
( the above are excerpts from the best selling book " Why I Am Not A
Hindu " translated in many languages including the European ones
written by Dr Kancha Ilaiah )
B Prabhu
Mangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 08:52 AM
6 Pr/Ilaya:>>”It is important to know that the term ' Hindus ' refer's
only to the brahmins, baniyas and the upper castes;”
The term ‘hindu’ stands for people east of sindh river , of sapta-
sindhu-aarya-varta. Concocters of history for the church should be
sent down to the antarctica garden of eden.
The neocon-fools financing such publications should learn lessons from
what happened to ysr’s tricks on tirumala. Venkateswara, now
established in Pittsburgh, Arora, also, has been blessing America
also. Obama from Chicago gets nobel-peace prize! The G-20 meet at
Pittsburgh has brought some sanity and unity to world-economy as a
whole. It must be understood that the fourth terror-plane on 9/11
directed on the white house/capitol hill got diverted to hit ground in
Pennsylvania itself, only bec of the grace of lord venky in
Pittsburgh, otherwise, Bush might not have even lived to send his
Saudi friends back to Riyadh before grounding all planes in usa!
Instead of thanking the Lord behind all religs, for kind
interventions, the conversion of tirumala and whole AP was attempted
thro ysr!. A small wag of T-hill terminated him!. Similar fate only
awaits ilaya, prabhu and antony-anwaar also..
>>”whereas the term ' Dalitbahujans ' refer's to the dalits, tribals and obcs.”
even maayaavati who believed in such joined-word concoctions, starting
her bahujan samaj party for dalits only, has corrected herself, now.!
Pre-moghul dalits, anti-sanaatan para-aaryas gladly embraced islam,
after ksh were killed, VySy fled, obcs joined nawab-service! Only Bs
cast out as new dalits. Ilaya itself only B denying B-hood, illai-
aiya, to save his head from obc-mosl and now operates as a church-
man!
But words don’t tell lies! In a way, bahu-jan also means the 'dtr-in-
law’s people, which is right, these days, those lined up with Sonia,
who claims power as the 'dtr-in-law of India'! But, instead of
bringing stree-dhan into her new land, her cohort anti-justice-
dinakaran is cornering off hundreds of acres of govt land in TN for
himself and the church, for future use as burial grounds for the
future!.
Those, who try to convert mom-ind as a burial ground for the churches,
will only get buried in controversy before final extinction. Jesus
will give them micro-correct punishments!.
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 11, 2009 07:43 AM
5 PRABHU:
It is important to know that the Christian Bible is all about Jews,
and Jesus did not even intend to extend his teachings to non-Jews. So
non-Jewish Christians are mere dupes, by your standard, of a Jewish
cult.
It is important to know that Islam was entirely fabricated by Arabs in
Arabic, and this foreign language is the sole recognised one for the
Koran. So non-Arab Muslims are dupes of an Arab cult.
Iqbal Z
Pune, India
Oct 11, 2009 06:29 AM
4 It is important to know that the term ' Hindus ' refer's only to the
brahmins, baniyas and the upper castes; whereas the term '
Dalitbahujans ' refer's to the dalits, tribals and obcs.
Let us examine the term ' Hindu ' which the RSS members keep
repeatedly mentioning again and again in website discussions to
hoodwink the Dalitbahujans.
In Brahmin waadas and families, narratives about heroes and heroines
do not exist within a human context. This is because brahmin life is
alienated from the kind of socioeconomic environment in which a real
hero or a heroine can be constructed. Their social settings are the
reading of SLOKAS or mantras with proficiency. The greatest
achievement is learning the whole of the RAMAYANA or the MAHABHARATHA
or the BHAGVAD GITA by heart. Womanhood is discussed in terms of
devotion to the husband and cooking with purity and pollution in mind.
In fact brahmanical culture eulogizes negative heroes and negative
heroines. For example, Krishna who encourages one to kill one's own
relative is a hero. Arjuna who killed his relatives is a hero. In
these narratives acquiring private property ( the whole of
Mahabharatha is constructed around land becoming the private property
of these minorities, ie, brahmins, baniyas and upper castes, who are
not involved in production ) is idealized.
In ` Sudra ` waadas it is just the opposite. There are a number of
real life situations from where ideal heroes and heroines emerge.
Their daily working interactions with nature provides the scope for
their formation. One who kills relatives, for whatever reasons, and
one who encourages killing is not a God but a devil worth condemning.
A Pochamma did not become our heroine because she killed somebody, a
Kattamaisamma did not become our hero because he killed somebody. They
becamae our heroines and our heroes because they saved us from
diseases or from hunger and so on. The hindus morality is just the
opposite of the dalitbahujans living morality.
( the above are excerpts from the best selling book, translated in
many languages, including european one`s - ` Why I Am Not A Hindu ` by
Dr Kancha Ilaiah )
B Prabhu
Mangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 01:03 AM
3 Nagaraj:
You are quite right no-one in the media seems to care a hoot about the
killings of Hindus in India.
But most of these media people are Hindus....
So if Hindus cannot make a noise about the atrocities suffered by
their own people, you cannot expect the rest of the world to care.
Hindus are too passive. That is their basic curse.
Iqbal Z
Pune, India
Oct 10, 2009 06:42 PM
2 Mr Nagaraj,
Militancy in Punjab killed both Sikhs and Hindus and i feel sorry for
all those who lost father, mother, brother,sister or relative/
friend.Punjab lost decades and generations as militancy touched each
and every Punjabi and i'm not an apologist for any politician.The
trouble started when Politicians stroked communal passion and were
greatly aided by arm chair communalist like you.I know politics is
last refuge of scoundrels but bedfellows like you help them reproduce
and nurture hatred.What detailed account you want to read? If you were
genuinely concerned you could have come to Punjab and studied plight
of victims and i bet the misery that unfolded on people wouldn't have
had made distinction on religious basis.I know you lack the ability to
shed away your majority syndrome and that makes me feel insecure about
my kids future.God Bless you if he exist.
rupisingh
chandigarh, India
Oct 10, 2009 05:41 PM
1 There are a plethora of articles over the years,on anti-Sikh riots,
1984,and Operation Bluestar.But i have yet to read a detailed account
on the massacre of innocent Hindus of Punjab for over two long
years.It is estimated that over 40,000 people,mostly Hindus, were
killed by Bindranwale's murderous gangs.Killing of Hindus in India is
always glossed over,whether it is in Punjab or in the North-East.
S.S.Nagaraj
Bangalore, India
chhotemianinshallah
National / Essays Magazine | Oct 19, 2009
(Image copyright The Singh Twins; www.singhtwins.co.uk)
Nineteen eighty-four (The Storming of the Golden Temple) A 1998
painting in the miniature tradition by London-born twin sisters Amrit
and Rabindra Singh
essay
The Axis Year
When India was closest to being a non-functioning anarchy
Ramachandra Guha
In the aftermath of the Second World War, a writer born in the Bihar
town of Motihari published a dystopian novel predicting the victory of
totalitarianism in the West. This envisaged an all-powerful state that
would take over all aspects of a citizen’s life, regulating what he
(or she) could—and could not—think, eat, speak, etc. The book’s title
simply inverted the last two numbers of the year in which it was
written.
When 1984 finally did arrive, it was not an especially bad year for
the countries that George Orwell had in mind. The economy of his own
homeland, England, was on the mend, while victory in the Falklands War
had given rise to a renewed sense of national pride. As for the two
superpowers, the United States was not, in 1984, involved in a major
war, this a rather exceptional occurrence in its conflict-ridden
history. Meanwhile, with the death of the ogre Leonid Brezhnev, the
USSR had finally begun to allow its citizens to breathe. The stage was
being set for the ascendancy of Mikhail Gorbachev and his policies of
perestroika and glasnost. Thus, contrary to Orwell’s forecast, in
1984, the Western democracies were as robust as ever, while the
totalitarian Soviet Union was for the first time acquiring a
democratic veneer.
In the country of Orwell’s birth, however, the year made famous by the
title of his novel was anything but placid or even-paced. Marked by
instability and conflict, by assassination and mass murder, it was in
1984 that the Republic of India came closest to being, as it were, a
non-functioning anarchy.
In the early months of 1984, there was disquiet in the Kashmir Valley
and in Nagaland. These were old trouble spots; far more worrying was
the growth of separatist sentiments in the Punjab. The Sikhs had long
been considered to be an integral part of the Indian nation. They
played a key role in the agrarian economy and in the armed forces.
They were well represented in the professions, and in sports—there
were more Sikh Olympians than from all other communities combined.
That a section of Sikhs would want to carve out a separate state was
a surprise. That they would do so with Pak help was a shock.
That a section of the Sikhs would now want to carve out a future
distinct from that of India was a surprise. That they would seek to do
so with the help of Pakistan was a shock. For the Sikhs had been the
main victims of Partition; following which they were thrown out of the
canal colonies they had built, and kept away from their sacred
shrines, which were now (with one striking exception) on the wrong
side of the border. Indeed, in 1946 and 1947, the Punjabi Muslim and
the Punjabi Sikh had been at each other’s throats. Three-and-a-half
decades later, they had become unlikely allies, as the wily ruler of
Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, began aiding the Khalistani militants with
money, arms, and not least, safe havens. (A waggish friend of mine
joked that once Zia saw the putative map of Khalistan the support
would stop—for this included a corridor to Karachi, as the new nation
would not be secure without access to the sea.)
The rise of Sikh separatism was the product of several factors—among
them the cynicism of the Congress, which had initially propped up the
extremists as a counterweight to their old rivals, the Akalis; the
pusillanimity of the Akalis themselves, who allowed their flock to be
captured by bigots; and the messianic leadership of Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale, who thought that with God on their side the Khalistanis
would certainly vanquish the Indian state.
October 31, 1984: Operation Bluestar’s gory after-effects
As the Khalistan movement grew, and as it manifested itself in
periodic killings of Hindus or ‘renegade’ Sikhs, the prime minister of
India increasingly recast herself as the defender of the faith of the
majority. Reared in a robustly secular, not to say irreligious,
household, in the years 1983 and 1984, Indira Gandhi began to be seen
quite frequently in the vicinity of temples. Perhaps the behaviour was
a product merely of Anno Domini—after all, even atheists are known to
get spiritual as they enter their sixties. More likely, it was a move
dictated by political expediency—namely, the need to secure the
prospects of the Congress party in the next general elections. For
what Mrs Gandhi feared above all was a repeat of 1977, when she lost
her prime ministership, and even her seat in Parliament, at the hands
of a combined Opposition.
Sensing the vulnerability of the ruling party, Opposition leaders were
once more seeking to present a united front at the next elections.
Guiding the process of coalition-building was the chief minister of
Andhra Pradesh, the former film star N.T. Rama Rao. A famous (or at
least well-paid) astrologer had predicted that the next ruler of India
would be an ardhanareeshwari, half-man, half-woman. The rumour gained
ground that NTR had taken to draping himself in a saffron sari at
night.
Bluestar’s most telling comment came from a Sikh general: “The army
was used to finish a problem created by the government.”
The Janata coalition of 1977-80 was remembered by the Indian public as
notoriously weak and fractious. Judging that before the elections the
voter would like to see an authoritative alternative, Mrs Gandhi chose
finally to act against the Khalistani separatists. In the first week
of June 1984, the Indian army was sent into the Golden Temple, where
it was met with determined resistance by Bhindranwale’s men. It took
the better part of two days for the army to prevail. Estimates of
deaths in the battle varied from 600 to upwards of 5,000. More
damaging than the lives lost was the destruction of the Akal Takht,
the venerable old building that had traditionally represented the seat
of Sikh temporal power.
The most telling comment on Operation Bluestar came from a highly
decorated Sikh general, J.S. Aurora, the hero of the liberation of
Bangladesh in 1971: “The army was used to finish a problem created by
the government.” In truth, the problem had not been finished, but
merely displaced. Sikh radicals now identified the prime minister as
the chief architect of the attack on their temple. They got to work on
members of her security staff, two of whom, Beant Singh and Satwant
Singh, gunned down Indira Gandhi as she walked from her home to her
office on the morning of October 31, 1984.
When Mahatma Gandhi was murdered in the year Orwell wrote his novel,
he was a private citizen. Since then, three heads of government in
South Asia had been assassinated—Pakistan’s Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951,
Ceylon’s S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in 1959, and Bangladesh’s Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman in 1975. It is no disrespect to these leaders to say
that Mrs Gandhi’s murder was the most shocking of all—because India
was reckoned to be a more stable (or perhaps less unstable) nation,
because it was by far the largest country in the region, and because,
for good or for ill, Mrs Gandhi’s place in the history of the world
was more weighty than that of those other prime ministers.
The impact of the assassination was magnified many times by the
directed pogrom that followed. For two whole days, mobs led by
Congressmen ran riot in the Sikh colonies of Delhi, burning, looting,
raping, murdering. Sikhs in other towns and cities of northern India
were also targeted. The home minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, was
paralysed by inaction, giving us a foretaste of how he was to behave
when the Babri Masjid was demolished eight years later. Meanwhile, the
new prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, merely commented that when a big
tree falls, the earth shakes.
In ensuring that none of Calcutta’s 50,000 Sikhs was harmed, Marxist
Jyoti Basu proved more Gandhian than the Congressmen in Delhi.
Were this a whole book rather than a mere article, it would have dealt
at some length with that year’s other good and bad things. It was in
1984, for instance, that a Bollywood star first successfully contested
a Lok Sabha election, and it was also in 1984 that India’s greatest
all-rounder was dropped from the Test team for reasons that had
nothing to do with cricket. But it is not merely for reasons of space
that I have chosen to focus mostly on politics. At the time, as well
as in retrospect, the year 1984 was defined by four traumatic events.
Three were directly connected to the conflict in Punjab—namely, the
storming of the Golden Temple, the assassination of Indira Gandhi and
the attacks on innocent Sikhs. The final event in this melancholy
quartet took place on the night of December 2-3, 1984, when a gas leak
in a factory owned by Union Carbide in Bhopal killed more than 2,000
people and maimed many thousand others.
In that horrible year, there were very many villains, but also one
authentic hero. This was the chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti
Basu. In the city of Calcutta, there dwelt some 50,000 turban-wearing
Sikhs, many of them driving taxis. Their dress and their profession
made them deeply vulnerable, yet the state administration made sure
that practically none was harmed. The lead was taken by the chief
minister, who, as a young politician and first-time MLA, had marvelled
at how Mahatma Gandhi had brought peace between Hindus and Muslims in
the even darker days of 1947. In acting as he did, this life-long
Marxist was being authentically Gandhian—more so than the Congressmen
in New Delhi who swore by Gandhi, far more so than the chief minister
of Gandhi’s home state of Gujarat in 2002, who, faced with a
comparable situation, allowed the police to look on as mobs massacred
innocents.
A younger Jyotibabu One genuine hero in a year with many villains
The twelvemonth ended as it had begun: dreadfully. And 1985 was an
altogether better year. The tasteless remark following his mother’s
death behind him, the young prime minister embarked on a series of
bold initiatives. One peace accord was forged with the Sikhs; another
with the Assam students, who were campaigning against the illegal
immigration into their province of job-seekers from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, in a stirring speech at the centenary celebrations of the
Indian National Congress, Rajiv Gandhi promised to rid the party of
sycophants, time-servers and power-brokers.
However—as is not unusual in the politics of our country—this proved
to be a false dawn. In 1986, the passing of the Muslim Women’s Bill
put paid to the chances of progressive reform among India’s largest
minority. And 1987 was marked by the Bofors scandal, 1988 by a
deepening fiscal crisis, 1989 by the sharpening of the Hindu-Muslim
divide through the Ayodhya movement. Those were bad years, but still
not as bad as 1984, which might very well have been the worst year in
the history of the Indian Republic.
Twenty-five years after the anti-Sikh riots, the perpetrators have not
yet been punished. Twenty-five years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the
victims and their families have still not been adequately compensated.
In these and other respects, the events and personalities of 1984
continue to cast a baleful shadow over the politics and culture of
contemporary India.
(Ramachandra Guha is the author of India After Gandhi. He can be
contacted at
ramachandraguha AT yahoo DOT in.)
Oct 13, 2009 05:38 PM
24 Kumar said:
"It is the other way round. The 1984 sikh riots etc is brought up
solely as a derailing point to side step all the thousands of communal
deeds, extremism, violence, hate-speeches etc of the organization that
you support."
Liar. Show evidence of my support to "communal ... etc".
This is the essay/edition about Rajiv legacy. YOU brought in trojan
horse distractions. Stick to the topic. Talk about RG and Sonia.
Malavika
san jose, United States
Oct 13, 2009 02:10 PM
23 kumar
you are saying the obvious-
you repeat it every day- every few hours.
no one is for violence, or against human rights.
my only suggestion is for you to take your message
to those who need it most.
send us a card from kabul- now be a good chap and stop boreing every
one to despair. you have not discovered
anything new-
gayatri devi
delhi, India
Oct 13, 2009 01:25 PM
22 Malavika,
>> When confronted with the evil deeds of Rajiv, the Nehruvian fascits immediately bring in the 'Hindutva Trojan horse' to derail the discussion
It is the other way round. The 1984 sikh riots etc is brought up
solely as a derailing point to side step all the thousands of communal
deeds, extremism, violence, hate-speeches etc of the organization that
you support. I have never defended any evil deeds regardless of party,
religion etc. Show me which evil deed I defended.
>> What do you say about Rajiv, his role in anti sikh riots, his IPKF fiasco and his corruption?
I criticized his silence and insensitive comment in the context of
anti-sikh riots. I mince no words in condemning those who indulged in
it. "IPKF fiasco" was a decision taken by govt. which did not go well.
As for corruption, it is not established, but if he did indulge in it,
it is condemnable like the corruption any other politician.
>> What about condemning his window 'Saint Sonia' for rehabilitating butcher of Delhi?
Again, not established, but more than that, the man can apologize,
condemn, reach out, swear against it etc. He was eventually dropped
anyway. Compare that to opposite camp for whom communal instigation,
hate-speeches etc is a normal ritual.
>> What should your support for Rajiv,Sonia inferred as?
An alternative that asserts and proclaims the secular democratic
principles as compared to the RSS/VHP/Bajrangdal/BJP etc. But where
they do wrong, they have to condemned as well.
>> You ain't fooling anyone with your feigned human rights concerns
Worry about why you do not have such concerns as human rights/justice/
freedom etc. If you have, show it by expressing it and condemning the
violators of rights/justice/freedom etc.
Kumar
Bangalore, India
Oct 13, 2009 12:45 PM
21 Kumar from Bangalore, India said:
"Good that you recognize that statement as wrong. The violent hindutva
extremists that you support make thousands of such statements (and
often followup with deeds/riots etc) as a full time profession.
Good that you recognize that statement as wrong. The violent hindutva
extremists that you support make thousands of such statements (and
often followup with deeds/riots etc) as a full time profession."
When confronted with the evil deeds of Rajiv, the Nehruvian fascits
immediately bring in the 'Hindutva Trojan horse' to derail the
discussion.
What do you say about Rajiv, his role in anti sikh riots, his IPKF
fiasco and his corruption?
What about condemning his window 'Saint Sonia' for rehabilitating
butcher of Delhi?
What should your support for Rajiv,Sonia inferred as?
You ain't fooling anyone with your feigned human rights concerns.
Malavika
san jose, United States
Oct 12, 2009 07:38 AM
20 It becomes obvious that Mr Ramschandra Guha has not travelled to
the interiors of Haryana, Punjab or Rajasthan. Then he would not say
that 1984 was the year in which we were closest to becoming a non-
functioning anarchy. Had your writer travelled to the villages, he
might have written that we are still a non-functioning anarchy in
which panchayats issue verdicts and we kill young couples and girls in
the womb, to speak nothing of lack of basic facilities. The essay was
one sided and written from an urban point of view.
Dinesh Kumar
Chandigarh, India
Oct 12, 2009 04:05 AM
19 Given this perspective of India, when it was going through changes,
one wonders how well we are now. I remember how people used to talk
about Sikhs, not any specific person, but across the board when I was
a kid. In retrospect, I am ashamed of how this problem happened. A
problem of a slightly different nature happened with the Muslims. I
guess that like every country, we are slowly learning to treat our
minorities properly.
I have another question for all here. Sure, we are doing well
economically, however are we doing well in other respects? Will we
remain as one country, or change in any way? People suggested at some
time that India might become like the EU, united in economy and in
some basic laws, but separate in others. Not that I am recommending
this, but do any of you feel strongly about this (for or against, mind
you).
Prakash
San Francisco, United States
Oct 11, 2009 07:38 PM
18 SS Nagaraj,
>> this fellow made that most idiotic statement'That when a big tree falls,the earth shakes
Good that you recognize that statement as wrong. The violent hindutva
extremists that you support make thousands of such statements (and
often followup with deeds/riots etc) as a full time profession.
Kumar
Bangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 07:17 PM
17 Anti-Sikh riots took place almost wholly in Delhi,and becauseit was
organised by Rajiv Gandhi and his goons.And this fellow made that most
idiotic statement'That when a big tree falls,the earth shakes'Apart
from Kanpur,no other major city had any anti-Sikh riots and Ramachndra
Guha giving credit to Jyothi Basu is laughable.The docile Bengali
would not have reacted,whosoever was the CM then.
S.S.Nagaraj
Bangalore, India
Oct 11, 2009 04:32 PM
16 Vandana Shiva's take on this 1984.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flpFnfK_3Yo
The most fortunate thing was to have a analyst like Vandana Shiva. She
has written a book on " The Violence of Green Revolution" Very
critically analysed why the problem started. Having background in
science and in physics helps one to be more analytical , with
numerical data. She has written plenty of bks and has been invited all
over the world to speak on these aspects. Guha , Arundhati Roy should
learn from her. I have seen her books in libraries all over the world.
She gives solutions also for the problems. http://www.navdanya.org/.
Her work on organic farming has support from scientific studies vis a
vis high intensity agriculture (HIA) , which made a lot of land
infertile ( HIA) and led to 1984.
gajanan
Sydney, Australia
Oct 11, 2009 01:26 PM
15 >: “The army was used to finish a problem created by the
government.”
That's usually the case. The politicians creates the mess in first
place & then leaves it to the armed forces to clear up.
MANISH BANERJEE
KOLKATA, India
Oct 11, 2009 10:53 AM
14 Clearly, the Anti-Sikh riots was one of the most terrible massacres
India experienced post-independence. But if you compare 1984 v.2002
truth shall be established in who is more communal. Besides, our very
own Kushwant Singh has on record credited members of the RSS with
helping and protecting Sikhs who were being targeted by members of the
Congress party during the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots. I find no mention of
this anywhere in this 1984 riots special edition. Do take note. Mr
Jyoti Basu was perhaps sleeping when the Hindu massacring took place
after the Babri Demolition and Guha I am sure neither has a real
account of what he is stating nor does he know that Mr Basu didn't act
like the 'Gandhian' post the Babri demolition for protecting Hindus.
Aneesh
Hyderabad, India
Oct 11, 2009 08:45 AM
13 >In that horrible year, there were very many villains, but also one
authentic hero. This was the chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti
Basu.
Ramachandra Guha is one joker whose jokes are irritating than
amusing.
By what was the need for one more copy/paste job of history or
histerics?
MANISH BANERJEE
KOLKATA, India
Oct 11, 2009 01:49 AM
12 Seshadri,
>> Didnt expect this from anthony. if there is a conflict of interest with his relig, church, he should ask for a change of his ministry.
The conflict is in your mind. Questioning people's patriotism has
become your full time occupation.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 01:37 AM
11 A good cross-section of history. The mid-1980's were momentous
years, but the two outstanding events were the severe reverses that
the mighty Soviet Army suffered at the hands of the mujahideens of
Afghanistan, leading eventually to the collapse of the Soviet Union,
and the Sikh insurrection followed by the assassination of Indira
Gandhi and the wanton massacre of innocent Sikhs. The decade ended
with the fall of the Berlin Wall and Advani's provocative rath yatra.
We have to take the good with the bad1
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 01:14 AM
10 A:>>"Questioning somebody's patriotism just because he is a
Christian is truly despicable".
Only sad to point it out. Didnt expect this from anthony. if there is
a conflict of interest with his relig, church, he should ask for a
change of his ministry.
the mode of your intervention is even more despicable, proving once
again, that you are also only a crypto-chr, really, despising only
mullas and sanghis equally!.
The country's integrity and sovereignty are more important than the
observance of the constitutional provision of 'internal security being
a state subject'. In USA, even more federal than india, the president
can take over the police of an entire state, when national interests
require it. Anthony and chidambaram saying there is no solution to the
mao-nax problem, is even more despicable. May God save mother India!
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 11, 2009 01:03 AM
9 Seshadri,
>> state govts should ensure that they are preferentially integrated into the development strategy
Disagree. Government's record is too poor and are unworthy for more
trust. Its machinery are recognized no less than colonists.
Let welfare officials, school teachers etc to be drawn from the
tribals themselves and mange their affairs themselves. Government
should provide money only.
>> PM mmsingh must himself ensure that the mao-nax-trained armed youngsters are simply absorbed into a new "tribals regiment" of india's armed forces, like the goorkhaa-regiment and the sikh regiment.
Agree. In addition tribals will make fine soldiers. Few years ago
there were a couple of tribals from Jharkhand in Indian hockey team.
No more. Now the team is again monopolized by a few groups. The
present hockey coach doubly ensures this system by using bribe as a
criteria to get into the team.
Rajesh
Phoenix, United States
Oct 11, 2009 12:48 AM
8 Seshadri,
>> no wonder anthony is hesitating to use the army against these anti-national militants.
Questioning somebody's patriotism just because he is a Christian is
truly despicable.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Oct 11, 2009 12:29 AM
7 R:>>"Right solution is to leave traditional habitat of the tribals
to the tribals. Grant genuine autonomy like Indian reservations in
US".
I disagree. American whites have given some small reservations to red
indians after killing off most of them. even those are only encouraged
to come out into the mainstream.
tribals in india are much very larger in numbers and are also entitled
to full development, along with the rest of the nation. state govts
should ensure that they are preferentially integrated into the
development strategy, when the lands occuppied by them are utilized
for industrial processes; health, educ, housing, jobs, shares in
cmpanies etc., for them, must be given first, before land for industry
or mining are even allotted to companies. Crooked polits assign their
land to corpos, as 'economic zones' at low prces and collect lots of
money from them as kickbacks for their own dynastic families, like the
jharkhand rascal being indicted . that is the problem. central govt
does not always play the watchdog role, properly.
no wonder, the tribals fall a prey to the machinations of the
extortonist maoists, naxals, the crooked missionaries also encouraging
them. training them in arms for self-defence from their own country!.
balkanizn of eastern india, the missionary objective, really, to
please china!. no wonder anthony is hesitating to use the army against
these anti-national militants, while army does operate fully in
kashmir!.
PM mmsingh must himself ensure that the mao-nax-trained armed
youngsters are simply absorbed into a new "tribals regiment" of
india's armed forces, like the goorkhaa-regiment and the sikh
regiment. the brits solved the sikh-rebellion problem, by merely
absorbing their post-ranjit-singh forces into the brit army itself as
the new 'sikh regiment'!. same with nepalese, as the goorkhaa
regiment. these fought veryb well, on behalf of the brits, in the
world wars of the last century.
if army-men salaries are offered and posted for training, along with
educ, in some other parts of the country, the tribal youth will gladly
get out of the extortionist clutches of the maoist polit-bureau, whose
members must be jailed and tried for treason against india, in collude
with china.
coordinate the tribal-regiment training with the NCC operations in
educ inst in various parts of the country. they will grow into
patriotic nationalist youth, sending some of their earnings to their
moms at home also. where there is will, there is always a way!
v.seshadri
chennai, india
Oct 10, 2009 11:44 PM
6 1984 might have been make-or-break year for India till a few years
ago.
The most vulnerable time for the country is NOW.
Sikhs constitute just 2% of the population and are immensely
successful in the union. They wanted to have a nation of their own in
order to be even more successful.
Now the Indian state is at war with Maoists, naxalites or whatever
term used to represent 25% of population in the country. The
government is now going to use the Indian army and Air force with
billion dollar fighting gear to contain the poorest of poor. As if the
rise of downtrodden pose the biggest challenge to the country.
It only shows the desperation of the government. So far it has lost
all armed expedition against Dalits. This one too is bound to fail.
In the name of development bureaucrats, contractors and industrialists
exploit tribals and mineral resource of their land. Right solution is
to leave traditional habitat of the tribals to the tribals. Grant
genuine autonomy like Indian reservations in US.
Rajesh
Phoenix, United States
Oct 10, 2009 11:23 PM
5 We remember 1984 for the Sikh riots and Rajiv Gandhi becoming PM,
and of course the death of Indira. It's a remarkable year.
vikram chandra
Visakhapatnam, India
Oct 10, 2009 11:13 PM
4 "A famous (or at least well-paid) astrologer had predicted that the
next ruler of India would be an ardhanareeshwari, half-man, half-
woman. The rumour gained ground that NTR had taken to draping himself
in a saffron sari at night."
One does not know what the saffron "sari" in Guha's opinion really
means, but NTR was at his best in his sari roles of Krishna avatar
when he had to do the ardha-nari in the epic Mahabaratha. He pulled
off the role with ease and elegance.
vikram chandra
Visakhapatnam, India
Oct 10, 2009 10:36 PM
3 I guess this issue has been brought out by Congress to atone for its
sins in 1984 and act as a catharsis of Sikh pain.
JayKay Chraborty
Kolkatta, India
Oct 10, 2009 05:04 PM
2 "...the passing of the Muslim Women’s Bill put paid to the chances
of progressive reform among India’s largest minority..."
Rajiv Gandhi was no doubt, influenced by his Italian wife, to
introduce an male-phobic, family centric agenda into politics.
Something that the Congress is now continuing to do, unchallenged!
Now, even reserving more than 50% seats for women goes unchallenged,
in the face of myths, and negative male stereotyping.
Partha persistent spammer
chennai, India
Oct 10, 2009 02:53 PM
1 Then Bangladesh president, Zia ur Rahman was assassinated by a
faction of the military in a coup attempt in Chittagong, May 31
(besides the others Ram Guha mentions - Bandarnaike, Mujibur Rahman
and Liaquat Ali Khan)
anu kumar
Delhi, India
chhotemianinshallah
National / Profiles Magazine | Oct 19, 2009
Tribhuvan Tiwari
25 years on Ishar at the Golden Temple
Bhindranwale Legacy
The Sant’s Son
Bhindranwale never threatened, just replied to it, says his son
Chaitanya Kalbag on Ishar Singh
The traffic noise from the flyover outside the window was deafening
and I could barely hear what Baljit Singh Brar was saying. Brar edits
Jalandhar’s Aaj Di Awaz newspaper, aptly named, amid the din. “Where
is Bhindranwale’s son?” I had to shout. He pointed at the man sitting
quietly at the corner of his desk.
So this was the elder of the two sons of India’s most dreaded
“separatist leader” from a quarter century ago. Light brown eyes, five
foot ten, tight black turban, flowing salt-and-pepper beard, ready
smile, his two cellphones blinking. Ishar Singh looked like your
friendly neighbourhood realtor, somebody you could trust enough to buy
your house from.
That is exactly what Ishar Singh does for a living. He buys and sells
property just 80 kilometres from the Sikhs’ most violent and traumatic
battle in centuries, if you do not include the savagery of India’s
partition in 1947.
Ishar Singh is 37, the same age his father was the night he was killed
in the devastated Akal Takht after the army sent tanks into the
parikrama of the Golden Temple. “My father died four days after his
birthday,” Ishar said.
“I am very, very proud of him,” says Ishar of his father. “I can
never be bigger than him. I cannot add to his name, only reduce
it.”
He remembers that an uncle, a subedar in the army, identified the
body. It took the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee and the
Akal Takht nearly two decades to acknowledge that Bhindranwale was
dead. On June 6, 2003, Ishar Singh was honoured with a siropa at the
Golden Temple, watched by an assortment of old Khalistani diehards
like Jagjit Singh Chohan and Wassan Singh Zaffarwal. Matters had been
delayed because Bhindranwale’s successor at the Damdami Taksal, Baba
Thakkar Singh, had persisted in proclaiming that the Sant was not
dead, would reappear one day, and lead the Sikhs to glory. Every year
now, Ishar Singh dutifully turns up at the Golden Temple for a
memorial for his father on June 6, the anniversary of the climactic
Bluestar battle. The Akal Takht organises an akhand path of the Guru
Granth Sahib.
There is a certain morbid fascination with the families of history’s
most infamous characters. What were the wives and children like? What
did they come to? Were those men good husbands and fathers? So we know
about Hitler and Eva Braun (no offspring); Saddam Hussein (wife and
two daughters in exile in Jordan, both sons dead, both sons-in-law
killed on Saddam’s orders); Velupillai Prabhakaran (killed with older
son in final ltte battle, wife, daughter and younger son dead in
separate battle). What about Bhindranwale?
Family photo: The sant with wife, sons
Ishar was just five years old when Jarnail Singh Brar was anointed the
12th jathedar of the Damdami Taksal. He left home and adopted the
“Bhindranwale” after the village of Bhindran Kalan where the sect was
originally located. “After that we only saw our father at his
satsangs,” Ishar said. “But we were well looked after.” Did he miss
his father? “From the family point of view I was sad, but from a Sikh
point of view I was very happy.” The Jalandhar editor waved a
laminated family photograph at me—a very young Ishar Singh with his
eyes shut, an oddly self-conscious Sant Bhindranwale, his younger son
Inderjit, his wife Pritam Kaur.
When he was 10, Ishar Singh was sent to study Gurbani under Mahant
Jagir Singh at Akhara village near Jagraon. Immediately after
Operation Bluestar, Pritam Kaur moved with her young sons to her
brother’s home in Bilaspur village in Moga district.
Ishar does not have his father’s piercing gaze. He has a good sense of
humour, but not the earthy wit that Jarnail Singh flashed as he held
court on the rooftop of the Guru Nanak Niwas in Amritsar. Ordinary
folk tiptoed into a meeting with him. There was always a hint of
menace, helped by the young men lounging nearby with their rifles.
“I was detained for two days by the police in 1988 and tortured,”
Ishar says, “but they had to let me go.” He was a good student, and
stood first in his Class 10 examination in Sangrur district, winning a
scholarship for the final two years of his matriculation. But just
then, in 1991, he married Amandeep Kaur, whose father Joginder Singh
perished with Bhindranwale in the fighting at the Golden Temple. Ishar
never went to university. “My wife completed her BA,” he says proudly.
He himself became a dairy farmer, and grew two crops, kank (wheat) and
jhona (rice) on the family land.
“Many people offered to help us,” Ishar said. “We were never in need.
My father did everything for the people, and they loved him.”
What had his father left him, besides the name? “What more can he give
me?” Ishar said. “I’m very, very proud of him. I can never be bigger
than him. I can’t add to his name, only reduce it.”
Ishar Singh does not believe his father ever preached violence. Could
he begin to imagine the tension in Punjab in the early 1980s,
Bhindranwale’s defiant, gun-toting drive through Delhi, the skirmishes
on the periphery of the Golden Temple, the drive-by shootings of
innocent civilians in Delhi, the assassinations of prominent
opponents, and the terror in the air?
“My father never threatened, he only replied (to threats),” Ishar
Singh said in the Jalandhar office. “He was accused of ordering the
deaths of 70 Hindus for every dead Sikh. He was misquoted. Bal
Thackeray had said India has 70 crore Hindus and two crore Sikhs and
there are 35 Hindus to every Sikh. The Tenth Guru (Gobind Singh) had
said each Khalsa can fight 1,25,000 enemies. My father only said each
Khalsa can take on 70 enemies, and this was distorted.”
Whatever the ratio, I remember a tense journey in a state transport
bus from Amritsar to Delhi in early 1984. The Sikh passengers were
clustered near the driver, and the Hindu passengers were huddled in
the rear. Nobody spoke. Only when the bus reached Ambala, and Punjab
was behind us, did everybody relax. Today Punjab’s highways are four-
lane and traffic moves at high speed, save for the occasional tractor
or the farmer with his wife riding pillion. Sometimes Bluestar seems
25 light years away.
So were Ishar Singh, his brother and his mother content with anonymity
after the carnage of 1984 in Punjab and Delhi? Both he and Inderjit
applied for passports, he said, and were turned down. “But you know
how it is in India. Somebody pulled strings and we got our passports.”
Inderjit emigrated to Canada in 1999; Ishar is reticent about where
his brother works. A plastic factory, is all he will say. He himself
has travelled to Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Khalistan dreams linger among the diaspora. Bhindranwale is alive on
YouTube, has a fan group on Facebook, is a Twitter ‘trending
topic’.
On the outskirts of Toronto, a gurudwara sports a large portrait of
Bhindranwale on its gate. The dreams of Khalistan linger among the
diaspora. Bhindranwale is alive and well on YouTube, where you can
watch him make his straight-from-the-holster speeches. He has a
Facebook fan group, and is a “trending topic” on Twitter.
“In England, small children used to say to me, can I touch you?” Ishar
said with a smile. “My father did not become so popular in one day.
There are seven or eight thousand sants in Punjab. Why are you asking
me only about him?” Brar, the editor, jumped in to say younger Sikhs
were admirers of Bhindranwale. “You should see the number of cars with
Santji’s pictures on the dashboard,” he said. “There are Bhindranwale
ringtones. Many gurudwaras perform ardas for him regularly.”
Ishar said his father never believed in politics, only in dharma.
“Politics is based on deception, religion on morals,” he said. So how
did he reconcile this with his own work as a property dealer, where so
much black money is sloshing around? His reply was elliptical. “The
government wants 45 lakh rupees to convert one acre to residential
use,” he said. “How can this be honest?”
We were meeting on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti. Did he think Gandhi....
Ishar did not let me complete my question. “Don’t talk about Gandhi,”
he said. “He betrayed the Sikhs in 1947.” And Brar the editor said,
“Whenever we talk about a weakling, we call him ‘Gandhi’.” Ishar Singh
laughed heartily, his eyes shining.
What about his own children? Ishar Singh spoke proudly about his
daughter Jeevanjyot, who is 16. She studied “non-medical” subjects
like physics, chemistry and mathematics, he said. What did she want to
be? An interior designer, he said. That would be a lucrative choice, I
said. He laughed again, in agreement. His son Gurkanwar is 13 and he
does not know where his life will lead.
As we parted, Ishar Singh said, very much the realtor: “Tell me if you
need a car. I have two or three. I can arrange anything. People are
always prepared to help me.” We agreed to meet the following day at
the Golden Temple for pictures.
The next morning Ishar Singh came to the Golden Temple with Bhai Ajaib
Singh, an old associate of his father’s. Ajaib Singh said Ishar was
the president of the Sant Kartar Singh Educational Trust, which runs
two schools and a hospital in and near Mehta Chowk where the Damdami
Taksal is headquartered. A tall Sikh in traditional attire was walking
down the jute matting atop the marble parikrama, and both Ishar Singh
and his companion stooped to touch his feet. “That was Giani Jaswinder
Singh, the head granthi of the Harmandir Sahib,” Ishar said.
The Harmandir Sahib looked as glorious in the sunshine as it did 25
years ago. The Akal Takht, blackened and pocked by tank shells and
heavy gunfire during the bloody fighting, had been restored to its old
splendour. At the rear rose rows of whitewashed rooms where pilgrims
could speed up the long waiting lists of akhand paths. The government
has acquired land around the temple and landscaped it, except in the
front where old shops still stand cheek by jowl, doomed to be moved
soon. The quiet and peace was punctuated only by the shabad kirtan
broadcast round the clock from the inner sanctum.
Thousands of people hurried about their devotions, oblivious of Ishar
Singh as he posed for the photographer. Nobody came up to him in awe
or reverence. He wore a saffron turban on this day, and he looked like
just another pilgrim come to pay his respects.
Waiting to bid him farewell, I watched while Ishar Singh fiddled with
one of his two cellphones, standing still among the milling
worshippers. He appeared to be looking for something. Finally he said,
“I want to show you something. Let’s move to the shade in the
portico.” There, he proudly held out a picture on his phone. “My
family,” he said. “That’s me, my wife, my son, my daughter.”
(The author, an award-winning journalist, covered the events in Punjab
for Reuters in the 1980s.)
chhotemianinshallah
National Magazine | Oct 19, 2009
Corbis
The burden of iconography: Congress workers carrying cutouts of Nehru
and Indira
Indira Gandhi
Mother Fixation
‘India = Indira’. That famous equation helped manufacture a modern
deity.
Smita Gupta
In parts of rural India, even today, people fast on the death
anniversaries of three figures from recent history, points out
historian Bipan Chandra—Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and, yes, Indira
Gandhi. In remote villages among the lush coffee estates of
Chikmagalur, says Congress functionary B.K. Hariprasad, Indira Amma
finds pride of place among the deities worshipped at home. And Union
minister Kamal Nath and senior party leader Ajit Jogi still seek votes
in the name of Indira Gandhi in the wilds of Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh.
V.S. Naipaul may have dismissed the Indira era in India: A Wounded
Civilisation (1977) as years of drift and aimlessness and written
scathingly of “the simplicity of a country ruled by slogans”. And well-
known journalist B.G. Verghese, who was her media advisor (1966-69),
does say, “Indira Gandhi spoke in the name of the poor, but most of
her welfare programmes were just a tactical ploy to outmanoeuvre her
rivals.” But he also admits that she had “the vocabulary and capacity
to bring out rural women at public meetings, unlike Nehru. She would
go to their homes, into their kitchens. She created a political
consciousness and democratised politics”. And over the last year, her
role in bank nationalisation has come in for fresh recognition. “India
would have been ruined,” stresses Bipan Chandra, “after last year’s
economic meltdown but for bank nationalisation.”
Indeed, a quarter century after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984,
her life and death, in equal measure, are in some remote way still
part of the collective imagination of many of those who live on the
margins. “She was the only person after Mahatma Gandhi to have reached
out to the masses over the heads of the classes,” says Union minister
S. Jaipal Reddy. Indeed, the Congress knows only too well that its
claims to representing the poor still rest on the seemingly frail
shoulders of the woman who won the general elections in 1971 for them
with the evocative slogan, “Woh kehte hain Indira hatao, mein kehti
hoon garibi hatao.”
“She spoke in the name of the poor but her welfare schemes were a
tactical ploy.”—B.G. Verghese, ex-advisor
Indeed, it is this “winning” part of Indira Gandhi’s troubled legacy
that the Congress continues to cling to, excising the ugly memories of
the Emergency, a grim period in free India’s history. Tucked away in a
profile of Indira Gandhi on the Congress website is just one bland
line: “The Navnirman movement...and Jayaprakash Narayan’s call for a
‘total revolution’ caused tension all over the north and led to the
declaration of internal emergency in 1975.” And the Indira Memorial
Museum, housed in a Lutyens bungalow at 1, Safdarjung Road in Delhi,
in which she lived and died as prime minister, and which attracts
close to 10,000 visitors every day, typically glorifies her martyrdom.
The spot where she fell to her assassins’ bullets is where every
visitor’s journey ends, her fateful last walk marked by a rippled
frozen river ending in a patch of clear glass through which the
bloodstains are still visible.
In sharp contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), assorted
socialists and the journalists, academicians, and legal luminaries who
bore the brunt of her excesses believe her legacy should be defined
only by that dark period. Kamal Nath, a close associate of Sanjay
Gandhi, contests this. “The Emergency only resonates with the
political class,” he says. “Don’t forget that JP gave a call to the
police and army to revolt. Those who were agitating were using extra-
constitutional means—and the Emergency, a constitutional measure, was
a response to that.”
Intriguingly, distinguished journalist Inder Malhotra, who wrote a
definitive biography of Indira Gandhi in 1989, says, “In my book, I
said the Emergency was a cardinal sin. I haven’t changed my opinion.
But today, the whole perspective on it has changed: two-thirds of
India was born after that period; they know nothing about it and care
even less. It used to be impossible once to say anything positive
about Indira Gandhi in the company of Indian intellectuals. That’s
changed. Now, more and more responsible people agree that Indira
Gandhi and JP scripted the Emergency together.”
Indeed, Bipan Chandra’s book In the Name of Democracy: JP Movement and
the Emergency (2003) says precisely that. In that context, he points
out how prescient Mahatma Gandhi was: “He told Pyarelal in 1943 that
the sort of movements being waged against the British cannot be waged
in independent India. Nobody, he said, should exceed certain limits in
a democracy.”
Of course, the BJP’s reading of the Emergency is different because of
the centrality of that period to its politics. The “resistance”
offered by RSS and BJP (then the Jan Sangh) members, who formed a
crucial part of the JP movement, helps the party project those 18
months as its “freedom struggle”. Especially, as Hindu nationalists
played no role in the independence movement.
But, interestingly, even the Sangh parivar is ambivalent in its
approach to her. Atal Behari Vajpayee had famously hailed her as Durga
after the Bangladesh war, and after her death, his colleagues in the
saffron brotherhood vied with each other to praise her. In 1984
itself, RSS ideologue Nanaji Deshmukh paid her a glowing tribute,
saluting her courage. Two decades later, in 2005, RSS sarsanghchalak
K. Sudarshan lauded her for dismembering Pakistan in 1971, while the
VHP’s Giriraj Kishore called her a “He-Man”.
“JP also gave a call to the police and army to revolt. Emergency was
in response to that.”—Kamal Nath, Union minister
Indeed, Indira Gandhi’s critics and admirers alike agree that the
Bangladesh war marked her finest hour. Hyperbole flowed in Parliament
after her victory. Socialist Samar Guha described her as “the flaming
sword of the national personality of our country today”. Not to be
outdone, the Muslim League’s Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait declared, “Today we
have one party, the Indian nation, and one leader, Smt Indira Gandhi.”
Even as recently as 2007, Indira Gandhi’s usually mild-mannered
grandson Rahul Gandhi thundered at an election rally in Bareilly,
Uttar Pradesh, “Members of the Gandhi family have achieved the goals
they targeted, like the freedom of the country, dividing Pakistan into
two, and taking the nation into the 21st century.” The significance of
the Bangladesh war “lies in its conclusive rejection of the two-nation
theory”, points out eminent sociologist Yogendra Singh, adding that
“it falsified the premise on which India was partitioned.”
Clearly, Indira Gandhi was too complex a person to be defined by any
one act in her two decade-long reign over India. Says Inder Malhotra,
“However populist her message, however dubious her methods, her
devotion to India can’t be questioned—she did everything to expand its
autonomy and power. In her time, India first learnt to feed itself
through the Green Revolution and joined the exclusive nuclear club
after Pokhran-I. She would have swallowed poison rather than
compromise with her country’s honour. There’s her own testimony. ‘How
can one be an Indian and not be proud of India?’ she asked. India, in
short, was her God.”
Twenty-five years after her death, the deeply paradoxical nature of
her legacy continues to fascinate all those who try to assess her.
Indira, messiah, martyr or monster? There is no clear answer,
certainly not one answer.
Daily Mail
Oct 10, 2009 08:19 PM
3 India = Indira’. That famous equation helped manufacture a modern
deity.
Smita Gupta
Smita Gupta might have got inspired by the resident clown's,
V.Seshadri's equations hara=siva=blah blah blah.
Vivek Chatterjee
CALCUTTA, India
Oct 10, 2009 08:15 PM
2 Indira for all her faults was the only pro-Hindu in the lineage of
Nehru family.One can only hope that Varun will one day be the carrier
of her legacy,after cutting his rough edges.
S.S.Nagaraj
The problem with most Congis being covertly communal is that they are
basically Hindus at heart. Sharad Pawar was instrumental in inciting
worst Hindu-Muslim riots riots during the tenure of Sudhakar Rao Naik.
Congressi might swear secularism but at the bottom of their hearts
they are just Modi clones. That also explains as to why riots occured
in Congress's terms in numerous Indian states.
Vivek Chatterjee
CALCUTTA, India
Oct 10, 2009 07:30 PM
1 Indira for all her faults was the only pro-Hindu in the lineage of
Nehru family.One can only hope that Varun will one day be the carrier
of her legacy,after cutting his rough edges.
S.S.Nagaraj
Bangalore, India
chhotemianinshallah
National / Opinion Magazine | Oct 19, 2009
Getty Images
Internal enigma: Having power and not knowing how to use it was her
nemesis
Indira Gandhi
Steel Touched By Porcelain
Her doom: her politics of manipulation
Zareer Masani
In 1984, I was a young current affairs producer working for the BBC in
London. Mrs Gandhi’s assassination came as a brutal reminder that
politics in India, despite the survival of its parliamentary
democracy, could still be unexpectedly violent. I can’t honestly say
that I felt much grief for the death of a ruthless politician who had
shown little kindness to her opponents. In a very real sense, she
seemed to have created her own tragic nemesis for narrow party
political ends. Had she not encouraged and financed Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale? But there was nevertheless something very shocking and
awful about a 67-year-old woman being machine-gunned by two of her own
trusted security guards.
It was only nine years since I had written my biography of Indira
Gandhi, published in Britain on the eve of the Emergency, but banned
in India for its criticisms of her growing authoritarianism. Like most
Indians, my feelings about her had changed radically over the two
decades during which she dominated our lives.
When Mrs Gandhi first became prime minister in 1966, I was still a
college student in Bombay. She struck me as a largely ornamental
figure, hurriedly brought in because the Congress bosses could not
decide who should succeed the immensely popular Lal Bahadur Shastri.
She seemed to have few qualifications for the job, other than being
her father’s daughter. She cut an elegant figure on the world stage,
but was hopelessly inarticulate on public platforms and ended up
sounding like a high-pitched schoolgirl when she addressed Parliament.
No doubt, my first impressions of Indira were not helped by the fact
that my father, Minoo Masani, was then the highly articulate Leader of
the Opposition, whom she had to face in Parliament. Although he was
always courteous and chivalrous to her in public, it was clear that he
regarded her as politically and intellectually lightweight.
All that changed suddenly and dramatically in the course of 1970. Mrs
Gandhi had spent the first three years of her premiership slowly but
surely building up her power base in her party, and what had begun as
a power struggle dramatically escalated into an open split between her
and the party bosses who had put her in power. At first it looked as
though she was about to be toppled. But then, like her father way back
in the 1930s, she played the socialist card and trumped her opponents
with populist promises to abolish poverty and class privilege.
I was by then a student at Oxford, and my own politics had been
radicalised by opposition to the Vietnam War. By abolishing the Indian
princes, nationalising private banks and cocking a snook at
Washington, Indira appeared to us as a progressive and idealistic
figure who would rescue India from the grip of tired old men and
transform the lives of the poor.
She wasn’t a serious socialist, but neither did she realise that
India’s future lay in undoing inefficient bureaucratic control.
Back in India after finishing my Oxford degree, I was one of those who
campaigned for Mrs Gandhi in the March 1971 general election. I
remember working with the playwright Habib Tanvir to produce a mobile
musical drama performed by adivasis from Chhattisgarh. We went round
Delhi on the back of a lorry with songs and slogans urging everyone to
vote Indira. Since my father was then one of the leading figures in
the “Grand Alliance” of parties opposing her, I was rather cynically
deployed by her election campaign to address meetings in support of
her candidates and presented as the brave son who had parted company
with a misguided father.
Fired by the passion and enthusiasm of youth, I even persuaded my
mother to take up arms on Mrs Gandhi’s behalf. Her decision to join
the Congress made headline news, especially as my father and other
opposition stalwarts were swept away in Indira’s unexpected, landslide
victory. My mother’s partisanship was to prove fatal to her marriage.
My father forgave my youthful naivete but felt that my mother should
have known better. Their political estrangement eventually led to
divorce.
No sooner had the dust of the election settled than Mrs Gandhi had to
deal with the crisis caused by the break-up of Pakistan and the
emergence of Bangladesh. It was, in a Churchillian sense, her finest
hour. She managed to offer shelter to the thousands of refugees who
flooded across India’s borders without allowing herself to be pushed
prematurely into war with Pakistan. She skilfully built international
support for her case against Pakistan. And when she judged the moment
ripe for military action in December 1971, she moved decisively,
giving India its first ever military victory. Unlike her father during
the disastrous China War of 1962, she followed the advice of her
military commanders. And she knew exactly when to stop, before an
Indian invasion of West Pakistan triggered American intervention.
Little did we know at the time that, after Bangladesh, it would be
downhill all the way. Once she had acquired supreme power, it soon
became clear in peacetime that Mrs Gandhi had little idea what to do
with it. She was not a serious socialist and drew back from her own
earlier radical promises. But neither did she have the vision to see
that India’s future would lie in dismantling the hugely inefficient
and bureaucratic system of state planning and economic controls which
Nehru had established. Meanwhile, those like me who had supported
Indira as the democratic socialist were appalled by her drift towards
blatant dynasticism and the suppression of dissent. During the
Emergency, I was back at Oxford working on a doctoral thesis. I found
myself under pressure to delete the final chapter of my biography,
which had predicted Indira’s attempt at dictatorship, or abandon hope
of an Indian edition. I preferred the latter course.
In view of my attitude, I had been warned that it would not be safe to
visit India. And so I stayed away until 1977, when Mrs Gandhi
suddenly decided to call a general election. I came back and covered
it for various British papers and was both amazed and euphoric when
the Indian electorate turned it into a referendum on Indira’s personal
rule and decisively voted her out. Later, I watched with disbelief as
she clawed her way back to power in 1980 by skilfully exploiting
internal differences within the Janata government. It’s a sobering
thought that, had it not been for her assassins, she might have
carried on for at least another decade with her peculiar blend of
political populism and manipulation. And if she had, it’s unlikely
that India would have embarked on the long overdue process of economic
liberalisation that began under her successors.
(Zareer Masani is a London-based writer and broadcaster.)
Daily Mail
Oct 12, 2009 07:54 AM
2 Under her iron hand took place the Nelli massacre in Assam,when more
than 3000 immigrant Muslims were buthcered and she had to cancel her
visits to some Muslim countries.There was that Meerut riots,Moradabad
and so on.Infact when Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan visited India during her
rule he insisted on visiting Ahmedabad where more than 600 were killed
under Congress rule.
S.S.Nagaraj
Bangalore, India
Oct 12, 2009 03:28 AM
1 One good thing about Cogress(I) rule under Indira Gandhi was that
she ruled with an iron hand. NO dilly-dallying ala Nirsimha Roa or
Bajpai. She kept the center strong. Hence, we did not see extended
runs of violence, terrorism and overt extremism.
JayKay Chraborty
Kolkatta, India
chhotemianinshallah
Soldiers turning rogue Pak's new terror headache
Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN 13 October 2009, 11:49pm IST
WASHINGTON: A prominent Pakistani military commando-turned-terrorist
mastermind who was reported killed in a US Predator strike apparently
survived the attack and has re-surfaced even as American attention has
turned to the growing number of jihadis and extremists from Pakistan’s
armed forces.
Ilyas Kashmiri, a former Pakistan Special Services Group commando and
a veteran of the Islamabad-backed separatist movement in Kashmir, has
promised retribution against the ''U.S and its proxies,'' an American
terrorism watchdog reported Tuesday, after the armyman-turned-jihadi
gave an interview to a Pakistani journalist to show that he was alive
and ticking.
Kashmiri is very likely to be directly linked to last weekend's terror
assault on Pakistan's Army General Headquarters in Rawalpindi
masterminded by ''Dr Usman'' (who is also from the Pakistani
military), according to Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal, a
publication which tracks terrorism in the region.
The story puts the focus on several emerging aspects of Pakistan’s
existential association and struggle with terrorism: The growing
number of Pakistani military personnel who are turning rogue; and
their ethnic origins, mostly form Punjab province.
Also of concern to intelligence analysts is Pakistan’s revolving door
policy that frees or cuts loose terrorists – as had happened with
Mumbai massacre mastermind Hafeez Mohammed Saeed this week – who
eventually return to bite the Pakistani establishment in the back.
It transpires now that Dr Usman, aka Mohammed Aqeel, the leader of the
fedayeen attack on Pakistan’s military headquarters last weekend, was
in police custody last year for his involvement in the Marriott hotel
bomb attack but was released by authorities under unclear
circumstances. Ditto for Kashmiri, who was also in custody before he
was released.
Kashmiri, who Roggio says is considered by US intelligence to be one
of al Qaida's most dangerous commanders and listed as the fourth most
wanted terrorist by Pakistan's Interior Ministry, is not the first to
resurface after being reported killed in a Predator strike. The
infamous Ayman Al-Zawahiri and shoe-bomber Rasheed Rauf belong in the
same category.
But more worryingly for intelligence analysts is the fact that an
increasing number of jihadi masterminds are coming from Pakistan’s
armed forces, which commentators till recently described a mostly
liberal and professional.
Like Kashmiri, who was an SSG commando before he reportedly turned
''rogue'', Dr Usman aka Mohammed Aqeel, who led the attack on GHQ and
has been captured alive, also served in the military. He was
reportedly with the Pakistani Army Medical Corps till 2006 when he
quit the military to join the terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, whose
leader Maulana Masood Azhar is another terrorist who has disappeared
in custody.
In the same tradition, Zaki-ur Lakhvi, one of the Mumbai carnage
masterminds also served in the Pakistani military, as did brothers,
Major Haroon Rasheed and Captain Khurram, who were both involved in
the assassination of Maj. Gen. Faisal Alvi, who incidentally was Nobel
Laureate V.S.Naipaul’s brother-in-law (Naipaul is married to Alvi’s
sister Nadira).
At some point or the other, all the men were in the custody or under
the watch of Pakistani authorities, but a dodgy legal system and their
connection to the armed forces resulted in their slipping out of
custody and conviction. Invariably, they seem to have returned to
attack their former masters, according to analysts who track terrorist
strikes.
''It is a result of Pakistan hybridizing officers and soldiers into
groups like LeT, HuJI, JeM, etc. Are they really rogue when they
started under state policy? The Pak military should be terrified right
now,'' Roggio told ToI. The analyst believes the GHQ attack likely had
inside help.
While Rasheed and Khurram -- who like Kashmiri were both in the SSG --
are accused in the killing of Major General Alvi, the GHQ fidayeen
attacker ''Dr Usman'' was also arrested for his involvement in the
assassination of Lieutenant General Mushtaq Ahmed Baig, the surgeon
General of the Army Medical Corps, in February 2008. Gen.Baig is the
senior-most Pakistani general killed by the terrorists.
The rash of ex-armymen-turned-terrorists from the ranks has also put
the focus on Pakistan’s Punjab province, since most of these jihadis
are from this region. This is from where the Pakistani military draws
most of its recruits and there have been reports of increasing
radicalization in Southern Punjab.
While the government in Islamabad has tried to portray the border
tribal belt alongside Afghanistan as the ground zero of terrorism,
some experts are pointing to Punjab – and renegades in the Pakistani
armed forces who hail from here.
''South Punjab has become the hub of jihadism,'' the respected
Pakistani analyst Ayesha Siddiqa said in a recent magazine article.
''Yet, somehow, there are still many people in Pakistan who refuse to
acknowledge this threat.''
chhotemianinshallah
Pakistan’s Partial War on Terror
October 14, 2009...1:00 pm
The deadly results of cooperation with terrorists.
By C. CHRISTINE FAIR
The past week’s spate of suicide bombings in Pakistan and the siege of
its military headquarters are again casting the spotlight on that
country’s war on terror. Attention will—and should—focus in particular
on Islamabad’s many failures to control militants on its own soil.
Pakistan is now paying the heavy price for its earlier attempts to use
terrorist groups as strategic tools.
For decades Islamabad has viewed and used terrorist groups as assets
to be cultivated. Before the Soviet invasion, Pakistan used Islamist
militants for operations in India and Afghanistan. Today, Pakistan
aids the Afghan Taliban mainly in the belief that if U.S. and
international commitment to Afghanistan wanes, it would be better to
be friendly with a group like the Taliban that can keep Indian
influence in the country at bay—the same logic behind Pakistan’s
pre-2001 support for the Taliban.
At home, Pakistan has tolerated a raft of terrorist groups ostensibly
linked to Kashmir, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group responsible for last year’s Mumbai
massacre, continues to operate under various names. Its leadership
roams free and its offices remain open. Jaish-e-Mohammad, responsible
for several attacks in India and against international and domestic
targets within Pakistan, is similarly unconstrained. Pakistan’s track
record against so-called anti-Shi’a militias, such as the Lashkar-e-
Jhangvi and Sipha-e-Sahaba-e-Pakistan, has been equally lackluster
despite vicious attacks against Shi’a who are perhaps one-fourth of
Pakistan’s population. These varied groups are ensconced not in the
unruly tribal areas, but in Pakistan’s most populous and militarized
province: the Punjab. Punjab hosts six army corps, yet these groups
proliferate and operate with impunity literally under the nose of
Pakistan’s army.
Islamabad has long believed it could exploit these groups for
strategic aims while preventing them from causing too much
“unapproved” trouble. The government would have likely come to some
modus vivendi with the Pakistan Taliban, had its leaders agreed to
focus upon Afghanistan rather than Pakistan. Islamabad cracked down
militarily on the Pakistani Taliban earlier this year only after it
was clear that deal-making had failed. With respect to the so-called
Kashmiri groups, Pakistan only sought to moderate their activities to
prevent serious Indo-Pakistan crises and international pressure while
maintaining their basic operational readiness.
Now it’s possible to see exactly how shortsighted and dangerous
Pakistan’s strategy has been. First, all these groups are more
interconnected than at first might appear, and in ways that make them
much harder to control than Islamabad may believe. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
shares membership and resources with Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Pakistan
Taliban. Both Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jaish-e-Mohammad facilitate the
movement of persons outside of Pakistan into the terrorist sanctuaries
in the tribal areas, provide suicide bombers to the Pakistan Taliban,
and facilitate high-value operations throughout Pakistan. With the
exception of Lashkar-e-Taiba, all support the Afghan Taliban and all
are close to al Qaeda. They all share connections with Pakistan’s
intelligence agencies and some civilian leaders.
Some of these groups have now bitten the hand that once fed them.
These groups are vexed by Pakistan’s support of the U.S. fight against
al Qaeda, provision of logistical support for the Afghan war to
undermine the Taliban, the state’s complicity in Washington’s use of
drones in the tribal areas and Pakistan’s own military operations in
the Pashtun belt.
It is unlikely the recent attack on the Army headquarters, perpetrated
by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, will focus some minds in Pakistan on this
complex problem. Pakistanis prefer to attribute their terrorism
problem to blowback from the U.S.- and Saudi-sponsored anti-Soviet
jihad, or to blame India for domestic attacks. Polls I have conducted
suggest Pakistanis are unaware of both the activities of Pakistani
militant groups operating on their soil and the long-standing ties
between these groups and their security and intelligence agencies.
In reality, Pakistan needs to own responsibility for its mistakes and
reverse course swiftly. Other countries, especially the U.S., can
help, but so far have shown a worrying lack of interest in doing so.
Washington has largely failed to understand the problem of Pakistan’s
militant landscape and forge appropriate policy. Since September 11,
the U.S. has worked to secure Pakistan’s sustained fight against al
Qaeda, yet the U.S. demanded Pakistani action against the Afghan
Taliban only from 2007 onward. The delay happened in part because the
Taliban was believed to have been vanquished. Even when the Taliban re-
emerged in 2005, Washington was slow to prompt Pakistan to act for
fear of compromising its cooperation against al Qaeda. Similarly,
Washington has pressured Pakistan to act against the so-called
Kashmiri groups only episodically, and only when their actions have
sparked near-war crises between India and Pakistan. And Washington has
tended to see anti-Shi’a groups as a domestic problem rather than the
threat to regional security they really are.
During this period, the U.S. disbursed more than $13 billion to
compensate or reward Pakistan for its cooperation in the war on terror
even while it undermined the goals of the same. Congress is improving
on this record. Late last month, the legislature proposed tying $7.5
billion of aid over five years to the strengthening of Pakistan’s
civilian governance. The bill also proposes binding security
assistance to Pakistan’s efforts to eliminate militant groups that
have previously been viewed as state assets. The Pakistani army balked
at these conditions because they would limit its ability to use
terrorists strategically. But precisely for that reason, it’s a good
move.
Pakistan’s efforts to fight the bad terrorists while protecting the
good militants cannot be sustained. The latest string of attacks and
bombings shows the high cost this policy is inflicting on Pakistan
itself. Nor can the lackadaisical international response to Pakistan’s
action and inaction in the backdrop of enormous financial largess be
justified. Despite army balking, Washington should insist that
Islamabad act against terrorism comprehensively as a condition for
further security assistance. In the end, Pakistanis may benefit most
from such steadfast commitment.
Ms. Fair is an assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at
the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown
University.
chhotemianinshallah
Pak desperate to infiltrate militants into J-K
STAFF WRITER 13:51 HRS IST
Srinagar, Oct 14 (PTI) India today said there has been a desperate
attempt by Pakistan to infiltrate militants into Jammu and Kashmir to
foment violence.
"After the Parliamentary elections, there has been spurt in
infiltration, a desperation. One can see a desperation on the part of
Pakistan and PoK authorities to infiltrate into India," Home Minister
P Chidambaram said at a press conference replying to questions on
infiltration.
The Home Minister said infiltration from Pakistan and Pakistan
occupied Kashmir was "solely" responsible for violence in the state
and it was difficult to completely control it.
"Infiltration is taking place. I must admit that we have not been able
to completely stop it although infiltration has come down. Thanks to
the vigil of our security forces," he said.
Sid Harth
Assassins From The Epicentre
This is the second terrorist attack on the Indian mission in 15
months, and the fourth attack in the embattled Afghan capital, Kabul,
since August 2009 - and it won't be the last...
Kanchan Lakshman
A suicide car bomber attacked the Indian embassy in Kabul on October
8, 2009, killing 17 persons and injuring more than 70 others. The car
bombing ripped through a street in the city centre during the morning
rush hour, killing and injuring bystanders, almost all of them
Afghans. The highly-fortified mission’s wall was damaged and a watch
tower destroyed in the blast, which occurred near the outer perimeter
at around 0827 hours. India’s Ambassador to Afghanistan, Jayant
Prasad, said the "Indian Embassy was the target" but the suicide
bomber failed to breach the security perimeter. While no Indian was
killed in the attack, three Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
personnel sustained minor injuries. This is the second terrorist
attack on the Indian mission in 15 months, and the fourth attack in
the embattled Afghan capital, Kabul, since August 2009.
The Taliban was swift in claiming responsibility for the attack.
Quoting the Taliban Website, Al Jazeera channel identified the suicide
bomber as Khalid. Al Jazeera also said Afghan government and
intelligence sources have indicated the involvement of a ‘foreign
hand’ in the suicide bombing, describing it as "planned by a state and
not a group of bandits", an unambiguous reference to Pakistan. The
Afghan foreign ministry said the attack "was planned and implemented
from outside of Afghan borders" by the same groups responsible for the
July 7, 2008, suicide bombing at the Indian Embassy that killed 60
people, including 4 Indians.
Intelligence sources said the swiftness in claiming the attack was a
ploy to keep the focus away from the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI), Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, whose involvement in
the July 2008 blast near the Indian Embassy has been confirmed by
American, Afghan and Indian intelligence sources. The Taliban is
simply attempting to camouflage and ‘protect’ its biggest benefactor
in the region. The Afghan envoy to the US, Said T. Jawad, has clearly
declared that the ISI was behind the latest attack on the Indian
Embassy in Kabul: "We are pointing the finger at the Pakistan
intelligence agency, based on the evidence on the ground and similar
attack taking place in Afghanistan."
India has, so far, made no attribution of blame for the suicide
attack. However, India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao did mention in
New Delhi after returning from Kabul that "the attack was clearly the
handiwork of those who are desperate to undermine Indo-Afghan
friendship and do not believe in a strong, democratic and pluralistic
Afghanistan." Pakistan and its militant-ISI network is the only force
which fits this description.
It is still unclear at this point in time as to which Taliban faction
had claimed responsibility for the attack, though there is a strong
possibility, based on past trajectory and current intelligence, that
the network of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a pro-Taliban warlord with close
links to al Qaeda, and whose Pakistan-backed militants are battling US
troops in eastern Afghanistan, had a role in the attack. The Haqqani
network is, in fact, among the most likely suspects behind the recent
string of suicide bombings in capital Kabul. While no militant group
had claimed the July 2008 Indian Embassy bombing, India and the US had
recovered substantial evidence which indicated that the attack was
orchestrated by the Haqqani network at the behest of the ISI.
Jalaluddin’s son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is reported to have had a big
role in executing that attack.
India remains an important target of the Pakistan-backed militant
enterprise because of its large presence in Afghanistan. India has a
huge assistance programme for Afghanistan’s reconstruction. Since the
Taliban regime’s defeat in 2002, New Delhi has pledged over USD 1.2
billion in aid to conflict-ravaged Afghanistan, making India the fifth
largest donor nation to the country after the US, Britain, Japan and
Canada.
The Indian involvement in Afghanistan is gradually increasing. There
are approximately 4,000-5,000 Indian nationals working on several
reconstruction projects across the war ravaged country. According to
the Indian Embassy at Kabul, "India has undertaken projects virtually
in all parts of Afghanistan, in a wide range of sectors including
hydro-electricity, power transmission lines, road construction,
agriculture and industry, telecommunications, information and
broadcasting, education and health, which have been identified by the
Afghan government as priority areas for development." In the near
future, reports indicate that India is contemplating building "an
industrial estate which will generate much-needed employment for the
local population. There is also talk of Indian involvement in food
processing, which addresses rural farmlands and a long-term plan to
inhibit poppy cultivation."
All of this and Pakistan’s more insidious ambition of regaining
strategic depth in Afghanistan have rendered Islamabad insecure.
Consequently, it has resorted to lobbying diplomatically against
India’s presence in Afghanistan and using the Taliban to physically
attack Indian interests. Plainly, Pakistan doesn't want any Indian
presence in the region.
Over the years, Pakistan has persistently attempted to block India’s
capacity-building initiatives in Afghanistan. Pakistan had, for
instance, disallowed heavy equipment meant for an electricity project
to travel through its territory. While this reportedly led to one of
the largest airlifts in the region, India overcame other odds to
build, in four years, a 202-kilometre transmission line to bring
electricity to power-starved Kabul.
Since 2002, the Taliban has demanded the departure of all Indians
working on various developmental projects in Afghanistan. These
demands have been backed by targeted terrorist action against Indians.
In the most recent of these, before the latest Embassy bombing, Simon
Paramanathan, an Indian from Villupuram in Tamil Nadu, working for
Italian food chain Ciano International, who was held captive by
terrorists for nearly four months, was found dead on February 9, 2009.
Before the July 2008 Embassy bombing, an ITBP trooper was killed and
four others injured by the Taliban in the south-west Province of
Nimroz on June 5, 2008. Two Indians, M.P. Singh and C. Govindaswamy,
personnel of the Indian Army’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO), were
killed and seven persons, including five BRO personnel, sustained
injuries, in a suicide-bomb attack in Nimroz on April 12, 2008. In the
first-ever suicide attack on Indians in Afghanistan, two ITBP soldiers
were killed and five injured at Razai village in Nimroz on January 3,
2008.
On December 15, 2007, two bombs were lobbed into the Indian consulate
in Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar Province. There was however, no
casualty or damage.
On May 7, 2006, an explosion occurred near the Indian Consulate in
Herat Province, without causing any casualties. In April 2006, K.
Suryanarayana, working with a Gulf-based company, was abducted and
killed by Taliban militants, allegedly on orders from the ISI.
Further, on February 7, 2006, Bharat Kumar, an Indian engineer working
with a Turkish company, was killed in a bomb attack by the Taliban in
the western province of Farah.
On November 19, 2005, Ramankutty Maniyappan, a 36-year old BRO
employee, was abducted, and his decapitated body was found on a road
between Zaranj, capital of Nimroz, and an area called Ghor Ghori, four
days later. Following his abduction, Taliban spokesperson Qari Yusuf
Ahmadi had claimed that they had given the BRO an ultimatum to leave
Afghanistan within 48 hours, failing which they would behead
Maniyappan.
Nimroz is the location, among others, of the strategic 215-kilometre
Zarang-Delaram Highway Project executed by India. In addition, there
were two attacks in November and December 2003 in one of which an
Indian engineer was killed.
India and its role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan has always
been opposed by the establishment in Pakistan, as well as by the
Taliban–al Qaeda combine, and threat perceptions at India’s mission in
Kabul, and at the multiplicity of Indian developmental projects in
Afghanistan, have always been high. The vulnerability of Indian
establishments in Kabul is further augmented by the fact that Kabul
itself continues to be highly susceptible to terrorist attacks,
including suicide bombings. As India’s presence in Afghanistan
continues to grow, it is inevitable that Indian installations will
come under sustained attack – both diplomatically and physically.
Over the past few months, both in the run-up to the Presidential
elections and in the aftermath of an evidently controversial poll, the
Taliban had vowed to augment their attacks, including suicide
bombings, clearly demonstrating an intensification of the militant
campaign. Indeed, the attack on the Indian Embassy comes within the
context of spiraling violence in Afghanistan.
The New York Times reported in September 2009, that Taliban leaders,
aided by the ISI, are using their sanctuary in Pakistan to stoke a
widening campaign of violence in northern and western Afghanistan. The
Taliban’s leadership council, led by Mullah Muhammad Omar and
operating around Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, was directly
responsible for a wave of violence in the once relatively placid parts
of northern and western Afghanistan, the US daily said, citing unnamed
senior American military and intelligence officials. It cited American
officials as stating that they believed the Taliban leadership in
Pakistan still gets support from sections of the ISI. American
officials, it noted, have long complained that senior Taliban leaders
operating from Quetta provide money, military supplies and strategic
planning guidance to the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan, where
most of the nearly 68,000 American forces are deployed.
The U.S. commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley
McChrystal, in an assessment leaked in the last week of September
2009, had also stated that the Afghan insurgency was clearly supported
from Pakistan. "Senior leaders of the major Afghan insurgent groups
are based in Pakistan, linked to al Qaeda and other violent extremist
groups, and are reportedly aided by some elements of Pakistan's ISI".
He identified the Quetta shura as the biggest threat to the US-led
mission in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has clearly been working in tandem with the Pakistan Army
and the ISI to combat NATO troops in the south of Afghanistan and
simultaneously increase attacks against allied troops elsewhere in the
country to ease pressure in the south. Secretary of Defence Robert
Gates declared at the George Washington University on October 5, 2009,
"The thing to remember about Afghanistan is, that country and
particularly the Afghan-Pakistan border is the modern epicentre of
jihad."
Amidst all of this entrenched subversion, Pakistan continues to spread
false propaganda about the ‘large’ Indian consulates in Afghanistan
being a source of insecurity for Islamabad. Dismissing a question on
Pakistan’s perceived concerns about the activities of Indian
consulates in Afghanistan, U.S. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke said
in April 2009 that, "Pakistanis have told me for a long time that
India has hundreds of people in its consulate in Kandahar, in
Afghanistan. I asked Americans and U.N. people how big the Indian
consulate was in Kandahar and they said six or eight people. You know
I am not worried about that." And further, in an interview with Geo
News channel at the U.S. State Department in Washington, Holbrooke
added,
"Pakistan does not have to worry about India in Afghanistan. They need
to worry about the miscreants in western Pakistan… Now if the Indians
were supporting those miscreants that would be extraordinarily bad
[and] really dangerous. But they’re not. There is no evidence at all
that the Indians are supporting the miscreants in the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas or North West Frontier Province or
Waziristan. None."
He noted that India has been playing a key role in the reconstruction
of the war-ravaged country:
"India has given Afghanistan about $1 billion in assistance. They’re
rebuilding the Parliament building, they’ve built a very useful road
in the south-western part of the country leading down towards Iran.
They’re training agricultural experts, they’re giving scholarships.
The Indians have published a pamphlet on what they’re doing. I don’t
think that should be cause of concern for Pakistan."
The dangers of anarchy within Afghanistan and across areas along the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border are predominantly sourced in Pakistan, to
a far greater extent than in war-ravaged Afghanistan. The Taliban–al
Qaeda combine and transnational jihadi groups based within Pakistan
remain the principal instrumentalities of Islamabad’s response to
India’s deepening engagement in Afghanistan. The Pakistan-backed
terrorist network will surely attack more Indian targets in
Afghanistan n the future. India, however, has clearly declared its
intention not to waver from its commitment to reconstruction and
capacity building in Afghanistan.
Kanchan Lakshman is Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict
Management; Assistant Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict &
Resolution. Courtesy the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South
Asia Terrorism Portal
Sid Harth
Chronicles Of An Attack Foretold
Pakistan army's credibility takes a beating by a group of nine
terrorists laying siege to GHQ Rawalpindi and their success in holding
the Army and its commando group SSG at bay for nearly 20 hours
B. Raman
The credibility of the Pakistani Army and its Chief of Staff,
Gen.Pervez Ashfaq Kayani, has taken a beating following the daring
raid launched by a group of nine terrorists into the Army's General
Headquarters at Rawalpindi and their success in holding the Army and
its commando group called the Special Services Group (SSG) at bay for
nearly 20 hours before the terrorists could be neutralised and 39 of
the 42 hostages--civilians and military personnel--taken by them got
released. Eight military personnel, including a Brigadier and a Lt
Col, and eight terrorists were killed during the raid and the
subsequent action to free the hostages.
The Urdu daily Jang and its English sister publication The News
International had published a report on October 5, 2009, stating that
according to the Interior Department of the provincial government of
Punjab a source had revealed that terrorists of the Tehrik-e-Taliban,
Pakistan (TTP) were planning a commando-style attack on the GHQ in
collaboration with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), the anti-Shia
organisation, and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). According to the report
carried by these papers, the Punjab Interior Department had warned
that the the terrorists had planned to enter the GHQ using fake army
uniforms and vehicles.
Embarrassing questions are being asked as to what action the Army and
the federal Ministry of the Interior headed by Rehman Mallik had taken
on this report of the Punjab Interior Department and what precautions
were taken to thwart a commando-style attack by the terrorists.
The Army's credibility has also been damaged not only by the success
of the terrorists in forcing their way into the GHQ premises, but also
by the confusion, which prevailed in the GHQ as was evident from the
conflicting reports given by an army spokesman about the raid. After
the four terrorists, who tried to force their way into the GHQ
premises, had been foiled and killed by the security guards at Gate No.
1 after an exchange of fire lasting about 45 minutes, an army
spokesman claimed that the operation was over and that the terrorists'
attempt to enter the GHQ premises had been thwarted at the gate
itself.
Subsequently, it turned out that five other terrorists had made their
way in through Gate No.2 by taking advantage of the fact that the
security picket at this gate had left it unattended and rushed to Gate
No.1 when the exchange of fire started there and that they had taken
some hostages. Only sometime after the four terriorists had been
killed at Gate No.1 that the Army realised that some other terrorists
had made their way in and had taken hostages. For over 14 hours after
the terrorist attack had started, the Army had no clue as to how many
hostages had been taken.
Initially, the Army spokesman gave the number of hostages taken by the
five terrorists as between 10 and 15. Then, he raised it to between 20
and 25. Finally, it turned out that the terrorists had actually taken
42 hostages, of whom 39 were rescued by the Army early on the morning
of October 11 and the remaining three died during the exchange of
firing. The Army has not so far given the names of the hostages, who
died, and of those, who were rescued.
After the action was over, the Army spokesman announced that while
eight of the raiding party were killed, the leader of the terrorist
group by name Aquil alias Dr.Usman, who was injured when he
unsuccessfully tried to kill himself with an explosive device, had
been taken into custody and was being interrogated. Initially, it was
stated that he was the same person who had led the terrorist attack on
the Sri Lankan Cricket team in Lahore in March last as the team was
being taken by bus from the hotel in which it was staying to the
stadium. Subsequently, the Army modified its contention by stating
that the terrorist leader arrested in the GHQ premises had a name
sounding similar to that of the leader of the group which had attacked
the SL cricket team and that it was being verfied whether the two are
one and the same.
The Lahore City Police Chief Pervez Rathore had told the media at
Lahore on June 17,2009, that one of the terrorists involved in the
attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team had been arrested and six other
terrorists involved in the attack, including the mastermind, had been
identified. He said that the arrested terrorist had been identified as
Zubair alias Naek Muhammad and that he belonged to a till then unknown
organisation called the Tehrik-e- Taliban Punjab .He described Zubair
as a retired low-ranking army officer. He identified the mastermind as
Aquil alias Dr. Usman alias Rana Hanif and said that he was also
involved in the firing of a rocket on a plane carrying Musharraf from
an air base near Islamabad to Balochistan in July,2007. He also said
that all the militants involved in the attack on the SL team belonged
to Southern Punjab. He said that Zubair identified the leader of the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab as one "Emir Farooq" . The Lahore City Police
chief said that the attack on the SL cricket team was jointly mounted
by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab and the anti-Shia Lashkar e-Jhangvi. He
identified four others involved in the attack as Muhammad Adnan, alias
"Sajad"; Sami Ullah, alias "Ejaz"; Abdul Wahab, alias "Umar"; and Qari
Ehsan Ul Haq, alias "Qari Ajmal." The Lahore police offered a cash
reward of Rs. 2.5 million ($52,000) each for the arrest of any of
these men or "any other suspects."
If it turns out that Aquil alias Usman arrested for allegedly leading
the attack on the GHQ on October 10 is identical with the person by
the same name wanted for leading the attack on the SL cricket team,
this would indicate that the attack on the GHQ was carried out by a
group of jihadis from Punjab and not from the Pashtun tribal belt. It
is possible that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab is also known as the
Amjad Farooqi detachment of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in
whose name the responsibility for the GHQ attack was claimed shortly
after the attack.
B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of
India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical
Studies, Chennai.
Sid Harth
Before The Next Attack
The time has come for identifying and neutralising the terrorist
sanctuaries in Pakistani territory from where attacks against India
are being mounted for a counter-sanctuaries strategy, has to come from
the political leadership
B. Raman
Fifteen civilians and two Afghan policemen deployed outside the Indian
Embassy in Kabul are reported to have been killed on October 8, 2009,
when an explosive-laden vehicle driven by a suicide bomber exploded
outside the Embassy. A claim of responsibility was subsequently made
through a web site linked with the Neo Taliban (Afghan) stating that
the blast was carried out by the Taliban.
This was the second blast directed at the Indian Embassy. The first
one in July, 2008, was more deadly killing about 60 persons -- two of
them senior diplomats of the Embassy, one a civilian and the other an
officer of the Indian Army. The blast of July, 2008, indicated
inadequacies in the physical security of the Embassy premises and its
ability to withstand the impact of a severe explosion. These
deficiencies have since been removed. The fact that the blast of
October 8--though reportedly as powerful as last year's--could not
cause major damages in the Embassy premises and resulted only in
injuries to three Indian personnel shows that the fortified Embassy
premises was well able to withstand the force of the blast.
The blast of last year as well as the latest one indicate weaknesses
in access control. The Taliban and its associates such as Gulbuddin
Heckmatyar's Hizbe Islami have been targeting for months not only the
Indian Embassy, but also the Embassies of Western countries,
particularly the US. The fact that the terrorists--whoever they might
be-- have so far not been able to get as close to the US and other
Western Embassies as they have been able to reach in the case of the
Indian Embassy indicates gaps in access control. This has to be
discussed by Indian security with their Afghan counterparts, who are
responsible for access control and the gaps identified and removed.
The Indian Embassy has been twice targeted by Taliban elements because
it is viewed as the co-ordinator of the various projects undertaken
with Indian assistance for the economic development of Afghanistan and
for the promotion of democracy. Though the Indian-aided projects have
no military significance, Pakistan views these projects, the resulting
increase in the Indian presence for the execution of these projects
and the developing relations between India and Afghanistan at the
governmental level as detrimental to its interests.
There is a convergence of objectives between Pakistan and the Taliban
on the need to force India to reverse its policies towards Afghanistan
and reduce its presence and activities to a level, which would be
acceptable to Pakistan. For more than a year now, Pakistan has mounted
a campaign against the Indian presence and activities-- through
diplomatic means as well as through its surrogates in Afghanistan such
as the Taliban.
The objective of the diplomatic campaign is to make the US to bring
about a dilution of the Indian role through pressures on the
government of India as well as that of Hamid Karzai. The objective of
the use of the surrogates in Afghan territory is to make India pay a
bloody price for its presence and intimidate it into re-considering
its Afghan presence even if the pressure through the US does not work.
The intimidatory attacks on Indian nationals and presence and on
Indian establishments in Afghanistan are likely to continue. The
government of India is determined not to be intimidated and this
determination has to continue. One could be certain that the
government of India would have evaluated the risks involved by
undertaking development and democracy-promotion projects in
Afghanistan. One must be prepared to face more such attacks and not to
let these attacks come in the way of the implementation of the Indian
projects.
At the same time, one has to repeatedly make a vulnerability
assessment of the Indian projects and the Indian diplomatic and
consular missions and constantly upgrade their physical security.
Sitting tight, going ahead with our projects whatever be the threats
and constantly identifying and removing gaps in physical security,
with the co-operation of the Afghan government, is one of the two
options available to India in Afghan territory. The other option is to
mobilise the support of the traditionally pro-Indian sections of the
Afghan civil society and the pro-India Pashtun elements in Pakistan
for the continuance of the Indian projects through various instruments
of soft power such as radio, TV, personal interactions etc.
There is another dimension--that is, identifying and neutralising the
terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistani territory from where these attacks
are mounted, with the connivance of the Pakistani agencies. This calls
for a proactive counter-sanctuaries policy. What are the options
available to India to target the sanctuaries and how to implement the
ultimately adopted option have to be examined at a high level and
necessary directives given to all those who will be involved in
counter-sanctuaries actions. Until and unless this is done, periodic
attacks on Indian nationals and interests in Afghanistan will
continue. The primary decision that the time has come for a counter-
sanctuaries strategy has to come from the political leadership, which
has till now been reluctant to go into the activist mode.
B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of
India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical
Studies, Chennai.
Daily Mail
Oct 14, 2009 06:51 AM
5 Pakistan’s army made a stark admission on Monday of the scale of the
threat it faces from a nexus of Punjabi, al Qaeda and Taliban
militants whose attacks are increasingly coordinated, include soldiers
in their ranks and span the country, according to a report in The
Guardian. What sinking feeling for the Pakis!
Scaria Varghese
Melbourne, Australia
Oct 13, 2009 09:43 PM
4 "Our investments in Afghanistan would never bear any dividend. The
money that we pour there is an unprofitable out-lay."
Yes, it would, with the majority of the Afghan people, and the
civilian government. It will give India economic influence, and also
serve as a springboard for economic influence in Central Asia. In the
long run, it will be mutually beneficial; those countries will develop
skills, products and technologies that they can in turn offer to India
down the line.
Varun Shekhar
Toronto, CANADA
Oct 13, 2009 02:42 AM
3 Yes the Taliban have been encouraged by the ISI to carry out the
attacks on the Indian Embassy in kabul.But the comments of alarm being
made by Raman long after he has retired is plain bull shit.Its common
practice to read and hear all such retd cops and intelligence
officials who make big statements long after getting home ,while there
record during service is nothing much to rave about.Regarding the
comment on destroying the epicentre of terror which exsist in
pak ,just want to know how is that going to done.Unless the Americans
make a real serious attempt to get the pakis to act against all such
groups.The next attack is in line.
drharun
chennai, India
Oct 13, 2009 02:40 AM
2 '..My question is-will India’s help to Afghanistan reap dividend in
the end? India liberated East Pakistan-Bangladesh-in 1971 and she has
now become an ungrateful and an inimical neighbour...'
Pakistan considers India as it's eternal enemy, out to destroy it.
Afghanistan government has never recognized the Durand line border
with Pakistan. So when two of it's bitter enemies, sandwiching it join
together, what can we expect from Pakistan? A Bonhomie?
It is doing now what it is expected to do. It will continue it till we
feel the heat. Dynamite our Kabul Embassy and kill our engineers who
have been sent to help the Afghans. Pakistan wants to keep Afghanistan
as it's backyard. In case of an attack from India, it has to fall
back. Where? only behind into Afghanistan. Never it would allow
therefore any Indian presence in Afghanistan only to be caught in the
cross-fire by India from both eastern and western borders. Afghanistan
has become a strategic area for it's survival. Under the existing
situation with no likelihood of any improvement of friendship between
both the countries in the near future, the fear of Pakistan over India-
Afghan axis is quite understandable. In a given situation, India would
not do anything better than what Pakistan is doing. Did we feel
comfortable with the Maoists in Nepal? The PM spent sleepless nights
till that maoist PM in Nepal was shown the gate. Our investments in
Afghanistan would never bear any dividend. The money that we pour
there is an unprofitable out-lay.
Samirajan
Portland, United States
Oct 12, 2009 03:59 AM
1 Pak's great game plan: evict India from Afghanistan through terror.
India has invested more than $ 1.5 billion to build hospitals, school
and other civil infrastructure, while Indian influence is gaining
momentum in Afghanistan- expanding its soft power influence. In
contrast, Pakistan’s influence has been steadily waning in Afghanistan
and she is now widely reviled in Afghanistan for her training and
support for the Taliban to create mayhem and maiming of innocent
people. The creation of Taleeban by Pakistan with the tacit support of
America in early 1990s was to take over Kabul after the eviction of
the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Pakistan’s game plan has
backfired and she is now reviled in Afghanistan as a pariah. Pakistan
is targeting Indian embassy and her interests In Afghanistan with
support of its discredited and desperado ISI to crate mayhem to
terrorise India from helping and democratising Afghanistan. Two
successive bombings- in 2008 and 2009- directed at the Indian Embassy
is only the foretaste of what is in the offing. My question is-will
India’s help to Afghanistan reap dividend in the end? India liberated
East Pakistan-Bangladesh-in 1971 and she has now become an ungrateful
and an inimical neighbour.
Scaria Varghese
Melbourne, Australia
Sid Harth
Who was Amjad Farooqi?
In whose name Pakistan GHQ has been raided
B. Raman
A news agency report says as follows:
"The Tehreek-e-Taliban has claimed responsibility for the brazen
attack on the Pakistan Army's Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Saturday,
which left four of its militants and eight soldiers dead. The outfit
has again demanded a halt in the ongoing military campaign in the
NWFP. The Amjad Farooqi group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
umbrella grouping claimed that it was behind the audacious attack and
demanded that former President Pervez Musharraf be put on trial. The
group took the responsibility in a telephone call made to Geo News.
They also asked for closure of all Western NGOs and expulsion of US
private security firm Blackwater."
Who was Amjad Farooqi? My article of September 29, 2004 provides an
answer
B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of
India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical
studies
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?664831
Seven LeJ Terrorists Arrested in Pak
Karachi | Aug 24, 2009
Pakistani police nabbed seven members of the al-Qaeda linked outlawed
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group that has been blamed for abortive attacks on
former President Pervez Musharraf and killing of Wall Street
journalist Daniel Pearl from this southern port city.
The suspects were arrested from the posh Defence View area on Saturday
night and a huge cache of arms including suicide vests, explosives and
large quantities of heroin seized from them, DIG Saud Mirza told
reporters.
With the swoop on these elements, police claimed to have thwarted an
attempt to carry out suicide attacks in the city.
The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a group closed to Taliban, has also been linked
to attacks on former former premier Shaukat Aziz Tarin.
The suspects, who had been trained in camps in South Waziristan tribal
region, had plans to target offices of intelligence agencies and
government officials in the city, according to the DIG. He said when
the police surrounded their hideout, the men surrendered without
putting up resistance.
"One of them, Shahzad, is a close associate of Amjad Farooqi who
masterminded attacks on President Musharraf and PM Shaukat Tarin,"
Mirza said.
Police seized three suicide jackets, 15 kg of explosives, four AK-47
rifles, four pistols, two gas masks, five kilograms of ball bearings,
200 bullets and remote controls and batteries for explosive devices
from the men.
Police also found about one-and-half kilogram of heroin, as the
suspected terrorists were financing their activities through the sales
of drugs.
Police suspect that the group provided money to Quetta-based Taliban
commander Abdul Samad.
The arrested men were identified as Muhammad Aziz alias Salman,
Muhammad Shahzad alias Pehlwan, Ghulam Muhammad alias Umar, Shahbaz
alias Mian, Alam Zeb alias Huzaifa, Shakil Ahmed and Khalil Ahmed
Toori.
Mirza said Khalil Toori is the brother of Qasim Toori, an activist of
the Jundullah terror group who was arrested after a gun battle in
Karachi in January last year.
Meanwhile, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Rabta Committee has
expressed concern over the presence of extremists in the city.
The MQM, which is a coalition partner of the ruling party in the Sindh
province and also holds number of seats in the Centre, said the
government must pay heed to the growing presence of Taliban and other
extremist elements in the city and take steps to protect life and
property of the citizens.
MQM chief Altaf Hussain had been warning about the conspiracy being
hatched by some elements in Karachi and Sindh for last several years
to destabilise the province but no one took him seriously, the party
said in a statement.
Senior police officials said they were hopeful that the interrogation
of the arrested militants would lead to the arrest of more extremists
hiding out in the province.
chhotemianinshallah
Govt hopeful of `unique' solution through dialogue on J&K: PC
Pradeep Thakur, TNN 15 October 2009, 01:08am IST
SRINAGAR: Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the state
towards the end of this month, home minister P Chidambaram said on
Wednesday that there would be "quiet dialogue, quiet diplomacy" to
find the contours of a political solution to issues in Jammu and
Kashmir.
Though he steered clear of saying when such a dialogue would be
initiated, the minister said the Centre was not shying away from talks
and that "every shade of opinion in the state" would be consulted. An
approach that was outside the media glare could yield a "unique"
solution, he said.
Without touching on issues like amnesty to jailed militants or
facilitation of the return disillusioned "commanders" from Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir, he made the point that infiltration from Pakistan
and PoK was "solely" responsible for violence in the state. He said
that increasingly, the J&K police backed by paramilitary was being
made responsible for maintenance of peace while Army manned the
borders. He said there was a desperation on part of Pakistan to push
in infiltrators.
The last significant contact with a militant commander was held in
2000 when the Union home secretary had met leaders of separatists and
five commanders of the Hizbul Mujahideen-nominated by then chief
commander of the outfit in J&K Majid Dar.
The government appears to be moving carefully. "It's not that we have
to hide something," said Chidambaram, adding, "But a dialogue in full
media glare goes nowhere." Quiet diplomacy and political initiative
"engaging stakeholders in a one-to-one until a political solution is
reached is part of our policy on J&K".
He also said many recommendations of working groups set up after an
initiative by the Prime Minister had been incorporated and were
reflected in many policies and programmes implemented by the
government in the state.
He said he had been visiting the state every two months to take stock
of affairs while secretaries of various Union ministries such as
power, agriculture, tourism have been asked to make regular visits to
evaluate the progress of projects with field visits.
While the next visit of secretaries to J&K is planned for November,
the cabinet secretary would be there in February next year to review
all projects and the security situation. The home minister suggested
that all other cabinet ministers too should make it a habit to visit
J&K and personally monitor the PM's reconstruction programme.
The emphasis of the fresh policy on J&K includes a tight monitoring of
various projects initiated under an overall reconstruction package for
the state worth Rs 25,000 crore.
Efforts are being made to make the forces deployed in Kashmir to be
more professional and deft at handling civilians. In this regard, the
government has drafted and implemented a module under which the J&K
police and personnel of the CRPF are being retrained for the past 12
weeks to handle civilian protests and avoid casualties.
On the possible misuse of mobile phones by militants, Chidambaram
said, "We want everybody to switch over to post-paid connections in
the state and if our effort don't bear result, the government may have
to come out with a directive to ban pre-paid mobile connections in J&K
as they have serious security implications."
He also announced that amendments to the Armed Forces Special Powers
Act had been finalized and were before the Union cabinet for its
approval. Once the cabinet approved the amendments, they would apply
to all parts of the country, including J&K and the north-east.
On the issue of IAF firing back on Naxals, the minister said its
helicopters would only be used for transportation and for relief and
rescue operations. He said that if the defence minister has said that
the IAF personnel in these choppers can fire in self-defence,
"probably that is the policy we have".
chhotemianinshallah
Prime minister of Pakistan Kashmir resigns
Prime Minister of Pakistan Kashmir Sardar Yaqub resigned on Wednesday
night in the face of a no-trust motion
By Mohsin Ali, Correspondent, Gulf News
Published: 21:16 October 14, 2009
Image Credit: Gulf NewsIslamabad:
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Kashmir Sardar Yaqub resigned on
Wednesday night in the face of a no-trust motion by his rivals in the
state's legislative against him, official sources and media reports
said.
The 49-member assembly in Muzaffarbad, capital of the state, was due
to vote on Thursday on the no-confidence motion tabled by legislators
from Muslim Conference party and others.
bademiyansubhanallah
Restriction on US officials' unfettered movement at Islamabad airport
IANS 14 October 2009, 01:24pm IST
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has restricted the hitherto unfettered movement of
US and UN officials at the international airport here, citing misuse
of the facility that was granted in the wake of the 9/11 terror
attack.
"All US officials and diplomats will now have to go through normal
airport checks at the Islamabad airport as the government has decided
to withdraw the extraordinary concession offered to them after 9/11 by
former president Pervez Musharraf," The News said on Wednesday.
Under the concessions, US officials and their vehicles enjoyed
unchecked arrivals and departures and no scrutiny of their luggage was
done at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) here.
"On the direction of the defence ministry, the civil aviation
authority (CAA) has issued orders for the withdrawal of this facility
as of Oct 15. The decision has been taken after reports that this
concession was misused in the past," the newspaper said.
New standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been devised and
notified that would now make US and UN officials to go through normal
checks.
Gammon gate of the BBIA, which was basically meant for catering
services and had a direct outside airport link without passing through
immigration and customs checks, was specified for US and UN officials
too.
"This special facility allowed the Americans to have unchecked
arrivals and departures to and from the Islamabad airport," The News
said.
It quoted sources to say this facility "was massively misused and
there were reports of even unauthorised and undeclared import of
sensitive material and equipment, including weapons. This fact raised
serious alarm bells among the Pakistani authorities and forced them to
withdraw the facility that was given to the Americans by the former
dictator without proper consultation and consideration".
This concession is not even available to the president and prime
minister of Pakistan who, though they enjoy full protocol and VVIP
treatment, go through the mandatory checks in the US, the sources
said.
"Interestingly, Musharraf offered such concessions to the Americans
despite Washington's extraordinary strict immigration and security
checks from all those coming from Pakistan, including VVIPs. During
one of Musharraf's official tours to the US, his media spokesman
Rashid Qureshi, who was then a brigadier, was made to untie his
military boots at the Dallas Airport," the newspaper pointed out.
In view of the security concerns, the CAA issued an order Sep 25
announcing the withdrawal of Gammon Gate facility. The operative part
of the order reads: "Pursuant to the instructions received from the
Defence Ministry vide letter No 2-1/2009-ASF dated Sep 16, 2009, the
facility of use of Gammon Gate by the officials vehicles of the US
embassy and UN missions may be withdrawn w.e.f Oct 15, 2009."
Government authorities admit that customs and immigration authorities
have no arrangements or staff to check the movement and crew of US and
UN officials.
"The equipment related to aeroplanes, the crew and their personal
luggage also passes through this gate. During checking, US vehicles
and the luggage they carry to and from apron area are not properly
searched/checked by the (security) staff deputed to control the entry/
exit at the Gammon Gate," one document says, adding that in view of
this, the use of the gate by foreigners should be stopped forthwith as
it posed a serious security hazard.
US embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said he did not know about the
extraordinary concession offered to the US officials and diplomats at
the BBIA. He said what he knew was the fact that even when senior US
officials arrived at the Chaklala military airbase in adjacent
Rawalpindi, they went through normal immigration and customs checks.
bademiyansubhanallah
United States unveils first of 18 new F-16 fighter aircraft for
Pakistan
PTI 14 October 2009, 09:40am IST
WASHINGTON: The US on Wednesday unveiled the first of the 18 new F-16
fighter aircraft being produced for Islamabad even as the Pakistan
Army has raised serious concern over the conditions imposed for
military aid through the Kerry-Lugar bill.
Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Rao Quamar
Suleman, accepted the first F-16 Block 52 aircraft on behalf of the
country at an event at the Forth Worth facility of manufacturer
Lockheed Martin, also attended by Pakistan ambassador to the US,
Husain Haqqani.
Speaking on the occasion, Suleman said the roll out shows that the
programme is "on track" despite it experiencing many ups and downs.
The first batch of F-16 aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan in
June next year. The delivery of all 18 jets is planned to be completed
by December 2010.
The aircraft order is designated as "Peace Drive I," continuing a long
tradition of naming F-16 international sales programmes with the word
Peace, Lockheed Martin said in a media release.
The programme raises the total number of F-16s ordered by Pakistan to
54. The Pakistan air force received its first F-16, in the block 15
F-16A/B configuration, in 1982.
Pakistan has been operating Lockheed Martin aircraft since 1963, when
it received C-130B airlifters, it said.
The US was represented by Congressman Kay Granger and Chief of Staff
of the Air Force General Norton Schwartz.
"Peace Drive is the flagship of modernisation for Pakistan's air
force. It is the latest configuration of the best fourth generation
multi-role fighter available in the world today," said John Larson,
vice president of F-16 programmes for Lockheed Martin.
As many as 25 countries have opted for F-16 with more than 4,400
aircraft been delivered worldwide from assembly lines in five
countries, it said.
bademiyansubhanallah
13-yr-old kills 41 in Pak market
AFP 13 October 2009, 12:53am IST
PESHAWAR: A devastating suicide bomb hit northwest Pakistan killing 41
people on Monday, as the military geared up for an assault on Taliban
rebels blamed for increasingly bloody and brazen attacks.
The bomber, reported to be aged about 13, flung himself at a military
convoy passing through a busy market in Shangla, a northwest district
near Swat where the army claimed to have flushed out Taliban rebels
after a fierce offensive.
But Islamist extremist groups appear far from quashed, with an
audacious raid on army headquarters over the weekend leaving 23 people
dead and underscoring the vulnerability of the nuclear-armed nation.
At least 116 people have been killed in a series of devastating blasts
and attacks in Pakistan in the last four days.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Shangla blast,
but the suicide bombing bore all the hallmarks of a TTP strike, and
hit in a one-time stronghold of fugitive Swat Taliban commander
Maulana Fazlullah.
“Forty-one people were killed and 45 were injured in the suicide
blast,” said Mian Iftekhar Hussain, provincial information minister.
A spokesman from the Swat Media Centre said that six soldiers were
among those killed when the young suicide bomber on foot stuck a
paramilitary convoy passing through a security checkpost in a crowded
bazaar in Alpuri town.
“When he blew himself up, some of the trucks carrying ammunition were
also hit and the ammunition exploded, causes more human losses,” the
spokesman said. “He was 13 or 14 years old, according to our
investigations so far.”
The military launched their offensive in and around Swat valley in
April after Taliban insurgents bent on imposing a harsh brand of
Islamic law advanced to within 100km of Islamabad.
The army says that it is now ready for a full-scale offensive on the
Pakistani Taliban seat of power in South Waziristan, a rugged
mountainous region bordering Afghanistan which lies outside direct
government control.
“It is now a matter of military judgement, what is the appropriate
timing (and) in the best national interests,” military spokesman Major
General Athar Abbas said.
In total, nine militants, 11 soldiers and three hostages were killed
in the crisis that unfolded at the heart of the military establishment
in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which ended with a commando raid
on Sunday. “Their target was to take hostage senior officers of the
GHQ (General Headquarters) and make demands,” Abbas said.
chhotemianinshallah
10 killed in suicide attack on Kohat police station
STAFF WRITER 10:46 HRS IST
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 15 (PTI) At least 10 people were killed and 20 others
injured when a suicide bomber targeted a police station in the
northwest Pakistani town of Kohat with an explosives-laden vehicle
today, police said.
An eyewitness said the suicide attacker rammed his vehicle into the
outer wall of the police station, causing a massive blast. District
police chief Dilawar Bangash confirmed it was a suicide attack.
Some policemen and school children were among the dead, police said.
The police station was severely damaged.
Pakistan has witnessed a string of suicide attacks over the past two
weeks that have killed more than 100 people.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. They
have also warned they will carry out more attacks if the army launches
an operation against them in South Waziristan tribal region.
chhotemianinshallah
Al Qaeda's centre of gravity is Pak: Former US gen
STAFF WRITER 7:17 HRS IST
Lalit K Jha
Washington, October 15 (PTI) Al Qaeda's centre of gravity is Pakistan,
not Afghanistan, a former top official of the US Armed forces has told
lawmakers.
"The Al Qaeda centre of gravity is not Afghanistan. It is Pakistan. A
loss of Afghanistan is a win for the Taliban and the Al Qaeda in
Pakistan with potential serious consequences for Pakistan," General
(rtd) Jack Keane, former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army said
yesterday in his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee
during a hearing on Afghanistan.
Noting that it is not about how many al Qaeda fighters are in
Afghanistan, but how the al Qaeda network enables, trains and supports
the Taliban, Keane said the two cannot be separated.
"We cannot conveniently separate the two. If we lose in Afghanistan,
the al Qaeda will be right behind the Taliban as they take over.
Sid Harth
Review: 'Frontline: Obama's War' on PBS
A look at the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan highlights the
conundrum of dealing with a chameleonic ally.
A U.S. Marine assigned to face the Taliban in Afghanistan's Helmand
province. (Martin Smith / "Frontline" / October 12, 2009)
October 13, 2009
"Frontline" checks in tonight with a gloomy assessment of the war
against the Taliban in Afghanistan and an equally pessimistic view of
whether the U.S. can prod/seduce/jawbone/bribe the Pakistani
government into truly confronting Al Qaeda forces in its border
region.
In political terms, the title says it all: "Obama's War."
President Obama has called Afghanistan "a necessary war" compared with
the war in Iraq, which he opposed and vows to end. The rhetoric helped
squelch Hillary Rodham Clinton -- an early supporter of the Iraq war
-- in the Democratic primaries and defeat the hawkish John McCain in
the general election. But matching lofty rhetoric to on-the-ground
reality has proved difficult for the new commander in chief. A new
policy was announced in March; now a second new policy is being
devised as political and military power brokers wage war through leaks
to newspapers and bons mots on the Sunday chat shows.
"Obama's War," a top-notch report with ace correspondent Martin Smith,
tries to give both sides in the debate a fair shake: the military
leaders who say more troops are essential, the doubters who say the
nation-building effort in Afghanistan is a flop and not worth
deploying tens of thousands more troops.
The true enemy of the U.S. is lurking not in Afghanistan but in
Pakistan, "Obama's War" suggests. "In Afghanistan, we know what to do;
we just don't know if we have the resources or the time available to
do it," says David Kilcullen, counter-insurgency expert and advisor to
the U.S. military. "The problem in Pakistan is we're not really sure
what to do."
Historically, the Pakistan military and intelligence service have
shown an affinity for the Taliban and Al Qaeda as allies in the
Pakistanis' struggle with their arch-enemy: India. The U.S. has sent
billions of dollars to Pakistan in hopes of changing that mind-set.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. officer in Afghanistan, thinks
the Pakistanis have found the resolve to attack the Al Qaeda
strongholds. But one of McChrystal's top advisors, Andrew Exum, adds a
discouraging nuance. The Pakistanis, he said, are ready to attack Al
Qaeda when it threatens the stability of their government but "they do
not share our interests as of yet in taking an aggressive stance
against the groups that are seeking to destabilize Afghanistan."
The normally talky Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. special
representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, goes mum when Smith asks
him for proof of his assertion that the Pakistanis are serious about
attacking a powerful Al Qaeda stronghold in north Waziristan.
John Nagl, retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who wrote the foreword
to the military's latest counter-insurgency manual, is unrestrained
when asked about the Pakistanis and their truthfulness or lack of it.
"I absolutely have to hold my nose when I work with the Pakistani
government," he said.
New Yorker writer Steve Coll summarizes: "This could not be a more
complicated war. If you think about it, the United States is
essentially waging a war against its own ally. The Taliban are a proxy
of the government of Pakistan. We are an ally of the government of
Pakistan. We are fighting the Taliban."
tony....@latimes.com
Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times
Sid Harth
Chuck Spinney
Posted: July 24, 2008 03:39 PM
Obama's Politics of Change: Afghanistan & Gore's Transformative Vision
I am in almost complete agreement with Tom Hayden's article in the
Nation criticizing Obama inter alia for jumping on the "good war"
bandwagon by proposing to transfer troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Hayden's essay is a very good article in my opinion, has lots of
useful information, for which I'm thankful.
Afghanistan, like Iraq, is a real loser. But this should come as no
surprise. In the fall of 2001, intel reports said there were between
40-60,000 Taliban, but when we quickly "defeated" them, the intel
folks could only account for 6-8000 captured, wounded or killed.
Nevertheless, the Pentagon brass and Bush quickly declared victory,
even though it was clear at the time that the Taliban headed for the
hills in classical guerrilla/Sun Tzu fashion -- when faced with
superior force, disperse! That's a no-brainer in some circles but not
those inside the Beltway. Now we are saying the Taliban are
"regrouping" when is not clear they ever degrouped. BTW, at the time,
I tried to draw attention to this with some mainstream reporters but
all they wanted to write about were reports parroting Pentagon press
releases which described the stunning success of hi-technology
precision weapons and Special Forces on horseback executing a swift
low cost victory, which was being spouted as a vindication of
Transformation -- aka the Revolution in Military Affairs.
It is also is important to bear in mind that no Pashtuns were involved
in 9-11... at most, the Taliban were accessories to a monstrous crime
-- a crime that should have be used to energize a massive world-wide
police action. Such an international police action led by the United
States might have been possible, given the worldwide flood of sympathy
for the US provoked by bin Laden's outrageous mass murder. We will
never know if this was a real possibility, because Bush chose to
immediately militarize the bin Laden problem then mutate into the open-
ended so-called Global War on Terror, and use bin Laden as a
propaganda prop to make war on a country that was at most an accessory
to the crime, i.e., the Taliban in Afghanistan, and on a leader and
country that was not involved in 9-11 at all, i.e., Saddam and Iraq.
Ironically, in the case of Afghanistan, there is evidence suggesting
that bin Laden et al had worn out their welcome with the Taliban. Four
months before 9-11, on June 18, 2001, Arnaud de Borschgrave wrote a
very important front page story in the Washington Times describing his
interview with the Taliban leader Mullah Omar. De Borshgrave quoted
Omar making some disparaging comments that suggested he was fed up
with Osama [see Attachment 2 below]. Much later, in January 2008, John
Pilger described a reinforcing view in report published in Antiwar.com
which included the following passage:
"By early 2001, convinced it was the presence of Osama Bin Laden that
was souring their relationship with Washington, the Taliban tried to
get rid of him. Under a deal negotiated by the leaders of Pakistan's
two Islamic parties, Bin Laden was to be held under house arrest in
Peshawar. A tribunal of clerics would then hear evidence against him
and decide whether to try him or hand him over to the Americans.
Whether or not this would have happened, Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf
vetoed the plan. According to the then Pakistani foreign minister,
Niaz Naik, a senior US diplomat told him on 21 July 2001 that it had
been decided to dispense with the Taliban "under a carpet of bombs."
On Oct 7, 2001, Bush launched the war against the Taliban, after the
Taliban refused Bush's demand to hand over bin Laden without any
preconditions. On October 14, in an effort to halt the bombing, the
Taliban offered to turn over Osama to an independent third country for
a trial, if the US would provide evidence that he was responsible for
the crime. [See "Bush Rejects Taliban Bin Laden Offer", Associated
Press, October 14, 2001, "Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Hand bin Laden
Over," UK Guardian Unlimited, October 14, 2001 and Andrew Buncombe,
"Bush Rejects Taliban Offer to Surrender bin Laden," the UK
Independent, October 15, 2001. ]. But Bush ignored this offer and
escalated the war. Today, almost seven years later, bin Laden remains
at large, the Taliban are growing stronger, and Afghanistan is
threatening to consume more US blood and gold as it sinks into a
deepening quagmire which is spilling over into nuclear armed
Pakistan.
So, even the most jaded observer has to admit that it is possible that
Taliban were hunting for an escape hatch, even though a strict
adherence to their moral code of hospitality made them responsible for
Osama's defense, once we attacked him in their homeland. Osama may
also have made a brilliant preemptive move to fend off the possibility
of a Taliban handover. On Sept 9, he is believed to have engineered
the assassination of Ahmed Massood. Massood, the charismatic albeit
brutal Tajik leader of the Northern Alliance, was the Taliban's most
bitter and capable enemy within Afghanistan. Under the strict Pashtun
tribal code, that assassination made the Taliban indebted to bin
Laden, particularly if he was seeking sanctuary (if indeed it was bin
Laden who had orchestrated the assassination). Nevertheless the
Taliban still offered to turn him over for trial by an impartial third
party, if the United States provided evidence of Osama's complicity in
9-11. The story of bin Laden's deteriorating relationship with Taliban
in the spring and summer of 2001 is one that has not really been fully
developed, but there is enough smoke to warrant a serious
investigation, especially if we are on the verge of escalating
operations in Afghanistan. One thing is clear, however. Capturing
Osama bin Ladin took a back seat to prosecuting the wars with Iraq and
the Taliban.
Now, we see Obama and Dems rushing into the deepening Afghan quagmire.
They are trying to pit a "good" Afghan war against a "bad" Iraqi war
to prove they are just as "tough" on defense as the Republicans, only
smarter. But this is the old pusillanimous ploy of moving to middle to
capture independents in an election year. The next move Obama is
likely to take, if Obama's advisers like former Senator Sam Nunn and
and former Clinton Defense Secretary William Perry have any clout,
will be a call to reform of acquisition management in Pentagon while
we recapitalize the Pentagon's aging weapons with a shopping list of
even more complex and expensive "precision" weapons. They will package
this reform program in rhetoric asserting the need to increase the
defense budget further in order to repair the damage Bush did to
military! That will shore up the right flank and quiet the Pentagon
and its allies in Congress and in the defense industry.
It does not matter that the weapons aging crisis is a self-inflicted
wound has been hemorrhaging for 40 years and is a direct consequence
of the bipartisan predilection (especially including that of Nunn and
Perry when they were in power) for buying hi-cost weapons that do not
work as well as advertised. It does not matter that this predilection
has caused an out-of-control operations and maintenance budget,
wherein the operating costs of increasingly complex, aging weapons
have gone through the roof. It does not matter that the Pentagon's
bookkeeping system is now so corrupt that it is impossible to relate
the money that goes in to Pentagon to how that money is spent or what
it has produced, a condition of ambiguity which itself is useful
because it lubricates the incestuously amplifying decision-making
process that is powering the self-destructive predilection for hi-tech
weapons that don't work as advertised. The likelihood of such an
appeal for higher budgets is now almost as probable in its effects as
a cause and effect relationship in Newtonian physics.
Meanwhile, to make matters even worse, Obama just knee-jerked and
endorsed Gore's absurd call to end US dependency on carbon for
electrical power (i.e., coal, oil, gas) in 10 years by throwing money
at the renewable energy programs in a crash program patterned after
John F. Kennedy's Apollo program in the so-called Moon race -- which,
by the way, is a ridiculous analogy. Going to the moon was a far
simpler, far more narrow, engineering problem which involved only a
comparatively minuscule investment in production/infrastructure
facilities. Repowering all the carbon-fired power plants with solar,
wind, and water generators in the United States would be a gargantuan
effort requiring development of new technologies, particularly energy
storage technologies, and massive investments in all sorts of
infrastructure. The only near term energy technology that could be
used on such a massive scale is nuclear power, and even that would be
impossible to do in ten years, particularly given the problems of
storing radioactive waste, location, and safety. Bear in mind that
Gore's colossal feat would take place in a country that can not muster
the political will to solve the comparatively simple problem of
rebuilding New Orleans.
Of course, Gore packaged his transformative vision under the umbrella
of national security (the politics of fear, again). Gore's proposal,
if it ever gets traction, will result in a colossal boondoggle for
same hi-tech companies that now take 20+ years to move an airplane
like F-22 or a weapon system that doesn't work like missile defense
from R&D to anything like operational status.
Now I am all for developing solar and wind technologies, etc, but a
transformation of the nation's entire electrical production
capabilities in 10 years is preposterous on its face. Gore's top-down
("I know what is best") proposal, which Obama (who claims to be a
bottom-up politician) endorsed, is really a formula for looting the
taxpayer, particularly when you consider that the techno-defense
giants, like Boeing and Lockheed, are certain cash in on the Gore's
golden cornucopia, should it occur. The horrors of the ethanol scam
will be welcome by comparison.
Surely, high speed rail, mandating better fuel economy in cars,
subsidizing more insulation in houses and office buildings, wearing
sweaters, subsidizing population movements from suburbs to cities, and
other proven technologies would yield far larger energy benefits in
the short term.
And, oh by the way, in case Gore and Obama have not noticed in the
rush to a "good war" and universal green power... there may be a
slight problem with raising the money needed to implement Gore's Bush-
like transformative vision: the economy is tanking, government and
private debt are skyrocketing (more and more of which is being held by
foreign countries), social spending demands are increasing because
baby boomers are moving into social security and Medicare, the
financial system may be collapsing, and the nation's physical
infrastructure is deteriorating rapidly (roads, sewers, bridges,
schools, etc.), not to mention the fact that US's production/technical
capabilities have been going down the tubes, as is evidenced by the
persistence of huge trade imbalances and the fact that production
facilities that have been moving overseas.
But then you shouldn't condemn an entire program for a few little slip
ups.
I am in almost complete agreement with Tom Hayden's article in the
Nation criticizing Obama inter alia for jumping on the "good war"
bandwagon by proposing to transfer troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.
View Comments:
It's not a rush to a "good war", but to a necessary one.
Afghanistan is unstable because of our actions, and it houses or
supplies several terrorist networks,and failing to send more troops
means that the "tactical strikes" and other long-range weapons we
instead resort to without enough manpower on the ground will continue
to cost untold and unacceptable damage to Afghani life, limb, family,
home, spiritual centers, jobs and future.
Nobody's calling Afghanistan a "good war" except you, and your
assessment doesn't take into account how much civilian bloodshed and
dislocation will increase if we draw down in Afghanistan now and/or
continue to use long-range, unacceptable-casualty weapons.
We need to stay and increase our troops in Afghanistan in the near
future for our own security as well as for the securing, revivifying,
and rebuilding of what can be salvaged or updated in a place whose
people are greatly emigrated.
But more than that, those like you who offer trenchant analysis of the
reasons the war in Afghanistan was wrongly undertaken or borribly
managed seem to conflate Obama's focus on defending our soldiers and
Afghani civilians with an effort to seem more hawkish.
It most certainly is not.
It's an effort to be practical, to protect worldwide security and
regional stability we've badly unbalanced, to provide national
security, and to use more surgical attacks to target terrorists and
their equipment so that we can limit or eradicate the human cost of
our current method, bombing.
Posted 04:00 AM on 07/25/2008
- + LaFilleEnRose I'm a Fan of LaFilleEnRose I'm a fan of this user 12
fans
All I know -- and that clearly ain't much compared to you -- is that
before 9/11 I was sending around emails that covered the terrible
plight of women in Afghanistan. These tortured women were committing
suicide at an alarming rate. Words cannot describe the condition for
women under the Taliban. When 9/11 came -- and these pre-historic men
took aim at us, I almost lost my sister that day in the twin towers.
So despite being against war as a rule, my heart was moved with sad
joy as our troops headed over there to destroy that damnable regime.
We did not go there for oil, or for some crazy ideology, or revenge
but because they had sponsored an attack on us and was a palpatating
breading ground for more to come. As our troops were surrounding Tora
Bora our own president decided to divert troops to the Iraq theater,
allowing murders like OBL to escape and deplete our energies in an
unjust war in Iraq. Afghanistan is a terrible problem and could cause
us and others much pain to get the job finished. But this one thing I
know. Unjust wars rarely are won in the end. And just ones always are.
Why? Because the just ones need to be. There is staying power and
victory in justice.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chuck-spinney/obamas-politics-of-change_b_114814.html
Sid Harth
Authors Of Iraq War Push Obama On Afghanistan
First Posted: 09-21-09 03:35 PM | Updated: 09-21-09 04:31 PM
The neoconservatives who provided the intellectual foundation for the
war in Iraq convened on Monday to make a renewed push for the current
administration to pursue greater military engagement in Afghanistan.
Hours after it was reported that military officials are advising
President Obama to send up to 40,000 more American troops to the eight-
year-long war, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
joined the intellectuals at the Foreign Policy Initiative forum to
declare any future policy debate moot.
"This is not the time for Hamlet in the White House," said Romney,
mocking President Barack Obama's appeal for more time to decide the
best course forward for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
"Hopefully he has had the time to deal with the issue of Afghanistan,"
Romney added. "He will make the decision, which is called for by as
great a team of military minds that has ever been assembled for a
conflict like this... This team is unanimous. They have developed a
strategy that is consistent with his principles. How in the world can
he at this stage be saying what he is saying?"
Speaking before the FPI -- a group headed by many of the chief
intellectual authors of the war in Iraq, including The Weekly
Standard's Bill Kristol, renowned neocon Robert Kagan, and former
adviser to the Coalition in Iraq Dan Senor -- Romney's remarks were
filled with other carefully-worded criticisms of Obama's foreign
policy. The president had shown himself to be "a reluctant and timid
defender of freedom," was pursuing a "dramatic" and "revolutionary"
departure from previous approaches to global affairs and was
alienating our allies in an effort to placate emerging international
forces, argued the former Massachusetts governor argued.
"All politicians are in love with love," Romney said of the alleged
"neutrality" that Obama had brought to U.S. diplomatic relations. "I
think it flows in part from the sense that is growing in a lot of
foreign policy circles that America is in decline. And that is
inevitable that other great nations will surpass America and therefore
the job of the president of the US should be to manage America through
decline and make sure that we are in good stead with the Chinese and
the Russians and these other contenders."
And yet, for all the foreign policy machismo and rhetorical platitudes
offered by Romney, a countervailing truth seemed to temper his and
others remarks. On the topic of Afghanistan, Obama and the neocons are
far closer to one another than they are apart. The president, to date,
has pursued policies that even former rivals like Sen. John McCain, (R-
A.Z.) and Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) have cheered.
At an earlier panel at the FPI forum, the president was urged once
more to follow the recommendations that his top military commander in
Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, laid out in a 66-page
assessment of the situation in that country.
"The primary objective [in Afghanistan] is to protect the United
States" from another 9/11," said Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican
Senatorial candidate in Illinois. My job, Kirk added, is to "make sure
that everyone in [Chicago's] Sears Tower can come home tonight."
But others were more accommodating of the president's desire for
deliberation, noting the need to build up public support for the
endeavor and the long-term implications of any additional troop
commitment.
"The support of the American people is the center of gravity for the
next ten years," said Brig. Gen. Mark T. Kimmitt, USA (Ret.). Given
the extent of the commitment hoped for, this "is going need some
deliberation," Kimmitt said, "we don't want to see a rush to failure."
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/21/authors-of-iraq-war-push_n_293765.html
bademiyansubhanallah
A joint fight against terror By Kuldip Nayar
Friday, 16 Oct, 2009 Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani shakes
hands with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 15th Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in the Egyptian Red Sea tourist resort
of Sharm el-Sheikh July 16, 2009. – Photo by Reuters
New Delhi should realise that the road to Beijing goes through
Islamabad. This is what a Pakistan foreign minister told me many years
ago. There is some truth in this even today.
Likewise, Islamabad would have known by now that its route to Kabul
lies through New Delhi. This is not to suggest that India is helping
Afghanistan in its armed struggle against the Taliban. What it means
is that New Delhi can wield influence over Kabul.
The hospital it has built in Kabul and the roads and power
transmission lines it has laid there despite the killings of Indian
engineers and workers have earned the Manmohan Singh government the
trust of an average Afghan. This goodwill can benefit Islamabad if it
can have even a workable relationship with New Delhi.
Another attack on India’s embassy in Kabul recently is nothing new
from the point of view of the Taliban who regard India as their enemy
and economic development an anti-war measure. But the alleged role of
the ISI in such attacks is difficult to comprehend.
Mistrust between India and Pakistan clouds judgment. Yet both have
known to their cost that the Taliban consider them their enemy. The
recent attack on the army headquarters at Rawalpindi reconfirms the
fact that when it comes to causing harm, the Taliban make no
distinction between Islamic Pakistan and secular India.
Why have not New Delhi and Islamabad sat together to plan a common
strategy? Kashmir does not have to be sorted out before solving other
problems. The situation in Afghanistan is too serious for further
delay. Every gain that the Taliban make in Pakistan is at the expense
of India’s security. But certain irritants need to be removed.
Islamabad should give up the idea of having Afghanistan as its area of
strategic depth.
Kabul lives under the fear that Islamabad is out to belittle or
destroy it. Just as the stability of Pakistan is essential for the
stability of India, Afghanistan’s viability is necessary for
Pakistan’s viability. Essentially, the fight against the Taliban is
the fight for a free world.
But the most important step for India and Pakistan is joint, concerted
action against the Taliban. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said at
a press conference in Mumbai: ‘If we work together to deal with this
menace (terrorism), a [larger] good can come out of it.’
Pakistan’s allegation that India is trying to export terrorism does
not help the situation. Manmohan Singh’s charactersing it as ‘a false
accusation’ should set doubts in Pakistan at rest. Manmohan Singh has
seldom personally rubbished a statement.
The real problem is Gen Stanley McChrystal’s assessment. The top US
commander in Afghanistan has said that India was adding to regional
tensions and encouraging counter-measures. At the same time, it was
indicated that Indian activities benefit the Afghan people. The
economic measures which New Delhi has undertaken in Afghanistan are
bound to endear India in the eyes of the Afghans.
The American commander’s assessment can be a talking point between New
Delhi and Islamabad. When both agree that the Taliban are the biggest
menace they can surely find a common strategy for joint action. They
can adopt different ways, economic or military, but they should have
one policy to tackle the Taliban.
Pakistan’s reluctance to move troops from the Indian border to
Afghanistan is understandable. Islamabad is making the same point
which New Delhi was making when it was in the midst of a war with
China in 1962. Pakistan has argued that while it is concentrating its
full attention on fighting the Taliban, India should not in any way be
disturbing it on the border.
In 1962, both US President Kennedy and British Prime Minister
Macmillan had told Gen Ayub not to take such steps as would in any way
distract New Delhi’s attention from fighting against China. Jawaharlal
Nehru’s fear was that Ayub would march into Kashmir once India
withdrew its forces from the border with Pakistan. Gen P.N. Thapar,
chief of the Indian army, asked for the government’s permission to
move the troops from the Pakistan border to the theatre of war in
Assam.
Washington and London talked to Islamabad and assured New Delhi on
Pakistan’s behalf that it would not attack India. Only then did India
withdraw one division from the Pakistan border. Krishna Menon, then
India’s defence minister, was opposed to the move. He considered
Pakistan more of an enemy than China. Still Thapar withdrew the troops
after getting Nehru’s permission.
Ayub did not open a second front, although it was an opportune moment
for him to do so. Still Ayub used the opportunity to give China the
northern areas of Kashmir, then under Pakistan. He wanted to establish
closer relations with Beijing. Islamabad has followed that policy
strictly.
Pakistani rulers, like Nehru, have conveyed more or less the same
fears in similar words to the Americans who have been asked to
guarantee that New Delhi would do nothing if Pakistan withdrew its
troops from the border with India. Islamabad is far from satisfied by
mere statements that there is no question of India attacking Pakistan.
Still, with all the assurances, Islamabad has hardly withdrawn any
forces from the border with India.
Whatever the situation and from wherever you start, you find loads of
mistrust. The inevitable conclusion is that there is no alternative to
rapprochement between India and Pakistan. President Obama once talked
about a regional solution to Afghanistan and other problems between
the countries. Little has happened on that front so far.
The writer is a leading journalist based in Delhi.
bademiyansubhanallah
Blast in Peshawar cantonment; 10 killed, 11 injured
Friday, 16 Oct, 2009 Of the ten injured people shifted to the
Lady Reading hospital, six are security personnel, while one police
soldier has lost his life. —File Photo Media Gallery
Pakistan: As terror takes its toll Pakistan: As terror takes its toll
PESHAWAR: An apparent car suicide bomb blast killed 10 people and
injured at least another 11 in the Peshawar cantonment area on Friday.
According to DawnNews, the explosion took place at approximately 1:00
pm in the vicinity of a mosque, an army check-post and a Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) building.
The injured are being shifted to the Lady Reading hospital and several
other hospitals across the city where emergency has been declared.
Of the 11 injured people shifted to the Lady Reading hospital, six
were security personnel, while one police soldier has lost his life.
Witnesses told DawnNews that schoolbags could be seen lying around and
schoolchildren are feared to among those injured in the attack.
Pakistan: As terror takes its toll 1/12
Militants launched a string of attacks in Lahore and in northwest
Pakistan on Thursday, killing several after a week of violence in
which more than 100 people died.
Children look through a broken window following a car bomb blast in
Peshawar on October 15, 2009. A car bomb on October 15 ripped through
a residential building used by government employees in the city,
killing a child, officials said. — AFP Photo/A Majeed
An injured police officer rests on a hospital bed in Lahore on October
15, 2009. — AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri
Police officials look at the skeleton of a car which was used in a
bomb attack in Peshawar, October 15, 2009. — Reuters/Fayaz Aziz
A family mourns the death of a relative by terrorists in Lahore,
October 15, 2009. Teams of gunmen launched coordinated attacks on
three law enforcement facilities in Lahore, and car bombs exploded in
two cities in the northwest on Thursday, killing several. — AP Photo/
K.M. Chaudary
An injured police officer rests on a hospital bed in Lahore on October
15, 2009. — AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri
Police officials cover the coffins of 11 police officers with the
national flag during a funeral ceremony at the police headquarters
Qila Gujar Singh, in Lahore, on October 15, 2009. — AFP Photo /
Nicolas Asfouri
An injured girl looks on following a bomb blast in Peshawar on
Thursday, October 15, 2009. — AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad
A boy sells balloons outside the Elite Police Force Headquarters after
it was attacked by gunmen in Lahore, October 15, 2009. — AP Photo/
Alexandre Meneghini
Residents walk past the aftermath of a suicide bomb explosion in
Kohat, located in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, October 15,
2009. — Reuters/Stringer
Relatives of a police officer killed by gunmen mourn as they arrive to
get his body after a funeral prayer in Lahore, October 15, 2009. — AP
Photo/Anjum Naveed
Relatives of a police officer killed by gunmen mourn during a funeral
prayer in Lahore, October 15, 2009. — AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
Police officers in typical Punjab uniform stand guard during the
funeral ceremony of 11 police officers at the police headquarters Qila
Gujar Singh, in Lahore, on October 15, 2009. — AFP Photo /Nicolas
Asfouri
Attack on Jamia Naeemia mosque Lahore 1/6
Anti-Taliban cleric among four killed, 10 injured in a suicide attack
in Lahore. The blast occurred right after the Friday prayers finished
at the Jamia Naeemia mosque.
A member of the Pakistani bomb disposal squad uses a metal detector
following a suicide bomb attack at the Jamia Naeemia madrassa, an
Islamic seminary in Lahore on June 12, 2009. – AFP
Pakistani students gather at the Jamia Naeemia madrassa after the bomb
attack. – AFP
Pakistani Islamic students mourn over the body of Sarfraz Naeemi, the
head of Jamia Naeemia madrassa at a hospital following a suicide bomb
attack. – AFP
People gathered outside the seminary after a suicide attack in Lahore,
on Friday, June 12, 2009. – AP
Prominent anti-Taliban Pakistani Muslim cleric Maulana Sarfraz Naeemi
is pictured in this file photo taken in Lahore July 17, 2005. Naeemi
was killed in the suicide bomb attack, police said. – Reuters
Pakistani Islamic students and a rescue worker stand outside a damaged
room at the Jamia Naeemia madrassa. – AFP
Lahore under terror siege 1/12 Militants unleashed a coordinated
assault on three locations in Lahore on Thursday.
Policemen remove an injured colleague from a police training centre
after gunmen attacked.— Photo by AFP
Paramilitary soldiers rush to take up defensive positions outside a
police training centre.— Photo by AFP
Policemen shift an injured colleague into an armoured vehicle from a
police training centre following the attack.— Photo by AFP
Unarmed policemen fall back as the assault worsens.— Photo by AFP
Security forces race towards the Manawa police training centre.— Photo
by Reuters
Soldiers take position outside a commando academy after a gunmen
attack in Lahore.— Photo by AFP
Police examine explosives and ammunition seized from the militants.—
Photo by Reuters
Policemen take their positions outside the Manawa police training
centre.— Photo by Reuters
Rescue workers carry the body of a man killed during an attack on the
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Lahore.— Photo by Reuters
Army soldiers are deployed to Elite Police Academy on Bedian Road
after the training centre was attacked by gunmen.— Photo by Reuters
Rescue workers move a hostage away from the scene.— Photo by AP
Policemen comfort each other in the aftermath of the horrific attack.—
Photo by AFP
bademiyansubhanallah
Lahore terror attacks: Pak arrests 36 suspects
PTI Friday, October 16, 2009 13:30 IST
Lahore: Pakistani law enforcement agencies have taken 36 suspects into
custody in connection with the near-simultaneous terror attacks on
three security facilities here that left 28 people dead, officials
said today.
Twenty suspects were picked from Gulshan-e-Daud Colony in Manawan,
where terrorists attacked a police training centre yesterday,
officials said.
Eleven suspects were detained from localities on Bedian Road where
terrorists targeted another police training centre, four from Temple
Road where a gunman was killed while attacking a Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA) office, and one more from the cantonment, they said.
A senior police officer said Qari Ishaq, an accomplice of the
attackers, was among those arrested.
"A fake police identity card and weapons have been recovered from
Ishaq, who was living in rented accommodation in the cantonment. He
made calls from his cell phone to some persons in Waziristan," the
official told PTI.
Rana Sanaullah, law minister of Punjab province, told reporters, "We
have taken a number of suspects into custody but we cannot give
details until their interrogation is completed."
He made it clear that the provincial government had no intention of
launching an operation in southern Punjab as there were no militant
training camps in that region.There has been a demand from authorities
in North West Frontier Province (NWFP)and public pressure for
launching an operation in parts of Punjab where sympathisers of the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan are believed to be holed up.
A total of 10 terrorists were either gunned down by security forces or
blew themselves up during the three attacks. A dozen policemen were
among 18 others who lost their lives.
A large number of women in Manawan protested against the arrest of
about 20 suspects from Gulshan-e-Daud Colony, located behind the
police training school that was attacked for the second time this
year. The protesters shouted slogans against the police and claimed
they had been arresting "innocent" people in the name of an anti-
terrorism drive.
"Why don't police arrest the real culprits? Just to make points before
their superiors, the policemen have picked up poor people of the
locality," said Samina Ahmed, a resident of Gulshan-e-Daud Colony.
But a police officer said: "We have information that terrorists
involved in the attack on the Manawan training centre had rented a
house in that area."
Two private schools near the FIA office remained closed today and the
road leading to the building too was blocked. The Special
Investigation Group of FIA is collecting forensic evidence from the
sites of the attacks, officials said.
chhotemianinshallah
A file photo of a Pak official removing suicide jacket from a dead
terrorist in Lahore. AP/PTI Photograph (1)
Peshawar hit again, 11 killed in attack on police station
STAFF WRITER 14:51 HRS IST
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 16 (PTI) Terrorists today struck in the northwest
Pakistani city of Peshawar for the second straight day as a suicide
bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police station near a
mosque, killing at least 11 people and injuring 16 others.
The police station in the cantonment area of North West Frontier
Province's capital city targeted by the attacker also housed the
office of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA). A nearby mosque was
also severely damaged by the powerful blast.
Three policemen, two women and a child were among the dead, officials
said. Three security personnel were among the injured, said district
administration chief Sahibzada Muhammad Anees.
"It was a suicide attack. The leg of the bomber has been found," NWFP
Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters at the site
of the attack. Seven of the injured are in a serious condition, he
chhotemianinshallah
US cannot let Taliban overrun Pakistan: Senator
STAFF WRITER 14:16 HRS IST
Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) The US cannot let the Taliban overrun
Pakistan but the militancy-infested country has to meet certain
standards and expectations in lieu of the massive USD 7.5 billion in
aid being given to it under the Kerry-Lugar bill, a top American
Senator has said.
"We are actually in the mood of helping Pakistan because it's a
nuclear power; they're allies; we want to make sure that they're
solid. We know that they're being attacked by the Taliban,"
Congressman Orrin Hatch, a senior member of the Senate Finance
Committee, told MSNBC.
"The Taliban's a vicious, awful organisation, and we just can't let
them overrun Pakistan. If we did, the whole world would be unsettled,"
chhotemianinshallah
More attack anticipated in Pakistan: Stratfor
STAFF WRITER 13:17 HRS IST
Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 16 (PTI) Warning that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
would launch more terrorist attack inside Pakistan, a US based global
intelligence think tank today said that the militants were employing
an all out strategy.
The series of attacks by TTP across Pakistan, the think tank Stratfor
indicated that the militants retained capabilities to strike at will
and it would be critical to watch and see if they changed tactics and
started hitting softer targets to increase casualties.
The Taliban are launching attacks while they have the wherewithal as
the impending big military offensive will hit the outfit's ability to
operate and control assets across Pakistan, it said.
The US think tank said the new wave of attacks made it apparent that
the Taliban had more resources available in various parts of Pakistan.
"So more attacks are anticipated".
Sid Harth
Q+A - What are the Pakistani Taliban trying to do?
Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:42pm IST
REUTERS - A suicide bomber killed 12 people near a police office in
the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday.
The militants have launched a string of brazen attacks in the past 11
days, attacking the United Nations, the army headquarters, police and
general public, killing about 150 people.
Here are some questions and answers about the violence.
WHAT ARE THE TALIBAN TRYING TO DO?
The Taliban say they are exacting revenge for the deaths of their
"martyrs" in particular their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, killed in a
missile attack by a pilotless U.S. drone on Aug. 5. The government
says the militants are trying to stave off an impending military
offensive against their stronghold in South Waziristan in lawless
ethnic Pashtun lands along the Afghan border. The government says the
militants, who have close links with al Qaeda and anti-Indian militant
groups based in Pakistan's Punjab province, are hoping their attacks
will daunt the authorities and weaken their resolve while distracting
the attention of the armed forces. The Taliban want to impose their
hardline version of Islamic rule and expel U.S. forces from the
region.
Some analysts say the brash new leader of the Pakistani Taliban,
Hakimullah Mehsud, is trying to make his mark with the wave of
violence. People who have met him say Hakimullah is more reckless and
ruthless than his predecessor, and he has vowed to avenge Baitullah's
death. But Hakimullah, 31, said in comments released on a video this
week his fighters would stop their attacks and would go to fight India
if the government stopped following U.S. orders. The militants are
using increasingly sophisticated tactics, disguising themselves as
members of the security forces and launching coordinated "swarm"
attacks.
WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING?
Government leaders say the wave of attacks is a sign of militant
desperation and they will not be cowed by the violence which only
stiffens their determination to go into South Waziristan to finish the
militants off. Security has been tightened across the country with
numerous checkpoints on roads into and inside cities. Roads in
sensitive areas, in front of parliament in Islamabad for example, have
been blocked off. Many government offices and embassies have erected
concrete blast barriers.
WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN NEXT?
Attacks in towns and cities are likely to pick up when the army sends
ground troops into South Waziristan. The army has not said when the
ground offensive would begin but the government says it is imminent.
The Taliban are also bound to attack the military's supply lines up to
South Waziristan. Another danger is that the militants might try to
divert the army's attention by engineering a confrontation with India.
A militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in November ramped up
tension between the two old rivals after India accused Pakistani
security agents of supporting the militants who carried it out.
Despite Pakistani denials, members of the Indian public clamoured for
a strike on militants in Pakistan, while Pakistan vowed to respond to
any such action. In the event of another surge in tension with India,
the Pakistani army would have to focus its attention on the border
with India, perhaps winding down or delaying the South Waziristan
assault.
(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Alex Richardson)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Sid Harth
India: A billion aspirations
Perspectives on South Asian politics
00:41 October 17th, 2009
Will India’s Kashmir talks offer break fresh ground?
Post a comment (1)
Posted by: Krittivas Mukherjee
Tags: Uncategorized, diplomacy, India, Kashmir, kashmir dispute,
Kashmiri, Pakistan, South Asia, talks, violence
New Delhi said this week it will adopt “quiet diplomacy” with every
section of political opinion to find a solution to the problems in
India-ruled Kashmir about four years after it opened a dialogue with
separatist groups there.
The response to the announcement is on expected lines — the moderates
welcoming it and pro-Pakistan hardliners reminding any effort at peace
without involving Islamabad would be futile.
New Delhi has not yet made a formal offer for talks. But the timing of
the development appears to be significant.
Violence is at a low in Kashmir, elections there were largely
successful and last year’s angry public protests against Indian rule
have now subsided.
On the other hand, the security situation is at its worst in Pakistan
and the war in Afghanistan appears to be in a decisive phase.
There is also growing realisation in Washington about the impact of
the India-Pakistan rivalry on the Afghan war as pointed out in this
Reuters analysis.
Pakistan has long demanded that resolution of the Kashmir dispute be
made part of any effort to stabilise South Asia, a move strongly
resisted by India.
The United States wants Pakistan to concentrate its military efforts
on fighting the Taliban and other Islamist groups on its western
border. For this Washington would like to see India and Pakistan
reduce their tensions.
So could it be that international pressure was devolving on India to
resolve the Kashmir issue and New Delhi’s latest offer for talks was
only aimed at deflecting that pressure by giving the impression that
it was engaging with Kashmiris?
Or is it that the time is right to strike a deal with moderate
Kashmiri groups? Does New Delhi believe that a Pakistan caught up in a
vortex of bloody conflict would now be less attractive to the modern
Kashmiri youth aware of India’s rising financial and political stature
in the world?
The Mint newspaper suggests if India hoped to settle the Kashmir issue
it had to engage with those who want meaningful autonomy for the state
and politically isolate the hardline pro-Pakistan groups
Clearly the need is for a solution that will be implementable on the
ground in Kashmir and not a formula that only satisfies New Delhi and
Islamabad.
Do you think New Delhi is finally moving towards that solution in
right earnest?
(PHOTO: An Indian policeman stands guard after a grenade blast in
Srinagar October 6, 2009. REUTERS/Danish Ismail)
October 16th, 2009 8:38 pm GMT
Some think that Kashmir issue cannot be resolved until Pakistan get
dissolved by Taliban or India gets dissolved by Pakistan.
It is endless and mindless hatred instead of live and let live with
economic unification of all, for real groundwork for public at large,
due to intellectual bandwidth of leaders from all groups and nations.
Less than 70 years back, we were all Imperial India. Are we better off
being bitter with each other now than being united against colonial
Britain in the struggle for independence ?
Partition is easier to induce or enforce than attain or admire
economic unification through better public benefit outlay through
defence budgets cuts.
China will not let this happen through misguiding leadership by
misdirected strategic spin, even if USA will favour enlarged largest
democracy of the world.
Forget Jinnah and forget Gandhi as we need to remember that they or
their plans have not worked for today’s state of affairs.
Union of interests will lead to unification of leadership which
leaders of different groups, factions and nations will never undergo.
Mergers of corporations are done for financial benefits and economies
of scale and scope, economic unification for social and humanitarian
benefit is not understood by leaders in Indian sub-continent; be it
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh at all.
Peace at any price, sacrificing leadership positions: three
presidents, three prime-ministers, three x, y, z and so on… is a
thought known to common public but lost on the higher echelons of
separatist, splinter, strategy think tanks.
Peace visits us all before we all go up in pieces, if Afghan or Pak
Taliban gains control over nuclear weapons in Pakistan, which will
destroy Afghanistan and Pakistan from within and won’t spare Kashmir
or rest of India from without.
Where are we headed ? Do these leaders, Indian, Pakistani, Afghani or
Kashmiri know the common public good ?
- Posted by Honest Pakistan born Indian
Sid Harth
Pakistan: Now or Never?
Perspectives on Pakistan« Previous Post06:15 October 16th, 2009
Insurgency in Pakistan: what next?
Posted by: Myra MacDonald
After last weekend’s attack on the headquarters of the Pakistan Army
in Rawalpindi, one of the questions being asked with a rather
troubling air of inevitability was: where next? That question was
answered on Thursday with a string of attacks across the country,
including three in Lahore.
So now, what next?
Many expect the attacks to continue, as militants based in the
country’s heartland Punjab province unleash a wave of violence ahead
of a planned military offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in their
stronghold in South Waziristan. Few are prepared to predict either
how much worse they could get, nor exactly how Pakistan will respond.
The blogger “Londonstani” at Abu Muqawama writes that, “the media,
foreign and domestic, seems to be split between two narratives:
‘Militants are getting stronger and we are stuffed’ or ‘This is the
last gasp of militants who are about to be ground to pulp by the
army’”.
He argues however that “the downfall of militancy of this kind is
built into its success. It can only really thrive when it is seen as a
by-product of unpopular government policies, foreign occupation etc.
But when the militancy gets powerful enough to pull off spectaculars
like the operations today in Lahore, that’s when the local population
see it as a threat in its own right. When it starts looking like a
realistic possibility (even if pretty distant) that Taliban types
might soon be telling you how to live, ambivalence towards their
activities falls away.”
But in a column in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, Nadeem Paracha writes
that it may yet take a while for Pakistanis to drop their
ambivalence.
“What is it that makes these terrorists so sure and confident about
themselves? It’s simple. We do!” it says.
“It is the sheer hesitancy that we show towards fully realizing the
grave dangers these terrorists hold, and a weird, inexplicable sense
and understanding of reality that most Pakistanis look to be suffering
from, that gives these terrorists the psychological edge and opening;
providing them as convoluted a justification to commit acts of
barbarism in the fine name of God, as is our own habit of ending up
actually recognizing their many deeds as being either a sympathetic
socio-political outcome, or, of course, a wild conspiracy by our many
(largely imagined) enemies lingering on our borders.”
No one is suggesting that Pakistan is about to be overrun by Islamist
militants. But what is clear is that there has been a step-shift in
the nature of the insurgency in Pakistan. This is more than mere
geography, as the violence spreads increasingly from the tribal areas
bordering Afghanistan into the heartland of the country. It is more
even than the rising frequency of attacks. What is perhaps most
worrisome is that there appears to be a coherence to the attacks that
has not yet been fully understood.
Does the apparent mayhem mask a clear strategy on the part of the
militants which goes beyond targetting security forces wherever they
can as a pre-emptive strike against the planned offensive in South
Waziristan? Which militant organisations are involved among the
Punjab-based groups and the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban?
And how does the attempt to destabilise Pakistan fit with the
situation in Afghanistan?
Britain’s Guardian newspaper says in an editorial the implications of
the attacks over the last week or so are profound.
“Militant attacks of this sophistication and scale represent more than
just a pre-emptive strike against a long-heralded army offensive in
South Waziristan … A new front has been opened. It is a battle that
the army cannot afford to lose, because it is being fought in the
Punjab itself, the very heart of the Pakistani state.”
Security analysts argue that historically insurgencies have failed far
more often than they have succeeded, although there might be months,
or years, of “irregular warfare” (in the case of Pakistan this has
meant suicide bombings and fedayeen attacks).
If you wanted to apply that framework to what is happening right now
in Pakistan, you would need to understand both the nature of the state
and the nature of the insurgents. Much has been written about the
state in Pakistan. But how much do we really know about the
insurgents? Until we work that out, it seems unlikely that anyone can
answer with any confidence the question of what next.
(Reuters photos: soldiers and police in Lahore)
Post a comment (3) |
October 16th, 2009 2:58 am GMT Myra,
The latest wave of bloody reprisal attacks on Pakistan in the last 24
hrs have shown that Pakistani cities do not have a credible security
or police force to protect the cities.
It is time that the army re-allocates those 700,000 Army into the
cities. Police in Pakistan are corrupt, underfunded and inept at best
in dealing with insurgencies and militants and are outgunned.
It seems like the militants are determined to destroy Pakistan from
within. They, the militants, are reaping the benefits of an army,
hellbent on maintaining enmity with India. They have and are using
this fictitious enmity with India to their advantage and taking
ferocious bites out of the heart of Pakistan.
The Taliban presence requires that the Pak Army train in urban warfare
and re-allocate into the cities, as that is where the battles will be
conclusively fought with the militants, not in SWAT and WAZIRISTAN.
The focus needs to shift more the cities and securing them.
As Indians, we hope that all Paks remain safe from these militant
monsters. No Pakistani is safe anymore in the cities.
- Posted by GW
October 16th, 2009 5:58 am GMT Myra,
From yesterday’s attacks in Lahore, it has become quite clear that the
Taliban & Al Qaeda have indeed combined forces with the Punjabi groups
like LeT, JeM, JeV etc. who were created & nurtured by the Pakistani
army & who are still considered by many Pakistanis as allies in just
causes, including fighting India, US and Shiite Muslims. Today, these
punjabi groups have become intricately entwined with the Taliban & AQ
and pose an existential threat to the Pakistani state.
If Pakistan has to survive, the entire Pakistani leadership (the one’s
in uniforms & the one’s in suits) will have to stop being vague about
terrorism with the Pakistani people & clearly tell them that they have
to unite & fight all terrorists, whether they are foreigners of AQ or
home grown punjabis of LeT & JeM. Instead of churning out the blame
for every attack on ‘foreign hand’ & conspiracy theories through their
propaganda machinery, the Pakistani army will have to come out &
accept that home grown terrorists are an existential threat to
Pakistan today & go after them with the same vigor that they go after
foreign terrorists. Unless they do this & do it very soon, I’m afraid
nothing can stop Pakistan’s complete implosion.
- Posted by Mortal
October 16th, 2009 6:58 am GMT
Blame it on India and let the terrorists go back to business as usual!
That’s exactly what Pakistan did after the attack on Sri Lankan
cricket team in Lahore! The same guys then attacked army GHQ in
Rawalpindi and killed more people!
- Posted by Sameer
chhotemianinshallah
October 17, 2009...9:41 am
Pakistan descends deeper into civil war
I am not sure if we agree with this analysis in entirety but it makes
a useful reading and presents a few insights worth pondering…Raza Rumi
By Peter Symonds – WSWS website
As the Pakistani military gets set to launch a major offensive into
the tribal agency of South Waziristan, Islamist militants carried out
coordinated high-profile attacks yesterday on police facilities in the
city of Lahore.
Teams of gunmen disguised as police officers struck two police
training centres and the provincial headquarters of the Federal
Investigation Agency. At least 28 people were killed, including 19
police officers. Two of the targets had already been attacked in the
previous 18 months.
Two further attacks took place yesterday in the North West Frontier
Province. A suicide car bombing at a police station in Kohat killed 11
people—three police officers and eight civilians. A smaller bomb
outside a housing complex for government employees in the provincial
capital of Peshawar killed a child and wounded nine other people.
Yesterday’s attacks follow an audacious raid on the army’s
headquarters in Rawalpindi over the weekend that led to a 22-hour
standoff. At least six soldiers, including a brigadier-general and a
colonel, were killed in the fighting. Previously, a car bomb exploded
in a marketplace in Peshawar on October, killing 52 people and
injuring more than 100. On October 5, a suicide bomb attack at the
UN’s World Food Program headquarters in Islamabad killed five aid
workers.
Responding to yesterday’s raids, Interior Minister Rehman Malik
declared: “The enemy has started a guerrilla war.” In fact, the
country has been in a state of undeclared civil war since the
Pakistani government, under intense pressure from Washington, ordered
the military into the Swat Valley and neighbouring districts in April.
Now the military is primed to carry out a similar operation in South
Waziristan, where it alleges most of the recent “terrorist” attacks
were planned. The Obama administration has been pressing for months
for a major Pakistani offensive into the tribal agency, which is used
as a refuge by insurgents fighting the US occupation of Afghanistan.
While a fully-fledged ground assault is yet to take place, the army
has moved troops, tanks and artillery into position and is
constructing strategic roads in the Mamo mountains. Air and artillery
bombardment on alleged insurgents intensified this week, partly in
response to the attack on army headquarters last weekend.
“We are targetting militant hideouts with jet fighters and helicopter
gunships in the first phase of an operation in South Waziristan,”
Tariq Hayat, a top government official responsible for the tribal
border areas, told the Dawn. At least 27 people were killed in heavy
bombing yesterday following similar raids on Tuesday and Wednesday in
at least five separate areas.
On Wednesday night, eight people were killed in an aerial attack on a
cave shelter in the Spinkal area. Pakistani intelligence officials
insisted that the dead were all insurgents, but local tribesmen told
the media that all the victims were civilians, including three women
and three children, who had abandoned their homes to seek shelter.
The stream of people fleeing the tribal agency is accelerating.
According to the Associated Press, an estimated 200,000 people have
left South Waziristan since August. About half of those have
registered as displaced persons. South Waziristan’s exact population
is unknown, but the figure is generally put at around 500,000.
Mohammed Shahbaz, a businessman, told Spiegel Online: “Life here is
becoming increasingly difficult; we expect war could break out
anytime. Even without war we have problems. The military is patrolling
everywhere and there are controls on every street. It is getting more
difficult by the day to get hold of food and other everyday goods.”
Naimatullah Khan, a police officer, told the Associated Press (AP)
that the exodus had grown this week. Around 80 vehicles carrying
refugees are passing each day through the Chonda checkpoint on the
edge of the region. Haji Ayub Mehsud, who had fled along back roads
with his six children, told AP that the intensified bombing left him
no choice. “It is difficult for local people to stay there in peace. I
had to bring out my family,” he said.
Most refugees have moved into safer districts such as Dera Ismail Khan
and Tank. There is no sign that the government has made any
preparation to look after them. Hundreds of thousands of displaced
persons who fled the Swat Valley earlier this year were housed in
squalid camps that lacked sufficient food, water and electricity. A
local official in Dera Ismail Khan told Spiegel Online: “When the army
attacks begin, we expect a mass exodus from South Waziristan. Where do
we accommodate and provide for all these people?”
When the ground offensive will begin remains unclear. On Monday,
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that political leaders had given
the go-ahead, but the timing was up to the army chief of staff.
However, the government and the military have been talking about the
impending offensive for weeks. The apparent hesitancy is one
indication of the internal political crisis being generated by the
widening conflict with the Taliban and allied Islamist groups.
In military terms, the offensive in South Waziristan could prove to be
very costly. Three previous operations ended in failure. The army has
reportedly marshalled 28,000 soldiers to confront an estimated 10,000
armed militants, who have considerable local support. Among Pashtun
tribespeople in the border areas, the government is widely despised as
an American puppet that is helping to shore up the US and NATO
occupation of Afghanistan.
Repeated attacks by unmanned US predator drones on the Pakistani
tribal agencies have only intensified popular anger. These raids have
been accelerated under the Obama administration—40 have taken place
since Obama was sworn in on January 20. The latest yesterday on a
house in North Waziristan killed four people. While the Pakistani
government publicly opposes the strikes, privately it has given the
green light to the US.
Popular opposition inside Pakistan to the US occupation of Afghanistan
is not limited to Pashtun border areas. Fearful of generating greater
anger, the government only launched its offensive into the Swat Valley
after heavy arm-twisting by Washington. A major assault in South
Waziristan will only prompt further Islamist attacks in the country’s
main cities and fuel deepening discontent and opposition.
Dr Hasan Askari-Rizvi, a security expert, told the Guardian yesterday
that attacks by militants were unlikely to collapse the government.
But, he warned, “If these things keep happening there will be a major
crisis of confidence in the government. There is a sense of insecurity
across Pakistan. You don’t know what will happen when you are walking
on the streets.”
A diplomatic row over a US Congressional aid bill is another
indication of the fragile situation in Pakistan. The Pakistani
government was compelled to send Foreign Minister Shah Mehmoud Qureshi
to Washington after the army expressed “grave concerns” about clauses
in the legislation, effectively requiring US oversight that Pakistan
was playing its part in Obama’s AfPak war.
The differences were patched up after Qureshi met with the bill’s
sponsors Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman. They
issued a written statement to accompany the legislation, declaring
that it should not be interpreted as implying that the US “does not
fully recognise and respect the sovereignty of Pakistan.” The bill
itself remained unchanged and was signed into law by Obama. Despite
the lauding of US generosity, the $7.5 billion over five years amounts
to less than $10 a year per head of population, even assuming the
money is actually delivered and reaches ordinary people.
The latest attacks in Lahore only underscore the reckless character of
Obama’s escalating AfPak war. As the US administration prepares to
dispatch tens of thousands more American troops to the neo-colonial
conflict in Afghanistan, it is pushing neighbouring Pakistan into
deepening civil turmoil that can only further destabilise the entire
region.
6 Comments
Ali Abbas
October 17, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Riddled with inaccuracies and sweeping statements, the conclusion
highlights the poor research undertaken by the author; he is obviously
drinking the same cool aid that is currently being imbibed by the
elite chattering class and the Pro-Taliban Pakistani media.
Afghanistan Post 9/11 is not America’s “neo-colonial” but a NATO
action that has UN mandate. Those who make the analogy between Iraq
and Afghanistan are being disingenuous; the invasion of Iraq did not
have UN support and is an illigal occupation that was conducted under
false pretenses and driven by the Neo-Conservative lobby. Afghanistan
is different, which is not to say that the US has not botched it.
However, falsely positing the Taliban as some sort of “anti-
imperialist”, “Pushtoon nationalists” (as done by many media
analysts/”experts” is equally out of synch with the stated fact of the
Pakistani establishment which used to openly call the Taliban as an
instrument of “strategic depth”. How are the Taliban any different,
being as they are, the tools of Bonapartist imperialists who are using
these Islamist mercenaries to establish their control on others. The
KL bill is unacceptable to the establishment and its media and
opposition proxies because it asks for an end to the adventures of
using Jihadis as foreign policy proxies.
Junaid
October 17, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Now the military is primed to carry out a similar operation in South
Waziristan, where it alleges most of the recent “terrorist” attacks
were planned.
So the attacks can only be planned in South Waziristan?
What if the attacks start getting planned in Karachi?
The argument is synonymous with the US argument that Afghanistan needs
to be attacked because Al-Qaeda plans its attacks in Afghanistan.
How hard is to run training camps and plan attacks from one place to
another?
Bloody Civilian
October 17, 2009 at 2:09 pm
@junaid
are you saying that south waziristan should not be addressed? or that
karachi too should be addressed if there is evidence that it needs to
be?
Bloody Civilian
October 17, 2009 at 2:13 pm
@Ali Abbas
right on target. thankyou
Junaid
October 17, 2009 at 3:48 pm
@Bloody civilian
That depends upon your capacity to keep on “addressing” and the mode
of addressing.
Bloody Civilian
October 17, 2009 at 4:08 pm
@Junaid
either the problem will be solved or ‘your’ capacity to keep on
addressing it would run out. either way, the ‘addressing’ has to be
taken to its logical end.
as for the ‘mode of addressing’, the enemy’s ‘mode of operation’
defines that, substantially.
bademiyansubhanallah
Take nation into confidence on Kashmir: BJP to Centre
Agencies Posted online: October 19, 2009 at 1530
BJP on Monday said the Centre should take the nation into confidence
about the unique solution proposed by it on Kashmir.
J-K High Court quashes detention orders against 3, including cleric
Jammu BJP on Monday said the Centre should take the nation into
confidence about the contours and content of the unique solution
proposed by it on Kashmir issue.
BJP takes a strong exception to Home Minister P Chidambaram’s
confirmation that some sought of unique solution is being worked out
through a process of “quite dialogue” and “quite diplomacy” as far as
Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, state president of BJP Ashok Khajuria
told reporters in Jammu.
“Even if the unique solution is being worked out, the Centre should
take the countrymen into confidence on what is the solution,” he
said.
Kajuria said the BJP rejects the suggestion of Union Home Minister
that Jammu and Kashmir is a political problem.
“We strongly assert that Kashmir is only a communal problem which
needs deft and firm handling,” Kajuria said, adding it will be highly
suicidal to accord political legitimacy to the separatist cause in the
state as separatist are guided by communal ideology.
The pradesh BJP chief said his party outrightly rejects the contention
of separatist, which the Union Home minister seems to have lapped up
that problem in Jammu and Kashmir are unique because of the unique
history and geography of the state.
The BJP would like to know from the Home Minister as to what is so
unique about Kashmir to qualify for a separate treatment? he asked and
warned the Centre about any compromise with separatists and Pakistan.
Reaffirming his party’s stand that special status accorded to the
state is the root cause of all the problems, he said the sooner it is
withdrawn the better it would be for the nation.
Khajuria said failure on the part of the Centre to take congnisance of
BJP’s well-considered views or to continue to support separatist line
would only compel the nationalist forces in the state to create 2008-
like situation.
When asked what was 2008-like situation, he said the nationalist
forces had come out on the streets and agitated for over two months on
Amarnath land row till their demands were fulfilled.
Khajuria also demanded immediate legal action against those police
personnel and others responsible for Rajneesh Sharma’s alleged
custodial death.
bademiyansubhanallah
Geelani detained in J-K
Agencies Posted online: October 16, 2009 at 1802
Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani was detained by police before
he was scheduled to address a Friday congregation in Srinagar.
Srinagar Separatist leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Peer Saifullah
were detained by police before they were scheduled to address a Friday
congregation in the city, official sources said.
Geelani, chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference,
was taken into preventive custody soon after he stepped out of his
residence at Hyderpora here.
His close lieutenant Saifullah was detained near Pather Masjid in the
old city where the two leaders were scheduled to address the Friday
congregation, the sources said.
Geelani was lodged at Humhama Police Station while Saifullah, at
present acting chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, was taken to an unknown
place, they said.
Soon after the prayers, Geelani’s supporters staged a demonstration to
protest government action. They were chased away by police when they
tried to block traffic.
Geelani was placed under house arrest on September nine, a day after
he was released after his 95-day detention under the Public Safety
Act.
Yesterday, the authorities lifted restrictions on his movement and the
Hurriyat hawk said he would make his first public appearance after six
months by addressing a Friday congregation.
chhotemianinshallah
National Magazine | Oct 26, 2009
Vishal Kaul
Goa CM Digambar Kamat accepting an award from Lok Sabha Speaker Meira
Kumar
awards: governance
Facets To The Shine
Beyond the forsaken ‘Bimaru’ states, there is a hidden map of
deprivation in India
Pragya Singh , Lola Nayar
Perform or perish. After a year fighting global financial gloom and
doom, many of the rules of corporate boardrooms are becoming gospel
truth for states that came out winners in the second Diamond State
Awards (DSA), launched last year by news channel IBN7 in partnership
with Outlook. Like last year, the DSA ranked states on human and
social development indicators using a mix of hard numbers—as well as
(in a new feature) an exhaustive, ground-up countrywide opinion poll.
Like last year, the ranking threw up some known winners and some
unforeseen ones.
C. Divakaran accepts an award for Kerala
Confirming what is already well-known, leaders of the best performing
states, Goa and Kerala, attributed their success to diminishing, to
the extent possible, the gap between policy intent and actual
development. “Development is not just about investment and industry.
Today, you must either perform or perish on all fronts—social,
economic and political,” says Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat. Those
that came a cropper express another concern—development policies
designed by the Centre often fail when they wind down to
implementation at the state level. Few were surprised that Goa and
Kerala swept up the best small and large state awards for the second
year in a row, but the performance of other states was not as easy to
predict.
Chhattisgarh, for instance, got top honours for employment and Uttar
Pradesh for the best judicial governance. Another surprise—and this
led to an energetic debate during the awards ceremony—was Gujarat’s
bagging the award for “citizen security” among large states. While
Gujarat’s minister for home affairs, Amit Shah, presented National
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data since 1991 to set the award in a
justifying context, his presentation omitted data for 2002, when over
2,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in riots. “If you talk about fear
among the minorities, there is none in Gujarat, unless they listen to
what the media says,” Shah told the audience.
However, Gujarat’s performance on social indicators is weak despite
improving GDP and advancing industrialisation. “Politically, the
Gujarat government is oriented towards capitalism, and the state has
industrialised—but it hasn’t become more equitable or safe,” argues
Indira Hirway, director of the Centre for Development Alternatives
(CDA) in Ahmedabad. According to a yet-to-be-published CDA report,
Gujarat stands out among 20 large Indian states for slipping up on the
rate by which it is able to reduce poverty. It has also fallen on the
Human Development Index.
The idea that all-round social development—such as improved health
standards—will trickle down from large-scale industrialisation is
indeed contentious. “To alleviate poverty you need tailor-made
programmes. You need to generate rural power, encourage handicrafts,
design subsidies, develop public distribution and spend on healthcare.
It can’t be done by building factories alone,” says N.C. Saxena, who
was earlier with the prime minister’s National Advisory Council.
Another debate, on whether some states are unfairly challenged by the
top-down model of distribution of resources, was led by former RBI
governor Bimal Jalan, who is the chairman of the DSA jury. He noted
that it might be time for India to revisit how it distributes power
between the Centre and the states. “Development policies are made by
the Centre, but states have very little financial power to implement
them. When it comes to law and order, it’s hard to just say during a
time of global terror that it is a state subject and leave it at
that,” says Jalan.
To an extent, smaller, less prosperous states such as Sikkim—which won
the water and sanitation award—can blame allocation of funds for their
laggard performance on many fronts. However, it’s also true that most
opposition-ruled states tend to feel discriminated against. This
clashes against the major political parties’ fear that India has
already adopted a more federal character than earlier envisaged. This
“unintended federalism” has its critics, though many political
economists push for greater transparency rather than an overhaul of
the system.
With aspirations on the rise in states that have traditionally been
weak, industrially and on social development, there are chances that
they will seek to deny the issues rather than address them—this is as
true of violence in Gujarat as it is for the ‘Bimaru’ states when it
comes to overall development. Noted demographer Ashish Bose, who
coined the term “Bimaru” in 1985 to refer to India’s perennially under-
developed states—Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh—
says that, in fact, the states that performed the worst on social
indicators decades ago are still laggards.
“The more data I get, the more I am convinced that Bimaru states
remain poor performers,” says Bose. “But there’s more to it. In states
such as Punjab or Haryana, which are not classified as Bimaru, and
which have done well economically, the social indicators are
terrible.” This is particularly true in Haryana, where, despite
industries and land development, caste panchayats dominated by the 40
per cent Jat population repress women and thwart progress.
Another case is that of Uttar Pradesh, which is the unlikely candidate
to win the large state award for “judicial governance”. Here, a
village-level grassroots grievance redressal initiative worked in the
favour of the state even though it is primarily agricultural and only
weakly industrialised. In the same vein, Chhattisgarh was able to win
the large states award for providing employment despite its relative
poverty and underdevelopment.
The contradictions and unexpected results are also a call to look
beyond what a single result or award can throw up. K. Narayanan Nair,
director, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, says,
“Indicators favour Kerala, but how far will this sustain, given the
slow growth in agriculture, industry and infrastructure, progressively
poor quality education and failing health systems?” The truth is, real
development in India has been spectacular in pockets, but mostly
discontinuous. That is the real challenge for the diamond states.
By Pragya Singh and Lola Nayar
chhotemianinshallah
awards: governance
All That Brightness
While Kerala and Goa have walked away with the top honours yet again,
there are many unforeseen winners in the 10 categories.
Big States Small States
Education Healthcare Education Healthcare
1 Chhattisgarh Kerala Meghalaya Goa
2 Kerala Tamil Nadu HP Sikkim
3 Orissa Karnataka Uttarakhand Uttarakhand
Basic Infrastructure Water & Sanitation Basic Infrastructure Water
& Sanitation
1 Kerala Tamil Nadu Delhi Sikkim
2 Punjab Kerala HP Goa
3 Gujarat Karnataka Goa Delhi
Judicial Governance Women Empowerment Judicial Governance Women
Empowerment
1 UP Tamil Nadu Nagaland HP
2 Assam Karnataka Manipur Meghalaya
3 West Bengal AP Uttarakhand Mizoram
Employment Environment Employment Environment
1 Chhattisgarh Kerala HP Goa
2 Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Tripura Delhi
3 UP Gujarat J&K Meghalaya
Citizen Security Poverty Reduction Citizen Security Poverty
Reduction
1 Gujarat Punjab Goa J&K
2 Tamil Nadu Kerala Sikkim Goa
3 Kerala Karnataka Delhi HP
How The States Rack Up
1 Kerala 77.11 Goa 70.77
2 Tamil Nadu 74.12 HP 69.00
3 Karnataka 69.87 Sikkim 64.28
4 Punjab 68.88 Delhi 64.10
5 Gujarat 68.63 Uttarakhand 61.64
6 AP 67.47 Tripura 59.00
7 Chhattisgarh 66.40 Mizoram 58.92
8 West Bengal 64.06 Meghalaya 56.92
9 Rajasthan 63.45 Nagaland 51.52
10 UP 62.56 J&K 51.24
11 Orissa 62.14 Manipur 48.02
12 Assam 60.63
13 MP 59.40
14 Jharkhand 56.65
15 Bihar 55.25
Methodology
There are two important changes in the working of the second edition
of the dsa. One, the previous year’s category of “citizen security &
judicial governance” has been split into two distinct categories.
Secondly, realising that capturing up-to-date citizens’ perception
about human and social development is crucial, an opinion poll was
undertaken by Nielsen across all the states. Like last year, each
category has different parameters served up by kpmg—the jury decides
the weights. The jury also decided the weights for primary and
secondary data for each category. So, data for multiple periods was
collated by kpmg and factored into the weights. In cases where data
was not available, the data from the nearest period was taken. Data
for all categories was normalised for computing the final score out of
a total of 100. Finally, all states with over 10 Lok Sabha seats were
classified as large; those with 10 or fewer were considered small.
chhotemianinshallah
awards: governance
How They See It...
A nationwide opinion poll by Nielsen maps how people perceive the
human and social conditions in the states they live in...
Is public transport easily available?
Anytime I need it 54
Sometimes 33
Not very often 9
Not at all 4
Top Performers: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal
Laggards: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Manipur
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How good are the roads in your area?
Extremely 23
Somewhat 42
Neither 11
Somewhat uncomfortable 14
Extremely uncomfortable 10
Top Performers: Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Tripura, Sikkim, Haryana
Laggards: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have government offices become more efficient?
A lot more so 22
Slightly more so 50
No change 18
Worsened slightly 7
Worsened a lot 3
Top Performers: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal,
Sikkim
Laggards: Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Has the power supply improved?
Definitely 23
Probably 33
Not sure 7
Probably not 19
Definitely not 18
Top Performers: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh
Laggards: Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are healthcare facilities adequate?
Definitely 50
Probably 24
Not sure 5
Probably not 6
Definitely not 15
Top Performers: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, J&K
Laggards: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Willing to go to a government hospital?
Extremely 36
Somewhat 20
Neither 15
Somewhat against 8
Extremely against 21
Top Performers: Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Chhattisgarh
Laggards: Andhra Pradesh, MP, Mizoram, Manipur
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is there adequate greenery in your area?
Definitely 41
Probably 32
Not sure 7
Probably not 11
Definitely not 9
Top Performers: Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Goa, HP
Laggards: Punjab, Mizoram, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are good vocational training institutes easily available?
Definitely 25
Probably 59
Not sure 10
Probably not 6
Top Performers: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Goa
Laggards: Manipur, Meghalaya, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satisfied with quality of schools in your area?
Extremely 43
Somewhat 40
Neither 8
Somewhat dissatisfied 5
Extremely dissatisfied 4
Top Performers: Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Goa, Delhi
Laggards: Punjab, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will you consider government school for your child?
Definitely 37
Probably 28
Not sure 12
Probably not 12
Definitely not 11
Top Performers: Sikkim, Meghalaya, Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu
Laggards: Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satisfied with the quality of piped water supply?
Extremely 23
Somewhat 29
Neither 8
Somewhat dissatisfied 9
Extremely dissatisfied 11
No piped water
20
Top Performers: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Sikkim
Laggards: Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Manipur, West Bengal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Satisfied with cleanliness in your area?
Extremely 13
Somewhat 39
Neither 15
Somewhat dissatisfied 18
Extremely dissatisfied 15
Top Performers: Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Sikkim
Laggards: Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur, Mizoram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are women who stay/travel alone safe?
Definitely 22
Probably 33
Not sure 13
Probably not 22
Definitely not 10
Top Performers: Sikkim, Goa, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu
Laggards: Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Rajasthan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How effective are steps on poverty reduction?
Extremely 13
Somewhat 27
Neither 32
Somewhat ineffective 21
Extremely ineffective 7
Top Performers: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Goa
Laggards: Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Jharkhand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have serious crimes in your area increased?
Definitely 15
Probably 25
Same 16
Probably decreased 31
Definitely decreased 13
Top Performers: Sikkim, West Bengal, Mizoram, Bihar
Laggards: Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nielsen interviewed 6,000 people in the 18-45 age bracket across all
states.
chhotemianinshallah
National / Opinion Web | Oct 14, 2009
Impressions
The Ghosts Of 1984
Recollections of a 27-year-old Delhiite show that anti-Sikh violence
in 1984 affected more than just the one community. The city has never
been quite the same since.
Shreevatsa Nevatia
Eleven days after Harsha Wadhwani Basu turned three, Indira Gandhi was
killed. When talking about 1984, Basu, now 27, appears obsessed with
numbers. Responding to a 1995 New Yorker article written by Amitav
Ghosh – The Ghosts of Indira Gandhi – Harsha pointed out, in a letter
to his website, that Ghosh was 39 when writing it, while she was an
awkward 14. When you meet the Sindhi literature graduate, you realise
that her fascination with age is but a means of coming to terms with
her personal history.
As she walks around Adarsh Nagar, the north Delhi colony where she
grew up, Harsha resembles a curious anthropologist, keen to measure
the extent of poison that has laced her village well. She says, “I
grew up listening to my mother tell me stories of how this locality
turned violent in 1984, but I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, yet it
happened to people I knew. Only after reading Amitav Ghosh’s essay and
other such reports, did I realise that the scenes in my head were not
my personal childhood fantasies; these terrible acts had actually
occurred.” She explains further: “In a sense, it was like listening to
stories from the Mahabharat, scenes where the characters acted in a
manner that was all haywire. I realise now how unsympathetic my
response was to the real victims who were killed and burnt,” she adds.
Despite the fact that her age and religion placed her on the periphery
of anti-Sikh violence, Harsha’s adult response to the carnage is
impassioned. She recounts daily visits to a stationery shop that was
just behind her school bus stop. The Sikh owner, she says, was a
friend of her father’s, and even though there were better-stocked
stores in her locality, she was a patron of the little hole-in-the-
wall outlet that was run by an endearing Sardar “uncle”. Harsha grew
up with her mother Lata Wadhwani’s stories of how she, Lata, had stood
at the gate and watched the shop being broken into and looted by goons
who were menacingly roaming the streets on November 1, 1984.
As Lata now reminisces in the comfort of a peaceful Adarsh Nagar, she
says, “I went up to our terrace and saw these huge flames rise into
the sky. They had burnt down the nearby petrol pump.” For the longest
time, Harsha believed that the burnt petrol pump was haunted. She
describes her childhood visits to the place as scared flirtations with
the unknown. Deconstructing why her daughter might feel this way, Lata
later told her that when people die an unnatural death, their
unfulfilled desires make their souls linger in the living world.
Harsha was made to learn that the petrol station and its owner had
been burnt by mobs in those first November days of 1984. When she read
Amitav Ghosh's essay invoking Indira's ghosts, Harsha was reminded of
her own phantoms. The subject of her e-mail to the writer after
reading his piece is telling – “Sharing something that you created in
me”.
One of the cases registered at the Adarsh Nagar police station in 1984
indicates how the locality’s non-Sikh residents did much to restrain
the mobs that were intent on massacre. FIR 910/84 details the extent
of fatal injuries that Hindu police officer Hari Singh was made to
suffer as he tried to protect his Sikh neighbours. Sardar Harbant
Singh, owner of a small fabric store in Adarsh Nagar, says that it was
a show of unprecedented communal fraternity that saved him and his
family. He recounts, “Mobs broke the locks of my shop and my house,
but before they could enter, they were stopped by all my neighbours.
They all stopped something big and tragic from taking place.”
Harsha says that when she was young she would often take her mother’s
duppattas to Harbant Singh for him to dye, and it is Singh’s retelling
of events that makes her conclude, “Violence did not escalate in this
neighbourhood, because people believed in the power of community.
Scratch the surface and you will find that we can all be human.”
Before she can convince herself of this silver lining, however, Harsha
contradicts herself to prove that the humanism argument can easily be
flipped, rendering all those around her both, culpable and capable.
She says, “The fact remains that people I knew were subjected to
violence by people who were angry.” The ghosts of 1984, it would seem,
continue to linger, as Harsha goes on to add, “I see on TV, riots
still happen in the world. I just feel scared that the next time a
riot happens in my city, I will be the next victim.”
Daily Mail
Oct 15, 2009 03:52 AM
2 Congress party has blood on its hands.
Ajit Tendulkar
Seattle, United States
Oct 15, 2009 03:09 AM
1 A massacre of members of a sister community, a massacre of one's
neighbors, is an unspeakable atrocity. No community can fully recover
after an episode of such mass psychosis.
Anwaar
Dallas, United States
Sid Harth
BJP’s Muslim MP denied US visa
Shekhar Iyer , Hindustan Times
New Delhi, October 20, 2009
First Published: 01:01 IST(20/10/2009)
Last Updated: 01:02 IST(20/10/2009)
After actor Shah Rukh Khan, former civil aviation minister and BJP
leader Syed Shah Nawaz Hussain has got a taste of America’s notorious
profiling of visitors.
Hussain found his last name coming in the way of a quick grant of visa
by the US embassy in Delhi. The Lok Sabha MP from Bihar was supposed
to join a delegation of MPs to participate in the 64th session of the
UN General Assembly.
With Hussain unable to get a visa, the other parliamentarians — Girija
Vyas and Sanjay Nirupam (Congress), T.K.S. Elangovan (DMK) and Ali
Anwar Ansari (JD-U) — left for New York on Monday.
The government chooses batches of MPs to participate in the UN session
each year.
“I’m utterly surprised to be told that because of my common surname,
Hussain, they would’ve to take a longer time to do more checking, in
keeping with the American profiling procedures,” said Hussain.
Hussain told HT that his visa application had been sent by the
ministry of external affairs (MEA) to the embassy, along with that of
other MPs.
“I have visited the US several times before — both as a MP and Union
minister,” he said. “I can’t understand why I should be singled out.
Even the US president has Hussain in his name. What’s more, the US
ambassador had sent Eid greetings to me this year with a message from
Obama.”
US officials told the MEA’s Americas division that Hussain’s visa
could not be cleared by Monday evening due to “administrative
processing”.
The US embassy spokesperson said, “We do not comment on individual
cases.”
In August, Shah Rukh Khan had been detained and questioned at a US
airport. “I was really hassled, perhaps because of my name being
Khan,” he had said.
bademiyansubhanallah
BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain gets US visa after PM intervenes
New Delhi, Oct 20
After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally intervened, the US
embassy Tuesday issued a visa to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s lone
Muslim MP Syed Shahnawaz Hussain to fly to New York for attending a UN
General Assembly session, a day after four of his parliamentary
colleagues left for the US.
Hussain could not join the parliamentary delegation, which left for
the US Monday night after the US authorities delayed issuing him the
visa.
The visa issue was raised by BJP stalwart L.K. Advani with the prime
minister, Hussain told IANS.
"Advani took up the matter with the PM yesterday (Monday), and asked
the prime minister to seriously intervene in the matter. The PM
assured that he will ensure a visa to me," Hussain said.
"After the PM's intervention, the US embassy immediately issued the
visa," he added.
"I will leave for the US today," Hussain said, adding, "I don't know
the reason for the delay in issing the visa."
Some reports had attributed the delay in processing his visa to
religious profiling.
Hussain is one of the five MPs to attend the UN General Assembly
programme from Oct 20 to 31 in New York.
Congress MPs Girja Vyas, Sanjay Nirupam, Janata Dal-United MP Ali
Anwar and D.M.K's T. K.S. Elangovan are the other members of the non-
official delegation attending the UN programme.
On Monday, Hussain said the External Affairs Ministry had applied for
the visas. However, he was the only MP who was told that there would
be a delay in issuing his visa.
Last updated on Oct 20th, 2009 at 13:18 pm IST--IANS
bademiyansubhanallah
Congress says New Delhi sincere about resolving Kashmir issue
From ANI
Srinagar, Oct 20: Congress MP and President Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh
Congress Committee Saifuddin Soz has said that India is sincere about
resolving the decades old Kashmir issue.
Addressing a convention of party-workers here on Monday, Soz said that
the Central government has recently offered to renew dialogue with the
separatists.
"Guns and strikes have damaged Kashmir a lot, dialogue is the only way
forward. Recently Home Minister Chidambaram also came here in my
absence, he went to Congress office and spoke about political matters
and mentioned about dialogue. I feel that Central Government is very
serious about this," Soz said.
"Prime Minister Manmohan and Congress President Sonia Gandhi want that
issues of Kashmir should be resolved. People should tell what they
want. Dialogue process is in progress. I am not sure which of the
separatist leaders would participate, but they should go and talk to
Prime Minister and raise people's issues, should express their views.
Dialogue is the only way out," said Soz.
Moderate faction of All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference (APHC),
the main political separatist alliance in Indian Kashmir, held talks
with New Delhi in 2004, the first between the two sides militancy
began in 1989. More than 47,000 people are estimated to have been
killed.
The latest round of Kashmir talks was held in May 2006. Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and the Hurriyat agreed then to establish a
system to discuss solutions to the Kashmir dispute.
Around half a million Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir, India's
only Muslim-majority state.
Clashes between militants and troops has declined considerably in
Kashmir after India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004.
India called a pause to those talks after last year's Mumbai terror
attacks.
Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com
bademiyansubhanallah
No troops cut in Kashmir, says army
From ANI
Srinagar, Oct 20: There is no proposal to cut a troops in Kashmir, an
army spokesperson said here on Monday.
The development comes after reports that government was considering
reduction of army from the restive region following an overall drop in
rebel attacks.
"See troops have not been withdrawn from anywhere. There is a constant
review of the troops deployment in the militancy-hit areas. And when
there is an assessment, army is redeployed in the areas where it is
needed the most. So, on this account there has been some redeployment
in some areas but it would be improper to say from where and to which
place the redeployment has taken place," said Lieutenant Colonel G S
Brar, army spokesperson.
Around half a million Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir.
Violence between militants and troops has declined considerably in
Kashmir after India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004.
India called a pause to those talks after last year's Mumbai terror
attacks.
Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com
...and I am Sid Harth
bademiyansubhanallah
Rs.145.962 billion fraud detected in Pak Defence Ministry accounts
From ANI
Islamabad, Oct. 20: The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has found
massive irregularities worth 145.962 billion rupees in the accounts of
the Pakistani Defence Ministry.
According to its report, the original budget allocated for the
ministry was 246.202 billion rupees in 2008-09, which was later
revised to 256.093 billion rupees.
"The organisation of susceptible to costlier errors are procurement
directorates, military estate office, cantonment boards and military
engineer services," The Daily Times quoted the report, as saying.
The AGP detected shocking frauds in the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board
funds.
"On test check basis, the audit pointed out that 528.972 million
rupees had been misappropriated but the fraud would come to the fore
only after the completion of the departmental inquiry," the report
said.
The report concluded that the irregularities included, misuse of land
in cantonments, diversion of public funds and resources to non-public
usage, weak contact management and administration, violation of rules,
non-recovery of government/cantonment dues, losses and blockage of
public money.
bademiyansubhanallah
Musharraf supports Waziristan offensive
From ANI
New York, Oct. 20: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said
the South Waziristan offensive was 'very much needed' in order to
flush out the Taliban.
"I support what the government and the army are doing to eliminate
terrorism and extremism," Musharraf said at a dinner hosted by the
Pakistani-American community in New York.
The Dawn quoted Musharraf, as saying that the growing insurgency,
especially the recent escalation in suicide bombings, had put Pakistan
in a precarious situation.
Answering a question about his return to Pakistan, he said he would
wait and see how the situation evolved in the wake of army operation.
He also said that Pakistan's economy would remain in a bad shape
unless the country has a "real functional democracy, with good
governance".
bademiyansubhanallah
Hindus laud London boroughs for declaring Diwali, Eid, Guru Nanak
b'day as holidays
From ANI
Nevada (US), Oct 20: Hindus have applauded two east London boroughs
for declaring Diwali, Eid and Guru Nanak Birthday as school holidays.
Waltham Forest and Newham councils have reportedly announced Eid,
Diwali, and Guru Nanak Birthday as school closure days in all the
community primary and secondary schools.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA)
today, called it "a step in the right direction". Awareness about
other religions thus created by these holidays would make the borough
children well-nurtured, well-balanced, and enlightened citizens of
tomorrow, Zed said and added that it would make boroughs look good
also.
Sir Robin Wales is the mayor of Newham, one of whose pledges is "An
Active and Inclusive Community".
Mayor Wales, in his recent Diwali message, said: "I am proud to be the
Mayor of the most multicultural and culturally diverse community in
the country. This festival plays an important role in helping us to
appreciate and celebrate this diversity." Mayor of Waltham Forest is
Anna Mbachu.
chhotemianinshallah
October 20, 2009...4:02 pm
An Interview With Ilyas Kashmiri
Here at PTH, we find we have usually got better things to do than to
try and delve into the mind of a terrorist. But they say it is
important to know your enemy. In mid-September, there were reports
that an important ‘Al-Qaeda commander’ Ilyas Kashmiri had been killed
by an American drone attack in North Waziristan. These reports turned
out to be false. Here is an interview the wanted man gave to Asia
Time’s Syed Saleem Shahzad a few days ago. The claims and views
expressed below are the author’s and/or as reported by him. PTH does
not necessarily share these views nor are we in a position to confirm
or disprove the veracity of any alleged facts – PTH.
He invited this correspondent to a secret hideout in the South
Waziristan-Afghanistan border area, where drones regularly fly
overhead. This is Ilyas’ first-ever media interaction since he joined
al-Qaeda in 2005. He is a veteran commander from the struggle with
India over divided Kashmir.
In the past few months, the militants have appeared to be on the back
foot. A number of leading figures have been killed in drone attacks in
Pakistan, including Osama al-Kini, a Kenyan national and al-Qaeda’s
external operations chief; Khalid Habib, the commander of the Lashkar
al-Zil or the Shadow Army, al-Qaeda’s fighting force; Tahir Yuldashev,
leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; PTT
leader Baitullah Mehsud, and several others.
The Pakistani Taliban have also been given a bloody nose by the
military in tribal and urban areas. Negotiations were also underway to
strike peace deals with some Taliban commanders in various Afghan
provinces.
Then last week at least nine US troops along with several dozen Afghan
National Army (ANA) personnel were killed in a raid on an outpost in
Nuristan province, besides the abduction of over 30 ANA officers and
soldiers by the Taliban.
This attack was complemented by a series of other attacks on North
Atlantic Treaty Organization bases across the southeastern provinces
of Khost, Paktia and Paktika, forcing top US General Stanley
McChrystal to pull out all troops from isolated posts in remote areas
in these provinces to relocate them in population centers.
This created immense space for the Taliban to operate freely, meaning
that if Pakistan conducted operations in South Waziristan, the
militants could easily move across the border to find sanctuary.
The attacks over the past few days have also shown that the militants
are still capable of striking important targets almost at will. They
also mean a redesign of the war theater in which Pakistan will have to
relocate its troops from the eastern front (India) to the western
front (Afghanistan), as the Taliban are now the number one enemy.
Washington plans to send at least another 40,000 troops to Afghanistan
while India will complement these efforts with its intelligence and
military expertise against the common enemy – Muslim militant groups.
Ilyas Kashmiri gave his views on what the upcoming battle will look
like, what its targets will be, and how it will impact the West in
relation to the destabilization of a Muslim state such as Pakistan.
The contact with Asia Times Online began with a call from the
militants on October 6, inviting this correspondent to the town of Mir
Ali in North Waziristan. No reason was given. The next day, I traveled
to Mir Ali, a town that has been heavily attacked by drones over the
past year. After over seven hours of continuous traveling, I was
received by a group of armed men who transferred me to a house
belonging to a local tribesman.
“The commander [Ilyas Kashmiri] is alive. You know that the commander
has never spoken to the media before, but since everybody is sure of
his death as a result of a drone attack [in September], al-Qaeda’s
shura [council] decided to make a denial of this news through an
interview by him to an independent newspaper, and therefore the shura
agreed on you,” a person whom I knew as the key person in Ilyas’
famous 313 Brigade told me as soon as I reached the safe house. The
brigade, a collection of jihadi groups, fought for many years against
India in India-administered Kashmir.
“You will have to stay in this room until we inform you of the next
plan. You can hear the voices of drones above your head, therefore you
will not leave the room. The area is full of Taliban, but also of
informers whose information on the presence of strangers in a house
could lead to a drone attack,” the man said.
The next day, I was transferred to another house at an unknown
location, about three hours away. During this time I was accompanied
at all times by an armed escort. I was not allowed to speak to them,
and they could not communicate with me. This is al-Qaeda’s internal
world. Finally, in the early morning of October 9, a few armed men
arrived in a white car.
“Please leave all your electronic gadgets here. No cell phone, no
camera, nothing. We will provide you pen and paper to write the
interview,” I was instructed. After several hours of a very
uncomfortable journey, passing down muddy tracks and through mountain
passes, we reached a room where Ilyas was supposed to meet us.
After a couple of hours, suddenly the sound of a powerful vehicle
broke the silence. My escort and the men already present in the room
rapidly took up positions. They all wore bullet pouches and carried
AK-47s.
Ilyas made his entrance. He cut a striking figure, about six feet tall
(1.83 meters), wearing a cream-colored turban and white qameez shalwar
(traditional shirt and pants), carrying an AK-47 on his shoulder and a
wooden stick in one hand, and flanked by commandos of his famous
diehard 313 Brigade.
Ilyas now sports a long white beard dyed with reddish henna. At the
age of 45 he remains strongly built, although he carries the scars of
war – he has lost an eye and an index figure. When we shook hands, his
grip was powerful.
The host immediately served lunch, and we sat on the floor to eat.
“So, you have survived a third drone strike … why is the Central
Intelligence Agency [CIA] sniffing around you so much? I asked.
The question was somewhat rhetorical. He is one of the most high-
profile al-Qaeda commanders, with a Pakistani bounty of 50 million
rupees (US$600,000) on his head. His position is defined differently
by various intelligence and media organizations. Some say he is
commander-in-chief of al-Qaeda’s global operations, while others say
he is chief of al-Qaeda’s military wing.
If today al-Qaeda is divided into three spheres, Osama bin Laden is
undoubtedly the symbol of the movement and his deputy Ayman al-
Zawahiri defines al-Qaeda’s ideology and broader strategic vision.
Ilyas, with his unmatched guerrilla expertise, turns the strategic
vision into reality, provides the resources and gets targets achieved,
but he chooses to remain in the background and very low key.
His bases and activities have always remained shrouded in secrecy.
However, the arrest of five of his men in Pakistan earlier this year
and their subsequent grilling helped lift the veil. Their information
resulted in CIA drone strikes against him, the first in May and then
again on September 7, when he was pronounced dead by Pakistani
intelligence, and finally on September 14, after which the CIA said he
was dead and called it a great success in the “war on terror”.
“They are right in their pursuit. They know their enemy well. They
know what I am really up to,” Ilyas proudly replied.
Born in Bimbur (old Mirpur) in the Samhani Valley of Pakistan-
administered Kashmir on February 10, 1964, Ilyas passed the first year
of a mass communication degree at Allama Iqbal Open University,
Islamabad. He did not continue due to his heavy involvement in jihadi
activities.
The Kashmir Freedom Movement was his first exposure in the field of
militancy, then the Harkat-ul Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI) and ultimately his
legendary 313 Brigade. This grew into the most powerful group in South
Asia and its network is strongly knitted in Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Kashmir, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. According to some CIA
dispatches, the footprints of 313 Brigade are now in Europe and
capable of the type of attack that saw a handful of militants
terrorize the Indian city of Mumbai last November.
Little is documented of Ilyas’ life, and what has been reported is
often contradictory. However, he is invariably described, certainly by
world intelligence agencies, as the most effective, dangerous and
successful guerrilla leader in the world.
He left the Kashmir region in 2005 after his second release from
detention by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and headed
for North Waziristan. He had previously been arrested by Indian
forces, but he broke out of jail and escaped. He was then detained by
the ISI as the suspected mastermind of an attack on then-president
Pervez Musharraf, in 2003, but was cleared and released. The ISI then
picked Ilyas up again in 2005 after he refused to close down his
operations in Kashmir.
His relocation to the troubled border areas sent a chill down spines
in Washington as they realized that with his vast experience, he could
turn unsophisticated battle patterns in Afghanistan into audacious
modern guerrilla warfare.
Ilyas’ track record spoke for itself. In 1994, he launched the al-
Hadid operation in the Indian capital, New Delhi, to get some of his
jihadi comrades released. His group of 25 people included Sheikh Omar
Saeed (the abductor of US reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002) as
his deputy. The group abducted several foreigners, including American,
Israeli and British tourists and took them to Ghaziabad near Delhi.
They then demanded that the Indian authorities release their
colleagues, but instead they attacked the hideout. Sheikh Omar was
injured and arrested. (He was later released in a swap for the
passengers of a hijacked Indian aircraft). Ilyas escaped unhurt.
On February 25, 2000, the Indian army killed 14 civilians in Lonjot
village in Pakistan-administered Kashmir after commandos had crossed
the Line of Control (LoC) that separates the two Kashmirs. They
returned to the Indian side with abducted Pakistani girls, and threw
the severed heads of three of them at Pakistani soldiers.
The very next day, Ilyas conducted a guerilla operation against the
Indian army in Nakyal sector after crossing the LoC with 25 fighters
of 313 Brigade. They kidnapped an Indian army officer who was later
beheaded – his head was paraded in the bazaars of Kotli back in
Pakistani territory.
However, the most significant operation of Ilyas was in Aknor
cantonment in Indian-administered Kashmir against the Indian armed
forces following the massacre of Muslims in the Indian city of Gujarat
in 2002. In cleverly planned attacks involving 313 Brigade divided
into two groups, Indian generals, brigadiers and other senior
officials were lured to the scene of the first attack. Two generals
were injured (the Pakistan army could not injure a single Indian
general in three wars) and several brigadiers and colonels were
killed. This was one of the most telling setbacks for India in the
long-running Kashmiri insurgency.
Despite what some reports claim, Ilyas was never a part of Pakistan’s
special forces, nor even of the army. Nearly 30 years ago when he
joined the Afghan jihad against the Soviets from the platform of the
HUJI, he developed expertise in guerrilla warfare and explosives.
Within just months of arriving in the Afghan war theater in 2005,
Kashmiri redefined the Taliban-led insurgency based on legendary
Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap’s three-pronged guerrilla warfare
strategy. For the Taliban, the main emphasis was to be placed on
cutting NATO’s supply lines from all four sides of Afghanistan, and
carrying out special operations similar to the Mumbai attack in
Afghanistan.
Over the years, Ilyas has deliberately adopted a low key presence in
the militants’ hierarchy. His attacks are just the opposite, although
he never issues statements or claims responsibility for any operation.
His 313 Brigade is believed to be the main catalyst of high-profile
operations such as the one in Mumbai and others in Afghanistan, as
well as al-Qaeda’s operations in Somalia and to some extent in Iraq.
“Do you believe that the upcoming South Waziristan operation will be
the ‘mother of all operations’ in the region, as some analysts say,” I
asked after we had finished lunch and I was alone with Ilyas and his
trusted confidant.
“I don’t know how to play with words during an interview,” Ilyas
responded. “I have always been a field commander and I know the
language of battlefields. I will try to answer your questions in the
language I am familiar with. (Ilyas spoke mostly in Urdu, mixed with
some Punjabi.)
“Saleem! I will draw your attention to the basics of the present war
theater and use that to explain the whole strategy of the upcoming
battles. Those who planned this battle actually aimed to bring the
world’s biggest Satan [US] and its allies into this trap and swamp
[Afghanistan]. Afghanistan is a unique place in the world where the
hunter has all sorts of traps to choose from.
“It might be deserts, rivers, mountains and the urban centers as well.
This was the thinking of the planners of this war who were sick and
tired of the great Satan’s global intrigues and they aim for its
demise to make this world a place of peace and justice. However, the
great Satan was full of arrogance of its superiority and thought of
Afghans as helpless statues who would be hit from all four sides by
its war machines, and they would not have the power and capacity to
retaliate.
“This was the illusion on which a great alliance of world powers came
to Afghanistan, but due to their misplaced conceptions they gradually
became trapped in Afghanistan. Today, NATO does not have any
significance or relevance. They have lost the war in Afghanistan. Now,
when they realized their defeat, they developed an emphasis that this
entire battle is being fought from outside of Afghanistan, that is,
the two Waziristans. To me, this military thesis is a mirage which has
created a complex situation in the region and created reactions and
counter-reactions. I would not like to go into the details, to me that
was nothing but deviation. As a military commander, the reality is
that the trap of Afghanistan is successful and the basic military
targets on the ground have been achieved,” Ilyas said.
I responded that the relocation of 313 Brigade from Kashmir was itself
proof that foreign hands were involved in Afghanistan.
“The entire basis of your argument is wrong, that this war is being
fought from outside of Afghanistan. This is just an out-of-context
understanding of the whole situation. If you discuss myself and 313
Brigade, I decided to join the Afghan resistance as an individual and
I had quite a reason for that. Everybody knows that only a decade ago
I was fighting a war of liberation for my homeland Kashmir.
“However, I realized that decades of armed and political struggles
could not help to inch forward a resolution of this issue.
Nevertheless, East Timor’s issue was resolved without losing much
time. Why? Because the entire game was in the hands of the great
Satan, the USA. Organs like the UN and countries like India and Israel
were simply the extension of its resources and that’s why there was a
failure to resolve the Palestinian issue, the Kashmir issue and the
plight of Afghanistan.
“So I and many people all across the world realized that analyzing the
situation in any narrow regional political perspective was an
incorrect approach. This is a different ball game altogether for which
a unified strategy is compulsory. The defeat of American global
hegemony is a must if I want the liberation of my homeland Kashmir,
and therefore it provided the reasoning for my presence in this war
theater.
Ilyas continued, “When I came here I found my step justified; how the
world regional powers operate under the umbrella of the great Satan
and how they are supportive of its great plans. This can be seen here
in Afghanistan.” He added that al-Qaeda’s regional war strategy, in
which they have hit Indian targets, is actually to chop off American
strength.
“The RAW [India's Research and Analysis Wing] has detachment command
centers in the Afghan provinces of Kunar, Jalalabad, Khost, Argun,
Helmand and Kandahar. The cover operations are road construction
companies. For instance, the road construction contract from Khost
city to the Tanai tribe area is handled by a contractor who is
actually a current Indian army colonel. In Gardez, telecommunication
companies are the cover for Indian intelligence operations. Mostly,
their men operate with Muslim names, but actually the employees are
Hindus.”
“So should the world expect more Mumbai-like attacks?” I asked.
“That was nothing compared to what has already been planned for the
future,” Ilyas replied.
“Even against Israel and the USA?” I asked.
“Saleem, I am not a traditional jihadi cleric who is involved in
sloganeering. As a military commander, I would say every target has a
specific time and reasons, and the responses will be forthcoming
accordingly,” Ilyas said.
As I noted Kashmiri’s answers, I thought of how several years back he
was the darling of the Pakistani armed forces, their pride. The
highest military officers were proud to meet him at his base in
Kashmir, they spent time with him and listened to the legends of his
war games. Today, I had a different person in front of me – a man
condemned as a terrorist by the Pakistani military establishment and
their biggest wish is his death.
“What impressed you to join al-Qaeda?” I asked.
“We were both victims of the same tyrant. Today, the entire Muslim
world is sick of Americans and that’s why they are agreeing with
Sheikh Osama. If all of the Muslim world is asked to elect their
leader, their choice would be either [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar or
Sheikh Osama,” Ilyas said.
“If it is so, why are a section of militants bent on war on Muslim
states like Pakistan? Do you think this is correct?”
“Our battle cannot be against Muslims and believers. As I have
mentioned earlier, what is happening at the moment in the Muslim world
is a complexity due to American power games which have resulted into
reactions and counter-reactions. This is a totally different debate
and might deviate me from the real topic. The real game is the fight
against the great Satan and its adherents,” Ilyas said.
“What turned you from the most-beloved friend to the most-hated foe in
the eyes of the Pakistani military establishment?” I asked.
“Pakistan is my beloved country and the people who live there are our
brothers, sisters and relatives. I cannot even think of going against
its interests. It was never the Pakistan army that was against me, but
certain elements who branded me as an enemy to cover up their
weaknesses and to appease their masters,” Ilyas said.
“What is 313 Brigade?” I asked.
“I cannot tell you, except war is all tactics and this is all 313
Brigade is about; reading the enemy’s mind and reacting accordingly.
The world thought that Prophet Mohammad only left women behind. They
forgot there were real men also who did not know what defeat was all
about. The world is only familiar with those so-called Muslims who
only follow the direction of the air and who don’t have their own
will. They do not have their own minds or dimensions of their own. The
world has yet to see real Muslims. They have so far only seen Osama
and Mullah Omar, while there are thousands of others. Wolves only
respect a lion’s iron slap; lions do not impress with the logic of a
sheep,” Ilyas said.
As the shadows of darkness emerged, the conversation ended. The next
day, a curfew was to be imposed in North Waziristan in preparation for
the grand operation in the region, and I had to leave the area. Ilyas
also needed to move to a new destination, as he does on a regular
basis to hide from the eyes of Predator drones.
Asia Times is published from Hong Kong and Bangkok. Syed Saleem
Shahzad is Asia Times Online’s Pakistan Bureau Chief .
bademiyansubhanallah
How the clergy wanted Sir Syed beheaded
19 October 2009, 02:51am IST
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was the first Muslim voice of reform in India. He
emerged on the scene at a time when Indian Muslim society was sunk in
obscurantism and inertia and showed no desire to struggle out of its
medieval grooves. The unwholesome influence of clergy had made them
view modern education as incompatible with and hostile to religion.
The abortive uprising of 1857 and the cleric call to jihad made
Muslims target of British wrath and reprisals. Sir Syed as a judicial
officer served the government during the crisis but the aftermath of
disturbances deeply impacted him.
He wrote: ‘‘I reflected about the decadence of the Muslim community,
and came to the conclusion that modern education alone is the remedy
of the ills they are suffering from. I decided on a strategy to
disabuse their minds of strong communal belief that the study of
European literature and science is anti-religion and promotes
disbelief.’’
The objectives of Sir Syed, born in early 19th century (October 17,
1817), were educational and social reforms; he had no desire to dabble
in religion. But all his initiatives were opposed in the name of
religion.
Describing his dilemma, Sir Syed said: ‘‘We were keen to avoid any
discussion of religion, but the problem is that our behaviours, social
practices and religious beliefs are so mixed up that no discussion of
social reform is possible without provoking a religious controversy.’’
Frustrated with the clergy, he added, ‘‘When urged to give up
something harmful, they say it has religious merit and when asked to
do something positive they assert it is prohibited by religion. So we
have no options but discuss the religious context to push our agenda
forward.’’
With this objective, he launched the Mohammedan Social Reformer
journal in July 1884. To use his own words, the journal ‘‘played
crucial role in fighting the fanaticism that has pushed the community
into abyss of ignorance.’’ The journal focused on modern education and
social and religious reforms.
The school at Aligarh was launched in 1875. For its success, this
project depended wholly on public donations. Sir Syed made notable
personal contributions and went overboard in his fund collection
drive. He organized lotteries, staged drama and felt no hesitation to
visit any place, including red light areas, to collect money. He
gratefully acknowledged the help he received and made special mention
of Hindus who gave money and material support and did a great favour
to the whole (Muslim) community.
The college finally emerged as a University in 1920, 22 years after
Sir Syed had breathed his last in 1898. It was a living testimony of
the success of Aligarh movement. However, the story shall remain
incomplete if no mention is made of the hostility and opposition of
the Muslim clergy that Sir Syed faced till he died and still persists
in certain quarters.
The intensity of opposition can be understood from the comments of
Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi in his book ‘Islamiat aur Maghribiat ki
Kashmakash’ written more than 60 years after Sir Syed’s death. Maulana
says: ‘‘The education mission of Sir Syed and his advocacy of Western
civilization became correlatives and caused apprehensions and doubts
in the minds of people. A wave of opposition took hold of the
religious circles and his movement met with a simultaneous call for
its boycott.’’
First Sir Syed was targeted when he shared food with the British and
defended his action in a signed article. The opposition became fierce
during his stay in London. Sir Syed responded through a memorandum
saying: ‘‘The terrifying call of Kanpur, the lyrical satire of
Lucknow, the idle tattle of Agra and Allahabad, the fatwas of Rampur
and Bareilly and the snide remarks of holy men of Delhi grieve me not.
My heart is overflowing with the idea of welfare of my people and
there is no room in it for any anger or rancor.’’
Conscious of cleric hostility Sir Syed offered not to have any role in
matters of religious instruction in the college and invited leading
clerics to prepare the syllabus. Maulana Qasim Nanotvi and Maulana
Yaqoob of Deoband shot down the proposal saying they cannot associate
with an institution which will have Shia students on the campus.
Maulana Hali in his biography of Sir Syed says that 60 maulvis and
alims had signed fatwas accusing Sir Syed of disbelief and apostasy.
There was total consensus among the Indian clerics, only divine
approval was missing. Maulvi Ali Bakhsh did the needful and travelled
to Mecca and Medina on the pretext of pilgrimage and secured a fatwa
calling for beheading of Sir Syed if he repented not and persisted
with his plan to establish the college.
Sir Syed was a visionary who pursued his dream ignoring all opposition
and aptly remarked, ‘‘I know what they know not and I understand what
they understand not.’’ History has proved that he was right and the
clergy, as always, utterly wrong.
(Arif Mohammed Khan is a former Union minister)
Sid Harth
Reuters Blogs
India: A billion aspirations
Perspectives on South Asian politics
13:22 October 20th, 2009
Are Muslims of troubled Kashmir treated unfairly by Indians?
Posted by: Sheikh Mushtaq
Parvez Rasool, a Kashmiri cricketer, was briefly detained in Bangalore
on suspicion of carrying explosives, an incident which triggered anger
in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley.
This is not an isolated case.
Earlier actor and model Tariq Dar, a Kashmiri Muslim, was mistakenly
imprisoned in New Delhi for weeks for having terror links. But Dar was
later found innocent.
Delhi University lecturer S.A.R. Geelani, a Kashmiri, was even awarded
the death sentence in connection with the 2001 Parliament attack case,
but was later released.
Are Kashmiri Muslims, weary of decades of violence, treated unfairly
by Indian authorities in different parts of the country?
The Kashmiri cricketer’s detention did not go down well in the strife-
torn region, where anti-India sentiment still runs deep.
Rasool’s detention comes at a time when New Delhi has decided to
resume peace talks with the leadership of the Himalayan region aimed
at ending over 60 years of dispute.
Kashmiri travellers and traders who talk of being harassed after
militant violence in any part of India, say such incidents are pushing
ordinary people further away from the Indian mainstream.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of Kashmir’s main separatist alliance All
Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, said he would be taking up the
issue of Rasool’s detention during his talks with New Delhi.
Tens of thousands of people have died during 20 years of anti-India
insurgency in Kashmir. The strife has left nothing untouched in the
scenic region, once the heart of Sufi Islam in the subcontinent and
home to an easy-going society.
Kashmir’s young chief minister, Omar Abdullah, said it is easy to see
young Kashmiris as terrorists but urged New Delhi to handle the youth
of his state carefully and help heal the wounds of violence.
Kashmiri sportsmen say these things humiliate people in Kashmir where
violence between Indian troops and separatist militants has brought
untold misery to the residents.
Does being a Muslim from Indian Kashmir invite suspicion in a
predominantly Hindu country?
34 comments so far
October 21st, 2009 7:09 pm GMT
This piece was written by a muslim, and is clearly one-sided and
biased.
- Posted by John
October 21st, 2009 6:39 pm GMT
I am a kashmiri doctor working abroad & the discrimination begins at
the immigration counter in New Delhi,when you arrive in India. The
officials there (esp the women) make sure they berate you in every
possible way they can. On one of my trips last year the woman official
told me that my passport was fake knowing fully well that i had been
using the said passport since the Yr 1999 & had multiple stamps over
the years from the same counter.But I have even met some genuine
angels at the same airport. I am sure their are people in India who
can appreciate that their occupation of Kashmir is not ethical & no
great country would have it’s name in such a shame.
- Posted by Eimon
October 21st, 2009 6:33 pm GMT
i object to the question. you mention kashmiris vs indians. you should
ask why kashmiri muslims are treated with suspicion by the rest of the
country. you never asked why biharis are being beaten up by indians,
or gujeratis attacked by indians, or even why naxals are killing
indians. why this separatist attitude? shouldn’t we wonder why hindus
are attacked by kashmiris on the way to their shrines? why places of
hindu worship are being demolished by kashmiris? you divide the
country by asking irresponsible questions. what a shame. we have a
saying, “doodh ka jala, chaachh bhi phoonk kar peeta hai”. maybe that
explains western profiling.
- Posted by ms
October 21st, 2009
4:42 pm GMT The matter is being blown out of proportion by Kashmiri
Muslims. Our country is under attack from our neighbouring country,
terrorist from outside are coming and attaching our people.Bombs are
being planted. So in this scenario, KCA called in the police because
an international event is taking place. Since their Bomb detecting
machine found something, The police came with their own machine and
took the Boy into custody for questioning. Later he was released. He
was never arrested. So why the fuss about the matter.Had a bomb gone
off, the prestige of the entire country and all future events in the
country would have been in jeopardy. Is the country’s prestige or the
Individuals prestige more important. Had the bomb detecting machine
gone off at Saudi Arab the boy would never have been traced for weeks.
Their action is very swift. Even Shah Rukh was detained at USA airport
for two hours. No US Muslim protested. They know this is for their own
safety and security. The people making noises are actually, indirectly
helping the terrorists. As a Patriotic Indian let us be sensible and
let the Police do their work without fear and pressure.
- Posted by Sanjeev Bhatt
October 21st, 2009 4:06 pm GMT
We are all human beings,let us not distinguish people with any
religeon. Living across boundaries to be followed by every society. I
strongly feel that Society should respect human values and encourage
to rectify the mistakes happend till now for better society.
Alexander came, saw and conqured the whole world, but he could’t carry
not even single particle of the Earth to hell or heaven. This is the
history and people should set as an example of Alexander and learn to
live in the society.
- Posted by Somaiah M.S
October 21st, 2009 4:02 pm GMT
The simple rule is respect others and then others will respect you. If
you treat someone badly he would in turn treat you badly when he or
she gets the opportunity.
- Posted by ranju
October 21st, 2009 3:25 pm GMT
The question should be the other way, Are the Kashmiri Hindus were
treated well by the majority Muslim population there.
- Posted by Raju Cherian
October 21st, 2009 2:43 pm GMT
I agree with the writer that Kashmiri Muslims are being targeted and
treated unfairly by Indians. Those people who are not Kashmiri Muslims
are not supposed to post their opinion here. Only Kashmiri Muslims
know how unfairly they are targeted and harrasd in each nook and
corner of the India. Being a Kashmiri i know it well.
- Posted by I agree
October 21st, 2009 12:28 pm GMT
Is it a propaganda against India?
Facts:- Anti RDX dog scod smelt the RDX from a bag owned by a
cricketer.
How other countries would have reacted to it?
1.Americans CIA might have taken the person away & the world would
have never seen him again.
2.Russian KGB would have already killed the person & nobody even heard
about such incidence.
3.Chines would have arrested entire team & crew send them to
consentration camps.
4.Israillies would have bombed the town where the person is living.
5.And lastly our friend Pakistan might have killed oposite team first
before killing the suspect & then blame the Talibaan for incedence ad
demand more aid from America.
India is softest target for terrorism. Such things are being tolerated
again & again.
A person sentenced for death by supreme court of India is still alive
only because he is a kashmiri muslim.
We Indians will never be safe in the hands of such governments.
- Posted by Prashant
October 21st, 2009 12:13 pm GMT
During my stay in one of the princely states of erstwhile British India
—Hyderabad, I planned to buy a television set. I asked a sales boy,
barely 16, in one of the biggest shopping malls of the city to
demonstrate some Television sets as I had to buy one. Before he could
get the needful done, he inquired about our identity.
My two friends who were accompanying me said that all of us are from
Kashmir. The little chap hurled a one-liner. ‘Kashmir mein sab
atankwadi hain’, every Kashmiri is a terrorist. How come? I retorted.
Scratching his head, he said, “Aaj tak kehta hai’ , Aaj Tak- a Hindi
news, channel says. We didn’t buy any TV set from that shop, however,
the Magic Bullet theory, that mass media has a direct, immediate and
powerful effect on its audiences got confirmed. We left the TV and
bought the theory instead.
Until Indian media doesn’t change its jingoistic policies and
‘national interest’ rants….kashmiris will continue to suffer at the
hands of Indian police and .7 million troops that make Kashmir a
largest militarized zones in the world.
Umarblogs at http://www.umarblogs.blogspot.com
Kashmir
- Posted by Umarblogs
October 21st, 2009 12:03 pm GMT
Kashmiri Muslims are not being treated unfairly. It is known fact that
our government is doing lot for Kashmiri muslims considering them as
minorities. Since independence, our government is Protecting their
interests.
- Posted by Karthik S
October 21st, 2009 11:48 am GMT
there is a large gap between delhi & srinagar so for history &
politics goes… such type of incidents are natural to happen so no
regrets…..
- Posted by dr sheikh mushtaq
October 21st, 2009 10:52 am GMT
Kashmiri are treated unfairly in India.end of dicsussion.
- Posted by dia
October 21st, 2009 10:10 am GMT
People are cribbing and whining about the treatment of the Indian
troops and “GOONS”. I am sure they are of such mindset that they
prefer Taliban rule like in Pakistan? At least here you have the
freedom to whine about a criceter being detained once the scanner
showed that he might contain some terror objects with him. In places
other than India, I wonder what his fate would have been…
- Posted by Kusum
October 21st, 2009 10:05 am GMT
Why does the media blow the “muslim” issue so out of proportion? Were
the “KASHMIRI” pundits not treated badly too by their muslim
neighbours? It happens to people of all relegion. If most of the
terrorists are muslims and are from Kashmir, the government is going
to take precautionary measures, there is no need to create such a big
deal about it. Half the things in Kashmir are supplied at cheap, ultra
cheap rates by the government, at the cost of a normal, maybe hindu,
taxpayer’s money. I think they should stop this “we poor kashmiri”
song and try to lead a normal life.
- Posted by Kusum
October 21st, 2009 5:59 am GMT
All Kashimiri muslims and Indian muslims on this board are pointing
out what has been happening to them but so far no one of them has
pointed out the atrocities they committed against the Kashmiri Hindus,
who they killed, drove out of their homes and pillaged their
properties. why is there never a discussion about the plight of the
Kashmiri Hindus? are their rights not mentionable? or does it not fit
in the so called secular discussion boards? I know, not one of you
will have a grain of gut to come forward and accept that what you did
to the Kashmiri Hindus was wrong. Will the Muslims in Kashmir who
illegally took over properties belonging to Kashimiri Hindus, be
willing to give it back to them? You as well as I know what the answer
to that is. Kashmir is a dispute because the Kashmiri muslims created
that dispute. The King of Kashmir had agreed to join the Indian
federation and the Kashmiri muslims instead of being loyal to their
motherland listened to the ugly minds of the western neighbour and
started agitating in the name of religion. So, this current state of
affairs is as much a doing of the Kashmiri muslims as it is of India
and Pak. And instead of asking what India has done for Kashmir ( and
take note that India has done much more for the upliftment of Kashmir
than Pakistan has or can ever do) may I ask what have the Kashmiri
muslims done to become a part of India. When ever there is a natural
disaster in the country donations pour over from all over the country
for that cause but have we ever heard people of Kashmir donating for
any natural calamity that has struck the country? on the other hand,
when the earthquake happened in Kashmir a few years back, all the
KAshmiri separatists were crying about how not enough was done for
them by the Indian govt and the people from the rest of India. Kashmir
enjoys special autonomy under the Indian constitution, Kashmiris get
reservations and other facilities. So the govt with its limited
resources does much more for the people of Kashmir than it does for
the other citizens of this country. The onus is also on the KAshmiri
muslims to work for the betterment of their region and put down their
weapons and try and lead a peaceful life. become a part of nation
building to earn respect from the country. Contribute in a
constructive way and then you will see that people will no longer
discriminate against you. So my question to you guys, are you willing
to take that step?
- Posted by Ganesh
October 21st, 2009 2:09 am GMT
@ harish who writes I think this is just one side of the story. Think
about what the Indian society has also lost in terms of its men and
money in guarding the borders of Kashmir. Kashmiris are provided with
a quota in each and every college in the country if they have to re-
settle. Kashmiris should also understand and accept the fact that
being part of India is inevitable for them and accept it whole
heartedly.
Please tell me any institute where there is a kashmiri quota…. i think
you miss out to read properly in hurry…. the quota is for pandits…..
not all kashmiris….
- Posted by sameer
October 21st, 2009 1:45 am GMT
Mr Bharat.
Terror attacks in indian cant be associated with kashmiris. no kashmir
has ever been found guilty of any attack in india, except for those
who were falsely accused. as far as condemning terror atacks every
does that but when killing is done in the name of security no one
raises a voice. u talk about china and all they kill in front of every
one not like what security forces are doing in kashmir.
- Posted by Mubashir
October 21st, 2009
1:03 am GMT Back when the Khalistan movement was in full flow people
were wary of people from Punjab too. It was expected given the stories
of terrorism one would keep hearing every other day back then. But
today no one hears of any such cases. Give it time, once normalcy
returns (and I hope it does) we will hear of such cases no more.
India has no common thread, not religion, not language, not culture,
not race - if anything truly unites the people it is the idea of being
able to afford a better life for thier children. So long as a kashmiri
has the same ideal, there is no reason to want to not share the dream.
- Posted by chris
October 21st, 2009 12:48 am GMT
I too am a victim of police high handedness. I had merely parked my
car in a no parking zone while I was waiting for a friend to arrive (I
was in the car) when a police jeep came up. The policemen inside it
came up to me and instead of challaning me (which should have been the
worst case scenario) started abusing me and got increasingly more
threatening. They started to swear in hindi and were making me get
into the Jeep when fortunately my friend arrived on the scene and made
a timely phone call to his dad which probably saved my skin.
I am a hindu, in maharashtra.
The police and establishment in general is overworked underpaid and
streched to its limit. It is part and parcel of being in a third world
country. Expect to be at the receiving end of the stick from some
disgruntled government servant at some point or the other. Dont fool
yourself into thinking that Kashmiri’s alone have it bad and that the
rest of India has a cakewalk or is not discriminated against. I cannot
deny that coming from a terrorism afflicted state things are
definately harder for Kashimiris, but it would be wrong to say that
any misdirected police ire is always solely pointed at them.
- Posted by kabir
October 21st, 2009 12:02 am GMT
Some of the comments posted above make me wonder why the Kashmiri
Muslims are not even acknowledging the fact that terrorist attacks are
carried out in the name of Islam to kill Hindus(even muslims as
collateral damage) in all parts of India. Do you think police have any
other choice then to be extra careful about Kashmiris when every other
month 100’s are killed in the name of Islam.
These same kind of whining like in the above posts are heard in US and
UK by muslims.
It is to be noted again that “The above posters dint even condemn
terror attacks and started whining”
India is not a first world country and its police is not A grade in
any way. To avoid terror strikes they will do what they can in their
limited capacity.(I wish they are more sensitive and civilized towards
people though).
Remember what China did to Uighurs last month. Killed so many
protestors on the street. Hanged 6 muslims with in a month of
protests…
Can it happen in India???
- Posted by Bharat
October 20th, 2009 11:53 pm GMT
Folks as an indian i apologise to my kashmiri friends for their
mistreatment.. but please there is another side as well - kashmiri
talent being recognised spontaneously and fairly by wider public in tv
talent contests; Omar Abdullah in Vajpayee’s government a popular
minister, and honestly hundreds of people like me who despite
everything show some sympathy for kashmiris we meet, and even go out
of the way to give them some space and understanding at study or
work,and even play a protective role when we see them sometimes
unfairly targetted for prejudice; as for the bangalore cricketer
incident the police commissioner went out of the way to again and
again say he considered the kashmiri cricketer as an indian citizen
due all respect and courtesy, but had to consider the high tech
explosive scanner and risk to 40,000 spectators as well!
Folks lets cool it a bit if we can, and of course for our kashmiri
brothers - guys you have suffered a lot, please things will settle
down gradually, and we love want and respect the beautiful, talented
and courteous people of kashmir… hopefully we’ll have a PM from
kashmir one day too and a popular one at that!
- Posted by Gopal
October 20th, 2009 11:23 pm GMT
There has always been some bitterness between Kashmiris and
Indians.Indians have a special place for kashmiris in their heart.A
kashmiri visiting the capital around the Republic or the Independence
day wont get a room, a kashmiri student in a non-kashmiri dominated
institution will be treated differently be it in the state(like the
incident that happened in N.I.T, hazratbal a few months back) or
outside.
And now this incident. And yet India says Kashmir is an “Atoot Ang”
for them.
- Posted by Owais Rashid
October 20th, 2009 11:19 pm GMT
At least in India Kashmiris, are only harrased. In KAshmir, which is
occupied by Indian Army, Kashmiris are killed by the savage Indian
army. The genocide of KAshmiris is being perpetuated by Indian forces
over the last 60 years.
- Posted by Kadri
October 20th, 2009 11:00 pm GMT
I think this is just one side of the story. Think about what the
Indian society has also lost in terms of its men and money in guarding
the borders of Kashmir. Kashmiris are provided with a quota in each
and every college in the country if they have to re-settle. Kashmiris
should also understand and accept the fact that being part of India is
inevitable for them and accept it whole heartedly. They can very well
see for themselves what situation they would be in if they were in
Pakistan by the current situation there. Life’s not a bed of roses
either in other parts of India and people should learn grow up and
stop cribbing like a child always!!!
- Posted by Harish
October 20th, 2009 10:47 pm GMT
Mr Vishal u are the only Indian who accepts that Kashmir is a disputed
zone otherwise your government Says Kashmir is an Integral part
- Posted by Abu Jindal
October 20th, 2009 10:28 pm GMT
VERY TRUE..KASHMIRI DIASPORA HAS BEEN FACING A TOUGH TIME LIVING
OUTSIDE THE STATE PARTICULARLY IN THE INDIAN STATES..
THE CASE OF BANGALORE HAS COME TO LIMELIGHT BECAUSE THE STATE CRICKET
ASSOCIATION WAS INVOLVED..THERE HAVE BEEN AND ARE EVEN TODAY MANY
INDIVIDUAL CASES WHICH GO UNNOTICED BECAUSE THEY DONT HAVE NAY GOVT.
PATRONAGE…
THIS IN TURN GENERATES MORE ANTI SENTIMENTS AMONG THE KASHMIRI YOUTH
AGAINST…
- Posted by Jeelani
October 20th, 2009 10:17 pm GMT
Yes, the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir dominated by Muslims are
being always overlooked they have no say in any field. They are being
denied the basic rights.
The students of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) can not travel freely in
the busses, trains and even in the air services they are always
harassed by the Indian police on the different pretext.
The Fruit of the IOK especially apples are sold at throng away prices
because the fruit dealers in Indian capitol Delhi knowing the fact
that the traders of Indian Occupied Kashmir cover the long distance to
reach Delhi consequently on covering about 2000kms from Indian
Occupied Kashmir to Indian Capitol Delhi is a compelling reason for
the Kashmir traders to dispose off their fruit at the will of Indian
capitol Delhi based Traders.
The forests in Indian Occupied Kashmir are being looted by Indian
troops. The custodian of the Kashmir forest department has no say to
tell the troopers to stop the denudation of the forests. The Kashmiri
smugglers always are hand in hand glove with the Indian troops who
loot the forests.
The Kashmir has biggest power generation capacity vis-à-vis
hydroelectricity projects
Uri power project is being smuggled in to different parts of India and
the people of the Indian Occupied Kashmir suffer at the hands of the
stooges of the government of India
Afore said examples are few which is testimony to the fact of my
statement.
- Posted by Y N K
October 20th, 2009 9:50 pm GMT
I am a Kashmiri journalist working for an international news agency. I
was detained for nearly 3 hours at a police station for being a
Kashmiri muslim. The story goes like this, I was taking routine
pictures during Dushera when a policeman came up to me and asked me to
come with him to his officer. I introduced myself to the officer and
showed him my Press Accreditation card. I told him that I have
recently transferred from Srinagar. As soon as he heard the word
“Srinagar”, he hold my wrist and asked to follow him. He took me to
his senior officer and told him that he is a Kashmiri. I had two big
cameras hanging from my shoulders and still the officer asked me what
do I do and what are you here for? as if cameras are used for some
other purpose. I told him that I have recently joined AP and has been
posted here. I showed him my J&K Press Accreditation card since I was
yet to get a Punjab Govt. press card. He asked me what is AP in
Punjabi? And I replied Associated Press. He still couldn’t figure out
what AP was all about. He took my card and asked me to follow him. He
took me to his senior, an SSP, who was accompanying a VIP. SSP,
without listening to me, asked the SHO standing nearby in Hindi, “Le
ja isay aur jab tak complete information na milay, yeh kyon hai yehan
kyu aaya hai… tab tak nahi chorna,”. (Take him to the police station
and dont let him go unless you make sure who he is). On the way to
police station, one of the constable who was accompanying me said to
his colleague in Punjabi, “Yeh Pakistani lagda hai”. I was taken a
back and for the first time I thought I am in a big trouble. Once we
reach the police station. They start questioning me as if they were
talking to a criminal who was just been caught red handed. They asked
me my religion, my sect, about my family. They seemed quite disturbed
with the fact that why a Kashmiri has been sent to Amritsar for? And
that too for some organisation they have never heard of before. To
convince them I even asked them to call Director Information Office in
Srinagar and find out if I am a journalist or not. I tried to convince
them but all in vain. After a while the SHO called District Public
Relations Officer (DPRO) of Amritsar. SHO told him in Hindi, “SSP
sahib ne ek Kashmiri banda pakda hai jo apne aap ko press reporter
batlata hai, kya aap isko jaantay ho?” (SSP has detained a man who
calls himself a journalist) and then he read out the form on which he
had noted down my information. Surprisingly, he was already aware that
somebody will be arriving from Srinagar for the AP and he quickly
asked the SHO to handover the phone to me. He spoke to me and said
don’t worry I will request them to let you go. After an ordeal of
about 3 hours and when the Ravan was already down I was let go. I
wonder had the SHO not been able to speak to the DPRO then they could
have jailed me and who knows they could have even leveled charges
against me just like many other Kashmiris are arrested on flimsy
charges and jailed for years altogether. While I was leaving SHO told
me in Hindi.. Dekho ji aap ne dhadi (beard) rakhi hai aur aap Kashmiri
bhi ho to shak to hojata hai na to isliye pooch tash karni padi, (see
you have beard and that too you are from Kashmir, so we had some
doubt).
- Posted by Altaf
October 20th, 2009 9:35 pm GMT
whatever ppl make like to think but one cannot ignore fact that
kashmir is a disputed zone.
It is not easy to diffentiate between terroist and civilian and some
cases of misjudement are obvious
Further whatever the case may looking at bomb blastss in capital
islamabad it is fair to say karmiris are thousand imes better with
india than with pakistan
atleast they can move to other places in india where there are
reservations for them what is there fate with pakistan
- Posted by vishal
October 20th, 2009 9:25 pm GMT
Yes they are.be it on the independence day of india or republic day of
india kashmiris are called to report in the police stations ouside
state.Whenver the I card reads kashmiri to indian custodians,they
create unnecessary problems and harrassment.
- Posted by Aadil bashir
October 20th, 2009 7:37 pm GMT
This has really been case of many Kashmiris. Many students from
Kashmir, who go to other Indian states in order to persue their higher
education or professional courses are being treated as terrorists
there and arrested on mere suspecions. previous year, Malik sajad, a
renowed cartoonist from Kashmir was arrested by Delhi Police for being
a kashmiri. A good number of kashmiri students are also languishing in
many Indian jails.This is really unfair.
- Posted by MEHRAJ AHMED
October 20th, 2009 7:32 pm GMT
Yes, being just a muslim in India not let alone a kashmiri muslim does
bring in unwarranted suspicion and bigotry in India.
However i must agree being a Kashmiri Muslim in India is much worse
than living life as a street dog.
- Posted by Abu Abdullah
October 20th, 2009 7:14 pm GMT
One cannot turn blind eye as to how Kashmiris are being treated in
India. The maltreatment they receive at airports and hotels is a grave
concern and Indian think tanks should be reminded should these ill
fated incidents continue it will lead to more separatism and sow more
seeds of hatred in Kashmiri hearts. Even in kashmir also common people
are harassed by government security agencies and often arrested
without proper court warrants. On the rise are the fake encounters and
extra-judicial killings. Worlds largest democracy seem to miss this
part of their integral nation- as they call it.
- Posted by Arthur Smith
bademiyansubhanallah
5 SIMI men nabbed in Indore
Category » News Flash Posted On Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Agencies
Indore, Oct 21:
Five persons alleged to be members of the banned Students Islamic
Movement of India were on Wednesday apprehended by the Anti Terror
Squad of the state. Two of the the detainees are reported to be
suicide bombers.
The five were caught by the police from the Khajrana area of Indore.
The area is home to some ancient temples and is communally sensitive.
Names of four persons as accessed by Zee News are: Firoze, Amjad,
Mohammad Shafiq, Yunus. Shafiq is said to be close to Safdar Nagori
who is the chief of SIMI.
It is reported that the group was planning to strike around December
6- the anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition in 1991. Some of them
may be involved in the series of blasts in Ahmedabad last year.
Sources revealed that ammunition and some letters have been recovered
from the men.
Three SIMI activists including it's former head Imran Ansari were
awarded two-years rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 2000 each by a
local court for spreading religious enmity on Oct 6 in the state.
Four members were arrested from the Mana village in Akola district of
Maharashtra in July earlier this year.
SIMI has been banned by the Government in 2002 for its involvement in
terrorist attacks in India. Its been labeled a terrorist organisation
by both India and the US.
In August 2008, a special tribunal lifted the ban on SIMI. The ban was
subsequently reinstated by the Supreme Court on August 6, 2008.
bademiyansubhanallah
Muslims should hold marriages in mosques
Posted On Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Agencies
Lucknow, Oct 21:
With a view to checking ostentatious display of wealth, All India Shia
Personal Law Board (AISPLB) today suggested using mosques and
imambaras for holding marriage functions.
The board in its annual session in New Delhi later this month would be
passing a resolution to this effect for making it mandatory for the
community to use mosques and imambaras for holding 'nikahs' so as to
check unnecessary expenditures, AISPLB president Maulana Mirza Mohamad
Athar told reporters here.
There has been a growing trend among the community of solemnising
weddings at banquet halls or hotels which add on to the burden on the
bride's family, he said, adding this could be checked by using
imambaras and mosques, which have ample land in and around, for
holding such ceremonies.
Athar said there is no ban on holding such functions at mosques and
imambaras and if brought into practice it will also narrow the gap
between the rich and poor.
He said the annual meeting of the Shia Board on Oct 25 would also
press on checking the practice of dowry. The practice of organising
community feast after burial should also be stopped as it poses
unnecessary burden on the poor.
The national policy for Shias and reservation for the community in
Parliament are also some of the issues which will be discussed in the
meet, he said.
chhotemianinshallah
Kashmir solution will emerge only through talks: ANC
STAFF WRITER 17:24 HRS IST
Srinagar, Oct 22(PTI) The Awami National Conference today said that a
solution to the Kashmir issue would emerge only through conferences in
which people from all the regions of undivided state participate.
Vice-President of Awami National Conference Muzaffar Shah, who left
for London to attend a two-day conference being organised by Kashmiris
living there told reporters.
"The basic stand of ANC is that peaceful and honourable solution to
the Kashmir issue could be found only through intra-Kashmir
conferences," he said adding that he will acquaint the participants
about viewpoint of his party on the issue.
This is for the first time that ANC, which was formed by former Chief
Minister late GM Shah, has been invited for such a conference.
chhotemianinshallah
'Muslims should honour Hindu sentiments on Ram Temple'
STAFF WRITER 17:17 HRS IST
Jamshedpur, Oct 22 (PTI) The Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth, Swami
Swaroopanand Sarswatiji Maharaj, has appealed to the Muslim community
to honour the religious sentiments of Hindus and cooperate in the
construction of Ram Temple at Ram Janambhoomi in Ayodhya.
"Ram Temple at the birth place of Lord Ram is one of the holiest
places for Hindus as Mecca for Muslims and Vatican for Christians,"
Swaroopanand Sarswatiji told newspersons here last night.
Temples and Masjids can be built at any place but the birthplace (of
Lord Ram) cannot be shifted, he said while emphasizing for a concrete
step to end the dispute over the issue.
He said the issue should be resolved in a cordial atmosphere without
disturbing the prevailing communal harmony.
Taking a dig at BJP, the Shankaracharya said the Ram Mandir issue was
grabbed from the Sadhus and the issue was forgotten by them.
Sid Harth
Pak nabs Rawalpindi Gen HQ attack masterminds
STAFF WRITER 14:59 HRS IST
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 23 (PTI) Two top Punjabi Taliban commanders, who are
believed to have masterminded the recent attack on the army's General
Headquarters in Rawalpindi and other high-profile terror strikes in
Lahore, have been arrested by Pakistani security agencies.
The two commanders ? identified only as Iqbal and Gul Muhammad, both
hailing from Faisalabad ? were arrested earlier this week by law
enforcement agencies.
They were members of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan's 'Shura' or
council of about top 40 commanders that coordinates and oversees
militant activities across the country.
Sid Harth
10 injured in blast outside restaurant in Pakistan
STAFF WRITER 13:20 HRS IST
Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Oct 23 (PTI) At least 10 people were injured today in a
bomb attack outside a restaurant in the northwestern Pakistani city of
Peshawar, hours after seven people were killed by a suicide bomber
near a strategic air force complex in Punjab province.
Witnesses said the blast occurred soon after a man parked a car
outside the restaurant in Hayatabad area on the outskirts of Peshawar,
the capital of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The man, who had
long hair, fled immediately after parking the car.
The injured were taken to nearby hospitals and the condition of one of
them was described as serious, reports said.
They said the restaurant targeted in the attack belonged to the son of
a senior leader of the Awami National Party, which is in power in NWFP
and is part of the ruling coalition at the centre.
bademiyansubhanallah
US Congress approves new restrictions on Pakistan aid
US Congress has passed a large Pentagon spending bill that sets tough
new restrictions on military aid to Pakistan, where officials are
already angry over previous limits.
Published: 7:00AM BST 22 Oct 2009
The move came as Pakistani troops fought through the sixth day of a
major military assault against Taliban Islamist fighters that the
Pakistani army says has killed more than 150 people in the country's
restive tribal belt.
The Senate voted 68-29 in favor of a $680 billion defense spending
bill for fiscal year 2010, which sailed through the House of
Representatives by a 281-146 margin on October 8 and now goes to
President Barack Obama.
Robert Gates calls for cuts to major weapons programmesThe new limits
include efforts to track where US military hardware sent to Pakistan
ends up, as well as a warning that US aid to Pakistan must not upset
"the balance of power in the region" - a reference to tensions with
India.
The measure's chief authors, Senators Robert Menendez and Bob Corker,
praised Pakistan for its help routing extremists but that they wanted
to be sure US military aid goes to fight the "war on terrorism."
"That fight is important to our own national security, and we have to
ensure that our support for it is not being squandered or diverted,"
said Mr Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey.
"The Pakistanis should be commended for working to eliminate the
terrorist safe havens within their own borders and for their role in
the broader war on violent extremism," said Mr Corker, a Republican
from Tennessee.
"This provision simply ensures that the American peoples' tax dollars
are being used for their intended purpose," he said.
chhotemianinshallah
Justice for Hafiz Modi and Narendra Saeed!
Submitted by admin4 on 22 October 2009 - 7:40pm.
By NM Sampathkumar Iyangar,
Dismissal by Lahore High Court of the terror case against Jamaatud
Dawa Chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in early October comes weeks after the
‘honourable’ Home Minister of India P Chidambaram “demanded” justice
for the victims of Mumbai terror attack. “My demand is that now that
he (Saeed) has been arrested he should be interrogated on the 26/11
incidents. His role in the 26/11 attacks must be investigated,” Chiddu
had declared soon after returning from a junket to US.
India has been claiming that Saeed is the alleged mastermind behind
November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai. In US, the new Indian Home
Minister urged anyone who cared to meet him to intervene in the issue.
Back home, he announced that ‘senior’ US officials agreed to press
Pakistan to deal sternly with the ‘mastermind’ of the attack. He was
commenting on the restriction imposed by Pakistan government on the
movement of Saeed for the second time in this year.
Hafiz Saeed of JuD
Around the same time Chidambarem was ranting that the alleged terror
perpetrator be handed over to his authorities to be punished, an
‘honourable’ former Supreme Court judge of India stuck to his position
to not touch an alleged criminal responsible for massacre of hundreds
of Muslims in India. The ‘Judicial’ Commission headed by him was
singing an entirely different tune.
The learned judges were examining a question: Were the anti-Muslim
riots in 2002 in Gujarat part of an orchestrated violence as numerous
quarters from across India and the world think they were? The
Commission rubbished persistent claims by human rights watchers to
that effect. Its order issued on Sept 18 and made public on Sept 19
characterized testimonies not just of activists but of top police
officers as well as "vague allegations" and "unwarranted assumptions."
It categorically refused to summon Narendra Modi to question him on
his actions and inactions, which his own Party Supremo AB Vajpayee
described it as a “blot” on India’s face.
Commissioned justice
Any person with a trace left of a sense of balance would observe the
striking double standards. What is sauce for the goose must be sauce
for the gander too. It is simply not fair to divorce prosecution of a
scholarly Islamic ideologue for alleged crimes from interrogation of a
street-smart chief scientist of the laboratory of [a barbaric brand
of] Hindutva that called for the pogrom.
Funnily enough, it was to shed authentic judicial light and bring the
truth behind the actual masterminds that the (Shah)-Nanavatii-Mehta
Commission is supposed to exist. Both Nanavati and Mehta have no
reason to shorten their sinecure assignments, secured to reward
loyalty to appropriate regimes during employment. Another dignitary –
Justice KG Shah – was to originally head the panel. But, the farce of
a known BJP loyalist heading the Commission was too obvious to
continue. He was not outright dumped, but allowed to work under
Nanavati. This he did for six years before dying in 2008 after serving
the cause of 'justice' in India till the age of 73.
Nanavati had headed a Commission to probe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Predictably, he could not even move his little finger against powerful
cronies of Indira/Rajiv Gandhi, who ‘bravely’ taught a lesson to the
whole community. From all indications, the wizened 74-year-old appears
set to serve the cause of justice till in his late 80s. Given the
‘dynamic’ pace of his work, he may surpass the record of Justice
Liberhan, who took 17 years to compile a monumental record of
demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Shielding Modi
The 'honourable' judges also rejected the plea to summon two of Modi's
lieutenants, Ashok Bhatt and Gordhan Zadaphia. The same rationale to
shield Modi was employed to let them off hook. Ashok Bhatt had been a
prominent don of Khadia area in Ahmedabad in his heydays. After
providing “protection” to the wealthiest of traders in Gujarat
concentrated in the busy locality, he became a typical Indian trade
union boss, much sought after by tycoons to buy industrial peace.
Becoming Modi's health minister in 2002, he became law minister and is
now the ‘honourable’ Speaker of the august Assembly of lawmakers of
the State. Zadaphia was the home minister who oversaw the pre-
preparations and the conduct of the riots. Impatient to consolidate
his power through more hawkish postures, he soon fell out with his
boss. However, Zadaphia has been lucky to escape the fate of Haren
Pandya – another Home Minister who fell out with Modi due to over
ambitions and got bumped off under mysterious circumstances.
As a saving grace, the Commission decided to get tough with three
small-time staff of those days, who ran errands for the CM. The
personal assistants Sanjay Bhavsar, Tanmay Mehta and Om Prakash Singh
have been directed to file affidavits. They have been asked to recall
their mobile-phone communications at the height of the riots between
February 28 and March 3, 2002.
The Commission came to this decision on an application moved on August
31, 2007 after a full two years of careful analysis. Jan Sangharsh
Manch, a civil rights organization fighting for 'justice' of a
different kind, incomprehensible to honourable judges of India, had
asked it to summon them for questioning. The learned judges could not
agree with any of the eight contentions submitted by its Counsel Mukul
Sinha. The JSM Counsel had wanted to question – apart from Modi, Bhatt
and Zadaphia – the three personal assistants and RJ Savani, DCP-
Ahmedabad-Zone 5 during the days of disgraceful governance.
"The commission does not think it proper to summon the chief minister
or any other minister of the government and question them about the
incidents merely on the basis of vague allegations or wrong and
unwarranted assumptions," the panel observed in the order. At the same
time, Tanmay Mehta and Sanjay Bhavsar have been asked to state if they
had talked to Jaydeep Patel, a notorious VHP leader of Naroda in the
city.
The honourable judges directed Om Prakash to inform it through an
affidavit whether or not a mobile phone, number 9825000836, was
registered in his name or whether it belonged to him otherwise. He is
to confirm whether or not he had talked with any or both of the
honourable ministers (NOT the honourable CM!) over the phone. The
Commission wants to know the nature of conversations if he does not
choose to deny them outright. Nanavati and Mehta obviously find it
difficult to sweep under the carpet the data of mobile calls collected
by IPS officer Rahul Sharma about conversations between key characters
during the pogrom.
Centre-state nexus
Jaydeep Patel had proudly taken credit for a teaching some essential
lessons to hundreds of "Muslim upstarts" in the State during and after
riots. He was nabbed along with Madam Maya Kodnani, a sitting minister
in Modi’s Cabinet, only after the Supreme Court-appointed Special
Investigation Team could not delay it any further. It is another
matter that it is business as usual for both the dignitaries
currently, who are happily out on bail. That should not surprise
anyone conversant with trends in India ever since the country became
'free'. Ruling as well as opposition groups, whether at the State or
at the Central level, have been artfully collaborating with one
another to destroy any semblance of human rights that existed for
minority communities under colonial rule.
The nexus between “communal fundamentalist” State governments on the
one hand and New Delhi and its supposedly independent arms on the
other hand is particularly striking. Occasional "remedies" to undo
injustice come about only after so much of delay as to make them a
cruel joke. That too is limited to cases where international human
rights groups exert tremendous pressure. Not just in Gujarat, the
conspiracy to rob life and liberty of individuals is nationwide. The
prosecution invariably can go on extending custody of uncomfortable
suspects till they go insane. Courts have no qualms to readily deny
bail to hapless victims who lack enough resources to feed parasites.
In order to prove their loyalty to authorities, they have robbed
hundreds of families of their breadwinners.
A person needs to be as wealthy as Rubabuddin Sheikh – brother of
Sohrabuddin Sheikh who was eliminated in cold blood by top IPS
officers of Gujarat – to interest the Apex court in gross
inhumanities. Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi were kidnapped in broad
daylight from an APSRTC bus in connivance with top cops in Maharashtra
to stage the bizarre ‘encounter’ in Gujarat.
Often, the occasional churning of the ‘conscience’ of high-profile
judges fails to have any impact either on victims / their kin or the
murderers. For example, the murderer IPS officers who fraudulently
cooked up a conspiracy by Sohrabuddin to kill Narendra Modi are
enjoying five-star comforts in jail. It should not be surprising to
see them one day as honourable ministers like Bhatt and Kodnani!
Investigations by Anti Terrorist Squad into the “conspiracies to kill
Modi” are still going on and the Muslim youths picked up for alleged
role are rotting without trial.
It is interesting to observe the trashing by Nanavati-Mehta duo of the
widespread demands to question Modi in the light of New Delhi’s
persistent demand for prosecuting Hafiz Saeed. It is not entirely
impossible that the JuD Chief played a direct role in the carnage, as
India claims he had. Nor is it right to rule out offhand that he has
distanced himself completely from the activities of LeT, as he claims.
While LeT continues its struggle to liberate Kashmir from occupation
forces, JuD has been an NGO since it was formed, from all available
evidence. JuD is known for deep dedication to charitable activities,
efficiency and dynamic management. Like any respectable church group,
the constructive work it does is beyond governments’ capabilities.
Perhaps, Hafiz was indeed involved in the Mumbai attacks, in which ten
terrorists went on a 60-hour rampage that killed 166 people. Perhaps,
what the Lahore High Court found to be mere “hearsay & conjectures” on
examining the dossiers prepared by the Indian authorities was only a
part of the unveiled facts. It must be recalled that Indian Home
Minister Shivraj Patil and Maharashtra’s CM Deshmukh had been quietly
removed from public view after the attacks, apparently to keep
disturbing facts about highly placed Indian dignitaries in the dark.
Bulky dossiers
Be that as it may, the “crime” was more than a full 6-1/2 after close
to 2000 innocents were slaughtered and thousands more driven off from
habitats in 2002. The whole world is aware of the person whose actions
and inactions fueled the pogrom. He allegedly instructed the
administration not to restrain rampaging Hindutva goons from taking
revenge. He justified the violence as “action-reaction phenomenon” for
the burning of two rail coaches full of passengers and said the mobs
must be allowed to “vent their anger.” Yet, the Nanavati-Mehta
Commission supposed to facilitate dispensing justice “does not think
it proper to” to inconvenience the gentleman by questioning him, let
alone arresting him!
The only work that India’s security agencies have managed in the last
ten months, apart from staging fake encounters and stepping up
security to VIPs, has only been to produce bulky dossiers. P
Chidambaram, who became the boss of New Delhi’s internal security
machinery after the sacking of Shivraj Patil did not bat an eyelid to
claim: “Evidence is in Pakistani soil. When Pakistan says give us
evidence, evidence is not on Indian soil, all the evidence against
Hafiz Saeed is on Pakistani soil. . . Therefore, one must investigate
in Pakistan and find the evidence in Pakistan!”
It is not that Chidambaram is so naïve as to be blind to the problems
of the fledgling civilian government in Pakistan to bow to the diktats
of the big brother even if want to. Unfortunately, the governmental
structure in that country is different from India’s. For one thing,
courts elsewhere are not as pliable as Indian courts. It is possible
in India to keep anyone, particularly a Muslim, in jail without trial
with courts’ nod by following “proper” procedure. Arbitrary picked up
suspects of terror dramas can be convicted and sentenced to death
based solely on “confessions” extracted in custody. The interior
minister of Pakistani Rehman Malik has repeatedly told the Indian high
commissioner that their judiciary wants authentic documents
“particularly that information which we need from India.”
When the JuD chief was put under house arrest for the first time, the
courts directed his release because the charges were “sketchy”.
Currently, Saeed has been booked in two cases under Anti-Terrorism Act
in Faisalabad for making “provocative speeches, urging people to wage
a jihad against infidels.” No self-respecting judge anywhere in the
world will consider sympathizing per se with a struggle against
suppression of popular aspirations in an occupied territory as
terrorism. In any civilized country, prosecution can be based only on
specific offences and no one can be punished simply for beliefs.
Chidambaram, however, crossed all limits of diplomatic decency when he
termed the Lahore High Court’s verdict setting Hafiz Saeed free on
grounds of insufficient grounds as “charade.” It is anyone’s guess
whether the independent judiciary will sanction indefinite detention
of the Professor, as long as Indian rulers attempt doctoring their
dossiers, blacking out disturbing facts about Indian citizens, without
whose knowledge such an attack could not have taken place. It is
uncomfortable for both the ruling elite and the ones in opposition to
admit that the countless terror bomb blasts, including the Mumbai
attacks, cannot be blamed on JuD or Syeed alone. The runaway
radicalization in the country leading to terrorism has its roots in
gross injustices and is directly proportional to the marginalization
of vast sections of the society.
Apartheid
Warmongering with a neighbour, already badly bruised in a different
conflict, happens to be a compulsion to the ruling elite of India. It
needs to cover up not just glaring intelligence and security lapses on
in case of the Mumbai attack. All round tyranny has led to breakdown
of constitutional institutions and failures of all governing
structures. No wonder, numerous foreign affairs bureaucrats, high
profile politicians and the Media were pressed to mount a strident
rhetoric, short of declaration of war. Scaring the neighbour and the
international community about a flare up between nuclear armed
adversaries, the rulers calculate, can secure some sort of “triumph”
over the imaginary enemy. Showcasing the imaginary ‘triumph’, achieved
at mindboggling costs to the public, has repeatedly been successful in
drumming up patriotic frenzy to let them continue reigning over the
masses.
The Indian political class has managed to erect an invisible apartheid
system, right since the British Empire vacated all its colonies,
transferring power to home-grown leaderships. The apartheid affected
the minority community of 27 million Christians only to a limited
extent, mainly because of their highly developed institutions in
economic and social spheres. The 160-plus million Muslims who are
comparatively poor and backward due to the migration of a big chunk of
the well-off sections to Pakistan and elsewhere, on the other hand,
are the worst victims.
Perpetration of the apartheid system is the main objective for
provoking conflicts deliberately and repeatedly. It is also behind the
simmering dispute over Kashmir. Stationing of seven lakh troops in the
disputed territory, resulting in routine human rights abuses, can only
fuel retaliatory terror. After every incident of terrorism and riots,
it is normal to pick up a number of Muslim youth “on suspicion” and
let them rot without trial in jail indefinitely with courts’ consent.
Also, any disapproval from this section for suicidal war advocacy is
equated to treason. In the cruelest manifestation of the apartheid
system, Muslims are expected to declare their unconditional allegiance
to the powers-that-be after every riot and every outbreak of conflict,
or face social ostracism.
It is ironic to find the Muslim leadership in India has routinely
herded the masses steeped in ignorance and backwardness to back the
Congress party. This translates into covertly supporting the apartheid
policy, because it was Congress that had sown and has been nourishing
the invisible apartheid. It will be no exaggeration to state that the
likes of BJP and Shiv Sena have only taken advantage of this policy to
a limited extent. In most cases, including in the eyewash probe into
the Gujarat pogrom, they have been partnered by the Congress top brass
and the constitutional authorities that have been thoroughly
corrupted.
Take the unceremonious burial given to Sri Krishna report into the
Mumbai riots; Take the ‘effective’ follow-up actions on Liberhan’s 17-
year eyewash of probing Babri demolition; ; Take the Apex Court’s
wisdom behind jailing an unfortunate riot victim on contempt charges
for flip-flopping in her deposition before it, frightened to the spine
by powers that the court is powerless to touch; Take the indifference
to the plight of the POTA-accused in the Godhra train burning incident
in 2002, who had to rot in jail for seven years without bail after
POTA itself had been repealed but their release was stayed while the
court took its own sweet time to dispose off a challenge to the repeal
itself; Take the hundreds of thousands of breadwinners behind bars in
several States ruled by the “secular” parties: Take the case of NHRC’s
clean chit for the fake encounter at Batla House. These are just a few
of the nightmarish fruits of blindly allying with hypocritical groups
that promote the apartheid. Unless the minorities assert themselves
and bravely raise their voice against the bogey of war advocacy, it
will be impossible to escape the vicious circle.
It is time that Indian rulers are forced to dismantle the invisible
apartheid and end State-orchestrated terrorism within the country
rather than spoiling for deadly conflagrations, which only add to the
agony of the people. As popular outrage gets out of control, there is
every risk of instability through terror attacks. This can be averted
only by instilling a sense of justness in State machinery and not by
terrorizing people who demand that. Crying hoarse demanding
prosecution of foreign citizens running NGOs to serve the people there
cannot be the substitute for credible prosecution of highly placed
ruffians responsible for mass murders. India must give utmost priority
to purge the machinery of human rights protection and justice
dispensation of rent-seeking elements. The entire structure needs to
be cleansed of parasites that use their top positions of office to
sabotage justice from within, if India is not to implode.
The author is an independent analyst of South Asian issues, based in
Ahmedabad, India.
Jihad Against INFIDELS for Liberation of oppressed?
Submitted by SKS Mumbai (not verified) on 23 October 2009 - 11:15am.
It is great that Mr Iyengar has demonstrated the gross injustice of
Indian state and for this he must be nominated for some prizes.
If killing (or inciting to kill) innocent civilians men, women and
children because they are infidels, a Godly cause indeed, is something
that in your opinion "No self-respecting judge anywhere in the world
should consider as terrorism, then you are absolutely right that it is
the Indian State which is the terrorist. A terrorist state which is
fighting for defending and protecting its citizens, must kill every
one, guilty or innocent, civilian or terrorist, every one who comes in
way of its mission. You see this is what all self respecting
terrorists do!
Of course the only difference is that those terrorists are fighting
for a Godly cause while our terrorist state is fighting for a ignoble
cause. Their cause is ignoble because of their allegiance to an un-
godly document, the Indian Constitution. It is ignoble because they
are fighting to protect the infidels, the polytheists, people who
treat the un-godly Indian constitution as more sacred that the book
which descended from the heavens full of Godly wisdom.
But then we call ourselves a secular state where every body is free to
chose his religion. Unfortunately majority of infidels like me have
misused this freedom and have declared their allegiance to that Un-
godly document called Indian constitution. Not only that in order to
enforce this un-godly scheme, they have also set up a legal system
with courts and judges etc whose basic objective is to regulate the
society on the basis of same un-godly rules and that is why more often
than not they try to protect the Indian terrorist state.
Any self-respecting judge anywhere in the world will consider fighting
for defending people owing allegiance to un-godly books as state
terrorism, but not in India, where judges also consider these un-godly
books as more important than revealed godly wisdom.
So what can you do Mr Sampat? The government is terrorist and the
legal system is sympathetic to these type of terror, and worst of all
they are also sympathetic to the people who have entrusted their
present and future to the terrorist state of India on the basis of
Indian constitution. What are your options now? I for one don't see
many.
Given your belief that Islamic scholars are justified in WAGING (or
urging) A JEHAD AGAINST INFIDELS (including supporting massacre of
innocent civilians) for LIBERATION OF SUPPRESSED PEOPLE, is it
UNJUSTIFIED that the TERRORIST INDIAN STATE also. WAGE a Jihad for
defending their citizens including encounter killings of some people
(whether fake or real, innocent or guilty)? So What is it that saddens
you so much? Why expect fair treatment by the legal system of a
Terrorist State?
It may be helpful for you if you could spend some time on LeT, their
mission, methods and philosophy. May be that might help you to
understand the difference between WAGING JEHAD AGAINST INFIDELS and
FIGHTING FOR LIBERATION of SUPPRESSED People.
You might realize, that YOU are also oppressed and need LIBERATION. So
you can avoid the mistake that some 500,000 foolish Kashmiri Pandits
made when they refused to be LIBERATED and are now paying the price.
BTW, do you know the grounds on which the Great Islamic Scholar sought
quashing of the cases filed against him? He said I was nor preaching
Jihad, I was only asking people to FOLLOW KORAN and in the Islamic
state of Pakistan this cannot be a crime.
Well I have wasted too much time on this, knowing TCN's criteria for
accepting comments, I am quite hopeful that this will not fulfill
TCN's criteria. Although I will be happy, if proved wrong.
NM Sampathkumar Iyangar
Submitted by M Naqqaad (not verified) on 22 October 2009 - 8:53pm.
I hope the so called intellegence agencies still consider Mr NM
Sampathkumar Iyangar a non-Muslim and does not recommend him being
bumped off.
It is this impassionate character which is the hope of India. Anty or
Chiddu, they know their misdeeds and are not in their own wits when
they read that the Taliban are being fought by the Pakistan Army. By
branding all Muslim Charities as possible terror front organisations,
poppong of any name as Khan or Syed in US of A and justification by
many 'balanced' people of India as to why the Shah Rukh Khan did not
reply to the questionnare in that country when he was separted is a
menifestation of willing ignorance which feeds the 'apartheid' so
integral to society Indian. May be the people who are power mongers
think that it is right to perpetuate the caste system and because
Islam makes this to diminish, targeting Muslims (in turn Islam) is one
of the many front opened to defend the status quo. Already, majority
of Hindus do not bother to think even once before they compare
Kashmeer with occupied Palestine while simultaneously epousing Hitler.
It is an open secret that zionists are following Hitler's agenda which
though ironic is a fact.
Still, there would be many many 'moderate' Muslims who will contest
the call of minorities asserting themselves in India. In fact it is
the responsibility of Muslims and Islam now to act so that India can
be saved from the self serving 'democractic' leaders.
Sampath
Submitted by Gopi Thomas (not verified) on 22 October 2009 - 8:33pm.
This man should be jailed; or even better, should be asked to live in
Pakistan. He seems to be enamored with the just systems in Pakistan;
how great Pakistann is; how lousy Chidambaram is..
At least he admitted that one Muslim had enough money to fight the
system.
TCN should be ashamed to publish crap like these!
Truth is bitter
Submitted by M Naqqaad (not verified) on 22 October 2009 - 10:12pm.
Truth is bitter. The aprtheid as pointed out by Iyangar is showing
man, Gopa Tommy.
As long as a Sarkozy calls few damaged chapels are 'genocide' and MM
Singh listens, you are here to praise all, because you have planned to
bring light to these 'pagan' Hindus.
In your case, the exception to Christians as a minority made you spill
the beans.
Truth is bitter and you are at the receiving end.
PS: MM Singh would have been ready removing his turban had Sarkozy
refused meeting him as he was. Why to forget his beard, Gopi is
already here to fear the PMs beard. It is beautiful that there is
nobody wearing a skull cap, the sure sign of presence of potential
terrorist. France is the most 'secular' country of the world. Well
Gopy, dont disclaim you being a crusader, I mean a christian.
Reply of sampath
Submitted by shakeel (not verified) on 22 October 2009 - 9:29pm.
Hello Sampath
Why this man will go jail because of only he is Muslim. why Narendra
modi, Bal Thackrey,Raj Thackrey, Togaria, Advani, UMA Bharti ,
Rithambra, Vajpayee will not go jail . because of they are Hindus.If
Hndus are not liking indian muslim , better divide land of present
India as per population . then we will see who is strong . and who is
right. all army is hindus, all police is hindus. but when pakistan is
attacking on india. muslim is always saving india. but you are not
honest .you are always forgetting loyality of indian muslim.if Abdul
kalam will be not in india you cannot make any missile. if Abdul Hamid
was not honest . now you are in under pakistan. but Hindus is always
dishonest.
Gone are the days Shakeel - poora hindustan hamara hai
Submitted by M Naqqaad (not verified) on 23 October 2009 - 7:40pm.
My dear Shakeel,
Gone are the days that Muslims will settle for land which does not
belong to them. The current India is my land and those who have
problem living with me, it is their problem and they need to find
greener pastures. Let them go to South Africa, Central Africa, Russia
or Germany and the American continent.
We have been living here for millennia and if the criminals think that
our right is determined by the faith we profess, they are in for big
trouble. What faith do they follow. The follow the faith of power and
all of us know what this response can be assigned to? yes, you are
right, to cattle, cows and buffalows.
Conversely, if we think only about self and the country instead of
being jealous about what others are doing or have, we are all for
them. Let us do the security and defence of the land. We will not ask
for more pay but do it faithfully. We have done it in the past and are
capable of doing it for another millennia. ny problems??
chhotemianinshallah
The great denial By Nadeem F. Paracha
Thursday, 15 Oct, 2009 Pakistani policemen comfort their comrades
outside a police training centre after a gunmen attack in Lahore on
October 15, 2009. – AFP Columnists
Smokers’ Corner: Pride & prejudice Smokers’ Corner: Pride & prejudice
In Pakistan, the audacious has become the norm. The terrorist attack
in Lahore today – along with the many that have taken place in the
last many years in this unfortunate country – may seem something out
of ordinary anywhere else in the world, but not in Pakistan.
Pakistan it seems stopped being part of the ‘normal’ world a long time
ago. Nothing’s impossible here when it comes to faith-driven
terrorism. Now everyday the terrorists manage to mock and dodge the
government and the state, almost at will. Nobody and nothing’s safe.
One can go on criticizing the state’s many intelligence agencies and
the government for exhibiting utter ignorance and helplessness in
anticipating terrorist acts that have been repeated over and over
again using almost exactly the same ways and techniques and impacting
the same venerable areas and spots, but I’d rather take a more self-
critical view of the whole damn nightmare.
What is it that makes these terrorists so sure and confident about
themselves?
It’s simple. We do!
It is the sheer hesitancy that we show towards fully realizing the
grave dangers these terrorists hold, and a weird, inexplicable sense
and understanding of reality that most Pakistanis look to be suffering
from, that gives these terrorists the psychological edge and opening;
providing them as convoluted a justification to commit acts of
barbarism in the fine name of God, as is our own habit of ending up
actually recognizing their many deeds as being either a sympathetic
socio-political outcome, or, of course, a wild conspiracy by our many
(largely imagined) enemies lingering on our borders.
The TV channels and drawing-rooms will be abuzz for a day or two
discussing the mayhem, but very few Pakistanis actually take the time
they get during the lull periods to reflect as to what has happened to
their country and its people.
Instead, these lull periods are spent going right back to flexing our
pulpy rhetorical muscles and sharpening of our non-existent teeth
against our ‘enemies.’
Amazingly, as politicians, TV talk show hosts, clerics, the chattering
classes and journalists all get together for a collective show of
inspired morning and bemoaning against our ‘corrupt politicians’ and
‘government of beggars,’ we so conveniently forget that at the moment
nothing’s as bad or more troublesome an issue in this country as
terrorism.
But it is not general apathy or distracted energies of the people that
the extremists are feeding on; it is a collective case of denial on
the part of an increasing number of Pakistanis that is strengthening
these extremists.
First of all, it is a fact that violence-prone extremism was
ironically the creation of the CIA, with patronage provided by Arab
petro-dollars and the local intelligence agencies such as the ISI.
There is not an iota of doubt about the history of these agencies
using the concept of jihad as a calling card to gather fighters for
the so-called ‘Afghan jihad’ in the 1980s. A string of radical Islamic
scholars were used along with the state-owned media and madressahs to
fervently indoctrinate a huge number of young Muslims.
More dangerous was the way droplets of this aggressive strain started
to trickle down to shape the sociology and politics of Pakistanis who
are not extremists. That’s why, for example, today, if you mention
names like Musharraf, Zardari. Altaf Hussain or Nawaz Sharif, one
won’t be surprised to see a number of Pakistanis leap into to action,
getting into an animated mode, criticising and lambasting corrupt
politicians and power-hungry generals. However, the moment you try to
discuss a recent episode of suicide bombing, most Pakistanis can then
be seen suddenly going into a shell, trying to avoid the topic.
The majority will not condone suicide bombings and terrorism, but they
will not condemn it either – or at least the way it should be
condemned. No wonder, according to a recent survey, most Pakistanis
actually believe terrorism is a secondary problem in their country –
rather obnoxious a delusion indeed.
And that’s dangerous. Some Pakistanis would avoid discussing the issue
altogether, actually believing that maybe criticising the ‘holy
warriors’ (no matter how violent they may be), is like criticising
Islam, while some would gladly become navel-gazing apologists of such
acts, pointing their finger at the every ready list of imagined
enemies who want to ‘destabilise Pakistan.’
Whom should we blame, seems to be the question on their mind. The
thinking is that blaming the extremists is perhaps equal to agreeing
with Zardari and the US. It is this narrow, egocentric mentality,
coupled with echoes of years and years of indoctrination of a
contradictory and xenophobic strain of Islam that has left a bulk of
Pakistanis apathetically suffering from and subdued by matters such as
extremism and terrorism.
What Musharraf represented or what this present government is all
about in the form of the establishment comes with a historical and
visible baggage. It is thus a target that can be clearly seen,
pinpointed and attacked, whereas extremism remains an elusive enemy.
Some would even go to the extent of negating its very existence, in
spite of the ubiquitous sights of blood, bodies and limbs quivering on
blackened streets. So, it is not general apathy or distracted energies
of the people that the extremists are feeding on; it is a collective
case of denial on the part of an increasing number of Pakistanis that
is strengthening the extremists. A denial made worse by the animated
apologists found babbling and foaming incoherent and unsubstantiated
drivel across the many TV screens and channels of the nation.
Though it is true the terrorists are not overwhelmingly popular with
the masses, it is also true that most Pakistanis have yet to perceive
the extremists as the kind of enemy that they really are. With ready-
made explanations like RAW, CIA and that ‘fellow Muslims are being
subjected to state atrocities in the north’ spiel being their best
answers to the madness of extremism and terrorism, it is highly
unlikely to expect Pakistanis to tackle the issue anytime soon – in
spite the fact that maybe it’s already too late.
Sid Harth
Geelani helps police to nab top Hizb militant
STAFF WRITER 20:30 HRS IST
Srinagar, Oct 24 (PTI) Tailing pro-Pakistani separtist leader Syed Ali
Shah Geelani helped Jammu and Kashmir Police in nabbing the most
dreaded Hizbul Mujahideen militant Abdul Aziz Dar alias General Moosa
from Srinagar city today.
Dar, popularly known as Gen Moosa among the separatists, had been on
the run since last year after he was found actively involved in anti-
national agitations and later allegedly indulged in liaising between
Geelani and Hizbul Mujahideen, sources said.
Arrested twice in 1990's when he was the divisional commander of
banned Hizbul Mujahideen, Dar was released by the courts after which
he was coordinating with Geelani and carrying out his orders, they
said.
The sequence of events leading to Moosa's arrest began this afternoon
when Geelani was shadowed by policemen in plain clothes, the sources
said.
bademiyansubhanallah
Kashmiri groups condemn Pakistan's 1947 invasion
TNN 22 October 2009, 08:52pm IST
NEW DELHI: As Pakistan teeters on the precipice of instability,
Kashmiri groups, particularly in the UK, appear to be doing their own
review of history and strategy. For the first time in 62 years, 13
Kashmiri political groups in the UK, under the umbrella of the
Kashmiri National Party, passed a resolution against Pakistan's tribal
invasion into India in October 1947. ( Watch Video )
This is significant as the Kashmiri groups, for the past six decades,
have commemorated October 22 as a black day against Indian forces
marching into Srinagar in October 1947. It's a quiet but determined
turnaround by the Kashmiri diaspora, mostly in the UK, where they have
mainly settled after leaving Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Kashmiri representatives said the tribal invasion was designed to
force the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir to join Pakistan.
Interestingly, sources said, apart from Kashmiris, a number of
Pakistanis were also present in the conference to express support for
the cause of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pushing for independence, the Kashmiris said they were opposed to both
Indian and Pakistani policies.
A Kashmiri representative, Shabir Choudhry, criticised the tribal
invasion while Pakistani Kashmiris said that over the years, Kashmiris
remained confused about their identity. "We don't know if we are
Pakistanis or Kashmiris."
Given the fact that Pakistan has made the territorial acquisition of
Kashmir a form of jihad, this was rejected by many Kashmiris. Their
resolution opposed militancy and religion-based politics. There was a
general rejection of the "genie of extremism and hatred released in
the name of jihad in October 1947 to advance political agenda".
bademiyansubhanallah
Pak plans to push terrorists to create mayhem in India: Chidambaram
PTI 25 October 2009, 02:16pm IST
NEW DELHI: Pakistan-based terror organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-
e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen are planning to infiltrate terrorists
into India to "create mayhem", home minister P Chidambaram said today,
asserting that the country's security forces were, however, prepared
to meet any external threat. ( Watch Video )
He said Pakistan has no will to prosecute and punish the perpetrators
of last year's Mumbai attacks and voiced concern over the spread of
Taliban in that country, apprehending that the danger could spread to
the rest of South Asia including India.
"We go by the information or intelligence that we are able to gather.
Our assessment of the inputs flowing into India is that the LeT, the
JeM and the Hizbul Mujahideen are planning to infiltrate terrorists
into India.
"Now obviously they are not (not) trying to infiltrate for tourism
purposes. They are being infiltrated to India to create mayhem here.
Therefore, we say that the threat level has not (not) diminished. That
is what the Prime Minister said (in the Commanders Conference). There
are many attempts which have been foiled even before they could
(materialise)," he said in an interview to PTI.
Asked how well prepared the country was to meet terrorism inspired
from across the border, Chidambaram said, "We are prepared to meet any
external threat. As I said, we are building capacity every day, every
week, every month. But, in today's world, being vigilant and alert is
a 24/7 function."
So the danger remains and we are getting better prepared? Chidambaram
was asked.
He replied, "I cannot do anything to the source of the threat that is
emanating from another country. I can only make my best effort to
building capacity in this country to meet any terror threat or terror
attack, which is what we are doing."
In reply to a query on the lack of seriousness on Pakistan's part to
bring to book the masterminds of the Mumbai attack based in that
country and what was the way out to pressure Islamabad, he said there
was no (no) way out.
"It is quite clear that the Pakistan government has no (no) intention
and certainly no (no) will to prosecute and punish Hafiz Sayeed
(founder-chief of LeT) and a few others who we know only by their code
names or pseudonyms -- Major General Saab, Kafa or Kaka, Salahuddin.
We don't know who they are but we know that they played an active part
in the training of the 10 terrorists who were despatched to India."
Chidambaram said the Pakistan government certainly has no (no) will to
prosecute and punish them. Now, even the judge named for the trial has
let the cat out of the bag by saying why would a judge quit unless he
was under pressure from "wrong quarters".
He was referring to the decision of a judge of a Lahore court hearing
the case against Hafiz Sayeed under terrorism charges, who had a few
days ago quit his post.
Sid Harth
India cuts down US lobbying expenses; Pakistan ups
Press Trust Of India
Washington, October 25, 2009
First Published: 14:56 IST(25/10/2009)
Last Updated: 14:58 IST(25/10/2009)
Having spent thousands of dollars for many quarters lobbying on
bilateral ties and for the nuclear deal with the US, India cut down on
these expenses in the last quarter, even as neighbour Pakistan paid a
higher quarterly bill for canvassing support for it in America.
The Indian government paid a total of $140,000 to high-profile
lobbyist firm BGR during the July-September quarter this year to push
forward its case in the US Congress and various government departments
on the two countries' bilateral relationship and issues related to
civil nuclear agreement.
This is down from $180,000 paid in each of the past two quarters for
lobbying on the same issues, according to lobbying disclosure reports
filed with the US Senate.
In comparison, Pakistan's lobbying expenses here rose to $410,000 in
the third quarter, from $230, 000 in the second. In the first quarter
it stood at $270,000.
While India has engaged just one lobbyist agency BGR, Embassy of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan has engaged two --Cassidy & Associates
and Locke Lord Strategies.
The agencies entrusted by Pakistan are lobbying on issues ranging from
anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency to the US-Pakistan bilateral
relations and also Acts like Afghanistan-Pakistan Security and
Prosperity Enhancement Act, Afghanistan and Pakistan Reconstruction
Opportunity Zones Act and Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation
Enhancement Act.
Sid Harth
Pakistan assures action against Iran bombers
Indo-Asian News Service
Islamabad, October 24, 2009
First Published: 22:06 IST(24/10/2009)
Last Updated: 22:08 IST(24/10/2009)
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has told his Iranian
counterpart that Islamabad will extend all help to capture the
militants responsible for the attack on the Revolutionary Guards in
that country, a media report said on Saturday.
During talks here with Malik, Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa
Mohammad Najjar gave him information about people helping the
Jundallah terrorist group, responsible for the bomb attack on Iran's
military facility in Sistan province that killed 42 people last
weekend.
Malik said Pakistan would not allow anyone to create differences
between the two countries, the Online news agency reported. The two
sides also agreed to set up a joint mechanism to strengthen
intelligence sharing.
Sid Harth
UNICEF study on UP madrasas clears doubts, reveals startling facts
Submitted by admin4 on 23 October 2009 - 5:27pm.
Indian Muslim
By Kulsum Mustafa for TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: Contrary to popular belief and projections that madrasas are
hubs for training Islamic fanatics, a recent study actually reveals
the secular nature of these institutions. Madrasa Islamiya Arabia Alim-
Ul-Ulum in Devgaon of Barabanki district of the Uttar Pradesh, India,
not only has a sizeable number of Hindu children among its students
but while the Muslim children are taught Urdu and Arabic these
children are taught Sanskrit.
In true spirit of secularism the teachers share the values of both
religions with all children. The Hindu kids prefer the madrasa to the
nearby primary school. These startling revelations are made in a study
conducted by the BETI Foundation, Lucknow, with support from UNICEF,
Uttar Pradesh. The research was undertaken to understand the role of
religious minority institutions and how they can be brought into the
mainstream. The study was done in five madrasas of Deva block in
Barabanki district, which is just half an hour drive from the state
capital Lucknow.
The madrasas included Madrasa Emdadul Ulum, of Peend village; Madrasa
Varsiya Jamia Hayat-Ul-Ulum, Khewali village, Madrasa Islamiya Arabia
Alim-Ul-Ulum, in Devgaon village, Madrasa Arabia Sirajul Ulum in
Bilauli village and Madrasa Ansakal Ulum situated in Rariya village.
All the five madrasas are running with the total support of the
community and receive no financial aid from the government or any
other agency. The expenses of the madrasas, including day-to-day
management is done through donations made by the community and fees
charged from students. Out of the five, three madrasas are already
teaching other subjects besides the religious education.
These five madrasas are managed by 16 mudarris (teachers). Three have
only one teacher; one has two and one has 11 teachers, all below 30
years. Forty four per cent are female teachers. But no formal training
has been provided to these mudarris.
No time table is followed and no lesson plan is maintained by the
mudarris. Every six months a written and verbal evaluation is
conducted.
A revealing fact was the lack of hygiene in the madrasas. Four out of
five madrasas have one toilet each. The classrooms were not well kept
and had cobwebs and dust. Also the rooms are not decorated with any
learning materials.
Sehba Hussain of BETI Foundation explained that her team used three
research tools while doing the research. These included observations,
focused group discussions: with madrasa committee, students, parents/
guardians and teachers and lastly interviews with mudarris/ teacher.
Unlike the popular conception that madrasas are not open to modern
education it was observed that most of the staff and students are
forward looking and realize the great importance of modern education.
The madrasa management committee’s members seemed unhappy that the
certificates issued by their institutions are not recognized by the
government as they do not meet the requirements of the U.P. Board.
They also complained that the students of madrasas are often harassed
and suspected on the pretext of gathering information.
The honorarium of the teachers was between Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per
month. Though the earnings were insufficient, the staff did not
complain about it. However they said their work was their sacred duty
and essential for the development of religious sentiments and progress
of their community so they will continue.
“This madrasa provides a wholesome environment for children. This is
vital for right growth of mind and body. I find it the most
interesting study and one that will help clear a lot of doubts,’ said
Mr Vinoba Gautam, UNICEF education specialist.
He has visited the madrasa several times and UNICEF has been regularly
sending reading material for the students translated into both Hindi
and Urdu.
The research certainly helps clear a lot of misconceptions about
madrasa studies and also removes some cobwebs that cover our vision.
Sid Harth
Fiqh Academy discusses ways for economic empowerment of Muslims
Submitted by admin3 on 24 October 2009 - 9:42pm.
Indian Muslim
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: That grave economic backwardness is gradually forcing all
Muslim groups and sections in India to sit and think about economic
empowerment of the community is evident from the fact that now even
Islamic Fiqh Academy (India), going out of its nature and tradition,
has taken up the issue and began a serious 2-day national seminar on
Economic Advancement of Indian Muslims: Situation and Scope at Hamdard
University in New Delhi today.
“The purpose of this seminar is to discuss opportunities for economic
empowerment of Muslims while living within the Islamic parameters and
to formulate principle guidelines for Muslims to come out of the
economic backwardness and to play their role in the development and
progress of the country,” said Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani,
General Secretary, Islamic Fiqh Academy (India) (IFA), in his keynote
address at the seminar being attended mostly madrasa educated Islamic
scholars besides experts on Islamic economics, banking and finance
from India and abroad.
Dr. Badar Faleh Al-Azmi, Director of Islamic Encyclopedia & Research
Dept., Kuwait, Saeedur Rahman Azmi, Rector, Nadwatul Ulema, Dr. Khalid
Shoaib, Faculty of Education, University of Kuwait, Maulana Badarul
Hasan Al-Qasmi, Chairman of Mausoa Revising Committee, Kuwait, Dr
Nejatullah Siddiqi, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, General
Secretary, Islamic Fiqh Academy (speaking)
In its 20 years, IFA has held 18 international fiqhi seminars wherein
150 new age issues and problems were discussed in the light of Fiqh.
The topic of today’s seminar, however, is not related to Fiqh in
popular terms, admitted Maulana Rahmani but added that in “wider
perspective the issue is related to Fiqh-al-Hayat because without
economic activity human life is unimaginable; and that’s why Islam has
instructed its followers to earn livelihood and not considered it
contrary to spirituality and godliness unlike other religions.” He
further said: Today IFA is holding this seminar going against its
traditional seminars because money does not only solve worldly
requirements of a Muslim. But poverty-stricken community/nation is in
inferiority complex regarding their thoughts, civilization and culture
and even religion. And sometimes the situation leads them to
infidelity.
On economic backwardness of Muslims in India Maulana Rahmani said:
Muslims are second majority community or the largest minority in this
country but today they are in grave poverty. According to a 1999-2000
survey, 24% Muslims in urban areas and 31% in rural areas are below
poverty line.
For economic advancement of Muslims in India he suggested five points:
Muslims have limited opportunity for investment in India as the
country’s finance and banking system is based on interest. So to set
up Islamic finance institutions in India is necessary. Next, for
Muslim businessmen, industrialists and agriculturalists, there is a
need of guiding institutes where experts can suggest ways to enhance
business. Again, there is a need for Muslims to be encouraged for
business. An important need, Maulana Rahmani said, is to increase
literacy rate among Muslims. Also important is to set up micro finance
institutes compliant to Islamic Shariat to provide respectable source
of livelihood to illiterate Muslim men and women.
Earlier introducing the topic of the seminar to the audience, Abdur
Rasheed Agwan, organizer of the seminar and president, Universal
Knowledge Trust, said the Muslim community in India though generally
are poor, their poverty can be alleviated and resources of economic
empowerment of the community can be created through their own sources.
Explaining it he said: If only rent of wakf properties is collected it
will be around Rs 5000 crore which can be used for their economic
advancement. He further said that individuals from the Muslim
community in India together spend nearly Rs 2100 crore on Umrah every
year. A big chunk of this amount is spent by affluent Muslims who
offer Umrah more than once in a year. This amount too, if it could be
put together, can brought drastic changes in the life of Muslims in
India.
Some themes under which various issues and topics are being discussed
at sessions in the seminar are: Concept of Economic Advancement in
Islam (to be chaired by Maulana Kaka Saeed Umari), Islamic Banking and
Finance: Issues and Solutions (Dr Nejatullah Siddiqi), Economic
Conditions of Indian Muslims (Muhammad Shafi Qureshi), and Islamic
Provisions for Economic Well Being and Poverty Alleviation (Maulana
Khalid Saifullah Rahmani).
So far the issue of Islamic economics, banking and finance has been
raised in India mostly by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and Institute of
Objective Studies (these are not known as groups of madrasa educated
Islamic scholars). This is the first time that Islamic Fiqh Academy
has taken up the issue. The overwhelming majority of the audience in
today’s seminar was madrasa educated scholars (Ulema). When asked if
the seminar is an effort to claim that Ulema are also ready to take up
this issue, Ameen Usmani, Secretary, Islamic Fiqh Academy, said “IFA
has been taking up the issue of awkaf, zakat and currency. Before 1996
IFA had hold 20 meetings on Islamic banking in India.”
On if IFA would consider a joint campaign on the issue with JIH and
IOS, Usmani nodded in positive. While several JIH leaders were present
in today’s seminar, IOS chairman Dr Manzoor Alam was conspicuous with
his absence. Usmani said Dr Alam was invited to the seminar.