Four Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in two separate encounters in the Wattergam and Chuntipora villages of north Kashmir today. Local residents at Wattergam held a protest demonstration in the village.
Some militants also threw a hand grenade at a police vehicle on the strategic north Kashmir Amarnath Cave Shrine route on Monday evening.
The police said that militants targeted a passing police vehicle in Kangan town, 38 kms fromSrinagar
The grenade, which missed the target, exploded in the main market.
Kangan is located in northKashmir 's Ganderbal district, on the route to the Amarnath cave shrine. The annual pilgrimage is scheduled to begin on June 18.
Some militants also threw a hand grenade at a police vehicle on the strategic north Kashmir Amarnath Cave Shrine route on Monday evening.
The police said that militants targeted a passing police vehicle in Kangan town, 38 kms from
The grenade, which missed the target, exploded in the main market.
Kangan is located in north
Criticising the BJP for its demand for scrapping Article 370 and redefining the word secularism, Congress today lashed out at it, alleging it was trying to undermine the secular fabric of the country.
"Secularism is the very basic of our Constitution and it cannot be altered. BJP and its president are up to old tricks. They are showing their true colours," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
After a series of electoral victories including those in Karnataka andGujarat , the BJP yesterday raised again its contentious demands for scrapping Article 370 and bringing in a uniform civil code from the closet, ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
On the backburner for long owing to coalition pressures, the saffron party has sought to bring these issues back on its agenda and also floated a new idea of "true secularism" to target the Congress, which it has always accused of appeasing minorities.
"Along with cultural nationalism, Article 370, uniform civil code and true secularism, we are committed to preserve the national unity and integrity," BJP chief Rajnath Singh had said in his address at the party's National Executive meet.
The Congress also tried to put cold water on BJP's win in Karnataka and said the saffron party did not get a majority. "It barely emerged as a single largest party by getting 10 to 15 more seats than others. But after the Karnataka elections they are showing their true colours by playing with words," Singhvi said.
On the issue of true secularism raised by the BJP, Singhvi said, "the basic question we want to ask the saffron party and its president that do they believe in 'Sarva Dharm Sambhav'."
"Do they believe in the secular ideals of Gandhiji and Vinoba Bhave?" he asked.
Criticising the BJP for raking up these issues, he alleged BJP always represented divisive forces while the Congress has stood rock steady against fundamentalism.
Referring to the setting up of the Constitutional Review Committee during the NDA regime, Singhvi said "BJP had made similar attempts earlier also but they did not succeed because the committee did not recommend what they wanted."
"Secularism is the very basic of our Constitution and it cannot be altered. BJP and its president are up to old tricks. They are showing their true colours," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
After a series of electoral victories including those in Karnataka and
On the backburner for long owing to coalition pressures, the saffron party has sought to bring these issues back on its agenda and also floated a new idea of "true secularism" to target the Congress, which it has always accused of appeasing minorities.
"Along with cultural nationalism, Article 370, uniform civil code and true secularism, we are committed to preserve the national unity and integrity," BJP chief Rajnath Singh had said in his address at the party's National Executive meet.
The Congress also tried to put cold water on BJP's win in Karnataka and said the saffron party did not get a majority. "It barely emerged as a single largest party by getting 10 to 15 more seats than others. But after the Karnataka elections they are showing their true colours by playing with words," Singhvi said.
On the issue of true secularism raised by the BJP, Singhvi said, "the basic question we want to ask the saffron party and its president that do they believe in 'Sarva Dharm Sambhav'."
"Do they believe in the secular ideals of Gandhiji and Vinoba Bhave?" he asked.
Criticising the BJP for raking up these issues, he alleged BJP always represented divisive forces while the Congress has stood rock steady against fundamentalism.
Referring to the setting up of the Constitutional Review Committee during the NDA regime, Singhvi said "BJP had made similar attempts earlier also but they did not succeed because the committee did not recommend what they wanted."
Most Pak students in Pakistan India
According to Dr. Maureen Korp, as art critic and a religious studies scholar based inCanada Pakistan Canada
Korp, who is visiting Lahore at the invitation of the Beaconhouse National University (BNU), said she had given an assignment to her students in which they were asked about religions including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism.
“Surprisingly, I found that most students were keen to know about Hinduism despite the enmity, whichIndia Pakistan
An author of two books, Korp received her doctorate from theUniversity of Ottawa
Her books — Sacred Geography of the American Mound Builders and Sacred Art of the Earth - have received critical acclaim.
Korp also has to her credit many articles and scholarly book reviews. She has taught atCarleton University Pacifica California University of Bucharest , Romania Atlantic Country Community College , New Jersey
According to Dr. Maureen Korp, as art critic and a religious studies scholar based in
Korp, who is visiting Lahore at the invitation of the Beaconhouse National University (BNU), said she had given an assignment to her students in which they were asked about religions including Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Judaism.
“Surprisingly, I found that most students were keen to know about Hinduism despite the enmity, which
An author of two books, Korp received her doctorate from the
Her books — Sacred Geography of the American Mound Builders and Sacred Art of the Earth - have received critical acclaim.
Korp also has to her credit many articles and scholarly book reviews. She has taught at
Guru Nanak jee, came across bigoted, self-righteous,
self-supremists attitudes amongst the Mullahs and
others of that kind. They would impose, force, convert,
oppress, subjugate and kill people for being
non-believers. The Christian and Islamic
establishments from the medieval times, went to
bloody, savage war to convert each other to their 'true'
way. Each of these religious establishments were
driven by power-minded, and less by actual ethics of
kindness and justice and sarbat-da-bhalla. Guru
Nanak jee challenged these bigoted, dogmatic forces.
Guru Nanak jee encouraged self-contemplation,
dialogue, discussion, meditation, and a soul-search
approach to life. Guru jee gave us guidance and a
positive example to follow. They gave us gurbani, good
practises, and much more.
Today, we face, exactly same challenges, in different,
more insidious, sophisticated guise. Both Islamic and
Christian groups, operate in a very organised,
well-funded, and vociferous to convince the world,
Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Pagans and more,
that they will be condemned to hell if they don't
proclaim allegiance to Jesus or Mohammed. A simple
ritualistic proclamation is all that they require. They
are not interested in the quality or substance of the
life of a person. They simple seek to proclaim that they
have converted a new person to their ranks. They are
interested in numbers, and not quality.
Like self-righteous, supremist Christians, Muslims a
section of Sikhs too display the same horrific,
frightening characteristics of dogma and bigotry. We
are right, because this is what is written. No
discussion. No reasoning. No explanation.
All such persons are stuck in a poisonous disease of
self-serving power, based on sectarian control and
superimposition. All of this is the anti-thesis of a
spiritual journey.
self-supremists attitudes amongst the Mullahs and
others of that kind. They would impose, force, convert,
oppress, subjugate and kill people for being
non-believers. The Christian and Islamic
establishments from the medieval times, went to
bloody, savage war to convert each other to their 'true'
way. Each of these religious establishments were
driven by power-minded, and less by actual ethics of
kindness and justice and sarbat-da-bhalla. Guru
Nanak jee challenged these bigoted, dogmatic forces.
Guru Nanak jee encouraged self-contemplation,
dialogue, discussion, meditation, and a soul-search
approach to life. Guru jee gave us guidance and a
positive example to follow. They gave us gurbani, good
practises, and much more.
Today, we face, exactly same challenges, in different,
more insidious, sophisticated guise. Both Islamic and
Christian groups, operate in a very organised,
well-funded, and vociferous to convince the world,
Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Pagans and more,
that they will be condemned to hell if they don't
proclaim allegiance to Jesus or Mohammed. A simple
ritualistic proclamation is all that they require. They
are not interested in the quality or substance of the
life of a person. They simple seek to proclaim that they
have converted a new person to their ranks. They are
interested in numbers, and not quality.
Like self-righteous, supremist Christians, Muslims a
section of Sikhs too display the same horrific,
frightening characteristics of dogma and bigotry. We
are right, because this is what is written. No
discussion. No reasoning. No explanation.
All such persons are stuck in a poisonous disease of
self-serving power, based on sectarian control and
superimposition. All of this is the anti-thesis of a
spiritual journey.
US President George Bush announced that there had been no successful terrorist attack on American soil since September 11, 2001 claiming
that he and his policies had madeAmerica US Iraq Afghanistan Pakistan
mention that there were hardly any incidents before 9/ 11. Also that neitherCanada Mexico US
Soon after 9/11, apart from bombingAfghanistan Iraq
not relented despite objections from human rights organisations and the liberal sections of American society.
The intelligence, security and counter- terrorist organisations were strengthened and reorganised. Hampered by inadequate human intelligence, the
Administration concentrated on enhancing its electronic capabilities.
Institutions
Millions of dollars were spent on research designed to increase intelligence surveillance capabilities. There is no cash crunch and considerable intelligence
related activity is now outsourced to the private sector. The British too plan to build amassive government data base of every phone call, e- mail and time spent
on the internet by the public. This is in continuation of asimilar EU directive in operation since last October.
InIndia
compensation, the media pronounces intelligence failure, allegations and counter allegations fly, experts pontificate on TV, momentous decisions that bicycles
can be purchased only with ID cards are taken and we move on till the next incident takes place.
In arecent commentary, Dr Ajai Sahni ofInstitute of Conflict Management
Kargil War. Two of these recommendations related, rather optimistically, to the establishment of a Multi Agency Centre (MAC) for collecting and co- ordinating
terrorism related information from all over the country and aJoint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI) responsible for passing on this information to state governments
in real time.
"Regrettably", Dr. Sahni asserts, "both MAC and JTFI remain understaffed, under equipped and ineffective, with even basic issues relating to their administration
unsettled. Their principal objective, creation of anational terrorism data base, has made little progress."
He also pointed out that the police force in our country averages only 126 per 100,000 apart from being illequipped and ill- trained, whereas in the Western
countries this figure is double. In the years ahead terrorists will select soft targets for maximum effect and ease of operation.
They will also target the private sector, the economy and the more networkedIndia
government networks and financial institutions. 23 per cent of British business was attacked by malicious software in 2007.
Internet
Even the character of the terrorist has changed from the stereotyped version to the boy or girl next door -- well educated and techno savvy. Terrorist organisations
have been using the Internet as adiscussion forum, library, sounding board; it is also used for spreading hate, planning attacks, recruitment, messaging and
training. Funds are raised on the internet and e- mail addresses, account numbers and names changed frequently.
Al Qaeda (which is estimated to have 5,600 websites with 900 added each year), Hamas, Hezbollah, Lashkar- e- Tayyaba and Jaish- e- Mohammed have all used
this technology.
B. Raman had warned in 2000 that the Pakistanis had launched aproject to systematically develop IT capability to reduce the gap between the non- Islamic and
Islamic world. He wrote about aproject called Operation Badar designed to provide high quality low cost web application education.
The founder of this project was Ziaullah Khan, resident in theUS
developers. The battle of Badar was the most important battle in the life of Prophet Mohammed who had only 313 warriors to fight the battle and later 10,000
saint soldiers --Faran --( Muslim soldiers) had assembled to join Him in the march toMecca
signifies battles of another kind, is difficult to say but it is also difficult to ignore, considering the contribution the Pakistani state has made to terror in India and
globally.
There is no magic solution for the various kinds of problems we have inIndia
agencies before creating new ones, if we want to succeed.
It has to be accepted that beyond apoint intelligence agencies find it hard to share information about sources with other agencies. This is a universal truth and not
India-
Inadequate information leads to indiscriminate arrests and creates more terrorists in almost the same manner as a Predator attack does. The citizen must be given
the confidence that the State is working for him and not at him; only then will he share information with the State. Governance has to improve --vastly in some
parts of the country, justice has to be speedy and the writ of the state must be visible.
Our IT protocols have to be tightened.
Publicity
Publicity is oxygen to the terrorist's cause and he has to be starved of this.
All of us, especially the media, have to ensure that in our reporting, the terrorist or his act is not lionised. The terrorist wins each time gruesome pictures
reach families in their homes as they sit down to watch their favourite programmes on the box or read newspapers.
The choice between what to report and how is always going to be adifficult one. Describing him as amilitant instead of aterrorist is to give him respectability and
calling him afedayeen is to glorify akiller. Battling terror is going to be long, hard and frustrating because the terrorist is often one of us and does not wear aspecial
badge.Source : Mail Today ,28th May 2008
that he and his policies had made
mention that there were hardly any incidents before 9/ 11. Also that neither
Soon after 9/11, apart from bombing
not relented despite objections from human rights organisations and the liberal sections of American society.
The intelligence, security and counter- terrorist organisations were strengthened and reorganised. Hampered by inadequate human intelligence, the
Administration concentrated on enhancing its electronic capabilities.
Institutions
Millions of dollars were spent on research designed to increase intelligence surveillance capabilities. There is no cash crunch and considerable intelligence
related activity is now outsourced to the private sector. The British too plan to build amassive government data base of every phone call, e- mail and time spent
on the internet by the public. This is in continuation of asimilar EU directive in operation since last October.
In
compensation, the media pronounces intelligence failure, allegations and counter allegations fly, experts pontificate on TV, momentous decisions that bicycles
can be purchased only with ID cards are taken and we move on till the next incident takes place.
In arecent commentary, Dr Ajai Sahni of
Kargil War. Two of these recommendations related, rather optimistically, to the establishment of a Multi Agency Centre (MAC) for collecting and co- ordinating
terrorism related information from all over the country and aJoint Task Force on Intelligence (JTFI) responsible for passing on this information to state governments
in real time.
"Regrettably", Dr. Sahni asserts, "both MAC and JTFI remain understaffed, under equipped and ineffective, with even basic issues relating to their administration
unsettled. Their principal objective, creation of anational terrorism data base, has made little progress."
He also pointed out that the police force in our country averages only 126 per 100,000 apart from being illequipped and ill- trained, whereas in the Western
countries this figure is double. In the years ahead terrorists will select soft targets for maximum effect and ease of operation.
They will also target the private sector, the economy and the more networked
government networks and financial institutions. 23 per cent of British business was attacked by malicious software in 2007.
Internet
Even the character of the terrorist has changed from the stereotyped version to the boy or girl next door -- well educated and techno savvy. Terrorist organisations
have been using the Internet as adiscussion forum, library, sounding board; it is also used for spreading hate, planning attacks, recruitment, messaging and
training. Funds are raised on the internet and e- mail addresses, account numbers and names changed frequently.
Al Qaeda (which is estimated to have 5,600 websites with 900 added each year), Hamas, Hezbollah, Lashkar- e- Tayyaba and Jaish- e- Mohammed have all used
this technology.
B. Raman had warned in 2000 that the Pakistanis had launched aproject to systematically develop IT capability to reduce the gap between the non- Islamic and
Islamic world. He wrote about aproject called Operation Badar designed to provide high quality low cost web application education.
The founder of this project was Ziaullah Khan, resident in the
developers. The battle of Badar was the most important battle in the life of Prophet Mohammed who had only 313 warriors to fight the battle and later 10,000
saint soldiers --Faran --( Muslim soldiers) had assembled to join Him in the march to
signifies battles of another kind, is difficult to say but it is also difficult to ignore, considering the contribution the Pakistani state has made to terror in India and
globally.
There is no magic solution for the various kinds of problems we have in
agencies before creating new ones, if we want to succeed.
It has to be accepted that beyond apoint intelligence agencies find it hard to share information about sources with other agencies. This is a universal truth and not
Inadequate information leads to indiscriminate arrests and creates more terrorists in almost the same manner as a Predator attack does. The citizen must be given
the confidence that the State is working for him and not at him; only then will he share information with the State. Governance has to improve --vastly in some
parts of the country, justice has to be speedy and the writ of the state must be visible.
Our IT protocols have to be tightened.
Publicity
Publicity is oxygen to the terrorist's cause and he has to be starved of this.
All of us, especially the media, have to ensure that in our reporting, the terrorist or his act is not lionised. The terrorist wins each time gruesome pictures
reach families in their homes as they sit down to watch their favourite programmes on the box or read newspapers.
The choice between what to report and how is always going to be adifficult one. Describing him as amilitant instead of aterrorist is to give him respectability and
calling him afedayeen is to glorify akiller. Battling terror is going to be long, hard and frustrating because the terrorist is often one of us and does not wear aspecial
badge.Source : Mail Today ,
Yonder world is the sacrificial fire, the sun is its fuel, the
rays its smoke, the day its flame, the four quarters its
cinders and the intermediate quarters its sparks. In this fire
the gods offer faith as libation. Out of that offering King
Moon is born.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 9
Parjanya (the god of rain), O Gautama, is the fire, the year
is its fuel, the clouds its smoke, lightning its flame, the
thunderbolt its cinders, the rumbling its sparks. In this fire
the gods offer King Moon as libation. Out of that offering
rain is produced.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 10
This world, O Gautama, is the fire, the earth is its fuel, fire
its smoke, the night its flame, the moon its cinders, the
stars its sparks. In this fire the gods offer rain as libation.
Out of that offering food is produced.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 11
?x2022; Email to a friend ?x2022; ?x2022;
These daily verses are drawn from the Rig, Yajur, Sama and
Atharva Vedas, Hinduism's revealed scriptures, which are
6,000 to 8,000 years old. Many of the verses are from the
book The Vedic Experience, by Raimundo Panikkar,
available at our Minimela online store.
rays its smoke, the day its flame, the four quarters its
cinders and the intermediate quarters its sparks. In this fire
the gods offer faith as libation. Out of that offering King
Moon is born.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 9
Parjanya (the god of rain), O Gautama, is the fire, the year
is its fuel, the clouds its smoke, lightning its flame, the
thunderbolt its cinders, the rumbling its sparks. In this fire
the gods offer King Moon as libation. Out of that offering
rain is produced.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 10
This world, O Gautama, is the fire, the earth is its fuel, fire
its smoke, the night its flame, the moon its cinders, the
stars its sparks. In this fire the gods offer rain as libation.
Out of that offering food is produced.
Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad VI, II-The Process of Rebirth, 11
?x2022; Email to a friend ?x2022; ?x2022;
These daily verses are drawn from the Rig, Yajur, Sama and
Atharva Vedas, Hinduism's revealed scriptures, which are
6,000 to 8,000 years old. Many of the verses are from the
book The Vedic Experience, by Raimundo Panikkar,
available at our Minimela online store.
The Home Minister of India is either unmindful of the consequences of what he says or is incapable of talking sense. He continues to embarrass the Government and compromise the nation
After the public display of his ineptitude, Mr Shivraj Patil would be doing a great favour to the Government in which he is the Home Minister if he were to resign from the Cabinet. By equating the death sentence given to Sarabjit Singh, an Indian in a Pakistani jail, to the pending execution of Mohammed Afzal, the mastermind of the terrorist attack on Parliament House, Mr Patil has not only displayed his ineptitude but also virtually sealed the fate of the poor Indian languishing in a Pakistani jail for 17 years now. Worse, he has contradicted his Government's stand that Sarbajit Singh's is a case of mistaken identity and there are several circumstances that justify his release.
The UPA Government is quite embarrassed as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has recently impressed upon his Pakistani counterpart during his visit toIslamabad Pakistan
If Mr Patil does not step down, thanks to his known loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi family, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should demand his resignation from the Cabinet.
Time is ticking away for Sarabjit Singh. With Mr Patil's statement even the Pakistan Government will find it difficult to pardon him. The Government of India has been trying at various levels to get relief for Sarabjit Singh, but its own Home Minister has undone all its efforts. In this context, it is the Prime Minister's responsibility to ask his Home Minister to pay the price for this ineptitude by contradicting the stand of a Government of which he is a senior member.
There is no end to such embarrassment for the UPA Government. The latest being the Home Ministry's reminder to Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur that he cannot invite BJP leader BS Yeddiyurappa to take oath as Chief Minister because President's rule has not been revoked. The communiqué to the Governor was obviously meant to delay the swearing in ceremony. Senior BJP leader LK Advani had to talk to the Prime Minister to get the Governor to do the right thing.
The Home Ministry's justification for trying to delay the swearing in ceremony is that technically the invite by the Governor must follow and not precede the lifting of President's rule. This is nothing more than legal quibbling, something that petty lawyers resort to when all their tactics fail to save their client.
The notification for the election is issued by the President and the Governor, as his agent in the State, is aware of the process of electing a new Government. Once the election results are out and there is no doubt who is the winner, the Governor takes steps to advise the President to lift the Central rule as per the Constitution. These steps involve finding who is the leader of the winning party and establishing to the Governor's satisfaction that he has the sustainable numbers.
Why did the Home Ministry tell the Karnataka Governor to wait for some more time before inviting the BJP to take over the State Government? Political analysts believe that the Home Minister's advise to the Governor to delay the invite to the BJP legislature party leader was meant to see whether there was any chance of manipulation and horse trading.
The Home Minister's ineptitude and crude manoeuvring do not seem to end here. After the Jaipur bombings, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje disclosed that the Home Ministry had advised the State Government to round up the Bangladeshi immigrants and put them in camps, besides paying for their livelihood. Later when Mr Patil insisted that he did not make this suggestion, Ms Vasundhara Raje had to confound him with the evidence of the Home Ministry's letter to her.
The significant aspect of this spat is that the BJP Government has regularly been ringing the bell on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants; this, however, was not good enough to wake the Centre up. The reason is obvious -- the Congress does not want to dilute its electoral appeal to Muslims.
A week after the Jaipur bombings when the police took into custody some of the people who might have been connected with the bombings, there was this usual uproar by a section of the Muslim leadership that "innocents" were being implicated. This same cry was heard after theHyderabad
The Congress apparently refuses to learn even after the electorate in State after State throws it out of power, the latest being Karnataka where terrorism was an issue and the Congress was unable to answer the questions that people posed to it. Mr Patil's argument that there is no easy way out and that there could only be a long-term effort to contain terrorism is not liked by the people. After all, they have seen inPunjab that strong measures alone can curb terrorism.
After the public display of his ineptitude, Mr Shivraj Patil would be doing a great favour to the Government in which he is the Home Minister if he were to resign from the Cabinet. By equating the death sentence given to Sarabjit Singh, an Indian in a Pakistani jail, to the pending execution of Mohammed Afzal, the mastermind of the terrorist attack on Parliament House, Mr Patil has not only displayed his ineptitude but also virtually sealed the fate of the poor Indian languishing in a Pakistani jail for 17 years now. Worse, he has contradicted his Government's stand that Sarbajit Singh's is a case of mistaken identity and there are several circumstances that justify his release.
The UPA Government is quite embarrassed as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has recently impressed upon his Pakistani counterpart during his visit to
If Mr Patil does not step down, thanks to his known loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi family, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should demand his resignation from the Cabinet.
Time is ticking away for Sarabjit Singh. With Mr Patil's statement even the Pakistan Government will find it difficult to pardon him. The Government of India has been trying at various levels to get relief for Sarabjit Singh, but its own Home Minister has undone all its efforts. In this context, it is the Prime Minister's responsibility to ask his Home Minister to pay the price for this ineptitude by contradicting the stand of a Government of which he is a senior member.
There is no end to such embarrassment for the UPA Government. The latest being the Home Ministry's reminder to Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur that he cannot invite BJP leader BS Yeddiyurappa to take oath as Chief Minister because President's rule has not been revoked. The communiqué to the Governor was obviously meant to delay the swearing in ceremony. Senior BJP leader LK Advani had to talk to the Prime Minister to get the Governor to do the right thing.
The Home Ministry's justification for trying to delay the swearing in ceremony is that technically the invite by the Governor must follow and not precede the lifting of President's rule. This is nothing more than legal quibbling, something that petty lawyers resort to when all their tactics fail to save their client.
The notification for the election is issued by the President and the Governor, as his agent in the State, is aware of the process of electing a new Government. Once the election results are out and there is no doubt who is the winner, the Governor takes steps to advise the President to lift the Central rule as per the Constitution. These steps involve finding who is the leader of the winning party and establishing to the Governor's satisfaction that he has the sustainable numbers.
Why did the Home Ministry tell the Karnataka Governor to wait for some more time before inviting the BJP to take over the State Government? Political analysts believe that the Home Minister's advise to the Governor to delay the invite to the BJP legislature party leader was meant to see whether there was any chance of manipulation and horse trading.
The Home Minister's ineptitude and crude manoeuvring do not seem to end here. After the Jaipur bombings, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje disclosed that the Home Ministry had advised the State Government to round up the Bangladeshi immigrants and put them in camps, besides paying for their livelihood. Later when Mr Patil insisted that he did not make this suggestion, Ms Vasundhara Raje had to confound him with the evidence of the Home Ministry's letter to her.
The significant aspect of this spat is that the BJP Government has regularly been ringing the bell on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants; this, however, was not good enough to wake the Centre up. The reason is obvious -- the Congress does not want to dilute its electoral appeal to Muslims.
A week after the Jaipur bombings when the police took into custody some of the people who might have been connected with the bombings, there was this usual uproar by a section of the Muslim leadership that "innocents" were being implicated. This same cry was heard after the
The Congress apparently refuses to learn even after the electorate in State after State throws it out of power, the latest being Karnataka where terrorism was an issue and the Congress was unable to answer the questions that people posed to it. Mr Patil's argument that there is no easy way out and that there could only be a long-term effort to contain terrorism is not liked by the people. After all, they have seen in
Buoyed by a series of election victories including those in Karnataka and Gujarat , the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday took out its contentious demands for scrapping Article 370 and bringing in a uniform civil code from the closet ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
On the backburner for long owing to coalition pressures, the saffron party sought to bring these issues back on its agenda and also floated a new idea of "true secularism" to target the Congress, which it has always accused of appeasing minorities.
"Along with cultural nationalism, Article 370, uniform civil code and true secularism, we are committed to preserve the national unity and integrity," BJP chief Rajnath Singh said in his address at the party's national executive inDelhi
On the issue of true secularism, the party wanted the government to stop use of Hindi word dharmanirpeksh for secular and instead use panthnirpeksh so as to come out of the colonial mindset.
Apart from theRam Temple Jammu and Kashmir
The party had to put these issues on the backburner after formation of the National Democratic Alliance.
The meet is being held in the shadow of the violent Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan at the Parliament Annexe, the main venue, as also the party headquarters which saw massive security arrangements.
Under attack from the opposition over handling of the Gujjar stir, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje chose not to attend the national executive.
On the backburner for long owing to coalition pressures, the saffron party sought to bring these issues back on its agenda and also floated a new idea of "true secularism" to target the Congress, which it has always accused of appeasing minorities.
"Along with cultural nationalism, Article 370, uniform civil code and true secularism, we are committed to preserve the national unity and integrity," BJP chief Rajnath Singh said in his address at the party's national executive in
On the issue of true secularism, the party wanted the government to stop use of Hindi word dharmanirpeksh for secular and instead use panthnirpeksh so as to come out of the colonial mindset.
Apart from the
The party had to put these issues on the backburner after formation of the National Democratic Alliance.
The meet is being held in the shadow of the violent Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan at the Parliament Annexe, the main venue, as also the party headquarters which saw massive security arrangements.
Under attack from the opposition over handling of the Gujjar stir, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje chose not to attend the national executive.
The morning after the May 13 serial blasts in Jaipur, people were still picking up the pieces. Lives had been shattered, and the Pink City
Within days, a few things became clear. The blasts were synchronized and masterminded with clinical precision. RDX may have been used and like the blasts in UP courts, the explosives were stored in cycles. "Each of these links point to the involvement of HuJI, the Bangladeshi extremist outfit that has taken over from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed asIndia Bangladesh
In fact, since 2005, the majority of terror attacks inIndia
The connection has been evident for a long time. OnOctober 12, 2005 , suicide bombers attacked the Hyderabad Bangladesh
These were the first tremors. Over the next three years, HuJI emerged as the prime terror outfit involved in most jihadi attacks inIndia Bangladesh India
Delhi India Delhi
In the face of this sustained terror campaign, sleuths have been able to do little. Take the example of Abdul Rahaman, who was 'arrested' inDelhi May 22, 2008 , and charged with involvement in the Jaipur blasts. Babubhai revealed that as far back as 2004, Rahaman was transporting explosives across the Bengal-Bangladesh border. A minor accomplice then, Rahaman had been sent to the Biswa Ijtema at Tongi and attended a training camp in Bangladesh Pakistan
According to central intelligence sources, by the time Rahaman returned from hisPakistan Bangladesh India
Indian agencies have also failed to secure the custody of Abu Hamza, believed to be the second-in-command of HuJI inIndia Hyderabad India Hyderabad
TheBangladesh Bangladesh
ForIndia Karachi
Within days, a few things became clear. The blasts were synchronized and masterminded with clinical precision. RDX may have been used and like the blasts in UP courts, the explosives were stored in cycles. "Each of these links point to the involvement of HuJI, the Bangladeshi extremist outfit that has taken over from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed as
In fact, since 2005, the majority of terror attacks in
The connection has been evident for a long time. On
These were the first tremors. Over the next three years, HuJI emerged as the prime terror outfit involved in most jihadi attacks in
In the face of this sustained terror campaign, sleuths have been able to do little. Take the example of Abdul Rahaman, who was 'arrested' in
According to central intelligence sources, by the time Rahaman returned from his
Indian agencies have also failed to secure the custody of Abu Hamza, believed to be the second-in-command of HuJI in
The
For
At a recent conference on radical Islam, attended by scholars from India
and South-East Asian countries, it was irritating to hear professors from
Jamia Millia Islamia repeating the canard about the 9/11 terrorist attacks
being an elaborate conspiracy hatched by the Christians (of America) and
the Jews (of Israel) to "defame Islam" and use the globally televised images
of the imploding twin towers as justification for the US-led "war against
Muslims".
The first time I heard this astonishing fiction was inCairo
arrived soon after the terrifying attack, led by an Egyptian, Mohammed
Atta, on theWorld Trade Center
The war inIraq
Mullah Omar, were fleeingAfghanistan
The fall of a 'model Islamic state' and the walloping the 'soldiers of god'
were receiving from the invading kafirs had greatly distressed my friends in
the Muslim Brotherhood who had wrongly believed that the flattening of
the twin towers would signal the liberation of Cairo, not Kabul. Instead,
they were shocked to see a tsunami of anger striking Arab shores.
Rather than accept the 9/11 attacks had proved to be counter-productive,
they chose the path of denial. Whispered allegations, anonymous e-mail
and stories buried in the inside pages of Arabic newspapers began to do
the rounds, spreading the patently false claim that the attack on the twin
towers and the Pentagon had been planned and executed by the
Americans and the Israelis.
To substantiate this absurd claim, there were further absurd claims -- Jews
did not report for work on that fateful day, only the Mossad could have
carried out an operation of this scale, the CIA had ensured the hijackers
would not be frisked, etc. I found the assertions mildly repugnant and
largely amusing, attributing the fiction to the street Arab's lack of access to
facts.
Seven years later, when I hear that absurd claim being repeated, that too
by those who should know better, I don't feel amused, but irritated.
And so it happened at the conference on radical Islam when a professor of
Jamia Millia Islamia questioned the authenticity of events as they unfolded
onSeptember 11, 2001 , two of his colleagues nodding their heads
vigorously in approval.
My irritation gave way to anger when he went on to suggest that analyses
of video images of the hijacked aircraft being flown into the twin towers
showed they were "studio-generated". Only someone who has undergone
lobotomy would say something so stupid in public. But more than being
silly, there's a sinister purpose to such comments and they should not be
attributed to a lobotomised brain; Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil
would vouch for this.
A lie repeated again and again, as Paul Joseph Goebbels proved through
word and deed, tends to be believed by the masses. Islamofascists, both at
home and abroad, who peddle the myth that 'Islam is the solution' and thus
see nothing wrong with the ghastly crimes committed in the name of Islam,
would naturally take to Goebbelsian propaganda tactics like a duck takes
to water.
Fiction propagated slyly at conferences and seminars, mentioned between
the lines in newspaper articles, and slipped into Friday sermons by
mullahs after the jumma namaaz, acquires a certain legitimacy and is
soon perceived as fact.
We have seen this happen on more than one occasion. When Hindus were
forced to flee their ancestral homes in the Kashmir Valley by killer squads
of Islamists who indulged in rapacious depredations and revelled in the
slaughter of innocent men, women and children, an insidious campaign was
launched, pinning the blame on Mr Jagmohan, then Governor of Jammu &
Kashmir: He was accused of telling the Hindus to flee the Valley.
Strangely, this fiction was believed by the secular intelligentsia which, in any
event, is desperate to clutch at straws to absolve Islamic fanatics of their
crimes and eager to paint Islamist marauders in the most glowing of
colours. Similar tactics were -- and continue to be -- used in the wake of
the slaughter of kar sevaks in Godhra and to tar Hindus by blaming them
for the violence that followed.
After the bombing of commuter trains in Mumbai, killing 187 people, it
was blatantly suggested by our homegrown Islamists that the massacre was
the handiwork of either "Government agencies" or "Hindu organisations".
They are now using the same tactics in their response to the jihadi attack
on Jaipur on May 14, in which at least 80 people were killed and many
more maimed. The Hindustan Express, a Delhi-based Urdu newspaper,
pontificated in an editorial comment on May 16, "Apart from elements like
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Al Qaeda or HuJI (who may possibly be involved
in these explosions) why should we not think also of those international
powers and agencies who are known to the Government for their
discomfort towards Indo-Pak peace?" Why not, indeed!
The Jamaat-e-Islami's biweekly journal, Daawat, was nauseatingly sly in
its comments on May 19, "The truth cannot be out without changing the
formula for the probe into the bomb blasts. Instead of going through the
formality of a probe and connecting the links, we will have to see which
group of people gets political benefit out of such incidents."
The only group that stands to benefit from the bloodbath in Jaipur, the
Jamaat-e-Islami, whose mullahs pretend to be as innocent as Goldilocks,
needs to be told, comprises those who subscribe to the slogan, "Islam is
the solution."
These are the people who are at ease with explosives being strapped to an
eight-year-old girl and the button on the remote control being pushed as
she reaches out to take a chocolate from a soldier (not an American) in
Iraq
They are untouched and unmoved by the sight of the blood of innocent
victims, as was spilled on the streets of Jaipur, of their perverse ideology.
They are fully aware of their criminal misdeeds, but they want us to believe
they are not to blame. And if you dare point a finger at radical Islam and its
army of Islamofascists, they will accuse you of indulging in Islamophobia.
It's time we called their bluff. The only other option is to subjugate
ourselves to those who know no mercy and meekly accept Islam as the
solution.
and South-East Asian countries, it was irritating to hear professors from
Jamia Millia Islamia repeating the canard about the 9/11 terrorist attacks
being an elaborate conspiracy hatched by the Christians (of America) and
the Jews (of Israel) to "defame Islam" and use the globally televised images
of the imploding twin towers as justification for the US-led "war against
Muslims".
The first time I heard this astonishing fiction was in
arrived soon after the terrifying attack, led by an Egyptian, Mohammed
Atta, on the
The war in
Mullah Omar, were fleeing
The fall of a 'model Islamic state' and the walloping the 'soldiers of god'
were receiving from the invading kafirs had greatly distressed my friends in
the Muslim Brotherhood who had wrongly believed that the flattening of
the twin towers would signal the liberation of Cairo, not Kabul. Instead,
they were shocked to see a tsunami of anger striking Arab shores.
Rather than accept the 9/11 attacks had proved to be counter-productive,
they chose the path of denial. Whispered allegations, anonymous e-mail
and stories buried in the inside pages of Arabic newspapers began to do
the rounds, spreading the patently false claim that the attack on the twin
towers and the Pentagon had been planned and executed by the
Americans and the Israelis.
To substantiate this absurd claim, there were further absurd claims -- Jews
did not report for work on that fateful day, only the Mossad could have
carried out an operation of this scale, the CIA had ensured the hijackers
would not be frisked, etc. I found the assertions mildly repugnant and
largely amusing, attributing the fiction to the street Arab's lack of access to
facts.
Seven years later, when I hear that absurd claim being repeated, that too
by those who should know better, I don't feel amused, but irritated.
And so it happened at the conference on radical Islam when a professor of
Jamia Millia Islamia questioned the authenticity of events as they unfolded
on
vigorously in approval.
My irritation gave way to anger when he went on to suggest that analyses
of video images of the hijacked aircraft being flown into the twin towers
showed they were "studio-generated". Only someone who has undergone
lobotomy would say something so stupid in public. But more than being
silly, there's a sinister purpose to such comments and they should not be
attributed to a lobotomised brain; Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil
would vouch for this.
A lie repeated again and again, as Paul Joseph Goebbels proved through
word and deed, tends to be believed by the masses. Islamofascists, both at
home and abroad, who peddle the myth that 'Islam is the solution' and thus
see nothing wrong with the ghastly crimes committed in the name of Islam,
would naturally take to Goebbelsian propaganda tactics like a duck takes
to water.
Fiction propagated slyly at conferences and seminars, mentioned between
the lines in newspaper articles, and slipped into Friday sermons by
mullahs after the jumma namaaz, acquires a certain legitimacy and is
soon perceived as fact.
We have seen this happen on more than one occasion. When Hindus were
forced to flee their ancestral homes in the Kashmir Valley by killer squads
of Islamists who indulged in rapacious depredations and revelled in the
slaughter of innocent men, women and children, an insidious campaign was
launched, pinning the blame on Mr Jagmohan, then Governor of Jammu &
Kashmir: He was accused of telling the Hindus to flee the Valley.
Strangely, this fiction was believed by the secular intelligentsia which, in any
event, is desperate to clutch at straws to absolve Islamic fanatics of their
crimes and eager to paint Islamist marauders in the most glowing of
colours. Similar tactics were -- and continue to be -- used in the wake of
the slaughter of kar sevaks in Godhra and to tar Hindus by blaming them
for the violence that followed.
After the bombing of commuter trains in Mumbai, killing 187 people, it
was blatantly suggested by our homegrown Islamists that the massacre was
the handiwork of either "Government agencies" or "Hindu organisations".
They are now using the same tactics in their response to the jihadi attack
on Jaipur on May 14, in which at least 80 people were killed and many
more maimed. The Hindustan Express, a Delhi-based Urdu newspaper,
pontificated in an editorial comment on May 16, "Apart from elements like
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Al Qaeda or HuJI (who may possibly be involved
in these explosions) why should we not think also of those international
powers and agencies who are known to the Government for their
discomfort towards Indo-Pak peace?" Why not, indeed!
The Jamaat-e-Islami's biweekly journal, Daawat, was nauseatingly sly in
its comments on May 19, "The truth cannot be out without changing the
formula for the probe into the bomb blasts. Instead of going through the
formality of a probe and connecting the links, we will have to see which
group of people gets political benefit out of such incidents."
The only group that stands to benefit from the bloodbath in Jaipur, the
Jamaat-e-Islami, whose mullahs pretend to be as innocent as Goldilocks,
needs to be told, comprises those who subscribe to the slogan, "Islam is
the solution."
These are the people who are at ease with explosives being strapped to an
eight-year-old girl and the button on the remote control being pushed as
she reaches out to take a chocolate from a soldier (not an American) in
They are untouched and unmoved by the sight of the blood of innocent
victims, as was spilled on the streets of Jaipur, of their perverse ideology.
They are fully aware of their criminal misdeeds, but they want us to believe
they are not to blame. And if you dare point a finger at radical Islam and its
army of Islamofascists, they will accuse you of indulging in Islamophobia.
It's time we called their bluff. The only other option is to subjugate
ourselves to those who know no mercy and meekly accept Islam as the
solution.
It is very important to look forward, but its also
important to remember History and learn from
it the lessons it teaches. History repeats itself
for those who forget it. I would like to share an
article with you on this topic. Its a book review
of Mr. Francois Gautier's book by C.J.S.Walia
of India Star.
http://indiaview.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/forgive-but-never-forget-%e2%80%93-history/
Forgive but never forget history: by Francois Gautier
** Forgive but never forget history
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Rewriting Indian History
by Francois Gautier
Book Review: C.J.S. Walia
“From my perspecive as a secular humanist, and my own experience, I regard a typical liberal Indian Muslim to be as good a human being as any other Indian.” c.j.s. wallia
Rewriting Indian History is a provocative new book by the French writer Francois Gautier, who currently serves as the political correspondent in India for France’s top newspaper, Le Figaro, and for Switzerland’s leading daily, Le Nouveau Quotidien.
Having lived in
Rewriting Indian History,the author prefaces, “might well be called an antithesis” for it questions many of the assumptions in the “standard” treatises by Euro-centered colonialist historians and their imitations by Indian Marxist writers.
Gautier focuses mainly on the Muslim period of
However, the British, in pursuing their policy of divide-and-rule, colluded “to whitewash” the atrocious record of the Muslims so that they could set up the Muslims as a strategic counterbalance to the Hindus.
During the freedom struggle, Gandhi and Nehru went around encrusting even thicker coats of whitewash so that they could pretend a facade of Hindu-Muslim unity against British colonial rule.
After independence, Marxist Indian writers, blinkered by their distorting ideology, repeated the big lie about the Muslim record.
Gautier cites two eminent historians who wrote free of any colonialist or ideological agendas, basing their accounts on documents by contemporary Muslim chroniclers themselves: Alain Danielou in Histoire de la Inde: “From the time Muslims started arriving, around 632 AD, the history of India becomes a long, monotonous series of murders, massacres, spoilations, destructions. It is, as usual, in the name of ‘a holy war’ of their faith, of their sole God, that the barbarians have destroyed civilisations, wiped out entire races.”
And the well-known American historian Will Durant in The Story of Civilization: “…the Islamic conquest of
(From my perspecive as a secular humanist, and my own experience, I regard a typical liberal Indian Muslim to be as good a human being as any other Indian.)
Gautier should have continued with the Will Durant quote: “The Hindus had allowed their strength to be wasted in internal division and war; they had adopted religions like Buddhism and Jainism, which unnerved them for the tasks of life; they had failed to organize their forces for the protection of their frontiers and their capitals, their wealth and their freedom, from the hordes of Scythians, Huns, Afghans and Turks hovering about India’s boundaries and waiting for national weakness to let them in. For four hundred years (600-1000 A.D.)
This is the secret of the political history of modern
The bitter lesson that may be drawn from this tragedy is that eternal vigilance is the price of civilization. A nation must love peace, but keep its powder dry.”
About Gandhi’s whitewash of Muslims, Gautier observes: “Ultimately, it must be said that whatever his saintliness, his extreme and somehow rigid asceticism, Gandhi did enormous harm to
Worse yet, Gandhi’s anointed disciple, Nehru, propagated false readings of Indian history in his books and speeches. Gautier quotes Nehru’s “amazing eulogy” of the tyrant Mahmud Ghazni, the destroyer of
When Nehru, the arrant appeaser of Muslims, became
Under Nehru’s pseudo-secular rule, “Hindu-bashing became a popular pastime.”
Moreover, Nehru “had a great sympathy for communism…. He encouraged Marxist think-tanks such as the
These Marxist “historians,” well-ensconced at JNU, have long been masterminding the politically correct textbooks of
For a long time, the Indian Marxists had been so brainwashed that whenever it rained in
To be sure, dissenting voices were raised against Gandhi’s whitewash of Muslims. Before the partition of
e the Muslims who would not be conciliated by such policy.”
Another strong dissenter was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Seeing through Nehru’s pseudo-secularism, Patel commented, “There’s only one nationalist Muslim in
Gautier warns: “Even today, there is no doubt that Islam has never been fully able to give up its inner conviction that its own religion is the only true creed and that all others are kafirs, infidels. In
This obsession, this hate, is as old as the first invasion of
The source of Muslim’s fanatical aggression, Gautier points out, is the Koran itself, from which he quotes: “Slay the infidels, wherever ye find them and prepare them for all kind of ambush”; and “Choose not thy friends among the infidels till they forsake their homes and the way of idolatory. If they return to paganism then take them whenever you find them and kill them.”
In the section on Ayodhya, Gautier says that demolishing the Babri Masjid has proved that Hindus too can fight.
He criticizes Nehruvian “secularism” as interpreted by the Congress party to mean “giving in to the Muslims’ demands, because its leaders never could really make out if the allegiance of Indian Muslims is first to
For many of
From my own perspective as a secular humanist, I believe that any whitewashing of historical record is counterproductive. No matter how lofty the ideals of a current cause, any whitewash of history tempts the fates. To forget history will always be fateful; to forgive its horrendous facts can be redemptive. Forgive — but never forget — history.
A salient example of making sure that the horrors of history are not forgotten is the contemporary German state’s law prohibiting any World War II history that whitewashes the holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis on the Jews, Gypsies, and Poles.
The Jews rightly insist that the world must never forget what happened to them.
Where is the
The historical record of the Muslim rule in
Yet, as a secular humanist, I would like to make a distinction between an ideology and its adherents, especially those born into it. From my own experience, I regard a typical liberal Indian Muslim to be as good a human being as any other Indian.
In the opening chapter, Gautier briefly examines the “tainted glasses” which made Euro-centered historians expound gross “disinformations” about ancient
Throughout the book, Gautier quotes Sri Aurobindo, and in the concluding chapter, “The Final Dream,” pays an inspired homage to the great visionary’s writings.
Like Konraad Elst’s Negationism in
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