Surrender as a Solution to J&K Problem

There are many people, in India and outside, who think that the “resolution” of J&K will bring an enduring peace in the Indian subcontinent. Some people like The Hindu’s Dr. Vithal Rajan (I wonder where this guy got his PhD from? Probably the liberal bastion of JNU) think that maybe we should surrender the state to the pakis. After all, J&K does not contribute anything to the GDP; it only consumes a disproportionate amount. Peace in return for a problem, non-contributing state sounds like a winner. Right? Well there is a fallacy in the premise of the idea. Everyone assumes that the pakis are going to make peace with us after they get J&K. That is WRONG. Pakis hate India and Indians with such a burning passion that nothing short of complete destruction will make them happy. Of course the counter logic from the liberals would be “the poor pakis have too many things like food and security on their mind to worry about India”. I agree with that assessment. Unfortunately, the poor pakis do not get to decide the foreign policy, the Army, ISI and the anti Hindu elites do. Nothing short of complete Balkanization of India would sate these beasts.
Then of course this ignoramus completely ignores the Chinese angle. They want to not only keep us in check but also hurt us. They would keep the chunk of J&K given to the pakis but when India meekly surrenders the J&K that would be read as a sign of weakness by the Chinese. They would start their evil machinations on Arunachal Pradesh. Now we will be exposed to two of our biggest enemies on two fronts. Where does this all stop? I guess as long as it stops well before this Vithal Rajan fellow’s house, he would be happy.
Of course, none of this and so many other pusillanimous “experts” ever consider the Hindus from J&K. Those people do not matter to anyone. They have lost all of their properties to the murdering J&K muslims who only know how to gouge but not contribute. I guess their plight does not matter in the eyes of these liberals.
A paper like The Hindu ought to be ashamed of publishing this kind of putrid offal. On the other hand, from what I know of this rag, they probably are bursting with pride this kind of “out of the box” thinking. Hopefully and god willing, no one is paying attention to these jerks.

Of course, I cannot recommend this article but you have to read it to believe how badly this pile of dung smells.
The Kashmir imbroglio: thinking the unthinkable
Let us ask another hard question. What will be lost along with Kashmir? An unreal and bloated sense of self-importance. It has taken Great Britain 60 years to realise it is no longer the centre of an empire. Indian rulers have yet to realise they are no longer in charge of ‘the jewel in the crown.' Indians are not the leaders of Asia — the Chinese are.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article822141.ece

Rahul Gandhi: Andher Nagri, Chaupat Raja!!

"As a vessel is known by the sound, whether it be cracked or not; so men are proved, by their speeches, whether they be wise or foolish" ~ Demosthenes

Every time Rahul Gandhi opens up his mouth it sends a chill through my spine. Are we really assuming him, with his present state of knowledge and understanding, to become a prime ministerial candidate? Our country's politics is in deep sludge, but every now and then it gets a new spin down with baby Gandhi's desperation to gain the limelight. Why are we Indians still pampering him?

Where were his words against the mismanagement and rampant corruption of Common Wealth Games; or about mayhem in Kashmir; or on matters of foreign policy; or about inflation, Swiss Bank Accounts, issues that concern Aam Aadmi? His artificially created and showcased interactions with Aam Aadmi like the incident where he took David Miliband, to experience rural poverty with a night stay at a poor woman's hut, ironically in his own parliamentary constituency, gauges the debt of his wisdom in no better way.

Sometimes I get certain sense of comfort to see that it is Congress that owns him. The leery congressmen by supporting low caliber dynasty had done just as much harm to themselves as to the nation.
Rahul equates RSS with SIMI
"In unusually strident remarks, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday equated the RSS with banned terror outfit, the Students Islamic Movement of Indian (SIMI), saying both preached “hardline fundamentalist ideologies”, evoking sharp reactions from the RSS and the BJP, which said the young leader seems to have lost his mental balance and has shown political immaturity by his comments."
The articles can be read at:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article816244.ece

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-equates-RSS-with-SIMI-says-both-fundamentalist/articleshow/6703036.cms

Poverty Alleviation and Infrastucture development: An Indian Marshall Plan

In face of such poverty and hunger one asks the question: How do we feed our people AND integrate them in the economy? We can ride roughshod over our workers like the Chinese did or we can find a way conducive to our Religion, Culture and Democracy. One such way is Food for Work program where people work for food and other benefits instead of a straight up salary. This is a much better option than just giving food away. We combine the idea of Social Welfare with good economics. Workers and the taxpayers benefit alike. We have a lot of food that rots and gets wasted. We have a very large pool of unemployed poor workers. All we have to do is to combine the two. The food angle is obvious. A conscientious approach to food distribution would alleviate that. The second part of it is more complicated. The workforce in question is a mostly migrant worker who is trying to escape economic hardships in rural areas. Most of them migrate with or without their families. When the families get left behind, then the emotional aspect gets added to the poverty related problems. When the migration happens with the families, it is the children of these workers who face a number of problems including an uncertain future with a nomad like existence. These children apart from the danger of losing their schooling could also get engulfed in child labor. They spend maximum time in the dangerous construction sites and are deprived of a better future.

We cannot ignore the problems facing these migrant workers by sloganeering and xenophobia. That ostrich like approach benefits no one. Let us look at them with the intention of making them part of the solution. These economical backward people who are considered dirty, criminal, immoral and backward are very often energetic, indispensable and highly integrated to our urban economy and infrastructure developments. They deserve be a part of solution rather than a 'problem' themselves. At the crossroads of becoming a developed country we need to constitute a "Marshall Plan" to give a more humane version to the 'development'. There are already some scattered programs run by local NGOs, like 'Door Step Schools' and hostel facilities for children who are left behind by their migrating parents (usually for few months). But what we need is an integrated national framework for construction workers, strictly enforced and executed by people with integrity.

There are two types of constructions where such workers are involved. 1) Constructions within the city limits and 2) Constructions connecting various cities and states like highways construction, which could stretch to hundreds of miles. To improve the living and working conditions of these workers, policies tailored to each situation should be formulated. Following are some suggestions that could be applied to these two different settings.

For construction workers within a city - Residential facilities similar to hostel setting should be provided within every five to ten kilometers. A community kitchen should feed the workers, as part of their compensation. A crèche / day care for children should be included which can duplicate as a school for older children and night classes for adults. A small clinic with weekly physician visits could take care of health care issues. Such facility can also become a point where workers are provided courses on workers' rights and occupational health and safety. Builders can make reservations beforehand, to avoid last minute overbooking. Free shuttle service to and fro from the construction sites should be provided. Ventures like this could be jointly funded by center and state government, builders and donations (tax exempt). City dwellers especially school children and youth could volunteer man hours to serve the facility. They can be incentivized by providing 'Socially Responsible Citizen Certificate', ownership of which can be promoted as a matter of pride. Once the project is over, the workers who chose to stay back and are unable to find work should be given compulsory vocational training and placement, so that they can be absorbed within the local economy.

For intercity and interstate construction workers - Temporary 'colonies' should be built where workers can stay while the work progresses. Elements like construction trailers, modular buildings or good quality tents are used to make these colonies movable with the project. Portable toilets with transport trailer should be provided throughout the construction site. Community spaces within these colonies could include crèches, schooling for children and adults and health care facilities. Community kitchen serves meals throughout the day. Vocational training like carpentry, pottery work, and embroidery, welding can also be incorporated. Salaried teachers, doctors, cooks and assistants are appointed for each individual project. NGOs and volunteers are encouraged to become a part of such project. Such colonies could also act as a point for implementation of other social empowerment policies like micro crediting.

Now the enormity of such an idea should not be a deterrent. Instead the benefits of such a "Marshall Plan" should be an incentive for the Central Government. Schemes like these should be initially enforced upon one or two projects and subsequently these projects should be taken as a case study to eliminate any drawbacks that may arise with the implementation. Successes should be multiplied thereafter. Longer journeys begin with a step. Let's get started.

BJP and Criminals.

My aunt used to be a BJP foot soldier. She was arrested for protesting on behalf of the party. I have always sung paens for the party here on this blog and elsewhere. In a recent conversation with her, she said in a very matter-of-fact-manner: "sab chor hain beta". It was heartbreaking. A loyalist was describing the party, which was supposed to be different from all, like that. Flabbergasting. Maybe they are not that bad, I wondered! Maybe my aunt has become disillusioned for other reasons, I justified. But then I saw then cutting a deal with Shibu Soren in Jharkhand. I was STILL willing to give them a pass in the name of political expediency. But then today, I read the following report. Almost 50% of BJP candidates in Bihar have criminal cases against them!!
Liberals and pseudo-secularists have no morals, no fear of God. They commit crimes, moral and legal, in the name of winning. But Hindu Conservatives have a responsibility. They are the flag bearers of everything moral and right in the society and country. They are the only beacons of hope for the aam aadmi. If they go out and do what is expected from the Congress or RJD or any of those local criminal outfits, then what is the difference? When BJP came of age, it was looked upon as a party of difference. From the looks of it, they are not. My heart tells me that maybe the numbers mentioned in this article are wrong. How can the party of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee do all this? But the logical side of the brain tells me something else.
BJP needs to realize one thing: being lesser of the evils is not enough.

Crime and politics go hand-in-hand in Bihar polls
Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded the maximum number of candidates with a criminal record. Out of the 87 BJP candidates who have filed their nominations so far, 41 have criminal cases pending against them.
1. Satish Chandra Dubey, who is contesting from Chanpatia, has 15 serious offences against him which include four charges of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and dacoity.
2 Pramod Kumar, who is contesting from Motihari constituency, has eight serious cases lodged against him, including three charges of theft and a case of illegal payments during election time.
3 Nityanand Roy, who will contest from Hajipur constituency, hails from Vaishali and is facing seven criminal cases of murder and extortion.
The article can be read at:
http://news.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/07/slide-show-1-criminals-politics-go-hand-in-hand-in-bihar.htm

Pakistan: Live by the Sword and Die by It!

There is a saying about "cutting your nose to spite your face. Pakistanis hate us. Hate us so much that they are willing to sacrifice whatever dustbin of a country they have. They have cultivated murderous terrorists in order to bleed us to death. They have harbored India hating terrorists like the Babbar Khalsa. They have given shelter to Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. They have harbored every nasty piece of garbage they could to hurt India. What do they get in return?
India is still there, developing at greater than 7% annually. Yes we have lost people and property in terror attacks but as it turns out, the Pakis have lost a lot more. We have lost over 500 people in the last few years. Pakistan has lost more than 450 just this year!! Dawood has turned Karachi into a den of crime (what were the pakis thinking he was going to do? Pray five times a day?). The India specific terrorists are aligning with Al Qaeda and all kinds of Taliban and Afghan militia. So at the end of the day, sane pakis (if there are any left in the country) have to ask themselves: who is all this hurting more?
Pakistan’s Terror Wheel Comes to Full Circle in Karachi
"Today the tables seem to have turned. The predator has become the prey. Now Pakistan is rapidly falling into the snake pit that it had been digging for India. Ironically, now it is Karachi itself that is being devoured by the demons of terrorism, fundamentalism and sectarian violence. Instead of Kashmir, Pakistan should worry, and worry deeply, about the fratricidal war which is being waged in different parts of the country, particularly in Karachi. Pakistan’s continuing denial of this `million mutinies` within its territory has left the region in the throes of instability and violence."
The article can be read at:
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers41/paper4080.html

Ayodhya Verdict: Secularist vituperation

Dileep Padgaonkar

I had noted in my earlier piece on the Ayodhya verdict, written less than 24 hours after the verdict, that some of the secularists are in denial that it is a slap in their faces. Others were undergoing a subtle shift in their worldview. Yet others are still belligerent and demand stinging humiliation to Sangh Parivar “goons”.
I have since been going through more reactions of secularists on TV and Internet. I still stick with my analysis that the verdict created a split in secularist ranks. Those who were in denial on first day are now joining the ranks of belligerents and have started trashing the verdict and seething with desire that Sangh Parivar noses be rubbed into the ground. Somehow, anyhow!
But some are yet to join them. This lot is seen asking some very embarrassing questions to the Islamists. The chief one being – why don't you forget the past and move on! Their wishy – washy, muddled thinking that was directed to the Hindus in the past (Oh! but why do you live in the past, will you never enter modern times?!) is now getting directed to the Muslims!!
It is very gratifying for me to see both types. The belligerents are full of hatred at the loss. And seeing them thus brings some thandak to my kaleja. The moderate ones (if we can call them that yet) have their attention directed towards Muslims. It is somewhat better days for Hindu Nationalists.
Now to a prominent secularist and what he is saying.
Dileep Padgaonkar, all dignity and maturity earlier, pontificating to the “Hindutva types” on the virtues of modernity and moderation (which advice, somehow was never directed to the most virulent Islamists), lost his cool and vituperated in TOI thus: “The verdict ….. makes you wonder whether anything straight can ever emerge from the crooked timber of the majoritarian mind”.
Amazing loss of temper from a man we thought had such high dignity!! This tells you another secret about Indian secularists. When you see them on a pedestal, very mature, calm and teaching all about the virtues of moderation, it is really a put on. They are showing a bogus persona of themselves to the world at large so all accept them as persons of stature.
In reality, they have no stature. They have never really connected with ground realities. They never displayed real leadership qualities. Real leaders connect with common folks first. At times it would risk suffering indignity, e.g. uncouth behaviors from some of the common folks, yet the real leaders handle that situation too with grace and poise and conduct themselves so that not only they but all those who interact with them and observe them, rise in stature.
The likes of this Padgaonkar are what I call hollow leaders, if the word leader can at all be used for them. They probably have never done anything to dirty their hands. They have never really motivated people towards any cause. They have not nurtured and raised anyone's station in life. They obtained their status simply by virtue of being who they were – firsts to learn English language in an environment servile to western culture, firsts to travel abroad, firsts to learn whatever bits of western culture they could so they could drop names not known to Indian masses and thereby create an aura for themselves. But they have no real leadership capabilities. And now it is evident. One serious setback to their worldview, and they are all vituperation – crooked timber of majoritarian mind! This not about Sangh Pariviar but the judges of High Court (oddly, one of them not from majority community at all!).
He has more in similar abusive vein - “Once faith and belief are factored into a resolution of a legal tangle, you embark, swiftly and surely, on the slippery slope of majoritarian conceit”!!
Majoritarian conceit?! How the hell did he reach the conclusion that the judges were full of majoritarian conceit, one of them, to repeat, a Muslim who studied at AMU!!
Let me record more vituperation from this Padgaonkar in the hope that readers of this article will be less likely to be impressed by an affected demeanor of respectability and stature and will be able see through the real mettle (or lack of it) of a person.
Here goes some more: “The biggest infirmity of Thursday's verdict, therefore, is that the court treated Lord Ram as a 'juristic person'. ….. The sheer brazenness of this stand, which belittles the exalted stature of Hinduism's most revered divinity, makes you wince.”
Again notice the abusive language – “sheer brazenness”, “makes you wince”. Again forgetting that he is talking about High Court judges and not political leaders. I need to check this point, but as far as I can see, it is a norm in Indian courts to allow divine figures to be represented in courts of law in case of disputes related to faith related properties. I really find it hard to believe that the judges allowed Ramlalla to be a party to the dispute out of “brazenness” and more likely, they were simply following Indian legal norms.
Here is still more: “The verdict therefore smacks of a majoritarian arrogance which, one hopes, will be jettisoned root and branch by the Supreme Court”
Apart from the language not matching the exalted status these personalities seek to give themselves, the logic given by Mr Padgaonkar too is flawed. He takes objection to Ramlalla (the deity) being made a party to dispute. This could well be the norm in India. We need to check.
He trashes the Archaeological Survey report that established the existence of a large temple at the site Ramjanambhoomi site. His argument – it has been disputed widely by “experts”!! And who are those “experts”? Romila Thapar? Bipan Chandra? Irfan Habib? A more honest commentator would have acknowledged that disputing “experts” are highly partisan themselves and would base his opposition to the report on more objective evidence.
Finally, he says that even if Babar did destroy a highly revered temple of Hindus to build the mosque, why should the “sins” committed by Babar (in 16th century) visit his co-religionists today? Well, actually, that is the crux of the matter. Will we altogether exempt the present generations of all religions, castes, other ethnic identities from the “sins” of their ancestors? Do we accept this as a principle? Does Padgaonkar understand the consequences of doing so?
I don't think he does. He aims, like all secularists in India, for that principle which favors his point of view. If this principle (past “sins” not to visit present generations) favored caste Hindus for instance, he and his tribe would be quite willing to try to uphold an entirely different principle for settlement of the matter. The use of the word tribe for these worthies is indeed very appropriate. These people have essentially a tribal mentality whereby there is no universally applicable principle, no universal ethics, and all do whatever is needed to advance the interests of their tribe, in the present case, the tribe being westernized elite of India that feels threatened by the rise of a Hindu nationalist India.
They aren't modernists or modern in the real sense of the word. They act to take the society to a backward period when there was no laid down equitable law applicable to all human beings. They want every modern institution that seeks to remove subjectivity and power based considerations in management of human affairs, to become their own handmaidens always favoring their points of view.
I would like all of India not to be impressed by their exalted demeanors and see their real persona – men of straw belonging to pre-modern times!

Indira Gandhi: Bad Leader and a Worse Statesperson

I have always held that great leaders can see beyond the obvious. They have moral fortitude, courage and a vision. Either a leader has it or does not. These qualities are not genetic transferred. Even if they were genetic, Indira Gandhi could not have had them because her father did not have any of those qualities. Mr. Puri has written his take on Musharraf's confession to Der Spiegel. He claims that dividing Pakistan was a bad idea and that is still causing us headaches. I do not agree with it. We had two wars with Pakistan by then. Pakistani hatred for us is based on religion. That we divided them has probably made things worse. But despite of my disagreements, he makes some good points. He claims that it is time to bury the hatchet and make peace with the Pakistanis. I do not think that it will make any difference either.
So why in Bholenath's name am I recommending this article? It is because he says:
a. Indira Gandhi gave up the advantage of holding 90,000 paki POW's without anything in return. She had Bhutto over a barrel and let him go. What a mistake that was!!
b. It seems Mr. Puri wrote an article in Illustrated Weekly of India back then saying all this. Thus the idea was there but no one in Indira Gandhi government listened.
c. He refers to Indira Gandhi as India's most disastrous PM, an assessment I am in complete agreement.
Another thing I find wrong with his assessment is that if Mushrraf's confessed to make the Pakistani decision makers look bad and use that along with a US support to become the Paki president is a little too far fetched. Too many things will have to go right for him. Nothing can be predicted in Politics, least of all a messed up system like Pakistan.

Method in Musharraf's Madness
by Rajinder Puri
Instead Indira Gandhi acting like a big power puppet could not even consolidate the Indian army's victory in Bangladesh to end the Kashmir dispute once and for all. With Pakistan on its knees and 90,000 of its soldiers held prisoners of war she signed the Simla Agreement that provided no tangible gain to India in order to help Bhutto retain power in Pakistan. This is not being written by hindsight. If one cares to search the archives of the now defunct Illustrated Weekly of India in which I wrote a weekly column during the months before the Bangladesh war one would note that all this had been expressed then. It is only the pathetic poodles of India's leading dynasty dominating the media and burueacracy who continue to sing paens of praise for arguably India's most disastrous Prime Minister.
The article can be read at:
http://cms.boloji.com/index.cfm?md=Content&sd=Articles&ArticleID=9684

Nobel Prize as a Weapon?

Nobel peace and literature awards have become a weapon in the hands of the Western European democracies. They use it to admonish rogue governments. They wanted to punish the Chinese after the Tiananmen Square massacre and the prize went to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Chinese squirmed but could not do anything. To punish the Myanmar’s junta, they gave the award to Aung San Suu Kyi. To punish the Iranians, the award went to Shirin Abedi. In the aftermath of 9/11 terror attack, the literature award went to Sir V S Naipaul who has never shied away from taking the Muslims to task. It seems that this year, the award is going to go to Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo that has left the Chinese seething. The deputy Foreign Minister went to Norway to threaten the Nobel committee with consequences. It remains to be seen if they are going to show the same fortitude this time as they did when the award went to His Holiness the Dalai Lama or they are going to buckle down under the newly powerful and rich Chinese. Now I am OK with all these actions of the Nobel committee. Shaming these criminals is a good idea. However, when they allegedly relented to the British and denied M K Gandhi under the British pressure, then they are on the wrong. Whether you like Gandhi or not, the peace prize was meant for a man like him. For the Nobel committee to bow down to the Churchillian might, was a sign of moral weakness and it has tarnished this award for me forever.

Nobel Committee faces down the dragon
By Sreeram Chaulia
The director of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, revealed last week that Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Jing had met him in Oslo in June to deliver a warning that the "unfriendly gesture" of honoring Liu with the prize "would have negative consequences" for bilateral relations between China and Norway.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that pressure was being exerted on the Nobel Committee on the grounds that Liu had never promoted "peace between peoples, international friendship and disarmament." According to a ministry spokeswoman, awarding Liu would be contrary to the ideals of the prize's founder, Alfred Nobel.
The article can be read at:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/LJ06Ad02.html

Muslim leaders and Pesudo-Secularists

Syed Ahmad Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid.

The best article I have read by a Muslim. I tip my hat to Firoz Bhai - yes, he is my brother in spirit. Readers of this blog know that we have never espoused anything resembling destruction of a people or a faith. All we say is: India First, Everything Else Comes Later. Firoz Bhai is one of those enlightened souls who would want to focus on the future. Like us, I think, his message is that Muslims should know that India will never become a dar-ul Islam and Hindus need to realize that Muslims cannot be wished away. The country will move forward only when all of us move forward. He does an excellent job is taking the Muslim leadership to task. He however, lets the pseudo-secularists off the hook. These people are more to blame for the misery of Muslims and Hindu Dalits. These people need to realize that reservation in jobs does not enable the backward classes. It instills a sense of victimhood. If there has to be help then it should be given to poor on the basis of need rather than caste or religion. They should be helped with education and vocational training. After that, it should be level playing field.
Anyway, the point remains: India First. Judging from the reactions of Muslim leaders on the Ayodhya verdict (which seems to be extremely different from the regular Muslim on the street)
Firoz Bhai is correct. Muslim leaders are the big problem for the Muslims.

The tragedy of Indian Muslims is their leadership
Firoz Bakht Ahmed
....The fact is Muslims also revere Ram and they have no objection to a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Iqbal, the poet of the east, has written a wonderful and moving poem on the authenticity of the existence of Ram: He Ram ke wajood pe Hindostan ko naaz/Ahl-e-nazar samajhtey hein usko Imam-e-Hind.

....The greatest tragedy of Indian Muslims is their leadership. The other day, Syed Shahabuddin was trying to open old wounds instead of looking for a newer India. Certainly, he didn’t represent the views of common Muslims. His remarks will close whatever creaking doors the Hindu brethren have opened to Muslims.

....At the same time, Hindus must not think that the Allahabad high court verdict is a stamp of approval on the destruction of the Babri Masjid. No act of violence is acceptable. But in a ghettoised situation, churlish political middlemen have emerged as interlocutors for the two communities, picking on sensational issues to tighten their stranglehold on the people they pretend to represent.
The excellent article can be read at:
http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/main-article_the-tragedy-of-indian-muslims-is-their-leadership_1448223

PAKISTANI GUNS & INDIAN ROSES: HOW MUCH LONGER ?

It was Haneef yesterday and today it is Musharraf. Two Pakistanis telling the truth in two consecutive days? It has to be a miracle of some sort. Anyway, now how much more proof do we Indians need, our RAW knew this, US intelligence has proved it, the apprehended terrorist have spilled the beans and now we hear it from the horse's mouth yet we Indians are so thick skinned that we refuse to accept the obvious. Are we to blame or is it the ahimsa paramodharma and the Gandhi's non violence philosophy, jo sab Indians me koot koot ke bhara hai? How can we be so ignorant and naive and take further initiatives to reach out to the people of the valley and remove the 16 security bunkers and think of diluting the ASFA to please the separatists. The per capita GDP of J&K is one of the highest in the country. All the Pakistani's want is to wipe out the Hindu India and Kashmir is just a pawn in their grand game of chess. Wake up India and see through the lies. Pakistan wants to destroy us and will stop at nothing less.

SPIEGEL Interview with Pervez Musharraf
Musharraf: One of the realities is that the Indian intelligence service RAW is interfering in our country. For example in Balochistan, our largest province bordering Iran and Afghanistan. One of the most brutal insurgents against our forces, Brahamdagh Bugti ...

SPIEGEL: ... the grandson of Nawab Bugti, a tribal leader who was killed three years ago in a battle with the Pakistani army ...

Musharraf: ... he is sitting in Kabul, protected by the Afghan government and provided with weapons and money by the Indian intelligence agency RAW. He has his own training camps and sends his fighters to Balochistan where they terrorize people and damage the civil infrastructure. RAW is also interfering in the Swat Valley, I know that. Where do all these Taliban fighters in Swat get their arms and money from? From Afghanistan. The Indian consulates in Jalalabad and Kandahar only exist to be a thorn in the side of Pakistan.

The interview can be read at:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,628960,00.html

Rape of India by The British

It seems that all colonial powers have apologized for their wrongdoings. The most martial of them all, the Japanese, have also said sorry to the Chinese for the Nanking atrocities. Everyone has apologized. Everyone except the British. In Jallianwallahbagh massacre, 1526 people were gunned down. No apology. They raped the land for over two centuries. No apology for that. The list of their atrocities is rather long. In the article here, Rajeev Srinivasan has said the following about the estimated amount of money looted by the British.

"Intriguingly “financial services” is a euphemism for “the interest earned on the money we looted from your country”. I did a little accounting of the systematic loot by Britain, based on estimates by contemporary scholars such as William Digby and Dadabhai Navroji, and later historians. The number is astronomical, not less than $1 trillion, and possibly as much as $10 trillion in today’s money. For comparison, the US GDP is about $13 trillion. They don’t have much else: they have even pawned the East India Company and other family jewels. Hard times, indeed."
The article can be read at:
http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/comment_britain-needs-to-show-contrition-about-the-raj-s-depredations_1421101

Geert Wilders on Trial

Geert Wilders is a very brave man and needs to be supported by all those who value freedom and human rights. He is a Dutch politician who is currently on trial for "hate speech". He has said that the "Koran, which he called a "fascist book", should be outlawed in the Netherlands, like Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. He has stated that "The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order." On the ever increasing population of Muslims in the Netherlands, he has said: "Take a walk down the street and see where this is going. You no longer feel like you are living in your own country. There is a battle going on and we have to defend ourselves. Before you know it there will be more mosques than churches."
I am sure that all the Hindus in India have felt that but were afraid to say it. Wilders gave a speech at Columbia University in New York which is a must read.
In the speech he says:
"Ladies and gentlemen, some time ago an interview was held in France with the French Muslim student Mohamed Sabaoui, who said the following, and I quote: "Your laws do not coincide with the Koran, Muslims can only be ruled by shariah law", and "we will declare the town of Roubaix an independent Muslim enclave and impose shariah law upon all its citizens, and "we will be your Trojan Horse, we will rule, Allah Akbar". End of quote. "
The entire speech can be read at:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/10/geert-wilders-at-columbia-university-october-21.html

‘Indo-Pak differences can’t be resolved’

Pakistani author Mohammad Haneef who is showcasing his book "A Case of Exploding Mangoes" (apparently the bomb which sent Zia ul Haq to a warmer place, was hidden in a crate of mangoes) in (where else but Kerala) has said some thing that is news to the desi liberals, pseudo-secularists and the Wagah border candleholders. He has said that Indo-Pak differences cannot be resolved. I am sure that this proclamation must have left people gasping in the NGO's, Bollywood, NDTV and party headquarters of SP, BSP, CPI and Congress. I am sure those people must be feeling cheated while people who have been repeating Haneef’s assertion for decades must be feeling vindicated.
What this man has done is speak the truth. Pakistanis being Muslims will never accept any non-Muslim as an equal, least of all Hindus. Centuries of brain washing about the Hindus in the united India following which a systematic brainwashing through selective history has prepared the Pakistani population for one thing only: Hate Hindus. In one of our recent blogs, we have shown the depth of this. Pakistani soldiers are taught that five Hindu soldiers are equal to one Pakistani soldier (Of course that must make it difficult for them to explain all those defeats at the hand of Indian defense forces).
When a certain people hate another kind with such deep-rooted visceral hatred and the only wish they have for the other is utter destruction the best-case scenario is an uneasy peace. Friendship is a mirage and incessant talking is meaningless. From an Indian point of view, we should maintain a status quo and wait for Pakistan to self-destruct. All the effort to stabilize Pakistan is just delaying the inevitable. All this talk of a stable and prosperous Pakistan being good for India is a lie fed to us by Congress and their ilk. Think about it. If a weak Pakistan can do so much damage to us, imagine what a strong Pakistan will do. If we think that somehow prosperity is going to change the hatred into love then we really do not deserve to have a country of our own.

Indians, Pakistanis are different people: Pakistani author
"Dismissing the `concept' that Indians and Pakistanis were `long lost brothers,' Pakistani author Mohammad Haneef today said he felt that the peoples in the two countries were very different."I hear this mantra--that Indians and Pakistanis are brothers--off and on. But I feel that we are very different people," Haneef said while speaking about his first novel, `A Case of Exploding Mangoes' at the Kovalam literary festival that concluded here today."

The article can be read at:

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_indians-pakistanis-are-different-people-pakistani-author_1447167

Corruption in Indian Media

On this blog, we have covered corruption in almost all aspects of life in India. A quick search showed that our media was not untouched by this malaise. Let us divide the media in two parts:
a. Successful and hence powerful.
b. Striving and hence weaker.
The former kind uses their perch to propagate their own agenda. We should make a strong distinction here. Pushing an agenda does not entail telling the truth. It involves providing a spin to the truth. The worst of this kind of reporting is done by the likes of Barkha Dutt. This Islamophile has a vision of India only Muslims and the brown sahibs can appreciate. In the beginning of the year, The Hindu published an e-document (which seems to have disappeared since), which mentioned the names of “Barkha Dutt” and “Vir Sanghvi” in connection with lobbying the Congress on behalf of DMK’s Kanimozhi for Ministerial berths. The references seem to follow a report from a website called Whispers in Corridors and based on what appear to be notes in an “Internal Report” summarizing telephone intercept conversations. To be accurate allegations and the rest of the pages in the electronic document are not directly substantiated nor are they authoritative on the authorship of the notes. There also is no independent validation of the authenticity of the correspondence between Government agencies listed in this electronic document.

Corroboration or not, there are so many examples where the liberals in the media and NGO’s have used there bully pulpit to roll over people who stand in their way even law and due process. Similar examples of such injustices can be seen in other democracies like the US but they have conservative media outlets like Fox News and many mainstream newspapers to offset the liberal bias. In India, the sole such outlet is The Daily Pioneer, which suffers from poor circulation and ineffective Internet presence.

The less successful media has found their niche. Their form of corruption is more old fashioned. It seems that for the right amount of money they will give a person or an organization favorable editorial coverage. Sushma Swaraj, the parliamentary leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has said that she was offered favorable media coverage during national elections last year in exchange for 10 million rupees, or $220,000.

In a healthy Democracy, the media has a responsibility to keep the people informed so that they make the right choices in elections. In face of agenda / bribe driven reporting what is an Aam Aadmi to do?

Ayodhya verdict: How it has already affected Indian politics and society

The verdict is in and India has not moved on, but yes, it is moving on, and in a way different from what they meant. India is moving away from the bogus secularism of those very commentators and towards a view that a small subculture of westernized Hindus does not have monopoly over truth and has a distorted sense of right and wrong. Away from a view that this small minority's worldview is in some way superior to the rest of India.

Coming to yesterday's events, as we waited with bated breath for the judgment, nearly all of 1.2 billion Indians, the emotion was that of a people awaiting the result of a grand battle going on somewhere. As if we were all in a royal household waiting to hear the outcome of a Mahabharata. We knew instinctively that the decision, unless it was hopelessly ambiguous, would change the course of Indian history. It was indeed a historical moment. We all felt the anxiety rarely felt in independent India.

Our channels went into overdrive trying to dish out the usual platitudes. Times now started an “India First” campaign, which smelled a lot like their “Aman ki Aasha”. It invited comments from Indians, which sent our wishy-washy deracinated types into hyperactivity. Comments to the effect that India should not worry about “mandir-masjid” and focus on “real” issues such as poverty and education, poured in copiously. Comments from “celebrities” and “famous personalities” that included a lot of Bollywood actors were inflicted on us hapless lot with sickening frequency.

And to top it all, there was a poem from Prasoon Joshi highlighting how meaningless this entire Hindu – Muslim conflict is, and that the two great and brave religions should join hands to build a great India! My thought on the poem was – it takes an exceptionally cruel, nearly de-humanized man to write a poem like that at a time like this. Such people have lost all capability to feel as others feel and think nothing of belittling an issue so close to most people's heart that they have been willing to kill and die for it. For centuries now!!

I won't go into all the moments of confusion as the first trickle of information came out about the verdict. But finally we all learned that the High Court unanimously decided to give the existing site of the idols to the Hindus, with 2-1 majority gave a third of land to Muslims to do what they wish, and a 2-1 majority stated that this is Ram Janambhoomi as per Hindu belief and that a temple was destroyed to build the mosque. Significantly, there was a Muslim judge on the panel who studied at Aligarh Muslim University. He too appeared to have come round to the view that the existing idol site should be given to Hindus.

My first thought as I was waiting for the verdict was: Will the judges rise above their identities, and give a verdict that they believe deep down to be just. Or will they be carried away by their biases and do something that favors the group they identify with but institutionalizes an injustice in India. As I heard the verdict, I have to say that by and large, the judges tried to be fair to the litigants and to India. There was a Brahmin Hindu, a Banya Hindu and a Muslim educated at AMU on the panel. By and large, looking at their comments, they tried to be good judges rather than good Hindus or Muslim. Nor was there any indication that they subscribed to this political ideology or that.

This is what really swelled my chest with pride. What a relief after the shame Congress brought to India by mis-organizing the Commonwealth Games! The judgement really gave many Indians hope that we will succeed in building a secular, modern, democratic India, which brings out the best in people and where people can develop their God given talents to the fullest.

And then the comments on TV. The usual lot came in small batches and gave out their views. It seems a community of “commentators” has formed in India who will come on TV and talk their heads off on every issue that confronts India. I can understand the representatives of contesting litigants speaking their minds on the verdict, or politicians or lawyers or those concerned with maintaining law and order doing so. But such is Indian mindset now that an event like this is not considered complete until the likes of Shobha De or Javed Akhtar or Vinod Mehta have had their say on TV.

I always fail to understand why those leading lives completely unconnected with these matters have to talk so much on these issues. How are their views on these issues more informed than any common man in the street? Perhaps India needs to bring about another correction in public life – that even if someone is famous because of one ability, he / she does not deserves importance for his / her views on an unrelated matter any more than a common person's view on the same matter.

Coming back to what was actually said, the secularists' reactions were now split. Many of them said that Hindu nationalists should not feel triumphant because there is going to be a mosque side by side. Some were badly upset while they said this. I could not figure out if they were upset with the judgement or that the Hindus were not heeding their advice (that there is nothing to feel triumphant about) and were still uncouth enough to express quiet satisfaction.

For this lot, I can only say that all their lives have been spent denying the real nature of Islam and Jihad. They have pretended for decades, perhaps centuries, that Islam is just another religion with which we should pursue “bhai – chara”. And now denial and pretensions have become a habit with them. They were in denial that the judgement is a slap in their faces. They needed to remember and face that the entire battle was over the “garbha griha” where Hindus installed the idols. And THAT those have won battle they hate to distraction.

A second lot expressed unhappiness that Hindus' act of installing idols in the structure surreptitiously on the morning of 23rd December 1949, and the atrocity of 6th December 1992, were condoned and legitimized by the court. Yogendra Yadav (whom I respect otherwise) articulated this and said this precedent disturbed him. He quietened after being gently reminded by Swapan Dasgupta that similar sentiments have been felt by Hindus when their temples were demolished and mosques built on top of them, and that what was done by Hindus was more to the effect of reclaiming what was theirs to begin with.

While Yogendra Yadav and others whom I put in this category were still upset, I could see (at least I think I could see) them developing an understanding of Hindu point of view – if 1992 was an atrocity, why shouldn't the destruction of so many temples be considered an atrocity too. And if we expect Hindus to forget the past, then why shouldn't today Muslims be asked to forget the past of 1992? In my view, this is the most crucial change in the thinking some of Indian elite and I will comment more on it another time.

There was another lot of secularists who did not show much hurt and kept repeating not only that “India should move on” beyond 1992 but also that Muslims should forget 1992 in national interest. I put Barkha Datt and Javed Akhtar in this category. I must say that my antagonism towards this lot reduced perceptibly yesterday. When they used to tell Hindus that Hindus should forget the past and not demand an ancient temple vociferously, they perhaps meant well. Because now they seem to have similar expectations from Muslims. Javed Akhtar was smiling throughout and kept repeating this same thing. He went to the extent of saying that Muslims should not go to Supreme Court now and even give up 1/3rd land allotted to them since the main location has been declared a Hindu temple. I must say it endeared me to him.

Their approach to these issues is wrong (and I will say more on this another time), but they mean well and demonstrated moderation yesterday.

There was yet another lot, that kept repeating that this whole mandir – masjid dispute is meaningless and India does not care about it. India cares, according to them, only about “roji – roti” and why don't these religious types get it? Their platitudes would make a more sensible man want to tear his hair! I got a wonderful quote from a commenter on jihadwatch site – If you choose to dismiss anyone saying “He just doesn't get it”, in all likelihood, you are the one who is not getting it! I can safely say that the likes of Shobha De and Tavleen Singh who fall in this category, are the ones who simply don't get it!

Finally, there were the implacable ones who trashed the verdict and insisted belligerently that the court should have punished the “goons” of RSS by evicting Hindus completely from the site and ordered the reconstruction of the mosque. I was delighted to see ex-justice Rajender Sachar come on TV and take this line. I think he hurt his credibility not just with mainstream India but also with some secularists with his belligerence. I bet millions who watched him will now doubt his report on benefits to be given to Muslims as mala fide.

The Hindu organizations expressed quiet satisfaction. You could accuse them of a little condescension as they expressed hope that this verdict will open the way for Grand National reconciliation. But I really could not see how else they could have reacted to this verdict without sounding triumphant. Rather than accuse them of condescension, I think they (or let me see we!!) should get credit for not bursting firecrackers!!

I could see Indian attitudes undergo a tectonic shift yesterday. If I were to sum up the effects of yesterday's happenings - it has effectively sobered down many Indian secularists and has created a split amongst secularists. Indian secularists are now divided between those who question why Muslims should not now be expected to forget the past as all have been demanding of Hindus all the while, and those who are still implacable and would like to inflict some stinging humiliations on Hindus. It is also beginning to dawn on many of the secularists that the Hindu nationalists might have some truth in what they say.

While I do not expect a wholesale conversion of those secularists who showed moderation yesterday, what may reasonably be expected is that they will notice Islamist aggression more and more as time passes on, and they will even come in conflict with Islamists at some point. Their conversion may not happen tomorrow, but I expect they will develop antagonism towards strident Muslims over time.

The whole event, while it did not trample down the secularists and Muslims, has perceptibly shifted the ground in favor of Hindu nationalists, just as while the mosque was not completely moved out of the premises, it has been put on the side and is no more at the center. I am tempted to see a divine design in it whereby, if Hindus conduct themselves with right values and play the political game skillfully as well as following the raj-dharma, the mosque will move out of sight (and site !) and in the Indian nation, the secularist ideology will move to the margins of a polity dominated by Hindu nationalists.