The Unauthorized Shadow Prime Minister Of India. Shadow PM

More trouble for Team Anna, Shanti Bhushan fined for evading stamp duty

2012-01-06T05:55:00.000-08:00

More trouble for Team Anna, Shanti Bhushan fined for evading stamp duty
Jan 6, 2012
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/More-trouble-for-Team-Anna-Shanti-Bhushan-fined-for-evading-stamp-duty/articleshow/11389419.cms
ALLAHABAD: Team Anna member Shanti Bhushan has been found to evade stamp duty to the tune of Rs 1.35 crore in the purchase of a prime property here and slapped with a fine of over Rs 27 lakh on the outstanding amount.

Assistant stamp commissioner KP Pandey said that Bhushan, a former Union minister, has so far paid Rs 46,700 towards the stamp duty for the purchase of the property spread over 7,818 acres of land in the posh Civil Lines area.

He will have to pay within a month the outstanding amount, in addition to the fine, with 1.5 per cent interest with effect from November 29, 2010.

The entire amount has to be paid within a month, failing which the department will initiate further action, Pandey said.

Shanti Bhushan used to stay in the bungalow built on the land till the 1970s when he moved to New Delhi.

He, however, did not give up the possession of the property and remained involved in a protracted litigation with the landlord before purchasing the land through an "agreement to sell" in November, 2010.

It has been claimed by the department for stamp and registration that the veteran lawyer had shown purchase of the property for a paltry sum which enabled him to understate its value on which the stamp duty payable was calculated and Rs 46,700 was paid.

A notice was issued to Bhushan in February, 2011 for alleged evasion of stamp duty to the tune of nearly Rs 1.35 crore.

However, Bhushan has been maintaining that there was no evasion of stamp duty on his part.

Suicidal Lemming Rodents and Suicidal Advani: Analysis of New writings of a Sick mind who is propagating False Myths!

2011-10-29T08:02:00.001-07:00

Suicidal Lemming Rodents and Suicidal Advani: Analysis of New writings of a Sick mind who is propagating False Myths!

http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/upa-and-lemmings

At the valedictory session of the BJP National Executive in New Delhi last weekend, I referred to the Prime Minister’s comment about the opposition becoming impatient to see the UPA Government’s ouster in order to have an early poll. I said that in the country today, not only in the media, but also among the people, opinion is unanimous that the UPA. Government is in an unenviable mess. This fact is also widely recognised that the mess is of the Congress’s own making. I described the UPA Government as being ‘in a suicidal mode.’

I can never forget the six-seven months period just before the formation of the BJP in April, 1980. Before that we were part of the Janata Party. At that time I had said publicly about my own party that we are in a suicidal mood.

In one of the pieces I wrote those days I had referred to a Scandinavian rodent-like animal known as lemming. Ordinarily, I had written, only human beings are known to commit suicide. But lemmings are unique creatures.

Without rhyme or reason, large numbers of lemmings start marching towards the sea. Some swim and survive. Most die. These mass suicides of lemmings have long intrigued biologists. I wrote then that the Janata party seems to be “in the grips of a lemmings complex.” One can say the same thing about the UPA Government today.

L.K. Advani

New Delhi

3 October, 2011

>> Mass Suicide by Lemmings is a Myth

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/04/27/1081903.htm

The notion that lemmings, overcome by deep-rooted impulses, deliberately run over a cliff in their millions came not from a biologist, but from that other animal behaviourist - Walt Disney.

One myth deeply entrenched in our language is that of the "Lemming Suicide Plunge" - where lemmings, apparently overcome by deep-rooted impulses, deliberately run over a cliff in their millions, to be dashed to their deaths on the rocks below, or to drown in the raging ocean. Indeed, this myth is now a metaphor for the behaviour of crowds of people who foolishly follow each other, lemming-like, regardless of the consequences. This particular myth began with a Disney movie.

Lemmings belong to the rodents. Rodents have been around for about 57 million years. Today, about half of all the individuals mammals on Earth are rodents. There are four genera of lemmings - Collared Lemmings, "True" Lemmings, Wood or Red-Backed Lemmings and Bog Lemmings. They are found in the cooler northern parts of Eurasia and North America. The True Lemming is about 10 cm long, with short legs and tail.

Many of the rodents have strange population explosions. One such event in the Central Valley of California in 1926-27 had mouse populations reaching around 200,000 per hectare (about 20 mice per square metre). In France between 1790 and 1935, there were at least 20 mouse plagues. But lemmings have the most regular fluctuations - these population explosions happen every three or four years. The numbers rocket up, and then drop almost to extinction. Even after three-quarters of a century of intensive research, we don't fully understand why their populations fluctuate so much. Various factors (change in food availability, climate, density of predators, stress of overcrowding, infectious diseases, snow conditions, sunspots, etc) have all been put forward, but none completely explain what is going on.

Back in the 1530s, the geographer Zeigler of Strasbourg, tried to explain these variations in populations by saying that lemmings fell out of the sky in stormy weather, and then suffered mass extinctions with the sprouting of the grasses of spring. Back in the 19th century, the Naturalist Edward Nelson wrote that "the Norton Sound Eskimo have an odd superstition that the White Lemming lives in the land beyond the stars and that it sometimes comes down to the earth, descending in a spiral course during snow-storms." But none of the Intuit stories mention the "suicide leaps off cliffs".

When these population explosions happen, the lemming migrate away from the denser centres. The migrations begin slowly and erratically, with an evolution from small numbers moving at night, to larger groups in the daytime. The most dramatic movements happen with the True Lemmings (also called the Norway Lemming). Even so, they do not form a continuous mass, but instead travel in groups with gaps of 10 minutes or more between them. They tend to follow roads and paths. Lemmings avoid water, and will usually scout around for a land crossing. But if they have to, they will swim. Their swimming ability is such that they can cross a 200 metre body of water on a calm night, but most will drown in a windy night.

So lemmings do have their regular wild fluctuations in population - and when the numbers are high, the lemmings do migrate.

The myth of mass lemming suicide began when the Walt Disney movie, Wild Wilderness was released in 1958. It was filmed in Alberta, Canada, far from the sea and not a native home to lemmings. So the filmmakers imported lemmings, by buying them from Inuit children. The migration sequence was filmed by placing the lemmings on a spinning turntable that was covered with snow, and then shooting it from many different angles. The cliff-death-plunge sequence was done by herding the lemmings over a small cliff into a river. It's easy to understand why the filmmakers did this - wild animals are notoriously uncooperative, and a migration-of-doom followed by a cliff-of-death sequence is far more dramatic to show than the lemmings' self-implemented population-density management plan.

So lemmings do not commit mass suicide. Indeed, animals live to thrive and survive. Consider a company like Disney, where one rodent, namely Mickey Mouse, was Royalty. It's rather odd to think that Disney could be so unkind to another rodent, the lemming...

Suicidal Lemming Rodents and Suicidal Advani: Analysis of New writings of a Sick mind who is propagating False Myths!

2011-10-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

Suicidal Lemming Rodents and Suicidal Advani: Analysis of New writings of a Sick mind who is propagating False Myths!

http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/upa-and-lemmings

L.K. Advani

New Delhi

3 October, 2011

>> Mass Suicide by Lemmings is a Myth

Global Restrictions on Religion: India in list of Restrictive countries

2011-09-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

Global Restrictions on Religion

http://pewforum.org/Government/Global-Restrictions-on-Religion.aspx

For more than half a century, the United Nations and numerous international organizations have affirmed the principle of religious freedom.1 For just as many decades, journalists and human rights groups have reported on persecution of minority faiths, outbreaks of sectarian violence and other pressures on religious individuals and communities in many countries. But until now, there has been no quantitative study that reviews an extensive number of sources to measure how governments and private actors infringe on religious beliefs and practices around the world.

Global Restrictions on Religion, a new study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that 64 nations - about one-third of the countries in the world - have high or very high restrictions on religion. But because some of the most restrictive countries are very populous, nearly 70 percent of the world's 6.8 billion people live in countries with high restrictions on religion, the brunt of which often falls on religious minorities.

Some restrictions result from government actions, policies and laws. Others result from hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups. The highest overall levels of restrictions are found in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran, where both the government and society at large impose numerous limits on religious beliefs and practices. But government policies and social hostilities do not always move in tandem. Vietnam and China, for instance, have high government restrictions on religion but are in the moderate or low range when it comes to social hostilities. Nigeria and Bangladesh follow the opposite pattern: high in social hostilities but moderate in terms of government actions.

Among all regions, the Middle East-North Africa has the highest government and social restrictions on religion, while the Americas are the least restrictive region on both measures. Among the world's 25 most populous countries , Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and India stand out as having the most restrictions when both measures are taken into account, while Brazil, Japan, the United States, Italy, South Africa and the United Kingdom have the least.

The Pew Forum's study examines the incidence of many specific types of government and social restrictions on religion around the world. In 75 countries (38%), for example, national or local governments limit efforts by religious groups or individuals to persuade others to join their faith. In 178 countries (90%), religious groups must register with the government for various purposes, and in 117 (59%) the registration requirements resulted in major problems for, or outright discrimination against, certain faiths.

Public tensions between religious groups were reported in the vast majority (87%) of countries in the period studied (mid-2006 through mid-2008). In 126 countries (64%), these hostilities involved physical violence. In 49 countries (25%), private individuals or groups used force or the threat of force to compel adherence to religious norms. Religion-related terrorism caused casualties in 17 countries, nearly one-in-ten (9%) worldwide.

These are some of the key findings of Global Restrictions on Religion. The study covers 198 countries and self-administering territories, representing more than 99.5% of the world's population. In preparing this study, the Pew Forum devised a battery of measures, phrased as questions, to gauge the levels of government and social restrictions on religion in each country. To answer these questions, Pew Forum researchers combed through 16 widely cited, publicly available sources of information, including reports by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Council of the European Union, the United Kingdom's Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, the Hudson Institute and Amnesty International. (The complete list of sources is available in the Methodology.)

The researchers involved in this process recorded only factual reports about government actions, policies and laws, as well as specific incidents of religious violence or intolerance over the main two-year period covered by this study, from mid-2006 to mid-2008; they did not rely on the commentaries or opinions of the sources. (For a more detailed explanation of the coding and data verification procedures, see the Methodology. For the wording of the questions, see the Summary of Results.) The goal was to devise quantifiable, objective measures that could be combined into two comprehensive indexes, the Government Restrictions Index and the Social Hostilities Index. Using the current, two-year average as a baseline, future editions of the indexes will be able to chart changes and trends over time.

Global Restrictions on Religion is part of a larger effort - the Global Religious Futures Project, jointly funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation - that aims to increase knowledge and understanding of religion around the world.

Limitations of the Study

It is important to keep a few caveats in mind when reading this report. First, because freedom - defined as "the absence of hindrance, restraint, confinement or repression" - is difficult if not impossible to measure, the Pew Forum's study instead measures the presence of restrictions of various kinds. The study tallies publicly reported incidents of religious violence, intolerance, intimidation and discrimination by governments and private actors. That is, it focuses on the problems in each country. It does not capture the other side of the coin: the amount of religious dynamism, diversity and expression in each country. The indexes of government restrictions and social hostilities are intended to measure obstacles to the practice of religion. But they are only part of a bigger picture.

Second, this study does not attach normative judgments to restrictions on religion. Every country studied has some restrictions on religion, and there may be strong public support in particular countries for laws aimed, for example, at curbing "cult" activity (as in France), preserving an established church (as in the United Kingdom) or keeping tax-exempt religious organizations from endorsing candidates for elected office (as in the United States). The study does not attempt to determine whether particular restrictions are justified or unjustified. Nor does it attempt to analyze the many factors - historical, demographic, cultural, religious, economic and political - that might explain why restrictions have arisen. It seeks simply to measure the restrictions that exist in a quantifiable, transparent and reproducible way, based on reports from numerous governmental and nongovernmental organizations.

Finally, although it is very likely that more restrictions exist than are reported by the 16 primary sources, taken together the sources are sufficiently comprehensive to provide a good estimate of the levels of restrictions in almost all countries. The one major exception is North Korea. The sources clearly indicate that North Korea's government is among the most repressive in the world with respect to religion as well as other civil and political liberties. (The U.S. State Department's 2008 Report on International Religious Freedom, for example, says that "Genuine freedom of religion does not exist" in North Korea.) But because North Korean society is effectively closed to outsiders and independent observers lack regular access to the country, the sources are unable to provide the kind of specific, timely information that the Pew Forum categorized and counted ("coded," in social science parlance) for this quantitative study. Therefore, the report does not include scores for North Korea.

Footnote

1 According to Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the foundational documents of the U.N., "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

Asura Ramdev (alias Ravanlila) to combine Shastra (weapons), Shaastra (Scriptures), and Yoga

2011-06-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

Asura Ramdev (alias Ravanlila) to combine Shastra (weapons), Shaastra (Scriptures), and Yoga

Haridwar, June 8: Baba Ramdev announced today that he would raise an army of youths trained in shastra (weapons) and shaastra (scriptures) to repel another Ramlila-like eviction, gifting the Centre ammunition on a day Sushma Swaraj met the yoga televangelist and VHP leader Ashok Singhal sought his blessings.

Planning Shastra (ARMS training)

Asura Ramdev with Pakistani expatriate L K Advani (another Hitler in the making)

VHP leader Ashok Singhal paying obeissance to Ramdev

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110609/jsp/frontpage/story_14090422.jsp

“We will have to train them in shastra and shaastra. We will request Acharya Devbrat to train them. After the fast, they will be fed milk, ghee and almonds to make them strong. Let’s see who wins at the next Ramlila?” Ramdev told the morning yoga session at his ashram in Haridwar.

The yoga practitioner did not give more details on the acharya but added that 20 persons aged below 35 would be chosen from each of the 624 districts in India. The youths — male as well as female — will form part of his army of 11,000 (some may not make it through the training session).

The Centre, which has been smelling a destabilisation game by communal forces, seized on Ramdev’s comment to issue a stern warning.

“By making that statement, he has exposed his true colours and true intentions. Let him do so and the law will deal with that…. You have to observe some discipline,” Union home minister P. Chidambaram said in reply to a question.

“It is anti-national and we have to take action,” said V. Narayansamy, minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ramdev and a key aide later tried to tone down the statement, saying he meant “self-defence”.

During the day, the fasting yoga televangelist met Opposition leader Sushma, Singhal and Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. None was willing to comment on the call to raise the army.

Many participants in the Ramlila fast, who had “fled” to his ashram after the post-midnight crackdown, have been publicly requesting him since June 6 to arm them to fight “oppressive government forces” they encounter in their struggle to “save democracy”.

Ramdev’s announcement this morning was met with applause, cheers and nationalist slogans by a crowd of less than 250.

Bijoya Mandal, a Baba supporter from Behala who had demanded arms training yesterday, was overjoyed this morning. “Swamiji has given us the right to fight back. Let the police try and touch us now,” she said.

The small yet vocal Bengali corps here was the most jubilant. S. Bhattacharya, a patient from Calcutta at the ashram’s hospital, said: “It was the UPA that started this problem. The movement was peaceful but they baton- charged them. I don’t actively support Baba, but I agree with him.”

A group of sadhus, who were electrified enough by the army plan to chant slogans, found a new target: Sachin Tendulkar. They felt the cricketer is promoting “un-Indian” activities by endorsing the consumption of “non-vegetarian” eggs for the National Egg Co-ordination Committee.

Many of the youth volunteers of the ashram though, speaking off the record, said they support Ramdev’s struggle to bring back black money but would never take up arms against the state.

Later, Ramdev clarified that he was misunderstood. “I am not a Naxalite or a terrorist. This force will only be for self-defence.”

Ramdev aide Swami Swaroopanand added: “The army will specialise in karate, kung fu and Indian martial arts — these are all taught in schools. They won’t hit anyone but will defend our followers from attacks.”

Yesterday, Baba’s aide Balakrishna had said: “People are ready to become bombs to face your guns in this dharmayuddh against black money and corruption.”

Late tonight, Balakrishna said Ramdev had made it clear that the Constitution was “supreme”. “The purpose of setting up such a force is not to harm anybody but only as a right to self-defence,” the aide said. “We don’t want to take the law in our own hands.”

In the afternoon, Sushma and chief minister Nishank met Ramdev for more than an hour.

Sushma told a media conference later she had only come to enquire about his health as the “leader of the Opposition of a nation that is concerned about Baba Ramdev.”

She added: “His health has deteriorated, but his mental strength has increased. He has lost 5.5 kilos.”

Asked if the RSS was involved, Sushma replied: “These accusations are from the same Congress who called Jayprakashji (Jayaprakash Narayan) a CIA man.”

Dance of the Asuras from Kailyuga: Baba Ramdev eviction: Congress snubs BJP on Sushma dance at Rajghat

2011-06-08T08:59:00.001-07:00

Dance of the Asuras from Kailyuga: Baba Ramdev eviction: Congress snubs BJP on Sushma dance at Rajghat

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/baba-ramdev-congress-snubs-bjp-on-sushma-dance-rajghat/1/140738.html

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were at each other's throats with a no-holdsbarred war of words over singing and dancing by the Opposition party leaders at Rajghat on Monday. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh fired the first salvo by calling the BJP "a party of dancers".

"I don't understand whether the BJP is a political party or a party of dancers," he remarked sarcastically at a press conference in Lucknow on Tuesday. "Although the BJP called it a dharna against police action on Ramdev, the party's senior leaders like Sushma Swaraj were singing and dancing at Rajghat," Digvijay said.

Describing it as an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, Digvijay asked the BJP to apologise to the nation for the "unbecoming act of its leaders". Not one to be cowed down, the BJP responded with characteristic belligerence with both Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley hitting out at the Congress top leadership. "We live in a free country. We reserve the right to sing and dance. First of all, it did not happen at Rajghat but even if it did, even he (the Mahatma) would have appreciated nationalists swaying to the tune of "Yeh desh hai veer jawanon ka (a patriotic Bollywood song paying homage to soldiers who fight for the country)," she said. Jaitley called the government a "headless chicken."

She said there was nothing wrong in people singing and dancing anywhere in the country. And nobody needed the Congress's approval for any of these activities. "We are free. Unlike the Congress, we do not suffer from a slave mentality."

Condemning Digvijay for terming the BJP a "party of dancers" following her recital at Rajghat, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha also fired barbs at the Congress leaders. She said: "The internet is flooded with images of the Congress top leaders dancing at all kinds of venues. I can tell you that Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Shiela Dikshit have all danced at some point." Swaraj demanded to know whether Digvijaya Singh's utterances have the sanction of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "I want to know whether such low-level vitriol has the Congress president's approval. Is this the level to which they have sunk?" she asked.

While Jaitley described the government as a "headless chicken" run by "a family" with no responsibility and a PM with no authority, Swaraj said the Congress was playing up the issue of her dancing at Rajghat to divert attention from other critical concerns such as black money and corruption.

Digvijay did not confine his attack to the Rajghat episode. He also said that senior BJP leader L.K. Advani should be ashamed for drawing a parallel between the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 with the police action against Ramdev's campaign at New Delhi's Ramlila ground on June 4 and comparing Ramdev with Swami Vivekananda.

"Advani should be ashamed of comparing the two incidents. While one was done by the British army against the nationalists of the country in which many people had been killed, the other action was by the police against Ramdev, a thug who not only cheated the government but also the common people. It is also shameful to compare Ramdev with Swami Vivekananda. I feel sorry about the opinion of Advani. He should also apologise to the nation," said an acerbic Digvijay. Speaking at another venue, Jaitley targeted the PM for "inaction" and blamed the PMSonia power equation for the "mess" in the government.

"Whenever there is any controversy, the PM says that he was not aware of it. The powers of the government vest in a particular family which does not have any accountability. There is no power with the leadership of the government. There is office but no authority. There is another leadership who has power but no accountability. And that is why this leadership keeps itself away from the responsibilities as per convenience," he said. "In this kind of a structure a Gandhi can never commit a mistake...A government cannot run like this. The PM is getting invisible," he said.

Jaitley said there were two views in the government on how to deal with Ramdev's agitation. One view was that there should be a political settlement of Ramdev's agitation through talks. That is why four ministers including Pranab Mukherjee went to the airport. The other view was to handle it through police and by use of force. There was a clash. "The finance minister favoured a political settlement of the issue while the home minister P. Chidambaram wanted use of force. The finance minister's was one view while the home minister had a different view. That is why I termed the government as a headless chicken," Jaitley said.

Interestingly, Digvijay found support from former BJP leader Kalyan Singh. Echoing Digvijaya's views on the BJP's dharna, Kalyan said, "The BJP played a vulgar joke on the country by organising a dance party at Rajghat. It (BJP) is a spent force which is trying to use Ramdev and Anna Hazare to bounce back." Criticising the "dance party", Kalyan said, "What I could not understand was whether the BJP was protesting against police action on Ramdev or celebrating it during its 24-hour dharna." Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad gave another twist to the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev and his supporters at the Ramlila Maidan.

In a sensational allegation, he said that there was a conspiracy to create a "Godhra-type" situation in a highly sensitive location of the Capital to destabilise the government. "As the area has a sizeable Muslim population and Jama Masjid is also situated nearby, it was feared that a stone or a shoe could have sparked a major communal flareup," he said. Hariprasad said that the BJP and the Sangh Parivar were unnerved after investigations had established the RSS's hand in the Samjhauta Express blast and there was mounting evidence against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots.

"There was a conspiracy to mobilise more than a lakh people on Sunday and we could have witnessed one more Godhra. The whole world knows how sensitive the area is and a spark would have been enough to disturb peace," he said. Hariprasad was responding to a question on why the police swooped on the yoga guru's supporters in the wee hours on Sunday. He said the government took the action to avoid a "catastrophe". Asked if the party had any intelligence input to support the allegation, Hariprasad said, "Ask the home minister."

Anti-national Ramdev's Ravanlila plan in Ramlila

2011-06-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

Ramdev's Ravanlila in Ramlila

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ramdev-threat-will-build-an-army-arm-protesters-110874

Haridwar: He sounded conciliatory yesterday, but Baba Ramdev is still fuming about the police action at his Delhi camp late on Saturday night. The aggressive baba was back on Wednesday morning, warning the government that next time protesters would be armed and ready to retaliate.

The yoga teacher said, "Next time at Ramlila, it will be Ravanlila. Let's see who gets beaten up."

Baba Ramdev detailed the arms training plan: "Twenty youth from each region will come forward for the fight against corruption. These young people should be 35-40 years old. Not only men, young women must also join them.

They must be dedicated, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.

They will be given arms training. We will build an army of 11,000 men and women."

After his eviction from Delhi and his return to the ashram in Haridwar, Baba Ramdev had announced that he was resuming his indefinite hunger-strike against black money and corruption. He has been constantly making statements about his plans to take his crusade forward from his headquarters and on Tuesday, he struck a more benign note when he said he "forgave" the Prime Minister and his government at a personal level.

"I forgive the PM and government for atrocities and wrongs done to me...but for destroying democracy, the nation will have to decide," he said. And with the latter political statement, he also added that he was once again "open to talking to the government, if they approach us."

On Saturday, Baba Ramdev had begun a hunger-strike at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. The Delhi Police, stating that he had permission only to hold a yoga camp with 5000 in attendance and not a protest with over 50,000 people, had dismantled the camp, where 65,000 people had gathered before they were lathicharged and tear gassed.

The Baba himself was evicted and then flown back to his headquarters in Haridwar on the government's orders.

In Delhi on Monday, the Supreme Court asked the government to explain its action - at a characteristically lengthy speech in Uttarakhand, the Baba said he was grateful for the court's intervention.

He also said that he rejected the Delhi Police's version of events. "The Delhi Police is lying. They beat up people. They said that people were injured in a stampede. None of our workers provoked violence." He also said "the Mahatma would be crying" about the government's treatment of the women and children who he claims were attacked on Saturday night.

The government has banned the Baba from entering Delhi for the next 15 days. While the yoga teacher is accustomed to whipping up crowds that run into thousands, he now faces the unique problem of where to set up a new base camp for his "satyagraha against corruption." He was hoping to bring his movement to Noida in Uttar Pradesh, but Chief Minister Mayawati has rejected that proposal on the grounds that it could lead to a law and order problem.

Setting a Benchmark for foreign Policy: Dictators versus Democracies (written in Obama's Community Blogs) in January 14, 2009 by Savio Pereira

2011-05-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/saviopereira/gGxbB8/commentary#comments

Setting a Benchmark for foreign Policy: Dictators versus Democracies

BY DR SAVIO PEREIRA - JAN 14, 2009 3:47:40 AM ET

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report to Admin

Foreign policy should follow standards based on more evidence-based management plans. There should be differing relationships with a democratic country, a monarchy with democratic overtones, a monarchy (with dictatorial overtones), dictators and in conflict regions.

'Betting on the wrong horses' often create monsters for the future.

Who will set these benchmarks for transparent, foreign policies for the Brave newer world? Any ideas?

Who will set these Good governance ranking system to have a transparent Foreign policy, which can be explained clearly?

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Re: i think............. | Report to Admin

By Dr Savio Pereira, Jan 14, 2009 at 6:57:43 AM ET (Updated: Jan 14, 2009 at 6:57:43 AM ET )

Good point. But, I still think that there should be an international standard used for Good Governance (to be used as a Private internal document, at least). People-to-people relationship has to be engaged on an entirely different platform.

A point to be noted is that most countries of the Middle East have good government-to-government relationship with the US. But the groundswell of local population are hostile to US policy.

It is something to think about in depth.

Democracy | Report to Admin

By Torgny V.O.B., Jan 14, 2009 at 8:48:14 AM ET (Updated: Jan 14, 2009 at 8:48:14 AM ET )

I think that USA should actively support those nations that are democracies, and also support those groups that work for democracy all over the world.

We can take a look around the world and see that democracies not only always are better in human rights, usually they are also better in providing economic development, health care, education, caring for environment than other nations.

And finally, how many wars has been fighting between two democratic nations? I can't think of any.

Re: Democracy | Report to Admin

By Dr Savio Pereira, Jan 14, 2009 at 9:45:27 AM ET (Updated: Jan 14, 2009 at 9:45:27 AM ET )

Good comment. Networking with Human Rights and other Rights organizations will go a long way with support to democratic thinking people. Dictators and weak democracies may have 'leaky' funds, which percolate to organizations funding terrorism. This will be another topic to chew. Accountability of funding, and following the money trail.

CONTENT ON BLOGS IN MY.BARACKOBAMA REPRESENTS THE OPINIONS OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND IN NO WAY SHOULD BE INTERPRETED AS ENDORSED OR APPROVED BY THE

Read about the predicted whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden on Obama's Community Blog by yours truly in January 2009!

2011-05-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

My postings on Indo-US relationships vis-a-vis relationship with Pakistan was mentioned in January 2009 on Barrack Obama's Community Blog by me.

We posted that "It is pretty much a given that Osama Bin Laden is living in comfort somewhere in that country, not in some cave"

Link to:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/saviopereira

and

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/saviopereira/gGxKTH/commentary#

Community Blogs

Post from Savio Pereira's Blog:

USA needs to improve strategic relations with India

BY DR SAVIO PEREIRA - JAN 2, 2009 1:56:04 AM ET

Comments | Mail to a Friend | Report to Admin

Tags: India

It pains me to see USA spending a big fat budget on relations with failed democracies/states like Pakistan. There is a lot of grey areas which need proper understanding like Kashmir. I will post articles related to Public Policy in India.

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I agree | Report to Admin

By rusty, Jan 2, 2009 at 2:29:28 AM ET (Updated: Jan 2, 2009 at 2:29:28 AM ET )

I agree Savio. I think we would be wise to strengthen our ties with India, and re-examine our support of Pakistan. In my mind, India is a much more mature, vibrant Democracy, and Pakistan is a country that says one thing, and does another. It is pretty much a given that Osama Bin Laden is living in comfort somewhere in that country, not in some cave. The money we spend on them to aid in the War on terror probably aids the wrong side, or at least a portion of it does. All they really seem to have to do to keep getting our money is say they are on our side. I say that is not enough, and, after the Bhutto assasination, and this tragedy in Mumbai, we should hold that government to a much higher standard than we have in the past.

Re: I agree | Report to Admin

By Dr Savio Pereira, Jan 6, 2009 at 6:01:18 AM ET (Updated: Jan 6, 2009 at 6:01:18 AM ET )

Thanks for the comments Rusty.

India | Report to Admin

By Torgny V.O.B., Jan 2, 2009 at 5:37:40 PM ET (Updated: Jan 2, 2009 at 5:37:40 PM ET )

I think that USA could support both Pakistan and India. But it should definitely not support dictators in Pakistan as it has been doing for a long time.

What I like about India is that it has been a democracy for so many years. Bless India for this.

Re: India | Report to Admin

By Dr Savio Pereira, Jan 6, 2009 at 6:04:52 AM ET (Updated: Jan 6, 2009 at 6:04:52 AM ET )

I think USA should focus on a international defence force which also includes the neighbours of Afghanisthan (including India and China). Allocation of a higher defence budget to Pakisthan, causes instability in the sub-continent.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past

2010-09-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vitriolic attacks on the Jewish world hide an astonishing secret, evidence

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6256173/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-revealed-to-have-Jewish-past.html

A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.

A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.

The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.

Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad's track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.

Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: "This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's background explains a lot about him.

"Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.

"By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society."

A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that "jian" ending to the name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews.

"He has changed his name for religious reasons, or at least his parents had," said the Iranian-born Jew living in London. "Sabourjian is well known Jewish name in Iran."

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said it would not be drawn on Mr Ahmadinejad's background. "It's not something we'd talk about," said Ron Gidor, a spokesman.

The Iranian leader has not denied his name was changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s. But he has never revealed what it was changed from or directly addressed the reason for the switch.

Relatives have previously said a mixture of religious reasons and economic pressures forced his blacksmith father Ahmad to change when Mr Ahmadinejad was aged four.

The Iranian president grew up to be a qualified engineer with a doctorate in traffic management. He served in the Revolutionary Guards militia before going on to make his name in hardline politics in the capital.

During this year's presidential debate on television he was goaded to admit that his name had changed but he ignored the jibe.

However Mehdi Khazali, an internet blogger, who called for an investigation of Mr Ahmadinejad's roots was arrested this summer.

Mr Ahmadinejad has regularly levelled bitter criticism at Israel, questioned its right to exist and denied the Holocaust. British diplomats walked out of a UN meeting last month after the Iranian president denounced Israel's 'genocide, barbarism and racism.'

Benjamin Netanyahu made an impassioned denunciation of the Iranian leader at the same UN summit. "Yesterday, the man who calls the Holocaust a lie spoke from this podium," he said. "A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies the murder of six million Jews while promising to wipe out the State of Israel, the State of the Jews. What a disgrace. What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations."

Victims in Nazi Concentration camps in Aushwitz (Circa 1944)

Mr Ahmadinejad has been consistently outspoken about the Nazi attempt to wipe out the Jewish race. "They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets," he declared at a conference on the holocaust staged in Tehran in 2006.

Report on Naxalism in India

2010-09-02T08:22:00.001-07:00

Why is the Maoist problem existing in India?

The Naxalite problem is a very important issue of Internal terrorism in India along with Communal violence.

Selected articles by Chinmay Patil

Maoist affected regions in India

Report on Naxalism in India

http://www.slideshare.net/chinmayqaz/final-report-on-naxalism

An assessment of development strategies in Naxalite affected areas of Chhattisgarh

Development and Disparity: India is moving forward with the growth rate of above 8 % and striving to achieve double digit growth.

But at the same time inequalities between classes, Urban and rural classes are also increasing. We call India as country of Unity in diversity and there exists diversity in each and every aspect starts from Development to Disparity.

There is a distinct different in the status of development throughout the country and considering development as a parameter whole country is divided by the hypothetical line which passes through the Kanpur (Famously known as Kanpur Line of Disparity).

The States lies on the eastern side of the Line are considered as Backward in context of Development, Infrastructure, Human development index and its seeds lies in the different British revenue systems of Zamindari and Rayotwari and the trend continued after the independence.

We have two worlds of education, two worlds of health, two worlds of transport and two worlds of housing, with a gaping divide in between.

The Constitutional mandate

Mahabalonis Model concentration of wealth in a few hands is ignored in policy making and the Eastern states which are rich in natural resources were systematically exploited in the name of overall development without the consensus of the local tribal and rural peoples.

The regions around the Strategic Natural resources like mines, Forests were intentionally kept underdeveloped. Thousands of people were displaced for the various development projects like Dams, Mines, Power Projects Industrial development. As we surged ahead with our agenda of modernisation, the lack of basic facilities like roads, irrigation, education and electricity, inadequate rehabilitation measures, and repeated use of coercion against the tribals resulted in the exclusion of tribals from the benefits of development. These development processes has actually led to an encroachment on both the living space and the means of livelihood of the tribal population. A sense of desperation and alienation has swept across the tribals who have been systematically marginalized and dispossessed in their homelands.

The tribals have been disproportionate victims of development in India. Since 1950 to 1990 nearly 85.39 lakh tribals have been displaced for some mega project or the other, reservation of forests as National Parks etc. The Scheduled Tribes who constitute 8.1 per cent of the total population of India (Census of india 2001) constitute at least 55.16 % of the total displaced people in the country. The rehabilitation of those displaced Tribals has been dismal and shocking. The Tenth Plan of the government of India stated that ―a population of 21.3 million have been displaced between 1951 and 1990 in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa. Of whom, 8.54 million (40 %) are tribals and of those only 2.12 million (24.8 %) tribals could be resettled, so far. (Datt & Sundaram 2007)

Deprivation and Naxalism. The problem of Naxalism revolves around the issues of deprivation and development. The rapid spread of the Naxal problem in India can be substantially attributed to the total neglect of India's vast tribal population. Almost all over the tribal areas, including Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, tribal people seem to feel a deep sense of exclusion and alienation, which has been manifesting itself in different forms and Naxalism is one of them. The Tribals found their voice in the initial Naxalite ideology which fought for their rights and echoed the alienation problems faced by the Tribals and the fight turned into full-fledged Political movement to such an extent which then dared to challenge the Indian state. As of today the Naxalite insurgency has emerged as the most dangerous threat.

Role of state: The Indian State has viewed the movement as a 'law and order' problem and responded with force. But a 'law and order' approach to the Naxalite insurgency is not a sustainable solution of the problem, since it would not effectively address deep-rooted grievances felt by a majority of India's rural and tribal poor for decades. In 2006 Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh described the Naxalite movement in India as the ―single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by the country. He also stated that Naxalism is not merely a law and order problem, noting that it is directly linked to problems of underdevelopment, exploitation, lack of access to resources, underdeveloped agriculture, lack of employment opportunities, and other factors. Tribal areas, he pointed out, being largely excluded from most public services, are the most deprived, and form a breeding ground for Naxalism.

Seeds of anti Naxalism movement ― Like participants in social movements, the Naxalites have been seen as activists working outside the political system, fighting for a collective cause, however it‘s a fact that it is the Naxalites who have now become a major hindrance in the development of many areas. They have a vested interest in keeping poverty alive since it enables them to expand their territory. Naxal statistics spanning the last three years show that the cadres of CPI (Maoist) have attacked 316 economic targets which gave employment to thousands of local tribals.

There were few issues need to be addressed with respect to current scenario.

1. What are the Fundamental rights for tribals? And how they are different?

2. Why Naxalism Spread rapidly in the underdeveloped states with rich natural resources and majorly tribal population?

3. How and Why Government interventions failed to prevent its spread of Naxalism?

4. How various development schemes/project worked out in the region at different level of government and its effectiveness towards the region development?

5. What is Naxalite government? How it works?

6. How the Jan Jagran Abhiyans emerged and how did it got converted into a much more devised movement of Salwa Judum?

7. Government calls Salwa Judum as a spontaneous reaction of the tribals against dominion of the Naxalism. Is it so?

8. Is Salwa Judum succeeds in containing Naxalism? On ground it faced lots of criticism for human right violations in the area and Villagers are forced to leave their livelihood and migrated to the transit camps set up by the government. What is the ground level situation?

9. An assessment of the Social, Economic impacts of the Salwa Judum over the local villagers and what will be its long term impacts?

10. There were two strong and opposite opinions about the Salwa Judum and movement should be assessed along the neutral opinion so my attempt was along the line to analyse the relevance of the movement.

1. Disparity and Emergence of Naxalism

2. Task: Finding out the causes of the reason

3. Tribal rights

4. Naxalite Governance

5. Salwa Judum

6. Socio economic impact on the region

7. Proposed Planning interventions.

As the Naxalism is the biggest internal security challenge our country ever faced; and considering the wide spread of the Naxalite movement in eastern part of India, larger part of the study area was the infamous Red corridor which lies from Nepal to Tamilnadu and mostly active in states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. It was formed by the total 180 districts in the 13 states (Ministry of Home Affairs,Government Of india 2008-09)

Shashi Tharoor: A man in love with himself and his External affairs

2010-04-18T07:02:00.001-07:00

Shashi Tharoor: A man in love with himself and his External affairs

April 18, 2010

http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_shashi-tharoor-a-man-in-love-with-himself_1372620

New Delhi: Shashi Tharoor was still with the United Nations Organisation when he came to New Delhi around the time the Paul Volcker controversy was raging. He was staying at New Delhi’s beautiful colonial style Imperial Hotel when I along with a young colleague went to meet him.

Tharoor had been in Mumbai the previous day and our newspaper had run a picture of him in that day’s edition. After the usual pleasantries, my colleague fired the first question. “Do you pluck your eyebrows?”

I was taken aback. But Tharoor took it in his stride and laughed it off, joking, “Must I reveal my beauty secrets?”

He then wanted to know why DNA had carried a terrible picture of him, a dark and smudgy one. We promised that the photographer accompanying us would take a better one and print it prominently the next day.

That is Tharoor for you. Meticulous to a fault, hugely talented, bothered about his appearance, and wanting to put his best profile forward.

KC Singh, former secretary in the external affairs ministry, who had watched him from close quarters as he coordinated Tharoor's campaign as India’s candidate for UN secretary-general in 2006, remarked, “He is a narcissist, totally in love with himself and his image.”

But the latest scandal to hit Tharoor has dented his image. No one knows yet whether he will ride the storm, but he has landed himself in the kind of serious trouble that may end up ruining his political career. But he is not one to go down without a fight, and he took on former pal Lalit Modi.

At the UN, which is a formal, hierarchy-driven set-up, Tharoor had not kicked off so many controversies. But even there in the UN, his personal life came in for some tongue-wagging, as he got into a relationship with Christa Giles (while in an existing marriage), a Canadian citizen working at the UN, and later married her. When appointed head of the public affairs division in the UN headquarters in New York, he moved his girlfriend to the office next to him. But as a rule he has been above board.

Chandan Mitra, editor-in-chief of The Pioneer, was in St Stephen's College with Tharoor and ran his campaign for president of the college union. He was always well dressed, remembered Mitra, and had the gift of the gab. Mitra remarked on his confidence: “Shashi thinks he is the cleverest person in the world and can outwit anyone in any subject. This natural overconfidence has and will cause major problems for him.”

Tharoor’s quick rise in the Congress may have also fuelled his confidence and made him believe he could not be touched. A first-time MP, he was given a ministership and has survived quite a few minor hiccups. Many in the Congress believe he has got much more than is due and daggers are out for him.

Tharoor's open and transparent ways may be appreciated abroad, but as a politician in a conservative country, he broke the rules of ‘propriety’ by flaunting his friend Sunanda Pushkar even while he was going through a divorce from his second wife. His entrance at the wedding reception of Jitin Prasada with the resplendent Sunanda in tow created a flutter.

Tharoor could have pulled this off, too, but for the fact that Sunanda also got a sweetheart deal at the Kochi IPL team where Tharoor claims he has no other interest except promoting cricket in Kerala. Tharoor and his aides have tried to turn the entire controversy into a Congress-BJP issue by dragging in Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

But as a minister in charge of the Gulf, Africa, and Latin America, Tharoor cannot be faulted. “He reads his briefs well, is articulate, connects the dots and lines easily, and is an asset to the country,” an official in the ministry said.

Sack Shashi Tharoor, probe if foreign funds are in IPL: LK Advani to govt

2010-04-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

It is shocking breaking news about Sashi Tharoor, who is embroiled in extra-marital/pre-marital affairs.

It is however, more shocking when a notorious criminal politician like Advani accused of 'mass murder' and promoting demolition of Babri Masjid and creating differences between communities, can be a Moral authority and Judge on Morality and Ethics. When is he going to jail for his role in Babri Masjid after more than 17 years.

And, does he want quick judgements for Sashi Tharoor within days?

Sack Shashi Tharoor, probe if foreign funds are in IPL: LK Advani to govt

April 17, 2010
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_sack-shashi-tharoor-probe-if-foreign-funds-are-in-ipl-lk-advani-to-govt_1372599
New Delhi: BJP Parliamentary party head LK Advani today demanded that the prime minister Manmohan Singh sack Shashi Tharoor in the wake of his getting embroiled in Kochi IPL team ownership controversy alleging that the minister of state for external affairs had committed "gross impropriety".

Speaking at a function in New Delhi today, Advani also asked for a thorough probe in all aspects of IPLbidding and also investigate whether foreign funds were involved in it.

"The prime minister must drop Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for external affairs, from the council of ministers because of gross impropriety unbecoming of the office he is occupying," Advani said.

He demanded that it also needs to be probed whether Tharoor is also guilty of abusing his office to secure pecuniary advantage for himself or "for some other person".

BJP had earlier stalled Parliament on the issue and demanded that the prime minister should, immediately after his return from abroad, explain why Tharoor had still not resigned.

"The government should conduct a thorough probe into all aspects of the IPL bidding and ensure that all transactions in this popular tournament remain above board. No wrong-doer must be spared," Advani said.

Other demands of the veteran BJP leader include a look at the tax haven accounts of bidders and others associated with IPL.

"The prime minister must share with the country the outcome of his government’s negotiations with countries in whose banks Indian wealth is known to be stashed away," Advani said, broadening the focus of his demands to include his pet issue of Indian black money stashed abroad.

He lamented that the weaknesses in our current economic system have made it possible for dishonest and unscrupulous people to amass huge wealth by bending and flouting the laws of the land.

"They are using even a popular sport like cricket for scandalous self-enrichment," he said.

"News about the IPL raises suspicions that many of the bidders have been registered in obscure tax havens abroad. It is precisely the secret or benami accounts in these tax havens that have been used for stashing away lakhs of crores of Indian money abroad," Advani insisted.

During the last Lok Sabha elections, BJP had raised the issue of Indian black money kept in foreign tax havens.

"The prime minister promised action in this regard within a 100 days of assuming office. But even after the lapse of nearly one year, nothing has happened," Advani said.

No BJP leader tried to stop Babri demolition': Personal security officer of L K Advani

2010-03-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

How will L K Advani respect the True Testimony of his Personal Security Officer?

How will a rejected Pakistani expatriate respect the Secularism of the Indian Constitution?

How can the father of 'Fascism' respect Testimonies of witnesses?

How will a Home Minister who has allegedly abused his Position of Power (as Home Minister) to harass his ex-daughter-in-law in foreign soil, respect the 'RULE OF THE LAW IN INDIA'?

How can a man who was busy hugging Sadhvis in Demolition mode tell the TRUTH?

You tell me.

No BJP leader tried to stop Babri demolition': Personal security officer of L K Advani Mrs Anju Gupta

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article306489.ece

Senior IPS officer Anju Gupta arrives to appear before the CBI court in Rae Bareli on Friday in connection with Babri Masjid demolition case.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992 took place in the presence of a clutch of top Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh Parivar leaders, none of whom, Lal Krishna Advani included, made an attempt to stop the vandals, said Anju Gupta, senior police officer and the prosecution's star witness in the Ayodhya demolition criminal case on Friday.

Ms. Gupta, who was Mr. Advani's personal security officer (PSO) at the time, told the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Rae Bareli that the BJP leader gave a “joshila” (fiery) speech from the dais, repeating over and over that “mandir yahin banayenge ( the temple will be built right here) and this electrified the kar sevaks.

Ms. Gupta said she was present on the dais for a substantial part of the six hours it took to raze the “disputed structure.” Through this time not once did she see Mr. Advani – or the other leaders present on the makeshift Ramkatha Kunj Manch – order the kar sevaks to halt the demolition. Instead, they made merry, hugged each other as each dome of the 16th century monument fell, and distributed sweets.

The leaders on the manch sang bhajans, made inflammatory speeches, raised provocative slogans and egged the kar sevaks into staying on to finish the work. “Vahan par jashan ka mahoul tha” (the mood was celebratory), she said.

Her requests to the police control room for “force reinforcement” were met with indifference, she said.

Ms. Gupta's testimony is significant for two reasons. Though there were more than a dozen senior government officials present in the town on that day, she alone has come forward to narrate the events leading up to the demolition. Secondly, as Mr. Advani's PSO, she had a vantage view of both the structure as it was being demolished and the dais where over a dozen BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders had gathered. Among them were Mr. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti, Ashok Singhal, Sadhvi and Rithambhara, the former Director General of U.P. police, S.C. Dixit, and Acharya Dharmendra.

Ms. Gupta said she could only hear a part of Mr. Advani's speech as she had to leave the dais to escort the fleet of cars accompanying Mr. Advani. On her way back to the dais, around 11.50 am-noon, she said she spotted kar sevaks, armed with a variety of implements, including pulleys and ropes, climbing atop the domes. Many of them fell to the ground. When she reached the stage, Mr. Advani asked her to describe the situation at the demolition site. On hearing that kar sevaks were falling off the domes, he was very worried, and insisted on going to the spot. However, later he relented and asked her to escort Ms. Bharti to the demolition site, she said.

Pakistani expatriate Advani lies demolished

2010-03-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

It is shocking how BJP bigwigs are trampling the Secularism of the Indian Constitution; and how rejected Pakistani expatriates are fomenting Civil disturbances in India.

Why don't we send Advani back to where he belongs?

Jail or Pakistan is the question.

Advani is easily the most dangerous Pakistani expatriate in India. Any comments now?

Pakistani expatriate Advani lies demolished

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/11/2010032620100326231510982142d0406/Advani-demolished.html

The BJP leader gave a provocative speech in Ayodhya moments before the mosque was demolished, deposes IPS officer Anju Gupta, who was in charge of his security on Dec 6, 1992

Friday, March 26, 2010

Rae Bareli: The ghost of Babri Masjid demolition returned to haunt top BJP leader L K Advani on Friday when a senior woman police officer deposed in a Special Court that he gave a provocative speech in Ayodhya moments before the mosque was demolished by sangh parivar activists.

“On December 6, 1992, Advani made a spirited speech from Ram Katha Kunj manch (dais), barely 150-200 metres from the disputed site which charged the people. “He repeatedly said that the temple would be constructed at the same site,” Anju Gupta, a 1990-batch IPS officer, said in her two-hour-long deposition before Chief Judicial Magistrate Gulab Singh in the court from which public was kept away.

Gupta, who was the personal security officer of Advani in Ayodhya on the fateful day on December 6, 1992, appeared as a prosecution witness in the Special CBI Court in the case in which he and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and other sangh parivar leaders have been accused of inciting violence that led to the demolition.

Now posted with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Delhi, she said Joshi, Bharti, another BJP leader Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Rithambhara also made provocative speeches.

“When the structure was being demolished, the leaders on the dais looked happy. They hugged each other, sweets were being distributed and there was an atmosphere of celebration while they were provoking ‘kar sevaks’ to demolish the structure.

“Uma Bharti and Sadhvi Rithambhara also hugged each other and congratulated Advani and Joshi. None of the leaders present at the spot made any effort to stop the demolition,” Gupta said.

Advani, a former deputy prime minister, was discharged in the case in 2002 after conspiracy charge was dropped. But, three years later the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court reinstated the charges of intentionally provoking people into rioting, arson and indulging in rioting with intent to create disorder as well as creating discord among communities.

Gupta, who was then posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Faizabad, was on special duty entrusted with the security of Advani.

Recalling the sequence of events on the fateful day, she said Advani and other leaders had reached Ayodhya on December 5 night. The next morning they went to Ram Katha Kunj.

Gupta said when Advani and Joshi reached the place, Katiyar was already making a speech in which he sarcastically said,

“Even a bird cannot flap its wings here”.

Anju Gupta will be exposed: BJP

If you thought the testimony of senior police officer Anju Gupta on Friday against L K Advani has scared BJP, you are wrong. Senior leaders of the party are least worried and claim Gupta’s deposition will fall flat as she has been contradicting herself.

“It is a testimony that will be laughed at for its inconsistencies. This will come to the fore during cross examination, which will happen in the next 20 days. The case of course will go on for next two years,” said a senior BJP leader.

Gupta made one set of statements to the CBI after the demolition. She made another before the Liberhan Commission. BJP sources said Gupta altered her deposition post her marriage to Safi Ahsan Rizvi, who is currently an officer with the Union Home Minstry (He is in Union Home Minister’s offce). The two crucial changes in her testimony are that Advani shared sweets with other leaders after the demolition and that he along with other BJP leaders were provoking kar sevaks to demolish the structure, the leader said.

Babri demolition case: Senior IPS officer testifies against Advani

2010-03-26T01:08:00.000-07:00

Babri demolition case: Senior IPS officer testifies against Advani

Mar 26, 2010

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Babri-demolition-case-Senior-IPS-officer-testifies-against-Advani/articleshow/5726315.cms

Babri case: IPS officer testifies against Advani

LUCKNOW: Senior IPS officer, Anju Gupta, deposed before the special court in Rae Bareli on Friday as a prosecution witness against BJP leader L K Advani and other Sangh Parivar leaders in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case, in which they have been accused of inciting violence.

Gupta is one of the CBI’s most important witnesses to establish that the eight accused in the case, including L K Advani, made no attempt to stop the demolition of the mosque on December 6, 1992.

While deposing before the court, Gupta stuck to her earlier testimony that incriminates L K Advani in the demolition of the mosque. She had earlier told investigators the senior BJP leaders, including Advani, were euphoric after the 1992 Babri Masjid razing,

Anju Gupta, who is currently posted with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) at Delhi, is the ninth witness to depose before the special court in connection with Babri Masjid demolition case. Her deposition before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court will be recorded.

Gupta, who was posted as Advani's personal security officer at the time lakhs of karsewaks had converged in Ayodhya, had already deposed before the CBI which is investigating the crime.

She was serving as an additional superintendent of police (ASP) (IPS under training) in Faizabad in 1992 and was posted to supervise the security of the Ram Katha Kunj Manch in the vicinity of Babri Masjid, which was occupied by Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya and Sadhvi Ritambhara.

In an earlier detailed statement to the CBI, sources said, Gupta is believed to have categorically stated that not only the eight accused did nothing to stop the mob of karsewaks but on the contrary, expressed concern over the possibility of the karsewaks getting injured while razing the structure to ground. Her statement formed a key part of the criminal case the CBI filed against the leaders.

The special CBI court at Rae Bareli had earlier discharged Advani on the plea that charges against him were based on mere suspicion. This followed dropping of the serious charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120 B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by CBI on the directives of the Allahabad High Court.

The revised chargesheet contained relatively milder sections under the Indian Penal Code - Sections 153-A, 153-B (propagating communal violence), 147, 149 (rioting) and 505 (spreading ill-will).

L K Advani writes on NRI Wealth stashed abroad..

2010-03-17T00:03:00.000-07:00

L K Advani seems to be running out of ideas, and groping in the dark about getting money from Swiss Banks (mired in red tape).

See my earlier blog-postings exposing Swiss Bank NRI Black money.

The priorities for India is to follow-up on the Money trail.

The more urgent priorities for India is to Control the Internal Civil Disturbances promoted by certain individuals and political parties, based on Discrimination and Intolerance.

References:

1. Swiss Bank Jan 2009

http://unauthorizedshadowprimeministerindia.blogspot.com/2009/01/india-tops-1456-billion-black-money-in.html

2. Swiss Bank

http://unauthorizedshadowprimeministerindia.blogspot.com/search/label/Swiss%20Banks

3. Black money

http://unauthorizedshadowprimeministerindia.blogspot.com/search/label/Black%20money

Read L K Advani's write-up

WANTED : A White Paper on Indian Wealth Stashed Abroad

When in the year 2008, the BJP first raised the issue of Indian money stashed abroad in Swiss Banks, or other tax havens, we were ridiculed by Congress Party spokesmen. Why did you not pursue the matter when NDA was in office for six years, they asked. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh himself described it as an election stunt.

I feel happy therefore that for the first time in the history of the Indian Parliament the President’s Address itself has referred to this matter and told the joint session: “India is an active part of the global efforts to facilitate exchange of tax information and take action against tax evaders.”

In Parliament, both the Prime Minister and Finance Minister have not only conceded the significance of the issue but affirmed that Government is proactively pursuing the issue, and negotiating with twenty countries for exchange of information about Indian nationals who have hoarded their tax- evaded, or ill-earned wealth abroad.

The country, however, will not remain satisfied with just affirmations and announcements. Ever since the BJP has raised this matter two years back, Congress leaders have been pooh-poohing the estimates of Indian wealth abroad made by the BJP Task Force which studied the matter. A senior Congress Minister said these estimates were based on obscure sources on the internet.

The Task Force set up by the BJP comprised Shri S. Gurumurthy (Chartered Accountant and investigative writer, Chennai); Shri Ajit Doval (Security Expert, New Delhi); Dr. R. Vaidyanathan (Professor of Finance, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore); and Shri Mahesh Jethmalani (Senior lawyer, Mumbai).

This Task Force, after studying various sources which had dealt with this subject estimated that Indian wealth parked in foreign tax havens could be anywhere between 25 lakh crores to 70 lakh crores!

It is significant that in a front page coverage of the Prime Minister’s speech in Parliament last week in which he mentioned that India had completed its discussions with twenty countries including Switzerland, a leading daily of Mumbai also gave some estimates of Indian wealth abroad which approximates to what the BJP Task Force had said. The Daily DNA of Mumbai (6th March, 2010) reported: While no official data is available on the quantum of such funds parked in tax havens like Switzerland, it is estimated that such black money held by Indians nationals could be worth $ 140 billion (That is more than Rs. 6.38 lakh crores!).

So long as the west dominated world economy was doing well for the U.S. and other western nations, the entire world, including India, were reconciled to the banking secrecy of these tax havens. They could do nothing about the laws of these countries. But the recent global economic crisis made not only President Obama, but also several European countries like U.K., France and Germany change their attitude, and join hands to make a determined effort to have Banking Secrecy laws in these countries changed.

Last year Washington forced the Swiss banking giant USB to disclose the names of 4450 American clients suspected of hiding assets in Switzerland.

Incidentally, I may mention that a writ petition in respect of Indian monies secreted in Swiss Banks etc. is pending in the Supreme Court and in this petition there is specific mention of a Pune stud farm owner, one Hasan Ali Khan, who had deposited a massive amount in Switzerland’s UBS Bank. It is gathered that the concerned bank has confirmed this, but Indian authorities have not been able as yet to satisfy the Swiss government’s demand for proper documentation!

I had first raised this matter with Dr. Manmohan Singh after Germany publicly declared that they had received from Liechenstein a list of German account holders in that tax haven, and the list happened to include some Indian names also. They were willing to share this with India, if officially asked. It is understood that a list of fifty names have since been received by our government. The Indian Government has refused to disclose these names on the plea that Germany has imposed certain legal hurdles on such disclosure. It is rather odd that Germany has released its own list and yet wants to ensure that the Indian names remain under wraps. Or is it our own reluctance?

Now Government has formally told Parliament that negotiations have been completed with twenty countries including Switzerland.

I believe that events have reached the present pass principally because BJP made this issue an election issue. I felt happy that during the election campaign this matter was hotly debated among the people. Sanyasis like Swami Ramdevji would invariably refer to it in his sermons. In an article published by Financial Times, under title “India’s Curse of Black Money”, Raymond Baker, Director, Global Financial Integrity, wrote: “India has shown that this issue resonates with voters. Politicians in other developing democracies would be wise to take note.”

I wish to stress that Government is duty bound to share with the people the outcome of their negotiations with the twenty countries.

I urge that a White Paper be published on this issue, and the nation be taken into confidence.

Lastly, let me also take this opportunity to wish all my countrymen on the occasion of Navsamvatsar [Chaitra Pratipada], Ugadi, Gudhi Padwa, Cheti chand and Chaitra Navratri.

L.K. Advani

New Delhi

March 15, 2010

L K Advani writes on......Nehru’s foreign policy blunders on China and Pakistan

2010-03-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

We know about the unqualified Advani's role as a Teacher and a Journalist.

Now he gets in the role of a pseudo-Historian. Anyway, let us read the rantings of a pseudo-madman. L K Advani analyzes half-truths from the writings of Zakaria.

Anyway, you can't expect sensible Foreign policy from a man who has allegedly abused his position of Power as Home Minister to harass an ex-member of his Home (an ex-wife of his son).

I can't figure out, why this guy writes unconstitutional 'Titles' for our political figures, especially after the Royal Titles have been abolished in India.

L K Advani writes on......Nehru’s foreign policy blunders on China and Pakistan

The Congress Party has always projected Pandit Nehru as an exemplary helmsman of India’s foreign policy.

The founder of our political movement, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerji, on the other hand, regarded Panditji’s handling of Pakistan, as well as China, as two egregious blunders of his.

Sadly, the shock that Nehru suffered when confronted by China’s gross betrayal in 1962 virtually cost him his life. His mishandling of Pakistan has left terrorism and Kashmir as two festering sores for our body politik right up to this day.

Fareed Zakaria, Editor of Newsweek International (whose late father was a committed Congressman) has recently made some very pertinent observations about Nehru’s conduct of India’s Foreign Policy. A Penguin publication by Zakaria has been titled “The Post American world”. In this book Zakaria says that the “central paradox of India” today is that “its society is open, eager and confident ready to take on the world”, but its state – its ruling class – is “hesitant, cautious and suspicious of the changing realities around it”. The Newsweek Editor adds: “Nowhere is this tension more obvious than in the realm of foreign policy, the increasingly large and important task of determining how India should fit into the new world”.

Zakaria’s book recalls that when Mountbatten suggested that there be a powerful chief of defense staff, Nehru turned down the suggestion.

Zakaria adds “A week into his new government, he walked over to the defense ministry and was furious to find military officers working there (as they do in every defense ministry in the world). Since then all armed service personnel working in New Delhi’s ‘South Block’ wear civilian clothes”.

Pandit Nehru remained India’s Prime Minister from 1947 to 1964. Throughout his tenure he was his own Foreign Minster. K.P.S. Menon, one of our first foreign secretaries, has observed in his autobiography: “We had no precedents to fall back upon because India had no foreign policy of her own until she became independent …our policy therefore necessarily rested on the intuition of one man, who was Foreign Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.”

Zakaria goes on to make a rather severe summing up of Nehru’s foreign policy management thus :

“Nehru rooted India’s foreign policy in abstract ideas rather than a strategic conception of national interests. He disdained alliances, pacts, and treaties, seeing them as part of the old rules of real politik, and was uninterested in military matters.”

Ironically, Fareed Zakaria writes, India’s policies became “especially tough-minded and shrewd during the reign of Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi.” We all know that it was during her regime that Bangladesh was carved out, and that India took its initial step into the field of nuclear weaponry. Those who have been following the development of India into a full fledged nuclear weapons state are aware that Pokharan I took place in 1974, during Mrs. Gandhi’s tenure. The process then started was completed by Prime Minister Vajpayee through Pokharan II, where on May 11, 1998, three underground nuclear tests were successfully conducted.

There can hardly be a more glaring instance of Nehruji’s unconcern for the India’s own strategic interests than his refusal to accept a U.S. offer in 1955 of a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council, till then held by Taiwan. He insisted that the seat be given to China. Interestingly, this fact is mentioned in his book on Pandit Nehru by Shashi Tharoor, an MOS in Dr. Manmohan Singh Government.

When Nehru declined to accept the U.S. proposal, his argument was that he did not want U.S. to marginalise China. We thereby only hurt our own interests.

In 2008, a conclave of foreign ministers of BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) was held at Yekaterinburg (Russia). At this conclave Russia pressed that the conclave support India’s plea to secure a permanent place in the U.N. Security Council. Russia’s move did not succeed because it was strongly opposed by China !

L.K. Advani

New Delhi

15th February, 2010

L K Advani's muscular thoughts on 'Compulsory Voting' and my humble cross-references

2010-03-09T23:11:00.000-08:00

For Advani, issues are about the 'Iron Man (with Balls of Brass)'-kind of masculinity, with strong elements of oppression and Dominance.

The debate on Compulsory Voting is posted below in its entirety with riposte to Advanis' muscular article.

I repeat my earlier query? What are Advani's Qualifications, experiences and skills as a Teacher and Journalist. It is easy to understand the Goebbel's principle of the Lie becoming the truth.

The issues are the following:

Modes of enforcement and sanctions for non-participation
Demand for an explanation
Reprimand
Name-and-shame systems
Fines
Use-it-or-lose it systems: removal of rights of civic participation
Prohibition of public employment for non-voters
Loss of services
Imprisonment

Exemptions

Exclusions from the right to participate in elections
Age
Mental incompetence
Citizenship
Imprisonment
Military service
Residence

Exemptions from the obligation to participate in elections
Gender
Age
Infirmity
Citizenship
Residence or location on election day
Literacy
Public duty
Inability to reach the polls due to unforeseen circumstances
Discretion of judge or court
Religious belief or practice

COMPULSORY VOTING – AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME
http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/compulsory-voting-%E2%80%93-an-idea-whose-time-has-come
The first non Congress Government formed in New Delhi was the result of people’s anger against the 1975 emergency. In this government, headed by Shri Morarji Desai, I had my first experience of Government.The Prime Minister asked me whether I had any personal preference in the matter of portfolio. My response was unhesitating : Information and Broadcasting.

Three factors prompted me to make this choice. As a journalist I was familiar with the media. My opinion was that the maximum damage caused to democracy during the emergency was because of curbs imposed on the media and on media men. Thirdly, for long, I had been pleading that the Government stranglehold on Akashwani must be smashed, and autonomy be conferred on it.

As I and B Minister I came across the script of a feature broadcast by the BBC which I found of great interest in the course of my campaigning for electoral reforms. The programme was a serial on the functioning of British Parliament over the centuries. In these papers, I read about a remarkable incident that occurred in eighteenth century Britain.

A member of the House of Commons received a letter from his constituents in which he was asked to vote against certain excise proposals in the Budget. According to the BBC feature, the M.P. sent a stinging reply to his voters as follows :

“Gentlemen, I have received your letter about the excise, and I am surprised at your insolence in writing to me at all.

“You know, and I know, that I bought this constituency.

“You know, and I know, that I am now determined to sell it.

“And you know what you think I don’t know, that you are looking for another buyer.

“And I know what you certainly don’t know, that I have found another constituency to buy.”

Buying and selling of parliamentary constituencies in Britain was no exception then. It was the rule, Very often seats were publicly auctioned – and either sold outright or leased out on an annual basis : A parliamentary publication, Our Parliament, by Strathearn Gordon notes :

“Between 1812 and 1832, ￡5000 to ￡6000 was the ordinary price of a seat ‘purchased’ for Parliament or ￡1800 if ‘rented’ for a year.”

But today, elections in Britain are by and large clean, The history of electoral reforms in Britain should help dispel the general cynicism prevalent in India that there is no real remedy for the growing influence of money power in elections or that, as our communist friends are inclined to assert, in a ‘ bourgeois democracy’ this is inevitable.

***

If a survey is taken of the comparative percentage of voting in different sectors of the society, classified education wise, I have little doubt that voting percentage among the graduates, the post graduates, and those in the still higher categories, would be far, far lower than at the lower rungs of society.

Is this not a situation that is bound to affect the quality of Indian democracy adversely ? Can this be changed ?

I feel it can be. One simple way is the innovative measure adopted by Narendra Bhai Modi – compulsory voting. Gujarat has introduced this measure for all local body elections. The Law has been passed by the state Assembly, but it is still to be implemented. The rules etc. are still being worked out.

Not many may be aware that as many as 25 countries inhabited by more than 700 million people today have compulsory voting even for their parliamentary election. These countries include Australia, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Thailand and Singapore. I feel political thinkers in India also must apply their mind to this.

I have seen a lot of literature these days on the functioning of democracies. In these writings, concern is being expressed about the fact that in some of the important democracies of the world like Canada, UK, and France, voter turn out has been gradually declining, Compulsory voting, it is being increasingly felt, may be a remedy.

L.K. Advani
New Delhi

March 07, 2010

>>
Compulsory Voting Debate
http://aceproject.org/main/english/es/esc07a.htm
Universal suffrage is today considered a sine qua non of democratic rule. But what about universal participation? Should the right to vote be complemented with a legal duty to exercise it to assure this goal? While a social norm of voting may be said to exist in many democracies, few have elevated it to a legal citizen duty. Nevertheless, it is an option available to new democracies and worth contemplating as a means to assure high levels of voting, which is likely to enhance the legitimacy of representative institutions and of the political system generally.

Among the long-standing democracies that make voting compulsory in elections are Australia, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Other well established democratic nations - The Netherlands in 1970 and Austria more recently - repealed such legal requirements after they had been in force for decades. Mandatory voting is also used in Latin America. Examples there include Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. In some countries voting has been made compulsory at the discretion of sub-national governments, or is applied only to certain types of elections.

Although high levels of turnout can also be found under voluntary voting, there is little doubt that compulsory voting laws are quite effective in raising levels of participation in the countries that have them. This can be inferred from the differences in turnout in a cross-national comparison; better still, it is evident in the surges and declines in turnout following adoption and repeal of mandatory voting laws, respectively, in jurisdictions that availed themselves of this option.

It is not possible to generalize about the percentage gain in turnout that can be achieved by making voting obligatory. The increase depends on two factors: how many non-voters are available for mobilization - what the turnout looks like in the status-quo condition - and the effectiveness of the law, which will be affected by the respect the law commands and/or the vigor with which it is enforced.

Obviously, the highest potential gains can be realized where voter participation is very low. In a situation where turnout is already high for other reasons (e.g., because of intense partisanship and very competitive races, or because of a well-entrenched social norm) any gain attributable to compulsion will - by contrast - only be incremental.

As for the degree of compliance among recalcitrant voters and the reasons for it, the evidence is less unequivocal. In a number of countries the effectiveness of mandatory voting laws apparently does not depend on the law being actively enforced and penalties being imposed. This would indicate that the law per se engenders compliance; perhaps because it helps solidify a social norm of voting that is enforced by society informally without requiring government action. This cannot be taken for granted, however, as respect for the law - and thus compliance - is likely to vary cross-nationally. Mere enactment of compulsory voting will not necessarily assure high turnout. Such a law might also have to be given some teeth.

If the conditions allowing for the law to shape behavior by virtue of its normative authority do not exist, the success of mandatory voting may depend on the manner of enforcement. This would naturally require a certain minimum level of administrative capacity on the part of the state, and would also entail costs, although all or part of the cost may be recovered through fines. Countries that enforce mandatory voting laws typically levy fines. Some impose public embarrassment on non-voters or even deny government services or benefits.

While there appear to be strong practical and philosophical underpinnings to the desire to implement compulsory voting, there are significant objections against mandatory voting in principle and practice. The most common objection on normative grounds is that citizens ought to have the right NOT to vote as much as the right to vote. Some citizens boycott the election on principle arguing that compulsory voting impinges upon this basic freedom, while many people's failure to vote is borne out of apathy. Second, the argument has been made in Australia that compulsory voting frees political parties from their responsibilities to campaign, energize, and transport voters. This state of affairs favours the established parties over the minor parties and independents whose supporters are more likely to be motivated. Finally, compulsory voting carries with it tremendous cost and administration implications for the state. There are the questions of the accuracy of the voters' list, voter information, and the mechanisms for the follow-up fine or punishment system for non-voters.

Things Election System Designers Ought to Consider

First and most obvious is the question whether low turnout is, or is likely to be, a problem. If not, the case for mandatory voting will be weaker, although sometimes it is argued that a legally entrenched duty to vote is of symbolic value and may reinforce a social norm of voting. Thus, keeping turnout up even when the conditions that stimulated high turnout before the institution of mandatory voting attenuate or disappear altogether.

Second, if compulsory voting is agreed upon, there are more specific design issues: should such a provision be embodied in the constitution or in statutory law? Should voting merely be declared to be a 'civic duty' (as in Italy's constitution), or established as an affirmative citizen obligation, as in Australia? What sanctions should be used and under what conditions should they be imposed, if at all? In many jurisdictions the sanction provided by law are not actually, or only rarely, applied. What legal excuses (e.g., illness, physical impairment, absence due to travel) should be condoned? Should certain population groups - illiterates, persons of advanced age - be exempted from the duty? There are also financial and administrative considerations: can non-voters be identified and targeted for enforcement in an efficient and effective manner? If fines are levied, do most offenders have the ability to pay? Should alternative sanctions be imposed in lieu of fines? If so, what form should they take? Can the enforcement system by self-financing by recovering its costs?

Third, before mandatory voting is imposed, the objections, both normative and political, must be addressed effectively. The 'right to abstain' is often asserted in the United States, and explicable with reference to its individualistic and rights-focused political culture, but the argument is aired elsewhere as well. Ideological resistance may also exist in formerly communist nations, which still labor under the legacy of forced participation in state-sponsored activities.

Nevertheless, all governments ultimately rely on coercion to back up socially desirable policies and to assure compliance. Even more importantly, many obligations that governments impose and that citizens take for granted, such as taxes, conscription, and even compulsory schooling, are much more onerous, time-consuming and intrusive than a citizen's occasional trip to a polling station. Given the importance of elections, the social good to be furthered could be seen to outweigh individual inconvenience. Also, it must be noted that with conventional election administration and balloting methods citizens cannot actually be forced to make voting choices anyhow, lest the secrecy of their vote be compromised. At best the state can bring a recalcitrant citizen to the polling place. The only act that can be compelled is attendance, leading some scholars to suggest that we speak of 'compulsory turnout' rather than 'compulsory voting.' The Dutch law was in effect written in such a way as to merely require attendance.

Objections may also be fuelled by considerations of partisan advantage and disadvantage. Empirical studies in a number of countries have shown class skews in electoral participation. To the extent that mandatory voting laws raise turnout, parties of the left might stand to benefit disproportionately. Parties drawing their support from the socially and economically advantaged segments of the electorate, by contrast, might suffer losses in vote share. Not surprisingly such concerns also figure prominently in current debates over whether to continue mandatory voting in countries that have it, most notably Belgium and Australia.

There is a pragmatic argument for mandatory voting that may appeal to political parties across the spectrum, particularly in a situation where a party system is not yet consolidated. When the state assumes responsibility for citizens turning up at the polling stations, parties and candidate can focus on promoting their programs and on swaying voters, rather than dissipating their energies on getting the voters to come. This was apparently the reason why the introduction of compulsory voting in Australia earlier in the century was rather noncontroversial. The socialization of the cost, and the benefits this provides for political parties may make the proposal more palatable politically, thus facilitating adoption, perhaps even by consensus. At least as long as one of the parties does not have a clear mobilizational advantage under the voluntary voting regime, which would be neutralized by compulsory voting.

Finally, a word must be said about side effects. It should be noted that mandatory voting will in all likelihood increase the percentage of invalid ballots due to deliberate spoiling or casting of blank ballots as a form of protest. But this may not be a persuasive argument against mandatory voting laws for two reasons. First, evidence indicates that the increase in turnout exceeds the increase in invalid ballots so that there are net gains in participation. Second, even invalid ballots can play a useful function. Indeed, under a compulsory voting regime the casting of an invalid ballot may become an additional electoral choice option that carries a political message (a vote for none-of-the-above, as it were). It is certainly much easier to interpret than mere abstention because it requires a positive act, whereas abstention constitutes a mere failure to participate. Moreover, a ballot spoiler would still be a participant operating within the system, using the ballot as a means to communicate disaffection. While nonvoting might easily be dismissed as a sign of complacency or apathy, a rise in the percentage of invalid ballots under a mandatory voting regime could serve as an indicator that the concerns of a growing segment of the public are not being heeded by politicians.

http://www.ippr.org.uk/pressreleases/?id=2083

http://www.unu.edu/unupress/2008/fullParticipation.html

http://www.unu.edu/unupress/sample-chapters/full_participation_web.pdf

Dialogue and (External) Terror should not exist:L K Advani ?? However, Dialogue and internal terror/civil disturbance can ????

2010-03-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

It is shocking how an old megalomaniac fossil talks about India being a 'Bipolar' democracy (It is actually a multipolar one).

It is humourous that the 'Founder of Divisive politics' is criticising the Dialogue and Terror policy.

Hey, Advani, Do you consider fomenting 'Civil Disturbances'(based on Religion) in India to be more serious than External Terrorism?? Think about it.

Are internal terrorists not worse than external ones?

Who were the 'Wise Terrorists' who laid the Wreath of Secularism for Jinnah?

Anyway, read on in L K Advani's own words.........................

UPA’s shabby approach to Indo-Pak talks : A self-inflicted insult

http://blog.lkadvani.in/blog-in-english/upa%E2%80%99s-shabby-approach-to-indo-pak-talks-a-self-inflicted-insult

When in July 2001, General Musharraf returned from the Agra summit he was very angry with the Indian Government for having invited him and sent him back empty-handed, without even a joint statement containing some goody goody observations about Indo-Pak amity.

In his initial reaction all his vitriol seemed concentrated on me. Later, however, in his memoir, In The Line of Fire, he did not spare even Shri Vajpayee. His acerbic comment was:

“There is the man and there is the moment. When man and moment meet, history is made. Vajpayee failed to grasp the moment, and lost his moment in history”

Taking due note of his remarks, Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee reacted, and put the record straight thus:

“General Musharraf’s reported comment on the failure of our talks at Agra have surprised me. Every one in our government was acutely alive to the fact that there could be no normalcy in Indo-Pak relations until cross border terrorism, which had cost thousands of innocent lives, ended. But during our talks General Musharraf took a stand that the violence that was taking place in Jammu and Kashmir could not be described as ‘terrorism’. He continued to claim that the bloodshed in the state was nothing but the people’s battle for freedom. It was this stand of General Musharraf that India just could not accept. And this was responsible for the failure of the Agra Summit.”

Indeed, my own opinion is that it was Shri Vajpayee’s uncompromising stand at Agra in respect of cross border terrorism that fetched him later his historical triumph, when in January 2004, after the SAARC conference General Musharraf made a joint statement with Shri Vajpayee at Islamabad taking a position on terrorism absolutely different from the one he took at Agra, and assuring Vajpayee that he would not permit Pakistan or any territory in Pakistan’s control to be used to support terrorism in any manner.

A seeming failure to secure a breakthrough at Agra became converted into a remarkable success at Islamabad, thanks essentially to firmness.

Firmness evoked respect then while India’s irresolute attitude this time only invited insults.

Our Foreign Secretary called the recently concluded meeting “constructive” but her Pakistani counterpart ridiculed the meeting and said his country did not believe in “cosmetic engagement” and did not want India to “lecture” them by demanding that Pakistan should “do this or that”.

Last week, in a resolution at Indore on “National Security and Jammu and Kashmir“, the National Council of the BJP said:

“A ‘dialogue without terror’ was NDA policy; for the UPA , however, ‘dialogue and terror‘ can coexist. We hold that when terror stalks India, having no dialogue is a legitimate diplomatic option.”

In his statement to Parliament after the Foreign Secretary level talks, External Affairs Minister Shri S.M. Krishna described the meeting as “constructive and useful” but the only concrete outcome that seemed to emerge from the 500-words statement was the Foreign Secretaries “agreement to stay in touch”.

Indeed, let anyone interpret in plain language what this concluding paragraph of the Minister’s statement means:

“India’s engagement with Pakistan will be predicated, as it has been since the Mumbai terrorist attack, on the response of Pakistan to our core concerns on terrorism. However, we do not dilute our position, or our resolve to defeat terrorism as our Prime Minister has said, by talking to any country. Communication and engagement represent the best way forward.” (emphasis added)

Is dialogue linked with Pakistan’s abandoning its terrorism, or have the two been de-linked as was clearly said by our P.M. at Sharm-el-Sheikh ? In that statement, at least, there was clarity; in this latest one, there is nothing but contradictons and obfuscation.

As I have said earlier, Government of India’s U-turn on the issue of dialogue with Pakistan seems to be the upshot of Washington’s ‘nudge’.

The Obama administration has lately confirmed our observation officially. P.J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs said: “The Obama Administration have long encouraged the restoration of dialogue between the two countries. It is an important step for Pakistan and India, and we commend the political leadership in both countries.”

* * * *

On February 2, 2010, Dennis C. Blair, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, gave a 46-page intelligence report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in which he has affirmed that Pakistan’s cooperation with U.S. anti-terrorist operations is limited to action against outfits Islamabad thinks are against Pakistan. Blair says :

“Islamabad has demonstrated determination and persistence in combating militants it perceives dangerous to Pakistan’s interests. However, it still judges it does not need to confront groups that do not threaten it directly, and maintains historical support to the Taliban.”

Dennis Blair adds:

“Islamabad’s conviction that militant groups are an important part of its strategic arsenal to counter India’s military and economic advantages will continue to limit Pakistan’s incentive to pursue an across-the-board effort against extremism.”

This report only makes it evident that if the international community is earnest about defeating terrorism, Pakistan must be forced not just to dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, but also renounce the use of terrorist outfits against India and formally ban these outfits, a step implicit in Gen. Musharraf’s 2004 public statement.

L.K. Advani

New Delhi

March 01, 2010

L K Advani is a Pseudo-moderate, fascist and Pseudo-secular: Poll results

2010-01-25T20:24:00.000-08:00

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE LAL KISHENCHAND ADVANI? (CHOOSE MORE THAN ONE ANSWER)

60th Republic Day Speech 2010

2010-01-25T20:08:00.000-08:00

As we celebrate the 60th Republic Celebration, I take this moment to address the nation.

I will keep the speech simple. It is our duty, and responsiblity to protect the Rights of all Indians irrespective of their roots or origins.

The speech delivered in 2009 focused on the Indian Constitution and protecting the Rights of Indians.

We have crossed a lot of ground since then, and the cruel Fundamentalist L K Advani has been reduced to a pathetic moron delivering eulogies, back-tracking from taking claims, sounding pseudo-secular, etc. To summarize, the nation has been protected from the clutches of a Hitler-like figure, insecure about his own identity as a Pakistani expatriate.

The Rights of minorities have been toyed with by this cruel autocrat masquerading as a pseudo-Secular benevelont dictator. He has repeatedly reminded the Christians that their loyalties with Rome (Vatican city) and the Muslims that the origins of their religion is in Saudi Arabia.

However, I take this opportunity to remind Advani that his origins are from Pakistan, and his Fundamental Fascist principles are a demonstration of his loyalty to the fascist Mussolini from ITALY.

It is time that Advani retired disgracefully from the limelight and helps Pakistan solve its problems.

So, fellow Indians. Do be vigilant about the Satanic Deceivers who masquerade as angels of Light.

And, Advani, retire before you are thrown into jail for further atrocities against ordinary Indians. You do not have to remind Indians of their status in India.

Sincere Committment to a Vicious Cause 2: Election Manifesto - 2009: Highlights: Determined Leader (determined to destroy the nation) !!??

2010-01-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

L K Advani's failure as a leader has shown that the entire country knows that he is the Biggest Danger to Indian Society. The only question I ask now is when will ordinary Indians get justice, and this **** is punished as per the Liberhan Commision report?

When the NDA was first formed, How many members or Leaders had more than 1 wife (at least 2 party leaders who supported the BJP), and how many BJP members have undergone Sham second marriages (at least 1 by Count)? When will Uniform Civil Code be brought about when the preacher is the Abuser of the Law?

L K Advani 's Election Manifesto - 2009: Highlights (In his own Words)

http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/839/421/

DETERMINED LEADER (sic: Determined to destroy the nation), DECISIVE GOVERNMENT (sic: deciding to destroy the Constitution)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY and HIGHLIGHTS

PUTTING POOR FIRST:

1. All BPL families to get 35kg of rice or wheat every month at Rs 2 per kg. This will be available against Food Coupons redeemable both at PDS and private outlets.

2. Ensure farm loans at a maximum interest rate of 4 percent.

3. Waive agricultural loans.

4. Introduce a Farm Income Insurance Scheme through which both price and produce will be insured

5. Irrigate 35 million hectares of additional farmland within 5 years.

6. Initiate special schemes for the urban poor, such as loans at 4 percent interest to poor vendors.

7. Set up a “Workers Bank” to provide a safety net for unorganized sector workers.

8. Revise minimum wages and ensure strict implementation of the Wages Act.

ECONOMY GROWS, INDIA PROSPERS

1. Generate employment through massive public spending on infrastructure projects. Complete the implementation of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream projects: National Highway Development Project by building 15-20 km of new highways every day; and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, to link all villages with over 500 people by all-weather road.

2. Introduce schemes to encourage private industry and services sectors. Ensure a low tax, low interest rate regime.

3. Exempt personal Income Tax for those earning up to Rs 3 lakh per annum. For women and Senior Citizens, the exemption will be Rs 3.5 lakh per annum. This will benefit over 3.5 crore people.

4. Complete exemption for interest income on bank deposits for all other than corporates and those who have business income.

5. Scrap Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT), which is a source of harassment to employees and employers alike.

6. Abolish CST and fix a ceiling of 12-14 percent on GST.

7. Ensure watertight monitoring of regulatory bodies so that the public is secured from companies indulging in fraudulent practices in the stock markets.

8. Construct 10,00,000 housing for the poor units every year; kick-start the real estate sector that is suffering at present. Bring down interest on housing loans to make urban housing affordable.

9. Take firm steps to identify and retrieve Indian money stashed away in foreign banks. Estimated at Rs. 25 lakh crore-Rs. 75 lakh crore, getting this amount back through international cooperation will be enough to complete road and power connectivity throughout the country; ensure setting up of quality schools in all villages. This quantum of black money, if recovered, will amount to allocating Rs 4 crore to every Indian village to improve living conditions in the countryside.

10. Boost tourism sector: Identify 50 destinations and develop infrastructure, connectivity. Double foreign tourist arrivals in 5 years to help generate employment in hospitality industry.

11. Ban on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail sector to help domestic retail trade.

WAR AGAINST ENEMIES WITHIN AND WITHOUT (Ha-Ha, Look who's talking, the Biggest Enemy within, cross-border from Pakistan, not home-grown)

1. BJP’s robust commitment to securing the nation against its enemies is well known. Our first priority will be to take stern steps against terrorists, cross-border or home-grown. An improved POTA-type law will be introduced. The intelligence mechanism shall be overhauled. India’s 4000-km long coastline will be fully protected by enhanced naval security.

2. We will systematically detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants (haha Look who's talking, a Pakistani immigrant) who have emerged as a major source of homegrown terror. Fencing of the India-Bangladesh border, deliberately neglected by the UPA in pursuit of vote bank politics, will be speedily completed.

3. Use coercive diplomacy to isolate and compel countries engaging in exporting terror across the border to stop their misadventure. Ensure that the foreign tap of separatist groups in India is completely turned off.

4. Wage a relentless war against Maoist groups throughout the country using the highly successful and popular Chhattisgarh model.

5. Introduce a comprehensive National Identity Card for all citizens of India.

JAI JAWAN IN ACTION

1. All members of the armed forces and the para-military shall be exempted from payment of Income Tax. This will benefit nearly 20 lakh people.

2. Take steps to set up a separate Pay Commission for the armed forces. Also revisit the existing pay structure to ensure a better deal.

3. Implement one-rank-one-pension.

4. Push State Governments to introduce better schemes for the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen and explore avenues for resettling them with gainful employment.

ENERGY SAVED, ENERGY GAINED:

1. Generate an additional 120,000 MW of electricity in 5 years through speedy conclusion of ongoing projects while sanctioning new power plants. 20% of this will be through harnessing non-conventional energy sources.

2. Reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels by promoting renewable energy options such as run-on-river electricity projects, solar, wind power and biomass.

3. Secure energy needs through aggressive diplomatic and commercial moves in oil-producing countries.

WOMEN EMPOWERED, NATION STRENGTHENED

1. Introduce the Madhya Pradesh BJP Government’s highly successful ‘Ladli Lakshmi’ Scheme throughout India to directly transfer funds to the school going girl child to encourage education and secure economic self-sufficiency for young women. Rs. 1.18 lakh after completion of 12th standard.

2. Pave the way for nationwide implementation of the Bhamashah Scheme proposed by the erstwhile BJP Government in Rajasthan to directly pay Rs 1,500 to open a bank account for every adult woman, to be accessed by biometric cards usable through fingerprint.

3. Provide bicycles to every school going girl child from BPL families throughout India.

4. Introduce special schemes to promote entrepreneurship among rural women through Self-help Groups (SHGs).

5. BJP remains committed to bring about 33 percent reservation for women in legislatures and will endeavour to introduce it at the earliest.

6. Salaries of 28 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers, who are the backbone of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) will be doubled.

7. BJP believes all sections of Indian women cannot be fully empowered without the enactment of a Uniform Civil Code as decreed in the Directive Principles of the Constitution and emphasized repeatedly by the Supreme Court. The party remains committed to implementing such a code after discussions with all sections of opinion.

YOUNG INDIA, NATION’S PILLAR

1. UPA has nurtured despair, frustration and joblessness among India’s young people who account for 50 percent of the population. BJP will regenerate hope through massive vocational training programmes and job creation schemes both in rural and urban areas.

2. A network of National Knowledge Incubation Centres will be set up throughout the country to identify and groom young talent for every sector of the economy.

3. Study loans will be made cheaper and more accessible by fixing student loan interest at 4%.

4. BJP will create 12 million IT-enabled jobs in rural areas. Computer prices will be drastically cut to make it affordable to every section. All educational institutions will have internet facilities within 5 years. Broadband connectivity to every village.

5. Special provisions will be made for SC/ST/OBC and other underprivileged sections of the youth for skill development with focus on web-based training.

6. Launch an aggressive project to groom young sporting talent by allocating Rs 5,000 crore for creation of sports infrastructure especially in educational institutions Appoint trained coaches; secure employment for international medal winners. Sport will be a compulsory subject in school curricula.

NATION’S WEALTH, PEOPLE’S HEALTH

1. BJP is committed to making the right to clean water a fundamental right. A massive programme will be launched to provide clean, drinking water to every citizen.

2. A regulatory authority to be set up for private hospitals and nursing homes to monitor unfair practices.

3. A comprehensive project to bring health-for-all by 2014.

4. Introduce a mandatory ‘Dial 108 for ambulance at your doorstep’ scheme throughout the country.

5. Revive the creation of new AIIMS, originally initiated by the NDA Government but neglected by UPA. All six state-of-the-art hospitals will be rapidly constructed over the next 5 years.

6. Janani Suraksha Yojana to care for delivering mothers and infants will be strengthened.

7. Investment will be made to promote alternative medicine such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani etc.

8. Population stabilization holds the key to India’s prosperity. BJP will introduce schemes in consultation with different sections to expedite serious progress in this direction.

PRIVILEGING THE UNDERPRIVILEGED:

1. BJP is deeply committed to creating a society of equal opportunities with Justice for All as its credo. Its State Governments have introduced a series of schemes for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities – especially in education, job training, poverty alleviation and promotion of entrepreneurial talent. These schemes will be improved upon and the most successful among them replicated nationally. In addition, people living in backward regions, particularly in the North-East, inaccessible forests and hilly areas will be prioritized.

2. Education and Job quota will be introduced for economically backward sections of society other than SCs, STs and OBCs, for whom reservations will continue.

SENIOR CITIZENS:

1. Recognising the importance of Senior Citizens in nation-building and inculcating civilisational values, BJP commits itself to reducing the age for receiving travel benefits from 65 to 60 years.

2. Complete tax exemption to senior citizens in respect of pension income.

CREATING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT:

1. Combating climate change and global warming through non-polluting technologies will be prioritized.

2. Importance given to programmes to arrest the melting of Himalayan glaciers from which most major rivers in North India originate.

3. Protect and promote forests and afforestation.

4. Take all appropriate steps to save Tiger, the National Animal, and safeguard critical habitants of all wildlife. Emphasis to be laid on protecting India’s resplendent but endangered bio-diversity.

DEFENDING THE CIVILISATION

1. The BJP remains committed to the construction of a grand Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

2. BJP will not allow anybody to touch the revered Ram Setu. We will evolve a new route for Sethu Samudram bypassing Ram Setu.

3. Cleaning the revered Ganga and other major rivers will be a priority. Local communities will be enrolled in this gigantic task.

4. Cow protection is an article of faith with BJP. This will be pursued relentlessly.

5. Full integration of the nation is not possible as long as Article 370 stays on the statute books. BJP remains steadfast in its belief that the provision must be removed to ensure Indian unity.

Ramblings of a Crazy man L K Advani 2:WHY I AM OPPOSED TO COMMUNAL RESERVATIONS (in his own words)

2010-01-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

The Content of LK Advani's writings goes against the Mishra Panel's recommendations.

Any comments, Advani? Why don't you get educated?

Politics of Minorityism

http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/375/347/

“I urge all the right-minded people in the country, including silent but concerned Congressmen, to raise their voice against the politics of minorityism. Since India is not a theocratic state, the religious rights and the identities of the various faith-based communities that constitute the Great Indian Family must indeed be protected. But notions of ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ should have no place in the politics and statecraft of our nation much less be manipulated for vote-bank considerations. This divisive mindset jeopardises India as one united, integral and harmonious nation. The Congress party is trying to divide the nation by continuously harping on ‘minority protection’ in the same way that the British rulers did for their own ulterior motives. ”

Indian Muslims

http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/374/347/

“Let me make it clear: my party is neither against minorities—Muslims or others—nor against any minority faith in India. We respect all faiths, including Islam. India belongs equally to all Indians, irrespective of their caste or creed. Our ideology of nationalism is inclusive and nondiscriminatory. I appeal to the Muslim community to introspect: ‘Has your present negative outlook towards my party helped either your own community or the nation at large? Does the Congress party really deserve your support after its irrefutable record of betrayal and its contribution to keeping a large section of your community poor and backward even after nearly sixty years of Independence? The progress, welfare and security of all sections of India’s diverse society are inter-related and indivisible. Therefore, come out of the trap of the minority mindset and join the national mainstream with equal rights and responsibilities to build a strong, prosperous and just India.’”

Religion based reservations by L K Advani

http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/373/347/

“I regard the Congress party’s green signal to the policy of communal reservations as the inevitable outcome of its pseudo-secular mindset and its complete surrender to the compromises and compulsions inherent in the politics of minorityism. It just goes to show that the Congress is willing to sacrifice the long-term interest of the nation and abandon its own moorings in the national movement for the sake of re-establishing its hold on the minority vote-bank. ”

“There is a real danger of more and more sections of the Hindu society wanting to be called a ‘minority’ since belonging to the majority community seems to attract discrimination and handicap. This extraordinary situation, where many segments of the broader Hindu society consider it a burden to be a part of the ‘majority’, where the majority feels disadvantaged in the constitutional scheme of minority rights, is a perversion of what the Constitution-makers had in mind. ”

“I have a strong apprehension that the demand for communal reservations, in some form or the other, is again going to be voiced in the years to come. There are even organisations that, every once in a while, call for proportionate reservation in Parliament and state legislatures. It is the duty of all nationalist and genuinely secular-minded people to be vigilant against these ideas which, if not effectively countered and smothered, can threaten the unity and integrity of India in the future. ”

* * *

(Read full excerpt on the issue from Shri L.K. Advaniji’s autobiography)

WHY I AM OPPOSED TO COMMUNAL RESERVATIONS

The subject of religion-based reservations had figured prominently—and divisively—during India’s freedom movement. Mahatma Gandhi had opposed the British government’s ‘Communal Award’ of 1935, under which seats were reserved in the legislature in favour of religious groups. The issue again reared its head in the immediate aftermath of Independence,

when the stalwarts of the movement were busy drafting a new republican Constitution for India. The matter had been conclusively settled: An emphatic ‘No’ to communal reservations. No less a person than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had warned: ‘This way lies not only folly but disaster.’

I was, therefore, deeply distressed when the Congress, now headed by Nehru’s grand daughter-in-law, started raising, and endorsing, the demand for communal reservations. On 11 July 2004, the newly elected Congress government in Andhra Pradesh announced its decision to introduce five per cent reservation for Muslims in government jobs and educational institutions. I must confess that, although I am accustomed to the Congress party’s surrender to the politics of appeasement for the sake of perpetuating its hold over the minority vote bank, the AP government’s decision flummoxed me. The first question that cropped in my mind was: ‘Is it the same Congress party that was once led by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru? Does the Congress party know the implications and consequences of what it is doing? Has the party that is principally associated with India’s freedom movement become so ideologically bankrupt and so politically perverted that it is willing to mortgage the nation’s unity and integrity for its own narrow and short-term political interests?’

Among the few non-BJP political leaders who opposed the AP government’s decision was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr J. Jayalalithaa, who said: ‘Muslims are not the only minorities in the country. There are Christians and other minorities also. If they also demand religion-based reservations, where will we go?’ This is not a baseless concern. Lately, there have been a few voices—marginal, not mainstream—demanding ‘minority’ status for the Jain community. With the Congress and some other parties announcing religion-based reservations for minorities, some Jains think that securing a ‘minority’ tag would enable them to enjoy these benefits.

If this trend continues, there is a real danger of more and more sections of the Hindu society wanting to be called a ‘minority’ since belonging to the majority community seems to attract discrimination and handicap.

This extraordinary situation, where many segments of the broader Hindu society consider it a burden to be a part of the ‘majority’, where the majority feels disadvantaged in the constitutional scheme of minority rights, is a perversion of what the Constitution-makers had in mind. I have had several meetings with Acharya Mahapragya, whom I regard as one of the greatest living saints in the world today. He has categorically expressed himself against the idea of the Jains being declared as a ‘minority’ community and thus being separated from the larger Hindu family.

In 2005, the Congress-led government at the Centre went a step further. It appointed a committee to study ‘social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India’ under the chairmanship of Justice Rajinder Sachar. This committee proposed something unprecedented, unthinkable and egregious: a head-count of Muslims in the Armed Forces. Thus, here was a government casting aspersions on the secular character and impartial conduct of the very guardians of our national defence. The ‘inspiration’ for carrying out a Muslim head-count in the Army, Navy and Air Force had come from a book Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India by Omar Khalidi, an Indian-born American citizen. The very title of the book suggested that its author held an accusing finger at the armed forces, paramilitary forces and state police for what is routinely publicised abroad as violence deliberately targeted against Muslims.

Only a strong outcry from all quarters, not the least from the chiefs of the Armed Forces, forced the government to drop this ill-conceived move. Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the state government’s order on religion-based reservations in response to a public interest litigation. Nevertheless, the mindset of minorityism, which had engendered the above move, was very much active at the highest levels of the Congress party and its government. This became clear when Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in his address at the National Development Council on 9 December 2006, declared that Muslims should have ‘the first claim on the country’s resources’.

I have a strong apprehension that the demand for communal reservations, in some form or the other, is again going to be voiced in the years to come. There are even organisations that, every once in a while, call for proportionate reservation in Parliament and state legislatures. It is the duty of all nationalist and genuinely secular-minded people to be vigilant against these ideas which, if not effectively countered and smothered, can threaten the unity and integrity of India in the future. It is for this reason that I consider it to be my duty to recall a highly instructive debate in the Constituent Assembly on how—and why—it rejected communal reservations.

The Constituent Assembly’s initial deliberations in August 1947 were so dominated by the issue of minority safeguards that the Assembly had contemplated reservation of seats in Central and Provincial Legislatures for Muslims, Christians and Sikhs on the basis of their population. Later, however, this proposal was considered more thoroughly by the Constituent Assembly’s Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities, and Tribal and Excluded Areas headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This Advisory Committee consisted of a galaxy of great leaders of the freedom movement including Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Dr S.P. Mookerjee, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr K.M. Munshi, Purushottamdas Tandon, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant and Gopinath Bordoloi. Pandit Nehru was a special invitee to the meeting of the committee, which finally expressed that ‘the committee are satisfied that the minorities themselves feel that in their own interests, no less than in the interests of the country as a whole, the statutory reservation of seats for religious minorities should be abolished.’

Commending his Committee’s Report in the Constituent Assembly on 27 February 1947, Sardar Patel said:

Often you must have heard in various debates in British Parliament that have been held on this question recently and before when it has been claimed on behalf of the British Government that they have a special responsibility—a special obligation—for protection of the minorities. They claim to have more special interest than we have. It is for us to prove that it is a bogus claim, that nobody can be more interested than us in India in the protection of our minorities. Our mission is to satisfy every interest and safeguard the interests of all minorities to their satisfaction within the framework of the overall national interest…. In the long run, it would be in the interest of all to forget that there is anything like a majority or a minority in this country and that in India there is only one community.

In his five-volume monumental study Framing of the Indian Constitution, B. Shiva Rao records: ‘A lengthy discussion took place on these proposals of the Advisory Committee. The majority of the speakers—and these included members from all communities—Muslims, Christians, Anglo-Indians, Scheduled Castes, as well as Hindus—offered full support to the proposal to abolish reservations on communal grounds. Jawaharlal Nehru described the proposal as a “historic turn in our destiny”. Nehru added: “A safeguard of this kind would have some point where there was autocratic or foreign rule; it would enable the monarch to play one community off against the other. But where you are up against a full-blooded democracy, if you seek to give safeguards to a minority, and a relatively small minority, you isolate it. Maybe you protect it to a slight extent, but at what cost? At the cost of isolating it and keeping it away from the main current in which the majority is going—I am talking on the political plane of course—at the cost of forfeiting that inner sympathy and fellow-feeling with the majority”.’

The only type of reservations, for which there was unanimous support and that found ready acceptance in the Constituent Assembly, was for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These have accordingly found place in Article 341 of the Constitution. It is instructive to note that in the operationalisation of this provision, the Congress government specifically defined the beneficiaries to be Hindu Scheduled Castes and four Scheduled Castes among the Sikhs (Kabirpanthis, Ramdasias, Sikligars and Mazhbis) only. The Nehru government kept Muslims and Christians outside the purview of reservation for SCs in education and government jobs. This was done through a Presidential Order amending Article 341 of the Constitution, which enables the President of India to notify a particular caste as a Scheduled Caste. According to the amended law, only those Dalits who were Hindus could be considered members of a Scheduled Caste and hence eligible for the benefits under reservations. In 1956, this was extended to include all scheduled castes professing Sikhism. In 1990, dalits who had embraced Buddhism (Neo-Buddhists) were also included among the Scheduled Castes.

For a long time, there have been demands for extending reservations to so-called ‘Dalit’ Christians and ‘Dalit’ Muslims. However, successive governments have not paid heed to these demands. Why? This is because the framers of the Indian Constitution were very clear in their minds that caste is a feature of the Hindu society. If some lower caste Hindus converted to Islam or Christianity in the past, it was because of the claim and the promise of these religions that they were casteless and hence offered an equal station to the converts vis-à-vis original Muslims or Christians. It is instructive to refer to an important circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Govt. of India/No 18/4/58–SCT IV dated 23 July 1959) during Pandit Nehru’s rule.

Sub: Status of Scheduled Castes converts to Christianity on their reconversion to Hinduism.

Government of India have recently occasion to consider the question whether a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste, who has renounced Hinduism by converting himself to another religion, will revert to his original Scheduled Caste if he becomes a Hindu again. After careful consideration the Government of India are advised that such reconvert, who originally belonged to a Scheduled Caste, should be deemed to have reverted to his original caste and would be eligible for the privileges and assistance provided for the members of the Scheduled Castes. This decision is brought to the notice of the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for their information and guidance.

This circular makes the thinking of the Nehru government absolutely clear on the issue of caste as an exclusively Hindu social category. In other words, Congress governments at the Centre—right from Nehru to Narasimha Rao—were never in favour of extending the benefit of reservations even to so-called ‘Dalit’ Muslims and ‘Dalit’ Christians, since they could not be considered Scheduled Castes.

It is a moot point to note that religious affiliation does not bar Scheduled Tribes from enjoying the benefits of reservations. Religion is not a criterion for specifying Scheduled Tribes. Scheduled Tribe converts to Islam or Christianity will continue to have the status of STs. This again shows why the Constitution-makers treated caste as a category specific to the Hindu society.

The present leadership of the Congress neither knows nor seems to care for the history of India. However, one would expect it to know at least the history of the Congress party itself and be consistent with its own thinking on the issue of reservation. In other words, today’s leaders of the Congress party would do well to recall the views of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi. In a letter addressed to all Chief Ministers on 27 June 1961, Nehru said:

…I have referred above to efficiency and to our getting out of our traditional ruts. This necessitates our getting out of the old habit of reservations and particular privileges being given to this caste or that group…. I dislike any kind of reservation, more particularly in services. I react strongly against anything which leads to inefficiency and second-rate standards…. If we go in for reservations on communal and caste basis, we swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. I want my country to be a first class country in everything. The moment we encourage the second-rate, we are lost. I am grieved to learn how far this business of reservation has gone based on communal considerations…. This way lies not only folly but disaster.’ (emphasis added).

I have not cited Nehru’s views to endorse them in their entirety but to bring it to the attention of the present Congress leadership. The BJP, on its part, believes that reservations are indeed needed to help SCs, STs, and OBCs to overcome their social and economic backwardness. The point I wish to make is two-fold: Nehru was aware of the limitation of reservations as the sole instrumentality for the socio-economic uplift of those who are socially and economically backward. Secondly, and more relevant to our present context, he was totally opposed to reservations on communal considerations.

I have mentioned in an earlier chapter what Rajiv Gandhi had to say about reservations, when they are introduced primarily for considerations of partisan politics and electoral benefit. In the debate on Mandal Commission recommendations, the then Leader of the Opposition made a marathon speech in September 1990, accusing the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh of threatening the unity and integrity of India. ‘You have ignited caste violence all over the country,’ Rajiv Gandhi thundered. Specifically, he had questioned the propriety of providing the benefit of reservations for the privileged sections in society—the so-called ‘creamy layer’.

Those who remember the Mandal Commission debate know that on the question of excluding the ‘creamy layer’ from the beneficiaries of reservations, there was unanimity between the BJP, Communist parties and the Congress. Also, the Supreme Court in its judgment on the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations upheld the exclusion of the ‘creamy layer’ for the consideration of reservations. My reason for referring to the ‘creamy layer’ principle in the present context is simply to point out that, in proposing to provide reservations for the Muslim community as a whole, the Congress has disregarded Rajiv Gandhi’s own concerns over this principle. In this context, let me quote what the Chairman of the first Backward Classes Commission, Kaka Kalelkar, a respected Gandhian, said in his letter to the government while presenting his report: ‘For the purpose of the Backward Classes Commission, we could not accept the view that all Indian Christians and Indian Muslims were backward, without accepting the logical conclusion that all Hindus were also in the same sense equally backward.’

I regard the Congress party’s green signal to the policy of communal reservations as the inevitable outcome of its pseudo-secular mindset and its complete surrender to the compromises and compulsions inherent in the politics of minorityism. It just goes to show that the Congress is willing to sacrifice the long-term interest of the nation and abandon its own moorings in the national movement for the sake of re-establishing its hold on the minority vote-bank.

It is apposite for me to quote here a passage from Durga Das Basu’s monumental work Introduction to the Constitution of India. An acclaimed scholar on Constitutional matters, Basu writes about the ‘ominous trends which have been revealed since the General Election of 1980 as regards the ever-aggressive demands of the religious minorities, which run counter to the very foundations of the existing Constitution and which seek to ride roughshod over the pronouncements of the highest tribunal of the land—not on the ground that they are inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution but because they are not consonant with the separatist ambitions of the religious minorities. The most grievous feature of this post-Independence development is that the minorities have held up their vote as a bait and political leaders of the majority community belonging to different parties have indiscriminately swallowed that bait in their election manifestos and alliances, irrespective of the ideologies that ushered in the Independence of India and which form the bedrock of the existing Constitution. In this background, it is the duty of an impartial academician to point out to a nationalist Indian (every Indian citizen cannot be assumed to have narrow political ambitions) that to accept such anti-nationalist demands of the minorities would be to tear India into pieces.’

I urge all the right-minded people in the country, including silent but concerned Congressmen, to raise their voice against the politics of minorityism. Since India is not a theocratic state, the religious rights and the identities of the various faith-based communities that constitute the Great Indian Family must indeed be protected. But notions of ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ should have no place in the politics and statecraft of our nation much less manipulated for vote-bank considerations. This divisive mindset jeopardises India as one united, integral and harmonious nation. The Congress party is trying to the divide the nation by continuously harping on ‘minority protection’ in the same way that the British rulers did for their own ulterior motives.

Let me make it clear: my party is neither against minorities—Muslims or others—nor against any minority faith in India. We respect all faiths, including Islam. India belongs equally to all Indians, irrespective of their caste or creed. Our ideology of nationalism is inclusive and nondiscriminatory. I appeal to the Muslim community to introspect: ‘Has your present negative outlook towards my party helped either your own community or the nation at large? Does the Congress party really deserve your support after its irrefutable record of betrayal and its contribution to keeping a large section of your community poor and backward even after nearly sixty years of Independence? The progress, welfare and security of all sections of India’s diverse society are inter-related and indivisible. Therefore, come out of the trap of the minority mindset and join the national mainstream with equal rights and responsibilities to build a strong, prosperous and just India.’

Indian workers sold like cattle in Saudi Arabia: Stowaway

2010-01-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

Indian workers sold like cattle in Saudi Arabia: Stowaway

4 January 2010

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indian-workers-sold-like-cattle-in-Saudi-Arabia-Stowaway/articleshow/5408084.cms

Indian Workers Sold Like Cattle

JAIPUR: Habib Hussain of Moradabad, who hid in a toilet on an Air India flight from Saudi Arabia to return to his own country, says he did so for his two children, his pregnant wife, and an ailing mother. After his bizarre experience, Habib says he has realised that `aadhi roti' (half a piece of bread) at home is better than one in an alien land. He also said Indian labour is sold like cattle in that country.

He had sold his two `bigha' land for Rs 1.25 lakh and left behind just about Rs 11,000 for his family after paying the agent. He now tearfully says, ``There was no point in staying in Saudi. I just had to return. My wife was two months pregnant when I left and will have a baby any time now. My family was hungry here; I was hungry there. I was better off earning Rs 80 a day and feeding my family rather than living on a promise of Rs 15,000-20,000 and not getting a paisa.

``I know there could have been serious problems during the flight, but I had confidence in my countrymen. Moreover, I was ready to face any consequence in India which would have been better than living in Saudi Arabia,'' he says.

``After grazing goats until noon, I offered namaz. In the evening, after helping a Haji with his bags, I slipped into a toilet in the lower deck of the aircraft. Forty-five minutes after the plane took off, an air hostess saw me. After she heard my story, she gave me a seat and food,'' said Habib.

All that Habib got to eat in the six months that he was away was one roti and a bowl of dal worth Re 1 each day - bought from the money that the Hajis tipped him with. ``I didn't get a penny from my employer and started saving whatever I could to get back to my country. I could manage to save Rs 800 and thought if my passport was returned to me, I could board a flight to India. But whenever we asked for our passports, we were kicked and thrashed and made to work for over 14 to 18 hours a day,'' he said.

``Indian labour is sold in Saudi like cattle and thousands of Indians from UP and Bengal are suffering there. They are helpless without their passports,'' said Habib. ``My agent (Imran) got an assignment to provide 50 labourers from India. We were recruited and sent in groups of five, 10 and 20. After landing, I was made to work in Jeddah for a month. I grazed goats during the day and worked as a cleaner at the airport in the evenings. I worked for 14-18 hours a day. Thereafter, I was sold to a `khafil' or agent in Medina who required 500 people. In Medina, I worked for over 15 hours daily. I wept and wondered how my family was doing back home,'' he said.

``My father passed away two years back and my mother is ill and needs medication. I just want to get back home. I hope my case will be seen with empathy. Who will feed my children if I am put behind bars?'' he asked.

If Liberhan Commission is a National Joke, then Advani is a Sick International Joke!

2009-12-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

It is shocking how a rejected Pakistani expatriate is leading misguided individuals for so many years.

When will all these criminals go to jail?

When will these guys who murdered Mahatma Gandhi, attacked the Indian Constitution and then launched a severe attack on unarmed Indians get booked?

Why did this Pakistani expatriate INSTIGATE Hate crimes in India like Hitler? Is it something to do with what happened to women members of family during the ravages of Partition?

Do we ordinary Indians have to suffer a PARTITION daily to quench the Blood-thirsty bandits from Pakistan?

If Liberhan Commission is a national Joke, then Advani, Jaitley & BJP are a Sick International Joke!

http://trak.in/news/bjp-trashes-liberhan-report-congress-counters/33562/

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clashed in the Rajya Sabha over the Liberhan Commission report Wednesday, with the opposition calling it a ‘national joke’. The ruling party hit back with an accusation of a ‘cold-blooded conspiracy’ to pull down the mosque Dec 6, 1992.

Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the third speaker after Samajwadi Party’s Amar Singh initiated a short duration discussion on the Liberhan report, also wondered whether the report had been outsourced to some other people to be written.

‘The report is devoid of any credibility. It is an unimplementable document and a fraud on fact-finding process. It is a national joke,’ Jaitley thundered. ‘It was not a fact-finding mission but a commission which commented on ideology.’

Questioning the 17 years the commission took to submit its report, Jaitley asked: ‘Was it being used to perpetuate self-employment?’

Noting that the report had numerous ‘factual errors’, Jaitley said it was written in a language far removed from that used by the judiciary.

Jaitley even raised questions about the actual author of the report.

Pointing out that Justice Liberhan, in his report, had thanked Harpreet Singh Giani in helping him analyse the evidence to come to a conclusion, editing the report, and modifying the language, Jaitley said: ‘Giani has analysed the report, helped in drawing the conclusion, editing the report, and the judge (Justice Liberhan) did the rest.’

Speaking after Amar Singh, Abhishek Manu Singhvi of the Congress said: ‘The central theme (in the report) is not (former prime ministers) Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P.V. Narasimha Rao, factual inaccuracies or leakage (of the report) but who broke the mosque and why and how they did it.’

Singhvi accused the BJP of skirting the core issue of culpability in discussing the Liberhan report.

He termed as a ’sad, sordid saga of brazen, cheap politics’ the BJP’s Ayodhya campaign that led to the razing of the 16th century Babri mosque.

Charging the BJP and the Sangh Parivar with double-faced conduct, the Congress leader said the demolition was a ‘carefully conceived and cold-blooded conspiracy done with enormous pre-planning’.

Rejecting the BJP’s argument that the destruction was a spontaneous act, Singhvi said that over 200,000 people were present at the site in Ayodhya Dec 6, 1992, and ‘kar sevaks’ had been trained in pulling down the structure.

He said Sangh Parivar activists carried tools and even ‘manhandled’ journalists to prevent any eyewitness account of the mosque razing that sparked off widespread communal violence.

‘The Liberhan report was a formal vindication but the conduct (of BJP) was damned years ago,’ Singhvi maintained.

Tracing the history of the disputed land in Ayodhya, Singhvi said it was at best a local problem until the BJP made it a part of its political agenda following its dismal showing in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections that were caused by the assassination of then prime minister Indira Gandhi. The BJP had won only two seats in that election.

Hitting out at BJP leader L.K. Advani, Singhvi said the movement to build a temple for Lord Rama was launched ‘for pelf, power and self-aggrandizement, in particular of one man who is Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha’.

He said the ’shilanyas’ in 1989 at Ayodhya when Rajiv Gandhi headed a Congress government in New Delhi took place on a piece of land that was not disputed.

Singhvi said that Vajpayee could not escape moral responsibility for the demolition but he could go to court to get his name removed from the Liberhan report.

He insisted that then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was misled by the Sangh Parivar and then BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh on the situation in Ayodhya ahead of the mosque demolition.

‘Certainly, everybody was misled, including the Supreme Court, the Congress and Rao,’ Singhvi added.

On its part, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) expressed its dissatisfaction with the government’s Action Taken Report (ATR) on the Liberhan report and demanded that all the cases related to the mosque demolition be clubbed together before the Supreme Court, which should be requested for an early verdict.

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said the demolition was ‘a criminal act and worst expression of vote-bank politics’.

He also said that the ATR ‘does not inspire confidence. If the government is sincere, it should intervene through its judicial officers to get the demolition cases clubbed together and move Supreme Court for an early verdict’.

Hitler's hatred was 'driven by grief over the death of his mother'

2009-12-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Hitler's hatred was 'driven by grief over the death of his mother'

07th December 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1233707/Hitlers-hatred-driven-grief-death-mother.html

Adolf Hitler's obsession with his mother's death after her treatment for cancer by a Jewish doctor was the cause of the Holocaust, according to a book published in Germany today.

It argues that Hitler believed his mother, Klara, was poisoned by Dr Eduard Bloch and his grief was a cause of his anti-semitism.

Klara died in 1907, aged 47, when Hitler was 18. A devout Roman Catholic, she died from idoform poisoning caused by her treatment of her breast cancer, a common medical practice at the time.

'Her painful death was a key moment in his development,' said Joachim Riecker, author of the book, November 9: How World War One Led To The Holocaust.

'Hitler never forgave the Jewish doctor. In conversations with aides such as Josef Goebbels he referred to the Jews as being like TB and himself as a "healer" who had to stamp it, and consequently them, out.'

Dr Bloch later emigrated from Austria to the US and died in 1945.

The book goes against conventional wisdom which has emphasised the young Hitler's respect for the doctor.

It also highlights the significance of November 9.

This was the date of the birth of the Weimar Republic in 1918, the date when Hitler attempted to seize power in 1923 and the night in 1938 when he launched the Kristallnacht pogrom against the Jews; the precursor to the Holocaust.

Minority Rights: L K Advani's crazed views AND the United Nations view

2009-12-06T23:22:00.000-08:00

Hey, Advani! This is what United Nations says about Minority Rights.

Check your jaundiced views with this report.

The United Nations document was born from the ashes of the Holocaust by Hitler.

However, the rabid fascism of L K Advani was born from the Goebellian propanda culture propounded by Nazism (Hitler) and Fascism (Mussolini). See earlier blog-postings.

Bloggers, See the Links for further reading from Original Source.

Multi-ethnic States and the Protection of Minority Rights

http://www.un.org/WCAR/e-kit/minority.htm

Intro

In today's world, multi-ethnic states are the norm. The traditional nation-state, where a distinct national group corresponds to a territorial unit, has become an endangered species. Globalization and the increasing movement of people across borders threaten to kill off the nation state once and for all. However, some myths resist reality, and majority or dominant cultures in countries around the world still seek to impose their identity on other groups with whom they share a territory.

Attempts to impose uniculturalism in multi-ethnic environments often come at the expense of minority rights. To avoid marginalization, minorities often intensify their efforts to preserve and protect their identity. The hardening of opposing forces -assimilation on the one hand and preservation of minority identity on the other -- can cause increased intolerance and, in the worst case, armed ethnic conflict. In such cases and in order to prevent escalation, the protection and promotion of minority rights becomes essential.

What can be done

Even though the events of the twentieth century have taught us to think of the term ethnic conflict as one word, the two concepts do not have to go hand in hand. That is, ethnic conflict is not inevitable in multi-ethnic states.

Good governance plays a vital role in involving minorities in societies and protecting their rights and interests. Through recognition, dialogue, and participation, all the citizens of a diverse society can form a greater understanding of one another's concerns. The media and education have important roles to play in this regard, as do political representatives and community leaders.

Although no country has a perfect record on minority rights, a country like Finland for example has worked hard to implement legislation in order to promote good ethnic relations among its population. The Swedish-speaking Finns are the largest minority in Finland at 5.71 per cent of the population. The status of the Swedish-speaking Finns is exceptional compared to that of other national minorities, due to the fact that Swedish is, in addition to Finnish, an official language of Finland. In recent years, the Government has redoubled its efforts to settle the question of land ownership by the Sami, the indigenous people of Finland. Finnish, Swedish or the Sami language is taught as the mother tongue of the student, and under the new legislation, children who reside in Finland permanently, thus including immigrant children, have both the duty and the right to go to comprehensive school.

Other positives action taken by States include: legislative measures that introduce higher maximum penalties for racially motivated crimes; the use of ethnic monitoring to ascertain the number of persons of particular ethnic and national origin in various kinds of employment and the setting of targets to increase the employment of persons of minority origins in fields where they were under-represented; the establishment of new advisory bodies on matters relevant to combating racism and intolerance, including the launching and implementation public awareness campaigns intended to prevent racial discrimination and increase tolerance; and the establishment of human rights institutions and ombudspersons for ethnic and racial equality.

States authorities need to ensure that minorities enjoy the fundamental right to equality, both in written legislation and in society at large. The roles of local government, civic organizations and NGOs are important in this respect. Police, prosecutors and judges need to be more aware of what constitutes racial discrimination and racially motivated crimes and in some cases, changing the composition of police forces to better reflect the multi-ethnic communities they serve may be appropriate. It is also incumbent upon minorities to integrate themselves into their communities. Other recommendations include monitoring hate speech, promoting empowerment through education, and ensuring adequate housing and access to health care.

It is when States lack the foundation for protecting minority rights or governments actively encourage intolerance for minority groups that conflict-ridden environments ensue. As tensions involving national minority issues are enflamed, disenchantment with one's government can evolve into conflict situations. In the past ten years alone, ethnic conflicts have plagued a hand full of countries such as Rwanda and Burundi, the former Republic of Yugoslavia and more recently, Indonesia, East Timor and Fiji. It is tragedies like these that compel the international community to encourage a dialogue between minorities and governments within all societies.

Almost three years after former President Suharto's dictatorship collapsed, Indonesia's problems with its minority communities are growing despite the benefits brought by democracy. The new government faces separatist activities in the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya, East Timor has yet to recover from its vote for independence, and ethnic violence has recently erupted in the Indonesian section of Borneo. Human rights groups estimate that between 3,000 and 4,000 people died in separatists and ethnic violence last year in Indonesia and that more than one million people are now homeless because of those conflicts. Although there have been new efforts to devolve power to Indonesia's regions, the Government has yet to implement pro-minority policies, which means there may be more trouble ahead.

The case of the Roma

Although there are many minority populations worldwide that need support, the Roma population in particular has become a major focus of the human rights community, especially as it prepares for the World Conference against Racism. The majority of the estimated eight to ten million Roma, whether nomadic or sedentary, live in Europe and discrimination against them is often seen as a European problem, but Roma reside in other parts of the world as well, including North and South America, Australia and India.

For centuries, the Roma have been subjected to ill-treatment, rejection, exclusion and discrimination in various forms. Racial discrimination faced by Roma in many ways symbolizes some of the most common contemporary forms of racial discrimination experienced by other minority groups in the world. It is hoped that successful attempts to address the issue of discrimination against Roma will benefit other minority groups.

In a report submitted to the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights at its fifty-second session (June 2000), an independent expert, Yeung Kam Yeung Sik Yuen, identified the four main areas of concern for the Roma population: housing; education; employment; and political participation.

Many Roma live in the most squalid and derelict housing estates and often live in Roma-only sections, which has encouraged segregation from the mainstream population. The proposed building of a four-metre high wall in one district of the Czech Republic in order to separate Roma from non-Roma is a clear example of the attempt to disengage Roma communities. Although the municipality's decision was eventually suspended for infringement of article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, de facto settlement patterns with regard to the Roma minorities and decrees banning Roma from certain territories continue to exist.

In the area of employment, Roma are absent from the service sector and are mainly employed as garbage collectors or factory workers. The unemployment rate ranges from 60 per cent to 90 per cent in less prosperous areas. In certain countries in Central and Eastern Europe, there has been a systematic routing of Roma children to "special schools" for the mentally disabled. What's more, Roma have little or no say at the political level as they are either unrepresented or under-represented at all levels of Government.

The Roma communities are subject to hostile perceptions across an extraordinary range of countries. As Mr. Yuen states in his report, Roma are often barred from restaurants, swimming pools and discotheques and they are often the victims of violent racist acts by skinheads. In 1994 the Roma were persecuted by the Serbs during the hostilities in Bosnia and even now they suffer hostilities from the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo because some of them had allegedly sided with the Serbs prior to the intervention by NATO. It is not surprising that the most immediate concern for many Roma is their lack of personal security.

Of course, the news on the Roma front is not all bad. There have been initiatives that have worked to considerably improve the condition of this minority population. In Hungary, the radio and television board recently awarded a license for an FM radio frequency to radio C in Budapest, Central Europe's first independent station run by Roma. Regarding housing for Roma, there have been initiatives in Romania and Slovakia that have brought together Roma and non-Roma to build houses, which has worked to stem negative stereotypes of Roma as passive recipients of social benefits. In addition, the Roma themselves have founded several political parties and movements in many societies and have grouped into several dozen civic associations. The fact that Governments have simply admitted that the Roma are the victims of intolerance and discrimination has been a major step forward in some countries.

The search for solutions to the problems faced by the Roma has come from many corners and the recommendations can be applied to all situations where minorities are struggling for equal rights. It has been agreed that a key element is to establish trust among all parties, including the minority community, the mainstream community and the Government. A move in that direction may be accomplished by establishing independent agencies that work to enhance dialogue between all parties. It may also be necessary to establish specialized State bodies, such as a Commission on Minority Rights, to combat discrimination.

Max van der Stoel, the High Commissioner on National Minorities for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded in his report on the situation of Roma in the OSCE area that countless programmes for Roma have been destined to fail because they were developed without Roma participation, and correspondingly, with scant awareness of the specific culture and needs of the intended beneficiaries. The active engagement of a minority group in developing and implementing projects helps to ensure that they do not inadvertently create or perpetuate dependency and passivity on the part of the intended beneficiaries.

Pre-supposing that an ethnic minority is geographically located in a certain area of a country, a well thought out plan for autonomy may be appropriate. However, as Mr. Yeun states in his working paper, "any proposal for autonomy must take account of the particular characteristics of the area concerned and of its populations, and its acceptance by minority and majority populations is crucial". In such arrangements, the central government retains control over the major affairs of the state, such as defense, foreign affairs, immigration and customs, and monetary policy, while the local or regional bureaucracy could manage local authority over education and culture. Such arrangements can also help maintain the territorial integrity of a State while placating minority concerns.

The United Nations

Born out of the horrors of the Holocaust, the United Nations is all too aware of the dangers of intolerance when it comes to minority populations. With a view to leaving ethnic warfare's heyday to the last century, the United Nations and its agencies have advocated protecting and promoting minority rights and identities within multi-ethnic states. The Secretary-General himself has taken up this cause, recently saying, "The United Nations work to promote intolerance is fundamental to both conflict prevention and peace building. Without tolerance, our work on development and good governance would achieve little".

In 1992, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. As the only United Nations instrument that specifically addressed the special rights of minorities, the Declaration can be viewed as a point of reference for the international community. It includes a list of rights that minorities are entitled to, including the right to enjoy their own culture without interference, and the right to participate effectively in decisions at the national level, among others. States are requested to take measures in the field of education in order to encourage knowledge of the history, traditions, language and culture of minorities existing within their territories. Also, States are asked to implement national policies and programmes with due regard for minority interests.

Multilateral monitoring of the compliance of states to their international commitments with regard to protecting minority rights has increased transparency. Within the United Nations system, this responsibility is shared by the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A Working Group on Minorities has also been established in order to review the promotion and practical realization of the Declaration. It serves as the focal point of the United Nations in the field of minority protection and is the main forum for constructive dialogue on the treatment of minorities by Governments.

Although all of the above mentioned bodies are integral to the promotion of minority rights, it is the reports submitted on behalf of the State parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination that provide an overview of the status of minorities within a specific country. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) meets twice a year to review State party reports as well as shadow reports submitted by NGOs. In extreme cases, the Committee implements early warning measures to assist Governments to prevent problems from escalating into conflicts and identify cases where there is a lack of an adequate legislative basis for defining and criminalizing all forms of racial discrimination.

In the two sessions held in 2000, the Committee examined the reports of countries that were extremely varied in their ethnic make-up but similar patterns of discrimination against minorities were found across the board. The reporting guidelines ask State parties to describe the ethnic characteristic of the country and the legislative, judicial, and administrative measures being taken up on behalf of minorities. It is the long held position of the Committee that racial discrimination exists in all States and territories, and admitting its existence is fundamental to improving conditions.

Among the concerns that have been noted by the Committee in its concluding observations of reports on various States are: that there have been reports of excessive violence being used against minorities; that there is inadequate protection of the political rights of minorities, including their participation in elections, national parliaments and the public service; that there is often a lack of adequate legislation and remedies to protect victims of racial discrimination; and that there is an absence of legal guarantees of bilingual and bicultural education for minorities.

The World Conference against Racism

At the Regional Seminar of Experts for Central and Eastern European States, which took place in Warsaw from 5-7 July 2000 in preparation for the World Conference against Racism, exports focused on the protection of minorities and strengthening human rights capacity at the national level. Opening the seminar, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said, "The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and regional instruments of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, have sought to undergird the legal protection of minorities and vulnerable groups. Their faithful implementation, in letter and in spirit, remains a key challenge before us".

During the Warsaw meeting, experts emphasized that regional cooperation remained key to combating racism. Special attention was paid to the rapid proliferation of hate speech, hate crime, and hate sites on the Internet. Experts agreed that many countries in the region often did not acknowledge that racial discrimination existed and seemed to consider it only a problem in the United States and South Africa. In that regard, discrimination against the Roma was often seen as natural or normal. The World Conference, experts said, should help ensure that international and regional minority rights instruments were publicized and understood by disseminating information in relevant languages and conducting public education campaigns.

The protection of minority rights and the prevention of ethnic conflict was also discussed at the October 2000 Regional Seminar of Experts for Africa, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Seminar agreed that greater attention must be paid to the economic problems that give rise to outbursts of ethnic conflicts in Africa. It further recognized that the realization of economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development is of crucial relevance to the prevention of ethnic or racial conflicts in Africa or any other region. It therefore encouraged "full participation in political life for all, non-discriminatory treatment of all regions and ethnic groups within a country, and respect for the rights of minorities".

Ultimately, implementing policies for minorities should be done to foster long-term stability and not just to appease the international community. Through dialogue all parties can share their concerns and work toward finding a common ground. As the High Commissioner on National Minorities for OSCE has said, "Accommodating minority interests should not be interpreted as political correctness or pandering to special interests groups. Nor should it be diminished through tokenism or short-term concessions. Instead there should be a genuine commitment to protect the identity of national minorities and create conditions for the promotion of that identity".

The World Conference will offer an opportunity for putting the issue of the protection and promotion of minority rights on the floor for debate and into the plans of action. A declaration and programme of action of the World Conference, if adopted, would condemn any doctrine of racial superiority as scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous. It would urge Governments to create favorable conditions and take measures that would enable persons belonging to national or ethnic minorities within their jurisdiction to express their characteristics freely and to participate on a non-discriminatory and equitable basis in the cultural, social, economic and political life of the country in which they live.

The main objective is to prevent conflicts in multi-ethnic states before they happen. As the Secretary-General has repeatedly said, "At both the human and the financial level, a culture of prevention is more beneficial than a culture of reaction". All States as well as the international community can work together to increase dialogue among parties and create an inclusive approach to national identity. It is important for States to make a commitment to equal treatment of all persons regardless of their racial or ethnic origin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Religion based reservations: Ramblings of a Sincere Committment to a Vicious Cause by L K Advani

http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/373/345/

“There is a real danger of more and more sections of the Hindu society wanting to be called a ‘minority’ since belonging to the majority community seems to attract discrimination and handicap. This extraordinary situation, where many segments of the broader Hindu society consider it a burden to be a part of the ‘majority’, where the majority feels disadvantaged in the constitutional scheme of minority rights, is a perversion of what the Constitution-makers had in mind. ”

* * *

(Read full excerpt on the issue from Shri L.K. Advaniji’s autobiography)

WHY I AM OPPOSED TO COMMUNAL RESERVATIONS

Commending his Committee’s Report in the Constituent Assembly on 27 February 1947, Sardar Patel said:

Sub: Status of Scheduled Castes converts to Christianity on their reconversion to Hinduism.

Vajpayee exhorted kar sevaks to demolish Babri Masjid: Proof Exists of this Mask of Deception

2009-12-03T03:09:00.000-08:00

Is Vajpayee innocent in the Ayodha Babri Masjid demolition?

I don't think so, and the Video and Photos prove otherwise.

He's guilty as hell!

Anyway, how can we expect a man who 'lives the life of a Bachelor, and enjoys the Fruits of marriage', have Foster-children and remain uncommitted--------to commit to the TRUTH?

Subrmaniam Swamy must be having the last laugh on the Pseudo-Moderate and a Pseudo-Family Man and a Pseudo-Foster Father.

"There are stones with sharp pointed."

Vajpayee exhorted kar sevaks to demolish Babri Masjid: Proof Exists of this Mask of Deception

http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2005/16-31Mar05-Print-Edition/163103200547.htm

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?226634

Hear the wicked man (VAJPAYEE)'s INSTIGATION OF VIOLENCE one day before the Demolition of Babri Masjid mosque

http://119.82.71.58/sh/Vaj2_Stones.wmv

http://119.82.71.58/sh/Vaj3_kal.wmv

http://119.82.71.58/sh/Vaj_Sc1.wmv

New Delhi: A video CD showing former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee exhorting kar sevaks gathered at Ayodhya to demolish the Babri Masjid has put him in trouble, with Muslim organisations and the Congress Party demanding his trial for his alleged role in the demolition of the mosque.

Aslam Bhure, a petitioner in the Babri Masjid demolition case, moved an application before Liberhan Commission, probing the sequence of events leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid, on February 24 and demanded to summon Vajpayee to the commission stating that he was party to the conspiracy to demolish the mosque. But the commission did not take congnisance of the application after the counsel for BJP chief LK Advani and other senior BJP leaders opposed the application terming it as "politically motivated".

Bhure quoted recent media reports based on audio-visual presentations containing Vajpayee’s speech, a day before the demolition, "I don’t know what will happen there (Ayodhya) tomorrow.”

The Babri Masjid Action Committee (BAMC) convenor Zafaryab Jilani said on February 20 that the committee would take up the matter with the high court bench in which it has challenged the decision of Rae Bareli court to drop the charges against BJP president LK Advani.

Jilani said that from the CD it was clear that Vajpayee was a co-conspirator and since he has not denied the contents of the CD, the case against him becomes stronger.

He added that BMAC would take All India Muslim Personal Law Board members into confidence before moving against Vajpayee. The BMAC has also the support of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the plaintiffs in the Ram Janmabhoom-Babri Masjid title suit.

After BMAC another Muslim organisation followed suit. The All India Muslim Majis Mushawart president Syed Shahabuddin said here on February 23 that Vajpayee be considered an accused in the demolition of the mosque and urged the Liberhan Commission to summon him before it finalises its report.

The contents of the speech made by Vajpayee at Lucknow leave no one in doubt that he knew about the demolition plan, said Mr Shahabuddin.

Those who were said to be having a hand in the demolition of the mosque as BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, VHP leader Ashok Singhal and Acharya Giriraj Kishore and the PM late Narasimha Rao had been called before the commission so the same yardstick should be applied to Vajpayee, he added.

The Congress targetted Vajpayee on February 19 alleging that the CD established beyond doubt that he had full knowledge of December 6, 1992 events. "It is an equivalent of smoking gun. It is direct hard evidence and certainly it should be looked into at the highest levels with a sense of urgency", said the party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi here while talking to media and demanded "comprehensive inquiry" into the "transparent, clear and obvious evidence" available on the CD.

He demanded an explanation from the top BJP leadership on the Vajpayee’s December 5, 1992 speech available on the CD.

Singhvi also demanded that the CBI in its criminal revision petition and the courts where cases relating to the Babri Masjid are pending " use this material and examine it in detail".

"The BJP and its leadership — Vajpayee, LK Advani and others — owe an explanation to the nation to clear the air of injured innocence and ignorance, he said adding that the saffron party would adopt the technology of "shooting the messenger" in the case as they had done in Tehelka and Judeo tape cases. Singhvi accused the BJP and its leadership of playing divisive politics.

The CD which was submitted to the Liberhan Commission a few months back resurfaced in Bihar during electioneering. As per the details of speeches recorded in the CD, which have been published in one of the latest editions of Hindi news magazine Outlook, Vajpayee during a speech in Lucknow on December 5, 1992 had said that he wanted to go to Ayodhya but was asked to return to Delhi. Without referring to the mosque, Vajpayee reportedly also said that "nobody can sit on sharp stones while singing songs. The earth will have to be levelled and made suitable for sitting."

In his reaction to the Outlook story, Vajpayee accepted in a separate interview to it that he had made the speech but said the tone of his address was in lighter vein and not provocative and that he had no inkling that some people would pull down the mosque. He added that he had not referred to the mosque in his speech and had only talked about levelling the ground.

BJP president LK Advani had also said in Lucknow on the same day that the over one lakh kar sevaks assembled in Ayodhya had not violated any court order and that if "sacrifice has to made to fulfil the resolve, we will do it. If government has to be sacrificed, it will be done but we will not give up the conduct of discharging our responsibility.”

Is L K Advani a Pseudo-Indian? We know he's a Pseudo-Moderate and Pseudo-intellectual. Take the Poll

2009-12-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

Is Advani a Pseudo-Indian? We know he's a Pseudo-Moderate and Pseudo-intellectual.

All Indians know by now that Advani is a Pseudo-moderate and a Pseudo-Intellectual fascist.

But, how many know that he is a Pseudo-Indian man born in Lahore, Pakistan. And, laying the 'wreath of Secularism' for Jinnah; while laying the Wrath Yatra of Misery for Indians.

Answer the Poll and Check the results.

Babri demolition meticulously planned, says Liberhan, indicts Atal, Advani

2009-11-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

Why doesn't the rejected Prime Murderer-in waiting go back to Pakistan?

Why doesn't the rejected Pakistani expatriate fight for the Rights of minorities in Pakistan?

Why doesn't the ex-Foster Prime Minister get committed? Why doesn't the Mask of Deception, pseudo-moderate PM 'living the life of a Bachelor, and enjoying the Fruits of Marriage' (as mentioned by Subramaniam Swamy) get married?

Why don't these Neo-Nazi fascists get justice in India and face JAIL?

Babri demolition meticulously planned, says Liberhan, indicts Atal, Advani
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/babri-demolition-meticulously-planned-says-liberhan-indicts-atal-with-advani-and-joshi/544995/2
Nov 23, 2009
The Home Ministry, which is giving final touches to the action taken report (ATR), intends to table the ATR in Parliament along with the report of the Commission during the ongoing Winter Session.

The Commission was set up 10 days after the demolition as communal riots rocked several parts of the country. After 17 years and 48 extensions, it submitted its report on June 30 this year.

It is learnt that among others indicted and found culpable — for what the Commission calls pushing the nation to the brink of communal discord — are the entire top brass of the Sangh Parivar. These include the leaderships of the RSS, VHP and Shiv Sena.

It is learnt that Justice Liberhan has not come down heavily on the then Union Government headed by P V Narasimha Rao. Its argument: as per the Constitution, the Union Government can act only after it receives the recommendation of the state Governor. In this case, the Governor didn’t do much and also didn’t seek the Centre’s intervention.

The report is learnt to have said that despite claims to the contrary, the Ayodhya campaign did not enjoy the willing and voluntary support of the common masses, particularly Hindus. In fact, Liberhan is learnt to have said that the demand for a temple never became a mass movement. The campaign only ended up silencing the voices of sanity and shaming them into joining the movement.

Liberhan is learnt to have said that despite claims by Advani and Vajpayee that they had no role in the demolition, the two leaders cannot be absolved of their responsibility for the same. When he appeared before the Commission, Advani had said he was pained by the events at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Liberhan is said to have stated that while Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi could have been used by the Parivar as the publicly acceptable faces of the movement, they were still party to all decisions.

And that none of them had the capacity to defy the orders of the RSS without damaging their political future. In fact, the Commission calls them tools in the hands of the RSS.

However, drawing from history, particularly from the trials of Nazi soldiers, at which the plea of having acted on the orders of superiors was not accepted, the Commission is learnt to have concluded that these leaders can’t be given the benefit of doubt or absolved of culpability. Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi have also been indicted for having violated the trust of voters.

Rath yatras by Advani and Joshi, Liberhan is learnt to have concluded, were targeted at making the emotionally-charged common man join the movement.

In sharp contrast to the BJP and the Sangh Parivar stand that the demolition was a spontaneous outburst, Liberhan is said to have argued that the events resulting in the demolition were carefully planned.

The Commission is also said to have concluded that diversion of funds to Faizabad and Ayodhya just before the kar seva, mobilization of kar sevaks as well as arrangements made at the site with military-like precision, clearly proves that the plan was not just limited to symbolic kar seva, as stated by Sangh and BJP leaders.

To substantiate this argument, Liberhan is learnt to have pointed to the mode of assault on the disputed structure as well as easy availability of instruments and material. The small number of kar sevaks who actually carried out the demolition, the hidden faces of such kar sevaks, the removal of idols and cash boxes from under the domes and the eventual installation in the makeshift temple clearly show that demolition was carried out with painstaking preparation and planning, he is learnt to have said.

The report is said to suggest that the emergence of a host of leaders to lead the movement from among the ranks of the BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and other Sangh Parivar groups was because of the lure of wealth and power rather than ideology.

Liberhan is learnt to have written that these leaders saw the Ayodhya movement as their road to success, and they acted as executioners wielding swords provided by the ideologues.

Referring to the funds collected by leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, the Commission has reportedly said that many tens of crores of rupees collected from the people were deposited into bank accounts operated by these leaders. These funds were used to provide infrastructure and other amenities for kar sevaks in the days leading to the demolition.

Women fighter pilots not a good financial option: says a Barbaric man of Vices IAF Vice marshal P K Barbora

2009-11-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

A shocking statement from a man of Vices! A serving Vice Admiral of the Indian Air Force makes sexist and insensitive statements about the unviability of Women pilots in the IAF.

Shocking and Barbaric man of Vices! Barbora should be thrown out at the VICE stage itself. He should go in for a Crash course of Gender sensitization.

What is this cranky guy talking about getting in the 'family way', ROI, etc ?

MONSTERS ON THE PROWL

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091120/jsp/opinion/story_11760029.jsp

First, the strange and bizarre assertion by a senior serving officer of the Indian air force. God help us if we have air marshals whose intelligence leaves much to be desired and who voice thoughts that need to be flung into a dustbin. The defence minister should have sealed the man’s mouth, and moved towards ordering his premature retirement, because a faulty intellect is more dangerous than most other deficiencies, particularly in the forces that are mandated to defend all citizens regardless of caste, creed, faith and gender. The man should also be hauled up for defying, in spirit, the Constitution of India.

Women will get pregnant, said he, conveniently forgetting that it is usually because of the demands of a man. Therefore, he said, there shouldn’t be women fighter pilots in the IAF. He forgot to add that male fighter pilots may also develop prostrate problems, have collapsed lungs, stones in their wretched kidneys, cirrhosis of the liver with excessive drinking in the mess, and, of course, detached retinas! My heart goes out to the women in his family after his insult to motherhood, to the strength of Durga, the Rani of Jhansi, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, and to billions of women across this planet who nurture life and are the embodiment of culture.

Women fighter pilots not a good financial option: says a Barbaric man of Vices IAF Vice marshal P K Barbora

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

http://trak.in/news/women-fighter-pilots-not-a-good-financial-option-iaf/24701/

New Delhi, Nov 17 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil flying in a Sukhoi-30MKI at the age of 74 shows how empowered women in the country are, but the Indian Air Force believes in a different manner, and maintains that having women fighter pilots is not a good financial option

Air Marshal PK Barbora, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, said on Tuesday that it is not worth to train women to fly, and explained that it costs about 11.66 crore to train a fighter pilot.

“We can induct women fighter pilots for show purposes. But we spend exorbitant amount on training fighter pilots, and if we are not able to utilise them optimally, it may not be prudent to have women fighter pilots at the moment,” Air Marshal Barbora said.

“Once the lady goes the family way, she will be off flying for 10 months out of 12 months. And when we have invested so much, it is not a fruitful development,” Air Marshal Barbora said.

“Now while we can always utilise a lady in some other job, but in the pure profession in which we have invested so much if the poor lady herself who has contributed so much …if we cannot utilise… then it is not fruitful for either party. But we are looking at it and in a few more years we can see a change coming with certain preconditions,” he added.

Barbora said that the armed forces have taken decision not to place women in combat roles for the time being, but if that happens in the future, there may be certain preconditions to it.

“We may say (if women are allowed in the fighter stream) that till this age, you can be happily married but do not go for pregnancy till that time. After 14-15 years of service, the value (of the money invested) is recovered…. We are just looking into the area. Even for men, we do not allow them to leave the service before a certain period of time,” the Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force said.

At present there are 784 women officers working in various fields in the IAF, barring the fighter stream.

However, Air Marshal Barbora assured the aspiring women officers that there would be a change down the line.

“A few years from now, there will be some change. But we will not induct them for the sake of it but for optimally utilising their potential,” he said.

Dalit Christians cry for 'justice' at rally in New Delhi

2009-11-20T08:02:00.000-08:00

The Dalit identity is important not for the religion to which one belongs (being a Personal issue of Freedom of choice), but a token for the years of Oppression in Society.

Dalit Christians cry for 'justice' at rally in New Delhi

19 November 2009

http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/dalit-christians-cry-for-justice-at-rally-in-capital/4827.htm

Protesting against the partisan politics of the UPA Government, hundreds of Dalit Christians and Muslims cried for ‘justice’ as they rallied in the capital on Wednesday.

Led by Bishops, Dalit activists, lay leaders and prominent politicians, the rally converged at the Jantar Mantar, saw people from different states carrying placards and cutouts demanding the inclusion of Christian Dalits in the Scheduled Caste list which the government has been guaranteeing from the last five decades.

Inaugurating the event, Archbishop of Delhi, Vincent Concessao, said: "It is clear discrimination against Christians, and the government without delay must amend the 1950 Constitution Order which restricted reservation benefits to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists."

The politicians at the dharna while acknowledging that such rallies in the past have fallen on deaf years, concurred it was high time the government equally treat all religions in India.

"This is not the first time such a rally has been held. We are tired of pleading to the government to extend the reservation even after a powerful commission led by former Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranganath Mishra, gave a go-ahead," said Mr Ali Anwar, MP, Janatha Dal United.

He asserted that Dalit Christians and Muslims were only demanding their due right which is neither unwarrantable nor unconstitutional. “The Indian Constitution gives equal respect to all religion, and this must be practiced by the government,” he urged.

Prof. Mary John, the convener of National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC), which organised the rally, says political parties appear to help only during time of votes.

Pointing that the Congress Party and UPA on several occasions assured to redress the injustice, John said, Christians are no more to bear with such empty promises. The criticality of the situation now forces Christians and Muslims to ruminate over an alternative option, he cautioned.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Veerappa Moily, Law minister and Salman Kursheed, Minister of Minority Affairs, the NCDC along with Catholic Bishops' Conference and National Council of Churches, have demanded the implementation of recommendations made by National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (NCLRM).

In the report submitted to the government on 21 May 2007, the NCLRM underlines that by embracing Christianity the economic status of a Dalit does not improve and therefore the reservation status must be extended to all Dalits irrespective of religion.

It also points that such discrimination goes against the articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution of India.

There are about 20 million Dalit Christians whose socio-economic and educational rights have been dismantled by para 3 of the Presidential Order in 1950. All the political parties except the BJP have supported the deletion of the ‘unjust’ para.

Incidentally, Wednesday’s rally also marked the inauguration of a prayer and fasting service for Dalit Christians by Mother Teresa in New Delhi on Nov. 18 1995

BNP set to sign first non-white member (he's an anti-Islamic Sikh who once gave a character reference for Nick Griffin)

2009-11-20T07:38:00.001-08:00

The fury of 'Hate' generated from the Partition is creating Roots of Intolerance in UK. A similar 'rejected Pakistani expatriate named ??Badvani' created a monster wave within India (which is now receding).

Do Indians (or Britishers) have to put up with rejected Pakistani expatriates, who deal with the Pain of Partition of Imperial India (and the deaths and rapes of their fathers, brothers and Sisters)?

Why do ordinary Indians (or Britishers) have to suffer a daily death by acts of discrimination and intolerance by wounded spirits?

What wrongs have ordinary people located in safer zones done during the Partition? Do we have to pay a price for Historical wrongs now?

BNP set to sign first non-white member (he's an anti-Islamic Sikh who once gave a character reference for Nick Griffin)

20th November 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229472/BNP-set-sign-non-white-member--hes-joining-hates-Muslims.html

An elderly Sikh who blames Muslims for the death of his father is set to become the British National Party's first non-white member.

Rajinder Singh, an anti-Islamic activist who describes the religion as a 'beast', has lent his support to the far-right party for the last decade even though he currently remains barred from joining because of the colour of his skin.

But he will soon be able to sign up as a fully-fledged BNP member after the party last weekend began the process of changing its constitution so its membership rules do not discriminate on the grounds of race or religion.

Mr Singh once provided a character reference for Nick Griffin during his racial hatred trial. He said he would be 'honoured' to join the party.

BNP spokesman John Walker said: 'I suggested it myself - if we're going to do this [open up BNP membership to non-whites] then Rajinder Singh would be a good person to sign up.'

'Mr Singh has been supportive of the party for years.

'He's here [in Britain] not to throw his weight around, he's here under our protection.

'He fully accepted our membership criteria. He said "You have the right as a people to defend yourself in a 'manly' fashion."'

Mr Singh was born in Lahore, Pakistan, but fled communal tensions and came to Britain in 1967.

The former teacher from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, is openly anti-Muslim after his father was killed during the Partition of India in 1947.

He has believed for the last decade that the BNP can be persuaded to accept Sikhs as British.

'I am a retired teacher, living a quiet life,' he told the media. 'I got in touch with the BNP on certain core policies that appeal to me.

'I also admire them since they are on their own patch and do not wish to let anyone else oust them from the land of their ancestors.'

"I come from partitioned Punjab that saw a lot of bloodshed in 1947,' he added. 'Anyone escaping that genocide would pray to God, say never again and vote for BNP.'

Mainstream Sikh groups said they were appalled by Mr Singh's involvement with the BNP.

Dr Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, said: 'Sikhism stresses equality for all human beings.

'Therefore Sikhs who are true to their faith, will having nothing whatsoever to do with any party that favours any one section of the community.'

Martin Wingfield, the BNP's communications and campaigns officer, is already preparing to welcome Mr Singh into the fold.

He wrote to members on the party's website: 'I say adapt and survive and give the brave and loyal Rajinder Singh the honour of becoming the first ethnic minority member of the BNP.'

In December 2001 Mr Singh and another Sikh from Slough who goes under the name of Ammo Singh announced their intention to set up an Asian Friends of the BNP group to act as a supporting body and conduit for funds for people sympathetic to the party's anti-Islamic stance.

The party had little success and was widely condemned by Sikh and Hindu groups.

Hitler? He's just a big softie: The diaries of Mussolini's lover that show what Italian dictator REALLY thought

2009-11-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

Hitler? He's just a big softie: The diaries of Mussolini's lover that show what Italian dictator REALLY thought

16th November 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1228286/Hitlers-just-big-softie-The-diaries-Mussolinis-lover-Italian-dictator-REALLY-thought.html

Diaries written by the mistress of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini have revealed how he thought Adolf Hitler 'an old sentimentalist at heart'.

The previously unpublished diaries of Claretta Petacci also note Mussolini's fervent anti-Semitism, his disgust at mixed-race marriages between Italians and locals in African colonies, and his anger at the pre-war Pope, Pius XI.

Her father was the Pope's personal doctor. She was just 20 in 1932 when she met Mussolini, who was then 49.

She was his lover for nine years before at the end of the war she, like him was shot and hanged upside down from a garage forecourt by partisans.

Now her diaries, which are held by her nephew who lives in the US, are to be published as a book, Mussolini Segreto (Secret Mussolini).

In them Petacci recalls how Mussolini described to her the infamous conference at Munich in October 1938 where he met Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to discuss the carve-up of Czechoslovakia.

Petacci wrote of how Mussolini had described the meeting in an entry dated October 1, 1938: 'The welcome at Munich was fantastic and the Fuhrer was very pleasant. Hitler is an old sentimentalist at heart.

'When he saw me he had tears in his eyes. He really does like me a lot. But he does have angry outbursts which only I can control.

'There were sparks and he was quivering, he struggled to control himself. I on the other hand was unperturbed.'

In another entry from January 5, 1938, written after they met at his residence in Rome, she describes how married father of five Mussolini had told of his erotic fantasies with her.

She wrote of how Mussolini had told her: 'Do you know, love, last evening at theatre I undressed you at least three times?

'I had a mad desire to have you. Your small body, your flesh which drives me mad, tomorrow will be mine.

'Your delicious body will be mine, all mine. I will take it and it will be one with mine.'

Petacci also wrote in her diary of how Mussolini had other lovers. She describes his apology in one entry from February 19, 1938.

It reads: 'Yes my love, I do wrong and all the more I love you and I feel that you are necessary more than ever. I adore you, I am a madman.

'I should not make you suffer because this suffering of yours reverses itself onto me because I suffer when you suffer.'

Petacci then writes of how Mussolini had described his racist views to her from an entry dated 4th August 1938 when the two lovers are on a boat.

It reads: 'I have been a racist since 1921. I don't know why people think I am imitating Hitler, he wasn't even born. It makes me laugh... I need to teach these Italians about race, that they don't create half castes and that they don't ruin what is beautiful in us.'

Twenty-four days later in another entry on race Petacci writes of Mussolini's views on Africa: 'Every time I receive a report from Africa it upsets me. Today five more arrests because people were living with Negroes.

'Oh these dirty Italians, they are destroying in less than seven years an Empire. They have no conscience of race.'

On 8th October 1938 Petacci writes of Mussolini's anger towards Pope Pius XI.

The entry reads: 'You have no idea of the bad this Pope is doing towards the Church. Never has there been a such an ill-omened Pope towards religion.

'There are committed Catholics who detest him. He has lost virtually all the world. Germany completely. He doesn't know how to keep them and he has made mistakes in everything.'

In another entry three days later Petacci also records Mussolini's hatred of Jews. It reads: 'These disgusting Jews, they should all be destroyed. I will massacre them as the Turks did. I have isolated 70,000 Arabs (Italy's North African colonies), I can easily contain 50,000 Jews. I will build a little island and put them all on there.'

Excerpts from the diaries were published in today's Corriere Della Sera newspaper. It is due to serialise the book, written by its American editor Mauro Suttora.

He has been allowed to use the diaries which are kept in America by Petacci's only surviving relative, her nephew Ferdinando Petacci, who lives in Arizona.

The final proof? Memoirs that may show Hitler DID order the 'final solution' to be published after his right-hand man dies

2009-10-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

The final proof? Memoirs that may show Hitler DID order the 'final solution' to be published after his right-hand man dies

29th October 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1223777/The-final-proof-Hitlers-right-hand-man-dies--memoirs-Fuehrer-DID-order-final-solution-published.html

Historians are eagerly awaiting the publication of memoirs of the last S.S. adjutant of Adolf Hitler to prove the Fuehrer's personal involvement in the Holocaust of the Jews.

Firtz Darges died at the weekend aged 96 with instructions for his manuscript about his time spent at the side of the Fuehrer to be published.

Darges was one of the rare attendants at the court of Hitler who was there for all major war conferences, social engagements and major policy announcements for a full four years of the war.

Revisionists have tried to claim that Hitler knew nothing of the extermination programme against the Jews, that it was the remit of his S.S. chief Heinrich Himmler.

But the Darges memoir may prove to be an important historical document that links the leader of the Third Reich directly to the murders of six million people.

German historians believe it inconceivable that he did not issue verbal directives about the mass killings in Darges’ presence.

Other courtiers, such as armaments minister Albert Speer and propaganda chief Josef Goebbels, had their diaries published post war with no reference to hearing Hitler ordering the 'final solution'.

Darges’ recollections may change that. He died on Saturday still believing in the man who engineered the Jewish Holocaust as 'the greatest who ever lived'.

His memoirs will be published now in accordance with his will.

Darges trained as an export clerk but joined the S.S. in April 1933.

His zeal for National Socialism soon earmarked him for great things; by 1936 he was the senior adjutant to Martin Bormann, Hitler’s all-powerful secretary.

'I first met the Fuehrer at the Nuremberg party rally in 1934,' he said in an interview given to a German newspaper shortly before his death on Sunday at his home in Celle.

'He had a sympathetic look, he was warm-hearted. I rated him from the off.'

After serving in the S.S. panzer division Wiking in France and Russia he was promoted on to the Fuehrer’s personal staff in 1940.

Much of his time was either spent at Hitler’s eastern HQ the ‘Wolf’s Lair’ at Rastenburg, East Prussia, or at his holiday home, the Berghof, on a mountain in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.

'It was a very familial atmosphere at the Berghof,' he recalled. 'One time we went off to Italy together with Eva Braun and her sister Gretel in an open-topped car.

'I had to organise all the finances. I had the feeling that Eva’s sister was interested in me but I didn’t think I should become the brother-in-law of the Fuehrer.

'As adjutant I was responsible for his day-to-day programme. I must, and was, always there for him, at every conference, at every inter-service liaison meeting, at all war conferences.

'I must say I found him a genius.'

But Darges misjudged the 'warm-hearted' Fuehrer deeply during one conference at Rastenburg on July 18 1944 – two days before the bomb plot nearly succeeded in killing him.

During a strategy conference a fly began buzzing around the room, landing on Hitler's shoulder and on the surface of a map several times.

Irritated, Hitler ordered Darges to 'dispatch the nuisance'. Darges suggested that, as it was an 'airborne pest', the job should go to the Luftwaffe adjutant, Nicolaus von Below.

Enraged, Hitler dismissed Darge. 'You’re for the eastern front!' he yelled. And so he was sent into combat.

Darges confirmed the story while he was alive – but would still hear nothing against .the boss'.

'We all dreamed of a greater German empire,' he said. 'That is why I served him and would do it all again now,' said the man who had a career after the war selling cars.

Historians believe he would have been steeped in the knowledge of the final solution of the Jews, of the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Russia, of the inner-workings of the Gestapo’s terror apparatus.

Sanathan Sanstha, Margao Blasts (GOA), and call to murder M F Hussain: The missing links from the Original website of SANATHAN SANSTHA

2009-10-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

A call to murder M F Hussain on the website and art protests! How could this be linked to Margao blasts near Grace Church, Margao?

Rs. 101 crore (US $20 m) and other monetary rewards are being announced for killing or maiming Husain. (See below!)

Nudity versus vulgarity versus innocence versus Hurting religious sentiments is a debatable issue!

But call for murder and Fatwas from Hate organizations is another issue!

Read on in the website of SANATHAN SANSTHA and see if you can decipher the Hate groups in India!

References:

Home Page

http://www.sanatan.org/

M F Hussain Campaign by Sanathan Sanstha, Shiv Sena, BJP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagarathi !

http://www.sanatan.org/hussaincampaign/

Note: We have restructured this website, since the campaign has grown from its original scope in many ways. The campaign has come a long way in terms of the phenomenal response from protestors and media, bringing about worldwide awakening and integration of seekers and Hindus, and a number of small wins in various key events.

About the Campaign

Dear Readers,

In early November 2005, Sanatan Sanstha came across a book ‘Anti–Hindus’ written by Prafull Goradia and K.R. Phanda that has been published in 2003 by Contemporary Targett Prafull Private Limited, New Delhi. This book mentions an internationally renowned painter, M. F. Husain’s book containing paintings that denigrate Hindu deities.

Husain: Drawing, painting, water colour, graphic, sculpture, architecture, photography,
tapestry

By Daniel Alan Herwitz
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

FOREWORD
Russi Mody

From its cover, the book by Daniel Alan Herwitz looks like a regular art book. The book has prints of paintings chosen by the painter himself. It has a commentary text written by Dr Daniel Herwitz of California State University and a preface by Russi Mody, the then chairman of Tata Steel, a private sector company in India. However, the book itself contains blasphemous pictures of Hindu deities shown in the nude in various compromising positions that would hurt the sentiment of not only Hindus, but also of every seeker of God following any faith. The nudity involves Hindu deities like Lord Hanuman, Goddess Durga and Goddess Sita.

Campaign Highlights

> Sanatan Sanstha's protest campaign against M. F. Husain’s denigrating paintings commences on 13 November 2005. Sanatan Sanstha urges everyone to protest against these paintings by legitimate, peaceful means

> The campaign gathers overwhelming support worldwide, with over 28,000 protest signatories in online signature campaign alone

> Mass awakening among Hindus

> Over 1250 police complaints against M.F. Husain in India
> Over 150 public protests like Demonstrations, Protest Marches, Burning of Hussain's effigies.
> 6 Protest Press Conferences by Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti's

> Court issued summons and warrants against Husain in 6 court cases since Mar-06

> Active support from over 250 protestors from online signature campaign

> Hindus take initiative to carry out protests outside India -outside Christies auction house in New York (30-Mar-06)and outside Indian consulate in Washington DC (2-Jun-06)Husain protest campaign rapidly spreads across the Internet via email forwards, blogs and word of mouth

> Cancellation of Husain’s felicitation with Roopdhar 2006 Lifetime Achievement award by Bombay Art Gallery, due to overwhelming protests

> The protest campaign continues to spread via news media, radio shows, email forwards, blogs and word of mouth

(Note: The above statistics are based on the information we have on record, hence, lower than the actual statistics)

> Political parties join in the protest as the campaign gains momentum with the national and worldwide media

> Shivsena and BJP bring up the M. F. Husain issue in various legislative bodies of the Indian parliament
> Bajrangdal burns Husain effigy
> VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) chief to file criminal case against Husain

> Husain’s obstinate stand of continuing the display and sale of his denigrating paintings and the Indian government's apathy this issue sorely tries the patience of Hindus, who are now set for a violent turn: Rs. 101 crore (US $20 m) and other monetary rewards are being announced for killing or maiming Husain.

Latest News

Please visit the HJS website for current news about this campaign.

Earlier news items:

> M F Husain, Shyam Benegal, conferred doctorate by Jamia – Zee News.com, 31 October 2007

> HJS stops agitation after written assurance – Hindujagruti.org, 29 October 2007

> Greatest auction of paintings, including anti-Hindu Husain's paintings, in Mumbai – Hindujagruti.org, 26 October 2007

> Display of Banners at Marine Lines glorifying Husain! – Hindujagruti.org, 20 October 2007

> M F Husain's Female Nude auction in London – Hindujagruti.org, 14 October 2007

> NCERT text on M F Husain challenged – Chennai Online News Service, 23 September 2007

> Husain's work tops Sotheby's Indian sale – The Economic Times, 23 September 2007

> Ravi Varma award: VHP seeks Kerala minister's resignation – The Economic Times, 13 September 2007

> 'Suffering of Hindus in Bangladesh' Exhibition held in Houston – Hindujagruti.org, 11 September 2007

> Kerala HC stays Raja Ravi Varma award to M.F Husain – DNA news, 12 September 2007

> Does Sachin Tendulkar respect MF Husain more than Hindu Deities? – Hindujagruti.org, 10 September 2007

> Resistance to confer 'Raja Ravi Varma' award to M F Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 08 September 2007

> Stop M.F. Husain to enter in Kerala: KSS asked govt. – Haindava Keralam, 7 September 2007

> Case against Husain transferred to Delhi court – MSN NEWS, 5 September 2007

> M F Husain wants to come back home – Times of India, 29th August 2007

> Protest against Banyan for auction of Husain's painting – Hindujagruti.org, 25 August 2007

> Kalam's pen, Husain's brush for mentally-challenged women – tophealthnews.com, 25 August 2007

> If Hussains' picture put again, we will strongly oppose! – Hindujagruti.org, 23 August 2007

> Withdraw award for Hussain: Hindu Aikya Vedi – The Hindu, 22 August, 2007

> Protest Tharoor's latest concern for Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 5 August 2007

> M F Husain's paintings put Nafisa Ali in dock – Expressindia.com, 03 July 2007

> HJS demands cancellation of Ravi Varma Award to M.F Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 12 June 2007

> Shashi Tharoor backs Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 11 June 2007

> Guilty Husain's lame excuse! – Hindujagruti.org, 10 June 2007

> HJS Protests Husain and Tyeb at Saffronart's auction – Hindujagruti.org, 8 June 2007

> Shah Rukh Khan to paint with M.F Hussain – Hindujagruti.org, 31 May 2007

> ABN Amro withdraws card with MF Hussain's art, Apologises – Hindujagruti.org, 23 May 2007

> MF Hussain's Bharatmata Painting with Mumbai Police! – OutlookIndia.com, 21 May 2007

> HJS demands cancellation of Ravi Varma Award to Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 14 May 2007

> Honour to Hussain: BJP flays Kerala govt – Sify News, 14 May 2007

> M.F. Hussain selected for Raja Ravi Varma Award – ZEENews.COM, 14 May 2007

> Supreme Court suspends order against Husain – India e News, 08 May 2007

> M.F. Husain loses home over nude 'Mother India' – Expressindia.com, 07 May 2007

> Police attach M.F. Husain's property in Mumbai – The Hindu, 06 May 2007

> Protest Credit card with M.F. Husain's art – Hindujagruti.org, 01 May 2007

> M.F. Husain's paintings exhibition protested by USA Hindus – Hindujagruti.org, 27 March 2007

> USA Hindus strongly protest M.F. Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 23 March 2007

> Protest against M.F. Husain – Press Trust of India, 7 March 2007

> Tharoor to praise Husain:HJS protests – Hindujagruti, 6 March 2007

> Arrogant reply to HJS protest of Husain's Dubai exhibition – Hindujagruti.org, 3 March 2007

> HJS protest: UTI bank cancels Husain's exhibition! – Hindujagruti.org, 1 March 2007

> Husain exempted of court appearance – Press Trust of India, 1 March 2007

> Back home in a week: M.F.Husain – news.yahoo.com, 28 Feb 2007

> Anti-Hindu M.F. Husain's show at Dubai – Hindujagruti.org, 23 Feb 2007

> Husain's painting case: investigations to be transferred – Hindujagruti.org, 23 Feb 2007

> Husain lands Delhi cops in trouble – Ibnlive.com, India, 13 Feb 2007

> Court rap for Husain probe delay – The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, 8 Feb 2007

> Government committee recommends strict action against M F Husain – Hindujagruti.org, 08 Feb 2007

> M.F. Husain paints billboard for anti-terror drive – Hindujagruti.org, 08 Feb 2007

> Husain paintings: Police to file final report – Times of India, New Delhi, India, 4 Feb 2007

> M. F. Husain's paintings withdrawn from exhibition in Jaipur, India after protests by HJS & VHP -Hindujagruti.org, 11 Jan. 2007.

> Police to submit investigation report on M. F. Husain's paintings - NK India News, 5 Jan 2007.

> M.F. Husain absconding to avoid the wrath of Indian courts and Hindu nationalists – Speroforum.com, 17 Nov 2006.

> India-Forum: “M. F. Husain's paintings ridicule metaphors held sacred by Hindus.” – USA, 4 Nov 2006.

> HJS protests exhibition of M. F. Husain’s Mahabharata series paintings in Peabody Essex Museum, USA - www.HinduJagruti.org, 28 Oct 2006.

> Hindu organizations plan to oppose the play and film based on the life of M. F. Husain – Mumbai, India, 26 Sept 2006.

> Hindu organizations hold strong agitations against M. F. Husain's program - Mumbai, India, 17 Sept 2006.

> Court orders probe into M. F. Hussain's paintings – (ZEENEWS.com), New Delhi, India, 3 Sept 2006

> Police affidavit says case filed against M. F. Hussain India–Cybernoon, Mumbai, India, 25 July 2006–Mumbai, India

> HC disposes of petition against M. F. Hussain -The Hindu, Chennai, India, 25 July 2006 India

> Supreme Court stays Bhopal court's summons to M. F. Hussain -The Hindu, Chennai, India, 25 July 2006 Chennai India

> Website of Hindu Human Rights (who helped shut down the offensive exhibition of M. F. Husain in London, UK), blocked by Indian government–Organiser, 30 July 2006

> M. F. Husain’s denigrating painting of Lord Ganesh fetches Rs. 13 million in Delhi auction–Indianews.com, 21 Jul 2006

> 32 complaints filed against M. F. Husain in Goa, India–Zee News.Com, 10 July 2006

> Court issues notices to MF Hussain, Nafisa Ali.–Hindustan Times

> M. F. Husain barred from Bharat Bhavan–NDTV.com, Bhopal, India, 28 Jun 2006

> Hindus protest in UK against M. F. Husain’s denigrating art exhibition–The Organiser, 25 Jun 2006

> Silent demonstration against government inaction in Hindu protests against denigration by M. F. Husain–sahilonline.org, 22 Jun 2006

> Hindu Janajagruti Samiti protests against re-opening of M. F. Husain's exhibition closed after protests–Hindujagruti.org, 8 Jun 2006

> Hindus stage protests against M. F. Husain’s paintings’outside Embassy of India, Washington, DC–Sanatan.org, 2 Jun 2006

> Some Hindus in London rally for re-opening M. F. Husain's exhibition closed after protests –AsiansinMedia.org, 30 May 2006

> Vandals close exhibition. – telegraph.co.uk, 29 May 2006

> M. F. Husain's exhibition in London closed, following protests from Hindu groups in UK –CNN-IBN, India, 22 May 2006

> Hindus and Sanatan.org to hold protests outside Embassy of India, Washington DC against inaction of Indian Government in M. F. Husain issue–Sanatan.org, 16 May 2006

> Hindu Human Rights to hold protests outside Asia House Gallery in London against M. F. Husain’s paintings. – Sanatan.org, 15 May 2006

> Nudity is a form of innocence, says M. F. Husain. – Sify.com, 13 May 2006

> Indian art auctions by SaffronArt, Christie’s, Sotheby’s in May 2006 with M. F. Husain’s works among top bids–Yahoo.com, 12 May 2006

> SC stays bailable warrant against M. F. Husain–Sify.com, 12 May 2006

> Protests staged by HJS against Husain's paintings at Saffronart gallery–newKerala.com, 10 May 2006

> First solo exhibition of M. F. Husain opens in London–newKerala.com, 10 May 2006

> HC directive to MF Husain on nude paintings–Hindustan Times, 2 May 2006

> Sotheby’s to feature M. F. Husain’s paintings in a high priced auction in London on 23 May–1 May 2006

> SaffronArt to feature M. F. Husain’s paintings in Summer 2006 Online Auction -newKerala, 21 Apr 2006

> M. F. Husain’s painting highest grosser at Singapore art auction -Daily Sanatan Prabhat, 22 Apr 2006

> Hon. Court of Bhopal summons M. F. Husain and Nafisa Ali for portraying Hindu Deities in the nude and auctioning those paintings -Daily Sanatan Prabhat, 20 Apr 2006

> M. F. Husain’s paintings to feature at Singapore art auction -DailyIndia.com, 30 Mar 2006

> Hon. Court finds M. F. Husain guilty of hurting Hindus -Financial Express, Mumbai, India, 30 Mar 2006

> M. F. Husain and India Today Editor summoned by Pandharpur Court -Daily Sanatan Prabhat, 30 Mar 2006

> Indian art goes for millions amidst protests to Husain’s paintings in front of Christie’s -CNN-IBN, India, 30 Mar 2006

> Indian art up for grabs in New York–CNN-IBN, India, 24 Mar 2006

> Court issues warrant against M. F. Husain–The Times of India, 22 Mar 2006

> Sainiks parade nude effigy of MF Husain–DNA, 20 Mar 2006

> Public distribution and posting of flyers depicting Husain in the nude, in Karnataka–20 Mar 2006

> “File a case against Husain for treason and hurting religious sentiments!”demands the Farmers Association, Satara (Maharashtra)–PTI, 18 Mar 2006

> Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (link to HJS) delegates meet Maharashtra Governor on Husain issue -Daily Sanatan Prabhat, 14 Mar 2006

> Rs. 50,000 for chopping off M F Husain’s hands–SIFY, 6 Mar 2006

> Court issues summons to M. F. Husain -The Hindu, 28 Feb 2006

> Shiv Sena leader announces bounty for chopping off MF Hussain’s hand–newKerala, 26 Feb 2006

> A Muslim social worker moves court against M F Hussain -The Hindu, 25 Feb 2006

> Hindu body offers Rs. 51 cr for killing M F Husain–SIFY, 23 Feb 2006

> Hindu Swabhimaan Sena ransack Husain show–CNN-IBN, 13 Feb 2006

> Public deception:Hussain's painting of nude Bharatmata (Mother India) drew the highest bids (Rs. 80 lakh - approximately US $180,000) in auction!–CNN-IBN, 13 Feb 2006

> Husain booked by Indian police -Indianews.net, 7 Feb 2006

> Husain apologises for paintings -Rediff.com, 7 Feb 2006

> Husain’s derogatory painting of Bharatmata pulled out from charitable auction; no bids on his other paintings -Times of India , 7 Feb 2006

> People call the curator of Apparao Galleries in Delhi to withdraw painting from auction -Telegraph8 Feb 2006