Foreign Policy Blunder I: Kashmir

There are political leaders and there are statesmen. There is a big difference. Sardar Patel was a statesman. Nehru was a politician. Narsimha Rao and Atalji were statesmen to a minor degree. Indira Gandhi was a politician. Statesmen are blessed with a vision, wisdom to formulate strategies. Politicians are blessed with all kinds of tricks for their survival. Of course one can say that to call someone a statesman based on hindsight is wrong. But that is precisely the point. Statesmen are like chess players who can see a few moves ahead or like a statistician who can extrapolate graphs and make predictions. It’s not magic. In India there have been many foreign policy blunders. We elected the leaders. They made mistakes. It is our fault. But since we are paying for it, it is our right to examine and even criticize. Maj Gen Mrinal Suman has written an article where he has examined seven blunders. It is an excellent article in its own right but I am going to examine and add to his analysis of individual blunder. The first in this series is:

The Kashmir Mess

Every hot spot in the world with a territorial dispute has a British hand in it. J&K mess has there grubby paws all over it. When they were leaving, they decided and convinced others in the west that a Muslim Pakistan was going to be a better bulwark against the spread of communism than a Hindu India. They would painfully realise their mistake as we all know. In an review of a book (referred below), Mr. Sriram Chaulia says “Briefed that the "area of Pakistan is strategically the most important in the continent of India and the majority of our strategic requirements could be met … by an agreement with Pakistan alone" (p 17), Mountbatten and the British personnel on the ground knew whom not to displease if it really came to a choice between India and Pakistan”.

It was clear that the British were going to side with the Pakistanis in all territorial disputes. Their machinations failed in Junagadh because of Sardar Patel’s intervention but they made sure that same thing did not happen in J&K. It is also said in the article “Before the Pakistani "tribal" invasion of Kashmir in October 1947, General Lockhart was secretly informed by his British counterpart in Rawalpindi of the preparations underway for the raids. The commander-in-chief shared the crucial information with his two other British service chiefs but not with the Indian government”. The chips were stacked against us. The British were conniving and our leadership very trusting and pliant (the Sardar could only do so much).

Gen Suman points out two things:

First, India erred by not insisting on unequivocal accession of the state to the Dominion of India and granted special status to it through Article 380 of the Constitution.

Secondly, when on the verge of evicting all invaders and recapturing the complete state, India halted operations on 1 January 1949 and appealed to the Security Council. It is the only case in known history wherein a country, when on the threshold of complete victory, has voluntarily forsaken it in the misplaced hope of winning admiration of the world community.

What this tells me is that despite of some exceptional leadership provided by the intrepid Sardar Patel, we had no chance of coming out ahead in this mess with the actual leadership in the hands of Nehru. I do not know how much did Mahatma Gandhi have to do with all this but his role could not have been the kind that would have gotten us the entire J&K. Our leaders were at best naïve and at worst gullible. Because of them, 40% of J&K is in the hands of Pakistanis and (even worse) Chinese. The godless Chinese can take a dip I the Kailash Mansarovar but you and I may get that chance in another life. The Chinese machinations in J&K are no secret. They are using the loyal Pakistanis to ensure that they can effectively surround us when they need to. All this could have been avoided if we had a leader with a vision and courage rather than survival instincts and hubris.

Maj Gen Mrinal Suman's article can be read at: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/07/seven-blunders-that-will-haunt-india-for-posterity.html Mr. Chaulia's article can be read at: http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DE22Df01.html The image is from: http://0km.jp/?tag=Jammu

Is another major terror attack in the offing ?

Our Prime Minister, and I must say here that I am ashamed of being an Indian because that kind of a man is elected as a PM, reduced a cricket match with Pakistan first to some sort of an Aman Ki Asha show, and then to a full fledged diplomatic initiative smelling like “Thimpu spirit” ! He has basically sent out a message that he trusts Pakistan. That Pakistani government and people neither were involved in horrendous terror attacks nor desire that such terror attacks take place. He has virtually absolved Pakistani government and people of any complicity in Mumbai terror attacks. This is truly an atrocity in itself. In the face of a horror such as Mumbai, no nation would have been consolable before proper punishment was meted out to the perpetrators. It is the depth to which this government has plunged India into that we are willing to literally sup with criminals who either carried out terror attacks or knew about them or willingly harbor terrorists. If we go by the past, Pakistan is likely to use this opportunity to launch another horror on India. In the aftermath of Mumbai, it would be nearly impossible to do so again without risking a full fledged war in which they would be isolated. But they wait for opportunities such as the one Manmohan Singh has presented them with. In such a scenario, when a terror attack takes place, it is impossible for India to take a tough line with Pakistan. If Pakistan cannot successfully deny it's involvement, it will take the other tack. It will blame it on “non state actors” who are subjecting Pakistan also to terror. In reality, the terror attacks against India are carried out with full involvement of it's army. I am convinced even the government knows about such “operations” beforehand and the people of Pakistan are happy to reduce India to a pathetic state where it is slapped in the face and is helpless to take revenge. If indeed, as Manmohan Singh's actions seem to suggest, Pakistani government and people are acting in good faith, why don't they hand over the likes of Dawood to us ? Why don't the TV channels film his presence in Pakistan and show it to all the world ? Why do we find who's who of Pakistani society in marriages of his children ? Pakistani people are happy to see terror attacks on India. This can be easily concluded from their past behavior. They have lost the race of development to people they hated from the core of their hearts and a terror attack which indeed makes India look helpless and pathetic, soothes that sentiment of defeat and rage. Against such mindset, India should never have lowered it's guard. The correct posture vis – a – vis Pakistan should have been that if there is another terror attack, a war is inevitable, even if it involves nuclear weapons. It would be easy to send such a message to the world because this is one issue on which the world would have no face to show to India. But the guard is kept up by those who feel some responsibility towards to the people they lead. Those whose existence is centered around keeping themselves in power at any cost cannot care less about lives and dignities of people and the nation. They are cynical to the point of being sleazy. I would put Manmohan Singh in that category along with much of the UPA. They have put Pakistan in a situation, through their mealy mouthed talk about “reconciliation”, where Pakistan can again carry out another Mumbai without serious risk of punitive action. You cannot sing songs of bhai-chara and dine with someone today, and tell him tomorrow that you are a bloody terrorist who deserves to be taken out. As a result of these shenanigans of Manmohan Singh and UPA, aimed at winning votes of Indian Muslims, Indian people are at serious risk. I foresee loss of a few hundred lives and deep humiliation for India once again. May God prove me wrong. The picture is from http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-cricket-dinner-and-diplomacy-in-mohali/20110331.htm

Jaitley, Alphons and The BJP

Wikileaks now reveals that Arun Jaitley told a US diplomat that the Hindutva agenda is “incidental” i.e. it is a matter of opportunism and a ruse to get votes like secularism is for Congress. From the BJP point of view this is a little disconcerting. However, if you know the America, which is a Christian country and has a distrust of all non-Semitic religions then you know that there is a good reason behind it. When you are talking to one of your biggest business partners and worlds sole hyper power (at least for now) then you tell them what they want to hear rather than something that will make them step back and re-evaluate. Around the same time when this event happened, the liberal Indian media was in full attack mode on the BJP. New York Times op-ed had described the BJP and RSS as the Indian KKK (a racist organization in the USA). With that in mind how could Jaitley tell the US diplomat that Hindutva was key to the BJP agenda? Of course it is for the BJP leadership to find out the real truth. If Jaitley was telling the truth to the US diplomat then the BJP supporters need to step back and re-evaluate. Of course no sooner than this was revealed than the Congress attack dogs found an opening. Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Arun Jaitley's reported comment that the Bharatiya Janata Party was using Hindutva as an opportunistic tool has exposed the real face of the party and demand an apology from him. Well, what Sibal does not realize is that without Hindutva, they will have no excuse left to criticize the BJP led government. It is in their insidious interest that the BJP has the Hindutva agenda. Amazing isn’t it!! On another note, BJP welcomed K J Alphons to the party fold. Alphons, who had resigned from the IAS in 2006 and won the Kanjirappally assembly constituency in Kottayam district of Kerala as an independent candidate just 32 days after quitting service, told reporters that he had is joining BJP as he was "most impressed" with the party's development agenda. KJA comes with a tremendous background. I hope he assumes a leadership position in the Kerala BJP and becomes the party’s face in the state. People like him will provide an instant credibility in an otherwise virulently anti BJP state. In fact he has shown the BJP a way. What they need to do is to go out to the states where they are not as strong and recruit people with Alphons like background and nurture them to leadership positions. That way we will have local faces associated with a Conservative national party, which has so far been carrying the incorrect stigma of being a Hindi belt party. The Sibal comments can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-jaitleys-hinduvta-remark-exposes-bjps-real-face-says-sibal/20110327.htm The KJA article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/former-ias-officer-kj-alphons-joins-bjp/20110324.htm The image is from: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article33202.ece

First Family's Faith

Secular:  1. of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal: secular interests.
2. not pertaining to or connected with religion
That is the definition of secular as per the dictionary. In the western democratic context, it means the separation of church and state is a concept in law wherein the structures of state or national government are kept separate from those of religion . It distills down to one thing: the government should be religion blind. Policies formulated by it cannot favor one religion over another. In a more practical and personal way, for the politicians in a true secular state, personal religion should not matter and remain personal. But the voters should know their religion. If the politician is not religious then we need to know what are their convictions and where they draw their sense of morality. If they are religious then we need to know if and how will their faith affect their view of the nation. You may or may not agree with my assessment here but what it boils down to is that the politicians should not hide their religion or pretend to be what they are not.

For example, Nehru clan was Kashmiri Brahmins, conspiracy theories notwithstanding. But when Mrs. Indira Gandhi got married to a Parsi, her family became a Parsi family and should have continued to practice that religion. However, from what we have seen, the family has continued to behave like Hindus at least in public. All the last rites in the family were preformed the Hindu way. Rahul Gandhi is half catholic, one fourth Parsi and one fourth Hindu and yet the man is seen sporting a tilak and the red string around his right wrist (gun-daah or kalaava as it is known in some parts of the country). Why hide your faith? The reason is very obvious.

The latest example in a very long list is the faux pas committed by Meera Shankar who is the Indian Ambassador to the USA. In a speech, while extolling India’s inclusive nature, she referred to Sonia Gandhi as a Christian. Nothing wrong with that. She is what she is! India is a free country. However, that reference was removed from the speech upon the insistence of the Congress mandarins. The secular party of India does not want the voters to know that their leader is catholic. Why? The only answer is that the secularism as practiced in India is a farce and way to control the Hindu voters. First the British and then Congress ensured by a systematic brainwashing that we should always doubt our Hindu way of life. That is the only way they would be able to exert their control over us. Hindu has become a curse word. Followers of the faith are portrayed as caricatures in the media. Christmas and Valentine’s Day are celebrated with a fervor second only to Diwali and Holi. Despite of all this, the Congress realizes that the ethos of the country is still Hindu and that the voter may not feel comfortable voting for a Christian that too an Italian one. So they go through the rigmarole of hiding the true religion of the leader of the nation. Because if they are not ashamed of religion then politics must be the only other reason. In a really warped way, this is a compliment to the Hindu spirit of India.

Indian envoy refers to Sonia as ‘Christian,’ reference is deleted
This was probably the first time anyone in the government had referred to the religion of the Congress president and UPA Chairperson.
The speech was posted on the Embassy’s website but was quickly pulled out and replaced with a version where the phrase, “...and a Christian as the leader of the largest national political party...” was deleted.
The article can be read at: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Indian-envoy-refers-to-Sonia-as-Christian-reference-is-deleted/766540/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+expressindia/iKgY+(Expressindia))
The unedited video can be watched at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBWE0Bl3-a0
The picture is from: http://www.mangaloretoday.com/mt/index.php?action=headlines&type=594

Neta-Babu-Builder Nexus

So the Gandhi family is in news again. Recently, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra quietly sneaked into the real estate business, taking a drastic turn from his traditional jewelry and antiques business in Italy. And this time he seems to have targeted none less than the real estate tycoon of India – DLF groups.

What is/are the problems with this scenario? If we look closely we will find that there are potentially three problems here. First, Robert Vadra and his family’s historical connections with DLF group then, DLF’s involvement in various shady scams and finally real estate business, which has become synonymous with black money, scams and irregularities.

Born to a Scottish mother, Robert Vadra is not the first one to be associated with DLF in his family. In a famous coincidental meeting in 1981, K. P. Singh the current chairman of DLF got a chance to meet Rajiv Gandhi under a tree in the outskirts of Delhi (now Gurgaon). Rajiv Gandhi had just entered politics. Before that, DLF had been expanding their real estate business in Delhi area. But because of nationalization of land development in Delhi in 1957, DLF found themselves in a bind. This meeting provided DLF with an opportunity to influence the next PM of the country for their benefit.

Years later when Rajiv Gandhi became PM, he ensured that the Haryana government changed its local law to allow private developers, which benefitted DLF the most. It is also well known how cozy DLF is with the Congress government in Haryana and center. It is also alleged by some that DLF gifted two Super Luxury Apartments to the son-in-law of the most powerful family of India. We can only wonder who this son-in-law could be.

Let us now look at DLF as a real estate company. This company has been habitually engulfed in various scams and irregularities and is frequently termed by its customers as ‘crooks’. According to the complaints by some customers to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the company had ‘abused’ its ‘dominant position’ time and again to either twist arms of their customers by first including ‘discriminative and abusive clauses’ in apartment agreements and then later on unfairly harassing and threatening their customers to extract more money.

Changes to original plans, FSI, and land zoning are very common and are well supported by the lapses in the real estate laws or are beautifully articulated through corruption by DLF. Lot of times the construction is started even before the company receives the title of the land or the approvals from the building departments and various other related agencies.

For example in the case of DLF Park Place in Gurgaon, the project was delayed because DLF departed from its original project of building 13 blocks of 1 floor to build 29 floors instead with reduced plot area, which breached the Haryana Urban Development Act the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act, 1983 (

http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/scam-hit-indian-real-estate-sector-in-acute-need-of-regulation.html).

Similar delays and plan changes were seen in DLF Belaire project in Gurgaon. Initially the project was supposed to be for 18 floors and then was increased to 27 floors. Consumers were never kept up to date with the changes and the extra money that the company earns with the increase in revenue through floor addition never benefits the first few customers who had already paid their dues. List of complaints by various customers for this project is given in following website - http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/dlf-belaire-c64800.html .

With the help of thriving neta-builder-bureaucrat nexus this company had also been involved into yet another scam – the DLF faithful government facilitates precious agriculture land, general village land and forestland for concrete developments by cheating people in the name of utility/infrastructure developments.

Agriculture land is prohibited for any other use other than agriculture. It is also barred from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which is a key source of funding for big real estate giants, where 100% FDI is allowed. That is why builders adapt covert ways to grab this land. Indian real estate companies become a back door entry for foreign companies to entre real estate market in India and buy agriculture land (http://www.indianrealestateforum.com/real-estate-discussions/t-backdoor-entry-foreign-companies-realty-2145.html). Consequently, what we see today is that villages are shrinking against the encroaching high-rise luxury apartments/shining office structures with no space for the middle and lower middle class population.

Evidently, in the famous case of 350-acre Leisure and Recreation Project in village Wazirabad in Gurgaon, the land was acquired by the government from farmers at cheap rates in the name of public utilities and then sold it to DLF for around 25 times less than it original value. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wazirabad_(Gurgaon)). People were cheated right on their face. Ultimately when this issue was highlighted, the Supreme Court, on 2 February 2011, ordered the Haryana Government to evict "encroachers" from the land (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-02/gurgaon/28359133_1_private-developers-panchayat-land-village-panchayats)

During the 2008 downturn, another scam surfaced over – the SEZ scam. Initially, the lucrative tax incentives for SEZ lurked the greedy real estate giants to pool in number of ridiculously expensive SEZ premises. With the 2008 bubble burst, when few could afford the same, DLF's K. P. Singh took the liberty to ask the Banks to fund over-priced reality at low interest rates such that Land Banks can be parceled out to the public in the form of Public Equity (PE), thereby washing away their hands from any losses and transferring it to the public instead.
As if all this was not enough, DLF had also been cheating its shareholder in surreptitious ways. As a listed company till 2002-03, DLF’s promoters increased their holdings beyond 90% in violation of SEBI’s takeover code. At the time when it chose to delist its shares, the promoter owned 99.5% shares, leaving rest 0.5% shares for the unfortunate 1,308 shareholders who chose to hang on to their shares. Eventually, through its unfair treatment of minority shareholders, time and again it made mockery of investor protection rules, only setting an example for more companies to delist shares, restructure capital and go public again at the cost of minority shareholders.

Before we try to end the endless list of scams it would be unfair if the DLF IPL is not mentioned. DLF was IPL’s title sponsor from 2008 to 2010. DLF IPL is a perfect example of how murky and shadowy the business of black money could be. Black money had swamped not just the real estate sector, which circulates the highest amount of black money in India brought from certain tax havens by major Indian realty firms, but also cricket (especially IPL), politicians (especially Congress affiliated), celebrities (especially Bollywood related). Through the Lalit Modi and Shashi Taroor controversy, where Modi twitted about the sources of money for the Kochi IPL Team, we probably just got a glimpse of how money might be changing hands from underworld/terrorist organizations to cricket, to politicians, to Bollywood and to real estate giants like DLF.

So we just saw how extremely corrupt various fronts of DLF are. Moving back to Robert Vadra, his suspicious and questionable personal life matters pose serious questions on his integrity of staying clean in this dirty business.

All said, it is not baseless to say that the intentions and conduct of the son-in law of the shrewdest and most powerful family of India becomes a big question mark when he join hands with one of the most dubious and dominant real estate company of India.

Article about Vadra joining hands with DLF: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-14/news/28688471_1_business-hotel-robert-vadra-dlf-group
Sun shines over Robert Vadra
Robert Vadra’s entry into the real estate business has been accompanied by a partnership with the country’s largest realty firm, DLF Ltd, a staggering feat by any standards (The Economic Times, 14 March 2011). Hitherto known for the export of faux jewellery and handicrafts, the 42-year-old Vadra quietly switched lanes in 2008, buying up land in Haryana and Rajasthan, a 50% stake in a leading business hotel in Delhi, and attempting to enter the business of chartering aircraft, a quantum jump that certainly merits an explanation.The article can be read at: http://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/robert-vadra-proxy-tycoon-sandhya-jain/

The picture is from: http://gurgaon.olx.in/dlf-india-dlf-property-dlfrealestate-properties-india-call-uk-0845-43-00015-020-8090-42-iid-15373151

We Are A Sham Democracy!

We know that politicians lie. That is an axiom. That is why people do not believe election promises anymore. So to win elections, politicians are now bribing voters. If the wikileaks document is true, then some really damning stories have come out about the Home Minister’s son in regards to bribing the voters. Of course tricks like distributing saris and blankets have been around for a while now. The newer ones are offering cheap food. But this has been to taken to a new level in TN where the voters were offered free color TVs. DMK won on that promise. They tried to distribute the TVs but did nothing else. Of course they got caught with the 2G scam and now they have to contest another election. Reports are that the dalit students are now being offered free laptops. Yes, the votes are becoming costlier!

Of course, the voters will get seduced by this largesse and bring the same non-performers back. Voters who accept this kind of bribe are as bad as the politicians. As it is said, “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja”. They are ensuring five more years of misery for a free laptop. That is a bad bargain for them. But there is a bigger question behind all this. Bigger than the voter greed. That question is- who pays for the free goodies? Obviously, it is not the politicians hard earned money. So either it is black money which pays for it or the tax payer money used under the guise of some welfare scheme. If it is black money then it stands to reason that people spending it will try to recover it. Which is why we have scams like the 2G. If this scenario were correct, then ironically, the voters give the politicians a reason to steal. If the party involved is supporting a coalition then this theft becomes even more easy. Coalition dharma, you see!!

However, if it is the taxpayer money that pays for it then we have travesty being added to a crime. The crime is that democracy is being undermined by bribing the voters. The travesty is that hard working, tax-paying citizens are paying for this crime. Now it the tax was being collected in the same state, the degree of travesty is a little less. However, if the party is using the “coalition dharma” to squeeze money from the central government then we have an enormous injustice at our hands. Think about it. So, for example, Gujarat being the most prosperous state contributes the most to the central government coffers. If the central government is subsidizing the bribery then essentially, it is the money from the hard working people of Gujarat which pays for the TVs and laptops in TN. Now if that is not criminally unfair then I don’t know what is! Especially because knowing the people of Gujarat will never support a party like DMK.

This has to stop. Strict laws need to be put in place. If a political party makes a promise of this sort then the election commission should force them to show how the party proposes to pay for it. If they are unable to do it without criminal or unfair means then the party needs to be banned from contesting the elections. If we do not stop it then we should stop calling ourselves a democracy.

An Appeal To The Indian Voter

Winston Churchill, a nasty excuse of a human being, was good for one thing: clever one-liners. He said that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. It does make sense in a number of ways. We deserve the government we elect. If Manmohan Singh is not being a good PM, we are responsible because we put him there. He is not doing anything different than he did in the first term but we were too blinded by his honest guy persona that not only did we elect him but with a larger margin than before. Serves us right. Of course I did not vote for him but I am a voter and thus have to accept a collective responsibility for this debacle.

What is wrong with our polity and voters? That warrants some examination before we can come up with a solution. Our nation is divided in more ways that it is united. In the true spirit of “all politics is local”, we only look at regional issues. There is nothing wrong with that. After all, a region is a subset of the nation. However, even our regional issues get divided based on issues like caste and religion. Problem with that is that issues like that empower incapable leaders who are nothing more than corrupt demagogues. A voter in UP said in an interview that we give our daughters and votes to fellow caste members! Wow! This is the voter that bastard Churchill was talking about. But why stop there. Let us examine other parts of the nation. The Karnataka CM is in the seat because he belongs to the Lingayat community. He is a reasonable leader but that seems to be incidental. Why does J&K CM’s seat belong to one family? Karunanidhi is ruling Tamilnadu because of free televisions. How come Mayawati continues to rule UP despite of running a roughshod over every citizen of that unfortunate state? Look at West Bengal. A casual conversation with even a cab driver will tell you how aware the Bengali voter is and yet they kept on choosing the Communists year after year while the once prosperous state was getting destroyed from inside out. From all the indications, now they are going to kick the communists out and bring in Maoist backed Mamta Bannerjee / Congress combine. They are going from pseudo-secular communists to pseudo-secular socialists. From the pan into the fire is what they are doing. Look at Kerala where the voters are the most educated in the entire nation and yet they keep electing one non-performing government after another. You will say those are state elections and thus inconsequential by and large to the national polity. The problem is that the representatives of regional parties at the center have the same mindset and use their leverage to treat the central government as an ATM machine.

There is a common thread running through all this. No one is thinking about the nation as a whole. By electing the small regional parties who have no national interests we give these leaders a leverage over the central government which eventually translates into bribes and other financial crimes. IN UPA1, when the Communists withdrew their support, the Congress bribed smaller parties and ensured that the government's survival. We are seeing the same machinations in UPA2 with DMK and other such parties.

So what is the solution to all this. Well, the American style two party rule is a very good solution. However, given the power that regional parties now have, that is not going to happen unless there are laws about it. I think that all the regional parties should have to declare their allegiance to a national party before the elections. After the elections they should not be allowed to change their alliances. I suppose that is what the idea was behind the UPA and NDA. Unfortunately ways have been found to get around to that practice as well. To keep the BJP out of power, the pseudo-secular groups resort to tricks like abstaining from the vote or issue based outside support or the old “moral support”. Problem is that any system is as good as the people following it and any law is as strong as the conscience of the people. That our politicians have no conscience or decency is no news to anyone.

So it all comes down to the voter. We as voters need to think at the regional and national level. If we think that the regional party is going to be the better option for our home state then we should vote them in the state elections. However, in a national election, we should vote for one of the two national parties. If we do not do that then we have a serious dilemma on our hands. In the last election, the Congress had less than 30% of the total votes and yet they are ruling the nation. The corollary to that statement is that more than 70% people did not want the Congress at the center. So Manmohan Singh is representing a minority of the Indian voters and thus has been thrust upon the rest of us. That very realization should make us doubt the way Indian democracy functions.
The politicians will remain who they are and that is the nature of the beast. It is up to us, the voters, to change all that.

Is Peace Possible With Pakistan?

Yoginder Sikand is writing on the topic of Indo-Pak peace for a while. He seems to have the grasp of what the part of problem is and proposes a myopic solution based on that. Clearly, he is one of the “Aman ki Aasha” brigade. Dissenters to his solution are branded Hindu chauvinists and other colorful terms. Sikand has a lot of romance associated with Pakistan and all things in it as do a lot of old timers in the establishment. Even our Atalji seemed to mildly suffer from this syndrome.

I would like to draw the attention of Sikand and his ilk to two articles written by Pakistanis. Ms. Mira Sethi writes in her article: The failure of the political classes to initiate democratic, constitutional reform after Pakistan's separation from India in 1947 enabled the military to quickly define "national interest" as an anti-India ideology. This ideology, a type of Islamic nationalism, is one from which the Pakistan military has reaped rich dividends. It has kept civilian politicians on the defensive and the people numbed.

When Pakistan got its independence they did not know what to do with the nation probably because they were not expecting it. It took them over ten years to write their constitution. In the interim, the bureaucracy and the army became very powerful. After the constitution was written, they did not want to surrender their powers. Eventually Pakistan army became the most powerful and the only functional institution in Pakistan. This is what the articles indicate. If there were peace between India and Pakistan, the Pakistani army will become irrelevant. This is the point that seems to escape Sikand and the entire “Aman ki Aasha” brigade. Why would the Pakistani army give up its privileged position? When the BJP had hosted the Butcher of Kargil, Pervez Musharraf, they went out of their way to make him feel at home. Instead of reciprocating any of our gestures, the man sabotaged the entire event. When Atalji went to see Nawaz Sharif in Pakistan, little did he know that while Sharif was talking peace, Musharraf was hatching the Kargil misadventure. After Atalji’s trip to one of the monuments, in Lahore, Musharraf had the entire area washed. When SM Krishna visited Pakistan in the couple of years, he was upstaged rudely by the Pakistanis seemingly at the behest of Ashfaq Kiyani. These are the things that we, as aam aadmi know. There must be countless other events or equal treachery. With that in mind, even if you did talk peace with them, the biggest question is that whom do you talk to. The Paki politicians has no legs to stand on. Pakistani army who are the real decision makers are clearly is not in favor of peace. All they want is revenge. The religious leaders and the terrorists was balkanization of India and converting the entire subcontinent into some sort of dar-ul-islam. Even today, the reports clearly indicate that the entire Raymond Davis episode is because the Pakistani army do not want LeT touched. One must ask Sikand and his ilk why is that? What about the Pakistani aam aadmi? I don’t know how many of them want peace with India but we must remember one thing. Over 60% of Pakistani population is below 25 and this generation is the result of decades of anti Indian brainwashing. In fact a lot of the Pakistani youth is affiliated with one madarsa or the other. They don’t even want peace in Pakistan unless it is on their terms i.e. some sort of Sharia in Pakistan.
As long as the Paki army is in charge of that nation, there is no point in talking peace because it will be nothing other than a charade to make the Americans and the Indian liberals happy. Sooner we realize it, the sooner we will formulate a plan for progress of the nation where we would take into account the losses incurred due to Paki terrorism as cost of doing business in the neighborhood. We can then form a security set up where we do not have any doubts about who our enemies are rather than fumbling about in the maze of political correctness.

If Mr. Sikand and his Pakistani friends can convince the Pakistani army to cede all the power to the civilian government then we should talk peace. Otherwise, peace in the subcontinent will remain an unachievable dream.

How India can counter Pakistan's radical Islam
What can be done by us here in India to counter such radicalism in the name of Islam? Given that the denial to the Kashmiris of their right to self-determination, and the killings of vast numbers of Kashmiris by the Indian forces are a major issue that Islamist radicals in Pakistan constantly invoke to justify their anti-Indian crusade, it is obvious that a just solution to the Kashmir question that satisfies the people of Jammu and Kashmir [ Images ] is one thing that India can no longer evade. This will go a long way in countering anti-Indian sentiments in Pakistan and in undermining the appeal of Pakistani radical Islamists.
Of course, this is easier said than done, and one can expect Hindu chauvinists in India, counterparts of the Pakistani Islamist radicals, of both the 'soft' Congress variety and the 'hard' RSS sort, to viscerally oppose this suggestion.
The article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/column-yogi-sikand-on-how-india-can-counter-pakistans-radical-islam/20110315.htm

Pakistan's Army Is the Real Obstacle to Peace
By MIRA SETHI
Now Zia's "children" have come of age. Extremists of all stripes—the Taliban and the mujahedeen—roam the streets of Lahore and Karachi unchecked by the security agencies who once thought it would be a good idea to arm them. Anger and frustration fueled by inequality are making young Pakistanis turn to religion for answers.
As in Egypt, over 60% of the population of Pakistan is under 25. Unlike Egypt, they want an Islamic revolution, not a democratic one. Salman Taseer's police bodyguard—all of 26 years old—killed him for "insulting" the Prophet Muhammad. (The governor had criticized a manmade blasphemy law, not the Prophet, but his assassin didn't know the difference).
The article can be read at:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597804576194702053167720.html#

True lies
Sana Bucha
In 1965, we read in our textbooks that India attacked Pakistan in the middle of the night for no reason or because some of their generals wanted to have a non-vegetarian meal at the Lahore Gymkhana! But then I grew up and found out that we started this confrontation by picking a fight along, what we now refer to, as the LoC. India overreacted by starting a war on international borders. Why is it so hard for us to speak the complete truth? The truth is that Pakistan believes that it has a legitimate right on Kashmir and history is rife with war attempts we have made to take over what is already ours. Then why not accept it? Why exaggerate the Indian threat and undermine our own confrontational policies.
The article can be read at:http://thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=35854&Cat=9

Am I Safe In New Delhi?

A broad daylight murder` of Radhika Tanwar, ironically in the midst of the celebration of the international women’s day, in the capital region of India, ruled by a women chief minister from last 12 years, had yet again opened our eyes to the inefficiencies and deficiencies of ‘Congress Raj’. The crime statistics of Delhi shows how potent a double layer of Congress rule could be. The chief minister – Sheila Dixit conveniently shrugs over the responsibility to the police. The police pass it on to the people. The home minister P. Chidambaram, who directly governs the Delhi police, chose to stay mum.
It is hard to believe that Congress used to have leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri who resigned after a train accident. Now, the lust for power and money has replaced sense of decency and honor at all levels in Congress. No one wants to even admit his or her blatant efficiencies, let alone step down for any resulting damage. One would expect that being a woman, Sheila Dixit would make safety of women in New Delhi a very high priority Instead, New Delhi has become the rape capital of New Delhi under her watch. When people talk about good governance she has provided, they overlook one thing. New Delhi is the capital of India and thus the upkeep of the city is a major priority for the ventral government. Funds are never a problem so any credit given to her has to be diluted. When it comes to things that are her responsibility, she has failed again and again. Is it not her moral responsibility to step down if she is unable to do so from last 12 years?
India is taking small steps in making the workforce inclusive of women. I pray and hope that women of Delhi will not have to choose between their ambitions and their safety. But what is becoming painfully obvious s that their homes, colleges, offices and now even public places are not safe. In this seemingly medieval era social/security setup how can we expect women to be at par with men?
The Delhiites had finally started raising their voice for their safety. But it seems their voice is not strong enough to wake the home minister out of his slumber. How many more Radhikas have to be sacrificed at the alter of incompetence? For far too long, Indian women especially the poor ones have done without little roti, bare minimum kapda and makeshift makaan. Our government has failed them on all those fronts. Is it too much to hope that they will at least keep them safe?

Callous Home Ministry, indifferent police
Law-abiding citizens live in fear while criminals freely strike when they like. Such is the state of affairs in Delhi where policing is directly controlled by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs which, sadly, has indicated no sense of remorse or concern. Neither has it owned up responsibility, nor has it informed the people of the measures it is taking — if any at all — to crack down on criminals. If the Ministry is unable to tackle urban crime in the country’s capital, how can we trust it with the internal security of the nation?
The editorial can be read at: http://dailypioneer.com/324574/Criminals-thrive-in-Delhi.html

Insensitive to Delhi women, who?
"Delhi is insensitive to women; they feel safer in other metros" that's what Delhi CM Shiela Diskhit had to say responding and so-called condemning the broad day light murder of Delhi University student Radhika Tanwar who lost her life ironically on International Women's Day. What a comment! What a reaction?! Women feel safer in other metros for sure...but what has the third time CM of Delhi, Ms Dikshit ensured Delhites in the past decade? Why can't women feel safe here in the national capital?
The article can be read at: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/mahimasharma/2916/62275/insensitive-to-delhi-women-who.html

What About "Jai Kisan"?

Our readers know that despite being proponents of a conservative ideology, we are admirers of Sahir’s poetry. We want to talk about a national tragedy nay shame. Since 1997, 2.4 lakh farmers have taken their own lives. I am assuming that the number of farmers dying because of other poverty driven factors would make the number even more gruesome. Sahir wrote this poem before India’s freedom. It would seem that while the nation has moved on, the Indian farmer is caught in a cruel time warp. With extreme apologies to our non-Hindi speaking readers, here is the poem.

kal aur aaj
kal bhi booNdeiN barsii thiiN
kal bhi baadal chhaye the
aur kavi ne sochaa thaa!
baadal ye aakaash ke sapne, in zulfoN ke saaye haiN
dosh-e-havaa par maiKhaane hi maiKhaane ghir aaye haiN
rut badlegi, phool khileiNge, jhoNke madhu barsaayeiNge
ujle ujle khetoN meiN rangeeN aaNchal lahraayeiNge
charvaahe bansii kii dhun se geet fazaa meiN boyeiNge
aamoN ke jhunDoN ke neeche pardesi dil kholeiNge
peNg baRhaati gori ke maathe se kauNde lapkeiNge
johaR ke Thahre paani meiN taare aaNkheiN jhapkeiNge
uljhi uljhi raahoN meiN vo aaNchal thaame aayeiNge
dharti, phool, aakaash sitaare sapna sa ban jaayeiNge
kal bhi booNdeiN barsii thiiN
kal bhi baadal chhaye the
aur kavi ne socha!

aaj bhi booNdeiN barseiNgi
aaj bhi baadal chhaye haiN
aur kavi is soch meiN hai
basti pe baadal chhaaye haiN, par ye bastii kiski hai
dharti par amrit barsegaa, lekin dharti kiski hai
hal jotegi khetoN meiN alhaR Tolii dahqaanoN kii
dharti se phooTegii mehnat faaqaakash insaanoN kii
fasleiN kaaT ke mehnatkash, galle ke Dher lagaayeiNge
jaageeroN ke maalik aakar sab pooNjii le jaayeiNge
booRhe dahqaanoN ke ghar baniye kii qurqii aayegii
aur qarze ke sood meiN koi gori bechi jaayegii
aaj bhi jantaa bhooki hai aur kal bhi jantaa tarsii thii
aaj bhi rimjhim barkhaa hogi, kal bhi baarish barsii thii
aaj bhi baadal chaaye haiN
aaj bhi booNdeiN barseiNgii
aur kavii is soch meiN hai!
Glossary
dosh-e-havaa = Wind’s shoulder, madhu = honey, charvaahe = shepherds, peNg = swing (peeng), kauNde = lightening, johaR = a pond, dahqaanoN = farmers, faaqaakash = poor, mehnatkash = hardworkers, galle = money box

As you can see, Sahir’s words are apt even today. A recent report claims that a farmer commits suicide every twelve hours. In India we have two kinds of poverty. One where people get a lot less to eat than is required by nature and the other where people are forced to eat out of garbage or inedible things like clay. Since the farmer is the sole earner for the family, we have a family dying every 12 hours. These families go from one level of poverty to the one below.
The article at in.msn.com claims that: Bringing to light several stark contrasts in India, where the average CEO earns 30,000 times more than the average worker, Sainath said "While labour productivity rose 84%, real wages of labourers dropped 22%. The country imports wheat from Australia, which was importing wheat nine years ago from Punjab. It exports 20 million tonnes of grain at Rs 5.45/kg, whereas the same grain is sold to the poor at Rs 6.15/kg."

One of the theories is that a move to much higher priced Bt cotton seeds by Monsanto and the entailing costs (fertilizer and irrigation) has forced the farmers to borrow from unscrupulous moneylenders. It would seem that a move to conventional farming would solve this problem. After all these farmers have been doing that forever. The US and other government pay huge subsidies to their farmers. Such doles are going to bankrupt those nations but that is their problem. What the GoI needs to do is to stand up to those governments and ensure that our farmers get a fair price for their crops and not get trying to compete with subsidized cheap cotton and other goods. The voltairenet.org articles says the following:

A shift from GMO and non renewable seeds to organic, open pollinated seed varieties which farmers can save and share.
A shift from chemical farming to organic farming.
A shift from unfair trade based on false prices to fair trade based on real and just prices.
The farmers who have made this shift are earning 10 times more than the farmers growing Monsanto’s Bt-cotton.

However there is another theory. The MSN article says that: The major causes that were identified were this: India was transforming rapidly into a primarily urban, industrial society with industry as its main source of income; the government and society had begun to be unconcerned about the condition of the countryside; moreover, a downturn in the urban economy was pushing a large number of distressed non-farmers to try their hand at cultivation; in the absence of any responsible counseling either from the government or society there were many farmers who did not know how to survive in the changing economy. Such stresses pushed many into a corner where suicide became the only option for them.
Now this sounds more like the India we know. The entire urban population and the government have become obsessed with high growth rates and the image of India in other countries and they neglected the basic drivers of the Indian economy. After all, we are an agrarian society and ignoring that has resulted into these problems. I dare say that the reports of mass suicides by farmers in Chattisgarh were published in newspapers across the world, did a whole lot of good to our image.
Since these suicides were happening on the BJP watch as well, I cannot absolve them and blame the UPA in any good conscience. This rural neglect seems to be an India-wide syndrome. I do not want to sound like a left wing activist but if we do not include the rural India in our forward march, we are going to face major imbalances in the country and that does not bode well for either the prosperity of the country or safety of the society. We should consider ourselves warned and formulate a practical and implementable policy, one that would bypass the greedy babus, local netas and other assorted vultures. I don’t know what those could be but that is why we have those brilliant IAS officers in place. It is time they and other decision makers earned their money and I mean EARN it.

The article discussed above are as follows:
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5015358

http://www.voltairenet.org/article159305.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/1500-farmers-commit-mass-suicide-in-india-1669018.html

Sahir's poem is from: http://www.sahirludhianvi.com/blog/index.php/category/talkhiyaan/page/3/

An Enlightened Indian Muslim Speaks

People who read this blog know that we are proponents of an “India First” kind of nationalism. I have always held that we are all in this together. As a result of selfish politics, misplaced compassion and abject lack of foresight we had an imperfect partition. We have a very large Muslim population. I would love for all the Hindu nationalists to realize that the Muslims are not going anywhere. Even if by some chance, India were to become a Hindu nation, the Muslims are still going to be here and they will remain Muslim. I would also like all the Muslims to understand that there is no way in “ jahannum” that India is going to become some sort of a “Dar-ul-Islam” even if they overwhelm the nation with a disproportionate growth in the population or any other means. For them to look towards Pakistan or Saudi Arabia for help is myopic at best and traitorous are worst. If we all have to provide our children a safe and bright future then we all have to work together. Hindus seem to understand this better. APJ Abdul Kalam is an extremely able man and represented us in the world as our President. We all took pride is bragging about him being the smartest President in the world! His being Muslim was NEVER an issue. Even today, his opinions are respected the land over. On the other hand, one simple acknowledgement by Maulana Vastanvi in favor of Bhai Narendra Modi became such an issue that the Muslim leadership needed to seek advice from a pro terrorist Mullah from Pakistan! That is the status of Muslims leadership in India. It’s either my way or no way. That has to change. Unfortunately, like it is the case all over the world, minority leadership is indistinguishable from demagoguery. The maulanas in India will not relinquish their power that they derive from the status quo.
That is why, I have always held that more and more enlightened Muslims need to stand up and speak up. I was thrilled to read an interview of Aijaz Ilmi. True to the meaning of his name, Mr. Ilmi seems to be the kind of clear thinking man who needs to be heard by Muslims and Hindus (especially the pseudo-secularists and Communists) alike.
Amazing thing about the article is that he voices every opinion that I have voiced over the years. I was thrilled to see him enforce my point about the misuse of a Muslim grassroots movement. In Shahbano case, the entire Muslim population arose and protested. But the protest was to maintain the status quo, which only benefited the regressive ulema. This ability should be used to stand up en mass and make progressive demands. All in all, this is an excellent article. For example, the man says the following: I think the Muslim clergy, as well as the Muslim society generally, are totally lacking in gender sensitivity. They have paralysed half of the community -- its women. So, you cannot blame the media alone. If dozens of Muslim-majority countries have reformed Muslim personal laws to provide more rights to Muslim women, why do the Indian maulvis, including the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, continue to oppose any such reform? It is easy to see why they refuse to reform these laws. It is simply because if they permit this to happen, their own hegemony will be undermined.
They fear the emergence of Muslim feminist voices that would make them socially and politically irrelevant and would also threaten male Muslim privileges, which they seek to defend in the name of Islam. I think there is a lot of hypocrisy involved in all of this.
I have never read a piece like this by a Muslim. Even the so called intellectuals in the Muslim community do not speak up for fear of reprisals. Mr. Ilmi needs to be backed and supported by all. That said, I would have loved to hear him denounce the terrorists and the supporters of terrorism in Indian Muslims population. I would have also loved for him to propose a concerted effort to move away from the Sharia kind of Muslim laws and towards a uniform civil law. However, proposal to reform the Muslim laws is still a very welcome suggestion.
We at aam aadmi, tip our hats to Mr. Aijaz Illmi. Hopefully, his voice will find resonance in the Muslim community and meaningful efforts can be put in place to include the Muslim community in a forward moving India.
The interview can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-india-cannot-shine-if-170-million-muslims-remain-poor/20110309.htm
I have posted a youtube video of another interview where you can see a pseudo-secularist interviewer talking to this guy. The interviewer comes through as a bigger apologist for Jihadism than Mr. Ilmi. Amazing!

Legacy and Indian Politicians

Voltaire said, “to the living we owe respect, but to the dead we owe only the truth”. Of course no one follows his advice. After a person especially a politician is dead, all we get to hear are lies. I read a piece, which was published after Arjun Singh passed away. This article was a scathing indictment of Arjun Singh’s political life. Nothing good was said about this guy. The author’s tribute to Voltaire indeed!
Every human being must wonder how he or she is going to be remembered after they are gone and what would their legacy be. That is our way of leaving something behind, something that will last for a much longer period of time. Which is why, unless a person is a complete self absorbed sociopath; he or she always tries to do something good so they can be remembered as such. The article begins with the following line: "A master manipulator of power politics, Arjun Singh was a one-time Congress bigwig who was known to set his eyes on the highest political throne but saw his political fortunes dwindle in the last decade and a half."
It’s a good thing that the man was cremated otherwise he would be spinning in his grave.
It is said that in the US, the President does what whatever it takes to win the second term. When he wins the second term, then he does whatever it takes to cement his legacy. This brings me to the question about where do our politicians stand on this issue. Do they not worry what the generations after then will think about them? Are they okay with people cursing them after they are dead? From what we know about Arjun Singh, I do not think that he ever wondered about petty issues like legacies. But what about our PM who until recently was thought to be Mr. Clean? Is he not worried about going down as the head of the most corrupt government to lead our unfortunate country? Octogenarian politicians cling to their seats like their lives depend on it and do all kinds of criminal and immoral acts to do that. One would expect that these people would start to wonder about their mortality and wonder and fear the afterlife. I guess you have to be an amoral and a shameless person to be a politician in India. That is why the aam aadmi cannot empathize with the way these people think and act.

Power + politics + manipulation = Arjun Singh
After the Bhopal gas tragedy, questions were raised about his closeness to the Union Carbide management. But he got away. Then, as Punjab Governor during the state's crisis phase, he escaped blame for the 1985 Rajiv-Longowal Accord, a flawed agreement of which he was a key architect.The unwinding of the Accord led to a disastrous spiral of violence in Punjab, but he whistled his way out of the mess.
The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-power-politics-manipulation-arjun-singh/20110304.htm

Jihad Is Coming To India

Richard Benkin is worried about India becoming an Islamist country. He is scared of a country of this size going the Pakistani route. Now you would ask – who is Benkin and what is his problem? Benkin is a conservative columnist from the USA and he is worried about a possible impact of spread of Islamism on his country. But instead of asking about Benkin, the more important question is- why aren’t we worried about it?
A brainwashed Indian population leads an ostrich like existence and ignores to see the looming perils, the kind which will destroy India, as we know it. Indians who raise their voices against are declared ignorant communalists or saffron terrorists. Therefore it is up to an outsider like Benkin to show us the obvious. It seems that Benkin has the requisite credibility because in his own words: “I have spent several years along India's 2545 mile-long frontier with Bangladesh, and have seen the impact Bangladesh's radicalization has had on its giant neighbor to the west”.
In fact he has seen more of the problem that most of us. What he writes is not a revelation to a well-read person but more of a refresher. The abysmal status of Hindus in Pakistan is not a surprise or news to anyone. It was expected that the more cultured Bangladeshis who have a lot more in common with their Hindu brethren (in the way of culture) would treat them better. We seem to have either been misled or over-read into platitudes from the Awami League government about the “steps” taken to protect Hindus. Armed with a double barrel shotgun of Saudi money and Pakistani jihadism and direct help from the Indian communists, Islamist forces have essentially changed the population composition of West Bengal. In words of Benkin: "During the second half of the 20th century, the Muslim proportion of West Bengal's population rose by 25 percent and its Hindu population declined by nine, a process that has continued into the 21st. At the same time, Bangladesh's Hindu population dropped from almost a third to nine percent".
Of course the population decline of Hindus in Bangladesh has been due to the usual brutal and inhuman ways, the ways one would expect jihadists to treat a religious minority.
Trouble is that no Indian government has done anything to protect Hindus in Bangladesh including the BJP. Of course one could make a convincing case of hapless Hindus in India! Instead of becoming a land of victimized Hindus the world over (like Israel is for Jews), India has become a land of extreme secular values. Of course the term secular in Indian vernacular means something that goes against the definition of the term.
Of course, what bothers Benkin is the spillover effect of Jihadism on India and the abject lack of response to it. Hindus are being victimized in Muslim dominated areas as was seen in Deganga in WB and western UP, an area under the control of the secularist champion, Mulayam Yadav. Benkin writes: "In Meerut northeast of New Delhi and far from Deganga, the population of this once Hindu-dominated town is now split down the middle between Hindus and Muslims; and the Hindus are living in fear. Just five days ago before my arrival, a Hindu was burned to death and shortly before that a community leader was targeted and killed. These actions are becoming more common in this substantial-sized town with no police re-action; and according to residents and activists, it is only a matter of time before things explode".
The jihadist mentality which is being nurtured in UP has caused it to become a big source of manpower for the now banned SIMI. An article by Vicky Nanjappa in rediff says the following: Sources in the Intelligence Bureau point out that some crucial operatives from the Lucknow and Azamgarh regions in Uttar Pradesh have moved to south India and are looking to re-group there. The IB sources believe the Indian Mujahideen , the home-grown terror outfit, could merge its cadres with SIMI. IB sources believe Iqbal Bhatkal, Asadullah Akthar, Abdul Kareem, Karman, Akthar Kareem Amil Parwai, Alla Baksh, Sageer, Mohamad Sadiq, Irshad Khan, Sadiq Anwar and Hafiz Asif are among the individuals who could play a vital role in the regrouping of SIMI-IM cadres.
Recently, a bomb factory in Kerala killed a few bomb makers. Thankfully, the names of the dead preclude the involvement of saffron terrorists. As per a Express Buzz news published on 27th February 2011, "Three persons died and eight others injured in a bomb explosion that occurred at Narikkattery, near Nadapuram, Kerala on Saturday. The deceased are Riyaz, Shameer and Rafiq." Those killed were identified as Popular Front (Muslim League) activists from Nadapuram area.

Of course you don’t have to be a conservative nationalist to realize that none of this bodes well for the nation. More than the jihadists, it will be our inaction and impotence, which will kill us and the nation as we know it. If the reports are to be believed, a pro-Islamist communist government in WB is going to be replaced by a pro-Maoist pseudo secular combine of Trinamul and the regular Congress. From a national point of view, it will not make any difference. It is up to the voters of West Bengal to dig deep and rethink their anti-conservative prejudices and look towards the ideals of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee rather than the anti Indian politicians they have supported for decades. That is the only way they can help restore the culture, safety, economic prosperity and everything that was great in their state. I have the same suggestion to all the voters in India. Evaluate and analyze and see which party can provide us with roti, kapda, makan and suraksha and then cast your vote. Do not vote on caste or petty regional issues. Let your vote count for the sake of the land that nurtures you. That is the least we can all do for her.
Jihad Has Come to India
By Richard L. Benkin
Our State Department will tell you that there is no jihad in India. They will hew the official line that the liberal Awami League government in Bangladesh has put an end to anti-Hindu actions there. A similarly weak government in New Delhi will parrot the same platitudes. Yet, their false palliatives bring no comfort to the scores of victims who have told us their stories; or the many others now unable to do so.
The Benkin article can be read at: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/03/jihad_has_come_to_india.html
The Nanjappa article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/is-kerala-the-new-hub-for-simi-vicky-nanjappa/20110304.htm

Read the complete article on the workers killed in bomb explosion at:http://expressbuzz.com/states/kerala/3-iuml-workers-killed-in-bomb-explosion/251726.html

The picture is from: http://thecandideye.wordpress.com/2009/09/02/

Thank God For Activist Judges!

What the Hell is Going On……….SC
In most democratic countries, the Supreme Court justices are only supposed to interpret law and adjudicate based on that. Their input in other matters is deemed activism and looked down upon. However in India, the Supreme Court justices have taken it upon themselves to take the corrupt politicians to task and WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR THAT!! If it weren’t for the SC, we would have a corrupt babu in charge of CVC. In spirit of “chor choar mau-saray bhai”, that would have ended any hope for going after corrupt government machinery. Thanks to Sushma Swaraj’s incessant efforts and SC Justices, we have thrown this crook out of the CVC and exposed a dirty conspiracy behind his appointment. Of course the entire Congress machinery has gone in overdrive to protect the two “clean” men responsible for approving a crook on CVC.
On the Supreme Court quashing the appointment of P J Thomas as the CVC the Law Minister Veerappa Moily's in reply to a reporter’s question said “that the Prime Minister has done nothing wrong”, in spite of the fact that the PM was heading the high-power committee that appointed Thomas. When questioned as to who will take the responsibility he stated, “The system has to take responsibility, the system that is adopted. If all that were not ludicrous enough, this man went on to say that the previous PM’s have to take the responsibility”. The chutzpah is breathtaking! Mr. Ram Jethmalani’s answer to a similar question was that “the PM has taken a lot of undue advantage of his honest reputation”. That is now becoming clear to even the most ardent apologist of the PM.
In the normal course all such highly sensitive and responsible appointments are only made after complete due diligence but our PM even ignored and sidelined the evidence presented to him. Was it because it came from the leader of the opposition party or was it because the support from for Thomas was from someone he could not overrule? Incompetence or helplessness?

Today Congress dubbed the appointment of PJ Thomas as CVC as an "error". This is what the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had to say to the reporters; “Invalidation of the appointment is not a matter of malafide. The error has been set right by a legal judgment. It's a judgement by the highest court and binding on all. We bow down before it"
He further said; "It is completely wrong to politicize what is a legal verdict based on legal considerations......I disagree your generalization that what is legally wrong is morally wrong".
Now I have a question for the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi; were not they, the PM and the Home minister politicizing the appointment in the first place when they ignored and discarded the recommendations of their opposition BJP member Sushma Swaraj?

How can you not expect the media to not question the moral of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister when they indulge in illegal activity of appointing an officer tainted and charged for corruption as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner? It has been a practice of Congress to appoint party favorites to these kinds of posts including the Chief Election Commissioner (who is supposed to be the most neutral person in the country) so as to keep a firm grip on power. They have gotten away with it all the time. They are going to get away with appointment of Jayanthi Natarajan to the 2G JPC when she herself has been accused in a 300 crore scam. They tried to push Thomas down our collective throats but it was their bad luck that the Supreme Court Justices decided to stand up for the helpless aam aadmi. God bless them!!

Supreme Court strikes down P J Thomas as vigilance chief
The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the appointment of P J Thomas as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, thereby answering decisively the question over his eligibility to sit on that chair since he faces a criminal case in Kerala.
In what comes as an embarrassment for the UPA government, the court said the recommendation made by the Prime Minister's high-powered committee to appoint Thomas did not consider the relevant material (case against him) and as such its advice “does not exist in law”.
The article can be read at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/supreme-court-strikes-down-p-j-thomas-as-vigilance-chief/757204/

Black money: What the hell is going on in this country, fumes SC
The Supreme Court today came down heavily on the Centre for failing to crack the whip on black money hoarders and ordered forthwith the reinstatement of three key Enforcement Directorate officials allegedly transferred midway into the probe in a case of foreign exchange law violation by Pune businessman Hasan Ali Khan. The apex court also wanted to know what prevented the government from subjecting Khan and other alleged black money launderers to custodial interrogation.
This and similar articles can be read at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/black-money-what-the-hell-is-going-on-in-this-country-fumes-sc/757239/
http://www.timesnow.tv/CVC-verdict-Oppn-asks-PM-as-to-who-should-take-responsibility/articleshow/4366861.cms

Creating a Monster!

There are two ways one can take the life of other. One is the way a soldier takes the life of an enemy- very clinical. Even a suicide bomber’s way of causing loss of lives of his perceived enemies is rather clinical because he is not there to see his handiwork. The other way is more personal, the kind caused due to extreme hate, revenge or greed. This kind is personal. Here you have the murderer peering into the eyes of his victim as the victim dies.

We now know that the carnage caused at Godhra station was nothing but a massacre which was preplanned. A court has decided it based on the witnesses and proofs rather than a rent-a-judge passing judgment based on instructions from the rail minister or insistence of leftist NGO’s. The way the kar-sevaks were killed falls under the second way of killings. It was borne out of extreme hatred. Kar-sevaks were the perceived enemies. But the way they were killed is as brutal and personal as it gets. The men who burned the kar-sevaks must have seen the faces or heard the victims’ screams. These murderers were very cruel.

When I saw the faces of men who were sentenced to die, I was shocked. These were the faces of very young men who at that age should have been preoccupied with exams or jobs or family problems or even girls. They were not supposed to be consumed with such hatred especially when the provocation was not personal. What caused them to carry out such an act of extreme cruelty? Of course many people would directly blame the religion these men were adherents of. Indeed if it is the religion then the responsibility lies on the feet of the followers to question, rectify such medieval messages and move out from under the shadows of barbaric practices. I do not want to criticize because no one who should listen to me will do so. Therefore for me to criticize the religion would be an exercise in futility. The leadership like the enlightened Maulana Vastanavi along with other forward thinking people must step out and decide if they want the Indian Muslims to become responsible citizens and join the forward moving society or continue on the self-destructing ways of their Pakistani brethren.

Meanwhile, if is the responsibility of the Muslims families to make sure that their children are not getting the kind of message at home which would lead their children down this murderous path. Family is the primary unit of this microcosm we call society. The most important message the children get is from home rather than school or madarsa. Of course I am assuming that the parents want their children to grow into people of substance rather than jihadis. There was a case of a constable in Karachi who imprisoned his son with handcuffs and shackles because the son was hell bent on going to Afghanistan to become a jihadi.

What is the responsibility of us Hindus in this matter? I am sure we all have some feeling about that. Maybe we should try to undo all the historical wrongs committed by Muslims on us by the way of negotiations rather than destruction. In the interest of safety and well being of our motherland we need to think pragmatically and try to FORGIVE but DEFINITELY NOT FORGET. You see, the alternatives are much more unpleasant.

Godhra carnage: 11 get death, 20 to serve life term
Eleven convicts in the Godhra train burning case were on Tuesday handed down death sentence while 20 others were given life imprisonment by a special court in the 2002 incident that left 59 karsevaks dead and triggered riots which claimed over 1,200 lives in Gujarat. Special judge P R Patel considering the case as "rarest of rare" pronounced death penalty for 11 out of the 31 convicted in the case while 20 others were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The article can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-godhra-case-sentencing-of-31-convicts-today/20110301.htm

Exclusive! Godhra case investigator speaks
Noel Parmar, the investigating officer in the Godhra case, has no doubt that the Sabarmati fire was meticulously thought out. This case was assigned to me May 27, 2002. I was then the assistant police commissioner in Baroda. I took over the case from K C Bawa, who had conducted the primary investigation. I went to see the S-6 compartment and the exact place where it was halted before it was burnt down. The first thing I noticed was that the compartment's steps were intact. How is it possible if a crowd had burnt it from outside? The steps would be burnt first if people were torching it from outside. The complete article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-exclusive-godhra-case-investigator-speaks/20110228.htm

Hindus were burnt in Godhra before: Verdict
Although judge P R Patel does not pin-point the motive of the attack, he notes, "Godhra is known for its past history of communal riots...For Godhra, this is not the first incident of burning alive innocent persons belonging to Hindu community. Earlier, during many riot incidents in Godhra, persons were burnt alive and shops/houses etc came to be destroyed by fire." He cites 10 incidents of communal riots in Godhra since 1965 and noted that several riots broke out during the rath yatra in 1990 and 1992.
The judge says shouting slogans like 'Pakistan Zindabad', 'Hindustan Murdabad' etc and announcements on loudspeaker from a nearby mosque clearly suggest a motive and pre-planning to attack the train. The complete article can be read at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Hindus-were-burnt-in-Godhra-before-Verdict/articleshow/7631802.cms

Godhra case conspiracy aimed at targeting karsevaks'
The aim of the criminal conspiracy in the 2002 Godhra train burning case was to target 'karsevaks' travelling in the Sabarmati Express, the special court has concluded in its judgement. "The cause of fire which took place in coach S-6 was not short circuit or accidental because of any leakage of kerosene from stove of any passenger; but definitely petrol in huge quantity came to be poured inside the coach," the court has held.
The complete article can be read at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/godhra-case-conspiracy-aimed-at-targeting-karsevaks/758278/1