Mr. B Raman Was Right. Free Aseemanand, Sadhvi Pragya

I am a big fan of Late Bahukutumbi Raman who was known to those in the know or readers of “beyond news” kind of articles. The man was an apolitical spy who was really well informed and came through as an “India first” kind of patriot. He used to write op-ed pieces on a website saag.org which was later renamed http://southasiaanalysis.org/. It was clearly a website that a typical Indian leftist would not even want to accidently visit. Until of course it suited their warped narrative as we saw recently. One of his articles was used to support clemency for Yakub Memon. However as we found out ourselves and also in the now well-read open letter. It clearly states the following:

But one common hypothesis put forward by many is that Yakub Memon surrendered to the Indian authorities, and then cooperated with the investigations. Plain lies. Late B Raman, one of India’s finest intelligence officers wrote this in his article:

He had come to Kathmandu secretly from Karachi to consult a relative and a lawyer on the advisability of some members of the Memon family, including himself, who felt uncomfortable with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, returning to India and surrendering to the Mumbai police. The relative and the lawyer advised him against surrender due to a fear that justice might not be done to them. They advised Yakub to go back to Karachi.
Before he could board the flight to Karachi, he was picked up by the Nepal police on suspicion, identified and rapidly moved to India.

This was yesterday confirmed on some news channels when they interviewed the Nepali police officer. He re-iterated that there was no deal and Yakub was fleeing to Karachi. Then why are our “Intelligentsia” hell bent on stating otherwise?

So it is clear that those who clearly did not give two hoots about this patriot are bending his words for their perverted end. If they really were aware of the intel provided by Late Mr. Raman, they would not even utter the term “Hindu Terror”. I will explain.

When it comes to supporting their “Hindu Terror” phenomenon, Indian liberals and Pakistanis use the Samjhauta Express bombings and Malegaon bombings. Late Mr. Raman wrote an article on the matter and surprisingly that is one of the articles which has disappeared from website. Of course the article can be found at various websites and I will leave it here for your perusal. The most important point is made in section 7 where it says the following:

Thus, according to American investigators the LET and Al Qaeda were responsible for the Samjauta Express blast and the HUJI for the Mecca Masjid blast.If the American investigators, who have better sources in Pakistan, are correct, how can our investigators claim that some arrested Hindus were responsible for these incidents?

If Mr. Raman was correct then the suspects Swami Aseemanand, Sadhvi Pragya, Sunil Joshi (now dead), Sandeep Dange, Lokesh Sharma and Ramchandra Kalasangra are innocent. So why are these poor souls languishing in jails?

Since Indian leftists are now the new supporters of Mr. Raman then why have they not taken up the case of Aseemanand, Sadhvi Pragya ( who was denied permission to attend her father’s funeral) et. al. whose innocence Mr. Raman believed in. If Mr. Raman is wrong then why have they not apologized for using his article for their sick end? We all know why. Indian leftists are a disease on the nation’s soul. I wish they would keep their self-loathing to themselves instead of perverting the name of a patriot who is not with us to defend his good name.

ARREST OF SOME HINDUS AS TERRORISTS: CURIOUSER & CURIOUSER
By B.Raman http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers40/paper3971.html August 7 2010.

Some curious and intriguing aspects of the recent allegations of our investigating agencies against some Hindus of involvement in acts of terrorism against Muslims need to be highlighted.

2. The first relates to the incendiary explosion in the Samjauta Express. The second relates to the explosions in the Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad. The "Hindu" of July 31,2010, reported as follows: " The National Investigation Agency's probe into the Samjauta Express blasts will cover links with the explosions in Malegaon, Ajmer Sharif and the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Home Minister P.Chidambaram said here on Friday ( July 30).... Asked about Hindutva organisations being suspects in the Samjauta and other three blasts, he declined to speculate."If we could do that, why would we hand it over to the NIA? Since the Haryana Police has not been able to crack the case, with their consent, the case has been handed over to the NIA."..... The CPI (M) has opposed separate investigations and called for a co-ordinated probe. It also alleged that three persons arrested for the Ajmer Sharif dargah blast (2007) were linked to the Abhinav Bharat organisation, which is said to be behind the Malegaon blast (2008). Their involvement is also suspected in the Mecca Masjid blast (2007) as the SIM card found in Ajmer belonged to the same batch used to trigger the Hyderabad blast."

3.In a press note issued on July 1, 2009, the US Department of Treasury gave the personal particulars of four persons--- a Pashtun born in Afghanistan, two Punjabis and a fourth person of unclear ethnicity originating from Karachi----associated with the Lashkare-Toiba (LET), who were designated by the Department under Executive Order 13224 "as providing direct support to Al Qaeda and the LET and as facilitating terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai."

4. One Arif Qasmani of Karachi was specifically named by the Department as involed in the Mumbai suburban train blasts of July, 2006, and in the Samjautha Express blast of February, 2007. It said of him as follows: "Arif Qasmani is the chief coordinator for Lashkar-e Tayyiba's (LET) dealings with outside organizations and has provided significant support for LET terrorist operations. Qasmani has worked with LET to facilitate terrorist attacks, including the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. Qasmani conducted fundraising activities on behalf of LET in 2005 and utilized money that he received from Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian crime figure and terrorist supporter, to facilitate the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India. Since 2001, Arif Qasmani has also provided financial and other support and services to al Qaida, including facilitating the movement of al Qaida leaders and personnel in and out of Afghanistan, the return of foreign fighters to their respective countries, and the provision of supplies and weapons. In return for Qasmani's support, al Qaida provided Qasmani with operatives to support the July 2006 train bombing in Mumbai, India, and the February 2007 Samjota Express bombing in Panipat, India. In 2005, Qasmani provided Taliban leaders with a safe haven and a means to smuggle personnel, equipment, and weapons into Afghanistan." ( http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers33%5Cpaper3291.html )

5.Allegations have been made in India that some Hindus, who were arrested for their suspected involvement in the Ajmer Sharif blast, are also suspected of involvement in the Mecca Masjid blast of Hyderabad. On August 6,2010, the US State Department made public notifications designating the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) of Pakistan as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Ilyas Kashmiri belonging to it as an international terrorist. Similar action has been taken on US advice by the anti-terrorism sanctions committee of the UN Security Council the same day.

6. Reporting on these notifications, Mr.Peter Fowler, an American journalist, says as follows: "HUJI has carried out a number of terrorist attacks. In March 2006, HUJI was responsible for the suicide bombing of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, which killed four people and injured 48 others. HUJI is also responsible for terrorist attacks in India including the May 2007 Hyderabad mosque attack, which killed 16 and injured 40, and the March 2007 Varanasi attack, which killed 25 and injured 100." (http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/41551/us_targets_terrorist_organization_operating_in_india_and_pakistan.html )

7. Thus, according to American investigators the LET and Al Qaeda were responsible for the Samjauta Express blast and the HUJI for the Mecca Masjid blast.If the American investigators, who have better sources in Pakistan, are correct, how can our investigators claim that some arrested Hindus were responsible for these incidents? Justice and fairplay demand a thorough investigation into the two different versions that have emerged from Indian and American investigators. While the American investigators have blamed the LET, Al Qaeda and the HUJI, Indian investigators have blamed the Abhinav Bharat. Both cannot be correct.

( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )

The B Raman article was saved at many sites. One of them is: http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2010/08/b-raman-arrest-of-hindus-as-terrorists.html

Yakub Memon: New Cause Célèbre Of Indian Liberal

On a trip to a really small town (Falakata) in northern part of West Bengal, I saw an unusual appeal painted on the side of a building. It said – “Free Black Activist Mumia Abu Jamal”. Having spent some time near Philadelphia in the US, I knew exactly who this guy was. Born Wesley Cook, this man (who later converted – hence the name) was convicted of shooting a policeman to death. Since his conviction, this killer has found enormous support amongst leftist idiots from all walks of life. However to have found support in an essentially a no name town speaks volumes of our leftists. A once prosperous state of West Bengal was going down the drain and these morons were worried about some cop-killer from the US. Yes. That is the nature of the Indian left. With no real Indian heroes (at least in their perverted minds) they look up to killers like Mao, Che Guevara, Stalin, Castro et.al. Instead of mourning the death of APJ Abdul Kalam they are trying to dismiss him as a substandard Scientist. Why do they do it? Jamal killed a cop. The aforementioned dictators took upon the great evil country of the USA. The hate for Kalam stems from the fact that he had the temerity to give us a big stick to stand up to Pakis and Chinese. You do see a pattern here, don’t you?

The sickening support for Yakub Memon is yet another window into the sick, self-loathing mind of the Indian left. These people who were OK with Congress doing the same to Afzal Guru (without informing his family first) have found another worthless cause to support. Why is it worthless? It is because this man was caught in a trap laid out in Nepal and thus subject to the maximum possible punishment under our law. If he were extradited to India like Abu Salem (who cannot be given capital punishment under an agreement with Portugal) then he could continue to get fat in an Indian jail. This was not a case like that of that of Afzal Guru who was hung (and that too secretly without any information to his family) 12 years after his crime. Memon had well over two decades for appeals (apparently that is defined as urgency on Planet Digvijay) and after exhausting all the avenues, was punished as per Indian Law and that too with his family in the know (unlike Afzal whose hanging was carried out surreptitiously and was supported by the ruler of Planet Digvijay).

Of course all this begs the question that where was this support for the other hangings in India? In the west the Catholics who are opposed to capital punishment will oppose it for even the worst of the worst. Of course for the Indian left the opposition to capital punishment depends upon who neck is in the noose. Could it be that Yakub Memon along with his brother and Dawood Ibrahim carried out the Mumbai explosions in retaliation to something that had the support of Hindu Conservatives?

Lalitmodigate: A Crisis And An Opportunity for Modi Sarkar

In Delhi there are two kinds of politicians – the insiders and the outsiders. A typical insider is someone who may or may not have a good voter-base (most of the time they do not) but are very well connected in Delhi to politicians from ALL the parties. These insiders always survive and always benefit no matter who is in the government – a finger in every pie so to speak.

Congress is filled with this kind but our own BJP has its share of the insiders who by their proximity to the center have an extreme sense of entitlement. On their own in the states they are powerless but in Delhi with their connections they are very powerful. They can challenge a PM candidate, berate him, conspire against him and upon his victory have the chutzpah to demand “samman-janak” portfolio. Yes, I am talking about Sushma Swaraj who has to depend upon winnable seats to enter Loksabha. Another one is Arun Jaitley who has never won an elections and yet somehow always manage to get plum posts. These two and others like them always profit even when Congress was in power. The Congress leaders realize that they may not be in power forever and will need support in all the parties to stay out of jail. A typical trading of favors. Rahul Gandhi gets caught at Boston airport with contraband and Atalji gets him out. It has been over a year with Modi sarkar in power and Robert Vadra is still roaming free with nary a worry in the world. Welcome to the world of Delhi insiders.

So when this Lalit Modi story started to come out, I was not surprised that Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje (even though from BJP) were very much part of that gigantic scam known as the IPL. In fact is there any point in defending these two and for that matter pretending that only these two are involved with the sleazy mega-crook Lalit Modi? I am sure that more politicians are involved in this mega-scam than not. 

A 180 degree opposite of the Delhi insider is our esteemed PM who is probably the most honest PM (other than LB Shastri) we have had. He is a very strong leader with a stronger sense of ethics and yet stronger voter-base. He is where he is because of his work and voters rather than connections of any kind. He won on the promise of performance and clean government. Clearly he is still clean and performing as are a number of his ministers but there are some who are neither clean nor making it easy for PM to implement his vision and agenda (I am always afraid of these Delhi insider-IAS nexus). The PM clearly is handling his foreign policy with the dexterity of an old experienced diplomat. So a lamp post in the Foreign Office will be as good and Swaraj. As far as Jaitley is concerned, earning the moniker of Chidambaran lite is not exactly a ringing endorsement. In fact Jaitley has not performed and continues to be the biggest knock on Modi Sarkar.

The Lalitmodigate is the biggest crisis that Modi Sarkar has faced. They are on the defensive which is not where a strong PM should ever find himself. In fact in a really small way it is like Manmohan Singh claiming that he is clean but his ministers are stealing with impunity. I am sure that this is a new experience for PM Modi. But this crisis is also an opportunity. What he should do is that use this as an excuse to rid his Sarkar of this baggage and bring up the junior ministers who are really doing the heavy lifting. This is what should happen ideally. Raje and Swaraj should be shown the door. Neither’s departure will affect BJP’s electoral prospects anywhere. Jaitley should also be made to retire on health grounds (man can’t even stand for 30 minutes). This is the only way Modi Sarkar can regain the moral high ground against the people who are using Lalit Modi as a stick to beat them.

If that does not happen then at the very least a demotion in their stature should be enforced as a message for all the other BJP Delhi insiders. It is imperative that this happen. Otherwise unflattering comparisons will be made between PM Modi and his predecessor. That we will not like.

Narendra Modi: The New Sheriff In Town

Sun Tzu says the following in Art of War:
If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

In the recent days a lot of tough talk and chest thumping has been done by Modi Sarkar. Much to the chagrin of our liberal press. Also to the chagrin of some of his own soldiers. Of course it has reduced the Pakistanis to a group of rabid cretins – confused and angry. This all really begs the question as to why would you make a nuclear powered enemy of your country this angry? After all aren’t we all supposed to follow US President Roosevelt’s rule of speaking softly and carrying a big stick?

First of all, we elected Modi and his Sarkar so we have to give them five years like we have to every incompetent government so far. Perils of democracy I suppose. Now before this every government including one of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a proponent of peace with Pakistan no matter what the cost. Point to note is that every PM before Modi was born before partition of the nation and thus had fond memories of their days in Lahore or Karachi. Now Modi and his people have no fond memories of Pakistan. They remember the four wars, the decade long jihadi campaign in J&K, Pakistani support for the Khalistani terror campaign and various other attacks on our nation. Therefore it is safe to assume that Modi Sarkar has a more pragmatic rather than a romantic approach to our security concerns vis a vis Pakistan.

We also must concede that the current NSA Mr. Ajeet Doval has forgotten more about national security than most experts know about. After all the man’s resume (the little that we know of) can make even fictional spies jealous. Let us also assume that everything that is happening and every word that is being uttered is also calculated. Then why would a smart man like Manohar Parrikar make that statement about fighting terror with terror?

It seems that Modi Sarkar has a two pronged approach. One is to show Pakistan what they are losing by keeping a hardline policy against us (as supported by the Mullah-Military alliance). This was achieved by one visit to Bangladesh where deals were signed the kind of which we have refused with Pakistan (land and potentially water). We offered them infrastructure development which unlike the China sponsored economic corridor in Pakistan is actually going to happen. Making Bangladesh a part of a new economic block which includes the willing members of the SAARC shows that South Asia is on the move without Pakistan and their obduracy. Pakistan stands sidelined and this sows a serious discord between the business community and the security mandarins in Pakistan. All you have to do is to watch some videos on YouTube to realize the success of this approach. We hope that the money beats the guns in Pakistan.

The second approach is to rattle the defense establishment as per Sun Tzu’s philosophy. We are every bit as temperamental as Pakistanis but we do not have their arrogance (Pakistanis believe that one of theirs is equal to five of ours). It is this arrogance which forces them in a race for one-upmanship which they have no chance of winning. All this makes rattling them easier.

I think it was it was important to reveal to the world that India is willing to chase her enemies across the borders – at least this time. When America speaks softly people look for hidden menace. When India spoke softly well – ho hum! That is why it was important for the world to know that there is a new sheriff in town. From here onwards terrorists will think twice before attacking us on our eastern borders. The cost for the Chinese proxy terror in the east has gone up. Moreover Bangladesh and Myanmar are no longer under Chinese control (you have to read the Chinese reaction to Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in Xinhua to realize that). From now on we can also afford to speak softly because the world has seen our stick.

The western border, as the Indian presstitutes would jump to remind you, is a different issue. Clearly we cannot carry out Myanmar kind of operation there. But what we CAN do is to make the Pakistani allegation of India backed operations in Pakistan true. I don’t think that we actually have carried out any dirty trick campaigns in Pakistan yet – the local terrorists in Pakistan are quite capable of doing that on their own. However if you combine what Parrikar said with the Doval doctrine of offensive-defense then you get an idea of what we CAN do in Pakistan. Now that is what is causing serious dismay distress and confusion in Pakistani security establishment because they know how difficult it is to fight a proxy war (having waged against India for a long time). In fact we do not even have to do anything – just ensure that the threat is heard loud and clear in Pakistan. The mere threat will spread the Pakistani army thin and the monetary cost will go up for them which helps us. We want them to stay busy looking for threats and chase ghosts while we carry out the PM’s vision of a prosperous India.

The whole “exclusive story or first to report” attitude of the Indian media combined with their visceral hatred for Modi deprives them looking beyond the obvious. The voters however need to trust Modi Sarkar and give them the same leeway as they did the previous governments. I am sure they will be rewarded for their patience.

NRIs and Casteism

Indian newspapers often brag about the accomplishments of NRIs. Recently there was news which talked about how NRIs have a chokehold on the spelling competition in the USA. It seems that 12 out of the last 15 competitions have been won by NRI children. I also had heard ignoramuses in USA were writing a lot of racist stuff on twitter and other social media saying that it was an American contest meant for Americans to win. Of course those morons do not know that every single one of those kids was born in the US and thus as American as any of them. But that is beside the point.

I decided to read the coverage of this news on the Washington Post which is one of the biggest papers in the US. I read the report which was as complimentary as it could be. Then I decided to read the comments following the report. Now these comments are often unadulterated sentiments of the readers emboldened by their anonymity. Most of the comments were a mishmash of the usual and the insignificant but one of them stood out. This guy whose username suggested an Indian origin took the pains of demonstrating the caste of all the Indian winners of the past. His point was that the group comprised of mostly Brahmin kids and very few other upper caste kids with no one other castes and religions were represented.
As someone who thinks that casteism is the bane of Indian society, I was aghast. Even after being removed from the country and exposed to one of the most barrier free societies (keyword being “MOST”) this jerk still is holding onto an social evil which is holding our society from breaking free. Very recently a dalit boy was killed in Maharashtra because his phone had a ringtone extolling Babasaheb Ambedkar. When a dalit gets killed for sitting in a chair do we feel proud of the system or do we want to get rid of it?

What this jackass does not realize that before 2000 which triggered the Y2K fears (which led to the hiring of enormous numbers of Indian IT professionals) only students used to go to the US for higher studies and that too students from the IITs and some RECs. Most of these students happen to be from the privileged classes (it is not just hard work but also opportunity that helps the privileged classes). Children of those people are now participating in these competitions and doing well. So what we have is children of the best of India are doing well in the US. Are we really surprised?

On the other hands there is another section of Indian society which finds itself in the US i.e. non-professionals from Punjab and Gujarat. Now none of the spelling competition winners are Gujaratis or Punjabis but they are some of the wealthiest Indians in the US. Do they get rich being stupid and lazy? Clearly for a lot of people, winning in a spelling competition is less important than becoming rich. As one Gujarati told me – we don’t do MBA degree, we just hire them to do our work.

While most of the comments following the articles complimented the NRI children and ridiculed the racists, these moron brought in caste system and vitiated a good discussion. I will bet that this same cretin complains about racism in America all the time.

What really upset me is that Indians in the US complain about racism and yet practice casteism and regionalism even when they are far from home. These are some of our best representing Mother India abroad. With that in mind what prayer do we have of getting rid of these evils IN India? That is what broke my heart.

Pakistanis Need To Look Within

Social media soldiers empowered by PM candidate Modi have taken it upon themselves to call out Pakistani media lies. Hours of YouTube videos posted by these patriotic Indians shows a large cross-section of Pakistani media which seems to be confused, ISI agenda driven or just plain stupid. Watch the video above. The host Salim Bokhari (are all the Bokharis gasbags?) claims that a book (biography of FM Sam Maneckshaw – Soldiering With Dignity) by an Indian Army officer Deepinder Singh says that 1800 Indian soldiers dressed as Pakistani soldiers snuck into East Pakistan, committed unspeakable atrocities for which innocent Pakistani soldiers were blamed. WOW! Since no one in Pakistan will ever read that book or any book ever, such a claim will be accepted as the truth.

Now I have not read this book which was published in 2003. But someone must have read this book which has been around for 12 years and not talked about this. If this were really true do you think that Pakistani establishment would have stayed quiet? Tall claims are a norm in Pakistani media which is so sure of getting away with their lies that they not only make such claims but also get acclaims for “sensible” journalism. If these so called “danishwars or danishmand” are indicative of Pakistani intellectuals, Gods save that country from self-inflicted wounds.

In the aftermath of 9/11 attacks, the scuttlebutt in the Muslim world was that it was a Jewish conspiracy and that all the Jews got a phone call in the morning telling them to stay at home. The 26/11 attacks in Mumbai were also declared a Hindu conspired attack to defame Pakistan. Closer to home, they said that India has joined hands with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and ISIS / Daesh to attack the school in Peshawar. Even the bus attack killing the Ismailis was attributed to RAW with concrete proofs in the hands of the Pakistani authorities until of course when it turned out to be highly educated (as highly as then can get in Pakistan) rich Pakistani boys who carried out that attack.

This is the problem with the Muslim world. One half thinks that they are right. The other half thinks it is not their fault. Now you do not have to be an Algebra wizard to see that this is an unsolvable equation. Unless they take out one or two variables out of this equation, the Muslim world will stay mired in this never-ending cycle of violence. Self-introspection is not easy but that is the only cure. In fact the Pakistanis need to listen to Najam Sethi or Hassan Nisar or Ayaz Amir or Javed Chaudhry or Ahmed Rashid and give these guys a chance and eventually give themselves a chance. It may not be too late.

Is Arun Shourie Right On Modi Sarkar?

Respected journalist Mr. Arun Shourie in an interview with a well know media hatchet-man Karan Thapar has slammed the Modi Sarkar while saying the following about Modi:

"I like him. He is the only person who can give us leadership."

Since the buck stops with Modi, let us assume that Shourie is lying about his likeness for Modi because Modi is responsible for all the failures of his government. Shourie said that because he just does not want to burn every bridge with the party he used to belong.

But Shourie’s accusations should not be taken lightly. After all he is one of the most respected journalists who is known for fairness (at least so far). Let us examine his accusations (Parts of Shourie interview are in red followed by our response in black).

He said the one-year rule of Modi was "good in parts", his transformation as prime minister was good in foreign policy, but the promised turnaround in economy has not happened.

Jan Dhan Yojna: PM Narendra Modi came up with a brilliant idea to link all the Indian families with the banking system because most of the people in rural areas do not even have a bank account which they fall victims to local money lenders.So far in this program about 12.5 crore bank accounts have been opened in just 5 months which way more than it was anticipated target of 7.5 crores till Jan 25, 2015.

Direct Benefit Transfer scheme (PAHAL): The finance ministry advised that a direct benefit transfer scheme for all the LPG gas cylinder subscribers will be able to stop the ongoing corruption in providing subsidy to the beneficiaries! It was proposed that subsidies on cooking gas and kerosene will be transferred directly to the bank account of beneficiaries. The Indian govt. will save around Rs. 14,000 crore by implementing this scheme.

Inflation and GDP:Because of steps taken by Modi Sarkar, Inflation has hit a low of about 5% in the month of December. Onion and potato have been included in essential elements list so that its black marketing stops. Moreover, he gave clear guidelines to state governments to take serious actions against the hoarders!! The rising cost of food during UPA rule was a severe burden on us. GDP of India has increased from 5.02% in 2013 to 5.64% in 2014 and it is expected to grow even more in the coming years!
Figures released by Coal Secretary Anil Swarup show that the proceeds from the sale of 32 mines in the coal block e-auctions have crossed Rs2 lakh crore. The amount surpasses the CAG's estimate of Rs1.86-lakh-crore loss on account of the allocation of blocks without auction during the UPA regime.

Shourie, who is not active in BJP these days, said despite promises the fears of foreign investors on retrospective taxes and incentives for manufacturing have not materialised on the ground. Asked if the Modi government had done enough to put India on growth path, Shourie said that it was "all hyperbole". "Such claims are meant to grab headlines but lack substance,"

Narendra Modi’s decision to scrap the Soviet-era government scheme has definitely empowered states and other stakeholders to make their own decisions which is clearly a bold move unthinkable so far even by the Atalji government of which Shourie was an integral part. Also disbanded were the nine empowered groups of ministers (EGoMs) and 21 groups of ministers (GoMs) that were in operation because of coalition politics which is another bold move which when coupled with the cleaning and tightening of the Indian bureaucracy will remove the red tape and improve investments and other economic activities.

The smaller size of the ministry, restrictions on the travel of ministers including junkets and five star travel has greatly reduced the financial burden on the exchequer. As far as headlines are concerned, with 24 hour news channels and activist journalists it is hard to stay out of headlines especially for Modi who has a huge bull’s eye on his back.

Shourie has very graciously accepted the good performance of Modi in foreign policy matters but has conveniently ignored the immediate and potential financial impact of Modi’s foreign policy initiatives. I really do agree that ground reality does not portray the potential impact but I would like to remind that even for the US, it took more than three years to come out of the economic downturn of the last decade and then have the most robust system in the world in place. I am quite sure that the impact of Modi’s decisions will start yielding dividends soon.

On the social front, Shourie said there was "great anxiety" among the minorities in the wake of the incidents of attack on Christian institutions and the "Ghar Wapsi" and "Love Jihad" campaigns. He was critical of Modi's "silence" on issues relating to social tensions on account of activities of right wing organisations and statements by some party MPs and leaders.

After the BJP victory, all of the fringe Hindu groups who were left out began to feel their oats and started to speak their mind. While these groups are guys were ignored for saying and doing the same things during the UPA regime (Ghar wapsi and other campaigns did not start after Modi became PM; they became newsworthy), they are now being looked upon as Modi spokespersons when the truth is that during his tenure as Gujarat CM, Modi antagonized the RSS and VHP. In fact before he became the candidate for PM, a lot of fence mending was done with the RSS. I am surprised that Shourie has forgotten all that. We are not even going to talk about the social programs the nation has embarked upon under Modi’s leadership otherwise this already large article will become even larger.

"You tweet when Sania Mirza wins championship or greet someone on birthdays but you don't do such things when moral questions are involved. "We have to wake up," he said, adding that people like Ribeiro and former Punjab top cop KPS Gill had saved Punjab for India.

It is kind of churlish of Shourie to use well liked personalities to score points in a debate and settle scores.

Talking about alienation of Muslim youth in the context of "Love Jihad" and Moradabad violence, Shourie said, "if 100 muslim youth come together and conclude that we are not getting justice here and that ISIS is right then we have a problem at hand".

Has Shourie become an apologist for terrorists and their recruitment efforts?

Shourie also invoked the controversial monogrammed pin-striped suit that Modi wore during his interaction with US President Barack Obama earlier this year.

"It was inexplicable, incomprehensible and a big critical mistake," Shourie said. "I fail to understand why he accepted and then wore that suit. You cannot take Gandhiji's name and wear such a thing," he said.

Wow! To bring the goddamned suit in a discussion while discussing national problems is tabloid journalism suited for the likes of Barkha Dutt and Arnab Goswami. Is Shourie okay with politicians with huge bank accounts but wear khadi?

But, he said there were "contradictory signals" on Pakistan. "There should be steadier thinking, steadier guage." "It is not a good idea that in the fascination for out of box ideas to ignore the institutional memory embedded in the Ministry of External Affairs and outside," he added.

For the first time the national security is being looked after by men like Modi (a decision maker) and Doval (a man who really understands Pakistan unlike people who carry small torches for Pakistan and India’s united past). Shourie should know that institutional memory is the problem not the solution which is why the Indian voter has brought in outsiders like Modi.

As wrong as Shourie is, his criticism should not be brushed aside. He is a good journalist at the core and even in anger (we all know why he is angry) he makes some good points. Modi’s ascendance has done wonders for the economy and other aspects of the society. But the path forward needs action and hard decisions. The nation is waiting with bated breaths for the PM to take those decisions. If he has to reshuffle his cabinet and fire the lackluster Finance Minister or the fumbling HRD minister then by all means he should. He still has a lot of political cache. He also needs to do what he did in Gujarat i.e. clamp down on the likes of Sakshi Maharaj. But most of all, he needs to initiate programs with visible results positively affecting the middle and the poorer classes affecting the so as to calm his anxious supporters and shut up his detractors.

The article referred above can be found at:

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-bjp-ideologue-arun-shourie-launches-scathing-attack-on-narendra-modi-government-2082415

http://www.quora.com/What-has-been-accomplished-by-the-Modi-government-in-the-8-5-months-of-its-tenure
www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Modi-Outlines-Work-for-Top-Bureaucrats/2014/06/05/article2264016.ece

http://www.mensxp.com/special-features/today/24453-17-incredible-ways-in-which-modi-sarkar-has-changed-india.html

1990: The Year That Changed India And Pakistan

It is easy for a person to look back at their lives and pinpoint a time or a decision which was a turning point in their lives. We can do that for nations also although it may be a period rather than a date or a series of decisions rather than just one which could be construed as the turning points.

I have selected 1990 (for convenience because it actually was a period of two to three years) as the year when India and Pakistan changed their paths. At that time Pakistan was ahead of India in many social and economic yardsticks. They had earned the gratitude of the Americans by fighting their proxy war against the USSR. Anyone who follows history knows that the US has always helped such countries become economic powerhouses (Germany, Japan and South Korea), But they threw all that away. We all know what happened but discussing the two stories together it puts things in perspective and could offer a compass for a path forward.

A decade long proxy war against the USSR benefited the Pakistanis greatly. They developed their nuclear program during those days. The US knew about that nefarious program but did not do anything because they needed the Pakistanis who in turn squeezed the Americans for large amounts of money and weapons. The Pakistanis also developed the Taliban and various other terrorist outfits to control Afghanistan for strategic depths thinking once again that they will be the first ones in the history of mankind to control the monsters they had created. But once the Soviets were defeated, the US left with Pakistan holding the bag. They could still have done the right thing and rehabilitated the Talibs and they could have either controlled the terrorist groups like LeT of marginalized them by starving them of funds and personnel. But what they did would constitute this turning point in their history. All this happened in the 1989-90.

The hatred that the Pakistanis have for Hindus is unfathomable. It is this hatred that led to the policy of using the Taliban to control Afghanistan for a strategic depth in case of a war with India and use terrorist groups like Let to bleed India. They did bleed us and in the process destroyed J&K, forced a Hindu exodus from the valley and caused a lot of deaths- civilian as well as military. Every peace effort between the politicians of India and Pakistan was sabotaged by either ill-conceived military operation like Kargil or a terror attack. It was a lost decade for Indian citizens of J&K. Indian defence forces finally prevailed and ensured the safety of J&K for the most part. But the price paid for the giving birth to Taliban and Osama Bin Laden was very steep for the US and Pakistan.

When the terrorists and the talibs ran out of targets, they turned on their masters. In the last decade, Pakistanis have lost over 50,000 people to a very bloody terror campaign. As usual, they responded by differentiating between good terrorists (ones who kill Hindus and assorted non-Muslims) and bad terrorists. In fact it wasn't until 140 or so children of Sunni military personnel were gunned down, the Pakistanis were still hesitant in clamping down on their strategic assets. Now that they have started a campaign against various terrorist outfits, one hopes that they succeed. Aside from the loss of life, the economic ruin that these attacks have brought are incalculable. Pakistan has gone from what could have been a reasonably prosperous country to a basket case snatching that title from their estranged Bangladeshi brethren.

Around the same time in India, even with fires burning in J&K we had the good luck of seeing a non Gandhi family Congress PM. As per Wikipedia: With India’s foreign exchange reserves at $1.2 billion in January 1991[2][3][4] and depleted by half by June,[4] barely enough to last for roughly 3 weeks of essential imports,[3][5]India was only weeks way from defaulting on its external balance of payment obligations.

PV Narsimha Rao who was the best Congress PM (the most honest one being LB Shastri) abandoned Nehruvian economics and appointed his second choice for Finance Minister i.e. Manmohan Singh. Again, as per Wikipedia,

Major reforms in India's capital markets led to an influx of foreign portfolio investment. The major economic policies adopted by Rao include:
• Abolishing in 1992 the Controller of Capital Issues which decided the prices and number of shares that firms could issue.[31][33]
• Introducing the SEBI Act of 1992 and the Security Laws (Amendment) which gave SEBI the legal authority to register and regulate all security market intermediaries.[31][34]
• Opening up in 1992 of India's equity markets to investment by foreign institutional investors and permitting Indian firms to raise capital on international markets by issuingGlobal Depository Receipts (GDRs).[35]
• Starting in 1994 of the National Stock Exchange as a computer-based trading system which served as an instrument to leverage reforms of India's other stock exchanges. The NSE emerged as India's largest exchange by 1996.[36]
• Reducing tariffs from an average of 85 percent to 25 percent, and rolling back quantitative controls. (The rupee was made convertible on trade account.)[37]
• Encouraging foreign direct investment by increasing the maximum limit on share of foreign capital in joint ventures from 40 to 51% with 100% foreign equity permitted in priority sectors.[38]
• Streamlining procedures for FDI approvals, and in at least 35 industries, automatically approving projects within the limits for foreign participation.[31][39]

The impact of these reforms may be gauged from the fact that total foreign investment (including foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, and investment raised on international capital markets) in India grew from a minuscule US $132 million in 1991–92 to $5.3 billion in 1995–96.[38] Rao began industrial policy reforms with the manufacturing sector. He slashed industrial licensing, leaving only 18 industries subject to licensing. Industrial regulation was rationalised.[31]

The path PM Rao put us on was the turning point for India. In fact it enabled us to utilize our hitherto untapped potential. In fact even during the disastrous ten years of Manmohan Singh who abandoned his own ways in exchange for the PM’s seat could not derail what he had initiated. When the central government tried to move away from our newly found path, the state governments like Gujarat took that and developed it even further. With the current PM, there can be no stopping us (even with the bureaucracy and the socialistic opposition’s mischief).

My analysis may sound simplistic but while watching a video where Moeed Pirzada (who is a very rational man until his hatred for India overtakes his rational part of his brain, is interviewing Simbal Khan comes to the same conclusion as I did or vice versa. Not only him but scores of Pakistani analysts have tried to analyze the mess they are in. Some of them have started to the conclusion that their proxy war with India has nearly destroyed them. Unfortunately for the poor Pakistanis, they keep placing inordinate amount of trust in the only functional organization in their country which is their army which is the solution and cause of their problems. Maybe there is no real hope for that country. That is unfortunate for all concerned including us.

The source of the information for the article are as follows:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/indo-pak-1990.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Kashmir_conflict

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._V._Narasimha_Rao

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Indian_economic_crisis

Giriraj Singh Is Right

The definition of racism is as follows:

rac·ism: The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.

What does it imply when in a lot of our poetry, the woman is referred to as “Gori” (the fair one)? What does it imply when a woman’s face is compared to a moon as in “Chaand sa chehra” (a white orb in a dark background)? What does it imply when in ads for marriages, the groom’s parents explicitly demand a fair girl or the bride’s parents go out of their way to describe their daughter in terms which make her sound fair (using terms like wheatish etc to describe the skin tone)? What does it say about us when a whole lot of our beauty products are supposed to make you fairer? Does this make us racists? It does not and I will explain later.

Spike Lee who is a brilliant moviemaker tackled the issue in his movie “Jungle Fever” where there exist a preference in black population for black women with lighter skin tones. Does that make them racist? I don’t think so. What about the obsession of the white population all over the world who are willing to risk melanoma for a tanned skin? In my dealings with white people I have heard them mock fellow whites with very pale skin? Does that make them racist? No.

Racism is about hatred not about preference. People with darker skin prefer lighter skin because that makes them unique. Same goes for people with white skin who prefer darker skin tones. It is our self loathing that makes us do so not our hatred for others. This preference is a collective burden, our cross to bear if you will.

That said, we in India have another issue adds to the burden that is our natural preference for lighter skin and that is our institutional memory of the British rule. For many Indians, white skin and English language makes us acutely aware of our insecurities. Even the most aggressive Indians tend to abandon their natural tendencies when faced with a person of European origin. I have seen this in the US.

Now coming to the main point I would like to ask you one thing – If Sonia Gandhi had not married Rajiv Gandhi will she be a leader of equal power and prominence in Italy? Will she be locking horns with Silvio Berlusconi and other Italian conservatives for the right of Italian poor? Before you answer that remember her background. In fact her only qualification is that she married the right guy. Before we condemn Giriraj Singh to the depths of hell, we should not forget that the only reason why the Congress leaders brought her to the fore. She has the Gandhi family name which Congress worker worships and she is unique which will be her USP for the voters. What makes her unique? Is it her staggering intellect? Is it her prior experience as a CM of a state or a minister in Central Government or a senior bureaucrat? If she were this brilliant statesperson, then why would Congress be in such doldrums? Going back to the last days of PV Narsimha Rao when Congress wanted a new direction, how did the Congress bigwigs like Janardhan Dwivedi, Oscar Fernandez, Ambika Soni et. al fathom Sonia Gandhi’s administrative capabilities? All of it points to the only thing that makes her unique. If Rajiv Gandhi had married a Hindu or a Muslim housewife like so many other prominent Indian politicians, do you think we would be having this discussion? Clearly Giriraj Singh, in his attempts to make this statement with a dramatic flair decided to go to the other extreme of the color spectrum and replaced white Italian with a Black Nigerian.

Giriraj Singh’s statement should not offend Sonia Gandhi. She is only guilty of the usual human follies. The people who thought her leadership would get a typical Indian voter curious and vote for her are the ones who are guilty of racism. The voters who voted for her because of her “unique features” are also guilty of ignorance and their aforementioned racial burden. So of what is Giriraj Singh guilty? All he did was point out our own weaknesses.

Giriraj Singh is clearly not a diplomat. He has a remarkable ability to say the wrong thing at the worst possible time making him a huge liability for the BJP. However, with his latest remark he has inadvertently brought attention to not only his but the entire country’s attitude about races. Condemn him if you must but look within. See if you or your loved ones have a completely clear conscience about racism.

After Nina Davuluri won the Miss America contest, it was said that she would never win the equivalent title in India. Why? Because she is too dark skinned. Giriraj Singh may be a loudmouth but for once, he is right.

PS: We support Giriraj Singh's right of freedom of speech as we always do. I wish the usual leftist brigade who are for complete freedom of speech will throw their weight behind Singh.

A similar article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/what-if-rajiv-had-married-a-nigerian-indians-are-racist-giriraj-singh-is-right-2182249.html

It Is Wrong To Ban Rape Documentary

It is very easy to control others. “Saam, daam, dand and bhed” are some of the ways to achieve that. It is well near impossible for a person to control themselves. Just ask a person addicted to any of the vices or anger or violence or any of the bad behaviors. There are no techniques for this.

It is very easy to point out mistakes in others. You can afford to be objective, creative, eloquent etc. but looking in the mirror is extremely difficult. Standing up and accepting your own culpability does not come easy to us. When it comes to the neighbor’s son, it is easy to call him names but when your own son does something wrong, we all start looking for excuses.

In a world where male children are looked upon as path to prosperity and salvation, life becomes difficult for girls. In countries like India and China where boys are not only preferred but preferred so much that killing a female fetus or a girl almost justifies it for some. Imagine a boy born in such families. The father and the grandparents spoil this boy rotten. Everyone around this brat becomes part of a support system for him. I heard a story from a friend in the US. This Indian American boy used to live with three other boys (non-Indians). They used to share cleaning responsibilities especially the toilet. When it was the Indian boy’s turn to clean up the toilets, his mother would come and clean it up for him. This is a true story. Now imagine. If this boy thinks so little of the woman who gave birth to him and raised him, what would he think of women who are not related to him by blood? Now think of what he thinks of women around him when he is excited and “in heat”. Do you think that this brat is used to hearing no from a girl? In a sting operation carried out in San Francisco (Bay area) by an American channel over sixty percent caught were Indian boys who thought it is was OK to have sex with a thirteen year old white girl. Imagine that.

The entire society is to be blamed for the behavior of these men especially their parents. Boys need to be brought up not like alpha wolves but responsible citizens and human beings. This documentary (unimportant how it was made) is akin to looking in the mirror. Every parent with a son should be made to watch this instead of banning it.

Banning this documentary is not only against the freedom of speech (so was banning the AIB roast but that is in a different vein of importance) but also a bad cover up job. MODI GOVERNMENT IS WRONG! This shows Indian men in a very bad light but if it saves even one girl’s life then it is worth it.

Getting defensive and pointing out that rapes happen in a much larger percentage in UK and the rest of the west does not justify this cover up. This is the time to show the world that Hinduism and our culture is superior to others. Standing up and accepting your fault is the real masculine trait. Modi and his 56 inch chest should step in and overturn this ban.

It is a topic which is very important to me. We have written many articles on the topic. Please read the following and other articles mentioned in it.

http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2013/04/rapes-in-india-criminal-and-social.html?showComment=1417128296819

Yes To Gandhi-free Congress. No To Congress-free India.

Congress lost the general elections in a big way. Since then every election they have contested even in their areas have resulted in bog losses. Their projected performance the recent Delhi elections have to alarm the most loyal lapdogs of the Gandhi family. That Congress is imploding will be an understatement. We have written many articles on the perils of dynastic rules. We expected that things will go bad for Congress. We took great pleasure in their losses and rightly so. That party has done more damage to the nation than any elected party in any democracy. But their current state is worrisome to any Indian who is concerned about the state of Indian democracy.

The way Modi-Shah combine is working, it is clear that the BJP will become a true blue national party with presence in every state. They are not depending on “friendly regional parties” as did LK Advani and his ilk. That is really good for the health of Indian democracy. After all, parties with regional aspirations with focused agendas are detrimental to a balanced administration because they tend to use their spoiler status to squeeze undeserved funds to run their populist agendas. Central government gets reduced to the status of an ATM in the hands of regional mandarins. So in that regards, a strong BJP presence in any state offers the voters a viable alternative especially if the state BJP has strong and capable local leaders.

Congress was that party. Once upon a time they had a presence in all the states. Their ground level organization was strong and the workers loyal. It was all because the leadership which may have been corrupt and misguided (read socialists) but they were consummate politicians with reasonable to good intellect. After India Gandhi, the rot began because she would not let any other leader come up. It became a family dynasty. After Rajiv Gandhi, the party had a bit of respite and they had their most capable leader since LB Shastri. PVN Rao did wonders for the Indian economy. But the Gandhi family loyalists could not leave well enough alone. We all know what happened after that. Even today, no one is ready to put the blame at the feet of Sonia Gandhi. It is like the Harry Potter series of novels where no one took the name of Voldemort. It is the story of the king without the clothes-no one has the guts to say that she is truly incapable intellectually and every other way to head anything except maybe a household where the major decision is what is for dinner. After the party stands in ruins, people have gathered some guts and have started to question Rahul Gandhi’s decisions when it is Sonia all along. Congress is getting destroyed and they are still not ready to question Sonia Gandhi. If they do not get rid of the mother-son duo, there will not be any party left.

Their faithful in the media have already abandoned them and are already referring to Arvind Kejriwal as the national alternative to BJP. Which maybe be fine except we know that while Arvind Kejriwal may have the intellect and some political survival skills, he is not an administrator. He has not governed any organization let alone lead a national party. Even if and that is a HUGE if, he can somehow run Delhi, it is going to take him ages to become a national party. The BJP in its current avatar took close to 15 years to become a force on the national scene and this when they already had strong roots and Janasangh, backed by the RSS. How the hell can AAP become a national alternative?
What will happen is that BJP will become the only national party and they will be challenged by the regional satraps. That will suit the nation well as long as the BJP wins with comfortable majority. However, if the BJP does not get the majority they how can India expect a strong central government. We will start having elections every other year. We will be reduced to a big banana republic.

We all know that for a healthy democracy we need a strong opposition. That has to be Congress if BJP is in power and vice versa. It cannot be some ego driven rabble rouser or a family dynasty. It has to a viable national party. In the current state, the nation needs Congress. As much as I love Narendra Bhai, I cannot abide with his “Congress Mukt Bharat” campaign. What I would like to see is “Gandhi family mukt Congress”.

We need a strong Congress and BJP to provide India with a two party system and that will never happen as long as Sonia Gandhi and her yes-men are in charge. My appeal to the responsible leaders of Congress is that please, for the nation’s sake, see the light, call the spade a spade and get rid of Sonia, her son and her daughter. They are toxic and are destroying the party and in turn making the Indian democracy weak.

Will that happen? I don’t know. The Gandhi family loyalists have either gotten rid of anyone with any brains or emasculated them. Until that happens, I can hope and pray that Narendra Modi continues to occupy the PM’s chair. God forbid if he loses then that vacuum will be filled by the likes of Kejriwal or Mamata Bannerjee. Are you comfortable with that thought?

The Implications Of Delhi Elections

The Delhi elections are done. The results are not out yet but for the most part it is not important because the implications for the major players is quite clear.

For BJP it is quite clear that this will be Modi’s first loss after an extremely long time (even if the BJP miraculously wins the implications remain the same). The media made this election into a referendum against Modi as if wins in other states and a large number of seats in J&K were meaningless. But it is quite clear that the dysfunction in Delhi BJP ran too deep for Modi to do anything about. Delhi is that kind of city where power and money run amok and it affects everyone. The Delhi BJP cadre is as corrupt as everyone else. Last election when the BJP became the largest party, it had projected Dr. Harshvardhan who is that rare clean Delhi insider and he overcame the dysfunction. This time Kiran Bedi who is clean but an outsider which made it well near impossible for her to overcome Delhi BJP problems.

Delhi is a glorified municipality with no bearing on the workings of the central government. A loss here will not translate into losses in important upcoming elections in Bihar, WB and UP (now those are important states where losses will mean loss of control in Rajyasabha). Congress always did well in Delhi which never translated into wins anywhere else. But there is a clear message for Modi and Shah. Indian voters (like voters everywhere) are fickle and they want tangible and visible results. Clearly all of Modi’s decisions and work has not translated into visible results. That it has been less than a year to clean of 65 years of rot does not earn you any respite from the voters. Clearly the price control in commodities was not sold to the voters effectively. Therefore in the upcoming elections, effective communication with the voters without offering them freebies. This means discovering campaigners other than Modi.

For AAP implications could not be more important. Even if due to some extreme bad luck they lose or get lesser than expected number of seats, they have established themselves as players to be reckoned with. More importantly, everyone who hates Modi (that is a larger number) is going to rally behind AAP. They will get a disproportionate amount of press and their fundraising capabilities are going to skyrocket. Kejriwal has now become the Goliath slayer, the common man who took on big bad Modi and bested him. He will now become the shoulder upon which leftists, liberals and media mavens will fire their guns from. After the last elections he had earned monikers like AK49 or “bhagoda”. Now he will be called CM again. This time around he will not quit. We all have an idea how he will perform (especially with those large number of promised freebies) but to go into that at the time of his victory will be churlish. We should let him and the entire anti-Modi brigade enjoy this huge victory thanks to the wise voters of Delhi. Kejriwal has now become relevant again and he already is being projected by the great leftist blowhard Rajdeep Sardesai (he also has become relevant by proxy) as Congress’ alternative on the national level.

For Congress the implications are dire. So dire that they merit a blogspot of its own.

For India, the implications are not good. We are back to being a fractured democracy instead of a solid two party system. Again, thank you voters of Delhi. The implications will be discussed along with the implications for Congress.

Indian History Important. Future More So.

History is important. It tells us who we were and where we came from. It can act as a compass for our future if we are wise enough to learn from it. It instills pride in us for our past accomplishments and prepares a groundwork for future actions. It is a tool in the hands of policymakers. Nationalists often use it to drum up patriotic fervor.

When it comes to history, we have some accomplishments with irrefutable proofs. On the other hand we have some accomplishments like Ayurveda and yoga which are based on traditions and despite any hard documentary proofs of their inception as an idea the world recognizes those as Indian contribution to the world. But when we start using religious scriptures as proofs for past accomplishments and claim that we knew of interplanetary air travel based on the Ramayana or reconstructive plastic surgery based on Lord Ganesha, eyebrows are bound to be raised. Such claims have been made in the past by nationalists of various kind but none of that ever attracted any attention from the mainstream media. At a recent conference in Mumbai, Dr. Harshvardhan who is a senior BJP member and official was an invited speaker. This is what an article claims about his speech.

Dr Vardhan, a surgeon by training, made the claim at the 102nd Indian Science Congress in Mumbai, which also hit headlines for claims that included assertions of ancient inter-planetary flight, of herbal pastes being used on the feet to find underground water, ways to use dung with herbs and egg white to make natural plastics, and the performance of reconstruction plastic surgery 3,500 years ago.

When we talk of Ayurveda or Yoga or our ancient achievements in the areas of Math, science and astronomy we are on real solid grounds. Prof. Manjul Bhargava who is the only person of Indian origin to win the Field’s medal (the “Math Nobel” prize) said the following on the claim that Indians discovered what is now known as the Pythagoras Theorem.

It depends on what you mean (where the Pythagorean theorem first originated)," says Dr Bhargava, the Brandon Fradd professor of mathematics at Princeton University, adding that there are different levels of knowledge of the theorem.

Another standard would involve," he adds, "the requirement of a document that explicitly states the Pythagorean theorem -- the geometric theorem. That first occurs about 800 BC in India in the Shuba Sutra of Baudhayan."

"There's the first explicitly written theorem that ways that if you have a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is the sum of the square of the length of the two legs. That is written for the first time as a theorem for a general triangle in the Shuba Sutra of Baudhayan... At least, that's the first recorded instance."

"In that sense, if you want hard scientific evidence, it's accurate to say that the Pythagorean Theorem was first (recorded) in India in about 800 BC. Another standard could go beyond a mere statement," says Dr Bhargava.

This what I mean by concrete proof. Such proofs will initiate debates that can be resolved. Religious scriptures as proofs will initiate derision with loss of credibility in all those who do not follow blindly. The former will instill pride in all of us. The latter will provide a stick to the leftist liberals with which to beat the PM. The point is that our PM right now is like Arjun with his aim at the eye of the fish – which in his case is the future and economic wellbeing of India. This proclamations about our past especially those associated with the administration are totally avoidable distractions.

What we read about in our scriptures maybe true to some extent. After all, someone imagined it. All imagination is fuelled by an observation from the present. But that kind of debate will need us to take a leap of faith which is only possible for the Hindus with blind faith. A debate on that topic with sceptics, scientists and leftists all we will get is mockery and name calling. And that is really counter-productive. Past is important but future more so. Iraq was once the cradle of civilization – Babylon. Egyptians have the Pyramids and Sphinx. They can really make big and valid claims about their past. But as they stand right now, what is their future? On the other hand, the USA has essentially no history. We have monuments in almost all our cities older than the US. But with hard work and focus they have a really bright future. The question before us is that do we want to emulate the USA or be like Egypt and Iraq where past glories are used as an excuse for current day laziness and ineptitude?

The article mentioned can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/special/did-india-discover-pythogoras-theorem-a-top-mathematician-answers/20150109.htm

Conversion VS Reconversion

The Americans take their freedom very seriously. Religious freedom or freedom of speech is protected by federal laws and the society itself. That makes the field level for all. This means that if funds and efforts from Middle East are converting poor Blacks and other minorities then that is not impeded by anyone. Of course the same goes for the reverse efforts as well. Christians can get on a pulpit and do any kind of name calling without running the risk of a fatwa. Of course Muslims can do the same. Therefore in the eyes of the law or society, all speech, religions and other basic human rights are revered and protected. The field, as they say, is level.

Now compare that with India. When Modi was the CM of Gujarat, all accusations, fair or unfair were allowed. All invectives, no matter how nasty were protected by freedom of speech. He was called “maut ka saudagar”, fascist, Nazi, mass murderer etc. with no one except the conservatives to his defence. The moment a minor campaigner from the BJP uses the kind of language used all over the country with impunity, the Rajyasabha comes to a standstill. Objections to Valentine’s Day celebration (people who want to celebrate SHOULD be allowed) are treated with extreme disdain while the VC of AMU can freely object to female students in the library. Leftists and Muslims can use any kind of language or lies to incite murderous violence and collect accolades in the English language media for their intellectual prowess. The field is far from level when it comes to speech in India.

However when it comes to religion, the field becomes even more askew if that were possible. Now ideally I would ask the RSS and others to focus on the big picture and help the PM achieve all his goals. Religion is important but in a weak nation we may not be able to protect our religion, culture and our way of life.

The problem is that so far all our governments have done nothing to stop the conversion of Hindus into Islam or Christianity. In my opinion they should not. Hindus from the weaker sections of the society should be free to convert if they think they will be treated better as Muslims or Christians. However, the aforementioned conversions have used all kinds of dirty tricks. Money, force, love jihad and deception have run amok. Even a good person like Mother Teresa and her crew used deception to convert the lepers (it is a matter of record!). They would baptize the dying lepers and tell them that they were just washing their heads. Christian missionaries would toss a wooden cross and a stone Hanumanji and tell the ignorant tribals that the stronger of the two gods is going to float. These missionaries often make their help contingent on conversions. The tricks used by Muslims is far worse. Illegal immigration encouraged by leftists, Trinamul Congress and Congress have changed the population dynamics in WB and Andhra. Now the Hindus have known about this all along and have been watching is silently. No one in the media has ever objected to all these tricks. In fact if it were not because of Christopher Hitchens, the Indians would continue to place Mother Teresa on the same level as Swami Vivekananda. No one in Rajya Sabha objected to Hindus being forced or bamboozled into converting. If the Hindu outfits have started to convert Muslims and Christians then all hell has broken loose as we can see. Even some BJP supporters have started to ask Modi to step in.

If the Muslims and Christians can convert Hindus then the Hindus should be allowed to reconvert them. If the government wants to stop this then pass a law and make all conversion illegal. The leftists and the liberals cannot have it both ways. So my appeal to the people who are so vehemently against the “Ghar Vaapsi” campaign is to please look at both sides of the coin. Be fair even if it goes against your core belief of “my way or no way”. My appeal to those BJP members who are against the reconversions is that the government needs to do their work. They are either totally separate from religious activity or totally involved with appropriate legislations. Modi cannot stop these fringe and mainstream outfits from these activities without legislation just like Angela Merkel cannot stop the right wing parties to hold peaceful rallies against Muslim immigration. In fact if you look at his record in Gujarat, he always steered clear of getting involved with such activities. He did not help Asaram Bapu despite his political heft. The government can take on multiple activities. In no way should such conversions impede development process. We as a society are fully capable of multitasking and compartmentalizing. My appeal all Indians is that please focus on the bigger picture. It is India first and everything else second. For the first time we have a capable leader at the helm. We need to help the man make India great again instead of being jerks like the ones we are seeing in Rajyasabha.

Having said that I would like to iterate that religious activity should be personal and everyone should be free to do what they want. But the law should be the same for all and the field level. Because if it is not then society will always be in chaos. Even a capable man like Modi cannot perform and deliver in chaos.

Please read some of our articles on the same topic at:
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/01/religious-coversion-and-our.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2012/04/future-of-india-lies-in-hindu-unity.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2010/06/casteism-honour-killings-and-our.html

Will The Pakistanis Learn?

In a marketplace, a young girl runs after two men on a motorcycle, carrying a bag she thought they were forgetting. The man looked back at the girl and sped away. The bag blew up. The girl died. Imagine the cold bloodedness involved. This happened in India. The two men probably were working at the behest of some terror merchant in Pakistan. The cruelty showed by these two men resembles the cruelty demonstrated by the terrorists who gunned down all those children in Peshawar. When you talk of Pakistan, the line between terrorists and establishment i.e. the army gets really blurred. The killing that the Pakistani army carried out in Bangladesh is a matter of record. The brutality with which they snuffed dissension in the Baltistan area or Balochistan is shocking. Since early 1990s and the inception of Taliban the deaths on both sides of the border have left the sensible searching for answers.

Terrorist attacks in Pakistan are a regular occurrence. Yet another example of Frankenstein turning against it’s creator. The too clever by half Pakistanis thought that the terrorists will do all their dirty work and stay in the shadows. When the time comes they will melt their guns, forge plows out of them and lead peaceful lives. I would like to sell them the big chunk of ice floating at the South Pole. Their naiveté is flabbergasting. When the TTP or the LeJ or any of those groups were killing Indians or Balochis or Shias or just hapless Pakistanis, the Paki army was just fine with it. Now that they have killed their children, they are upset. They are carrying out serious bombings in that area. They are demanding the Afghanis extradite the man responsible for the attack on the school. I would like to remind those bastards of someone by the name of Dawood Ibrahim. We have been demanding his extradition along with another 20 odd terrorists for almost two decades now. The Paki establishment has refused us repeatedly but now they are demanding justice. Only the blind and the liberals cannot spot the hypocrisy in this behavior.

My heart really goes out to the parents of those children. Even the cruel Paki army men do not deserve to see this done to their children. Those unfortunate children ended up paying dearly for their fathers’ sins. I am not indulging in schadenfraude. I am just stating the facts. Now the Pakistanis may get the guys who did this or they may not. After all, Osama dodged the vast American war machine for close to a decade. The real question is that are the Pakistanis ready to stop using terrorism as an extension of their foreign policy? My guess is that they will not. Men like Hamid Gul and Parvez Musharraf are extremely cruel people who will, after sometime, describe even this loss as collateral damage and go on supporting the terrorists. For them the end is so precious that any and all means are acceptable to them. No loss is too great, no life too valuable. Here in India we are holding two minute silences and praying for the dead children. There in Pakistan, less than 24 hours later we have the darling of the Pakistani establishment, terror meister Hafeez Syed blaming the tragedy on India and vowing retaliation. No. Pakistanis are not going to learn from this extreme tragedy. Somehow I think that the hatred for India makes Pakistanis stupid beyond reason. Stupid enough to burn their house down. Stupid enough to kill their children.

My suggestion to my fellow Indians is that sympathize with the parents of the dead children. Pray for their departed souls. But under no circumstance, drop your guard down. Pakistan will never learn.