Within the enormous caverns of the Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan is a nugget for US companies to spend a few billions to construct roads and bridges, mass transit rails and national parks. The US president is right in expecting a massive spin off for his economy from the measure that will improve the top lines of construction companies, if not their profits and lead to a surge in job creation. In more or less the same period the European governments too plan a similar push to their infrastructure investments.
This is one part of the plan that should be of most concern to India, probably even more than the proposal to cut tax breaks for firms which ship jobs overseas. Because, in the same time frame ie within the next two years or 2012, we also plan to spend about $500 billion to develop our infrastructure in a massive way. The dampener on outsourcing will be moderated as Indian and US companies will be on the same wave length on this—cut costs. But that benefit will not work in the race to capture the global infra funds.
Put simply, after a nice lull of several years, companies planning to invest in Indian infra sectors will now face steep competition in attracting the attention of global infra fund managers. They will have to sound convincing that India offers a better deal than the US or Europe in the infrastructure business, in the next few years. This will include the rules for doing business and the rules for raising finance. All this has to be done, in the midst of the ripples that have already begun in the global financial markets about the Obama plan. At least one global fund house has already begun mobilising finance at Libor plus 500 bps to invest in US infrastructure.
We also have to remember that even for domestic infra funds, the rules for investment abroad have been simplified. Few fund managers at this stage will be able to say that given a chance they will prefer to invest in a special purpose vehicle to develop a road project in India than one in the US. These are not academic exercises but real bread and butter choices that companies in very harsh financial markets will be making very soon.
If that sounds challenging there is no doubt it is and talking to the Indian companies has made me sure that they too think the Obama plan will impact them big. So it is very urgent that we get our act right on the stuff that crimp infra investment in India.
And here, instead of moaning about the problems, I feel there is cause for cheer if one looks at some things we have recently got right. Of these, the one that needs a big round of applause is a government proposal to allow single bidders for projects, especially for roads and highways. This might seem like playing with government money but it is not. Of the 34 projects that the NHAI had advertised, only 16 have received any bids. Of these, six stretches have got only one bid.
Before readers begin to draw pictures of cartels playing cahoots with rules, it is worth recounting that the railways face the same problem. Its flagship project to construct a locomotive factory at Madhepura in Bihar has received only one financial bid out of the three companies that had put in technical bids. The phase II of the Mumbai metro project has done worse. It has got no bidders from among the seven companies that put in technical bids.
The central government is plainly waking up to the sudden drying of funds in infrastructure sector. But what is most needed at this juncture is similar realisation among state governments too. Indian infra projects with the glorious exception of the Delhi Metro have consistently been delayed in completion, largely due to state level bottlenecks. The latest flash report of the ministry of programme implementation shows that 47% of the 523 biggest projects involving the government are running delayed. The more important piece of statistic is that this has raised the cumulative cost of these projects by over 11%. The implications are obvious. Since infra project developers rarely get funding at less than 14-16% rate of interest in normal circumstances, an 11% cost over run means adding one more per cent to the project cost.
So, it is quite pleasing that governments, both at the centre and states, have revised their take on land acquisition. On February 23, for the first time in nearly two years states and the Centre publicly acknowledged that they need to go for the jugular to get land for projects. Infra projects were almost paralysed as a fall out of the problems in acquiring land from 2007 onwards. But at a meeting of the state chief secretaries with the cabinet secretary to work out ways to make the government stimulus package work, ministry officials, to quote the government release, told states to give "special attention to land acquisition wherever projects are stalled on account of this reason". In Indian government speak that could mean a big step forward.
Would these be enough? I doubt it. In the next few months, several Indian entities will approach the international markets to raise debt to finance their projects. To ensure they have any reasonable chance to compete, the entire infra project approval and delivery mechanism needs to be redrawn very fast
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
A tale of two cities
Two films in recent times have sought to capture the imagination of the city; Slumdog Millionaire and Delhi-6. The first in its English version is a stunning hit and the other has been met by a quiet silence. Danny Boyle's Slumdog is a western attempt to read Bollywood. It is a mythical reading of Bollywood. Myth seeks to reconcile fundamental tensions using any set of symbols. What Slumdog does is to weave Bollywood and Hollywood and it is this that makes it fascinating. What it says about poverty, violence in itself is banal.
The semiotic task it performs can be seen as a set of tables. Firstly, there is the Bollywood myth of the slum where goodness by itself is self-defeating. As a turf subject to temporariness, the slum is always prone to the tyranny of gangs, cops and politicians. It takes the machismo, the physical violence of the hero to break through. There is however a second myth of the city emerging. It derives from the intellectual and inventive power of the Diaspora which brings with it the same idealism but a better set of skills from the world of management and engineering.
The second myth was actually captured by the TV show 'Kaun Banega Crorpati'. It centres on a quiz as the rule game of an information society. The skills of the slum don't always work in the intellectual akhada of the quiz. Danny Boyle takes the myth of the slum and the quiz and blends them into one story of a slum boy who makes it big in a quiz game. To make it realistic and more competitive he makes the quiz master played by Anil Kapoor a tougher, seedier and hostile creature. This is a character contemptuous of any chai wala who can even dream of entering a quiz.
Now comes the sleight of hand because Bollywood has never merged the two. What is Boyle's procedure for merging the two myths of mobility into one story?
Firstly, he speeds up and compresses time. The movie which is a triptych of parts - the child boy in the slum, the adolescent boy, and the young man- speeds up time. What was a scrap book reads internally like flip-book. Space is now read as time. The second move is a more complex one. Boyle argues that the knowledge of the slum, the little things that happen to you, the visualness of urban life, the primers that you read, are "information". It also creates a subplot where the police are suspicious of the hero's skills. It is under interrogation - which is the only quiz slum kids undergo with the police - that Dev Patel explains how he could answer the questions. The pairing of the two forms of questioning is powerful. It reminds one that interrogation in a police station is also a quiz, and secondly that a quiz intellectually can be as tough as a police interrogation. Both make you sweat it out and in both the stake is survival. Where Boyle is shaky is when he regards the slum as a repository of information. Maybe his message is that we should hybridise knowledge and information. The body as physicality no longer provides the skills because globally the body is the locus of desire, not of labour or physical power.
It is only on seeing Delhi-6 that one realised that Slumdog creates the myth of Bollywood in a hall of mirrors by inverting, inflating and reversing it. Delhi-6 is about an Indian boy from a Diasporic family who escorts his grandmother to her home in Chandini Chowk. If Slumdog is about desire and information, Delhi-6 is about love and stupidity. Stupidity is what happens to knowledge when it is caught in the dark alleyways of superstition. America haunts the movie and it is caught in the visuality of exhibits and spectacles where suddenly the Statue of Liberty is ensconced next to Jama Masjid. The exhibits outside are but dreams within, where Chandini Chowk searches for the America of success and desire in all of us. In Slumdog it is the quiz, in Delhi-6 it is Indian Idol. Both demand a high spectatorship, yet both are dreams of individual mobility. One seeks information to escape the slum, one combines knowledge and the mobile-nubile body to escape the slum, the middle class slum of conservatism and intolerance.
In Boyle's film, the slums of Bombay enact the myth of individual mobility. The tension is the tension of competition. The streets of Chandini Chowk recognise that individual success or freedom cannot come with mobility alone, it needs a collective change of mentalities. Two communities which have synergetically come together fall apart in a fight over a 'black monkey' which threatens all of them. The message is clear; one can't be free till a community is also free. It is here that Delhi-6 brilliantly adds something that Danny Boyle does not understand. Despite the myth of information and the ersatz attempts to see the city as a knowledge society, Bollywood provides a theory of culture. Chandini Chowk with all its rituals reminds the worlds of Bombay and Bangalore. It is a warning that when you priviledge information over knowledge and disembed the two, a culture is emasculated. When a culture is threatened violence becomes the answer, the quick answer to difficult questions. Delhi-6 reminds you that culture is a slow thing, even stupid but it has possibilities. Culture is a whole, a commons in the way a pub culture or quiz culture are not. In a quiet way, a small film on Chandini Chowk tells Slumdog Millionaire it has not quite grasped Bollywood or India. Information can never substitute for the complexity of culture. Every stupid Indian knows that
The semiotic task it performs can be seen as a set of tables. Firstly, there is the Bollywood myth of the slum where goodness by itself is self-defeating. As a turf subject to temporariness, the slum is always prone to the tyranny of gangs, cops and politicians. It takes the machismo, the physical violence of the hero to break through. There is however a second myth of the city emerging. It derives from the intellectual and inventive power of the Diaspora which brings with it the same idealism but a better set of skills from the world of management and engineering.
The second myth was actually captured by the TV show 'Kaun Banega Crorpati'. It centres on a quiz as the rule game of an information society. The skills of the slum don't always work in the intellectual akhada of the quiz. Danny Boyle takes the myth of the slum and the quiz and blends them into one story of a slum boy who makes it big in a quiz game. To make it realistic and more competitive he makes the quiz master played by Anil Kapoor a tougher, seedier and hostile creature. This is a character contemptuous of any chai wala who can even dream of entering a quiz.
Now comes the sleight of hand because Bollywood has never merged the two. What is Boyle's procedure for merging the two myths of mobility into one story?
Firstly, he speeds up and compresses time. The movie which is a triptych of parts - the child boy in the slum, the adolescent boy, and the young man- speeds up time. What was a scrap book reads internally like flip-book. Space is now read as time. The second move is a more complex one. Boyle argues that the knowledge of the slum, the little things that happen to you, the visualness of urban life, the primers that you read, are "information". It also creates a subplot where the police are suspicious of the hero's skills. It is under interrogation - which is the only quiz slum kids undergo with the police - that Dev Patel explains how he could answer the questions. The pairing of the two forms of questioning is powerful. It reminds one that interrogation in a police station is also a quiz, and secondly that a quiz intellectually can be as tough as a police interrogation. Both make you sweat it out and in both the stake is survival. Where Boyle is shaky is when he regards the slum as a repository of information. Maybe his message is that we should hybridise knowledge and information. The body as physicality no longer provides the skills because globally the body is the locus of desire, not of labour or physical power.
It is only on seeing Delhi-6 that one realised that Slumdog creates the myth of Bollywood in a hall of mirrors by inverting, inflating and reversing it. Delhi-6 is about an Indian boy from a Diasporic family who escorts his grandmother to her home in Chandini Chowk. If Slumdog is about desire and information, Delhi-6 is about love and stupidity. Stupidity is what happens to knowledge when it is caught in the dark alleyways of superstition. America haunts the movie and it is caught in the visuality of exhibits and spectacles where suddenly the Statue of Liberty is ensconced next to Jama Masjid. The exhibits outside are but dreams within, where Chandini Chowk searches for the America of success and desire in all of us. In Slumdog it is the quiz, in Delhi-6 it is Indian Idol. Both demand a high spectatorship, yet both are dreams of individual mobility. One seeks information to escape the slum, one combines knowledge and the mobile-nubile body to escape the slum, the middle class slum of conservatism and intolerance.
In Boyle's film, the slums of Bombay enact the myth of individual mobility. The tension is the tension of competition. The streets of Chandini Chowk recognise that individual success or freedom cannot come with mobility alone, it needs a collective change of mentalities. Two communities which have synergetically come together fall apart in a fight over a 'black monkey' which threatens all of them. The message is clear; one can't be free till a community is also free. It is here that Delhi-6 brilliantly adds something that Danny Boyle does not understand. Despite the myth of information and the ersatz attempts to see the city as a knowledge society, Bollywood provides a theory of culture. Chandini Chowk with all its rituals reminds the worlds of Bombay and Bangalore. It is a warning that when you priviledge information over knowledge and disembed the two, a culture is emasculated. When a culture is threatened violence becomes the answer, the quick answer to difficult questions. Delhi-6 reminds you that culture is a slow thing, even stupid but it has possibilities. Culture is a whole, a commons in the way a pub culture or quiz culture are not. In a quiet way, a small film on Chandini Chowk tells Slumdog Millionaire it has not quite grasped Bollywood or India. Information can never substitute for the complexity of culture. Every stupid Indian knows that
Monday, February 23, 2009
MALAYSIAN POLICE BRUTALLITY AGAINST MALAYSIAN INDIANS
Today, I tagged along with our Human Rights Activists who have been
fighting Police Abuses for a long time – S. Jayathas, S. Surendran,
Manickavasagam (MP for Kapar) and M. Manohar (MP for Teluk Intan),
to find out what actually transpired when the 6 were killed by the
Police in Kulim.
fEver since their killing the other day, I have been very bothered
by the event. The media shouted out "criminals" – as if that was
the foregone truth. The Police had executed all 6 of them as if they
were the Prosecutor, Judge and Executioner all in one and utterly
above the law. It was not one, not two; it was six -and it seems
with impunity. Every one had their own view of the episode. But I
needed some answers.
At the outset, let me say that I am not condoning crimes or
criminals; but there are so many questions that this incident raises
that we need some good answers, and fast, as this situation seems to
be spinning out of control – before the ink dries on one, another
seems to happen. Kugan's case before Prabakaran's settled, and now
the six before Kugan's case is settled.
We visited the shootout site, the families of 3 of the deceaseds and
spent some time with the neighbour at the shootout site. The picture
that emerges is different than what the mainstream media has been
putting out. The MSM paints a picture that the Police only returned
fire after being shot at and that this turn of events was totally
unavoidable and that they were dealing with a bunch of unscrupulous
criminals.
Let me detail some of the facts we gathered before commenting on
them. The scene of the shooting was in a small town of Karangan some
15km from Kulim. It was in a small house which was being renovated
in one of the backroads of Karangan, a little off the main road of
the town. The fence around the house was a tall wall made up of
corrugated sheet – something you would do to cut off from view what
was going on inside.
A very forthcoming neighbour told us that when he returned home from
work that rainy night at around 10 or so, he was met with a large
group of policemen in front of his house, who had already packed his
family into the prayer room of his house in the event of stray
bullets during the impending ambush. He was asked to get in with
them. He only heard the frightening shootout that dreadful night
from within his prayer room.
The shootout took place at around 10.30, a very noisy and
frightening episode, narrated that neighbour. There did not seem to
be any attempt by the Police to try to get the people they were
seeking out from the premises, by summoning them out first using
hailers or some such device, before the shoot out. The shooting just
happened. The neighbour knew nothing more till the bodies of the
killed men were removed at somewhere between 4 and 5 am the next
morning.
The first of the killed men, the one that the Police probably had a
reason to get, the owner of the house where the shootout happened,
was shot in the middle of the top of his head, top down it appeared.
The family of this victim mentioned he had several more shots on the
front side of his body – as if someone shot at him from the front.
This individual, we were told by the family had no prior police
record.
The second victim that we visited was someone who was actually
working in Singapore for a company called SBS (maybe the Singapore
Bus Company) who had come back to Kulim for a holiday. He was due
to go back shortly and had a return ticket for that. His death
certificate also indicated death due to shots in the chest.
Apparently he had several shot wounds on the front side of his body
also, as if shot from the front. He appeared to be a friend of the
first victim.
It is not clear from the little information we got that this person
was at all a close accomplice or even a participant in any crime
that may have been in the works. Of course, I am concluding this
with very little information, but these are the facts as we got them
from the family. The family was distraught, because this had damaged
the standing of the family in the community, having their dead son
branded a criminal. This victim also has no past criminal record, we
were told by the family.
The third family we visited was that of a young chap of about 20.
His family lives in a dilapidated little estate house in Padang
Serai. He had seven siblings and it was obvious the family was just
existing. This young chap, it appears, was working for the first
victim assisting in the renovation of the house where the shootout
happened. The parents did not seem to know much more about what he
did. He was obviously not being paid very much, as he had just 2
days before the incident asked one of his family members for 20
ringgit.
He had shot wounds on the forehead and it looked like the back of
his head was all bloodied as if from an exiting bullet. He was
dressed only in a towel at the time of his death. His parents even
had difficulty putting together some money to buy him a shirt and a
dhoty for his burial. 36 ringgit was all they had. They could not
even afford the coffin in which he was ultimately buried. The Police
disallowed the victims' kin to examine the body when they tried to.
The body was all bloodied in the front. This victim also had no past
record, we were told.
To say the least, this was a carnage. It appears like we are in Gaza
or in Iraq or in Afghanistan or even in Sri Lanka – the scale and
method of killing suggests nothing short of this. Let me ask, are we
in one of these countries or is Malaysia descending there?
It looks like Indian lives have become very cheap, very cheap in
this country – the lives of anjing keling, yes that's what it is,
the cheap lives of the anjings - that they can be wasted in this
manner. Uthayakumar was so right!
By all of this, I am in no way saying crime is alright. What I am
saying is the way the problems of crime are being dealt with. Let me
lay out some perspectives for you all to consider:
1) What was the need to kill these people? They were not terrorists.
They had no previous records. They were not murderers, surely not
the mafia. They could have been easily arrested. In fact, where the
first victim regularly stays is just a stone's throw from the Police
Station. Why were they not apprehended? Or why were they not given a
chance to come out with their hands up to surrender themselves for
arrest – even in war this is done. Why were they not given this
chance?
2) We understand there were a number of sharp shooters from around
the country on hand for the job for the Police. This seem to
indicate that this was a planned kill event.
3) Why was it that the shot wounds were all in the front side of the
victims – not any location on the body, but systematically on the
front side?
4) One victim was shot on the top of the head. How could that happen
in a normal exchange of fire? That seems to suggest some crouching
position and a shot into the head, from the top.
5) Why were the victims not shot at on their legs or where they will
not be killed but disabled on being shot?
6) Why were the kin of one of the victims denied their right to
inspect the body?
7) If it was a shootout between the Police and the victims, only two
could have had the guns, as the police produced two guns; why were
the shot wounds so systematic in the chest and the heads on all
three of the victims? We do not know about the other two victims –
but I suspect they will show similarities.
In summary, this ugly incident in the series of incidents of police
killing and atrocities seem to emphasise the following issues.
a) The Police in Malaysia continue killing Indian crime suspects
with impunity – taking upon themselves the role of Prosecutor, Judge
and Executioner all in one. I am sure that the powers be know
exactly what they are doing. So, we have to take it that they are
trying to provoke a response from us so they can slam emergency rule
or something like that and set us all back?
b) The Police very urgently need to be Policed. That looks like
a very remote possibility, as long as UMNO rules this country of
ours. See what's happening to the reform-driven MACC, it has become
just another tool of UMNO. Any IPCMC will probably end up in that
same rubbish bin. In any case, this UMNO regime seems to be
promoting Police brutality as a means of maintaining their hold on
the levers of power.
c) So many crime suspects in Malaysia are from among the Indian
community. I think the answer to this has been already abundantly
answered by Uthayakumar – this underclass of Indians are a direct
result of the UMNO policies over the last 50 years of marginalizing
Indians – neglecting the development of the Indian community. There
does not yet seem to be any serious effort to get to the bottom of
this problem.
d) The way the Police are shooting Indian crime suspects seem to
give additional credence to the racist line of UMNO – the anjing
keling line. They seem to be wittingly or unwittingly creating a
stereotype of the Indians in the country – despicable,
troublecausing and uncouth Indian. What do you think the jibes of
children in school reflect – when little Indian children are
called "anjing keling" by their Malay classmates.
e) Poverty seems to be intertwined with all of this. Take the case
of the third victim that we visited - what kind of money was he
making for him to be lumped up and shot. Does this make sense, 20
years old, barely making a living and then shot in the middle. These
are the youth of the country who should be nurtured and built up
into the the human potential we so much need.
This is all very infuriating.
There comes a time when all of this has to stop. This cannot
continue. UMNO , stop playing games and get on with doing something
positive about the problem. If you do not know how, then get expert
help. I am sure there are agencies around the world that can help.
Or are we to take it that you just do not want to, and then the only
way we can find some resolution to the problem is by replacing you,
UMNO.
UNITED WE MUST STAND
UNITED WE MUST ACT!!!!!
fighting Police Abuses for a long time – S. Jayathas, S. Surendran,
Manickavasagam (MP for Kapar) and M. Manohar (MP for Teluk Intan),
to find out what actually transpired when the 6 were killed by the
Police in Kulim.
fEver since their killing the other day, I have been very bothered
by the event. The media shouted out "criminals" – as if that was
the foregone truth. The Police had executed all 6 of them as if they
were the Prosecutor, Judge and Executioner all in one and utterly
above the law. It was not one, not two; it was six -and it seems
with impunity. Every one had their own view of the episode. But I
needed some answers.
At the outset, let me say that I am not condoning crimes or
criminals; but there are so many questions that this incident raises
that we need some good answers, and fast, as this situation seems to
be spinning out of control – before the ink dries on one, another
seems to happen. Kugan's case before Prabakaran's settled, and now
the six before Kugan's case is settled.
We visited the shootout site, the families of 3 of the deceaseds and
spent some time with the neighbour at the shootout site. The picture
that emerges is different than what the mainstream media has been
putting out. The MSM paints a picture that the Police only returned
fire after being shot at and that this turn of events was totally
unavoidable and that they were dealing with a bunch of unscrupulous
criminals.
Let me detail some of the facts we gathered before commenting on
them. The scene of the shooting was in a small town of Karangan some
15km from Kulim. It was in a small house which was being renovated
in one of the backroads of Karangan, a little off the main road of
the town. The fence around the house was a tall wall made up of
corrugated sheet – something you would do to cut off from view what
was going on inside.
A very forthcoming neighbour told us that when he returned home from
work that rainy night at around 10 or so, he was met with a large
group of policemen in front of his house, who had already packed his
family into the prayer room of his house in the event of stray
bullets during the impending ambush. He was asked to get in with
them. He only heard the frightening shootout that dreadful night
from within his prayer room.
The shootout took place at around 10.30, a very noisy and
frightening episode, narrated that neighbour. There did not seem to
be any attempt by the Police to try to get the people they were
seeking out from the premises, by summoning them out first using
hailers or some such device, before the shoot out. The shooting just
happened. The neighbour knew nothing more till the bodies of the
killed men were removed at somewhere between 4 and 5 am the next
morning.
The first of the killed men, the one that the Police probably had a
reason to get, the owner of the house where the shootout happened,
was shot in the middle of the top of his head, top down it appeared.
The family of this victim mentioned he had several more shots on the
front side of his body – as if someone shot at him from the front.
This individual, we were told by the family had no prior police
record.
The second victim that we visited was someone who was actually
working in Singapore for a company called SBS (maybe the Singapore
Bus Company) who had come back to Kulim for a holiday. He was due
to go back shortly and had a return ticket for that. His death
certificate also indicated death due to shots in the chest.
Apparently he had several shot wounds on the front side of his body
also, as if shot from the front. He appeared to be a friend of the
first victim.
It is not clear from the little information we got that this person
was at all a close accomplice or even a participant in any crime
that may have been in the works. Of course, I am concluding this
with very little information, but these are the facts as we got them
from the family. The family was distraught, because this had damaged
the standing of the family in the community, having their dead son
branded a criminal. This victim also has no past criminal record, we
were told by the family.
The third family we visited was that of a young chap of about 20.
His family lives in a dilapidated little estate house in Padang
Serai. He had seven siblings and it was obvious the family was just
existing. This young chap, it appears, was working for the first
victim assisting in the renovation of the house where the shootout
happened. The parents did not seem to know much more about what he
did. He was obviously not being paid very much, as he had just 2
days before the incident asked one of his family members for 20
ringgit.
He had shot wounds on the forehead and it looked like the back of
his head was all bloodied as if from an exiting bullet. He was
dressed only in a towel at the time of his death. His parents even
had difficulty putting together some money to buy him a shirt and a
dhoty for his burial. 36 ringgit was all they had. They could not
even afford the coffin in which he was ultimately buried. The Police
disallowed the victims' kin to examine the body when they tried to.
The body was all bloodied in the front. This victim also had no past
record, we were told.
To say the least, this was a carnage. It appears like we are in Gaza
or in Iraq or in Afghanistan or even in Sri Lanka – the scale and
method of killing suggests nothing short of this. Let me ask, are we
in one of these countries or is Malaysia descending there?
It looks like Indian lives have become very cheap, very cheap in
this country – the lives of anjing keling, yes that's what it is,
the cheap lives of the anjings - that they can be wasted in this
manner. Uthayakumar was so right!
By all of this, I am in no way saying crime is alright. What I am
saying is the way the problems of crime are being dealt with. Let me
lay out some perspectives for you all to consider:
1) What was the need to kill these people? They were not terrorists.
They had no previous records. They were not murderers, surely not
the mafia. They could have been easily arrested. In fact, where the
first victim regularly stays is just a stone's throw from the Police
Station. Why were they not apprehended? Or why were they not given a
chance to come out with their hands up to surrender themselves for
arrest – even in war this is done. Why were they not given this
chance?
2) We understand there were a number of sharp shooters from around
the country on hand for the job for the Police. This seem to
indicate that this was a planned kill event.
3) Why was it that the shot wounds were all in the front side of the
victims – not any location on the body, but systematically on the
front side?
4) One victim was shot on the top of the head. How could that happen
in a normal exchange of fire? That seems to suggest some crouching
position and a shot into the head, from the top.
5) Why were the victims not shot at on their legs or where they will
not be killed but disabled on being shot?
6) Why were the kin of one of the victims denied their right to
inspect the body?
7) If it was a shootout between the Police and the victims, only two
could have had the guns, as the police produced two guns; why were
the shot wounds so systematic in the chest and the heads on all
three of the victims? We do not know about the other two victims –
but I suspect they will show similarities.
In summary, this ugly incident in the series of incidents of police
killing and atrocities seem to emphasise the following issues.
a) The Police in Malaysia continue killing Indian crime suspects
with impunity – taking upon themselves the role of Prosecutor, Judge
and Executioner all in one. I am sure that the powers be know
exactly what they are doing. So, we have to take it that they are
trying to provoke a response from us so they can slam emergency rule
or something like that and set us all back?
b) The Police very urgently need to be Policed. That looks like
a very remote possibility, as long as UMNO rules this country of
ours. See what's happening to the reform-driven MACC, it has become
just another tool of UMNO. Any IPCMC will probably end up in that
same rubbish bin. In any case, this UMNO regime seems to be
promoting Police brutality as a means of maintaining their hold on
the levers of power.
c) So many crime suspects in Malaysia are from among the Indian
community. I think the answer to this has been already abundantly
answered by Uthayakumar – this underclass of Indians are a direct
result of the UMNO policies over the last 50 years of marginalizing
Indians – neglecting the development of the Indian community. There
does not yet seem to be any serious effort to get to the bottom of
this problem.
d) The way the Police are shooting Indian crime suspects seem to
give additional credence to the racist line of UMNO – the anjing
keling line. They seem to be wittingly or unwittingly creating a
stereotype of the Indians in the country – despicable,
troublecausing and uncouth Indian. What do you think the jibes of
children in school reflect – when little Indian children are
called "anjing keling" by their Malay classmates.
e) Poverty seems to be intertwined with all of this. Take the case
of the third victim that we visited - what kind of money was he
making for him to be lumped up and shot. Does this make sense, 20
years old, barely making a living and then shot in the middle. These
are the youth of the country who should be nurtured and built up
into the the human potential we so much need.
This is all very infuriating.
There comes a time when all of this has to stop. This cannot
continue. UMNO , stop playing games and get on with doing something
positive about the problem. If you do not know how, then get expert
help. I am sure there are agencies around the world that can help.
Or are we to take it that you just do not want to, and then the only
way we can find some resolution to the problem is by replacing you,
UMNO.
UNITED WE MUST STAND
UNITED WE MUST ACT!!!!!
Swat valley: transition from Buddha to Radio Mullah
Celebrated in the Hindu scriptures as 'udyan' (garden), it's a stunningly picturesque place where the Buddha once walked, cultures intersected, poets sang and mystics came in search of peace. But, sadly, Swat valley in northwest Pakistan has now become synonymous with unrest, bloodshed and Talibanisation.
Not many know that the Swat valley, which is in the news now for the local government's much-criticised peace deal that allows the Taliban to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, in return for surrendering arms, has an unbroken history of over 2,000 years that has seen many religions and civilisations come and go.
'The Swat river is mentioned in the Rig Veda as Suvashtu which literally means the river on which settlements can be made,' Kumkum Roy, professor of ancient Indian history at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the author of 'Historical Dictionary of Ancient India', told IANS.
'Kushan rulers also had connections with the Swat valley,' she said.
Centuries later, the scenic river, which flows from the majestic Hindukush mountains into the Kabul river in the Peshawar valley, is a magnet for Pakistani tourists who love to flaunt the Swat valley as the Switzerland of Pakistan.
Some historical accounts also mention that in 327 BC Alexander the Great crossed the Swat river with part of his army and before going south to conquer the locals at what are now Barikoot and Odegram.
The region has also played host to a succession of dynasties like the Mauryans, the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Syphians, the Kushans, the Turk-Shahis and the Hindu-Shahis down the ages before the invasion by Mahmud of Ghazni who brought Islam to the valley in the 11th century.
Buddhism thrived in the region that was once the centre of the Gandhara civilisation. The Swat museum has the footprints of the Buddha, who, as legend has it, came to Swat during his last reincarnation as the Gautama Buddha.
Statues of the Buddha, stupas, monasteries, rock carvings, art, coins, pottery and other artefacts can be found everywhere in the valley. Emperor Ashoka is also said to have ordered the erection of a stupa in the region.
In 403 AD, the famous Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hien, counted 6,000 monasteries in the valley. Two centuries later, Hsuan Tsang, another itinerant monk, saw around 1,400 monasteries.
This splendid multi-layered heritage now stands imperilled with a resurgent Taliban determined to impose its austere version of the ideal Islamic society based on Sharia that has no place for music or other niceties of life and scorns sending girls to school.
Although the restive Swat valley has been known for anarchy and lawlessness for some time, the process of Talibanisation started acquiring a sinister ring in July 2006 when Maulana Fazlullah, a firebrand cleric-turned Taliban ideologue and commander, started broadcasting his Wahhabi interpretation of the Quran and preaching extremist messages to people in the valley.
'Radio Mullah', as he came to be known, soon became a local legend and acquired an army of volunteers who pillaged and burnt girls' schools, CD shops, the famous ski resort and Buddha statues to turn his dream of installing an Islamic emirate into reality.
Not surprisingly, much after their ideological fellow travellers across the border in Afghanistan who brutally destroyed the famous Buddha statues in Bamiyan, they have also turned their ire on what they consider remnants of an infidel culture.
Nearly one and a half years ago, Fazlullah's informal army defaced a 23-foot-high, 7th century Meditating Buddha, carved in a rock in the lap of a mountain in Jehandabad village, in Swat, triggering protests among conservationists and Buddhists all over the world.
Things can only get worse with the Islamabad-backed provincial government striking a deal with the local Taliban represented by Sufi Muhammad, the father-in-law of 'FM Mullah.'
Not many know that the Swat valley, which is in the news now for the local government's much-criticised peace deal that allows the Taliban to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, in return for surrendering arms, has an unbroken history of over 2,000 years that has seen many religions and civilisations come and go.
'The Swat river is mentioned in the Rig Veda as Suvashtu which literally means the river on which settlements can be made,' Kumkum Roy, professor of ancient Indian history at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the author of 'Historical Dictionary of Ancient India', told IANS.
'Kushan rulers also had connections with the Swat valley,' she said.
Centuries later, the scenic river, which flows from the majestic Hindukush mountains into the Kabul river in the Peshawar valley, is a magnet for Pakistani tourists who love to flaunt the Swat valley as the Switzerland of Pakistan.
Some historical accounts also mention that in 327 BC Alexander the Great crossed the Swat river with part of his army and before going south to conquer the locals at what are now Barikoot and Odegram.
The region has also played host to a succession of dynasties like the Mauryans, the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Syphians, the Kushans, the Turk-Shahis and the Hindu-Shahis down the ages before the invasion by Mahmud of Ghazni who brought Islam to the valley in the 11th century.
Buddhism thrived in the region that was once the centre of the Gandhara civilisation. The Swat museum has the footprints of the Buddha, who, as legend has it, came to Swat during his last reincarnation as the Gautama Buddha.
Statues of the Buddha, stupas, monasteries, rock carvings, art, coins, pottery and other artefacts can be found everywhere in the valley. Emperor Ashoka is also said to have ordered the erection of a stupa in the region.
In 403 AD, the famous Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hien, counted 6,000 monasteries in the valley. Two centuries later, Hsuan Tsang, another itinerant monk, saw around 1,400 monasteries.
This splendid multi-layered heritage now stands imperilled with a resurgent Taliban determined to impose its austere version of the ideal Islamic society based on Sharia that has no place for music or other niceties of life and scorns sending girls to school.
Although the restive Swat valley has been known for anarchy and lawlessness for some time, the process of Talibanisation started acquiring a sinister ring in July 2006 when Maulana Fazlullah, a firebrand cleric-turned Taliban ideologue and commander, started broadcasting his Wahhabi interpretation of the Quran and preaching extremist messages to people in the valley.
'Radio Mullah', as he came to be known, soon became a local legend and acquired an army of volunteers who pillaged and burnt girls' schools, CD shops, the famous ski resort and Buddha statues to turn his dream of installing an Islamic emirate into reality.
Not surprisingly, much after their ideological fellow travellers across the border in Afghanistan who brutally destroyed the famous Buddha statues in Bamiyan, they have also turned their ire on what they consider remnants of an infidel culture.
Nearly one and a half years ago, Fazlullah's informal army defaced a 23-foot-high, 7th century Meditating Buddha, carved in a rock in the lap of a mountain in Jehandabad village, in Swat, triggering protests among conservationists and Buddhists all over the world.
Things can only get worse with the Islamabad-backed provincial government striking a deal with the local Taliban represented by Sufi Muhammad, the father-in-law of 'FM Mullah.'
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Reclaiming India and Pakistan. Just imagine, pre-islamism, Sanatana Dharma territory.
The attacks on Mumbai are reminiscent of the first Arab incursions, by sea between 634 and 637 AD through Thana, Broach and Debal. These were repulsed and led to incursions through land routes in the Northwest between 650-711 AD. Muhammad Bin Qasim finally succeeded in occupying parts of Sindh in 712 AD. In contrast to the 70 years it took to occupy Sindh in face of Hindu resistance, the Islamic armies had conquered Persia, Syria, Egypt within eight years of the Prophet"s death. North Africa was taken between 640 AD and 709 AD with Spain falling in 711 AD. Thus the entry of Islam into Hindu India which now has broken into a Muslim Pakistan, a Muslim Bangladesh and a Muslim Afghanistan faced more resistance than its triumphant march elsewhere. When Christian Europe finally won against Islam, they did not leave growing colonies within, to repopulate and create new Islamic nations. Arabs, no longer need attack India. The Muslim descendents of the Hindus, at least in Pakistan and Bangladesh, having severed themselves from their roots and heritage, find greater commonality with Arabic language, customs and religion. The idea of roots, state, civilization or cultural heritage are super ceded by the common ground of Islam.
Islam, does not recognize the idea of sovereignty of state or the concept of individual free will guiding individual choice –whether towards lifestyle or to one"s spiritual path. All Semitic faiths speak of a single God, but clearly not the same one, as each claims an exclusive covenant and an exclusive revelation through an exclusive prophet and salvation through the individual agency representing the religion. Thus if all were true then there must be three equal Gods or if only one were true then there is one true God and two other false Gods with two false creeds and two false institutions. If all were false, the idea of God must be difficult to sustain for the majority of the world and these religions must find a separate mission than offer salvation -invited or uninvited. Of the three great faiths one must admit that the modern Jewish faith does not directly negate
others and does not indulge in the task of conversions overtly and covertly and therefore intrinsically seeks no conflict -only the right of self existence. The Hindus seek peaceful self existence but differ from all, in laying no claim to a unique covenant or a unique
relationship with their own particular God. They further believe in self inquiry, the right to- differ, question, criticize, adopt or reject any particular aspect or tenet of spiritual life. Faith is welcome but not necessary and lack of faith or criticism does not call for execution. No conversions are needed as spiritual life does not mandate membership in an exclusive creed. State has no spiritual responsibility. The spiritual path at the beginning calls for personal purity and righteousness, with non violence and harmlessness to all- and evolves finally towards individual spiritual inquiry leading to
enlightenment or realization -of the nature of God. Venerable Prophets are many, within and outside India, who can be guides but are not necessarily needed. Being reflections of the Divine through the human form they are exalted beings but may have human limitations or imperfection at times. There is no Hindu Umma, Dar al Hind and Dar al
Harb and there are no Momins and Kafirs. No Ghazis are required to wield swords to decapitate heads of Kafirs to reap rewards in an indulgent Zannat to please the one God. For Hindus- property, life and women of Non Hindus, are not subject to enjoyment, destruction, enslavement and confiscation as per scriptural guidelines. Places of worship where others worship are not special targets of wrathful destruction. Hindus have largely chosen to accept, ignore, negate and justify their suffering, believing that tolerance and patience would certainly be rewarded in the long run by dawning of reason among those
who have brutalized India for about ten centuries. Large scale negation has been supplemented by outright falsification of the scale of atrocities on part of Islamic invaders. Indians have also submitted to more subtle but equally pernicious civilizational and spiritual subversion along with economic destruction by the Christian West. Purposeful erosion of the Hindu culture (Kul-achar) and ethos, was ensured, post Independence by the Congress-Communist nexus, under the cloak of secularism. This destruction continues unabated today.
Political empowerment of minorities is yet to occur in Europe and North America while in Islamic countries systematic cleansing has reduced minorities to near extinction almost everywhere. Indian congress, communists, secularists and Human right activists have not
bothered themselves with the Hindu victims of Islam or Christianity. They have built their credibility among foreigners and anti- Hindu faiths by sabotaging the ideal of India"s Nationhood based on Sanatan Dharma.
The idea of a tolerant Islamic State (for Non Muslims) is a contradiction in terms. For Christianity, state and religion, have historically been symbiotic entities -one thriving on the expansion of the other, each empowering the other. State was certainly the vehicle
for Christianity" s spread and eventual conquest of Europe rendering extinct all indigenous forms of spirituality and culture, from Greece to Lithuania beginning from Italy. For Islam, conquest of Arabia wiped out millennia of pre-Islamic Arabic history and culture. Persia and Egypt did not fare better. State as an entity, is subservient to Islam
and is merely its tool for expansion. In Western Europe and more prominently in America, while the pursuit of an individual religion is not interfered with but political empowerment of minority faiths other than Judaism is not even entertained as an idea in political or social discourse .The idea of Hindutva, Hindu fundamentalism are not merely
illogical concepts but are carefully crafted themes to empower the exclusivist faiths who battle today for the soul and soil of India.
There is no state other than India, that has seen political empowerment of minority faiths to an extent that persecution of majority is no longer looked upon with surprise. The ethnic cleansing of 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus in Hindu majority India is ignored, while
communal riots in response the burning of Hindu pilgrims in Godhra is termed pogrom with international condemnation, humiliation, and enquiry commissions whose findings contradict the charge of genocide due to state complicity or permissiveness. This of course cannot satiate the Indian media"s Hindu bloodlust. India"s English media,
human rights activists, television and it"s ruling Cabal reflect a coalition of Christians, Communists, Moslems, Western educated McCaulayites and foreign agents who live on the crumbs from middle east or the West. The zenith of one"s recognition in politics,
academia, art , media, or intellectual circles is related to the degree of virulence one is able to muster against the Hindu and the culture of his forefathers. Regrettably, the defense of majority Hindus in their own land is at the hands of parties like BJP, whose
apologetic conviction of their own heritage offers little hope. Their need for eulogies from the nation"s enemies is only matched by their gutlessness, lack of vision for their nation, colossal lack of cohesive planning and the spinelessness of political opportunism.
How about the spiritual foundation? the very reason why the Hindu has not given up his identity through millennia of occupation. India"s conquest to a large extent was due to loss of Dharma. Dharma as it relates to individual action guides the individual towards his larger sphere of responsibility towards family, community, nation, environment, and world at large. It is not merely individual salvation that religion should contract to, but it must exhort the individual to righteous and courageous action to uphold eternal values enjoined in Sanatan Dharma. Hindu spiritual leaders have miserably failed to exhort Hindus to the highest ideals of civic or community life and have forgotten the entire notion of Rashtra Dharma. Creating competing cults and creeds for self promotion, ritualistic worship or individual salvation without fulfilling all aspects of one"s Dharma is the foundational deficit that is once again propelling India into subjugation by Asuric forces. India"s multitude of temple goers and professional priests can no longer understand the ethos that had decreed motherland to be more exalted than the heavens. Therefore, the ritualistic, cult based, habit reinforced and temple oriented Hindu today is oblivious of the environment he lives in. The insularity of ritualistic behavior has degraded a deep worship tradition to "customary practice" severing philosophic continuity with our children - while outsiders have hardly been subtle in their contempt. For almost a thousand years jeering Islamic armies destroyed temples telling the Hindus that their Gods were mere idols who could not protect themselves, while the Hindu kept rebuilding his temples. The mosque built by the genocidal Babur was no mosque but merely a usurped temple that the weak Hindu finally used his bare hands to bring down
-but to what dramatic disbelief, condemnation and outrage -that a servile Hindu could do this! None bothered that a place of worship was named after a genocidal monarch - for it is but natural for Islam to honor its Ghazis. To protect Babur"s monument (though no Islamic scholar claimed it to be a true mosque) seemed to be a national obsession for the liberal Indian, for it to be brought down a national shame? Can such a country survive its citizenry? Is there a Church in Poland named after Hitler (a faithful) or for that matter, one in Rome after Constantine or Theodosius?
Finally one must come to the intellectual elite of India. The intellectual leaders of India are no longer creative, natural thinkers in indigenous languages but are brilliant products and protagonists of Western Education. One would be hard put to find an Indian thought
leader today who reads or writes in a language other than English. The Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Greeks, Germans, Spaniards, Mexicans or Egyptians do not have "English" intellectual Elite. These countries do no obsess themselves with intellectuals adorned with Booker prizes or Oscars for denigrating their countries. Their leading newspapers, media, or academic institutions do not have to use English to be well
regarded. It is perfectly cute to have the Chinese Premier shake his head at the US President and exchange pleasantries through an interpreter while it is not for the Indian savage to do the same. Indian parents regard education in English and higher studies in the English speaking West to be the highest form of academic achievement. It is a natural consequence to imbibe the English based knowledge systems and discard the vast indigenous intellectual wealth, available in Sanskrit and other indigenous literature. Thus the first rung of our civilization -the intellectual Indian has been simply de-indigenized. Validated by economic success and access to leadership positions this Indian intellectual leadership is Indian only in appearance -in character it represents colonial continuity. It is
virulently anti -Hindu and seeks not to be identified with Hindutva . Why else is "Hindu Tattva" or the essence of being a Hindu a dirty word while "being a good Christian" - a claim to value. Is it not the Hindu seer who gave the world Numbers and Counting, Astronomy, Music, Grammar, Yoga and Ayurveda besides Philosophy and the first glimpse of God ? What knowledge streams did the Prophets from the Monotheistic
faiths bequeath to the world ? India"s English media and its English Children have turned the Hindu into a despicable, backward and intolerable heathen, who is now violent as well. To unleash violence outside one"s borders on alien lands is natural as long as the
perpetrators are Christians or Moslems but to defend oneself and one"s faith within one"s own borders is fundamentalism in case of the Hindu. When the Christians or Moslems disallow proselytization or conversion it is the natural inclination to preserve one"s identity but for the Hindu to take such a view would be unacceptable bigotry. Barring
exceptions, India"s intellectual elite today is India"s most pernicious enemy - an elite reared on the subsidized state sponsored education funded by the toiling Hindu.
One must end with a discussion on solutions. As a first measure the Hindu majority of India must find its voice and aspiration reflected in the media. It must not support an anti India media through viewership, audience, subscription or advertisement revenue in any
form. India must demand a media free of foreign ownership or revenue based influence. Indians must control their media. Equally important for Indians is to elect a leadership that to start with is not anti-India. Needless to say, any leadership that is anti- Hindu is
anti-majority and by definition, anti-India. They cannot be at the helm of the country. Therefore, the UPA, its adherents and its supporting parties must be defeated and discarded into political oblivion. Marxism is welcome as part of academic discourse but its anti-national and anti-majority views do not permit it to be a legitimate political body . Marxist organizations and political parties need to be outlawed. The nexus of criminals and politicians has to be broken by a strengthened judiciary and ruthless imposition of law. A criminalized democracy manipulated by feudal families, foreigners, anti India and anti Hindu agencies is worse than an undemocratic, but ethical administration. India of the past has done far better under Vikramaditya or Chandragupta. The academic institutions of India starting from at its schools need to be entirely revamped. Study of its indigenous languages, knowledge streams, and its classical history from indigenous sources must be mandatory for all, but most of all for its political leadership and administration, as a prerequisite for electoral contest or administration. Anti India
academicians cannot have any public funding sources towards salary, research and publications and media presentations offending Hindu sentiments should not be tolerated. India"s 1.2 billion people and 1 billion Hindus must be what they want to be, not what others manipulate them to be -in this respect they must learn from China. Minorityism in the form of appeasement, selective economic aid, reservation, media propagation and political empowerment for votes, must be eliminated without any compunction -Hindu"s who have chosen to adopt foreign religions have no basis for special consideration,
though they remain free to practice their faith in private. Political action or activism that promotes sedition or violence must be met with violence and eliminated ruthlessly. Hindus should not be supportive of any Hindu religious institution, cult, temple or spiritual leaders who remain disconnected from the concept of a nationalism based on Sanatan Dharma .There cannot be any spiritual path divorced from Dharma in its
broadest sense .To support such self serving Hindu institutions and spiritual leaders is a folly as well. The intellectual leadership of India must be reconstructed and realigned to be steeped in its historical traditions that have always reflected a combination of value systems - a search for discriminatory wisdom, simple living, cultivation of Dharma combined with a sense of honor and valor. Meekness, avoidance of responsibility, search for self gratification and success should not be lauded but are worthy of rejection and
derision. India cannot honor those who dishonor it. Leaders in politics, academia, media, corporate world, arts, sciences or spiritual domain must not be honored anymore for being Anti-Hindu. If Tasleema Nasreen cannot be given asylum in India for offending
sensibilities of Muslims, on what grounds does one have to tolerate the likes of Arundhati Roy, M F Hussain, Jayalalitha , Brinda Karat, Karan Thapar, Shabana Azmi, Agnivesh or AR Antulay?
Hindu majority India managed to lose power and suffer enslavement, decapitation, conversion, jiziya, dhimmitude, and famines apart from annihilation of its identity for over a thousand years. Its current course shows no memory of this experience. All Hindus must act now, through forging a common Hindu identity and must express this identity
through a Hindu vote for a Hindu India - a Muslim India or a Christian India cannot be a pluralistic tolerant India. Let Islam and Christianity demonstrate this first in the lands they control. Let the US elect a non Christian Governor or President and let Indonesia or
Pakistan have a Hindu President first. Let rest of the world demonstrate its equality to the Hindu .The Hindu must protect himself first, to deliver humanity. While India as a nation state should stand for equality for all its citizens and proclaim all life to be sacred as decreed by Sanatan Dharma - it must let its external enemies know, that the future theatres of war would be on their soil and the rites of war would be one that they inflict on others.
Islam, does not recognize the idea of sovereignty of state or the concept of individual free will guiding individual choice –whether towards lifestyle or to one"s spiritual path. All Semitic faiths speak of a single God, but clearly not the same one, as each claims an exclusive covenant and an exclusive revelation through an exclusive prophet and salvation through the individual agency representing the religion. Thus if all were true then there must be three equal Gods or if only one were true then there is one true God and two other false Gods with two false creeds and two false institutions. If all were false, the idea of God must be difficult to sustain for the majority of the world and these religions must find a separate mission than offer salvation -invited or uninvited. Of the three great faiths one must admit that the modern Jewish faith does not directly negate
others and does not indulge in the task of conversions overtly and covertly and therefore intrinsically seeks no conflict -only the right of self existence. The Hindus seek peaceful self existence but differ from all, in laying no claim to a unique covenant or a unique
relationship with their own particular God. They further believe in self inquiry, the right to- differ, question, criticize, adopt or reject any particular aspect or tenet of spiritual life. Faith is welcome but not necessary and lack of faith or criticism does not call for execution. No conversions are needed as spiritual life does not mandate membership in an exclusive creed. State has no spiritual responsibility. The spiritual path at the beginning calls for personal purity and righteousness, with non violence and harmlessness to all- and evolves finally towards individual spiritual inquiry leading to
enlightenment or realization -of the nature of God. Venerable Prophets are many, within and outside India, who can be guides but are not necessarily needed. Being reflections of the Divine through the human form they are exalted beings but may have human limitations or imperfection at times. There is no Hindu Umma, Dar al Hind and Dar al
Harb and there are no Momins and Kafirs. No Ghazis are required to wield swords to decapitate heads of Kafirs to reap rewards in an indulgent Zannat to please the one God. For Hindus- property, life and women of Non Hindus, are not subject to enjoyment, destruction, enslavement and confiscation as per scriptural guidelines. Places of worship where others worship are not special targets of wrathful destruction. Hindus have largely chosen to accept, ignore, negate and justify their suffering, believing that tolerance and patience would certainly be rewarded in the long run by dawning of reason among those
who have brutalized India for about ten centuries. Large scale negation has been supplemented by outright falsification of the scale of atrocities on part of Islamic invaders. Indians have also submitted to more subtle but equally pernicious civilizational and spiritual subversion along with economic destruction by the Christian West. Purposeful erosion of the Hindu culture (Kul-achar) and ethos, was ensured, post Independence by the Congress-Communist nexus, under the cloak of secularism. This destruction continues unabated today.
Political empowerment of minorities is yet to occur in Europe and North America while in Islamic countries systematic cleansing has reduced minorities to near extinction almost everywhere. Indian congress, communists, secularists and Human right activists have not
bothered themselves with the Hindu victims of Islam or Christianity. They have built their credibility among foreigners and anti- Hindu faiths by sabotaging the ideal of India"s Nationhood based on Sanatan Dharma.
The idea of a tolerant Islamic State (for Non Muslims) is a contradiction in terms. For Christianity, state and religion, have historically been symbiotic entities -one thriving on the expansion of the other, each empowering the other. State was certainly the vehicle
for Christianity" s spread and eventual conquest of Europe rendering extinct all indigenous forms of spirituality and culture, from Greece to Lithuania beginning from Italy. For Islam, conquest of Arabia wiped out millennia of pre-Islamic Arabic history and culture. Persia and Egypt did not fare better. State as an entity, is subservient to Islam
and is merely its tool for expansion. In Western Europe and more prominently in America, while the pursuit of an individual religion is not interfered with but political empowerment of minority faiths other than Judaism is not even entertained as an idea in political or social discourse .The idea of Hindutva, Hindu fundamentalism are not merely
illogical concepts but are carefully crafted themes to empower the exclusivist faiths who battle today for the soul and soil of India.
There is no state other than India, that has seen political empowerment of minority faiths to an extent that persecution of majority is no longer looked upon with surprise. The ethnic cleansing of 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus in Hindu majority India is ignored, while
communal riots in response the burning of Hindu pilgrims in Godhra is termed pogrom with international condemnation, humiliation, and enquiry commissions whose findings contradict the charge of genocide due to state complicity or permissiveness. This of course cannot satiate the Indian media"s Hindu bloodlust. India"s English media,
human rights activists, television and it"s ruling Cabal reflect a coalition of Christians, Communists, Moslems, Western educated McCaulayites and foreign agents who live on the crumbs from middle east or the West. The zenith of one"s recognition in politics,
academia, art , media, or intellectual circles is related to the degree of virulence one is able to muster against the Hindu and the culture of his forefathers. Regrettably, the defense of majority Hindus in their own land is at the hands of parties like BJP, whose
apologetic conviction of their own heritage offers little hope. Their need for eulogies from the nation"s enemies is only matched by their gutlessness, lack of vision for their nation, colossal lack of cohesive planning and the spinelessness of political opportunism.
How about the spiritual foundation? the very reason why the Hindu has not given up his identity through millennia of occupation. India"s conquest to a large extent was due to loss of Dharma. Dharma as it relates to individual action guides the individual towards his larger sphere of responsibility towards family, community, nation, environment, and world at large. It is not merely individual salvation that religion should contract to, but it must exhort the individual to righteous and courageous action to uphold eternal values enjoined in Sanatan Dharma. Hindu spiritual leaders have miserably failed to exhort Hindus to the highest ideals of civic or community life and have forgotten the entire notion of Rashtra Dharma. Creating competing cults and creeds for self promotion, ritualistic worship or individual salvation without fulfilling all aspects of one"s Dharma is the foundational deficit that is once again propelling India into subjugation by Asuric forces. India"s multitude of temple goers and professional priests can no longer understand the ethos that had decreed motherland to be more exalted than the heavens. Therefore, the ritualistic, cult based, habit reinforced and temple oriented Hindu today is oblivious of the environment he lives in. The insularity of ritualistic behavior has degraded a deep worship tradition to "customary practice" severing philosophic continuity with our children - while outsiders have hardly been subtle in their contempt. For almost a thousand years jeering Islamic armies destroyed temples telling the Hindus that their Gods were mere idols who could not protect themselves, while the Hindu kept rebuilding his temples. The mosque built by the genocidal Babur was no mosque but merely a usurped temple that the weak Hindu finally used his bare hands to bring down
-but to what dramatic disbelief, condemnation and outrage -that a servile Hindu could do this! None bothered that a place of worship was named after a genocidal monarch - for it is but natural for Islam to honor its Ghazis. To protect Babur"s monument (though no Islamic scholar claimed it to be a true mosque) seemed to be a national obsession for the liberal Indian, for it to be brought down a national shame? Can such a country survive its citizenry? Is there a Church in Poland named after Hitler (a faithful) or for that matter, one in Rome after Constantine or Theodosius?
Finally one must come to the intellectual elite of India. The intellectual leaders of India are no longer creative, natural thinkers in indigenous languages but are brilliant products and protagonists of Western Education. One would be hard put to find an Indian thought
leader today who reads or writes in a language other than English. The Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Greeks, Germans, Spaniards, Mexicans or Egyptians do not have "English" intellectual Elite. These countries do no obsess themselves with intellectuals adorned with Booker prizes or Oscars for denigrating their countries. Their leading newspapers, media, or academic institutions do not have to use English to be well
regarded. It is perfectly cute to have the Chinese Premier shake his head at the US President and exchange pleasantries through an interpreter while it is not for the Indian savage to do the same. Indian parents regard education in English and higher studies in the English speaking West to be the highest form of academic achievement. It is a natural consequence to imbibe the English based knowledge systems and discard the vast indigenous intellectual wealth, available in Sanskrit and other indigenous literature. Thus the first rung of our civilization -the intellectual Indian has been simply de-indigenized. Validated by economic success and access to leadership positions this Indian intellectual leadership is Indian only in appearance -in character it represents colonial continuity. It is
virulently anti -Hindu and seeks not to be identified with Hindutva . Why else is "Hindu Tattva" or the essence of being a Hindu a dirty word while "being a good Christian" - a claim to value. Is it not the Hindu seer who gave the world Numbers and Counting, Astronomy, Music, Grammar, Yoga and Ayurveda besides Philosophy and the first glimpse of God ? What knowledge streams did the Prophets from the Monotheistic
faiths bequeath to the world ? India"s English media and its English Children have turned the Hindu into a despicable, backward and intolerable heathen, who is now violent as well. To unleash violence outside one"s borders on alien lands is natural as long as the
perpetrators are Christians or Moslems but to defend oneself and one"s faith within one"s own borders is fundamentalism in case of the Hindu. When the Christians or Moslems disallow proselytization or conversion it is the natural inclination to preserve one"s identity but for the Hindu to take such a view would be unacceptable bigotry. Barring
exceptions, India"s intellectual elite today is India"s most pernicious enemy - an elite reared on the subsidized state sponsored education funded by the toiling Hindu.
One must end with a discussion on solutions. As a first measure the Hindu majority of India must find its voice and aspiration reflected in the media. It must not support an anti India media through viewership, audience, subscription or advertisement revenue in any
form. India must demand a media free of foreign ownership or revenue based influence. Indians must control their media. Equally important for Indians is to elect a leadership that to start with is not anti-India. Needless to say, any leadership that is anti- Hindu is
anti-majority and by definition, anti-India. They cannot be at the helm of the country. Therefore, the UPA, its adherents and its supporting parties must be defeated and discarded into political oblivion. Marxism is welcome as part of academic discourse but its anti-national and anti-majority views do not permit it to be a legitimate political body . Marxist organizations and political parties need to be outlawed. The nexus of criminals and politicians has to be broken by a strengthened judiciary and ruthless imposition of law. A criminalized democracy manipulated by feudal families, foreigners, anti India and anti Hindu agencies is worse than an undemocratic, but ethical administration. India of the past has done far better under Vikramaditya or Chandragupta. The academic institutions of India starting from at its schools need to be entirely revamped. Study of its indigenous languages, knowledge streams, and its classical history from indigenous sources must be mandatory for all, but most of all for its political leadership and administration, as a prerequisite for electoral contest or administration. Anti India
academicians cannot have any public funding sources towards salary, research and publications and media presentations offending Hindu sentiments should not be tolerated. India"s 1.2 billion people and 1 billion Hindus must be what they want to be, not what others manipulate them to be -in this respect they must learn from China. Minorityism in the form of appeasement, selective economic aid, reservation, media propagation and political empowerment for votes, must be eliminated without any compunction -Hindu"s who have chosen to adopt foreign religions have no basis for special consideration,
though they remain free to practice their faith in private. Political action or activism that promotes sedition or violence must be met with violence and eliminated ruthlessly. Hindus should not be supportive of any Hindu religious institution, cult, temple or spiritual leaders who remain disconnected from the concept of a nationalism based on Sanatan Dharma .There cannot be any spiritual path divorced from Dharma in its
broadest sense .To support such self serving Hindu institutions and spiritual leaders is a folly as well. The intellectual leadership of India must be reconstructed and realigned to be steeped in its historical traditions that have always reflected a combination of value systems - a search for discriminatory wisdom, simple living, cultivation of Dharma combined with a sense of honor and valor. Meekness, avoidance of responsibility, search for self gratification and success should not be lauded but are worthy of rejection and
derision. India cannot honor those who dishonor it. Leaders in politics, academia, media, corporate world, arts, sciences or spiritual domain must not be honored anymore for being Anti-Hindu. If Tasleema Nasreen cannot be given asylum in India for offending
sensibilities of Muslims, on what grounds does one have to tolerate the likes of Arundhati Roy, M F Hussain, Jayalalitha , Brinda Karat, Karan Thapar, Shabana Azmi, Agnivesh or AR Antulay?
Hindu majority India managed to lose power and suffer enslavement, decapitation, conversion, jiziya, dhimmitude, and famines apart from annihilation of its identity for over a thousand years. Its current course shows no memory of this experience. All Hindus must act now, through forging a common Hindu identity and must express this identity
through a Hindu vote for a Hindu India - a Muslim India or a Christian India cannot be a pluralistic tolerant India. Let Islam and Christianity demonstrate this first in the lands they control. Let the US elect a non Christian Governor or President and let Indonesia or
Pakistan have a Hindu President first. Let rest of the world demonstrate its equality to the Hindu .The Hindu must protect himself first, to deliver humanity. While India as a nation state should stand for equality for all its citizens and proclaim all life to be sacred as decreed by Sanatan Dharma - it must let its external enemies know, that the future theatres of war would be on their soil and the rites of war would be one that they inflict on others.
Mumbai terror, implications for US interests (Congressional Research report)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/9940655/001R40087 Congressional Research Service document. Terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India and implications for US Interests by K. Alan Kronstadt, Specialist in South Asian Affairs dated December 19, 2008
Excerpts:
A 2006 session of the U.S.-India Joint Working Group
on Counterterrorism ended with a statement of determination from both countries to further
advance bilateral cooperation and information sharing on such areas of common concern as
bioterrorism, aviation security, advances in biometrics, cyber-security and terrorism, WMD
terrorism, and terrorist financing.105 The Working Group has met a total of nine times since its 2000 creation, most recently in August 2008. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mullen was in New Delhi in early December to meet with senior Indian leaders, where he reiterated the U.S.
military’s commitment to work closely with Indian armed forces on counterterrorism. http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/pr120408a.htm.
The Mumbai incident elicited more vocal calls for deepening U.S.-India counterterrorism
cooperation that could benefit both countries. Such cooperation has been hampered by sometimes divergent geopolitical perceptions and by U.S. reluctance to “embarrass” its Pakistani allies by conveying alleged evidence of official Pakistani links to terrorists, especially those waging a separatist war in Kashmir. Mutual distrust between Washington and New Delhi also has been exacerbated by some recent clandestine U.S. efforts to penetrate Indian intelligence agencies.
Despite lingering problems, the scale of the threat posed by Islamist militants spurs observers to encourage more robust bilateral intelligence sharing and other official exchanges, including on maritime and cyber security, among many more potential issue-areas. See Lisa Curtis, After Mumbai: Time to Strengthen U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation, Heritage Foundation
Backgrounder, December 9, 2008, http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/upload/bg_2217.pdf.
U.S. law enforcement agencies possess specialized equipment that can trace voice-over-internet calls, along with other expertise for examining the global position and satellite phone systems used by the attackers. One unnamed senior Indian intelligence source was quoted as saying that FBI assistance in tracing VoIP calls will be a “test case for U.S. promises.” (Praveen Swami, “Key Test for Indo-U.S. Intelligence Ties” (op-ed), Hindu (Chennai), December 3, 2008; quote in “Terror Boat Was Almost Nabbed Off Mumbai,” Times of India (Delhi), December 10, 2008.)
Summary
On the evening of November 26, 2008, a number of well-trained militants came ashore from the
Arabian Sea on small boats and attacked numerous high-profile targets in Mumbai, India, with
automatic weapons and explosives. By the time the episode ended some 62 hours later, about 165
people, along with nine terrorists, had been killed and hundreds more injured. Among the
multiple sites attacked in the peninsular city known as India’s business and entertainment capital
were two luxury hotels—the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi-Trident—along with the main
railway terminal, a Jewish cultural center, a café frequented by foreigners, a cinema house, and
two hospitals. Six American citizens were among the 26 foreigners reported dead. Indian officials
have concluded that the attackers numbered only ten, one of whom was captured.
The investigation into the attacks is still in preliminary stages, but press reporting and statements
from U.S. and Indian authorities strongly suggest that the attackers came to India from
neighboring Pakistan and that the perpetrators likely were members and acting under the
orchestration of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group. The LeT is believed to
have past links with Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. By some accounts, these links
are ongoing, leading to suspicions, but no known evidence, of involvement in the attack by
Pakistani state elements. The Islamabad government has strongly condemned the Mumbai
terrorism and offered New Delhi its full cooperation with the ongoing investigation, but mutual
acrimony clouds such an effort, and the attacks have brought into question the viability of a
nearly five-year-old bilateral peace process between India and Pakistan.
Three wars—in 1947-48, 1965, and 1971—and a constant state of military preparedness on both
sides of the border have marked six decades of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan. Such
bilateral discord between two nuclear-armed countries thus has major implications for regional
security and for U.S. interests. The Administration of President-elect Barack Obama may seek to
increase U.S. diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving conflict between these two countries. The
Mumbai attacks have brought even more intense international attention to the increasingly deadly
and destabilizing incidence of Islamist extremism in South Asia, and they may affect the course
of U.S. policy toward Pakistan, especially. The episode also has major domestic implications for
India, in both the political and security realms. Indian counterterrorism capabilities have come
under intense scrutiny, and the United States may further expand bilateral cooperation with and
assistance to India in this realm.
For broader discussion, see CRS Report RL33529, India-U.S.
Relations, and CRS Report RL33498, Pakistan-U.S. Relations. This report will not be updated.
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33529.pdf
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33498.pdf
Chidambaram’s visit cancelled; US report puts focus on 26/11
Livemint Posted: Fri, Jan 9 2009. 12:38 AM IST
Mint could not immediately ascertain whether the home minister’s trip had been put off because of the imminent change in the US leadership
Liz Mathew
New Delhi: Home minister P. Chidambaram’s proposed trip to the US to share evidence about the involvement of Pakistan-based groups in the Mumbai terror attacks has been cancelled even as a US Congressional research report said it may be time to evolve a new foreign policy for South Asia.
In less than two weeks, Barack Obama will take charge as the next president of the US. Mint could not immediately ascertain whether the home minister’s trip had been put off because of the imminent change in the US leadership.
According to a top official in the ministry of external affairs, or MEA, Chidambaram’s visit had been cancelled because India had already handed over evidence establishing links between the attacks and Pakistan-based “elements” to Pakistan and given copies to the US. The official did not want to be identified. When contacted, Chidambaram declined to comment. He had been expected to meet US homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Washington.
Meanwhile, the report, “Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai, India and Implications for US Interests”, prepared by the Congressional Research Service for circulation among lawmakers, said the Mumbai attacks could complicate the US’ South Asia policy.
“Potential issues for the 111th Congress with regard to India include legislation that would foster greater US-India counterterrorism relations. With regard to Pakistan, Congressional attention has focused and is likely to remain focused on the programming and potential further conditioning of US foreign assistance, including that related to security and counterterrorism,” the report said.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think tank, said the attacks have “re-hyphenated India and Pakistan in the US foreign policy” and “it would be a fair hypothesis to say that the Mumbai attacks were partly carried out to complicate US foreign policy”.
“I think it is now time that the US does a fundamental rethink on its Pakistan policy rather than its South Asia diplomatic efforts,” Mehta said.
Former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra said, “Much is going to depend on the (Joe) Biden visit. Obama is sending Biden, along with four colleagues, to see for themselves.” US vice-president-elect Joe Biden is scheduled visit to Pakistan this week.
Independently, Ted Osius, minister counsellor for political affairs at the US embassy in India, told a conference organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that the US would want to look at Russia as an alternative to route its supplies and equipment for bases in Afghanistan and thereby reduce reliance on Pakistan.
Ruhi Tewari, Rahul Chandran and Asit Ranjan Mishra and PTI contributed to this story.
liz.m@livemint.com
http://www.livemint.com/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?artid=BA08F254-DDB1-11DD-A9CC-000B5DABF636
SP blows hot, and then cold, on pullout threat
8 Jan 2009, 0246 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court threw a spanner in the Centre's bid to bail out Mulayam Singh Yadav in the DA case, the Samajwadi Party raised the ante with threats of pullout from the UPA, only to suddenly calm down after an audience with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The sudden rise and fall in SP temper, with party general secretary Amar Singh as protagonist, left political circles bewildered as observers linked the flip-flop to the brazen CBI attempt to get SP chief out of the agency's net.
SP linked its anger to the UPA government's refusal to act decisively against Pakistan, and the late-evening U-turn was also argued around terror, but few were ready to buy the argument.
While the Centre has done its part to help Mulayam Singh out of the CBI net, going to the extent of seeking a withdrawal of the case after having sought the SP chief's prosecution, Samajwadis feel that more needs to be done to clinch the issue.
As the drama played out within a day of the apex court's strong remarks on CBI, the terror-Pakistan link to the rise and drop in SP anger had few takers.
Amar Singh told reporters in the afternoon that SP could withdraw support to UPA as the latter had failed to take decisive action against Pakistan for the Mumbai terror attacks.
"During an all-party meeting 40 days ago, the government had promised party chief Mulayam Singh that decisive action against Pakistan will be taken in 15 days...that deadline is over," he said, adding that a decision would be taken at the parliamentary board meeting on Thursday.
As Congress downplayed the outburst, saying it only showed SP's concern over terrorism, Amar Singh drove to 10, Janpath, for a meeting with Sonia Gandhi. He emerged from her residence to say there was no question of a pullout and that he had only expressed the sentiments of his party workers.
After having built a case around terror in the day-long drama, SP leaders may gather on Thursday to raise the pitch even further. It suits Samajwadis to take a belligerent stand on Pakistan, having realised that public mood has turned completely against the politicking as it did during the Batla House encounter.
SP believes that a tough stance on terror would endear it to voters across the board. That rival Mayawati has also taken a strong line on terror only shows how language of UP politics has changed since the Mumbai attacks.
Excerpts:
A 2006 session of the U.S.-India Joint Working Group
on Counterterrorism ended with a statement of determination from both countries to further
advance bilateral cooperation and information sharing on such areas of common concern as
bioterrorism, aviation security, advances in biometrics, cyber-security and terrorism, WMD
terrorism, and terrorist financing.105 The Working Group has met a total of nine times since its 2000 creation, most recently in August 2008. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mullen was in New Delhi in early December to meet with senior Indian leaders, where he reiterated the U.S.
military’s commitment to work closely with Indian armed forces on counterterrorism. http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/pr120408a.htm.
The Mumbai incident elicited more vocal calls for deepening U.S.-India counterterrorism
cooperation that could benefit both countries. Such cooperation has been hampered by sometimes divergent geopolitical perceptions and by U.S. reluctance to “embarrass” its Pakistani allies by conveying alleged evidence of official Pakistani links to terrorists, especially those waging a separatist war in Kashmir. Mutual distrust between Washington and New Delhi also has been exacerbated by some recent clandestine U.S. efforts to penetrate Indian intelligence agencies.
Despite lingering problems, the scale of the threat posed by Islamist militants spurs observers to encourage more robust bilateral intelligence sharing and other official exchanges, including on maritime and cyber security, among many more potential issue-areas. See Lisa Curtis, After Mumbai: Time to Strengthen U.S.-India Counterterrorism Cooperation, Heritage Foundation
Backgrounder, December 9, 2008, http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/upload/bg_2217.pdf.
U.S. law enforcement agencies possess specialized equipment that can trace voice-over-internet calls, along with other expertise for examining the global position and satellite phone systems used by the attackers. One unnamed senior Indian intelligence source was quoted as saying that FBI assistance in tracing VoIP calls will be a “test case for U.S. promises.” (Praveen Swami, “Key Test for Indo-U.S. Intelligence Ties” (op-ed), Hindu (Chennai), December 3, 2008; quote in “Terror Boat Was Almost Nabbed Off Mumbai,” Times of India (Delhi), December 10, 2008.)
Summary
On the evening of November 26, 2008, a number of well-trained militants came ashore from the
Arabian Sea on small boats and attacked numerous high-profile targets in Mumbai, India, with
automatic weapons and explosives. By the time the episode ended some 62 hours later, about 165
people, along with nine terrorists, had been killed and hundreds more injured. Among the
multiple sites attacked in the peninsular city known as India’s business and entertainment capital
were two luxury hotels—the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi-Trident—along with the main
railway terminal, a Jewish cultural center, a café frequented by foreigners, a cinema house, and
two hospitals. Six American citizens were among the 26 foreigners reported dead. Indian officials
have concluded that the attackers numbered only ten, one of whom was captured.
The investigation into the attacks is still in preliminary stages, but press reporting and statements
from U.S. and Indian authorities strongly suggest that the attackers came to India from
neighboring Pakistan and that the perpetrators likely were members and acting under the
orchestration of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group. The LeT is believed to
have past links with Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. By some accounts, these links
are ongoing, leading to suspicions, but no known evidence, of involvement in the attack by
Pakistani state elements. The Islamabad government has strongly condemned the Mumbai
terrorism and offered New Delhi its full cooperation with the ongoing investigation, but mutual
acrimony clouds such an effort, and the attacks have brought into question the viability of a
nearly five-year-old bilateral peace process between India and Pakistan.
Three wars—in 1947-48, 1965, and 1971—and a constant state of military preparedness on both
sides of the border have marked six decades of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan. Such
bilateral discord between two nuclear-armed countries thus has major implications for regional
security and for U.S. interests. The Administration of President-elect Barack Obama may seek to
increase U.S. diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving conflict between these two countries. The
Mumbai attacks have brought even more intense international attention to the increasingly deadly
and destabilizing incidence of Islamist extremism in South Asia, and they may affect the course
of U.S. policy toward Pakistan, especially. The episode also has major domestic implications for
India, in both the political and security realms. Indian counterterrorism capabilities have come
under intense scrutiny, and the United States may further expand bilateral cooperation with and
assistance to India in this realm.
For broader discussion, see CRS Report RL33529, India-U.S.
Relations, and CRS Report RL33498, Pakistan-U.S. Relations. This report will not be updated.
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33529.pdf
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33498.pdf
Chidambaram’s visit cancelled; US report puts focus on 26/11
Livemint Posted: Fri, Jan 9 2009. 12:38 AM IST
Mint could not immediately ascertain whether the home minister’s trip had been put off because of the imminent change in the US leadership
Liz Mathew
New Delhi: Home minister P. Chidambaram’s proposed trip to the US to share evidence about the involvement of Pakistan-based groups in the Mumbai terror attacks has been cancelled even as a US Congressional research report said it may be time to evolve a new foreign policy for South Asia.
In less than two weeks, Barack Obama will take charge as the next president of the US. Mint could not immediately ascertain whether the home minister’s trip had been put off because of the imminent change in the US leadership.
According to a top official in the ministry of external affairs, or MEA, Chidambaram’s visit had been cancelled because India had already handed over evidence establishing links between the attacks and Pakistan-based “elements” to Pakistan and given copies to the US. The official did not want to be identified. When contacted, Chidambaram declined to comment. He had been expected to meet US homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Washington.
Meanwhile, the report, “Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai, India and Implications for US Interests”, prepared by the Congressional Research Service for circulation among lawmakers, said the Mumbai attacks could complicate the US’ South Asia policy.
“Potential issues for the 111th Congress with regard to India include legislation that would foster greater US-India counterterrorism relations. With regard to Pakistan, Congressional attention has focused and is likely to remain focused on the programming and potential further conditioning of US foreign assistance, including that related to security and counterterrorism,” the report said.
Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think tank, said the attacks have “re-hyphenated India and Pakistan in the US foreign policy” and “it would be a fair hypothesis to say that the Mumbai attacks were partly carried out to complicate US foreign policy”.
“I think it is now time that the US does a fundamental rethink on its Pakistan policy rather than its South Asia diplomatic efforts,” Mehta said.
Former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra said, “Much is going to depend on the (Joe) Biden visit. Obama is sending Biden, along with four colleagues, to see for themselves.” US vice-president-elect Joe Biden is scheduled visit to Pakistan this week.
Independently, Ted Osius, minister counsellor for political affairs at the US embassy in India, told a conference organized by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that the US would want to look at Russia as an alternative to route its supplies and equipment for bases in Afghanistan and thereby reduce reliance on Pakistan.
Ruhi Tewari, Rahul Chandran and Asit Ranjan Mishra and PTI contributed to this story.
liz.m@livemint.com
http://www.livemint.com/Articles/PrintArticle.aspx?artid=BA08F254-DDB1-11DD-A9CC-000B5DABF636
SP blows hot, and then cold, on pullout threat
8 Jan 2009, 0246 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court threw a spanner in the Centre's bid to bail out Mulayam Singh Yadav in the DA case, the Samajwadi Party raised the ante with threats of pullout from the UPA, only to suddenly calm down after an audience with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The sudden rise and fall in SP temper, with party general secretary Amar Singh as protagonist, left political circles bewildered as observers linked the flip-flop to the brazen CBI attempt to get SP chief out of the agency's net.
SP linked its anger to the UPA government's refusal to act decisively against Pakistan, and the late-evening U-turn was also argued around terror, but few were ready to buy the argument.
While the Centre has done its part to help Mulayam Singh out of the CBI net, going to the extent of seeking a withdrawal of the case after having sought the SP chief's prosecution, Samajwadis feel that more needs to be done to clinch the issue.
As the drama played out within a day of the apex court's strong remarks on CBI, the terror-Pakistan link to the rise and drop in SP anger had few takers.
Amar Singh told reporters in the afternoon that SP could withdraw support to UPA as the latter had failed to take decisive action against Pakistan for the Mumbai terror attacks.
"During an all-party meeting 40 days ago, the government had promised party chief Mulayam Singh that decisive action against Pakistan will be taken in 15 days...that deadline is over," he said, adding that a decision would be taken at the parliamentary board meeting on Thursday.
As Congress downplayed the outburst, saying it only showed SP's concern over terrorism, Amar Singh drove to 10, Janpath, for a meeting with Sonia Gandhi. He emerged from her residence to say there was no question of a pullout and that he had only expressed the sentiments of his party workers.
After having built a case around terror in the day-long drama, SP leaders may gather on Thursday to raise the pitch even further. It suits Samajwadis to take a belligerent stand on Pakistan, having realised that public mood has turned completely against the politicking as it did during the Batla House encounter.
SP believes that a tough stance on terror would endear it to voters across the board. That rival Mayawati has also taken a strong line on terror only shows how language of UP politics has changed since the Mumbai attacks.
Brisking neighbour
Officials estimate that the Taliban has either burnt down or blown up more than 140 educational institutions in the past two years. The picture shows students outside a school after it was destroyed in the Kundar village of Swat Valley.
A small bomb blast does not make the headlines in Karachi anymore. The ensuing dialogue is always followed by the same question: how many killed? One, two or even 10 does not merit a pause in the conversation, let alone a prayer for the departed. These stoic rejoinders are not limited to Karachi. Similar reactions punctuate news of bombings all over Pakistan, perhaps with even more pronounced restraint when the incidents take place in the tribal areas. Just as the news of a bomb blast is met with little incredulity, Pakistanis, confronted with an Islamist insurgency spanning into its third year, continue to insist that their daily lives remain unaffected by the upsurge in Islamist violence around the country. The twin symptoms, resignation and denial, are denominators of Pakistan's new 'normal' — defined as it is by violence so commonplace and insecurity so routine that it no longer registers shock or protest.
This redefinition of ordinary has not been gradual. Even a mere five years ago, the Taliban was an idea relegated to beyond the western border in Afghanistan, and tourists continued to swarm areas like Swat for summer vacations. Ski lifts were crowded and guesthouses remained full all season. The death of that Swat is now old news, no longer reported by journalists, either in Pakistan or abroad.
Yet the magnitude of violence and fear unleashed tells a story of how, in a short span of time, a population can be so vastly terrorised that it is rendered effectively mute. Officials estimate that the Taliban has either burnt down or blown up more than 140 educational institutions in the past two years, leaving nearly a million of the children without access to education. With nearly 30 per cent of the girls having withdrawn from schools and colleges anyway, the news of the announcement by Mullah Shah Doran, the Taliban's second in command, that all girls would be forbidden from attending school from January 15, 2008 was relegated to the inside pages of most newspapers.
If the girls in Swat are bearing the brunt of the Taliban campaign against education, the girls daring to go to school in the urban centre of Lahore are not spared either. The bomb squad in the city reported nearly 50 threats to various schools and colleges in the past few months. The threats were part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's effort to expand its activities into the cultural capital. As part of this campaign, nearly five "cultural blasts" took place on January 9, 2009 outside theatres which were accused of spreading immorality. The incidents were connected to blasts that took place in the city last year near the Al-Hamra Arts Centre and Garhi Shahu ice cream parlours. The last time the area was threatened, in the form of an anonymous letter written to Shabbir Labha, head of a local trader's organisation, the writer said the area would be bombed if the sale of pornographic CDs was not halted immediately. One day later, traders voluntarily burned 60,000 CDs in a pragmatic move to avert an attack on their market. This most recent "cultural blast," however, came without warning, costing millions of rupees in damage to the theatres.
Singular incidents such as these come and go, but their cumulative effect on the maimed psychology of people is far from being of "low intensity," the term used to describe the explosive used in the most recent Lahore attack. In the past year, Pakistan has overtaken both Iraq and Afghanistan in the number of suicide attacks, with casualties numbering over 600.
No category of targets — from schools to juice shops and from fancy hotels to barber shops — has been spared. The victims have been security officials, businessmen, poor trader women, shopkeepers and, of course, even former Prime Ministers. Television audiences have become used to watching clips of decapitated heads of suicide bombers, which are regularly made available to TV crews after attacks. Everyone knows that when a suicide bomber detonates his explosives, his head pops off and is usually found intact.
The visibility and constant onslaught of violence has a peculiar effect on those witnessing it. As the grasp of the insurgency widens, from the remote tribal areas always, relegated to the recesses of the Pakistani geographical imagination, to the streets of Karachi and even the cultural centre of Lahore, the world of the individual Pakistani constricts further and further. The web of concern and empathy, once expansive enough to encompass fellow countrymen, gets ever narrower, stretching only to include those in ever smaller circles. In contracting their radius of concern, Pakistanis look only to their near and dear, finding solace in the small group that may still remain untouched, and insulating themselves from the assassinated, the kidnapped, the looted and the threatened.
As a result, it is not just bomb blasts that merit little attention, empathy or protest from Pakistanis. Ever worsening crimes — from the live burial of five Balochi women by the relative of a Minister to the unleashing of dogs on a 17-year-old pregnant girl — prompt little mass protest other than by token women's groups and journalists. In a mental exercise engaged in only by the most traumatised, Pakistanis routinely slice their much taxed sympathy into those few that matter and the millions that don't. In the words of one Karachi-ite, "I look down, do my work, pick my children up from school and don't worry too much about what is happening. It's the only way I can survive here."
And then there are the moral conundrums permeated by violence that strategically attacks a set of confused ideological premises which have long plagued the moral conscience of Pakistanis. One area where this confusion is glaring is the regulation of cultural practices considered un-Islamic under the draconian Taliban rubric. It is thus not just the Taliban threats that have an impact on local populations but their reverberations. One example is the Lahore High Court's recent decision to ban 'mujra,' the age-old dance form practised in Lahore for nearly 400 years.
Following the ruling, the theatres where the dancers performed went on strike, prompting the court to reverse the ban and order the dancers to "wear shawls covering their necks and wear shoes." Necks and bare feet were considered too erotic, and hence impermissible. The moral of the story is clear: in a society unsure of the religious merit of its culture and unable to articulate the place of religion, all ills can be blamed on the guilty pleasures that can produce moral shame, and hence justify terror. In this case, the misogyny heaped on female entertainers and the guilt of those selling and consuming their product are effectively used to valorise even the terror produced by the Taliban. When those enjoyments relegated to the guilty recesses of consumption are attacked, their elimination, however crude, is painted as purification rather than denigration of society.
In the years and months since the Taliban insurgency has taken hold, its measure has been taken in lives lost and property damaged. Little effort has been made, however, to evaluate how the incursion of religious extremism has altered civil and social life in Pakistan. The indirect effects of the constriction of empathy, the tacit acceptance of insecurity and the self-imposed moral monism that is intolerant of all differences are effects that have a longer and much more drastic effect. This can already be seen in the muffled non-existence of civil society that can no longer organise or conceptualise a position on any political or legislative issue.
If Pakistan does not have a national, organised movement of civil society groups against terror, it is not because Pakistanis are not suffering. The conglomeration of a survivalist indifference, in which caring is reserved not for the larger world but for the chosen few of one's immediate circle, and the confusion of faith and its role as a moral regulator are ultimately giving birth to a new, more menacing definition of normalcy.
In a country where the population is inured to violence and has resigned itself to persecution, there can be little expectation of political organisation or representation beyond the most illusory. Lulled into catatonia by such pervasive helplessness,
Pakistanis can do little except deny that the violence exists, persecutes and targets them every single day, or stubbornly insist that even if it does, it means little and that life — simply if uncertainly — goes on just as before, with a new definition of normal.
Barbarians at the gate
There is sufficient reason to be worried about the gutless civilian Government in Pakistan abjectly capitulating to the Islamic fanatics of Swat Valley who have prohibited girls from attending school, ordered women to stay at home, instructed parents to give their daughters as ‘wives’ to the Taliban, begun flogging men in public squares, and will soon replace popular entertainment by way of films and music with stoning victims of rape to death in bazaars. With the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi — never mind that we are talking about the Pakistani variety of Mullah Omar’s masked Afghan killers — virtually coming to power in Malakand division of North-West Frontier Province, reducing the secular ANP Government to no more than a nominal ‘authority’ forced to do Islamabad’s bidding, it’s only a matter of time before the geographic expanse of ‘Jihadistan’ increases to consume large chunks of what remains of Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s moth-eaten Pakistan.
It’s really of little or no relevance that last week’s ‘peace deal’ hinges on the imposition of ‘Nizam-e-Adl’, or shari’ah criminal law: Malakand won’t be the only place in the world where limbs will be chopped off for petty offences or women done to death for the crimes of men. Nor should we be unduly impressed by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s description of the Taliban as “murderous thugs and militants” who “pose a danger to Pakistan, the US and India”. Surely he hasn’t forgotten that it was Benazir Bhutto who connived with the ISI to promote the Taliban, nor should he pretend to be ignorant of the fact that it was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who aggressively preached “Islam is the solution, the Islamic Bomb is the means”. Having sent Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the gallows, Gen Zia-ul-Haq could not but have aggressively pushed Islamism and its attendant evils. The poison fruit is now for the PPP and the people of Pakistan to relish.
Mr Arun Jaitley of the BJP was not being facetious when he said that the Taliban are a mere five hours away from India. Parliament may have missed the point and the Prime Minister’s flatterers may be upset that he should have compared the absentee head of Government as a ‘night watchman’, but it would be outright stupid to ignore the fact that the barbarians are at the gate. Let us also bear in mind that the Deobandi madarsas which produced the taliban who then went on to become the Taliban — in Pakistan and Afghanistan — are not entirely dissimilar to the madarsas which have mushroomed across the length and breadth of India, nurtured by both mullahs and their patrons in the ‘secular’ political parties, of which the Congress is just one example.
Let it also be said that the ‘intolerance’ of the Taliban which so alarms us is not specific to the ‘murderous thugs’ of Swat Valley and Kandahar. We have seen dissident Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen being hounded out of Kolkata by Islamic fanatics and forced to leave India by the ‘secular’ UPA Government which now wrings its hands and waxes eloquent on the dangers of the rise of Talibani fanaticism. If only such concern had been expressed over the editor and publisher of The Statesman being arrested for reproducing a scintillating article from The Independent, written by Johann Hari, Mr Anand Sharma’s vapid reaction to the fall of Swat Valley would have carried some conviction. If Pakistan is now paying a steep price for its duplicitous policy of using violent Islamism to further its strategic interests in Afghanistan and bleed India through a ‘thousand cuts’, we too shall pay a price for following a line of least resistance and legitimising appeasement by grafting what the Prime Minister described as “Muslims first” to the policies of an allegedly secular state.
There are other similarities which make India as vulnerable as Pakistan to the scourge of Taliban. For all its emphasis on subjugating the country to the supremacy of Islam, of being one with the ummah, and its repeated proclamation of the equality of Muslims, Pakistan has abysmally failed to deliver good governance. Elected Prime Ministers and military dictators have equally fleeced the country, pushed the masses deeper into poverty, made a mockery of the judicial system, and maintained a dissolute elite’s hegemony over Pakistan’s politics, economy and society. Islamism was once a useful means to distract the masses and silence critics. Islamism now has become a powerful tool to mobilise the masses against the elite. Real grievances and imagined victimhood have coalesced to create a fetid swamp that breeds the deadliest of germs, of which the Taliban is a particularly venomous species.
Cut to India. The vast Muslim underclass remains unaffected and untouched by the Prime Minister’s “Muslims first” creed. While Mr Manmohan Singh spends sleepless nights agonising over the plight of those suspected to be involved in jihadi terrorism, millions of Muslims spend sleepless nights — as do millions of Hindus — wondering where their next meal is going to come from. When the Government decides to reward the families of slain jihadis, it sends out a loud message to Muslims: Take up the gun, die in action, ensure a better life for your families. By casting aspersions on Delhi Police and accusing them of killing ‘innocent’ Muslims, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet colleagues encourage moderates to turn extremists. When madarsas are euologised and Saraswati Sishu Mandir schools are relentlessly demonised, the ulema feel sufficiently emboldened to include hate in their teachings. When the Government slyly allows the setting up of qazi courts, which dispense justice according to shari’ah, and lets them function without so much as a whimper of protest, it tells Muslims that India’s secular justice system is incapable of protecting their interests. When a wholly illegitimate All-India Muslim Personal Law Board is allowed to dictate how Muslims should run their personal lives, the state abdicates its responsibility to its citizens. As in Pakistan, here too the Government has come to believe that Islam is a substitute for jobs, housing and health services. Azamgarh to Alappuzha, Dibrugarh to Dharwad, a fetid swamp similar to that of Pakistan’s is spreading; the ‘Indian Mujahideen’ are the produce of this swamp.
The distance between Swat Valley and Islamabad is 160 km. Jamia Nagar is in Delhi.
It’s really of little or no relevance that last week’s ‘peace deal’ hinges on the imposition of ‘Nizam-e-Adl’, or shari’ah criminal law: Malakand won’t be the only place in the world where limbs will be chopped off for petty offences or women done to death for the crimes of men. Nor should we be unduly impressed by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s description of the Taliban as “murderous thugs and militants” who “pose a danger to Pakistan, the US and India”. Surely he hasn’t forgotten that it was Benazir Bhutto who connived with the ISI to promote the Taliban, nor should he pretend to be ignorant of the fact that it was Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who aggressively preached “Islam is the solution, the Islamic Bomb is the means”. Having sent Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the gallows, Gen Zia-ul-Haq could not but have aggressively pushed Islamism and its attendant evils. The poison fruit is now for the PPP and the people of Pakistan to relish.
Mr Arun Jaitley of the BJP was not being facetious when he said that the Taliban are a mere five hours away from India. Parliament may have missed the point and the Prime Minister’s flatterers may be upset that he should have compared the absentee head of Government as a ‘night watchman’, but it would be outright stupid to ignore the fact that the barbarians are at the gate. Let us also bear in mind that the Deobandi madarsas which produced the taliban who then went on to become the Taliban — in Pakistan and Afghanistan — are not entirely dissimilar to the madarsas which have mushroomed across the length and breadth of India, nurtured by both mullahs and their patrons in the ‘secular’ political parties, of which the Congress is just one example.
Let it also be said that the ‘intolerance’ of the Taliban which so alarms us is not specific to the ‘murderous thugs’ of Swat Valley and Kandahar. We have seen dissident Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen being hounded out of Kolkata by Islamic fanatics and forced to leave India by the ‘secular’ UPA Government which now wrings its hands and waxes eloquent on the dangers of the rise of Talibani fanaticism. If only such concern had been expressed over the editor and publisher of The Statesman being arrested for reproducing a scintillating article from The Independent, written by Johann Hari, Mr Anand Sharma’s vapid reaction to the fall of Swat Valley would have carried some conviction. If Pakistan is now paying a steep price for its duplicitous policy of using violent Islamism to further its strategic interests in Afghanistan and bleed India through a ‘thousand cuts’, we too shall pay a price for following a line of least resistance and legitimising appeasement by grafting what the Prime Minister described as “Muslims first” to the policies of an allegedly secular state.
There are other similarities which make India as vulnerable as Pakistan to the scourge of Taliban. For all its emphasis on subjugating the country to the supremacy of Islam, of being one with the ummah, and its repeated proclamation of the equality of Muslims, Pakistan has abysmally failed to deliver good governance. Elected Prime Ministers and military dictators have equally fleeced the country, pushed the masses deeper into poverty, made a mockery of the judicial system, and maintained a dissolute elite’s hegemony over Pakistan’s politics, economy and society. Islamism was once a useful means to distract the masses and silence critics. Islamism now has become a powerful tool to mobilise the masses against the elite. Real grievances and imagined victimhood have coalesced to create a fetid swamp that breeds the deadliest of germs, of which the Taliban is a particularly venomous species.
Cut to India. The vast Muslim underclass remains unaffected and untouched by the Prime Minister’s “Muslims first” creed. While Mr Manmohan Singh spends sleepless nights agonising over the plight of those suspected to be involved in jihadi terrorism, millions of Muslims spend sleepless nights — as do millions of Hindus — wondering where their next meal is going to come from. When the Government decides to reward the families of slain jihadis, it sends out a loud message to Muslims: Take up the gun, die in action, ensure a better life for your families. By casting aspersions on Delhi Police and accusing them of killing ‘innocent’ Muslims, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet colleagues encourage moderates to turn extremists. When madarsas are euologised and Saraswati Sishu Mandir schools are relentlessly demonised, the ulema feel sufficiently emboldened to include hate in their teachings. When the Government slyly allows the setting up of qazi courts, which dispense justice according to shari’ah, and lets them function without so much as a whimper of protest, it tells Muslims that India’s secular justice system is incapable of protecting their interests. When a wholly illegitimate All-India Muslim Personal Law Board is allowed to dictate how Muslims should run their personal lives, the state abdicates its responsibility to its citizens. As in Pakistan, here too the Government has come to believe that Islam is a substitute for jobs, housing and health services. Azamgarh to Alappuzha, Dibrugarh to Dharwad, a fetid swamp similar to that of Pakistan’s is spreading; the ‘Indian Mujahideen’ are the produce of this swamp.
The distance between Swat Valley and Islamabad is 160 km. Jamia Nagar is in Delhi.
The recent surrender by the Pakistani State to the Taliban in the Swat valley may well turn out to be a watershed in the history of the Indian subcontinent. In terms of long-term impact, this may even overshadow the recent Mumbai massacres. All signs point to the 'Talibanisation' of Pakistan. Here are several pointers:
* I A Rehman writing in the Dawn newspaper on February 12 says 'the Pakistani armed forces were indoctrinated in General Zia-ul Haq's rule to reserve senior posts for genuine Islamists. The Pakistan army may have the capacity to kill hordes of people, but it will not -- and cannot -- do that.' The army and the State may well disintegrate if it does.
* General Ashfaq Kayani, son of a former soldier, is the first non-elite chief of the Pakistani army. Given his socio-economic background, he is more likely to be part of the 'natural' constituency of the Taliban.
* We have the example of Iran -- on February 11, 1979, when the mass upsurge to impose 'Islamic rule' reached its zenith, the Iranian army declared its 'neutrality' in the ongoing conflict. This sealed the fate of the Shah of Iran. A similar happening in Pakistan is very likely.
* Slumdog Jihadis: The Dawn on December 18, 2008, quoted the Pakistan Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Sardar Asef Ahmad Ali that poverty had skyrocketed to above 40 per cent in the country, leaving millions helpless. It is these poor/unemployed/ uneducated people that are cannon fodder for the jihadis. The interrogation of the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist Ajmal Kasab's story fits the bill. There are such 48 million Ajmals waiting in Pakistan to be primed against India.
I found it extraordinary that Indians were always blissfully unaware of developments in their neighbourhood. No ruler of Delhi ever woke up when the enemy crossed the Khyber Pass. The first stirrings of action were usually when the enemy was at the gates, at Panipat, just a day's march from Delhi.
Indians have been made to totally forget the holocaust that they faced in past; the name Hindukush itself means 'Hindu killer', a reminder of the days when thousands of Indians died on the mountain slopes while being taken to Central Asia as slaves.(the Encyclopaedia Britannica quoting a 12th century traveller Ibn Batua)
Nearer our times, the 1981 UN declaration of Universal Human Rights writes; 'Among the genocides of human history, the highest number of people killed in the small span of time is in Bangladesh in 1971. An average of 6,000 to 12 000 people were killed every single day. This is the highest daily average in history.' The lower estimate shows that 15 lakh were killed, a majority of them Hindus. A commission of inquiry appointed by the Pakistan government, the Hamidoor Rehman Commission, has recorded testimonies of Pakistani army officers who have quoted General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi asking the question 'How many Hindus have you killed today?' as a matter of routine. We have forgotten this recent episode as well.
Demography is destiny
Pakistan has a very high rate of population growth. Although it has declined from three percent at the time of the census in 1981 to the present 1.9 per cent it is still the highest among populous countries of more than 50 million, except Nigeria. The more reliable indicator of population growth is the total fertility rate -- the number of children born to a woman in her reproductive span. Pakistan's TFR is four. A TFR of 2.1 is considered replacement level which leads to a stable population.
In Pakistan, the under-15 population is 37 per cent of the total. Given the poor education, health and skills of this youth, they are fodder for jihad and little else. With the mullahs constantly drumming that all of Pakistan's ills are due to the evil Hindu India/Zionist Israel/Christian America troika, Pakistan's biggest export for a long time is likely to be terror.
If by some miracle, Pakistan is to implement population control tomorrow, it will take two to three decades for it to take effect. Even if the re-brainwashing was to begin now, again it is bound to take time. The sad fact is that neither of these things is happening either tomorrow or any time soon.
Impact of the economic meltdown
For decades over 25 percent of the Pakistani labour force was employed in the oil-rich Middle East. With the economic downturn and lower oil prices, the boom is over. The Dubai shopping festival was a flop this year. The returning labour force will only add to the unemployment in the country.
In any case, Pakistan has very little industry and its agriculture is confined to Punjab and parts of Sindh. Most of the country's landmass is arid and unfit for agriculture. Rural poverty will gallop in the near future.
Ripe for implosion
The politics of extremism as represented by the Taliban, the economic meltdown and demographic pressure all point to a major implosion in Pakistan. Are we ready for the fallout?
Despite this threat staring in our face there is a palpable lack of national unity -- another Indian trait. In the last four years, we have let our defence apparatus go to seed, so much so that we have lost the conventional edge over Pakistan.
Given this situation the only option for India is to 'isolate and contain' Pakistan. That still leaves the million dollar question about Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Here one hopes that all those joint exercise with special forces of the US, UK, Israel, China and Russia were in preparation for this very contingency.
If not, then God save the world!
* I A Rehman writing in the Dawn newspaper on February 12 says 'the Pakistani armed forces were indoctrinated in General Zia-ul Haq's rule to reserve senior posts for genuine Islamists. The Pakistan army may have the capacity to kill hordes of people, but it will not -- and cannot -- do that.' The army and the State may well disintegrate if it does.
* General Ashfaq Kayani, son of a former soldier, is the first non-elite chief of the Pakistani army. Given his socio-economic background, he is more likely to be part of the 'natural' constituency of the Taliban.
* We have the example of Iran -- on February 11, 1979, when the mass upsurge to impose 'Islamic rule' reached its zenith, the Iranian army declared its 'neutrality' in the ongoing conflict. This sealed the fate of the Shah of Iran. A similar happening in Pakistan is very likely.
* Slumdog Jihadis: The Dawn on December 18, 2008, quoted the Pakistan Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Sardar Asef Ahmad Ali that poverty had skyrocketed to above 40 per cent in the country, leaving millions helpless. It is these poor/unemployed/ uneducated people that are cannon fodder for the jihadis. The interrogation of the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist Ajmal Kasab's story fits the bill. There are such 48 million Ajmals waiting in Pakistan to be primed against India.
I found it extraordinary that Indians were always blissfully unaware of developments in their neighbourhood. No ruler of Delhi ever woke up when the enemy crossed the Khyber Pass. The first stirrings of action were usually when the enemy was at the gates, at Panipat, just a day's march from Delhi.
Indians have been made to totally forget the holocaust that they faced in past; the name Hindukush itself means 'Hindu killer', a reminder of the days when thousands of Indians died on the mountain slopes while being taken to Central Asia as slaves.(the Encyclopaedia Britannica quoting a 12th century traveller Ibn Batua)
Nearer our times, the 1981 UN declaration of Universal Human Rights writes; 'Among the genocides of human history, the highest number of people killed in the small span of time is in Bangladesh in 1971. An average of 6,000 to 12 000 people were killed every single day. This is the highest daily average in history.' The lower estimate shows that 15 lakh were killed, a majority of them Hindus. A commission of inquiry appointed by the Pakistan government, the Hamidoor Rehman Commission, has recorded testimonies of Pakistani army officers who have quoted General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi asking the question 'How many Hindus have you killed today?' as a matter of routine. We have forgotten this recent episode as well.
Demography is destiny
Pakistan has a very high rate of population growth. Although it has declined from three percent at the time of the census in 1981 to the present 1.9 per cent it is still the highest among populous countries of more than 50 million, except Nigeria. The more reliable indicator of population growth is the total fertility rate -- the number of children born to a woman in her reproductive span. Pakistan's TFR is four. A TFR of 2.1 is considered replacement level which leads to a stable population.
In Pakistan, the under-15 population is 37 per cent of the total. Given the poor education, health and skills of this youth, they are fodder for jihad and little else. With the mullahs constantly drumming that all of Pakistan's ills are due to the evil Hindu India/Zionist Israel/Christian America troika, Pakistan's biggest export for a long time is likely to be terror.
If by some miracle, Pakistan is to implement population control tomorrow, it will take two to three decades for it to take effect. Even if the re-brainwashing was to begin now, again it is bound to take time. The sad fact is that neither of these things is happening either tomorrow or any time soon.
Impact of the economic meltdown
For decades over 25 percent of the Pakistani labour force was employed in the oil-rich Middle East. With the economic downturn and lower oil prices, the boom is over. The Dubai shopping festival was a flop this year. The returning labour force will only add to the unemployment in the country.
In any case, Pakistan has very little industry and its agriculture is confined to Punjab and parts of Sindh. Most of the country's landmass is arid and unfit for agriculture. Rural poverty will gallop in the near future.
Ripe for implosion
The politics of extremism as represented by the Taliban, the economic meltdown and demographic pressure all point to a major implosion in Pakistan. Are we ready for the fallout?
Despite this threat staring in our face there is a palpable lack of national unity -- another Indian trait. In the last four years, we have let our defence apparatus go to seed, so much so that we have lost the conventional edge over Pakistan.
Given this situation the only option for India is to 'isolate and contain' Pakistan. That still leaves the million dollar question about Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Here one hopes that all those joint exercise with special forces of the US, UK, Israel, China and Russia were in preparation for this very contingency.
If not, then God save the world!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The corrupt Government and Ivestigation agency
Agency has sold its soul, say legal luminaries
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) acted under the Centre's
directive in seeking to bail out Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav in the disproportionate assets case. The CBI's admission in the
Supreme Court on Tuesday sent shock waves among legal luminaries, with
senior advocate KTS Tulsi even saying the CBI "has sold its soul".
Making the startling disclosure, Additional Solicitor General (ASG)
Mohan Parasaran said the CBI's plea to withdraw an earlier letter for
Mulayam's prosecution was based on the Union Law Ministry's
instructions.
The shocking revelation is another low in the disgraceful history of an
organisation that has invited regular criticism for being a "puppet" of
the Central Government. The CBI's role in Bofors accused Ottavio
Quattorocchi' s escape and de-freezing of his London accounts, its
refusal to challenge RJD chief Lalu Prasad's acquittal in the fodder
scam and its flip-flop on corruption cases against BSP supremo Mayawati
have earned it a great deal of notoriety.
On October 26, 2007, the agency had filed an application seeking
permission to table its investigation report before the Supreme Court.
The CBI had then held that there was prima facie evidence to nail
Mulayam Singh and his kin in corruption cases. Those were the days when
the SP and the Congress were on opposite sides of the political divide.
But after the SP came closer to the UPA and bailed out the Manmohan
Singh Government by voting in favour of the confidence motion, the CBI
took an about-turn. On December 6, 2008, the agency filed an application
to withdraw its earlier request to table charges against Mulayam, which
could have led to his prosecution. The agency said it had received
representation from Mulayam to reconsider the evidences and cited this
reason for the flip-flop.
"We proceeded to take the view of the Law Minister whether to take
action on Mulayam's representations. We received opinion from the Law
Ministry to withdraw the October 2007 application and file a fresh
application dated November 26, 2008, which was filed in the court on
December 6. On that opinion, we filed the fresh application, " the ASG
added.
The CBI's submission stunned the court, forcing the Bench of Justices
Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph to remark, "So you were acting at the
behest of the Law Ministry. You were not acting independently. What you
just now said is something unusual."
Digging deeper, the Bench asked, "Is this the only case where the CBI
has followed the practice of referring for opinion to the Law Ministry
or has it been resorting to this in the past also?" The ASG replied, "In
the past also, we have referred (cases) for their opinion. I have stated
the facts as they are."
The Bench sought to know what stopped the agency from approaching the
court on considering the representations. It was on March 1, 2007, that
the apex court had directed the CBI to investigate into the
disproportionate assets of Mulayam, his two sons Akhilesh and Prateek,
and daughter-in- law Dimple on a PIL filed by one Vishwanath Chaturvedi.
"Why did you go to the Central Government? Why didn't you approach us?"
the Bench asked.
It also asked, "When the investigation was completed and you received
additional material, does anything stand in way of your examining it?"
The ASG replied in the negative. This gave the court sufficient proof to
hold the CBI at fault.
Finding itself in a rather sticky position, Solicitor General GE
Vahanvati chose to remain neutral. Appearing for the Centre, he
clarified, "We don't want to take any decision in this matter. Let the
CBI consider the representation and submit report to the court."
The CBI's admission, however, gave sufficient ammunition to petitioner
Chaturvedi and Mulayam and his kin to take potshots at the agency's foul
play.
Leading the attack was senior advocate Harish Salve, who hinted at the
CBI report being replete with errors and falsehoods, such as Rs 1 lakh
being shown as Rs 10 lakh and a non-existing hotel valued as an asset of
Mulayam. Salve said, "I said it then and I say it now that the CBI is
not to be trusted with investigations in this case."
Referring to the CBI report available in the public domain, a fact that
attracted shock and anguish from the court, Salve blamed the CBI for
"select leak" of the report designed to tarnish his client's image.
Offering to get the Augean stables cleaned for once, Salve offered to be
probed by a judicial authority in place of the CBI.
Amused by this suggestion, the Bench remarked, "It was Hercules who
cleaned the Augean stables. Where do you get a Hercules?" The concern of
the Bench resonated in the arguments of senior advocate KTS Tulsi, who
appeared for Chaturvedi. Referring to a catena of Supreme Court
decisions and the CBI manual, Tulsi suggested that the apex court since
the 1991 Veeraswamy case was concerned to preserve the CBI's
independence.
Quoting the CBI manual, which requires the preliminary inquiry report in
court-directed cases to be deposited with the court, Tulsi added, "It is
not that the CBI does not know the law. It only shows that CBI has sold
its soul."
The counsels appearing for Mulayam's kin demanded that the CBI's
application ought to be decided along with the review petitions being
heard by the court filed by them. Salve raised the plank that his client
was a victim of political vendetta at the behest of the petitioner, who
was a "professed" Congress activist. In this regard, he referred to a
taped conversation of Chaturvedi where he bared out his vested interest
by showing the judiciary in poor light. On his part, Chaturvedi's
counsel requested the court to provide security to his client in the
wake of the threats received.
The court allowed Salve to file additional material in the form of CDs
and related affidavit. Posting the matter for March 31, it left open the
question whether the hearing pertaining to the taped conversation should
be held in camera. The Bench directed the UP Government to ensure
security to Chaturvedi as requested by him.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) acted under the Centre's
directive in seeking to bail out Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav in the disproportionate assets case. The CBI's admission in the
Supreme Court on Tuesday sent shock waves among legal luminaries, with
senior advocate KTS Tulsi even saying the CBI "has sold its soul".
Making the startling disclosure, Additional Solicitor General (ASG)
Mohan Parasaran said the CBI's plea to withdraw an earlier letter for
Mulayam's prosecution was based on the Union Law Ministry's
instructions.
The shocking revelation is another low in the disgraceful history of an
organisation that has invited regular criticism for being a "puppet" of
the Central Government. The CBI's role in Bofors accused Ottavio
Quattorocchi' s escape and de-freezing of his London accounts, its
refusal to challenge RJD chief Lalu Prasad's acquittal in the fodder
scam and its flip-flop on corruption cases against BSP supremo Mayawati
have earned it a great deal of notoriety.
On October 26, 2007, the agency had filed an application seeking
permission to table its investigation report before the Supreme Court.
The CBI had then held that there was prima facie evidence to nail
Mulayam Singh and his kin in corruption cases. Those were the days when
the SP and the Congress were on opposite sides of the political divide.
But after the SP came closer to the UPA and bailed out the Manmohan
Singh Government by voting in favour of the confidence motion, the CBI
took an about-turn. On December 6, 2008, the agency filed an application
to withdraw its earlier request to table charges against Mulayam, which
could have led to his prosecution. The agency said it had received
representation from Mulayam to reconsider the evidences and cited this
reason for the flip-flop.
"We proceeded to take the view of the Law Minister whether to take
action on Mulayam's representations. We received opinion from the Law
Ministry to withdraw the October 2007 application and file a fresh
application dated November 26, 2008, which was filed in the court on
December 6. On that opinion, we filed the fresh application, " the ASG
added.
The CBI's submission stunned the court, forcing the Bench of Justices
Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph to remark, "So you were acting at the
behest of the Law Ministry. You were not acting independently. What you
just now said is something unusual."
Digging deeper, the Bench asked, "Is this the only case where the CBI
has followed the practice of referring for opinion to the Law Ministry
or has it been resorting to this in the past also?" The ASG replied, "In
the past also, we have referred (cases) for their opinion. I have stated
the facts as they are."
The Bench sought to know what stopped the agency from approaching the
court on considering the representations. It was on March 1, 2007, that
the apex court had directed the CBI to investigate into the
disproportionate assets of Mulayam, his two sons Akhilesh and Prateek,
and daughter-in- law Dimple on a PIL filed by one Vishwanath Chaturvedi.
"Why did you go to the Central Government? Why didn't you approach us?"
the Bench asked.
It also asked, "When the investigation was completed and you received
additional material, does anything stand in way of your examining it?"
The ASG replied in the negative. This gave the court sufficient proof to
hold the CBI at fault.
Finding itself in a rather sticky position, Solicitor General GE
Vahanvati chose to remain neutral. Appearing for the Centre, he
clarified, "We don't want to take any decision in this matter. Let the
CBI consider the representation and submit report to the court."
The CBI's admission, however, gave sufficient ammunition to petitioner
Chaturvedi and Mulayam and his kin to take potshots at the agency's foul
play.
Leading the attack was senior advocate Harish Salve, who hinted at the
CBI report being replete with errors and falsehoods, such as Rs 1 lakh
being shown as Rs 10 lakh and a non-existing hotel valued as an asset of
Mulayam. Salve said, "I said it then and I say it now that the CBI is
not to be trusted with investigations in this case."
Referring to the CBI report available in the public domain, a fact that
attracted shock and anguish from the court, Salve blamed the CBI for
"select leak" of the report designed to tarnish his client's image.
Offering to get the Augean stables cleaned for once, Salve offered to be
probed by a judicial authority in place of the CBI.
Amused by this suggestion, the Bench remarked, "It was Hercules who
cleaned the Augean stables. Where do you get a Hercules?" The concern of
the Bench resonated in the arguments of senior advocate KTS Tulsi, who
appeared for Chaturvedi. Referring to a catena of Supreme Court
decisions and the CBI manual, Tulsi suggested that the apex court since
the 1991 Veeraswamy case was concerned to preserve the CBI's
independence.
Quoting the CBI manual, which requires the preliminary inquiry report in
court-directed cases to be deposited with the court, Tulsi added, "It is
not that the CBI does not know the law. It only shows that CBI has sold
its soul."
The counsels appearing for Mulayam's kin demanded that the CBI's
application ought to be decided along with the review petitions being
heard by the court filed by them. Salve raised the plank that his client
was a victim of political vendetta at the behest of the petitioner, who
was a "professed" Congress activist. In this regard, he referred to a
taped conversation of Chaturvedi where he bared out his vested interest
by showing the judiciary in poor light. On his part, Chaturvedi's
counsel requested the court to provide security to his client in the
wake of the threats received.
The court allowed Salve to file additional material in the form of CDs
and related affidavit. Posting the matter for March 31, it left open the
question whether the hearing pertaining to the taped conversation should
be held in camera. The Bench directed the UP Government to ensure
security to Chaturvedi as requested by him.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The rotten judicial system of India
The root cause of the delay in judicial system is the judges who
only give another date, instead of deciding the case before them.
Adjournment of cases without sufficinent cause,should be treated
as "non-performance" of duties, for which judges should be
answerable and accountable to all concerned. Currently, there is no
stigma attached to non-performance of judicial duties by the judges.
According to Articles 227 and 235 of the Constitution of India, High
Courts have control over District Court and Subordinate Courts.There
is a strong case for extending this to identify, admonish and take
administrative measures against "non-performing" judges of
subordinate courts, who prefer to adjourn cases instead of deciding
them.
High Courts have excessive burden on account of cases pending before
them and have no time for excercising effective control. They are
also guilty of "adjourning instead of deciding cases"; therefore
such non-performance by subordinate courts is treated vey lightly.
High Courts should strengthen administrative support to carry out
their duties under Article 227/235 in a thorough manner, to find
solution to the rot in subordinate courts.
If RTI is used to demand public records about superintendance of
High Court over subordinate courts, one can gather "documentary
evidence" regarding non-performance of constitutional duties by the
High Court. It is in public interest to find effective solution to
excessive judicial delays.
Lawyers can not be expected to solve this problem: they thrive on it
and it is a matter of their rozi-roti. Lawyers may prefer to oppose
any change in legal process that may have adverse effect on their
income.
only give another date, instead of deciding the case before them.
Adjournment of cases without sufficinent cause,should be treated
as "non-performance" of duties, for which judges should be
answerable and accountable to all concerned. Currently, there is no
stigma attached to non-performance of judicial duties by the judges.
According to Articles 227 and 235 of the Constitution of India, High
Courts have control over District Court and Subordinate Courts.There
is a strong case for extending this to identify, admonish and take
administrative measures against "non-performing" judges of
subordinate courts, who prefer to adjourn cases instead of deciding
them.
High Courts have excessive burden on account of cases pending before
them and have no time for excercising effective control. They are
also guilty of "adjourning instead of deciding cases"; therefore
such non-performance by subordinate courts is treated vey lightly.
High Courts should strengthen administrative support to carry out
their duties under Article 227/235 in a thorough manner, to find
solution to the rot in subordinate courts.
If RTI is used to demand public records about superintendance of
High Court over subordinate courts, one can gather "documentary
evidence" regarding non-performance of constitutional duties by the
High Court. It is in public interest to find effective solution to
excessive judicial delays.
Lawyers can not be expected to solve this problem: they thrive on it
and it is a matter of their rozi-roti. Lawyers may prefer to oppose
any change in legal process that may have adverse effect on their
income.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
श्रीराम सेना का रास्ता
मंगलूर के एक पब में शराब पीने वाली लड़कियों की पिटाई के मामले ने जैसा राजनीतिक रंग अख्तियार किया है उससे देश में सात्विक सोच रखने वालों की मानसिक पीड़ा में भले वृद्धि हुई हो, लेकिन किसी को आश्चर्य नहीं हुआ है। हमारी राजनीति अपनी ही निर्धारित कसौटियों पर जिस अध:पतन की ओर अग्रसर है उसमें किसी भी मुद्दे पर विवेक से राष्ट्रहित के लक्ष्य से आचरण करने की कल्पना अब बेमानी हो चुकी है। यह दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है, क्योंकि इसके कारण आम आदमी के लिए कौन सही है और कौन गलत, यह फैसला करना कठिन हो जाता है। मंगलूर मामले में भी यही स्थिति है। किसी भी परिस्थिति में हिंसा का समर्थन नहीं किया जा सकता। चाहे कारण कितना भी न्यायसंगत हो, हिसंक विरोध से केवल नकारात्मक संदेश ही निकलता है। श्रीराम सेना के कार्यकर्ताओं द्वारा अपनाया गया तरीका गलत है। कुछ लोग इसे कानून अपने हाथ में लेना कह सकते हैं, लेकिन आंदोलन करने वालों को कानून-व्यवस्था के वास्तविक चेहरे का बेहतर अहसास है। बावजूद इसके ऐसे अराजक विरोध की इजाजत किसी को नहीं मिलनी चाहिए, किंतु इसका यह भी अर्थ नहीं कि गलत तरीके से विरोध करने के कारण मुद्दा भी गलत हो गया। तर्क दिया जा सकता है कि पब को सरकार ने लाइसेंस दिया है और उसमें यह कहीं नहीं लिखा कि लड़कियां/ महिलाएं वहां शराब नहीं पी सकतीं। संविधान एवं कानून हमारे यहां स्त्री-पुरुषों के बीच भेद नहीं करता तो फिर कोई लड़की/ महिला यदि पब में शराब पी रही है या डांस कर रही है तो इससे किसी को आपत्ति क्यों होनी चाहिए? आखिर पुरुष वही सब करें तो आपत्ति नहीं है और महिला करे तो इतनी आपत्ति कि उन्हें भयभीत करने के लिए हिंसा तक का सहारा लिया जाए। श्रीराम सेना के नेता प्रमोद मुथालिक ने कहा है कि वे भारतीय संस्कृति बचाने के लिए लड़कियों को अनैतिक होने से बचाना चाहते हैं। श्रीराम सेना की संस्कृति, अनैतिकता एवं अश्लीलता की परिभाषा से असहमति हो सकती है और यह भी प्रश्न किया जा सकता है कि आपको इसकी ठेकेदारी किसने दी, किंतु लोकतंत्र यदि आपको सरकारी लाइसेंस से कुछ करने का अधिकार देता है तो दूसरे को उसका विरोध करने का भी उतना ही अधिकार है। हिंसक विरोध का तो प्रतिकार होना चाहिए, लेकिन विरोध होना ही नहीं चाहिए, ऐसी दलीलें गैर वाजिब हैं। श्रीराम सेना का विरोध करने की सीमित मानसिकता में हम यह भूल रहे हैं कि शराबखोरी का सबसे ज्यादा दुष्परिणाम महिलाओं को ही झेलना पड़ता है। पिछले कुछ सालों में शराब की दुकानों या ठेके बंद करवाने का अंादोलन जहां भी तीखा हुआ उसकी अगुआई महिलाओं ने ही की है। वस्तुत: सारी समस्या पूरे प्रकरण को गलत नजरिये से देखने एवं राजनीतिक दलों द्वारा इसे राजनीतिक रंग देने के फलस्वरुप पैदा हुई है। श्रीराम सेना की यह सोच बचकानी है कि ऐसे विरोधों से वह भारतीय संस्कृति की रक्षा करेगी या महिलाओं या संपूर्ण समाज को अनैतिक होने से बचा लेगी, लेकिन यह एक हिंदुत्ववादी संगठन है और इस समय कर्नाटक में भाजपा की सरकार है इसलिए विरोधियों द्वारा उसे निशाना बनाना बिल्कुल आसान है।
दुनिया में मार्ग दुर्घटनाओं पर काम करने वाले बार-बार यह साबित कर रहे हैं कि इनमें बड़ी संख्या उन चालकों की है जो शराब पिए थे। शराबबंदी आंदोलन के समर्थक बार-बार आंकड़े देकर यह साबित करने का प्रयास करते हैं कि इससे होने वाली आमदनी से इसके कारण होने वालों अपराधों के नियंत्रण एवं उनकी कानूनी कार्रवाइयों पर खर्च कहीं ज्यादा है। इन आंकड़ों पर सहमति कठिन है, लेकिन हमें शराब पर महात्मा गांधी के विचार जानने चाहिए: उनका कहना था,''आपको ऊपर से ठीक दिखाई देनेवाली इस दलील के भुलावे में नहीं आना चाहिए कि शराबबंदी जोर-जबरदस्ती के आधार पर नहीं होनी चाहिए और जो लोग शराब पीना चाहते हैं उन्हें इसकी सुविधाएं मिलनी ही चाहिए। राज्य का यह कर्तव्य नहीं है कि वह अपनी प्रजा के कुटेवों के लिए अपनी ओर से सुविधाएं दे। हम वेश्यालयों को अपना व्यवसाय चलाने की अनुमति पत्र नहीं देते। इसी तरह हम चोरों को अपनी चोरी की प्रवृत्ति पूरी करने की सुविधाएं नहीं देते। मैं शराब को चोरी और व्यभिचार, दोनों से ज्यादा निंद्य मानता हूं।'' आज अगर गांधी जिंदा होते तो शराब के समर्थक उन्हें भी प्रतिगामी घोषित कर देते। उन्होंने सोचा भी नहीं होगा कि कभी ऐसा दिन जाएगा जब विकास के नाम पर शराब या ऐसे अन्य नशे को सरकार की सुरक्षा इसलिए मिलेगी कि इससे कर राजस्व प्राप्त होता है। जाहिर है कि इस बुराई को दूर करना होगा, किंतु इसके लिए अहिंसक रास्ता अपनाया जाना चाहिए।
दुनिया में मार्ग दुर्घटनाओं पर काम करने वाले बार-बार यह साबित कर रहे हैं कि इनमें बड़ी संख्या उन चालकों की है जो शराब पिए थे। शराबबंदी आंदोलन के समर्थक बार-बार आंकड़े देकर यह साबित करने का प्रयास करते हैं कि इससे होने वाली आमदनी से इसके कारण होने वालों अपराधों के नियंत्रण एवं उनकी कानूनी कार्रवाइयों पर खर्च कहीं ज्यादा है। इन आंकड़ों पर सहमति कठिन है, लेकिन हमें शराब पर महात्मा गांधी के विचार जानने चाहिए: उनका कहना था,''आपको ऊपर से ठीक दिखाई देनेवाली इस दलील के भुलावे में नहीं आना चाहिए कि शराबबंदी जोर-जबरदस्ती के आधार पर नहीं होनी चाहिए और जो लोग शराब पीना चाहते हैं उन्हें इसकी सुविधाएं मिलनी ही चाहिए। राज्य का यह कर्तव्य नहीं है कि वह अपनी प्रजा के कुटेवों के लिए अपनी ओर से सुविधाएं दे। हम वेश्यालयों को अपना व्यवसाय चलाने की अनुमति पत्र नहीं देते। इसी तरह हम चोरों को अपनी चोरी की प्रवृत्ति पूरी करने की सुविधाएं नहीं देते। मैं शराब को चोरी और व्यभिचार, दोनों से ज्यादा निंद्य मानता हूं।'' आज अगर गांधी जिंदा होते तो शराब के समर्थक उन्हें भी प्रतिगामी घोषित कर देते। उन्होंने सोचा भी नहीं होगा कि कभी ऐसा दिन जाएगा जब विकास के नाम पर शराब या ऐसे अन्य नशे को सरकार की सुरक्षा इसलिए मिलेगी कि इससे कर राजस्व प्राप्त होता है। जाहिर है कि इस बुराई को दूर करना होगा, किंतु इसके लिए अहिंसक रास्ता अपनाया जाना चाहिए।
Golden Words of Hitler:
When u r in light, everything will follow u. But when u enter dark, even your own shadow
will not follow u
that is life
God made relatives. Thank God we can choose our friends
Money glitters, beauty sparkles, and intelligence shines.
Keep a very firm grasp on reality, so you can strangle it at any time.
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're getting.
People may not always believe what you say, but they will believe what you do.
I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.
You can't have everything - where would you put it?
Laugh and the world ignore you. Crying doesn't help either.
God is not moved or impressed with our worship until our hearts are moved and impressed by Him.
Life is like a mirror, if you frown at it, it frowns back; if you smile, it returns the greeting.
Never trust a person who isn't having at least one crisis.
Goodness is the only investment that never fails.
The only thing lazy people do fast is get tired.
Never deprive someone of hope; it may be all they have.
Silence is the only thing that can't be misquoted!
If we don't control our money, it will control us.
Life Insurance: A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die rich..
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.
If you r living on the edge, make sure you're wearing your seat belt.
A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.
Minds, like parachutes, only function when they are open.
The shortest distance between two points is under construction.
Learn from other people's mistakes, life isn't long enough to make them all yourself.
On the road, never argue with a vehicle heavier than yours.
One thing you can give and still keep is your word.
Life is funny if you don't think about it.
Life is like a grammar lesson. You find the past perfect and the present tense.
There are two kinds of lawyers, those who know the law and those who know the judge.
More doors are opened with 'please' than with keys.
Friday, February 6, 2009
worlds biggest Failures
To succeed in business or life we must continually take remedial actions. Putting yourself on the line day after day can be extremely draining, especially when things do not work out as desired. Hence, each time a disappointing event happens, I like to get reminded of these famous failures:
Bill Gates founder and chairman of Microsoft, has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 21st century, by simplifying the way computer is being used. He was the world's richest man for more than one decade. However, in the 1970's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that, he started a software company (that was soon to become Microsoft) by purchasing the software technology from "someone" for only $US50 back then.
Abraham Lincoln received no more than 5 years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America.
Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Isaac was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became clueless in improving his grades.
Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. His reputation has inspired ? and in many cases intimidated ? composers, musicians and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music ? a deaf man composing music, ironic isn't!
Thomas Edison who developed many devices that greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S patents to his name. When he was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.
The Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original five-and-ten- cent stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth and soon grew to become one of the largest retail chains in the world in the 20th century. Before starting his own business, Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his employer would not let him serve any customer because he concluded that Frank "didn't have enough common sense to serve the customers".
By acclamation, Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player of all time. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire. Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Before joining NBA, Jordan was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that was he was removed from the high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".
Walter Disney was American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. One of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world, Disney founded a production company. The corporation, now known as The Walt Disney Company, makes average revenue of US $30 billion annually. Disney started his own business from his home garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt. During his first press conference, a newspaper editor ridiculed Walt Disney because he had no good ideas in film production.
Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. However, that never stopped him to work harder! He strived and eventually became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in Britain and world history. In a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the "100 Greatest Britons", participants voted Churchill as the most important of all.
Steven Spielberg is an American film director. He has won 3 Academy Awards and ranks among the most successful filmmakers in history. Most of all, Steven was recognized as the financially most successful motion picture director of all time. During his childhood, Spielberg dropped out of junior high school. He was persuaded to come back and was placed in a learning-disabled class. He only lasted a month and then dropped out of school forever.
Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". However, when Einstein was young, his parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit, saying, "Einstein, you will never amount to anything!"
In 1947, one year into her contract, Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because her producer thought she was unattractive and could not act. That didn't deter her at all! She kept on going and eventually she was recognized by the public as the 20th century's most famous movie star, sex symbol and pop icon.
John Grisham's first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses. He went on writing and writing until he became best known as a novelist and author for his works of modern legal drama. The media has coined him as one of the best novel authors even alive in the 21st century.
Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world. He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society. His combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers has initiated a management school known as "Fordism". He became one of the three most famous and richest men in the world during his time.
Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation during a job interview as "engineer" after World War Two. He continued to be jobless until his neighbours starting buying his "home-made scooters". Subsequently, he set out on his own to start his own company. Honda. Today, the Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the most profitable automakers - beating giant automaker such as GM and Chrysler. With a global network of 437 subsidiaries, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.
Akio Morita, founder of giant electric household products, Sony Corporation, first product was an electric rice cooker, only sold 100 cookers (because it burned rice rather than cooking). Today, Sony generates US$66 billion in revenue and ranked as the world's 6th largest electronic and electrical company.
Bill Gates founder and chairman of Microsoft, has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 21st century, by simplifying the way computer is being used. He was the world's richest man for more than one decade. However, in the 1970's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that, he started a software company (that was soon to become Microsoft) by purchasing the software technology from "someone" for only $US50 back then.
Abraham Lincoln received no more than 5 years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America.
Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Isaac was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became clueless in improving his grades.
Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. His reputation has inspired ? and in many cases intimidated ? composers, musicians and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music ? a deaf man composing music, ironic isn't!
Thomas Edison who developed many devices that greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S patents to his name. When he was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.
The Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original five-and-ten- cent stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth and soon grew to become one of the largest retail chains in the world in the 20th century. Before starting his own business, Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his employer would not let him serve any customer because he concluded that Frank "didn't have enough common sense to serve the customers".
By acclamation, Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player of all time. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire. Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Before joining NBA, Jordan was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that was he was removed from the high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".
Walter Disney was American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor and animator. One of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world, Disney founded a production company. The corporation, now known as The Walt Disney Company, makes average revenue of US $30 billion annually. Disney started his own business from his home garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt. During his first press conference, a newspaper editor ridiculed Walt Disney because he had no good ideas in film production.
Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. However, that never stopped him to work harder! He strived and eventually became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in Britain and world history. In a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the "100 Greatest Britons", participants voted Churchill as the most important of all.
Steven Spielberg is an American film director. He has won 3 Academy Awards and ranks among the most successful filmmakers in history. Most of all, Steven was recognized as the financially most successful motion picture director of all time. During his childhood, Spielberg dropped out of junior high school. He was persuaded to come back and was placed in a learning-disabled class. He only lasted a month and then dropped out of school forever.
Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". However, when Einstein was young, his parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit, saying, "Einstein, you will never amount to anything!"
In 1947, one year into her contract, Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because her producer thought she was unattractive and could not act. That didn't deter her at all! She kept on going and eventually she was recognized by the public as the 20th century's most famous movie star, sex symbol and pop icon.
John Grisham's first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses. He went on writing and writing until he became best known as a novelist and author for his works of modern legal drama. The media has coined him as one of the best novel authors even alive in the 21st century.
Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world. He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society. His combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers has initiated a management school known as "Fordism". He became one of the three most famous and richest men in the world during his time.
Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation during a job interview as "engineer" after World War Two. He continued to be jobless until his neighbours starting buying his "home-made scooters". Subsequently, he set out on his own to start his own company. Honda. Today, the Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the most profitable automakers - beating giant automaker such as GM and Chrysler. With a global network of 437 subsidiaries, Honda develops, manufactures and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.
Akio Morita, founder of giant electric household products, Sony Corporation, first product was an electric rice cooker, only sold 100 cookers (because it burned rice rather than cooking). Today, Sony generates US$66 billion in revenue and ranked as the world's 6th largest electronic and electrical company.
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