Prof. G.C.Asnani News and Views 5th January 2009
Date: January 5th 2009 1:37:57 a.m.
Prof. G. C. ASNANI, MSc., Ph.D. (United Nations Service, Retd.)
822, Sindh Colony, Aundh, Pune – 411 007 (HINDUSTAN, INDIA)
Tel: 91-20-2588-0347
E-mail: i)asnanigc@yahoo.com, ii) gcasnani@vsnl.com
News and Views 5th January 2009
1. Israeli forces split Gaza in two (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
2. Baghdad bomb by a female suicide bomber kills at least 35 Shia pilgrims including 16 Iranians near a shrine in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police say. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
3. Gertrude Baines, 114, likely to be named world's oldest woman (cnn.com)
4. Suicide bombing kills six in Pakistan (cnn.com)
5. "Hamas operatives are in the hospital and have disguised themselves as nurses and doctors" (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)
6. How the mainstream media teaches you to hate Israel, but the mainstream media has become a full-bore organ of "Palestinian" propaganda, given all the faked photos and larger-scale (Muhammad al-Dura) fakery we have seen from the Palestinians, it isn't unreasonable to question every photo that comes out of Gaza these days. (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)
7. Join madrasa, why sit for tough CBSE board exam? The UPA’s weird ideas on affirmative action to appease its vote bank have taken yet another absurd leap. The latest is to make madrasa certificates equivalent to CBSE. Though the centre has been distributing hundreds of crores every year to modernise the madrasas they have refused to either modernise or streamline. They have also been resisting any attempt to persuade them to adopt some portions of the modern syllabi in their curriculum. The maulavis have often issued fatwas against any attempt at modernisation in these institutions though they have no qualms in receiving huge grants from the tax-payers’ money. (organiser.org) G.C.A: Is UPA Govt. Talibanizing India?)
8. J&K election shows unprecedented BJP gain (organiser.org)
9. India to sign bilateral pact with UK to protect copyrights (http://dailypioneer.com/)
10. Taliban’s sinister face. Perverse violation of women’s dignity. In the past two years, given its steady rise in Pakistan’s western tribal belt, this medieval Islamist organisation has tried to encroach upon the rights of women. Most shockingly, it holds female education to be against Islam and in the past year has destroyed several girls’ schools. The Taliban has not limited itself to preventing girls from attending school; it has also issued a diktat in Pakistani regions under its control, ordering parents that they should ensure their daughters marry jihadis. In many areas these standard-bearers of Islam have established shari’ah courts which are known to have ordered public floggings, executions and death by stoning of women raped by the Taliban’s own. (http://dailypi oneer.com/)
(G.C.A: It is not impossible that Muslim community itself will revolt and give up this type of Islam. Is Taliban itself bringing end of Islam?)
11. LTTE AFTER KILINOCHCHI--Q & A -INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO.489 -By B.Raman (southasiaanalysis.org)
12. NEPAL: Prachanda’s Government- Maoists should mend their ways. By getting them to lead the government, the people had great hopes. But the first hundred days showed that they were high on rhetoric and low on actual performance! Update No. 180 -By Dr. S.Chandrasekharan (southasiaanalysis.org)
13. Vedic Verses for 1/4/09. The wise man who, by means of concentration on the Self, realises that ancient, effulgent One, who is hard to be seen, unmanifest, hidden and who dwells in the buddhi and rests in the body-he, indeed, leaves joy and sorrow far behind. (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)
14. Tirukural-Chapter 8: Possessing Love (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)
15. The Master Course-Lesson 267. How Do Devotees Prepare for Worship? We visit a Siva temple after bathing, dressing in clean clothes and preparing an offering, which can be as simple as a few flowers or fruits. We bring the mind to the holy feet of the Deity even as preparations begin. Aum. (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)
16. Gospel of Jesus: Did Jesus advise to Divide, to Kill, and to Rule? Was he a Terrorist? Who can believe this?
i) Holy Bible, New Testament, Luke 12; 51-53: Jesus said:
"Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the World? No, not peace, but division. From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law."
ii) Holy Bible, New Testament, Luke 20; 27: Jesus said: “for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence.”
iii) Holy Bible, New Testament, MATHEW 16; 18-19: Jesus said, "Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; what you prohibit on Earth will be prohibited in Heaven, and what you permit on Earth will be permitted in Heaven."
17. Obama Plan Includes $300 Billion in Tax Cuts (nytimes.com)
18. France braced for 'rebirth of violent left'- Despite claims of exaggeration, government reports insist a new generation of extremists will soon launch a wave of sabotage and bombings (guardian.co.uk)
19. Infosys, Wipro get terror threat. (ndtv.com) (G.C.A: Is Taliban taking over Bangalore?)
20. Pakistani books go off the shelf in Mumbai (samachar.com)
1. Israeli forces split Gaza in two (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
Date: -5 -1-09
Fighting is raging into the night in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli ground forces and heavy armour have effectively cut the territory in two.
Supported by a naval, air and land bombardment, they have taken up positions on either side of Gaza City and along a major east-west road.
About 40 tanks were moving towards Khan Younis in the south, reports say.
Palestinian officials say 70 people have been killed in the ground assault. One Israeli soldier has been killed.
We had to squash [the injured into the ambulance]... on top of each other, including the dead man, just to get them to some sort of place of safety
Earlier, US Vice-President Dick Cheney defended the Israeli ground offensive, saying air attacks were not enough to destroy rocket sites. He also said Israel had not sought US approval launching it.
Israeli President Shimon Peres rejected calls for a ceasefire, but said his country did not intend to re-occupy Gaza or crush Hamas.
The senior Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said the Israeli offensive was destroying the Middle East peace process and will only strengthen extremists in the region.
An EU mission has flown to the region. The bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the crisis represented a failure of diplomacy.
At least 32 missiles were fired into southern Israel from Gaza on Sunday. Two people were lightly wounded in the Eshkol region, while one woman was slightly injured in Sderot.
'Face-to-face battles'
If the incursion towards Khan Younis is confirmed, it marks a new development as until now, the Israeli ground assault has been concentrated in the north.
As night fell, blackouts plunged much of Gaza into darkness. However, the flashes of explosions could be seen from the northern border, and the regular sounds of gun and artillery fire heard.
During the day, the fighting appeared to move away from the northern end of the territory, towards more populous areas in the west, correspondents say.
Later, Israeli military sources and witnesses said Israeli tanks and heavy armour had taken up positions on either side of Gaza City, in effect cutting Gaza into two parts, from the Karni crossing to the Mediterranean Sea.
The town of Beit Hanoun was also reportedly surrounded.
Hamas officials and witnesses report major fighting in five areas: east of the Jabaliya refugee camp; in the Zeitoun area; near the site of the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim; in the centre of Gaza; and on the outskirts of Khan Younis.
Hamas said its fighters were in some cases engaged in "face-to-face battles" with Israeli soldiers.
Earlier, the Israeli military said the militants were not engaging its troops in close combat but using mortars and improvised bombs.
The Palestinian health ministry says 509 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since the Israelis began their assault on Gaza eight days ago.
It says 21 of the 70 people killed since the beginning of the ground offensive were children. Some 2,500 people have reportedly also been wounded.
The figures could not be independently verified. Israel is refusing to let international journalists into Gaza despite a ruling by its a supreme court to admit a limited number of reporters.
Hamas officials say that 10 of its fighters have so far been killed.
The Israeli military says one of its soldiers has been killed and 34 wounded in the ground offensive, three of them seriously. It believes about 80% of the Palestinians killed were Hamas members.
Battle to save injured
The BBC's Rushdi Abu Alouf in Gaza City says the fighting and Israeli positions have stopped desperately needed medical supplies getting through to hospitals that are struggling to cope with the casualties.
Many agencies say deliveries have been insufficient, and that it is difficult to get supplies to where they are most needed.
Sharon Lock, an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led organisation which campaigns against Israel's actions, told the BBC she had watched medical crews in Gaza working under terrible conditions:
An Israeli army spokesman, Capt Guy Spiegelman, told the BBC Hamas, not Israel, was not to blame for causing civilians to suffer.
2. Baghdad bomb by a female suicide bomber kills at least 35 Shia pilgrims including 16 Iranians near a shrine in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police say. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
Date: -5 -1-09
A female suicide bomber has killed at least 35 Shia pilgrims including 16 Iranians near a shrine in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police say.
As many as 72 people were injured in the blast, in the Kadhimiya area of the Iraqi capital, where pilgrims were gathering for a religious ceremony.
There were fears that the death toll would rise.
Processions of Shia pilgrims across Iraq have been targeted by Sunni insurgents in the past.
Police said the suicide bomber detonated her device at a checkpoint outside the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine on Sunday.
An Iranian pilgrim wept outside a hospital where the injured were taken
"A woman wearing an explosive vest managed to reach one of the security checkpoints near the revered Kadhim shrine and exploded herself among a crowd of pilgrims," Iraqi security official Qassim Moussawi said.
Many of the victims were women and children, another security official told the AFP news agency.
The blast happened at about 1100 (0800 GMT) as pilgrims were preparing for the Ashura holiday to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in the 7th Century.
This year, Ashura falls on Wednesday 7 January, but tens of thousands of pilgrims are already flocking to shrines across Iraq.
Hundreds of thousands are expected in Karbala later this week.
Sunday's attack in Baghdad was the second in the area in nine days. At least 17 people were killed in a car bomb in late December.
On Friday, at least 23 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a gathering of Sunni Muslim leaders south of Baghdad.
About 110 people were also injured in Yusufiya, 20km (12 miles) from Baghdad.
Sectarian violence in Baghdad has declined over the past year, but religious festivals remain times of heightened tension, the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Baghdad says.
The worst attacks during Ashura came in 2004, when 170 people were killed and many more hurt in two separate bombings in Kadhimiya and Karbala, presaging the wave of sectarian violence which later swept the country, our correspondent adds.
Iraqi security forces say they are deploying more forces to both sites to keep pilgrims safe.
3. Gertrude Baines, 114, likely to be named world's oldest woman (cnn.com)
Date: -5 -1-09
Follows death of 115-year-old Maria de Jesus in Portugal this week
Baines was born to former slaves near Atlanta, Georgia, in 1894
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Gertrude Baines, a 114-year-old California resident, will likely be crowned the world's oldest woman, according to the organization that keeps track of such honors.
Gertrude Baines told CNN two years ago that she has taken good care of herself, "the way (God) wanted me to."
The previous oldest woman was Maria de Jesus, who died this week in Portugal at age 115, Guinness World Records said.
Baines -- born to former slaves in a small town south of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1894 -- now lives in a Los Angeles nursing home.
Baines appeared cheerful and talkative when the Los Angeles Times interviewed her in November as she cast her vote for Barack Obama for president, whom she said she supported because "he's for the colored people."
Baines apparently prefers using the older term for her race. She was well into her 70s when "African-American" became the common reference in the United States. Watch Baines speak to CNN
She told the Times she spends most of her time "doing nothing but eating and sleeping."
When CNN interviewed Baines two years ago, she was asked to explain why she thought she has lived so long.
Her only child, a daughter, died of typhoid fever at age 18.
Much of her long life was lived in Ohio, where she worked as a "house mom" at a state university. She eventually divorced and traveled to Los Angeles, where she retired.
Baines will not officially be given the title until after Guinness World Records completes an investigation, the organization said.
Parker -- an American -- was 115 years, 220 days old when she died November 26, 2008, in an Indiana nursing home, it said.
4. Suicide bombing kills six in Pakistan (cnn.com)
Date: -5 -1-09
Suicide bomber kills six people after early explosion attracts crowd
Attack happened in Pakistan's volatile North West Frontier Province
Four residents and two police officers were killed, and 20 others injured
By CNN's Zein Basravi
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two explosions have struck a small cafe in volatile northwestern Pakistan, killing six people, including two police officers, local police and an official said.
A paramedic treats a victim of a suicide blast at a hospital in Dera Ismail Khan on Sunday.
The attack happened Sunday evening in the town of Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, a frequent scene of suicide attacks.
No one was killed in the first blast, which happened at a cafe near a local college, said Haji Abdul Rauf, the town's mayor.
Four residents and two police officers were killed and 20 others injured when a suicide bomber struck 10 minutes later, Rauf said.
The attackers were targeting police by attracting a crowd with the first blast, the mayor said.
A local journalist said two of the civilians killed were reporters who had arrived after the first explosion.
Pakistan's forces have been battling Taliban and al Qaeda militants in the North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Some of the Taliban militants conducting attacks in neighboring Afghanistan have been based in the North West Frontier Province and nearby tribal regions.
The resurgence of the Taliban has prompted U.S. commanders and the incoming Barack Obama administration to put more of a focus on confronting militants along the border.
The attack on Sunday came one week after a suicide car bomber -- apparently targeting people voting to fill a national assembly seat -- killed at least 37 people and wounded 16 others in the Bunair district of North West Frontier Province.
In November, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the midst of a funeral procession in Dera Ismail Khan, killing at least seven people and injuring 30 more, police said.
Days earlier, a suicide bomber struck a mosque during evening prayers in the Bajaur region of the North West Frontier Province, killing seven people
5. "Hamas operatives are in the hospital and have disguised themselves as nurses and doctors" (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)
Date: -5 -1-09
War is deceit, kuffar
Human Shields Update: "OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private homes as ammunition stores."
"IDF battling Hamas terrorists in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun," from the Jerusalem Post, January 3 (updated January 5), with thanks to Axel:
[...] The defense officials said it was likely that a number of senior Hamas operatives and terror chiefs were hiding and conducting their operations from within Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
"Hamas operatives are in the hospital and have disguised themselves as nurses and doctors," one official said.
OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet that Hamas was using mosques, public institutions and private homes as ammunition stores....
6. How the mainstream media teaches you to hate Israel, but the mainstream media has become a full-bore organ of "Palestinian" propaganda, given all the faked photos and larger-scale (Muhammad al-Dura) fakery we have seen from the Palestinians, it isn't unreasonable to question every photo that comes out of Gaza these days. (http://www.jihadwatch.org/)
Date: -5 -1-09
Old wounds? (From Getty Images)
Perhaps all this is painfully obvious, but the mainstream media has become a full-bore organ of "Palestinian" propaganda. This CNN article is just one egregious example out of many. It goes on for paragraph after paragraph about the civilians wounded in Gaza, with only one skeptical sentence giving the other side of the matter: "Israeli leaders say they are trying to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza." They "say" they're "trying" -- but as the rest of the article shows, obviously they're not succeeding.
What could CNN do if it had any interest in actually being an organ of respectable journalism? CNN reporters could have asked about the Palestinians' admitted use of civilians as human shields. They could have gone to Meshaal and Haniyah and asked why Hamas is launching attacks from civilian areas. They could have asked them if Hamas is, by doing that, trying to provoke Israeli counterattacks that will kill or injure civilians and that can then be used for propaganda purposes. They could have asked why the Palestinians seem to be in such a humanitarian crisis when Israel was sending in truckloads of aid right up until it began responding to the rocket attacks.
Then there is the picture above, which appears online with this article, and is one of an apparently endless series of wire photos depicting wounded children. Of course, CNN wasn't bombarding us with pictures of children in southern Israel wounded by or fleeing from rocket attacks from Gaza, but aside from that, there are some questionable things about this photo. The child, for one thing, although apparently burned badly, is not crying or even distressed. According to a veteran Emergency Room doctor who saw the photo, the wounds appear to be up to 24 hours old, and a dermatologist and pathologist estimated that they could be as much as a week old.
Of course, it's hard to tell anything for sure from a single photo, and maybe this child really has been freshly wounded, but here again -- given all the faked photos and larger-scale (Muhammad al-Dura) fakery we have seen from the Palestinians, it isn't unreasonable to question every photo that comes out of Gaza these days. If CNN were worth its salt as a news source rather than a propaganda organ, it would be going into Gaza and uncovering this fakery. It would be looking into the case of the little girl pictured above, and having her examined by honest doctors to see if she was actually wounded by a recent Israeli strike at all, or if her wounds are older and come from some other incident. And above all, it would be asking about the moral compass of a government that seems anxious to provoke and exploit the suffering of its own civilian population.
But of course, CNN's refusal to do all those things, and to cast any critical eye at all toward the Palestinians and their claims, only encourages the Palestinians themselves to aspire to ever greater heights of manipulative fakery and propagandizing.
And CNN is just one of many.
Fosse said he estimated that about 30 percent of the casualties at Shifa Hospital on Sunday were children, both among the dead and the wounded.
The increase in casualties at Shifa followed Israel's's ground incursion into Gaza, which it launched on Saturday night. Fosse said 50 patients were "severely wounded" when an Israeli airstrike hit a food market in Gaza City.
Palestinian medical officials said Israeli forces have killed 37 Palestinians -- both civilians and militants -- since moving into the territory Saturday night. With those deaths, at least 485 Palestinians, including about 100 women and children, have been killed since the military operation began more than a week ago, officials said.
In addition, 2,600 Palestinians have been injured, most of them civilians, officials said.
Most of the casualties are a result of the airstrikes that preceded Saturday night's ground incursion. Shifa is the main hospital in Gaza City. Other hospitals were unable to treat the wounded because of a shortage of supplies and staff.
Israel has said the military operation is a necessary self-defense measure after repeated rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israeli leaders say they are trying to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza.
Last week, Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, a psychiatrist who runs Gaza's mental health program, said Gaza is headed for "a major humanitarian disaster" unless the fighting ends soon.
Meanwhile, at the Gaza-Egypt border, nearly 25 trucks carrying relief and medical supplies were unable to get into Gaza because they could not get through the Rafa border gate, CNN's Karl Penhaul reported.
Egyptian authorities said the guards who were manning the Palestinian side of the border had abandoned their posts. Aid workers and drivers banged on the gate to protest the closure, but the gate remained shut.
On Saturday -- before Israel launched its ground incursion -- old Palestinian ambulances carried some of the wounded across the border, where patients were loaded onto modern ambulances. Most of those taken into Egypt were civilians, including a teenage boy with his arm blown off, as well as a 4-day-old baby, who was not injured but needed to be kept on a ventilator and in an incubator.
About 10 truckloads of donations from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Greece also crossed into Gaza on Saturday.
7. Join madrasa, why sit for tough CBSE board exam? The UPA’s weird ideas on affirmative action to appease its vote bank have taken yet another absurd leap. The latest is to make madrasa certificates equivalent to CBSE. Though the centre has been distributing hundreds of crores every year to modernise the madrasas they have refused to either modernise or streamline. They have also been resisting any attempt to persuade them to adopt some portions of the modern syllabi in their curriculum. The maulavis have often issued fatwas against any attempt at modernisation in these institutions though they have no qualms in receiving huge grants from the tax-payers’ money. (organiser.org) (G.C.A: Is UPA Govt. Talibanizing India?)
Date: -5 -1-09
The UPA’s weird ideas on affirmative action to appease its vote bank have taken yet another absurd leap. The latest is to make madrasa certificates equivalent to CBSE.
According to news reports, the Union Human Resources Ministry is all set to grant madrasa certificates equal status with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) so that it would help in mainstreaming the students coming out of these Islamic religious schools. It is not clear if the government is also planning either to downgrade the CBSE curricula or upgrade the madrasa menu to make the two certificates academically compatible. But there is no doubt that it is a crude joke on millions of hard-working students who burn their mid-night oil to clear the tough Board examinations.
The unkindest cut is that the plan is to implement the disastrous move with retrospective effect. It is widely believed that the madrasas are the nurseries of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism in India. If mainstreaming is the real concern, better schools should have been established in Muslim localities and persuaded the Muslim children to get enrolled in them. Already the government has introduced a series of incentives to get the minorities more literate and enhance their competence to compete in the higher levels. Many of these incentives are denied to children of the majority community though they are equally under privileged both educationally and economically. Perhaps it is a crime under the UPA to be born in the majority community and to be poor. The pampering of the minorities, in a manner as to discriminate citizens on religious lines against the tenets of the Constitution or affirmative social a ction has no legal sanction. But it has been proved to be politically rewarding for the ruling clique.
Though the centre has been distributing hundreds of crores every year to modernise the madrasas they have refused to either modernise or streamline. They have also been resisting any attempt to persuade them to adopt some portions of the modern syllabi in their curriculum. The maulavis have often issued fatwas against any attempt at modernisation in these institutions though they have no qualms in receiving huge grants from the tax-payers’ money. As a result, these madrasas have become islands of superstition, fundamentalism and divisive activities misleading the children in their formative years to resist all modern and scientific outlook and integration with the rest of the society. Again if mainstreaming was a concern, the centre should have asked the madrasas either to close down or limit themselves to religious teaching making any certificates issued by these fanatic institutions invalid. But the U PA seems to have other ideas. It perhaps wants to encourage the mushrooming of madrasas across the length and breadth of the country and make them breeding grounds for social disaffection.
Already at least three universities — Jamia Hamdard, Jamia Millia and Aligarh University—have recognised certificates from madrasas for admission to post-graduate courses. The HRD Ministry has insisted that the UGC must enforce the criteria on other universities as well. But some universities are resisting the move. Finally, the UGC has set up a committee to look into the matter. On government records there are half a million madrasas active across the country. Unofficially, it is estimated that there are at least a million madrasas and their number is increasing every year with liberal funding from Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia.
The UPA claims that its anxiety is the result of the Prime Minister’s 15-point programme for minorities and that it is one of the key recommendations of Sachar Committee. Taking the Sachar cover the government is already making generous contribution to minority education. And they are highly discriminatory to Hindu students. For instance, Hindu students get education loans at a rate of 13 per cent whereas the minority students get it for just three per cent interest from National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation under Finance Ministry. To start a business a Hindu youth will get a loan at 15 to 18 per cent from banks after arranging 15 per cent margin money. But a Muslim youth has to arrange only five per cent of project cost from his private sources and will get the rest of 35 per cent of the loan from NMDFC at three per cent interest and the balance 60 per cent from commercial bank at two per cent. To ensure Muslim students admission in the top institutions like IIMs, IITs and AIIMS the entire fees is being given by the government. To prepare them for this and other public service tests the entire coaching fee is given by the government. The students are also given a pocket money from the tax-payers’ kitty. The UPA has also announced lakhs of scholarships only for minority students. All these are denied to Hindu students. Now, the discrimination is total, with the centre making madrasa certificate equivalent with the hard-earned CBSE certificate. Should all the Hindu students leave government and public schools and join madrasas for a simple and cost-effective qualifying certificate? Or is the UPA determined to destroy the higher education in the country?
8. J&K election shows unprecedented BJP gain (organiser.org)
Date: -5 -1-09
Emerges the biggest party in Jammu, gains foothold in Kashmir too
From Khajuria S Kant and Prakriiti Gupta in Jammu
The 2008 polls in Jammu and Kashmir have been historic for numerous reasons—first it witnessed a highest-ever voters turnout who defied the boycott call given by Kashmiri separatist groups and most significantly the biggest-ever victory by Hindu forces.
The BJP secured the highest-ever number of seats, it won 11 seats bettering its previous tally of eight seats in 1996 elections.
Indeed, the BJP victory has baffled Congress, which has lost its maximum seats to BJP in Hindu-dominated Jammu region. The BJP bagged seven seats out of 11 in Jammu, 3 out of 5 in Kathua and 1 out of 2 in Reasi districts.
“It is historic victory for BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. It shows the faith of the people of Jammu region in this party, which advocates cause of Jammu region,” state party chief Ashok Khajuria told reporters after the party’s remarkable performance. The party leadership has vowed to be the voice of Jammu despite the fact that they were sitting as opposition. The BJP got 10 seats more than that in 2002, its victories coming at the expense of the Congress, which lost nine seats, and the National Conference, which lost one.
The BJP’s landslide victory might have surprised some but it was expected. The dual stance of Congress-led PDP coalition government on land transfer to Hindu shrine Amarnathji to appease the separatist and anti-India forces hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.
And though, BJP never made Amarnathji a poll issue, people wanted to vent their anger against Congress leadership of Jammu on the issue and voted for BJP, which from the very beginning adopted a straight approach to support discrimination with Jammu on land transfer issue on Amarnath shrine.
The vote for BJP is also a reflection of regional aspiration of Jammu region, which has always faced step-motherly treatment at the hands of Kashmiri leadership.
If BJP is accused of playing Amarnath card, what about PDP, which has bettered its previous tally of 16 to 21 playing separatism card in Muslim Kashmir and Muslim areas of Mendhar and Darhal in Jammu region. PDP played Amarnath land card to fan separatist feelings in Kashmir and even joined separatist groups in anti-India propaganda. To seek political mileage from the shrine issue, it even pulled support from its coalition partner, the Congress.
Till the filing of this report, the National Conference chief Omar Abdullah is all set to become the youngest-ever Chief Minister of the state at the age of 38, the third generation of Abdullah clan taking reigns from his father Farooq Abdullah. The Congress has agreed to go in for an alliance with NC.
This is the second alliance of both the parties in the state. The National Conference had formed the government with the Congress after Rajiv-Farooq accord in 1987. The government lasted till 19 February 1990 and the rest is history—separatism surged in Kashmir as Islamic forces forced the exodus of Hindu Kashmiris and pro-Pakistan terror groups took base leading to over two decades of insurgency.
Thus, this time, leadership of both the parties faces a daunting task to satisfy the aspirations of all the three regions of the state in most partial manner.
Separatist groups are baffled with the outcome of the election results. Already, the separatist groups in Kashmir have been snubbed by the surprise high voter turnout in the elections defying their poll boycott call. Some senior separatist leaders are beginning to think so after the high voter turnout witnessed during the polls that went on for over a month. Ignoring the separatists’ poll-boycott calls, people came in droves to vote, with local issues like unemployment, education, healthcare and civic amenities taking precedence over emotive issues.
The separatist Hurriyat moderate group chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has already said that the separatists have to analyse their future strategies. Kashmir experts are saying: “The separatists shall definitely have to think of some better strategy. Otherwise they shall be distancing themselves from the common man in Kashmir.”
Whatever the reasons for the high voter turnout in the valley, the fact remains that the separatist leaders are feeling colder than what the winter temperature would otherwise have made them feel. The 2008 is the first election, which has passed off peacefully, without any major untoward incident marring the process. In the wake of the election boycott call given by the separatists, the voter turnout, particularly in the conflict-ridden valley of Kashmir, has been much higher than expected.
However, the credit of introduction of free and fair elections in state goes to the regime of NDA headed by former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who played an instrumental role in restoring confidence in common citizen of the state through democratic process. The seven-phase Kashmir elections that took place in month-long period registered 63 per cent polling overall. The turnout in 2002 elections was 43 per cent. Observers are already putting the 2008 elections as the most credible ever in the state where people voted on will without any coercion and there was almost negligible violence as the terrorists kept low perhaps due to domestic problems in Pakistan.
As many as 1354 candidates, including 517 Independents sought mandate from 87 constituencies. This was a record number of candidates contesting elections in the state.
The first Assembly election was held in the state in 1957 when almost all the candidates were declared elected unopposed.
The BJP, which was major beneficiary in the Assembly election, reached two digit mark for the first time since its inception in 1982 as it won 11 seats. The BJP had recorded its previous best tally of 8 in 1996. In 1996, BJP had won 8 seats—Jammu East, Gandhinagar, Jammu West, Suchetgarh, (Jammu District), Hiranagar (Kathua), Udhampur and Chenani (Udhampur) and Ramban (Doda). It had drawn blank in 1983, won only two seats in 1987 and one in 2002.
The BJP gained at the expense of Congress jumping from just one seat in the 10th Assembly to a tally of 11. The Congress suffered major reverses especially in Jammu region where its all Cabinet Ministers and even a sitting Lok Sabha Member lost the election reducing the party’s tally of 31 at the time of dissolution of House to just 17.
Official figures revealed that as compared to 10.8 per cent votes secured by BJP in 2002 Assembly elections in Jammu region when its tally was reduced to just one seat, the party’s vote bank in the present election has gone up to 21.9 per cent, an increase of 11.1 per cent that fetched party 10 more seats taking its figure to an all-time high at 11.
On the other hand, Congress, which had polled 29.8 per cent votes across Jammu region in 2002 polls, went down to 23.1 per cent in terms of vote share losing 9 seats in the process. Congress had 22 seats from a total of 37 in Jammu region in the last Assembly and its strength now has come down to 13.
While the BJP candidate Chander Parkash Ganga lost Vijaypur seat to NC’s Surjit Singh Salathia by a razor thin margin of 1,200 votes, the party candidate in Samba Satwant Kour Dogra was defeated by Panthers Party candidate and former Minister Yashpal Kundal by 1900 votes.
In Gandhi Nagar constituency BJP candidate, Dr Nirmal Singh lost to Congress nominee and former Minister Raman Bhalla by a margin of 2200 votes while in Udhampur constituency party candidate, Pawan Gupta was trounced by NPP candidate, Balwant Singh Mankotia by 2100 votes. In Kishtwar the party candidate, Sunil Sharma lost to NC’s Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo by a margin of 1600 votes.
Though BJP was relegated to third number in Rajouri constituency after PDP but the party candidate Vivod Gupta lost the seat with a thin margin of 1,300 votes to Shabir Khan of Congress while the party candidate Chaman Lal Kanathia also lost the Chamb seat by a low margin of 2376 votes to Congress nominee and ex-Speaker of the Assembly, Tara Chand.
The party also came number two in Akhnoor Assembly segment of Jammu district where its candidate and former Minister Govind Ram Sharma was defeated by Congress candidate Sham Lal Sharma. In Bhaderwah though party suffered a humiliating defeat where the former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad of Congress defeated its candidate and former BJP president by a margin of 30,000 votes but the party managed to secure number two position ahead of NC’s Mohammed Aslam Gani.
The BJP also came runner up in Chenani Assembly segment of Udhampur district and Ramban Assembly segment of Ramban district where the party lost the seats to Congress. The other seat in Jammu region where the party stands at second number is Billawar in Kathua district.
Bharatiya Janata Party which had also fielded 25 candidates this time in Kashmir Valley, managed to get only around 15,000 votes in the Valley. Its candidates from Kangan remained at third place while at fourth in Pahalgam. In Habba Kadal constituency, BJP candidate remained at second place next to NC’s Shamima Firdous who got 2374 votes followed by 671 by BJP’s HL Chatta.
The BJP’s seats went up from one in the last election in 2002 to 11 in this election, the biggest gain by any party as the party could have won only one seat last time, it did win 12 per cent of the votes indicating a solid support base. So, a closer look at the trends in the Jammu region suggests that the impact of Amarnath may be exaggerated.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, held long before the Amarnath agitation, the BJP won 15 Assembly segments in Jammu. This time, after the Amarnath row, the party’s seat share dropped to 11. Political analysts maintain that in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections issues differ so voters cast their votes accordingly. Therefore one cannot predict that if one party won more seats in the Lok Sabha, then the same party would surely fair better in the Assembly elections too. Nevertheless the trend shows that BJP had already begun to do well in Jammu way back in 2004, and might have done well this time with or without the Amarnath agitation.
For the seven-phase polling in the border state, the BJP had fielded 62 candidates. The BJP, then Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) had won 3 seats each in 1967 (29 candidates) and 1972 (32 candidates), followed by 2 in 1987 (29 candidates), while it drew a blank in 1977 (5 candidates) and in 1983 (27 candidates).
9. India to sign bilateral pact with UK to protect copyrights (http://dailypioneer.com/)
Date: -5 -1-09
PTI | New Delhi
To ensure that Indian authors get royalty for their literary work reproduced in the United Kingdom, the Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation (IRRO) will sign a bilateral agreement with its British counterpart -- Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA).
The agreement is expected to be signed in April this year during the London book fair, IRRO chairman Ashok K Ghosh said.
Under the pact, CLA would protect copyrights of Indian authors in the UK and IRRO, in turn, would safeguard the "royalty interest" of British writers in the country.
He said it had become difficult to ensure copyright compliance as literary and academic works are being used by various parties through photocopying and digital reproduction apart from traditional ways of piracy.
Kevin Fitzerald, Chief Executive Officer of CLA said his organisation was looking forward to have a close partnership with IRRO to protect the legitimate rights of authors and publishers from both the counties.
Fitzerald was here to address an IRRO seminar on "Administration of Reprographic Rights & Collecting Society", which discussed issues related to protection of copyrights.
The IRRO acts on behalf of Indian publishers and authors by issuing license and ensuring copyright compliance in the country. It has a similar agreement with Japan.
10. Taliban’s sinister face. Perverse violation of women’s dignity. In the past two years, given its steady rise in Pakistan’s western tribal belt, this medieval Islamist organisation has tried to encroach upon the rights of women. Most shockingly, it holds female education to be against Islam and in the past year has destroyed several girls’ schools. The Taliban has not limited itself to preventing girls from attending school; it has also issued a diktat in Pakistani regions under its control, ordering parents that they should ensure their daughters marry jihadis. In many areas these standard-bearers of Islam have established shari’ah courts which are known to have ordered public floggings, executions and death by stoning of women raped by the Taliban’s own. (http://dailypioneer.com/) (G.C.A: It is not impossible that Muslim community itself will revolt and give up this type of Islam. Is Taliban itself bringing end of Islam?)
Date: -5 -1-09
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Perverse violation of women’s dignity
In an ominous sign of its growing strength, the Taliban has extended its efforts to impose its barbaric diktat on women in Pakistan’s Swat valley and NWFP region. The Taliban is known for its strong opposition to the participation of women in public life. In the past two years, given its steady rise in Pakistan’s western tribal belt, this medieval Islamist organisation has tried to encroach upon the rights of women. Most shockingly, it holds female education to be against Islam and in the past year has destroyed several girls’ schools. Many girls have stopped attending school because of the Taliban’s threats. The barbarians who claim to be the keepers of Islam have now ordered that all girls’ schools in Swat valley be closed and warned parents and teachers of dire consequences if the ban is flouted. It has set January 15 as the date by which it expects its order to be obeyed or it would blow up school buil dings and attack schoolgirls. So much for radical Islam! There is, however, more to the story. The Taliban has not limited itself to preventing girls from attending school; it has also issued a diktat in Pakistani regions under its control, ordering parents that they should ensure their daughters marry jihadis. If they fail to do so, they shall face dire consequences. Till now, the Taliban has been arranged forced marriages by resorting to violence. Often young girls are kidnapped and forced into a life of servitude; many of them, unable to bear the torture they are subjected to, commit suicide. To drive its point about ‘true Islam’ home, the Taliban has threatened women with severe punishment if they are found outside their homes without identity cards and a male relative accompanying them. In many areas these standard-bearers of Islam have established shari’ah courts which are known to have ordered public floggings, executions and death by stoning of women raped by the Taliban’s own.
There is nothing unfamiliar about the Taliban’s cruelty and harshness. It is similar to what was witnessed in Afghanistan when Mullah Omar was in power and his thugs controlled the country. The latest injunctions serve to remind us how girls were forbidden to attend schools and women were denied access to healthcare, the right to work or even appear in public. This is the real face of Islamist fanatics who are waging a bitter battle to supplant democratic ideals, human dignity and liberal values with their perverse notions of Islamic rule that hark back to a time when women were treated as no more than chattel and indignity was heaped upon them to establish the supremacy of men. This is neither about faith nor about religion; it is about the Taliban’s perversity.
11. LTTE AFTER KILINOCHCHI--Q & A -INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO.489 -By B.Raman (southasiaanalysis.org)
Date: -5 -1-09
I have received many questions in response to my article on the capture of Kilinochchi, the so-called administrative capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), by the Sri Lankan Army on January 2,2008. I will attempt to answer some of the questions:
Q.What will be the next move of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA)?
A.One of the reasons for the continuing success of the SLA during the last two years has been its ability to deny to the LTTE an opportunity for an offensive action. It has consistently forced the LTTE to fight a defensive battle in one piece of territory after another-----whether in the East or the North. Succession of defensive battles with no opportunity for taking the offensive anywhere saps the morale. That moment has not yet come for the LTTE, but it could and it will if the SLA manages to continue to deny to the LTTE an opportunity for an offensive action. From the reports coming out of the North, one gets an impression that the SLA is not giving itself a pause after its success at Kilinochchi. It is pressing its offensive against the LTTE and has started moving towards Mulaithivu, which has now become the principal target of the bombings by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF). The objective of the SLA is to keep the LTTE bleeding a nd not to allow it to re-group itself.
Q.In the past against the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) as well as the SLA subsequently, the LTTE had repeatedly bounced back from seemingly hopeless situations and recovered lost territory. Will it be able to do it again?
A.The LTTE's morale and motivation remain strong, but strong morale and motivation alone cannot win battles in the absence of resources----human and material resources. In respect of both, the law of diminishing returns has already set in for the LTTE. One cannot totally rule out the kind of spectacular come-backs the LTTE had staged in the 1990s, but the objective conditions in the post-9/11 world are different from those in the pre-9/11 world. There was a certain amount of acceptance of the legitimacy of terrorism/insurgency for achieving a political objective if left with no other option pre-9/11. Hence, the LTTE had a free run of the world collecting funds and clandestinely procuring materials. One of the consequences of the 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US is the acceptance by the international community that terrorism is an absolute evil and cannot be accepted whatever be the reason for it. The LTTE today is a terrorist organisat ion in the eyes of the international community. It no longer has a free run. Its source of funds and equipment are being choked off one after the other. Before 9/11, another important source of replenishment of arms and ammunition for the LTTE was the capture from the SLA. In defensive battles this also dries up. The ground realities today are much more strongly against the LTTE than they were pre-9/11. It will be a miracle if it is able to repeat its pre-/9/11 comebacks, but one should not act on the assumption that it will not be able to stage a come-back.It particularly can if the SLA, in over-confidence or over-exuberance, creates serious tactical or strategic mistakes.
Q.But even in the post-9/11 world, Al Qaeda and pro-Al Qaeda forces in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan staged a come-back?
A. Yes, they did due to two reasons----- the availability of sanctuaries and assistance for the pro-Al Qaeda forces from Iran and Syria and the similar availability for the Taliban from the Pakistani Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The LTTE is a banned terrorist organisation in India and its leader Prabakaran is a wanted assassin in India wanted for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Hence, the LTTE may not be able to get sanctuaries and assistance from elements in Tamil Nadu. It has to fight with its back to the sea with no possibility of escape beyond the sea.
Q. But even under the IPKF the LTTE managed to stage a come-back despite being denied sanctuaries and assistance in Indian territory?
A.As I have already mentioned, the pre-9/11 objective conditions were different from the post-9/11. Moreover, the IPKF did not indulge in a ruthless application of India's air power against the LTTE. If it had done so, as the SLAF has been doing now, the LTTE might not have been able to stage a come-back.
Q. Does it mean, the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils has become hopeless?
A. Their cause was not hopeless till 2003. It enjoyed a lot of international support. Prabakaran made it hopeless by a series of errors of judgement and tactical and strategic blunders. He continues to live in a make-believe world of his own, nursing an illusion that the international opinion might once again change in favour of the Tamils. Yes, it might, but only if Prabakaran is removed from the leadership of the LTTE along with his close associates. As I have been saying and writing for the last two years, he has become a liability for the Tamil cause and should be removed by the Tamils themselves or by his associates in the LTTE leadership who realise the damage he has caused to the Tamil cause.
Q. How will the end of Prabakaran come?
A. Either in an air strike by the SLAF or through suicide or through one of his own men turning against him. I would not be surprised if one of these days the SLAF manages to kill him as it managed to kill Tamilselvan, his political adviser, in 2006. As I wrote in the past, he has to be lucky every time,but the SLAF has to be lucky only once.
Q. What are the chances of he and his cadres taking shelter in India?
A. The Governments of India and Tamil Nadu will not allow it.However, one has to be alert to the possibility that the Maoists (Naxalites) in the tribal belt of central India who have some territorial control in the jungles might help him and give him shelter in return for the assistance which the LTTE had allegedly given them in the past. If he manages to reach the Maoists controlled territory, the ability of our security forces to get at him may be limited. In the case of the LTTE cadres, some of them might succeed to come over to India as refugees. This would call for stricter vetting of the refugee flow in order to identigy and arrest such elements.
Q. What would happen to the arms and ammunition and the planes at the disposal of the LTTE?
A. They might try to cache them in the jungles in the Northern Province or bring some of them to India and give them to the Maoists for possible use or safe custody. We have to be alert enough to prevent this.
Q.If the SLA ultimately manages to defeat the LTTE, will it be peace in Sri Lanka?
A.Most probably not. It might be the end of classical insurgency, but it will not be the end of terrorism till the aspiratiions of the Tamils are addressed without weakening the unity of Sri Lanka.
Q. India has been accused of double standards---taking a strong line against terrorism as seen after Mumbai, but at the same time critical of the strong measures taken by the SL Government?
A.There are no double standards. We take a strong line against the ISI-sponsored Pakistani terrorists, who have no business to be in our territory. We follow a no-holds-barred policy towards them to eradicate them. Our policy towards our own people----separatists, ideological terrorists or jihadi terrorists--- is more nuanced. Our policy towards them is graduated with a mix of political and the law and order components. We have never hesitated to talk to them. We look upon indigenous movements not as a conflict between one community and another, but as a conflict between the Government and aggrieved elements in a community. Some of the strongest supporters of the human rights of the aggrieved communities have come from the majority Hindu community. In Sri Lanka, there are no foreign terrorists operating. All the insurgents and terrorists are their own people. The counter-terrorism strategy of the Mahinda Rajapakse Government lacks the kind of sophistication and nuances we have. It treats the Sri Lankan Tamils as if they are foreigners while paying lip service to their being citizens with equal rights. This has made the conflict in Sri Lanka not only between the Government and aggrieved sections of the Tamils, but also between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil communities. How many Sinhalese moulders of public opinion have come forward to support the human rights of the Tamils? How many of them have criticised the use of the Air Force against the civilian Tamil population? Even if the SLA is able to defeat the LTTE, it will take years for the SL society to heal the divide between the Sinhalese and the Tamils caused by the policies of the Rajapakse Government and the intemperate pronouncements of Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the Commander of the SLA
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Strudues, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )
12. NEPAL: Prachanda’s Government- Maoists should mend their ways. By getting them to lead the government, the people had great hopes. But the first hundred days showed that they were high on rhetoric and low on actual performance! Update No. 180 -By Dr. S.Chandrasekharan (southasiaanalysis.org)
Date: -5 -1-09
While assessing the first hundred days of Prachanda’s government, it was thought that Prachanda had too many constraints to proceed with his objective of completely restructuring Nepal socially and politically. By getting them to lead the government, the people had great hopes. But the first hundred days showed that they were high on rhetoric and low on actual performance!
The coalition is also breaking with the TMDP withdrawing its support and the MJP the fourth largest is also likely to breakup on the Terai issue.
Prachanda was likened to a person within three cages- the first one - his own party hardliners led by Mohan Baidya who wanted an immediate revolution. The next cage was his coalition partners who were a disparate lot who had nothing in common except in sharing power and the third and the most important one- the interim constitution.
But there is equally more important one and that refers to all the agreements the Maoists entered into before going in for election and even after. This includes the 12 point agreement of November 2005, the cease fire agreement of May 2006, the eight party agreement of June 2006 as also the comprehensive peace accord of November 2006 and the following 23 point agreement of December 2007.
It looks that the Maoists having tasted power feel that they are no longer bound by any of these agreements and that could do what they like and get away with it. How else how does one explain Prachanda’s refusal not inability as he makes it appear to tame his YCL, dodging the return of the seized properties and the goondaism of his cadres in forcing closures of industries and even hospitals! .
It is getting more and more apparent that the Maoists having taken over a coalition government are more and more using the present interim government as a transitory phase to achieve their aim of capturing power for their own kind of republic!
The two immediate tasks of the interim government were to take the peace process to its logical end and frame a new constitution within a stipulated period. Both these issues are being dragged on. For constitution making the panels are yet to be finalised. The PLA- Army integration/rehabilitation is taking time because of the dispute over representation of the four major parties in the special committee formed to manage the integration/rehabilitation. The army on its part is going ahead with fresh recruitment which is clearly against past agreements and the UNMIN has already pointed out this aspect.
Thus, we see anarchy all round with no respect for law or order. A serious situation is developing.
Pasupathinath Temple Crisis:
Amidst all the major issues pending and of all the issues, the government chose to give up the 200 years old tradition of getting priests from India for the Pasupathinath temple in Kathmandu. Since 1804 the Mulbhat and four other priests are recruited from Karnataka. For the last twenty years the Mulbhat Mahabaleshwar Shastri and four other priests from India have been performing Puja in the temple. Four of the priests were forced to resign and the one remaining has not been performing the Puja. The Newar priests (Rajbhandaris) who were assisting the priests over 80 in number have refused to assist in the Puja.
The government precipitated the crisis by appointing two Sanskrit scholars as priests and they are not familiar with the Puja either.
This matter was brought to the notice of the Supreme Court as a violation of Article 23 of the Interim Constitution of 2007 and a stay order was issued. Yet the government has defied the order and for the third day in succession the newly appointed priests, Dr. Bishnu Prasad Dahal and Saligram Dhakal are attending to their duties in the temple. Actually no Puja is being conducted in the temple.
Industrial Unrest:
The General Manager of Industrial Area Management has given a scathing report on the industrial situation. His report was based on a survey of eight of the 11 industrial areas of the country. The report said
* Donation terror, threats, strikes, politicking and illegal political activities have crippled the industrial sector of the country.
* The YCL has set up its headquarters in the Balaju Industrial area occupying five buildings besides stores buildings which were being used as torture camps. ( The stores have since been vacated but not the regular buildings)
* The workers are being incited to go against the industrialists in Terai. The Madhesi armed groups are terrorising the industries.
The Maoist affiliated Public Health Personnel Association padlocked the Bhairawa’s medical teaching college hospital allowing only the emergency ward to function. All other services of the hospital were disrupted.
The Maoist affiliated All Nepal Industrial Workers Organisation (ANIMO) padlocked the Udaypur Cement Plant on 25th of last month on the pretext of the management failing to meet their 22 point demands.
With this kind of lawlessness in the industries how can the government expect fresh investments from abroad?
The Attack on media:
On 21 st of last month, Ramesh Babu Pant- President of Maoist affiliated All Nepal Hotel and Restaurant Worker’s Union and Ramesh KC- Vice President of All Nepal Communication, Printing and Publications Workers’ Union led a group of over forty persons to raid the offices of Himal media. Over twelve persons in the media office were injured. The entire office was vandalised. The groups attacked the CEO, the Editor Kunda Dixit, senior reporters and other accounts staff. The editor Kunda Dixit said that some of the raiders used martial arts to attack the personnel in the media house.
The two leaders who led the attack have surrendered to the courts after the FIR was filed with the Police.
Conclusion:
I wonder what those people who actively facilitated the 12 point agreement and who had great faith in the Maoists joining the mainstream should be thinking now about them.
13. Vedic Verses for 1/4/09. The wise man who, by means of concentration on the Self, realises that ancient, effulgent One, who is hard to be seen, unmanifest, hidden and who dwells in the buddhi and rests in the body-he, indeed, leaves joy and sorrow far behind. (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)
Date: -5 -1-09
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Vedic Verses
A daily collection of verses from the Vedas, Hinduism's revealed scripture
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Vedic Verses for 1/4/09
The wise man who, by means of concentration on the Self, realises that ancient, effulgent One, who is hard to be seen, unmanifest, hidden and who dwells in the buddhi and rests in the body-he, indeed, leaves joy and sorrow far behind.
Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter II, 12
The mortal who has heard this and comprehended it well, who has separated that Atman, the very soul of dharma, from all physical objects and has realised the subtle essence, rejoices because he has obtained that which is the cause of rejoicing. The Abode of Brahman, I believe, is open for Nachiketa.
Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter II, 13
Nachiketa said: That which you see as other than righteousness and unrighteousness, other than all this cause and effect, other than what has been and what is to be-tell me That.
Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter II, 14
Yama said: The goal which all the Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at and which men desire when they lead the life of continence, I will tell you briefly: it is Om.
Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter II, 15
This syllable Om is indeed Brahman. This syllable is the Highest. Whosoever knows this syllable obtains all that he desires.
Yajur Veda, Katha Upanishad, Part One, Chapter II, 16
14. Tirukural-Chapter 8: Possessing Love
Date: -5 -1-09
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Tirukural
A daily chapter from South Indian saint Tiruvalluvar's Tirukural, "Holy Couplets."
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Chapter 8: Possessing Love
Kural 71
Can any lock keep love confined within,
when the loving heart's tiny tears escape and confess it?
Kural 72
The unloving belong only to themselves,
but the loving belong to others to their very bones.
Kural 73
They say it is to know union with love
that the soul takes union with the body.
Kural 74
Love makes one affectionate toward all,
and affection affords the priceless treasure of friendship.
Kural 75
They say love's greatness is this: it yields to good families
worldly happiness here and heavenly bliss hereafter.
Kural 76
The uninformed say love abides with virtuous souls,
unaware that love is also friend to those immersed in vice.
Kural 77
As the blazing sun dries up a boneless worm,
so does virtue scorch a loveless being.
Kural 78
Life without love in the heart
is like a sapless tree in a barren desert.
Kural 79
What good is a body perfect in outer ways,
if inwardly it is impaired by lack of love?
Kural 80
With love enshrined in the heart, one truly lives.
Without it, the body is but bones encased in skin.
15. The Master Course-Lesson 267. How Do Devotees Prepare for Worship? We visit a Siva temple after bathing, dressing in clean clothes and preparing an offering, which can be as simple as a few flowers or fruits. We bring the mind to the holy feet of the Deity even as preparations begin. Aum. (Kauai_Hindu_Monastery@jnanadana.com)
Date: -5 -1-09
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The Master Course
The lesson of the day from Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's trilogy: Dancing with Siva, Living with Siva and Merging with Siva
Lesson 267
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Lesson 267
Sloka 112 from Dancing with Siva
How Do Devotees Prepare for Worship?
We visit a Siva temple after bathing, dressing in clean clothes and preparing an offering, which can be as simple as a few flowers or fruits. We bring the mind to the holy feet of the Deity even as preparations begin. Aum.
Bhashya
Visiting the home of God Siva or of a God, the temple, is not without its trepidation, protocol and proper conduct, preceded by preparation that we administrate ourselves. Our worship is only as meaningful and effective as we make it. Before we attend or conduct a puja, we should carefully bathe the body, rinse the mouth and dress in fresh clothing--saris for women and dhotis or veshtis and shawls for men where this is the custom. Throughout these preparations we may sing hymns or chant mantras or God's holy names silently or aloud, taking care to keep the mind free from worldly matters. We then gather offerings for the Deity. If mealtime is near, we eat only after puja has been concluded. Although the outer details of our worship are important, it is our inner feelings and thoughts, our love and devotion, which are the truest offering we can make. The Vedas testify, "The Gods, led by the spirit, honor faith in their worship. Fait h is composed of the heart's intention. Light comes through faith. Through faith men come to prayer, faith in the morning, faith at noon and at the setting of the sun. O faith, give us faith!" Aum Namah Sivaya.
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Lesson 267 from Living with Siva
The Hindu Way: To Do No Harm
Hindu wisdom, which inspires humans to live the ideals of compassion and nonviolence, is captured in one word, ahimsa. In Sanskrit himsa is doing harm or causing injury. The "a" placed before the word negates it. Very simply, ahimsa is abstaining from causing harm or injury. It is gentleness and noninjury, whether physical, mental or emotional. It is good to know that nonviolence speaks only to the most extreme forms of forceful wrongdoing, while ahimsa goes much deeper to prohibit even the subtle abuse and the simple hurt.
In his commentary on the Yoga Sutras, Sage Vyasa defines ahimsa as "the absence of injuriousness (anabhidroha) toward all living beings (sarvabhuta) in all respects (sarvatha) and for all times (sarvada)." He noted that a person who draws near one engaged in the true practice of ahimsa would be freed from all enmity. Similarly, Patanjali (ca 200 bce) regards ahimsa as the yogi's mahavrata, the great vow and foremost spiritual discipline, which those seeking Truth must follow strictly and without fail. This was not meant merely to condemn killing, but extended to harm caused by one's thoughts, words and deeds of all kinds--including injury to the natural environment. Even the intent to injure, even violence committed in a dream, is a violation of the principle of ahimsa.
Every belief creates certain attitudes. Those attitudes govern all of our actions. Man's actions can thus be traced to his inmost beliefs about himself and about the world around him. If those beliefs are erroneous, his actions will not be in tune with the universal dharma. For instance, the belief in the existence of an all-pervasive Divinity throughout the universe creates an attitude of reverence, benevolence and compassion for all animate and inanimate beings. The natural consequence of this belief is ahimsa, nonhurtfulness. The belief in the duality of heaven and hell, the light forces and the dark forces, creates the attitude that we must be on our guard, and that we are justified in inflicting injury, physically and emotionally, on others whom we judge to be bad, pagan or unworthy for other reasons. Such thinking leads to rationalizing so-called righteous wars and conflicts. We can sum this up from the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain t raditions: ahimsa is higher consciousness, and himsa, hurtfulness, is lower consciousness.
Devout Hindus oppose killing for several reasons. Belief in karma and reincarnation are strong forces at work in the Hindu mind. They full well know that any thought, feeling or action sent out from themself to another will return to them through yet another in equal or amplified intensity. What we have done to others will be done to us, if not in this life then in another. The Hindu is thoroughly convinced that violence which he commits will return to him by a cosmic process that is unerring. Two thousand years ago South India's weaver saint Tiruvalluvar said it so simply, "All suffering recoils on the wrongdoer himself. Thus, those desiring not to suffer refrain from causing others pain" (Tirukural 320). A similar view can be found in the Jain Acharanga Sutra: "To do harm to others is to do harm to oneself. You are he whom you intend to kill. You are he whom you intend to dominate. We corrupt ourselves as soon as we in tend to corrupt others. We kill ourselves as soon as we intend to kill others."
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Sutra 267 of the Nandinatha Sutras
An Elite And Steadfast Association
All within my Saiva Siddhanta Church are stalwart and dedicated. Not one is half-hearted or equivocal. Each is a jewel, important to me and to each other. Thus, strictness is necessary when accepting new members. Aum.
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Lesson 267 from Merging with Siva
Distinguishing The Two Paths
There are two traditional paths for the devout Hindu of nearly every lineage. The first is the path of the renunciate. The second is the path of the householder, who guides human society and produces the next generation. The ancient rishis evolved well-defined principles for both, knowing that unmarried aspirants would most easily unfold by adhering to principles of nonownership, noninvolvement in the world and brahmacharya, while married men and women would uphold the more complex and material family dharma. Though the principles or guidelines for these two paths are different, the goal is the same--to establish a life dedicated to spiritual unfoldment, hastening the evolution of the soul through knowledge of the forces at work within us, and wise, consistent application of that knowledge.
In our Holy Orders of Sannyasa, the two lifestyles of Hindu renunciates are described as follows. "Some among them are sadhus, anchorites living in the seclusion of distant caves and remote forests or wandering as homeless mendicants, itinerant pilgrims to the holy sanctuaries of Saivism. Others dwell as cenobites, assembled with their brothers, often in the ashram, aadheenam or matha of their satguru, but always under the guru's aegis, serving together in fulfillment of a common mission. These devotees, when initiated into the order of sannyasa, don the saffron robes and thereby bind themselves to a universal body of Hindu renunciates, numbering today three million, whose existence has never ceased, an assembly of men inwardly linked in Sivasambandha, their mutual dedication to Siva, though not necessarily outwardly associated."
We can thus see that in the strictest traditions, the renunciate path includes only those who have received initiation, sannyasa diksha, from a qualified preceptor, for only they have fully and irrevocably renounced the world and closed off all other options for their future. However, depending on the tradition, the renunciate path broadly includes the wandering sadhu, or homeless mendicant, and the sadhaka under vows preparing for sannyasa at some future time.
We have studied the three primary currents in the human nerve system. The aggressive-intellectual current is masculine, mental in nature and psychically seen as blue in color. This current is termed in Sanskrit pingala. The passive-physical current is feminine, material in nature. This current, which is pink or red, is known as ida. The third current is spiritual in nature and flows directly through the spine and into the head. Being yellowish-white, the sushumna, as it is called, is the channel for pure spiritual energies that flood into the body through the spine and out into the 6,000 miles of nerve currents. Depending on the nature and dharma, each individual's energy expresses itself as predominantly physical or intellectual--passive or aggressive--or spiritual. However, in the sannyasin the two forces are so precisely balanced that neither is dominant, and he therefore lives almost totally in sushumna. The monastic, whether a mon k or a nun, is in a sense neither male nor female, but a being capable of all modes of expression.
At times, the renunciate's sadhana is austere, as he burns layer after layer of dross through severe tapas. He wears the saffron robe, studies the ancient ways and scriptures. He chants the sacred mantras. He reflects constantly on the Absolute. He lives from moment to moment, day to day. He is always available, present, open. He has neither likes nor dislikes, but clear perceptions.
16. Gospel of Jesus: Did Jesus advise to Divide, to Kill, and to Rule? Was he a Terrorist? Who can believe this?
i) Holy Bible, New Testament, Luke 12; 51-53: Jesus said:
"Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the World? No, not peace, but division. From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three. Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law."
ii) Holy Bible, New Testament, Luke 20; 27: Jesus said: “for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence.”
iii) Holy Bible, New Testament, MATHEW 16; 18-19: Jesus said, "Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; what you prohibit on Earth will be prohibited in Heaven, and what you permit on Earth will be permitted in Heaven."
17. Obama Plan Includes $300 Billion in Tax Cuts (nytimes.com)
Date: -5 -1-09
By PETER BAKER and CARL HULSE
Published: January 4, 2009
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama plans to include about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses in his economic recovery program as he seeks to win over Congressional skeptics worried that he was too focused on government spending, advisers said Sunday.
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Election Results | More Politics NewsThe legislation Mr. Obama’s team is developing with Congressional Democrats will devote about 40 percent of the cost to tax cuts, including his centerpiece campaign promise to provide credits up to $500 for most workers, costing roughly $150 billion. The package will also include more than $100 billion in tax incentives for businesses to create jobs and invest in equipment or factories.
The overall package, of $675 billion to $775 billion, is taking shape as Mr. Obama arrived in Washington and planned to begin trying to build support in Congress and among the broader public for his approach to stimulating the economy. Mr. Obama, who flew to the capital on Sunday to join his family in a hotel suite while awaiting his inauguration, planned to meet with Congressional leaders on Monday and deliver a speech on Thursday laying the ground for his emerging economic program.
Although some tax cuts were always expected to be included in Mr. Obama’s economic package, his team disclosed the scope and some details of the plans on Sunday at a time when Republicans have begun voicing criticism of what they describe as an open-checkbook approach to spending. By focusing more attention on the tax cuts in the plan, Obama aides hope to frame it as a balanced, pragmatic approach.
Mr. Obama will use his public events this week to promise what one adviser called “radical reforms” to impose more control over the regular federal budget down the road. Among other areas, the president-elect will focus on changing Pentagon contracting and aid to corporate America, advisers said. He will also designate a chief performance officer and a chief technology officer on Wednesday to help make government more efficient, they said.
Still, Democratic leaders in Congress acknowledged that the economic package would not be ready for Mr. Obama’s signature immediately after his inauguration on Jan. 20, as they once hoped.
“It’s going to be very difficult to get the package put together that early so that it can have sufficient time to be reviewed, and then sufficient time to be debated and passed,” Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House majority leader, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Mr. Hoyer said a more likely goal would be mid-February before Congress leaves on a Presidents’ Day recess. “We certainly want to see this package passed through the House of Representatives no later than the end of this month, get it over to the Senate, and have it to the president before we break for the presidential break,” Mr. Hoyer said.
Congressional Republicans continued to press for more public hearings and study, and some of their leaders threw out their own ideas for what should be in the plan. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, proposed Sunday that any money distributed to the states be provided as loans rather than outright grants.
“Nobody thinks we ought to be spending this money on things like mob museums and waterslides,” Mr. McConnell said on “This Week” on ABC. “And if the money were lent rather than just granted, states would I think spend it wisely, and the states that didn’t need it at all wouldn’t take any.”
Mr. McConnell said Republicans were more likely to favor tax relief and tax credits as part of the economic measure and said Congress should consider reducing the 25 percent income tax rate to 15 percent.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House speaker, said Congress would also take on the issue of waste in federal agencies, though she was not ready to disclose details of her approach. “We will have reforms related to waste, fraud and abuse,” she said in an interview.
Other Congressional officials said House Democrats would consider a plan this week requiring a new audit of all federal agencies and mandating Congressional hearings whenever inspectors general identify potential waste or fraud.
Mr. Obama’s team argued Sunday that the short-term cost of its economic plan was not a priority in the face of the dire problems in the economy. “There is no short run, other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That’s the only short run,” Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on “This Week.” He added, “We’ve got to begin to stem this bleeding here, and begin to stop the loss of jobs and the creation of jobs.”
The economic package under consideration by the president-elect and his Congressional allies would commit $675 billion to $775 billion over two years. If the tax cuts represent 40 percent of that, as Mr. Obama’s advisers said Sunday, that would mean about $270 billion to $310 billion.
About half of that would go to workers under what Mr. Obama during his campaign called the Making Work Pay credit, worth up to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for families.
18. France braced for 'rebirth of violent left'- Despite claims of exaggeration, government reports insist a new generation of extremists will soon launch a wave of sabotage and bombings (guardian.co.uk)
Date: -5 -1-09
Jason Burke in Paris
The Observer, Sunday 4 January 2009
The French government fears a wave of extreme left-wing terrorism this year with the possible sabotage of key infrastructure, kidnappings of major business figures or even bomb attacks.
Secret French government reports, seen by the Observer, describe an "elevated threat" from an "international European network ... with a strong presence in France" after the radicalisation of "a new generation of activists" in recent years. Senior analysts and experts linked to the government have drawn parallels with the Action Directe group, which carried out 50 or more attacks in the early 1980s. Others cite the example of the Baader-Meinhof gang.
A report by the French domestic intelligence service talks of "a rebirth of the violent extreme left" across Europe that is likely to be aggravated by the effects of the economic crisis. Other secret documents expose alleged links with activists in Italy, Greece, Germany and the UK. "It has been growing for three or four years now and the violence is getting closer and closer to real terrorism," said Eric Dénécé, director of the French centre of intelligence research and a former Defence Ministry consultant.
While some believe such claims to be scaremongering, the present political atmosphere is tense, with many among right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy's aides fearing a repeat of the violence in Athens last month, when angry and alienated young people and a hard core of violent left-wing extremists rioted for several days, causing significant damage and bringing the city to a halt.
Last week hundreds of fly-posters around Paris called on young people "forced to work for a world that poisons us" to follow the example of their Greek counterparts. "The insurrection goes on. If it takes hold everywhere, no one can stop it," the posters said.
The recent intelligence reports have blamed violent demonstrations against changes in employment law in 2006, often by middle-class young people, for the recruitment of large numbers of new activists.
A series of incidents last year confirmed the fears of French police. In January two activists were arrested in possession of what was alleged to be bomb-making materials. In November nine people were arrested after a lengthy surveillance operation in the central French village of Tarnac, where they had set up a commune. Two of the alleged ringleaders, Julien Coupat, 34, and his partner Yildune Lévy, 25, are still in prison accused of sabotaging high-speed TGV railway lines and "associating with wrongdoers with terrorist aims".
Gilles Gray, assistant director of economic protection of the French domestic intelligence service, spoke recently of "a philosophy that was spreading in Europe". The arrests in Tarnac were "a strong message ... addressed to those who might be thinking about committing similar acts," he said. "We hope that this affair has put a stop for a time to this kind of violent action [and will avoid] a return of Action Directe."
Investigators believe that the arrests at Tarnac provoked "reprisals" in Athens, where the offices of the French news agency Agence France-Presse were attacked with makeshift incendiary devices, and in Hamburg, where the French consulate was daubed with paint.
A claim of responsibility for the sabotage of the TGV lines was, police say, sent to a German newspaper from Hanover and signed "those who have had enough ... in memory of Sébastien", believed to be a reference to Sébastien Briat, a young anti-nuclear militant crushed by a nuclear waste train in eastern France exactly four years before the night of the recent spate of sabotage. Coupat and Lévy had taken part in demonstrations and actions in Germany, the US and the UK.
Coupat has also been accused by investigators of anonymously writing a book, The Coming Insurrection, published by a little known Paris publishing house in 2007. The book, which has been translated into English and posted on US and UK anarchist websites, was found in the possession of three young activists arrested after detonating a bomb in a field. It contains instructions about sabotaging railways and other means of "destroying the power of the police, seizing local political power by the people, and blocking the economy". A statement from the publishing house said the author was "a committee from the subversive tendency".
But some accuse France's right-wing government of both exaggerating and exploiting the left-wing threat. "They are turning my son into a scapegoat for a generation who have started to think for themselves about capitalism and its wrongs and to demonstrate against the government," said Gérard Coupat, father of the alleged ringleader of the Tarnac group.
Author and researcher Christophe Bourseiller told the Observer the threat was being exaggerated. "Yes, there is a certain renewed level of agitation, but there is a huge difference between deliberately slowing down a few trains without injuring anyone and something like the Madrid bomb blasts," he said. "The Ministry of the Interior has made it look like the Tarnac arrests halted a serious campaign of violence with a huge, huge media operation."
Certainly there is a widespread fear at the ministry in the Place Beauveau of violent protests in the coming months. A powerful and growing movement among schoolchildren forced the tactical withdrawal of wide-ranging reform plans after demonstrations in Lyon led to clashes with the police, mass arrests and the burning of cars.
Trade unions have promised a series of mass stoppages in the coming months. Among a population already made bitter by static salaries, rising prices and structurally high levels of unemployment, the lay-offs and wage cuts that could result from the economic crisis will fuel anger.
Other similarities include the tactics envisaged and the middle-class, educated profile of most of the activists.
19. Infosys, Wipro get terror threat. (ndtv.com) (G.C.A: Is Taliban taking over Bangalore?)
Date: -5 -1-09
Press Trust of India
Sunday, January 04, 2009, (Bangalore)
Six prominent IT companies in Bangalore, including Infosys and Wipro, have received e-mails threatening to blow up their buildings, a top police officer said on Sunday.
Joint Commissioner of Police B Gopal Hosur said in Bangalore that the companies received e-mails threatening to blow up their establishments two days ago and immediately informed the police.
The police have already begun investigations, he said, but did not divulge further details.
20. Pakistani books go off the shelf in Mumbai (samachar.com)
Date: -5 -1-09
Prerana Thakurdesai
Monday, January 05, 2009, (Mumbai)
Some bookstores and music shops in Mumbai have removed works of Pakistani authors and musicians from their shops. It's a reaction to the terror attacks, whose perpetrators were from Pakistan.
But literary figures and prominent citizens are shocked at this sort of self-policing.
Several stores in Mumbai have told NDTV, off camera, that they have banned Pakistani labels from their shelves.
Some have come under pressure from parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena that had asked for a ban on Pakistani artists and musicians. And others have done it on free will.
South Mumbai's Oxford bookstore has taken works of Pakistani authors off their shelf over the last 15 days. Premier store, Rhythm House, too has removed music by Pakistani artists from its outlet over the last one month.
The literary circles have taken a strong exception to the move. "We are depriving ourselves by doing this. It's not going to affect Pakistan in any way," said Tharoor.
Be it Mohsin Hamid's Reluctant Fundamentalist or Abida Parveen's sufi renditions, all of these books have been taken off the shelf. They have been best sellers in Mumbai.
But this boycott has left prominent citizens angry.
After the initial citizen activism, it's another form of protest. But this one perhaps will find more opposition than consensus in otherwise liberal Mumbai.
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