If someone robs your house and kills a dear one, is an apology enough? I am sure that most people (especially the ones who believe in the Old Testament like the British) will say no. An eye has to be the proper response for an eye (with no apologies to The Mahatma). But crimes were committed by the Brits against us and that too a long time ago. The Brits are now somewhat of an ally and a lot of people of Indian origin live and prosper in England. We have reasonably good trade relations with them. All this makes a “proper revenge” or “justice” impossible. But the knowledge that these criminals systematically robbed us for almost 200 years and that we are not going to see any of that wealth or have even a symbol of that coming back has to make us seethe in anger. Every time you see their porcine queen wearing the Koh-e-noor, your BP has to go up.
But knowing all this, what will assuage some of our pain? I would say that return of some of our treasures and a proper apology may work. By proper apology I mean either the British PM or their porcine queen come over to India only to apologize and actually apologize instead of indulging in linguistic gymnastics.
The Brit PM recently offered some thing of an apology. The reason that apology was an empty one is because this representative of the nation of shopkeepers was here to sell British wares and thought that an apology will work better than bribes. In fact such an apology makes it even worse because you know that this insincere apology is just another British way of robbing us. Infuriating stuff this.
Now it is not that the Brits don’t know what they did wrong. Andrew North who is a BBC reporter writes the following in a very honest report: By making a statement of regret over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, David Cameron has opened up a can of other questions and grievances over Britain's colonial past . North accepts that India suffered two famines, which were essentially man made. Millions died while Churchill mocked at us.
No. No apology can be enough. The Brits should not even try because a non-apology of this kind hurts a lot worse than no apology at all. We should continue to do business with the British but should never ever trust them or forgive or forget.
A couple of very good articles on the topic can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/a-sorry-apology-david-cameron-at-jallianwala-bagh-632541.html
http://www.rediff.com/news/column/a-reality-check-for-david-camerons-india-quest/20130221.htm
I spent part of my youth in Lucknow. I remember that during Muharram, there always used to be Shia-Sunni riots. In fact all the while I was there, We did not have any Hindu-Muslim riots but we used to get article 144 or curfews enforced during Muharram. I hear a Sunni guy call out to a shia saying: “Abe too aadmi hai yah shia?” Such is the hatred that the sunnis nurse for their estranged cousins. In the toilet called Pakistan, there have been two blasts this year. One claimed 106 Shias and the other 84. Pretty impressive kill rate even for the murdering pakis! So bad is the situation that a Pakistan journalist is suggesting that the Shias flee Pakistan. Here is what he writes:
As the Shia massacres in Pakistan gain momentum, the State, including the Superior Courts, appear completely impotent.
In such troubling times some Shias may have a choice. They may sit and wait for a messiah or relocate to a Shia-exclusive enclave elsewhere, or to escape from Pakistan altogether.
Space is fast running out in Shia graveyards in Quetta. It may be the time for Shias to relocate to protect their next generation.
Now this is clearly a fault line in Pakistan begging to be exploited. Just like the Balochis, we need to support the Pakistani Shias. Even if we do not actively help the helpless Shias, it will still keep the Pakistani leaders on the back foot. Ideally I would like the RAW dirty tricks department to arm these people but thanks to IK Gujral, that capability has been taken away from us. At the very least we can start raising awareness for the Shia plight in the international forum. Iran cannot do so because they are in the dumps themselves.
Of course the pseudo-secular Indian parties will never come to the help of Shias. As big a supporter as Mullayam or Mayawati or Congress or Mamta maybe of Muslims, they make a crucial distinction. They support the Muslims because they are the Muslim majority and thus will not do anything to hurt their vote bank. Who in India can then come to the aid of Pakistani Shias and help them while perpetuating India’s soft power in the world? It will have to be the BJP who are not beholden to Sunni votes but rather to human lives. My suggestion is that Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who is a Shia Muslim and a BJP stalwart, start talking about it in the press and raise as much awareness as possible. If need be, he should try to garner some international press as well. We may be able to help Shias (who are lesser of a problem to the world than Sunnis) and ourselves in the bargain
The article by the angry and frustrated pakistani journalist can be read at: http://dawn.com/2013/02/17/time-for-shias-to-leave-pakistan/
As great a speech as Bhai Narendra made at SRCC, it still was the first step. The next scheduled elections are in 2014 but it is clear that we are going to have early polls. By getting rid of Gadkari, the BJP have cleaned up their house to some extent. Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi clearly have their work cut out for them. They will need to identify the areas of strength and weaknesses at the national level and start their grassroots campaign immediately.
An interesting poll has come out in a magazine and then discussed in the e-magazine First Post, which says that Modi has a national advantage of 10% over Rahul Gandhi (In the chart, Modi is represented by saffron). It is not a surprise unless you think that Modi should have a bigger national advantage against a clearly inferior candidate representing and impotent and corrupt party. Since this magazine has suggestions for Rahul for improving his support, the article may be biased towards Rahul / Congress. What is important is that if a pro-Congress poll will downplay Modi’s strength and exaggerate his weakness. Based on that, let us analyse the results based on geography and gender. All other criteria may be important but it may be too late to change a lot of those (eg. Muslim or tribal support).
1. In the east (Bihar, Jharkhand, WB, Assam and NE states) Modi is ahead 55-45. This is a surprise because other than Bihar and Jharkhand BJP has no legs to stand on in this region. Maybe the poll-responders are differentiating between Candidate Modi and the BJP. This is very significant because a strong candidate Modi can make a good case for the BJP in Bihar, Jharkhand (already a base) and Assam (there is some support there and can improve with the right tie-up). In the Communist Islamic state of West Bengal (Can you really call it anything else?) any Loksabha seat will be a bonus.
2. In the North, the poll suggests a 13-point advantage for Modi. This means that candidate Modi can help BJP as they clearly have lost out to the regional players (SP and BSP in UP) and Congress (Haryana and Uttarakhand) in this area. This is going to be the key to BJP’s victory because BJP have won from this area in the past and need to rebuild their base. Without a significant number of seats from UP, no one can form the central government. That is an unpleasant truth. The BJP can regain their lost voter base if they start the campaign right now with the help of younger and knowledgeable local leaders. The old guard needs to be forced out as they have proven to be ineffective.
3. In the west (which is Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Rajasthan) Rahul is AHEAD by one percent. This is a shocker indeed especially because Goa is too small to make a difference and in Gujarat, Modi has to be far ahead. This implies that Rahul is way ahead in Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Since the BJP used to have an established base in these two states, the implications are that work needs to be done here. I don’t know if tying up with the right party is the right solution or taking the case directly to the voters is the best way to go. Since recently Modi met with Sharad Pawar for 90 minutes, work has begun in that state. Rajasthan should not be too difficult because Gehlot has been a disaster in that state. It remains to be seen if Scindia will be an asset or a liability.
4. A bigger shocker in my opinion (the article does not think that way) is the advantage Modi has in the south. He is ahead of Rahul 55-26. This is big and has good implications. If Modi runs an American style campaign i.e. the candidate first and the party later then BJP will do well. In Karnataka, it will be a matter of reassuring the existing base. In Andhra, popular local leaders with Modi’s help can make a lot of difference. In TN, the BJP will have to tie up because of an extremely fractured polity. With Jayalalitha’s popularity waning and DMK mired in their own problems, Modi can re-energize AIDMK and maybe win a seat or two for the BJP. In the Communist Islamic Christian State of Kerala (what else are you going to call that state?) the scared and the angry Hindu voters can be promised good governance and their safety (their property, their women and their temples), then BJP may be able to open an account here. Just like WB, any seat will be a bonus.
5. Modi has a bigger lead amongst men (61 to 42) but a lot smaller in women (40 to 34). This is very important. Woman may have been relegated to a lesser status in these unfortunate times but they veil the real power if they harness it. I expect Indian women (especially housewives) to be a lot more rational of matters of good governance and development because they run the households (and thus handle money) and are lot less likely to be prejudiced based on non-issues like secularism. Modi needs to work on this demographic section because just like Obama, if he can energize women then he will win big.
It is clear that the responders have differentiated between Candidate Modi and the Party. This tells me that it is important to declare Modi as the candidate soon. The forthcoming budget session is going to be a tumultuous one where recent and older scams are going to make an appearance. Congress will be on the back foot. The regional parties are also in trouble either by non performance (Mamta or Jayalalitha or Akhilesh) or law and order problems (too many Hindu-Muslim riots in UP during the SP rule. Mayawati’s poor performance has not been forgotten). The Party should campaign where they used to have the base. A Candidate Modi can clearly help the party in other areas. It will be up to the party decision makers to decide who should campaign for whom in what region. That is a decision made easier once they formally announce Modi as their man.
The First Post article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/shockers-in-new-modi-survey-his-big-southern-advantage-and-gender-gap-629301.html
The actual poll can be read at: http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/where-their-support-comes-from
This was an old post titled “Indian Army,Indian Politicians and Aam Aadmi“ of March 2012 which has suddenly become relevant.
The latest episode involving the Army has been a heartbreaker at many levels. Despite of many past evidences (Tehelka episode where a Brigadier was willing to sell out for a bottle of whiskey), the aam aadmi believed in the Indian Defense forces. It is primarily because of the human need for heroes because heroes keep us believing in all things good. However recently we have had too many episodes of corruption involving the army and that is painful to all of us. Maybe it is our naïveté, which makes us belief that our soldiers can wade through the corrupt cesspool, which is India, and come out looking like a clean lotus. After all, the soldiers are human with the usual failings. But how did our army that used to be our pride and joy come to this pass.
Defense budget is one of the largest and India is one of the biggest buyers on weapons and other defense related equipment. Needless to say the money involved is huge and even a small percent of that is enough to put an honest man to test. Since our current system is more opaque than a concrete wall and involves middlemen or as I call them defense-pimps it should be expected that people will steal. All our systems were put in place during the British rule and we all know of their intentions, how can we expect anything except widespread theft. These defense-pimps were put in place to deal with foreigner suppliers who did not know the language and culture. These defense-pimps made their money like prostitutes. Of course when they make such large amounts of money do you think the politicians are not going to demand their share of laddoos. This is where things get hairy. If everyone else is making money and saying “SCREW YOU” to the country, why should the soldiers make all the sacrifices and ignore all that laddoo out there.
In an article whose url is attached, there are two schools of thought. One says that the role of these defense-pimps should be legitimized thereby making them accountable. But the problem is that if they are not part of the system, they CANNOT have accountability. Moreover the huge commissions made by them will still be too much enticement for the political class and we are back to square one. Mr. Uday Bhaskar claims the following:
The so-called middleman provides a domain knowledge that goes beyond the commercial. By officially allowing such expertise to be made available to the Indian decision-making process, long-term decisions that enable indigenous capacity-building will be positively enabled. These days the arms trade is increasingly technology-driven, and very often officials authorised to take decisions do not have the requisite technical, commercial and legal competence. Knowledge, in their case, is acquired on the job, or through a trusted loop of family and friends which may include the same middleman.
This of course is hard to digest. I work in R&D and use all kinds of instrumentation. The user is the best judge of equipment. Purchase department nowadays are manned by users / ex-users and not babus. So I do not agree with Mr. Bhaskar’s premise at all. His suggestion of bringing transparency by legitimizing the defense-pimps reeks of self-interest.
What does make more sense is suggestion by a retired Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Raj Kadyan who claims that there may have been a need for these defense-pimps in the past but with the advent of communication technologies and internet where any information is available within seconds with a few strokes on a keyboard that need has evaporated. The seller can now directly communicate with the user in terms understood and appreciated by the user. Lt. Gen. Kadyan goes on to say that:
Direct contact between buyers and suppliers is possible, and must take place without intermediaries. There must also be transparency right from drafting the request for a purchase to the stage of final evaluation and award of contract. The bidders need to be allowed to witness the different stages to instil confidence. On larger purchases, where political considerations might exist, the contracts must be negotiated and finalised on a government-to-government basis. In the interest of national security we must spruce up indigenisation and achieve self-sufficiency in our defence requirements. In the interim, we need to do away with the antiquated system of middlemen.
Essentially, the army needs to have their purchase department do the legwork. The process should be open and transparent to the extent that after a while it could be made available to public if need be. The people making the purchase decisions should be kept under the watch of a “defence lokayukta”. No politician should have the final say in the matter because we all know what their priorities are.
Indian politicians have managed to drag our soldiers in their gutter. It is up to the aam aadmi to boot the current politicians out and bring in honest and patriotic politicians. That is the only way we can restore the pride and glory of Indian Army and other such institutions with murky present but glorious past.
Arundhati Roy’s criminally misplaced and traitorous allegiance to Kashmiri militants and the deadly Maoist is well known. This Naxal sympathizer called the Maoist “Gandhians with guns “. Her shameless support to separatist leaders like Syed Shah Geelani and Yaseen Malik is a matter of record. Anyone who has seen Malik talk, knows that this man is not about compromise or betterment of Kashmiri people. Everything has to be his way or no way. He may have given up active violence i.e. being “Gandhian with a suicide vest” but judging by the company he keeps has not given up his penchant for violence of the worst kind. This murderer was seen with LeT Chief Hafeez Syed. Anyone who does not live in a cave knows that what LeT is and who Syed is. Malik was clearly mocking the entire nation by appearing with the man responsible for so many terrorist attacks. Why does he do that? He clearly knows that as long as Manmohan Singh and Sushilkumar Shide are in charge of India’s security apparatus, he has got nothing to fear. Sab Kuch Theek hai, you see. We are a soft state of the worst kind. We used to have men like Amar Shaheed Udham Singh who avenged the Jallianwalabagh massacre by going to London and shooting Michael O’Dwyer dead. Now we have Manmohan Singh and Sushilkumar Shinde who cannot even say the right thing let alone do it.
Coming back to Roy who gets a heroine treatment by our leftists, this association must have been clear. Yet this pathetic wretch has not lost any opportunity to side with Gilani and Malik. Even now that Malik’s association with Syed is out in the open, she has kept quiet. Maybe the next terrorist attack where one of her loved one gets blown up may change her mind.
This is what she write in one of her Outlook post’s “The slogan that cut through me like a knife and clean broke my heart was this one: Nanga bhookha Hindustan, jaan se pyaara Pakistan (Naked, starving India, More precious than life itself—Pakistan). Why was it so galling, so painful to listen to this? I tried to work it out and settled on three reasons. First, because we all know that the first part of the slogan is the embarrassing and unadorned truth about India, the emerging superpower. Second, because all Indians who are not nanga or bhookha are—and have been—complicit in complex and historical ways with the cruel cultural and economic systems that make Indian society so cruel, so vulgarly unequal.”
What I would like to see is for Yaseen Malik to be tried for treason for associating with known enemies of the state and for Roy to be condemned and boycotted. But that is not going to happen. At least not in Congress raj. Malik will continue to flaunt his hatred and so will Roy. I guess if we elect a government which allows this, then we are the ones to blame.
Why do I keep calling the speech a game changer? Why am I using a term often used in American politics to define people like Obama and Sarah Palin (that may have been a mistake)? You see, when a good state level leader makes the move to the national stage, he (or she) has to go through ambitious national leaders in their own party while letting their name known to the entire nation. It is not a mean feat. When Barak Obama made his now famous speech at the John Kerry’s nomination meeting (the biggest meeting for a party in the US), he essentially made his national debut and planted the seed of the first black president in peoples’ mind. In many ways, Modi's speech was like that.While the media was talking of Rahul’s Obama moment on Rahul’s speech which may have been good by Rahul’s standards but by most standards, it was a pedestrian effort. But we will not commit the crime of comparing Modi and Rahul. We will try to analyze Modi’s speech on its own merits.
1. Though not young, Modi is definitely in tune with the needs of young India. After all, how hard it is to empathize with the youth? Today’s youth may text more than write letters but they still have the same concerns as the youth of 30 years ago. The language and the way of addressing, conveys that Modi is really the first youth icon. Congress can claim Rajiv Gandhi as that but the man had limited vision and no leadership or intellect.
2. Modi’s speech amply demonstrated his vision for India. Of course even that is not difficult. We all know what is needed to repair India? Even Rajiv Gandhi showed signs of that but he did not have the leadership capability / background, or the intellect or deeper knowledge on the issues. Just appointing Sam Pitroda as the tech Czar was not enough. It was like buying a laptop for a hungry family. Modi on the other hand has led from the front, is a proven winner and clearly knows how to implement workable policies to suit his vision. No one in Congress has that or can do that.
3. The speech was a real game changer in that; it changed the rules of the debate from here on. Petty, made up and irrelevant topics like saffron terror or communalism will always get trumped by the real issues: corruption, governance, development, poverty, jobs, health to name a few. Even the UPA knows that the voters want more than trumped up issues and a good looking middle aged stuffed shirt which is why they are a worried lot today (read the article below). While Modi promises a vision with a proven ability to implement it, Congress offers Sonia’s tears.
4. Obama who is the first black president of the USA won both the elections using the support of the youth and women. Modi should use the same model because these two sections of the society are relatively impervious to age-old prejudices. The way the liberal students of a liberal college of a liberal megapolis like New Delhi connected with Modi gives you a hint of that possibility. The youth was supposed to be the constituency of Congress' middle aged Rajkumar. Modi rode into Rahul’s town and won over a hitherto unwinnable constituency (BJP has not won New Delhi is a while) by talking about what is of paramount importance to today’s youth. Modi’s economic plans and the existing safety record of women in Gujarat have to resonate with housewives.
5. The road the PM’s seat goes through UP. It also goes through states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, AP, TN, WB etc. because of their large number of Loksabha seats. Modi needs to make similar speeches in colleges in those states and tell the youth what his vision is and HOW does he plan to implement it. He needs to provide them with a working solution like the politicians do in the US. The smart Indian youth of today cannot be placated by empty rhetoric.
This was the first step that Bhai Narendra took towards New Delhi. It was like hitting a sixer on the first ball of the match. Let us hope that the march continues, unimpeded. Modi needs to ignore the cacophony and negativity out of the Congress owned media and keep harping on the message. We pray that the party and the Hindus unite behind this man and give him a chance. We all deserve a real leader for once.
After Narendra Modi’s speech in SRCC, the liberals and the pseudo seculars are a frustrated lot. You just have read their reactions. Pro Congress journalists are either ignoring the speech (like The Hindu) or offering very reluctant praise followed by extreme criticism and raising the Hindu extremism bogey. Some idiot has gone ahead and called the SRCC audience right wing students (I have met SRCC students. They are all very liberal people). Someone is saying that Modi has done a Chetan Bhagwat completely ignoring the fact that this speech has been made in one form or the other well before this one.
Of course the Congress supporters and leaders are running from pillar to post trying their best to either discredit the speech or the speaker, labeling him as a state level leader amongst other things.
The angrier and more frustrated these pseudo-seculars become the more I am convinced that Modi is doing the right thing. The liberal responses betray their unease and a fear of what is to come. That is certainly comforting to the conservatives
Before the Gujarat elections, Ajmal Kasab was hung. We had contended that it was a political ploy to win brownie points from the voters on security matters. Afzal Guru’s crimes were much older than Kasab’s and even then he was kept alive. How many of you think that even though it was the right thing to do and way overdue, the timing betrays the real reason behind it? Congress wants to divert the public / media attention from Modi’s game changing speech. When Modi takes the next big step on the national stage, whom is the Congress going to hang? Poor terrorists must really hate Modi right now.
Anyway, this was just one speech and that too in New Delhi. The speech Modi is going to make or should make in a big college in UP (Allahabad University or Lucknow University) will be the most important speech of his life. It is because the road to center goes through UP. Also, the response to Modi’s speech will become more virulent (thanks to SP and BSP). Modi like an elephant will have to leave these yapping dogs behind and soldier on in the name of the good fight.
In all the hubbub of the coronation of Rajkumar Rahul at Jaipur, I forgot that he got compared to Barak Obama. I thought that the comparison needed some close examination. We will try to compare them point-by-point.
Barak Obama was fathered by an African student in the US and never really was a father to him. His mother who essentially was a single parent brought up Obama. She moved from place to place with him. By all the available information she was not exactly a rich person. Not exactly a charmed or a privileged life. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi was born into royalty. DO NOT KID YOURSELF. Gandhi family is royalty without the title. They are filthy rich and extremely powerful. Do not get fooled by his so-called sad story of playing badminton with guards. This guy had a privileged life and did not have to work for anything.
Obama went to Harvard Law School and graduated with a J.D. magna cum laude (which is the highest way to graduate from one of the best Universities in the world). He was also Editor of the Harvard Law Review. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi went to some non-descript University in Florida. Do not believe all that crap about him being at Oxford or Harvard. Investigations into his being at those universities have come up with nothing.
After Graduating, Obama worked at the University of Chicago (another great University) as a visiting Professor and then worked in a law firm specializing as in Civil Rights litigation. On the other hand Rahul Gandhi worked in Consultancies, which are not answerable to anyone and thus can hire people as a favor. A consultancy wanting to get close to a powerful family in India could easily hire the family’s son. After all, the family son in law made hay during the family rule.
Obama became a state senator and then a US senator from a Midwestern State (the kind which do not easily elect a black man). On the other hand Rahul became an MP from Amethi, which is a Congress safe seat. He then went on to become a bigwig while his mommy was the grand wizard of the party.
Obama’s big moment came at a speech, which he made at the 2004 party meeting where they nominated John Kerry. I am told that this is the biggest forum in the US to address the party machinery. Obama’s speech was so good that people started to predict that he would be a great nominee in 2016 elections. You can watch his speeches on Youtube. He can handle the press very well. On the other hand, you can watch Rahul Gandhi speak and come to the conclusion that when it comes to public oratory, Obama and Rahul Gandhi are like Sachin Tendulkar and a High School Cricketer.
Instead of waiting till 2016, Obama then went on to become the President of the United States of America. He did it again in 2012. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi took a long time to decide what he wanted to become. Even then the post was forced on him because the Gandhi family could not hide him anymore.
Obama won the elections by courting the young voters who are less beholden to the matters of race. In that, he is a true youth leader. On the other hand, the youth leader title on Rahul is either imposed (by the party or the media) or self assumed for self promotion. Failure to win anything in UP or Bihar or WB or anywhere tells you that he has no base with the regular non-Congress youth.
Obama overcame the racial barrier to get where he is. Black people were being discriminated against in the worst possible way until 50 years ago. Breaking that wall and becoming the first black president would have been unthinkable before his 2004 speech. That way he is a pioneer. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi has further raised and strengthened the barrier. Think about it. In many ways, we are still trying to break the shackles of our servile attitudes i.e. awe of English language and inferiority complex vis a vis white skin. Indians with means are beholden to fluent English which is why they send their kids to missionary Christian Schools or insist on fair skin in matters of personal relationships. Now what do Sonia and Rahul bring to the table other than their Dynasty Rule and white skin? Do not kid yourself by the power she holds. It is not her ability but our slave attitude which bestows that upon her. Yes. Rahul is bringing back the wall.
Comparing Obama and Rahul is a disservice to one of the greatest personalities of our time. You may not like Obama’s policies but no one can deny his achievements. The two names should not be even spoken in the same sentence.
We do have a person who is an OBC and thus like Obama, comes from a very modest background. He may not have the fancy degree of Obama but he shown to possess the ability and the intellect (one example is his use of the latest media technologies). Like Obama, he has come up through the ranks on his own. Like Obama, he has won on performance and political acumen even in the face of extreme negative campaign. Like Obama, he has the pulse of the youth of the nation even though he is no longer young. Just like Obama, this man is also a tremendous orator who can inspire and instill confidence in people. Who is he? I will give you a hint. He is the three time chief minister of a major Indian state. With any luck the voters will give him a chance to lead India. I am sure you can figure this one out on your own.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS NOT OUR'S. WE ARE POSTING WITHOUT PERMISSION BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW WHOM TO CONTACT FOR THIS. The article is actually a letter by someone who uses the same nom de plume as us. Clearly he is an extremely frustrated Hindu and thus a kindred spirit. He is also a brother from the south which is why it grabbed my attention. It is my fervent belief that our South Indian Hindu brothers got crushed by the pseudo-secular brigade by a number of reasons and under devilish pretenses. Leaders like Karunanidhi used a fear of Hindi to unite people of TN and rebel against anyone who wanted to oppose them even on other matters. Under their leadership, Hindus got sidelined using Congress / Communist / British tricks of guilt, Macaulayite education (and booze in Kerala) to control Hindus especially the middle class, OBC and dalit Hindus. Our brother questions a lot of established beliefs and raises many fantastic points as a wake up call to all the Hindus. We can unite, vote right and survive or stay divided continue to elect the same demagogues and get destroyed. Please read:
aam aadmi • 12 hours ago −
Why Muslims and Christians always win in India?
Take a look all of you.
1. Why did the Imperial British Government deal ruthlessly with Tilak, Aurobindo and Savarkar - all of whom had their minds, bodies, spirits broken.
2. How did Gandhi become a Mahatma in 1914 itself and how did he ascend to leadership position in 1917 when Tilak was still alive? What had Gandhi done until 1914 to deserve to be called Mahatma?
3. What was Gandhi's views about Tilak?
4. Why did the British government not see Gandhi as a threat to their rule when they saw Savarkar, Tilak and Auriobindo as immediate threats?
5. How did the Muslim League gather more and more strength in the polity with their explicit Muslim agenda?
6. Did Hindus have an explicit Hindu agenda?
7. Who spoke for the Hindus during the so-called freedom struggle while we all know who spoke for the Muslims?
8. Why was the RSS incapable of providing an aggressive political leadership to the Hindus when they knew well what Gandhi was doing and what the Muslim League was doing?
9. Why was the Sapru Committee report not taken up by Gandhi with the same enthusiasm with which he welcomed the Cabinet Mission proposals which concealed the ticking bomb of partition in its enticing proposals?
10. Why did Gandhi ask Hindu women to bite their tongues and kill themselves and not ask the Hindu men to pick up the sword to protect their women and their land?
11. What did Gandhi tell the men of Punjab when he jheard that they were forced to crawl along Kuccha Kurrichan because of the orders of Brigadier-General Dyer? And then what was Gandhi's reaction to Jalinawala Bagh (and dont pl give me the bullshit of Attenborough's Gandhi and its apocryphal depiction) Did Gandhi even react to Jalainwala Bagh? If yes, what did he say?
12. Why did Gandhi ask Rajajai and KM Munshi to get out of the Congress and why did he accept parition of the country to Jinnah and say he was ok with partition of the Hindu Bhumi as between brothers?
13. What is partition between brothers? Was Gandhi saying Jinnah was his brother? Is India Gandhi's baap ka maal that he will decide the basis for partition?
14. Even if Jinnah was Gandhi's brother and all muslims are hindus' brothers because like someone in the Hindutva fold said - everyone in this land is a hindu or was a hindu, which sounds as soothing as accoing lullaby, dis Jinnah or the Muslim League think they were our brothers?
15. But they still got Pakistan didn't they? And Kashmir because Gandhi told Nehru Kashmir was Nehru's baap ka maal.
16. And the Muslims continue to get everything they want even in the territory which remains after they amputated the Hindu Bhumi, after they took away Pakistan and Bangladesh. And scum Hindus in govenment and every pillar of democracy tremble at the first mulsim threat of unleashing violence.
17. The then state government and the police succumbed to threats of unleashing violence against the FACT exhibition on Aurangazeb and after damaging priceless exhibits the police violated every rule governing arresting women and arrested 3 harmless women - one young, one middle aged and one old - after permitted hours. The old so and so sarkari Nawab of Arcot who continues to enjoy government recognition when all hindu kings have been dereognized, actually issued a public threat - he knew exactly how to dismantle the exhibition.
18. Blooming villains in the media continue to equate Hindus taking objection to MF Hussein - for the media Hussein's Durga copulating with the bull, a naked saraswati, a naked Bharatmata is the same as depicting Al Qaeda and other terrorists in a film.
19. The current acting chief of the Madras High Court told me it is easy to remove fish stalls but not hindu temples will today decide whether Kamala Hasan's Vishwaroopam will be released for public viewing or not.
20. The same Elipe Dharma Rao came to the rescue of a church which was built illegally on TN government land and told the state government not to demolish the church but to accept compensation.
21. The supreme court which has pordered all religious encroachments to be removed or off with your heads, and Jayalaithaa and Karunanidhi and Narendra Modi and Yeddiurappa went on a temple demolishing spree, no one in TN seems to have noticed that there are 476 Jesus and Mary shrines in a small locality called Nungambakkam - in Susaipiuram, Vaikuntapuram and Kamarajapuram. 476 street Jesus and Marys.
22. And how many Hindu street temples were destroyed?
23. Four days ago a 100 strong cancerous Christian group went screaming their Jesus songs in front of the Nungambakkam Shiva temple on Thai Poosam day handing out christian leaflets to Hindu bhaktas coming to the temple on that sacred day.
24. The local police told Uma Anandan that by objecting to Christian prosepytising in front of a hindu temple, she was causing communal disturbance.
25. So communal harmony is always maintained only when Hindus remain silent, do not object, do not react violently. Communal harmony is disturbed when Hindus pick up arms and raise their voices to protect their way of life.
26. Look at TN all of you - there is a insidious pandering to the Church if you have the nose to smell it. In every important government appointed position if there is one hindu at the top, there is a Christian immediately by his side breathing down his neck.
27. Hindu temples can be violated, hindu sensibilites can be abused, Brahmins continue to be the target of Dravidianists because every hindu who has ascended to high leadership positions has consciously de-Hinduised himself when in power.
28. Every Muslim and Christian, no matter where he is located, will do two things proactively - he will serve his religion, he will refuse to play secular and act in the disservice of his religion.
Hindus not only actively do great injustice to Hinduism, temples and hindus, but also serve secularism and the Constitutiion which serves the Abrahamic religions.
Every Hindu organization, every Hindu leader by their inaction, their silence has facilitated the ascendance again of the abrahamic adherents.
Given Hindu leadership failure on all fronts Muslims and Christians will win always, always. What has any Hindu MLA, MP, Minister , judge, lawyer, political party, done to protect the cow, temples, hindus? Can we get 100 people to protest when Hindu sensibilities are harmed?
We are grateful to our brother and his letter can be read in response to Venky Vembu's article at this url: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/hindutva-card-is-a-losing-proposition-for-bjp-today-611309.html?utm_source=frontpagepicks&utm_medium=hp
Sonia Gandhi has enjoyed all the trappings of power: Fame, power and most of all money. Yet she cried (or so her son claims) when she handed over the reins to him. It is a classic example of people playing the sympathy card even at height of their power. We have yet another glaring example with Shahrukh Khan. This guy is possibly the most popular star after Amitabh Bachchan in India. This guy has everything that most Indians cannot even dream of. Riding the coattails of Yash Chopra and Karan Johar, this guy has risen to the top with limited ability and screen presence. But we will not begrudge his success. After all we live in a free democracy where a person can make his fortune without any fear of retribution rather than an Islamic Republic where one is at the mercy of the Mullahs. Think about it. Most of his movies will get banned in theocratic Pakistan.
What he said in the interview with Outlook Turning Point Magazine clearly indicates a victim’s mindset. What he said there is pretty flabbergasting. Read some of his quotes:
"It is the box that contains an image of my religion in millions of minds. I encounter this tightening of definition every time moderation is required to be publicly expressed by the Muslim community in my country."
"the inadvertent object of political leaders" who choose to make him "a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India".
"I gave my son and daughter names that could pass for generic (pan-Indian and pan-religious) ones: Aryan and Suhana. The Khan has been bequeathed by me so they can't really escape it. I pronounce it from my epiglottis when asked by Muslims and throw the Aryan as evidence of their race when non-Muslims enquire,"
He also seems to relentlessly bring up his brief detention at Newark Airport in the US. In fact the whole interview is filled with this kind of crap. Does he really think of himself as a victim or this is a ploy to gain sympathy of Hindus into paying for his movies? What we do know is that he is a master manipulator of the media. His movies run on publicity and an image rather than substance. He has won all the awards that can be bought. No, this man knows exactly what he is doing. His popularity is on its way down. He is losing the box office battle to the other Khans. He needs a boost. Even bad publicity is publicity nonetheless.
But the way he has chosen to achieve this publicity betrays a sick mindset. It is almost like biting the hand that feeds you. His words in the interview clearly show the mistrust and disdain for non-Muslims, which is very typical of men of his faith. And yet he is perfectly fine exploiting the free society we have and love and money ignorant Hindus have showered on him.
The one thing that he really likes to harp on was the questioning he underwent at Newark airport in the US. What Khan clearly ignores is that the US does not subscribe to the VIP culture that India has. When arrested, a superstar like Mel Gibson was detained and put through the process. What Shahrukh Khan and his people do not want you to know is the reason why he was detained. It seems that the organizer for his stage shows were involved in hawala transactions with people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even if Khan did not know about his hosts’ unsavory connections, he still has to go through the process and establish his innocence. Of course we all know the Bollywood and Dawood Ibrahim connections so who knows who is innocent or guilty.
What really burns me is that thanks to our esteemed Home Minister’s statements, a murderer like Hafeez Syed can now point his filthy, blood stained fingers at us. Now thanks to Shahrukh Khan, a Hindu hating moron like Rehman Malik can now accuse us of incompetence. THANK YOU SHAHRUKH BHAI.
The only thing that keeps me from completely losing it is that I have never paid to see Khan’s movies. People around me have painfully put me through them. However, if I were a ticket buying Hindu fan of Shahrukh Khan, I would be really upset. This man’s words would be like spit in my face. What can someone like that do? The answer is simple. Boycott this man’s movies and everything that he peddles. Deny him the money and the fame he so desperately needs and he will whither away.
But will the Hindus do that? I don’t think so. The ever-forgiving Hindu population has a tremendous capacity to take abuse and punishment. Salman Khan can kill people while driving drunk and still become a bigger star than a law-abiding actor like Akshay Kumar or even Amitabh Bachchan.
Maybe we Hindus deserve every bit of it.
The picture is from: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/no-shah-rukh-khan-you-are-a-movie-star-not-a-victim/318139-8-66.html
First of all, the name is Dawood Gilani and not David Coleman Headley. The man was given 35 years of jail for his role in Mumbai bombings. The punishment seems light compared to his crimes. Needless to say there is outrage. A lot of people are angry at the USA for not handing over Gilani to us. I can understand the outrage but the Indian anger is totally misplaced. I will try to build my case here.
In a personal friendship you can make sacrifices; sometimes big ones. It is because it is a personal choice with only your interests at stake. However, the nature of friendship between countries is an entirely different beast. The decision makers are responsible for the interests of the entire nation. Their personal feelings and honor cannot and should not be part of any decision-making. It would seem that we do not understand that. This is what leads to a lot of problems.
Friendship between nations is based on overlap mutual interests – tactical or strategic, commercial or ideological. However, even in the best of such friendships, it is the national interests that override any other concerns. The US will help India as long as their own interests are not involved. They will also try to do the right thing as long as their security is not at risk. Israel, whose security is totally dependent on their proximity to the US, bombed an American warship near Sinai Peninsula during the Yom Kippur War. The Israelis thought that the US was spying on them. There are numerous incidents the US spying on the British even though the Brits are American lapdogs. The point is that the national interests trump all other concerns.
It is clear that Dawood Gilani was working for the US Drug Enforcement Administration and came in contact with the Paki terrorists. He clearly was double-crossing the US outfits. I am quite sure that the US government did not know about Gilani’s involvement with the Mumbai bombings. It is one thing to destroy a couple of lives or some property on friendly territory and entirely different thing to be responsible for over 160 deaths. However, once they found out about Gilani’s complicity in the matter, then the choice they had was to either punish him in the US and keep him under their control or they could have extradited him to India. The former option enabled them to hide their own stupidity and access to intelligence that Gilani has. That is a huge incentive to keep him in the US, which overrode any Indian concerns. Moreover, with UPA in power, the US has no reason to fear any adverse Indian reaction (not that we can do much). Moreover, what right do we have of calling Gilani's punishment light when we have not even charged let alone punish anyone in India who helped Gilani or the paki terrorists (don’t fool yourself by saying that the pakis did all that in Mumbai without any local help).
The point is that the US took care of their interest. WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE DONE TO TAKE CARE OF OURS?
Our foreign policy is dictated by the “mere dushman, mere bhai” and hope and other such warm and fuzzy feelings rather than hard-nosed pragmatism. We cannot even deal with pakis at our terms. How the hell can we demand anything from the US? Blaming the US in this matter clearly tells me that we are trying to blame them for our inability. Hell, we personally delivered Hafeez Syed and Omar Sheikh to the pakis. Shinde cannot even refer to Syed the way he should be. We invested money in Afghanistan in hopes that the US will take care of our interests. That was a big mistake. The US may help us if it does not cost them anything. We should have foreseen that any Afghan resolution would NEVER be possible without Pakistani help. The US needs to get out of Afghanistan and for that they will appease the pakis even at the cost of Indian interests. And why shouldn’t they? What can we do to them other than yell and scream and call them names.
We have to accept that we are a soft state. We are sheep and sheep get slaughtered. That is the status quo. Even the pakis know that. They can behead our boys. They can inflict terror on us and yet get us to play nice with them. Their policy is winning / hurting us at all costs. Our policy is peace at all costs. If we want people to pay attention to our interests then WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO OUR INTERESTS. Until then, we need to shut up and accept our weaknesses and limitations. We have no right to complain.
This was an old post titled “Is Hindu Terror Real? “ of Feb 2012 which has suddenly become relevant because of the Home Minister Mr. Sushilkumar Shinde's comments.
Is Hindu Terror Real?
Vicky Nanjappa fancies himself as a crack reporter on terror and security matters. In his latest he tries to figure out why National Investigation Agency (NIA) remains clueless while probing “Hindu Terror” cases. This is what this man says in his article:
The National Investigation Agency has ascertained that the ammunition for the blasts in Nanded, Modasa, Samjautha Express, Ajmer, Malegaon and Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad were all procured from Mhow in Madhya Pradesh.
The NIA has many suspects in custody; but there are others who are absconding. It has been almost a year since the NIA was handed over the charge for the above mentioned cases, but there appears to be something wrong with the manner in which the probe is taking place as there is no concrete breakthrough yet.
The NIA probe into cases involving 'Hindu extremists' went wrong from day one. The Nanded blasts, which is considered to be the mother of these acts of terror, was badly investigated, making it tough for NIA sleuths to make a start.
Today the NIA faces the herculean task of cracking all these cases which are inter-linked. Sources in the agency told rediff.com that the foundation of the case itself is extremely weak, which is why they are finding it hard to give it closure
He considers the Nanded blast as the fount of these terror acts. Nanded is in Maharashtra which is ruled by Congress. No one can blame the BJP of impeding the investigations. In fact with UPA government at the center and secular P Chidambaran in charge of Home no one can blame lack of political will and support in all these cases. Is it incompetence? If one or two cases were bungled due to incompetence then PC would have stepped in and ensured better investigators. Then what is the reason? Nanjappa does a lot of hand waving and tries to show that somehow he has managed an answer but he has come up with a huge ZERO. I would like to remind Nanjappa of a saying by Arthur Conan Doyle who through is creation, Sherlock Holmes says the following: How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?
So what is the possibility that Nanjappa and others seem to be hell bent on ignoring? Maybe there is no case. Maybe Hindus did not commit any of these blasts and the UPA government to bolster their secular credentials, want to create this specter where it is possible that Hindus are as likely to indulge in terror as Muslims. When it comes to brutality and treason, Hindus have demonstrated a remarkable propensity. But terror? From the evidence or lack thereof, it seems improbable. On the other hand the evidence to the contrary does exist.
In the most celebrated of these cases, the one that the Pakistanis do not tire of quoting was the Samjhauta Express bombing, Swami Aseemanand was arrested. The UPA government tried their best to tie him to the RSS. They thought that they would get away with blaming some hapless Hindu for this dastardly act until an American investigation and report showed otherwise. In an eye-opening article, Mr. B Raman who has stayed politically neutral says:
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.
There you have it. The real reason for lack of progress in the Hindu terror cases is that the concept of Hindu terror only exists in the diseased imagination of our pseudo secular politicians who in attempts to secure their votebank and divert the attention of Hindus in the matters of extreme corruption have victimized innocent Hindus. The Hindu voters need to stop being defensive for political correctness and lay the blame where it really belongs: On the UPA government.
The Nanjappa article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-probing-hindu-terror-cases-why-nia-remains-clueless/20120203.htm
The Raman article can be read at: http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers40/paper3971.html
Our blogposts on the topic can be read at: http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/01/terrorism-product-of-system.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2010/08/hindu-terrorism-accusations-and.html
http://thenethindu.blogspot.com/2011/02/pakistani-lies-and-how-we-embolden-them.html
At a gathering this Saturday, I was asked what can we do in face of Paki attacks under the nuclear umbrella? It is not a simple question to answer because the answer will make you feel angry and impotent. I will try to explain what I mean by that.
We have been at war with Pakistan four times. Even they agree that they were the aggressors each time. They got beat badly each of those times. However, we fought the battles on our own turf i.e. defensive battles. We are good at defending because after we have been attacked, the decision to defend does not rest upon the politicians. Even our biggest victory against them when we split them in two was probably taken by Sam Maneckshaw with Indira Gandhi having the good sense to go along. But after the pakis went nuclear, any open war is not going to happen. Pakis know that. They also know that despite of all our might, we are essentially a soft state. They know that after all the tough talk; our response is going to be NOTHING. In fact, if you are an enemy of India it makes sense to attack us the way the pakis have so far. Think about it:
1. Good and strong Indian army with the decision-making left to Manmohan Singh / AK Antony. “Theek Hai” and a spotless lungi are their strong points. The beheading / torture has already been buried under the noise of Rahul Gandhi’s speech. To be fair, the decision making by the Vajpayee government was no better even though the army was mobilized. But for the UPA it is all “Theek Hai”.
2. The domestic protection in the last decade was led by an Iron Man wannabe Advani who took a long time to ban SIMI. However he was far far better than Shivraj Patil and Chidambaram who spent their tenures looking for Hindu bogeymen to ensure the appeasement of Muslim voters. But even they were better than the current guy who may be the Home Minister but behaves like a Constable, which he used to be.
3. Every party in India other than the BJP is beholden to the Muslim votes. You want to attack Mumbai, use Dawood Ibrahim’s contacts. You want to attack South India, you have the Madani group or the Saudi Arabian branch of the LeT. Do not worry about local help. The followers of Akbaruddin Owaisi and Zakir Naik will be too happy to oblige. And why not? The local police are too busy hunting Hindu terrorists therefore no one is going to look for local Muslim supporters of paki terror. You want to attack the Northern India then the options exponentially increase with pliant Bangla Deshis on the side and Nepali Muslim legislators willing to lend a helping hand.
4. If you are worried about Indian public then do not worry. We are the most forgiving people in the world. The biggest Indian movie star who should have been in jail for vehicular manslaughter in any civilized country has not only been forgiven by Hindu supporters but has gone from strength to more strength. You can attack the Indian parliament and still get kid glove treatment in jail. You can talk of committing genocide on Hindus and still be allowed to travel around freely. You can do whatever you want as a Muslim in India without any repercussion from the Hindus. How many Hindus are boycotting the Biryani sellers in old Hyderabad or putting up even token protests anywhere in the country?
5. You do not have to worry about the media and the liberals. They are in the paki bags willing to light up candles and support Aman ki asha or Cricket matches. If you are worried about your pseudo-secular politicians who are proponents of peace at all costs not getting votes in the elections then not to worry. Our fractured polity, selfish regional parties, divided voters will always ensure that we never have a strong nationalistic government at the center. In fact you do not even have to worry about the conservatives in India who are still nursing hurt egos, willing to reward fat buffoons and sacrifice able leaders.
I could go on and on but you get the point. I say that we all thank the Pakistanis for not attacking us more often. I thank them for only beheading two of our boys this year. They did not carry out any terrorist attack last year and only carried out proxy attacks via the Maoists. Thank you my Pakistani brothers for that as well. We need to thank the Pakistani terrorists for keeping the Pakistanis busy with their own problems. That way they do not have as much time and focus to attack us.
Of course we should thank all the gods for saving us because we are definitely not capable of doing so.
Theek Hai Na?
When Congress was in trouble after the disastrous tenure of Sitaram Kesri, the party faithful went to the Gandhi family for help instead of electing a good and a capable leader. They knew that for the entire party, the Gandhi family is like catnip and will fix their problems quickly. For Sonia Gandhi it was a chance to increase her family fortunes and ensure her son’s “rightful” place in the Indian politics. As most quick fixes are, it worked and the party was resuscitated. That combined with a disastrous “India Shining” campaign by Advani/Mahajan and the rest of the BJP brought the Congress to power. Sonia decided to rule by proxy and clever machinations by her chamchas made her look like a martyr who sacrificed her ambitions for the good of the nation. The entire nation fell for that trick hook, line and sinker. A combination of BJP’s ineptness, Manmohan Singh / Sonia Gandhi’s ’s carefully crafted image; the divided Indian voter gave Congress the keys to the throne once again despite no achievements. Now Congress, which is trouble again for extreme incompetence and corruption is looking to the Gandhi family again. The recent Chintan Shivir was actually a coronation for the Rajkumar. The Party faithful are thinking that for the 2014 campaign, they will need their biggest weapon and that is Rahul Gandhi. At least this is what the Sonia inner circle will have us believe.
We have written many times on this topic and it is clear to all but the blind that the image of Rahul Gandhi as a youth leader with a mass appeal is completely false. He is not even young anymore. The two Indian American leaders in the US, Bobby Jindal and Nikki Randhawa Haley are younger than Rahul and have won elections in states which are historically hostile to non whites. We are also aware of Rahul’s record as a grassroots level campaigner. Under him, the Congress has badly lost every state election. He has been termed as un-teachable by senior Congressmen. The most recent example of a total lack of political sense was evident when a youth movement in protest against the brutal rape was on and the Rajkumar was vacationing in Europe. Instead of firming up his status as a youth leader and leading the youth, he was absent leaving the unenviable task to other bumbling Congressmen. We have not heard from him on the recent beheading of an Indian soldier. And yet here he is, promoted to the PM wannabe. It is dynastic politics at its shamelessly best.
However, I am glad that he is now the leader of Congress. Clearly, he got pushed into this corner by political forces where he does not have the deniability. It is his race to win or lose. It is time to live up to the hype or disappear for good. It is time for him to live up to the bloated expectations of the Congress worker or shatter their hopes. Yes. The bluff has been called. Perform or perish.
I think this is good for Congress. Whether the BJP/RSS will let Modi become the PM or not, we know one thing for sure. The Congress will flop under Rahul’s leadership because as the main leader, the Sonia inner circle will not be able to control his appearances and speeches. The sooner the Congressmen realize Rahul’s ineptitude the sooner they can start to wean themselves away from the Gandhi family. That is better for them and the nation. We do need Congress as a responsible party but that is not possible with the current crop of leaders. The current party structure needs to be destroyed so that the Congress can be reconstructed as a viable national option. Ultimately, we WILL need two major parties for a functional democracy. The status quo with multiple regional parties has proven to be a complete disaster.
Yes. I am happy that Rahul has become the Congress’ top man.
Finally the PM spoke. After days of the beheadings. No passion of any kind whatsoever. People were expecting him to say “Theek Hai” even this time. It is not because he is a pragmatic tough guy. Obama spoke the day of the primary school massacre. He had tears in his eyes. It is not because he is a helpless weakling. That is the difference between the US and our unfortunate country.
I do not care why the pakis did it. I do not care about the big game being played on the western border and the tactical diversion this beheading was supposed to be. None of that really matters because the pakis are doing what they know – deception, depravity and destruction. We have come to expect nothing less from those people. I do not know why anyone other than the “jhola-brigade” and the pseudo-secular politicians are surprised.
What also does not surprise is the Indian response. So far all our PMs have been men with ties to pre-partition India. They all have some fond memories of Lahore or whichever corner of that country. It is either that or their bloated ego, which tells them that it is they who can bring peace between India and its neighbor. What else can explain their all-forgiving nature when it comes to the pakis? Mr. R Jagannathan writes the following in his excellent piece:
In 1948, Nehru agreed to a ceasefire in Kashmir when we were just about to drive the Pakistanis out of the state. In 1965, India vacated some of the most strategic conquests during the war (Haji Pir pass, for example) after the Tashkent peace agreement signed by Shastri. In 1971, even with 90,000 Pakistani soldiers held as prisoners of war, Iron Lady Indira Gandhi melted and failed to press home the advantage in the Shimla talks. In 1998-2001, Pakistan first reciprocated Vajpayee’s Lahore bus trip with Kargil. And then followed it up with an attack on Parliament. But after rushing troops to the border, Vajpayee meekly withdrew them in 2003 and resumed the peace process without conditions.
Today, Sushmaji is talking tough but who can forget that she was part of the government, which personally escorted two terrorists to Kandahar after completely mismanaging the hijacking. It was because of some pissing match between the Indian army decision makers and the PMO which let the plane fly out of Amritsar. Had the place stayed there, that could have been resolved in our favor with some effort.
The one way we used to raise the cost of terrorism for the pakis was RAW capabilities, which was dismantled by IK Gujral who was a delusional fool. However, the current PM seems to have outdone all his cowardly predecessors. This man wants peace with Pakistan no matter what the cost. We have recently found out that more of our soldiers were beheaded by the pakis but those were brushed under the carpet at the insistence of the UPA government. The current foreign minister is talking about “proportionate response”. This is the guy who was threatening Arvind Kejriwal with death when the latter brought up corruption charges against Khursheed. Was that proportionate, Mr. Khursheed?
Here are a couple of statements made by our PM in front of paki leaders:
“We both recognise that if there is another attack like Mumbai, it will be a setback to the normalisation of relations.”
“India-Pakistan relations are prone to accidents.”
Beheadings and terrorist attacks on India are setbacks and accidents for this guy blinded by his desire to see his name in the history books. The only time our leadership showed any spine was in 1971. Of course how much of that was the decision of our politicians would always be a mystery.
The day we get a PM who will have a pragmatic strategy based on reality rather than some romantic notion of the past is the day we would solve this problem. Until then we should be ready to cremate more of headless soldiers.
The Jagannnathan article can be read at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/does-manmohan-want-to-be-seen-as-paks-appeaser-in-chief-583213.html
