Mr Somnath Chatterjee is the speaker of the Lok Sabha and has the responsibility towards the nation. The party direction to him to quit is in poor taste, reflects the narrow outlook of the communists and will only highlight the desperation of the already disgraced Left whose priorities are out of sync with National interests. A case in point is the shameful Karat-Mayawati plotting to topple the Manmohan Sigh Govt.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
FROM THE NEW YORK LANDMARKS PLOT TO THE MUMBAI ATTACK
Friday, December 5, 2008
In the context of Mumbai mayhem, a most relevant article by By Fred Burton and Ben West is reproduced.
In the context of Mumbai mayhem, a most relevant article by By Fred Burton and Ben West is reproduced.
On the surface, last week's attack on Mumbai was remarkable for its execution and apparently unconventional tactics. But when compared to a plot uncovered 15 years ago that targeted prominent hotels in Manhattan, it becomes apparent that the Mumbai attack was not so original after all.
The 1993 New York Landmarks Plot.
In July 1993, U.S. counterterrorism agents arrested eight individuals later convicted of plotting an elaborate, multistage attack on key sites in Manhattan. The militants, who were linked to Osama bin Laden's then-relatively new group, al Qaeda, planned to storm the island armed with automatic rifles, grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In multiple raids on key targets combined with diversionary attacks, they aimed to kill as many people as possible.
The planned attack, which came to be known as the "Landmarks" plot, called for several tactical teams to raid sites such as the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Regis and U.N. Plaza hotels, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, and a midtown Manhattan waterfront heliport servicing business executives and VIPs traveling from lower Manhattan to various New York-area airports. The militants carried out extensive surveillance both inside and outside the target hotels using human probes, hand-drawn maps and video surveillance. Detailed notes were taken on the layout and design of the buildings, with stairwells, ballrooms, security cameras and personnel all reconnoitered.
The attackers intended to infiltrate the hotels and disguise themselves as kitchen employees. On the day of the attack, one attack team planned to use stolen delivery vans to get close to the hotels, at which point heavily armed, small-cell commando teams would deploy from the rear of the van. Stationary operatives would use hand grenades to create diversions while attack teams would rake hotel guests with automatic weapons. The attackers planned to carry gas masks and use tear gas in hotel ballrooms to gain an advantage over any security they might come up against. They planned to attack at night, when the level of protection would be lower.
The targeted hotels host some of the most prestigious guests in Manhattan. These could have included diplomats like the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who traditionally keeps an apartment in the Waldorf-Astoria, or even the U.S. secretary of state, who is known to stay at the Waldorf during U.N. sessions. They also host various business leaders. If successful, the attackers doubtless would have killed many high-profile individuals key to New York's stature as a center for financial and diplomatic dealings.
Meanwhile, the plots to detonate explosives in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels would have blocked critical transportation infrastructure, sowing chaos in the city as key escape routes were closed off. And VIPs seeking to escape the city via the midtown heliport would have been thwarted by the attack planned for that location. In fact, the heliport attack was planned to be carried out using watercraft, which also could have been used to target transport ferries, further disrupting transportation in and out of Manhattan. The New York City Police Department could plausibly even have quarantined Manhattan to prevent the attackers from fleeing the city.
With the city shut down and gunmen running amok, the financial center of the United States would have been thrown into chaos and confusion until the attackers were detained or killed. The attacks thus would have undermined the security and effectiveness of New York as a center for financial and diplomatic dealings. > > At the time, U.S. counterterrorism officials deemed that the attack would have had a 90 percent success rate. Disaster, then, was averted when federal agents captured the plotters planning the Landmarks attack thanks to an informant who had infiltrated the group. Along with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing just four months earlier, which killed six people but was intended to bring down both towers, the United States dodged a major bullet that could have been devastating to New York.
The Nov. 26 Mumbai Attack
A little more than fifteen years later, the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai closely followed the script of the New York plot. Militants armed with AK-47s, grenades and military-grade explosives carried out a very logistically sophisticated and coordinated attack on the financial capital of India.
Clearly, the Mumbai attack involved extensive preoperational surveillance. Attackers had maps of the targeted hotels, and according to the Indian Marine Commandos who raided the Taj Mahal hotel, the militants moved around as if they knew the hotel's layout by heart. Advance members of the attack teams had already taken up positions in the hotels, stockpiling firearms, ammunition, grenades and food that were quickly accessed and used to maintain the attackers' positions in the hotels. One of the attackers reportedly also had taken a job as an intern chef in the Taj Mahal hotel kitchen, so his movements raised less suspicion and he had a detailed knowledge of the entry points and corridors. For such attacks, preparedness is key, and escaping alive is a long shot. The attackers therefore must have been highly motivated and willing to die -- a rare combination that requires immense amounts of training and ideological zeal.
At least two teams entered the city by watercraft, breaking up into smaller groups as they made their way to the Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi-Trident hotel complex and Nariman (also known as Chabad) House, a Jewish center in the same area of Mumbai. These tactical teams dispersed across the city, attacking prominent sites where foreign VIPs were sure to be present. They infiltrated the hotels through back entrances and kitchens, thus enhancing the element of surprise as they opened fire on guests in the dining areas and atriums of the hotels.
Beyond killing people and holding hostages in Mumbai's most prestigious hotels, other attack teams assaulted additional strategic sites in Mumbai, creating a sense of chaos and confusion over the whole city. Mumbai's main train station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, as well as Cama Hospital, offices of The Times of India newspaper, restaurants, a theater, and bars frequented by foreigners also were attacked. The attackers' excellent coordination -- the multiple attacks took place nearly simultaneously -- thus ensured maximum confusion and chaos, frustrating police responses. This could explain in part why operations like those at Nariman House and the hotels lasted for more than 48 hours.Similarities between New York and Mumbai
The similarities between the Landmarks plot and the Nov. 26 Mumbai attack are quite obvious. In symbolic terms, as the Mumbai attack unfolded, many onlookers said that an attack on Mumbai is to India what an attack on New York is to Americans. In more concrete terms, the targets, methods, weapons and geography involved were similar (if not identical), and the unconventional style of the attacks points to a common author.
U.S. counterterrorism forces in 1995 detained Landmarks plot mastermind Ramzi Yousef, who remains in U.S. federal prison. But his ideas obviously did not stay behind bars. This illustrates how a plan's initial failure does not mean the threat has been eliminated. Indeed, Stratfor observed in 2005 that the 1993 Landmarks plot (among others) should not be discounted, as al Qaeda or other terrorist groups are known to return to past targets and plot scenarios.
The similarities between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attack exist at several levels. The first relates to the target set. Both New York and Mumbai are the respective financial centers of their countries and home to their nations' major stock exchanges. In both cities, the planners had picked out high-profile soft targets -- sites that have less security personnel and countermeasures than, say, a military installation or key government building. Softer security means gaining access to strategic assets and people is easier. Stratfor has long stressed the importance of maintaining vigilance at soft targets like hotels that cater to international guests, as these are likely targets for militant Islamists. Both plans also involved infiltrating hotel staff and booking rooms in the hotels to gain inside information and store supplies.
The second similarity involves how both plans included peripheral targets to cause confusion and chaos and thus create a diversion from the main targets. In Mumbai, transportation infrastructure like the city's main railway station was attacked, and militants detonated explosive devices in taxis and next to gasoline pumps. Meanwhile, roving gunmen attacked other sites around the city. In a country where coordination among first responders is already weak, the way the attackers fanned out across the city caused massive chaos and distracted security forces from the main prize: the hotels. Attacking Cama Hospital also sowed chaos, as the injured from one scene of attack became the targets of another while being rescued.
A third similarity exists in the geography of the two cities. In both plots, the use of watercraft is a distinctive tactical similarity. Watercraft gave militants access at unconventional locations where security would be more lax. Both Mumbai (a peninsula) and Manhattan (an island) offer plenty of points where militants can mount assaults from watercraft. Such an attack would not have worked in New Delhi or Bangalore; these are landlocked cities where militants would have had to enter by road, a route much more likely to encounter police patrols. Being centers of trade and surrounded by water, both Mumbai and New York have high levels of maritime traffic. This means infiltrating the area from the water would raise minimal suspicions, especially if the craft were registered locally (as was the case in the Mumbai attack). Such out-of-the box tactics take advantage of security services, which often tend to focus on established threats.
A fourth similarity lies in transportation. In addition to using watercraft, both plots involved the use of deceptive vehicles to maneuver around the city undetected. The Landmark plotters used taxis to conduct surveillance and planned on using a delivery van to approach the hotels. In Mumbai, the attackers planted bombs in taxis, and at least one group of militants hijacked a police van and used it to carry out attacks across the city. Using familiar vehicles like taxis, delivery vans or police vans to carry out surveillance or attacks reduces suspicion and increases the element of surprise, allowing militants to stay under cover until the moment of attack.
An Off-the-Shelf Plan
As indicated, the striking similarities between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attack suggest that Ramzi Yousef and other early al Qaeda operatives who helped prepare the Landmarks plot in New York authored the Mumbai plan. Considering that the militants launched their original attack from Karachi, Pakistan, and the previous involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency -- which has connections with al Qaeda leaders in western Pakistan -- it is very likely that al Qaeda in Pakistan at least provided the blueprints for this attack. On-the-ground operations like training, surveillance and the actual attack appear to have been carried out by the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in connection with Indian Islamist groups.
Here we see more evidence of the existence of an ideological or strategic battle space that exists in the radical Islamist world, which has been greatly influenced by al Qaeda. Like a contingency plan that might sit on the shelf for years or decades before it is useful, terrorist plots (especially good ones) can have a long shelf life and be applied in various scenarios. In fact, plans that sit on the shelf longer might actually be more effective as security officials focus their attention on evolving threats and forget old ones.
Just because a plot has been disrupted, the threat has not been eliminated. Once terrorists happen upon a successful model, they are likely to follow that model. This can be seen in al Qaeda's return to the World Trade Center in 2001, eight years after the initial truck bomb attacks in 1993. It can also be seen in the fact that Mumbai has been the target of multiple attacks and threats, including train bombings in 2006 that killed approximately 200 people. Though the tactics might have differed, the target set remained the same. Various parts of the attack cycle can change, but rarely does an attack occur that is completely novel.
Ultimately, the biggest difference between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attack is that the Mumbai attack succeeded. The failure of the Landmarks plot probably provided key lessons to the planners of the Mumbai attack, who were able to carry out the stages of the attack without detection and with the full element of surprise. Gauging by the success of the Mumbai incident, we can expect similar strategies and tactics in future attacks.
The 1993 New York Landmarks Plot.
In July 1993, U.S. counterterrorism agents arrested eight individuals later convicted of plotting an elaborate, multistage attack on key sites in Manhattan. The militants, who were linked to Osama bin Laden's then-relatively new group, al Qaeda, planned to storm the island armed with automatic rifles, grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In multiple raids on key targets combined with diversionary attacks, they aimed to kill as many people as possible.
The planned attack, which came to be known as the "Landmarks" plot, called for several tactical teams to raid sites such as the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Regis and U.N. Plaza hotels, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, and a midtown Manhattan waterfront heliport servicing business executives and VIPs traveling from lower Manhattan to various New York-area airports. The militants carried out extensive surveillance both inside and outside the target hotels using human probes, hand-drawn maps and video surveillance. Detailed notes were taken on the layout and design of the buildings, with stairwells, ballrooms, security cameras and personnel all reconnoitered.
The attackers intended to infiltrate the hotels and disguise themselves as kitchen employees. On the day of the attack, one attack team planned to use stolen delivery vans to get close to the hotels, at which point heavily armed, small-cell commando teams would deploy from the rear of the van. Stationary operatives would use hand grenades to create diversions while attack teams would rake hotel guests with automatic weapons. The attackers planned to carry gas masks and use tear gas in hotel ballrooms to gain an advantage over any security they might come up against. They planned to attack at night, when the level of protection would be lower.
The targeted hotels host some of the most prestigious guests in Manhattan. These could have included diplomats like the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who traditionally keeps an apartment in the Waldorf-Astoria, or even the U.S. secretary of state, who is known to stay at the Waldorf during U.N. sessions. They also host various business leaders. If successful, the attackers doubtless would have killed many high-profile individuals key to New York's stature as a center for financial and diplomatic dealings.
Meanwhile, the plots to detonate explosives in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels would have blocked critical transportation infrastructure, sowing chaos in the city as key escape routes were closed off. And VIPs seeking to escape the city via the midtown heliport would have been thwarted by the attack planned for that location. In fact, the heliport attack was planned to be carried out using watercraft, which also could have been used to target transport ferries, further disrupting transportation in and out of Manhattan. The New York City Police Department could plausibly even have quarantined Manhattan to prevent the attackers from fleeing the city.
With the city shut down and gunmen running amok, the financial center of the United States would have been thrown into chaos and confusion until the attackers were detained or killed. The attacks thus would have undermined the security and effectiveness of New York as a center for financial and diplomatic dealings. > > At the time, U.S. counterterrorism officials deemed that the attack would have had a 90 percent success rate. Disaster, then, was averted when federal agents captured the plotters planning the Landmarks attack thanks to an informant who had infiltrated the group. Along with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing just four months earlier, which killed six people but was intended to bring down both towers, the United States dodged a major bullet that could have been devastating to New York.
The Nov. 26 Mumbai Attack
A little more than fifteen years later, the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai closely followed the script of the New York plot. Militants armed with AK-47s, grenades and military-grade explosives carried out a very logistically sophisticated and coordinated attack on the financial capital of India.
Clearly, the Mumbai attack involved extensive preoperational surveillance. Attackers had maps of the targeted hotels, and according to the Indian Marine Commandos who raided the Taj Mahal hotel, the militants moved around as if they knew the hotel's layout by heart. Advance members of the attack teams had already taken up positions in the hotels, stockpiling firearms, ammunition, grenades and food that were quickly accessed and used to maintain the attackers' positions in the hotels. One of the attackers reportedly also had taken a job as an intern chef in the Taj Mahal hotel kitchen, so his movements raised less suspicion and he had a detailed knowledge of the entry points and corridors. For such attacks, preparedness is key, and escaping alive is a long shot. The attackers therefore must have been highly motivated and willing to die -- a rare combination that requires immense amounts of training and ideological zeal.
At least two teams entered the city by watercraft, breaking up into smaller groups as they made their way to the Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi-Trident hotel complex and Nariman (also known as Chabad) House, a Jewish center in the same area of Mumbai. These tactical teams dispersed across the city, attacking prominent sites where foreign VIPs were sure to be present. They infiltrated the hotels through back entrances and kitchens, thus enhancing the element of surprise as they opened fire on guests in the dining areas and atriums of the hotels.
Beyond killing people and holding hostages in Mumbai's most prestigious hotels, other attack teams assaulted additional strategic sites in Mumbai, creating a sense of chaos and confusion over the whole city. Mumbai's main train station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, as well as Cama Hospital, offices of The Times of India newspaper, restaurants, a theater, and bars frequented by foreigners also were attacked. The attackers' excellent coordination -- the multiple attacks took place nearly simultaneously -- thus ensured maximum confusion and chaos, frustrating police responses. This could explain in part why operations like those at Nariman House and the hotels lasted for more than 48 hours.Similarities between New York and Mumbai
The similarities between the Landmarks plot and the Nov. 26 Mumbai attack are quite obvious. In symbolic terms, as the Mumbai attack unfolded, many onlookers said that an attack on Mumbai is to India what an attack on New York is to Americans. In more concrete terms, the targets, methods, weapons and geography involved were similar (if not identical), and the unconventional style of the attacks points to a common author.
U.S. counterterrorism forces in 1995 detained Landmarks plot mastermind Ramzi Yousef, who remains in U.S. federal prison. But his ideas obviously did not stay behind bars. This illustrates how a plan's initial failure does not mean the threat has been eliminated. Indeed, Stratfor observed in 2005 that the 1993 Landmarks plot (among others) should not be discounted, as al Qaeda or other terrorist groups are known to return to past targets and plot scenarios.
The similarities between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attack exist at several levels. The first relates to the target set. Both New York and Mumbai are the respective financial centers of their countries and home to their nations' major stock exchanges. In both cities, the planners had picked out high-profile soft targets -- sites that have less security personnel and countermeasures than, say, a military installation or key government building. Softer security means gaining access to strategic assets and people is easier. Stratfor has long stressed the importance of maintaining vigilance at soft targets like hotels that cater to international guests, as these are likely targets for militant Islamists. Both plans also involved infiltrating hotel staff and booking rooms in the hotels to gain inside information and store supplies.
The second similarity involves how both plans included peripheral targets to cause confusion and chaos and thus create a diversion from the main targets. In Mumbai, transportation infrastructure like the city's main railway station was attacked, and militants detonated explosive devices in taxis and next to gasoline pumps. Meanwhile, roving gunmen attacked other sites around the city. In a country where coordination among first responders is already weak, the way the attackers fanned out across the city caused massive chaos and distracted security forces from the main prize: the hotels. Attacking Cama Hospital also sowed chaos, as the injured from one scene of attack became the targets of another while being rescued.
A third similarity exists in the geography of the two cities. In both plots, the use of watercraft is a distinctive tactical similarity. Watercraft gave militants access at unconventional locations where security would be more lax. Both Mumbai (a peninsula) and Manhattan (an island) offer plenty of points where militants can mount assaults from watercraft. Such an attack would not have worked in New Delhi or Bangalore; these are landlocked cities where militants would have had to enter by road, a route much more likely to encounter police patrols. Being centers of trade and surrounded by water, both Mumbai and New York have high levels of maritime traffic. This means infiltrating the area from the water would raise minimal suspicions, especially if the craft were registered locally (as was the case in the Mumbai attack). Such out-of-the box tactics take advantage of security services, which often tend to focus on established threats.
A fourth similarity lies in transportation. In addition to using watercraft, both plots involved the use of deceptive vehicles to maneuver around the city undetected. The Landmark plotters used taxis to conduct surveillance and planned on using a delivery van to approach the hotels. In Mumbai, the attackers planted bombs in taxis, and at least one group of militants hijacked a police van and used it to carry out attacks across the city. Using familiar vehicles like taxis, delivery vans or police vans to carry out surveillance or attacks reduces suspicion and increases the element of surprise, allowing militants to stay under cover until the moment of attack.
An Off-the-Shelf Plan
As indicated, the striking similarities between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attack suggest that Ramzi Yousef and other early al Qaeda operatives who helped prepare the Landmarks plot in New York authored the Mumbai plan. Considering that the militants launched their original attack from Karachi, Pakistan, and the previous involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency -- which has connections with al Qaeda leaders in western Pakistan -- it is very likely that al Qaeda in Pakistan at least provided the blueprints for this attack. On-the-ground operations like training, surveillance and the actual attack appear to have been carried out by the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba in connection with Indian Islamist groups.
Here we see more evidence of the existence of an ideological or strategic battle space that exists in the radical Islamist world, which has been greatly influenced by al Qaeda. Like a contingency plan that might sit on the shelf for years or decades before it is useful, terrorist plots (especially good ones) can have a long shelf life and be applied in various scenarios. In fact, plans that sit on the shelf longer might actually be more effective as security officials focus their attention on evolving threats and forget old ones.
Just because a plot has been disrupted, the threat has not been eliminated. Once terrorists happen upon a successful model, they are likely to follow that model. This can be seen in al Qaeda's return to the World Trade Center in 2001, eight years after the initial truck bomb attacks in 1993. It can also be seen in the fact that Mumbai has been the target of multiple attacks and threats, including train bombings in 2006 that killed approximately 200 people. Though the tactics might have differed, the target set remained the same. Various parts of the attack cycle can change, but rarely does an attack occur that is completely novel.
Ultimately, the biggest difference between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attack is that the Mumbai attack succeeded. The failure of the Landmarks plot probably provided key lessons to the planners of the Mumbai attack, who were able to carry out the stages of the attack without detection and with the full element of surprise. Gauging by the success of the Mumbai incident, we can expect similar strategies and tactics in future attacks.
Friday, September 26, 2008
WHO OWNS THE MEDIA IN INDIA ?
Recent Gujarat election have witnessed unaccountable money paid to media persons of both, print and electronic by Saudi Arabia to discredit Modi and the Hindutva forces, which Media did very faithfully without success.
There are several major publishing groups in India , the most prominent among them being the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group, The Hindu group, the Anandabazar Patrika Group, the Eenadu Group, the Malayalam Manorama Group, the Mathrubhumi group, the Sahara group, the Bhaskar group, and the Dainik Jagran group.Let us see the ownership of different media agencies.
NDTV: A very popular TV news media is funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain Supports Communism. Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because Pakistan President has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan . Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist party of India . His wife and Brinda Karat are sisters.
India Today which used to be the only national weekly which supported BJP is now bought by NDTV!! Since then the tone has changed drastically and turned into Hindu bashing.
CNN-IBN: This is 100 percent funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches in all over the world with HQ in US. The Church annually allocates $800 million for promotion of its channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.
Times group list:Times Of India, Mid-Day, Nav-Bharth Times, Stardust, Femina, Vijay Times, Vijaya Karnataka, Times now (24- hour news channel) and many more...Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. 'World Christian Council¢ does 80 percent of the Funding, and an Englishman and an Italian equally share balance 20 percent. The Italian Robertio Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.
Star TV: It is run by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church Melbourne.
Hindustan Times: Owned by Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in Collaboration with Times Group.
The Hindu: English daily, started over 125 years has been recently taken over by Joshua Society, Berne , Switzerland . N. Ram's wife is a Swiss national.
Indian Express: Divided into two groups. The Indian Express and new Indian Express (southern edition) ACTS Christian Ministries have major stake in the Indian Express and latter is still with the Indian counterpart.
Eeenadu: Still to date controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao. Ramoji Rao is connected with film industry and owns a huge studio in Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Jyothi: The Muslim party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress Minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.
The Statesman: It is controlled by Communist Party of India.
Kairali TV: It is controlled by Communist party of India (Marxist).
Mathrubhoomi: Leaders of Muslim League and Communist leaders have major investment.
Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle: Is owned by a Saudi Arabian Company with its chief Editor M.J. Akbar.
Gujarat riots which took place in 2002 where Hindus were burnt alive, Rajdeep Sardesai and Bharkha Dutt working for NDTV at that time got around 5 Million Dollars from Saudi Arabia to cover only Muslim victims, which they did very faithfully. Not a single Hindu family was interviewed or shown on TV whose near and dear ones had been burnt alive, it is reported.
Tarun Tejpal of < <http://tehelka.com/>Tehelka.com regularly gets blank cheques from Arab countries to target BJP and Hindus only, it is said.
The ownership explains the control of media in India by foreigners. The result is obvious. NOW YOU KNOW WHY EVERY ONE IS AGAINST THE TRUTH ! And we call ourselves secular !
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Xinjiang: China's Wild Islamic West
Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region, has threatened to attack the Olympics and warned Muslims to avoid travel by planes, trains and buses used by Chinese during the games from 7th Aug to 23rd Aug. TIP is trained in terror camps maintained by Al Qaeda across the border in Pakistan. The threat came in Turkic language of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a population of about 8 million in Xinjiang Province of western China.
The militant group also issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of bus bombings in China in recent months. The latest video features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning of Olympics logo and an explosion at an apparent Olympic venue. TIP justifies its holy war against the Communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims, accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers, destroying Islamic schools and China's birth control program that has forced abortions on Muslim women.
Xinjiang is China's gateway to hydrocarbon rich Central Asia and home to its plutonium mines that support China's strategic nuclear ambitions. The TIP threat, viewed against the region's importance and the timing of it during Olympics, is enough to establish its seriousness. China has seen a spate of bombings by Islamic fundamentalists in recent months. Considering the militant group's demonstrated ability to execute bombings and the propaganda value of terror strikes during Olympics, when the world media would be present in China, the threat seems credible.
The militant group also issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of bus bombings in China in recent months. The latest video features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning of Olympics logo and an explosion at an apparent Olympic venue. TIP justifies its holy war against the Communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims, accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers, destroying Islamic schools and China's birth control program that has forced abortions on Muslim women.
Xinjiang is China's gateway to hydrocarbon rich Central Asia and home to its plutonium mines that support China's strategic nuclear ambitions. The TIP threat, viewed against the region's importance and the timing of it during Olympics, is enough to establish its seriousness. China has seen a spate of bombings by Islamic fundamentalists in recent months. Considering the militant group's demonstrated ability to execute bombings and the propaganda value of terror strikes during Olympics, when the world media would be present in China, the threat seems credible.
Islamic Threat to Beijing Olympics
Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), which seeks independence for China's western Xinjiang region, has threatened to attack the Olympics and warned Muslims to avoid travel by planes, trains and buses used by Chinese during the games from 7th Aug to 23rd Aug. TIP is trained in terror camps maintained by Al Qaeda across the border in Pakistan. The threat came in Turkic language of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority with a population of about 8 million in Xinjiang Province of western China.The militant group also issued videotaped threats and claimed responsibility for a series of bus bombings in China in recent months. The latest video features graphics similar to ones used earlier: a burning of Olympics logo and an explosion at an apparent Olympic venue. TIP justifies its holy war against the Communist regime's alleged mistreatment of Muslims, accuses China of forcing Muslims into atheism by capturing and killing Islamic teachers, destroying Islamic schools and China's birth control program that has forced abortions on Muslim women.
Xinjiang is China's gateway to hydrocarbon rich Central Asia and home to its plutonium mines that support China's strategic nuclear ambitions. The TIP threat, viewed against the region's importance and the timing of it during Olympics, is enough to establish its seriousness. China has seen a spate of bombings by Islamic fundamentalists in recent months. Considering the militant group's demonstrated ability to execute bombings and the propaganda value of terror strikes during Olympics, when the world media would be present in China, the threat seems credible.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Impeachment of President Musharaff
The proposed impeachment of Musharraf on 11 Aug is a sham that is bound to fail. With three parallel power centres in Pakistan, The Army, the Parliament and the ISI exerting counter pulls, the outcome of such an exercise is not too difficult to predict. Particularly in view of the Army and the ISI being pro-Musharaff. Musharaff's recent statement declaring the ISI as Pakistan's second line of defence is a strong indicator. Both, the Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the ISI Chief Lt General Lieutenant Ehsanul Haq are handpicked, pro-Musharaff men who are likely play the 'impeachment game' according to rules setforth by Musharaff. The PPP of Asif Zardari and PML(N) of Nawaz Sharrief are building castles in the air by planning to impeach an Army man in Pakistan.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Arjun Sing: Get Well Soon
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Arjun_Singhs_condition_stable/articleshow/3309801.cms
I wish Arjun Singh a speedy recovery; but would like to know if he insisted upon being treated by doctors who joined the medical profession through the reservation quota. As a self proclaimed champion of the down trodden, this was a golden opportunity for him to set an example for other politicians of his ilk and silence those who accuse him of promoting reservation just to gain political space rather than out of any sense of social justice. So, did he grab the opportunity?
I wish Arjun Singh a speedy recovery; but would like to know if he insisted upon being treated by doctors who joined the medical profession through the reservation quota. As a self proclaimed champion of the down trodden, this was a golden opportunity for him to set an example for other politicians of his ilk and silence those who accuse him of promoting reservation just to gain political space rather than out of any sense of social justice. So, did he grab the opportunity?
Public Lesson for Top Cop
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/753
Chhayamani Mohanty, mother of the 22 year old rapist Nitay Mohanty, helping the police to nab her culprit son is a contrast with another Mohanty of Orissa who dumped his duty to the public and helped his convicted Rapist son escape prison term. Hopefully, if the father and son hear of this news, it would turn their faces red with shame. It was exactly one year ago that Orissa government was forced to act against its Director General of Police (Home Guard) Bidya Bhusan Mohanty for helping his son Bitihotra (Biti) Mohanty who was facing a seven year jail term after being charged for criminal assault on a German tourist in Jaipur jumped parole in November 2006. The sequence of events in the case were.
On March 20, 2006 Rajasthan Police arrested Biti Mohanty on rape charges.
On April 12, a local court in Jaipur announced a seven years of rigorous imprisonment In November 2006, Mohanty appealed for a temporary parole in the court. The court allowed a parole period till Dec 04 but Biti Mohanty did not return after the end of the period.
On May 2007 the Jaipur court order Rajasthan police to arrest BB Mohanty with charges under IPC section 216 and 130.
BB Mohanty appealed in Jaipur session court for anticipatory bail that gave him a six week respite till May 31 st 07.
On May 28, Rajasthan Police sent a team to Orissa to catch the top cop but did not get any clue as he was on medical leave.
The cops would do well to learn a lesson in morality from Chayamani Mohanti.
Chhayamani Mohanty, mother of the 22 year old rapist Nitay Mohanty, helping the police to nab her culprit son is a contrast with another Mohanty of Orissa who dumped his duty to the public and helped his convicted Rapist son escape prison term. Hopefully, if the father and son hear of this news, it would turn their faces red with shame. It was exactly one year ago that Orissa government was forced to act against its Director General of Police (Home Guard) Bidya Bhusan Mohanty for helping his son Bitihotra (Biti) Mohanty who was facing a seven year jail term after being charged for criminal assault on a German tourist in Jaipur jumped parole in November 2006. The sequence of events in the case were.
On March 20, 2006 Rajasthan Police arrested Biti Mohanty on rape charges.
On April 12, a local court in Jaipur announced a seven years of rigorous imprisonment In November 2006, Mohanty appealed for a temporary parole in the court. The court allowed a parole period till Dec 04 but Biti Mohanty did not return after the end of the period.
On May 2007 the Jaipur court order Rajasthan police to arrest BB Mohanty with charges under IPC section 216 and 130.
BB Mohanty appealed in Jaipur session court for anticipatory bail that gave him a six week respite till May 31 st 07.
On May 28, Rajasthan Police sent a team to Orissa to catch the top cop but did not get any clue as he was on medical leave.
The cops would do well to learn a lesson in morality from Chayamani Mohanti.
HRD Minister Being Treated By Quota Docs?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HRD_minister_Arjun_Singhs_condition_stable/articleshow/3309801.cmsArjun Singh must be flooded with 'Get Well Soon' messages after being admitted to the AIIMS for treatment of acute Cholecysitis (stomach ailment), cardio-artery disease, breathing trouble and kidney problem as a result of diabetes. As it is, the Minister was getting the similar messages even before people of this great country knew he was admitted in the hospital. I wonder if the doctors treating him examined his head for cerebral problem the poor Minster ails from. Are the doctors from amongst those whose cause he has all along been advocating?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Manmohan Singh and the Comrades
The Left parties have never shied away from sounding criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, of whatever he tried to do, the US, the Indo-US nuclear deal, economic reforms, banking reforms and just about everything that makes a country tick. In fact, the CPM Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of West Bengal is on record having accused Manmohan Singh of being inefficient and incompetent. He added that West Bengal and the whole country are suffering due to Manmohan Singh's incompetence and failure to perform his duties and responsibilities as a Prime Minister on all fronts. He also accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of neglecting the interests of the common man.
Prakash Karat and his communist buddies Sitaram Yechury, D Raja and AB Bardhan went a step further and said that the Prime Minister has ignored the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). They have held him responsible for the rise in prices of essential commodities.
If the Left parties genuinely believed all the accusations they hurled at Manmohan Singh from time to time during the last four years, it is amazing they did not press for his removal and continued to support the Congress from the outside. By extension, they too are responsible for every folly they accuse Manmohan Singh of having committed. But ofcourse, you need to be men of character to admit your own role in any negative development.
As far as the Indo-US nuclear Deal is concerned, it is amusing to see the communists trying to implement Chinese agenda while talking about whats good for India. This may be the right time to remind the likes of pro-China Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Prakash Karat and AB Burdhan that the people of India are aware of China’s arrogant expansionist designs to encircle Indian waters from Gwadar to Coco islands. That It annexed Tibet in 1950, forcibly took possession of Aksai Chin in 1962, happily took an illegitimate 'gift' of Indian land from Pakistan, claims the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and refuses to issue visas to resident Indians of Arunachal; not to mention the crude summoning of the Indian Ambassador at 2 AM for a routine protest. Inspite of the long history of Chinese belligerence, the communists in India only see the threat of US imperialism, BJP communalism and inefficiency of Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh’s great disappointment over failing to clinch the nuclear deal is well chronicled. Though this deal was not part of the NCMP, the Congress manifesto did promise to improve the strategic relationship with the US. Now that the issue is behind us with the trust vote in Parliament in favor of the UPA and by extension, in favor of the nuclear deal, all the NSG members except China have welcomed the development. The Chinese have left it to the Indian communists to sulk on their behalf.
The communist perception smacks of closed minds that refuse to see the brighter and more positive side of an emerging India and its brilliant Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh is a humble man and an acknowledged economist of international repute. For the first time since India gained independence, the PMO under Manmohan Singh has an exercise to monitor the implementation of the NCMP adopted by the UPA when it came to power on 22 May 2004. The various promises made and policies adopted in the NCMP have been itemized into 142 general and specific commitments. Then a report card of sorts has been prepared. This in itself is extraordinary as governments never bother to monitor the implementation of their political manifesto. It is intriguing that Manmohan Singh has made a sincere attempt to implement virtually all the promises. For instance, in the areas of employment, agriculture, tribal rights and the promises made to the minorities, Manmohan Singh’s Government has in effect gone according to the letter of the NCMP. Ofcourse, the effectiveness of his policies can be debated, as the implantation machinery, the beaurocracy, is renowned for its inefficiency and corruption. As far as the economy is concerned, the Prime Minister had anticipated the price rise a year ago as he carefully monitored global trends and rising oil prices. May be the comrades would like to blame Manmohan Singh for the global economic mess too!
Manmohan Singh clearly identified the potential to bring in comprehensive changes in the area of social legislation. From the time of his swearing in as the Prime Minister, he created a team of three IAS officers, including secretary, PMO, Pulak Chatterjee, to monitor the NCMP. He then held a monthly review meeting to track how far the promises were being kept. Purely in terms of running a government, this is unparalleled. Had the Left been able to successfully muster support against the UPA Government and engineer its fall, it would have been responsible for the mess in future energy scene in the country. In pursuit of the Chinese agenda, the comrades' liaision with a corrupt Mayawati, egoist Ajit Singh and opportunist Deve Gouda were thankfully frustrated by nationalists in the Parliament.
Prakash Karat and his communist buddies Sitaram Yechury, D Raja and AB Bardhan went a step further and said that the Prime Minister has ignored the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP). They have held him responsible for the rise in prices of essential commodities.
If the Left parties genuinely believed all the accusations they hurled at Manmohan Singh from time to time during the last four years, it is amazing they did not press for his removal and continued to support the Congress from the outside. By extension, they too are responsible for every folly they accuse Manmohan Singh of having committed. But ofcourse, you need to be men of character to admit your own role in any negative development.
As far as the Indo-US nuclear Deal is concerned, it is amusing to see the communists trying to implement Chinese agenda while talking about whats good for India. This may be the right time to remind the likes of pro-China Sitaram Yechury, D Raja, Prakash Karat and AB Burdhan that the people of India are aware of China’s arrogant expansionist designs to encircle Indian waters from Gwadar to Coco islands. That It annexed Tibet in 1950, forcibly took possession of Aksai Chin in 1962, happily took an illegitimate 'gift' of Indian land from Pakistan, claims the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and refuses to issue visas to resident Indians of Arunachal; not to mention the crude summoning of the Indian Ambassador at 2 AM for a routine protest. Inspite of the long history of Chinese belligerence, the communists in India only see the threat of US imperialism, BJP communalism and inefficiency of Manmohan Singh. Manmohan Singh’s great disappointment over failing to clinch the nuclear deal is well chronicled. Though this deal was not part of the NCMP, the Congress manifesto did promise to improve the strategic relationship with the US. Now that the issue is behind us with the trust vote in Parliament in favor of the UPA and by extension, in favor of the nuclear deal, all the NSG members except China have welcomed the development. The Chinese have left it to the Indian communists to sulk on their behalf.
The communist perception smacks of closed minds that refuse to see the brighter and more positive side of an emerging India and its brilliant Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh is a humble man and an acknowledged economist of international repute. For the first time since India gained independence, the PMO under Manmohan Singh has an exercise to monitor the implementation of the NCMP adopted by the UPA when it came to power on 22 May 2004. The various promises made and policies adopted in the NCMP have been itemized into 142 general and specific commitments. Then a report card of sorts has been prepared. This in itself is extraordinary as governments never bother to monitor the implementation of their political manifesto. It is intriguing that Manmohan Singh has made a sincere attempt to implement virtually all the promises. For instance, in the areas of employment, agriculture, tribal rights and the promises made to the minorities, Manmohan Singh’s Government has in effect gone according to the letter of the NCMP. Ofcourse, the effectiveness of his policies can be debated, as the implantation machinery, the beaurocracy, is renowned for its inefficiency and corruption. As far as the economy is concerned, the Prime Minister had anticipated the price rise a year ago as he carefully monitored global trends and rising oil prices. May be the comrades would like to blame Manmohan Singh for the global economic mess too!
Manmohan Singh clearly identified the potential to bring in comprehensive changes in the area of social legislation. From the time of his swearing in as the Prime Minister, he created a team of three IAS officers, including secretary, PMO, Pulak Chatterjee, to monitor the NCMP. He then held a monthly review meeting to track how far the promises were being kept. Purely in terms of running a government, this is unparalleled. Had the Left been able to successfully muster support against the UPA Government and engineer its fall, it would have been responsible for the mess in future energy scene in the country. In pursuit of the Chinese agenda, the comrades' liaision with a corrupt Mayawati, egoist Ajit Singh and opportunist Deve Gouda were thankfully frustrated by nationalists in the Parliament.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Serial terror Blasts in Bangalore and Ahemdabad
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad_blasts_38_dead_90_injured/articleshow/3283744.cms Indian cities will continue to be targets of Pakistan sponsored terrorists as long as our politicians remain busy counting cash in Parliament and outside it. It is a matter of great shame that legal instruments, like TADA and POTA, to tackle the terror menace have been done away with by power hungry politicians just to please one community to create their vote banks. The country is not important for the calculating political class in India and Indians are their last priority. No wonder single bomb blasts have been replaced by serial bomb blasts. There is no limit to appeasement of one community at the cost of rest of the country, as long it ensures a win in elections for our intellectually malnutritioned politicians and their morally bankrupt political parties. If they can sell themselves to remain relevant, they will not stop at selling this great country to gain an advantage.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Speaker has a Much Larger Role
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/vote.cms
Mr Somnath Chatterjee is the speaker of the Lok Sabha and has the responsibility towards the nation. The party direction to him to quit is in poor taste, reflects the narrow outlook of the communists and will only highlight the desperation of the already disgraced Left whose priorities are out of sync with National interests. A case in point is the shameful Karat-Mayawati plotting to topple the Manmohan Sigh Govt.
Mr Somnath Chatterjee is the speaker of the Lok Sabha and has the responsibility towards the nation. The party direction to him to quit is in poor taste, reflects the narrow outlook of the communists and will only highlight the desperation of the already disgraced Left whose priorities are out of sync with National interests. A case in point is the shameful Karat-Mayawati plotting to topple the Manmohan Sigh Govt.
Karat and Mayawati: Party above National Interests
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Karat_teams_up_with_Maya_to_take_on_govt/articleshow/3229726.cmsFour
years ago, with 60 MPs in Parliament, it seemed as if the Communists had finally arrived on India's national stage. Four years later, Prakash Karat's dream of the 'non-Congress' 'non-BJP' Third Front lies in tatters. The comrades refused to join the government and take on responsibility. They preferred to criticize from the sidelines. Prakash Karat joining hands with a corrupt Mayawati to topple the Manmohan Singh Government, forcing the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to resign and usher in a chaos that is against Larger interests of the country is bound to have a negative fallout for the communists in times to come.
Their second mistake was to have failed to come to terms with the new India. Economic globalization, despite consistent communist opposition, is raging through the country like a wildfire. There are lots of things wrong with this New India. It does not have the social conscience so badly needed, it is creating vast inequalities between rich and poor, it is pauperizing traditional trades and providing little hope for those scratching out worms from riverbeds or eating grass to survive. But this New India is also shaping itself into an avalanche of upward mobility. Prakash Karat and his comrades are trying to tame the avalanche. They have stalled pension reform, stalled banking reforms and for long stalled the privatization of airports without realizing that keeping airports as a state monopoly was only preserving it as a sector for the rich. That all over the world air travel is dirt cheap precisely because it is privatized.
No to nuclear deal, no to reforms, no to change, no to newness, no to price rise, no to America; negativism seems the only reflex action with the communists. The comrades’ contempt for change, constant lamentation, moral righteousness are incongruous in a country shouting 'Chak de India!' In 1997, the communists committed the 'historic blunder' of not letting Jyoti Basu become Prime Minister because they were unwilling to share power. Today they have committed suicide because they did not know how to use power.
A.B. Bardhan says, ‘Bhaad mein jaye Sensex’ (to hell with the Sensex) as he pours scorn on millions of middle class Indians who invest and trade. In Kerala the communists are factionalized in a way that makes even the Congress look good. In Bengal they badly misread the outcome of murder by CPI (M) cadre and their arrogance in Nandigram. Despite blatant coercion and violence, large numbers silently voted against the party. People have begun to question the corruption of district / village-level leaders and the Marxist cadre. Large scale acquisition of rural land has affected Muslims sharply for most of them are farmers.
In 2007, the communist protests against joint Indian and American naval exercises got little response from the public. This year their so-called campaign against the petrol price hike was largely ignored by the people.
Opposition to the nuclear deal once again shows their distance from India. Sure, it's a commercial transaction, but why is anything to do with commerce necessarily evil? Even at the height of the Cold War, two million Indians lived in the US. The links between India and America are so massive, that as a leading economist put it, the Indo-US nuclear deal is an offshoot of a long process of civic exchange with America, not the basis of it. Karat and his men hate America and wish India’s foreign policies to conform to their hatred. Their indignant and consistent opposition to the US has forced them to withdraw support to the UPA and resulted in chaos. History will record the sordid communist role in toppling the Manmohan Singh Govt, if that happens, and apportion blame for the current horse trading of MPs to Prakash Karat, AB Bardhan, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja and their cohorts.
years ago, with 60 MPs in Parliament, it seemed as if the Communists had finally arrived on India's national stage. Four years later, Prakash Karat's dream of the 'non-Congress' 'non-BJP' Third Front lies in tatters. The comrades refused to join the government and take on responsibility. They preferred to criticize from the sidelines. Prakash Karat joining hands with a corrupt Mayawati to topple the Manmohan Singh Government, forcing the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to resign and usher in a chaos that is against Larger interests of the country is bound to have a negative fallout for the communists in times to come.
Their second mistake was to have failed to come to terms with the new India. Economic globalization, despite consistent communist opposition, is raging through the country like a wildfire. There are lots of things wrong with this New India. It does not have the social conscience so badly needed, it is creating vast inequalities between rich and poor, it is pauperizing traditional trades and providing little hope for those scratching out worms from riverbeds or eating grass to survive. But this New India is also shaping itself into an avalanche of upward mobility. Prakash Karat and his comrades are trying to tame the avalanche. They have stalled pension reform, stalled banking reforms and for long stalled the privatization of airports without realizing that keeping airports as a state monopoly was only preserving it as a sector for the rich. That all over the world air travel is dirt cheap precisely because it is privatized.
No to nuclear deal, no to reforms, no to change, no to newness, no to price rise, no to America; negativism seems the only reflex action with the communists. The comrades’ contempt for change, constant lamentation, moral righteousness are incongruous in a country shouting 'Chak de India!' In 1997, the communists committed the 'historic blunder' of not letting Jyoti Basu become Prime Minister because they were unwilling to share power. Today they have committed suicide because they did not know how to use power.
A.B. Bardhan says, ‘Bhaad mein jaye Sensex’ (to hell with the Sensex) as he pours scorn on millions of middle class Indians who invest and trade. In Kerala the communists are factionalized in a way that makes even the Congress look good. In Bengal they badly misread the outcome of murder by CPI (M) cadre and their arrogance in Nandigram. Despite blatant coercion and violence, large numbers silently voted against the party. People have begun to question the corruption of district / village-level leaders and the Marxist cadre. Large scale acquisition of rural land has affected Muslims sharply for most of them are farmers.
In 2007, the communist protests against joint Indian and American naval exercises got little response from the public. This year their so-called campaign against the petrol price hike was largely ignored by the people.
Opposition to the nuclear deal once again shows their distance from India. Sure, it's a commercial transaction, but why is anything to do with commerce necessarily evil? Even at the height of the Cold War, two million Indians lived in the US. The links between India and America are so massive, that as a leading economist put it, the Indo-US nuclear deal is an offshoot of a long process of civic exchange with America, not the basis of it. Karat and his men hate America and wish India’s foreign policies to conform to their hatred. Their indignant and consistent opposition to the US has forced them to withdraw support to the UPA and resulted in chaos. History will record the sordid communist role in toppling the Manmohan Singh Govt, if that happens, and apportion blame for the current horse trading of MPs to Prakash Karat, AB Bardhan, Sitaram Yechury, D Raja and their cohorts.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Jaipur Terror: Politicians Still Busy With Policy of Appeasement
In the past three years, this is the 21st terror attack outside Jammu & Kashmir. More than 400 people have been killed in the terror strikes since Oct 2005. India had more than 2,300 terrorism-related deaths in 2007 - about 10% of a worldwide figure of 22,000 terrorism-related deaths that year. The Jaipur attack might have been worse had three unexploded bombs not been defused in the walled city area. The macabre statistics pose a serious question to our corrupt, outdated and over burdened law enforcement and legal systems.
One of the suspects in the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur on 13th May has been identified as SIMI activist Abu Faisal. He had been arrested from a hotel in the Gwaltoli area of the Indore in 2006, but was later released on bail. Faisal has been actively involved in anti-national and illegal activities since his release and was absconding after March 27, 2007.
All District Collectors and Superintendents of Police in Rajasthan have been directed to complete within 30 days the process of identifying Bangladeshi migrants living with or without voter ID Cards and/or ration cards and get them verified. The procedures for deporting the identified illegal nationals could then be started. Did we have to wait for such an exercise to commence?
An outfit calling itself Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the mass murder in Jaipur. There is little doubt that the tag Indian Mujahideen is a smoke screen to camouflage Pakistani roots of jihadi terror and present it as a homegrown phenomenon. When Mohammed Jalaluddin - alias Babu Bhai, the "Indian operations commander" of the Bangladesh-based militant group, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji), at the time of his arrest - was arrested in Lucknow in 2007, he told his IB interrogators that Jaipur and Haridwar were few of the prime targets for terror strikes. Yet the terror strike could not be prevented! A native of West Bengal, Jalaluddin was trained in Bangladesh and then sent to unleash terror in India in 1999. He claimed involvement in the July 2006 serial train bombings in Bombay, in which 209 people were killed. His trial is yet to be concluded in the painfully slow legal labyrinths of the Indian legal system. It should not surprise anyone if another hijacking like the IC 814 in 1999, forces the government of India to release him in exchange for hostages; or execution of his sentence delayed by deranged politicians and power hungry political parties out to grab Muslim votes; never mind more such strikes in the country.
Based on Jalaluddin's confessions, India's Intelligence Bureau did issue advice last year, listing a number of cities like Jaipur that it said were on the "hit list" of the jihadis. When nothing happened for a few months, the warning found its usual place, in the garbage dump. Unfortunately, intelligence agencies rarely chase up leads to get more specific intelligence and when something like Jaipur happens, they refer to their old report to save their necks.
The Jaipur serial blasts must be seen in conjunction with the recent infiltration attempts in Kashmir, gun battles along the border, and the new democratic government of Pakistan’s promise to deport Dawood Ibrahim - the mafia don blamed for bombings in Mumbai in 1993, to India. The move has obviously not gone down well with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as the agency has traditionally exploited Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal network to export arms, explosives, drugs and terrorism in Asia and elsewhere. The ISI now operates more through Nepal and Bangladesh, where they have developed a secure network of operatives who liaise with militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. The Huji and the Lashkars have scores of sleeper cells all over India ready to strike on direction of Pakistan’s ISI.
But the real strength of the Islamic jihadi groups responsible for explosions in Kashmir and other Indian states lies not so much in the "foreign hand" but in the proliferation of these "sleeper cells" within India. The need for laws like the TADA or POTA to curb terror menace was never so acute. The serial bomb blasts in Jaipur must be recognised as a national shame and a challenge by Pakistan’s ISI and Muslim terror outfits to all Indians. The impact of the dastardly crime must not be restricted to Rajasthan and the families of those killed. Localising such cowardly misdeeds by fanatics would amount to condoning the mass murder and encourage these medieval philosophers to repeat their sordid performance elsewhere. It is high time the Indian politicians stopped blaming “foreign hand” euphemism for Pakistan and discard all indirect references to countries involved in encouraging terrorism. Unless the calculating political establishment shuns all shallow vote bank politics and resolves to hold the terrorism bull by its horns, more Jaipur like strikes and scores more innocent deaths are just waiting to be reported.
One of the suspects in the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur on 13th May has been identified as SIMI activist Abu Faisal. He had been arrested from a hotel in the Gwaltoli area of the Indore in 2006, but was later released on bail. Faisal has been actively involved in anti-national and illegal activities since his release and was absconding after March 27, 2007.
All District Collectors and Superintendents of Police in Rajasthan have been directed to complete within 30 days the process of identifying Bangladeshi migrants living with or without voter ID Cards and/or ration cards and get them verified. The procedures for deporting the identified illegal nationals could then be started. Did we have to wait for such an exercise to commence?
An outfit calling itself Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the mass murder in Jaipur. There is little doubt that the tag Indian Mujahideen is a smoke screen to camouflage Pakistani roots of jihadi terror and present it as a homegrown phenomenon. When Mohammed Jalaluddin - alias Babu Bhai, the "Indian operations commander" of the Bangladesh-based militant group, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (Huji), at the time of his arrest - was arrested in Lucknow in 2007, he told his IB interrogators that Jaipur and Haridwar were few of the prime targets for terror strikes. Yet the terror strike could not be prevented! A native of West Bengal, Jalaluddin was trained in Bangladesh and then sent to unleash terror in India in 1999. He claimed involvement in the July 2006 serial train bombings in Bombay, in which 209 people were killed. His trial is yet to be concluded in the painfully slow legal labyrinths of the Indian legal system. It should not surprise anyone if another hijacking like the IC 814 in 1999, forces the government of India to release him in exchange for hostages; or execution of his sentence delayed by deranged politicians and power hungry political parties out to grab Muslim votes; never mind more such strikes in the country.
Based on Jalaluddin's confessions, India's Intelligence Bureau did issue advice last year, listing a number of cities like Jaipur that it said were on the "hit list" of the jihadis. When nothing happened for a few months, the warning found its usual place, in the garbage dump. Unfortunately, intelligence agencies rarely chase up leads to get more specific intelligence and when something like Jaipur happens, they refer to their old report to save their necks.
The Jaipur serial blasts must be seen in conjunction with the recent infiltration attempts in Kashmir, gun battles along the border, and the new democratic government of Pakistan’s promise to deport Dawood Ibrahim - the mafia don blamed for bombings in Mumbai in 1993, to India. The move has obviously not gone down well with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as the agency has traditionally exploited Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal network to export arms, explosives, drugs and terrorism in Asia and elsewhere. The ISI now operates more through Nepal and Bangladesh, where they have developed a secure network of operatives who liaise with militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Toiba or the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. The Huji and the Lashkars have scores of sleeper cells all over India ready to strike on direction of Pakistan’s ISI.
But the real strength of the Islamic jihadi groups responsible for explosions in Kashmir and other Indian states lies not so much in the "foreign hand" but in the proliferation of these "sleeper cells" within India. The need for laws like the TADA or POTA to curb terror menace was never so acute. The serial bomb blasts in Jaipur must be recognised as a national shame and a challenge by Pakistan’s ISI and Muslim terror outfits to all Indians. The impact of the dastardly crime must not be restricted to Rajasthan and the families of those killed. Localising such cowardly misdeeds by fanatics would amount to condoning the mass murder and encourage these medieval philosophers to repeat their sordid performance elsewhere. It is high time the Indian politicians stopped blaming “foreign hand” euphemism for Pakistan and discard all indirect references to countries involved in encouraging terrorism. Unless the calculating political establishment shuns all shallow vote bank politics and resolves to hold the terrorism bull by its horns, more Jaipur like strikes and scores more innocent deaths are just waiting to be reported.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Blast in SIMI Terrorists' Trial Court
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Explosion_in_Hubli_court_no_casualty/articleshow/3027753.cms
The explosion is an attempt to intimidate the judge hearing the case of seven SIMI terror suspects. Fortunately there are no casualties! The incident should strengthen state resolve to come down on the terrorists with an iron hand. SIMI’s twisted philosophy reflected in its slogan “Allah is our Lord, Qur’an is our constitution, Muhammad is our leader, Jihad is our way and Shahadat is our desire", is outdated and more suited to Pakistan and medeival arab states than to a modern and forward looking India. Its self delusionary beliefs that Osama bin Laden is an outstanding example of a true Mujahid, who has undertaken Jihad on behalf of the 'ummah' and that Israel's Mossad was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, render the fanatic outfit a misfit in any civilised society. SIMI’s intolerance for secularism, democracy and nationalism, keystones of the Indian Constitution, also loudly proclaim its deranged thinking and intellectual malnutrition.
The bombing incident in Hubli court must be taken seriously even if there are no casualties. There is no hiding the intention of the terrorists.
The explosion is an attempt to intimidate the judge hearing the case of seven SIMI terror suspects. Fortunately there are no casualties! The incident should strengthen state resolve to come down on the terrorists with an iron hand. SIMI’s twisted philosophy reflected in its slogan “Allah is our Lord, Qur’an is our constitution, Muhammad is our leader, Jihad is our way and Shahadat is our desire", is outdated and more suited to Pakistan and medeival arab states than to a modern and forward looking India. Its self delusionary beliefs that Osama bin Laden is an outstanding example of a true Mujahid, who has undertaken Jihad on behalf of the 'ummah' and that Israel's Mossad was responsible for the 9/11 attacks, render the fanatic outfit a misfit in any civilised society. SIMI’s intolerance for secularism, democracy and nationalism, keystones of the Indian Constitution, also loudly proclaim its deranged thinking and intellectual malnutrition.
The bombing incident in Hubli court must be taken seriously even if there are no casualties. There is no hiding the intention of the terrorists.
Meddling Communists Accuse the PM of Incompetence
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of West Bengal has a fantastic sense of humour accusing Manmohan Singh of being inefficient and incompetent. His assertion that West Bengal is suffering due to Manmohan Singh's incompetence, is also laughable. The communists might as well blame Manmohan Singh for the hooliganism displayed by CPM cadres in Nandigram. There is nothing new in the state not performing well under communist misrule. That is the story the world over, whether it was the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Cuba or North Korea. He should know that inflation is a world wide phenomenon and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is more than adequately capable of handling the situation for India. Perhaps Buddhadeb would prefer one of his comrades to handle the crisis like Kim Jong-Il is doing in North Korea – simply print more currency.
If the communists are not satisfied with the performance of Manmohan Singh and, in their perception, the whole country is suffering due to his failure to perform his duties and responsibilities as a Prime Minister on all fronts, the communists are to blame too. Why are they supporting the Congress at all and helping to have an incompetent Prime Minister? In any case, I wonder who appointed Buddhadeb a spokesperson for the whole country! The communists did promise outside support to the Manmohan Singh government but have only extended interference from all sides. If the Chief Minister is keen to have better governance in West Bengal, he should reign in his goons who went on a murderous spree in Nandigram, restrain the other meddling comrades from interfering in functioning of the PMO and come up with more intelligent suggestions than to do away with the posts of state governors.
Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has also accused the Prime Minister of neglecting the interests of the common man. Now isnt that too much coming from murderers of Nandigram? West Bengal has been under communist misrule for over three decades. It is not too difficult to comprehend the true reason for communists blaming Manmohan Singh for being the cause of all their ills.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Arjun Singh Put in His Place
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Congress_snubs_Arjun_Singh_again/articleshow/3025511.cms
The Congress has finally begun to put its 'dead wood' in the right place. Arjun Singh has always had a long rope in the Party and this was the right moment to remind him of his standing in the establishment. Cronies like him, whose caliber doesn’t match his political ambitions, can only fetch a bad name to the Party and the government.
Quixotic Anbumani and His Moronic Supporters
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Venugopal_back_at_AIIMS_within_hours/articleshow/3022799.cms
With a frustrated Anbumani Ramadoss still the health minister, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court's direction will see a prompt implementation. The political establishment that supported Anbumani in his nefarious 'remove Venugopal' campaign is also not going to be too keen in restoring Venugopal his legitimate position back to him in a hurry. Under the circumstances, Dr Venugopal can be excused for overlooking the red tape and assuming charge at the AIIMS. The action will, ofcourse, infuriate the already incensed PMK and Left parties. Hopefully, the morons who cheered Anbumani on during his quixotic venture will refrain from doing any further damage to their already shattered image.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Constant Sources of Embarrassment for the PM
The decent Mr Manmohan Singh will do well to remember that it is better to have wise enemies than to have foolish friends. Once again, Anbumani Ramadoss, with the support of trouble making Left, has landed him with an embarrassment over the 'Remove Venu Amendment' to AIIMS Act of 2007. It would be too much to expect the thick skinned PMK and the Left, who were mainly instrumental in pushing through the personal vendetta amendment in the Parliament, to feel any shame by the Supreme Court verdict quashing it. These are parties who have collected the worst in the country to form their respective ranks.
Known for its opportunistic bent of mind, the PMK advocates bifurcation of Tamil Nadu on caste lines, was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from 1999 to 2004 and then switched sides, and loyalties, to dump the NDA to join the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004. In Tamil Nadu it has the Communist Party of India as a major political partner; hence the blind support extended by the Left in Anbumani Ramadoss’ personal battle against Dr Venugopal, in total disregard for democratic norms and all sense of decency.
The Left Front comprising of Communist party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)], Communist Party of India (CPI), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), is a rigidly disciplined totalitarian outfit which depends on murderous cadres and which has no real patience with democracy and dissent. The Left has rigidly opposed the Indo – US Nuclear Deal, has a sordid record of governance in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, opposed any economic reforms that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed, acted as China proxy in the country, proposed strengthening of under performing public sector, supported divisive policies like reservation in higher education and jobs, and, after the Nandigrm episode, is generally considered as the party comprising of goons. No wonder the CPM is plagued by increasing dropouts, and problems in getting whole-timers? The communists have even made a ridiculous proposal to establish a pro-China regional alliance.
To top it all they have questioned the conduct of the Governor in West Bengal in switching off the lights of Raj Bhawan when Kolkata was forced to endure one of the frequent power cuts. They have even raised a doubt over the necessity of having the post of governors in states. Sixty years on, India can in fact, legislatively do away with the communists and the likes of Prakash Karat, D Raja, AB Burdhan and Sitaram Yechury. With friends (read coalition partners) like these, there cannot be anything but embarrassment, shame and disgrace for the Prime Minister and his party.
Known for its opportunistic bent of mind, the PMK advocates bifurcation of Tamil Nadu on caste lines, was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from 1999 to 2004 and then switched sides, and loyalties, to dump the NDA to join the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004. In Tamil Nadu it has the Communist Party of India as a major political partner; hence the blind support extended by the Left in Anbumani Ramadoss’ personal battle against Dr Venugopal, in total disregard for democratic norms and all sense of decency.
The Left Front comprising of Communist party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)], Communist Party of India (CPI), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), is a rigidly disciplined totalitarian outfit which depends on murderous cadres and which has no real patience with democracy and dissent. The Left has rigidly opposed the Indo – US Nuclear Deal, has a sordid record of governance in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, opposed any economic reforms that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh proposed, acted as China proxy in the country, proposed strengthening of under performing public sector, supported divisive policies like reservation in higher education and jobs, and, after the Nandigrm episode, is generally considered as the party comprising of goons. No wonder the CPM is plagued by increasing dropouts, and problems in getting whole-timers? The communists have even made a ridiculous proposal to establish a pro-China regional alliance.
To top it all they have questioned the conduct of the Governor in West Bengal in switching off the lights of Raj Bhawan when Kolkata was forced to endure one of the frequent power cuts. They have even raised a doubt over the necessity of having the post of governors in states. Sixty years on, India can in fact, legislatively do away with the communists and the likes of Prakash Karat, D Raja, AB Burdhan and Sitaram Yechury. With friends (read coalition partners) like these, there cannot be anything but embarrassment, shame and disgrace for the Prime Minister and his party.
AIIMS: Supreme Court Verdict Not Enough for Shameless Anbumani Ramadoss to Resign
Supreme Court striking down the discriminatory law that facilitated the removal of cardiologist P Venugopal as the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a slap on the face of Mandal II Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. There was little doubt that the AIIMS Act was amended by Parliament at the behest of Anbumani Ramadoss just to satisfy his vendetta against Dr P Venugopal. A bench of Justices Tarun Chatterjee and H S Bedi upheld the appeal filed by Dr Venugopal challenging the law as being discriminatory and purposely brought in to superannuate him. He had contended that the amendment was brought with the sole purpose of removing him from his office due to his differences with Ramadoss. The Supreme Court held that the Act was illegal as the High Court had in March last year upheld his continuation in the post and the matter was pending in the apex court. But Anbumani Ramadoss supported by the likes of Arjun Singh, RK Dhawan, Laloo Prasad Yadav and the ever trouble maker communists of Left, in the meantime, brought the amendment in Parliament. Ramadoss sacked Venugopal in November 2007 after parliament passed the law and it received President Pratibha Patil's assent.
It may be recalled that Anbumani Ramadoss, ever since he became the Health Minister, had functioned with a single point agenda of removing Dr P Venugopal from AIIMS, ignoring the more important responsibilities his position demanded. Most of his tenure was spent in eroding the premier medical institute and demolishing its reputation as a medical centre of excellence. It is amazing that the Health Minister was not bothered by 51% vacancies in the posts of doctors in government hospitals, 7% children in Madhya Pradesh dying before they reached their first birthday, 60% children in the country under the age of three being malnourished and total absence of planning in rural health; but had occupied himself with low level vote bank politics of reservation, gaining cheap publicity by constant interference in domains he is unfamiliar with, and ofcourse his main objective of ridiculing and removing Dr P Venugopal.
As Health Minister, he even accepted the post-graduate medical degrees of five English speaking nations: Britain, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex medical education regulating body of the country does not recognise it. As per an act of parliament, MCI is the 'medical education recognising body' of the country. The health ministry cannot take a decision on foreign degrees completely by itself. Ramadoss’ ministry unilaterally recognised the post-graduate medical degrees without any reciprocal arrangement with those countries. He never bothered to explain the weird logic of his action.
It may be recalled that Anbumani Ramadoss, ever since he became the Health Minister, had functioned with a single point agenda of removing Dr P Venugopal from AIIMS, ignoring the more important responsibilities his position demanded. Most of his tenure was spent in eroding the premier medical institute and demolishing its reputation as a medical centre of excellence. It is amazing that the Health Minister was not bothered by 51% vacancies in the posts of doctors in government hospitals, 7% children in Madhya Pradesh dying before they reached their first birthday, 60% children in the country under the age of three being malnourished and total absence of planning in rural health; but had occupied himself with low level vote bank politics of reservation, gaining cheap publicity by constant interference in domains he is unfamiliar with, and ofcourse his main objective of ridiculing and removing Dr P Venugopal.
As Health Minister, he even accepted the post-graduate medical degrees of five English speaking nations: Britain, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. The Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex medical education regulating body of the country does not recognise it. As per an act of parliament, MCI is the 'medical education recognising body' of the country. The health ministry cannot take a decision on foreign degrees completely by itself. Ramadoss’ ministry unilaterally recognised the post-graduate medical degrees without any reciprocal arrangement with those countries. He never bothered to explain the weird logic of his action.
Anbumani Ramadoss proposed quota for other backward classes (OBCs) in institutes of higher learning. Indian Medical Association(IMA) has been at loggerheads with the minister over the issue. Other hair brained schemes proposed by Anbumani Ramadoss included MBBS students to serve one year in rural India before being awarded a degree. According to him, compulsory rural service is the best way to set right the anomalies in public healthcare. He has conveniently ignored the fact that the students are not trained to serve in the villages and that rural health cannot be treated so casually, particularly when most Government funding goes to provide the best healthcare for urban India. Relying on students to provide healthcare amounts to giving second-class treatment to rural India. There is indeed a pressing need to correct the imbalance of doctors in rural and urban areas. But for that, the Minister should have concentrated on improving the 'Healthcare Centres' and their infrastructure instead of putting the cart before the horse and sending novice doctors there. Rural and socially disadvantaged people tend to have far more serious and complex medical problems that need more knowledge, expertise and experience. These problems are certainly beyond the capacity of young, unsupervised doctors. But that did not disturb Anbumani Ramadoss.
Instead of concentrating on his job instead of expressing an opinion on issues that he is totally clueless about, Anbumani Ramadoss busied himself proving his creative genius by devising ways to rid the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) of its Director, P Venugopal by pushing through an ordinance in the Parliament. A case in point is the Minister’s refusal to sign the degree certificates, a demand put forward by the agitating medical students in 2006. The flimsy ground for refusal to sign the document cited by the Minister that the signature on the certificates of Registrar Dr Sandeep Aggarwal, whose appointment he contended was illegal, is sufficient proof of his indifference to the plight of the young doctors who had no degrees to apply for a job. The fact that the resident doctors ended their strike on a promise of immediate issuance of their degree certificates by AIIMS administration, albeit minus the Minister’s signature, should have pleased the Minister as it had taken the initiative to solve a problem that was solely in his domain. Instead, the Minister chose to place his ego above the careers of the affected doctors and the problems of AIIMS, whose President he happened to be. To add insult to injury, Anbumani Ramadoss is a typical hypocrite has been mouthing niceties about the Dr P Venugopal. He may have succeeded in fooling the constituency that elected him. He is naive if he thinks he can fool the whole country by his 'Nothing Personal' comments on the Venugopal issue. The people can see him clearly for what he is.
It is a shame that other politicians of dubious public record, like RK Dhawan, Arjun Singh and Laloo Prasad Yadav joined Anbumani Ramadoss’ efforts to dislodge P Venugopal and interfere in the AIIMS. Given that Anbumani Ramadoss has shamelessly refused to resign and continues to be the Health Minister and President of AIIMS, the relief is bound to be temporary in nature. For, the Minister’s earlier belligerent stance towards the Institute’s Director P Venugopal and his penchant for interfering in the normal functioning of the Institute has once again been revived. The fact that Delhi High Court had earlier ruled in favor of the Director of AIIMS in the dispute did nothing to deter a bitter Ramadoss from bulldozing his ways in the AIIMS. That belligerence is set to grow with the Supreme Court verdict. The country can expect more mischief from a frustrated Health Minister.
It is a shame that other politicians of dubious public record, like RK Dhawan, Arjun Singh and Laloo Prasad Yadav joined Anbumani Ramadoss’ efforts to dislodge P Venugopal and interfere in the AIIMS. Given that Anbumani Ramadoss has shamelessly refused to resign and continues to be the Health Minister and President of AIIMS, the relief is bound to be temporary in nature. For, the Minister’s earlier belligerent stance towards the Institute’s Director P Venugopal and his penchant for interfering in the normal functioning of the Institute has once again been revived. The fact that Delhi High Court had earlier ruled in favor of the Director of AIIMS in the dispute did nothing to deter a bitter Ramadoss from bulldozing his ways in the AIIMS. That belligerence is set to grow with the Supreme Court verdict. The country can expect more mischief from a frustrated Health Minister.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Police Serves Only Politicians and Criminals
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/6-yr-old_beaten_to_death_in_W_Bengal/articleshow/3009490.cms
The incident of a serious crime being committed, this time a child being beaten to death, in the presence of the police without the latter taking any preventive action, is not new. Neither is people taking the law into their hands a new development in the country. Unfortunately, the police going through the sham drill of suspending the guilty policemen is also an old police trick to put the incident in the cold storage. It is only a matter of time before the policemen are reinstated, maybe at some other location. One cannot find fault with the police in the country detrminedly sticking to its track record!
A six-year-old boy was beaten to death by a neighbour at a village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal on 3rd Apr 2008, while three policemen present there stood as mute spectators. Inspite of the villagers pleading with them to intervene, the policemen did nothing to stop the heinous crime from being committed. Following the incident, women of the village came out of their homes with sticks and damaged two police vehicles parked at the spot. District police authorities suspended the three constables who were present when the child was being beaten up, along with an assistant sub-inspector who had also gone to the spot. Somehow, the story sounds familiar!
The incident of a serious crime being committed, this time a child being beaten to death, in the presence of the police without the latter taking any preventive action, is not new. Neither is people taking the law into their hands a new development in the country. Unfortunately, the police going through the sham drill of suspending the guilty policemen is also an old police trick to put the incident in the cold storage. It is only a matter of time before the policemen are reinstated, maybe at some other location. One cannot find fault with the police in the country detrminedly sticking to its track record!
Unless the role of the policemen is treated at par with abetment to murder and exemplary action, with a committed intent to stem the rot, taken against them there will be no let up in criminals roaming freely and the police continuing to remain a rag tag outfit meant to serve only politicians and criminals.
Friday, May 2, 2008
OBC Quota: Politicians in a Hurry
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Centres_order_on_OBC_quota_in_IIMs_challenged_in_HC/articleshow/3005452.cms
Hope the contention of the alumni association of IIMs that the Supreme Court judgement, which while upholding the OBC reservation policy, had said that it would not be applicable to the higher educational institutions, is upheld by the High Court. The government seeking more time to go through the supreme court judgement before responding to the contentions of the Association of IIMs is indicative of the fact that Arjun Singh, always in a hurry to advance his political ambitions of becoming the prime minister, had not even bothered to study the judgement before ordering implementation of his OBC agenda in higher education.
The nefarious designs of ambitious politicians like Arjun Singh, Anbumani Ramadoss, RK Dhawan, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mayawati to meddle with quality education in the country need to be demolished in the larger interests of the country.
Hope the contention of the alumni association of IIMs that the Supreme Court judgement, which while upholding the OBC reservation policy, had said that it would not be applicable to the higher educational institutions, is upheld by the High Court. The government seeking more time to go through the supreme court judgement before responding to the contentions of the Association of IIMs is indicative of the fact that Arjun Singh, always in a hurry to advance his political ambitions of becoming the prime minister, had not even bothered to study the judgement before ordering implementation of his OBC agenda in higher education.
The nefarious designs of ambitious politicians like Arjun Singh, Anbumani Ramadoss, RK Dhawan, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mayawati to meddle with quality education in the country need to be demolished in the larger interests of the country.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The President and All her Kin
President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra Singh Shekhawat has denied any breach of protocol by him while accompanying his mother on an official visit to Latin America. According to him it was okay to go around on his own even when tax payers finance the trip of the President and her family. If he was so inclined, he could have got a direct flight from Delhi to Florida – and avoided the national embarrassment. Surprisingly, even the President’s office has found "nothing wrong" with wasteful expenditure of exchequer’s money and the utterly uncouth behavior of the President’s son.
To make matters worse, Rajendra Singh Shekhawat’s hollow explanation that he was a mere "visitor" to some of the programmes he had attended and that there was "nothing to discuss" during the visits, raises more questions about his having been included in the President’s entourage in the first place. The President and her son have seen nothing wrong with the son making a trip on the side of the President’s official trip on his own expenditure. Did the President’s son also pay for the officer of the Indian Embassy in Washington to go and receive him at Miami where he was on a private trip? The arguments in favor of the President and her son may sound convincing to the Congress and its UPA allies who were keenly instrumental in replacing Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam with Pratibha Patil, but do not seem to hold much water for their countrymen. That such goings-on have occurred during the tenures of KR Narayanan and Shankar Dayal Sharma, both Congress nominees, only gives an insight into the Congress culture of selecting the wrong people for the wrong reasons to head responsible positions they lack the merit to hold. Shankar Dayal Sharma, incidentally, holds the distinction of being the only President who refused to vacate the Rashtrapati Bhawan at the end of his tenure, unless an alternative accommodation was suitably prepared to him.
The least the shameless politicians of Congress and its UPA allies can do is gracefully apologize to the nation to stem the growing controversy surrounding the highest office of the land. It would be futile to expect the President’s office and Rajendra Singh Shekhawat to extend such a grand gesture as both have already found nothing amiss in their conduct.
To make matters worse, Rajendra Singh Shekhawat’s hollow explanation that he was a mere "visitor" to some of the programmes he had attended and that there was "nothing to discuss" during the visits, raises more questions about his having been included in the President’s entourage in the first place. The President and her son have seen nothing wrong with the son making a trip on the side of the President’s official trip on his own expenditure. Did the President’s son also pay for the officer of the Indian Embassy in Washington to go and receive him at Miami where he was on a private trip? The arguments in favor of the President and her son may sound convincing to the Congress and its UPA allies who were keenly instrumental in replacing Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam with Pratibha Patil, but do not seem to hold much water for their countrymen. That such goings-on have occurred during the tenures of KR Narayanan and Shankar Dayal Sharma, both Congress nominees, only gives an insight into the Congress culture of selecting the wrong people for the wrong reasons to head responsible positions they lack the merit to hold. Shankar Dayal Sharma, incidentally, holds the distinction of being the only President who refused to vacate the Rashtrapati Bhawan at the end of his tenure, unless an alternative accommodation was suitably prepared to him.
The least the shameless politicians of Congress and its UPA allies can do is gracefully apologize to the nation to stem the growing controversy surrounding the highest office of the land. It would be futile to expect the President’s office and Rajendra Singh Shekhawat to extend such a grand gesture as both have already found nothing amiss in their conduct.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Congress and UPA Choice: National Embarrassment
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Presidents_son_defies_protocol/articleshow/2998067.cmsIn a serious breach of protocol, President Pratibha Patil's son Rajendra Singh Shekhawat, who accompanied his mother on her recent trip to Latin America, disappeared for a day on April 17 to conduct personal business in the US, keeping his Mexican hosts in the dark. Shekhawat was missing from the banquet hosted by Mexican President Felipe Calderon at Castilo de Chapultepec, where a seat was reserved for him.
The lapse was casually explained away as Shekhawat having gone to Florida to visit the university. The MEA also vaguely mentioned his having borne the expense of his journey from Mexico to Florida. As if that was an acceptable enough reason for treating a presidential invitation in the host country with such abandon. In any case, Shekhawat’s name would have been included in the seating plan at the banquet after an acceptance of the invitation by him.
During the same three nations tour of South America, there were reports of the President having walked passed the host country’s national flag without paying the customary compliment. Is it any wonder then that the presence at her address in the host country’s Parliament was inadequate?
Why can’t political parties accept a person of proven merit, like N. R. Narayana Murthy, Kiran Bedi and many more, for the highest office of the country? It is as if they are determined to soil the prestige of the office of the Indian President just to promote their respective party interests. The incident once again confirms that party interests are above national interests for our calculating politicians.
India can thank the Congress and its UPA partners for the national embarrassment.
The lapse was casually explained away as Shekhawat having gone to Florida to visit the university. The MEA also vaguely mentioned his having borne the expense of his journey from Mexico to Florida. As if that was an acceptable enough reason for treating a presidential invitation in the host country with such abandon. In any case, Shekhawat’s name would have been included in the seating plan at the banquet after an acceptance of the invitation by him.
During the same three nations tour of South America, there were reports of the President having walked passed the host country’s national flag without paying the customary compliment. Is it any wonder then that the presence at her address in the host country’s Parliament was inadequate?
Why can’t political parties accept a person of proven merit, like N. R. Narayana Murthy, Kiran Bedi and many more, for the highest office of the country? It is as if they are determined to soil the prestige of the office of the Indian President just to promote their respective party interests. The incident once again confirms that party interests are above national interests for our calculating politicians.
India can thank the Congress and its UPA partners for the national embarrassment.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Criticised by Bureaucrat Over The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Kalam_erred_on_Office_of_Profit_bill/articleshow/2970756.cmsAn office of profit is a term used in a number of national constitutions to refer to executive appointments. A number of countries forbid members of the legislature from accepting an office of profit under the executive as a means to secure the independence of the legislature and preserve the separation of powers. The term is used in Article 102 (1)(A) of the Indian Constitution which bars a member of the Indian Parliament from holding an office that would give its occupant the opportunity to gain a financial advantage or benefit.
The controversy started with the disqualification of Ms Jaya Bachchan as Rajya Sabha MP on the ground that she was holding an office of profit as chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council. This turned the spotlight on many other MPs as well and in 2006, Indian National Congress President and MP, Sonia Gandhi, had to to resign from several posts under pressure from opposition who asserted that the posts were 'offices of profit' and thus unlawful.
The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006, also referred to as the Office of Profit Bill was passed exempting 56 posts from the purview of disqualification. The politicians came up with this instrument to save the fifty odd MPs from the possible disqualification from their respective offices of profit. The President, Mr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, returned the Office of Profit Bill asking Parliament to reconsider it taking into account the legal propriety of its application with retrospective effect.
As expected, corrupt politicians ignored Kalam’s advice to observe legal propriety and The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006, was introduced on May 17 and passed on the same day by voice vote without any detailed discussion. The Bill was sent to the President on May 25 for assent and it is common knowledge that besides obtaining expert views, APJ Abdul Kalam personally studied the Bill before sending it back for reconsideration by the Parliament. Exercising his power under Article 111 of the Constitution, the President wanted the Bill's focus to be on evolving a comprehensive criterion, which would be just, fair and reasonable, and applied across all States and Union Territories in a clear and transparent manner.
To achieve the noble objective of ensuring that the lawmakers of the country at the Center and States, who are sworn to uphold the law and Constitution, discharge sacred trust which the people reposed in them, in a fair and impartial manner, the Constitution mandated that the Members of Parliament (MPs) and the State Legislatures should not, during their tenure, hold any 'office of profit' under the Government, so that they would not be 'obliged' to the Executive. Unfortunately, the Constitution also empowered the Parliament and the State Legislatives to identify those `offices of profit' which would be exempted from disqualification. This power has been unabashedly used by the politicians to create a host of offices of profit for themselves which were saved from constitutional disqualification and made a mockery of the Indian Constitution.
APJ Abdul Kalam’s then Secretary P M Nair, now accusing him of sitting over the issue for 17 days and asserting that Kalam was duty bound to give assent to the bill when it came to him a second time, is a blatant and disgraceful attempt by an opportunist to please the Congress and improve his future prospects. His statement that he had advised the then President verbally and in writing to clear the bill amounts to an ill concealed effort to clear himself from the responsibility for the delay in signing of the Bill by APJ Abdul Kalam. That the President said he was going by his conscience is obviously not enough for the sycophant babu to refrain from criticising the best President India has had after independence. It is the collective responsibility of corrupt politicians and sycophant bureaucrats, like Mr PM Nair, that India is stuck with undeserving people occupying the highest post in the country.
The controversy started with the disqualification of Ms Jaya Bachchan as Rajya Sabha MP on the ground that she was holding an office of profit as chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council. This turned the spotlight on many other MPs as well and in 2006, Indian National Congress President and MP, Sonia Gandhi, had to to resign from several posts under pressure from opposition who asserted that the posts were 'offices of profit' and thus unlawful.
The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006, also referred to as the Office of Profit Bill was passed exempting 56 posts from the purview of disqualification. The politicians came up with this instrument to save the fifty odd MPs from the possible disqualification from their respective offices of profit. The President, Mr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, returned the Office of Profit Bill asking Parliament to reconsider it taking into account the legal propriety of its application with retrospective effect.
As expected, corrupt politicians ignored Kalam’s advice to observe legal propriety and The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006, was introduced on May 17 and passed on the same day by voice vote without any detailed discussion. The Bill was sent to the President on May 25 for assent and it is common knowledge that besides obtaining expert views, APJ Abdul Kalam personally studied the Bill before sending it back for reconsideration by the Parliament. Exercising his power under Article 111 of the Constitution, the President wanted the Bill's focus to be on evolving a comprehensive criterion, which would be just, fair and reasonable, and applied across all States and Union Territories in a clear and transparent manner.
To achieve the noble objective of ensuring that the lawmakers of the country at the Center and States, who are sworn to uphold the law and Constitution, discharge sacred trust which the people reposed in them, in a fair and impartial manner, the Constitution mandated that the Members of Parliament (MPs) and the State Legislatures should not, during their tenure, hold any 'office of profit' under the Government, so that they would not be 'obliged' to the Executive. Unfortunately, the Constitution also empowered the Parliament and the State Legislatives to identify those `offices of profit' which would be exempted from disqualification. This power has been unabashedly used by the politicians to create a host of offices of profit for themselves which were saved from constitutional disqualification and made a mockery of the Indian Constitution.
APJ Abdul Kalam’s then Secretary P M Nair, now accusing him of sitting over the issue for 17 days and asserting that Kalam was duty bound to give assent to the bill when it came to him a second time, is a blatant and disgraceful attempt by an opportunist to please the Congress and improve his future prospects. His statement that he had advised the then President verbally and in writing to clear the bill amounts to an ill concealed effort to clear himself from the responsibility for the delay in signing of the Bill by APJ Abdul Kalam. That the President said he was going by his conscience is obviously not enough for the sycophant babu to refrain from criticising the best President India has had after independence. It is the collective responsibility of corrupt politicians and sycophant bureaucrats, like Mr PM Nair, that India is stuck with undeserving people occupying the highest post in the country.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Mounting Rape Incidents: Is Mob Fury the Answer?
This is one more in a long chain of disgraceful and preventable incidents. Unfortunately, barring updating of rape statistics in the capital no effective action will be taken by those responsible for maintaining law and order in the Capital. Even the culprits who committed the bestial crime will be out on bail before long, if they are caught at all. The judiciary will make nonsense of the trial by dragging it on till the witnesses are bought, murdered or simply harassed by having to drag their tired feet to the courts every so often and turn hostile, unless the media keeps the tragic memory alive. Then there is always the possibility af a 'Ram Jethmalani' helping to keep the culprits / rapists out of jail. The number of sexual assaults in New Delhi has increased 22 percent over last year, yet there is no visible effort on part of the political establishment to check the menace. It is as if they are either not interested or will be shaken out of slumber only after they themselves are affected, as happened when the Parliament was attacked. Why blame mobs taking the law into their hands to punish the guilty?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)